I have come and gone from Greece and what an amazing country it is. I spent 3 weeks 'Island Hopping' in the Cyclades with three days in Athens at the end of my time. I visited the islands of: Santorini, Anafi, Ios, Naxos, Paros, Mykanos. The Greek Islands were very different than what I imagined they would be like. Their beauty is very different than any other place that I have ever visited. The landscape is very harsh, but still very beautiful. The interesting thing is, and the landscape on many of the Islands is very different . During my whole time on the islands it was 35-40+ ( 85-100+) degrees, needless to say I spent much of my time sitting on a beach. Traveling between the islands was also very fun. To get to the different islands, you must take ferries, some faster and slower, older and newer than others.
The first island that I went to was Santorini. I met my buddy Taylor on Santorini. Last summer, I met Taylor while studying at LSE(London School of Economics). Taylor is from Florida but goes to Yale. He had gotten a grant from Yale to go work at a archeological site as part of his Ancient Civ major. While on Santorini we did a day boat tour out to some Volcanic islands which are located out in front of the main town of Fira. We really didn't plan on doing this, just kind of a last minute decision after we ate breakfast. We wanted to get out to the islands, so signed up for a tour. Little did we know that it required hiking up a volcanic mountain in the heat of the day (100+). It was worth the hike, the view back to Fira was amazing. We continued onto the next island, and hiked up to what we thought was the town. What you have to realized about some of the islands, is that the main town is up on top of large cliffs, so you must hike back and forth up switch backs or take a donkey to the top. Once we got to the top, we discovered that most of the buildings were deserted.... the view was amazing though. We ended the tour in Oia, a town on one end of Santorini, and once again we had to hike up to town. Needless to say, a cold beer tasted really good when we got to the top. When you see pictures of Greece and the blue roofed Greek Orthodox Churches, with white washed buildings and deep blue water below, you are most likely seeing pictures from Oia. The Sunsets on Santorini are some of the most dramatic and beautiful that I have ever seen. You can see some of them in my pictures.
While on Santorini I also went diving one day. Let me tell you, it is really nice diving in warm water, in which the visibility is about 30+ft. It was really fun see different sea life and seascape. I also got to feed tropical fish!
My next Island was Anafi. Anafi's population consists of a 250 people. The main reason that I wanted to go to Anafi was to get away from the many tourists that were on Santorini, and experience the true Greek Culture. Boy did I! I am fairly sure that the whole island came to meet the ferry. Ferries only come a couple times a week, so the islands lifeline to the outside world is the Ferry.
I had read in my Lonely Planet guide book, on most of the islands, people will meet ferries and try and rent their rooms, so there is no need to make reservations. However this was not the case on Anafi. So i took the bus up to the main town 'Hora'. Well like I said before, Anafi is a small town, and it was just my luck that no one in the main town spoke very good English, and no one had rooms to rent. At first I was really put off my how unfriendly the locals were. I spent about two hours walking around this small town trying to find a place to stay. While I was doing this I met a German guy named Manfried Bibel, who also needed a room. So we agreed that if we found a room, we would split it. In the mean time the Ferry had left, and the next one doesn't come for two days! Perfect! So I was stuck on this island for two days with no place to stay! Luckily I finally met a lady who spoke good English, and she had a friend who had a room! So I was in business. Sharing a room with Manfried was interesting. He spoke very little english, so it was interesting to try and communicate with him. I would speak to him in English and he would usually understand me, but answer me in German, it was quite entertaining!
My first night on Anafi just happened to be the islands local summer festival. It turned out to be a really fun night! Not only did they have live traditional Greek Music, but also traditional Greek dancing. Everyone on the island was there! I took a picture of an older local gentleman named George. He was very friendly and spoke a little English.
While at the festival, they were BBQ'ing lamb for everyone and passing out the local wine. Many locals came up to me and were interested in where I was from. I guess I don't look Greek at all. They were very surprised to see a non-Greek visiting their island and quite excited that I had come to their local festival. The festival went into the early hours of the morning. I was really impressed that all of the older locals were out until 2am.
I really experienced the Greek Culture at its finest, which is why I wanted to visit Anafi in the first place!
Ios was my favorite Greek Island. The island was alive with alot of young people my age. I am pretty sure that I was one of the only Americans there. It felt like I was in Sydney Australia. It was almost like the Australian plague had invaded the island, Aussies were everywhere!
All of my time on during the days was spent lounging on some of the best beaches I have ever seen. It was really relaxing to just sit, listen to my Ipod(mostly country, Dave Matthews Band and Tom Petty) and worked on my tan! Ios was more of what I expected the islands to be like.
