Good Friends, Bad Wine

After spending a relaxing week on the Island of Crete, both Alison and I were excited to head to Athens, Greece. This was our third trip to Athens but this time we had plans to stay for a few days and explore the city. Most people we had spoken to about Athens had very little compliments about it but none of this mattered because we were overjoyed about picking up our dear friend Melissa from the airport. While we were still in Istanbul we called Melissa to say hello and chat, well during our conversation I got the idea to suggest she come out and visit for a week or so. I quickly looked up flights and the price was good so I told her it would be a blast if she wanted to join us for the last leg of our trip in Greece. Three days after we spoke she sent us an email saying she bought her ticket and was flying out to meet us. Well the time had come and Alison and I went to the Athens airport and waited for her arrival.

Melissa arrived on the Greek Orthodox Good Friday and for the following three days we toured around Athens and took part in the Easter festivities. For most of you, you celebrated Easter the weekend before but for the Greek Orthodox they celebrate lent for 55 days verses the standard 40 that we acknowledge, so Easter happened to follow exactly a week later this year. For the Greeks, Easter is the most important holiday because it means Christ has risen. On the evening of Melissa’s arrival the people of Athens gathered together in Syntagma square and held a moving candle light procession through the streets of Athens. This similar event happens at around 11pm the following night, the night before Easter Day. Everyone heads to the Resurrection Mass and at midnight all lights are turned off to symbolize Christ’s passing and then within a few short minutes the candles are lit and Christ is resurrected. People spiral out into the streets, candles in hand, fireworks are set off and everyone returns home and enjoys a feast of Easter cooking’s and Greek dancing.

Aside from taking part in the Greek Easter festivities we did a small bit of sightseeing. Most things were closed do to the holidays but we did happen to make it to the Acropolis and the National Archeological Museum. If there is one thing we noticed about Greece it is a walking archaeological country. Everywhere you go there are ruins to walk through and archaeological museums to visit. A bit of history about Athens, it received its name from the Greek goddess Athena, whom planted an olive tree which symbolizes peace and prosperity. The Acropolis was built as a thank you to Athena and was inhabited till the late 6th centaury BC. The Acropolis has suffered a great deal of destruction by human actions as well as natural causes. Never the less, the Acropolis is regarded as Greece’s masterwork of classical Greek architecture and I would agree. Walking through we were taken back by the views from which we could see. The Acropolis is located at the top of this hill which is roughly in the center of Athens and all around the grounds we could see the big city of Athens below. The Acropolis consists of two theaters, Propylaia, Temple of Athena, Parthenon, Erechtheion and a few statues. Our favorite, as well as most others is the Parthenon, probably do to its grandness. It is architecturally constructed of 8 columns at either end and 17 on each side. The detail, shape and height of this temple just takes your breath away and makes you blink twice, it is definitely a site to see.

With the holidays over and only a few days left we spent our last few days on Santorini Island. Santorini is known for two things, its beautiful sunsets and its whitewashed homes, both of which we were able to see. Instead of staying in the capital we opted to stay in a town called Perissa which was right by the beach. For our first day we spent the afternoon lying out on the black beach, relaxing and enjoying the sun. It ended up being a good thing because the remaining days were windy and cloudy. We had booked an all day tour to visit the volcanic island Nea Kameni, swim in the hot springs and have lunch on Therasia Island, but due to extreme wind the tour was cancelled, so instead we rented a car and drove around the very small island. When I say small I mean it, it takes less then one hour to get from one end of the island to the other. We took the car around stopping at several wineries, towns and beaches. Since the three of us are big wine drinkers, we wine tasted at a few wineries but in all honesty wine is not Greece’s specialty, the wine was average (this is me being nice). Although the wine was average we still enjoyed ourselves. In between the wineries we stopped in Fira the capital and strolled through the whitewash streets, enjoyed a frappe (iced coffee), satisfied our tummies with a Gyro and then continued on our way to Oia. Oia is another big city but most popularly known for its sunsets. We drove down to the port and sat on the ledge where we watched the sun go down. Sadly it was a bit cloudy so we did not get to see the beautiful rays of orange, red and yellow which most sunsets have on a clear day. Unsatisfied by the sunset we drove back the following evening hoping it would be better, which it was but still not postcard perfect, oh well maybe next time.

With the wind gone by the next day we were able to make the tour. Our fist stop was to Nea Kameni volcano where we were given an explanation as to how Santornini Island was formed. Like most islands Santorini was formed do to volcanic rock. Nea Kameni is currently dormant but scientist say that lava still sits inside the volcano and the way they know this is the various hot springs that spill out by the shore side. After our hike down the volcano, the boat took us to one of the hot springs where a handful of people jumped in and swam around for a bit in the warm water. Us being slightly unprepared, partially do to thinking we were going to a hot springs facility we did not have our swim suits on and therefore did not go in. Although we could have changed on the boat, we were to lazy and plus we would have been freezing once we got out of the water so all together it did not look so appealing. Hungry and ready for lunch, we arrived at our third and final stop which was Thirasia Island. Thirasia was once joined to Santorini but during a volcanic eruption in 236 BC it separated and is now a queit little island. It’s much smaller than Santorini and there are just a few people who live on this island. After climbing several steps we reached the top where we sat over the cliff and had ourselves a nice picnic lunch.

For our last and final day on Santorini we took the car and drove around the island stopping at red beach and Boutari Wineries. We had passed this winery on the first day but opted to skip it for one reason or another. Well we passed by it again and thought to stop in and do one more wine tasting before we leave. It ended up being the best decision ever because the wine was good and this unlike the others resembled a proper winery. They had a list of all their wines; we were able to choose from roughly six wine tasting packages and were served by a knowledgeable employee. We spent a little over an hour there and walked out with four wine bottles. If I were to ever return to Santorini I would definitely stop in again and skip the rest. With a little wine in our tummies and wine in our hands we were ready to board our eight hour ferry back to Athens.

Good bye Greece, good bye friends, hello Eastern Europe!!!