Athina (Athens)

Our final stop on this magnificent Greek vacation was Athina. The flight from Crete to Athina was just under an hour and we landed late afternoon on a Thursday. We were staying in central Athina which was about a 45 minute taxi ride from the airport. Our hotel, the King George was located within walking distance of many of the sites we wanted to see. The hotel dates back to 1930 and today is a luxury boutique hotel with a stunning view of the Acropolis from its restaurant terrace. The hotel and rooms maintain a very chic, classic look with antique furniture and decor, beautiful hardwood floors, and cornicing combined with modern technology amenities. The window drapery was very plush and probably the thickest drapery I've ever seen in a hotel; likely to help keep the warmth in during winter and certainly great for keeping the light out. The bathroom was made entirely of marble with a large, deep bathtub. Our room faced the courtyard which helped with reducing any outdoor noise and was located on the seventh floor down from the restaurant which was very convenient. Knowing our time in Athina was limited and we wanted to explore all the major attractions, we opted to purchase the Athens City Pass in advance so we could by-pass ticket queues. This ended up being a smart move as we were able to access all the sites we wanted (except for one) and also enjoy access to a hop on, hop off bus. 

Athina, a city of close to 4 million people, is the capital of Greece. One of the world's oldest cities, dating back with a recorded history of 3,400 years, it was the heart of ancient Greek civilization and the Greek empire. With so much to see and explore, we took advantage of our hotel location (well planned by Z) and the remaining daylight our first night and head out pretty quick after check in. First stop though was to find a barber so Z could get his hair cut. Our first attempt was unsuccessful as the barber said that without a reservation they could not help as they were fully booked. Thankfully, fairly close by we found The Barber of Athens. The owner, Christos, was quite happy to fit Z in when because his appointment had not shown up. A very lively character, Christos proceeded to give Z a hair cut treatment like he's never experienced before. Of note, people in Greece take pride in their appearance and dress well; Z's barber was no exception, wearing a 3 piece suit. Wash, cut, wash, dry, and style and Z was good to go. Afterwards, we decided to begin our exploration and made our way past the parliament building towards the National Garden on our way to The Arch of Hadrian. Along the way we stumbled upon an archaeological site of a Roman bath that was discovered where a ventilation shaft for the Athens metro was to be sunk. Upon discovery, the ventilation shaft was moved south and the findings preserved in their place. Walking through the National Garden we discovered a book fair going on with countless stands selling books along with live readings. 

The significance of the Arch of Hadrian (or Hadrian's Gate) was to celebrate the arrival of the Roman emperor Hadrian and all he contributed to the city. The arch today, remains relatively intact from its original, only a couple columns are missing, and is preserved at its full height. After a casual dinner, during which we heard some sort of protest going on (apparently not uncommon in Greece), we wandered back to our hotel and past the parliament building again just in time to watch the hourly changing of the guard. The Presidential Guard proudly guard the monument of the unknown soldier in front of the parliament and presidential mansion in perfect stillness. During the changing, the steps are carried out in synch and in very slow motion to help protect the guard's blood circulation after their 60 minute shift of standing completely motionless. On Sundays at 11am, the changing of the guard is a much larger scale event starting with a parade of 100 guards all dressed in official dress.

Day 2 in Athens was a packed day. We got up quite early because our research indicated that the Acropolis is best visited either first thing at opening, or later in the afternoon near closing as to avoid the crowds. After our early breakfast overlooking the Acropolis, we made our way on foot to explore this hilltop citadel and its buildings, including the Parthenon temple and the Temple Athena of Nike. We made it to one of the entrances about 5 minutes before opening and only found about 20 people in front of us. The path first brought us past the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, a magnificent open air theatre built in AD 161 that has a capacity of 5,000 spectators. The theatre is still used today for different concerts and theatrical performances. From here we continued our upwards climb to the top so we could view the Parthenon and the Temple of Athena Nike. Both these ruins are very well preserved through restoration projects that are ongoing. I was in awe seeing these structures, their height, and their construction with massive marble columns and the intricate sculptural decorations all along the roof line. I marvelled at the thought of the ancient Greek's construction capabilities and how these buildings have withstood the test of time and at times deliberate destruction. We were glad we went here first thing, not only because we avoided mass crowds, but also because it wasn't overly hot yet. We visited the New Acropolis Museum at bit later in the day and learned a lot more of the history and the many events that took place there, including the many invasions and how during the late fifth century it served as a Christian church and then was converted to a mosque by the Ottoman Turks in the late fifteenth century. The museum is filled only with archeological findings from the Acropolis site and exhibits many original and restored artifacts and pieces. The museum is quite expansive and is a must visit to learn more about this historic site. Beneath the museum is an excavation site of an ancient neighbourhood where you can see the remains of houses, streets, bath houses, and workshops. It's great to see that when they discovered these ruins while planning to build the museum that they incorporated it into the design and build the museum so it looks like it is floating over this ancient neighbourhood. 

