Greek Island Hopping Part One: Athens to Sifnos

Every year we try and plan one blow out vacation complete with history, food, sun, beaches and non stop adventure (and wine). One may have assumed our Sicily trip with Jenna in July fufilled that criteria, which it definitely did, but it was only a quick four day jaunt. One of the few European countries we have not checked off the list is Greece, and it goes without saying it is a must see destination. The only question is where do we start, where do we wander and where do we finish?

Thankfully Greece is a popular destination with lots of resources to plan your perfect holiday. Over the years spent pondering this trip, we knew we wanted a day in Athens to see the Acropolis and had to see the beautiful white washed buildings on Santorini. So with 9 nights at our disposal, we used the expertise of Matt Barrett and his endless pics and sights of Greece to fill in the blanks. 

We arrived in Athens on a Friday at about noon to scorching heat, subconsciously thanking ourselves for planning only one day in the Capital (away from the water). Erin and I were graced by the company of Jenna, Linsey and Joelskie, making a perfect quintet for the trip!!

In our opinion, people give Athens a worse rap that it demands, as the city is steeped with history; given that western civilization began here and the traces of ancient Greece are all over the city. I find this impressive given that was nearly 2600 years ago!!

On arrival we took the metro into the city, which is very very easy. There is no reason to taxi into town with the ease of transportation to and from the airport. We dropped our bags off at the hotel, Fresh Hotel to be precise. This hotel is great value and I would look no further in finding accommodation in Athens. There is a rooftop bar, restaurant and pool and is the perfect place to kick your feet up after a long and hot day touring. We were starving so our first stop was for lunch, which we found an old taverna whose name escapes me, but the taste of the wonderful greek salad will not. We then made our way to pick up our ferry tickets at the travel agency we booked at. It was impossible to find and we barely noticed the second floor sign before giving up our search. It was definitely a waste of time and I would suggest having them couriered to your hotel if possible. 

After getting our ferry tickets, we headed to the Acropolis, taking in the amazing history perched proudly  on the highest point of the city. We arrived as the scaffolding was coming completely off for the first time in years, so it was quite a treat to survey the ancient structure without modern restoration equipment ruining the view. Its hard to believe all that has passed its massive pillars through its existence, as it dates back to the 6th century BC and was built as a temple to the gods to protect the city. Its hard to imagine the manual labor put forth to build the temple. Also on the site are multiple amphitheaters with equally as long of a history; one is still in use today for performances.

After the site we slowly made our way back to the hotel and spent the evening on the lounge couches that have an amazing view of the Acropolis (see sunset photo above, taken from the couches) having dinner and several Mythos beers, while anxiously waiting our departure for the Cyclades the following morning.

We had a 7am departure the next morning from the port of Pireaus, where most of the ferries leave from. It is a bit chaotic around there so if travelling, be sure to give yourself plenty of time to find your ferry. The metro was closed for repairs when we were there, so we took a EUR20 taxi that dropped us off directly at the line for our ferry, which made things much easier and is honestly worth the money in exchange for less early morning hassle. 

After a two hour (highspeed) ferry we arrived at the Island of Sifnos, which is very highly recommended by Matt Barrett. As you'll see below, his recommendation was VERY well received by the five of us!

A note about booking ferries: when looking for ferries there are many sights (just google them). We used fantastic greece, which has a nice booking engine that allows you to purchase an itinerary that even includes multiple ferry operators. This saves lots of hassle. Also, it is worth the extra few euro to take the high speed ferries whenever possible, as it cuts journey time by at least 50%. Also, ferries do not operate on every day, especially in the off season, so before booking hotels, make sure the ferry timetable jives with your plans!

We spent our two nights here in the town of Apollonia, which is the capital of the island. It isn't on the water, which we were initially concerned about, however, there is a handy bus that goes to the major beaches at it costs EUR1.5 per trip. Alternatively, you can rent scooters or ATVs, which we did for two days. It was only EUR15 a day for scooters at a place in the heart of Apollonia. We stayed at Eleonas Apartments, ran by Stavros and Sarah, who were very friendly and helpful. The apartment fit all five of us and had AC, a terrace overlooking the village and a full kitchen which you can stock at the market only 100 yards away in the town center.

We dropped our bags off and while familiarizing ourselves with the town, ran into this guy and his melon toting donkey. We naturally took some pics and bought a melon. It was great to see the mobile fruit stand making its way through main "street"!

