Europe Adventures 2016: THE REST OF GREECE

We awoke early and headed to the ferry bound for Patras. Luckily we exchanged our booking information for our tickets the night before which meant we were able to have more of a sleep in.

The ferry ride was a non eventful two and half hour journey. Interesting people were traveling with their rabbits, birds and dogs. Followed by a three hour bus ride. We were informed that it would most likely be two and half. During our bus ride we had intermittent wifi so we were in somewhat contact with Una and Josh. They arrived at Monastiraki square just as instructed and because of our further bus delay Dalton was able to give clear instructions on how to get to the apartments that we were staying in. They arrived and checked in.

We arrived at the bus station and jumped into a taxi. it was quite a process. We waited in a long queue for the taxi. While the long line of taxi's were so long it went around a couple of blocks. At the front people got in their taxi the line of the taxi's and passengers seemed to merge. You also have to pay a handling of luggage fee. One lady used this to her advantage and refused to approach a taxi until the driver physically went up to her and picked up her bags to put them in the taxi. Why not if you are paying for the service right. However a lot of people were getting annoyed as it held up the process for the rest or the people waiting their turn for the taxi.

The taxi drivers drivers are just as crazy as the Italians. Cutting corners, not sticking to their own lane, passing at unsafe times and driving well above the speed limit. We arrived at the location and walked into the bar which was below our apartment and mum and josh were there waiting. We received such a warm welcome and when we checked in it was rather a modern apartment with a very fancy shower. With all the mod cons sprays, sprinklers, jets and two different nozzles. A luxury after the previous two places where the pressure was just a trickle. Not good for washing hair.
We settled and and then walked through the main square and up to the Acropolis and Mars Hill. It was a pleasant temperature of 30 which was perfect for exploring. We were lucky to be staying so close to this attraction. We then wandered through the streets, soaking in the atmosphere and browsing some of the shops. We had a kebab for tea which was delicious. Mum was enjoying being back here after many years.

Monastiraki Square

The view from Mars Hill

The Parthenon

Early Monday morning (5.30am) we caught a taxi to Piraeus which is the main ferry port in Athens (and the second largest in the world by passenger volume). We then caught the 7am ferry to Mykonos. It was a direct fast ferry - a catamaran - and we arrived in Mykonos 2.5 hours later. On arrival we got a taxi from the port to the car rental place as we decided we would rent a car here as it was cheap. We arrived at our accommodation at Paradise Beach where we will be staying the next 3 nights. We had 2 little cabins each not far off the beach.

Leaving Athens just after sunrise

Our fast ferry - it went at speeds up to 65 km/h

We arrived in Mykonos with lovely see breezes to cool down the scorching temperatures. We phoned the car rental place as there is usually a free shuttle to the airport for picking up customers. However through broken english a minimal conversation was had bout picking us up from the port only to be cut short as we ran out of credit. Shall we wait just in case he kind of understood. Or shall we catch a taxi?. We decided to catch a taxi as we had an invalid with us. (Story explained later on). We arrived at the car rental place via taxi only to find one of their men had gone to the port to pick us up.
Lost is translation...

We got the car and arrived at our accommodation. White cabins we are doing this camping style!!! It was located on a beautiful beach however most of the day very busy with party bodies. The island is very well known for the party island more so where we were staying as well as all the supporters and those associated with the colourful flag. The quietest time was 7am until 10am where people were just going to bed and we were getting up starting our day. The party started at 4pm and right through until 7am. Thankfully being a shift worker I always carry a stash of earplugs. Although that wasn't quite enough. As well as the fan on full bore. It all adds to the experience and puts a lot of things into perspective.

Below are the places we explored around our island. We left as early as possible and returned and late as we could.

Elia Beach

On the Monday that we were in Mykonos we had to pay a visit to the medical centre to see the Orthopedic specialist. While we were on our scooters in Kephalonia on saturday unbeknown to me Dalton had come a round a corner too fast felt the bike slipping so put out his foot and pushed himself back up using his foot. No pain at the time nor for the rest of the day. There was pain the next day and slight limp and this is when he told me. It did not limit him walking and seeing the sites of Athens. Monday morning we were too busy up early to catch the ferry to Mykonos to worry about getting it seen to. However the pain was worse and weigh bearing became more difficult as the day went on. Monday afternoon when we had settled into our accommodation we went to the specialist who took xrays which confirmed Dalton had broken his toe. Strapped, Regular analgesia, Ice, Rest, Elevation and minimal walking was ordered.

I have to say they were really efficient the specialist heard the account of what happened as xrayed the foot and within a very short time we were on our way.

Narrow roads all over the island - this is a two way road!

Fokos Beach

Panormos Beach

The typical arid landscape of the island

Armenistis Lighthouse

Mykonos Town

Little Venice

The ladies got permission from the men to explore the shops for a couple of hours. The shops had lots of lovely clothes, handmade things and art galleries. After an hour we were over shopping. The boys are thankful they are not holidaying with shopaholics.

A fish and vege market down on the water front

Lots of beautiful bougainvillea against the whitewash of the buildings. It sure is a spectacular picture which is everywhere you look.

While me and Mum went shopping, Dalton & Josh also did their own exploring around the town.. This is the boys waiting for the girls to return at the designated place and time.

Although it has been an annoyance for Dalton and his foot it hasn't really slowed us up too much. Thankfully we had a car to get around also. After a few days it was feeling better and less limping. This is Dalton waving his foot in the air indicating it is improving although this comes in bouts. It feels great after long rests.

SANTORINI.