Many of the historical and archeological sites we wanted to visit were within close walking proximity of one another. From the Acropolis, we wandered down through the streets of the Plaka neighbourhood. Plaka is a very scenic, picturesque neighbourhood with labyrinthine streets filled with restaurants and more shops that you know what to do with. We found several fresh fruit stands in one of the squares and decided to buy some grapes as a snack while we took in the sights of the area. We wandered over to the ruins of Hadrian's library, also located on the site of the Roman Agora which was the central square and meeting place in the ancient Roman times and today you can see some of the remains from the market square. The library was not used only to house books, but also served as a repository for official state archives. Nearby is the Ancient Agora site and this was the economic and political centre of Athens for several centuries. Ancient Agora was a bit more fascinating to explore with many ruins scattered throughout the site, but most notable for us was the Temple of Hephaestus - a very well preserved Greek temple, and the Stoa of Attalos - a Hellenistic period building that was entirely rebuilt in the 20th century based on its historic appearance, after a fire destroyed the original building in 267 BC. Today this building houses a museum of artifacts from Ancient Agora. 

To get off our feet and take a bit of a break from the hot sun, we jumped on to the hop on, hop off bus also included in our Athens City Pass ticket. We stayed on for the entire bus loop so we could see some of the other popular sites that were perhaps not as close walking distance. 

Our final stop on day 2 was visit to the Panathenaic Stadium. This was a must see for me as it hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the first modern Olympics and is the home of the finish line for the Athens Classic Marathon. It's the only stadium in the world built entirely from marble. We took a self guided tour of the stadium and learned a lot of its history, how it was abandoned in the 4th century and fell into ruin, and was later reconstructed in the 1800s. We climbed all the way to the top and that wasn't exactly an easy feet as the steps are of an unusual depth and fairly steep, but the view from the top is quite fantastic. While the stadium can hold over 68,000 spectators, we were unable to locate any washrooms in the stadium and wondered how that all works when an event is held there. Perhaps access was hidden somewhere that wasn't open to us. The tour did take us through a tunnel that lead to an area that is used as a staging area and hidden in that same area is a room that pays tribute to past modern day Olympics with displays of different Olympic posters and torches. 

By the end of the day we were both feeling very pooped, but we had dinner plans at a lovely bistro wine bar called By The Glass. This place has a selection of over 500 wines sourced both domestically from Greece and internationally. The setting of the bistro is quite lovely situated in a square outdoors with the view of a beautiful old church. Dinner was delicious and we tried a few different wines and favoured on translated as the Naked King. As we were walking back to the hotel from dinner we saw a liquor store and decided to pop in and see what the changes were that they called this particular wine. As we were browsing the store owner asked if she could help and we asked if she had any Naked King and to our amazement, she was familiar with the wine and had two bottles in stock which we bought to bring home. What were the chances? It must have been meant to be. 

On our last full day in Athens we spent a more leisurely time exploring the city including checking out the university and library buildings, and spent some time shopping. We found our way to the Kotsanas Museum: Ancient Greece - The Origins of Technology. We really enjoyed this museum and I was quite fascinated by its exhibits which showcase all the different technologies ancient Greeks discovered such as hydraulics, an automated robot that served wine, and an astronomical instrument that was considered the first calculating machine in history. We capped our day off with dinner at our hotel's Tudor Hall restaurant, which transforms into a formal dinner restaurant in the evenings. We had a lovely outdoor table with an unobstructed view of the Acropolis. 

Our time in Athens was short, but we managed to see everything we wanted to and felt we really explored the city and all it has to offer. As with the rest of this trip we indulged ourselves with amazing food, including freshly made loukoumades. 

This trip to Greece was quite special. It was a few years in the making and in the end was the best version of what we originally had planned. We got to see and experience so much. The country is incredibly beautiful, full of rich culture and history, with awesome food that tasted so fresh and made with care and love, wonderful people, and of course amazing wine. The memories will vividly live on.

To travel is to live....life is good. 

