All posts by richardpieper

Czech Republic

Prague (Part 1)

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Prague is the capital city of the Czech Republic (now Chechia and formerly Czechoslovakia). I made it here on an (almost) all-expenses paid work trip back in the day and loved every bit of it. It was stunningly beautiful and it was as cheap as chips. And from my perspective, Pilsner Urquell has been one of my favourite drops for a very long time. So I have been telling Jill for over a decade now that she would love it.

So after a quick 3 hr flight to get here from Crete, we were picked up and delivered to our hotel. It is amazing to see the way some people behave on a 3 hr flight. I guess from a European context, 3 hrs is a long flight whereas for us it is a puddle jump. The guy in front of us (about 50) was honestly worse than a kid with ADD. He fidgeted, farted and moved every few seconds for the entire flight. He sat in 4 different seats (not a full plane) throughout the flight and sat in 3 of them changing on average every 5 mins.

In addition to this, both he and the woman he was with had to urinate 3 times (each) in a short flight. The last bit was pretty common as I was passed by about 4 different people heading to the loo who also made at least 3 trips. At one point there was a line of 8 people queued up the aisle.

If you could ignore the carry-on and just stare out the window, it was lovely. The river meandered through a beautiful green countryside, and every now and then you would see some snow-capped mountains.

In doing my research for this post I found that the Czech Republic has the highest beer consumption per capita in the world and has topped the per capita beer drinking table for 24 consecutive years.

Maybe this influenced why I loved this place.

Anyway, Prague has been a populated area for several thousands of years with decent records showing consistent habitation since around 500 BC. In the 5th and 6th centuries, Slavic tribes moved in and began building fortifications. By the 9th and 10th centuries, this fortification had extended to the building of Prague Castle. By the 1300’s Prague had developed into an imperial capital and significant planned expansions took place. By the 1700s many rich merchants and nobles moved in and built a host of palaces, churches and gardens. The big point is that Prague’s cultural attractions mostly survived the violence and destruction of 20th-century Europe (WWI and WWII).  

According to the blurb, today Prague has over 2,000 officially recognised architectural and artistic monuments, ranging in period from the Romanesque through the Gothic to the Baroque, Rococo, Classical, and Neoclassical. And this I can truly believe, you cannot walk 5 meters without seeing amazing buildings, architecture and statues.

So the question has become, how to attack this in a way that seems semi-logical. This is pretty tough when there is so much to see in such close proximity. I tried my usual chronology but there was just so much that is amazing so I have had to split it into two parts and have had to group items as things get really confusing, really quickly.

As we were staying on the western side of the river, this was where we explored first. I must say upfront, we were gifted on the days that we had. The temperature was in the low 20s, and the skies were a beautiful blue, with the odd wispy cloud to give the photos a touch of character. The buildings of Prague are stunning. Everywhere you look there is character, whether old or new the place is a blast.

Old Town

Old Town is on the eastern bank of the River it started as a marketplace back in the 10th century. Old town Square (or Staromestske Namesti) is the main square where you will find major tourist attractions including the:

  • old town hall – originally built in 1364 and fixed multiple times due to varying conflicts etc over the years,
  • astronomical clock – first installed in 1410
  • Rococo Kinský Palace – former palace that is now part of the National Gallery Prague.
  • Gothic House at the Stone Bell
  • in the pavement of the square are memorial stones marking the execution of 27 Czech lords in 1621, and
  • the Prague meridian – a narrow brass strip in Prague’s Old Town Square that was used to tell time from 1652 to 1918.

Church of Our Lady before Týn is a 14th-century landmark with 80m towers, ornately carved exteriors & a baroque altarpiece.

The story goes that Walt Disney was inspired by this church when he was designing the very famous Disney Castle.

I can see it…

Convent of St Agnes of Bohemia is one of the oldest (1230’s) and most important Gothic buildings in Prague. It functioned as a religious building for around 550 years before falling to ruin. It was restored and now houses the National Gallery.

The Baroque Church of St Nicholas took 51 years (1704-1755) to build and is in Lesser town (the area below the palace but before you cross the Charles Bridge into Old Town).

It was built on the same site where there used to be a Gothic church.

Žofín Palace messed up my plans to go east and west of the river as it was built on an island in the middle of the river. Dating back to the 1830’s this new Renaissance building was built as a cultural centre / concert hall. In 1884, the entire island was purchased by the City of Prague, which decided to thoroughly re-build and extend the original building.

Marking the exit from Old Town is the Powder Tower. Built in 1475, the dark Gothic structure is one of the 13 original city gates and was used for gunpowder storage in the 17th century. 

Charles Bridge connects the Old Town with the Prague Castle area of the city. It was started in 1357 and took a half-century to finish. It was the only means of crossing the river Vltava until 1841.

The bridge is lined with a series of 30 statues on both sides, many of which are over 300 years old.

Prague Castle (Vyšehrad ) Complex is the main show in town. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Prague Castle is the largest coherent castle complex in the world, with an area of almost 70,000 m². It consists of the Old Royal Palace, St Virus Cathedral, St George’s Basilica, Golden Lane and the Great South Tower. The castle itself is about 570 metres long and around 130 metres wide, with a history that dates back to the 9th century.

St. Vitus Cathedral is the largest and the most important temple in Prague. It is a Gothic cathedral where construction began in 1344 and it is situated in the middle of the Prague Castle Complex. Apart from religious services, coronations of Czech kings and queens also took place here.

St George’s Basilica, Golden Lane and the Great South Tower (the old prison area) are all also located in the complex that is Prague Castle.

Hradčanské náměstí (Hradcany Square) is the square directly in front of Prague Castle that is the home to virtually everything that you can imagine in a historic sense. The list of what is around the square includes Salmovsky Palace ( National Gallery ), Schwarzenberg Palace (National Gallery, built in 1567), Monastery of the Discalced Carmelites, St. Benedict’s Church, Tuscan Palace, Martinique Palace, Saxe-Lauenburg Palace, Losenovsky Palace (U Labutí house), Sternberg Palace (National Gallery), Archbishop’s Palace and Canon houses. Along with any number of statues and columns.

The Loreta is a baroque place of pilgrimage founded in 1626. It was designed as a replica of the Santa Casa (Sacred House; the home of the Virgin Mary) in the Holy Land. These replicas were once found across Catholic Europe (50 in the Czech lands alone), but the Prague Loreta is claimed to be extra special.

Legend says the original Santa Casa was carried by angels to the Italian town of Loreto as the Turks were advancing on Nazareth.

Along with all of the Palaces and historic buildings, Prague is the capital of Museums. Everywhere you look there is another museum. Some of the museums that we came across included the: Alchemy, Apple products, Army, Beer, Chocolate, Communism, Decorative Arts, Fantastic Illusions, Franz Kafka, Historical toilets and chamber ports, Illusion art, Jewish, KGB, Lego, Lobkowicz, Marionette, Military history, Miniatures, Modern art, Mucha, Music, National, Pop-up, Porcelain, Senses, Sex machines, Slivovitz Museum, Technical and many more…

We chose to go to the Old Masters exhibit in the Schwarzenberg Palace. At this point, I realised that I liked statues and sculptures, but could not get excited about paintings. From here we headed up the hill to the Museum of Miniatures. Here you use a microscope or magnifying glass to view micro-miniature sculptures and paintings. Some of these include the Eiffel Tower in a cherry stone, a golden bicycle on a needle, the lord’s prayer on a hair and a camel train within the eye of a needle. Needless to say, the zoom on my phone was not up to this so I grabbed these photos from their website.

And of course we hit the National Museum, but that comes in part 2.

Greece

Greek Food and Beer

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Greek Food

As this is our last port of call in Greece (for this trip) I thought that I should cover off on the food options that we have been served up during our month in Greece. The food here has surprised us greatly. We have had a pretty fair exposure to Greek food while living in Australia and it has been fantastic with a wide range and variety. While the food we have been given has been excellent, for the most part, the variety has been sorely lacking. It has been a world of meat and carbs and not a vegetable in sight.

