Gods & Quads: A trip to Athens and the Greek Islands
Day 1 - 06.09.12
The alarm rang at 2:30am. The usual excited feeling towards this holiday was replaced by an overwhelming urge to go back to sleep. After all, we can always go on holiday next year. Jennifer luckily had a little more perseverance and was already getting ready.
We’d spent the night at the Heathrow Holiday Inn express ahead of a 6:30am flight to Athens the next morning. I left work early and met Jen along with my Mum and Nan who had come along for the ride . With a quick MacDonald’s fuel up, we made an uneventful trip down the great but deadly M1 to London and got tucked up for an early night. We got whatever sleep we could until 2:30am showed its face. After a quick battle with the parking barrier at the hotel we made our way to the place where I was leaving my car for the next two weeks. Through a dark and seedy labyrinth, we eventually got parked and were loaded onto a mini bus to Terminal 5. After waiting for our bag drop to open, we progressed through security and even had enough time for a quick breakfast sandwich before getting onto the plane. A pretty uneventful 4 hour flight got us to Athens airport where we were met by our taxi driver. I didn’t get his name which is something that I regret because he was great. Full of advice and history and an all around great guy. We caught our first glimpses of the mighty Temple of Zeus as we arrived at the Athens Gate Hotel. After checking in and dumping our bags, we headed up to the rooftop garden which boasted stunning views of The Temple of Zeus and the Acropolis. We decided that it would be rude not to sit up and have a beer whilst taking in these awesome views. Wouldn’t want to upset the Gods. We eventually headed out into the insane traffic to the Plaka, a very pretty- yet very touristy area, albeit full of graffiti. It is a little too touristy for my tastes with all the crappy gift shops containing many ‘300’ related t-shirts. The taverna did little to change my mind. The mousakka was ok, but nothing too wonderful. We headed back to the hotel and tried to fight the urge to sleep with the help of some unintentionally hilarious Greek TV. We lasted until 9:15pm… |
Day 2 - 07.09.12
Despite having the better part of 9 hours sleep, I still felt knackered this morning. The view of the Acropolis woke me up over breakfast however. We eventually headed out into the hot day sun and bought our tickets, starting up the south slopes. We made sure to take our time to read every plaque and read up on this magnificent place whilst also taking regular breaks to get rest from the unforgiving sun.
It is quite easy to look at all this stuff as just a bunch of old buildings, but with a little imagination it isn’t hard to be blown away with the thought of what this place used to look like as well as how old this place truly is. And I thought Lincoln Castle was old. Once done with the south slope (including the amazing Theatre of Dionysus). We headed up to the Acropolis itself. Despite the (necessary) construction work going on around the site, the Parthenon & neighbouring temples were a site to behold. It is a clichéd statement that ‘the pictures don’t do it justice’, but that is definitely the case here. You have to stand right beside it to get a sense of what this place is all about. Not that this stopped us from getting many snaps of our own. Including one candid shot of a man striking an epic pose infront of the temple. We have since named him ‘Epic Tourist’. After the Acropolis, we headed down the other slope and saw other wonders such as the Ancient Agora & the Temple of Hephaestus. All incredible in their own way. We then grabbed some lunch in the neighbouring area of Monastariki. Another average lunch which also consisted of children trying to sell us various nonsense such as tissues. |
We then had a leisurely stroll through the Plaka and back to the hotel for yet another beer or two on the roof and admired our conquests from afar and made another toast to the Gods.
After another break at our hotel room to shower and freshen up, we headed back up to the roof as we had a table booked for dinner on the roof. This allowed us to see the temples all lit up at night along with the rest of the city. Sat outside on the roof, Jen and I agreed that this place is pretty special, and that we were both in the middle of a great adventure. After our meal of skewered pork, we hit the hay.
The word I would use to describe today with, is one that gets overused a lot. But I’m definitely sticking with it…Epic.
The word I would use to describe today with, is one that gets overused a lot. But I’m definitely sticking with it…Epic.
Day 3 - 08.09.12
After yet another breakfast with a breath taking view, we headed out across the street to get an up close view of the Temple of Zeus after checking out the Athens Gate, or Hadrian’s gate as it is often called after the roman emperor. Only up close could we get a sense of the sheer size of what remains of this once great temple. We also got a quick picture swap with a family from Cincinnati, Ohio.