Naxos was the next island. My time here was spent again working on my tan while sitting on different beaches and relaxing.
Paros came in a close second behind Ios as my next favorite island. I stayed at a place called Room Mikes. In my guide book it said that Mike was very friendly and like to talk. This was definitely the case. Mike was probably 65 and was born on the island. He joining the Greek Navy and then went on to work in the Merchant Marine before returning to the island. His office was right next to my room, which looked out over the harbor towards the ferry terminal. He would tell me stories from his time at sea and about growing up on the island. Most of them were really entertaining.
Most of my meals out on the Islands were comprised of seafood. My mom told me that I must eat Octopus while on Paros, as she remember it was really delicious when she was there. Surprisingly Octopus is really good! From there on I ate quite a bit of it! Octopus' texture could be described as kind of chewy, but still very good.
The last island on my 'Island Hopping' adventure was Mykanos. I had heard many different things about Mykanos from other travelers I met on the other Greek Islands. Some said it was always windy, others that it was a party island, others that it's beachs were great! Well Mykanos ended having all of three of what I have just described.
Although I only got to spend 2 nights on Mykanos, I figured out what Mykanos was all about... partying and sitting in the sun. The first day that I arrived I ended up walking around town and seeing what there was too see... lots of tourist and shops. For the sunset I ended up in a part of the town called 'Little Venice'. While I was sitting there, one of my friends from Ios walked by. I had met Brian on Ios and randomly ran into him on Paros as well. I guess the Greek Island are smaller than I thought! My second day on Mykanos was spent laying in the sun at Paradise Beach. It was a great day and the perfect way to end my time on the Greek Islands.
When you are in the main town on Mykanos, there is this Pelican walking around. My mom, dad and godfather first visited Mykanos in 1968. Back then I guess there was a Pelican that walked around town, and there is still does today! I'm not sure if it is the same one or not. 'Pelican Pete' as my mom calls him seemed quite happy to just stroll along the streets. He didn't really mind people taking pictures with him or even petting him! He is the most tamed Pelican I have ever seen!
After a 4 hour ferry ride on a fast ferry I arrived Athens. Many people describe Athens as a big, dirty, noisy city, and that it is! When I was in Athens I saw all of the normal sights including; The Acropolis, Zeus' Temple, The Agora, The Original Olympic Statdium where the first Olympics were held, the changing of the guard and many street markets.
My first night in Athens I stayed with one of my mom's friends sons Vasily, who is half Greek and lives in Athens. That night we went out with some of his friends and had dinner at a Taverna. Taverna's in Greece are very different than Tavern's in the U.S. They are more like a resturant than a bar. Vasily and his friends ordered many different plates. One plate was fried cheese. Yes I know your thinking friend cheese. I was very hesitant to try it, but it was actually very delicious! Maybe a new delicacy to bring back to the States?
The rest of the time I was in Athens i stayed at a youth hostel. At my hostel I met a guy and a girl from British Columbia as well as two Americans who were in the Army and stationed in Germany. It was really nice to talk with some Americans, as I had not met any since I was on Santorini as well as some people who were from the same part of the world that I am from!
One of the first things you notice when you arrive in Athens is all of the stray dogs. One night when we were all out, this stray dog started following us. It seemed nice and did not really bother us. When we should stop and wait to cross the street, this dog would start chasing cars, it was really entertaining! None of the dogs in Athens are spayed or neutered, (Bob Barker would not be happy) and when people do not want their dog any more, they simply just abandon them in the streets. Its kind of sad to see so many homeless dogs.
The highlight of Athens is of coarse the Acropolis. I got up early one morning and hiked up to it. I decided to get up early because I did not want to hike up to it in the heat of the day (90 +) and wanted to avoid all of the tour groups. The Acropolis is built up on a hill/mountain in the middle of Athens. From the Acropolis you can see all of Athens! It is really an amazing view. The Acropolis is spectacular as it looks. It is hard to believe that the Greeks built it without any modern machinery. Just lots of raw manpower!
Almost right next to my hostel was a Starbucks. Yes that's right a Starbucks! Jeff, Amanda(BC people) and I decided that we needed to see if Starbucks tasted the same as it does back home. Let me assure everyone, that a cup of Starbucks coffee tastes the same as it does in Seattle. It was a really nice treat to have a little part of home half way around the world! I have decided that I am going to try and have Starbucks in every country I visit(that is if there is a Starbucks in the country I am in).
Its hard to believe that my time in Greece has come and gone. Its even harder to believe that its the middle of September and I am not back in school and also that i have been gone for over 2 months now! Next stop is Croatia
