Someone pissed off Poseidon
September 2nd, 2017
Over the past week Abby and I traveled through the Greek Islands of Mykonos, Santorini, and Hydra.
Mykonos The First Island we traveled to was Mykonos. Our 5:15 am alarm rang on the morning of August 25th as we awoke in Athens. The piraeus port was about a 25 minute ride away from our hotel. As stated in the my last post, my *very real* fear of seasickness has potential to cause some minor anxiety. We were so tired and scurrying like crazy to get ready, anxiety didn't have enough time to run its course. We got on the boat by 6:15 and were off drifting through the Aegean Sea by 7:00 set to arrive in Mykonos at 9:50. Some time around 7:30 a lovely lady in the section we were sitting in decided she would be the first brave soldier to lead the charge. The sea sickness charge, that was. So brave this lady was, that not only did she lead the charge, but she led it right from her seat in the middle of the full section! No run to the restroom. No rush to the side of the boat. No paper bag, no trashcan. Imagine a 4 year old getting sick. They don't run for the toilet. You get it by now? At this point, about half a dozen people witness the atrocity, and well, I'll quote what another fine lady stated to the workers of the ferry, "I never get sick. I'm not a puker. But when I see it..." I bet you can't guess what happened next. To sum it up, the first ferry was a nightmare. But we made it through, and managed to keep our breakfasts in our stomach. We were already excited to arrive to Mykonos, but now, we were ecstatic to run off the boat. We waited around 45 minutes for a taxi in the taxi line, but we were happy to just be standing on land.
We spent our first day in Mykonos exploring Mykonos Town and some of the sights on the island. We had a great lunch right on the water near the Old Port with a beautiful view.
Mykonos town is definitely the place to be when visiting. It's exactly what you imagine when you think Greek islands. White buildings, white walls through the town, white pathways and of course some blue fixtures. Here is a trendy photo of Abby with exactly what I am talking about:
After we got lost in the mazy town for an hour or four, we worked up the courage to ask a restaurant employee how to find the famous old Wind Mills. At the site, it is super windy near them, (I guess that is why they put windmills there) and actually a pretty cool site to see. Here is the only fun fact I remember about them: they were built by the Venetians in the 16th century primary to mill wheat. Here is trendy photo number two of Abby feating windmill:
The next day we took a short bus over to Paradise Beach which is on the south side of the island. The main beaches are all located on the south end of the island because of how strongly the wind blows in from the north. We spent the day here soaking up some sun on a nice beach. You could tell the atmosphere here was definitely rowdy at times, but we were with a more mellow crowd.
All in all, we really enjoyed Mykonos. There is definitely a wild party side to the island, and a more mellow and relaxing side in Mykonos Town. We spent most our time relaxing, but I'm sure one could find a way to be going to bed around 6am instead of waking up around then like we were.
Santorini
After our two nights in Mykonos for the next three we headed to Santorini. Ferry number two arrived an hour late or so, which gave the anxiety plenty of time to kick in. I was experiencing some mixed feelings. I was worried because the first boat we experienced some extremely rough waters, and well, it didn't go well. However, we both kept our breakfasts in our stomaches, so that provided some confidence. I guess you could say my seasickness anxiety was having anxiety. The second ferry ended up being a breeze (No pun intended).We arranged a transportation shuttle from the port to our hotel in Fira. (Central Santorini). To anyone traveling to Santorini, arranging transportation is an absolute must. I heard someone say the whole island only had 39 taxis on it. Not sure if that is true on not, but our entire time there I don't recall even seeing one. Our hotel was a 15 minute walk to town in Fira. This is where we spent most of our time shopping, eating, and exploring. This is also one of the spots you can catch a view of the beautiful sunsets Santorini has to offer. We arranged dinner with a view:
During dinner, I tried a local beer brewed in Santorini called yellow donkey. This beer was absolutely fantastic and I was immediately intrigued. Love at first sip. More on that later.
Our next full day we spent on a 5 hour catamaran sailing around the sites of the island. Our first stop was a volcanic hot spring. In our opinion they should really work on renaming the hot spring. We're thinking maybe something like "lukewarm spring". We swam out through the chilly Aegean Sea maybe 70 yards (at some point I should probably start using meters as a quantity of measurements), to the spring. Abby was still freezing. I wasn't much warmer. We didn't stay long, and swam back to the boat.
The next site we stopped at was the white beach. Here we had the opportunity to do some snorkeling. This was awesome because the water was so clear. You could see hundreds of fish from the boat, and when getting into the water it was even better. Not going to lie, fish kind of freak me out. I've never been a big fan of going into water near fish. Not that I think they're going to harm me, but they're like gross, ya know? However I jumped in, swam around, and it wasn't so bad. Abby sat this one out. The red beach was our next stop. This is probably one of the coolest sites I have ever seen. It is like someone cut out a quarter mile of Sedona, Arizona and placed it on a greek island. A huge red rock backdrop meets dark red sand to the clear blue water. Pictures simply do not do this place justice.
Our last full day we rented a 4-wheeler. This is something I highly recommend to anyone who visits Santorini. 4-wheeler and motorcycles are more common on the streets of the island than cars are. Like I mentioned before, taxis are relatively non-existent. This gave us the opportunity to drive across the island over to the black sand beach in Kamari. Speaking of renaming things, we think they should consider renaming the "Black Sand Beach" to the "Black Rock Beach" because it definitely does not feel like sand on your bare feet.
Having the freedom to drive around was awesome. We saw a lot of the island we would not have seen otherwise and had the freedom of not being set to a bus schedule. On our drive back Abby spotted Donkey Brewing Company. We went in and checked out the factory. They provided us with a small taste testing. I ended up buying a t-shirt. What can I say? I told you it was love at first sip.
Santorini was our favorite time we spent in the islands. I hope one day to be back. Renting a 4-wheeler is an absolute must and a great way to experience the entirety of what Santorini has to offer.
Hydra Let me explain to you how to get to Hydra from Santorini. You take a 30 minute ride to the airport. From there you take a 1 hour flight from Santorini to Athens. When arrived in Athens you take a 1 hour and 30 minute bus from the airport in Athens to the Piraeus Port. When you arrive at the port, you take a 1 hour and 45 minute ferry over to Hydra. Sounds easy, right? Oh, and did I mention automobiles are outlawed in Hydra? When you arrive at the port, don't worry about arranging transportation or catching a taxi. You have two choices. Walk or ride a donkey.
Hydra is a very small town that really embodies the old fashioned greek lifestyle. You could walk from one end of the town to the other in 10 minutes. It is so quiet and peaceful, you can really feel the difference in the culture through the entire car-free vibe. The entire population of the island is under two thousand people. Almost everyone there is a tourist.
We spent two days and one night in Hydra, which was plenty of time as there is really not much to do other than enjoy the old fashioned, mellow, and beautiful lifestyle. (And stop at "The Cool Mule" for ice cream twice if your name starts with an "A" and ends with a "bby"). Hydra was the perfect ending to the greek island trip. We even had the opportunity to ride a donkey! (I swear they're horses, but the Hydriots claim they're donkeys). I wasn't going to fight them on it.
We're back in Barcelona now, getting settled into our apartment for the semester. We just bought a train ticket for tomorrow morning. I would tell you where we're going but then you might skip clicking on the next post.