Don’t get me wrong here, most of my life has been spent consuming meat and carbs, but this was even a bit much for me. Almost every meal is meat and chips. You can buy a gyros (a Greek kebab with chips inside) for about 3 euro and it will be delicious. But if you want to buy a salad it will cost you 250-400% more and you will get some lettuce leaves with balsamic vinegar on them.

The traditional Greek salad (Horiatiki) that we are used to back home, almost has not been seen (maybe it is a seasonal thing), and when it is seen the Feta is usually intact in a huge block. The chef’s salad is virtually identical everywhere, lettuce, boiled eggs, 2 or 3 cherry tomatoes, hard cheese and mayonnaise.

The meat plates are awesome, about 3-5 different meats charred and served. Add to this the Souvlaki Something very special happens when meat is introduced to flame. the Greeks have discovered and exploited this perfectly. But it will be served on a bed of chips (maybe with some pita bread too) and very little else. Jill has been craving vegetables and fruit as they have virtually been missing this whole month.

The seafood has been lacking greatly (my sense is that the Mediterranean is all but fished out) and the fish and octopus were either hard to find or brutally expensive. We did get to have the usual suspects (octopus, calamari, anchovies, prawns and sardines) during our time but not with anywhere near the ease or frequency that either of us imagined.

Eggplant– I have had some great eggplant over the years and I rate the Italian versions very highly, but the Greeks have taken eggplant to a whole other level. Whether the grilled eggplant or made into the Moussaka, these guys know how to cook an eggplant.

Moussaka we have had so many times, but having it here is so much better than back at home. The layers of potato and eggplant at the bottom, cooked minced meat (beef or lamb) in the middle, and béchamel cream on top.  How can you go wrong.

The Gemistá is the stuffed capsicum that were also really good.

Greek Pies – come in a range of versions, both sweet and savoury and based on the ones we tried they are all pretty good. I did find that the Spanakópita (filo with feta and spinach) came in sizes that were too big. By the time you had finished one, you were totally over the taste. The Tirópita was the local cheese mix version. The Bougatsa very quickly became my favourite, it is a sweet pie, stuffed with buttery custard cream and sprinkled with cinnamon and icing sugar.  Best eaten straight from the bakery, warm out of the oven. There is a very similar galaktoboureko but this filo is also soaked in honey.

Kotopoulo sto fourno me patates was a random stumble across that we found in Santorini, it is basically a chicken and vegetable roast/stew thing. Jill loved it.

On the random finds section we have a tendency to spray a menu and order anything that looks good, especially if we haven’t had it before. This leaves us eating a range of things that are especially local and probably may not be seen anywhere else. Some of these on this foray into Greece have included: stuffed mushrooms, goat stews, zucchini, and even pastas.

Desserts

Baklava is the obvious dessert and one thing that Greece is famous for. The filo (phyllo) pastry, butter, chopped walnuts or pistachios, and a rich sugary syrup is universally known. I find this too sweet for my tastes but Jill sampled them and did not object. Loukoumádes are a form of Greek doughnut that are typically covered in honey but the place we found in Crete served them with fresh fruit and ice cream with a chocolate sauce and it was amazing. The Bougatsa and galaktoboureko fit the pie and dessert categories.

Revani is a syrup-soaked cake made with semolina and yoghurt, known for its lemony taste. Portokalopita is pretty similar but the lemon is replaced with oranges and cinnamon and is similarly syrup-drenched. And the cop out option is Greek yoghurt and honey, which is still pretty good. The important thing to remember is that even if you don’t order dessert, chances are that you will be served one for free.

And the winner is…Greek bakeries.

I love them fully. The quality and range of items (both sweet and savoury) that can be found at Greek bakeries is virtually impossible to fathom or match.

Greek Beer

Much like the food I thought I would give a quick overview of the Greek beers. The beers on offer are predominantly local with a few imports (mostly German or Dutch) thrown into the mix as well. They for the most part are lagers or pilsners and they have all been very drinkable and well worth the effort. The best bit is that most of them come in decent sized (500ml) bottles. The usual suspects include: Alpha, Fix, Hellas, Mamos, Mythos, Nisos, and Vergina.

In addition to the usual suspects, each island tends to have their own brew and the concept of microbreweries is kicking in. I tried the individual island brews on two of the islands and they did not appeal to my tastes at all. As for microbreweries, I have never been a fan. In my view, this is the realm of bearded hipsters with man buns, who busy themselves finding new and unusual ways to ruin beer.

The other thing that you need to know is, that after a meal (every meal), the owner will deliver you a glass of either ouzo or raki (Tsikoudia). It will be free, it will be strong and it will be very rude to turn it down (even if you think it tastes like armpits).

Smile, say thankyou (efcharisto) and move on.

Greece

Crete

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Crete is the largest island in Greece by both area and population. It’s the size of a small country and doesn’t feel much like an island. It deserves around a week to visit to even scratch the surface and more like two weeks to circumnavigate and explore in any meaningful way, so our 3 days barely let us see anything.

We got off our ferry (another highly pleasant experience) and got delivered into the port of Heraklion. The waterfront here is absolutely lovely and is dominated by Venetian constructions, the most obvious of which was the Koules Fortress (Rocca a Mare).

Our hotel was fairly close (about 1.3km so we chose to walk, rather than fight the taxi queue. Dragging our big bags along cobblestones and on streets with little or no sidewalks was an interesting challenge. But it wasn’t that far and the trek was over soon enough. It was late enough that we just had a shower and did our favourite google search “cheap eats near me”.

The closest thing that came up was a place called Chagiati. We don’t usually name accommodation places or restaurants because they are mostly pretty interchangeable. But this one gets a special mention as it was amazing. A little place on a corner run by a guy who runs the front while his mother is in the back cooking traditional fare. It was cheap, friendly and delicious.

In fact, it was so good we came back again the next night. Having chatted to the guy at length he came up with a few suggestions for us to try, that were not even on the menu. He and his mum just made it up as they went along, and they were great too. The best thing that this restaurant did, was introduce us to Loukoumádes. These are a form of Greek doughnut that are typically covered in honey but this place served them with fresh fruit and ice cream with a chocolate sauce and it was amazing.

Heraklion is the largest city and capital of the island of Crete. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of a little over 200,000. Looking at the tourist map there was a lot of stuff on the shoreline, a central old town area and a park running around the outside where the old walls and fortifications were.

So we decided to walk around the park to do the outer loop and finish down by the water, having wandered through the oldtown section. Surrounding the city there are a series of defensive walls and other fortifications. They were first built in the Middle Ages, but were rebuilt when the Venetians ran the place. Heraklion is one of the best fortified cities in the Mediterranean and the walls remain largely intact to this day. The blurb said that the fortifications managed to withstand the second longest siege in history (21 years), before the city finally fell to the Ottomans in 1669.

Keeping our walking tour going we saw the oldtown area. Now the main street in Oldtown (running down to the port) is a bit like any big city mall where the traffic is excluded and shops, cafes and restaurants line the street. For no reason that I could reasonably find (beyond some 1897 murder of a Christian), the street was called the 25th of August Street.

The walk continued and took in the Morosini Fountain, Eleftherias Square, Saint George and Sabionara Gates, the Archeological Museum, and the Heraklion Town Hall.

By now we had found ourselves down on the waterfront again (but this time without our big bags) and with time to explore. So the obvious starting place was the Koules Fortress (Rocca a Mare). They believe that the site was first fortified by the Arabs in the 9th or 10th centuries. In 1462, the Venetian Senate approved for the Castello a Mare to be built. Wiki tells me that old ships were filled with stone, and were sunk to form a breakwater and increase the area of the platform on which the fortress was built.

The fortress has walls that are up to 8.7m thick at some places and is in remarkable shape (and is well worth the 4 euro admission fee).

From the fort the rock wall continues for another 1.5 km into the sea. Jill found that half way out was a mermaid statue that looked like it was worth seeing.

