Romantic Greece

Monday 11 2011

Ron and I just returned form nine days in Greece. Oh my goodness! What a wonderful time we had. Greece is every bit as romantic as we had hoped for. Many years ago Ron’s mom told us we should go there as it was a very romantic place. A few years ago I suggested we go there to celebrate our 25 wedding anniversary. Our anniversary is November 30th, not a good time to go. I read that many of the island families go to the mainland starting in late Oct or early Nov. We decided to wait and I am glad we did. We left here on Thursday afternoon April 28th and flew to Athens by way of Istanbul. We arrived at midnight and our only option to get into town was to take a taxi. It cost $74. We think we got a driver who had never had a fare before. He could not put the address into his GPS so he asked someone where to go and lo and behold we ended up in some industrial area on the far side of town with no houses or commercial sites. We told him he was way off course. Mind you we don’t speak Greek and he didn’t speak English but we asked him to call the hotel for directions. Back into town and he had to stop three more times for directions. It took well over an hour to get to our hotel. The desk clerk asked what took us so long! The meter read 99 Euros but fortunately we were on a fixed price from the airport. Our hotel was great, a big room and bath with a tub, my personal favorite. We were a five minute walk to the Metro and four stops from the Acropolis.

 The next morning we walked to a nearby sidewalk café and had wonderful Illy coffee and croissants. The sun was out the entire trip, a welcomed gift. Off to the Acropolis for our first day. I am glad we went early as the tour buses landed as we were coming out and the place was swarmed. This was Good Friday and the entry was free, saving us about $36. Afterwards we walked to the nearby Acropolis Museum that had many of the statues and other items from the Acropolis. There was a wonderful documentary that showed how the various structures looked originally (3,000 years ago) and how they changed from various abuses. Christians destroyed some of the pagan god statues and motifs, the Persian invasion, the Venetians blowing up the Turkish arsenal that was housed inside the Parthenon, acid rain, etc. We pondered just how did they get those huge stones on top of those very high columns in the Parthenon? They have to weigh many tons and they didn’t have cranes or so we assume.



Next was a delicious lunch outside again. We wandered the neighborhood that was loaded with nice shops, restaurants and galleries. That night we took the Metro to the port city of Piraeus for a seafood dinner. We ate by the waterfront. The meal wasn’t anything special but we enjoyed the adventure.

On our second day we returned to our breakfast spot and ate inside as it was earlier and still cool. Afterwards we walked to the nearby National Archeological Museum. It was Easter Saturday and we got in here free as well. Because it was a holiday there were fewer guards so some of the rooms were closed. We still enjoyed what we saw including finds from two of the islands we would be visiting. We saw items that were 4,000 years old including clay pots, figurines, tools and wall paintings. Humbling to say the least. Next we walked to Hadrian’s Arch and the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the largest temple in Greece. It is gianormous. Hard to even imagine how this was put together and that it still stands, well some of the columns still stand. It was started in 600 BC but not finished until 131 AD (when it was completed by the Romans) as they ran out of money while working on it. After this we wandered the neighborhood looking at shops old and new. We found a shop mentioned in our tour book that had unique items. It was a great shop with very unusual items including antique textiles that were not affordable (500 Euros), wood carvings, and copper pots. We found a delightful metal work piece that we will hang in our kitchen at home. It is quite playful. From here we found a lovely outdoor café where we had lunch. Rocket salad, yum. Then we went to the Belgium chocolate shop we had spied earlier and treated ourselves to some absolutely decadent caramel filled dark chocolate. We went back to our hotel and rested. Then out to dinner outside (is there a theme here?) and ate a wonderful meal at an 18th century mansion that had taken five years to restore. From here we walked toward the Acropolis to take some night photos

On our third day we got up early and took the Metro to the airport and flew to the island of Mykonos in the Cyclades, population 9,600. We stayed in the town of Mykonos whose population is about 6,000.

I mention this because in high season which is July and August the town swells to 120,000. OY! Spare me. There were huge cruise ships in the harbor and waves of tourist would be on the streets once they landed. We were quite surprised at the number of Asian tourists everywhere we went, particularly young Chinese in their 20’s and 30’s. Mykonos is very picturesque. Every building is white and most have colorful trim: classic Greek blue, green and red. Most streets were quite narrow and only motor scooters or motorbikes could travel on them. All this added to the quaintness. They had specialized tiny trucks to pick up the trash.

