Turkey, Greece...Go!: 2012

Our last few days of the trip were spent in the scorching hot Greek capital, Athens. A lot of people told us Athens wasn't worth seeing or it was way too dangerous at the moment due to the economic crisis/riots/protests etc...

no clue what it says, but love me some greek writing

We actually loved Athens! Not in the way we did Istanbul, but just in the fact it generally seemed just like any of the cool bustling European cities we have visited. Yes, it was very apparent there is economic strife. Everywhere you turn there is graffiti laden alleyways and buildings, streets of dilapidated buildings and broken windows and red paint splattered all over the main plaza. To be honest, we have seen these sorts of sights in other cities and never once felt threatened or scared while wandering the streets of Athens...In fact, we wished we had more time there.

standard sight

not fans of police

we skipped this fruit booth (!)

art?

famous square where demonstrations/riots occur

wandering the marked up alleyways

Being the last couple of days on our trip, we had no real itinerary in Athens, except the Acropolis and a few other ancient structures. Slept in for once and by the time we got to the Acropolis it was packed with tourists and the heat was so intense people were clamoring for any tiny bit of shade a rogue olive tree had to offer. None of this though took away from the spectacular structures we laid our eyes upon and it was very fitting to end our final days of the trip in the historical center of Greece.

The Acropolis is perched high above the city and has the best 360 degree views of the massive city below.

ancient seats

inscribed pillar

yanni once played here

large-scale construction

the only structure not being renovated

view from the top

theater of dionysos

The highlight for us was the Parthenon. Even though it had a ton of scaffolding and cranes in the midst of restoration projects around it, it truly was a sight to see. I mean this thing has been around since sometime in the 430's BC and it's just so gigantic and I have no clue how something so elaborate was made so long ago and still is standing (in pieces obviously).

parthenon

nice tourist took this

Funny side note, there was a lot of inscribed marble posts with phallic symbols engraved into them???

hairy mons

The rest of the time we just wandered the Plaka, and the National Gardens and soaked in our last little bit of Greece. Jimmy swore he saw Scarlett Johannsen so we stalked a store front like sicko paparazzi would only to discover it was not her of course...

We happened to stumble upon the changing of the guard in front of the Parliment building. It was a combination of bizarre and silly to us, but I am sure there were very important historical reasons for wearing those outfits and while doing odd marching movements.

takes his job serious

tomb of the unknown soldier

great accuracy

cute socks and skirts guys!

Capped off our last night of the trip with our final traditional al fresco Greek meal and then some late night ouzos on the rooftop of our hotel checking out a lit up view of the Acropolis in the distance.

cheers babe!

why thank you!

looks much cooler in person

So that is all she wrote as they say...This trip was honestly way to much fun for us, I can't even put it into words really. The amazing food, people we met, sights we explored and experiences we had were just dreams come true for us and reaffirms our love for all things European!

THE END...(until the next trip we are currently brainstorming about:)

muah greece!

After relaxing in Naxos we hopped another ferry to Santorini. This island is known for its breathtaking views, modern Greek cuisine, insane sunsets and local wine. Naturally we partook in all of the above!

classic tourist Santorini shot

mad I spied on them

Getting to our hotel was somewhat of a b*tch. I should probably explain the layout of where we stayed to clarify...The main town of Santorini is fronted by a massive, gigantic cliff called a caldera. This long, arc shaped cliff is the result of volcanic eruptions sinking out the central part of what was once a bigger circular island leaving two volcanoes in the bay. With this said, the unobstructed views from such a high vantage point over the ocean are pretty spectacular. The sunsets of course, the best we saw on the trip.

nice spot to build a town

caldera view to the left...


...and to the right!

caldera church

going...

gone!

