Monday, November 1st
Excellent day today! We had an early wake-call in Athens. A little sore from the race, but feeling really good - all things considered. Then, we took a taxi at 6:30am headed toward Port Pireas. We arrived to board our ship (BlueStar Ferries) - set for our destination of Santorini, Greece.
Our group separated today - as Liam & Kim went north toward Meteora and the Delphi, while Kurt, Greg, and I went south to the Greek Isles. Everyone is on a slightly different travel schedule because of commitments back home - so it just worked out that way. Another great trip with Liam & Kim. We wished each other well -- I'll see them soon in North Carolina.
The Greek Isles - a place I've always wanted to visit. Which one do you go to? How do you get there? These were questions we've thought about and researched the past couple months. On Saturday before the race, we stopped into a travel agency. Kurt & Greg only had a couple days to spend. Therefore, we decided to go with one of the best (or, arguably one of the best islands per our sources). We decided upon Santorini.
We boarded the ship for our departure at 7:35am on Monday morning. We would spend the better part of the day cruising around the Greek Isles. Our arrival time in Santorini - 3:30pm. Long boat ride - but we stopped at 3 different islands along the way: Paros, Naxos, and Ios. It was perfect for our scenerio. We were able to sit back and relax while resting our legs, and see the sites along the way. Very nice!
As we arrived into our destination port, we were greeted with huge cliffs towering from the Aegean Sea. Spectacular scenery. Our hotel had sent a driver to pick us up for transport into the central town of Fira. We dumped our gear and headed out.
Wow - this place might have produced one of the best sunset views I've ever seen. We walked along this upper shelf viewing the sunken caldera below. You could see out over the volcanic islands (there are 2 smoldering comes within the sunken 6-mile wide caldera). Really incredible sites.
After sunset, we walked into the main town. We found a restaurant overlooking the bluffs. A nice dinner punctuated with some white wine - as Santorini produces 36 varieties of grapes on the island. We then headed back to the hotel arriving around 9pm. He met up with a group of 5 people from Houston, Texas (We had met them earlier at the travel agency and on our boat). We were joined by a couple from China. We spent the next 3 hours sitting out on the deck of our hotel, drinking some "free beer" from the hotel refrigerator, and telling stories until late into the night. Excellent day in the Greek Isles!
Sunset in Santorini
Sunset in Santorini
Overlooking the cliffs of Santorini
Entrance into our shipping port
Greece Flag on our boat ride
Enjoying the day after the Athens Marathon
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