Leaving Santorini

Well, it's goodbye Santorini and goodbye Santorini Princess.

 

We've had a pretty fantastic time here and it has been the perfect end to what has been a very exciting holiday.

 

It's a little hard to remember the start of our holiday as it was so long ago, but when we reflect on what we've done and see, it is quite special.

 

We're just waiting for our transfer to arrive before we fly back to Athens.  Then off to Dubai, again, with an 8 hour stop over, and then a 14 hour flight back to Melbourne.  We get in early on Sunday morning, to a 7° minimum.

 

The thing we are looking forward to most, except a reunion with the Jeep ;), is some steamed vegetables and possibly a lamb roast for dinner.

 

There will be one more update which will list the highs/lows/favourites etc.

 

Love to all our Family and Friends...

 

See you all soon.

 

Kent and Kath.

Santorini - We've Arrived

We've arrived in Santorini and got transfers from the new port to the Santorini Princess.

 

On; been here 1 night but I have only 1 word to describe this hotel, 'Perfect'.

 

Room service is well priced, the pool is awesome, Kath and I had a 60 minute massage today and are super relaxed.

 

We're going to try and visit some wineries tomorrow and hopefully hire a buggy the following day, but we'll see how that all goes :)

 

Back soon!! Love K&K

 

p.s. Thanks for the advance warning Daniel ;)

Naxos

Got to Naxos on the fast ferry and had a look at the information place to see if we could get some accommodation.

 

Again, we had a few in mind, but they did not have availability so we went with one that was recommended in the Lonely Planet and was also owned by the guy running the accom information place.  It was called Pension Irene II and was only a couple of years old.

 

Only EUR$40 per night per room and it had a pool so it was ok.  A far cry from Hotel Tagoo though with one of those little showers and a pretty ordinary view.

 

We managed to visit a little village during our 2 night stay which had a little distillery and some hand made arts and crafts that we had a peak at and did some purchasing.  We got their on the local bus which was an interesting experience.

 

On our return we were waiting for he bus and this Taxi driver pulled up and started coercing Leo into the cab and kept saying, no money, tickets, no money.  He was quite horrified that we didn't want to get in and at one stage had two of his door open trying to get us in.

 

From what we can understand he was wanting us to give us the un-used tickets and he would then re-sell them onto someone else, thus paying for the fare.  We got a nice air-conditioned bus back to the main town and had a dip in the pool.

 

Both nights there we had Mexican for dinner at Picaso's.  Nice food, cheap, and fast, a good change from the standard Greek fare of past weeks.

 

We're off to Santorini next for the last part of our journey.  We're staying at the lovely Santorini Princess and we are very much looking forward to it.

 

Love to All. Cheers, Kent and Kath.

Mykonos

We arrived on Mykonos and made our way to the Accommodation info place at the port.

There is a bunch of places to stay on the island either in the town or on the outskirts.

Kath had researched a few and knowing our price range we asked for what was available.

Hotel Tagoo, 700 metres from town was brought out and as this was the topic of some research we asked if there was availability for one, maybe two nights.

By pure luck there had been a cancellation, slightly tragic circumstances, but a cancellation none the less.

The owner, Yannis, came to pick us up and we went to the hotel. 700 metres seems like a long way on a flat road, but Tagoo was at the top of a big hill. So it was good to get a lift.

This hotel really made Mykonos for us as it was run by a family and the service was simply amazing! The pool area was spectacular and the rooms were fantastic.

http://www.hoteltagoo.gr

We loved it so much we asked Anna, or Mama Anna rather, if we could stay for 3 nights but it may not have been an option at that early stage.

Anna weaved her magic and managed to squeeze out another night for us and we will be forever grateful as this has been the highlight for me so far.

Kicking back at the pool/bar chatting to Jimmy the barman/lifeguard (Annas Brother), and Christof (spelling??) who has been a regular at Tagoo twice a year for the past 20 years.

We had Gyros and Italian delivered to the pool while sipping on cold cold Mythos.

Side Bar: Gyros Rock!

We did venture into the town a couple of times and bought some souvenirs etc. But most of the time was spent at the hotel.

From Mykonos we travel to Naxos so we'll be back in touch soon.

Love, K & K.

Tinos

We arrived on Tinos from Rafina and grabbed a taxi to our accommodation, The Porto Raphael hotel in the area of Porto just outside of the main town.

There was two types of rooms available, so we chose the better one as it had two levels and two bathrooms.

The owner told us that there were two mini markets within 400 metres of the hotel, so we went for a walk to get some supplies.

Either I'm getting old or it was the longest 400 metres I've ever experienced.  We arrived at the market, possibly a day later can't recall, and got a few things for breaky etc.

Tinos is an interesting place with approx 1 church per resident :)

Seriously though there is so many churches on this island it's not funny. We hired a car and went for a spin around to see some of the little villages and we found an awesome little cove where Gaz and I had the now famous 'giant ice cream'.

We left a day earlier than we had tentatively planned for as it was a bit slow going there even for us.

We are off to Mykonos but not sure how long for at this stage, stay tuned for more exciting adventures!

Cheers, K & K.

