The End of an Adventure
I'm writing this in retrospect as I try to catch up the last couple of weeks of our trip. Apologies to our many fans, some who have waited patiently and suffered in silence and others who have harangued us for neglecting our posting duties! The internet access was poor and, as you may have noticed, the writng and posting has been mostly completed by only one half of the duo of late. Alan's excuse is that he was having too much of a good time to sit still and concentrate on blogging.
So we are still on Santorini, having lunch in fact, in this photo. It was definitely one of our favourite islands and if you are considering a trip to Greece - we recommend not to miss it. Many of the photos of the Greek isles are taken on Santorini, and for good reason - it's beautiful.
This is only one of the dozens of blue and white churches. This one also has more bells than most which they seem to ring at random, unlike Italy where even the smallest town had a clock tower or church bells that chimed the hour, the half hour and sometimes the quarter hour! The sound was comforting though and we missed it when we left - seriously!!Santorini is famous for it's sunsets and one of the best vantage points we discovered was behind this church. Unfortunately there was a lot of heat haze around on the evenings we were there, so the sunsets weren't clearly visible.
Despite our concerns, our accommodation didn't slip into the sea from the edge of the caldera and here I'm posing outside the apartment next to our hotel room.
I couldn't resist this scene of some tomatoes drying in the sun. Alan wants to know why they don't just go bad, but it's so hot it probably kills any bacteria. Did I mention that Greece was in the grip of our heatwave during our time there? It was apparently unusually warm for that time of year with the temperature reported to be 45 degrees in Athens and 51 degrees in Turkey!
After leaving Santorini, we caught the ferry back to Ios and then sailed (or motored actually due to lack of wind) to Paros.Paros is a delightful island and was also one of our favourites. The paved streets with the stones outlined in white paint were typical of most of the islands and the little shops here were particularly charming. It is apparently very popular with families and more laid back than many of the other islands - especially party girl Ios.
As we were the lead boat of the flotilla, the other boats followed us into port. Note no-one has their sail up - no wind! Some of the sailors were especially disappointed as they didn't get to do much actual sailing.
From Paros we moved on to Mykonos where we had to moor in the harbour as the port is under reconstruction. From here we took a trip to the small island of Delos nearby. It is a world heritage listed site due to it's archeological significance. I won't bore you with the details but there were many houses and temples here - it actually reminded us of Pompeii as it was so well preserved. This was mostly due to the fact that people have not been allowed to live on the island for several centuries, so the old buildings haven't been destroyed to make way for new structures.
The lions were thought to have been built as protection but as for the sculpture below....???!!!
Our guide said it could have been a symbol of fertility - well there doesn't seem to be much doubt about that. Some jealous pirate obviously decided to cut it down to size, so to speak. Note the rooster relief on the pedestal. Doesn't leave much room for doubt really does it?
Without a doubt, Mykonos was our greatest disappointment. I'm not sure what we expected but there just wasn't much substance to the place. Having said that, we aren't really party people (that shocks some of you I know), and Mykonos is renowned, amongst other things, for having a great nightlife. It also has a nude beach - we didn't go - not that we needed to, as several of the boats we were moored near had crews who enjoyed stripping off and taking lengthy showers on the back of their boats, completely starkers. It was very entertaining!
There were also hundreds of tourists (who did they think they were, encroaching on our holiday) as all the big cruise ships stop at Mykonos. Ironic then that they have an area called "Little Venice" when we found the real Venice also to be overrun with tourists. Anyway little Venice has buildings that sit in the water and a couple of little bridges - hence the name.
The Greek islands also have lots of these windmills, though usually found singly. On Mykonos there was a row of five which looked attractive. They aren't actually in use any more and are now merely maintained for decoration.
After Mykonos we moved on to Kea where we made friends - some of us closer than others - with the people on the boat moored next to us. A very friendly lot of Americans, as you can see. It was an all female crew and they even had a female Captain!
Back on our boat and heading into Athens with Alan at the helm. And no, we didn't get lost - unlike once or twice in Italy when you-know-who was left in charge of directions. Well he did have the NavSat GPS and a huge compass directly in front of him!
We spent our last night in Greece back in Athens and ate dinner at the same restaurant where we had our first meal in Greece - traditional greek salad, moussaka and chicken souvlaki with greek baked potatoes and rice - yum yum! (Yes folks, I had to mention the food - it's all about the food!!)
As we were the lead boat of the flotilla, the other boats followed us into port. Note no-one has their sail up - no wind! Some of the sailors were especially disappointed as they didn't get to do much actual sailing.
