Our most recent adventure started Friday, April 2nd. We left after work and headed to Athens where we met Eric and Destiny-we were so excited! Our flight to Athens was 1 hour and 45 minutes. After our reunion with Eric and Destiny, and though they had been up for what seemed like forever, we went to a little street side cafe near our apartment. We sat and enjoyed the night spring air-in Athens! After that, and most nights from there on out, we stayed up chatting-sometimes until 5 in the morning! I don't think that helps with jet lag.
The weekend brought some great meals, weather and sights. Being Easter weekend, the usual busy streets of Athens were quite. Most Greeks were spending the holiday in surrounding villages. Our apartment was situated about a 15 minute walk from the Acropolis. We explored that area extensively and ate in the Plaka a couple of times. Walking up the Acropolis and to the Parthenon was amazing, we had clear blue skies, sun over head, and few crowds!
We cooked our own little Easter dinner. At midnight went to a nearby church for part of Easter services. It was very festive- at midnight the clock bells rang, firecrackers went off endlessly, and we lit our candles at the church. It had a much different feel than the services at home.
After an enjoyable stay in Athens we decided to head to the islands. We got up early in the morning and headed for the metro down to the port to catch the boat we had booked earlier that weekend. The ferry was huge and much nicer than we were expecting. It was a high speed boat but still took 5 hours. After stopping at a few islands along the way, we made it to Santorini. We spent a couple of nights and got a feel for life in the Cyclades Islands.
Once we reached the island of Santorini, hotels were eager to advertise their accommodations. The first guy we talked to drove quite a bargain so we headed up the hill with a couple of options. The place we ended up staying at had an epic view in a town called Fira. Fira itself is perched on the cliff side and we had panoramic view of the crater and a view into downtown Fira. Quite extraordinary. We ended up with two rooms next to each other with a "private" (patio) in between that had the view of which I just spoke. It was hard to beat. It didn't take long for us to settle in and soak up some much needed vitamin D. With the sun and smiles draped on all of our faces we took a deep breath of life on the the Aegean Sea.
For the next couple of days we took walks along the ridge into town, enjoyed the amazing scenery and continued to have amazing meals-we LOVE Greek food! Tiropita, spanakopita, dolmades, tzatziki, moussaka, gyros, greek salad, pastitsio, saganaki, and baklava-YUM! Each night we enjoyed the sunset, and we even caught a morning sunrise. We took a trip out to the beach town of Kamari and walked on the black sand. What an amazing time of relaxation and sight seeing we had with our family.
Unfortunately the time came that we had to leave the beautiful island. Two flights later and a bit of time in the Athens airport and we were home in Vienna.
We got the opportunity to show Dest and Eric a bit of the city before the poor weather crept in. We did our best tour guide impersonations. While together, we loved having morning coffee, eating bowls of cornflakes, Skping with the girls, walking around town-oh and of course, introducing Eric to Kaser Krainers and taking them to have falalfel sandwiches at Dr. Falalfel. It was nice just to show them what life is like where we are living. Eventually Eric and Destiny had to leave us (luckily they made it a day before the Icelandic volcano eruption). We had an unbelievable time together, one we will remember forever and ever! We are already planning our itinerary for next spring.