We then took a hike up Filopappos Hill which included a quick run in with a pair of angry dogs. I decided there and then that they were probably Cerberus dogs – Guardians of Hades. (Who doesn’t love a mythology based joke?). When we finally reached the top we checked out the monument and then sat on a rock which offered a breathtaking view of the city including the Acropolis, Temple of Zeus & Hephaestus and our hotel. The New Acropolis museum was our next trip which gives a ton of info to compliment our trip from the day before, along with some pretty impressive statues and stone work. A few hours here and we headed back to the Plaka for a quick bite to eat. Whilst sat down in a tavern in the square a shady looking bloke tried to sell us sunglasses. The fact that we were not only both already wearing sunglasses, but we were also sat in the shade didn’t seem to put him off. Needs to work on his marketing if you ask me. The hotel roof once again was our port of call & with drinks in hand, we discussed the already awesomeness of our holiday so far. After heading down for a shower we were back up for another rooftop meal because – hey, we’re on holiday. I had a great seafood risotto, whilst Jennifer had the chicken, once again to the background of noisy beeping traffic and the majestic – now lit up temples. Our personal gift from the Gods of Olympus.Athens has been truly wonderful. The island of Milos awaited next, the home of Aphrodite. |
Day 4 - 09.09.12
We headed for our last breakfast on the roof and took in the Athenian views one last time. All packed and ready, we headed downstairs to check out of the Athens Gate and got into a taxi which I had booked the night before.
As we didn’t exactly know where we were headed to, besides the port of Piraeus, our taxi driver Spilios promised to find out for us. As we neared the port through insanely and unpredictable traffic, we chatted to Spilios about Greece, its people and sports. Geece has had a lot of bad press in the papers/news recently and the signs are present, but the people so far have been happy & very welcoming. Spilios proved my view by not only finding out where our boat was in this confusing port, but by actually getting our tickets for us. I gave him a very healthy tip and he gave me his card. We may very well use him again on our return to Athens at the end. What a great guy. A twenty minute wait and we boarded the ferry. There were plenty of seats so we moved to sit together. The ride was pretty straight forward and in 4 hours we arrived at Milos. A friendly fellow by the name of Nicolas met us at the port with our car – a little white Fiat Panda. We checked for damage on the car (a few dents) and he gave us directions for Pollonia. The short 15 minute drive to Pollonia gave us a chance to soak up the scenery and allowed me to get used to the gear shift being on the right. We arrived at Pollonia, to say that this little fishing village is beautiful would be doing it a great injustice. Just a stunning little Greek town with a small harbour with small boats. We arrived at our hotel and Tania’s (our host) mother greeted us and showed us to our room. Our balcony opened right out onto the Aegean Sea. This room was going to be perfect. |
We eventually met Tania who gave us some recommendations on beaches and restaurants. We took her up on one of them and ate at ‘Gailos’ – a restaurant by the harbour. I had amazing shrimp and Jen had an equally amazing steak. The main attraction however was the amount of stray cats and kittens walking around our feet. Including one kitten that almost climbed up to our table.
Beach hopping tomorrow.
Beach hopping tomorrow.
Day 5 - 10.09.12
Rather than going up to the roof for breakfast like in Athens, in Milos we headed downstairs to the dining room to be greeted by one hell of a spread. Bread, eggs, meat, cheese, yoghurt, fruit and various cakes & sweets hand made by Tania and her mother. Jen got stuck into the healthier stuff whilst I sampled the rest.
Once ready we climbed into our little Panda and headed for the south coast. Our first stop was Aghia Kiriaki, a very quiet beach with a small beach bar. Parking the car behind the bar next to a tree and just strolling down to the sand was great. We spent an hour or so, on this paradise beach, dipping in and out of the turquoise water. Then we decided it was time to hit the next beach, Paliochori just to the East in the next bay. Again, just parking the car and strolling down. Whilst Jen got set up, I walked up to the bar for some water where the bartender turned out to be a child of around eight or nine. “a shot of your finest ouzo please little girl” didn’t sound right – best stick to the water. Water wasn’t good enough for our rumbly bellies, time for some grub. Tania had recommended the ‘Deep Blue’ beach bar so we headed there just up the road slightly. This place was great. Build up on the cliff above the beach it offered an amazing view, good sandwiches and cold beer (or a coke light in Jens’ case). As we sat and ate we saw a man swimming off into the distance and tried to come up with a story for him. We concluded he was sick of his nagging wife and decided just to swim for it. We made a trip back up to Adamas to fill up our Panda. The Greek attendant and myself seemed to have a hard time understanding one another, but eventually the old timer filled it up, I paid and we headed back down South past the airport to another beach called Firiplaka, yet another incredible beach which we got to by walking through a small cove with little boats. Then we just did our thing again, soaked up the sun, swam in the sea and repeat steps 1 and 2. We checked out some rocky areas before heading back to the car and back to Pollonia to get showered and refreshed. Time for another evening meal. This time we drove to Adamas to a restaurant by the bay called ‘Oh! Hamos’ – a great little restarant where you ate and drank out of ceramic pots, bread was served in a string bag on your chair and people wrote on the walls and chairs. The food was great – we both had a pork and goats cheese casserole called ‘Kleftiko’ and I tried a new beer called Septem which was great. We had a waiter who took a shine to us as he had family in Britain (Retford & Manchester) and boasted that he had a British sense of humour which he certainly did have. A group of around 30 elderly Greeks came to eat and he put lots of time in making various silly remarks and jokes about them. My favourite was his comparison of the larger table to the Last Supper. “All they need is Jesus”, the guy was hilarious – maybe you had to be there. After trying a desert which consisted of a sugary substace in a shot glass of water, we parted ways. |
The drive back to Pollonia in the dark was interesting but we got there, my Panda hadn’t failed me yet. We slept with our inner dorrs open tonight so that we could hear the waves. The howling wind made sure that we heard no such thing.
