Santorini to Athens

We are very sad that we have to leave Santorini today. It has been a peaceful and relaxing time and we loved every minute of it.

The little cats came into Andi's room at about 5.00am. and woke her up. We all were up by 6.00 and ready to sit outside on our little terrace until breakfast time and our trip to the airport.

Here are some of the photos we took in Santorini. What a beautiful place!! We could happily have stayed much longer.

Santorini

We arrived in Santorini at midday yesterday. It was very wet in Athens when we left but warm and sunny in Santorini when we arrived. It was a very short flight, less than 30 minutes in the air and it was a bit bumpy as we came through the bad weather of Athens.


We were met at the airport and driven to Oia. We were dropped off at the tourist office outside the village as no vehicles are permitted in Oia. At the office we paid for our accomodation and were collected by a young man named Sammy who was to carry our bags and guide us to our accomodation. We had booked at the Museum Wellness Hotel but the tourist office people suggested we go to Number 11 instead.
I'm sure I don't understand how the system works. We were taken to both places and shown the rooms at both. We were then asked to choose which place we preferred to stayThey were both very nice, more like apartments than a hotel. We chose Number 11 which had three beds and two bathrooms and a view to die for!!!


When we'd settled in several lovely cats arrived to 'welcome' us. They all came inside and settled themselves down. We unpacked, had a rest and then went back up the higgledy-piggledy flights of twisty-turny stairs to find a resaurant. We found a lovely restaurant and had a great, late lunch - octopus, squid and mussels. Yum.


After lunch we had a wander around and bought some provisions for our evening meal - tomatoes, cheese, bread, olives and fruit.



Santorini is just as beautiful as people say. Our apartment is just below the sunset viewing terrace so our view is exceptional, except that it is cloudy at the moment, perhaps it will become sunny later.


Can't upload any photos here so I will try to add them when we are back in Athens.


Be in touch again, soon.

A Three Island Tour

Hi Everyone,


Yesterday (Easter Monday) we booked a cruise on a large catamaran which sails to the islands of Poros, Hydra and Aegina. We had to get up early as we were to be picked up at 6.50 from the lobby of another hotel a block away. We were collected at 7.10 and got to Piraeus, the port of Athens, at 7,45. On the way we picked up large numbers of tourists from other hotels.

The boat left Piraeus at 8.00 and we sailed towards Poros. We arrived at 10.00 and spent an hour wandering around then it was back on board and off to Hydra. We were a little surprised to find that we were in the group having first lunch - a wee bit early, 11.30! Anyway we had lunch, a very ordinary meal, indeed, and then we arrived at Hydra.  

On Hydra we found the first large numbers of cats that we've seen since we arrived in Greece, (a poor use of words but I'm sure you understand). Hydra is the island where no motor vehicles are allowed so it is quiet and peaceful. Many wealthy people have holiday homes on Hydra and it is much 'shinier' than Poros or Aegina. Donkeys are the main form of transport here.We had 2 hours on Hydra so that was nice. We strolled around and found a lovely donkey standing in a field of yellow daisies. He was beautiful. We talked to lots of cats and a few lovely dogs and eventually got back to the boat at 2.15 to sail to Aegina.

We got to Aegina at 4.15 and had 2 hours again to stroll around. There were horses and carriages for the tourists to use and the whole place was much busier and noisier than Hydra. There were large signs as you arrived promoting a volunteer organisation that is sterilising the stray cat and dog population of Athens and many of the Greek islands.

We left Aegina at 6.15 after buying some pistachios, They are just yummy. Growing and selling pistachios and honey production are two of the main 'industries' of the island - not counting tourism of course!


We sailed back to Priaeus and arrived at 7.30. We found our bus and were dropped back near our hotel. What a lovely day. The weather was warm and sunny and a little breezy, just right for boating.

Athens has been incredibly quiet these last two days - Easter Sunday and Monday. Everything is closed except some of the businesses and restaurants in the Plaka (the real touristy part). None of the Museums, historical sites or even the market have been open. It's very different. On Sunday we walked around to the Victor Hugo Hotel where Mum and Wilma stayed when they first came to Athens. It's now a Youth Hostel and is in a seedier part of Athens than it was then. It was good to see it.

Love to all

Maz, Great Gran and Andi

Athens continued.....

Happy Easter to you all.


I guess you might read this at David's today. We all hope you have lots of fun with the Easter Egg hunt and that you liked the Easter gifts Great Gran and I bought for you. I think Phil and Spike are excellent names for ducks.


I hope Michael has a lovely time with David, Tash and Ava. It's her very first Easter but I guess she's not quite ready for a chocky egg!


I thought I'd have another go at downloading some pictures. It's 6.05am here. Everyone else is asleep, no they're not, Great Gran has just woken up too.



Out of our window we can see the Parthenon all lit up. It's the stuff of dreams. Have a wonderful day all of you. I hope you like your books Hayley, Emma and Leah. Make a comment or send an email and let me know.

Lots of love to all of you

Grandma, Great Gran and Andi

Athens - The Acropolis and the New Acropolis Museum

Hi All,

We arrived in Athens yesterday afternoon and got to our hotel at 3.00pm. They now have a great rail service that takes you from the airport right into Athens itself. A great idea, but it stops at lots of stations on the way in so it is also used as commuter service. It filled up very quickly and we were a bit worried that we wouldn't be able to get off when we got to our station as it was so crowded. Luckily most of the passengers seemed to want the same station as us, so we had no trouble getting off.


After checking in we went up to our rooms for a little rest. We'd been on the go since 6.00am and had only 4 hours sleep the previous night. It was great to be back at the Center Square Hotel. It's just as busy and noisy as it was when we were here in 2009.


