Greece
This page will be really long because I spent a full 10 days in Greece, which was a lifetime too little…
Saturday the 18th
After arriving from Munich the day before I had crashed at a hotel and called it a night. First thing Saturday I got up and headed to the Acropolis. As far as Athens goes, it is not exactly the white classical cradel of democracy you may have read about in history books. It is a urban sprawl, a mess. Which is a nice was of saying it’s pretty much a shithole. The nice thing is everything worth seeing is packed in one area at the city center. So I hiked up the Acropolis hill to a nice panorama view of the city.
As just about everyone can name this site…it is the Parthenon(not the Pantheon). I thought I was unlucky to see it under construction, but apparently it is always under construction. Those pictures of it not under construction(used for postcards, etc.) were taken 15 years ago, or so I hear.
Onto the only other thing worth seeing in Athens. The National Archaeological Museum! Although the British stole a lot of things, this museum is still loaded with classical sculptures and much much more. This one in particular is the famous death mask of Agamemnon.
My favorite statue. It’s striking because it is extremely rare to find a non-upright classical statue. Especially in such great shape.
Pondering Aristotle.
One of the better preserved statues. Definitely helped to know a bit of Greek mythology!
I took an overnight ferry from Athens to Crete with the intention of island-hoping back towards Athens. This didn’t quite go according to plan…
The primary reason I came over to Crete was to go visit one of the oldest palaces in the world at Knossos. This is something like 3000 years old from Minoan times. It’s partially reconstructed but for the most part it is just a pile of stones, hah! Nice to see something so old though, makes you think.
I thought this shot turned out well and captured a lot of the spirit of Santorini.
Happy 20th to me! Birthday dinner, probably in the most gorgeous location I have ever dined. Plus it’s Greek food.
Did I mention I love Greek food?
Here’s another reason why I hate Greece, because it’s so majestic and I can’t be there anytime soon. Also another shot from where I ate dinner.
Hanging out at the hostel on the beach. Bit sunburnt but having a good time as you can see.
Pictured from left to right. Crazy Australian who at least said his name was “Dingo,” Anna, a Scottish girl I met, me, Lousie, another Scottish girl and Anna’s friend. Finally Evan, guy from Virginia I met as well. In the back is some American guy. I got complimented for not being an typical American douche backpacker(as he said the that guy was). Pretty proud of that, hah.
Somehow I woke up for the sailboat tour of the island. The season was closing up I guess because it was 15euro for 5 hours on a nice boat! Here’s a stop with Anna, Louise, Debi and I on top of the volcano. It’s active, but somehow I don’t think I’m that unlucky. If I were it’d be one hell of a way to go out, hah!
What better way to finish a day than to see Oia’s(northern Santorini) famous sunset. Look closely, check out all those people lined up to see it! There were honeymoon pictures taken here while I was there too, what a great place for it.
As my last act on Santorini, after much financial debate–especially since my wallet was stolen–I decided to cough up the 50 euro for a dive! They don’t care about certification, and its gorgeous. I couldn’t resist. I really wish I had an underwater camera to remember it by. They gave me fish food and a school of fish surrounded me, it was wonderful.
Posted in Emails Home |
July 21st, 2008 at 6:31 am
Some may say that we (the greeks) aren’t as hospitable as we used to be. It’s not like that… It just makes us sad when tourist teens go wild all over the country. I don’t think that anybody would like to have half-naked, drunken and swearing teens lying around. Judging from your pics, it seems like you have better ways of having fun (despite your young age). So, what else, than to hope to have you back some day
PS Check out northern Greece next time you visit. Great landscapes, beaches (chalkidiki, samothraki, mount athos etc)
Stay well