Oh and on a further note, I saw twelve boobs today. These Europeans sure love being stark bollock naked on the beach.
Oh and on a further note, I saw twelve boobs today. These Europeans sure love being stark bollock naked on the beach.
Day 6 - 11.09.12
Today was a day that I had been looking forward to for quite some time. We were Kayaking in Milos.
Our tour was led by Rod, an Aussie who had been on the island for fifteen years. We met him at the petrol station in Adamas where he told us that he had to pick up another couple from the ferry port. After a short while we were on our way. The starting point was on the South West of the Island, exactly where I’m still not too sure – Somewhere around Psathidika, I think. We had to go down some pretty hardcore dirt roads but my Panda didn’t let me down. After introducing ourselves to a Californian couple and a Kayak enthusiast from Yorkshire called Mike we got set up. I was at the back, handling the rudder with Jen up front. We spent some time getting used to things but then we were on our way. Unfortunately our route was going to be cut short of Kleftiko due to the high winds on the island. We dotted in and out of caves, through some calm areas but then head first into the full might of Boreas (another mythology joke), paddling head first into the wind. At one point Rod warned us that around the next bend was going to be very intense – he wasn’t kidding. The Cali couple made it though out of sight. We weren't so lucky. With our boat just few degrees away from facing the wind, our boat was turned around in moments. Rod told us to stay there whilst he went for the others. When he returned he asked if we wanted another go. Hell YES. This time we really went for it, I made sure to keep the boat inline whilst we both paddled like hell. We made it and saw our reward. Gerontas beach, another hidden little paradise beach in a little cove. Complete with two more naked europeans (or four boobs depending on how you like to count). We reached the beach and relaxed. Rod then approached and asked “do you want to go jump off a rock?” to which I replied “would be rude not to, you coming Jen?” She said no at first, but as Rod and myself swam out into the bay we managed to entice her out. We swam through the bay and reached the rock which was around 90 feet (or just 3 metres depending on whether you prefer metric or not). Rod went first. Jen seemed reluctant so I jumped, as I surfaced however I saw a splash and then Jen’s little head pop up out of the water. Nice one Draper! After a snack we headed back out to the open sea. The route back was a similar pattern of calm and windy stretches. I did begin to notice just how knackered my arms were. There were a few points where Rod handed us flash lights as we headed into the caves to explore. Slowly paddling through as Jen shined her light, you almost expect to hear sounds of “dead men tell no tales”. One cave that we drifted into started with a fairly large space, enough for the whole group. Rod tells us to shine our lights at the ceiling. As we do, we see loads of bats that are clearly annoyed at our little light show and fly away to deeper parts of the cave system. Rod then leads us down to the deepest part of the cave, too narrow to turn around in. Once we all squeezed in we all turned out our lights. Absolute pitch darkness – just us, the waves and the bats. What an amazing experience. Before our little spelunking expedition we stopped on a rock for lunch (sandwiches). We also had a chance to do a bit of snorkelling in this solitary bay. Jen and myself snorkelled into a dark cave and back. We paddled our way back to the starting point eventually. Jen and myself even did an extra bit through and around a rock despite being absolutely buggered from rowing. We then said our goodbyes to the team once back on dry land and drove back to Pollonia. |
We headed for dinner in the capitol Plaka but didn’t fancy any of the restaurants there so headed back to Pollonia to eat at another of Tanias recommendations. The name of this little restaurant on the outskirts of town escapes me but it was great. I spoke Greek to the waiter which seemed to impress him as he complimented my efforts. I had a delicious pork skewer and Jen had chicken. We walked back home and got some well earned shut eye.
Today was one of the most amazing days of my life. Jen and I are well and truly smitten with this place.
On a further note. I would wholeheartedly recommend taking one of Rod's sea kayak tours if you ever visit Milos - his site is here: www.seakayakgreece.com
Today was one of the most amazing days of my life. Jen and I are well and truly smitten with this place.
