Athens to Selcuk - 3 August to 11 August

3rd August 2008

Summary: Acropolis, National Archaelogical Museum, overnight ferry to Santorini

Went to the Acropolis first thing. Unfortunately alot of other people had the same idea, although it was still quite peaceful and pleasant on the far and sunny side of the Parthenon as the tour groups didn't bother walking all the way around. Admired the ancient scaffolding and the bits of the Parthenon which the Brits didn't bother nicking off with. Strolled through the ruins of the Roman Agora (market), then the flea market (active, not ruins). Wandered down to Hadrian's gate and Temple of Zeus, then went up to the National Archaelogical Museum where we spent a good few hours admiring the huge and fascinating collection including neolithic pottery and greek sculptures. Headed to Piraeus for our ferry. We were more excited this time as we had our own cabin. Sat the deck watching the mainland disappear.

Practicalities: 22:30 ferry to Santorini

Food: sandwiches outside the gallery, tapas-style greek food back in town for dinner.

4th August 2008

Summary: Santorini

Slept reasonably well, the main disturbances being overhead announcements for various stops throughout the night. Stood on deck to watch as the ship pulled into the caldera. Finally made it to Oia. Most of the photos you've ever seen of Santorini would have been taken here, and they are pretty accurate - it is full of white cave houses with the odd blue dome or church bell. It was also completely full of tourists around lunch time but then they all disappeared and it was quite peaceful. Went for a swim below the point where everyone was gathered to watch the sunset. The water was beautiful and clear. We didn't stick around to watch the sun set although what we saw from our terrace was not up to Lake Como standards. The starry sky was the best we've seen so far.

Practicalities: arrived in Santorini around 9am (schedule was 8:15), bus to Fira then to Oia which was a painfully slow process. Stayed at La Mer Cave House - a cute cave apartment with - you guessed it - great views of Oia and the caldera.

Food: have noticed a distinct decrease in value in restaurants in Santorini (general trend of trip has been increasing value) to the point where we walked out of the first cafe in protest to 4.50 EUR espressos (cheapest thing on the menu). Had lunch at Blue Sky restaurant, good grilled fish and reasonably priced, however service was incredibly bad (slow mainly) due to the cruise ship full of diners who descended on the restaurant just as we went in. Got free baklava as compensation. Dinner on our terrace.

5th August 2008

Summary: Fira

Headed into Fira to do our laundry. Wandered around the shops and had lunch (got the music again!) while we waited. Went for another swim back in Oia, racing each other back and forth. G is very excited to have his first ever tan, though most of it washes off in the shower. Appear to have temporarily adopted some neighbourhood cats who join us for dinner.

Food: nice grilled sea bass and white eggplant at a tavern called Nikolas, which several people/guidebooks recommended. Dinner on the terrace again - couldn't find chickpeas or lentils so trying red kidney beans. Mille feuille for dessert from the Oia patisserie as recommended by Bindy (thanks!) - very good.

6th August 2008

Summary: tour of islands

G dragged me around town looking for an early morning espresso. The only things open were souvenir shops, and the first cruise-load of tourists had already arrived. After a few laps one of the cafes finally opened. Went on a tour of the islands near Santorini. More accurately it was a glorified set of ferry trips, interesting enough though. First stop was Nea Kameni to see the crater of the volcano. Could really feel the heat under our feet and smell the sulfur. Next stop was to swim in the hot springs although we stayed on deck. Final stop was for lunch at Thirrasis. We were dropped off near our swimming hole so went straight for a swim. This time swam along the coast almost to our apartment. Our daily swims have been the highlight of Santorini. Slight drawback is that it's 300 odd steep steps to/from our apartment with little relief from the sun - at least it keeps the crowds down.

Food: swordfish souvlakis at Captain John's on Thirrasis. Red kidney beans again on our terrace.

7th August 2008

Summary: Mykonos

Woke up at 7am to fit in a last swim. The neighbourhood dogs had been sleeping outside our apartment and took a liking to G. They escorted us all the way down to the water (20min) , waited for us (one even jumped in) and escorted us back. G bangs head (again) on door to our room, this time drawing blood - he wasn't amused at my advice to duck next time. The catarmaran ride to Mykonos was extremely fast and bumpy. Motion sickness pills (thanks for the tip S+R!) are a brilliant invention. There was a lot of squealing and puking going on but we barely felt a thing. Spent the afternoon exploring the old town of Mykonos. Mykonos was also full of white and blue buildings, plus a couple of windmills. It was also incredibly windy. The passageways were quite peaceful until early evening when literally thousands of tourists appeared out of no where (suspect another cruise ship). Had a frustrating wait for the ferry office to open so we could pick up our tickets. There were no signs so we just kept checking. It opened at 8:30pm! Can't say I understand the appeal of Mykonos (and that's excluding the ferry office debacle), possibly because we're way beyond our clubbing days, but glad to have visited all the same.

