3/4 October - Santorini and A Day Out with Dimitrous

Sunday 3 October
Yesterday (Sunday) we negotiated our way down the path to the Port of Old Fira by dodging donkey poo and the occasional fractious donkey as they also negotiated their way round tourists and uneven cobblestone steps (some coming up, some coming down, and sometimes donkeys crossing in both directions!). It made you a bit careful about where their hooves were relative to your feet. I am not an expert, but I am sure the majority of the animals were horses, not donkeys, but they all seemed to get labelled as "Santorini donkeys". NZ OSH would have a field day with the potential risk associated with people and donkeys in the same space but, at least during the time we were there, we didn't see any donkey-related injuries. .

We took a boat (clipper) across to the volcano island (Nea Kameni) and walked up to the top of the crater (actually 3 craters) accompanied by about 20 other people and a guide who explained the remarkable history and nature of the volcano. One of the "chimneys" has had three different types of eruptions within a short space of time. Although the last eruption was in 1956, the floor of the large crater is around 247 Deg C. Periodically, the floor of the caldera (the sea between the volcano island and the surrounding islands making up Santorini) releases gasses which rise to the top and form a greenish haze.

Our flight to Athens went smoothly at the end of the day and we were picked up at the airport by a smiling Dimitrous (see, I got around to who Dimitrous is at last). The Acropolis is at the end of the street where the hotel is located so we glimpsed a view of it on the way past.

Monday 4 October

Today, it was an 8am start (again with Dimitrous) for a day tour to the Peleponese Peninsula. We stopped at the Corinth Canal (which is over 6km long, 12m deep and serves as a shortcut for ships from the Ionic Sea to the Aegean). Although there are bridges over the canal, they have to be very high to clear ocean-going vessels. However, one bridge is quite close to the water and when vessels pass through, (which happens about 10 times a day) the bridge is lowered under the water to let the ships pass.

During the day, we visited Ancient Corinth Mycenae , Nafplion, Epidaurus and the Asklepion (healing centre from around 400BC). At both Mycenae and Epidaurus, we bumped into a group of touring senior school children from Blenheim who were visiting some of the things they had studied in Classics. They stood out to us (several took the opportunity to perform on the theatre stage at Epidaurus which has remarkable acoustics) and we (at least I) stood out to them thanks to the KIWI tee-shirt I happened to be wearing today.

Once back in Athens, we had dinner at the Plaka and strolled past the illuminated Acropolis on the way back to the hotel. We are now off to bed for another shortish sleep in readiness for a brief walking tour around the around the local area (Acropolis, Roman Forum, Ancient Agora , ?Archealogical Museum) in the morning, then its back to the airport to catch our plane for Zurich. As this is likely to be the last place we will have either reliable internet or the time to write there might not be an update from Switzerland (we arrive lateish tomorrow night and will not have the laptop with us in Interlaken the following night) so if we don't post anything more....... see you when we get home!

Oia

After a relaxed start to the day we caught the local bus from Fira to Oia (a township located about 10 km from Fira and situated at the tip of the island) and then wandered around the small streets enjoying the views. . At one stage we picked up a canine friend who also seemed quite interested in what was over the edge. Maybe he thought the view was better over his side... or perhaps the dog had just dropped his camera. Quite a lot of dogs were scattered around the place but they seemed friendly and for the most part they were sleeping (this one had even found himself a sofa bed!)..

Oia has similar style housing to Firostefani where we are staying but came across a couple of windmills in our travels.

We had a leisurely lunch (photo is of our view from the balcony) and then filled in time until sunset - Oia has a reputation for stunning sunsets. However, the publicity must be well and truly out as there were crowds of people lined up in the streets to take photos as the sun went down and we decided we had actually seen just as good sunsets from our balcony back at the Villa so caught the next bus back (before all the photo tourists decided to return).

Thats about it for today - tomorrow we are going to see how energetic we feel before deciding whether to do a full day or short trip to the volcano but as its our last day in Santorini we have to be organised to check out in the morning and then be back by 7 pm to get our taxi to the airport. Tomorrow night will be travelling to Athens so you might not get an update until we have both time and internet connection again.

Another day in paradise

Not too much to report for today as spent most of the day just wandering around the local area. We went to the Archealogical Museum (thinking it was the Museum of Ancient Thira) followed by a visit to the Museum of Ancient Thira...lol... so got a bit of the history of the area. The rest of the day was just casual exploring followed by some relaxation time back at the Villa. Even the cats take a siesta here between 2-5 pm (I know - cats anywhere will take a siesta anytime!!)

Not quite sure what the plan is for tomorrow (beyond having breakfast at some point) but it might involve a boat trip out to the island opposite (dormant volcano) and/or a trip to Oia at the other end of the island.

Won't put in heaps of photos as many are quite similar but will add a couple just to "brighten up" today's blog.

