BITTEN BY A SANTORINI BEE

From what I've heard, Santorini and Mykonos get the most tourist traffic of all the Cyclades Islands.  There are certainly a lot of tourists here considering the time of year.  With this kind of scenery, you can certainly understand why.  This is Thira, where I'm staying, the busiest town on the island.

And that small island in the middle is where the volcano erupts.  

My introduction to the island yesterday wasn't as pleasant as I hoped--had a problem with my hotel that put a bee in my bonnet, so to speak.  Then today, I actually got stung by a bee.  How this bee got under my blouse when I had a jacket tied around my waist, I cannot fathom, but it introduced itself rather suddenly and rudely with a sting as I was hiking along the cliffs.  Fortunately. I'm not allergic, so it was only a minor irritation as my blouse rubbed against the sting area.

One of the fun things about traveling is encountering the unexpected.  For example, as I was trekking along the cliff path, I saw these guys approaching.

Who would expect to encounter a pack of mules on a seaside walk?  They were carrying bags of stone to a building site I passed farther along the path.  I saw more crossing the major road through town later.  These donkeys looked like the ones that are used to transport cruise ship passengers up the steep caldera cliffs, 600 steps as many as 7 times a day in high season.  There is great controversy about this and other types of abusive treatment that these animals suffer from their owners, not to mention the dangers of traversing steps made slippery with donkey dung!  I can attest to the stench of these animals as they passed by me.

Walking can get painful after a few hours when almost every walkway and the roads in town look like this.  I need some thicker soles!  

But the magnificent views are worth sore feet.

These Greek churches are very picturesque.  This one had a beautiful clock tower.

My hotel is on the opposite side of the island from the caldera.  The view from my balcony isn't as spectacular, but I'll take it any day.  This is the beautiful sunset sky I enjoyed last night.

I took a bus to the town of Oia on my second day here.  I learned that this is where people flock to see the sunset, but I wasn't able to do that because I have a ferry to catch.  Oia (pronounced ē-aah) is smaller than Thira, and there weren't as many tourists around.  It's spring break time, so there are lots of young people on the island.

There are equally spectacular views here also.  That's Thira off in the distance where the cruise ships are.

I wandered into a pretty quiet part of the town where there were some older buildings with a little character.

I stumbled into the area where everyone comes to watch the sunset.  There are lots of restaurants and shops lining the walkway along the cliff.  I saw this church framed by a simple but elegant arch.

And, for the first time, I was able to get in.  These Greek churches are even more ornate than their Italian counterparts.

This unique and beautiful piece of art was hanging outside the gallery.

And I found another old boat high above the water.

This is the ferry I'm on as I write this.  It's huge...semis were loading their trailers into the bottom level when I boarded.

i'm sailing off into the sunset, literally, to my last island stop.  

I

If I could visit only one Greek island, I think it would be beautiful Santorini.

ISLAND HOP TO NAXOS

Naxos is the largest island in the Cyclades group and its port city, where I stayed, has a population of about 7,000.  Again, there were very few tourists and I would only occasionally pass by anyone else as I wandered the streets of the Old Town of Chora.

As always, street cats abound.  I crossed the path of this one.

There's an old Venetian castle perched above the town that was built over the remains of the ancient acropolis.

There were wild flowers growing here and there around the old buildings.

Back in the day, Naxos was the center of Cycladic culture, and I went through a small archeological museum near the castle that had artifacts dating back to the 13th century B.C.  Out on a balcony, there was an old mosaic and an odd assortment of pieces just lying about.

This has to be one of the oldest houses still standing.

The views from the heights of Old Town were stunning.  That's the ruins of Apollo's Temple on the peninsula, its entrance the only part standing.

Here's a closer view.

This is a view of the port town of Syros taken from Apollo's Temple.

And this is the view toward the hills away from the sea.

And another interesting perspective on the walk back to sea level.

Except for the trash can, it's a lovely courtyard outside a small church.

Back at sea level, wandering the streets lined with shops, I saw this curiosity.  Yes, those are hats.

There's plenty of time for a leisurely walk along the seaside, where the water is crystal clear.

I really enjoyed my stop at Naxos.  I could get used to life on a Greek isle if it were always this peaceful!

ISLAND HOP TO SYROS

I should buy stock in some company that manufactures electrical adaptors, because I think I'm keeping the industry afloat.  I haven't been counting how many adaptors I've purchased, but I'm sure most have been for European style plugs.  And, as usual, by the time I found a store on the Greek island of Syros that sold them, they were closed until evening hours.

The weather isn't quite warm enough for the beach, so there aren't very many tourists yet.  While the ferry I took from Athens to Syros was packed, very few people got off at Syros.  I don't know where everyone was going.  Syros isn't a popular tourist destination.  It's one of the quiet islands in the Cyclades, with a population of just 22,000 on just 32 square miles.

