The Acropolis

After a ten hour plane ride on Air Transat (don’t fly it), here we are at the Acropolis in Athens. This picture is taken from The Plaka, an area of shops and restaurants open until very late at night and even into the morning hours. We are told that Greeks like to eat late. The Plaka was built in the 19th century by immigrants from the Cycladic island of Anafi. (Myknos, Paros and Santorini are also Cycladic islands).

The Parthenon

People lived on the Acropolis as early as 5000 BC but the Parthenon, as we know it today, was re-built in 448 BC after the Persian invasions by Pericles.

Delivering the Burlington Post

Our local newspaper, the Burlington Post, will print a picture of anyone travelling that shows the paper in a picture. We had one published when we sent them one of Elle and I in Hiroshima.
This one was taken behind the Parthenon. You can see some of the scaffolding as it is in a state of constant preservation.

Byzantine Church in the Ancient Agora

This church dates roughly from 1453 and stands in the Roman Agora or marketplace.

The Odeion

The Odeum (Odeion / Music Hall) was a monument built in the 2nd century BC by Herodes Atticus. It was reconstructed in the 19th century and hosts summer festivals to this day. Perhaps you remember the televised performance of the Three Tenors here.

Temple of Hephaistos (The Theseion)

Looking out from this Temple you could imagine the Agora teaming with merchants and the likes of both Socrates and his disciple Plato. The Temple dates from the 5th century BC.

Guards

This is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The guards wear a uniform which has frilly skirts and pom-pommed red shoes. The evzone (uniform) was worn by their ancestors who fought to gain Greece’s freedom in the War of Independence (1821-1828). Guards are posted twenty-four hours per day and are changed once per hour. A formal changing of the Guard occurs on Sundays.

The Theatre of Dionysos

The Theatre was built in the 4th century BC. It seated 17,000 spectators in 64 rows of limestone seats, 20 of which survive. 67 marble seats were provided for the most important people including the Priest of Dionysos, god of wine. The works of Aescylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes were performed here.

Temple of Olympian Zeus

Also known as the Kolonnes (the columns) this was originally one of the largest temples in the world at 108m long and 43m wide. Inside were statues of Zeus and Hadrian, the builder of the temple in the 6th century BC.

Our Hotel Room

Eleanor is sitting on our patio at Hotel Acrogiali in Mykonos.

Hotel Acrogiali

The front of Hotel Acrogiali on the Aegean Sea.

Everywhere But!

The sign states they take you everywhere but, not to the two places we wanted to go to!

The Windmills of Mykonos (Kato Myli)

Catholic Church

Catholic Churches have a blue roof whereas Greek Orthodox churches have rust coloured roofs. There are over 800 churches on an island with only a popuation of 15K. Many are privately owned.

Greek Orthodox

Mykonos Town (Hora)

Mykonos Town, or Hora, is a village of many narrow streets and shops. Vehicular traffic is not allowed, however, you do see many scooters running up and down the streets on deliveries.

Tavera Paraportiani near the Famous Church

We had lunch here just before a crowd of "tourists" came. Damn tourists. Anyway, we lunched here twice. No riff-raff the second time around. The food was always good in Greece but a bit on the expensive side sometimes. We used a Greek Salad as our guide. In a place like this Taverna it would be around $5.00 CDN but, if you have a view of the sunset, sometimes as high as $20.00 CDN.

Friendly Nicolas and Petros

Mykonos Town is said to have three Pelicans. We didn't see any others and these three were always there. Irini is in the next photo. The third bird in this picture is a duck of course.

Mean Spirited Irini

Greek Man

Narrow walkway

Although a bit hard to see, this alley was only about 20 inches wide.

Little Venice in Mykonos

Mykonos was highly influenced by the Venetians. This area is also called the Alefkandra quarter and is made up of many bars that have a view of the sea and the beautiful sunsets.

The Beach at Hotel Acrogiali

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Just down from our Hotel was a shop that sold anything from souvenirs to beach towels and wine.

