Greece
Birikiá

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    • Day 2

      Made it to Santorini!

      October 3, 2019 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      The flight to London was smooth, the flight to Santorini bumpy, but we arrived right on time at 4:15 p.m. The one little passport control cubicle was empty when we arrived, but thankfully we were the only flight arriving. By 5:15 we were through passport control and were driving out of the airport in our rental car. Joe had not brought the car GPS, though he thought he had, but in an uncharacteristic stroke of tech skills I was able to download google maps for Santorini and mainland Greece. And, even more amazing, it worked offline as it was supposed to!

      The touristy side of the island rings the volcanic crater, called the Caldera. We are about a two minute hike up to get to the Caldera side, but our hotel is on the other side of that high ridge, which means a sea view but no Caldera view. But the real benefit is that it is much quieter. Truth be told, though, it was one of only two hotels on the island that has an elliptical — and this one has a sea view!

      The island is very small, so by 6, Joe was taking a nap and I was on the elliptical. I also had time for a short walk along the Caldera, it was just gorgeous. We ventured out for dinner in the car around 8, but were gobsmacked by the crowds in Fira. I thought this wasn’t high season!!! We just kept driving till we found a place to park the car. It was in front of a supermarket, with not a restaurant in sight, so we just bought some food and wine (choice in red wine was one labeled “dry red wine” and the other “sweet red wine.” It is not up to my wine cellar friends’ standards.)

      But we are now on the terrace of our room, overlooking the pool, eating very yummy sheep cheese and salami on pita while sipping “dry red wine.”

      Tomorrow Ancient Thira and some island exploration. I will not be spending a lot of time shopping in Thira, of that you can be sure.
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    • Day 3

      Ruins!

      October 4, 2019 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

      Ruins and more ruins. First, we went to the Greek and Roman ruins of Ancient Thira, from about 900 BC to several centuries AD a city way up high with ruins of a theater, a garrison, lots of temples. Then we went to the really old ruins, a Minoan city from about 3000 BC. It had been buried in a volcanic eruption about 1500 BC. No human remains were found, so they must have had warning. Half the island was submerged, leaving the Caldera/crater, which has led some to speculate that this is where Atlantis was. Too bad that at both sites, all the frescoes, and most of the pottery and statuary have been placed in the Thira museum (and some, probably the best, went to Athens). So tomorrow we will have to go to the museum.

      After lunch on the Red Beach, we decided to brave the crowds and head for either Fira/Thira or Imervogli. Fira was just way too crazy, so on we went. Found a primo parking place in Imervogli, so we took advantage and spent several hours walking around, it is beautiful. Joe stayed in a cafe hanging on a cliff while I walked out to a nearby rock with gorgeous views. Unfortunately, I did not think I should do the last 50 m or so, it was pretty much scrambling on rock. But it was a good bit of energetic walking and nearly top views, while Joe sipped his 5 euro iced coffee.

      Crowds are pretty crazy, this is nothing like Sicily in October, where we had enormous parking lots all to ourselves! To give you some idea of the number of tourists — I was just looking for driving directions to the archaeological musem tomorrow. And google maps shows several stretches of “red” on the route now. And this is 9 pm on October 4!!!! I would not venture here in high season.
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    • Day 4

      Day in Fira

      October 5, 2019 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

      We woke up to bright sunshine, and decided to head for Fira — main city, cruise ship central, tourist shopping heaven. Our hotel had offered us a spot on a fancy boat tour around the caldera and to the volcano, but at 160 € a head, we thought it was a bit much. So we headed into Fira, found the big parking lot (which still had a few places at 10 am, thankfully), and walked down to the old port. From 1200’ above sea level to the port took about 20 minutes. We could have taken a donkey, but decided to walk. Once at the old port, we easily bought tickets for an 11 am boat tour, 20 € per person, thank you very much.

      We went to the hot springs, then to the island nearby where the only live crater is. It was a good climb up through the lava field, and it was so easy to see the outline of what used to be the island, till the volcanic eruption in 1500 BC that is. Amazing views.

      Once back in the port, Joe took the 3 minute cable car while I walked back up, dodging lots of donkey poop, hoping to beat him because the line was long. But he got there first. After lunch, we went to the prehistoric museum — I had never focused on Minoan artifacts and art, but these were really beautiful. Then some more walking along the twisty top paths with gorgeous views out, over the cliff towns, the sheer cliffs, and the turquoise water. It is truly beautiful, most beautiful view while eating an ice cream ever, but the tiny alleys of every kind of tourist trinket is not for me. We bought some great takeout and will soon be chowing down on our little terrace once again. Very happy to be here. 😋
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    • Day 15

      An Amazing Day on the Cliff’s Edge

      April 21, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

      We came, we saw, we survived is the tag line for today.

      Ancient Thera is on the top of the ridge of the Caldera. Amazing and absolutely petrifying to drive up!

      Estate Agyros is a top winery in Santorini. 4th generation wine maker with 200 year old vines. A wonderful experience.

      Akrotiri is a step back in time. 4000 years back. They believe this is only the beginning of the Minoan ruins preserved by the ash of the volcano. Interestingly they knew it was coming and so there were no human remains found.

