Home Sweet Home

After spending a relaxed day in Glyfada at Charlotte's and enjoying my final meal of the trip (not my last meal, as Charlotte originally called it!!!), it was to the airport to start the journey homeward. It had stormed - stormed!!! - while we were eating, so I was worried my flight would be delayed, but it left Athens on time.

Of course, London had bad weather so we were in the hold for 30 minutes there. It then took an hour to get from the gate, through passport control and to the bus stop for the Hilton shuttle. Grr. I then had to wait 25 minutes for the next shuttle, having just missed one. Double grr. It was 11:30 pm by the time I checked in at the Hilton. Maximum possible sleep was down to 5 hours.

The Hilton room was rather nice, but all I cared about was the bed at that point. I completely zonked out, and 4:45 am came wayyyy too soon.

From the Hilton to the terminal where American is located, T3, you walk through an outdoor walkway, then take the HEX between T4-T3, then have another little walk. This, plus security, took all of 30 minutes. Why hadn't the night before gone so smoothly?!

I made my way to the Admirals Club, extremely happy to be a member as I got online, charged my iPod, and ate breakfast while guzzling coffee. Ahh. I enjoyed the lounge for a half hour or so before heading to the gate. What a civilized way to start the last leg!

The flight home was completely uneventful except for the sad demise of my headphones, which broke as I put them on. I tried wearing my iPhone headphones but my ears got sore, so I ended up holding the left earpiece to my head while watching the movies!!!

We arrived at O'Hare a little early, and amazingly I got through border control, baggage claim and customs in 25 minutes! Getting up early sucked, but being on the only flight coming in has it's benefits. Just over an hour after landing, I was home with a very happy cat.

This was such a wonderful trip. I can't imagine doing this kind of vacation frequently, but it truly had everything: relaxation, gorgeous views, culture, activity, beaches, food! I'm so happy I was able to do this vacation and will have fantastic memories.

Until the next trip...

Polkagrl

Red Beach

Having done the black sand beach, we wanted to see the red beach. The bus to Akrotiri, the town near the beach, was only hourly. So we aimed for the 10:30 am bus and got there just in time - or so we thought. The bus was "full." I use quotes because while there were people up to the doors, there was also a ton of space and people refusing to move in further. We urbanites could see there was a ton of room. Alas, the driver refused to do anything about it and the bus left without us.

After a coffee break, we returned to the bus terminal in plenty of time for the next bus and made it on no problem. On arriving at the Akrotiri beach terminal, a bunch of us started walking in the direction indicated by the sign. There was a little pier with a sign for the red, white & black beaches, but the owner of the nearest taverna said the boat was not running (we later found out it was too windy). So we all started walking together, laughing because none of us knew where we were going!

We did manage to get to the right place - a stunning overlook of the beach and the trail down. Charlotte commented that we thought we'd be going without our hilly hike that day...! By the time we got to the small stretch of beach, we were hot, sweaty, and ready for a swim. We set out our belongings and checked out the water. It was very rocky, with large rocks near the shore in some places, and a lot of waves. Standing in the water, our calves were pelted with pebbles when the waves came in. We went back and put on our shoes, then got in - ahhh.

Although we hadn't been sure we'd spend the entire day at the beach, we ended up doing just that. There weren't too many people as it was a little difficult to get to. The people watching was great, though, and the sound of the waves was relaxing.

We finally decided we were hungry around 4 pm and hiked back toward the terminal. We ate at a fish taverna that my cousin had let me know about - it had been in Bon Appetit! The decor was very cute and the food.... we agreed that it may have been the best of the trip. I indulged in an order of mussels -have to get some seafood at a fish taverna - and they were delicious.

We finished our meal just in time for the next bus, which was lucky as there was a 2 hour wait after that!

On the way from he beach to the taverna, there had been a stand with traditional Santorini products, so we bought a bottle of wine. Back in the room, we stuck the wine in the freezer while we rinsed off from the beach, then went out on the balcony to enjoy our wine and the evening view. A couple of hours passed very pleasantly before we decided to go into Fira and have a look around.

Neither of us were hungry as we'd eaten lunch so late, so we ended up poking around in all of the shops that were open. The evening was capped off with a drink - champagne for Charlotte, vinsanto for me. Then back to the room to rest up for our last day in Santorini and the flight back to Athens.

Caldera Cruise and Other Adventures!

Very ambitious today – we got up “early” (in Greek time) and were having breakfast by 9 am. Shortly after, we set off for the cable cars and were soon being hustled into the car. It turned out there were 4 cruise ships calling at the Old Port, so they were running the cars constantly instead of the usual every 20 minutes – fantastic!