 

 

Crete - Elounda

We’ve been in Greece now for just over a week and to our surprise we have not yet found loukoumades, the tasty little bite sized honey balls, anywhere. Perhaps it’s a good thing so we don’t eat too many, but these little Greek donut balls are elusive. We even asked one of the waitresses at our hotel and she had no idea either. This started mission loukoumades. As part of our transition to the eastern side of Crete, we figured  we wouldn’t take the direct 3 hour route but instead explore more of the island more along the way; enter mission loukoumades. Z found a place in a small town called Moires, just over 2 hours southeast of Chania which could be worked into our journey to Elounda on the eastern coast. But first we needed to find an activity that would make us feel we deserved those tasty little delights. What better way than heading to Skinaria beach for some snorkelling and swimming. This gem of a beach is on the southern side of Crete. It’s a small rocky beach nestled between two large black rock formations (perhaps volcanic) resulting in a fairly sheltered bay. This beach and area is known for its sea life and is a popular snorkelling and dive spot. We drove inland first through some impressive mountain ranges, lined of course with olive groves. Once in the small village by the beach it’s a bit tricky to reach as the road is again fairly windy and narrow, but by now Z has become an expert at navigating these roads. There are limited facilities here but include areas with sun loungers, showers, and privacy boxes for changing. This beach appears a popular locals spot. The deep blue water gets deep fairly quickly from the shore. This was the best spot by far for snorkelling on our trip and I came to finally realize that I needed to change my expectations of the fish varieties I would see; still a good amount of variety, but perhaps not as vibrantly colourful as other snorkelling places. We enjoyed a couple hours here bouncing between our sun loungers and cooling off in the water before heading on to our next destination: loukoumades… I mean Moires.

Crete not only has countless pristine beaches, but also has a lot of mountains with villages and towns scattered around. Olive tree groves appear to be planted wherever there is soil. On our journey we stopped in a little village for a quick bite. Having a quick bite and Greece don’t really go together but we found a take away restaurant and ordered a gyro and while we waited for it, we each enjoyed a fresh orange juice. Freshly squeezed orange can be found at almost any restaurant in Greece. Honestly I’m not certain where all there oranges are being grown because we’ve only really seen olive trees and lemon trees, must be another region in Greece. Something I’ve noticed is that Greeks are very proud to explain what region or area food or drink comes from with often the phrase “protected product” attached too, but no one has told us yet about oranges. The gyro in Greece come filled with fries and made it a bit messy to eat while driving so we stopped by the side of the road and took in the scenery while enjoying our snack. We made it to Moires all excited to finally have some loukoumades….Z had done his research, the store was supposed to be open until 11pm and we were there around 4pm, so within plenty of time. Except that when we arrived, all the anticipation for this moment was shattered by a closed store. We drove all this way and a bit out of the way for this…thankfully this town is not very large and within eyesight I spotted a bakery. After all we deserved a treat, right? This bakery didn’t disappoint and perhaps it was meant to be that we found a different gem of a place that made an amazing cappuccino and delectable bakery treats.  

For this leg of our adventure, we stayed at the Domes of Elounda. The resort is quite an expansive resort situated on the hillside in Elounda. As you enter the property it looks like the beach is across the street however, the way the property is built, you access the beach through a tunnel under the road making it feel like you’ve never “crossed” the road. The beach had very calm and shallow crystal clear waters. We stayed in the new area of the property in a one bedroom villa with a mountain and partial sea view. The room was modern and nicely decorated, with lots of space including a private terrace with kitchen area, not that we cooked there, but we utilized the outdoor fridge, table and chairs. The terrace was south facing and was sun facing for a good portion of the day which helped for us to make use of the two sun loungers and plunge pool. Being located on the hillside, there were a lot of steps to get from our room to the main lobby, restaurants, beaches, and pools, but it also afforded many great views of the sea. Because the resort property is so expansive, they actually have golf carts that they use to move guests around. We used this service on occasion, but tried for the most part to walk around. This resort had an expansive organic dedicated garden and we also noticed herbs and fruit trees (lemons and pomegranate) growing throughout the property. We had sage growing outside our door. There are several restaurants on the property and we tried all but one which was an Asian themed restaurant. Overall the food quality and variety was quite good, perhaps not as good as the other Domes resorts we stayed at on this trip, and the service was a bit hit and miss. 

Within view from our resort and just a short boat ride away is Spinalonga island. We caught the ferry from the neighbouring seaside fishing village, Plaka, after a relaxing, yet windy, wonderful waterfront lunch at Paliria later in the afternoon so we could miss the crowds visiting the island. The ferry from Plaka is a much shorter ride than taking it from Elounda and it gave us the chance to check out this quaint little village with no shortage of seaside restaurants. Spinalonga is now an uninhabited island that has a storied history, but is most famously known as housing a leper colony from 1903 to 1957. We read the story of Spinalonga prior to visiting and it was pretty sombre walking around the ruins and thinking about what life would have been like for those sent to live there particularly in the early years when conditions were quite inhuman without proper infrastructure including running water. Since we arrived towards the end of the day, our time on the island was rather short, but we did manage to climb our way to the top and got to enjoy the breathtaking 360 view the island has to offer. 

