9/12 - 9/22 athens and the greek islands

The birthplace of democracy, philosophy, theater, classical sculpture and architecture—those Greeks were amazing, though a bit loud. Our flight from Barcelona was with a horde of ancient Greek women who seemed to be flying for the first time. It was a zoo, reminded of us My Big Fat Greek Wedding. But it’s that same characteristic that makes Greeks so welcoming and Greece such an easy place to visit. Of course, THE highlight in Athens was the Parthenon. Wish there was less scaffolding, but wow; and to think it was built 2500 years ago, truly amazing. And, of course, there are other ruins everywhere. It’s an amazing sea of antiquity.

We needed Indian visas while in Athens, so we ended up with a few extra days while we waited for the visas to be processed. So what seemed like a bit of an inconvenience at first turned into a splendid little vacation—hooray for the Greek Islands! We decided to give ferries another try and sailed for Mykonos where we had a few beach days and Clint had some of the best buffalo mozzarella he’s had since being in Naples (he also shaved his head, alas). It was so good, he had it three times in the four days we were there! Hopefully we’ll be able to find somewhere in NY he likes as I think he could live off that stuff. We also got a few days on the dramatic cliff-faced island of Santorini. It was gorgeous and we explored via foot and a four-wheeler. Clint was hoping for a scooter (he’s been quick to point out his scooter from London most places we’ve been), but it seems Greek laws (at least this one) are a bit stiffer than British ones. So yes, not a bad way to spend a few days waiting for a visa.

Sunset view of the Acropolis from the massive Temple of Zeus
Temple of Zeus

Parthenon!
Sunset view of Athens
The Erectheion and the sacred olive tree (Athena touched the ground with her spear, and now we have the olive tree)
Another Acropolis sunset
Zeus and my husband in the Athenian archaeology museum

Relaxing by a Mykonos pool
More of the same... ahhh
My bald husband

Santorini - the view from our balcony
Santorini sunset
Classic, and so beautiful

Dustbuster with 4 wheels attached = fun
Views everywhere
And churches everywhere, too
Sunset approaching
Another Greek island sunset

The center of the volcano that blew Santorini (or was it Atlantis)away
Greek church, Greek flag, Greek sunset

If only this had been our hotel pool...
Nighttime in Santorini