I love to travel and write about traveling, the latter only limited by my lack of love for typing. I started a tradition in 2015 of treating my nieces and nephews to a trip to a place of their choosing (within reason) as a present for graduation from college. The first trip was to Patagonia before Christmas of 2015 with Andrew O’Rourke, then to Italy with his sister, Kelsey, in January of 2017. In May of 2017, I took Madelaine Mills to Paris and Amsterdam. Thomas Wentworth passed. There was a lull, but then Carlie Mills was up for 2020, and she wanted to go to Greece, where I had not been. Fortunately I waited to make plans and didn’t have to cancel anything as Covid 19 shut everything down. I continued to travel, but without any nieces or nephews. But this year finally looked promising. In addition to Carlie, Cecelia Hough graduated early in December of 2022. They were most agreeable to go together with me and they chose Greece.
I worked at the World Bank from 2018-2021, and while there picked the brains of many of my patients as to places to go. The Greek ones recommended staying only a short time in Athens and going out to the islands for most of the trip. They gave various agendas, but I usually lost them. I consulted World Bank friends Lesley Goh and Miguel Soriano once we picked a time (they thought May would be less crowded but the water too cold), and they told us to try for two islands. That was my intent once I started booking things. You will have to read (or scroll) to the end to find my own advice about traveling to Greece, but we opted to only go to one island, Santorini (the best), and to fly instead of taking a ferry, which was my original plan.
https://youtu.be/qm9mVfjTQMM
For those of you who don’t want to read the rest but maybe will sit through a narrated video.
Getting there : The girls did not want to try to leave on a Friday to get there on Saturday, so we planned to leave Saturday and come back the next Sunday, for 1 night on a plane and 6 nights in Greece. There are no direct flights from the easy to get to airports in the area, so we left just after lunch at a Bethlehem Vietnamese restaurant Saturday (allowing plenty of time to get there) for Newark, connecting through to Athens via Vienna on Austrian Airlines. The trip to Newark encountered multiple accidents and google maps-led detours, but we still arrived in plenty of time at ARB Parking, which surprised me by taking cash only, taking all of my and the girls’ cash. They otherwise were great and got us there, where check-in was easy and so was security. The long flight, 8 hours, went smooth with little sleep despite my new neck support pillow and use of a blanket to blackout my senses. I thought Cecelia was sitting next to a pleasant man who talked to her off and on, but turns out he was a creep who was rude to her for wearing a mask amongst other pettiness.
At Vienna, we had to move around a bit to another terminal to get to the next flight and the girls got a passport stamp on the way. The second flight was a little over 2 hours, but the flight was delayed. We sat behind a boy who appeared to be about 3 years old and possessed by a demon. He sang and yelled almost the whole time, waking me up several times as he jumped up and down in the seat. At the time to land, he repeatedly got out of his seatbelt and moved around, and when belted, kicked the tray table in front of him with both feet as hard as he could, alternating with hitting it as hard as he could with both hands when it was down. The adults sitting on each side made only the merest efforts to control him. After we got to baggage claim, the thought occurred to me that perhaps I had missed a chance to kill the next baby Hitler.
Our bags made it, and we asked for help at the information desk. The best way to get to our hotel was a taxi, and the area was just outside the nearby door #3. The queue was long, but it went fast. We were next when the guy overseeing it said to go to the third car.
A person got out, and I immediately could not tell their gender. Gray hair, well lined, jowly face, and a square-shouldered, boxy physique with what looked like breasts, but bad posture as well. The voice was deeper and gruff, and they handled the heavy bags well, fitting them all in the trunk. No matter what the gender was, they drove like a maniac once off the airport grounds, doing about 140km/hr (around 80mph) in the 80km/hr zone. The windows were open to add to the effect of excessive speed. No one said anything for a while. They finally said some things about landmarks we passed, like the ancient Olympic stadium on our left, and then also why we drove around the block to get to our hotel, The Royal Olympic. The meter was a little over 43 euros, so I gave them 50E. They seemed happy. The girls insist it was a woman. I am still not sure.