On a further note. I would wholeheartedly recommend taking one of Rod's sea kayak tours if you ever visit Milos - his site is here: www.seakayakgreece.com
Day 7 - 12.09.12
Another day of doing what we do very well, beach hopping. After breakfast our first stop was Sarakiniko, an almost lunar landscape of rocks and cliffs – a real alien but beautiful place once again complimented by the blue Aegean. We even found some manmade caves dug into the wall which we explored thinking of ourselves as characters in Indiana Jones or Uncharted (at least I did), using our phones as flashlights. Our next stop was just up the coast to Firopotamos. After a windy and treacherous drive down to this tiny hidden beach, we were slightly disappointed to see that there wasn’t much there. A small but pretty beach/fishing village. We soon moved on up the treacherous road. The road ahead promised us the beach of Plathenia but we must have taken a wrong turn as all we found was a quarry.
Slightly perturbed, we drove though the island capitol of Plaka to the familiar south coast to a beach called Provata, another small Milos beach, gorgeous. After the usual suntan and swim we moved on yet again. Tsigrado is a beach that we meant to hit two days ago but didn’t get round to, so that was our next target. We’d heard rumours that this tiny beach was difficult to reach but it was only when we parked our Panda on the cliff did we realise the truth in these rumours. The only way down was to climb down a narrow passage in the cliff, aided only by a wooden ladder and some rope. Getting down there was a hell of a task and the beach was one hell of a reward. Another hidden little cove of picture postcard beauty. I did my usual swimming and diving down the seabed and Jen did her normal job of looking good and catching rays (sun, not sting). When the time came to leave I was mightily impressed with the speed that Jen climbed up through the Cliffside passage. We’ll make an assassin of her yet! Our stomachs gave us stern orders that it was time to eat. And who were we not to listen? Mantrakia was the place where we decided to obey our guts. We’d seen this place on google and seen a cool looking place to eat called Medousa Café (named after the mythological gorgon of the same name). I have to say that Mantrakia is probably the prettiest place that I have ever seen in my short twenty four years of being on this planet. A beautiful tiny fishing village of many gorgeous colours with little Greek style boats bobbing up and down in the bay. In fact, just Google it instead of reading this crap. The pictures however, just do not do it justice. We found our café and took a seat. A friendly Greek fellow in a Simpsons t-shirt took our order. |
A friendly ginger cat came along and sat next to Jennifer. I had smoked herring and Jen had some weird ham & cheese pies. We shared a plate of ‘pan fried potatoes’ which turned out to just be chips. The food and beer were delicious and after giving an American couple some directions we headed off.
We stopped by Adamas and got a white chocolate ice cream from a parlour and ate at the harbour. Rather than eating out we decided to make use of our balcony now that the wind had died down. We loaded up on sandwiches and crisps and set sail for home. After a walk (and a few falls) on the beach we ate on our balcony and watched the sunset. We then played cards for a while and once the stars came out we turned out our lights and stared at the sky from our sunloungers. I even saw two shooting stars. I followed them with two wishes. But what can a guy possibly wish for when he is already in a place like this?
We stopped by Adamas and got a white chocolate ice cream from a parlour and ate at the harbour. Rather than eating out we decided to make use of our balcony now that the wind had died down. We loaded up on sandwiches and crisps and set sail for home. After a walk (and a few falls) on the beach we ate on our balcony and watched the sunset. We then played cards for a while and once the stars came out we turned out our lights and stared at the sky from our sunloungers. I even saw two shooting stars. I followed them with two wishes. But what can a guy possibly wish for when he is already in a place like this?
Day 8 - 13.09.12
Today we visited my desktop wallpaper at work.
With the help of Tania, we had booked a boat tour to the farthest reaches of the island, only accessible by sea. Our vessel was the Thalassitra and it would take us all the way to Kleftiko. The ship was modeled on a much older version but was in great shape and held around 50 people. Our captain was a very cool guy who I have no shame in admitting to having a slight man crush on him. We set sail for an external view on our home which stopped first a Klima, a stunning small fishing village- yes another one- which we hadn’t been able to reach previously. Absolutely beautiful. We even saw Rod and his group of kayakers. Heading North we passed a rock called ‘the Bear’ which amazingly from our angle was in the shape of a bear. We then turned West into the wind to new territories for myself and Jen. Captain Cool handed out cake to the passengers. Myself and Jen had moved to the front of the boat and enjoyed it along with the view. Before long we were anchored up at Sikia, a massive natural cave which offered great snorkeling Jen climbed down the ladder whilst I jumped off the side of the boat. We snorkeled into the huge cave and unto a hidden cove. The boat sounded its horn and we headed back. We finally reached Kleftiko. The stunning caves previously used by pirates to hide in. Incredible rock formations and crystal clear waters surrounded us. I was all of a sudden in my desktop wallpaper from my work computer. In again. Splash. Snorkel on, we explored caves and rocks and saw all kinds of fish. One more quick dip before the guys served up a stunning lunch of all kinds of traditional Greek foods (and some not so traditional). They even gave me a beer. Eventually it was time to move away from our little paradise as we headed back up the West coast of Milos past the various beaches that we hadn’t quite reached by car. We stopped at another bay, the name I forget. Jen stayed on the boat whilst I once more dived into Poseidon’s domain. Diving down to the seabed I saw a fish half hidden under the sand waiting for its prey to pass by, not me I’m afraid. Another fish hovered along the bottom with two tentacle feelers sticking out of its mouth, cleaning up the seabed. Another dive revealed many hermit crabs going about their business, one of which I picked up. The fellow inside didn’t seem too impressed so I dropped him back down to his friends. |
The trip back to port passed Cape Vani, an old mine used by prisoners as punishment in the late thirties and a quick stop at Aghia Georgios, a small church next to an even smaller beach. Once back at Adamas we paid and thanked our captains and headed home after getting more supplies.