We then quickly grabbed our suits, bought two sets of snorkel gear, and made our way to our first beach of the trip, Faros. The beach was nice, not many people were there and the trees gave us a bit of shade from the 100 degree heat! The pics below, though beautiful, still don't do it justice as the water was so clear and blue, similar to the beaches at Scopello (Sicily), Vis (Croatia) and Cala Ganome (Sardinia).

After some reading, paddleball and snorkeling, we headed back to our apartment for bottle of wine before dinner. Below is the view Kato, the neighboring town, from our terrace. It was fun to have the traditional blue roofed church as our next door neighbor!

The next morning we rent scooters and made our way to the sparsely populated north part of the island, where we felt like we had to ourselves. The scooters are so great as you really feel like you are on vacation when cruising around the hairpin cliffside turns! Below is our first swimming spot, amazing water!!

After a little dip we walked up to the village of Heronissos, perhaps the best beach and restaurant of the entire trip. The boats below with the shadow in the water give an indication of the clarity we were dealing with!

The restaurant, Ammodia, was amazing. They take you inside and you pick the fish you want. We had two great ones that were grilled perfectly by the little old lady manning the grill. We started with lightly breaded calamari that was without question, the best I've EVER had. See a happy Erin about to be satisfied!

After lunch we did some more swimming in the bluest of blue water then headed on our scooters back towards town. 

On the way back, we stopped at Kastro, a great little town only 5 minutes from Apollonia. The beach had some sea urchins, which we thankfully avoided. The sun was starting to set over the island and it was a nice cool dip before returning back to the capital!

We picked up some goodies at the market and cooked a great meal at the apartment, with everybody preparing part of the meal. 

We were astonished at the amount of people partying in the little village. It explodes with energy at night, with people spilling out of the many restaurants and bars and onto the street. After a game of 10 up 10 down, Joel, Jenna and I made it into town for a bit of dancing. The bars close at 2:30am, at which time everyone makes it to one of two night clubs that are undoubtedly open till sunrise. We made it till 3:30 and had to give up when Joel fell asleep in the club!

The next morning we started our day at Vathy, which had some of the nicest sand of the trip. There was a good amount of fish to see with the snorkel gear to, and Jenna found a starfish, which the little girls around us (and Jenna) played with. We had lunch at the little taverna just above our beach towels before heading to Chrysopigi, which served as confirmation this island is beautiful when planning the trip, with the blue waters surrounding the outcropped church!

Following what we thought was the final beach, we made our way back to Kamares where we had one last dip in the sea before the ferry whisked us to our next destination, Folegandros. 

If going to the Cyclades, do not miss this island, it is very local with tons of charm, beautiful beaches, great nightlife and great people! I think we'd all agree it was the best island of the trip (and that's on a trip with Santorini)!!

Numero tres

We recently celebrated our 3rd anniversary with dinner on the canal in Maida Vale - a little victorian neighborhood in west London.  Its little known that there's a canal system in London.  This one - known as little Venice - wraps around various parts of the city and is used for leisure cruising and scenic walks.

There are a hundred or so houseboats that border the canal.  A trendy, commute-free way to live in the middle of London or in our case, a peaceful place for dinner.

I'd heard of a pop-up store, but a pop-up restaurant? The Summerhouse is up now and will be open until mid-October.  I loved the Nantucket vibe with white-washed walls.  When the weather is goods, its open air vibe makes a perfect setting for a romantic, yet casual meal.  

Brick Lane and bowling

Each neighborhood in London has its own split personality -  a mix of history and modern culture.  All you need to do is select a different Tube stop and you exit,  feeling like you're in a completely different place. Washington, D.C. too, reminds me of this.  Smithsonian and you're at the heart of the national mall.  Old Town with its colonial charm. Adam's Morgan and your senses are overwhelmed - colourful restaurants, grungy graffiti and jumbo pizza slice smells.  Brick Lane in London takes this sensory overload one step further.  Unfortunately, this picture doesn't do it justice but it is one long neighborhood that winds through various bric-a-brac markets selling curries and odd collectables, upmarket Spitalfields and ends in the middle of London's Bangladeshi community. Jack the Ripper also started his conquests here.

The area is starting to become more developed, but remains one of the most colourful and vibrant parts of the city.  This is a perfect spot to bring someone that has seen Big Ben and Portobello Road and is looking for a glimpse into life in the city.  Lucky for me, Linsey, who studied abroad in London during university and came over for a visit, was up for such an adventure. Where else could you have a cocktail on an old school bus, view graffiti by Banksy and complete the evening with a traditional Indian spread? We dined at Aladdin on a recommendation.  There were no flying carpets but the food was unbeatable and fun for the price. 90% of London's Indian restaurants are Bangladeshi.

