sewanhaka, the only reason why you can read only upto Day 5 is that so far that is the only bit that has been posted. I am uploading the Trip Report bit by bit daily, and it may take 5-6 days for all the days to be uploaded.

I have also posted a Switzerland trip report 3 years ago on this forum. If you click on my screen-name, and look through all my trip reports, you will find that one (posted in 2008).

I too was on Antiparos... in Early June... but not as ambitious as you! Delighted to learn that boats can be rented in that way, for knowledgeable boat-handlers. I instead took the opportunity, after 17 days or so of being responsible for others, of simply doing nothing at all (except strolling & swimming), on an island that is ideal for relaxing.

Travelerjan, totally agree that Antiparos is ideal for relaxing and doing nothing. But the boat ride round the island is gorgeous - especially the west coast of Antiparos, as seen from the water is breathtakingly beautiful.

If we ever go back for a repeat trip, the idea of simply relaxing at Antiparos would sound very tempting indeed !

Day 6 (Wednesday, June 29th): ARRIVAL AT SANTORINI :
We were up by 8 am, and all had tea/coffee in the shared sitout area (which was so pretty and relaxing at Hotel Argonauta). Then slowly got ready and packed up. We had a lot of time today, due to our delayed departure caused by the Greek strike.

We picked up the car from the carpark and returned it to Sixt office. Then went for a late late breakfast at 10:30 am back to Friend's Cafe on the waterfront. I had omelettes and Greek coffee. We left the ladies to wander around the Parikia shops and do their last minute purchases. I went back to the hotel to check up my mails, establish contact with my office back in India, and got some urgent work done. The ladies arrived, and we cleared our bags from the rooms, leaving them down at the reception.

Went for a leisurely lunch at "Jacobs" on the waterfront, and sat on their comfy sofas right by the water, under large umbrellas. We had a very friendly waiter, who was tolerant of the fact that we were really not hungry, and were just trying to relax and shoot the breeze. We just ordered some Greek salad and some pasta with olives. After we had finished, we ordered just about every flavor of ice-cream and water-ice that the place had, one by one. We all shared each delicacy as it arrived, and then ordered the next flavor. The view was great, the weather was lovely, and we really had a ball.

Finally, with much reluctance, we got up at 3 pm, tipped the waiter generously for coping up with our insane ordering, picked up the bags from our hotel, and sauntered to the port. The Flying Cat was a bit late in arriving, docking at Parikia only at 4:15 pm. We climbed aboard and settled for a nap. The boat glided ever so smoothly on the water, and we could barely feel its motion.

We reached Santorini at about 6 pm. The views of the approaching cliffs were very nice, and if only the Greek strike had not taken place, we would have watched all this from an open deck instead of glass portholes. Still looked very pretty.

Our hotel had arranged a vehicle pick-up at Athinios port, and we saw the driver with our name standing. He picked up 4 other passengers, and off we went in a mini-van. We drove through Fira, Firestofani, and Imerovigli before we reached Oia. Other passengers alighted enroute, and we were destined for his last stop at Oia. It was a short but steep walk (up and down) with our luggage, before we reached Lotza Restaurant, where our hostess Gill had promised to meet us. She was waiting for us, and she led us down the steps to our rooms at Old Oia Houses.

As we entered our rooms, the fatigue of hauling our luggage up and down suddenly vanished. The rooms were awesome, with a mini-kitchen, a nice toilet, and each with a huge private balcony looking straight down into the caldera. The views from there were as good as you can possibly get from anywhere in Oia, and full marks to this property for location and views. We made some coffee and relaxed on our balconies on comfy deck chairs.

At about 8 pm we walked the short distance to the sunset viewing point. The hotel is very close to the prime sunset view point of Oia, where tourists from all over the island congregate, and it was beginning to get quite crowded. The sunset started at 8:30 pm, and was majestic till 50% of its journey. After that, dense clouds obstructed the view, and we could not watch the sun sinking into the sea.