Our budget hotel was great. We had to climb up a lot of stairs to get to it as the streets were too narrow for our taxi. Then we had to climb about ten steps to get to the reception desk. Our hostess showed us our room, up two flights of stairs. I was about to have a heart attack when Ron said we had reserved a room with a double bed not twins beds. She suggested we leave our luggage and she showed us another choice with a double bed up more stairs. About that time the owner showed up and invited us to coffee in the reception area. He served us delicious espresso and Easter rolls. He also gave us each an Easter egg dyed dark red, a tradition in Orthodox churches. Apparently Mary had eggs at the tomb and when Jesus came out of the tomb the eggs turned red. Kostas showed us a ‘game’ where you hit your egg end against another’s person’s egg end and whose ever doesn’t crack is the lucky one. Ron won with Kostas and with me. He is one lucky guy! After a short conversation Kostas decided to upgrade us to an apartment that slept five. Kostas insisted on carrying our luggage to the room. No argument from me. The best part was we had a private terrace overlooking the town and the Aegean. We ate breakfast there and read there each afternoon.

After unpacking we walked around town which is quite small and charming at every turn. We ate outside and had another rocket salad, spinach pie and mousaka. This was followed by more walking and back to our room to sit on the terrace and veg. After our rest we walked to the five windmills that had been used to grind corn. There were in various states of repair from fully restored to in need of a lot of work. See photos. We waited until sunset for Ron to get some great shots. Kostas had recommended a restaurant and we ate there at 8:30 which is late for us but we were the second customer and he was an English speaker as well. Since it was late we ate light: sautéed mushrooms and a meat salad finishing with espresso. It was divine. Later that night Kostas and his wife Marianne went to hear the Greek music at 11:30 and enjoy drinks but we were in bed then.

On Monday we dined on our terrace eating our airplane Easter bread and Kostas’ Easter egg and I made coffee. It was simple but adequate. The scenery was worth it. We took some clothes to the laundry and explored more of the town. We were particularly interested in seeing the art galleries as we always buy a piece of art for our anniversary and we were celebrating our 25th. We have been looking for months but hadn’t seen anything that interested us. We stopped to ask directions for a particular gallery and the owner of the shop knew the two artists and took us outside to show us how to get there. She added that they may not be there but to call them as they lived nearby. One of the artists was from Mexico we learned. We found the place around the corner and were peering onto the window when a man walked up and asked if we wanted to go inside. He had a key. It turned out he was one of the artists. Probably our friend had called him. We liked three of the paintings but asked if we could return at 4:00 (when it was time to pick up the laundry) as we wanted to check out a couple of other galleries. We went to two or three more galleries but didn’t like anything we saw. We ate another great meal, a gyros plate, in a garden restaurant. We returned at 4:00 and bought one of the paintings that his partner, Dorlies Schapitz, had done. It is an interior shot looking out onto a balcony. It reminded me of a Matisse painting done in North Africa. Ron asked Luis what had brought him to Mykonos and Luis said ‘a boat’. HA! They wrapped the painting in card- board and off we went. Later we discovered Luis had come from Mexico over 50 years ago and was well love d in this town. They honored him on his 50 anniversary of living there by printing a book of his works. We purchased his book as another memory of our experience.

On Tuesday we took a boat to the nearby island of Delos, an uninhabited archeological site. Delos is one of the most important mythological, historical and archaeological sites in Greece. According to legend Leto gave birth to Artemis and Apollo here in 3000 BC. Ionians arrived on Delos around 1000 BC. By 700 BC it was a major religious center. Delos was a city complete with theater, cisterns, sewerage system, temples and sanctuaries. The homes of wealthier residents had mosaic tile floors and wall paintings. It was awe inspiring to walk around ruins that were part of a thriving community 3700 years ago. Wild flowers were in profusion here: yellows, reds and purples predominated.

We came back to Mykonos and ate lunch then walked over to the port to catch a ferry to our next stop, the island of Santorini. It was a 2.5 hour trip and I was relieved that is was as smooth as riding a train. I have a tendency to get motion sickness. Santorini was colonized by the Minoans in 3000BC. It was a volcano that erupted in 1450BC that formed its crescent shape. It is now a stunning island with its white villages clinging to volcanic cliffs. We were picked up by a prearranged van to take us to our hotel about 30 minutes away from the port. We passed through Fira, the biggest city on the island and proceeded to the northern tip of the island to Oia, pronounced Ia.

