Feta, Wine, Ouzo & Baklava Galore! And some nice scenery too!

Rhodes

After our ferry arrived from Turkey, we checked into a very cute B&B within the old city walls and then headed out to dinner.  We enjoyed a traditional meal, eating a yummy Greek salad of course, and roast lamb, then walked the historic streets of Rhodes for a while.  Later in the evening, Wes was feeling a bit under the weather and continued to get sick all night and the following day.  After that Christine was sick.  So needless to say our visit to Rhodes was not exactly what we were hoping for.  Luckily for us the owner/operator of the B&B was a wonderful Austrian woman that took care of us like either of our grandmothers would have.  She made us special teas and toast until we were feeling a bit better.  Besides the sickness Rhodes was a great island.

We took a long walk through the moat that surrounds the entire Old Town of Rhodes.  Seeing the city walls and defenses was very cool.  We enjoyed walking the beach in the New Town and walking the old cobble stone streets and alleys of the Old Town.  We spent one day out in Lindos which is about 45 minutes toward the south of the island.  There, we enjoyed a lovely day on the beach and in the most perfect calm and clear water.  After checking out of our hotel we caught the nine hour ferry to Santorini.
 

The moat between the outer and inner walls. 

Lindos Beach

Looking through a defensive position at Rhodes Harbor

Yogurt with fresh pureed strawberries that the innkeeper made for us every morning.  We wanted to bring her home!

One of the hundreds of ancient cobblestone streets near our hotel

Another shot of the moat.  Pretty for a walk today, but a nasty place to be caught in the 1300's!

Santorini

The ferry from Rhodes to Santorini was about nine hours but our boat was the size of a small cruise ship so it was very comfortable.  The seas were quite smooth and the time passed fast.  We arrived very late at night, checked into our hotel, and got some sleep.  When we woke in the morning we walked to look out over the Caldera and were stunned.  Out of all the amazing things we have seen this trip this was towards the top of the list for the most beautiful.  The way the cliff just falls into the piercing blue ocean and the stark white and blue domed buildings is really something everyone should experience.  We strolled the streets and took in the easy Greek lifestyle.  Sitting drinking coffee and enjoying the view is top on their list of things to do (and we like how they think!)

Volcanic Caldera that shapes modern Santorini today.  The rest of the island disappeared into this crater in 1650BC.

Another of the many beautiful Greek Orthodox churches in the area.

Sunset from the edge of the Caldera.

We hiked from Fira, the town we were staying in, to Oia, the town most commonly photographed in Greek tourism.  The four hour hike was incredible and around every turn we stopped to take in the scenery.  Oia was a lovely town, less touristy, and exactly what you picture a small Greek town on the Mediterranean to look like.  We enjoyed a delicious salad with roasted figs, local Assyrtico wine, lemon pie, kataifi (a delicious version of baklava as if it needs to be more delicious), and Wes enjoyed some local ouzo.  We had a great night watching the sunset over the Caldera.  After dinner and tasty drinks, we took the local bus back to Fira instead of hiking again!

Fira is on the middle right edge and Oia is way off in the distance above and left of center.

Cliff side buildings of Fira from the next town over, Firostefani.

The church bells are hand rung all over the island in the afternoons.

 Domes and clock towers like this are everywhere.

Our new favorite salad ingredient..figs!

Before dinner in Oia with Fira behind us.

Sunset after dinner in Oia.

We spent the next few days exploring around the island on an ATV.  We visited some wineries, explored a little town with black sand beaches, the island's lighthouse, a monastery and scenic views at the top of a mountain, and found a bakery we will never forget!  We had the most amazing baklava and various other Greek pastries that we will probably ever eat!!  (we made a special trip out to this bakery the next day for breakfast!)  On our way back to Fira, we dined at a local fresh fish restaurant overlooking the fishing boat harbor.  Santorini was perfect in every way and we hope to be back one day!

Our chariot for a couple days.

Wine tasting at Santo wines on top of the Caldera cliffs.

Our view during an afternoon at Perissa beach.

The Baklava in the foreground has to be some of the best in the world, and everything else is amazing as well!

The carnage after our fish dinner at "To Psaraki!" We were too hungry to get a 'before' shot.

Our adorable table overlooking the fishing harbor and a sunset.

We will never take the sunsets we've experienced for granted. 

Cappuccino and MORE baklava.  Breakfast of champions!

So...take a slab of feta cheese, wrap and fry in phyllo dough, drizzle with honey and sprinkle with sesame seeds on top!

Athens

From Santorini we caught another ferry to Athens.  This ferry was about six hours and bit more bumpy than the last.  So we took some dramamine and enjoyed a nice nap until we arrived.  Our bed and breakfast in Athens was exactly what we needed.  An extremely comfy bed, 2 pillows (each!), and a charm that is hard to find, right in the center of the Plaka district.  In Athens we enjoyed sidewalk cafe dining, the National Archaeological Museum, the Acropolis/Parthenon site, and the Acropolis Museum.  What we learned in Athens is that while we can definitely appreciate culture, history, and visiting old stuff for a little while, we are much more excited to be near beaches or mountains than a hundred museums and archeological sites.  That said we really enjoyed the city of Athens and feel fortunate to have been able to visit but thought overall it was a bit grungy and not our favorite city on the trip.

Ahh, now this is a hotel room a little more our style.

The architecture of the Acropolis Museum was very interesting, the exhibits just a little less so.

The Parthenon!  Very cool!

A bust in the National Archaeological Museum.  He would be less freaky if he had still had eyes!

The Greek National Archaeological Museum.

Next stop Madrid, but via Philadelphia and a Walsh family visit!