Athens & Santorini

We flew with Aegean Airlines for the short (1hr 15mins) flight from Dubrovnik to Athens on Monday 20th May 2017. We arrived around lunchtime and although we had a long wait we got through immigration without issue. We took the metro from the airport to Metaxourghio station and then it was a 10 minute walk to our Airbnb apartment (located on the edge of the Psiri and Monastiraki districts).
On the walk we immediately noticed that Athens looked more like a city in South East Asia than a European city. Athens is obviously an extremely old city but is also a city which has long experienced issues with poverty, crime and corruption and as such the infrastructure of the city is not of the same standard as in other European cities.
The apartment was well located in that it was walking distance to most of the key attractions around Athens but was also in a residential neighbourhood far enough outside of the touristy areas to give us the experience of living in a regular Athenian suburb.
The local neighbourhood was rather colourful with some rough looking characters hanging around the small cafes and a large Asian community busily working their clothing and grocery stores.

There was a lot of quite visible drug dealing and use on the local streets, particularly after dark, but we never felt unsafe or in any danger.
However when we checked into the Airbnb apartment it became clear to us that crime is a problem in the area as the apartment was equipped with some serious security on the windows and doors.
Our host explained to us that the government spent a lot of money cleaning up and improving the tourist areas of Athens ready for the Olympics in 2004 and so these areas do not accurately reflect the reality of life for regular citizens of Athens, which is what we got to experience - warts and all.
The apartment itself was extremely clean, comfortable and well appointed and after we got ourselves settled in we took a walk through the diverse local area to the more trendy and upmarket Psiri district where we bought groceries along with some Greek beer and wine. We took a quick walk through the famous Athens Central Market and then returned to the apartment to enjoy some drinks on the balcony, taking in the view of the Acropolis. We had dinner at a local restaurant (The Seychelles) recommended by our host which was great for some people watching.
(Photos: Metro train; the apartment; view of the Acropolis & the city;

the apartment building; the local neighbourhood; Central Market).

On Sunday after breakfast we walked to the enormous Athens Flea Market in Monastiraki which is open every day of the week and was absolutely packed with tourists and stores selling everything from cheap t-shirts and souvenirs to locals with stalls selling second hand housewares and old vinyl.

After exploring the flea market we made our way to the Plaka district where we visited Brettos Distillery which is the oldest ouzo distillery in Athens and the second oldest in Europe. It started operating in 1909 at the ground level of an Athenian old mansion in the heart of Plaka. At those premises the founder Michael Brettos, started producing ouzo, brandy and few liqueur flavors using old family recipes from Turkey.
The inside of the shop is unique and charming as the interior decor has remained the same since 1909 and hundreds of colourful backlit liqueur bottles line the walls making for some great photos!
We took a seat at the bar and had a glass each of the house ouzo, which is served clear and then gradually becomes cloudy as the ice cubes melt (known at the ouzo effect).

Feeling refreshed we walked to Meatropoleos 3 for a delicious late lunch of authentic Greek food including a Greek salad featuring an entire slab of feta cheese, grilled haloumi with honey vinaigrette and some gyros (my favourite!).
On our way back to the apartment we did some souvenir shopping and sampled some Greek beers at the quirky Beer Time bar before turning in for a quiet dinner at home.

(Photos: Monastiraki district; Athens Flea Market; Brettos Distillery; lunch at Meatropoleos; Beer Time).

On Monday we walked back through Monastiraki and trekked up to the Acropolis. From a lookout atop the Acropolis we took in views right across the concrete jungle of Athens and all the way to the sea and the Port of Pireaus. With our phones we did a free audio tour of the monuments of the Acropolis including the Parthenon, the Propylaia, the Erechtheion and the Temple of Athena Nike.
(Photos: from the lookout; view of the Propylaia and Temple of Athena Nike from the lookout; the Odeon of Herodes Atticus where concerts are still held to this day; entering the Proplylaia; the Parthenon (with scaffolding in place for restorations); the Erecthion; views from the Acropolis to the Temple of Zeus, Theatre of Dionysus and to the Port of Piraeus).

After leaving the Acropolis we walked back through Monastiraki and stopped off in Plaka for some gyros and beers at Tylixto, then we grabbed some loukoumades to take home with us for afternoon tea. Loukoumades are a traditional Greek sweet, fluffy fried balls of dough - similar to doughnuts but much lighter and with a crispier coating - usually served drizzled with honey and cream. Modern versions of loukoumades come filled with cream or nutella and lashed with chocolate or honey and sprinkled with nuts. We opted for chocolate cream loukoumades coated with white chocolate and almonds - it was delicious but sickly sweet!
(Photos: lunch at Tylixto; loukoumades).

