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We  could not have planned this trip without Paris Dimidis (photo left with Brenda at the end of the trip) of Dimidis Torus, Ltd.  Paris and his brother run this 12-person travel agency, started by their father 45 years ago.  They planned and executed our travel plans before and after the BAC bike tour. 

The tour company was recommended by our Dallas Greek friend, Grace Arianoutsos.  We owe you dinner, Grace.

Specifically, Dimidis Tours:

• Transported us from the Athens airport to the hotel.  Note that all transport in Athens was personally done by Paris.
• Make hotel reservations in Athens for 5 nights.
• Arranged for a walking tour of Athens (April 18).
• Took us to the start of the walking tour.
• Arranged a 2-day bus tour (April 19-20) of DELPHI-METEORA with an overnight. The bus picked us up and returned us to our hotel.
• Arranged a 1-day bus tour (April 21) to EPIDAVROS.  The bus picked us up and returned us to our hotel.
• Transported us to Athens airport (April 23).
• Made the air reservations from Athens to Chania.
• Arranged for limo transport from Chania to Kissamos. (still April 23)
• BAC BIKE TOUR, 10 DAYS
• Arranged for limo transport from Kissamos to Heraklion (May 3).
• Arranged for ferry from Heraklion to Santorini.
• Made hotel reservations for 2 nights in Santorini. (May 3-4)
• Arranged for ferry from Santorini to Mykonos.
• Made hotel reservations for 2 nights in Mykonos. (May 5-6)
• Arranged for ferry from Mykonos to Athens port Rafina.
• Transported us from Athens port Rafina to Athens port Piraeus.
• Arranged for ferry from  Athens port Piraeus to Hydra.
• Made hotel reservations for 2 nights in Hydra. (May 7-8)
• Arranged for ferry from Hydra to Athens port Piraeus.
• Transported us from the Athens port Piraeus to the Athens airport, where he picture was taken.

We were given a time table and everything went like clock-work.  If we were to be picked up at 5:30 am, we were picked up at 5:30 am.  They gave us an envelope for each day with the needed tickets and vouchers.  Dimidis Tours is dedicated, detailed and professional.  We can’t praise them high enough.  They’re a world-wide travel agency; but of course are experts in Greece.  Their office is in Athens.

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Rick Steve's says “a vacation in Hydra (EE-drah) is a vacation from Greece”.  This seems true.  Athens is crowded; traffic is terrible.  Our taxi driver yesterday said “Athens is chaos”.  And the islands of Santorini and Mykonos are crowded, even though the season hasn’t begun.  So Hydra, a sleepy fishing village with no cars or motor scooters is more relaxing than the rest.  There are shops along the port and most of them seem to be local, not shops from London, Paris and New York.  One exception is Brooks Brothers.  We has another great dinner last night from the patio shown below on the right.  Photo on the left is of the Hydra taxi stand (donkeys).

Left, below:  Hydra from across the bay.  Although tiny, Hydra played a part in the Napoleonic Wars and enjoyed glory in the 18th and 19th centuries when it was known as “Little England”.   Center photo is typical for the waterfront and the other photo is typical of the small lanes in town.

Brenda and I were talking about Greece last night and we both agreed it was one of our best vacations. What’s not to like?

• Experience the cradle of civilization.  From monuments to ruins you get a good sense of ancient history.  Who realized that 5,000 years ago some people lived in stone houses with indoor plumbing?  Even more amazing when you think of the millions of impoverished people today living, at best, in tents.
• Blue, blue water and a lot of steep hills.  White-washed buildings, constantly refreshed, made everything seem clean.  Spoiled only by excessive graffiti in the larger cities.
• Extremely friendly people who speak English.  Even if you tell a vendor you’re not eating at his café, he’ll thank you anyway.   One of the vendors told me “You come as a customer; you leave as a friend.”  I believe him.
• Really nice hotels and great food.  We’re in tiny Hydra staying at the Leto hotel.  It must be 5-star because they do everything for you.  After 3 weeks here, we haven’t had a bad meal.  And the white wines from Santorini are among the best white wines anywhere. We also like the outdoor cafes and bars which are everywhere in Greece.
• I guess the only negative is the high unemployment, but we don’t see it.  And the people we do run across seem very happy.

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One final note on Santorini: they have really good bus service.  The bus station is cramped and chaotic but the busses go everywhere on the island.  We went to the south most point, the north most point and the port; the fare averaged 2 Euro per trip.

Santorini and Mykonos have very different vibes.  Santorini being very romantic and Mykonos the ‘party’ island.  While Santorini was in full swing, everything open, Mykonos opens later in the season.  There were still hotels that were closed.

The ferry ride from Santorini to Mykonos was 2 hours and 20 minutes.  A slower ferry was half the price but took twice as long.  For the first time we were disappointed in the accommodations.  In the first place the hotel was miles from town, a 10 Euro taxi ride.  And then their internet had been down for days. The final straw was at breakfast where we found the weakest coffee imaginable. On Saturday night we walked to the beach for a restaurant recommended by the hotel.   Once again, we had a great meal .  Was it the best? I wasn’t sure but Brenda loved the presentation.  Shown appetizer with grilled Halloumi cheese, zucchini strands and tomato jam, sea bass and tuna steak.

The town of Mykonos was purposely laid out in a maze in order to confuse and slow down anyone attacking them.  It surely worked on us.  Along the quiet, except for tourists, white-washed lanes are high end shops.  Not bad for an impoverished country.  The small lanes seemed quite crowded to us.  It is hard to imagine what July & August, the busiest months, would look like.

