Aeolos Hotel

Tuesday, April 15th, 2014 Mykonos
We weren't even going to bother blogging today because all we did was hang out around the hotel pool. However, this morning at breakfast, Anita was talking to the owner and telling him how satisfied we were with everything.  A few minutes later he came over to our table and invited us to dinner. Naturally, we accepted.
After breakfast we took care of the traveling chores. Anita did laundry and I sewed my favourite traveling pants. This might be their last trip. Then we sunscreened and went down by the pool for a few hours to read and soak up some sun. It seems that, like us yesterday, a lot of people head out for the beaches but, since it's still spring, the wind is cool and it's better in our sheltered courtyard by the pool. So by mid afternoon, people are back enjoying the warmth here. We never left the hotel all day. After our poolside reading, we had happy hour on our balcony in the sun.
At 7 pm we went to the dining room. Panos, the owner, met us with a bottle of white wine. He poured us each a glass and a glass for himself. He's always busy so he could only sit and drink wine with us from time to time but we had fun talking to him. He's 37. His wife works with him. She cooked our dinner.
His parents are farmers but he studied hotel management in Switzerland and eventually was able to buy this property. They work 18 hours a day from April 1st to November 1st when they shut the hotel down for the winter. They have traveled to the Dominican Republic and the United States. Business is going well, probably because they work so hard at it.
They brought out moussaka, Greek sausage and tomatoes, souvlaki and fries. It was a nice meal and Panos kept pouring the wine until the bottle was empty. After dinner he brought us each a glass of ouzo. It was really nice of him to invite us to dinner and we had lots of fun chatting with him.
Once again, on an average day traveling, sometimes something happens and we connect with great people that we would never have met if we just stayed home.

The view from our balcony at dusk. According to Environment Canada and a picture emailed from our friend Sarah, it's snowing in Combermere today. This is better.

Panormos Beach, Mykonos

Monday, April 14th, 2014, Mykonos
After breakfast this morning, we loaded up our day packs with water and snacks and started walking northeast toward Panormos Beach which is in a bay on the northeast side of the island. It's supposedly 4 km from here but they measure the distances in straight lines not along the roads so we weren't sure what to expect.

 In the end, it took only an hour to walk there through the Mykonos countryside. The road was fairly narrow, lined with stone walls, and there were white stucco houses along the hillsides.

 Most of the stone walls are only about 1 meter high, so they hobble the goats, of which there are many, with rope tied to a back leg and a front leg so they can't jump.

Anita's stone wall and poppy photo. Most fences are stones placed without mortar. For Canadians like us, it's always a little strange to be walking through countryside that has some evidence of human habitation for at least 9,000 years. We may have that in Canada but it's often hard to see.

 Looking down at Panormas Bay.

 It was sunny but with a cool breeze off the ocean, so we tried to find a spot that had a little shelter from the wind.

 This is the view from the south end of the beach. Because it is still low season, we had the whole beach to ourselves for a couple of hours from about 11:15 am to 1:15 pm. Then 4 other people showed up. It's probably fairly unusual to have Panormas Beach all to yourself. In summer it's likely very crowded. It's a pretty good beach but not as nice nor as long as the white sand beaches of Cuba, the Dominican Republic or the Mayan Riviera.

The walk home took us about an hour and 20 minutes since it was more uphill and we were getting a little tired. Just across from the supermarket on the way up the hill is "The Authentic Mykonos Almond Sweets". No, it's not a candy shop. It's a new hotel. Translation is a bitch.
We relaxed on our balcony in the sun for a couple of hours and then walked down around the corner to a roadhouse type restaurant called "Oreganos". We didn't feel like walking down the hill into town and this restaurant had been recommended to us. It was pretty good and not too expensive.
Tomorrow we may just hang out around the hotel pool.

Mykonos town

Sunday April 13th, 2014 Mykonos
After 9 or 10 hours sleep, we ate breakfast in the hotel dining room. Not bad but not as much fresh fruit as we have had in other places.
After breakfast we walked about 15 minutes downhill to the center of the town. It's almost totally pedestrian with many 'streets' that are about 1 meter wide and wind around. There are few, if any street signs so it's very confusing. However, if you go downhill you hit the harbor and if you go uphill eventually you come out of town. Easy.

