This trip report is long overdue! After all of the help and advice from thre many Fodor's members, particularly the oness with Greek experience, I want to thank everyone for helping create a fantastic trip!

We were away for 18 days, and I'll post this report in smallish chunks so it's easier to read.


Friday September 4, 2009
(Athens travel day)
We headed to Halifax International Airport for our 6:00PM flight to Montreal. When we arrived to check our bag, we were advised that due to maintenance issues for the plane, our flight was delayed by 1/2 an hour. Not great news considering we only had 1.5 hours in Montreal before our connecting flight to Frankfurt Germany.

The Air Canada crew got us on board and ready to go at 6:30PM but we knew it would be a brisk walk through the Montreal airport to get to our gate. When our flight arrived the Montreal-Frankfurt flight was boarding. While this type of planning problem normally causes me great stress the silver lining was that we had no waiting in the airport. The flight to Frankfurt was uneventful - my favorite kind of flight! A longish wait at the Frankfurt airport (~4 hours) before our final hop to Athens. We had a quick bite to eat (chicken foccacia and cappuccino 10 euro).

Saturday September 5, 2009
(Athens)
We arrived in Athens on time and tired!!! Passport control was a breeze (literally a guy in shorts and t-shirt randomly checking passports directly in the debarking airport gate). To my surprise (and delight!) our 1 piece of checked luggage arrived intact.

We wanted to take the Metro/Subway to our hotel (to save some $$), so we searched for the ticket counter, and bought two tickets (10 euro each) and found the platform very easily. They were running every 1/2 hour (this was early Saturday evening - the schedule may be different) and it took about 50 minutes to get to the stop, Syntagma Square, closest to our hotel, Hotel Metropolis (70 euro/night). Syntagma square with the fountains and trees was pretty but not nearly as crowded as we expected.

We found Hotel Metropolis very easily and checked in (it was about a 5 minute walk from Syntagma square). Our room was spotless and bigger than expected. The bathroom was pretty tiny!! We were exhausted after our travel, but wanted to check out some of Athens. We were exhausted after 34 hours of travel, but wanted to at least get a feel of the city so we headed out for a walk. Athens was hopping (it was late and a Saturday night) but we knew we would need some rest so we picked up some water and went to bed after a short walk through some close-by city streets.

Lunch at the airport = 10 euro
Subway ticket = 10 euro

Sunday September 6, 2009
(Athens to Crete travel day)
We woke up at 8AM, showered quickly (and with limited movement - those showers are tiny!) and had breakfast on the rooftop balcony with a gorgeous view of the Parthenon. Breakfast consisted of coffee, juice, boiled egg, toast, jam, cheese, and a muffin.

We packed up our room and headed to the Metro (about 3-5 minutes on foot to Syntagma square from our Hotel) to get to the airport to fly to Crete!!! We went through security and found our departure gate easily.

The Athens airport is smallish and easy to navigate. English translations are on every sign!!! Before long we were boarding our Aegean air plane (thankfully it was larger than what we had anticipated carrying about 60-70 passengers - we were worried it would be a tiny crop duster).

We arrived in Crete and the Chania airport safe and sound after a roughly 45 minute flight. We picked up our baggage and headed out front to get the bus to Chania. We had planned to take a bus to the town centre, but from what we could figure out the public bus wasn't due for another 2 hours (we landed at 1PM), so we grabbed one of the few remaining taxis (our was the only flight landing that afternoon and the Chania airport was really small) after determining the cost with the driver (15 euro) - we left.

The drive was about 20 minutes and the driver dropped us off very close to our hotel. We fell in love with Chania immediately - it was cozy, and we loved the feel and "oldness" all around. There was a significant tourist feel, particularly in certain areas like the waterfront, but we found that we could just wander the narrow streets and enjoy...

There are tons of restaurants, cafes, and shops. The workers at the restaurants on the waterfront were quite aggressive and persistent in getting people to sit at their spot. We avoided these restaurants for our meals, and were pleased with the food and price and atmosphere at the less-touristy places we chose to eat at later on...

