Day 17 (part 2): Santorini to Athens, ATH to LHR

Today was by far the longest day of the trip. Literally. Because of the magic of timezones, June 26 was approximately 27 hours long. Almost all of them spent in transit. It started with a 6 hour ferry ride from Santorini to Athens aboard my favorite ship, Blue Star 1. Once we arrived in Athens, I (kind of) navigated the metro to get from the port, Pireaus, to the city center.



Since it was only 7am, there was a lot of walking through empty streets and drinking of freddocinos.






(this is where the genius of the large backpack became apparent, no way would I want to lug a suitcase through an ancient city)

Once 8am rolled around, it was time for ruins. There was a small mishap with the Acropolis only accepting cash and me having given away all of my euros. However, with my backpack stowed in the cloakroom, I was able to go a-wandering.









Soon it was time to leave Athens and make my way to the airport for my flight to London. The only mishap of the day happened while I was waiting for my flight to London. You see, sleeping on a ferry isn't exactly comfortable, so when I saw a bank of seats in the terminal I decided to take a wee nap. Unfortunately, I had parked myself outside of a gate for a flight to Cyprus. So, when the flight went into final boarding, a "fellow passenger" came to get me for the flight. I will say that being woken up from a deep sleep by someone speaking to you in Greek is a slightly frightening experience.
After that, (thankfully) the rest of my day went smoothly. A 3 hour flight to London, an hour tube ride into the city and then up to our rented apartment.



Immediately after my arrival, we all headed out for a pub dinner. So, I got to watch the US lose to Ghana in a british pub, where they are not American friendly.

Lastly, in Athens I saw some pretty sweet graffiti. This was definitely my favorite piece... for obvious reasons. (it's also the only time an emoticon is acceptable)



Until later,


e

Day 17 (part 1): The Aegean, Greece

0100 / The Aegean Ocean

The next 6 hours aboard Blue Star 1 will be my first moments alone in a little over a week. As a generally solitary person, I was a little nervous when I found out that I would be traveling for 8 days with 2 people (my friend Ashley and her cousin Jenny Beth, who I had met once before at bonnaroo). I'm glad to report that my fears were unnecessary and now that I am alone, it feels very strange and a little uncomfortable.
When I first told people that I would be going to Santorini on this vacation, many people told me that I would never want to leave. However, as I told Ashley today, it is the act of coming and going that makes certain places and times special. Because if we didn't come and go, these things would become commonplace and ordinary. I will say that Santorini is beautiful and it holds a new, special place in my heart. The other day, we were talking about coming back here and JB and Ash both agreed that they would, at the time I said that I probably would not, because there are too many places that I want to see to go someplace twice. Well, I lied. After these 5 days, Greece is a place that i want to bring my family and my friends. It is a beautiful place and we had nothing but great experiences from start to finish.
So, for now, I depart. After a quick stop in Athens (6 hours quick), I am on to London and back into the company of new and different people.

"if I forget to tell you later, I had a really good time tonight"




Yassas,


e

Day 15 and 16: Santorini, Greece

Day 15 was our day at sea. It started early (10am) with us hunting down a mysterious gent named Willy. Willy was the driver sent by the Santorini Dive Center to bring us to snorkeling and apparently he became tired of waiting for us (we were 5 minutes late), and left. After the mishap with Willy was cleared up, we were given our fins, masks and wetsuits and set loose in the Aegean. An hour or so later, we had seen all there was to see and went back inside. Jenny Beth insisted on a picture of the three of us in our shortie wetsuits. That picture will not be appearing here.

After snorkeling, we had our divemaster Jeffrey drop us at Parissa beach. Parissa is the more laid back, Caribbean style town in Santorini. We spent the afternoon on the black sand and in the water and then eating spanikopita and drinking big fruity drinks.










We capped off the day with a night out in Fira.

Day 16 was our final full day in Santorini. We were determined to make it great, so we bought tickets on a boat tour to the volcano and then swimming in the hot springs. I was hurting less (after the night out) than Ashley or Jenny Beth, so I opted to walk the million steps down the cliff to the dock.



For the last 100 or so steps, it was all mules.

The hike up the volcano was great (even if we were ill prepared). Unfortunately, we saw no lava or sulfurous smoke. It looked more like the moon.




The hot hike was capped with a swim in the hot springs. After being on hot lava rocks for an hour, we weren't too excited about hot water ... until they told us that we had to jump from the boat to swim there. Bonus!



After all of the excitement, our only wish was for naps. So Ash and JB slept while I did laundry and packed. After a long sleep, we were ready for out last dinner out. Mama Thira Taverna down the caldera was the perfect choice.



Before dinner, I felt the need to document our last sunset. Definitely our best yet.



Until later,

e

Day 13 and 14: Santorini, Greece

We arrived in Santorini a little after midnight after sailing all evening on our lux ship. Unfortunately, as we were sailing into port, the wind kicked up and the seas got a little rough, so it took our captain about 30 minutes to dock. At that point we were getting a bit punchy.



We arrived at the Apartments Gaby safely and immediately fell asleep. The next morning we awoke to this view...


And this view...



Our first day was spent wandering around Fira (our town) and taking way too many pictures.