Having the car allowed us to explore different parts of this side of Crete as well. One interesting drive brought us once again down very narrow windy roads onto a peninsula off Elounda with our destination being Kolokitha beach. The road does not take you right to the beach and there is a short hike required to access. We didn't have our swim gear with us at the time, so we just enjoyed the scenery and spent some time just taking it all in. Along the cliffside of this beach, we found several fire pits with metal grates, which led us to believe this is a popular spot for locals to enjoy a later evening BBQ. 

We also spent some time also exploring the village of Elounda; also a fishing village like Plaka, but a fair bit larger. The centre of the village is lined with shops and restaurants and the marina houses countless fishing boats. We had some time before dinner for shopping and found some neat souvenirs here. Dinner was at Lotus Eaters, a seaside restaurant with a small, but beautiful outdoor terrace. The restaurant can accommodate maybe 12 tables at most, so we were lucky we got a reservation for when we did because when we were seated we heard the owner, Daniel, say numerous times to other people coming in that he had no more tables for the day and that the next available reservation was Sunday; it was Tuesday. The atmosphere was perfect for our dinner; on the water, warm evening weather, and great company in Z. Daniel was an entertaining and hospitable host. He runs the restaurant with his wife and his brother-in-law as the chef. 

A wind weather system moved in during our last couple days here which brought in much all day windy conditions with wind gusts ranging between 25-40km per hour at times. Despite the wind, it was still quite hot and the wind brought about some reprieve. We did have to watch out for our sun loungers though because the wind gusts moved and lifted the loungers so Z found a way to wedge them against a wall so they wouldn’t get blown away. 

On our travel day back to Athens, we stopped at the largest Bronze Age archeological site of Knossos Palace on Crete. The palace is understood to have been settled as early as the Neolithic period and became the ceremonial and political centre of the Minoan civilization. We took a guided tour which was helpful because our guide told us the expansive history and pointed out many things we would have otherwise missed just walking around the ruins, like the water management system that was found which included three separate water drain systems: one for water supply, one for run off, and one for waste water and the discovery of the first "flushing" toilet in the Queen's bathroom. Fresh water was brought to the palace via aqueducts from springs 10km away. Our guide made a point of saying that because of this discovery at this site, the Greeks invented aqueducts, not the Romans. While a lot of the ruins here have been restored, there are still many original pieces including portions of columns and some frescos. Because our visit was on our way to the airport, we didn't have a great deal of time, only 1.5 hours and the guided tour took up all that time. At the end, our guide pointed us to the throne room and said we could go take a look, but the line up to enter was very long and moving very slowly. Z was convinced we had enough time to wait it out; I on the other hand was becoming increasingly nervous and anxious that we didn't have enough time so after a bit of frustrated back and forth, we left the line and head to the airport. We made it with enough time for our original scheduled departure time, but of course our flight ended up being delayed so the thoughts became what if we stayed in the throne room line up.....

All in all, our time on Crete was incredible. The island has so much to explore and we only touched the surface. This is certainly a place to come back to. 

Crete - Chania

Our driver kindly informed us just as we were arriving at the port that our ferry was delayed and was now expected to arrive at our scheduled departure; now having travelled within Greece a bit, Greek time is a bit more of a range of time versus a specific time like we're accustom to. Knowing our ferry was delayed gave us the opportunity to have some lunch at one of the handful of restaurants at the port. After our lunch we walked over to the gate waiting area; thankfully too our driver informed us of the gate, otherwise we wouldn't have had a clue as isn't signage around informing people where their ferries are departing from and the website for the ferry wasn't the easiest to navigate. Even at the gate there was no posted information, and eventually a guy came through calling for another ferry sailing and Z was able to ask a bit of info on ours. Our scheduled departure time was 4:40pm and that came and went and finally at just before 5pm did we see a ferry steaming into the port. Despite the delay, I have to say they were extremely efficient in unloading and loading a couple hundred new foot passengers and maybe 20 vehicles. We were back sailing at 5:06pm; a lot of lessons another ferry service we sometimes rely on can learn from. The ferry sailing across to Crete was very smooth and about 2 hours. All passengers on board had an assigned seat depending on the ticket you purchased.

With the delay we landed in Crete at just after 7pm and took a taxi to the airport so we could pick up our car rental. Crete is the largest of the Greek islands with a population of 630,000 inhabitants and 30 million olive trees. Considering we were spending 10 days on Crete, we decided to split our time between Chania on the west side and Elounda on the east side. The airport is about an hour from Elounda and after careful consideration we had decided that it would be better to end our stay closer to the airport which meant we now needed to drive about 2.5 hours to get to Chania. Thankfully the trip was on a well paved freeway and not along a bunch of narrow, windy roads. Well the route still had its shared of windiness and was for the most part along the coastline, but because we arrived late, darkness had set in and we didn't get to experience any of the coastline scenery. Maybe this was for the better as I would have wanted  to stop to take pictures which would only have slowed us down. 