Before dinner we walked out to the Venetian Tower...it was a great walk as the sun was setting but the tower was closed and we could not go inside. We picked a small taverna on one of the side streets close to our hotel (Porto del Columbo) and had tzatziki, meatballs, and mixed souvlaki, including 2 Mythos and wine and it came to 33 euro. It also came with complimentary watermelon, and a really strong after dinner drink... we asked what it was called but can't spell it or pronounce it now... All was delicious!!

Earlier in the day we had lunch at Tamam -- Greek salad and Avocado salad and water -- the best Greek salad I had during the entire trip. We also tracked down the bus station in Chania as we were headed early to the Samaria Gorge the next morning.

The bus station wasn't actually on the map we got from our hotel, but once we found it we realized it was only a 15 minute walk away. We picked up some more water and groceries for the walk the next day and headed to bed.

Food total = 25 + 33 + 12 (groceries) euro

Thanks for your info so far! Good news that you liked Metropolis, we're staying there next May (because my fave budget place is full of college groups!). So far, Chania sounds like a hit with you too... that fiery drink is probably raki or tsipouro (several other names as well), the Greek "moonshine"... the wine 'brandy' before they put in flavoring to make it ouzo...

About the bus from Airport; you really have to get lucky to get one ... Chanians have told me that the "taxi lobby" has exerted pressure against having convenient bus schedules.

I look forward to your next installments.... TJ

Terrific start, looking forward to more.

Where did you stay in Chania?

Paule

progol, we stayed at Porto del Comumbo. http://www.portodelcolombo.com/
It was close to everything, and the breakfast and service from the staff was great! We arrived and they had upgraded us for the first night to a two-level room, which was fine. We really enjoyed our room for the second and third nights...just a regular room, but the view of the harbour was fantastic! It was up a few flights of stairs, and after our gorge hike those stairs looked enormous! Especially coming down!I think our room number was 8 or 9. Well worth the walk up the stairs!!

TravelerJan - I think if you are a budget traveler you will like Hotel Metropolis. It was clean, well kept, had a good view for breakfast in the morning, and you didn't need to buy their's to enjoy it. You can pick up your own provisions and take them up to the fifth floor (small elevator then a small flight of steps) to enjoy!
We didn't spend much time there (the rooms were small). The towels were really hard! Not a lot of electrical outlets ( I had to unplug the AC to recharge my camera battery). But the price was great, we had more than reasonable service from the staff when we asked, and it was in a great location!

Hi Jenn_Mitch,
We are planning our trip to Greece next May/10 so I am very interested in your trip report. Waiting for more, we are listening. We will be traveling to Istanbul (Vancouver, London, Istanbul) first then onto our Greek portion of our trip.

Jenn_Mitch - The start of your expedition sounds great. We hope to have a few nights in Athens in March 2011 and are searching for an appropriate hotel. Does the Hotel Metropolis cater to larger groups (we would be a group of about 45)? Do you think it would be appropriate for a group of well behaved high school students?

tC

teacherCanada -- NO. Hotel Metropolis is a SMALL hotel ... perhaps 30 rooms. YOu will need at least 20 rooms. In fact I wonder what hotels would be big enough for that group except biggies like Hiltons. The only budget one in the convenient Plaka area I think of that might be might be the Arethusa.

I think you need to do some intensive research before just asking random travellers ... you may have to go to a Greek-based travel agency for your needs... with that large a group they can cut deals for you... you will get a better price than the average traveller.

Agree with travelerjan - Metropolis is a bit too small - unless by a miracle you can get the whole hotel vacant for the time you need. Wouldn't hurt to ask.

TeacherCanada-

I suggest you contact both Fantasy Travel and Dolphin-Hellas Travel for information about hotel reservations for such a large group, plus any other group activities for which they might be able to get you a good price. They're both located in Athens and both have excellent reputations for arranging group tours.

http://www.fantasy.gr

http://www.dolphin-hellas.gr

Happy to hear your positive reviews for the Metropolis. We will be staying there in June 2010 on our last night in Athens. We chose it for its convenient location to the metro and or bus to the airport. Looking forward to reading the rest of your report. Chania was also a favorite town of ours.

