Transit and Chios

We took a ferry from Santorini back to Piraeus where our friends to a taxi to the airport when we arrived at 15:30.  We got some tickets for a ferry to Chios at 19:00.  The ferries to and from Santorini were rather new (6yrs), the one to Chios (the “Lissos”) was one of the older ferries (36 yrs) servıng the islands.  The later is a rather large boat and it showed it`s age. 

We arrived in Chios at 4:30 am. Fortunately a coffe shop was open.  So after a nice hot coffee and storing our bags in lockers in the waiting room we walked around town during the pre-dawn and dawn ours.  Once businesses opened we rented a car for a couple of days and started our explorations.

First we checked out the old villages (Pyrgi, Olympi, Mesta) in the south of the İsland and then headed for the center were we rented a room in an old style building in Avgonyma.  On day two we explored the north-west of the island.

Santorini

For this island words are really not enough. We have done pretty much all the main atttactions:
– Sunset in Oia (the typical blue church domes and traditional windmills)
– Ancient Thera (rather large town on hill 400m above sea level, dates back over 2500 years)
– Black beaches at Perissa
– Wine tasting and wine museum
– Boat trip to vulcano dome in center of crater (incl. hike to top and swim into warm springs from boat)
– Relaxing on hotel patio with awesome caldera view

Stuck in Piraeus

We took a taxi from Athens to Piraeus all pumped up about our ferry ride to Santorini. When we got to the ferry we learned that the public transportation strike now also kept the ferries from leaving. It took the better part of the morning to figure things out.  During the confusion and information gathering we hooked up with some other travellers from Australia and the US.  We did a little exploring of Priaeus, which must be one of the worst places in Greece to spend a day.  We walked some streets in town we wished we hadn’t entered. One block was just full with drunks and addicts.

In the evening we got some food and Ouzo and had a little party.  So at the end of the day we didn’t spent the day in the vacation paradise we were aiming for, but made a memorable experience out of it (with some positive memories).

The next day we got on the ferry and arrived in Santorini, but more about that later as my access timer in this cafe is running out and I’m out of coins.

Akropolis, etc.

Today we did the main sights in Athens (Akropolis, Agora, Roman Agora). I was rather disappointed. Not just be the crowds which I felt where heavier then 20 years ago when I came the first time, but the renovation work on the Parthenon is massive and they are doing the whole thing at once. Bottom line: there is no angle from which you can view this main temple and main symbol of Greece with our scaffolding or cranes.

We also did some planning for our upcoming trip to the islands. That will start tomorrow morning if all goes well. I said that since the public transport I praised in previous post will be on strike tomorrow! So no bus or metro to the port. I hope we won’t have to fight to hard with everyone for a taxi.

Dinner was right next to the fence at the Agora ruins with a great view of the Akropolis above us. Priceless!

Istanbul to Athens

We took the sleeper train from Istanbul to Athens. Leaving Istanbul at 21:00. Before boarding the train we stocked up on some baklava (my absolute favorite Mediterranean dessert) and water. The train took off exactly on time and was quite empty. The sleeper compartments were quite comfortable, but the service was rather lacking. The beds needed to be unlocked with a special key, we pressed the “service” button and waited. After a long wait nothing happened and I saw other travellers having the same problem (looking for personnel). So I approached a young turkish guy and he told me he had seen the staff playing cards in another car of the train, not their office, he said we could wait a long time. But he then went and got those guys going.

At about 1am we were woken up by Turkish immigration and customs. After about half an hour we got the passport back. The train then moved for another half hour and the Greek immigration and customs guys knocked on our door. After that we had a quite ride to Thessaloniki where the train arrived 3.5 hours late. Of course we missed our connection and all other trains for the day were booked solid. What to do? Staff in the train station was not friendly and helpful, including the information booth guy.

People on the street outside one the other hand were quite helpful, but English did not get us far. Then a Chinese guy approached us (I think he was glad to see Asian faces 🙂 and Srisuda communicated with him in Mandarin. We pieced info together and found a bus to Athens. It took a little longer than the train and was not as comfortable, but was an ok solution. My friend and I almost missed the bus though! Srisuda and his wife where already on the bus when we decided we had time to grab a couple of SIM cards for our phones at the store. Turned out that we needed help by the clerk in activating them since everything was in Greek. We ran after the bus and got on. Srisuda said she yelled “stop” from the back but did not get a response at first until a Greek passenger helped her getting the drivers attention.

Getting close to Athens we made hotel reservation from the bus with our new SIM cards. It was an easy transfer from the bus station to the hotel via metro, again great public transport.

We had dinner in the Plaka district just below the Akropolis. After that trip the beer tasted especially good!

Navigation

Navigating the bazaars and small streets of Istanbul is so much more difficult then finding a route in the Mojave. I used my compass more during our city exploration than when doing 4×4 trips 😉

On our 2nd full day in town we explored the area of the Golden Horn, crossed the Galata Bridge and walked past the Galata Tower to Taksim square. From there we took the Funicular (sp?) down the hill and the tram back. Public transport is super efficient over here and it has to be with 13 Mill. people. In fact, walking the main shopping street up to Taksim square we got separated and in the crowds. I’ve not walked in a crowd like this before.

Along the way we tried various snacks offered by street venders. To bad I can’t upload pics (this internet cafe charges an arm and leg to rent a card reader…). We tried roasted fish, clams stuffed with spice rice and some sweets.

Tourists!!

Today we hit some of the main tourist sites in Istanbul. To bad I don’t have an easy way to upload pics…The curious can find images via google.

Sites:

– Blue Mosqoue; huge 400 year old building, very impressive dome!

– Aya Sofia; another impressive dom; this building was a church for it’s first 1000 years, then Constantinople was conquert and the new muslim rulers decided the building would make a nice mosque

– Byzantine Cistern; this is a giant underground cistern build by the Romans. Unbelievable what they put together here

– Spice Market; big market hall with all kinds of shops but mostly spices and traditional sweets

– Grand Bazaar; actually one enormous tourist trap; I can’t count how often I was asked today if I wanted to buy a carpet!

The area aroun the above markets is full with shops of all sizes and shapes where one can by anything.

The density and variety of historic sites here is rather unique. So much history was made here by the Greek, Romans, Ottomans with there different cultures and religions

Day 1

From friend’s iphone…

– stop over in New York for Times Square, Empire State Bldg. We had never been there

– arr Istanbul 10am, took metro&tram to town

– hopped on ferry to Asia side, checked out little streets,met our friends and there business partners for first great Turkish meal

Fantastic day!!