The next day we arose at a leisurely holiday hour with plans to get a bit further afield. After some confusion about whether it was coming we piled into the local bus which took us down to the main hub of Santorini, Fira. Where Oia was touristy but charming, Fira was touristy and tacky. Every shop was trying to sell you something touristy and where there were some more traditional buildings around it was hard to see them for the stalls in front of them. Shame really. Nonetheless we had a look around and slowly made our way up to the top of the hill with a mind to getting down to the old port below. There were a few options, including donkey ride, walking down or taking the cable car. We opted for the cable car where we got a great view over the caldera. There wasn't a lot to see down the bottom but it was nice to have a walk around and see all the rich folks coming in on their private boats. We managed to avoid purchasing anything from the stalls or getting trapped in any of the restaurants that were convinced we needed to eat there. For some reason it seemed like a good idea to get a donkey ride back up the hill. For hundreds of years donkeys have been used to transport goods and people up and down from the port. So we paid some money to some shifty looking men and as soon as we turned the corner to the steps up we knew we had made a mistake. The place was lined with mangey looking donkeys hiding in the shade from the sweltering heat. Marcus was the first to be given his mount. Wheezing it slowly plodded it's way up the steps and after a few metres decided it had had enough and decided to relieve itself. Max and Bronwyn's donkeys didn't get on fought perpetually the whole way up. Jessica's donkey must have been a bit younger and it sped past the other ones to be at the front with a terrified Jessica atop it. Not sure if she was as terrified as the people who made the mistake of walking down the hill though. We had no control over the donkeys and they seemed to take great glee in racing full steam towards the walkers. We were very relieved to reach the top of the hill after an experience none of us wanted to repeat....
We needed to do something much more relaxing after that so we jumped on a local bus and made our way out to Santo Wines. Unfortunately we were too late for the tour of the vineyard, but luckily we were still in time for a tasting 5 glasses of wine and a shot of port per couple, along with some bread and crackers was definitely what we needed. We timed it just so we were getting on the bus back to Oia as the same time as everyone else who was off to see the Oia sunset. Luckily our practice at getting on to crowded tube trains stood us in good stead and we crammed ourselves in with no problem. There wasn't enough time to head down to the beach, however there was a swimming pool not too far from our house so we wandered over there and had a swim around, and then relaxed on the deck chairs, watching the sun set and enjoying some more Santorini
After all our activity the previous day we decided it was time for a relaxing day so we jumped on the bus to the other side of the island, at Agios Georgios, for a relaxing day on the beach. The weather was sweltering and the sand was hot. Luckily there were were flax umbrellas over our chairs to at least keep some of the burning at bay. It was a nice relaxing day spent reading, napping and swimming in the water. There were many people trying to sell us things but the only ones we were interested in were the drink sellers. Nothing better than a big beer down on the beach. This was our last day in Santorini so we made our way back to the house to pack up our things and then went looking for some dinner. There was a bunch of restaurants down at the port directly below the house so we thought we would give this a try. We picked a table seated ourselves and when Bronwyn asked about the specials they brought out the chef who said he could do us some fresh crayfish and pasta. When we agreed we didn't realise we were getting a mountain of crayfish, pasta, prawns, scallops....and more. Then the chef came out and chatted with us about the woes of Greece and how he would like to move to Australia. We told him if he moved to Wellington we would definitely visit his restaurant. Suffice to say we were late getting back to the house for our host to drive us down to the port. Although we take that as we were just operating on Greek time. Turns out we were still early arriving at the port, which is everything you expect from a modern port...dirty, busy and lacking in facilities. However, our ferry arrived, we found our cabin and come 1am we were fast asleep on the rolling sea...destination Crete.
The ferry rolled into Heraklion port. We made our way off onto the port and after some confusion around where our rental car was we were finally away and off to the sleepy seaside town of Agia Pelagia to the north. We arrived and made our way down to the waterfront and went for a walk along past the many (closed) restaurants. We weren't exactly sure where our accommodation was but some eagle eyes spotted some buildings up on the hill that looked like the ones from the website and after a bit of exploring and a tired looking receptionist we had ourselves a place to stay. It was still very early so we decided to head back to bed for a couple more hours sleep and then awoke refreshed ready to take on the day.