Monday September 7, 2009
(Samarian Gorge hike day)
We got up bright and early at 6:00AM to head for the Samarian Gorge!! After eating a light breakfast in our room we put on lots of suntan lotion to prepare for our 13 KM hike through the gorge.

We left our hotel room at about 7:00AM to walk to the bus station. Two round trip tickets cost 25 euro. At 7:30AM we were on the bus and off to the gorge! The bus ride was about 40 km from Chania and is almost entirely uphill!

After letting us off the bus at the top of the gorge we paid a small fee to enter and started our journey (6 euro each). There is a small shop which sells some food, drinks, and souvenirs. If you have no food or water stock up here. Definitely get some food if anything... there are water stops along the way. It would easier to enter the gorge without water than food since there are several natural water stops during the hike where the water is suitable for drinking. You will just need a small water bottle -- you can refill several times throughout the trek.

After 5.5 hours of walking (no really long breaks) we made it to the end! It was really hot that day too!!!!! We bought our ferry tickets for the journey back to Chania. The ferry took us to a small town on southern Crete where we took a bus back to Chania. The ferry took about an hour and then we rested on the bus while getting driven back to Chania. Our tired legs seized up a lot during the drive... we walked like zombies off the bus and back to our hotel and collapsed on the bed -- boy did it feel good!! We rested a bit, cleaned up a lot, and went to dinner at a place that was close to Porto del Columbo. There was live music and the food and wine was really great! 33 euro. We tried a stuffed baked potato dish as a starter and loved it!

We found that overall the hike was harder and longer than we anticipated. Be sure and bring plenty of snacks and at least one water bottle each before heading into the gorge. This hike is not to be taken lightly!!! We suggest that anyone who decides to do it should be in decent physical shape!

Tuesday September 8, 2009
(Chania)
We got up this morning at 9:30AM (after some much needed rest time!) and headed downstairs for our complimentary breakfast at hotel del Columbo. Breakfast was great (sweet breads, yogurt and honey, juice, and coffee). My absolute favorite part was the Greek yogurt and honey!

After hiking the gorge the previous day we were sore and stiff!! As soon as we woke up and moved around we knew today would be a slower day. After breakfast we left the hotel and walked through some of the streets in old Chania.

We stumbled onto a gallery (actually an artists' cooperative) that had the work of about 30 different artists - it was great. The location was on the corner of Skufon & Portu streets. We spent some time talking with the gentleman working there and made some purchases. We ended up buying two paintings for our house! Total of 60 euro made them very cheap! Excellent quality too!

Next stop for us was the Orthodox Cathedral followed by a visit to the Archaeological Museum (cathedral was free and the museum was 2 euro). We spent about 10 minutes in the cathedral and about 30 minutes in the museum. Once we left the museum we decided to do some shopping on Halidon Street where Jenn bought a couple of dresses and Mitch bought a couple of t-shirts (a Crete one and a Chania one). We stopped at a mini-market for some fruit, nuts, and water then headed to our room for a short break. We got a small snack a little later in the afternoon, and walked around some more. We also really wanted to drop back to the gallery to pick up some paintings as gifts - we were warmly welcomed back! After another long chat, where we also were introduced to a lady from Vancouver living part of her time in Chania - we were jealous! We again chose dinner on one of the side streets as opposed to the waterfront and were not disappointed, As a warning, the shrimp are served with their heads and outer shells still on...Dinner came to 38 euro. On to Heraklion!!!

Wednesday September 9, 2009
(Chania to Heraklion travel day)
We woke up bright and early and headed downstairs for our complimentary breakfast at Porto del Columbo. After eating our breakfast we said our last goodbyes to the staff at our hotel... and final farewell (until next time) to Chania itself. We really enjoyed Chania and didn't want to leave! After more of the yummy yogurt and honey we headed out....

We headed to the bus station (where you can travel cheaper ant safer) (the English translations can be funny - hehe) to catch the 8:30AM bus to Heraklion. The 2.5 hour drive along the coast was beautiful although Jenn got a little hot! (10.70 euro each for bus to Heraklion).