Practicalities: taxi to port, 11:50-14:25 catarmaran to Mykonos (about 1 hr late arriving), hotel pick up. Stayed at Hotel Nazos, room 116, just out of town, friendly family run place.

Food: late lunch in Mykonos of pizza and salad. Dodgy dinner at a cafe next to the ferry office while waiting for it to open. Free ouzo with the hotel owner as he didn't like drinking alone.

8th August 2008

Summary: Karlovassi (Samos)

The hotel owner dropped us off at the new port for our early morning ferry. Finished off sleeping once the ferry got going. We are seriously in backpacker mode now. I was curled up in the fetal position across two tub chairs, while G slept on the ground. This would not have happened 4 weeks ago. Karlovassi is a fairly large though sleepy and friendly town, and refreshingly lacking in tourists. G managed to upload music from the ipod to the Italian laptop so am blogging to the tune of Nick Cave. Vaguely aware the olympics started today. Have disturbing welts on my arms. At first I thought I'd been attacked by an extremely tidy mosquito with 5 equidistant bites in a very straight line, but with the appearance of two other series of bites it seems too much of a coincidence.

Practicalities: 06:50-12:50 (late again) ferry to Karlovassi. Stayed at Anema by the Sea apartments, room 362.

Food: prices have returned to mainland Greece standards thankfully. Had my first and hopefully last retsina.

9th August 2008

Summary: Pythagorio

Our tendencies towards recreational mathematics got the better of us so we headed to Pythagorio, birthplace of a certain greek mathematician. Checked out the Efpalinio Orygma - an ancient (6th century BC) greek aqueduct. The site itself was not particularly interesting but it represents a remarkable feat of ancient engineering (go look up the details yourself in wikipedia). Spent lunch trying to prove Pythagoras' Theorem. G figured it out just before the mains arrived, along with the useful result of c squared = c squared. Did more research on Pythagoras on the blackberry and slept on a park bench in Vathy while waiting for our connecting bus. Also discovered what I thought was insect repellant is actually a soothing gel for insect bites (the label is in greek). This could explain a lot of bites...We are wondering what symbols Greek maths students use, as greek letters would be a little dull for them??

Practicalities: bus to Vathy then bus to Pythagorio

Food: Fava, salad, and swordfish souvlakis. Home-cooked dinner of salad, salami and cheese. Avoiding beans as members of Pythagoras' cult are forbidden to eat them. Accidentally bought port instead of red wine. Last few nights of alcohol not going well.

10th August 2008

Summary: Potami beach, Mikro Seitani

G went for two hours of orthodox mass. Aside from getting told off for sitting in the single ladies section it all went well. The hotel receptionist later told us he was the only guest to ever ask about mass. Went for a 1 hr hike on the high trail to Potami beach, with a very helpful and friendly local pointing out the route. Potami beach is a pretty pebbly bay, and not particularly crowded, definitely beat the beaches in Sorrento and Positano. We paused for a break but did not swim, instead pushing on to Mikro Seitani. We could see the gorgeous blue water from the road, but couldn't figure out how to get down. Had flashbacks of being lost in the ravine in Meteora, but eventually found our way down to the beach. The swim was particularly refreshing after the hot walk. Had lunch and another dip. Decided this even topped our Santorini swimming spot. Found an easier (only slightly) route up from the beach and walked back to Karlovassi along the road. Played with a sleepy kitten while waiting for our laundry.

Food: sandwiches from dinner leftovers, big meal in Meseo - salad, olives, eggplant, chicken and pork souvlakis.

11th August 2008

Summary: travelled from Karlovassi to Selcuk

Quiet morning in Karlovassi with the main exertion being another coffee run. Headed to Vathy for our ferry to Turkey, ironically named "Kusadasi Express" given that it took 1.5 hrs for the 30km journey. Trekked to the otogar (bus station) where the procedure was fairly obvious - a big turkish guy was screaming "Selcuk!!" and waving at us frantically. Bid farewell to the ocean which we won't be seeing for a couple of months (no different to being in London really). On disembarking at Selcuk we were surrounded by men asking if we needed a hotel, where we were going next etc. I had already booked so asked them for directions. Started getting worried that I had divulged too much information and would have to buy a few carpets before making it to the hotel, but they took us to the counter to buy bus tickets to Pammukale, and then the bus ticket vendor called our hotel who came and picked us up, despite being only a 5 min walk away. Amazing! Hotel owners were super friendly. Sat on the roof terrace watching the olympics, chatting with other guests, simultaneously listening to pop music ("It's raining men") in one ear and the call to prayer in the other. Had a great dinner and then Juju insisted on taking us to the best baklava shop in town. Really enjoying the organised chaos that is Turkey. G already talking about moving here and learning to play backgammon.

Practicalities: 3pm bus to Vathy, 5pm ferry to Kusadasi, staying at Urkmez Hotel, room FOUR.

Food: stuffed tomatoes, peppers and baked aubergine in Karlovassi, grilled sea bream, anatolian rice and spicy salsa at the hotel in Selcuk.