We had splurged and booked a ‘cave’ cottage. These are a tradition in Santorini where houses are craved into the side of the volcano. Our host/owner was out of town when we arrived so we were met by her assistant who doesn’t speak English. We managed. The owner called us upon arrival and she upgraded us to the honeymoon cottage because I had mentioned that we were celebrating our 25th anniversary. What a treat. She had a small basket of treats and two Easter eggs dyed red and a bottle of wine. Our cottage had a kitchenette, a large room for sitting/eating and a bedroom that was a nook further recessed into the wall of the volcano. See photos. The best part was our terrace overlooking the caldera of the volcano and the Aegean. It was spectacular! We ate breakfast here every morning. I had brought granola and coffee just for this occasion, having seen the photos of the cottages on line. They all have terraces. If you want to see them, go to www.lavaoias.gr . The owner is an architect and she bought then remodeled the cave cottages. She did a great job with plantings outside on the terraces and simple antique furnishings inside. We were comfortable and enjoyed the ambiance of the place. We unpacked then walked through town.

Oia has a ‘sunset walkway’ made of marble tiles for much of the way and cobblestones for part of the way. At the end of the walk is a stunning viewpoint for watching the sunsets. Unfortunately we had heavy clouds or a fog bank each night but Ron still managed to get some good shots. Oia is different from Mykonos. It is much smaller with a population of 400. There were more shops with higher quality merchandise and better art galleries. It seems to have a more narrow audience than Mykonos. Mykonos is also considered a party town with lots of bars. We liked how much quieter it was on Oia. We could see cruise ships across the way and we would have short waves of tourists in Oia but discovered that they are bussed in for only an hour and then back to another town or the ship. So at times the walkways were almost empty. We also discovered some really great restaurants in Oia. I don’t think I mentioned that eating in Greece was quite expensive. We had a lot of meals that cost $70-$100. Our drinks were bottled water. I took Ron out to celebrate his birthday on the 26th to a really good restaurant and we also went out the next night to a fabulous restaurant owned by the same people. That meal was $150.

We spent our days exploring the town and visiting shops. On Wednesday I bought a scarf and we walked down to the port of Amoudi to have a lovely calamari meal sitting on the deck of the restaurant. The trip down was a very steep trip with 300 steps with a steep sloping sidewalk between steps. I opted for taking the road back up. It was longer but not as steep. We also walked to the neighboring village of Finikia where all the houses are the traditional Greek house. It is not a tourist town but a regular village on the outside wall of the volcano. This side is a gentle slope down to the sea and there is a lot of agriculture here. There are many vineyards and they are most unusual. Because of the strong winds on the island, they do not stake the vines. Rather they leave them on the ground and create a spiral circle as the vines grow. If they staked the vines they would break from the winds.

On our last day we took a bus to Fira, population 2100 and walked around town. We visited the Prehistoric Museum of Thera, which houses some extraordinary finds from Akrotiri. We saw a gold ibex from the 17th century BC! We also saw pottery pieces with what is known as Linear A. In Minoan times, before the Mycenaean Greek dominion, Linear A was the official script for the palaces and cults and hieroglyphs were mainly used on seals. We ate a quick lunch at a gyros stand before catching the bus back to Oia. Around 5:00 we were picked up and taken to the airport for a 40 minute flight back to Athens. Given that we were leaving first thing in the morning we chose to stay at a nearby hotel. The hotel is 7km (about 3 miles) from the airport. The owner picked us up at the airport and provided breakfast and took us back to the airport. This was a great deal for us. Gas in Greece is running $10 a gallon. Yes that is right. We did the calculations and realize we have nothing to complain about in the US regarding gas prices. Our host told us he spends 2000 Euros a month on petrol alone. But his hotel is booked every night so he is grateful. A man and his adult son rode with us from the airport and we asked them to join us at the local taverna for dinner since it was the only place to get a bite to eat. The place was full and we ate at 10:00 in the evening. Our dinner companions were from Spain and spoke Galician, not Spanish. The father was an attorney who travels extensively and his son was a jazz musician who did most of the translation for his father. We had a delightful time together. In the morning a simple breakfast was delivered to our room and off we went to the airport for our flight home via Istanbul. All in all it was a wonderful trip. We saw fabulous sights, ate great food and came home totally relaxed. Re-entry to Tbilisi was difficult. It was gray and cool when we arrived at 4:30 in the afternoon. Ron asked Gia if the weather had been like this while we were gone. Gia said ‘no, it rained.’ Oy. We ran by Gia’s on the way home to pick up a drill Ron had loaned Gia. Seeing all the concrete apartment houses in his neighborhood was a real downer for me. They are all so sad looking with exteriors that need repair and the architecture is so incredibly utilitarian and ugly. After Greece, it was too much. Fortunately the sun came out on Monday and my spirits lifted. We are ready to come home and are eager to find out when that will be. Stay tuned.