When arriving at the bus terminal in Heraklion Jenn saw that our hotel was right beside the terminal so tracking down our hotel was easy! Even better when we checked in and realized they had upgraded us to an unbelievable suite -- the bathroom and balcony were HUGE compared to what we had been used to. We relaxed a bit and walked down to the waterfront across from the bus station to get a bite to eat. We ordered our first Greek gyros, they were pretty good but we felt Halifax donairs were better (6.60 euro each).

After eating lunch we decided to take the bus to the Palace of Knossos!! The bus was 2.20 euro each return. The first palace was built in 2000 BC Jenn and I walked all through the ruins and took pictures and read the plaques. It is one of the greatest archaeological sites in the world. We took the bus back into town and walked around the city for a bit. Quite a change of pace from Chania, but we still felt comfortable. We ended up taking a walking tour (by ourselves, no guide) of the harbour fort (the Koules) built between 1523 and 1540. Took tons of pictures - the views from the top of the fort were amazing in the bright summer sun. After leaving the fort we headed for our hotel and arrived at 5:00PM.

We relaxed in our hotel for a while and then headed into Heraklion for dinner. Not feeling particularly hungry we ordered half portions of souvlaki at a local restaurant and it was good. 10 euro for both including water.

After supper we went back to our hotel and relaxed and did some reading and sent some emails. We packed up some things to prepare for our ferry to Santorini the next day. It was hard to leave that balcony!

Thursday September 10, 2009
(Crete to Santorini travel day)
We got up bright and early at 6:30AM to finish final packing for our ferry to Santorini. After we were packed we headed upstairs to the top floor of our hotel for our complimentary breakfast. We had fruit and eggs -- it was very good!! There was a great view of the old harbour!

Our ferry to Santorini left at 8:15AM and we made the boat in plenty of time. The ferry trip was 2.5 hours long and we arrived in Santorini safe and sound! We took a minibus from the port to Costa Marina Villa in Fira for 15 euro. We were pleased with our hotel -- it was much bigger than expected!

We immediately left our hotel and walked into Fira to get our bearings. We stopped at one of the tavernas (with a view!) and shared a pizza and water (14.40 euro). The pizza was yummy and the view even better than we imagined! We lingered for a bit, but soon wanted to get moving. For about two hours we walked all over Fira enjoying the sun and our continuous view. Mitch picked up a small necklace souvenir, and we checked out the pricy jewelry shops. We stopped for a drink at a cafe, and again enjoyed relaxing and gazing off into the horizon. Mitch had Greek coffee and I had Santorini wine (8.20 euro). We wandered around some more and found a couple of interesting places for options for dinner, as well as locating our special restaurant for dinner tomorrow night -- Sphinx -- we had a 9:00PM reservation. We headed back to our hotel to clean up, rest and plan some activities for the next day. We had been tossing around the idea to rent a scooter, ATV, or car. Two doors down from our hotel was a moto rental place (there are lots to chose from!). We had talked to the guy a couple of times on our way to and from our hotel and decided to rent an ATV for one day to test it out. Safer than a scooter and more fun than a car! If we went it for more days we'll just add them on. 20 euro for one day (helmets are included in the price and mandatory according to Greek police). But we haven't seen a lot of Greek police, but have seen tons of tourists riding scooters and ATVs without helmets. You can also add insurance for an extra 5 or 8 euro. We did…

A few comments about our hotel… it was exactly as advertised; it is very close to the centre of Fira where there are shops and restaurants etc. It is about 2 streets down from the main action; which is fine with us. We know by our price (54 euro/night) that there was no caldera view. We instead looked out onto a less developed area of Fira, and the endless view of the Aegean sea off in the distance. Reception was very accommodating and pleasant. We arrived hours before normal check in and had no problems checking and getting our room immediately. Our room was large, high ceiling, queen size bed, with and upstairs loft area with two twin beds. The bathroom was large and the whole place was clean and bright. There was a balcony with room for two chairs and a small table. The room also had a desk/vanity area, room to store luggage, large wardrobe and a rocking chair, fridge and stove.

Great descriptions!

Would you mind telling us the name of the hotel in Heraklion?