The Royal Olympic Hotel was in an excellent area downtown, near the Acropolis, and it had a room that three could stay in with a king (two separate beds pushed together) and a twin. But we had to wait until 3pm to check in, and then our room was not ready. They had a nice lounge where the girls fell asleep and/or looked at their phones. They offered us a free drink while we were waiting, but I didn’t care. They let us check in then and our room was on the third of 7 floors, as far from the desk as possible. It was nice and the wifi worked, so we rested a spell, then took showers and got dressed to go out.
We had very little to eat all day, so that was my first goal, and I thought we would get a late lunch and then a late dinner, but everything took long enough we were eating only dinner at 6pm. There was a vegan restaurant just around the corner, probably only 30 yards away from the hotel. It was ideal (Cecelia and I are vegetarian). We could eat outside, where it was a perfect temperature. I ordered a lot of things, including what was a staple throughout, fried potatoes.
We crossed a busy boulevard and entered a park, where there was a church and an area where people sat around. We moved onto some dirt trails and ended up on the road that went by the Olympic Stadium. We noticed right away the cross walks did not stay on walk for long and one had to hustle. The stadium charged a fee to go in but didn’t promise much more, so we just looked on from behind the barricades and then crossed the street to go back through another park. My goal was to find our way around to where we could view the Acropolis from outside the fences and barriers. Along the way we passed a large yellow building, Zappeion Hall, which had a fountain and gardens, with many orange trees with the fruit rotting on the ground around them. We worked our way through there to where we could see the Stili Olimpiou Dios, some old columns that had scaffolding around them, with a few sitting apart. We kept moving until we came to what becamse one of my favorite landmarks, Hadrian’s Arch, and a busy intersection. We crossed there and got on a cobblestoned pedestrian walkway that took us to the southern side of the Acropolis for our first good views of it.
So, the Acropolis. WOW. Way more impressive than I thought. The walls and hills are quite high above the surroundings, and you can see the Parthenon sides well from the street. We continued on the path, a steady, gradual uphill, then down a bit as well, turning around on the downhill section when we got gelato. They wanted to walk back another way to avoid the crowds, and I found one, but it was quite a bit longer.
I had an idea when we got back. The hotel, which was quite nice overall, very old-timey glamour and lighting, has a rooftop restaurant where we got complementary breakfast. I figured we could go up there, now that it was dark, and get a nice view of the Acroplis at night. I had seen quite a few photos online of it and wanted to see it for real. There is only one elevator that goes to the roof, and every elevator was tiny. We got out and I asked the maitre de if we could just got look at the views and he said of course. So we all took photos. It was lovely and well worth it.
Any reader of these in the past will know the highlights of the trip for me are my morning runs. In Athens, that was no different. I slept better than usual (though for only 6 hours) on my little twin bed and got up early to run, just as the sun rose. I went right up to Hadrian’s Arch and crossed the street there, following the same path we had walked the night before. It was lovely, with light from the east, and I took many pictures with my phone. I had noticed a road the night before that headed more toward the Acropolis and took that past some of the lower ruins and to Areopagus Hill, an area of exposed rock on the northwest side of the hills with a great view of Athens and the west side of the Acropolis. Then I ran back down the the walkway and veered off that into the neighborhoods north of the Acropolils, passing The Roman Forum of Athens. I ended up in the parks we had been in the night before as well and then headed back, a good 4 miles. I stretched and showered before the girls were up and went to breakfast. There was a lovely view in the morning as well.
Their breakfast buffet was very nice, though they only had cow’s milk for cereal, but lots of choices and I ate a lot. I rushed back when the girls didn’t come up and went to the desk at 8 to try to schedule an Acropolis tour, but there was a line at the desk, so I went back to the room and decided to go without a guide. I booked our skip the line tickets online and, when the girls were back and ready, we headed out.
We had heard the lines were long to get into the Acropolis and that it could get extremely crowded, so we went as early as we could, and, et voila, NO LINE at 8:45am (which was fortunate as it took a while for us to go through the gate as I gave Carlie the same e-ticket as me). The bottom had several ruins; a theater, some temples and then some preserved columns, and we took all of those in as we gradually went up and towards the Acropolis.
It got more and more crowded as we got to the bottleneck, a set of stone stairs that took you through a set of columns and then onto the ancient site.