We then embarked on the "must do" thing at Oia, i.e. to walk from one end of the village to the other along the main pedestrian walkway on the rim. It was late evening, with fading daylight, and the scene was magical and romantic. I have never seen anything so pretty in my life. Houses all lit up, just falling off the cliff into the sea - posh hotels on the cliff, with private swimming pools which seemed to hang in mid air - the lovely caldera, visible at all times - cruise ships anchored in the water with their blinking lights - gorgeously dressed women, jostling on the streets for space - art galleries strewn everywhere on the walkway - and I could just go on. It was too magical a sight to behold, and I had this rush of blood coming to me with every turn of the head.

I kept clicking my camera. Somewhere on the way, I picked up some wine bottles to consume later at night. We walked as far as the street would go, popping into every art gallery on the way (and there were plenty). On reaching the terminal point, we slowly retraced our steps. Every destination which is very hyped in travelogues, invariably disappoints when you get there, but Santorini exceeded all the hype and expectations that existed in my mind.

It was past 10 pm, and we decided to dine at "Skala", a nice terrace restaurant. We secured a table near the edge, looking down upon the cliffs and the water. Had a lovely dinner (one of the best in Greece) of Stuffed Mushrooms, Stuffed Vegetables with cracked wheat, and Stuffed Eggplants. The white wine that was served was divine, and we enjoyed the meal completely.

We returned to our rooms, had a shower, and settled down in the deck chairs on the open sky balcony with a glass of wine. Excellent wine and beautiful stars made for a heady combination. Stayed there for well over an hour, retiring to bed well past midnight. Santorini had surpassed all expectations !

Day 7 (Thursday, June 30th): SANTORINI :
DW and I got up early the next morning, and ventured out at 6:45 am for an early morning stroll down the pedestrian drag of Oia. We wanted to see the place in the morning light also, when it would be quite deserted. And deserted it was at that hour. The previous night, I had asked the waitress at "Skala" as to when the sunrise takes place in Santorini, and she had replied : "Don't ask me difficult questions !"

We only had street cleaners, stray dogs, some photography enthusiasts and some newly weds in wedding attire for company at that hour, otherwise the streets were all ours. Newly weds were posing for photographs at vantage points, the street dogs were having their own conferences at strategic places, and photo buffs were lugging around their tripods. Some people could be seen walking with a yoga mat in a particular direction. Oia was different and beautiful in the early morning light, but it somehow lacked the romance and magic of the evening.

We returned to our room by 7:45 am, had our showers and ate breakfast in the room. Then went to meet Gill at Lotza restaurant nearby, and give a bag full of clothes for laundry. Popped into a Photo Gallery very near our hotel, and bought some excellent monochromatic photo prints to adorn my office walls. Then persuaded Gill to arrange a car rental for us, which she did in a jiffy. In no time, the man from Vazeos car rental arrived, and offered us a good deal.

We went with the Vazeos representative to their office in Oia, did brief paperwork, and drove off in a Nissan Micra. We drove down to Ammoudi harbour and parked the car. The water there was the clearest that I have ever seen, and the views upwards of the cliffs of Oia were very nice. Lots of small boats anchored there, making for a picturesque setting. Some people even swimming there, although there was no beach to speak of. We all sat down at a waterfront tavern and sipped coffee. We had planned on having lunch at Ammoudi, but it was too early for that, so we left.

We drove straight to Fira, and parked in a public parking lot close to the main Town Square. Walked slowly to "25 Martinou" street, and then turned towards the Town Square. On the way, we shopped for Santorini wines and licquer bottles and of course the local ouzo. Sat for lunch at a casual eatery called "Tabasco" on the Town square. Had an average lunch, which was somewhat of a let-down. The sun was very strong and hot, and not conducive to roaming around. We had a round of gelato, drove back to Oia, and rested in our hotels for a while.

We re-emerged at 5 pm, and drove back to Fira. I found driving on the narrow winding roads a lot of fun ! This time we found a street parking very near the Main Square. We first ventured on to the "Jeweller's Street" , near to the caldera rim. Walked up and down various streets, doing window shopping, and staring down at the caldera in between. When we were done with the shops, we slowly started walking along the caldera rim towards Firestofani.