The thing that we did not realise while starting the trek, was that the rock wall was also the home of some incredible artwork. So as we wandered, we photographed, and generally just had a good time in discovering things that we had not expected.

The Bronze Age Minoan Palace of Knossos, also known as the Palace of Minos, is outside the city but accessible by a local bus that will deliver you to the doorstep. It is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete. The blurb suggests that the palace was first built about 2000 BC, which would explain the high proportion of rocks to be found.

Crete is the home to many sites with evidence of Neolithic (10,000-4500BC) civilizations and there is evidence at Knossos of this too. The current site was discovered in 1878 with excavations starting in 1900. Many of the things that are there today have brought criticism from many archaeologists as acts of fantasy, while others defend it as a reasonable attempt.

Crete has it all and getting to see it all was more than our limited schedule would allow. There were beaches, seaside fishing villages and historical sites. The best we could manage was Heraklion and Knossos, but it was enough to know that we would happily come back.

Greece

Santorini

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After the tourist hell that was Mykonos, I have sort of been dreading coming to Santorini. From all I had seen in advance, it was the prettiest of all of the Greek Islands, the striking white villages perched high up on the cliffs, overlooking the sea. Yes it would be stunning, but these views have attracted steady streams of tourists for many many years. And this is the bit that was troubling me.

Santorini is the most visited of all of the Greek Islands and is one of the top tourist destinations in the world. It lies 200 km southeast of Athens. Pre-Covid Santorini was getting around 2 million tourists each year.

Santorini is shaped like a half-moon as it was originally formed in around 1650 BC after a huge volcano erupted and the island is the remains of the caldera. The five villages of Fira (the one we are in), Oia (the famous sunset one), Imerovigli, Firostefani, and Akrotiri all sit atop the caldera and offer spectacular views into the crater.

Having hopped the midday ferry from Naxos, we did the 2 hour journey to Santorini which was relatively calm until…It was time to get off. And almost everyone got off. Thousands of people, on one of the big ferries, all trying to get their bags and get off the ferry, it was bedlam. Add to this all the vehicles and trucks on the ferry that had to wait for the hordes to exit before they could move.

From here you spill out onto the docks to find almost the same amount of people trying to cram themselves onto the ferry to leave. Add to this the tour group operators (that Jill has come to despise) the busses, taxis and motor transports all trying to find their passengers. To say this was a debacle would be underselling it.

Once in your transport, you then get to watch the traffic and graffiti for the next 40 minutes or so. The road out is a series of ever-diminishing switchbacks (8 in all) to climb the incredibly steep cliffside. This climb is done by everyone, busses, trucks, cars, transports and motorbikes. The road is narrow and only just allows these vehicles to pass on the straights. So at every switchback, the bus or truck invariably spilled over into the other lane jamming up traffic. Did I mention the thousands of people? A full coach only holds around 50 people. So we are talking 60-70 buses, along with minivans, trucks, lorries and fuel tankers all inching their way up this cliff.

Fira (with a population of about 2000) is the capital of Santorini, it is the cultural and economic centre of the island. On the west side of the island, it sits at the centre of the caldera. Fira apparently got its name through the mispronunciation of the word “Thera” in the late 18th Century when piracy stopped existing in the Aegean. 

There are more than 1,000 beds per square km, more than any other isle after Kos and Rhodes, and in a destination of only 76 sq km, more than 700 restaurants, cafes, bars and bakeries – the vast majority concentrated in Fira, the main town.

There are two ports in Santorini, the old and the new. We got off at the new port. The old port is reserved for cruise ship tenders that drop their passengers at the bottom of the cliff (unless you have booked a day trip, then you get dropped at the new port to a waiting bus). Local laws were passed in 2015, limiting the number of cruise ship passengers allowed on the island each day to 8,000. But this was quickly thrown away and now up to 7 cruise ships (3000-5000 per boat) could be parked in the bay during peak times. Once you get off your cruise ship and have been dropped at the bottom of the hill you have 3 options:

  • Ride the cable car to the top (for 6 euro each way)
    • Walk the 587 steps and climb up to the town
  • Or hire a donkey to walk the stairs for you for 10 euro each way (25-35 mins)

Whichever way you get there, once up the cliff you are surrounded by the island’s iconic white-washed buildings and blue-domed churches. And there are tons of churches. We found this out at the crack of dawn the next morning when the bells went off, for about 20 mins, repeatedly.

The main show for the Catholics is the Cathedral of St John the Baptist which was was built in 1823 but restored in 1970 after an earthquake (1956).

The main show for the Greek Orthodox is the Candlemas Holy Orthodox Cathedral which was built in 1827 and was also renovated after the earthquake.

But it is the Three Bells of Fira that is the money shot that you see on all of the postcards and Instagram shots. Officially it is the Aghioi Theodoroi Church (Saint Theodoros Thira Holy Orthodox Church) in the village of Firostefani (which is really just part of Fira).

The biggest challenge that you get here is to find an angle where you can avoid the Instagrammers while also cutting out the the cruise ships from the photo. If you are patient enough this can happen.

Ignoring all of the hustle and bustle, the township is quite pretty and you can certainly see why it is such a popular tourist destination. The one thing missing was Greek people. The shops and bars were mainly staffed by foreigners and there were very few locals that we could find. Doing our research we found that unless you worked in the tourism sector, you could not afford to live here. This rang true on Jill’s booking experience, the first place she booked was closer to town. By changing our location to a bit further out we managed to save $500 on accommodation (we only stayed 2 nights).

Santorini has started its own beer brand and sells it everywhere it can. We figured that we should give it a try. They are predominantly IPAs which means they are too malty for my tastes. I tried the lager but it was too fruity. Talking to a barman (at another place) he said that there were no preservatives and therefore they must be kept cool or they go off. This may have been the case, as my lager was very ordinary.

Also in town were the Museum of Prehistoric Thera and the Archaeological Museum. We did not go in, but for those interested, they are options.

When googling what to see and do in Santorini the top things that come up are sailing cruises around the bays and a range of wineries. The number one thing that comes up is the hike from Fira to Oia. When you look a bit deeper, you find that this is a 10+ km journey along a pathway up and down, along the edge of the caldera. I looked at the images and the various photos were spectacular, but I’m not doing that, as long as my ass points towards the ground, I’m not doing that.

Oia

So instead of doing a ludicrous walk, we paid about 2 euros each and caught the local bus to Oia. Every evening the local buses, along with private coachloads of tourists, descend on Oia. The crowds push their way along the village’s packed central alleyway, they head past the shops selling luxury gear and trinkets. All with one goal to find their vantage point of choice (the eateries and bars that line the clifftop rim), so that they can settle in for sunset while they pay top dollar for cocktails and panoramic views.

Now this town is stunning. It is the sunset point that everybody craves and with good reason. It is set up perfectly for it too. The front strip is brand new (rebuilt after a major earthquake) and is full of cafes and restaurants, all facing west. And of course, the prices are obscene and every Instagrammer is dolled up and ready for their vanity shots.

Every now and then you pop up on a place that has not had a makeover, but for the most part, this place has been fully revamped. As terribly expensive as this place is, the good side is that the top thing to do is free. And that is to walk and just simply enjoy and admire the view, which is truly amazing.

A check of the accommodation sites shows you that a villa in prime position, built into the cliffside overlooking the volcanic caldera, can cost up to €15,000 ($25,000) a night. And with growing demand for the spectacular views as a backdrop for weddings, marriage proposals and vow renewals, everyone is booked solid.

Leaving Oia (before waiting for sunset) we headed back to the bus stop to return to Fira, only to find about 200 people in line waiting to do the same thing. Now, now only about 50 people fit on a bus and they only come every 30 mins. We were not waiting 2 hrs to get home. An opportunistic van driver was parked nearby offering immediate departure for €10 a head. So once his 11 seats were filled we went and he made €110 for a 20 minute drive.