We had a little wait during which we checked out the Old Port – nothing fancy. We boarded a boat that looked like a sailing boat but was not! Then sailed over to Nea Kameni, the island that is the active volcano. We had a strenuous hike up black sand paths to the active crater, where our guide gave us the history of the island. We stopped just before the talk to check out a hole that was 96 degrees Celsius (!) and gave off steam and a sulfur odor. As we listened to our guide, I could feel the soles of my feet warming from the ground. It was pretty wild.

After hiking back down, we boated over to the next island, Palea Kameni. The boat anchored off the shore and Charlotte and I, along with about 10 others, jumped into the water and swam to the hot spring. The water at first was chilly, then as you got closer to the spring warmed up a bit, also turning a rusty brown. They had warned us our suits could become discolored! We splashed around in the warm spring water for a while, looking at the goats up on the rocks, then swam back to the boat. Changing out of wet suits in public was tricky, but Charlotte taught me the Scandinavian art of changing and we managed!

Next stop: Therasia and its port of Korfo. We almost all at lunch at the place the guide recommended, Captain John’s. Charlotte and I devoured the pork and chicken souvlaki! Mmm it was good. After eating we poked around the port a bit – not too much to see, but there was a local fishing and looking very picturesque!

Back on the boat and heading for Oia. It was so pretty as we approached, poised on top of the cliff and dripping down. I thought the boat might tip as everyone scooted to the side with the view! Even the port was cute.

After Oia, we docked at the Fira Old Port and the tour was over. We had 3 optionsto get back up to town: cable car, walk (600 steps? Um, no), or donkey. We decided on donkey. For some reason, they decided not to lead us – or to give us any instructions. Just up and then the donkey goes! We were laughing the entire way because they each had their own opinion about the best way to go – mine pretty much went straight up, while Charlotte’s was zigzagging the whole way. And do not get in the donkey’s way as they do not yield!!! It was a hilariously fun experience.

You might think this was quite a day and that we were done, but no. After an internet interlude, we barely caught a bus to Oia and got there 40 minutes before sunset. But, doh! We forgot a map. So we frantically wandered, looking for the Venetian fort. We finally found it and it was, of course, packed, but the view was fantastic. It was so hazy that the sunset itself was not all that gorgeous, but the light on the town was beautiful.

We wandered Oia a bit – at a more relaxed pace now! – until we were hungry. We ate at the Blue Sky Taverna, which did offer a view of the beautiful blue sky until it became too dark. The food was quite good – we had spicy cheese dip, eggplant Santorini style, and Greek salad.

The word “wander” seems to go with Oia, at least when one has forgotten a map. We wandered quite a bit after dinner trying to find the bus stop/taxi stand. After the day we’d had, it was taking a toll on my knee and I was relieved when we found the taxi. A quick ride – and I mean quick, the guy drove like a NASCAR driver! – and we were back in Fira, and ready to go to bed.

To the Black Sand Beach and Ancient Thera

Having failed to find a travel agency to buy boat tour tickets on Tuesday night, we decided Wednesday would be a trip to see Ancient Thera and the black sand beach at Kamari. Finding the bus station and the bus to Kamari turned out to be pretty easy, and we were in Kamari before 11 am.

Finding the mini bus to Ancient Thera was a little more challenging. We were looking for a public mini bus and stop, which turned out to be wrong – when we went in to a travel agent to ask about it, she told us it’s a transfer we have to arrange and we had about 3 minutes before the next one! So she kindly called them and told them to wait for us and we booked our 10€ mini bus.

That mini bus was worth every penny. I would have taken pictures of the view but I was trying to control my stomach’s flip flops as we went up a steep, narrow road with tight hairpin turns, sometimes requiring the driver to back up to a wide spot so traffic from the other direction could pass. It was a good 15-20 minute ride, but felt longer! And there was no way we would have wanted to walk up!

Especially since it became immediately apparent that touring the Ancient Thera site meant walking up the mountain. It was p

retty cool to see the ruins and how the town was laid out; residents definitely had a gorgeous view! Although trekking down to the water to fish must not have been fun.

The minibus allows you 1.5 hours at the site which turned out to be a perfect amount of time. Between climbing up, the lack of shade, and the relentless sun, more time wasn’t needed. The drive down wasn’t as bad – mostly because I closed my eyes!

After seeing the sparkling water from the top of the mountain, we were anxious to get in, so we headed to the beach and got our chairs, and then headed into the water. The bottom was pebbly and dropped quickly. The water felt cold at first, but was really refreshing after being so hot.

