Thursday, July 17, 2014

Greece - May 2014


In May I had the opportunity to do some work for Infostat in Greece - a week of consulting with Ocean Rig in Athens. It gave me the opportunity to pay a visit back home to Derbyshire before flying to Greece and, afterwards, a holiday in Greece with Nancy. The workweek in Athens was pretty straightforward.  I stayed in Kifissia, an affluent suburb in the north of Athens full of nice shops and restaurants. and I was well looked after by Ocean Rig.  I did venture into Athens a couple of nights (Kifissia is on one end of the metro line that runs through the center of the city and out the other side to the port of Piraeus) but for whatever reason I didn’t find the city of Athens too inspiring.  An evening trip up to the Acropolis and a walk around the Plaka and I was pretty much done.

Acropolis, Athens
One thing that was quit noticeable in Athens was the abundance of graffiti.  Everywhere buildings, signs, phone booths, everything was disfigured by graffiti.  Quite a shame.
Graffiti in the streets of Athens
Nancy flew to Crete at the end of my workweek and I flew down to Heraklion on the Saturday morning to meet her. Heraklion, or Iraklio depending on your preference, is the largest town in Crete but, like Athens, I wasn’t inspired so we made plans to leave the next morning.  I passed on the nearby Minoan settlement of Knossos (a must see according to the guide books).
Heraklion
We rented a car and headed out of town the next morning (Sunday). There are abundant car rental places in Crete (and on the other Greek Isles) and it is all done in a simple non-bureaucratic and trusting way – a simple single page contract, give them a call if you need more days, bring it back with the same amount of gas, don’t worry about the minor damage no one seems to check.

We drove west along the north coast and stopped for lunch in Rethymno the next major town after Iraklio.   Again Rethymno didn’t seem too remarkable so after lunch we pushed on and found a nice beach at Almyros Bay where we took a swim.  Further to the west is the town of Chania or Hania (another example of the changes in spelling which get a bit confusing at times particularly when you throw in the Greek alphabet versions). We stumbled across the old part of the town almost by accident and found it delightful – well worth a stop for the night. We found a nice hotel (the Delfino Suites Hotel) in the old part of town. The old town and harbor are quite beautiful and so, of course, the tourists are everywhere. Despite the crowds we had a nice time walking around and trying to find a decent restaurant – Nancy was convinced that any restaurant with pictures of the food could not be good so the quest took a while.  In the end it was just ok food but there were no pictures in the menu.

Chania Harbor
Next morning we explored the harbor with its old mosque and sea wall and lighthouse.  We then drove further west and found a beach where we relaxed, swam and lunched (our first Gyro). We enjoyed Chania so much that we returned for another night - this time in the Lonely Planet recommendation of the Casa Leone - the room had a balcony overlooking the harbor - very nice.

Samarian Gorge
We wanted to visit the Samarian Gorge and since we couldn't walk from top to bottom (logistics wouldn’t work with a car) we decided to just visit the more interesting bit at the bottom of the canyon.  We drove over the hills to the south coast town of Hora Sfaklion.  We parked the car there and caught the ferry to Agia Romelli, the town at the bottom of the gorge.  The Gorge is a National Park and it is one of the must see things in Crete. We walked up about 3 km up to the narrowest part of the Gorge. It is a nice trail with lots of rickety ladders criss-crossing the streambed. The narrowest part of the gorge is fairly spectacular but maybe nothing to compare with the slot canyons of Utah.  It is a popular trail and there are some 3000 per day on the trail during the peak season – that’s a lot of people.

We caught the last ferry back from Agio Romelli to Hora Sfaklion and picked up our car. It was quite amazing to see the ferry disgorge several hundred people into the quite small village of Sfaklion and then within 15 minutes they were all whisked away on buses and cars leaving Sfaklion quite quiet. We drove on to Plakias where we found a cheap resort hotel full of German tourists - our least favorite hotel of the trip, but it came along at the right time.  
The ferry landing in Hora Sfaklion
Next morning we drove to Moni Prevelli, a monastery and allegedly another must see site on Crete. It was certainly not that impressive and certainly not worth the admission price.  More interesting was the WW II Memorial just outside town with the gun-toting priest alongside the gun-toting soldier.  Those Greek Orthodox folk do not appear to be pacifists.
WWII Memorial, Moni Prevelli
We then moved on to explore the northeastern part of the island so we headed back to Iraklio and drove east on the main road to Agios Nikolaos.  We somehow found ourselves in the little village of Mohlos.  A little off the beaten track but it had hotels and restaurants.  We had a superb meal - the best squid of the trip – and the location by the water couldn’t have been better.

Next morning we swam out to the island across from the village of Mohlos and explored the Minoan ruins and church on the now uninhabited island. Churches are everywhere in Greece - tops of hills, remote valleys, uninhabited islands, people's back yards.... everywhere.

Another great lunch in Mohlos and then we left for Iraklio for our last night in Crete. We stayed at the same hotel as before (the Megaron) and ate at the same restaurant (not so good this second time).