Santorini Beaches. Due to the the volcanic nature of Santorini, the beaches have become their own attraction. The past volcanic eruptions not only shaped the island but also the beaches. There are distinct differences in the colours of the sand (red, white and black) as well as some covered in volcanic rocks and pebbles. The tourism blurb claims that “the dissimilar beaches will please everybody”. 

Perissa and Perivolos offer the best long beaches covered with black sand and pebbles. Kamari Beach is also a black sand beach but according to the locals, the beach itself is not the best, since it has pebbles and small rocks which hurt your feet. All of these come equipped with beach umbrellas and sunbeds with beach bars and restaurants nearby.

The White Beach in Santorini or Lefki Ammos, as called by the locals, is a beach of black pebbles and grey volcanic sand under high white cliffs. The sand on the beach is not white, as its name clearly indicates.

The Red Beach of Santorini is surrounded by volcanic cliffs and rocks, leaving the black and red pebbles and red sand

Ancient Thira

The Mount of Prophet Elias is the highest point of Santorini. From up here you can see the whole island! Most notably you see the huge difference between the tourist side on the cliffs to the west and the traditional side on the flat part of Santorini to the East. Our short time did not allow us to visit here but the photos look nice.

On our last day, we had a few hours to kill as we had a 4pm ferry out and had to be out of our room at 11am. So I settled in to write this, while Jill got into a long chat with the manager/receptionist of the hotel. In this chat, a whole lot of things came up that we had no idea about.

The number one for me was that this place did not run all year round. I knew that there was a tourism window from April to November, with peak times in July and August. What I did not realise is that from the end of November, everything shuts down. Apparently, there are only 2 restaurants open and virtually all hotels shut their doors. December and January everyone leaves, and in February/March the cobwebs get dusted off in preparation of the next run.

We are used to tourism in Australia where everything runs all the time. Sure there are peaks and troughs (school holidays etc) but it never just stops dead. Well, it does here.

As much as I dreaded coming to Santorini, both Jill and I enjoyed it. Yes, it was obscenely overpriced (especially in Oia), and it was full of Instagrammers and plastic people. And yes it was a tourism mecca and the crowds were crazy, but we still enjoyed it. We chatted and tried to work out why we liked this but disliked Mykonos so much. We don’t have an answer, but we really did not enjoy Mykonos but did Santorini.

Greece

Naxos

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Naxos is the largest of the Cyclades island group and it spans seaside ports, mountain villages, ancient ruins and stretches of beach. While Naxos is best known for its beaches and scenery, it also has some ancient sites to explore. Arriving at the port you find (yet another) charming little town set on the side of a hill. Jill’s phone has a range of functions in it that allows her to remove unwanted people and adjust the sky colour from what was really there…any guess which of the below photos had her magic done to it.

Of course, Jill got our accommodation up the damn hill, while all the sights and restaurants were down the damn hill. On the upside, this time it was only about a 700m walk each way (if you took the shortcut across the gravel hill) and without too many stairs. The route if we took the footpath was considerably longer, but we didn’t use that. Our room was fantastic and the view was pretty good so the 700m walk could be abided.

The Temple of Apollo Portara  (or the Great Door) is the first thing that you see on arrival and is the island’s emblem and main landmark. It is a massive marble doorway that was part of a temple commenced in 530 BC but that was never finished. The temple was supposed to be at least a hundred feet tall but all that remains is the great door and some foundations. The door is around 6 meters high, 3.5 meters wide and consists of separate monoliths. Each one weighing about 20 tons.

To get to the Islet you walk across a short causeway where the first thing that you come across is a statue of Aphrodite. The statue has no information about it, it just stands there overlooking the causeway to the islet. For those that love their Greek Myths – the islet of Palatia was where Ariadne, the Minoan princess, was abandoned by her lover Theseus after he killed Minotaur on the island of Crete.

Having walked the causeway there are some rough stairs to get you up to the site of the doorway. While there are many tourists who go here, it is large enough to get some pretty nice unobstructed views (and photographs). Unless of course, you want the sunset shot, then you will be one of hundreds.

Up the hill in the township is Kastro (Castle), this is the old Venetian quarter of the town, along with your usual collection of churches. It comprised the entire town of Naxos when the island was under Venetian rule but the modern town has since been built around it.

The township is yet another charming little place with an awesome seafront promenade, narrow streets, funky shops and restaurants, churches everywhere you look, and of course, lots of stairs. The fun bit here was the random paintings, signs and adages that you run across as you wander around the town.

The seafront walk was as expected, with cafes, restaurants and tourist shops aplenty. The thing that we had read about consistently but had not seen until here was the octopus drying in the sun. It has been mentioned in all of the tourist blurbs but not seen until Naxos.

Alas, our time in Naxos was the first time that our plans were impacted by rain (something we have hardly seen so far). We got a really good day hitting the main town area and all of the sights around there but the outer ones seemed like quite an effort, especially in the wet. The island itself is lovely and if time was not a factor we would happily have explored it more fully.

The Naxos Melanes Kouros Statue is located outside the village of Melanes,  it is 6 meters long and dates back to the 7th century. The Kouros of Apollonas dates from the 8th century BC. And the Kouros of Flerio, dates back to 570 BC. All of these statues are little more than rocks lying on the ground that have been left where they were found. As such we chose not to hire a vehicle in the wet and drive to see them, but rather grabbed some random pics from the web to show you what we did not miss.

Near the village of Sangri (about 10 km from Naxos Town) lies the sacred temple of Demeter. The weather unfortunately caused us to miss this one which was quite the pity. It is a magnificent temple that was made of the finest quality Naxos marble and dates back to the 6th century BC.

There was also the temple of Dionysus, but our research showed that these were little more than a few nubs of columns, so we passed on that one and stole this image from the tourism website.

While it seems like not too much happened here on Naxos, we really enjoyed our time here. It was laid back with enough to see and do to keep you amused. And the food options were amazing, although lacking in fruit and vegetable options (a usual thing here in Greece).

Greece

Paros

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Getting here was a 50 minute ferry ride from Mykonos (which was delayed multiple times). The ferry itself was great, a speedy catamaran with comfortable seats.

A side note here is that virtually every ferry that we have booked has had numerous changes (of either ship or time). Because of this, the original seat allocation may as well be thrown in the bin before you even start. They will find you a couple of spare seats and sit you down. This is fine if there are just 2 of you, but becomes a nightmare for large groups who want to sit together.

Paros became famous for its white marble called ‘Parian marble’. This is a fine-grained semi translucent pure-white and entirely flawless marble and was mainly quarried here during the classical era (500-336BC).

This marble was used in both architecture and sculpture. Some of the masterpieces of ancient Greek sculpture were made with this pure white, translucent material. Notably these include (L-R): The statues of Hermes by Praxiteles, Venus de Milo (i.e. Aphrodite of Milos), Nike [Winged Victory] of Samothrace, and the Caryatids, (the pillars holding up the patio of the Erechtheion on the Acropolis).

As soon as we arrived on Paros, I knew that I would love this place. It had all of the beauty of Mykonos (without the huge prices and plastic people) and Syros (without the stairs). We settled into our hotel and went for a late afternoon stroll, which turned into a few beers watching the sunset. And followed onto a dinner on the waterfront promenade.

Paros is one of the bigger of the Cycladic islands and it offers the same narrow streets, bougainvillea covered buildings, seaside promenades, cafes, restaurants and beaches as most of the other more famous islands of the region.

Parikia is the capital town and main port of Paros, as well as the centre of commercial and cultural life (and our home for the next few days).

There are no big resorts here. Your only option is staying at a smaller family-owned type hotel. We somehow managed to get the one that takes tour buses of 18-25 year olds doing the Greek islands tour. This meant that every 2 days a new busload of around 50  noisy millennials would turn up. On average about 30 of that 50 were Aussie girls. The early pool infestation was loud and noisy in the afternoons, but they all headed out to the promenade for sunset and partied into the evening. Our next real interaction was the next morning when we heard the moaning as they dealt with their hangovers.