We air dried then ate at the taverna just above the chairs. Our waiter was a huuuuge flirt, asking “Is there anything else I can do for you?” with a suggestive smile after taking our orders. Ha! The food was good, especially the stuffed zucchini.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach then walked around the town a bit before catching the bus back to Fira. Kamari looked like a cute, resort-like area to stay in, but we were quite happy we chose to stay in Fira.

We had passed a couple of travel agents in the morning when walking to the bus and went to one now to book the volcano tour. The first place was very nice, but upon getting my credit card pretended it did not work. I told him it did, it’s an American card he has to swipe, try again. He “tried” again, but I didn’t see him swipe it; we said goodbye and I fumed as we went to the next place. Greece is such a cash based country but you’d think on Santorini, they’d be a little more accommodating of tourists and their plastic.

Luckily, the next place – recommended by Katerina, our hostess – was no problem and we were set.

We were lured in to a bakery we were passing and after eyeing the pies for several minutes, decided dinner would be pies and the wine we’d bought in Kamari. On getting back to the room we stuck the wine in the freezer while we showered and changed, then had a feast of cheese pie in whole wheat, potato pie, and dessert of chocolate banana croissant. Yum!

We thought we would have a nightcap in town, but found that most places were empty or closing at midnight (only 30 minutes away, and very early for Greece!). So instead, Charlotte ended up buying a pair of shoes. J

Tomorrow we get up early and take the boat around the Caldera Sea – I’m looking forward to it!

Off to Santorini!

I'm skipping a day in the blog as we basically chilled at the beach on Mykonos for the day yesterday. It was a gorgeous cove, and one of the "expensive" beaches. The water was cold! But it was a lovely, relaxing day.

Today we checked out of our hotel and wandered Mykonos for a few hours before our ferry. The ferry ride was nice, if longer than I thought it would be; both Charlotte and I took a nap. We stopped at Paros and Ios before arriving at Santorini.

As we neared Santorini, cameras came out and everyone craned their necks to look out the window. It truly was a gorgeous sight. On one side the island with villages melting from the top down onto the cliff; on the other, a black lava island.

Our hotel met us at the port, which was nice, especially as it's a bit of a ride into Fira. The hotel was a bit of a shock - a tiny room! - especially after the one in Mykonos. And my suitcase handle had been busted on the ferry, which had made me cranky. We sulked a bit before heading to the main hotel building to see if they had a map.

Our hosts were so kind that we soon felt less pain over our room. They gave us wine, went over the attractions, and made us feel at home. We spent an hour with them before heading off to dinner.

We ate at a restaurant on the caldera side, recommended by our hosts (their son works there). It was very good food and a gorgeous view.

Now we're exhausted and ready for bed... thinking it will be the beach tomorrow.

Delos

On Sunday, I got myself up early and bought a ticket to Delos. Everyone clambered onto the benches on the top of the boat to soak up the sun. As I waited for the boat to leave, I realized that although I'd applied sunscreen, I forgot to bring any with me. Damn.

After a pleasant 30 minute ride we arrived at Delos. The island looked huge! I wanted to avoid getting on the last boat back, so I had about 3 hours to see the sights. And the sights were amazing. Thinking of how the island must have looked in its glory, with the huge populace, was just mind-boggling.

It was also mind-boggling how it was so sunny and hot there!!! The sun just beat down on us. I got to the museum at the midway point and was grateful to be out of the sun for a while. The exhibits were amazing, especially a mosaic floor that was just gorgeous; it's hard to tell from the picture but the tiles are tiny, the size of a pencil eraser or smaller.

I set off again to wander the ruins. Houses, temples, stores... all amazing to imagine. I met a woman from California in one of the temple ruins and she had an excellent guidebook, so for a while we were at the same pace and she would tell me about each ruin.

At this point I was so hot that I was standing up against walls and pressing myself into corners of ruins to get into shade. If I found a big patch I would sit for 5-10 minutes and admire whatever view was provided. At 1:10 or so I gave in and made my way to the boat, bought a beer and a water and guzzled down what was the best, coldest beer I'd ever had - it was so refreshing!!! As I waited for the boat to leave I had to laugh - everyone was now crowding inside, having had more than enough sun!!!

When we got back to Mykonos, Charlotte was waiting at the dock and we wandered the town again - she'd gotten red on the sunbeds the day before and I had had enough sun for the day!!! We came across a restaurant that we liked the looks of for dinner. After buying wine and after-sun lotion, we headed back to the room for sunset drinks then went back to the restaurant, where we had a fantastic meal of modern Greek cuisine.

After dinner it was time for bed - we needed to be ready for the beach the next day!

Naxos to Mykonos

A little behind on my posting, oops!