The Heraklion hotel was the Marin Dream. Right next to the bus terminal and about 10 min walk to the ferry.If you can get a good price it's a fantastic hotel - friendly staff!

Friday September 11, 2009
(Santorini)
We got up bright and early for our complimentary breakfast. It was prepared by one of the hotel staff. Although it was good Jenn and I were not feeling that well, however, we decided to head out on our ATV and explore anyway.

Riding the ATV around the roads of Santorini was awesome and lots of fun! We headed south from Fira and promptly got lost!! We ended up in Kamari on the southeastern part of the island as our first stop. We stopped at the base of the mountain where the ruins of ancient Thira can be found at the top. Jenn and I started our long hike up the mountain road to get to ancient Thira. It took at least an hour to climb to the top… it was super hot but the views were amazing along the way!! At the top there is a place to pay 2.00 euro to enter a gate and hike the final leg of the mountain. Walking around the ruins of 3000 years ago was pretty cool. There were plaques beside each structure describing what it was. Jenn and I headed back down the mountain and this was a lot easier than climbing up! We hopped on our ATV at the bottom and headed out of Kamari toward Pyrgos.

It started to rain as we entered Pyrgos so we stopped near an empty/closed restaurant whose outside bathroom door was left open to wait out the rain. After the rain let up a bit we got back on our ATV and stopped for lunch at a small place near Pyrgos. We still weren’t feeling well at this point either.

We decided to go back to our hotel because the rain was picking up again and we were ill. After arriving at the hotel it was clear we both had a stomach bug (perhaps something we ate) and decided to nap for two hours.

After waking up we went next door and chatted with Michelle and Jim for a while. They were having a vacation too! (Jenn works with Michelle back in Canada and we planned to meet up in Santorini!). We made dinner plans at the Sphinx along the Caldera and the food was excellent. I had the mussels and swordfish and Jenn had chicken!! (110 euro).
After dinner we went back to our hotel and to bed… still not feeling well but hoping to be better in the morning.

Saturday September 12, 2009
(Santorini)
Happy Birthday to Mitch!!!!!

Today we stayed in bed for a short bit and after breakfast we hopped on the ATV and further explored the southern part of the island. We saw the beautiful red beach, drove by Akrotiri (which is still closed) and then drove the long expanse of Perissa beach – what a long beach!!!!! We headed back, and although at this point there were some rain clouds looming we didn’t get rained on! We ate lunch near our hotel (fruit cup and split a turkey sandwich - 15 euro) and then wandered through Fira. We wanted to check out the wall paintings but realized we’d have to rush through in order to make to our next adventure – so we’ll save the wall paintings for another time.

We tidied up and met up with Michelle and Jim for our sunset cruise – it was a beautiful evening and a spectacular was to celebrate Mitch’s 37th birthday!! The sunset was amazing!!!!

The sunset cruise was worth the money (90 euro for two) and we were relaxed and content when we arrived back up in Fira from the cable car. We stopped for a cappuccino and crepe then headed back to the hotel for a good night’s rest – we were all pretty sleepy!! Tomorrow’s adventure is heading to Ia!!

Sunday September 13, 2009
(Santorini)

Today we headed down to our complimentary breakfast at about 9:30AM. Jim and Michelle decided to rent an ATV this morning. After the ATV rental was complete we drove to Ia on the ATVs - it was lots of fun!! We stopped at a local restaurant and had lunch for about 12 euro each.

We stopped and parked the ATVs and walked into Ia. We spent the entire day strolling through Ia taking photos...Ia was so beautiful!! We found a lounge pool/bar/cafe where we could sit and swim in the pool for the price of drinks and snacks. The pool and recliner chairs were perched on top of a cliff that overlooked the Aegean sea!! A view that was out of this world!

We left and drove down to Ammoudi Bay... beautiful fish taverns. We had reservations at Stognoli (sp?) to watch
the sunset, and we had a light dinner (8 euro each). We took the highway back in the dark on the ATVs - it was a little scary but we made it back safe and sound.

Ia is probably the most beautiful place we've been.