Given the size of the island, the next day we chose to hire a car and see all the extra bits that were tough to reach. This was new for us as usually we just wander around or hire motorcycles or scooters. Add to this it was a left hand drive, driving on the right, mad-ass Greek drivers, a 1 litre Peugeot with no power, no ability to read Greek and no real idea where we were going. So that was us – and off we went.

Our first major stop was the town of Lefkes where we wandered the small narrow streets until we found ourselves at the main church of Agia Triada (Holy Trinity), built in 1830. We did stop at a tiny (any guesses?) blue and white church along the way.

From here we found ourselves at a local winery where Jill proceeded to sample the wares. Given that I was driving and I had enough going on I chose not to partake. But the wines were nice and the setting was very nice indeed.

We saw the church of Agios Ioannis (Saint John) Detis (built in the 17th century). It was very nice, but when in Greece the sight of a whitewashed church with a blue domed roof is a dime a dozen and you pass one every 10 minutes or so on the road. A few more stops saw us checking in at Lageri Beach, Santa Maria Beach and driving through millionaires row (on the other side of the island) where there are some truly stunning villas (obviously holiday homes for the rich and famous). The most striking thing that we saw was the quality of the stonework that was in place all around the island. Masonry in Greece is not a dying art and is alive and well.

Just across the way from Paros is the island of Antiparos. This had me imagining some evil twin scenario where one had turned and had become evil. In fact, it is one of those Greek islands that had managed to stay off the radar. I say had because several years ago the actor Tom Hanks bought a block of land and built a villa. Since then, he and a range of other “A-listers” have been regularly visiting. According to locals, he has done a lot of good (improving hospitals etc) but the prices have gone up 400% since he arrived. So now many of the Antiparos locals live on Paros and catch the ferry over to run their businesses.

After a half day of driving (only about 120km), we had circumnavigated the island, including some off-roading (in our 1 litre monster) to the choice photo spots. And we had seen all the bits there was to see. Long story short, this place is amazing.

The next day we hopped on the local the bus and headed to the town of Naousa. This is the more popular town about 9km up the road. Well we soon worked out where all the vacuous people had gone to. This is a really pretty tourist town whose streets are awash with Instagrammers all posing for their shots. You could see why though, the streets were pristine and it was set up for the tourists. Oh, and there were ducks.

One of the more amusing sights was when two groups of Instagrammers met and everyone needed shots of the same location. Oh, the Mexican standoff that ensued. The other thing that I have learned on this trip is the VERY different demands that are placed on boyfriends in 2023. No longer is being a loving and supportive partner enough, now you must have done a photography course and be patient enough to take endless photos of your girlfriend’s back while she peers over her own shoulder back towards you.

On the tourism front, there is a small Venetian Castle that was built in the 15th century perched on the end of the old port and the blue-domed chapel of St. Nikolas. You can walk across a tiny causeway (about 60cm wide) to the castle, but must navigate the crashing waves and vicious winds in doing so.

From here we headed back to Parikia and figured that we had better check out the tourist spots where we were staying as all we had really done was enjoy the food, cafes, restaurants, and the promenade. So we saw the Monastery of Panagia Ekatontapiliani (the Virgin Mary of the Hundred Doors), the Pamegiston Taksiarxon (another blue-domed, whitewashed church), another windmill, and the (very unimpressive) Frankish castle (built in 1260 by the Venetians).

OK, so I think that this is our favourite of the Greek Islands so far. It is very scenic, well priced, relatively flat (so that you don’t have to kill yourself going up and down stairs) and has a nice local feel to it while still catering well to the tourists. If you want the super pretty and Instagram world head up the road to Naousa, for the more relaxed version, stay in Parikia, and if you want the private retreat, rent a villa.

Greece

Mykonos

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Mykonos is one of the most famous Greek islands and has become widely known as the Ibiza of Greece. It gained a world reputation through the 1960s as a summer resort for hippies, artists, and the wealthy. Since then, it has also become a welcoming destination for the LGBTQ+ community. And this bit is clearly obvious.

Mykonos is full of traditional cube houses that have been whitewashed (typically with blue trim). Talking to the lady who ran our villas she advised that the island has a normal population of 11,500. During the day at least one cruise ship and any number of ferries arrive swelling this number to about 3 times that. She then told us that during peak season (July and August) that there are generally around 400,000 on the island each day.

Having taken a 40 minute ferry ride from Syros, we checked in and crashed for a bit as Jill was not feeling entirely well and after a nap we headed into the town. This involved about a 1200m walk downhill and we were right in the middle of everything. the first thing that you run across is a tiny beach in the heart of town (Chora) jammed with wildly inappropriately dressed people.

Probably a good time to pause and reflect upon some of the fashion choices that have become evident since our arrival in Greece. The first and most notable item is the track suit. Greek men happily sport these at every opportunity. The women however have taken it to another level with the revival of the velour tracksuit. These are worn with pride, usually 2 sizes smaller than they should be and in varying degrees of see through.

The next is the seemingly apparent lack of mirrors within houses anymore. Surely this is the case as there is no way some of these people would leave the house looking like they do, if they owned a mirror. Jill has now banned me from passing comment anymore.

Lastly, I am not sure where in the world has the highest concentration of botox and fillers, but this place must be a contender. The number of duck lipped women that we passed in an hour was simply astounding. Add to that the LGBTQ+ community of vain men and the place is awash with plastic people (as Jill likes to call them). And finally the current trend of having the biggest blackest eyelashes has left a whole generation with huge black caterpillars on their faces.

After the beach you hit the town centre proper. This is stunningly pretty but is a mass of tourist shops and (hugely) overpriced restaurants. They look amazing and are right on the water and certainly make the most of the beautiful weather with outdoor seating. But the prices are obscene for what you get. By way of example, the giros that we had been buying in Athens and Syros for 3.5 euro has now leapt to 15 euro. The real food was exorbitant.

The streets are narrow, the shops are funky and generally the vibe is good. Some of the tour groups off the cruise ships can be a bit ignorant but in shoulder season it was all still pretty manageable. Heading down and around past the old port you come to a quieter section which is the home of the Church of Panagia Paraportiani. It is located at the entrance of the Kastro neighborhood, right by the sea. The interesting thing about this is that it is actually five small churches, built on top of or next to the other.

From here you keep walking around the corner and hit a maze of restaurants running right along the water. Once you have zig-zagged your way to the other end you will find that you have just passed through the Little Venice of Mykonos. The tourist spiel tells you that it is one of the most romantic places on the island, replete with elegant and gorgeous old houses situated precariously on the edge of the land. All I found was a mass of humanity trying to squeeze past each other on a tiny alley between restaurant patrons. Once you get to the end, if you turn around, you do actually get to see the 6-8 houses on the water.

The construction of the Little Venice neighborhood is estimated to have taken place from the 13th to the mid-18th century. During that timeframe, the island was under Venetian rule.

As you pop out past the mass of people you come upon the island’s official trademark – the traditional windmills.  They stand on a hill overlooking the harbour and can be seen from most places around town. There are 16 windmills on Mykonos, seven of these are on the hill near town. For the most part, they were built in the 16th century by the Venetians.  

By this time you have ticked all of the tourist boxes (around town at least) and you are about an hour into your trip. There are a few other things around to see (such as the town Hall, and Museums – Agricultural, Archaeological, Folklore and Nautical) but from here on it is about wandering the streets or heading out of town to some of the beaches.

Having hit the main tourist spots, we stopped for a meal. Our last meal in Syros had been our most expensive in Greece so far. Our first meal in Mykonos blew that out of the water by adding about another 50% on top of that bill. And we had chosen one of the more reasonably priced restaurants in the back streets and not one of the ones on the water. The meal itself was lovely, but the tourist markup was massive.

Mykonos Beaches

The average water temperature on Mykonos ranges from 16C to 25C (60F to 77F), depending on the time of year, but reaches about 27C (80F) in August.

The majority of beaches on Mykonos are private. This does not mean that they are secluded but rather that you have to pay to use them. Being Australian the beaches pale by comparison to what we are used to (a common complaint) but they can still be nice nonetheless. We did not go beach hopping but for the sake of the blog I have included some of the more popular ones from the tourist spiels (most notably from www.mykonosbeachesguide.com).