After some lunch down at the now open waterfront (which just seemed to keep coming...they know how to feed you in Greece) as we had a car we decided to make the most of it and so set off towards Souda Bay, the site of an ANZAC cemetery from World War II. It looked easy to get there on the map but the TomTom insisted on taking us down dodgy overgrown backstreets and through the middle of towns rather than straight there on the motorway like we were expecting. It was a good way of seeing the mountains, the sea and the towns all in one trip but it wasn't quite what we had intended. Turns out that's what happens when you set it on walking mode instead of driving mode...Nonetheless we made our way out to Souda Bay cemetery. The place was immaculately manicured. Clearly they held the ANZAC troops who gave their lives to free Crete from them Axis in high regard. The grass was green and well kept and the gravestones were all clean and had fresh flowers. We even identified some familiar names in the register although don't know if they are actually our ones. Crete was certainly a contrast to Santorini. The place is significantly bigger, and much more varied, with mountains, forests, beaches and lakes and towns and cities scattered throughout. It had its own civilisation before it became part of Greece, the Minoans, and it is something they are still fiercely proud of. After a much quicker journey back to Agia Pelagia, we went for a night swim and then found a restaurant where they let us eat in our wet togs and indulged in some more lamb and fish. When in Greece....
The next day we decided to take in a bit of that Minoan civilisation with a trip the ancient city of Knossos, the alleged home of Minotaur. The temperatures were soaring and the tourists were out in their hoards for Crete's biggest tourist attraction, but with the help of a now repaired TomTom Max got us there without a problem. As far as archaeological ruins go, Knossos is a funny one. It has been excavated and then in their wisdom the archaeologists of the early 20th century started to restore it, so it is hard to know if what you are looking at is authentic or just a replica. Nonetheless it was still very impressive and quite well intact. Some of the friezes were particularly impressive and they were also real. There were bull symbols all round the place but, alas, no sign of a maze for the minotaur to hide in. It was then back into the car and off east this time, down past the huge resorts full of sun seeking tourists.
We were very pleased we weren't staying there, travelling around on the little tourist train...There were more stunning ravines, mountains and shorelines and then we eventually turned away and climbed the winding road up into the centre of the island. After driving for a while we hit a plateau, a bit more of a climb and then another plateau, this one full of funny little windmills. Turns out they help keep the water moving to grow the local wine. After lunch at a cute local Taverna we carried on up the hill. As we reached the car park at the top it turns out that it wasn't ACTUALLY the top. We still had a pretty fair hike ahead of us in the stinking hot weather. Lucky we had brought some water with us. So what was worth all of this effort to go see? This time it was a natural wonder, Ideon Andronl, also known as the Zeus Cave. According to legend this was the place where Zeus was born and then raised by the Goddess Rhea to hide him from his father, who had a nasty habit of eating his children. We couldn't see much as we descended down the stairs into the cave. As well as being cool temperature wise (which was sure a relief) it was also very cool being down in there. It was lit up with green lights which cast eerie lights on all the crazy shaped stalactites and stalagmites as well as the pools of water down the bottom. It is one of those places that you really have to see for yourself and one of the highlights of the whole trip. We emerged back into the heat and made our way down the hill again. We managed to drive back to Agia Pelagia while it was still light this time so packed up our togs and made our way down to the quieter beach in the other direction for another swim. The water was incredibly clear and there were little fishes swimming around everywhere. None of them bit our toes though, luckily...
The next day was our last full day in Crete. We journeyed back to the west again where our target was the city of Rethymno. The old town itself is largely Venetian so you could mistake yourself for being in Italy rather than Greece. The hot weather had brought out everyone so it was pretty busy but still not so busy that there wasn't time for a nice walk along the waterfront and around the old town. After some tasty pizza while sitting above the rocks at the shoreline we had more of a look around the old town. It was then back in the car for a drive south to ???? for another swim and a cocktail at this beach. This beach even had something familiar to all NZers...waves! On the way back we stopped at the amazing gorge which ran through the mountains. The landscape in Crete definitely has a lot of variety. According to Max, Bob Dylan use to live around there in a cave too.