From Paros we moved on to Mykonos where we had to moor in the harbour as the port is under reconstruction. From here we took a trip to the small island of Delos nearby. It is a world heritage listed site due to it's archeological significance. I won't bore you with the details but there were many houses and temples here - it actually reminded us of Pompeii as it was so well preserved. This was mostly due to the fact that people have not been allowed to live on the island for several centuries, so the old buildings haven't been destroyed to make way for new structures.The lions were thought to have been built as protection but as for the sculpture below....???!!!Our guide said it could have been a symbol of fertility - well there doesn't seem to be much doubt about that. Some jealous pirate obviously decided to cut it down to size, so to speak. Note the rooster relief on the pedestal. Doesn't leave much room for doubt really does it?
Without a doubt, Mykonos was our greatest disappointment. I'm not sure what we expected but there just wasn't much substance to the place. Having said that, we aren't really party people (that shocks some of you I know), and Mykonos is renowned, amongst other things, for having a great nightlife. It also has a nude beach - we didn't go - not that we needed to, as several of the boats we were moored near had crews who enjoyed stripping off and taking lengthy showers on the back of their boats, completely starkers. It was very entertaining!There were also hundreds of tourists (who did they think they were, encroaching on our holiday) as all the big cruise ships stop at Mykonos. Ironic then that they have an area called "Little Venice" when we found the real Venice also to be overrun with tourists. Anyway little Venice has buildings that sit in the water and a couple of little bridges - hence the name.
The Greek islands also have lots of these windmills, though usually found singly. On Mykonos there was a row of five which looked attractive. They aren't actually in use any more and are now merely maintained for decoration. After Mykonos we moved on to Kea where we made friends - some of us closer than others - with the people on the boat moored next to us. A very friendly lot of Americans, as you can see. It was an all female crew and they even had a female Captain!Back on our boat and heading into Athens with Alan at the helm. And no, we didn't get lost - unlike once or twice in Italy when you-know-who was left in charge of directions. Well he did have the NavSat GPS and a huge compass directly in front of him!We spent our last night in Greece back in Athens and ate dinner at the same restaurant where we had our first meal in Greece - traditional greek salad, moussaka and chicken souvlaki with greek baked potatoes and rice - yum yum! (Yes folks, I had to mention the food - it's all about the food!!)We spent a few days in Dubai on the way home and were totally underwhelmed. There are several facts about the place that make it fascinating, not least that it hasn't rained since 1997 yet the place is greener than Brisbane, that they are building the world's tallest skyscraper, and that they have a shopping centre with a snow field complete with charlift inside. Maybe we were just hard to please at the end of an incredible trip.
You'll be pleased to know we are already thinking about our next adventure but can't seem to agree on destinations. Alan has a penchant for third world countries but I'm thinking maybe of something a little more mainstream. We'll see.
Will also be in touch to let you know when the compulsory "slide night" is being held as we know you are anxious to see all of our several thousand photos. I also kept every one of our train and museum tickets and have samples of the currency of all the countries we visited which I know you will find fascinating. Only kidding guys!!
Lastly, thanks again to Brynn's mate GMan, without whose expert assistance this blog would not have been possible. Good to know you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it - well most of the time!
Until our next adventure,
Ciao xxx
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Thought you may be interested in a peek inside the boat we are living aboard. The cabins are only small but we really only sleep and dress in them. We also have our own tiny bathroom with shower and toilet (not pictured).
Here's a pic of the galley (that's kitchen to you landlubbers!) There's also a dining area but we tend to spend most of our time up on deck where it's much cooler.
We travelled from the Kleftifko cliffs on Milos to Ios - a long trip of about 8 hours - mostly under motor as there was very little wind. 
We are now spending the weekend in a hotel apartment on Santorini - hence the title - A Holiday From Our Holiday! Santorini used to be a volcano - in fact it still is (not dead, just sleeping!!) - and when it erupted way back it destroyed the Minoan civilization and created a huge caldera which is filled with the sea. There are several little towns on the island built right on the edge of the caldera and we are staying in one of them.
Here's the view down into the caldera from our little apartment.
Here I am outside one of the many blue-domed churches.
And here's my attempt at an artistic photo - not bad for an amateur!
Yesterday we had a long trip of about 9 hours from Hydra to Milos. It was unusually calm and the water really was like glass, and a lovely dark blue. We saw several pods of dolphins - some quite large with 40 or so dolphins - and they came over and swam along in front of and beside and under the boat - until they decided they had better things to do than play with us, and swam off. I only have a little camera so didn't get the best photos but here's a couple of them with the shadow of the bow.
We stopped on the way into Milos for a quick dip as it was so hot. They threw a rope off the end of the boat and we all jumped in and had to hang on as the boat drifted along. I'm the third one along and Alan is floating on his back at the end of his rope! The water is very salty and it makes floating easy.
Finally, sunset behind a little church on top of one of the hills on Milos. This is close to the site where they found the Venus de Milo - who now lives in Paris, and also near to the restaurant where we had dinner last night.
