Memories of Greece and Turkey.

Posing in front of the Parthenon, atop the Acropolis in Athens.

Yasas! Merhaba! Hello! This is the diary of my trip to Greece and Turkey in 2014, my brother's and my annual trip this year.

We had a fantastic time and I was so relieved about that!  Since I was retired, I had time to plan each and every day of this 28 trip!  It was a LOT of research and planning  - I think I set a personal record for how much time and effort it took!  But, I am proud to say that from a logistics perspective, everything went smoothly - our flights arrived on time, our rental cars were waiting for us as promised, our accommodations all worked out - from hotels to guesthouses to apartments.

The Journey Back to Greece.

Bye, bye Kuşadası....for now.

Today, we went back to Greece....but only for the day.  When our Greek island hopping plan fell through, both Bro and I were very disappointed as we had both looked forward to spending time wandering through island villages that we had iconic images of stuck in our heads.  Oia was stunning and we wanted to experience more.  So, our consolation was to take a day and go back to one of the Greek islands - in this case, Samos which is located about a 90 minute ferry ride from Kuşadası.  We had bought our tickets night before last and yesterday evening, we checked where the ferry leaves from.

The National Archaelogical Museum.

One of the museum's treasure, the Artemision Bronze.  The statue represents either Zeus or Poseidon.

We had a few hours to kill before we have to get back on the metro and head to the airport for our flight to Izmir, Turkey. With our luggage safely stowed away in an empty in the basement of a small cafe in Monastiraki Square, we headed to the National Archaeological Museum. It was the one place on my Athens itinerary that we had not gotten a chance to see so now that we had the opportunity to go, we did.

Back to Athens.

Sure....our Santorini *Lamborghini*  was teeny weeny in size but it got us everywhere we needed to go....in chic style :-)

Going back to Athens from Santorini was not in the original game plan but the Greek ferry gods were not in our favor so island hopping our way to Turkey will have to be a dream for another day.

After spending the day visiting Perissa and Megalochori, we headed back to our guesthouse and spent a few minutes packing up our bags.  Bro had to clear out the fridge as well as there was no way we would be lugging any food with us to Turkey.

We decided on an early dinner.  It was back to Kamari Beach.  Unfortunately, the home style restaurant that I had wanted to go to was closed so we had no choice but be pulled in by a trolling waiter.  He was a nice guy and the restaurant looked decent as well.

Perissa and Megalochori.

Relaxing on Perissa Beach.  A most awesome and comfy hammock chair that I wanted to bring home with me!

Today's our last day in Santorini. Originally, the plan was to leave in the morning and island hop our way to Turkey but ferry schedules derailed that plan so now we're slated to take the overnight ferry back to Athens and then from there, fly to to Izmir, Turkey....the airport there services tourists staying in Kuşadası. As a result of the change in plans, there were some administrative tasks that we had to take care of.

Pyrgos.

Exploring the narrow streets of Pyrgos.

After spending the morning visiting Ancient Thera, we headed inland to Pyrgos, a small village that was, until the early 1800's, the capital of the island.  The small village is located on the highest point in Santorini and offers panoramic views of the whole island....all the way to Oia.  We kept seeing signs to Pyrgos on our ride to Fira and on our drive to Akrotiri.  I had read that it was a good example of a traditional Greek village so off we went.

More Ruins. Ancient Thera.

We started our day with doing a bit of laundry.  We had noticed that there was a good sized drying rack outside our room.  With the full sun and dry weather here, we figured our clothes would dry easily in one day.  Nice thing about staying in a modest accommodation like this guest house is that you can hang your laundry out to dry.  We truly are budget travelers!

After making sure every piece of clothing was hung up securely, we headed to the main room for breakfast.  We were the first ones there.  A few tables had already been set up, ready for guests and it was obvious they were setup to account for exact number of guests.  We took seats at a table that was obviously meant for two.  Our host, who was sitting behind the computer at the reception desk, leapt to his feet and headed to the kitchen to get our meal ready.

It was simple, modest breakfast albeit as seemingly odd combo of food.  Some bread with butter and jam, some cake, a grilled cheese sandwich, juice and tea.  I missed my egg :-(  I do have to say that the freshly squeezed orange juice here is worth every drop to drink.  It's so delicious!

Visiting Santorini's Ancient Side. Akrotiri.

The ruins at Akotiri.

One of the main reasons for leaving Oia and relocating to Kamari was so we could explore the western side of Santorini.  Located on this side of the island are a couple of archeological sites that, by all accounts, we must see while we're here.  So, we did.   The first was Akrotiri, the ruins of a Bronze Age Minoan settlement.

The Minoans originated on the island of Crete and flourished from approximately 2700 to 1450 BC.

Hello, Kamari.

The seaside promenade in Kamari.

Yannis.  Landlord, propety manager, porter, cleaning lady....he's a one man show!