The evening was similar to the night before. Food on our terrace watching the sky get slowly darker, this time with a few beers We once again watched the stars but were then compelled to do some packing. Yes, sadly our adventure in Milos was reaching it’s end. This made us both sad, but we knew our next adventure awaited only one sunset away.
The evening was similar to the night before. Food on our terrace watching the sky get slowly darker, this time with a few beers We once again watched the stars but were then compelled to do some packing. Yes, sadly our adventure in Milos was reaching it’s end. This made us both sad, but we knew our next adventure awaited only one sunset away.
Day 9 - 14.09.12
New day, new island.
We said our goodbyes to both Tania and the beautiful town of Pollonia and left our wonderful hotel room at around 8:30 and did the drive to Adamas one last time, past all the sights we had become familiar with over the past few days, including a great far away view of the cliffs of Sarakiniko. We met Nicolas once again and handed over the keys to the car as he told us of his upcoming trip to the UK. “We have to go on vacation sometimes”. We said goodbye to both Nicolas and our great little Fiat Panda which had done us so proud and was now looking squeaky clean after the hose down I gave it earlier in the morning. Our small Sea Jets ferry eventually came and we clambered on board. We were lucky to find our seats empty as there seemed to be a lot of commotion about who sat where. I got lost in my book. Santorini was the second stop. We clambered off the ferry not really knowing what to expect as we weren’t really sure from the cryptic e-mail from our next hotel owner whether she had arranged us a taxi or not. Jen was the first to spot the big guy holding the sign. “Jonathan Bonner- Virginia's Cave Houses”. Who are we not to see that as a sign. The shuttle bus climbed up the 900 ft cliff on the zig-zag road like something from the Lord of the Rings. The bus drove through the capitol, Fira which was bustling and very touristy. My first impressions of the island made be immediately miss Milos. Maybe I wouldn’t enjoy it here. Oia would soon change my mind. After a terrifying 90 mile an hour, or whatever that is in kilometres, we reached Oia (pronounced ‘ee-ah’). We got off down a small street. I heard a voice behind me. “Mr Jonathan?”. Virginia was here to meet us (how had this all gone so smoothly?), a tiny young lady who seemed to giggle at the end of every conversation we had. What a sweetheart. She led us through the famous Oia streets, I’m sure you’ve all seen the postcards. White houses, all piled on top of the cliff, complete with blue topped Greek churches dotted around the landscape. All overlooking the curved island complete with a still active Volcano in the middle. What a place. Virginia led us down what seemed like a thousand steps past what seemed like a thousand tourists. We eventually reached our little cave house, which was exactly that – a small apartment built into a cave in the cliff overlooking the Caldera. The place is complete with a small kitchen with breakfast all ready in the corner for us to serve ourselves in the morning. Virginia showed us the place and gave us tons of info on Oia and the whole island which she scribbled on the map. We said that we’d hire a vehicle in the morning. With a “Goodbye Mr Jonathan” and a giggle, she was gone. My opinion on Santorini was already massively improved. We made ourselves at home and had a beer and a glass of wine which Virginia had given us. Enjoying it on our terrace with a spectacular view of the Caldera, the sea, the volcano and the island. We eventually headed up the stairs into Oia to see the sites. The usual picture perfect place (I realise that I use the term ‘picture perfect’ a lot). Swapping taking photos with many people of many nationalities we explored this unique place. After a good explore around this iconic town we headed back to our cave house, out of the baking heat to shower and change. We ate at a beautiful restaurant called ‘Skala’ (another recommendation) where Jen had Greek chicken whilst I ordered the sea bream. It was basically just a big fish on a plate. Head, tail, fins, even teeth. Bloody delicious though. We shared a sausage pie starter which was also great. I also tried a local Santorini beer called ‘Yellow Donkey’. |
Now I had already decided that I liked Oia in the day. At night however, this place is truly quite magical all lit up. We walked around more taking in the sights, sounds and great smells of the lit up town. It almost feels like it belongs in a well imagineered Disney theme park. We had truly been given a taste of the town and so headed back to our terrace for more beer and wine. The capitol of Fira laid across the bay from us, covered in a cloud that seemed to linger there and spill slightly over the cliffs.
