Athens, Mykonos,Paros & Santorini, Greece: 2002

Arriving from a sweltering Rome into a sweltering Athens was easy and we got straight into the swing of things staying right in the heart of The Plaka district so wondering around the sprukers and shops was a lot of fun.

We loved wandering the streets and exploring the shops around Plaka and the slopes of the Acropolis and to experience the ancient temples of The Parthenon is like nothing on this planet. This being our first Greek experience we saw the real difference in the Mediterranean cultures especially Italian and Greek and relished the challenges of the language before us now.

We spent three nights in Athens and explored the Acropolis, Ancient Agora , the National garden and managed to avoid a flash flood down near the Central market after running up stairs of a shopping building after a huge rainstorm that tragically took two lives nearby.

Next stop was the island of Mykonos so it was off to Piraeus harbour and the day ferry to the islands. The journey was picturesque passing our way through the inner islands arriving in the afternoon to a perfect Greek island sunny welcoming. We explored this relatively small island by bus and visited the party beach called super  Paradise which was far from it with doof doof music pumping out all day for the young and impressionable but not for any of us and we moved onto a much prettier and quieter beach called just Paradise beach…go figure! We loved Mykonos town with Otis fabulous waterfront restaurants around a section called little Venice and the beautiful white washed houses and coulourful features along with the cobbled streets and colourful locals.

Next stop Paros and after a short ferry ride we arrived in Paros town port and then a taxi to the delightful fishing village of Naoussa Port and stayed at Piperi beach at Kanale’s suites. The place was brilliant and we had fabulous views over the beach and through to the port which was just a short 500m walk away. We loved our time here and hired a small little Fiat Punto to get us around the island where we visited the stunning Kolibithes beach and Drios beach as well as the hilltop villages of the island. We ate the Greek Salads and fresh Calimari and fish everyday and enjoyed dinner on the beach in town one night as well as many fun times on this fantastic slice of heaven.

Last stop the enchanting Santorini and arriving into the Caldera by Ferry is amazing, nothing like it on earth. The white topped line of the building running around the caldera edge is like icing on a cake or a snow line atop a mountain and the sheer height above the sea is mind blowing, just like being in a Fjord. We settled into our fabulous cave style apartment in Imerovigli with its roof top pool and fantastic terrace with the most stunning view imaginable. We began exploring immediatley and walked into Thira and back again before dinner. The next three days we continued to explore and loved Oia with its great resuarants, sunsets and shopping, we swam at the black beach at Kamiri, explored the ancient Thera excavation site ( fascinating Minoan 4,000 year old civilisation and went to Akrotiri ( red beach ) which was a bit scary due to rock falls!!

We loved our Greek adventure and look forward to returning soon.