Monday September 15, 2009
(Santorini)

This morning we were a little slow to rise since Mitch was not feeling well at all and had a rough night. After
breakfast we walked to the pharmacy to find the equivalent of Pepto-Bismol (Attractively named Bio-Colon - hehe).
Once we made our purchase of medicine we headed back to our hotel room where Mitch slept all day trying to recover. We returned our ATV and had a quiet dinner inside...need to make sure we were feeling good for Naxos!!

Tuesday September 16, 2009
(Travel day to Naxos)
We woke up early and Jenn packed everything up for our travel day to Naxos. We went down stairs for our complimentary breakfast and ate... Mitch was feeling much better after getting some proper medication.

This morning we headed into Fira to go to the museum where the restored paintings of ancient Akrotiri were. We
enjoyed our visit and the stopped by a restaurant with a caldera view for some lunch.

After lunch we walked back to our hotel to get our things and took a taxi to the port to catch our ferry to Naxos.
Our departure gate was gate 4 and it became packed as the departure time got near. The ferry ride was roughly 2 hours....
Michelle and Jim were waiting on the port for us as we disembarked!! yea!! With Jim's instructions we found Hotel Glaros without any trouble!!

We walked around Hora after leaving our things at our hotel with Jim and Michelle. The four of us had dinner together at a restaurant that Jim and Michelle had been to the night before.

After dinner we walked back to our hotel and went to sleep.

Dinner = 28 euro for both
Museum = 2 euro each
Lunch = 12 euro for both

Wednesday September 16, 2009
(Naxos)
After a good night’s sleep we got up and got ready in our tiny little bathroom -- hehe, before heading downstairs
for our breakfast.

Once we finished breakfast Jenn and I met Jim and Michelle for a walk in old Hora. We went to the Archaeological
Museum and then on a guided tour of the Venetian Museum. We exited the Venetian museum via Trani Porta (strong gate) taking note of the incision on the right column of the arch, which marks the length of a Venetian yard.

We went back to our hotel and Mitch slept for a few hours while Jenn strolled along the beach next to our hotel.
The sun was very hot this afternoon and we needed the A/C in our room to be on!!

At 7:00PM we got cleaned up and went downstairs to the hotel's internet stations to send some emails home...

Then we went into the town to rent a buggy for tomorrow's Naxos adventure!! After renting the buggy and arranging to pick it up tomorrow we met Jim and Michelle for dinner at an Italian restaurant. After dinner we headed back to Jim and Michelle's place to smoke a stogie and drink beer!! After a stogie and beer Jenn and I
parted ways with Jim and Michelle, we won't see them again on this trip to Greece. We went back to our
hotel and went to sleep.

Drink = 10 euro
Lunch = bread, cheese, salami 6 euro
Dinner = Suzanne's Tratorria 35 euro

Thursday September 17, 2009
(Naxos)
We woke up early today - excited to explore Naxos!! We got ready and went downstairs for breakfast (we always had the option to have breakfast delivered to our room to enjoy on our balcony -- but we enjoy the chance to
chat with others, plus it's hot and hotel workers work hard enough to prepare a great breakfast for us - no
need for them to lug it up the stairs for us too) and met Jim and Michelle waiting to pay their bill and get
driven to the port. We said goodbyes (again!!) and Mitch and I finished our breakfast. Mitch sent a quick email
to his uncle and we walked up to Funcar to pick up our buggy!!

The lady at Funcar finished our paperwork and gave us a driving itinerary. Soon we were strapped in and
on our way!! When driving in a buggy with no doors, roof or windshield, just a reminder that you need
large sunglasses and need to breathe through your nose!! Much less chance of swallowing a bug this way!

After a slight detour (we missed an important turn in our quest to get to Aperianthos - sp?) we headed out for several
hours of sun, incredible scenery and fun! Naxos is a very mountainous island -- lots of switchback roads. However
we did note that being in a buggy (as opposed to a car) meant we were closer to the ground and the steep cliffs
and sharp turns didn't seem quite so terrifying (the 5-point harness seat belt didn't hurt either!) We made
lots of stops -- but had to remember we wanted to make our way back to Hora before dark. In Moni we found
a local weaver who showed us her products and loom!! I bought a small souvenir for my Mom. The prices and
quality here seemed better in both cases than in Hora. We stopped for a walk and lunch in Aperanthos. It was
wonderful to see the regular life of the town's inhabitants in the midst of small tourist activity. We arrived
when school let out for lunch! We had a small lunch (toast and cheese for me, chicken sandwich + coke for Mitch,
and we shared a bowl of fruit) 11 euro.