As you walk through the entrance, the Parthenon is on the right, and that side is covered currently by scaffolding. There were lots of people milling about, but plenty of open space as well. We went right over there and looked around, then moved along the side and to the back. It is a good-sized building and still holding up. To the left of it was the Erechtheion, and we walked over there and then to the far end, which has an overlook with great views, including of the Olympic Stadium and all the parks we were in. Then we went in close for a look at the non-scaffolded side and the area along that wall, before taking a closer look at the Erechtheion. We kept mentioning how glad we were to be able to look at what we wanted and not to have to listen to a guide!
W started out, and the exit is really impressive as well. It was a great experience overall, for me especially with my interest in the art and architecture of the ancients. The exit was back through the columns in another passage and then down some stairs with a great view of Areopagus Hill and the ruins of the forum below. We made out way from there to Areopagus Hill. Carlie was wary of going there, but it is not scary and we got some good shots.
We found a trail from Areopagus Hill that went down through the scrub and back to the pedestrian walkway and out of the crowds. We walked the general area in which I had run, back through some alleys and narrow roads heading back to the hotel. Cecelia talked about going to the pool to relax and swim, but the water was a bit cold, so they fell asleep for two hours. We had tickets as well to the Acropolis Museum, so we went out for a late lunch and found a nice place where we could eat outside. We got salads, all of which were too big, and then I panicked when I looked at the Museum passes and saw they expired at 3pm, and it was 2:20. We went over and again had trouble at the gates, but got in. It was nice, but after the Acropolis, a let down. Lots of old statues and carvings, with the best exhibits models of what the Acropolis looked like over the centuries. I saw a sign for the archaeological dig, and we went there. It was under the building; the Acropolis Museum was intentionally built over an archaeological dig site (Again, issues with the gates! Sigh).
After the museum we walked up a steep hill - I thought they might rebel - and got into some nice neighborhoods with souvenir shops and a place to get gelato. Then we headed back to the hotel, where the pool was now too crowded :-), so more naps ensued.
After everyone was awake, the plan was to walk out the pedestrian walkway for dinner at a place where we could see the Acropolis at night. We got a great table at The Hill restaurant. The girls liked their meals - mine wasn’t so great, but there was a good lemon pie for dessert, all as it got dark and the Acropolis glowed. It was a great evening in Athens!!
Tuesday morning dawned and I was up before the sun at 5:05am, still only about 6 hours for sleep. I was ina hurry, so I rushed out and ran past the Acropolois and all the way to the end of the main walkway, turned left on a similar path and kept on that until it became a nice bike path. On the way back I took a little chance and went back another way, weaving through a number of nice alleys to come back on the road between the parks and by the stadium to do a little more over 4 miles. No phots this day.
I was at breakfast fast, again before the girls. I was given a table for two in a more crowded restaurant. They took my coffee cups away, and I nearly left some stuff there but then decided to keep it with me (Kindle). I got a few things and when I got back a man was sitting in my seat eating. A waiter came by right then, and I said, “Excuse me, but this was my table and this man is now sitting at it.” The waiter nearly exploded, and said to the man, “You are sitting at this man’s table! He was sitting there.” The man stood up partly and turned around to look at me, muttered something, then asked, “Are you with NATO?” That was not the question I expected. I said, brusquely, “No, I am not.” The waiter waved the hostess over and said the man had taken my seat, and I said, when she arrived, “I just need a place to sit and eat.” She signaled the waiter to take me to the very corner table nearest the hedge that blocked the view of the Acropolis and said I could sit there. I put some of my stuff down as he left, but the table was all messy with the prior occupants’ plates, and he reached back and grabbed a cup, spilling coffee all over the table cloth. He rushed off, complaining loudly how the people at this hotel never listened or did what they were told. The guy at the table next to me was an American and he looked up and laughed. The waiter came back with fresh linens and changed the tablecloth quickly. I didn’t eat that much and left quickly. .