We then spent the afternoon putting our feet up before heading out in the evening for some drinks and dinner. We ate at Ergon Foods in Syntagma which is a combined deli and restaurant. For starters we had zucchini balls with feta cheese and tzatziki, and gruyere cheese in kataifi pastry (finely shredded filo pastry) drizzled with honey and pistachios. For mains I had an enormous chicken souvlaki and Matt had a seafood pasta, of course accompanied by the obligatory ouzo and then finished off at the end by glasses of masticha, which is a liqueur only made in Greece from the resin of the Mastic tree. We walked off our dinner and enjoyed seeing the city at night. The Acropolis in particular is lit up spectacularly and being so high up it is visible from all around in the city.
(Photos: dinner at Ergon Foods; masticha).

On Tuesday morning we enjoyed a sleep in and then went back to take a closer look at the Central Market. We walked through the city picking up a few more souvenirs and made our way back again to Brettos Distillery, which had fewer people visiting and so provided a better opportunity for some photos. Matt tried a different batch of ouzo and I had a large glass of the house masticha which I really enjoyed. We took the opportunity to just wander through the local neighbourhoods one last time and snap some photos of the street art, then we had an early dinner (gyros of course) at a small Taverna before heading home for an early night.
(Photos: Central Market; Brettos Distillery; dinner at Taverna Orea Penteli; street art).

On Wednesday 24th of May we had an early start, leaving the apartment at 7am for a short walk to the metro and then the train to the airport. Our flight with Olympic Air left Athens at 10.10am and it was a short 45 minute journey to Santorini. On the flight we sat next to a very nice Australian woman who was in Athens for her work with the Australian Immigration Department. She was lovely and it was really interesting hearing about her work in relation to the current refugee crisis in Greece and in Europe.
The Aegean Sea looked magical in the sunshine as we landed on the island. We picked up our beach buggy and then drove about 20 minutes across the island to Fira and then set about trying to find our hotel. We parked the buggy and then started walking with our luggage through the steep, cobbled streets of Fira. When we eventually found the 'On the Cliff' hotel we couldn't believe our luck. We had gotten a great deal on our room as the hotel is brand new and so we really didn't know quite what to expect when we arrived. The hotel was so beautiful and luxurious and the view was absolutely priceless! The staff were all so friendly and helpful and as we had arrived early we had a beer and enjoyed the view from the fantastic hotel bar before heading off to explore Fira and enjoy some gyros for lunch.
Our favourite place for gyros on Santorni was called 'Nick the Grill' as they did a fantastic lamb gyros (most places would only offer pork and chicken) and was super yummy and so cheap!
(Photos: the buggy; On the Cliff hotel; having drinks at the hotel bar with a view; lamb gyros).

We took the buggy down to a local supermarket to grab some snacks and drinks and then went back to the hotel to finally check in to our room.
The room was everything we had hoped it would be! It was a cave room built into the side of the cliff with the classic white washed walls of the Cyclades islands. Best of all, on our balcony we had a spa in a prime position to see the sunset over the caldera.
We immediately settled ourselves in the spa with a bottle of prosecco to take in the fabulous Santorini sunset. We felt so lucky as there were loads of people crowding around the streets and restaurants to enjoy the sunset and take the quintessential selfies, while we had the luxury of enjoying the view from the comfort of our balcony spa.
Once the sun went down we went out to a local restaurant and enjoyed a platter of traditional Greek dishes for dinner along with a bottle of delicious local wine.
(Photos: our room; in the spa; the view from our balcony; Santorini sunset over the caldera).

On Thursday morning we had a fantastic breakfast at the hotel with fresh breads, fruit, yoghurt and omelettes before heading off in the buggy to explore the southern side of the island (Fira being on the western side). The scenery on the island is quite unique with the blue and white buildings contrasting against the rocky brown terrain and the green grape vines. Due to the rocky volcanic soil on Santorini the vines are immune to many diseases that tend to affect grapes on the mainland. As such many of the roots found on the vines on Santorini are centuries old. Grape vines on Santorini are grown close to the ground using a unique bush-training system, known as koulara. As the vines grow, they are woven into baskets with the grapes facing toward the inside of the ring. The vine’s leaves and vine provide protection for the grapes from harsh winds and sunlight. We had to look closely at first to realise that the green bushes we were seeing everywhere were in fact grape vines.

(Photos: Fira; views of Santorini; Santorini grape vines).

After a 20 minute drive south of Fira we parked the buggy at the top of a cliff and then trekked our way down to the famous Red Beach, so named because of the striking red colour of the cliffs. Coming down the cliff the view of Red Beach is amazing with the red cliffs plunging down to meet the black and red pebble covered beach which then leads to the gorgeous green-blue sea.
It was a beautiful warm sunny day and we happily set ourselves up on some banana lounges with an umbrella and some beers to soak up the sun. Although the water was a little chilly, it was so crystal clear that we could not resist getting in for some snorkelling. There is no sand at red beach, but once you are in the water the little black and red volcanic pebbles give way to larger and larger stones and boulders. As we swam out we came across large beds of amazing sea grasses which were home to some interesting fish and sea creatures.
The water was perfectly clear and calm and with the bright sunshine it made perfect conditions for some really unique snorkelling.
(Photos: Red Beach).