Our resort, the Domes of Noruz, is an adults only resort and is situated right on Paralia Agii Apostoli beach in the seaside town of Chania. This is one of the most beautiful sandy beaches on Crete with crystal clear turquoise shallow waters and extremely gentle waves. The beach stretched for couple kms. Just a short walk and across a road is Agii Apostoli beach which appeared to be more of a locals beach and also boasted shallow, calm, crystal clear waters as it is located in a slightly more protected cove. Both beaches were great for swimming or just bobbing. 

The staff at the Domes chain of resorts really go out of their way to make your stay with them a special experience. The importance placed on the guest experience is evident with all the staff. The hospitality is top notch; everyone is genuinely friendly and helpful. We stayed in a sea and pool view, very modern loft room. The loft area had the bed, a small sink and just at the top of the stairs a toilet room which is very handy for the times when you gotta go in the middle of the night. The room design was well thought out too because there was a large window positioned on the exterior wall so the view from the bed provided an amazing view of the pool and beach. Its window covering was opened and closed by a button on the bed's side table; again well thought out design. In the main area there was ample closet space and drawers to unpack and store your stuff; a sink with its tap affixed to the ceiling, the main toilet and shower room, a seating area with a rocking chair and a comfortable couch. The outdoor space featured a plunge pool overlooking the main pool and beach and was a great place to take in the breathtaking Aegean sunsets. The outdoor space also had a bathtub with a curtain you could pull closed for privacy, and a very comfortable padded seating area. Around the resort were two pools with lots of sun loungers and large bean bag cushions, ideal for relaxing. The beach area had tons of sun loungers with palapas. We also noticed that around the resort they created garden spaces and grew herbs and some vegetables. Each morning we enjoyed a buffet breakfast at the beachside restaurant and got to try some traditional Greek foods that we wouldn't otherwise have.  They always had a wide variety of Greek pastries like spanakopita and various different cheeses; one of our favourites was a basil infused gouda cheese. Local honey is also plentiful and honey infused with thyme being one of the most common; absolutely divine. 

We also wanted to explore the area a bit and took advantage of having a car. One day we drove 45 minutes to Falassarna beach. Driving down to the beach gives you the most stunning views of the coastline and the anticipation of getting to this beach. This sandy beach stretches for as long as you can see (3 km) and has great facilities with sun loungers for rent, food and drink service, showers and changing rooms. Facilities like these were something we noticed at all the beaches we visited. We spent an afternoon here relaxing and playing in the calm waters. We attempted snorkelling  at an area that had a bit more rock, but found the snorkelling didn't have much variety of fish to see unlike other places we've visited. We did discover a small area of the shoreline with pink sand though and that was pretty cool to see. After beach time, we made our way to Pnevmatikaki wine factory, a family run winery. We arrived closer to their closing time, but they still allowed us in for a tasting. We got to try 5 different wines and perhaps given the time of the day and the limited amount of other customers, we were offered for our wine tasting to be self service. All the wines were good and of high quality, but we favoured 2 of the wines and we ended up buying a bottle of a white for 6 Euro and a red for 11 Euro; can't go wrong with those prices! Afterwards we made our way to the waterfront town of Kissamos for dinner where we enjoyed a fabulous Cretan dinner seated right on the water. We also drove one morning to Chania town which is known for its iconic 14-century Venetian architecture in its harbour and its narrow streets filled with countless shops and restaurants. We spent some time exploring and shopping here. 

Having experienced one dinner at the resort which wasn't the best food, we decided to try the restaurant located right across the street, Kuzina Galerie and were so impressed by the service, food quality and taste that we decided to enjoy dinner there a second night to finish off our stay in Chania. Here I finally tried chicken souvlaki.

Santorini or is it Thera?

From Corfu, we flew back to Athens and then on to Santorini. The airport in Corfu is small with the gate area get quite crowded and feels fairly unorganized. Again, being an inter-Greece flight, we got bussed to the plane and boarded on the tarmac. We flew Aegean Airlines which for the most part was a great experience except for when we landed in Santorini we saw our checked luggage sitting by the plane on the tarmac and as all the other luggage from the flight was coming off the carousel, ours was no where to be found except we knew it was there. Somehow our luggage was missed, forgotten, ignored, call it what you may, but it sat on the tarmac for a good 20 minutes before someone finally noticed and it came off the carousel. Not sure if us telling someone that we saw it on the tarmac and showed them a picture of it that it prompted it to magically be "found" or not, but as we got off the plane and saw it sitting there, we were smart enough to quickly take a picture because something didn't quite seem right at the time. And our gut was right....always trust your gut!