I had checked and the desk said we can get a taxi to the airport at a moment’s notice, The girls were back quick as well and we were out of the room at 8:20am and in a taxi by 8:27! This driver also did not talk much, and we wove through some crazy traffic and narrow streets to the main highway and made it in plenty of time. We were expecting a tiny plane, but it was a good sized jet and pretty full. After getting our bags, I looked carefully for the people waiting to pick us up (the hotel in Santorini had contacted me and offered to come get us. I had no idea how I was going to get there otherwise, but was going to figure it out on arrival). I finally saw a short woman with my name on a piece of paper behind everyone else and outside the airport building, and we followed her to a van. Her husband met us there and helped us load the back. He had longish, dark hair with a bit of gray, in a dark tank top covering a big belly. It was about a 20 minute drive to Perissa up and down some big hills. We drove along the beach and around a corner, and they pulled up to a small building. This was it.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was disappointed initially. I thought this was part of a resort, but it was a small hotel near the beach. They said we were the only occupants for our stay, so they gave us rooms upstairs. We both had queen beds, with my bathroom much smaller, and their balcony overlooked a better view than mine, which looked out on the back of the building at the building behind it. But for about 55 dollars a night for each place, it was a bargain: small balcony with place to hang wet clothes, a few chairs, a large closet and a small but complete bathroom in the unit and a free breakfast. I was a little frightened when he asked for cash only for everything, including for the ride to the hotel, but they turned out to be great hosts and very helpful. They mentioned the best way to see the island was to rent a car, and I was initially resistant, but when I heard how much it cost, the wheels started spinning - only 30-35E a day! Much cheaper than public transportation for three.
They left and we put our stuff away and then went to get some food, as it was close to 2 pm. We were lured in by the first place on the beach we came to, where we got a great table by the beach with a good umbrella and had a nice meal. The food was always good and not that expensive in Perissa, and most places had vegetarian options. We walked around briefly to get the lay of the land and then decided to go to the beach. We changed and sat on the beach for a while, and I went in the water, which was cold and rough, as there was a front moving through (most of the time the waves were small - this day 3-4 feet high, with a steep falloff.). After my brief swim, I went back to get out of the sun, and the girls figured out how things worked. You could lie on the beach chairs under umbrellas for free as long as you ordered something. Now I got it, and from then on I liked our place even more - it was only a short walk to the beach, but far enough away it wasn’t noisy. The beach has black sand and was a bit on the rocky side, so good. Finally a big positive: the road along the beach went right along the water for two miles, so perfect distance for a safe, flat run in the mornings, with enough town to explore to shake it up. The other notes of caution: the water was not considered drinkable ( I read later it was desalinated and people didn’t like the taste, but it was not dangerous)., and the sewage systems could not handle toilet paper, so you had to throw the TP in the small trash bin next to the toilet.
The girls knocking on my door to let me know they were back woke me from a deep sleep, something I‘d had very little of so far. I could tell they were very excited to be in this little beach town on a Greek island. I was not as impressed, but this was not about me, so I enjoyed their enjoyment and adjusted my attitude. I got myself together while they got changed, and then we walked along the beach again. I was quickly struck by each restaurant having a tout or two standing near the entrance on either side of the road trying to lure us in, and we chose a place only a few stops up the road where there were two charming guys promoting it and which Cecelia had read good things about. Everyone fawned over us while we ordered traditional Greek food. I even ordered Tomato Balls, a Santorini favorite - it is known for its cherry tomatoes. They had nice hummus and Tzatziki and good bread as well. Then a cute girl came out and offered us a drink of Ouzo on the house. I begged off, but they brought out shot glasses for the girls and they did not like it! Then I got a great dessert - Kataifi, which had looked like a giant shredded wheat but tasted like heaven, with a crushed nut and sweetened center covered by the spun topping and then soaked in syrup. One of the guys came over to talk, said I looked smart and asked me what I did for a living (I replied, “I am smart, actually. I am a family doctor.”). We talked a bit about my life and then I asked him which places he would go on a tour with a rental car. He said the instagram places were Fira and Oia - they were beautiful for photos. I decided then to rent a car the next morning. They invited us to their traditional Greek night on Thursday, with singers and dancers, so we said we would be back. There was a nice gelato place on the corner on the way back with a striking woman serving it. I got the chocolate highlights (also cheap!). Then to bed. It was a good day!
I wanted to sleep later but we were told to be ready for breakfast at 8:30. The road along the beach was a nice run; breezy, but not hot, few cars, no dogs. The road becomes dirt at about 2 miles and then ends, but there are other neighborhoods out there for another day.