We took the rental back and the young boy dropped us off at the port only to find our ferry was delayed by two hours. This was because of the strong winds making the journey slower and a delay from Athens. There was only a little Tobacconist type place which sold coffee and chips. Such an unhealthy breakfast but there was nothing else for miles. We thought about only purchasing tickets on the day from previous suggestions of frequent cancellations and rescheduling of ferries. However due to the busy season it is very wise to book a seat ahead of time.

Arriving into Santorini

We arrived into the very small port of Santorini we got a shuttle bus from there and zig-zagged up to the top of the cliff. We got delivered right to our accommodation. Dalton's knees started becoming very troublesome due to walking funny - nursing his foot now his knees were compensating. Dalton just rested while we went and got Gyros for tea and brought it back to have with Dalton.

We hadn't planned on hiring a car but getting around by buses however due to all the troublesome knees, feet and limping we decided to hire a car which I think we probably would have done anyway. Its not too badly priced and you can have the freedom of going where you want when you want and stopping when you want.

NISSAN MICRA

Breakfast is included so we enjoyed a coffee and cereal and bread on the rooftop terraces overlooking the sea. We headed to Perivolos beach where we spent several hours being lazy lumps lying in the sun and had several swims. We headed back to our accommodation, rested and swam in our pool. We headed out for tea. Dalton and Josh returned home soon after as Dalton was still feeling unwell. (wont mention anymore ailments as I don't want to bore you anymore) while the ladies explored the shops for a couple of hours.

A Greek man on his Donkey he called out to the ladies about having ride.

We stopped in this wee village called Pyrgos for a cold drink and Baklava. It had lots of cute wee streets and lots of cute wee shops.

Saturday Dalton couldn't walk at all so we thought we should get it looked at so took him to the hospital and he spent the day there getting antibiotics via IV. It was fluid in the knee capsule which had been caused by a primary infection somewhere else. We came and went a few times, saw some things on the island but felt bad as he was in there getting bored. He finally got discharged around 11pm.

Sunday we went exploring and visited Red Beach. It is red because of the volcanic soil. It was rather spectacular. We didn't swim here although the water looked inviting. It was rather busy and wanted somewhere a little more quiet.

An interesting fact about the grapes on this island. They are a special variety that are native to Santorini which have adapted to their habitat. The vines are planted far apart as their principal source of moisture is dew and they are often trained in the shape of low spiraling baskets with the grapes growing in the middle of the basket to protect them from the wind. Pictured below

We enjoyed lunch and a wander in the town of Oia. Our lunch location was overlooking the sea - such a spectacular place.

Our last night in Santorini we wanted to go down the zig-zaged path to the old port. We decided against getting a donkey as had heard lots of stories of people falling off, donkeys being mistreated and injuries. We have enough of those to add more. Mum and Dalton went down in the cable car while Josh and myself ran down to the bottom. We had to keep stopping to let the drove of donkeys past. The track had lots of poop and wees so you had to be very watchful.

Mum and Josh walked up the 600 steps back up to the top while I caught the cable car to accompany Dalton. Such spectacular views. We stayed and enjoyed the sunset before rushing off to return our rental car that we were returning at 8pm.

We flew from Santorini to Athens. While we are still traveling with an invalid being in a wheelchair it makes check-in for our flights to physically being on the plane such a breeze. We all get priority check in, being escorted straight to the front of the line in security to being wheeled right outside the gate. We are also the first on the plane. Depending on the airport if we usually would bus to the plane we would be on a priority bus and on the hoist truck up and into the plane. Oh the adventures but definitely at a stressful cost.

We were shuttled from the airport to our rental car where we then drove for 4.5 hours to Meteora. We wanted to visit these amazing monasteries up on the cliff edges. 6 of these monasteries remain from a total of 24 and they all cling to the cliff-tops and edges.

After the monasteries we continued our drive about 1.5 hours into a we town of Ioannina where we had tea and then checked into to our amazing accommodation. We followed our GPS to where it said we should go only to find that it was a steep derelict road. Our rental was pretty gutless with four bodies plus luggage even when we did a few run ups we almost burnt the entire clutch. We gave up and phoned the host who said wait where you are. I know exactly where you are as this was not the first time his guests had gone here because of the GPS.

Throughout the night there was thunder and lightning and torrential rain. This area is one of the wettest parts of Greece - unfortunately this meant the view in the morning was somewhat obscured. We got up and had a lovely breakfast provided in their formal dining room and then headed off. We decided to go the the large University Hospital in Ioannina as Dalton felt he wasn't improving. We got there and they had limited English but E.D. sent us upstairs to the main orthopedic section. What an eyeopener this hospital was!! It was like a rabbit warren inside, dimly lit corridors and sooo many people! It was literally like a refugee camp! People sitting on all seats, on the floor, standing in the corridors etc. It was not pleasant, it looked like it was going to be a long wait but thought we would wait an hour first. It was going to be a long drive to Athens, so after waiting an hour and hardly any sign of any Doctors, we decided just to get going.

Surprisingly, the rain was unrelenting the whole day! It was basically pouring the whole journey down from Ioannina to Athens - around 6 hours.

We crossed the Rio-Antirrio Bridge - an amazing engineering feat and the world's longest multi-span, cable-stayed, fully suspended bridge. It is 2.9km long and links the Peleponnese peninsula to mainland Greece.

Ancient Corinth

We also went to Ancient Corinth, and saw the ruins of the old town where Paul spent a bit of time and wrote his letters to the Corinthians. In those days it was one of the largest towns in Greece with 90,000 people.

The Corinth Canal

We had another night in Athens in a slightly different part of town, but since we didn't arrive until around 7pm didn't do too much but we were all fine with that.