A brief encounter with Greece

Landing at Athens in the evening, after finishing a marathon at Istanbul for changing flights, was magical – to see everything in Greek alphabet which has been a part of our lives since childhood! For the flight leaving Mumbai at 6.30 am, I had arrived at the airport at midnight.

A touristy tour that has a long story behind it, maybe some other time.

After checking into the hotel, we immediately went for a local dinner. The place was small and in a crowded street, and they served multiple courses of the meal as a platter on the table from which we could take. There was a local dance at the end of the meal which we all enjoyed. Tired but enthusiastic, we returned after some nice clicks on the streets.

Next day was a 12-hr trip to three islands Hydra, Poros and Aegina, called the islands of the Saronic Gulf, of which 7 hours was spent on a three-deck boat. They took us by bus on Aegina island, to the Temple of Aphaea, dating from about 490 BC the oldest surviving temple in Greece and the Monastery of Agios Nectarios.
On Hydra island, we had a 45 minute stop and saw a part of a small museum.
The cruise served good lunch and had some music and dance in the evening.

Such tours do not include museums or detailed visits, but that’s it.
On 12th, We reached Santorini by flight, and had a great Greek lunch at a restaurant with an amazing view and took a walk around.
Dinners are Indian.
Later in the evening, the Sun performed to a packed gallery.
People clapped spontaneously the moment it dipped fully, which was quite heart warming. We would have loved an encore, but luckily we can’t control it.
Thousands of tourists gathered on this face of the Santorini island an hour before time, for watching the sunset (our guide tells us that this crowd is nothing). We were fortunate in two ways – no clouds and no crowds.
Cafes make brisk business for the seats and so do all those boats lined up in the sea. In fact, one large boat/ship managed to sail across the diameter of the Sun during the last two minutes. I am not sure if it was an accident or stage managed! I took a time lapse video that’s looking very jerky.
It just struck me quite strongly that all of nature tourism is selling an experience that just happens to be in your neighborhood!
No doubt, Santorini is beautiful with clear blue skies, blue water and the sudden bursts of Bougainvillea in streets and pine trees. But otherwise, there is hardly any vegetation on this volcanic island. The urban area has numerous interspersed plots with grape shrubs that look dull, dusty and pathetic, unlike our grapevines.
But that’s what makes the wine!
The next day started with a visit to a small museum that shows evidence that the mythical Atlantis was indeed Santorini. It had a 9D film and some other interactive digital exhibits that were interesting.
Wine tasting at the biggest winery here, a sumptuous lunch, a walk in Oia, brief visits to a red beach and a black beach were other things. The group broke into a spontaneous dance to music played by a street musician.

The three blue dome stuff was a bit hyped. People had queued up to take a photo, so some of us just went, looked and came back. This picture here is not from my camera, but looks much more fantastic than it really was.
Actually all domes here are painted blue.
The day was an over-eating day. All meals were heavy. I haven’t put pics of the Indian dinners. All-women pic at breakfast!

Apart from regular two-wheelers, this 4 wheel vehicle seems to be quite popular here.

On 14th, flying back from Santorini, we had just a few hours at Athens for sightseeing – on arrival on 10th night, we had immediately gone for some cruise and then Santorini. Now, post-lunch we spent 2-3 hours at the museum and Acropolis. Then 30 minutes bus drive to see government buildings and a 5-minute photo stop at the iconic Olympic Stadium – all in dark. A group member had got separated at Acropolis and there was some delay. Luckily she headed back to the hotel by herself. Btw, one of the overheads of group travel is assembly and dispersal, attendance, walk from/to bus, and most important washroom queues at EVERY STOP! Check-in/Check-out at hotel is usually once a day but another queue is for the entry ticket scanning – one-by-one by tour guide for 40 people 🙂. This is in addition to the long queues at most places.
On 15th Oct, we set out very early at Athens, for the airport to fly to Kayseri in Cappadocia region of Turkey, with a packed sandwich/fruit and lunch from an Indian restaurant. It wasn’t actually necessary because on both flights Turkish Airlines served good food and coffee/tea. We had to make a rush at Istanbul for the connecting flight and have a 1-hour drive again at Kayseri to our hotel. We had just managed to have dinner and get ready for the whirling dervishes ceremony.
BTW, none of the places we went in this short trip, mentioned those names which stand for everything Greek in our minds – mathematicians, philophers, gods, godesses! No Archimedes, no Plato or Socrates, no Atlas or Hercules!!

Continued…