At breakfast, which took a long time, I got there late so I did not get a bowl of corn flakes (for you non-cereal eaters, somehow the 3 most universally available cereals are also the worst: cornflakes, Rice Krispies, and Wheetabix. No wonder people don’t like cereal!). I did not get any the other days as well. That day we got a ham sandwich, a fried egg and some other things I don’t ever eat, plus a nice bowl of Greek yogurt and some fruit. I asked to just be given the yogurt and fruit and some toast from then on, but I got all the same things other than the ham sandwich from then on. The good part of breakfast was I asked to rent a car, and the husband came over and set it all up. The guy came by about 30 minutes later with a compact car, 5 speed, and I paid him 30E cash. We got our stuff ready, had a rudimentary map (all you need there), and some instruction about where to go, and set off, initially with the owners following right behind us.
We tried to go to the Red Beach, but we missed the turn they’d described and ended up going right into Fira. We couldn’t tell well where we were, as we were not using google maps, but after passing through most of it, we found the last spot in a parking lot that was reasonably convenient. We had to walk along the road to the center of town, but it was only one way, so not as dangerous, and headed up a narrow hilly alley dotted with souvenir shops. We stopped to get Cecelia a shirt to cover up, which was linen, and I got some socks. We kept going up the hill and got to the central market area, and from there kept heading in the direction everyone was going until the sky opened before us and we arrived at the Caldera! This is one of the world’s splendid views: you are on a cliff formed by a huge volcanic eruption, upon which humans built oddly shaped and contoured houses which are almost all painted white, overlooking a spectacular view of islands and water, crisscrossed by various ships and their wakes. It was quite windy, but that only took our breath more away!
We went along the walkways there and kept going up, eventually getting on some steep steps that had a lot of donkey poop on them. It smelled bad but was tolerable to me, but I was surprised Cecelia and Carlie seemed to find another gear and hustled up that part. Turns out Cecelia was close to vomiting from the smell! Anyway, we went pretty far there. The view never got old, and it was constantly changing its perspective. We walked back a slightly less crowded way and eventually got to the car. There were a few uncomfortable moments when I couldn’t figure out how to put it in reverse, but then we were on our way to Oia. The road was almost empty, and we again were not using our data to guide us. Suddenly, we were stopped. It took us at least ten minutes to go 100 yards, and we found ourselves through Oia already, turning to leave. We went right , and down a steep hill, finding an empty and free lot at the bottom to leave the car. We had to walk back up the hill, which was dangerously narrow and occasionally without sidewalk, to get to town. From there we weaved through alleys and again came out on a spectacular view. It was similar, as it was not that far from Fira, but not as high up. It was lunch time, so we looked around, but nothing seemed as uncrowded and desirable as the restaurant we passed in the alley as we arrived, so we went back. There was at least some view of the caldera for Cecelia, and the food was really good (vegetarian Moussaka!). After eating we walked a ways out and up to get a good look around.
We got some ice cream then and walked back down to the car. There was a chain up over the entrance to the parking area, but it looked like we could open it. We didn’t have to as another car took it down and left it down when it left (looked like some maintenance guys). We were now driving down the northeast coast along the sea and through tiny villages. As we talked, Cecelia seemed to think we were nowhere near where we were (she was holding the map and was my navigator), so I joked she was out of the job and Carlie was now on duty. I think it hurt her feelings a little, as Carlie was way worse and Cecelia didn’t chime in at all. We made several wrong turns and then ended up in Kamari, near the road to Ancient Thira. I thought we might go up there, and Carlie said there was a road connecting it to the other side and Perissa, so we started up. BIG MISTAKE!!!! It is about a 1000foot vertical climb on a narrow road with hairpin turns in a switchbacks all the way up. The turns were tight I had to shift into 1st gear to get around them. I did not stall, but I was quite uptight. I tried not to show it. Eventually we got to a small traffic circle at the top, but it was clear when we arrived there was no connecting road; we had to go back down the same way. I was disheartened. Still, I got out of the car and took a few photos - the views were great, but we did not try to go to the ruins.