It was just 7 pm, and early for sunset. We sat down at a tavern called "Mama Thira" at Firestofani, located at the caldera rim. We had a round of beer. The place was deserted, and we thought that this may be a nice quiet place to also watch the sunset. But the staff was rude, and behaved roughly with us, in fact very intemperately once they realized that we might not have dinner there. Strange behaviour from a deserted restaurant, and we would not recommend anyone to set foot there. It was a terrible experience, not worth describing. We departed, and went to a nearby cafe a few meters away, which had superb sunset views, very comfortable chairs, and extremely welcoming staff.

We all had another round of drinks, and sat patiently for sunset. Today, there were no clouds to obstruct the view, and we had a majestic view of the ball of fire as it went down into the water. Very pretty, and I am sure the crowds at Oia must have applauded loudly today.

We walked back on the pedestrian walkway to Fira, and located the restaurant "Lithos" on the cliffs down below. It was a large, somewhat upscale establishment, with very friendly staff, and killer views. Cannot remember what we had, but we enjoyed the dinner a lot. After dinner we slowly walked back to our parked car, and drove back to Oia. Once again, the midnight wine feast on the balcony under the stars - for the last time. Finished packing, as we had an early morning flight to catch, picked up our laundry from Lotza, settled our hotel bills and retired to bed, way past midnight.

Beautifully written! I feel i'm taken along with you - sampling the food, admiring the gorgeous view. Thanks so much for sharing!

Enjoying your report! Thanks for the details!

Indiancouple, I'm another additional fan to your very enjoyable report.
There are few on this board who write and articulate their trip reports so well and you are now added to that list. Its so good to see that you are getting so much out of your time in Greece and are enjoying it all, just as we are reading about it.

Looking forward to more episodes, and your Turkish adventures. I spent 9 days in Istanbul, Izmir/Selchuk/Sirince and Cappadocia and it was one of my best holidays ever. Beautiful country.

Keep it up !

M

PS I remember reading and enjoying your Swiss report as well.

I will be relaxing on Antiparos for 2-3 weeks from the end of August. If I can be bothered, I may end the trip with a few days on Naxos or a few days in the Nafplio area. Most of the time, once I set foot on Antiparos I find it hard to leave until it's time to go back to Athens for the flight home.

I loved returning to Naoussa with you. Love your report and positive outlook on your whole Greek experience.

LOVE your report! Your description of your first night in Oia is poetic and dreamy.
Paule

Thanks easytraveler and jamikins for the kudos. Sometimes I wonder if I am putting too much of detail and boring the readers, and if I should abbreviate my notings. Comments from people like you spur me on to write down everything I can remember.

Mathieu, I am completely flattered by your comments. Feels specially nice when someone has read one of my past trip reports and remembers it too !

Heimdall, I recall that when I was planning this trip a few months ago, and was wondering which islands to visit (in particular torn between Naxos and Paros for choice), it was the strong recommendations about Antiparos from you and Travelerjan that veered me towards Paros. I found it very enchanting that an island called Paros should have a neighbouring island called Antiparos !

In your first trip to Greece, one wants to "see all the sights", which is what we did, and understandably so. If we ever go back, I am sure I would like to spend more lazy time on Antiparos and Naousa, rather than speeding around Paros island.

Happytrvlr and progol, my bias for Naousa must have somehow shown in my writing. I did love that village, perhaps more than Parikia, and would probably stay there if I had to do it all again.

As for description of Oia being poetic and dreamy, well that is exactly how that place is ! People had called Oia as the prettiest village on earth, and now I totally agree. It was definitely one of my high points in this trip.

Hi Indiancouple,

I, too, have been enchanted by the style of writing in your trip reports.

