Greece wonderful Greece

Lynette and I are in Greece. We started out in Athens where we visited a lot of ancient ruins, most notably the Acropolis. This was especially exciting to be seeing things in person that we had learned about for so many years in school or on tv. The Parthenon is not the biggest or most complete ancient Greek structure in Athens but for some reason it is the most impactful. There's just something about it. Even with the scaffolding around it, being used for repairs, it is a magnificent sight.

We stayed in a hostel in the area very near to the Acroplis. This was the part of Athens that still retains its old Greek charm with winding stone streets and charming architecture. Its therefore the most tourist busy area with lots of shops and restaurants. But its cool to stroll around, then turn a corner and find some site of ancient ruins, with the hill of the Acroplis always visible in near view.

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View from the Acropolis overlooking the ruins of an ancient theater. We were able to go down and actually sit on the old marble seats that real toga wearing Greek theater goers once sat.

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The Sofie Star has made it to the Acropolis in Greece! -- I'm saying, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm standing in front of the legendary Parthenon!!"

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Some shots around Athens:

From the temple of Zeus:

From Athens we headed off to the Greek island of Santorini. Our plane landed on the island around 5:30 AM, still dark. This is the sunrise view that greeted us when we arrived at our hotel near the beach:

The views on this island have been absolutely breathtaking. Like nothing we've seen in our lives. We highly recommend you consider the location for your next vacation.

We've had some spectacular food in Greece. There was a local place in Athens that served to-die-for gyros. Lynette has sampled musakas (sp?) and baklava from a variety of places, and loved them all. I had some stuffed tomatoes that brought tears to my eyes they were so delicious. (This at a place called Mama's where a woman called Mama greets you at the door with a hearty hello and a hug like you are family.) And the fried cheese in Greece is unsurpassed.

There's often massive crowds of tourists (mostly midday from the cruise ships that have docked) filling the streets snapping photos in every direction. Even when its slower in the mornings or evenings there's usually a good number of people milling about, but sometimes if you are lucky you can get some shots that make it seem like you are the only foreigners in town.

But there were also times when we would walk a bit out of town center and get away from the crowds. Like this one when we hiked down a long rocky path and found this wonderful lonesome church sitting on the side of the cliff overlooking the sea. No one else was around. We sat there for a while and just soaked in the amazing beauty.

After walking the town one day we stopped for some wine and watched the sunset:

Tomorrow we take the ferry to the island Paros for a few days, then Mykonos island.