Back on the road we made lots of other stops and found our way to Apollonas.... a small lovely beach, a few
restaurants and jewelry shop made this a nice stop! We were at the northern most point of the island now
and decided to head back to Hora along the coast - what a fantastic drive!! We were anxious to find a gas
station -- we did in Eggaress... but no worries - we still had plenty of fuel -- the problem with buggy's is
no fuel gauge!! We made our way back to Hora, and after dropping off our buggy headed to our hotel for a siesta before dinner!

We had dinner and dessert at Suzanna's 47 euro.

Fuel = 10 euro
Buggy = 20 euro

Friday September 18, 2009
(Naxos)

After our busy day exploring the island yesterday we decided to spend our last full day in Naxos enjoying the
beautiful beach and exploring the rest of Hora.

We had breakfast on the balcony and chatted with Alex, the owner of Hotel Glaros. He shared some stories about
the Temple of Apollo (which we planned on visiting later in the day) as well as a myth as to how the Aegean sea
got it's name. We picked up some water and a beach towel and headed to the beach. As it was not yet 10AM the
beach was sparsely populated and we had our choice of sunbeds and umbrellas. We settled in with a nice
spot in the shade and did some serious relaxing. Mitch dove into his book and I moved from my sunbed to
the ocean and back several times!! At 1:30PM we were getting a little hungry but were glad we had spent so much
time on the beach -- it was thoroughly relaxing!! The cost for "renting" the two sunbeds and umbrella was
8 euro - well spent! There was also a couple of people going around offering massages - we didn't get one, but
they looked pretty relaxing!

We dropped a few things off at our room and headed toward the Naxos waterfront area for some lunch before our
walk around the town. We passed by an old fisherman catching some rather large sardines for his supper, he
was using a large conch as bait. Moving along, we stopped at Popi's grill for some lunch. We had tzatziki,
chicken fillet, fries, and water for 22 euro. The food was good (chicken was very tasty) but a little more
expensive than we anticipated. But it filled us up and that was the goal so that was the main thing.

Next we walked up to the temple of Apollo also known as the Portara, or gate of Naxos. It was a beautiful
structure and had incredible views of the town and the horizon -- of course a must see -- site for a\
visit to Naxos. The sun was scorching hot -- we've had incredible weather on Naxos! We stopped at a
yellow cardphone to try the calling card I bought and finally it worked! We each called home for a few
minutes and then started to explore more of Hora.

We stopped into a few shops and stumbled upon a small jewelry store owned and run by a young German girl.
She made all of the jewelry, and had a lovely shy dog named Amy that stayed by her side all day.

We wandered around some more and got ice cream (banana + pistachio). We picked up some fruit for our
ferry trip and headed to Hotel Glaros to get cleaned up before dinner.

Beach = 8 euro
Lunch = 26 euro
Dinner = 32 euro
Ice cream = 3 euro

Saturday September 19, 2009
(travel day to Athens)

After our complimentary breakfast at hotel Glaros one of the friendly staff (eddy) members drove us to the
port so we could catch our 9:30AM ferry. We said our good-byes to hotel Glaros and Naxos as we boarded the
ferry for the six hour sail to Athens.

We found a small table for two inside of the ferry and stayed there the whole trip... aside from a small
passenger exchange in Paros the trip was smooth and uneventful... Mitch did some reading while Jenn took
some naps...

We arrived at the port in Athens and got off the ferry... it was easy to find the Metro just by following
the stream of people. We took the Metro to Syntagma square for 1.00 euro each and then a five minute walk\
to our hotel.

After arriving at our hotel we left immediately and headed to the hard rock cafe in Athens to purchase our
shot glass as a keep sake.

Once we left hard rock cafe we wandered around the Plaka going from shop to shop until Jenn saw a nice
place to eat.