 Today is Palm Sunday, so all the little churches were full and many people had palm fronds. After church, the harbor area restaurants were all busy. We bought our ferry tickets for Friday on the fast ferry to Mykonos. There are no ferries on Thursday or Saturday so Friday it is. That's fine. We like it here.

 As we wandered through town, Anita met a new pelican friend. No idea what he (she?) was doing hanging out in a little square.

Everyone enjoys a stretch.

 On the south edge of town are 5 old windmills together. They're still used as shops or homes. There are a few other windmills like this scattered on the hillside throughout town.

 Anita is in the "Little Venice" section of town looking toward the windmills at the south end.

 Little Venice from the south windmill area.

This is a typical street in Mykonos town. All the cars have to park in a lot at the north end or a lot at the south end. There are a few scooters and little three wheel trucks on these narrow streets but it's almost all pedestrians.
It was warm this morning but this afternoon has been cloudy and cool. We've been reading on our balcony and just relaxing. Maybe tomorrow we'll get some ambition. Maybe....

Piraeus to Mykonos

Saturday, April 12th, 2014 Mykonos
This morning we got up at 5 am, showered, ate some yogurt and raisin buns in our room and checked out of the Faros Hotel in Piraeus by 6:00. It was about a 20 minute walk to the pier from which our ferry would leave at 7:30 but we had to board by 6:30.
On the way there, we passed a couple of bars that were still open and blaring music, but with few patrons. Other than that the streets were quiet until we neared the ferry terminals. Then it was really busy.

 This isn't our ship but it's another Blue Star ferry that's identical. Blue Star is probably the biggest ferry company here. We were glad that we'd ordered "airplane" seats for 39 euros instead of just economy class for 34 euros. We had guaranteed comfortable seats inside while economy is just any hard seat anywhere, inside or on the exposed deck. For an almost 6 hour trip, the better seat is well worth the extra cost. However, although we had booked both seats online at the same time, our seats were not together.
Luckily, a nice woman with 2 children volunteered to trade seats with me so we could sit together. We were surprised that the ferry was so full. She told us that today was the beginning of the 2 week Easter holiday so a lot of Greeks were traveling to their home towns. There were some tourists on the ship but it was mainly Greeks.

 We sailed for 4 1/2 hours before we docked at the island of Syros where a lot of people disembarked. Syros is another of the Cyclades (kuh-klah-dez) islands. Then a bit later we made a brief stop at Tinos and finally arrived at Mykonos about 1:15 pm, only half an hour late.
As soon as we walked onto the pier we saw a man holding up an Aeolos Hotel sign. He led us to a van and drove us about 10 minutes from the new port up to the hotel. The hotel is 2 story around a small pool and jacuzzi in a courtyard. There are about 20 rooms maybe. Everything is all whitewashed stucco with blue trim. It's a family run hotel and the owners are very pleasant. We have an upper floor room with small balcony overlooking the pool. We can actually see the ocean in the distance too. We're up the hill from the town but we're well within walking distance. Being just a bit up the hill is a lot cheaper.
We had paid 200 euros ($300) total through booking.com for 5 nights, including breakfast, with no refund for cancellation. I told the owner that we might have trouble getting a ferry to Naxos on Thursday so we might have to leave Wednesday. He said that was no problem, he'd give us our money back for the final night. He also told us that he pays 25% to booking.com. From now on, I might research hotels through booking.com but I may try to book directly online. If you search tripadvisor and want to select a hotel seen there, you are immediately linked to booking.com. They must be making some serious cash from this, using volunteer reviews from travelers like us to create their ratings. Wish I'd thought of it.
After a trip to the supermarket for the usual supplies, we enjoyed the sunshine on our balcony. In the sun it's quite hot while in the shade it's still springtime cool. A few hardy souls were swimming in the pool but I'm not too sure about that.
We discovered that we can get either a Wednesday or Friday fast ferry to Naxos. We like it here so much I asked the owner if we can stay 6 nights instead of 5. That's okay. Tomorrow we'll go down to the "Sea and Sky" travel office to book tickets on the Friday afternoon ferry, since there doesn't seem to be much point in booking online. Then we'll push back our apartment reservation on Naxos for a day and all will be well.
We're tired from our early morning and long day so we didn't even go out for dinner. We just ate some spinach filled pastries, some raisin pastries and some cashew nuts in our room. Anita is already asleep. Tomorrow we'll tour Mykonos town.