When I planned our stay in Santorini, it was difficult to decide whether to spend it all in Oia or to spend it all in seaside town so we could enjoy the beach and explore the rest of the island.  In the end, I decided to split our four days - two in Oia and two in Kamari, which is a small seaside town located right on the shores of the Aegean.  Thanks to our having to reschedule our departure from Santorini to Kuşadası, Turkey, we now have an extra day in Santorini meaning we have three days in Kamari.

For the days that we're in Kamari, I had booked a rental car. Yesterday, I called the rental agency to confirm the drop off location and time - 9:30am at the bus station in Oia.  Based on that time, Yannis wanted to meet us at 9am to go through the check out process.

We were ready to go by the time Yannis showed up at our door.  He was not a minute late!

Last Views of Oia.

I have a really good internal clock. Ever since we arrived two days ago, I've been wanting to go back to the promontory, at dawn, to take more photos.  Today, I woke up before dawn....without an alarm clock. I quickly glanced out the window and realized that if I hustled, I could make it to the promontory while it was still pre-dawn.  You don't want the sun to be up too high in the sky or the light won't be right.....it has to be still slightly dark.

Fira and Hopes Dashed.

Awesome panoramic shot by Bro! Use the scroll bars to pan to see the entire photo.

Some days things go as planned and others, not. Today fell into the latter category. More on that later. For now, flashback to morning. It was the sound of Bro opening the front door that woke me up. I had said that I had wanted to get up early to return to the promontory to get another set of photos.  I peered out the window and could see the sun just peeking over the horizon. 

Oia and Ammoudi Bay.

We lost track of time, sitting on our patio and chatting.  There was still plenty of time left, before sunset, to explore Oia.  As comfy as we were, we decided to head out.

Oia. Settling In.

Looking out at the caldera from the patio of our apartment.

Three more hours to go before we meet back up with Yannis to get back into our apartment. Seem like it's an eternity of a wait already but time is flying by as we were mentally settling in to being in Santorini.  It was still early in the morning but commercial establishments were opening up as fast as day tourists from the cruise ships, docked just off shore, were arriving.  So, from the church square and the gate where we had to come back to meet up with Yannis, we headed east/inland/away from the rock promontory we had been to earlier in the morning.

Santorini Sunrise.

Catching the sun rise in Santorini.

Today did not start off on a good note. It was zero dark thirty when again, the loud music from somewhere outside our apartment was blaring. TURN THE VOLUME DOWN!!!!  That's what I wanted to shout out! I had set the alarm for 2:45a but was awake well before then. So much for getting a decent night's sleep!!  No time now to focus on lack of sleep.  We have a flight to catch.   I'll make up for the lost sleep (hopefully) tonight. 

Ruins and Puppets.

At the Temple of the Olympian Zeus.

After our snack/lunch at the eateries near the New Acropolis Museum, Bro and I decided to take the short walk to our next sightseeing point - the ruins of the Temple of the Olympian Zeus.

The New Acropolis Museum.

Exiting the entrance of our apartment building.  We were on the 4th floor.  Sign is for the coffeeshop in the lobby.

I woke up cranky this morning. Cranky, cranky,cranky! Why? Because I didn't sleep well last night! Why? Because someone was playing music so loud that I felt like I was in the room with them! I was woken up around 1a by the thumping sound of techno music, rap, rock....you name it....everything but classical, opera, and country. I swear there was even some new wave music.

More of Athens. Evzones and a Garden.

Navigating "old school".  Google Maps can't replace the real thing!

I's only been about 4 hours since we left the apartment but we've seen so much already that it feels like we've been gone a whole day!  I'm still pinching myself that I actually got to see the Parthenon.  I had always lumped Greece into the categories that I could visit when I'm much "older" so I never expected to be here at this point in my life.  Not that I'm complaining, I'm having the time of my life here.

The Agora.

Aphrodite he's not!

From one set of ruins to the next. From the Acropolis to the Agora.

While I had marked all the must-see highlights on our Athens map, I didn't set out any specific daily itinerary e.g, we go hear first and then here next and then.....  I deliberately did this so that Bro could participate in deciding on where we go/what we do/what we see.  After all, it's as much his trip to Greece as it is mine.  So, every day or the night before, we roughly map the day.   As far as the Agora goes, it was on the map and although we could approach the site from any number of different entrances, it made the most sense for us to visit it on our way out of the Acropolis.

The Parthenon.

What can I possibly say about the Parthenon that hasn't already been said and with much more eloquence than I can muster up? It is THE iconic symbol not only of Athens but of Greece. I have wanted to come see this place for as long as I can remember and today was the day that the dream finally came true.

First Glances of Athens.

Posing with an evzone at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

After settling into our apartment and getting some food shopping done, we decided it was still too early to call it a day.  That and I think both of us were excited to at least see some of Athens on our first day in town.