Τρεις γυ(ν)αίκες που μελοποιούν στην Ελλάδα

We decided to take the hop on bus because it's the easiest way to get to the top of the mountain to see the castle. The other way is to walk the steps; people like to say there's 1000 but there's really only 913. We saw some people walking down on the way there but we're not sure if they also walked up. We didn't know where to catch the bus so we missed it by 5 minutes and had to wait for the next one which was fine because the Mediterranean Yacht Show is at the dock. We walked the length of it looking at the hundred charter yachts. Last year, over 600 yacht brokers attended to see the charters and meet their crews. On the opposite side of the walkway were tents that selling their services--champagne, interior design, catering, equipment and other services.  The trip both up and down the mountain to the fortress is a nightmare, probably especially today because May 1 is a national holiday and there's crowds of people h...

Bungee jumping from Corinth Canal Bridge.  Our driver to Delphi, Pan, picked us up at Piraeus to take us to Napflio. We hadn't booked the Corinth Canal stop because we booked with him directly instead of through his employer,  welcomepickups which charges extra for that stop. When we got close to the exit to go to the canal, he asked if we wanted to stop for 5 minutes which was perfect because we thought we'd have to book a tour from Nafplio and the tours include other stops. The 5 minutes turned into around 20 because we had to stay to watch at least one person bungee jump. Pan said the area to watch them from was built especially for that purpose.  First we looked at the canal from the side and then viewed it from a bridge. It's high but not scary because there's fencing on each side. I wouldn't want to be there during tourist season, though, because the bridge is narrow. The canal separates the mainland from the Peloponnese.  Pictures don...

This has never happened to me before but I finished the post and saved it while on the ferry but it didn't save, it erased itself. I can't possibly be that brilliant again so here's some pictures of the beautiful, traditional village we visited. Lefkes. It's the original capital of the island. These days many people come to walk the Byzantine Road. It was originally a trail, the first one on the island. It's now paved. People walk the 3.7 mile road to another small town, Prodomos. Some people do the round trip, some take a bus from Prodomos. We walked some of it but decided not to walk to the other town. When we returned to Parikia, we walked a short distance to the 100 door church, Panagia Ekatontapiliani or the Holy Church if the Virgin Mary. There are 99 visible doors and a secret door that will open when the Greeks take over Constantinople. Another legend says when Hagia Sophia becomes Orthodox again. Same thing kinda. ...

Our airbnb host Nicholas picked us up from the dock. He texted to say to meet him at the traditional mill. Mill? We thought that had to be a typo. When we got off the ferry we saw the visitor center is in a non-working wind mill.  In Santorini, there was a small area of houses built like windmills. Nikos told us a rich guy built the first one, then lots of people copied it. Nicholas drove us around downtown Parikia, the capital city of Paros, pointing out things to do and good restaurants and bars. Then he took us to the condo which is in a 3 unit building on beautiful grounds complete with a swimming pool. He kept asking us if we wanted to go swimming but we said it's too cold. Maybe the pool is heated. He lives upstairs and has a partner he's teamed up with to build more airbnbs. They're putting in another pool and adding another building on this property and more condos in the city. Even knowing Europeans have a different interpretatio...

Yesterday we took a four hour tour with a local guide. He's probably in his 40s but having lived on this mountain his whole life, he could probably run up to the top in 20 minutes. He recognized that we're not quite as young or agile as he is and kept telling us to take our time as he barreled ahead. He also figured we wanted a group picture at every stop and took Joyce's phone so he could take multiple pictures of us. Since it was windy all the time, I doubt we'll be printing them for our photo albums. We went to Oia first to take pictures of the famous blue domes. They're on private property so you can't get next to them. There are blue domes all over the island but these are the famous ones because of the view of the ocean. As with all pathways here, there are multiple steps and tight places to navigate. We just missed multiple tour groups or we would never have gotten this picture that we really don't want: In Oia ...

Getting off the ferry wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I had read that the hordes of people can be rude and pushy. There was a little of that retrieving the luggage from the storage room and also walking to the van picking us up. Traffic lines are long and everyone is trying to get in the line. There seemed to be just two roads to choose from depending on which town you're going to.  Once we were dropped off, the rental agent met us and took us to the apartment. It was grueling handling luggage on cobblestone and rocky terrain. We were not happy with the location but walking it today, we noticed it's not that bad, especially if we hadn't already climbed every mountain on the mainland. The apartment is newly renovated and beautiful. There's electric outlets every few feet and a/c units in every room. There's a washer but no dryer. It has 3 balconies. It also has hot water every time you turn on a faucet. The last place had a boiler system. Whoe...