Z had pre-arranged a driver to pick us up and drive us to the hotel through a service called Welcome Pick Ups. This was a great experience and again through his immense pre-trip planning determined this was the best route to go because the hotel pick up service was double the price and Santorini only has less than 40 taxis for the entire island so it can be a bit tricky to find a taxi. The driver was quite friendly and navigated the narrow roads well. We stayed at Mystique, a boutique hotel carved into the caldera cliffs of Santorini in a town called Oia (pronounced ee-ya) and overlooking the magnificent waters of the Aegean Sea, or the Sea of Crete, depending on what map you're looking at. Regardless of which sea it really is, the view was spectacular even if you couldn't easily access the coastline. Our stay in Santorini was not a beach stay. We chose Santorini to experience the picturesque villages and towns built into the caldera. The general population of Santorini is 15,500, however this balloons during the tourist high season with roughly 2 million tourists visiting and also sees many Greeks in the hospitality industry relocate during these months to work. 

So what's up with the name Santorini? To the Greeks, this island is actually officially called Thera. Over its history, Greece was occupied by many different empires and in the thirteenth century, the Latin Empire named it Santorini in reference to an old cathedral called Santa Irini. In the nineteenth century the name Thera was revived as the official name, but Santorini has stuck as the "known" name. Built on overlapping shield volcanoes, Santorini's rugged landscape was shaped after a devastating volcanic eruption in the 16th century. While still considered an active volcano, it is dormant, though a risk exists that future seismic activity can take place. 

Back to our hotel, being cliffside, you can expect many steps up and down to get anywhere; even I got winded going up the numerous steep steps in the middle of the day time heat. Our room was a beautiful with a vast covered outdoor terrace that included two sun beds, a private whirlpool with padded lounging/seating around, and a table and 2 chairs. The outdoor space was covered to help shield you from the blazing sun. The weather in Santorini was just as hot as in Corfu, roughly mid 30's celsius, but with the humidity felt a heck of a lot hotter; the cover helped bring in some much needed shade mid day. Our room had a spectacular view of the sea below, several surrounding islands, and in the distance we could see two other main towns nestled on the cliffs. The interior design of the room was simple; painted all white, and accentuated the natural curves of the stone walls. The shower, though quite roomy, felt a bit like being in a cave with its curvatures. The living area had a nice, but simple off white couch and love seat with a coffee table positioned in front of a buffet table that had a TV on it. The opening leading to the bedroom area, situated in the deepest area of the room, was arched with another square cut out just above and two additional rectangular cut outs on either side. This allowed for natural light to filter into this area. On our arrival, a porter came up to the street to carry down our luggage which he did by swinging our big suitcase up on his shoulder and carried it down just like that with our carry on in his other hand. It was quite impressive. 

The hotel is spread out on several different levels and eventually you find your way through the maze of stairs. The infinity pool was just a couple steps down from our room which was extremely convenient because we could go for a dip to cool off and then head back to our sun beds on our terrace; sometimes with either a coffee or drink in hand. Charisma, the breakfast restaurant was situated just beside the pool, but we splurged and ordered breakfast to the room instead and sat outside with the privacy of our own table overlooking the sea and enjoyed one of the most scenic breakfasts ever! For dinner one evening we chose to eat at Lure by Olivier Campanha, a renowned French chef who has led many Michelin-starred restaurants. Being a Michelin-starred restaurant is a high honour recognition in the restaurant industry. We were quite excited to eat at a restaurant with such a chef. Lure's menu is a combination of French and local cuisine that offers a high-end gastronomical experience. This would be our "fancy" dinner of the trip and it proved the part. The setting was incredible. The outdoor restaurant is perched up at the highest part of the hotel and has breathtaking views of not only the sea, but the rest of the hotel, the surrounding other hotels, and the entire immediate caldera area. The staff were incredible and so attentive and made the entire experience quite special. I'm really seeing a much different service industry culture here than back home. Here everyone shows such concern that their guests are enjoying themselves and go out of their way to ensure that is the case. Dinner was absolutely divine. 

