The drive to our hotel in Santorini was amazing. We had to go up, up, up this steep mountain – and the view down to the Calderon of the volcano (the largest in the world) was stunning. There is a theory that Santorini is where the legend of Atlantis came from.

It is very island-y here. We have been advised not to drink the water and not to flush the toilet paper down the toilet.

The ride down the other side of the mountain was so-so. Just like the rest of Greece that we have seen, this island is very dry with lots of scrub brush and very few trees. The place where our hotel is at is very nice though. We are right on the beach – couldn't ask for a better location. The hotel is very cute with lots of outdoor seating for the restaurant and lots of beach chairs and umbrellas on the beach for us to use. The street up and down the beach is lined with cute little shops and other small hotels like ours. Very nice.

I'm seeing a trend here in Greece with the stray animals. There seem to be quite a few stray cats around here – none of which appear to be in the best health. Also, there were lots of dogs running around last night. Not sure if they belong to anyone or not. Some were wearing collars and some were not. All seemed dirty and not very cuddly.

The beach has black “sand” because it is volcanic sand. I put “sand” in quotes because it is really pebbles, and is not at all comfortable to walk on barefoot. The water is very clear and turquoise. Jason snorkeled pretty much all day – he saw lots of interesting fish and other sea critters. I found the water to be way too cold so I chose not to swim. Instead I sat under one of the umbrellas, read a book and tried to get a bit of a tan. No such luck. I'm still white as a ghost. I guess the 50 proof sunscreen I wore today didn't help. I didn't want to ruin my vacation with a bad sunburn though.

It is so nice staying at a hotel on the beach. We were able to come and go from our room all day as we pleased to use the restroom, get a snack, etc. I am really getting spoiled with these great hotel locations. Usually, we are so cheap when we travel that we end up staying someplace really far away from the sights. Staying in great locations makes such a difference!

I am surprised by how many Americans were in Athens, on the boat and are here in Santorini. I guess the recession isn't hurting too many people too terribly! I'm also surprised by how many of them are young college students. They are having such an incredibly different college experience than I had – that's for sure!!

Tomorrow is our last day on Santorini – we are going to go to the nearby town, Fira to see the Prehistoric Museum of Thira and to see the “Cycladic and Venetian style architecture” and in the evening we are taking a boat from here to Crete. Will post more later!

Wednesday 5/27/09

After going to the museum, we went back to the area around our hotel and had dinner. Then we went back to our room and got ready to go. Our ride picked us up at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday and we went to the port and got on a ferry to the Greek islands.

We spent most of the day on Wednesday on the ferry boat. The boat left at 7:30 a.m. and we stopped at three different islands before arriving at Santorini at around 3:30 in the afternoon. The ferry was really nice – we had seats inside but we only spent a few hours there (mostly sleeping) then we went up on deck for the rest of the trip. The water is so incredibly blue here! All of the islands look pretty much the same from the port. They are very dry looking – a lot like Phoenix – with no trees and lots of cute white buildings, many with dome roofs. Very picturesque.

When we finally got to Santorini, it was kind of weird leaving the boat. We had to put our luggage in a room when we boarded the boat so everyone had to go down, pick up luggage, and then they had us go stand in the area with the cars while we pulled up to the shore. We had to stand there while the gigantic and very loud ramp for the cars came down. It was kind of weird but interesting too.

I watched this show one time about a ferry boat that sank in 2001 near the first Greek island we stopped at, Paros, and now I can understand how a ferry can sink so quickly after seeing how big that opening is for the cars.

Last day in Athens

Tuesday 5/26/09

Today we went to the National Archaeological Museum in Athens and we spent almost all day there. The museum was huge and had an overwhelming amount of items excavated from sites around Greece. Information overload but very interesting!

Some of the items there were so old! There were lots and lots and lots of marble statues and marble grave markers. The Greeks really went to town when someone died and either put a lot of gold in the person's grave or carved elaborate marble statues and grave markers.

There were lots of those creepy heads without eyes. My parents used to have one of those creepy eye-less Greek head statues when I was really young and I remember having nightmares about it chasing me around the house. I've been looking for the exact one they had...haven't seen it yet! Maybe I'll find it in Rome.