Although I didn't have time on Saturday morning to get to one of the more beautiful beaches, I thought I'd at least get in some sunning time at the local beach. So I headed down bright and early and was delighted to discover the beds are no charge at that hour, as the money collectors are not there yet. I had one woman try to sell me a massage and I passed, knowing I needed to conserve funds for Mykonos. But when a guy came by offering foot massages, I couldn't resist - my legs and feet were painfully sore from all of the walking in the hilly terrain. It felt soooo good!

Back to the hotel to shower and pack. Stavros, the owner, came to pick me up and at the port told me I could leave my bag at his friend's restaurant. That's what I loved

about Naxos - so casual and friendly and safe. I dropped my bag and grabbed lunch down the waterfront. A very large gentleman sat down a couple tables away and one of the (many) stray cats soon decided he was a prime target. It cracked me up to see this little cat waiting so hopefully for the large man to drop something!

The ferry ride to Mykonos was quick and I slept most of the way. After calling the hotel to get directions, I arrived to find Charlotte a nice pink from lying on the sunbeds. We set off to wander the town and got lost, repeatedly, in the maze of streets that seem to go in physically impossible loops. We each managed to buy a little something for ourselves while wandering.

Back to the hotel to change for dinner. We ate at a place we'd passed that looked nice, and had a delicious meal- not traditional Greek food but with a little update/twist. Yum. We walked around after dinner, looking for a champagne bar we'd seen earlier; it was quite a while before we found it, looping back on ourselves and discovering streets we'd missed earlier! Eventually we did, and had to laugh - all we'd noticed earlier was the champagne bar, not the name: "Queens." (!!!) We sat down, opened the menu and stopped laughing - 20 Euro for most drinks - yikes! We ordered the cheapest drink, prosecco, and nursed it for quite some time before calling it a night.

A Whole Day on Naxos!

Today was my only full day on Naxos. On the advice of some of the locals, and becuase I wanted to go to the Citron distillery, I headed up to the villages.

The roads are windy and through mountains, so the 17 km bus ride took 45 minutes. For some reason I had decided to go to Filoti, and when I got there I wondered why. It was cute but tiny and nothing apparent to do except eat. And it was too early for lunch by Greek standards. So I got a coffee and nursed it for a while, deciding how to get to Halki, where the distillery is. I decided to walk the 3 km as it was downhill.

The walk was really beautiful. It was sunny and warm, but there was a nice breeze that kept it cool. Nobody driving by thought it was crazy to see someone walking on the road, in fact I saw some other walkers.

It was fine until I came across and was distracted by a walking trail that also led to Halki. I started down it and was fine at first, but missed a turn and started thinking hmm, this is not right. After a few minutes of thinking that I went back to the road. I found the trail again in Halki; it would have been a nice walk if I'd known better where I was going.

Halki was a very cute little village. The distillery tou

r was brief but informative, and at the end I tasted the 3 variations of Citron - all yummy. So I broke my vow and bought more alcohol to bring home! I saw a cute grillhouse in a square, but the only empty tables were smack in the sun, so I shopped a bit while stalking the shady tables.

Finally one opened up and I plopped down at it. I got tzatziki and pork souvlaki

which is a LOT of food for one person. I did my best but couldn't finish. When I called for the bill, the guy asked me if I didn't like the food; I told him it was delicious but too much for me! He waved the souvlaki skewer and said women shouldn't look like that - I had to laugh. He sat down and we talked about Naxos, Crete and world politics for a while - it was an interesting conversation. The people here are so friendly.

I then went to wait for the bus, and the lone woman on the bench asked if I was American. She was, too, and we started chatting. She had been in Greece for a couple weeks, doing basically the reverse of my trip, and is turning 62 on Sunday. Soon a woman from one of the shops came along and sat with us. She lives in Naxos Chora but is from the UK. We all had a fun chat until the bus came, including a restaurant recommendation I don't have time to follow through on. Boo!

After the bus ride, I puttered around a bit, had a coffee on the waterfront, then walked around before going to the Venetian Museum for the concert (as I walked by last night's restaurant, my friend from last night waved hello - how fun!). The concert was great - fantastic bouzeki music. The one letdown was that there were only 4 dances; I'd thought there'd be more. But it was a great space, a great view, and an overall wonderful evening.

Now to bed... trying to hit the beach before leaving tomorrow.

First Evening in Naxos

Feeling pretty good right now, for a couple of reasons.

1) My watch is fixed, yay! I am unreasonably happy at having a functioning timepiece on my arm again. I may have an issue here but we'll explore the 12-step program later. One of the shops on the waterfront was able to locate and install a battery in my watch, and now I am happy.