Our hotel was in the dead center of the caldera, and built right into the cliff. The problem is, there is only 2 paths to take in-and-out to get there...and it takes about 20 minutes up or down a winding hill plus hundreds of stairs just to get from our room into the center of town. This was the first trip we used a suitcase due to my old woman back issues and quite honestly, the caldera is the type of place you need a backpack as rolling suitcases and stairs and hills def. do not mix.


trying to get a decent connection for this damn blog

our hotel was very tall

not too shabby of a patio view

caldera view from our quad

Sidenote: Santorini, and a lot of places in Greece in general, really love their staircases being made out of overly-buffed marble. Do you know how dangerously slippery that is, especially on gigantic steep steps!? Needless to say, I clutched railings and walls for dear life.

duh

By the time we got to Santorini we were in the groove of travelling and just passed our days exploring the island by quad yet again. The beaches were unique here due to all the different volcanic layers and geologic goings-ons of the past. Red beach was one of the coolest looking beaches, but was the roughest to walk on since it was all sharp red lava rock.

church built into lava rock

red beach

crazy corn guy

We went to a lot of black sand beaches, where our favorite pastime was watching the unsuspecting tourists slip off their crocs and sport sandals on the black sand not realizing it was baking in the direct sun and felt like walking on hot coals!!! Ahahahhaaa! The pure joy we got from people screaming out nearly falling over in agony and sprinting to the water was priceless.

normally hot as hellll

jumping jacks in the ocean

my hair is in serious need of deep conditioning treatment by this time

maxin' and relaxin'

last beach day

Santorini is hugely famous for their wines, especially the sweeter white ones. The entire central part of the island is made up of miles and miles of vineyards. From what we were told the volcanic soil can make for some excellent and interesting wines.

church in a vineyard is normal

We had the two most amazing meals of our trip here...or at least the two best of modern Greek style. The caldera sparkles like gold at night when all of the lights come on so the atmosphere was quite romantic ;)

One of our to-die-for meals was on our last night and we went to this internationally known place perched on a hill in central Santorini overlooking acres of vineyards and the ocean. We went at sunset and preceded to have the best meal over the course of 3 hours capped off with some tree sap liquor called Mastic. This meal was the epitomy of what we love about travelling.

delic. amuse bouche

everyone should eat here

delicious fish

I am not sure if I mentioned the Greek frozen yogurt yet, but let me tell you, someone needs to open one of these shops back at home because we would be there several times a week. It is so much better tasting than regular fro yo. I guess the way to describe it is sorta like the original flavor at pinkberry but sooooo much better! My mouth is watering thinking about it. We also loved the loukoumades which are basically deep fried pastry dough balls sopping with honey syrup and cinnamon...very low fat of course.

mmmmmm

I think one of the few gripes we had on the trip is the main town, Fira. It was a bit of a letdown to be honest. Like a lot of cities with such high cruise ship traffic and general tourism the town had a bit of a Tiajuana vibe with a complete alleyway of English Pubs, terrible dance clubs playing horrendous techno music and cheap souvenir shops...If we hear Gotye's Somebody I Used To Know, one more time we might go crazy. I think we must have heard 28 different remixes of that song at least 5 times a day blaring from stores, clubs etc. Other songs I would like to not hear ever again are anything by Rhianna, J-Lo and Katy Perry as those 3 young ladies seem to be on constant rotation on this trip.

We got to catch the final of the Euro cup here and it was really awesome to see the Spaniards flood the streets to celebrate the big win.

congrats Espana

these donkeys have their work cut out for them

As in Naxos, we found our go-to lounge hidden in the cliff side underneath the town where we were welcomed by our favorite little waitress from Serbia who hooked us up with free ouzos and greek sprits. I think we spent a few hours each night there.

us and our fav. waitress

The town on the tip of Santorini called Oia Oia is where the classic stock photo of Greece is taken. (*See banner on my blog above!) This town is much more charming and village like but with that, comes a hefty price tag. Top art galleries and restaurants and 5 star hotels almost make it a bit too stuffy (and overpriced!) for us to stay in but gorgeous to walk around for sure. The whole island congregates here at sunset and if you do not go to the lookout point at least an hour early you will not get a spot.