Greek Paradise
Ahh Greece and the wonderful Western World! A welcomed change of customs, religions and normal WCs (thats toilet’s for the un-initiated).
Rhodes: Continuing from Marmaris and against the will of our 4day sea sick bodies we hopped on a ferry to Rhodes for we thought would only be a day or two. You see the thing with traveling in the off season in Greece is that no one and no internet site has any info about how to get anywhere else besides where you are. So we assumed we could catch a boat to Santorini a day or two after roaming around Rhodes. Big mistake as the 16 hr ferry only left once a week. Needlesstosay, we had plenty of time during our four days to see everything the worlds largest functioning old walled city had to offer. It was actually quite beautiful and our hostel was just a small walkway removed from the main attractions. Sun bathing in Lindos was spectacular and the overall feel of the Dodecanese was a great transition from Turkish life.
Santorini: The gem of the Greek Islands. And for good reason! Vineyards chalked up on the hillsides, black and red sand beaches clad with anyone and everyone attractive and partially naked, breathtaking views of the caldera from the many lookouts we couldnt resist stopping our little scooter at and arguably the prettiest and most famous sunset in the world in Oia. So much to see and do yet amazingly one of the few places that still oddly seemed to keep its charm among the swarms of tourist.
Athens: Off to Athens to begin the journey northward towards Croatia but not without another unexpectedly long stay in Athens, the result of travel difficulties in getting to Croatia from Greece. Originally we planned on taking busses up through Albania, Montenegro and Serbia. Well lets just say we got as close as the bus station for Albania before ditching the plan in favor of a less ambition and adventurous route. By this time in our trip we tipped over the complete burn out phase and almost scrapped our plane tix from Croatia to Germany so we could just end early and begin the recovery at Jens grandparents. But we gathered ourselves together atop the Parthenon for a gorgeous view over Athens and roamed the surprisingly pleasant downtown area along with Plaka where we stayed.
Bari, Italy: OK so to get to Croatia we took two consecutive overnight ferries for a combined travel time of 40 someodd hours. First from Athens to Bari, Italy and then from Bari to Dubrovnik, Croatia. Thought it was be awful. Ended up being a blast. Bari was great functioning normal un-touristy city with charming old town and bustling new town. Ahh the food! A day in Italy to eat officially local cuisine. What a treat! So we spoiled ourselves with pizza pasta and gelato galore and read our books in the park with random shopping breaks scheduled in. An unplanned day that was perfect! Splurged on a cabin for the 2nd overnight ferry and packed fresh salami and prosciutto sammies with a 1 Euro bottle of wine thus completing the day in true backpacker style.
Tags: Greece, Travel
Steve
Oh my gosh you guys. Bari is where my family is from!!! What a small world. If I would have known, one of my relatives could have met up with you. They could have been your tour guide if you wanted. Don’t worry they speak English too. Glad to hear that you enjoyed Bari though. Like you said, great old town charm mixed in with up and coming city. Ciao!
Hallo from Greece. I was reading the entire blog and saddly I haven’t visited Santorini yet, although everyone that has been there said its really cool! The photos you publish seem extraordinary nice as well… I wish I had enough offs from work to make trips as well… Nice blog, greetings from Athens, Greece to everyone
We probably should have updated this blog entry ages ago but for all of you who are interested (and don’t already know) Steve actually propsed while we were in Santorini. After almost 6 years and a trip around the around the world we decided to get engaged on the black sand beach of Perissa on a full moon.
Although we have not set a date yet, we are looking forward to a fun wedding that will be in the same carefree spirt as all of our past and furture adventures.
FYI: We left out this critical piece of information when we first wrote the blog entry so that we could make sure our parents and families would be the first to know.