Agio Stefanos – the closest major beach to the port, it offers shallow waters and romantic sunset views. Because of its central and wind-protected location, it can often be crowded with people of all ages, who relax as the ships go by.

Elia – is the largest beach on the island and nudity is common. It’s known as Mykonos’ “gay beach,” but it attracts all kinds of people. Much of it is taken over by umbrellas and sunbeds, but there’s a small section for those who prefer to lie in the sand.

Kalafatis – Popular among windsurfers and families, this is the beach for you if you enjoy water sports or are traveling with the kids.

Ornos – the most family-friendly beach in Mykonos and one of the trendiest for young people and couples. It’s a frequent stop for boats and yachts, and has many places to eat and drink.

Paradise is the famous party beach, filled places to eat, drink, and shop. Once a popular gay destination, it’s now largely straight, as the gay crowds currently prefer Elia.

Paraga – a party atmosphere during the day, it’s relatively quiet at night. The right side is more secluded and tends to attract naturists.

Psarou – this small beach is known to have some of the clearest waters and best sand in Mykonos, and for being a spot for celebrity sightings!

And the beach that they rated the highest was Platys Gialos. The tourist spiel claims that is is: Beautiful and with crystal-clear waters, Platys Gialos (sometimes spelled Platis Yialos) is the best beach in Mykonos. It’s a convenient starting point to discover other beaches, on foot or on an hourly water taxi, and home to some of the best hotels on the island, located right by the sand and facing the sea. It has restaurants and bars serving meals and drinks throughout the day. This is not a party beach, but it has a lively atmosphere. Parasols and loungers cover most of the sand, and the shallow water is perfect for refreshing swims.

Mykonos is a world for the vacuous, those that want to see celebrities (who regularly visit) and be seen by all. It was too touristy, too expensive, too full of drunk teenagers and too plastic for us. If we are brutally honest, neither Jill nor I really enjoyed Mykonos. While it is nice to be able to say that we have been here, I do not see a time when either of us would choose to come back.

That said, we do see the attraction and if you wanted to kick back and chill out, our hotel was ideal. Stunning views, relatively quiet, super friendly. It was just the inevitable forays into the tourism central that would keep us away. Our last day in town was spent kicking back at the hotel and generally just enjoying the view and the laid-back lifestyle.

Our time on Syros (ignoring the stairs) was much more enjoyable.

Greece

Syros

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The Greek archipelago has nearly 2,000 islands of varying sizes and accessibility.

Leaving Athens we hopped a ferry to the Aegean Island of Syros (about 150km SW of Athens). This will be the first of many island-hopping adventures in Greece. The Greek islands have been on Jill’s Bucket list for a long time (most particularly Mykonos and Santorini) but while we are here we will be seeing a bunch of the others.

The first of which is Syros.

Let’s start with the ferries. What an absolute delight. The first one we got on was, a 1900 passenger and car ferry taking us from the Athens port of Piraeus.  The boat was doing a milk run to almost all of the islands but as we were the first stop it was pretty nice. We were in cattle class and did not spring for business but we still had large roomy seats, plenty of space, luggage rooms, cafe’s and restaurants, what more could you want or need. By all accounts there were even cabins downstairs for those doing the long haul trips to the further away islands, but we didn’t see them.

Lets not be silly here, we have all seen the photos of the Greek Islands and the images are amazing. And sadly, they actually look this way. Syros is certainly not as pretty as some of the others that regularly get featured, but it is still stunning.

Syros Island used to be one of the most significant islands in cycladic civilisation (early Bronze age). We landed off the ferry in the island’s capital Ermoupolis (named after God Hermes). Ermoupolis was the first commercial and industrial centre of Greece (in the 1800’s) mainly due to its location and deep water port.

 When booking, Jill got us our own little house on the top op the hill in an area known as – Ano Syros. This is the medieval settlement of Syros and offered some stunning views over the town, ocean and the port. The official spiel says that it is a classical cycladic medieval settlement that is densely built with narrow roads, circular order and a radial street plan. I will attest to the narrow streets but would seriously question any sort of order or plan.

The little house Jill got us involved kicking out some little old lady from her home for a few days. This is the nature of the locals cashing in on the tourist dollar I guess. After getting off the ferry we hopped a cab to the top of the hill where we me George and Angelika (the lady we were ousting). We then hiked up and down the narrow streets (mostly up and down stairs) lugging our big bags for about 700m until we got to Angelika’s house.

Angelika was small, but her house was built for a hobbit. It was a 2 storey tiny house. Downstairs was a kitchen and toilet/shower while upstairs had a bedroom and another small room with no particular purpose. The door to downstairs was a stable type door that reached up to my nipples. So to enter I needed to bend virtually fully at the waist, not just ducking.

The bedroom was tiny and the staircase between the floors was so small that neither Jill nor I could manage them. On the way down we could take the first two stairs but then needed to sit on the step and slide our bums from stair to stair as we were both too tall to traverse them effectively. This was fine unless you wanted to use the toilet during the evening. The corner of the toilet featured a huge rock that was obviously too hard to chisel out when building the house, so they just left it there. The downstairs ceiling had some lovely ancient logs that added a ton of character.

The Church of Saint George is the christian church built in the top of the hill of Ano Syros. It was originally built in 1208 but had been destroyed and rebuilt three times since.

Ano Syros was lovely but it did involve stairs, lots and lots of stairs. Every trip out of our (tiny) house was an adventure, involving a ton of stairs, a more than decent hike, and it was even worse trying to get in and out with our big bags. But up on the hill there was the odd cafe/bar/restaurant with just amazing views.

Of particular note was an eclectic little place that was about as bohemian as you could get. The food was sensational, cheap and the atmosphere was buzzing. You could barely breathe from the amount of smoke that filled the place (more than the fair share was added by the chefs as they cooked). And you were constantly harassed throughout your meal by gangs of marauding cats (at least 5 that inhabited the restaurant during opening hours).

The next day we hiked from our house back out to the road and got on the (free) bus to take us back down to the port of Ermoupolis and spent most of the day wandering around town. This is only a few km from our place and was at the bottom of the hill. It is a regular(ish) port for cruise ships so the waterfront is packed with cafes, restaurants and tourist shops.

The other side of town holds the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Nicholas (the patron saint of seafarers, is also the patron saint of Ermoupoli). Construction began in 1848 and took 22 years to complete. The church is known as Agios Nikolaos “the rich,” to distinguish it from “Agios Nikolaos of the poor” another church on Syros.

Because of the siesta that is taken in Greece we were unable ot take the bus back up to Ano Syros unless we were willing to wait until 6:45pm (we were dropped off at around 10:45am). So we did our bits and caught a taxi up the hill. This is something that we ended up having to do several times and our fare (for the identical trip) ranged from 4 to 8 euro.

On our last full day in Syros my looks got me confused once again. This has been a regular occurrence as we have travelled the world, especially once I get a bit of a tan. In Egypt they thought I was Italian and in Italy they thought I was Egyptian. In south and central america most people just assumed I was Latino and spoke Spanish to me. It even got to the point in India where people were speaking Hindi to me thinking I was local.

Well in Syros, the local politician greeted me whilst I was having a coffee at a local cafe. He handed me his promotional material and launched into a full spiel in Greek. Once I set him straight, he took his stuff back and headed to the next table. A short while later we popped into the supermarket to get some milk and the shop keeper launched into a full conversation with me while I stared blankly.

On our last evening we went to one of the little restaurants on the hill (the one with the best view) for our final Syros meal. We ordered the large platter of small things. This was like an Italian antipasto platter but with a distinctly Greet twist. Washed down with a carafe of wine and a beer we had our most expensive meal in Greece so far.

Having seen Syros and having looked at the tourist photos of our next few ports of call, I am growing a little concerned that the variety of the next few posts may be a little light on. They all seem quite similar. Stunning views, narrow streets, tons of stairs, oceans and seaside townships. Anyway, bear with us.

