Every weary traveler needs a rest

Howdy all, we're in Santorini now. We decided to shave a day off the Crete itinerary and rest our weary bones in the lovely seas in Santorini. We leave here on Friday.

So, to the meat of the matter, first a brief synopsis so that I get everything in before the clock runs out. Any extra time and I'll wax poetic.




Athens

Through a wine-hazed fog flavored heavily with giddy enthusiasm and jet lag, we wandered all over Athens our first night there. We walked around the narrow little streets in Plaka, ogled the Acropolis from below, visited the Roman Agora, National Gardens, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and headed back to Plaka for a really great dinner at a traditional ouzeri taverna. (Jesse, we'll get you the details of the menu soon).
After that we wandered, happily filled up, around the older sections of Plaka and took pictures of the beautiful neo-classical buildings in the area. I've always loved that neighborhood under the Acropolis. I'm glad I got the chance to stay right there. Some of those buildings are crumbling, which is a sad sight. Other are loved and cared for, often with little postage-stamp, grape-covered courtyards you can catch glimpses of and gorgeous wrought-iron balconies with carved marble floors.
Before it got too dark we headed to the base of the Acropolis (save the actual thing for Monday) and looked out over the hill at the view of Athens. I love that area. Through olive and fig trees you can catch a view of old houses, ancient ruins, temples and high-rises. Old meets new, ancient meets modern. Welcome to Greece. Here I'm home and I'm not. My feet know the way to all these places I was dragged to as a child. I'm here. But I'm not of here so much any more. Bitter-sweet. My heart comes home but my head now marvels at the sights that have now become exotic, even to me.

Monday we hit the Acropolis early to beat both heat and crowds. I've been there a number of times and it never fails to amaze me. It was even nicer to have my friends with me, for whom this was the first visit. We spent a couple of hours roaming there, the theater of Dionisios Aeropagitis and the Herodion amphitheater.



Then we headed down to the temple of Olympian Zeus, to the Zappeion convention center (neo-classical civic building and square), through the garden and on to a cafe for a fortifying frappe before hoofing it to the National Museum. Spent several hours there and saw most of it before our stamina finally gave out. We also had to get ready to leave for Santorini, one day earlier than planned as the ferry we were going to take on Tuesday was, allegedly, booked solid.



Tuesday night was spent of the ferry to Santorini. I slept outside on a bench under the stars after finishing Fahrenheit 451 at 1 AM because despite my exhaustion, sleep just wasn't in the works. I always try to sleep outside. I love the wind that whips across the deck and how dark it is out in the middle of the sea. I love how the sea shines despite total darkness and how you can smell it when you pass close by land, even if you can't see it. There's a very particular scent that the dry islands of the Aegean exude; a mix of oregano and dirt, sun, salt. It's the essence of summer for me and it makes me remember things and people and places. It's so much a part of me that were I blind, I think I would still know exactly where I was were I to smell that again.

Santorini
So we are in Santorini, in case you missed that. I've never been here before. Our arrival at port Athinios (accurately described by Frommers as "uninspiring") necessitated a hair-bending drive up the caldera with views I have never encountered anywhere I've ever been. Up and up and up and around and around and around we went till we crested the top of the mountain. The other side of this drama is punctuated by the most mellow little valleys and sea views you could imagine. Gently slopping into the sea below, covered in grape vines and olive trees just as mild as you please. Quite a contrast!

We arrived at 7:40 AM so that gave us the whole day yesterday. I don't know if you could guess where we spent that day, so I'll tell you. We went to the beach! Oh yes we did. We went to Kamari because it required no walking. That simply could not be part of the equation as all three of us still thought we moving. We rented an umbrella and two lounge chairs, an unheard-of luxury, and boy was it fantastic. We hobbled our way over the black pebbles to the water and finally made contact with the Med. Huzzah and hooray! I fell asleep in the sun, which I've never done before, then hobbled my way out into the water once again. Let me tell you, it's freaking cold! You would think that for a volcanic island the water would be a bit milder but no. Ultimately I prefer that but when you're over-heated, tired and fried it can be a bit of a shock.

Today Neena and I hiked our way UP a mountain, to the very very top to see ancient Thyra. I mean the TOP of the mountain, like, there was no place else to go from where we were. Holy cow was it fantastic. The area up there was settled in pre-historic times and on through about the 8th C AD. It's a big jumble of prehistoric, historic, classical, Roman and Byzantine structures. Each successive culture using the building materials of the previous ones to build their own buildings. It's a huge area, most of which is closed off. The parts we got to see were amazing. Baths and latrines with flushing water, hypocausts, temples, memorials, random columns from the doric to the Byzantine propping up random plinths, walls, doorways and walls. It really was impressive. The wind was tremendous. At the summit, the historical notes indicate that because of the elements, only temples were constructed because no one could live there comfortably. The hike down presented its own challenges as the entire way is paved in excessively slick rock tiles. One wrong step and you'll slide down all the way. However tempting that sounded after our exertions, this was not really an option we wanted to exercise.


We spent the rest of the afternoon on the same beach as yesterday. It was right there, we were hot and dusty, draw your own conclusions... We did try to take the boat to the red beach at Kokkini but were told that, allegedly, we wouldn't have time to do the trip. Whatever. So on the agenda tomorrow is the Red Beach, the White Beach and Some Other Beach as we take the little sea taxi around the island. We thought we wouldn't have time for this as we though we had to leave tomorrow. Then we realized it's actually Wednesday. Woohoo! One more entire day plus most of Friday before we go!

I'm almost out of time. Hope you are all well, we keep seeing and doing things and thinking how much all of you would enjoy them too, so you're all with us in one way or another. We have volcanic stones for most of you and other treats we're brining back to share our adventures. Forgive the misspellings (no time), for give the strange sentence structure (too much sun) but read along and send us some comments. We'll try to get to more posting before we go, but no promises. Once on Kasos I hope to be able to post pictures and link of some interesting sights for you all to get a picture of our travels. I'm off for a coffee and a shower before heading to Oia for the sunset. Geia sas!