Athens: City of slippery marble steps, columns and stray dogs

Monday May 25, 2009

Today we saw a lot of the major sites here in Athens. We went to bed last night at about 8:30 and we didn't wake up until about 8:30 this morning – we were so tired. This hotel is great! Breakfast is included with our room at this hotel and it was really good. It was buffet style with eggs, toast, bacon, etc. and also Greek food such as cucumbers and tomato with feta and stuffed grape leaves.

We filled up and headed out to the Acropolis, which is about a 2 minute walk from our hotel. The Acropolis is the site of many sites – most famous being the Parthenon.

Unfortunately for us, it was also cruise tour group time and it seemed as though everyone in the entire world was visiting the Acropolis at the same time as us, with the Princess Cruise tour group consisting of the pushiest people ever. Once we made it through the crowd though, it was an amazing sight to see.

I really can't imagine how people in ancient times were able to construct such huge buildings without the technology we have today. In addition to the Parthenon, we also saw the Theatre of Dionysos, Herodes Atticus Theater, the Old Temple of Athena, Ancient Agora and the Hephaisteion Temple. All were very interesting! We also went to a small museum inside of the reconstructed Stoa of Attalos. The museum had some really interesting things – such as a “water clock” 2 jugs, one filled with water that poured into another that was used to time speeches (a little over 6 minutes) and an ancient potty chair for children! There was also a jury choosing machine they invented which was basically a big slab of rock or marble with lots of little slits cut into it and they would drop in colored balls and if the color ball you chose came out at the end determined if you were called to jury duty – amazing! I never would have thought of that.

Theater of Dionysos

Jason at the Old Temple of Athena














Hephaisteion: better known as Thisseion (449-447 BC) is one of the world's best preserved Greek temples due to its protection from the Greek Orthodox Church which used it from the 7th Century to 1834.







View from Hephaisteion with the Acropolis in the background






After spending much of the day at Acropolis, we wandered through the “Plaka” area – which is a neighborhood with mostly pedestrian streets full of shops and restaurants. Then we came back to the hotel to freshen up a bit and then we went to the Temple of Olympian Zeus which literally across the street from our hotel. What is left of this temple is really awesome – especially the column that fell down. It was huge! We also went to some nearby ruins that are still being excavated. After visiting the Temple of Olympian Zeus, we went back to the Plaka area and had some really good food.

Jason beside one section of the Temple of Olympian Zeus



Athens is a big, sprawling city. The area outside of the airport looked kind of like Phoenix. It is very dry and dusty here. The area where we are is old and somewhat dirty – but there are some very charming neighborhoods and buildings around. There are lots and lots of stray dogs. There are also a lot of dogs running around that seem like they must belong to somebody because they are wearing a collar. They all seem very lazy and dirty. There were lots of stray dogs when we went to Bangkok but they were scary – the strays here in Athens are not scary but definitely don't seem cuddly. So far, we're having a really good time. We are getting ready to go back out to see the Parthenon and some of the other sites around the area lit up at night.

Tomorrow we are going to the National Archaeological Museum. I'll post more soon!

We Made It!

We are here in Athens now. It was a long trip. We flew into London and had to switch planes there. Heathrow is an insanely busy airport!

Here is a question for you: what happens when Nikki drinks a margarita, 2 glasses of wine and eats Indian airplane food for dinner? She gets an incredibly upset stomach! Things were really rough there for a bit. Luckily, the airport here in Athens has a pharmacy and Jason was able to find some medicine for me. I'm not sure what it was - the pharmacist told him to take up to 3 a day - but it sure worked well! I'm feeling much better now.

Our hotel is nice - a bit funky but clean and in an EXCELLENT location. We are literally across the street from the Acropolis. We walked around the neighborhood a bit this evening and found some food - but we are beat! So, we are in for the evening and will go see the sights tomorrow.

Check back soon for more interesting posts and pictures...

Our Trip

This is where I'll be posting updates about our trip...check back after May 23, 2009