Greece

The Greek Islands – An Overview

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The country of Greece is famous for its islands – there are around 6,000 islands and islets scattered in the Greek Seas, of which only 227 islands are inhabited.

They are split into 8 main groups that include (from North to South):

Sporades,

North Aegean,

Evia (Euboea),

Saronic,

Cyclades,

Ionian,

Dodecanese and

Crete.

The Argosaronic islands are the ones closest to the Greek mainland around the Saronic Gulf. They tend to be the location of the wealthy holiday homes from the mainland. Argosaronic islands include: Aegina, Agistri, Hydra, Poros, Salamina, and Spetses,

The Cyclades are the most famous island group in the Aegean Sea. All up there are 33 Islands and Islets in the group and they include: Amorgos, Anafi, Andros, Antiparos, Delos, Ios, Kea, Kimolos, Kythnos, Milos, Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Folegandros, Serifos, Sifnos, Sikinos, Syros, Tinos, and Thira or Santoríni. The Cyclades are famous for their distinctive architecture, the whitewashed cube-shaped houses.

Crete is the largest island in Greece, and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Dodecanese is a group of 15 larger plus 150 smaller islands in the south-eastern Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean. The group includes Agathonisi, Astypalaia, Halki, Kalymnos, Karpathos, Kasos, Kos, Leipsoi, Leros, Nisyros, Patmos, Rhodes, Symi, Tilos, and Kastellorizo.

Evia (Euboea), is one of the closest to Athens and yet it is one of the most unknown. It is the second largest island of Greece and the 6th in the Mediterranean. It is linked to the mainland by two bridges.

The Ionian Islands are off the western coastline of Central Greece in the Ionian Sea. They consist of 7 main islands and some smaller Islets. The Ionian Islands are: Cefalonia, Corfu, Cythera, Lefkos, Ithaca, Paxos, and Zante. These islands share a lot of similarities like the Venetian architecture, lush greenery and turquoise waters.

North Aegean Islands do not form a physical chain or group, but are frequently grouped together for tourist or administrative purposes. Most of them belong to Greece with a few owned by Turkey. The islands include: Agios Efstratios, Chios, Fournoi Korseon, Ikaria, Lemnos, Lesbos, Oinousses, Psara and Samos and the Turkish islands of Imbros, Tenedos and the Rabbit or Tavşan Islands.

The Sporades (meaning scattered) islands run along the east coast of Greece, northeast of Evia (Euboea). They consist of 24 islands, four of which are permanently inhabited: Alonnisos, Skiathos, Skopelos and Skyros.

So what else is important to know…

Language – Greece offers English language lessons starting in third grade, so almost everyone under the age of 50 will have had English in school and will know enough to communicate well. But as usual, try to learn a few Greek words, your effort will be appreciated

What is the best way to get around? – Some of the islands do have airports but when island hopping the ferries are an excellent way to get around but they are subject to regular changes and updates. So definitely do not set and forget.

When is the best time to travel to the Greek Islands? – High season for the Greek Islands are July and August but the warmer months are between mid-April to mid-October. Shoulder season will usually allow for cheaper prices and manageable crowds.

Can I drink the water? – Yes on the mainland but stick to bottled water on the majority of the islands.

Toilets – A sticking point for many, but for most of Greece the sewage system is very old. This means that toilet paper cannot be flushed and must be put into a bin by the side of the toilet.

Siesta – Be aware that stores usually close between mid-day and around 2-3 pm as Greek shop owners have their siesta. Don’t worry the shops will be open until 9 or 10pm so you won’t miss out.

Sundays – many services, restaurants, shops, grocery stores and even some markets are all generally closed on Sundays. The ones that are open may charge extra.

Don’t hesitate to ask for help. Greek people are generally extremely friendly, will understand that you are a tourist and will be willing to lend a hand.

Greece

Athens

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Well… let’s start with getting here. The Australia to Europe leg of any journey is going to be a nightmare and ours was no different. We woke in the morning in Perth (having done a quick pop home for 4 days to tick a travel insurance box) and had the day to kill before our 11pm departure. Checking out of your hotel at 10 am and leaving a city at 11pm leaves a fair amount of time to kill.

We wandered around the CBD, ate yum cha, watched a (really terrible) movie and found that we still had a ton of time to kill before we were due at the airport. Eventually, 11pm came around and we had been up for 16 hours before we even thought about boarding our (almost) 12 hour flight to Doha in Qatar. After a two-hour wait in Qatar, we then boarded our next leg (nearly) 6 hrs to Athens.

Where upon arrival it then took another 2 hours to clear immigration and get a taxi to our hotel (another hour). While the Greeks may have been the fathers of the sciences and civilisation, they certainly are not anywhere on the scale of modern organisation or efficiency.

Needless to say by the time we got here we were exhausted and we crashed for an afternoon nap. Out for a magnificent dinner and down for an early night so that the adventure could start in earnest tomorrow.

And what a stunning day tomorrow turned out to be. We were blessed with a 23 degree day, a light breeze and crystal clear blue skies. You really could not have hoped for a better day. Our journey began with a (relatively) short Walk to the Metro Station. As luck would have it, our closest Metro stop was in front of the National Library of Greece, the University of Athens and the Academy of Athens. Three stunningly well designed and beautiful buildings in their own right.

After taking some happy snaps of the buildings we entered the Metro for our 2 stop trip to the Akropoli (Acropolis) Station. When the Metro was being built the team kept running across remnants of the old city. This was most evident at the site of the new Acropolis Museum where archaeologists uncovered layers of Athens from the Byzantine era to the Bronze Age. Most of the findings were left in situ (under plexiglass) so people could see them as they were found. Today you can see ancient sights and unearthed treasures, all while heading for your train.

Having gotten off the Metro we then had the shortest of walks (through the suburb of Plaka) to the entrance of the Acropolis. Now this took a bit of working out because terms are used interchangeably and inconsistently, but, the Acropolis is the hill that rises above Athens. On top of that hill are a bunch of pretty famous ancient buildings including the Parthenon etc.

The Acropolis was originally a fortress but has been attacked and destroyed more times than you can imagine. The most notable recorded one was in 480 BC, when the Persians attacked, burned, leveled and looted the Old Parthenon and almost every other structure at the Acropolis. A decade later, (after the Victory of Marathon in 490 BC), Pericles ordered the reconstruction of the Acropolis and the building of a temple for Athena (the Parthenon).

The big ticket items (Parthenon, Temple of Athena Nike Bastion, the Erechtheion, Peisistratus Portico, Odeon of Herodes Atticus) are pretty obvious and easy to spot, but the Greeks are terrible at signposting and naming what else is there. So I have had to research what the tourism people claim to be on and around the hill and have described them (as best I can) in my own terms, based on what we saw.

