Europe Video: Greece

We loved Greece so much it took up an entire video. 

Enjoy...

Greece 2015 from A.Russ on Vimeo.

Santorini, Greece

Our time in Santorini was a mini vacation in the middle of our traveling. By this time our feet had blisters and our muscles were acing, so it was time to relax. We took an early morning flight out of Athens so we could have two full days on the island. Once we got to our hostel all we wanted to do was nap. However, we forced ourselves to walk to the beach and take our naps there. The island is divided into two types of dwellings, beaches($) or cliffs($$$). This setup worked in our favor because we didn't care about our view was as long as we could spend our free time laying on the beach. So we found a hostel a block from the ocean in Perissa.

^^ Blake took some pictures as I slept.


With the hot sun and cool air it made for the perfect beach day. We were surprised that the black sand was not burning which work well for Lizzy. This black sandy beach would be her first beach trip, and she loved it! She would sit and spend all her time running the coarse pebble like sand through her fingers. We spent our whole morning laying in the sun, taking naps, and ordering food to our umbrella. Most people come to Santorini for the cliff views, so we almost had the beach to ourselves. 





^^ love that we are all waving^^




Another advantage about staying on the less touristy side of the island is wonderful local service. We visited a bakery by our hostel a few times in the two days we were there. The lady was as sweet as the pastries she was selling. She happened to have a daughter the same age as Lizzy and brought her in the next day for them to "play". 






That afternoon we took the local bus to Oia. There we saw the famous views of the white house dwellings on the cliffs. Once there we walked around the narrow and windy street of shops and houses. Occasionally having to make way for a train of colorful decorated donkey. Everywhere you turned seemed to be picturesque. We stayed on this end of the island the remainder of the day, and ate dinner as the sunset. It was supposed to be a nice romantic spot. But with all the time changes and traveling Lizzy was a crying mess the whole meal. Blake and I took turned walking her up and down the street while the other ate. It probably sounds like a miserable meal, but as I sat there eating my Greek salad alone I could not help but enjoy the time of self meditation and thinking how much Blake loves me for letting me be the first to eat. 

 

The next day we again spent our morning at the beach taking naps. Then rented a car and drove to the Akrotiri, where we toured the ancient ruins and excavated sight of a 4,000 year old civilization. After that we made the rocky hike to Red Beach. It is amazing how many different types of sand a volcano can make.

It was nice having a car so we could take it to the highest point of the island. The drive was quit scary. As we drove higher and higher fog started to obstruct our view. The further we went the more narrow and windy the road became. At the same time the land on the edge of the road began to disappear so it felt like at any moment or wrong turn of the wheel we could drive right off a cliff edge. My stomach drops again just thinking about it. But at the top of the old volcano the fog dispersed and we got a good view of the island. 

On the way home we chased the sun finding new and less crowded cliffs to watch the sun set.

Before leaving Santorini we stopped into a small grocery store to pick up some food for our trip to Rome the next day. There the butcher sliced off a few different types of Greek cheeses and meats. Although I can not remember the name of them I do remember thinking it was funny that Feta was one she picked out to eat with salami. However, it ended up being my favorite. 

Athens, Greece

We were told that only one day was necessary to see everything you would want to see and more in Athens. However we would have liked at least two days to spend in the city.

^^Panathenaic Stadium^^

^^Breakfast outside a street bakery while Lizzy take a nap. During our trip she was taking 4 naps a day. In order to accommodate her sleep with our travel we bought a cheep stroller from Toys-R-Us that fully reclined. I then altered a fitted sheet as a cover. It worked perfectly and we still use this setup when we are on the go during nap time. Some thought a stroller would not last through the cobble stone streets of Europe, but we did not find that to be the case.^^

^^ Arch Of Hadrian^^

Athens was a much more crowded city than we had anticipated, with narrow sidewalks and a hilly terrain (not good for strollers).  We reserved the perfect airbnb which was in walking distance from all the historical sights. Our one day to tour the city turned out to be National monument day in Athens, meaning all sights and museums we wanted to visit were free! We were able to walk in and out of any national sight throughout the day.
We spent a lot of our time at Temple of Zeus. Out of everything we saw it had the least repairs which to us made it the most impressive. 

Our day in Athens was beautiful, with not a cloud in the sky, which made it a little hot. So at mid-day we spent our time in the museums to get away from the heat. 

After a full after noon in the sun and on our feet we decided to go back to our apartment to rest while Lizzy took a nap (and to ditch the the stroller). At this point we had not yet made the hike up to the Acropolis to see the Parthenon. We waited for the blazing sun to set a little so we could get pictures around golden hour. They close the gates to the Acropolis at 7:30pm to give everyone time to make it down the large, steep hill by closing time at 8. So the plan was to get there an hour before closing.

After a little nap, we slowly made our way back to the base of the Acropolis, getting a gelato along the way. However when we reached the gates, at 6:34 we were informed that the park had already closed... WHAT?!!!!!!!! was this a joke?!!!

It only took us a second to realized the man was not joking and we had unknowingly gone through a time change from Hungary to Greece. I went from a chill traveler to a  hyperventilating, hysterical mess is a second. We had spent the whole day at the base of this hill touring around, waiting for the perfect time for our chance to go to the top and see the Parthenon. Now a stupid mistake and two guards were blocking our way...

As it was only 7:34, they had not yet closed the gate. So after a failed attempt of begging the men to let us pass, I took it into my own hands and ran passed them, through the gate, and started up the path. Thankfully we had ditched the stroller. Blake (with Lizzy in the ergo baby) followed right behind meas we ran and ran and ran. Passing two more guards along the way, ignoring their commands to stop. This large hill turned into what felt like running up a mountain, but we followed the steep, switch back path all the way to the top. Panting, we came into view of the Parthenon, and the last gate with accompanying guard. She was not as easy to pass, so at this desperate time I told her we left a baby bottle at the top.... without a thought she let us pass the final gate. As we came to the top however were encountered more guards who were corralling visitors away from the views and down the path. 



After recounting the true story of not knowing about the time change, and it being our only day in Athens, one guard took pity on us and let us catch our breath and snap a few pictures, while they made everyone else leave. This gave us a pretty rare moment of solidarity at the most popular attraction in Athens. 

After leaving the main sight, we climbed a smaller hill to watch the sunset. As far as the eyes could see there were rolling hills of white buildings. These landscapes of while structures will always remind me of Greece. 

After watching the sun set over the city we walked through narrow streets filled with people shopping and eating. It has a certain charm to walk down ancient streets that have been turned into modern night life. 

We grabbed some fresh yogurt and berries on our way to a local restaurant away from the crowds, that our host had suggested. 

Early the next morning we were on our way to the Island of Santorini.