Another hidden treasure at the hotel is their secret wine cave nestled inside the Charisma restaurant. You can book a wine tasting or private dinner in the secret wine cave which also acts as the wine cellar for the hotel. We booked a wine tasting in this 150 year old wine cellar which we learned our host Elias was formerly used as a water storage tank. Interesting fact, we also learned was that Santorini has no fresh water. For drinking, only bottled water is used and for other household uses such as bathing water is taken from the sea and through thermal distillation is desalinized. So while they have an abundance of sea water surrounding the island, the cost to desalinize it must be immense. Our wine tasting was not only very informative about some of the history of the island, but also about wine making in general on Santorini. The climate is ideal for growing grapes with the heat and the humidity acts as the watering source over night. To shield the grapes from burning in the direct sun,  winemakers have refined a primitive technique called the ambelia where the plants are pruned to grow low to the ground inside round baskets where the grapes can grow and mature while being protected from the sun and blowing sand. The overall industry is fairly small in comparison to other countries and any of the grapes and wines on Santorini are government protected which keeps the end product fairly local. There are about 40 different grape varieties on Santorini with the main white wine grape variety being the athiri grape while the mandilaria is the main red grape variety which produces a very tasting dry red wine. Only about 3200 tonnes of wine are produced annually which helps to explain why Greek wines are not common worldwide. Our tasting included 5 wines along with some canapés. Our private wine tasting was a wonderful and delightful experience. 

We only had a short time in Santorini as compared to our other stops and so when we weren't lounging on our terrace we decided one day to explore Oia and its labyrinth of streets lined with shops and restaurants. We spent time wandering in and out of the shops when it got too hot and found a great little restaurant for lunch. Oia is also a great place to watch the sunset as it's on the west side of the island. In fact the most popular place to see the sunset is from Ammoudi Bay and the streets and steps leading part way down to the actual bay are crowded with people all there to capture a view of the sunset. We had made a reservation at Dimitris Ammoudi Taverna on the water in the bay for just after sunset so we enjoy the sunset first and then a lovely dinner afterwards. Walking down the roughly 200 stairs to reach the bay is one of the things to do in Oia and for those that aren't quite able to make it back up, you can hire a donkey who will take you part way up. While this may be a great service it feels wrong to me and unfortunately it also leads to the steps being covered in donkey poop. Dinner didn't disappoint here either, we had a table right by the water with the ambience of the water crashing into the rocks. In fact we haven't really had a bad food experience yet; Z is loving the abundance of two of his favourite foods - fish and lamb and as a bonus the fish is sea fresh! 

One of our other exploration days involved a 10km hike from the capital Fira back to Oia along the rim of the caldera. We decided it best we start in Fira and hike back to Oia because that's where we were staying and because Z learned that most go the other way and the ability of taxis and other transportation in the afternoon when many are looking for a ride back can be a bit challenging. So instead we took a taxi to Fira to start our roughly 4 hour hike. The day we did this hike also happen to have 3 cruise ships in port in Fira and so the streets in town were fairly packed there which were also part of the hiking route. Once out of Fira though, there were a lot less people as crazy as us to venture on this hike mid day in the blistering sun. For the most part the path is cobblestone with some dirt path areas. There are not many places where you can buy water, other drinks, and food, along the hike so it's best to be prepared with enough water and sunscreen. Fira is similar to Oia, however a bit bigger, catering significantly to tourists with shops and restaurants lining the town's streets. Imerovigli is the other town you encounter on this hike and we stopped here for a quick break to enjoy a fresh squeezed orange juice (we've discovered this is a thing in Greece) and get out of the sun for a bit. The hike afforded some of the most incredible views I've ever seen and was well worth doing. We often encountered quaint little churches perched on the highest point of villages and often wondered if there even was a village around as several seemed located very out of place. The landscape is also littered with hotels resorts also carved into the calderas. 

After our short but very magnificent stay in Santorini, we had Welcome Pick Ups drive us to the port so we could board our 2 hour ferry to Crete. 

Yassas Corfu

Corfu is located in the northern Ionian Sea and is an hour flight from Athens. Only 593 square km in size, Corfu has a stunning landscape with many mountains and amazing beaches along its coastline. During a tour of The Governor’s Olive Mill we were told Corfu itself had over 2 million olive trees with a variety (small and thin) only found on the island. This is not surprising considering almost every tree we’ve seen is an olive tree and if it isn’t an olive tree it’s a fig tree. Interestingly I may have discovered that I might like Corfu figs - they are of the red variety. 

Our resort, the Domes Miramare is situated on the coast and consists of two properties; beach side and another hillside across the road. While the hillside property is brand new, we chose the beach side property (duh!) and it did not disappoint. Our ground floor room was a lovely king sized studio room with walk out patio and a sea view. From our patio we could easily walk a short distance to the beach. The room was nicely appointed with plenty of space to store our stuff and decorated in the iconic white which Greece is known for. The bathroom had a lovely rain shower and for once with a design where you didn’t get the floor all wet while taking a shower. If only other hotels would learn. The sitting area had a very comfortable single couch seat with ottoman, but we spent most of our “sitting time” outside on our patio. The hotel surprised us with a welcome gift for our birthdays consisting of a lovely bottle of local Greek white wine, a bottle of their sparkling white wine called Za Za Zu, which was surprisingly good, and a birthday cake. Little did we know that Greece has a good, but rather small, wine industry. 