Liverpool Street and Aldgate East are the closest Tube stations.  The area is liveliest on Sundays, when the Spitalfield market is on.  During Linsey's visit, we wanted to blend new with old and spent a leisurely Saturday afternoon lawn bowling in Hyde Park.  Much like bocci ball, its a competitive but undeniably social sport. And especially when its a geriatric costume party.

The day was capped off with another English past time - a picnic. And lucky for us, there were no archaic open bottle restrictions to stop us from enjoying the warm weather and a glass of bubbly.

Paris, France

One can only stay away from Paris for so long. It had been 5 years since Erin and I had visited Paris, and with Erin's increasing love of all things French and Jenna's interest in visiting the city, we booked last minute cheap flights to visit for the weekend to see the sights.

We arrived pretty late on Friday night, but luckily booked our hotel in Marais, a mere 30 yards from a great Bistro that Tanya recommended (http://parisianspring.blogspot.com/2009/10/best-brasserie-in-paris.html). 

It was a great little spot that had everything you need; the steak frites was nicely complimented by a couple bottles of cheap, but delicious Rhone red. The restaurant, Bouquet Saint Paul, is a must for reasonably-priced bistro food with a good vibe; a great place to relax the feet after a long day of power-touring!

The next morning, inspired by the movie Marie Antoinette, we made the quick trek out to Versailles to see perhaps the most amazing palace and garden combination in the world. We purchased the Paris Museum pass which is EUR30 for two days and worth the money in terms of skipping long ticket lines and getting access to over 60 museums and sights. 

The crappiest part about it was at Versailles, in what is blatantly a ploy to make tourists that have came from afar pay extra, charged an additional 8 euro to get access to the gardens because of two daily water fountain shows. So you not only have to pay the 8 euro to see the museum, but an additional 8, not covered by the museum pass to see the gardens, even if it isn't close to the time of the fountain show. Due to principle, we choose against seeing the gardens; which is a pity because the gardens are perhaps the best part about the estate. The museum pass does however, cover Marie Antoinette's hamlet and mini-palace, which was really nice and provided a great setting for our picnic lunch, picked up at the great market in Versailles village. We opted for a whole rotisserie chicken on a baguette!

After the morning and early afternoon in Versailles, we headed back to the city and went to the Louve. What a great museum. One of my favorite parts is the old fortress, which the Louve is built directly on top of, but the foundations and old moat are part of an exhibit in the museum. 

Following the Louvre we went to a little bistro by Centre Pompidou called the Hanger, which had excellent home-made raviolis and good steaks, of course washed down with some nice house wine.  We hustled back to Pont Neuf after dinner (after learning nobody else was being let into the Notre Dame towers). Regardless, we had a nice sunset on the pont. 

The following day consisted of breakfast crepes, a nice coffee then it was off to the Eiffel Tower. If I would give any advice to visitors going to the tower, it would be to purchase advance tickets and avoid a lengthy wait (at least 90 minutes) to try and buy tickets the day of. I imagine Rick Steves says the same thing!

We were smart to get tickets in advance and got to the top in about 30 minutes (i.e. there is even a small wait when you already have tickets). 

After the Eiffel Tower, we wandered towards Luxembourg gardens and had a nice lunch, before hitting up Saint Chapelle before making our way back to the airport. It was too quick of a weekend and we all wished for a few more days to truly appreciate Paris!

Palermo, Sicily, Italy

Palermo...not a lot to say about it. I would advise to skip it all together when in Sicily. Get a rental car and head to Scopello or other coastal beach towns or to wine country. If you really want to go to Palermo, I suggest spending one night there maximum as there aren't a plethora of tourist sights, and it isn't the most pleasant city to walk around. However, the grit has some appeal, with cool streets, a nice Marina, and perhaps the most bizarre tourist experience in the world.

When we arrived we went to the old market area, the Vucciria, which is the oldest market in the city. There are some great winding roads, but the locals would confess the market is unfortunately not what it was even five years ago. There is tons of character so hopefully it will get turned around in due time. One of the cool spots that is there is this great bar that was serving the local workers (and me). 

We then continued to walk around by this historic square (Pretoria) near the four corners area that, due to people defacing it, is blocked off from public access. It is sad and would be like the Spanish steps in Rome being closed off from the public. 

We then went to the Capuchin catacombs, probably the craziest thing I have ever seen! Holding a couple hundred bodies that were placed there during the late 1800s, it is quite a collection. They bodies were placed there by loved ones and several scientific methods were used to try and preserve the bodies. Some still had hair and eyeballs! If you click on the link above, you can see the best preserved body, a small girl who died at the age of two who looks like she could have died yesterday! We were expecting a few bodies, not hundreds!