The Delos Lions

Just two miles off the coast of Mykonos lies Delos, considered by ancient Greeks to be the holiest of sanctuaries. Frommer's states that "It (Delos) is unquestionably one of the most remarkable archaelogical preserves in the world."

These are the Naxion Lions made of marble from Naxos in the 7th century BC. There were originally nine and perhaps more, but only five remain.

Mosaics

These types of Mosaics are found in the open and in many places in Delos.

In the Sanctuary of Apollo

This is one of the finer statues on the island. During Roman times, many heads were destroyed as well as some other parts of the male body. Note the small statue on the right.

Atop Mt. Kinthos

At 112 meters this is the highest point on the island. It was quite a job to climb up the staircase leading to it. A temple dedicated to Zeus and Athena once stood here and the mountain was the most sacred part of Delos.

A 7th century BC Aqueduct

Delos was a sanctuary since the Mycenaean period (circa 1400 BC) and became organized in the 7th century BC. The Odyssey, written about 700 BC, refers to Delos as a famous religious center of the Ionians. It grew to about 30,000 inhabitants and was destroyed in 88 BC by Mithridates, King of Pontus. During this time, the people of Delos built aqueducts that brought fresh water to their houses.

Eleanor plays Shirley Valentine at the Sunset

Back on Mykonos, Eleanor reminisces about the movie Shirley Valentine which was filmed at this location in 1989.

Sunset Taverna

Agio Ioannis (Shirley Valentine Beach)

This is the area where Shirley (Pauline Collins) meets with her husband at the end of the film. Tom Conti played Shirley's love interest as Costas Caldes.

Dad

Not really, but it looks a little like him. This is a Greek Orthodox Priest at a litlle town called Ano Mera.

By the Infinity Pool

This is overlooking the pool at the Yria Beach Hotel in Paros. Yria is listed as one of the Small Luxery Hotels of the World and we would certainly agree. Rooms in the summer here run well over $600 per night CDN. Just look at some of the pictures of the grounds.

The Entrance to the Yria Bungalows in Paros

Carol and Bill

About 200 yards or so from the Hotel, we found this little Taverna. Good prices and tasty food. This is Bill and Carol from Dorset, friends whom we met, who were on the same itinerary.

Flowers at the Hotel

In the lobby looking towards the pool

The Band

One night we went on our only excursion. This was a band that played for us. For 19 Euros each ($30) you got all the wine you could drink and a tiny plate of appetizers. Anyway, it was fun. The band was great and we saw some Greek dancing to boot.

Naoussa

This is the small fishing village of Naoussa. It is not yet spoiled by tourism but it will come. All the fisherman were at work the day we arrived fixing their nets and boats.

Naoussa Fisherman

The New Marble Mine

Paros is famous for its Marble. The translucent marble found here was used for the Venus de Milo and for Napoleon's tomb before the original mine was abandoned in the late 1800's. This mine is still in production.

Santorini

The High Speed Ferry

This ferry brought us from Paros to Santorini. It took about two hours but would have taken about four on a standard ferry. This was included in our package and we had reserved seats on board. The boat is very fast! Note the cliff we are to climb by bus behind the ferry.

Santorini Palace Hotel

This is the Santorini Palace Hotel. Our room is the door on the left and you can see our balcony in about the center of the picture.

Fishing Village at the Hot Springs

On a trip to the volcano in Santorini, we stopped to swim here at the hot springs.

The Volcano

The entire island of Santorini is the result of a catastrophic eruption of this volcano in 1450 BC. The harbour is an enormous caldera or crater. Some scholars surmise that the destruction gave birth to the myth of Atlantis. The volcano is still active and last erupted, albeit less catastrophicly, in the 1950's.

Santorini Lunch

Eleanor is having a great sandwich and a beer while overlooking the village of Fira. Santorini is also known as Thira. The names get a bit confusing as the Greeks often spell the names differently too. More on that later.