Athens in a day

We're staying in a little basement flat with it's own internal courtyard close to the Acropolis, and when you sit outside you can hear all the conversations, and bad music!

Athens is surprisingly green - at least In the inner city. Lots of trees have been planted on most streets, and in the morning you can see people out washing down their steps and the street outside. And yet it is very dirty - maybe just the result of a long hot summer, 4 million inhabitants, and 2 million visitors. And there's graffiti everywhere - perhaps because there is 25% unemployment, and most of it with the under 25s. There are people sleeping in the little park up the road, and many abandoned and run down buildings. But the rest of the place seems to be doing ok. 

We did the early morning thing and walked around the park underneath the Acropolis. So the Acropolis is the area on the hill, and the Parthenon is the famous building. When we were here last you could just walk up to it and we have photos is us on the steps. Now it is much more protected, which is a fantastic thing.

We were queued up for tickets before the opening time of 8am - I hadn't even had coffee! But it was amazing as we were up there before the crowds - a beautiful spot with stunning views.

We then spent a couple of hours touring the city on the hop on, hop off bus - we didn't do much hopping, but we did fry our brains upstairs on the open deck in 35degrees!

Cold beer time!

And tonight we're catching up with an old friend from Oz who flew in today - it's a small world.

Athens, first impressions

Another big travelling day where we left our accommodation at 9am, and got to our Athens place at 6pm. A long boat trip packed with holiday makers, followed by bus, and metro trips. Had a bit of trouble getting into our airbnb place as I'd forgotten to text when we were on the way, then the message about hidden keys and how to get in only partially down loaded via text. It's a bit of a problem when you rely so much on the internet these days, but only have access at your accommodation. And don't get me started on roaming fees - I'm being charged 33 cents for every text received, and I didn't think to remove myself from the overtime text system at work before I left - so bing, bing, bing for overtime, and there's another dollar gone - lol!

Various reports say it was anywhere between 39 and 41 degrees in Athens today, and we were fair melting by the time we arrived. In addition to water, sometimes there's nothing better than a cold coke. But we ventured out again and oh how exciting. We're just up/down the road from the Acropolis and about a million outdoor restaurants. It's Sunday night and every man and his dog seem to be out wandering the streets, eating, shopping, and generally enjoying the relative cool of the evening (it's now 31 degrees). There's stalls and musicians and most of the shops stay open late. We walked from where we're staying in Thissio (like Ponsonby in the old days), up through Monastiraki square (lwith the madness of Times Square), onto Syntagma Square, and the parliament building. This is where they've had all the demonstrations previously. Nothing like that tonight - people out enjoying the night and the coloured fountains, and the buskers. Heard a guy playing an amazing bouzouki (stringed instrument) and it just made you feel like dancing  - we did a bit of arm waving as we crossed the road!

We walked up the steps towards the parliament building to get a better view of the square, and we're just in time to see the changing of the guards. Buckingham Palace has nothing on these guys. They wear pom-poms on their shoes and do this slow motion high steeping manoeuvre that has to be seen to be believed.

We then wandered back through the crowds and found a busy outdoor restaurant for dinner. We have had some limited views of the Acropolis, but will try for better views tomorrow.

Photos from dinner last night

Last day on Naxos

Wow, we just came back from dinner at the local taverna where we ate the other night. Such a friendly family, and some of the patrons appear to be locals. We had zatziki (rich thick yoghurt with cucumber and garlic), fried pork pieces with green peppers, sautéed mushrooms, Greek salad with olives, capers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and local feta, and all sopped up with crusty bread. We washed it down with the slightly dirty taste of retsina (all we could afford to drink last time) and so reminiscent of Greece. The daughter and her father served us while the mother and son cooked. And all the while we were sitting on the side of the road and it's warm enough to wear a singlet top - yah!, then they bought us yoghurt with quinces and preserved grapes in thick honeyed sauces, and raki (local firewater) flavoured with honey, and the local citron liqueur. Wish we could stay for longer.

We got up this morning before dawn and walked up to the ruins of the temple of Apollo, and watched the sun come up - magical.

It's about 6.2m high and built in 500 and something BC.

Then we went up through the old then, perched on shill overlooking the harbour. I just love those narrow streets and blue doors.

