Home.

As with all vacations, it is sometimes hard to return home. There is the love of traveling or wanderlust which many of us have, which would keep us exploring no matter what the cost and the inconvenience. The opposite force is that which pulls us home to the safe and familiar environment of our houses and cities. Then there is the plunge back into regular stressful life, the routine which drives our lives. I often joke that it takes only twenty minutes back at work to forget two weeks of vacation time. That is part of my rationale in doing this blog and spending so much time poring over digital photographs in large number. Our memories need reinforcing as our brains are bombarded with current, past and future events trying to establish themselves as equally important in our consciousness.
So we made it home on August 11th after a long flight from Athens with a refueling stop at Shannon, Ireland. We did some shopping at the airport before finally clearing security. Against small odds we ran into our Australian family heading for their flight to Singapore. There was a brief exchange of business cards and then we were on our way. The flight was only briefly interesting as some French and English customers started to argue and swear at each other over their behaviour and seat positions. No punches were thrown and tempers cooled off. The food and movies helped to pass the time although I was disappointed that Iron Man 2 did not play as announced. Customs and baggage claim were quick and we were out, to be met , as predicted by this author by Georgette and Raphael.
My impressions of this trip were that it was fun, relaxing, interesting, adventurous (slightly) and smooth. No big hassles, no health problems, no bad choices. Chapeau and opa!

Athens

August 10th, 2010

Athens is a big crowded noisy city and now is vacation time so it must be worse at other times. We woke up at 8AM and of course it was already hot and getting hotter. After breakfast, we took the subway to Monastiraki stop and walked first to the ruins of the Roman Forum and then to the larger Greek Agora site where you can walk up and down the hill leading to the Acropolis. The sun was beating and the crickets were loud. Kate was being moody about touring in the sun. The site was the former meeting place of Athenians for centuries. [We forget the sweep of time but 200 years was enough for 4-5 generations to pass.] Most impressive was the Stoa or portico which was recreated to two stories height. The building measured 120 metres in length and 20 metres in width. The colums and wooden beams were massive. There were numerous sculptures, including that of Pericles and Hercules. It allows you to imagine better what living in the 4-5th centuries BC was like. In the same area was also the mostly preserved Temple of Hephaistus. Towering over everything was the Acropolis, visible from most of central Athens.
After playing tourists, we stopped at a cafe for a drink, one of many stops daily for fluids and cooler air. Then we trudged onward to the Acropolis Museum, through the Plaka and to the ultramodern museum. The first thing to notice is that under the ground floor, we can see the remains of an Athenian village still being excavated. Inside, the Museum was cool and contemporary, with exhibits of the lintels, stones and parapets of the site, We had a slow light lunch at the museum looking out at, of course, the Parthenon. Then, in the habit of Greeks, we drifted back to the hotel to take a short siesta. Another drink and a snack of grapes.

Around 530PM, we took the surface tram to Syntagma stop. A short inspection of the interior of the Grande Bretagne followed (luxury from a different era). Then we veered somehow haphazardly through the Kolonaki district and its high fashion boutiques. There were numerous cafes with members of the idle rich and others present The stores were often empty or with high end salespeople smiling in an effort to woo customers in multiple languages. At end of our wanderings we ended up in a large department store, Attica, with six floors of  luxury goods. Overwhelming!.

The final part of the day was back to Plaka for a cocktail and a dinner. We lazily sat in a square with competing cafes. We had delicious stuffed tomatoes and a plate full of mixed grill. I finally tasted retsina again and it is definitely an acquired taste. [Guittel hated it.]We sat around the table reminiscing about the last two weeks and the events and moments that make for long term memories. Then a final slow walk below the Acropolis for a fredducinno and ice cream and we were back at the hotel, packing and pondering the day tomorrow. Back to Canada.

