From Athens we caught the tube from the sparkling clean, almost brand new tube stations to the port. I now love cities with metro systems. No matter what the language, how far away or how weird a place you want to go to, the tube is cheaper than any bus (except in London) and really, really easy.
We hopped on our ferry to Paros at 3pm. We choose the cheapest ferry so, after six hours of boredom watching the ferry chug out black smoke and island-spotting, we finally arrived at 9pm.
We had prebooked our cheapest accommodation yet, 13 Euros each a night, and got picked up off the ferry by the owner. When we first got off the ferry I didn't know what was going on as people all come rushing forward waving signs and shouting at you. Then I remembered reading in the Lonely Planet that this is what the hotel owners do at any time of night to get customers.
Paros is a beautiful island with heaps of sandy beaches, two main towns and lots of white-washed buildings and pavements painted white, like any good Greek island should be. The summer season has now ended in Europe so everywhere is much quieter and the restaurants empty. Lots of places even close until the next summer season. Its still busy though so it must be packed in summer.
We spent three days on Paros and had a really good time. We hired a 50cc scooter for two days and did the 65km circumference of the island, saw different beaches and villages. We swam at a very nice beach the locals use called Krios with its white sand, clear blue sea and surprisingly unlittered beach. On our second time Ol spent half an hour helping this funny Greek lady push her car out of the sand.
Our apartment, in a block of 5 other empty apartments, had a kitchenette, double bed, air-con, TV, private bathroom and balcony. It was great. We liked Paros so much that we even tried to look for work, but for an island of only 10,000 or so, at the end of their summer season, few people offered jobs. I did find some work as an English teacher but we could find little else so we decided to head off and see Santorini.
The Lonely Planet called Santorini the most beautiful of the Greek Islands, which it would be if it didn't have so many tourists on it. We got to take advantage of the mad hordes of hotel owners screaming at you when exiting the ferry and choose a pretty nice, cheap place to stay. The system is great because you get off the ferry, hardly move, choose your accommodation and then get driven straight there with very little hassle and no extra cost.
Santorini is built on a volcano, once round, it is now crescent-shaped with the rest of it under the sea. One side of the island is a sheer, stepped cliff exposing the layers of different coloured rock. Fira, the capital, is built on, and over, the edge of this cliff, over 200m from sea-level. The most beautiful and touristy area is literally built on the stepped cliff. Many precarious stairways lead down to hotels and restaurants built on platforms overhanging the caldera. In 1956 a huge earthquake destroyed most of Fira and much of it has been rebuilt in what seems like 'Greek' buildings that tourists want to see.
The main problem with Santorini, or Shit-orini as Ol called it, is that the Island is full of tourists. I would hate to see it in the actual high season. The Island seems especially popular with Americans, particularly older Americans who can hardly make their way up the multitude of narrow, steep staircases and sometimes you just want to shove one of them to see them fall like dominos.
We enjoyed ourselves though, seeing the painted-blue domed churches, all the stray cats and the white-washed buildings with blue detailing. We went to a black sand beach, which had tiny black pebbles instead of sand. The tiny pebbles felt great to dig your toes into and to swim on. We sat on some of the beach loungers for hire, without getting kicked off or paying - much better than sitting in all the cigarettes and bottle caps
Mediterrean beaches have generally been filthy, filled with cigarette butts and rubbish. In fact the whole of the Mediterrean is filled with people who chain smoke everywhere, including under no smoking signs quite often, and who litter anywhere.
After two nights in Santorini we decided to head to Crete. Unfortunately, our only option there was the fast expensive ferry that takes half the time but costs double the amount, has no deck to sit on, no restaurants or anything to explore and crap windows that make you feel seasick.
We arrived at Crete's capital, Heraklio, at night and had to walk 15 minutes to our hostel. Heraklio is a Big city, with 165,000 people, 8 Vodafones within a 5 minute walking radius and the cheapest crepes yet. I had honey on our first morning and then lemon and sugar the next and they tasted fantastic. We also had some excellent souvlaki (meat on a stick kebabs) and Greek salads.
The restaurant staff in Greece drive you crazy though. They hassle everyone who walks past and you must speed read menus as you move. God-forbid if you stop and turn a menu page because that’s when they attack and before you realise it, you're eating terrible, microwaved food that you didn't want and that costs heaps.
From Heraklio we headed to Chania, said Hahn-yah, on the North-East of Crete. Chania is a very nice place. It has an old town, a modern, busy new town with a Dominos Pizza place and a Body Shop, with the sea on one side of the town and the mountains behind. We got our accommodation at the bus station from a Greek-Canadian guy fishing for customers and for 12.50 Euros each a night we got another air-con, kitchenette and balcony apartment, no TV though.
After 4 nights at this place and exploring some of Chania, we have decided to spend a month here to see a bit of the place and maybe find some work....which we have just started looking for now.
From
Sophie and Ollie.
(In the Southern most part of Europe hoping the sun doesn’t go away.)