From Red Beach we drove over to the East side of the island to Perissa Beach which is a black sand beach. We had some gyros for lunch and then had ice cream and walked along the beach, watching some teenagers jumping into the ocean from the cliffs.
(Photos: Perissa Beach).

We made our way back to the hotel in time to catch another gorgeous sunset from our spa, and we drank Greek wine and had a platter of salami, cheese and olives for dinner.
(Photos: driving through Santorini; another gorgeous sunset).

On Friday morning Matt got up early before the cruise ship tourists to take some photos of Fira while the streets were still empty. After another delicious breakfast we drove the buggy up to the North of the island to the popular tourist neighbourhood of Oia. Oia was lovely in that it also has dramatic views of the caldera and the classic Santorini white washed buildings and cobbled streets. However all the restaurants, shops and accommodation in Oia are extremely expensive and so we decided not to even bother staying for lunch. We drove back from Oia via a scenic route travelling south down the Eastern coast line and then cutting in through some small villages on our way back to Fira. It was great to see some of the interior of Santorini although we ended up on some pretty hair raising narrow and steep roads.

(Photos: empty streets of Fira; not so empty streets of Oia).

The buggy got us safely back to Fira and then Matt decided that we should take the long stairway down the cliff to the Old Port to see the donkeys. The donkeys wait at the bottom of the stairs at the port in the mornings in order to carry tourists from the cruise ships up to the town. In the past this was the only alternative to walking all the way up the 600 steep stairs from the port to the town, although these days there is a cable car which takes you all the way up in only a few minutes. The donkeys of Santorini have become quite controversial as it is reported that they are not well cared for by their owners and that during the summer in particular they have to endure cruel conditions carrying fat tourists up and down the stairs all day in the blazing sun with no shade.
As such we decided that we would not pay for a donkey ride but Matt still wanted to see them all close up and take some photos.
We certainly got to see the donkeys up close as they were hanging about lazily on the stairs enjoying the afternoon shade as we made our way down. At one point we came across a quite large group of donkeys completely blocking the stairs and despite our attempts to get them to move they just stood there and looked at us. We ended up having to squeeze past them which made me nervous as I had read about an incident in 2015 when a German tourist was trampled and killed by a rogue donkey on Santorini.

We made it down the stairs to the port unscathed and a local dog accompanied us as we explored the Old Port and then waited in line to take the cable car back up the cliff.
(Photos: the stairs and the Santorini donkeys; the Old Port; the cable car).

We got back to the hotel to enjoy our last sunset on Santorini once again from our balcony spa with drinks in hand. After sunset we had the most delicious dinner at Greek restaurant To Ouzeri, with plenty of ouzo to commemorate our last night in Greece. After dinner we took a final walk around Fira and snapped some photos of the town at night.
(Photos: last sunset on Santorini; dinner at To Ouzeri; Fira by night).

On Saturday 27th of May we had our last breakfast at the hotel and watched as storm clouds rolled in from the sea towards the island.
We checked out at 12pm and had just gotten our luggage into the buggy when the storm hit.
At this point the impracticality of the buggy became unfortunately apparent as we became completed saturated within minutes of the storm hitting.
By the time we got to the airport we were completely soaked through, although the waterproofing on our luggage proved to be of good quality so at least we had some dry clothes to put on.
We got changed and had a hot drink at a local cafe whilst waiting for the storm to pass over.
Despite being a luxury resort island the airport on Santorini is almost third world. This is probably a good example of the mismanagement of economic resources by the Greek government which has landed the country in so much trouble in recent years.
The airport is tiny and there is not enough room for everyone to line up. Only a few airlines fly in and out of Santorini and due to the abysmal scheduling all the flights seem to leave around the same time. As the building cannot cope with so many people trying to check in at once, the system is that people have to stand and wait outside without shelter or shade whilst the airport staff usher in groups of around 20 people at a time to check in.
Once your bags have been handed in and you get through security you end up in a tiny gate waiting area with too few toilets to service the large crowds and poor ventilation. Discomfort aside however, we ended up very nearly missing our flight due to the complete chaos and disorganisation of the airport.
The only way we knew our flight was about to leave was because another passenger happened to tell us that our flight was already boarded. The airlines seems to be quite aware of the shit show that is the Santorini airport as the plane will sit there on the tarmac and wait for all the passengers to be on board before leaving.
All in all it was not a great way to end our lovely holiday on Santorini and at the end we were just happy to be on the plane and out of that airport.
I can understand now why people choose to take the ferry to and from Athens instead of flying!