     

These are very interesting churches. These are difficult to photograph, partly because you can’t get the proper distance and partly because of the tourists.  The church in the 3rd photo was the northern most section of the Little Venice section of Mykonos Town, or sometimes called Hora.  This piece of land has been continuously inhabited since 3000 BC

On Monday, our last stop, Hydra, a town with no cars, but a huge cat population.

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With the riding over, we begin the third part of our vacation, island hopping.  I may write one blog per island instead of one blog per day.  We have a 2.5 hour shuttle drive from Kissamos to Heraklion and then a 2.5 hour boat ride to Santorini.  High winds slowed the  boat and may prevent the spectacular sunset which this island is known for.  We’re staying in the town of Fira.

Sitting on an edgy stack of tectonic plates, Santorini was created by volcanic activity that lasted for more that two million years.  Around 1630 BC the island experienced one of the largest volcanos in human history.  This created a tidal wave which may have destroyed part of the Minoan civilization in Crete.  The volcano’s destruction can still be seen.

We’re staying at the Atlantis Hotel.  Walked up a cobble covered lane looking at menus for dinner.  ‘Made reservations at an Italian restaurant with good views of the sunset.  We’ve had winds in excess of 20 mph and it’s been very hazy so there may not be a sunset today.  As you will see, there was no sunset today but the food was delicious and the service was EXCELLENT.  Below are photos of the Greek Christian Orthodox Church.

This town is a maze of narrow shopping lanes.  Not much of a sunset tonight.  The 2 photos below are the same scene, just before dusk and after dark.

 

 

Today we visited the ruins of the town of Akrotiri, a prehistoric town that was first damaged by an earthquake then weeks later buried by 5 meters of volcanic ash from one of history’s largest volcanic eruption, probably around 1637 BC. Like the Roman ruins of Pompeii after it, it is remarkably well-preserved. Frescos, pottery, furniture, advanced drainage systems and three-story buildings have been discovered at the site. This town was quite large for 1700 BC with an estimated size of 10,000 sq. meters or approximately 107,000 sq. ft. with a population estimated at 5000 people. After the initial earthquake many fled but returned to begin the rebuilding process. The volcano began emitting gasses and a huge caldera formed in the sea. During this time the population permanently evacuated the town, taking all their possessions, freeing their livestock and slaves. No human or animal remains have been found inside the town. There is no information if the fleeing people reached safety or perished in the sea.

The frescos have been removed and are in either the Athens Archeological Museum or the Museum of Prehistoric Fira. Excavation on this site began in 1967 and lasted for 10 years. It is estimated that only 5% of the town is excavated. In early 21^st century the Greek government built a roofed structure over the exposed ruins. The building and walkways around the through the ruins are amazing, but at a cost of 44 million euros.

We went to Oia last night to try to find a sunset but all we found were clouds and some neat buildings, and another good dinner.

An observation about visual differences between Crete and Santorini.  Both use stucco as an exterior building material and typically the stucco is painted white or some light color.  In Santorini more of the buildings are white and have a barrel shape on the roof.  There is also a lot more blue in Santorini.  Some say that during the Ottoman occupation and the Greek flag could not be flown, Santorini used the blue to make the entire island scream ‘I’m Greek’.

Our last activity in Santorini  was to visit the  Museum of Prehistoric Fira.  This contains much of the art recovered in the Akrotiri excavation.  Men/boys were depicted with a reddish pigment which signified they work on the sea or in the fields, so they had a tan.  Women have white skin indicating they do not labor outside.

Below are urns (for wine?) and a bath tub.  Remember they had indoor plumbing and toilets!

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We rode to a Greek “May Day” festival.  Not sure if this is the equivalent of our Labor Day or just a celebration on the changing of the season.  We were told that food would be free but  that was “Fake News”.  Anyway, the cost was justified and we enjoyed the food, music, dancing and just participating in a local event.  The instrument on the right is in the lute family.

I don’t know why I haven’t taken a photo of an olive grove, so here is one.  A couple of people are leaving the bike ride early so we take advantage of this for a group photo.

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We note that a lot of the Greek people smoke and it’s allowed in at least some restaurants.

Last night we were entertained by two local musicians.  I wasn’t expecting much from this but they were really good. At one point the cook and her assistant came out and danced.  Some of us joined them.

The picture above  is of Gainnis, the bartender,  with Brenda and Patrice.  Gainnis is a character; we’re always playing jokes on each other.  For instance, the first night we were there we ordered a bottle of wine and gave him our room number. Later he came back saying he forgot it and could I give it to him again? I said “No” and the table loved it.  The next night he brought a bottle of wine and 4 glasses, 3 wine glasses and one smaller than a shot glass for me.

Today Brenda hiked the Agia Irini Gorge, 7 km and 500 meter drop.  Lots of flora along the way.  The original plan was to hike the Samaria Gorge, twice as long as Agia Irini.  But some rain made this one dangerous and the park department closed it for today.   You probably don’t recognize it but the body of water below is the Libyan Sea.

  

The purple flower above is named ‘Dragon Lady of Crete’.  It is only found in a few places on the island and the Irini Gorge is one of them.  It is very striking and at certain stages of development emits a very pungent odor, like some animal died.  There were quite a few specimens and thankfully only a few were in that stinky stage.  The yellow flower is unidentified.