No accident in the fact that <i>"an island called Paros should have a neighbouring island called Antiparos"</i>. I've always been amused by the name myself, as if there were some movement for the overthrow of Paros on the island. In this case the"anti" means opposite, so Antiparos is the little island across the narrow channel <i>opposite</i> Paros. Two islands in the Ionian, Paxos and Antipaxos, are named in the same way. ;-)

and there's also Kythira and Antikythira..

Wonderful report!

Heimdall and clausar, thanks for the info about Antipaxos and Antikythira. Looks like this "anti" thing is endemic to Greece. Would have expected it more in Italy, with "antipasta" prominent in their cuisine !

AnnMarie_C, many many thanks for the appreciation.

Day 8 (Friday, July 1st): NAFPLION :
We had an 8:55 am flight out of Santorini, so we got up at 5:30 am, and had a skimpy breakfast in our room. The hostess Gill had promised a porter to haul our luggage up the steep steps, and he arrived at the appointed hour of 6:45 am. He carried all our luggage up as if they were filled with cotton - so effortlessly ! Part of our understanding with Vazeos Car Rentals was that they would drop us off to the airport at no extra charge. The man from Vazeos was waiting in the carpark with a largish car, into which we loaded our luggage. We followed him in our Nissan Micra till the Vazeos office, where we left the car and transferred to the larger vehicle. We were driven to the airport without any adventure.

The Olympic flight to Athens was on schedule, but we were running behind in our sleep, due to the early morning arousal. The moment we boarded the aircraft, we all dozed off. Before we realized, we had landed at Athens. Retrieved our luggage, and went to the Budget Car Rentals counter. We had a confirmed booking of a suitable vehicle with Budget, but we wasted time shopping around with the other car rental counters to see if a better deal was forthcoming. Efforts in vain. Finally completed the paperwork with Budget, which took some time. Got our pre-selected car, a Hyundai Matrix Automatic. Took a long time to walk to the parking area, load our luggage, and it was 11:30 am by the time we finally hit the road to Nafplion.

We had rented a GPS from the car rental agency, and GPS navigations have never let me down in the past. However, after 30 minutes we realized that something was amiss, as the GPS was taking us into Athens city, and into the tiniest of by-lanes and side-streets. After wasting close to an hour, we decided that the GPS was all screwed up, and took roadside directions for getting on to E-94, the main freeway headed to Nafplion. Once on the freeway, the signages were good, and we reached Nafplion by around 2 pm. We had some packed snacks with us, which we consumed enroute in the car, in lieu of lunch.

As we entered our Hotel Aetoma in Nafplion, it was obvious that this was the best hotel so far on this trip. It was a lovely boutique hotel, with only about 5-6 rooms, and so tastefully decorated. The sweet Greek lady who owned the place and ran it was so full of love and service. She immediately fixed us some tea and coffee, with some snacks to nibble on, none of which was on the call of duty. The place did not feel like a hotel at all, but like a lovely homestay. We decided to rest for a while after the long journey, and left the hotel only at 5 pm.

We drove first to Palmidi Fortress and went in. Strolled around for an hour. Nice views of Nafplion from up there, and a very intact fortress to view. Climbed up and down various steps leading to several vantage viewing points, then exited and returned to our car.

We drove down to the waterfront of Nafplion, and parked the car in the large public parking area there. We then embarked on a walking tour of the narrow streets and lanes of Nafplion, which were incredibly beautiful. A picture postcard town, once the capital of Greece. Lush bougainvilleas everywhere, lusher and more flowery than the ones on Paros. The town had a nice central square, like a plaza in a Spanish city. We rested our feet at a cafe on the square, with some cool drinks.

Walked back to the waterfront, and with some difficulty found a boat willing to go to Bourtzi island. The short ride was very scenic, and the small island was even more scenic. A cute pretty place. As we waited there (we were the only 4 people on the island!), the boat went back and forth carrying more passengers to Bourtzi. We returned back to the Nafplion waterfront, and sat on a lively plaza where kids were skating around everywhere.

