One Shy of Seven: Greece Update

So I'm playing Catch up now... of course I've gotten into my "senioritis" mode mode here on the blog since I'm on my final European leg.

Quickie Greek Schedule:

Landed in Athens on the 21st of June.

Athens from the 21st to the 27th. Stayed at the Marriott.

Syros from the 27th - July 1st. (had to stay 2 extra days due to greece riots / strikes)

Naxos for two days July 1st - July 3rd

Santorini - July 3rd - July 7th.

What can I say about Greece? Well I have now seen more of Athens than I care to. In prepping for the trip I was telling Paul and Portia that we really only need one or two days. This statement was based more upon my previous trip there. That proved true this trip. Paul and I continued our "backpacker" lifestyle at the Marriott. We barely left the four walls of that hotel for four days until Portia arrived. Firstly we wanted to save money and secondly we wanted to do the touristy stuff with Portia. We DID save money. My "gold status" at Marriott from my hard work at Covidien proved quite handy. We had FREE breakfast in the morning, FREE afternoon snacks, FREE beer & wine and FREE light dinner with desert. Yup, all that came from my hard work. After the fourth day in the premier club we were pretty worn out on olives, mini-weiners and bland greek wine but our wallets were still heavy. It's amazing how thrifty Paul and I have become.

Marriott Pool Time!

Portia came into town and we jetted off to check out the Akropolis. We hit up the major sights which included a quick stop at the main square in Athens to check out where the riots and protests had been going on. I wont' go deep into it but honestly CNN is out of control. Although the riots did get violent after we left Athens for the islands it was amazing seeing the discrepancy between how dangerous it "felt" where the action was happening verses what CNN made you "feel." Its no wonder anyone leaves their house everyday if they watch the news.

Riot Police in Athens City Center

Lots of Stray Dogs in Athens - this one looked cute in front of the ancient Theater

Paul and Portia at the top of the Acropolis

Changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier

Funny boots!

After our Athens adventures we set sail on our "slow boat" to Syros. We checked in at our beautiful Dolphin Bay resort and headed to the pool. Syros was really one of my favorite spots on the Greek trip. It was in a quiet village away from the capital city on the island. I felt like this would be the PERFECT place to bring a family. The bay was calm (thank you Mike & Shelagh for explaining to me how calm bays are ideal beaches for kids). I never really had any idea who enjoyed "bay" beaches. Now I know. The pool was a bit chilly but we had an amazing view with good sunsets for four nights. We didn't do much on Syros but hit the pool and go for a few walks on the beach. I got through an entire book while I was here so clearly we just relaxed.

Once the Greek ferry strikes were over we were able to make our boat over to Mykonos on our way to Naxos. After getting off our ferry on Mykonos I realized I'd need to come back. The water looked absolutely amazing. In retrospect I was intimidated by Mykonos' reputation as a party island. I'm up for a good party but I've realized I've moved beyond beach raves and settled comfortably into the comfy beach bar scene. I'm not quite at the old folks home but the idea of going to raves at this point seems lame and exhausting.

Flowers at Dolphin Bay Resort

Sunset from the Church overlooking the water at Galisas Bay, Syros, Greece

Portia taking in the sunset from our perch!

Naxos was a blur. We were only there for two nights and ended up making the best of the experience by hitting up Plaka beach. This was definitely the best "water" we saw while in Greece. Technically Mykonos would be the best we "saw" but Naxos was the best we "experienced." At the nudie beach Paul and Portia went for a walk and got more than they bargained for. Thankfully I stayed put and read my book as the swedish mom in front of me made sand castles with her kids topless. I guess I don't see the appeal for nude beaches as they tend to be things you DON'T want to see. And that was exactly what Paul and Portia got as they curved around the beach and opened up a new section of 65+ men basking in the nude! Way to go guys! Glad you got that experience!

Finally we arrived to the infamous Santorini. Betsy had been telling me about this magical place for so long that I couldn't hold back my excitement when our boat was pulling in. True to form it was magnificent and breath taking. We popped off the ferry and immediately rented a car. I forget what it was called but it had the name "topless" in the model. It was a four door chevy with a retractable roof. We zipped up the hillside and headed to Oia where we'd stay for four nights.

Santorini was definitely my favorite in Greece. I have the nagging feeling there are so many other islands to explore that I shouldn't declare it my "favorite greek island" just yet. We settled into our hotel and headed to the grocery store. This was a major bonus of the place we found as we could buy breakfast, snacks and water cheaply for the entire time we were there. We ended up staying a bit of a walk outside of Oia. This ended up being exactly what Paul and I wanted. It was quite. It had unbelievable views and it gave us time to really enjoy Santorini.

While on the island we did quite a bit of exploring. Betsy had queued us up with lots of suggestions and we set out to see the black sand beaches, the red cliff beach (not so amazing), we found one of Pauls' doctors surname vineyards, climbed to the highest point on the island for photos, took a pirate ship to the volcano and hiked around, did some wine tasting and took in the local cuisine. I genuinely know I'll find my way back to Santorini in the future. I just hope I can fly direct from a major airport into Santorini in the summer to avoid Athens. It will end up being worth the price.

Red Cliff Beach

Chevy Topless!

Black Sand Beach - Plaka, Santorini, Greece (patagonia boardshorts thank you ALSO to Betsy!)

Highest point on the island!

Flowers on our porch overlooking the sunset. Oia seriously has the most insane sunsets.

The colors are insane. Seriously insane. I love the "solar bursts" here. Is that what you call them?

Fun photography with lighting

Our pirate ship to the Volcano!

BHS Class of 2002! Yup we're old farts.

This donkey was a wise ass! haha!

Wine Tasting in Oia! Thanks for the tip Betsy!

Funning into our old friend Sally in Oia! We met her in Vietnam and after I separated my shoulder I never thought I'd see her again! It was so fun to catch up.