June 18 - Elia Beach, Mykonos

After many days of running around sight seeing, we decided to enjoy a relaxing beach day to complete our visit to Mykonos. There are several small beaches along the southern coast, accessible by water taxi and bus: Paranga beach, Paradise (the party beach), Super Paradise (marketed as the gay beach), Agrari beach (the least developed of the four) and Elia beach (the longest).



Beaches in Mykonos are made up of tiny smooth pebbles rather than soft sand. There may be sand at points along the waterline, but more often pebbles. The water is crystal clear and refreshing with a firm sandy bottom or larger smooth stones.

The water taxi ride along the coast provided great views, fresh ocean breezes and an unexpected but terrific tutorial on the charms of Portugal including a sketch map of the best places to visit and the email for follow up of the sweet young couple who shared their love of their home.

We ended our day with a beachside dinner at the taverna near our hotel.




Tomorrow - Athens!

Location:Mykonos, Greece

June 19 - the Acropolis, Athens and last sunset dinner

Our last day in Greece - ferry transfer from Mykonos to Pireaus (3.5 hours) and then bus into Athens. We arrived about 3:30 with conflicting information about whether or not the Acropolis was open. We dropped our bags and made our way to the Acropolis to try our luck. Fortunately the eye of Zeus must have been smiling on us as the Acropolis was open and not crowded! We toured the Acropolis, the Parthenon, the theatre of Dionysis - the works! It was breathtaking!












We made our way back down and wandered back to our hotel through the Plaka (pedestrian mall) past the parliament buildings.... where a significant protest had developed in the time since we passed by on our way to the acropolis. The road was blocked to cars and police in riot gear were waiting in the wings. The crowd was large and beginning to drum and chant. There were vendors selling flags, whistles and snacks. If we hadn't heard that the protests got rough last Thursday you might think they were getting ready for a parade!

Things seemed to be just getting organized. We hustled across the growing crowd in front of the parliament buildings and out of the way. That was not the kind of excitement we were looking for to end our vacation!

We made our way back to our hotel and enjoyed a wonderful rooftop dinner with a great view of the acropolis and the sunset over the hills outside Athens. A wonderful last night of a spectacular vacation with great friends!


Opa!

Location:Athens, Greece

June 17 - Delos and the sunset from Little Venice

Trekked out early (10am) and caught the boat to Delos, a small island that is entirely an archeological site. Delos is credited as being the birthplace of Apollo, the God of Light.

At one time Delos was home to over 30,000 occupants despite being only 3KM square. The island was "purified" by removing all tombs and allowing no births or deaths on island. Currently, only the few archeologists and some site guards reside.

The archeological endeavor was undertaken by the French School of Archeology (and is still ongoing). While there is very little restoration done, the site is extensive and the original residential area is in good shape.

After seeing the site and the on island museum, we headed back to Mykonos for a sunset dinner with friends.

All walls are dry set stone - original 3c BC not restored.





This house was partially restored (roof) to provide an idea of the overall height and architecture.





8 of the remaining examples of Greek dry fit arches (no mortar). These would have supported the roof over the public cistern.I





Statue of Artemis, Apollo's twin sister found on the site at Delos.





Petros and Petra, mascots of Mykonos






Sunset from a balcony in Little Venice, Mykonos




The windmills of Mykonos.


Opa!

Location:Mykonos, Greece

June 16 - Red beach, Black Beach

Jewelle not feeling well today, spent the day in bed. I trekked with our friends to the Red Beach at Akrotiri and then the Black Beach at Perissa. Local busses are cheap but, as the travel guides will say, are never full. No matter how packed the bus is there is always room for another 1 or 5 passengers.

The red beach is an interesting fall of red volcanic rock. After a rugged path, a narrow beach of soft red sand awaits. An interesting beach to see, it's not the place to spend a day.

The Black Beach is deeper and longer and comprised of a black granular sand that gets hot through the day. Dropping a towel and laying down for a while felt good on the back. While the Red Beach is protected by towering red cliff walls, the Black Beach is mostly open with only a typical, brown granite cliff to one side.




Our Canadian addition to the scenery...

Location:June 16 - Red beach, Black Beach

June 15 - Santorini Sunset

Yesterday afternoon we made our way to Oia to see the town and watch the sunset. It was much warmer than yesterday, about 26 but far less windy. The town of Oia is very pretty but relatively crowded compared to what we have experienced so far. Or at least it seemed crowded as the lanes are very narrow, mostly cobbled staircases. I imagine they are treacherous in the rain!









Dinner was fun and the sunset was lovely.



Apparently there is a rising lunar eclipse tonight, so we are on the lookout for a good dinner location with an appropriate vantage point. We are off today to see the red, white and black beaches.