Oia had well and truly won me over today. Let’s see what the rest of the island has in store for us…
Oia had well and truly won me over today. Let’s see what the rest of the island has in store for us…
Day 10 - 15.09.12
We made our breakfast for the first time on our travels through Greece complimented by our phenomenal view of the volcano and surrounding island. Very hot today. Adventure seems like too hard work.
Virginia showed up at 10:30 and helped us arrange a hire vehicle for our trip. An ATV. I had been toying with the idea of a quad bike since the planning stages of this trip and with the limited parking, it just seemed like a great idea. We met the bloke in the area where we were first dropped off yesterday and swapped the required paperwork. “You ever ride ATV before?” “Sure, once” I paused “erm, can you remind me of the controls?” He did. We drove a kilometre up the road to get a smaller helmet for Jen. We then commenced an amazing day of quad bike beach hopping. Our first stop was Katharos beach, a pebbled bay down a rocky track. It wasn’t anything too crazy so we moved on. Riding a quad around here is a great way to see things. A car suited Milos better but as many roads on Santorini hug the coast, you really get a feeling of freedom on a quad with the sea to one side and mountains on the other. I turned back to Jen. “You alright?” She didn’t need to answer, the daft grin plastered across her face said it all. The next beach that we parked at was Kuloubos, a black sand beach with igneous rock scattered everywhere. We stayed for half an hour as I did my obligatory dip in the sea and Jen caught yet more rays. Back on the quad we passed a town called Vourvoulos. Seeing a sign for yet another beach we turned off. Same again – parked and had a walk but not on the sand, we passed a small harbour with had a slightly funky smell to it. Back on the quad. The strange thing about today was that whilst we weren’t overly impressed by any of the beaches here (compared to Milos), riding around on the quad was so much fun that the beaches were just an additional pleasure. What an adventure. The speedometer screen on the ATV wasn’t working, showing us at a constant 11km/h. It also showed the fuel tank as constantly full. Pulling over and checking the tank, I saw that this wasn’t true. We headed back through the town of Karterados to fill up. We continued to Monolithos beach, a black beach with extremely hot sand. We set up shop for half an hour here. Having covered a vast quantity of the North of the island, we rode back up the coastal road to Oia, grins firmly plastered onto our faces as we rode along. I felt like an absolute badass, but I’m certain that I didn’t look like one. Back at Oia we booked a boat tour to the volcano for the next day and had lunch in town at Seagull Café – a great little place overlooking the Caldera. We both had a bacon and ham omelette and shared a plate of chips. I polished off an Ice cold Mythos larger than my head. After some time back at our cave house we headed out to watch the famous Oia sunset over Amoudi bay amongst hundreds of other people. Unfortunately the sun went down behind a cloud instead of the ocean, beautiful nonetheless. Oia was now heaving with people looking for food. As we weren’t too hungry we bought a few beers and a large bag of crisps from a mini market and spent the rest of the evening on our patio. At one point a black cat joined us and stayed for a while. We named him Nelson. Great day. Time for bed. |
Day 11 - 16.09.12
The volcanoes Nea Kameni and Pal Kameni stared us in the face as we ate breakfast. Today we would pay them a visit.
