Santorini, Greece

Next, Dan and I took the ferry to Santorini island, population of 13,600. Santorini is essentially what has been left from an enormous volcanic explosion in 1500 BC which destroyed the settlements thereon and led to the creation of the current geological caldera. Its spectacular natural beauty along with its eminent nightlife make the island one of Europe's top tourist hotspots.

I consider myself a decent amateur photographer with no real skills other than knowing what angles and in what light to shoot things. The unbelievable color of the ocean and the whitewashed buildings in Santorini will make anyone look like a star photographer. The two pictures above are probably my favorites of anything I've taken.

This is me at Oia about 30 seconds after sunset. The cliffs behind me afre nearly 1000 feet high! We stayed in Fira, the main town, and as in Mykonos, traveled around via moped. We rode all over the island, and hit the great red sand beach on the far side. We also watched the USA versus Italy World Cup match here. It was fun to be in Europe during the World Cup. Every TV in the whole continent has the game on, and you can almost hear the game continuously as you walk from store to restuarant to bar. There were some seriously dejected Brazilians in the streets the night they lost.

Mykonos, Greece

Dan and I took the train from Athens to the port city of Piraeus, and boarded a huge ferry bound for Mykonos. We stopped off at a couple of other islands on the way, and they all looked great, and we were psyched to get to Mykonos. We would not be disappointed. Mykonos is a lot of fun. We rented mopeds and rode all over the little island, racing each other on blind turns, and generally being idiots. After the huge crowds of Athens, this place was like a big playground. We found that there are only three colors that people paint buildings. All are whitewashed on the sides. Some houses have azure roofs, and churches have red roofs. The white buildings against the black volcanic rock and the crystal blue mediterranean water is quite a sight. We saw lots of sheep, goats and mules. As we zipped from beach to beach, we interrupted at least on couple of nude sunbathers.

Dan on his bad-ass scooter that hauled us up the hills.

The first day we went to Paradise Beach. This place was unlike any beach I've ever been to. In the US, we like our beaches to be quiet and idyllic. Perhaps there are some kids yelling and playing in the surf, but may people will just read a book, or try to sleep in the sun. Not so at Paradise Beach. This place had not one, but two, dance clubs absolutely blasting techno all day and night. Dan and I had to shout to hear each other from five feet apart. We quickly gave in and ordered some crummy Mythos beers. Around 6pm, the sunbathers abandoned the setting sun, and moved from the umbrellas back to the techno club. One bar had clearly overpowered the other by sheer decibels, and so we bellied up at the bar of Paradise Club. The club was giving free shots to any girls who would get up and dance on the bar, and there were plenty of takers. We tipped the bartender well enough that he started giving us all his "mistakes". The MC was a skinny Greek guy wearing nothing but a thong with an elephant face on the front. He cavorted around the bar like some sort of cross between Pee Wee Herman and Zoolander. We named him Elephant Boy. Occasionally he would shout out to the different nationalities at the bar "Australia, let me hear you?" And the Aussies would scream. "Italia, where are you?" More Italian screaming. Finally Elephant Boy attempted, 'USA, are you here?" Dan and I gave a small yell. No other Americans were in attendance. Other people laughed.

Finally at 9pm, we needed to get some dinner, and left Paradise Beach to ride the scooters back into town. Only mine would not start. We had no choice but to double up on Dan's moped and ride Dumb-and-Dumber style up some really steep hills back to town. We laughed so hard I thought I might wet my pants just like in the movie. We were lucky to arrive alive.

Mykonos is the best!

Athens, Greece

From Istanbul I flew directly to Athens, Greece, the birthplace of democracy. I was really excited to get to Athens, possibly more so than any other destination I've ever been to. The sight of the Acropolis is recognizable to the majority of people on earth, and is an amazingly well preserved relic of ancient history. I arrived in Athens a few hours before my friend Dan, who was meeting up with me here for a week of travel together. I took Athens sparkling new metro from the airport to my hotel. When I exited the metro, there it was, looming above just a few blocks away, the Acropolis! It was all I could do to restrain myself from running up to it and exploring every inch immediately, I knew Dan would want to do the same in a few hours.
Athens is a huge city of 3.8 million, and much of the city is just packed apartments, honking car horns, the mosquito buzz of mopeds, and grey-brown smog. Yet rising above all that, 512 feet above sea level, is the shining whiteness of 2500 years of history, visible from anywhere in the city.

The Parthenon was completed in 431 BC, making it 2437 years old at the time of my visit. It has had an interesting history over the years; the Parthenon replaced an older temple of Athena, called the Pre-Parthenon or Older Parthenon, that was destroyed in the Persian invasion of 480 BC. Like most Greek temples, the Parthenon was used as a treasury. In the 6th century AD, the Parthenon was converted into a Christian church dedicated to the Virgin. After the Ottoman conquest, it was converted into a mosque in the early 1460s. On September 28, 1687, an Ottoman ammunition dump inside the building was ignited by Venetian bombardment. The resulting explosion severely damaged the Parthenon and its sculptures.

The ladies pictured above are descendants of that Ottoman Empire. They were here on a tour from Istanbul. I was wearing my newly purchased "Turkey" shirt, which was a foolish gaffe on my part. Turkey and Greece have chilly relations. They currently have divided the island of Cyprus between them, and a wall and soldiers separate the two cultures. Wearing a "Turkey" shirt to the Acropolis is the equivalent of wearing a Red Sox jersey in Yankee stadium, or perhaps a "Viva Fidel!" shirt at the Republican National Convention. I should have known better. In this case it turned out OK. I was besieged by a group of middle-aged Turkish ladies who were thrilled to see a strange American wearing their country's colors. They wanted pictures with me, and they tried to convince me to get on their tour bus with them, the lady with the big white hat even promising me that I would like her daughter back in Istanbul.

Above is the "Porch of Maidens" on the Erechtheum, built in 407BC. The statues on this temple are the best preserved on the Acropolis.

The Temple of Hephaestus, in central ancient Athens, Greece, is the best-preserved ancient Greek temple in the world, but is far less well-known than its illustrious neighbour, the Parthenon. It was built in 449 BC on a site with a commanding view of the Athenian Agora.
We found a tortoise basking in the sun between 2400 year old marble columns. Athens has small pockets of ruins all over the city. One can walk around, turn a corner, and bump into huge arches and columns at any moment.

When we tired from looking at marble, we headed to the Plaka for dinner. The Plaka has hundreds of restaurants with outdoor seating, great for people watching, listening to the street performers, and for being hassled every 6 minutes by some child selling some worthless object in mass quantities. When we were there the item of choice was a set of magnetic balls that make an annoying clicking sound when clasped together. There were literally a hundred street urchins hawking these things that any parent would take away from their child within the first hour. Still, we enjoyed Athens; very walkable, safe and clean. The sight of the Parthenon lit by floodlights at night was just amazing.