Nafplion or rather, Tolo

After getting to Nafplion we drove around a bit and parked near the harbour. We got out and discovered that the Hyundai had a flat tyre on the rear right. There was a big nail sticking out and you could hear the air escaping.

It looked at bit stormy so the girls set off for a look around and Gaz and I changed the tyre. We got it done just in time as there was lightening and rain coming our way.

We went to look at some accommodation and it was a bot crappy so we asked if there was more beach front type accommodation around and the guy from the Information/Accommodation place said to try heading along the coast a bit.

We headed for Tolo and went for a cruise along the 'nard'. We pulled up opposite this little bar and Gaz and I both said, yep, this is the place for us.

We went upstairs to the Santa Maria hotel. It had only been open 10 days and had just been through a major refurbish. Clean, nice rooms with balconies and nice bathrooms. Being so new there was a couple of teathing problems, but nothing to really compain about it.

We were right on the back and had air con and a little restaurant and bar down stairs, what more could you want.

We stayed in Tolo for 3 nights all up and visited the most famous ancient amphitheatre that is still in use today at Ephidavros, just outside of Nafplion. There were other ruins there but nothing that excited us enough to walk through them.

We headed back and spent a bit more time at the bar and having a swim. Tolo was a great little place, quite with plenty of taverns and cafe's. The Santa Maria Hotel and Restaurant were brilliant. Nice staff, excellent service, I would highly recommend this to anyone wanting a 'holiday' as it is just so relaxing.

From Tolo we headed back to Athens on the Toll way, spent about an hour lost looking for the Europcar office near the airport to drop the car off, only to find out that we could have just gone straight to the airport. Oh well, sh!t happens.

Dropped the car off and then got a cab to Rafina. This was an experience in itself. The sign at the airport listed prices to Rafina at EUR$20 so we thought that would be sweet.

We jumped in the cab and attempted to get the set price, but he said it was on the meter. We got going to the right place and as we were sitting in traffic the cabbie started saying that the sign at the airport was not including tolls and time sitting in traffic. He was getting quite angry about it and we tried to say that we understood what he was saying.

I get the prase book out and said to him in Greek 'I Understand' and he smiled, politely corrected me and everyone was happy.

We got to the port in time, got our tickets and sat down to have one of the most sensational Gyros you could imagine. It could have been because we were starving but it was simply awesome.

Got on the ferry and we headed off to Tinos in the Greek Islands.

Take care all.

Cheers, K & K.

Delphi and Olympia

After Meteroa we travelled to Delphi to see the Santury of Apollo which included the temple of Apollo, the amphitheatre and the stadium, the gymnasium and the temple of Athina. This was all pretty much rubble, but the stadium was pretty amazing.

We then drove to Olympia which took us across to the Pelopenese (spelling??). Had to find some accommodation in Olympia so we stopped at a place listed in the Lonely Planet. They were fully booked but suggested the Hotel Hercules.

This was an interesting experience as this scary looking greek man came running out yelling 'Cheap Hotel, come look, cheap hotel'. We tried to ignore him but he was very persistent.

We went in and I took one look at the bathroom and turned around and walked out. Kath tried to get a price out of him but he was reluctant to say. Eventually he said it was EUR$35. Cheap indeed, but not quite what we were looking for.

We drove around a bit and the scary dude kept following us. He seemed to be everywhere we looked, following us from block to block to see where we were going. Freaky.

We went for a drive up to the more costly hotel but it was booked out. A lady at one of these hotels suggested Hotel Antoni which had rooms so we stayed there for the night.

Before settling down we went and visited the Museum of Olympia which was a good introduction to the Olympia sites the following day.

Got up and had some breaky at the hotel, went out to the site and wandered around for about 2 hours. Basically a lot of imagination required to picture what is would have looked like. The stadium again was the best part, very impressive. We also saw where they light the olympic torch prior to its journey around the world leading up to the Olympic Games.

From here we headed to Nafplion on the east coast of the Pelopenese.

Back soon, Love, K & K

Meteora

Woke up reasonably early today and had breakfast at 8. Left shortly after to go to Meteora, where the monks hang out.

Lovely to photograph as the buildings are sitting on the tops of these huge rocky outcrops.

Drive was pretty quick and we got to the first one. There was about 10 buses parked out the front so we didn't go inside.

Went up to another that was closed today and tok some more pics. Better without hords of people.

We went up another road towards one of the Nunneries and this was relatively quiet.  We went inside and the girls had to put on these lovely little dresses as ladies must wear skirts.

It was lovely inside with a couple of chapels and some nice gardens.

As the buses started to arrive it was our queue to make a move. We went back to the hotel and checked out then started to 4 hour drive to Delphi.

The drive was really nice, beautiful scenery and nice roads. We had one stop in Lamia for a pastry from a local bakery, and then continued on our way.

It was very hilly, but the corners were long and fast which made for fun driving.

We got to Delphi in good time and checked into the Hermes Hotel. Fantastic view over the valley and right in town near a bunch of tavernas and shops.

Off to see the ruble tomorrow and to head doen to Olympia.

Cheers, K & K