We left the hotel and went out for tea at about 7.30. Had a walk about and then stopped for tea at a nice little restaurant. We walked back to the hotel at about 9.00. On the way back we stopped at a little Greek Orthodox church. Lots of people had been in and out during the day and evening as it was Good Friday.


As we continued our walk back we suddenly spotted a large crowd of people in the middle of the road. It was dark and they all held lit candles. They were all part of a religious procession commerating Good Friday. There was chanting and singing and effigies of Jesus, it was amazing! We got back to the hotel at 9.30 and went to bed.


After a good nights sleep we left the hotel at 10.00am to visit the Acropolis and the New Acropolis Museum. We used our favourite form of transport - The Hop On Hop Off Bus! We got to the Acropolis at 10.30. It was very quiet with far less visitors than the summer of 2009. We did not have to buy tickets as it was Easter and no-one was operating the ticket office. What a great deal! The Acropolis was just as fascinating as it was last time, but we could see everything as there were no crowds. The weather was lovely, 21 degrees and sunny. From the Acropolis we walked back to the New Acropolis Museum. Many people had told us how wonderful it was and they were right. It was fantastic! The only problem was that everything was closing early for the Easter holidays. Very little will be open tomorrow or Monday so we will have to explore by foot and find alternate places to visit.


Back to the hotel by 6.00pm and having a little rest before going out later. Apparently tonight will be midnight services and fireworks to celebrate Jesus' resurrection. Maybe we'll go out for a sticky beak.


Chat soon.

Istanbul to Athens

Hello everyone,

We are now back on the air from Greece. I am having a great deal of trouble downloading pictures but at least I can write a little about our time in Turkey.

We began our Turkish adventure in Istanbul. We visited The Grand Bazaar, the Haiga Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cistern and many other lovely places. We then went on a quite frenetic tour of Cappadochia, Pammukale, Kusedasi and Selcuk. We visited the fairy chimneys and amazing geological formations of Cappodochia and stayed in a cave hotel. It's an amazing part of the world. We were there on Monday and stayed overnight in the Peri Cave Hotel. It was a bit cold and musty but a unique experience all the same. The weather was very wet on Monday night, but it cleared in time for us to watch the hot air balloons on Tuesday morning. At least 50 balloons F=flew over between 6.00am and 8.30. It was an amazing sight.

After the balloons and breakfast we visited more of Cappochia with our lovely guide Aygen. She was very enthusiastic about her job and very open about some of the problems of Turkey. We left her and our tour group on Tuesday night to catch the night train to Pammukale, the "cotton" cliffs. The bus ride was long and uncomfortable, about 11 hours in all and we arrived in Pammukale at about 5.00am. Very early! We were taken to a hotel where we could freshen up, have a sleep, have breakfast and leave at 9.00 for a tour of the Pammukale white cliffs. We had a lovely time even though the weather was cool and damp.

After Pammukale we went to Kusedasi where we stayed in a nice hotel and were picked up for our tour of Ephesus. We first went to the "house of the Virgin Mary". Who knewA that she travelled to Turkey and spent the remainder of her life there!!! She  was visited by John the Baptist apparently and had a large group of followers.  A clever, money-spinning idea. There were thousands of people there and most appeared to believe everything they were told. Amazing. There were candles, fountains, shrines and wishing walls. The actual house was built in 1951 after archeologists discovered the foundations of the 'real' house house from the 1st century A.D.

We then went to Ephesus. An amazing Greco/Roman city. Much of it has been excavated since the 1800's. We had a lovely time there. After the tour we were taken to Selcuk and finally got to the airport in Izmir ready for our plane at 9.30. It left late and we did not get back to our Istanbul Hotel until midnight. We had to repack all our bags and finally got to bed at 2.00am.

I am finishing now as the connection keeps failing and I can't down load any photos.

Love to all

Maz, Andi and Great Gran.

Turkey to Athens

Leaving Istanbul

The girls really enjoyed their 4 day tour of Cappodochia, Pammukale and Ephesus. They flew back into Istanbul after midnight and spent the next couple of hours sorting out their cases to get the right weight for the next part of their journey to Athens. With just 4 hours sleep it's off to the airport for their flight.

All being well in Greece they will update the blog and post some pictures, I hear they already have thousands :)

Benj

Turkey continued...

We went to the Grand Bazaar and wandered around for a couple of hours. It’s an enormously busy place, chock full of people desperately trying to part you from your money. We were accosted many, many times but sadly no one wanted to marry any one of us. They just wanted our money.

We walked through the Bazaar and out at the bottom end and then down, down, down through a maze of twisty, turny cobbled streets until we reached the Spice Bazaar at the bottom by the sea. The Spice Bazaar was even busier than the Grand Bazaar! It’s an amazing place with huge mounds of spices, dried fruit and vegetables, teas, sweets and meats. It smells fabulous!!

We made our way back up to the Grand Bazaar. It’s quite a long and very steep walk but totally fascinating. The shops on either side sell amazing things like over the top bed linen, ladies lingerie (very glam indeed),  fabrics and ribbon, machines for making dolmades, shoes, bags, kiddie clothes, a lot of Disney, Prada, Vuitton, etc knock offs.

When we got back to the top we walked through the Grand Bazaar until we found the correct exit gate. Then we went back to the hotel for a little rest and later we ventured forth to the Haija Sophia. Another amazing building. It is huge! It was first built in the 6^th century as a Christian church then in the 15^th century it was converted to a mosque. It has decoration from both religions and is a most fascinating building. It was turned into a museum in 1934.

The weather became very cold and windy so we walked back to the hotel to put on a few more layers before going out for tea. Another great day and our feet are holding up well.

PS Thanks to everyone who has made a comment. Although we can't use the blog here in Turkey we do get emailed your comments so keep them coming in.

Maz, Andi and Marj