We then boarded the bus to Oia for a little more sightseeing. The minute that we saw the homes on the cliffs, we each fell in love with Oia. We are currently trying to find a way to purchase a fixer-upper there.












The only downside of Oia is the walk from the town to the water. We approximate that it was 300 slanty steps down (and back up). Thankfully, there are mules to do the work for you (we didn't partake).



Ash and a mule

My only mishap of the day was losing a small chunk of my big toe. For some reason, we all wore sandals on what was obviously a sneakers trip. Lesson learned.

Last night, we watched Greece lose their match in the World Cup and danced to some old school rap with a few Navy sailors in port on their way to fight pirates.








Today was beach day #1. We took the bus out to Kamari and sat on their (hot hot) black sand beaches.




Now, it is back to Oia for their world famous sunset and a good dinner.

Until later,

e

Update: saw the world famous sunset ... Partially blocked by a woman picking her nose.







Ash is not amused.

Day 12: Rhodos and beyond

Today was the first "lazy day" of the trip. Mainly because our ferry tickets were for 5pm and there was no way that we were missing it. After much deliberation, it was decided that the beach would be our destination.




The best part about the beach? For 2.40 euro you can purchase a pool float for use in the ocean. I don't know why this hasn't caught on in the states, but it is a great way to hang out on the water. Especially since at a depth of over 20 feet, you can easily see the bottom.




After stopping at a pharmacy (sunscreen for me, antibiotics for Ash) and a long lunch, we were ferry bound. All three of us thought that Blue Star 1 would be a run-of-the-mill ferry, thankfully, we were pleasantly surprised. For our 7 hour journey to Santorini, we are riding on a modified cruise ship.







I was surprised at one point to get a text from Turkcell about 30 minutes in informing me that they were now my cellphone carrier. You see, that piece of land above is Turkey; as Rhodos is only 18 miles from Turkey, this shouldn't have been that shocking.




Oh, and our lifeboats were made in Holland.



For now, it is world cup on the tv and seeing the night sky as intended, without lights from land. Next stop, Santorini.

Until later,

e

Day 11: Rhodos, Greece

After getting up quite early for the time we went to bed (2am) to see about ferries. Getting from Rhodos to Santorini is apparently quite a difficult task by boat (everyone could agree that it was a beautiful place, but everyone we met went by plane). Sadly for us, we missed both the midnight and 5am ferries and would now need to wait until Monday at 5pm. We were grateful that there was a ferry at all, because some Rhodians had assured us that none existed.
Ashley and Jenny Beth were determined to make lemonade of lemons and wanted to got exploring ... I needed a nap. However, after a quick sleep, I was onboard. We spent the rest of the day exploring this ancient island and its ruins.




Our view




Old city




The Aegean sea




Ashley in a fort




Jenny Beth in a fort




The ruins




The hero shot

Until later,


e

Day 10: AMS to PSA, PSA to RHO

Also subtitled: Why Taxi Drivers are Amazing

Step 1: get to the Amsterdam airport. Easier said than done. Jenny Beth and I were tasked with returning the fiets (bikes) to the shop and then getting in a cab to Schiphol airport. Unfortunately, about halfway there the bungee cord on my bike rack snapped and wrapped itself around the gears. After 30 minutes of contemplation, trying to fix it and then walking the bike back to the shop to be yelled at by the clerk, we were done. Thankfully, our taxi driver was patient and followed us back and forth between the abandoned bike and the shop with our luggage and then drove us swiftly to the airport. Finally, with not much time left, we were on our way.

Step 2: get to Pisa. We got to the airport, got checked in and made our way to the gate. Thankfully, our flight didn't leave on time. This was good for us in the short term (we made the flight), but bad for the long term (we had a connection to make).

Step 3: get to Rhodes. This one almost didn't happen. We got to Pisa as our next flight was scheduled to depart. Add in time at the baggage carousel (you can only bring 1 bag aboard) and rechecking the luggage, we were screwed. Thankfully (?) again, our flight was delayed. This meant pizza and gelato (our first meal of the day) and ogling some amazing European fashions - think rat-tails, hammer pants and fanny packs.




And waiting




Finally, 2 hours later, we left Pisa for Rhodes.

Step 4: get to Santorini. This didn't happen. When we finally got to Rhodes, it was late (in the 1am area) and everything was closed at the airport. So, we had awesome taxi driver #2 drive us to a hotel near the port for a short sleep and maybe a ferry ride out in the morning.



Jenny Beth posing in our new home. Room 508 (it's technically the penthouse).

To be continued...


e

Day 9: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Yesterday was by far the busiest day of my trip yet. Ashley, Jenny Beth (Ashley's cousin) and I toured the city from sunup to sundown (an beyond). Our first stop was a park for breakfast and the spilling of the coffee. We then got on the fiets (bikes) and rode (and rode and rode). Highlights included a river cruise, the Heineken brewery, the Van Gogh museum and the Anne Frank house. There were also croissants, middle eastern food, and sweet and savory Dutch pancakes (which need to catch on in the states now).
Today, we set off for Greece (we won't arrive until tomorrow because of our roundabout route).




Me on the fiets




e




Heineken










Until later,

e