After dinner and a drink Jenn was feeling pretty sleepy... we decided to turn in early having felt the
effect of travelling from Naxos today...

Lunch on ferry = 10 euro
Dinner = 25 euro (middle of plaka)

Sunday September 20, 2009
(Athens)
Today we woke early and had a quick bite at Everest (croissant and cap. 3euro each) before hopping on
the Metro to go to the new Acropolis Museum, A short subway ride later (we could have easily walked but
it was pretty early) we arrived at the museum. As it was only shortly after 9am there was no line up, and
admission was still only 1 euro! It was one of the most amazing, beautiful museums we had seen, After a
couple of hours we were finished, and started to walk up to the Acropolis. We were soon with a large crowd,
getting larger as we approached the beginning of the Acropolis. We purchased tickets (12 euro each) and
began the climb...which was not as steep or as long as we expected. The crowds were thick to be sure. There
were incredible views of Athens and we appreciated more of the Acropolis and Parthenon after our time
spent at the museum. Definitely recommend the museum first if you can plan it that way. We walked back in
the direction of our hotel and had a bad lunch at a restaurant totally catering to tourists. I believe the
name was Metropolitana (not sure). Pizza toast was not a good choice. We decided to get tickets for the
hop on - hop off bus. It was 18 euro each but as we only had a day and a half left in Athens we wanted to
make sure we saw as much of the city as we could.

Monday Sept 21, 2009.
Athens
On our last day in Athens we slept in a bit, and then had a bite to eat again at Everest. We walked around to
see what else we could of Athens...we started with Hadrian's Arch and the Temple of Zeus.
If we had our Acropolis tickets with us admission would have been free, but instead cost 2 Euros..not too bad.
Most definitely worth it! After this we took a nice long walk through the National Gardens, ending up at
Parliament building just after the changing of the guard. We walked back to Syntagma and had a quick but
yummy lunch at Politico (Anatolian cuisine). After this we hopped on the bus and went to the National
Archeological Museum. It was a little bigger and more extensive than we were anticipating, but we gave it a
decent walk through. Knowing we would need an early night, we headed back to our hotel and packed. Jenn went to the Hondas Centre (a dept store) for a bit of quick shopping (Korres body products . We then had dinner
at a place just up on the same street as our hotel, recommended by our host at the hotel. They had really good
mussels in ouzo!
Breakfast 6 euro
Lunch 20 euro
Dinner 35 euro
Museum 14 euro
Sites 4 euro
Cappuccino 6 euro.


Tuesday Sept 22, 2009
Travel day to Halifax
Having packed and showered the previous evening, we were ready for the long journey home at a moment's notice.
Our wake up call came right on time at 3:30 am from the older gentleman working the night shift at the front
desk of our hotel. It was time to say our goodbye's to Greece and head back to Halifax. We left our hotel at
3:45 to walk to Syntagma Sq. in order to catch the X95 airport bus. Although we were the first to arrive the
bus soon became very packed. There was a man sitting behind Jenn that talked loudly and excitedly the entire 45
minute ride - much to the annoyance of the sleepy passengers on the bus!
We arrived at Athens airport with plenty of time to find our gate for the flight to Zurich. The flight left
on time at 6:45 and we arrived in Zurich...wow - what a great airport! We waited for about two hours before
boarding our flight to Toronto. During this time we did some reading and had a few snacks. In Toronto we picked
up our luggage and went through customs... Our flight from Toronto to Halifax landed at 7:30pm. It was a long
travel day and because we were so tired it was great to be home!
Looking back, we found the trip to the islands to be much easier to navigate than we thought. You just need to
expect the unexpected...
We found that the service people were amongst the friendliest and helpful we'd met. Even towards the end of
the tourist season they were great!

I'm at work so I'm tagging to read over the weekend. This looks exciting!

Yes, really good and helpful report. Thanks.

Great report!!! Do you happen to remember the name of the cafe/pool/bar in Oia? We will be there in June of 2010 and sounds like a place we would love to visit.

HelenG, The cafe/pool bar is called Lioyerma - have fun!

Thank you so much. It's in my notes!!! I'll be glad to report back after my trip.