Now we had to get back down! I had to trust those brakes on the rental as there were few walls or guardrails and very steep drop-offs. It took a long time but it was easier than going up and we made it. We passed some people walking it. When we got to the bottom where the curvy road started, Cecelia said she saw a sign that said, “No Motor Vehicles” lying on the side of the road. I was mortified! Had we just gone up there and back, at considerable risk, illegally!?! Now I had to drive back worrying about that. We corrected some of our mistakes and I looked a the map myself finally and we got on the correct road to go around the mountain. We weren’t sure where we were again, but then we realized we could go to the Red Beach now. So we saw that turn and went down through the countryside to a small parking lot where you had to pay 5E. We used the public toilets at some ruins but did not go in, and then walked to the Red Beach, which the sign said was 400m, but it was much farther. The wind was really howling there, but it was interesting enough, and area where the soil oxidized and turned a rust color. There were hiking trails to it and to another beach beyond, but this was enough for the day.
Our trip back was uneventful except for a stop for petrol, where I guessed wrong about how much to put in but didn’t want to stop again (20E didn’t move the needle much - gasoline there was about $10/gallon). After a break, we walked farther down to dinner, saying hi to our friends on the way, and ate at a quiet place with few employees, unlike the night before. I ordered sardines, which I also did in Lisbon, and was again disappointed. The same dessert, Kaitafi, was good again and even better with some banana ice cream. The walk back showed me I’d missed, twice now, seeing a pull-up bar on the beach! I had not seen s single place I could get away with a pull-up in Athens to add Greece to my pull-up list, but here was the answer!
I had trouble sleeping the first night as the mattress was quite firm. The night of the 17th i made some adjustments to use the quilt doubled up as extra padding. I rarely let a lack of sleep bother me, but I was not getting much on this vacation, that is for sure, often being woken up by my phone for various alerts. Sigh. But I stopped and did 7 pull-ups on the bar I found, which was actually quite high and hard to reach without a jump, and hard to hold onto with sweaty hands.
Today we’d paid for a cruise in the caldera. I was very excited, but we had to be ready early to catch the transfer bus and we were not sure where exactly to go - “in front of the church” we were told, repeatedly - but there was no front we could find. After a miniscule breakfast (They made my fried egg wrapped in bacon, so I ate none of it). We got there early to look around, and down a side street there was, in fact, a front of the church, and there a sign for buses. Now, did OUR bus come there? A few came and went, but finally the one for our tour pulled in … and then drove off around the circle and stopped on the other side. We hurried over, but there were plenty of seats and he waited a bit.
The roads on Santorini are not wide, and the bus ride was always a little crazy. Then we started down the road on ths cliff to the harbor. WOW! Another road full of switchbacks, but with the turns extra wide to allow the buses and trucks to make them. Still, we had to wait at times for vehicles going the other way to get by. The views were great. There were several other buses and boats there, a few looking like ours (old wooden sailboatish). We stopped on the concrete pier area and sat for a while. Finally the driver got up and pointed out in the harbor. “That is your boat. Wait out here.” There was a boat about 200m out coming towards the pier. It took a while, and it again sailed past us to the far end and tied on. They told us to stay away, but finally got the walkway fastened and allowed us on. We had to go to the left side/port side and more to the stern, where we sat on flat wooden bench seats and waited for them to go. It was another lovely day, a bit windy, but not as bad as Wednesday, when they canceled the tour due to the high winds. The boat was not crowded, but then two more buses came and ti filled up quickly. A short, perky Greek woman was out guide, Vaso, and she said the name of the boat and tour, King Thiras, so much it was seared into our memories.
There was a bar in the middle of the boat serving drinks and snacks in addition to being the designated smoking area, right next to me. The water was fine and we had no trouble moving about, getting first to the volcanic island of Nea Kamen, which last erupted in 1950 and generally did every 100 years or so. It has five craters, but only the highest and farthest from the dock has any steam and heat coming out. We had an invigorating walk about it during which we had several briefings and heard the name of the ship yelled even more. There was a massive eruption about 5000 years ago that killed everyone on the island and created the caldera, with its high, steep cliffs and sharp drop off into deep water. Since then there have been several others that changed the islands landscape slightly. The views were nice and the terrain varied, with us generally staying away from the volcanic rocks.
