We flew to Athens on Friday night to begin our tour of Greece. This trip was especially exciting for us because Dave and Leah were meeting us in Athens. We spent the first night in one of the least impressive hotels we'd been to in our travels. It brought budget hotel to a whole new level, and while neither Sloane nor I woke up with a cockroach on our face like poor Leah, I can't say we'll be going back to the Hotel Faros II anytime soon!
We spent a day in Athens where we went to the new Acropolis museum, which had opened earlier in the year. After spending some time in the museum we went to the Acropolis itself.
Sloane and Dave on the Propylaea, the gateway to the Acropolis.
Sloane and Leah with the Erechteum in the background. Porch of the Caryatids or "the porch of men" on the north side (just behind them) is unique because each pillar is a woman in a different pose, but positioned in a way that their necks can support the weight of the platform above them. The foundations in front of them are from the Old Temple of Athena.
Sloane and me in front of the Parthenon, the temple of Athena. Part of it was under construction but it was still an incredible sight.
Sloane and Dave with a view over looking Lykavitos Hill. On the top of Lykavitos Hill is the Chapel of St. George.
The next day we boarded our super sweet high speed ferry in the port of Piraeus to the first island of the trip, Paros. A quick bus ride later and we arrived at our hotel, the hotel Corali in Piso Livadi.
Our room had a view looking over the little fishing harbor, and was a huge step up from our Athens accommodation...not a cockroach in sight!
Sloane had no trouble sleeping!
The afternoon we got into Piso Livadi we decided to take a walk along the coast to check out the beaches.
Since most of the tourists have gone by September, we were able to enjoy more of a local feel to the little fishing town.
For dinner we went into town. Sloane, who wouldn't eat fish a few years ago, decided that he'd give it a go and was happy he did.
Although I couldn't sell him on the urchins...
Not all of our meals were as successful...the next day for Dave and I decided to split the daily special and got a plate of fried sardines.
One of our better decisions of the trip, we decided to rent ATV's. We went down to Golden Beach for a wind surfing lesson. Despite Dave's valiant efforts, he failed to catch the yacht.
Sloane and me racing...Sloane may look like he's ahead but I'm sure I ended up winning.
That night for dinner I had one of the best meals I've ever had...boiled octopus in red wine sauce. I'm craving it right now just writing about it!
After our trip to Italy in April I didn't think anything could beat Italian food, but Greece may have rivaled it. I think I had Greek yogurt with fresh fruit and honey every morning for breakfast...yum!
We had so much fun with the ATV's we decided to rent them our second day in Paros, but this time we decided to tackle another island.
We rode down the coast to Pounta where we took the ferry across to Antiparos. Antiparos was the girls' island and it was Leah's and my turn to drive the ATV's, while Sloane and Dave rode on the back.
We stopped for lunch at Aghios Georgios before heading up to the top of the mountain to see the cave.
The stalagmite at the entrance to the cave is the oldest in Europe and is estimated to be 45 million years old. Near the time of it's 1673 discovery the French ambassador to Constantinople, Marquis de Noudel, decided to preform Christmas on top of the stalagmite.
The pictures don't do it close to justice, it was amazing.
Our last night in Paros we had a few drinks, had a few laughs and watched the sunset.
The next day we were back on the ferry to island #2: Naxos.
At the port we caught a cab to our hotel, Finikas, on the bay of Agali.
A few from our porch looking down at Sloane and Leah standing by the pool.
Naxo was much bigger, more spread out, and rural than Paros. There wasn't a lot near our hotel and so we decided to buy a few bottles of wine and stay in for the night.
We went down to the beach to skip rocks and watch the sunset.
The next day I had the brilliant idea to walk along the coast from our hotel to Mikri Vivia, which was supposed to be a good beach for windsurfing, and Sloane and I were itching to try again.
Our little walk turned into a much bigger walk and several hours later we finally got to the beach.
Dave and Leah wisely decided to relax on the beach and read while Sloane and I attempted our first non-lesson windsurfing effort.
I think this picture of Sloane...
...and this one of me, are the only evidence that we actually got up at all.
After we went to the beach cafe and soon forgot about our failed windsurfing attempt as we enjoyed our magic sticks (made by magnum)...these delectable ice-cream treats put drumsticks to shame.
Down kitty! As we had dinner in Mikri Vivia, Dave made a new friend. To be fair, the feline population in both Naxos and Paros was a little out of control, but this little guy was particularly aggressive.
That night we decided to take a short cut back to the hotel because it was getting dark, so we walked along the main road. Unfortunately it got dark much quicker than expected and we really had no idea where we where. After a few hours of wandering and more than a few questioning looks from locals we finally made it back to the hotel.
The next morning it was back to the Naxos port where we headed off to island #3, Santorini.
We took a bus from the port Omos Athinios to the town at the tip of the island where we were staying, Oia. It was incredibly hot so we didn't waste any time walking down the cliff to the water at the Amoudi bay. Sloane dove right in.
Sloane and Dave enjoyed the scenery inside the caldera.
And then we all sat down for a nice lunch before heading back up 250 steps to Oia (almost getting run over by a pack of donkeys carrying less ambitious tourists back up the cliff).
Our room in Santorini at the Hotel Delfini had a balcony overlooking the caldera and relaxed and had a few Mythos beers before heading out to dinner.
We watched the ships come in and out of the port.
And then headed out to dinner.
The next morning I woke up to find the island covered in a misty fog.
It burned off just in time for us to get to the Nea Kameni volcanic island. After a few minutes in the beating sun on the volcano we found ourselves seriously missing the cooling Santiorini fog.
The last small eruption of the volcano was in 1950.
We took our "pirate ship" to Thirassia for a quick lunch and swim before heading back to the Amoudi bay.
I savored my last dip in the crystal blue water.
We went to the end of the island to grab a few drinks, play some more hearts (so I could beat Dave again) and watch the sunset.
And yes, the sunsets in Santorini are that amazing.
We spent our last night in Greece dining to a unique soundtrack of Greek versions of American classics (think Sweet Child of Mine meets Dido) and drinking Vin Santo.
The next morning we said goodbye to Dave and Leah and headed to the airport. But before we took off we made one last stop for lunch at the black sand beach of Aghia Paraskevi.
And had one last magic stick before boarding our flight back to London. Thanks Dave and Leah for an amazing trip!