Athens

August 9th, 2010

We woke early in Athens to get to our half day tour. That meant seven o'clock breakfast buffet, nicely presented in the Callirhoe Restaurant at street level. The we were picked up at 7:40 by a guide and bus. This bus shuttled around a few hotels and picked up others and then we again had to change buses to actually be on a tour. So the tour started at 8:30 or so and the guide describing the scenery had some annoying mannerisms in English often repeating herself and starting off repeatedly saying "I just wanted to tell you...". Anyway we drove a bit around the centre of Athens rather than having a true tour of the city. We stopped at the Marble stadium, the original stadium of the 1896 Games, then the Temple of Olympian Zeus and Hadrian's Gate and then through Syntagma or Constitution Square, in front of the Efzones Guards on parade in front of the Parliament. We then ended up at the Acropolis in the heat of late morning. She then led us up the hill to the Temple of Athena Nike, the Parthenon and the Erechtyon with the Karyatids. There were long explanations about the history with the British Museum and Lord Elgin, and later Melina Mercouri;s role. We also saw theatre of Heredotus and the general views of the Acropolis. The heat was oppressive and so we wandered around for an hour or so, admiring the history and taking video. Finally we abandoned the group and left the grounds to get drinks, much needed in the heat. The views from the acropolis also highlighted how spread out and low rise the city of Athens is. We could see to Piraeus and to the Adriatic despite the haze of smog on the horizon.

From there we went back to the hotel for some cooling off and showers. I wanted to honour my birthday with a run, so I changed and headed out in the midday heat, going uphill back to Syntagma, past the Parliament and eventually into the National Gardens. The shade there helped somewhat but I ran a circuitous route and ended back at the hotel a half hour later, sweat soaked and dry mouthed.  A long, cold shower helped cure those problems.

Refreshed momentarily, we headed to the Metro stop at Syngrou, 3 min away, and then to Monistaraki. There we saw the narrow streets, wooden stairs and flea markets. The prices seem high and the need for most of the goods was low. We then found an alley way full of cafes. They steered us in to an airconditioned room wher we had an express lunch of salads and kebabs, Athens style. Delicious. We then wandered up a long sopping street, named Ermou, back to Syntagma. However we stopped in many clothing stores for mostly women. Didn't buy much for myself, despite birthday. Girls were happy with Zara, H&M and similar stores. Before rturning to the hotel, we watched the guards change with their over-sized shoes and skirts and had a good iced coffee at Costa, the equivalent of Starbucks. Finally back by Metro to the hotel. Crowded trains despite the August holidays. Train cars look like they were made by Bombardier- to be checked.

As darkness fell, we headed out, spiffed up nicely, to a nearby retaurant, Strofi, hoping to get a rooftop table. No luck and so we went a little further up the street to the parking lot of the Acropolis. The Dionysos restaurant was very attractive, under the illuminated acropolis and an olive grove. The crickets serenaded us all evening while we savoured ... more food including delicious cold appetizers and veal stew, seafood risotto and Greek burgers. We laughed and took pictures and enjoyed the meal despite the heat. We were too full for dessert so Guittel settled the tab (merci beaucoup) and we walked back to the hotel. Since the dessert pouch had not been filled, we went to the roof garden restaurant and had coffee and baklava there, again with a pleasant setting and a view of the glorious Parthenon.

A nice day in Athens despite the heat. More ruins and the Acropolis Museum tomorrow.

Santorini to Athens

August 8th, 2010

Hot sunny day in Santorini, the home of eternal sunshine it seems. We spent the morning packing up, checking out and then lying by the pool. "Bake twenty minutes until brown and then turn. Serves four."At lunch time we headed on foot into Fira to do some final shopping and to admire the scenery one last time. We walked through the narrow streets crowded in the usually quiet midafternoon as two cruise ships were anchored below, their passengers flooding the streets with eager shopper pressed for time. Aside from being able to unpack only once, I don't envy the cruisers who never get to spend a long evening sitting in a cafe without a deadline.

We decided to be adventurous and descend down to the old harbor. We did not want to walk down all the steps nor climb back up welded to the butt of a donkey, so we took the modern Santorini method of the cable car up and down. [It did not exist when I first came to the island.] I am proud of my girls whose fear of heights is somewhat legendary. The overcame it and enjoyed the rapid descent of two minutes down to sea level with only a mild perturbation of blood pressure and colour. We spent a few minutes at the water side and then rode back up again via the cable car system. Video and photographs were taken to document the event.