Location:Firastefoni, Santorini

June 14 - catching up Knossos and Santorini day 1

Multiple days without reliable internet access... now we are having a real vacation!

Knossos was fascinating. 4000 year old ruins of the palace of King Minos. The site was discovered in 1878 and the excavation and reconstruction was funded by an English gentleman Aurthur Evans in 1900. The findings there validated what were previously considered to be legends and myths. The society had advanced engineering capability with running water flowing through clay pipes from a mountain source 10km away. They also collected rainwater in cisterns to provide water for flushing toilets, part of an extensive drainage system still effective for rainwater today.

Throne room:



Storage vaults - jars were used to store oil, wine, cereals, textiles


gold and gemstones were stored in secret vaults under the floor


Examples of jars (pithos) used for storage - these were taller than Michael


The oldest paved road in Europe. Workshops would have lined this street.



We travelled to Santorini by high speed ferry on Monday - a reasonably quick trip (about 2.5 hours) and blessedly smooth. We were concerned when an attendant on the ship started handing out vomit bags to everyone before we departed!

Santorini is everything you read about it - beautiful cliff side towns of white plaster buildings and ancient cliff homes. The town of Fira is full of tavernas and tourist shops. The hassling is surprisingly lower key than in other towns we have visited so far. There are some artist workshops with unique jewelry and pottery - a nice change from the typical souvenirs.

the plan is to make our way to Oia this afternoon to watch the infamous Santorini sunset.

Opa!

Location:Fira Santorini

Day Whatever, loosing track of the calendar

Still having a great time. Hot temperatures but there's usually a good breeze, particularly off the ocean.

Today we rented a car and drove to Chennia on the northern coast of Crete. The drive through the countryside was beautiful. We mostly followed the coast along the national road through mountainous terrain.

Chennia is lovely. We walked through the Venetian quarter in the old town along the fortified harbor. Crete has been inhabited for more than 5000 years. We viewed a Minoan archeological site were the foundations of a large house from 3000 bc had been excavated along with many artifacts now resident in the local museum.

Tomorrow we are planning to visit the Minoan palace in Knossos.























Opa!

Day 4 - Rhodes Old Town

Today we visited the Old Town in Rhodes. It was incredible to be walking the streets and viewing the buildings used by the Knights of Saint John in the 14thc. The streets are cobbled with the stones from the beach, shades of grey and very smooth. Much of the old town has been rebuilt or renovated over the centuries, first by the Hospitalers themselves and later by the Italians. The Knights Way or Ippoton street is lined with the inns used by the knights visiting Rhodes from various countries - each had their own inn - France, Spain, Italy, Germany etc. The buildings are still in use today as shops, banks, residences. We even saw consulates of France and Italy.

The palace of the Grand Master is fully restored hosting the medieval museum of Rhodes with some interesting artifacts. The tour of the palace rooms were very impressive. We spent two hours wandering through the halls and corridors enjoying the ambiance and the breezes in the cool stone exterior. Wonderful!

Off to Crete tonight. Planning a quiet beach day for tomorrow.

Location:Rhodes, Greece

Day 3 - Turkey

Being so close, we decided we had to go to Turkey today. We travelled by high speed catamaran to Marmaris, a resort town full of restaurants, bars, yatchs and the Grand Bazaar active on the same site since the 1780's.

While the Grand Bazaar apparently has 2000 shops, there are repeats of the same things over and over - lots of counterfeit goods, kitchy souvenirs, rugs, embroidery and ceramics. The handcrafts are beautiful, but are often overwhelmed by the 'genuine fakes' as the Marmaris merchants like to brag.

We spent a few minutes in the bazaar and then quickly made our way out to the board walk around the harbor, old town and the local castle. There were many lovely wooden sailing yatchs along the boardwalk which gave us lots of ideas for our next vacation....

After being accosted by several restaurant hosts, managers and owners we enjoyed a lovely lunch on the roof of a local taverna (Divella) under an umbrella with a good breeze blowing off the harbor. We enjoyed fresh sea bass, king prawns, calamari and fresh veggie appetizers and salad. Yum!

Tomorrow we will tackle the old town of Rhodes. One of the only 'living' medieval towns originally fortified by the Knights of Saint John. We took some preview shots from the outside today. Tomorrow we are going in!

Opa!

Location:Marmaris, Turkey, 17 miles off the coast of Rhodes

Day 2

We enjoyed a perfect day in Lindos today. A boat tour along
the coast of Rhodes, a couple hours exploring the first Grecian Acropolis (pictures to follow) and some time on the soft sand beach and in the refreshing cove waters. The village of Lindos is beautiful with classic Greek architecture. Tomorrow a day in the Turkish market in Marmaris.











Opa!

Location:Lindos, Rhodes