  1. Monument to Agrippa (a monument base)
  2. Temple of Athena Nike Bastion (2 and 3 are basically the main entrance once you have scaled the Acropolis)
  3. Peisistratus Portico (a few columns standing upright – you probably wont notice through the hoards of people and Instagrammers)
  4. Sacred Way (a path)
  5. Base of the statue of Athena Hygeia (a marble plinth)
  6. Precinct of Artemis Vravronia (a flat area to the right once up the hill, usually full of tour bus and cruise ship groups)
  7. Chalcotheke (some rocks where something used to be)
  8. Statue of Athena Promachos (the spot where a huge bronze statue once was)
  9. The Parthenon (the big ticket item – bit hard to miss, has permanently been covered in scaffolding since restoration work commenced in 1983)
  10. Earlier foundations of the Parthenon (pretty accurate description)
  11. Site of the ancient stereobate (underground structure of Greek temple)
  12. Roman Temple (some more rocks where something used to be)
  13. Heroon of Pandion (some more rocks where something used to be)
  14. The great altar of Athena (the location where an altar was before it was moved to Berlin in the 1800’s)
  15. Precinct of Zeus Polieus (some rocks)
  16. Flight of steps (any guesses here?)
  17. Foundation of the Themistoclean wall (more rocks)
  18. The Erechtheion (the second most preserved major building on the hill)
  19. The old temple of Athena Polias (some more rocks where something used to be)
  20. Portico, probably the Arrhephorion (rocks they hope used to be something)
  21. Foundations of a square building (rocks they think used to be something)
  22. Stairway to the caves of Apollo and Pan (stairs towards some holes in the cliff that are inaccessible to visitors)
  23. Foundations of a building of the 5th century BC (fair description)
  24. Roman cistern (a drain at the bottom of the hill)
  25. Caves of Apollo and Pan (some holes in the cliff that are inaccessible to visitors)
  26. The old circular way (Peripatos) round the Acropolis (the path)
  27. Cave and Chapel of Panagia Spiliotissa (church in a cave)
  28. The Asclepeion (three pillars)
  29. Platform with a sacrificial pit (no idea)
  30. The stoa of the Asclepeion (no idea)
  31. Temple of Aphrodite (really not sure)
  32. Prehistoric habitations (nope)
  33. Foundation of the choregic monument of Nikias (statue base maybe?)
  34. The Odeon of Herodes Atticus (huge and awesome amphitheatre)
  35. The Stoa of Eumenes (very cool wall of arches)
  36. Remains of a choregic monument (statue base)
  37. The theatre of Dionysus (bit like 34 – but way older and more rubbly)
  38. Proscenium of the theatre of Dionysus (bit like 34 & 37 – tough to separate)
  39. Old Temple of Dionysus (got nuthen – could only find versions elsewhere – thinking rocks)
  40. New Temple of Dionysus (got nuthen – as above -thinking rocks)
  41. The Odeon of Pericles (absolutely rocks)

The first main attraction that you come across on your climb up the hill is the Theatre of Dionysos (god of wine, revels, and theater) and Odeion of Herodes Atticus. This is a 4th century BC and 17000 seat amphitheater that you pass on the way up to the Parthenon and is super impressive in anyone’s terms. However, while looking at this we heard the tour guides explaining the history of the relic while an American tourist tried to convince the Greek guide that (in your best American twang) the one they had in Denver Colorado was bigger and better.

Needless to say I had to look it up to write this and the American one was built in 1941 and is about 40% smaller – so obviously better.

The next main thing that you will come across is the Propylaea: A monumental entryway to the Acropolis that included a central building and two wings, one of which was (once) covered with elaborately painted panels. Today, this is a massive choke point as people try to get in and out of the plateau that is the Acropolis while tour guides stop for lengthy spiels and Instagrammers hunt for the perfect shot.

When you pop out the other side you re met with the main attraction, the Parthenon. In its day it is meant to have featured ornate sculptures and housed a spectacular statue of the goddess Athena. The statue (The Statue of Athena Promachos) was a colossal (almost 30 feet tall) bronze statue of Athena – who is the patron goddess of the city.

The building of the Parthenon represented the Golden Age of Athens (460 B.C. to 430 B.C.) when it was at its cultural peak. Pericles (politician and general) initiated a massive building project that lasted 50 years but he didn’t live long enough to see his Acropolis vision come true, but temple builders and architects continued working until they completed the project. The southern and northern walls were rebuilt and some of the most iconic structures were constructed.

The Erechtheion or Temple of Athena Polias is the second most prominent building on the Acropolis. It is an Ionic temple made of marble which honoured Athena and several other gods and heroes. It’s best known for its porch supported by six Caryatid (a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support) statues.

Having come down from the Acropolis, we headed (northwest) along the road past a row of really funky shops and hotels (on the left) with the Acropolis hill to our right. Much to our surprise, the park around Acropolis Hill was full of tortoises (more than 20 that we saw). This is something that we definitely did not expect.

We headed down in this direction because from the top you could see this incredibly impressive looking rectangular building. This turned out to be the Stoa of Attalos, a 2nd century BC shopping centre that has been renovated and re-purposed to now hold the museum of the Ancient Agora.

Opposite the Stoa was a bunch of rocks that had fallen down (pretty similar to the Roman Forum in Italy). At the end of these piles of rocks was the ancient Agora of Athens, which in simple terms is a pretty impressive bunch of pillars.

A google search of all of the stuff in the park between the Stoa and the Agora gives you another very long list of what people believe was there. Having walked it thoroughly, my description of piles of rocks still stands. Although, to be fair, there was a little church and a few statues floating around in there too.

At the bottom of the Acropolis hill is a heap of other stuff also well worth a look. On our first day we were focussed upon getting up the hill and found out later that we had missed a heap of stuff at the bottom, so we came back a couple of days later. The first bit that we hit was the Stoa of Eumenes as we had unwittingly walked above it in climbing to the Acropolis and missed it entirely. This little foray also showed us the Roman cistern (drain) that was on the big list too.

From here we headed out to see the Arch of Hadrian and around the corner a bit to the Temple of Olympian Zeus, both very cool. Also around here was the ancient (refurbished for the 2004 Olympics) Panathenian Stadium, which is the only stadium in the world built entirely from marble.

 From here across to the National Gardens and the Zappeion (tried to work out what this very flash building was built/used for but got even more confused). It is pretty though.

After this, we headed up to the top of Lycabettus Hill which is the highest point in the centre of Athens. There is a funicular that will take you to the top (for 10 euros each), but to get to the funicular you have to hike the majority of the (incredibly steep) hill. If you are going to build an aid to get you up a super steep hill…why put it at the bottom…nah…lets start 2/3 of the way up. 

The National Archaeological Museum in Athens was next on the list and houses some of the most important artifacts from a variety of archaeological locations around Greece from prehistory to late antiquity. That is the official spiel. The Richard version is that this is the largest IKEA store on the planet, you just keep following the yellow arrows on the floor… but despite your best efforts, you can never get out of the damn pottery section.

To be fair, there are some amazing displays here, and every pot, statue, painting and carving do tell a story. But for a heathen like me, a pot/urn/vase from Athens differs very little from one from Crete or Santorini.

Having hit the main big ticket items we only had some of the lesser ones to see and a wander of the streets. The first of these was Hadrian’s Library, closely followed by the Roman Agora.

From here the rest of our time was spent merely wandering the streets and getting a feel for the place. Eating the local foods, drinking the local beers and coffees and just generally getting into the Greek lifestyle.

The Athens of today

Chain smoking is the norm. A very different concept for Australians where smoking has basically been outlawed for about the last 20+ years. It is still alive and well in Greece. Jill and I sat in a range of restaurants, bars, and coffee shops discussing how long it had been since you could publicly smoke in Australia. All the while choking on dense cigarette fumes. We even watched our chefs smoking over the top of the open grill that they were working on.

The world is my urinal. The number of acts of public urination that we have witnessed in central Athens has been staggering. It seems like the rule is that if you need to go, just whip your cock out and let er rip. Parks and gutters are a favourite, but we have even seen a cab driver stop on the main road, in the heart of the city, and piss on his own passenger door and get back in and drive off.

Riot Police. We were not really sure what this is about. We had seen no issues or violence or even protests of any kind. But at several places throughout our neighbourhood, there were heavily armoured busses with riot police in full protective garb and weapons. They come in the morning and are there all day and well into the evenings. After a few days of this, we asked at our local giros shop, who told us that people were upset at a new metro line going through, so the police were there to protect the Metro until it was completed.

Graffiti. This is an absolute travesty, of all the places that we have ever visited (up to 58 countries and who knows how many cities) Athens is the most defaced place we have ever been. Graffiti is everywhere, spray paint has been tagged all over virtually every surface and very little (if anything) has been done to clean it off. Stunning ancient buildings made of marble have been defaced at every turn.

And of course, everywhere you go, there are the Instagrammers. Taking a prime position and refusing to move. Although I am starting to notice a lot of people pushing back against them. The rudeness of it all, people are now just wandering on in and standing in the Instagrammers’ shots ruining them, in order to get their own pictures.