Greece Lightening

Getting off the ferry upon arrival at a Greek Island was like going back in history to our time in Asia... in just the same way we were met by hoardes of local touts who mobbed us in an attempt to secure tenants for their various forms of holiday accomodation. Amusingly, they all bargained the price down amongst themselves so that we didn´t have to do any negotiation but instead just wait for them to finish arguing amongst themselves. It was about a month before peak season... and the prices were about 1/3 what they would have been in just another few weeks!

As you imagine, just about everything in the Greek Islands that can be painted is blue and white. Apparently it is law to paint your buildings white, while the colour of the doors and windows is left to your own discretion. We personally think that blue paint is heavily subsidised!! On Mykonos we found it hard to tell one building from another - the shops, houses, offices etc all looked virtually identical. Our enthusiastic land lady on Naxos assured us that we couldn´t possibly get lost getting back to our apartment in the heart of the old town... her definition of lost and ours must differ significantly as we spent an extended period of time wandering the labyrinthe of cobblestoned streets searching for our blue and white abode amongst the thousands of others.




Santorini. A volcano island, of awesome views and tiring walks!

A hot model on the top of a hot rock. The middle core of the volcano. Last eruption in 1950, but small tremors are aparently not uncommon.

Typical greek island. Brilliant blue water, and a white church on a precipice. (The circular rim of the volcano can be seen when you join the two land masses in the background.)


The weather was a bit too cool for us to get our gear off and hit the water... but it surely didn´t stop plenty of overweight, pasty white European tourists from getting there´s completely off!! Due to this unattractive beach scenery we avoided hanging out at the waterside and instead spent our time exploring the islands on scooter.

* Mykonos was rather ugly... the coastline was beautiful but the island itself was barren and littered with rocks and churches - both amazingly numerous!!. Private chapels (of course blue and white) are present in many backyards and have been built on almost every high rock peak on the island.

* Naxos was much more intersting, still with beautiful beaches and an abundance of churches... but it also has a varied landscape and actually had some hills and trees. Tim was impressed with the many winding roads that the island for hair raising exploration trips by motorbike.

* The volcanic island of Santorini was absolutly stunning. The island is edged by cliffs that form the rim of the volcano with the core being a separate island in the middle of the ring. The drive up the cliff from the port at the bottom was absolutely magical!



A magnificent sunset over the outer rim of the volcano island.
This was taken at the same time as a wedding was taking place next door. Very nice back drop!


What Greece is famous for. The water is amazing! Photos just dont do it justice. (W.A still kicks butt in terms of sand though!)


Ancient Greece mixed with modern Greece on the beautiful island of Naxos.
A sea of stark white with a touch of blue to match the actual sea of brilliant blue with the ocassional touch of white!


He-man... a legend in his own lunchbox. Able to lift heavy things with ease after extensive training with his backpack.


A humanoid, left abandoned in a quarry. Also a big marble statue that wasnt finished!


Motorbike heaven! Twisty roads up and down the mountains! Tim loved it, Renee got freaked a few times and the rented scooter got returned with a few ground down foot pegs! Ooops!
The cut out hill in the background is a marble quarry. Very cool to see the huge blocks being cut out and moved.


A traditional windmill; minus the sails. Few have them any more. The sails are triangular and rolled up on each "stick blade" you can see. (A neat pulley system opens and closes them.)


Renee wanted this picture... To remember what colours the buildings were, I think.


One of the many many churches. Its not uncommon for people to have one that holds just a few people ... in their back yard! Strangely they are all blue and white. Not to mention being built on the most difficult places to get to. (usually the peak of a hill or hanging off a cliff over the water!)


With bells on it. (And they ring constantly all over the country.)


Strange on two counts. (not including Tim). Why they decided on such a small door we dont know. Its a full(ish) size room. Secondally, the door is red. What!! Not Blue???!!



After some "dodgy" ferry travel from the islands we found ourselves in Athens with only one day to explore the ancient Acropolis. Probably more interesting than the famous ruins was the opportunity to witness a Eurovision final! The whole of Greece had gone Eurovision crazy as they were the host nation for 2006 after having won the year before. We watched the entire competition in the courtyard of our hostel with assorted Europeans and bemused others. It was quite an experience. Being first time eurovision viewers we required a lot of explanation from our European friends... but it became obvious that even though the best act from each country was competing in the final, quality was not a word that could be applied to the performances. It was absolutley atrocious!! For example, Germany did a Country & Western song Texan theme complete with neon cacti. In the end, Finland won with a heavy metal song called "Hard Rock Hallelujah" featuring all the band members disguised as monsters. Definitely an evening that won´t quickly be forgotten.



Here we are at the Acropolis now! :)