As it became dark, we returned to the main city square for dinner, and took a table at "Noufara", a Greek-Italian restaurant. Had an excellent dinner of Tomato soup, Mushroom Trifolati, Spring Rolls, Cheese Saganaki and pastas. The cooking was divine.

Returned to the hotel a bit early tonight, and went to bed by 11 pm.

Day 9 (Saturday, July 2nd): NAFPLION
After an early morning wake-up the previous day, we slept till late, and reported for breakfast past 9:30 am. The breakfast spread surprised us completely : home-made Spinach pies, Omelettes, Breads & croissants, selection of cheese, freshly squeezed orange juice, cereals, tea/coffee. Everything cooked in the kitchen of this excellent lady by her own hands. We were stuffed to the neck by the time we were done.

We decided to give the GPS one more try, as we could not comprehend how much astray it could possibly go in a place like this. Double-checked all the settings of the GPS. Asked it to direct us to Ancient Nemea. However, after about 30 minutes, once again we had to give up. We were being led into the tiniest of farm roads and orchards, even to places where no road really existed. We were well and truly lost. Tried asking several people where Nemea was, but there seemed to be considerable confusion between Nemea and Lemea, the latter being a 3-hour drive away !

After much driving around the orchards and fruit-trees, we decided to dump our plans of Ancient Nemea, and seek directions to Mycenae instead. The name of Mycenae seemed more familiar to the locals when we enquired, and we were shortly on a broad wide road leading to it.

On reaching the ruins of Mycenae, we purchased our tickets and went in. Frankly, we found the ruins a bit underwhelming, as very little remained but for the foundations. It was an interesting walk around the place, but not much to see. Maybe the delight of an archeologist, but disappointing for me. The small museum on the site was much more interesting, and it was surprising to see how much stuff had been found intact from the site's excavations. Also peeped into the Treasury of Atreus nearby, which was well preserved and therefore of greater interest.

We drove back to Nafplion, not giving the GPS any further opportunity, and arrived without any unnecessary diversions. Looked around the main waterfront for a suitable restaurant and sat down at a place called "Elotos" (or something close to that). Had an average lunch, and returned to our hotel for some rest. Ladies went off to town to purchase items made of olive wood, and returned an hour later with their hands full !

The Hellenic Festival at the Ancient Theater of Epidavrus had started just the previous day, and we had pre-booked our tickets for today over the phone. It was a Greek play, called "Peace" by Aristophanes, featuring a prominent Greek actor. We had downloaded and read the English synopsis of the play, and we all wanted to experience watching a live play at the ancient theater.

We left Nafplion at about 6 pm, and drove to Epidavrus. Collected our tickets from the Box Office in a jiffy, and were allowed inside at 7:30 pm. We were taken aback to see the huge crowds there, as we had not expected such a gathering. Our tickets were in the Upper Tier, but we got prime seats since we were early. The Theater was beautiful, and the dense trees and the mountains in the background were all so lovely. The setting was very atmospheric, and the feel of the place was electrifying.

The theater is known for its acoustics, and it was great to watch an open air performance in such a large amphitheater, with no microphones being required ! The place was packed to its capacity of about 17000 people, and everything was so wonderfully audible all the way up. The play started at 9:15 pm, and went on till about 11 pm. Could not understand the dialogues obviously, and it would have been great if we could (as it was a comedy). However, we knew what was going on, from the synopsis, and found the overall dramatic encounter to be fantastic. Great music and choreography, and well enacted. A magical experience not to be missed. People travel far and wide just to visit this theater as a tourist site, and for us to be able to sit inside and watch a play there was an honour.

We drove back to Nafplion in the night and parked the car near our hotel. Ventured back to the waterfront for dinner. It was a Saturday night, and the place was very different from the previous night. The streets were full of life and crowds at midnight. We dined at "Omorfi Poli" restaurant, where they served exquisitely prepared food. Music was pouring out of every nightclub in the vicinity, and there was a strange buzz about this small town. It was almost 1:30 am by the time we went back to the hotel, streets still not deserted.

It was our last night in Greece, as we were scheduled to leave for Turkey the next day.