Delphi to Piraeus

Friday, April 11th, 2014 Piraeus
Last night during our short walk, we stopped at the eastern edge of Delphi town and took a picture of the low wall.

 From where I'm standing, one would not want to trip.

 I haven't moved my knee from the first picture, just took a shot down the slope.

This is the view up the valley from the same spot.
This morning, we got some chocolate croissants for breakfast and some spinach and feta pastries to take on the bus for lunch. The bus wasn't scheduled to leave until  11:00 am so we took another walk around town and looked at the view. The weather was perfectly clear and cool, unlike yesterday.
We checked out of the Sibylla Hotel around 10:30 am and walked about 2 minutes to the bus stop. There we waited until the bus finally showed up around 11:30 am, half an hour late. Greece is not noted for efficiency. The other day at our hotel in Athens, there were signs posted warning everyone that the suburban train to the airport was on strike for the day so travelers should be sure to find other means of getting to their flights. Luckily, everything had been running smoothly on the Sunday when we arrived.
The bus finally showed up and it was an uneventful ride to Athens. When we got to Bus Station B, we confirmed directions to the Metro Line 1 stop. It was about a 10 minute walk and we found it without difficulty. For 1.5 euros each, we got tickets to the end of the line at Piraeus, the port of Athens. At Piraeus, we quickly figured out which way to walk to pick up our tickets for tomorrow's ferry but the last part was confusing. Not all streets have signs and not all businesses are well marked. After asking a couple of people, we finally found the right office and picked up our tickets.
Then, we went off in search of our hotel. It took us at least 20 minutes and we had to ask a couple more people but we finally found it. We're at the Faros Hotel, which is just fine, but the neighborhood, once again, is somewhat seedy. There's a strip bar across the street. Once we checked in, we went to a bakery and a market and picked up water and 2 beer to share today, and yogurt and pastries for breakfast and lunch on the ferry tomorrow. After that, since it started to pour rain, we just had a burger in our hotel restaurant.
We have to get up at 5 am, shower, have a bite to eat and be out of here by 6:00 am. We have to be onboard the ferry by 6:30 am for the 7:30 am departure. It's 5 1/4 hours to Mykonos. Our hotel there has promised to send someone to pick us up at the port for free.
At the ferry office today,  we discovered that there's no direct ferry from Mykonos to Naxos next Thursday, the day we were planning to leave. We'll likely have to travel a day earlier or a day later and re-arrange our hotel reservations accordingly. It shouldn't be a major problem. You can check bus and ferry schedules all you like online or in guidebooks but you still have to check in person to be sure.
The actual travel days are tiring but whenever we're leaving for a new destination, we both feel that we're off on a new adventure, so that's always fun.

Ancient Delphi

Thursday, April 10, 2014 Delphi
Our hotel doesn't have breakfast included, which is okay since we're only paying about $40 Cdn per night and we have a nice room and balcony with an incredible view. We asked for and got a kettle from the desk guy last night so this morning Anita made a Nescafe coffee, which was all she got in Turkey, in her wine glass and we ate a couple of oranges. Then we walked across the street to a little bakery and got a spinach pastry and a sweet pastry for about $2,60 Cdn each. We ate them in our room, got ready and headed out to the ancient Delphi site about 500m down the road.
It was cloudy and raining off and on. When we bought our tickets for 9 euros each ($13.50) the rain was getting harder so we decided to visit the site museum first before going up the hill to the actual ruins. The museum contained lots of artifacts that had been dug up on the site.

This sphinx was a gift from the people who lived on the island of Naxos.
From about the 6th century BC to the 2nd century AD, everybody who was anybody came to Delphi to hear the prophecies of the Oracle. The oracle was actually just one of a series of local village women over the years who, perhaps drug induced, fell into a trance and spoke. Supposedly, they were just vehicles and it was the god Apollo who was speaking through them. The priests at Delphi interpreted the ramblings of the women or the words of Apollo, that is, for the supplicants, so in the end they had control over what was prophesied. Many small nations and individuals brought gifts in honour of Apollo. Whatever the truth of the matter, it was very cool to walk up along the "Sacred Way" just as Alexander the Great and many others did so long ago to seek the advice of the Oracle.

 At left is an ancient theatre and at right is the remains of the Temple of Apollo where the Oracle held court. Later we walked further up the hill to see an ancient stadium where athletic contests were held. The games here rivalled the Olympic games for importance.