After taking a nap at our hotel (which was very very nice), Puerta Felice, we headed out to dinner, cursing by the marina that is being refurbished at the moment but nonetheless was really nice with the sun setting on it. 

This is the restaurant we ate at on one of the small roads in the old town. It was a very romantic ambiance and the food was great too. I don't remember the name unfortunately, but it was tiny and just down a side-road north quattro canti (four corners). 

As we had exhausted our love of Palermo, the next day we went to Mondello, the beach suburb of Palermo. The beach was incredibly crowded but the water was really great and sand was fine and soft. The pic doesn't capture how crowded it was, but it was really relaxing and only a 12 euro cab from the old town! 

Below are the storage huts that I imagine a lot of local families keep their paddles and inflatable ducks!

The day at Mondello was a relaxing and fitting end to the weekend full of beaches, sun, pasta, wine and dead people! Scopello being one of the most beautiful places on earth, and Palermo being one of the dirtiest! Next time I'll head back to the airport directly from Scopello!

Scopello, Sicily, Italy

After a somewhat dreary Madrid trip with no access to the water, and continuously stressful workweeks, myself, Jenna and Erin were in the mood for a relaxing long weekend on the beach. Sicily was a great choice for such activities. Upon landing, we hopped into our rental car and headed up the Northwest coast to Castellammare del Golfo to wander around before continuing up to Scopello, our base for two nights. Castellammare is a very quaint town, with an old Church and castle surrounding a beautiful harbor with lots of characteristic fishing boats. Surprisingly, the town was, not too many years ago, the most infiltrated mafia town, where a high percentage of the men were involved in organised crime.

We walked around the city for an hour and then grabbed a pretty good spaghetti meal at a spot on the harbor before heading up the mountain along the coast in a quick Big Suresque drive to Scopello. We stopped on a cliff side vista where a couple was selling tons of great olive wood products that are about a tenth of what the likes of William Sonoma would sell them for. Naturally we picked up a few things!

The landscape of Castellammare del Golfo is terrific.

We arrived in Scopello to find that our reservation for three people at Bed and Breakfast Maria, was mistakenly made for two, meaning we weren't able to stay there. This ended up being a blessing as the Maria's place wasn't exactly nice, it was pretty crappy actually and wouldn't be recommended in the summer as there is no AC and tiny windows. We instead stayed at a nice apartment rented by a local with views of the med and AC. We were happy for the mistake! But it took away 30 minutes of beach time at the tonnara (above), one of the most stunning beaches we've been to....crystal clear waters, caves, sun, and the rock formations were like those in Thailand! It was a great start to the weekend!

We had dinner that night at la Terraza, where it if weren't for the views, would be a complete bust as the food didn't meet the high expectations for Italian cuisine. At least the wine was cheap and good!

The next day we set off to Zingaro Nature reserve, a beautiful and unspoilt reserve with great hikes and beaches. We packed a big picnic and were off. You could walk from Scopello if you don't have a car as well. We walked to the third beach from the Scopello entrance to begin our day. We were warned immediately of a jellyfish presence on the beach, where we saw a couple but our snorkel gear was helpful to spot them before they got too close. The water was so clear and the snorkeling was amazing. The sun wasn't too shabby either, good thing we had lots of sunscreen!

The next beach was our favorite of the weekend, Cala Della Disa, complete relaxation in an amazing setting. See for yourself...

The snorkeling was also amazing at this place, we went for a while along the coastline, seeing cool coral, colorful fish, and not many jellyfish. We gave hot and cold stone massages to each other which amplified relaxation time and then did a little more snorkeling near the beach, when Jenna randomly was the recipient of a jellyfish sting. Luckily it was just a little guy so the sting wasn't too bad.

After a few hours of R&R at the second beach, we made one last stop at the closest beach to the park where the waves were crashing and there were hundreds of fish at our feet playing in the water with us.

Following the beach we had a nice pizza dinner and some wine on the balcony of our apartment enjoying thesunset. 

 

We then had the most local experience of the trip, joining the entire village in the main square to watch the Ghana-Uruguay world cup match on a projection on one of the old buildings. I think it was the best atmosphere I could ever imagine to take in a world cup match, apart from being at the match itself. If only it was a US-Italy match it really would've been intense. It was great as the road through the village was completely blocked off by the spectators so cars just had to stop their journey at the square and watch the game until it was done!

The next morning it was off to Palermo, saying one last goodbye to the great village of Scopello and its amazing beaches!