      And then a divine sunset! This film was filmed in time lapse. Hopefully it plays for you like that.
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    • Day 1

      Tag 1: Von München in die Sonne ☀️🇬🇷

      March 31 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

      Lange haben wir überlegt, ob wir für diese Reise wieder einen Blog machen…und uns letztendlich dafür entschieden. Weil wir schnell gemerkt haben, wie wunderbar diese Insel ist und wie schade es wäre, diesen tollen Urlaub nicht wie die anderen festzuhalten.

      Allerdings wollen wir nicht jeden Tag etwas schreiben, sondern lieber alle 2 Tage. Muss auch mal reichen. 😉

      Unsere Reise begann an unterschiedlichen Orten. Denn ich startete aus Köln in Richtung München und Doreen kam direkt aus Dresden. Und so trafen wir uns am Samstagabend im Airport Hotel Flightgate.
      Da es schon spät war, gab es nur noch einen kleinen Absacker und dann ins Bett. 😴

      Nach einer kurzen Nacht (Zeitumstellung) und einem überschaubaren, aber sättigendem Frühstück (inkl. Prosecco) ging’s zum gebuchten Parkplatz etwas außerhalb, denn alles andere ist unbezahlbar. Der Eigentümer wurde schon ganz „nervös“, weil wir ein paar Minuten zu spät waren. Aber als wir dann ankamen, mussten wir noch auf weitere Urlauber warten…und somit wurden WIR nervös. 😅 Wir haben da ja so unsere Erfahrungen mit der Gepäckaufgabe. (Siehe Lappland Rückreise) Als wir dann aber direkt bei der Gepäckaufgabe abgesetzt wurden, war diese menschenleer. Der Check-In dauerte also gefühlt 2 Minuten. Das war mal eine Überraschung. So konnten wir gemütlich bis zum 43 km entfernten 😉 Gate schlendern. Auf dem Weg dorthin kamen wir an diversen Geschäften vorbei- unter anderem dem italienischen Stiftehersteller FABRIANO. Da schlug mein Künsterlinnen-Herz einmal ganz laut und ich musste bei einem Watercolor-Set zugreifen! 🎨

      Und dann hieß es auch schon Boarding. ✈️Schnell noch unser Handgepäck in den letzten freien Plätzen in den Gepäckfächern verstauen und dann hoben wir ab Richtung Urlaub! 😎

      Nicht ganz pünktlich aber mit einer überraschenden Flugzeit von nur gut zwei Stunden befanden wir uns im Landeanflug auf Santorini. Lange Wartezeiten am Gepäckband – Fehlanzeige. Und dann ging’s raus in die Sonne ☀️, wo wir mit einem Schild „Doreen Raab“ schon erwartet wurden und in Windeseile unseren Inselcruiser bekamen. 🚗Deutsche Genauigkeit kennt man hier nicht. Hier wird zwischen Tür & Angel ein Papier unterschrieben, ein an mehreren Stellen zerbeulter Wagen übergeben – griechische Gelassenheit.✅
      Auf der 15-minüten Autofahrt zu unserer Villa konnte man schon erahnen, wie schön die Insel sein wird. …
      Elizabeth, unsere Gastgeberin, erwartete uns bereits und zeigte uns unser Haus. Privater geht’s nicht: eine Villa mit zwei Schlafzimmern, zwei Bädern, Küche und Terrasse mit Pool und Meerblick nur für uns! 🤩 Irgendwas haben wir richtig gemacht, auch wenn die Sonne schon auf die andere Seite gewandert war.

      Kurz ankommen und dann meldete sich auch schnell der Hunger. An unserem ersten Abend gingen wir – natürlich – in ein griechisches Restaurant, das trotz des Titels „No Name“ richtig lecker war. 😋
      Danach nur noch kurz auspacken und dann fielen wir völlig fertig und mit großer Vorfreude auf die nächsten 9 Tage ins Bett. 😅
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    • Day 5

      Auf nach Santorin 😍

      October 3, 2023 in Greece ⋅ 🌬 22 °C

      Heute ist wieder Ausflugstag!
      Das Schiff ist in Santorin angekommen. Das ist in Griechenland und man kann schon aus dem Fenster des Schiffes sehen, dass die Stadt wirklich beeindruckend ist. Da wird das kleine WIR fast ein bisschen träumerisch....

      Mal sehen was das kleine WIR heute alles erlebt. Hoffentlich muss es nicht wieder soooooo viele Treppen laufen....
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    • Day 5

      Perfect Day

      October 6, 2019 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      Today was one of those “it doesn’t get any better than this” days. Our first stop was Oia, another village on the Caldera with impossibly perfect white houses and all those white and blue churches. With clear blue sky and water, and strong sun, it was dazzling.

      I had read about the oldest church on the island, 11th Century AD. Had to find it of course — google maps took us on some crazy dirt roads, and at one point a very nice young guy had to get in the car and turn us around where we were stuck in a dead end. But we did make it only to find it closed up tight, with its mosaics visible from the window. In the parking lot, a villager dinged our rental car. Luckily there was a young guy nearby who spoke English and seemingly took care of everything. We’ll see if that’s the case when we drop off the car tomorrow morning.

      Last stop Pyrgos, highest town on the island. We had a massive kebab lunch at a lively outdoor terrace. Great views, more blue domed churches, less touristy — at least so we thought till three busloads of tourists descended on the town — time for a quick getaway.

      Ended the day with one more sunset, one more elliptical workout, one more dinner on our room terrace. Tomorrow we drop off the car at the airport at 8, take a van to the port, and hopefully hop on a boat to Mykonos.
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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Birikiá, Birikia

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