The resort is an adults only resort. Seems like most of the guests are European and some Australians. The staff here are amazingly friendly and eager to help. We had no difficulty with language as all staff speak English. We are trying to learn a few key Greek words though and it makes people smile when we try. The lobby was built around a very large olive tree which sits right in the middle of it. Several times in the morning for a couple hours there is a pianist and often you can find the resort cat, Sissy, sitting on a couch wasting the day away; Sissy can also be found at breakfast roaming the tables or just sunbathing. 

The property itself is quite expansive and boasts very lush gardens and grassy areas. The beach is rocky at the entrance but once you’re a few feet into the crystal clear, very warm and calm waters, the sea bottom turns to sand. This made for very ideal swimming, bobbing, and just refreshing yourself from the heat. Totally my kind of beach. There is a small pool at the beach side property while the hillside property has a larger pool area with two pools; one large enough for swimming laps while the other is designed more for wading. The resort spa is also located in the hillside property. There are a couple restaurants on site; Makris served as the all-day restaurant - serving an expansive buffet breakfast with traditional Greek dishes, European and North American style breakfasts; dinner was also buffet and again serving up different styles of dishes. We ate breakfast here each morning and had the pleasure of a complimentary dinner one evening. 

Just a short walk south is the small village of Moraitika where you can find a number of restaurants and shops. One evening we ventured to the Village Taverna for dinner and had a very memorable Greek hospitable experience. Nico, the restauranteur, is the maitré d’, his wife the chef, and his daughters the main wait staff. The restaurant is situated in a residential neighbourhood up on the village hill and it's a bit of an effort walk to get there. All else around the taverna are residential homes and it would seem the neighbours don’t mind the constant stream of people or the noise from the restaurant. In fact, the neighbourhood cats come by to check out the guests and probably hope to be fed some. Nico was quite welcoming with many stories of life and his family history to tell; he made our whole experience quite delightful and after we wold him what times of food we enjoyed eating, we entrusted him to order for us. A bit of a gamble on my part as I am not that adventurous and like what I like, but our meal was a delicious a traditional Corfiot dish.  

We rented a car for a couple days so we could explore the island a bit further than just our resort. Good thing Z was driving because I'm not sure I could handle the narrow, windy roads where it often felt like the oncoming vehicle might hit you while passing. He did an amazing job navigating the roads and thank goodness for Google maps because I'm not sure we would have found anything with out those directions. One day we ventured across island to the west coast to a beach called Halikounas. It's about a 25 minute drive and well worth the visit. Halikounas is a sandy beach stretching roughly 3km and is absolutely beautiful. The water was just a calm as our resort beach, and equally as crystal clear and warm and ideal for swimming. The beach had some amenities and plenty of space to plunk down a towel and enjoy the day. After spending a few hours here, we were off to our olive oil tour and tasting and The Governor's Olive Mill. This tour was very informative touching on how olive oil was made in years past to how it is made today. The 4 million olive trees growing on Corfu produce both green and black olive; green are harvested in September/October and every second tree is left another month and harvested in November when they become black olives. During the tasting portion of the tour, we were able to sample both olive oil made from green olives, black olives and a combination of both. The olive oil made from green olives had a much stronger, bitter taste, while the olive oil made from the black olives was a lot more drinkable and tasted more like what we are used to tasting. We learned that Greeks use olive oil for all their cooking and in fact we tried something we would never have thought to combine: greek yoghurt with olive oil - it was actually a great combination and tasted fantastic. This was a great little stop. 

After an exhausting day of sitting on the beach, we drove about 40 minutes south to Tomata Corfoit Cuisine in Kavos; a new restaurant open since mid May sourcing local ingredients and serving generations-old family recipes. Thomas, the restaurant owner recently returned to Kavos with hopes to change the town away from the current young party-goers atmosphere back to a multi-generational tourist destination. An amazing host, Thomas provided excellent service and advice on food options along with suggestions for our wine choice. The food was amazing and the restaurant atmosphere, ignoring all the people wandering the street, was fantastic. After dinner we wandered the town for a bit but didn't stay too long as it wasn't much our scene. 

All in all our 5 days in Corfu gave us a great introduction to Greece, the hospitality of the people, the great food and drink, the amazing beaches and crystal clear waters, and the hot Mediterranean sun. The only draw back I'd say was we managed to get bitten by what we think were mosquitoes and they were itchy!