Catamaran to Santorini
Next morning we caught the very impressive High Speed 5 catamaran to Santorini. It is quite a vessel, large, modern, comfortable and made in, of all places, Australia.  Quicker but not as nice a journey as the old ferries – you can’t go out on deck and it is a little bumpy if the sea is rough.  

Oia, Santorini
The main port on Santorini is Athinios.  Again the ferry spilled out hundreds of people and in 10 minutes they were all on buses to the main town of Fira. Fira did not look too inviting - very busy, crowded with tourists, and the sort of place you want to escape from. The big thing there is the so-called caldera view.  Santorini and the adjacent islands are the rim of a giant caldera and the bay below Fira is the crater left when the hopefully now extinct volcano collapsed.  A cruise ship was docked below ferrying large numbers of tourists into town to add to the congestion.  There was a cable car to transport people from the port below up to the center of Fira on top of the cliff.
Oia, Santorini
We rented a car and made our escape.  It is not a very large island so you can easily get from one end to the other in less than an hour.  We headed north for the town of Oia, which is a stunningly beautiful town, nestled on the rim of the caldera and spreading down the cliffs to the sea.  Because it is so beautiful it is mobbed by tourists, but despite the crowds you can’t help but be moved by the glistening white houses clinging to the cliff with the blue domed churches scattered among them.  On the farthest western edge of town there are a few windmills, or what is left of them, which further adds to the cuteness of the place.  We wondered around, took way too many photos of blue domed churches and decided we should stay for the night.  We found a very nice place half way down the cliff – pure white in the tradition of the local buildings, but with a some modern conveniences like air conditioning and a swimming pool.

That evening we joined the seemingly thousands of other people watching the sunset over the ocean.  It wasn’t that spectacular, but watching the sunset is what you do, at least on your first night in the place.

Next morning it was time to get out of the cuteness of Oia and head south.  We visited Akrotiri and then took in some beach time at Kamari – I was getting to like the beach time.  Kamari was not really the kind of place we would have wanted to stay – a long beach, lots of sunbeds and umbrellas, restaurant after restaurant all serving the same Greek fare, and a multitude of hotels.  However, we searched all over the south end of the island for somewhere nicer to stay and couldn’t find any place so we returned to Kamari and got what was an ok room for the night. 
The beach at Kamari
On our final day on Santorini, we explored the southern end of the island some more – the town of Akrotiri, the light house at Cape Akrotiri, the Red Beach (which was red but not really something worth making the trip to see).   Finally we made a quick dash around the Minoan ruins of Thira (also not very impressive) before returning to Fila to return our car.   We wandered around Fila (crowded with tourists from the visiting cruise ship) and then caught the bus to the ferry port of Athinios and our ferry to Milos.
The run to Milos was a couple of hours and we arrived early evening in the port of Adamantas.  Nancy found a great little hotel (Hotel Notis) a short walk from the port that was everything we needed.
Kayaking, Milos
We wanted to go kayaking so the next morning (Monday) we arranged a trip with an Australian guy (Rod) who runs a kayak business on the island.  We were recommended him by my friends Gabrielle and John who had previously taken a weeklong kayaking holiday with him on Milos.  We put in the water at the little village of Firopotamus and paddled along the coast for a while before striking out for a couple of islands off the north end of the island.   Both were uninhabited; Arkadi, the larger one had no buildings and according to Rod was the largest Greek Isle without a building;  the smaller island, Akrathi, had a church and a lighthouse.  We stopped on Akathi for lunch in a little cove where we did some snorkeling and then made a trip up the hill to the church and lighthouse.  A thoroughly enjoyable trip. 
The following day, Tuesday, we rented a car (a beat up and well worn car) and drove over to the town of Plaka for lunch.  The weather turned cool and the wind got up and things looked ominous – certainly no kayaking today or tomorrow.  We moved on to the town of Pollonia at the north end of the island where we found a hotel for the night with a nice view over the 
bay.  We had some very good sea food that night in Pollonia.
Rough Seas in Pollonia
On Wednesday, we moved hotels and upgraded to a really, really nice place – almost luxurious (Hotel Melian).  It was still a little windy and the seas were rough so we explored more of the island by car – Paliochori, Kiriaki – two nice beaches on the south coast.  We drove a lot of dirt roads looking for sulphur mines and a shortcut back to Pollonia, but found neither.   We had more excellent seafood that night in Pollonia.
Thursday was a first for me – a massage at the hotel.   All very pleasant  - nice ambient music – pleasant aromas – nothing too painful - something I could get used to - maybe.  We swam and generally hung out around Pollonia.
Strange Rock Formations at Sarakiniko
On Friday we had to move out of our luxury quarters so we went down the road a 100 yards to something a couple of notches down on the luxury scale but still very nice - Hotel En Milos.  We made another trip to Plaka and hiked up to the church on the top of the hill.  Then we headed of to Sarakiniko, a beautiful beach area with some amazing rock formations.   We swam, clambered over the rocks and investigated a shipwreck just off the coast.  
On Saturday morning we had one last swim and bid farewell to Pollonia and headed over to Adamantas to catch the ferry to the mainland.  It was a 4 hour trip on the Aegean Speed Lines Catamaran to Piraeus.  As we arrived in Piraeus it started to rain.  We caught the bus out to Athens airport where we had arranged to pick up a car (and conveniently drop it off on our departure in a couple of days).  While a couple of weeks ago I wouldn’t have entertained driving in Athens, my experience in the islands was enough to make it not so intimidating.  That being said I didn’t like the way single lane traffic is converted into two lanes by everyone driving with one wheel on the shoulder thereby allowing another car to squeeze by on your left.
We drove through Athens and headed north towards our ultimate destination of Meteora.  For the most part the road was a toll road and a relatively expensive toll at that.  Tolls are certainly a cost that has to be factored in when traveling in Greece.  We stopped for the night in Chalkida a town some 75km north of Athens.  It is known for its so-called “Crazy Waters” – there is a very narrow channel (40ft) that divides the large island of Euboea from the mainland and the water flows through this channel are quite dramatic – very fast and very strong and they change direction about 4 times a day.   It is interesting to watch the boats struggling against the flow in one direction and then flying through in the other direction.
Chalkida
That night we stayed at the Hotel Lucy on the waterfront and we enjoyed walking along the promenade, which on a Saturday night was thronged with people. 