The next morning it was up early and off to the airport for our flight to Athens. We have had mixed reviews from people about the capital of Greece, but the Olympics which were recently hosted there mean that the infrastructure was well established and we had no trouble getting from the airport to the centre of town. As soon as we arrived we could see the history everywhere. Everywhere you turned there were ruins being uncovered, even in the underground station. We could tell we were back in the big city again too, because the crowds were around and where the crowds go there are also people trying to get you to eat at their restaurant or buy from their shop. After dropping off our stuff at the hotel we grabbed some "traditional" Greek food. We could tell we were in touristville though, things just weren't as fresh and tasty as we had been having elsewhere. With full bellies we were off into the hot weather to check out some history. First stop was Hadrian's Library (not Adriennes...). Now you do need to use your imagination a little as what you see is only a small amount of what was originally there but was still very interesting. The place would have been HUGE. Definitely competing with many modern libraries for size. We then moved on to the Roman Agora, which is an old Roman forum or town square. Some of the columns were still in really good condition and the carvings on the outside of the Tower of Winds were still really well preserved. After a couple of hours walking around in the sweltering heat and an ice-cream to cool us down we made our way back to hotel for a rest and some cocktails on the rooftop. The rooftop had a great view of the Acropolis and we watched another spectacular sunset before find somewhere for dinner.
We arose at a reasonable hour the following morning for a full day of sightseeing. We managed to beat the crowds to the Ancient Agora. This is down in a more sheltered green area than the more famous Acropolis, but there was still tons to see. It was a big area and every where you turned there was another temple or ruin or house of some sort all in different states of restoration or ruin. One of the highlights included the Museum of the Ancient Agora which is housed in the Stoa of Attalos. It is a big long columned building open on one side and full of old statues and artifacts from ancient Greek and Roman times. Another highlight was the impressive Temple of Hephaestus on the hill above the Agora. It is like a mini Parthenon with all the columns holding up a peaked roof with ancient Greek writing all over it. It was also cool to see the altar of the 12 Gods, which is dedicated to all the major gods of Ancient Greece.
From there we slowly made our way up the hill to the main tourist attraction of Athens, the Acropolis. The way up is well serviced with wide walking paths so although it was hot it wasn't too tough. We stopped along the way to take in the view and then after all that walking we finally arrived at the Acropolis itself. The place was teeming with tourists and you had to use your imagination a bit to pretend that there weren't cranes and scaffolding everywhere holdings everything up, but that aside, it was all still very impressive. The Parthenon is an amazing structure but the Temple of Athena Nike, with its still quite detailed statue columns was probably the most impressive building in the Acropolis. The sweltering heat meant that we couldn't spend too long up there, so we slowly wound our way down the other side of the hill under the cover of some shade from the trees. Just below the Acropolis is the theatre of Dionysus. No longer the scene of any performances, but you can still go in and sit in the seats and imagine what it would have been like watching a classic Greek Tragedy. In contrast to all the old ruins is the very modern National Archaeological Museum. It itself is built over ruins which you see being excavated through the glass floors. The Museum houses the greatest archaeological treasures that Greece has been able to unearth. Unlike the British Museum, there is plenty of space for you to walk around and take in all of the detail of the antiquities. They don't look too fondly on the British Museum, in fact, because the British Museum still holds a large number of items that were taken from Greece long ago and the Greeks believe that they should be returned. They have even left empty space for some of the most important objects. After lunch we continued our journey around the outside of the Acropolis, stopping to check out some more history along the way until we reached the Temple of the Olympian Zeus. It has a huge area where it is situated, but unfortunately time has not been kind to it. There is maybe only a quarter of the columns left standing and just bits and pieces of ruins scattered about the area. Again imagination fills in the gaps. We managed to find some more time out of the sun in the Athens National Garden, which is an expansive park which makes its way up to the Greek Parliament, a large square stone building which looks like a large house and was fortunately situated not very far from our hotel. After heading back and putting our feet up for another couple of cocktails on the rooftop we found a place for our last dinner with Max and Bronwyn. They had an early flight to Barcelona the next day.
We awoke not quite sure how to spend our final day in Greece. We decided to wander back down to Parliament for the Greek version of a British favourite, the Changing of the Guard. We thought we had good spots staked out until the tour buses arrived and the hordes of people streamed in front of us. After trying to get a view over the tops of people's heads we saw a little bit, but eventually gave up and left half way through. We wandered up the road to get the cable car up to Lykvittos Hill. It was reminiscent of the Kelburn cable car but this one was all inside the hill so you didn't get any view from inside. That had to wait until we were outside on top of the hill. There was a little church situated on the top of the hill and if you walked around it you could get a view as far as the eye could see in every direction around Athens. After having seen enough we made our way back down again and went for a wander through the Monastiraki Flea Market. The place is a combination of cheap second hand rubbish, tourist tat and up and coming fashion shops. After spending some of our Euros on memorabilia it was time to jump on the train back out to the airport and bit farewell to Greece as our plane winged its way back to London.
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