My big Greek vacation

Old Oct 11th, 2019, 01:01 PM
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My big Greek vacation

That title must have been used before. We're all such a clever bunch.

Anyway, near the end of September dw and I flew to Athens via 19 hour layover in Istanbul, where we stayed at the hotel dersaadet per friendly fodorite recommendation (yes travel writes useful trip reports). In Istanbul we saw the blue mosque, had barbequed corn on the cob (good, not great), went to bed, got up, continued on to Athens (this is not a useful or particularly well written trip report).

In Athens we took the metro downtown from the airport and stayed at a nice bnb near the acropolis museum. As you may know, the acropolis is the hill, the parthenon is the building. We saw a concert at an ancient amphitheater at the foot of the acropolis, climbed up a hill across from the parthenon at sunset, saw changing of the guard, rented an electric scooter and fell over because the pavers near the acropolis museum are slippery when wet, went to several museums, had great food

then we flew to crete where we met the rest of our old friends (six couples, we used to play volleyball together) at a fancy house in panormo with an infinity pool overlooking the Aegean. One week. Dinners at the captains table and george/Georgina and kastro. Splitwise app to keep track of expenses. We went to waterfalls, a wonderful beach, triopetra, and two of us went skinny dipping, to ruins of knossos (4000 years old) and Arcadia, a monetary where Greeks blew themselves up rather than surrender to the turks. The infinity pool was nice, the little town beach was fun. Crete is very dry. The olives are very tasty. We returned our rental car to centauro, got a cab to the port, and took a ferry to santorini. We stayed in a windmill in oia for 3 nights with our son and his fiance. The windmill was nice and santorini is pretty, but it's very crowded. Greece has a lot of stairs. Good olives. Lots of sheep and goats. Goats are the ones with tails up. Squid and octopus. Octopus are very smart, but they dont know doric, ionic and corinthian (note syllables increase as design gets more complicated). Also, they dont know SPA, which is how you can remember the proper order of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Or that the golden age of Athens was 5th century NBC. Octopus aren't so smart. We also went swimming at red beach which is near the museum and ruins at akrotirii but couldn't get back on the bus because our bathing suits were wet. So we took a taxi back to oia. We had an argument with our son about the meaning of life, made up, walked up and down many stairs, went swimming in the Airbnb pool, and went to a cool bookstore.

then another ferry to naxos where we are now. But we leave tomorrow in case you're wondering if this report will ever end. We really like naxos. It's got a door to nowhere, a wonderful Airbnb in the castle, narrow, curvy little stone alleys where people walked home on windy nights thousands of years ago like we did tonight after our Domus Festival bazuki concert. Also great beaches. Sandy. Still warm mid october. Liked Labyrinth restaurant. Daughter in law cooked. Great views from balcony. Really like naxos. Tomorrow fly to Athens, one night, then back to reality. Which is nice too.
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Old Oct 11th, 2019, 01:05 PM
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I think I misspelled some places and it's a shame I cant figure out how to insert pictures from Google photos.
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Old Oct 11th, 2019, 01:07 PM
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Glad you enjoyed your trip! Safe home!
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Old Oct 11th, 2019, 03:06 PM
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Happy to see your report. I leave soon! SO excited!
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Old Oct 11th, 2019, 09:01 PM
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Thanks joan. Have a good trip, starrs! And, GO NATS!
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Old Oct 12th, 2019, 02:58 AM
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We really liked Labyrinth, too. The courtyard and food were both lovely.
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Old Oct 12th, 2019, 10:12 AM
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Lily, and we thought we were the first!
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Old Oct 12th, 2019, 12:31 PM
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What IS the meaning of life??!!

Sounds like a super trip.
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Old Oct 13th, 2019, 07:54 AM
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Loved your Hemingwayesque report. Did you dance with a bunch of people at a Naxos taverna?
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Old Dec 24th, 2019, 01:51 PM
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I think there's still some question as to the meaning of life, but we did dance a little at the bazuki concert. Merry Christmas people!
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Old Dec 25th, 2019, 04:42 AM
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By far the best trip report I have read today. Its marginal utility versus, say, eating another pancake is off the dial.

“As you may know, the acropolis is the hill, the parthenon is the building.”

I always wondered that, even though I have been there. Thanks again.

Last edited by xcountry; Dec 25th, 2019 at 04:47 AM.
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Old Dec 26th, 2019, 04:35 AM
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Old Feb 4th, 2020, 07:37 AM
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Originally Posted by santamonica
...stayed at a nice bnb near the acropolis museum. ... We saw a concert at an ancient amphitheater at the foot of the acropolis.
Thanks for the report! Do you remember the name of your nice bnb near the acropolis museum? Hoping that we can also catch a concert at that amphitheater!

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Old Feb 5th, 2020, 09:44 AM
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https://abnb.me/ROqpudFZP3

Here's a link to the Airbnb listing (unique acropolis griffin house). 3 bedrooms.

https://abnb.me/ROqpudFZP3
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