I hustled back and was one of the first ones on the boat, so I could get into the bathroom to change into my bathing suit. The next stop was a smaller island with a cove adjacent to hot springs, which pumped heat into the water near the shore. We were going to jump in and swim in the water. Once we got there, we got more details. The water right off the boat was about 60 degrees, and the water fed by the hot springs was only 70 degrees, so not very hot. Still, when the crew took away the chain and said we could get in, I was the first one. I asked if i could dive - it was about 7 or 8 feet up, higher than I like, but it was only once! He told me it was slippery and might not go well, so instead I jumped. It was cold, but endurable. I started swimming right away, trying to impress everyone. But the water was full of sulfur, so I did not want to open my eyes or get much in my mouth (because the high sulfur content could permanently stain light colored clothes, Carlie didn’t get in, having only a nice, new light blue and white suit). I yelled up to the boat that I was not finding the warm water, and then headed for the closest shore, which was not that close. I did find some warm water, but we had to swim or tread water the whole time. Carlie missed my jump, but she got Cecelia with her long legs super straight. I was surprised to see her as one of the first ones in and we swam around together and then back to the boat. People were still getting off but then we finally got back on, up the slippery ladder and into the slightly warmer outside air and sun. I dried off but kept my suit on as there was another opportunity to swim at our next stop. I love doing things like this, so it was a lot of fun.
It wasn’t a long cruise to the next stop, an inhabited island with most of the town on the hill, but several restaurants and souvenir shops down at the water level. The guide said the walkway up to the top of the hill had 175 long steps, and most of the people either commuted out to work just for the day while the tourists came by or walked down from the hill. We pulled into the harbor and docked, and we were delayed getting off by Cecelia going to the bathroom. We walked to the right and past the first restaurant. One of the others had nice seats by the water and fast service. The food was good (local mussels) and we had a nice stop. Now the search for the swimming area! We walked through all the regular businesses, and then past the houses and there were some places you could get into the water off the walkway and over some rocks. I got my goggles on and waded in. It was cold, but not too bad, and it was interesting. The caldera blew up undersea as well, so only a few feet from shore the bottom dropped out of sight. There were not many fish, but it was fun getting in again.
I went right in the bathroom on the boat again and changed. Now we had different seats on the opposite side of the boat for the final cruise. We went over near Oia and then along the coast past Fira and to the port. It was still beautiful and a day well spent. We waited a little while for a smaller bus back and had a nice, calm ride.
We left for dinner later than usual, heading to the restaurant from our first night to be there for their traditional Greek night. The inside of the restaurant was reserved, so we sat by the beach again. It as a nice meal, but the traditional part was a bit disappointing. There were two singers with guitars along with a small crew of dancers. They mostly danced in circles, sometimes with customers. We finally got done and left, but then they started dancing with fire on the floor, so we watched a little longer. We stopped at the gelato place from the first night, but the hot girl was gone and a grumpy old man was there instead.
FRIDAY: That night’s sleep was a little better and I asked for a later breakfast so I could sleep more. I ran along the beach again. It was looking like a very nice day. After breakfast, Carlie and Cecelia went shopping and I did a hike. I wanted to go up to the little church on the cliffs above town. The owner said it was a tough hike, especially the last 100m, but nice. He had never been able to make it up.
I wasn’t sure what it would be like, but it could have been hard. It was not too bad. I had to walk to the end of town in that corner, then tried to figure out what trail. There was a guy and a little girl there setting up a stand that takes people up the trail to Ancient Thira on donkeys, where we had driven inadvertently on Wednesday afternoon. I started up the correct trail and came to a place where an arrow pointed right and left. I thought there might be two routes to the church, so I went to the left. I was up the hill about 200 meters when I realized this trail went all the way to the top. It didn’t look too bad. I went back down and then to the right of the arrow and was on the trail only a short way until I came to s steep set of stairs. It was fairly hard going up therm, but only a for a minute, and I was there at the church.. It was truly small, but the views were nice. It had only been 25 minutes with some delays, so I thought I might as well go to the top.