We had booked a boat tour to take us to the volcano, then to the famous hot springs for a dip, and then to the island of Thirasia for lunch. Once part of Santorini which broke off when the volcano erupted many centuries ago, engulfing an entire civilization. We took the ATV – which we decided to give a bad ass name: ‘Mr Wheels’ – up the road to the bus station where a blue bus picked us up and took us down to Amoudi bay to board our boat. We were taken past an impressive view of Oia to the mass of jagged black volcanic rock in the middle of the Caldera. Our group was led off the boat and up to the main crater by a local lady named Joy (or the Greek equivalent) who kept referring to us as her children and whos family had strong ties to the volcano’s past. Her mother was born on the day of the last eruption – “Two eruptions that day” she says. The landscape here was more like Mordor than Greece. The hot walk took us up to the crater where you could see steam rising in places and a strong smell of sulphur. We eventually headed down to a different boat, fittingly named ‘Poseidon’. The boat there took us to the smaller volcano to the west – Pal. Kameni where we jumped off the boat and swam towards the hot springs. You could feel the water grow warmer with every stroke and the sea became more yellow. (Yellow warm water is normally something to avoid). We bathed in the hot springs and saw bubbles coming from the sides and a soft matting of sulphur was felt below our feet. Incredible. Back through the cold water to the Poseidon our next stop was at Thirasia, a gorgeous little port where we ate at a place called ‘Captain Johns’ – Swordfish and pork skewers, and beer of course. Once again we were surrounded by cats, once again Jen didn’t mind at all. We took a stroll along the harbour past a scary looking lady trying to get us into her tavern and sat with our feet dangling over the dock. Pretty special. Eventually the time came to leave Thirasia and we set sail for Amoudi once again. The captain strongly urged all the tourists to visit more of the island that Oia, which Jen and myself were quietly satisfied that we were already doing so. Back in Oia we got some delicious ice cream and went home for a change. I watched the boats around the island with Jack Johnson softly playing on my Ipod. We headed back out for yet another delicious meal with another fabulous view of the caldera, blue churches and all. A walk back through town (man, I love this place at night) and we were back at the cave house along with the realisation that another day of the trip had escaped us. Albeit another amazing day full of new and incredible experiences. That seems to happen a lot around here. |
Day 12 - 17.09.12
Our last full day in Santorini would consist of exploring the South of the island on the ATV. We were both in agreement that today would be great. We were concerned last night that today would bring rain. Happily this wasn’t the case, although there was definitely a lot of cloud in the sky. We were still in awe of the view as we ate breakfast on our terrace.
“What a great view”. “Sure is. Let’s go conquer it”. Our journey on our quad took us down the island on the mountain road to Karterados where we filled up with fuel. Then across the coast to Kamari beach. At one point on the drive we found ourselves with the sea on both sides of us as we belted down the highway. Kamari was a black gravelly beach by a town in the shadow of an impressive mountain. A road zigzagged high up to the top. We learned that this was the home of the remains of the ancient city of Thera. After some time on the beach we got back on the quad and reached the bottom of the mountain road where a sign greeted us. ‘Ancient City of Thera. Open 8:00-17:30 every day except Monday’ Today was Monday. Crap. We took the road up to the mountain anyway, slowly zig-zagging up with Jen politely reminding me not to kill us. I obliged. We reached the top and were met with an impressive view of Perissa infront of us and Kamari behind. Perissa was our next destination. The ride down the mountain was even scarier, as I coasted most of the way down in neutral, braking at every corner. We rode around the mountain and reached Perissa, an insanely cool beach with bars lining the road, each one flashier than the last. The beach was another black beach but with finer stones. As we sunbathed, we took great pleasure in annoying each other by putting the stones on each other. We decided on lunch in a bar called ‘Waves’ where I had a swordfish steak and Jen had burgers with no buns. Complimented by a large, freezing Mythos for me and a Strawberry Daiquiri for Jennifer. We walked up the street to another bar called ‘Yazz’ where we sat on a couch out front facing the beach. Another beer for me and a ‘San Francisco’ cocktail for Jen. We loved the vibe here and could have stayed longer. But alas there was more to explore. Another drive on our ATV took us to the far tip of the island to Akrotiri, home of an ancient site (which again was closed) and the Red Beach. A walk around some cliffs took us to the beach. Small and busy but stunning, beneath red cliffs with red sand. The water here was perfect, nice and warm. After Jen went back to sunbathe I explored the sea around the rocks, playing with the sea snails and having an interesting encounter with a crab. The poor guy must have thought I wanted to eat him as he ducked into a cave, periodically peering out to see If I was there. He eventually was on his way. Back on the ATV, we cruised up the coast to Firostefani where we stopped at a café called Mylos. A great view of the volcano was accompanied by our ‘ice cream volcano’; a mound of ice cream flavours with resembled the behemoth outside our window. We caught an amazing sunset with a view of the whole island in our line of site. A really magical moment in a really pretty town. We rode back to Oia, I just never get bored of that bike. We reached the town in darkness, the roads were in chaos as all of the busloads of day trippers were leaving town as we tried to enter. We eventually got home and changed and headed back out to a restaurant called ‘Lotzo’. The smells of the place had been beckoning us for days so it was great to eat there. A beautiful view accompanied great food (pork for myself, spaghetti for Jen). Some musicians even came and serenaded us. It was ridiculously romantic. The perfect finale to our time on this fantastic island. We bought a few gifts for folks back home and went home. It was beginning to hit us that our adventure would soon be coming to an end. There was still however, more to see and do. |
Day 13 - 18.09.12
We were sure to get up early to enjoy Oia before the crowds surged in. The place has a magical feeling when it is calm and quiet as most tourists don’t have the opportunity to experience. Rather than filling up the ATV last night, we decided to do it this morning as a good excuse to have one more ride on ‘Mr Wheels’. We took the now calm mountain road to Fira and back, trying to fully enjoy the quad whilst we could. We got back and parked up. The shops were now opening so we picked up a few things before heading back to the cave house to pack and enjoy the view. We left Virginia at 11:50, promising to her (and ourselves) to one day return. A man came (her husband?) and carried our cases up the 98 steps to where we would be picked up. What a man! I offered to help but he insisted. We now waited for our mini bus at the post office where we had only just dropped off our quad for the last time.