Sunset on Day 1 in Santorini

Today was relaxed and low key - as per the scheduled plan. However, I am beginning to have concerns that David might not be able to readjust to work life again because as he finished his last Ouzo with lunch (at 2.30 pm) he wandered off in a "surprisingly straight line" and said that he might not wear his hat so that he could maintain his tan!!!! I am not sure that this is the behaviour and attitude of someone who is going to easily return to a structured routine... lol.

We wandered from our hotel at Firostefani to the town of Fira (not that far away) and looked through the little shops along the way, took photos, ate food and enjoyed the sunshine.

We stopped to look at the Santorini donkeys and that made me feel a bit sad as although they did not look mistreated they should be out frolicking in paddocks not carting cruise ship passengers up and down the cobblestone streets because they don't want to walk!

We returned to the hotel late afternoon and spent a relaxing hour or two on the balcony watching the sunset and caught up with some of the other guests.

I forgot to mention that yesterday when we were in Istanbul airport we happened to start chatting to the couple standing behind us in the line (who looked a bit confused about whether we should be proceeding through security) and found out that they came from Dunedin - another "your kidding" moment.

Istanbul to Santorini

This morning we had a leisurely start and just did about 1.5 hours walking around the area near the hotel (although cooler in temperature than previously it was very humid so not particularly pleasant). We returned to the hotel to meet our transfer to the airport around midday (for our 4 pm flight). The traffic congestion in Istanbul is horrific so everyone allows plenty of time to get anywhere and this is one of the aspects of living in a city with such a large population that many people find very difficult. We also had a high security presence at the hotel this morning as there was a signing ceremony occurring between the electricity corporations of Turkey and Georgia so lots of Police, guards, sleek black vehicles and well-dressed dignatries. And then there was us, in our travel worn, hot sweaty clothes – but I think we blended okay (at least I had sunglasses on).

We arrived at Santorini about 8.15 pm so didn’t get to see much in the dark but had a lovely view to wake up to. We have a balcony room just up the stairs behind the pool and lovely view of the Caldera This little chapel is right next to our hotel. There are currently about 3 cruise ships anchored just below us so its interesting just watching the comings and goings of the boats. At night they are all lit up so add a different aspect again to the landscape. I can see that 4 days here is going to be tough!!!

Last full day in Istanbul

Tuesday 28 September

Today we departed at 7.15 am for Istanbul and arrived at our hotel early afternoon.

First we had a visit to the Spice Market which, although we didn't buy much, was a great experience just walking around. There is so much colour and "some" of the smells are lovely (the spices, teas, figs, dates, etc).

We then had a cruise up the Bosphorous from the Golden Horn to the second bridge (part way to the Black Sea). This gave another perspective on the city and was a much more peaceful way to see the central area than from the land side. There were still a lot of boats ferrying up and down the river and we had a "near miss" with another boat who was reluctant to give way (not the boat in the second picture as I think almost any boat would have given way to it!). When we returned to the wharf we met up with the rest of our tour group and went to a waterfront restaurant for our farewell dinner. Although not an authentic Turkish meal it was still very nice. We have enjoyed the company of the others on the tour and seemed odd all going our separate ways (although we encountered many of them again at the airport).

Ankara

Monday 27 September
Following an early night and a better rest, we are now moving rapidly toward the end of the Turkish portion of the trip. We back-tracked for a while today to Aksaray then past Lake Tuz (Salt lake) from where much of the country's salt is harvested. The land was very flat most of the way and quite dry apart from where irrigation had been created. At last, we have seen some sheep although we wonder just what they feed on. Around 1pm we arrived in Ankara where we first visited the Attaturk Mausoleum. Attaturk (who was the leader in establishing Turkish independence in 1923 and many reforms in the country until his death in 1938) is revered by the Turkish people and has been honoured with a massive memorial along with a museum commemorating his war-time exploits and the changes in Turkey during his time as leader. We still do not know who the visiting dignitary was for whom we were shunted out of the mausoleum building but based on no information, we are going to say it was either Hilary Clinton or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In reality it might have just been a couple of oldies from the local equivalent of the RSA.

Next we had an hour and half in the Museum of Anatolian civilisation. This is contained in two renovated buildings from the Ottoman era and has a stunning array of artifacts from the Anatolya area of Turkey (which is where we have been for the last 5 days). The displays covered from Paleothithic times (stone-age), through the bronze age and up to about the 3rd Century BC. The items ranged from small icons of Gods to personal items like these Hittite prototype safety pins to large relief sculptures in stone. Out in the gardens were more artefacts covering the next 500 years, mostly in the form of Roman sculptures. It would have taken many more hours than we had to take in all the information available but it helped me clarify a few questions about the role of the Hittites in Turkish history. The museum was carefully organised in chronological order which made the development of the civilisation easy to follow.

We reached our hotel before 5pm today and were ready for the break. Tomorrow, we drive back to Istanbul and take a ferry ride on the Bosphorus.