Further along the hill and a bit further down, we visited the Sanctuary of Athena. These 3 columns are all that is left of the Tholos, a round building located here among the other buildings. It was cloudy and raining off and on so it wasn't the best day for photographs. However, this building is one of the most photographed in Greece.
By about 1 pm we had done the full tour so we went back to the same bakery and got some more delicious spinach and feta pastries which we ate on our balcony for lunch, along with a glass of local wine. After lunch we went to an ATM for some more cash and got our return bus tickets validated for the 11 am bus back to Athens. The weather got sunnier so we took a short walk around town and then sat out on our balcony and enjoyed the view for the rest of the afternoon. This evening we went out to the same little diner for supper.

This is the view from our balcony down toward the Gulf of Corinth. The flatter area down the mountain looks like it has vast olive groves. Sometimes we can see ships passing in the Gulf. There is also a line of wind turbines on the furthest mountains. On the way here we saw lots of solar and wind electrical generating installations plus most residential buildings have solar hot water panels. Like most of the rest of Europe, Greece is much further ahead than Canada when it comes to renewable energy.
It's getting cooler so we came back to the warmth of our room for the night.

Athens to Delphi

Wednesday, April 9th, 2014 Delphi

 Yesterday, during our walk through the ancient agora, we visited the Stoa of Attalos. A stoa is a covered walkway. This one, rebuilt about 50 years ago, had shops along one side. Built about 150 BC, it might have been the first shopping mall. It was interesting walking along the Panathenaic Way, the old main street of the agora, where all the ancient Greeks would have walked.

 On the edge of the agora is the Temple of Hephaestus, the god of the forge. It used to be surrounded by metal-working shops. This temple was built in 449 BC.

 The Church of the Holy Apostles was built in the 10th century AD and is on the site of some of the Athens schools where Socrates and the other philosophers may have taught.
After we had wandered around the ancient agora enough, we walked a little further to Keramikos, the old Athens cemetery used from the 12th century BC to Roman times. However, looking at it from outside the gates, it was just paths between old walls and crypts that weren't in good shape. Plus the fence around it was covered in graffiti and the area is obviously a bit of a refuge for the homeless. Not that nice.

 In the market right outside our hotel door, I helped out the olive guy for a few minutes. We've never seen so many kinds of olives for sale.

This is Anita's artsy picture of her plastic wine glass on the roof terrace of our hotel, with the Acropolis and the Parthenon in the far background.

After happy hour, we walked about 4 blocks down the seedy side streets to a restaurant called "Telis", recommended in Lonely Planet. When we walked in, the waitress plunked the usual paper tablecloth over everything and handed us a brief menu. Then pointing at the menu, she said, in broken English, that it would either be pork chops or Greek salad - that's all they had. Why we got a menu at all, I don't know. Anyway, the pork chops and Greek salad were so plentiful and good, we couldn't even eat the bread. Not cheap though: 27.50 euros or about $40.
This morning we had breakfast and checked out of the Athens Center Square Hotel. I had spent a lot of time on the internet trying to figure out how to get to Bus Station B for the bus to Delphi. When I asked the front desk guys, they said not to bother with public transit because nothing went directly there, which I had already figured out. They told us to just get a taxi for about 7 euros and save a lot of aggravation. So we walked out onto Athina street and hailed a cab in about 2 seconds. The cabbie got us to the bus station in about 10 minutes for 5 1/2 euros, including tip, so that turned out to be good advice.
We bought return tickets to Delphi and back for about 30 euros each ($45). The bus left at 10:30 am and we were here by 1:30 pm. The bus wasn't as nice as Turkish buses but it was okay. For most of the trip, we thought the flight attendant was some old bum who got a ride on the bus, until he got out his little ticket machine and checked our tickets. Grooming is not a priority for everyone in Athens.
Anyway, the last 1/3 of the trip was through beautiful steep mountain terrain. Delphi is built on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, and it's steep. We're staying in the Hotel Sibylla and we have a balcony overlooking the valley. We can see all the way down to the Gulf of Corinth about 10 or 15 km away. This is a beautiful little town.

 The view from our balcony.

The latest pig-out at a diner just up the steps on the hillside, total price 17.50 euros ($26). At some point, this has to stop.