The trip out of Oia was chaotic. The roads just aren’t big enough for the masses of buses coming and going. An open top jeep full of girls arrogantly pushed in front of the bus not helping the situation. Later on towards Fira we saw them pulled over on the road. They had knocked a poor girl off her moped. Bloody fools, thankfully she was wearing a helmet. Santorini airport was a tiny place and equally hectic. We managed to battle through the crowds and boarded our plane. My good deed of the day was to give a woman 10 cents who didn’t have enough money for a drink. Hopefully karma would keep the trip to Athens a safe one. It was only around 40 minutes to Athens, the shortest flight we had ever been on. Our taxi from the airport was this time taking us to Vouliagmeni on the very exclusive Athens Riviera. The place reminded me strongly of Beverly Hills, although there was still a little graffiti. The Margi hotel was our home for the evening. A stunning 5 star hotel with a beautiful pool area and a huge room for us. A huge bed, balcony and bathrobes greeted us in room 407. We headed out for a look around. The first beach that we found turned out to be a private country club. Bummer. We eventually found one that we could get to however, and had a paddle. Fish and crabs surrounded our feet. We spent some time picking up the hermit crabs that were dotted about. We walked back through the gorgeous area to the hotel. We were sure to book a taxi for tomorrow and a meal at the hotel poolside restaurant for 8pm. Before the meal we relaxed in our room and got changed (not before wearing our bathrobes and slippers). The meal was wonderful. A candle lit dinner in the stunning pool area was the perfect finale to the holiday. We were certainly making the most of this very luxurious hotel. After our meal of chicken and Greek potatoes we had another drink (beer and cocktail) on a couch by the pool. Reflecting on the amazing time we had had and trying not to worry too much about the tab we had racked up at this beautiful hotel. We still had the morning ahead to enjoy and so retired upstairs on our last night in this incredible country. |
Day 14 - 19.09.12
Our journey was finally coming to an end. The amazing night’s sleep in our palace of a hotel only eased the pain slightly.
We had a taxi booked to take us to the airport at 11am and so decided to make the most of our last morning in Greece. A 7:30 breakfast by the pool gave us time to get our heads straight, as did the last relax by the pool on a bed where the couch was where we had our drinks the night before. We even went in the pool for one last dip. Freezing, but refreshing. The lack of people that seemed to actually be at the hotel made the morning all the more enjoyable. We headed up to our room and packed our cases for the last time, this time not caring too much as we crammed our clothes into our swollen cases. After a quiet sit on our balcony we headed down to check out. The girls on checkout were very friendly as we told them about what we had been doing for the past few weeks. I found myself getting all embarrassed as they commented on how romantic it all sounded. They both said that they hoped to see us again, we concurred. Although having just signed the receipt for the hotel bill that we had racked up, I wasn’t too sure if we would The taxi was waiting and took us to a busy Athens Airport, we checked in without incident and it wasn’t long before we were ready to take off. We were a little down as we headed through security. A man in front of us was having a teary goodbye with family members, we didn’t know his story but it was heart breaking to watch all the same. Maybe we didn’t feel too sorry for ourselves after all. A great view of London welcomed us back home. As we waited for our bus we got chatting to a couple from Surrey who had visited Greece many times. They shared our love of the country. Back in our car it was a tough drive home. But during our hour long delay on the M25, we had the startling realisation that this was the first thing to actually go wrong during the whole holiday. Incredible. It wasn’t long before we were back home with only our photos, maps, tans and this journal to remember it by. That, and all the wonderful memories. Our journey had taken us from Athens to Milos, Santorini and back to Athens. Over the two weeks we had taken 2 flights, 2 ferries, 4 taxis, a car, 3 boats, a quad bike and a kayak. We had visited over 20 beaches and eaten at God only knows how many great restaurants and met many wonderful people. Sure, the Greeks are financially down the toilet and they are certainly after our tourist Euros, but there was a welcome, friendliness and generosity that just could not be faked. They really are a great bunch and I am truly in love with their country. Jennifer and I had both shared many wonderful adventures in the past fortnight. Both agreeing that each day was truly a day of firsts. And so to Greece, and to Jennifer for making these memories with me, ‘Efharisto’ JB. |