2) I loooooooooove a good meal. Based on several recommendations, I went to To Kastro for dinner. Dinner

for one in Greece is difficult - I want to order about twice as much as I can eat. I restrained myself to a Naxos salad (cheese, tomato, caper, onion & olives) and a mackerel entree. (and yes it was the whole fish!!!) I still shamed myself to the point that the proprietor? manager? offered to debone my fish!!! He did and brought the remains back despite my protests that I was full. It was delicious but I could not eat any more. So he helpfully sent over a digestif! :-) I think it had a flavor of mastic, but I'm not sure. He came over and chatted for a while which was fun, then sent over a 2nd glass of digestif... yeah I'm sleeping well tonight!

So, plan for tomorrow: villages. Maybe beach before if I get up. I haven't had a good night's sleep since Sunday night, so we'll see.

To Greece and Then to Naxos!

Here I am in my first full day in Greece. It's hard to believe I'm here!

The trip to Greece went fairly well. The flight from Chicago had quite a bit of turbulence at first, so dinner came a bit late.... which meant little time for sleeping, unfortunately. After arriving at Heathrow Airport I went through security back in to Terminal 3 to use the Admirals Club where I had a nice breakfast of pumpkin muffins and coffee. Then I had to take the bus to Terminal 5, go through security, and wait for the gate for my flight to open. On the advice of the lounge attendant I allowed 2 hours to change terminals, which was only a little too much time (!).

I met Charlotte at the square in Glyffada and we went to her place to drop[ off my bags. We then went to a Cretan restaurant, which was pretty good overall, but the tzatziki was a little bland.

Back home to pack the additional items from Charlotte (towel, tanning lotion & tix!) then hit the hay for my 5:30 am alarm. Sometime in the middle of the night a car, maybe 2 cars, was screeching around the street outside Charlotte's. It was so loud it woke me up and it took a while to get back to sleep. Argh.

Very easy getting to the ferry this morning, the taxi took me directly to the correct gate. It was a nice ride. I had a family next to me until the first stop at Paros, they had 2 small children who were adorable and very enetrtaining when I got bored!

The hotel owner met me at the dock in Naxos and drove me to the hotel. He is very nice, and gave me some tips on sights, hikes etc. The room is actually like a little apartment, with kitchenette - very convenient! After walking all over I stocked up some yogurt and coffee for the next 2 days.

The old town is a MAZE ing. Ha, I'm so punny. I would love to know how far I walked, becuase all of the streets are narrow and winding and make no sense. I ended up in the same place several times without knowing how I got there! I hope I can find the Venetian Museum again tomorrow night - I got a ticket to the Bouzouki Evening which has wine, music and dancing; it promises to be a very cool experience.

So, I'm taking a short break now and catching up on email, blogging and possibly a nap. The shops are closed now and it's wayyyy to early to eat, so I may as well have a break! I'm also looking at tomorrow's possibilities... maybe heading to a village... stay tuned!

And I'm Off...

Just barely made it to the Blue Line before the rain started - a couple of drops hit me and I groaned while stepping up the pace for the last 10 yards. Whew! As I rode the El to O'Hare, I could see it really coming down. By the time we started to go underground at the airport, though, it stopped.

I was selected for additional random screening at security. Hmm. Apparently TSA wanted to hold my hands. As they were 1) still attached to my body and 2) free of any naughty residue,* I was free to go in a jiffy.

Now sitting in the Admirals Club. I'm mourning the death of my watch battery and wondering how to get a new one. Maybe I can get one in Heathrow... not seeing anything that might be helpful here at O'Hare.

So - 10 hours until I'm in Heathrow, 17 until I'm in Greece. I can't wait to get some tzatziki.

*My hands are attached to my body and free of naughty residue. TSA is not attached to my body; I cannot speak to their residue.

Unpack... Launder... Pack

I'm heading back to Greece at the end of the month, this time for a bit of island-hopping: Naxos, Mykonos and Santorini. I'm taking two weeks for this trip, which is freaking me out a little as I have never taken such a long vacation as an adult! And it's going to be rough being away from my cat for that long; now that she's a senior cat, I worry about her a lot.

It's also a challenge as I just got home at midnight from a 5-day business trip. Which means I have 5.5 days in the office before I leave, and just over a week to unpack from that trip, launder everything (including the sheets the cat puked on this morning, sigh) and repack. Hopefully I do a better job packing than I did for the past trip, for which I forgot several key items including half of a suit! But since the packing list for vacation reads: swimsuits, flip flops, dresses - it should be easier. I just have to resist packing all of my cute shoes!