On the Sunday morning we didn’t find much to keep us in Chalkida (the fort didn’t seem to be that impressive) so we continued along up the coast towards Lamia.  It was a nice drive on smaller roads for a change.  We stopped in Domokos, a nice small town and had lunch in the square.  It was interesting how this was indeed a small town and somewhat off the beaten path, but it still had some very smart and very well appointed bars and cafés.  In fact all over Greece we found quite a lot of stylish modern bars and restaurants and a surfeit of fancy interior design stores.   Since when did Greece get to be such a stylish nation.
Meteora
We drove on in the afternoon through Karditsa, Trikala to our destination in Kalambaka the nearest town to the Meteora Monasteries.  We found a small guest house for the night and then took an evening drive around the monastery area.  It is a weird and wonderful landscape with impressive rock walls and towers of rock dominating the skyline. 
Holy Trinity Monastery, Meteora
The Holy Trinity Monastery had signs of activity so we climbed up the path to the monastery.  Normally the monastery would be closed at this time but that night there was a service going on and we got to go inside and observe the ceremony.  The Greek Orthodox services are long (multiple hours), the congregation remains standing, and just getting to the monastery itself is a piece of work so I had to have a bit of respect for all the old folk, of which there were many, that had made trek up there.  Each monastery has some cable car lift arrangement – very crude but enough to carry one or two people.  I think I would rather walk up that trust these aerial ropeways.  I learned later that this monastery featured in the James Bond film “For Your Eyes Only”.
Lift up to the monastery
On Monday morning we set off to further explore the Monasteries.    First stop was the Rousanou Nunnery.  There were some nice interior wall paintings displaying all sorts of weird and wonderful punishments inflicted on various martyrs - really awful stuff. The nuns here were quite diligent in checking the clothing of visitors (skirts and appropriate female attire required).  Then it was off to the largest monastery, the Great Meteora Monastery and the Varlaam Monastery.  All very nice and the rock towers certainly make for an impressive landscape but the monasteries themselves were a little too clean and tidy.   Though they have been around since the 13th and 14th centuries, they are perfectly manicured and in immaculate condition.  I was expecting something more authentically old and perhaps a little more dilapidated.
Rousanou Nunnery
We left town early afternoon and drove south towards Delphi. We drove through Kalambaka, Trikala, Karditsa, Lamia and then over the mountains to Amfissa.  We passed a small BritishWar Cemetery at Bralo.  The majority of the graves here post-dated the end of the war in 1918 and I discovered later that there was a hospital in the town and many of the occupants of the graveyard were casualties from the hospital and most of them victims of the flu epidemic that followed World War 1.
In Delphi we found a town that was full of restaurants and hotels, but very few people.  It was strange to walk the streets of the town and see one empty restaurant after another.  Unfortunately we picked a bad one to eat at.
Ruins at Delphi
The next morning we explored the site of Delphi (another supposed must-see for Greece).  Yes the ruins were impressive, but I think we quickly had had our fill.  A quick walk through the adjacent museum, which was indeed very good, and then we were off back to Athens. 
We lunched in a small town on the side of Mt Parnassos called Arachova.   In the winter it is a ski town, but at this time of year it was nice and cool and not at all crowded.
In Athens that evening we found ourselves in Kifissia, the area I had stayed in whilst working, and we stayed at a very nice hotel  (the Y Hotel).  In the evening we took the metro into Athens and wandered around the Plaka and nearby areas.
Schineas National Park
Wednesday was our last full day in Greece.  It was a lazy day, at least for me - Nancy went shopping.  In the afternoon I drove out to the coast east of Athens to the port of Rafina and then up the coast to the Schinias National Park where I had my last swim in the Aegean on a beautiful and deserted beach.   On the way back through Marathon I didn’t manage to find the Marathon Run Museum, but I did manage to follow the Ancient Marathon Course back into Athens.
Next morning it was an early start and an early flight back to London. 
More pictures are on Smugmug here.