I met a couple from New York who spend 2/3 of the year here and they wondered why I picked this island to visit.  It was because it was quiet and not so touristy, which I thought would be a good idea after Athens.  This is the City Hall, a lovely neo-classical building.

I spent only one day here wandering about the streets of the port town, most of which looked like this.

This is the port town of the island, Ermoupoli.  I stumbled onto the market area of town where there were butchers and vegetable vendors.

And fresh fish....don't those guys in front look like they're trying to flip off the table?

There were lots of stray cats on the streets.  This one found an interesting spot to relax.

This one was a little shy and wouldn't come out to see me.

There are still some really old stone houses here and there.

I found this boat in a yard of daisies near my hotel, which was 100 or so steps above the town.  I wonder how they got it up here.

A quiet day on a quiet isle.

OUT AND ABOUT IN ATHENS

Wow, I've walked almost a layer of skin off my left foot....I'm not sure how my right foot escaped this damage because it's taken the same number of steps, maybe a couple less, but it's fine.  I've been to a number of ruins and museums in my few days in Athens, and as I look at my photos, it's hard to remember where I took them.

This is a street musician playing some unusual stringed piano-shaped instrument near the Acropolis Museum.

This one is outside the presidential palace.  It appears as if the public services cutbacks hit the government security department, because there were only these two fellows at the gate.

This is the ruins of yet another temple, but I can't remember which one.

These are some ruins in the ancient agora area, in contrast with the modern Greek Metro train.

One of the museums I visited was nearby, and I saw some very interesting statuary and stone carvings which were recovered from the agora area.

The detail of these centuries-old pieces is pretty amazing.  This was a pretty unusual piece for obvious reasons.

Photographs weren't allowed in some of the museums I visited, and I can only say that I've seen a plethora of statuary, artifacts, skeletons, friezes, columns, coins and jewelry.

There were a surprising number of tourists on most streets, but this one was almost deserted.

I moved to a hotel in the port area because I had to get up very early to catch a ferry to Syros, the first of four Cyclades islands I will visit in the next week.  The port area is pretty seedy, and there wasn't much to see there.  A trip to the post office to mail my tax forms gave me a great measure of the extent of the government cutbacks here.  There were 8 windows for general services, and only two were manned.  I waited 40 minutes to buy stamps.  For the first time in years there is a budget surplus, but the cost to the common citizen has been huge tax increases, huge jumps in utility costs, and significant decreases in public services.  Protests are still occuring but less frequently.  Yesterday a car bomb with 70 kilos of explosives was set off in front of a bank.  No one was hurt because a warning was called in, so that part was a relief.  

Yesterday Greece made a successful return to the financial markets, raising $3 billion euro in its first bond sale in four years.  It appears as if Greece is regaining the trust of investors.  The Greeks I've talked to see this as a very positive sign.  In spite of the tough times they've endured, I find the Greeks to be a friendly, hospitable people.  I think the islands have had it better because of heavy tourist trade, so I'm looking forward to my island hopping week ahead.

IN THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION

This is my favorite spot at the Acropolis.  With pretty much everything in ruins, you have to exercise your imagination to the nth degree to conjure up an image of life a few centuries B.C. when this was THE place where the Greeks paid tribute to their many gods including their special guardian, Athena, safeguarded the city.

Unfortunately, there is a restoration project underway at this time, and scaffolding (and hordes of tourists) interferes with any shot you try to get of the Parthenon.  This was the best I could do.

I arrived in Athens last Friday, a day after my friend Gayle from the U.S. arrived to visit her daughter Leah who has been here for a 10-week internship with the U.S. Embassy.  They graciously invited me to stay with them in Leah's apartment in an upscale suburban neighborhood.  Leah has one more week to work, so I've had the pleasure of spending some time with Gayle sightseeing.

The Acropolis is pretty awesome, but you do need some imagination to enjoy it.

The beautiful relief carvings and statuary that once made the Parthenon a glorious place to worship have either been pilfered or removed to the Acropolis Museum for safekeeping.  What remains of most of the temples are merely the outlines of foundation stones.

There is a big arena that is recognizable as such.  Besides worship, the Acropolis was also a place where the wealthier citizens could enjoy theater.

You can enjoy some spectacular views of the city from this rarified aerie.

The Temple of Hephaestus, which is also in fairly good shape, stood out on the landscape below.

Here's a view of the same temple from the second floor of the museum at thr ancient agora ruins below.

There were patches of wildflowers here and there to brighten the landscape a bit.

There weren't many statues around.  These three lions were among the few.

I can't explain the feeling of wandering through these ancient ruins that were the cradle of civilization.  There is wonder, gratitude, and soaring imagination.  

I love Athens!  The people here are so friendly and helpful.  Here's one of the most charming ones Gayle and I encountered.  His name is Costas and his family owns the restaurant where we ate lunch this day.  I had my first taste of moussaka and it was delish!