Gazing out over the caldera

Going Down

Lunch at the Argo Restaurant on the lower cliff area was also relaxing with good salads and good moods. We walked back to El Greco, did a long last swim and then were picked up by a bus driver for the short ride to Santorini Airport- a small building added to the former military airfield.  Transfers, check in and flight were all on time and even early. The 45 minute flight on a Dash 8 was uneventful with nice service from two hostesses. We landed in Athens and were shuttled to the terminal building to claim our baggage. A few minutes wait and the baggage reappeared soon to be followed by a taxi driver, Stellios, waving a Haichin sign as instructed. He whisked us away down the highway in a magic Athenian cab to our hotel Athenian Callirrhoe. The room was nice but withour a good view.
A few minutes after checking in at night, we were out walking 10-15 minute to the Plaka. We ate at a crowded but pretty out door cafe at 9:30 and it was very busy. The service was not as friendly as on the islands but the food was good. The view we had walking back was of the Acropolis and its new museum lit up at night. The heat and humidity were bearable at night, but we'll have to experience it tomorrow.

Santorini Day 4

August 7th, 2010

Sun up and I woke at 8 AM. Time to change into running gear and get going. Breakfast was a solo affair and the restaurant was less crowded at that early hour. After coffee and the usual items, I drove the car back to the rental place in Fira. No problems there. A quick stop in an electronics store helped with the Blackberry phone. Then I took off running up the caldera view path and steps to Firostefani and Imerovigli. The views and morning light compensated for the heat and baking sunshine as well as the uphill struggle. People were just getting up and enjoying breakfast in the many hotels and apartments attached to the Cliffside. The higher villages appeared more luxurious and less commercial than Fira. I managed to find the main road back always to the hotel. This made for a short but sweaty run. Back at El Greco, it was into the pool to cool off. Kate was already swimming with the Australian kids and having fun playing big sister to them. We spent the day poolside and there were even a few transient clouds to help modify the sunshine monotony.

Midday lunch was sitting at the bar for Kate and I, Guittel didn’t feel like eating then. A simple chicken salad went down well with a cold beer. Later in the afternoon, we got ready to go into town. We took the netbook in order to sit in one of the many cafes offering free internet and possibly Skype. We went into many stores to look at jewelry, glass work and artwork. Some of the nicer pieces were beautiful and moderately expensive. We liked a glass vase by a Greek artist and some interesting mounted cultures in brass by another artist. The owner of the gallery was also quite a character and designed his own jewelry and watches under the name Louann. I tried on an original piece, a transparent, gold watch with a very modern design for only 9500 Euros. We called Mark via cell phone and he sounded well. Then it was time to join the crowds watching the sunset over Nea Kameni and Thirassia, the island on the other side of the Caldera. The camera got a good workout as we admired the red ball sinking behind the islands. It took a little more scouting for a nice restaurant, rooftop as usual, where Kate enjoyed her lamb chops and we had the mixed grill of meats. More shopping and the streets were getting crowded. The bars and clubs were just warming up and there was not one square metre to park a moped or car. We did get to an internet café with a busy crowd listening to euro beat music while lazing outside with a drink. A little internet and a cold cappuccino ended the evening, before our walk back to the hotel. Tomorrow is our last day in Santorini.

Santorini Day 3

August 6th, 2010

Sunshine peeping through the shutters of our Cycladic style hotel room. Outside it was already hot at 9AM. We had breakfast with the large crowd in the restaurant. Then I walked the 10 minutes into Fira to find a rental car. At the second place I entered, they found me a Nissan Micra, automatic, AC 4 door for the day. I negotiated the traffic after putting in gas (you get it empty) and went back to El Greco. We stocked up the car with water and stuff and headed down the road along the caldera rim and then to Pyrgos, a village with a small ”castle” at the top and alleyways circling the hillside. We had complaints about the heat but the views over the lower part of the island were worthwhile. Slowly this town was being revitalized with small hotels and apartments. Handicrafts and cafes were the usual merchants.

Perissa's black sand

We didn’t explore Pyrgos as much as we should because of the heat, so we got back in the car and drove through the lowlands to Perissa, one of the two towns with black sand/lava beaches. When I was last there more than thirty years ago, there were few facilities or restaurants and you just put your towel down and hoped not to fry. Now, there are lots of small hotels, beachside restaurants and cafes as well as music bars. The beach is lined by the usual array of umbrellas and beach chairs. Boards are placed on the sand so you don’t have to walk on it much because you can easily burn your feet from the heat, without shoes or flip flops. The sand was black, the sky blue with occasional wispy clouds and a backdrop of some towering volcanic remnants, so eyes were focused down to the very clear water lapping the shore. The water was refreshing, fairly salty, supporting our buoyancy quite easily. We passed the day swimming, frying and later eating in the beachside restaurant. They had water pipes along the roof line to spray cold mist over the restaurant, making it refreshing. The food was also good, simple but tasty and the beer on draught very refreshing.