And churches

Off to Athens tomorrow's, and apparently it's going to be 39 degrees! Saints preserve us!

The island of Paros

Dinner a the local taverna, with the table right on the road side. Delicious food cooked by Mumma, and huge portions - and this is only the salad!

Yesterday we caught the big blue star ferry to Paros -  the once quiet and beautiful island where we camped for 3 weeks long long ago. It was only an hour by ferry, and not many people got off. But they were leaving the island in droves at the end of the season.

Paros is one of the most popular Greek Islands, and as such it caters superbly for the tourists. Cafes, bakeries, restaurants, boutiques, and knick knack shops. There was heaps of traffic around the port with people coming and going, and cars and trucks loading on and off the ferries. Lots of hire places for cars, scooters, and quads, and general busyness.

The old town is picture postcard stuff of white houses, blue doors, and even the paving has white painted borders.

I think I even found the street matching one of my old photos. I also went into a treasure trove of a shop that had clothes, shoes, bags, etc in huge mounds, and some of it looked like it had been there for ever. Hànd knitted cotton & woollen jumpers made on the islands - you could hardly walk around in there. I asked the ancient shopkeeper how long the shop had been there and he said 100 years (same stock?). Ros bought an old photo of the port off him.

We then hired a scooter to go exploring - I think the poor bike had been thrashed by those before us, and even without much traffic Ros was initially clutching on to me like grim death!

We went to the 2nd port of Naossus - a very pretty harbour full of colourful fishing boats. But I don't think there's many fish left in the sea around here, and many of the boats look like they don't leave the wharf. One man was pulling fish out of the net on the deck of his boat, but it was a pitiful catch, and huge piles of nets on the jetty were covered in old tarps - apparently the Mediterranean is clean, but doesn't support much life. I even found out that the octopus, shrimps, and squid are brought in frozen from who knows where. If you don't go looking then all appears fine on the surface, pretty and idyllic, but the main industry here is tourism, and the fishing boats and fields lie fallow. Hard won stone terraces are crumbling, and figs and grapes seem to be rotting on the trees and vines.  I remember a sleepy place with mostly dusty dirt roads, and fisherman cleaning their octopuses on the Seawall.

It is however still incredibly beautiful, and the tourist dollars are paying for things like solar panels, and wind turbines. The roads are in pretty good condition, and people have jobs.

Then we went and found our old camping ground - and while the outside is flashed up with an archway and restaurant the actual camping area is still dusty ground under bamboo awnings.

Back in town we talked to an old Greek man at the hire place (well we talked to each other in our respective languages) and he was born on the island and used to farm, and keep cows and sheep - you don't see many animals nowadays.

We then met a local port official who talked about the complicated economic situation in Greece. He told us that Crete has reserves of oil underneath it that would keep Europe going for 100 years - and he's not the first person to mention it either.

Today we caught the bus back into the hills to 2 very pretty villages. The 1st one had a old citron distillery where they are still making liqueur from citrus leaves. There were also a couple of shops selling beautiful local woven fabric in very fine cottons, and exquisite embroidered cloths.  Marvellous workmanship, but what do you do with such things these days. The embroidered curtains look stunning against the blue window frames here, but wouldn't look quite the same at home.

The second village was higher up in the hills, and up behind it a tiny white washed church perched on top of the highest peak.

We wandered the village and bought local cheese off a man on the side of the road, and fresh figs. I think there is still some small semblance of traditional life up in these villages.

And then we had lunch at a little cafe outside under a big plane tree. Greek salad with creamy ricotta cheese, and local lamb baked in paper and served with potatoes and crusty bread. Followed by a small cup of Greek coffee - ah, bliss!

Greece

It has been interesting talking to a few people who live here about the economic situation. And especially about the ex prime minister Tsipras, who admittedly is young and good looking (for a politician), he did say he wouldn't accept the bailout conditions, and then had that expensive referendum. But apparently he is a bright hope in a dated and stagnant political field, and many hope he will get back in. We certainly haven't noticed Greeks taking back handlers, or not paying their taxes. Everything comes with a receipt, and the requisite 16% tax. And it's also interesting that the appointed temporary prime minister is the first female. I wonder if she will run?