That didn’t take much longer and wasn’t too hard. I arrived at the top, walking up by the little stand where a guy had been when we were there before. He had snacks and drinks for sale. There were now a bunch of cars parked there, and I found to my relief that cars were indeed allowed up there, but we had come up on Wednesday when the Ancient Thira is closed! I walked up now to see what the deal was and it was 6E to get in. There were people living all the way up on this hill about 3700 years ago! Where did they get water? I didn’t take a brochure and should have, as there was much more than I was aware of. The views were even nicer from the ruins and there were a few people around. I walked around a little and then headed down. There was a whole part of the ruins I didn’t get to see.
Above ius the church part of the walk, and below is the Ancient Thira part.
The walk down was easy and I explored other semi-ruins, and that made it take longer, but I was still back in well under 2 hours. I hung out at the hotel, reading in different places. The girls came back and we got ready for lunch. They wanted to go the restaurant at the end of our little business district and then spend the afternoon at the beach there. It was nice and had a very different menu - lots of crepes. I got a savory vegetable crepe and a sweet cherry one. They were huge and hard to finish. I didn’t get in the water and tried to read.
For our last night, we went to a place called Black Beach which had vegan options. Everything was really good and we all got a Fanta Lemonade. We got our daily ice cream and walked to the end of the concrete area along the breach and mountainside. It wasn’t that nice, and there were weird people around. But we got a view of the town at sunset, which was nice (the sunsets on Santorini are famous, but mostly on the western side of the island, especially from Oia).
SATURDAY: I ran 6 miles around town and stopped for more pull-ups, but someone had taken the rocks away that helped me reach the bar Thursday, and I hurt my abs trying to jump up and hang with my sweaty hands. The owners let us stay until 4:30, so we did the hike to the church together in the morning. Carlie went up like a champ. After we got back, I got some souvenirs and then we rested a bit before lunch. It wasn’t all that memorable, and neither was the rest of the afternoon. They came just on time and got us there early. Our flight out was fine, no screaming kids, and no hassle with luggage, but we missed the shuttle to the hotel and had to take a taxi. Our hotel was only 11 minutes from the airport, and we had a nice room. I slept on a cot and the girls had a big bed. The bathroom was really nice with a bidet (I am not impressed). We had a good meal at the restaurant and got to bed early. I woke up at 5 and the girls around 5:30 and we headed down for the shuttle. No hassles there, but also hassles checking in, getting sent to wrong lines, and it was crowded. The flight to London was fine, and no issues at Heathrow except we left really late after the pilot said we were leaving early. We still got to Newark on time and through customs, passport and shuttle to the lot. The drive home was also good, and the girls left after a quick pit stop and to get their keys. It was a super fun trip.
WRAP UP: Greece is a lovely and interesting country with importance especially in western history. It is not as nice as Italy, Spain and France, but it is still worth a visit. I would recommend going for longer than a week and going to several islands. I found out only after the fact that most of the larger islands have airports, so you need not spend many hours on ferry boats. Some of them, like Santorini, can take direct flights to and from multiple European hubs, including Heathrow. Everything is cheap there (except petrol) , and rental cars are a bargain, though they are usually manual transmission. If someone can drive a stick, you should rent a car and drive around the islands rather than try public transport if you have more than two people in your party. It is also probably better to go when it is warmer. Some of the activities do not happen (kayaking and snorkeling, for instance) until the water warms up. I am sorry I do not know when that is. It was surprisingly cool there in May, but also not very crowded. Definitely go to the Acropolis - it is an absolute must (though better to go early and get your tickets online - they load right on your phone), and I would stay right downtown in Athens, but only allow two days maximum there, then get to the rest of the country. People have told me the city tours of Athens are worth it, but I suspect they take a lot of time.
The Cast: Carlie Mills: Carlie graduated from Kutztown University in 2020, then went immediately into graduate school for social work and is working now for Geisinger just a short walk from her home. She was very easy to travel with, did well with the walking required, and was not picky. Cecelia Hough: Cecilia graduated a semester early in December of 2022 from the University of Maryland with a degree in History. She will start graduate school soon. She is taller than I am and was also easy to travel with and a good sport. I liked she was a vegetarian! They both pose well for photos and don’t need much fussing.
https://youtu.be/qm9mVfjTQMM