Summer afternoon sun brought out the siesta for me while the girls negotiated some purchases from one of the parade of beach vendors. Soon it was time to explore further so we chilled the car out and then drove inland and upwards towards Fira. We stopped twice to tour vineyards as Santorini is known for its wines. The first was a small family vineyard, Gavalas off the road. We thought at first it was just a house, but then we had a tour below ground to the store house, the tanks for fermentation and the bottling room. We sampled two white wines and even Kate tasted and we bought one to take with us. A few kilometres up the road at the head of the cliff was a much larger company, Santo Wines, with a huge tasting area and lookout over the whole caldera. We tasted another wine with a dish of accompanying bread and cheese, while admiring the view. A wedding reception was also ongoing. More photographs and panoramas of the stunning views of the island.

Then we headed back to our familiar El Greco hotel where we had a refreshing swim in one of the four pools. The plan was to head to the northern tip of the island at Ia, to see the famous churches and the sunset. The road was quite mountainous so at one point we turned back thinking we were on the wrong road. However, we were going the right way and the delay caused to miss the sunset. Nausea from the twisty road also changed our plans, so we only explored a little of the village. Like Fira, it is perched on the cliff edge and it also has buildings descending the cliff face, very elegant hotels, restaurants and stores. Unfortunately we could not stay long and we negotiated the 12 km drive back in the dark to our hotel, where we had a late supper sur place. Kate always wanted to eat in the hotel so she had her wish. The girls went to bed and the author started blogging the night away. (I apologise for the lack of photographs yesterday- a poor network connection. )

Santorini Day 2

Santorini August 5th, 2010


Today was a lazy day. We woke up late at 9 AM and walked the 30 metres to the restaurant where breakfast was served. This is a busy resort and there were a few hundred people cruising the buffet tables, filling up on breads, yogurt, eggs, bacon, coffee and some other Greek items. There was also some fresh fruit of apples and oranges which seemed to disappear in bunches into bags, headed back to rooms or on excursions.

After breakfast, we slathered on the sunscreen and installed ourselves by the pool. Kate almost immediately went to play and babysit these two Australian kids aged 2 and 4, whom she had met yesterday. She alternately swam and played with Isabella and Costa. Their parents are a couple from north of Sydney, of Greek origin. They are on a month long vacation which included sailing for two weeks amongst the islands. Guittel and I bathed in the hot sun with quick dips in the pool. Entertainement was provided by some of the other people around the pool, including a guy wearing a thong, either German or Dutch. He was large and made sure everyone could see his package and his butt. With two earrings and rubbing on sunscreen every twenty minutes, he was a sight to cause sore eyes. I theorized that he was a porn star on vacation and the mousy woman with him is his producer or something. Meanwhile Guittel’s theory was that he is gay and flamboyant, based on his technique for executing a cannonball into the pool for attention.

Soon enough lunch beckoned and Kate and I shared a delicious pizza washed down by a large Greek draught beer (for me not Kate). More swimming and an ouzo on our deck cut the afternoon heat. A short siesta also helped. We then walked into town and up the caldera rim after a stop at an elegant outdoor café for cold cappuccino (cappuccino freddo). The walk uphill led to the cathedral and spectacular vies of the caldera and ships below. The sunset was approaching with a spectrum of shades on the horizon and diffusion of light on the town of Fira behind us. Camera flashes were visible from the deck of the cruise ship anchored and the sailboats returning from sunset cruises. After a little more shopping, we settled on dinner at a rooftop tavern, again a pleasant event. I had shrimps sagamaki (tomato sauce, feta cheese and ouzo), very tasty. A good Santorini rose wine helped to wash the food down. We then wandered the streets and alleys of Fira, browsing the gift, clothing and jewelry shops. People everywhere despite the late hour. Not a parking space even for another scooter. Many, too many, people smoking heavily on all these outdoor terraces and in the street. Of note, café culture and cell phone use are ahead of North America, but recycling, garbage , reusable shopping bags are still foreign concepts.

For the next two days we plan on exploring the island to see other villages, the black sand beaches and the vineyards.