Santorini
I'll start off the mega-post with the standard Blogger disclaimer: At one time, all these pictures were in a specific order. This is no longer the case. It doesn't really matter anyway.
Secondly, LeAnna and I would like to thank Ian and Eleftheria for such an amazing trip that would never have been possible without them. Thank you! And please let us return the favor sometime in Las Vegas.
So our trip began early at the Las Vegas McCarren Airport on the morning of July 10 and lasted until late in the evening of August 8th... In between was a marathon of traveling, overeating and sleep deprivation. Oh and sweating, lots of sweating!
Here is a very brief and probably incomplete itinerary of our travels. My intention, as I explained to LeAnna before the trip, was to visit 3 maybe 4 different spots, take our time so we could just relax and hang out. So much for that plan!
Arrive in Athens Thursday evening.
Astapalyea - 4 days.
Naxos- 2 days
Santorini - half day
Rhodes - 2 days
Kalymnos - 5/6 days
Athens - 2 hrs
Thessaloniki - one night
Kavala - 2 days
Samothraki - 2 days
Thessaloniki - 3 days
Mt. Olympus 1 day
Thessaloniki - 2 days
Our travel was frequent and varied. Jumbo jets, small prop planes, ferries, trains, scooter, cars, buses and plenty of walking.
The highlight for me was, without question the wedding. The people, location and party were beautiful and perfect. After visiting a few of the other islands we also felt that Astapalyea was the ideal place for such an event. The island itself was so simple and intimate it felt like the whole place was ours for the weekend.
The place I would most like to visit again is Samothraki. Compared to the other islands we visited it was remarkably lush so much so that parts reminded me of Hawaii (if that's possible since I've never been to Hawaii). And like Astapalyea it was largely off the radar of mainstream tourism.
The place I most wanted to see but ran out of time is Meteora. We'll have to save it for another time, hopefully when its cool enough to climb too!
All in all we got to see quite a bit of Greece. We saw a diverse slice of the islands and got to see a lot of northern and eastern Greece which don't see as much tourism as the rest of the country. We did not spend much time in Athens, the islands nearby or northwestern Greece. Again, we'll have to check those places out on another trip.
Santorini
Santorini
Rhodes - Old Town
Rhodes castle
Rhodes
Rhodes
Rhodes Old Town, Jewish Quarter, near where we stayed.
Rhodes Old Town, Jewish Quarter, near where we stayed.
Rhodes in the town of Lindos. These donkeys give rides up to the Acropolis for a small fee. We opted to hike up during the hottest part of one of the hottest days and nearly died.
The Italianette harbor of Simi. We did not stay here but it was a stop on the ferry between Rhodes and Kalymnos.
Simi
The Acropolis in Athens from our first night in Greece.
Cliffs and clouds in Kalymnos.
Small port near Vathys on Kalymnos.
The aptly named octopus salad in Vathys, Kalymnos.
Kalymnos.
Kalymnos.
The main port of Pothia, Kalymnos.
Chapel near Kastelli, Kalymnos.
Kalymnos.
Early morning Kalymnos right before our flight to Athens.
Astapalyea.
Astapalyea.
Ancient city of Philipi, near Kavala.
Ancient city of Philipi, near Kavala.
Finding our own way in the Hora, Xora, Chora, etc of Samothraki.
Hora, Samothraki.
Hora, Samothraki.
On our way down to the reception on Atapalyea.
A church I can't remember the name of in Thessalonki.
Mom and Dad enjoying the reception.
Near Olympos after canyoneering and climbing.
Mom and Grandma at the reception.
Keith wondering why he's still wearing a bowtie.
Climbing at the appropriately named Toilet Bowl (PC version).
Looking up towards the Rotunda in Thessaloniki.
Roman era arch in Thessaloniki.
Roman agora (?) in Thessaloniki.
Drinking man, Thessaloniki.
Thessaloniki.
One of my favorites from the wedding.
Astapalyea, near our home for the weekend.
Naxos?
Naxos?
Naxos?
Astapalyea.
Astapalyea.
Astapalyea
Astapalyea
Form follows function on Astapalyea.
Astapalyea.
Astapalyea.
Astapalyea.
Our home on Astapalyea. For sale!
One of the beaches we went to on Monday on Astapalyea.
Off road scootering! Astapalyea.
Solitary chapel, Astapalyea.
Hora, Astapalyea.
Hora, Astapalyea.
Mom and Dad on our way to Naxos.
Naxos old town.
Where we had an amazing dinner for five with beer and wine for 40 euro. One of my favorite meals! Naxos
Fresh delivery service, Naxos.
Naxos
Naxos
Naxos
Naxos
One of my favorite photos of the trip, Naxos.
Dad and LeAnna in Naxos.
Naxos
On our way to the arch at Naxos
Temple of Apollo, Naxos
Can't quite remember which island this was... Along our ferry route.
Santorini.
2 comments:
Great photos, Adam. Looks like you guys had a lot of fun. Swing by for a beer and tell me some stories.
So, I lied on the phone. I had NOT seen this post, just heard tell of it from your dad. It made me a little teary-eyed to look at it. Probably should have done this a different day from this one(kids left for Greece this afternoon...) Anyway, it was an amazing journey this summer with lots of adventures and some surprises along the way. Your photos are evidence of it. Thank you for sharing them. I love you :-) xxoo
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