For a country dependant on tourism they certainly do a great job of making everything run smoothly, and getting everyone from A to B with the least amount of hassle. I think as Angela Merkels said, that the biggest problem now is the refugees, and the local papers certainly reflect the difficulty local economies are having dealing with the influx of people who all need feeding, accommodating, processing, and transporting. And yet we have only met cheerful optimistic folk - maybe it's their tourist face.

Throughout the places we have so far travelled in Greece we have seen empty and abandoned shops and houses. Half finished buildings that appear to have just been left, and today a village where perhaps half the houses were vacant. Apparently there have been quite a few bankruptcies. And have  all the young people gone to Northern Europe for better work, or have they just moved to the city like everywhere else. There's always so much to find out, and so many stories to hear.

Today we took the local bus to a small village. The bus was full of tourists and old folk, but we were the only 2 who got off in Sangri. Touted as a lovely village of churches and cafes it sounded ideal. And it was, just not quite as described. We walked 1/2 a km down a quiet country road to a small village of white washed houses and blue doors. Lovely winding stone pathways, and very quiet. It was great to be away from the tourist trail. Most of the tourists seem to hire small cars (the music from the Yaris ad comes to mind) and zip about the place. Or the new trend seems to be quad bikes - really! But it's not so busy, and they're all rushing from temple to antiquity - actually not rushing - while we were waiting for the bus to come back I saw countless small cars stop so they could turn their maps this way and that to try and figure out where they were, and which way they should be heading.

But we had a magical few hours wandering the village and surrounding countryside. Saw a couple of very old churches - one stone one in the middle of paddocks and olive groves. We saw some old windmills, and even a donkey - to think we rode donkeys back in the day. I'm not sure that the donkey we saw today wasn't just for the tourists. We didn't find any amazing village tavernas though, and certainly didn't come across anywhere selling the type of food we smelt cooking in the village.

The island of Naxos

Finished Rhodos with a final drink at our local rooftop bar and captured a wonderful photo of the old house where we were staying.  It was old, but charming, and nicer than a hotel.

We left Rhodes yesterday morning carting our wheelie bags clattering across the cobblestones early in the morning to catch the bus to the airport. Another smooth flight by Aegean airlines (part of Air Alliance) and we were in Athens. An easy bus ride to the secondary port of Rafina for our hydrofoil trip to Naxos - 100 miles away. And this is where the Greece I remember stared to reassert itself. For any of you who have ferried between Greek Islands before will remember, the timetables are indications only, and there's loo of waiting around in hot, dry, dusty places. Our ferry was due to leave at 15.45, and left at 18.20. But we wandered about the town, and had a great souvlaki lunch at a small place on the waterfront. The wind was up, and the waves were breaking, but the trip was smooth. Just a bit long at 5 hours, and 3 stops before us. And wow do they load and unload quickly - we were all gathered on the dock beforehand, and as the last person was coming down the car ramp they were herding us up and into the cargo bay; quick stow your bags and get upstairs - quick, quick, hurry up, and then they're off again, raising the ramp while we're moving off. Health and Safety NZ would have a field day!

Lunch

Waiting with the throngs - at least there was some shelter.

Today we woke to another beautiful day, slightly cooler than Rhodes with a high of 29. We're up on the hill above the port in the main town of Chora, and we look out over the small island of Palatia that has the remains of a temple dedicated to Apollo in the 6th century BC. All that remains is a giant gate.

Our apartment is up here.

We had an easy day and walked to the nearest beach and made like European holiday makers. We rented deck chairs and an umbrella for a few hours and did swimming and sunbathing. And yes I'm a tad pink tonight! We were surrounded by English,Scandinavians, and Germans, young and old, incredibly tanned, or trying to be. It was very relaxing, but there is no way I could do that everyday - it would bore me to tears.

The great thing though is that it is now September, and the mad holiday rush is winding down. The ships are not packed to capacity, the restaurants are calm, and the streets are walkable. In fact wandering around Naxos today It felt much the same as last time I was in Greece - a slow and relaxed atmosphere.

We saw octopus drying on the side of the wharf and I just had to have some for lunch.

Grilled octopus - delicious!

And then there was the stunning sunset across the bay

That's the gates from the temple, and people gathered on the island to watch the sunset.

Kalinychta (goodnight)