Yo,
Just back from two weeks in the Greek Islands (oh, and Athens) with Elle & Jase.
We flew into Athens on a Saturday evening and stayed two nights, giving us two full days to check out the city - big mistake, other than the Acropolis Athens doesn't have alot to offer.
Next up was the overnight ferry to Santorini, selected strategically to provide both transport and accommodation - pity about the diesel fumes that seemed to fill the boat including the sleeping quarters...
We stayed in Santorini for three nights and managed to check out Perivolos and Kamari Beaches, The town of Oia, The main centre of Fira where we were staying, and took a sunset cruise to the Volcano which we walked up before having a swim in the hot springs and cruising home as the sun went down. I managed to keep Kim away from the wineries, although we did enjoy some great food and a few cold beverages along the way.
Next up was Ios - again for three nights after a rather uneventful fast ferry ride. Ios is a 'party' island and typically filled with 18-21 year old Brits/Aussies and Contiki Tour groups - rumor has it that at the end of the season (which it was) the older crowd come by (22-24 year olds) which makes us positively geriatric! Regardless we stayed at a great place (Far Out Village - http://www.faroutclub.com/village) with two pools right on Mylopotas Beach, where we spent most of our time working on our tans, eating and drinking, total bliss. Oh and we made a trip into town to cheer on the Aussies against the Springboks - in our defense the All Blacks needed them to win to keep their Tri-Nations chances alive, pity.
Finally we headed for gay Mykonos, but not without enduring a fairly rough ride on a fast ferry. All four of us managed to get to the end in one piece which is more than I can say for the bulk of the people on board, with the crew furiously handing out the obligatory sick bags and most people making use of them, except from the lady across the aisle from Elle that is, YUCK!!! Perhaps best was just before arrival when nature temporarily decided our ferry was a submarine and the boat went silent - were we worried? You bet!
Mykonos, totally eyeopening! The place is a paradise for gay gentlemen. We had four nights, so spent the first day on four wheel motorbikes checking out the island hoping for the weather to improve. The next two days we spent at Paradise Beach, which was fairly typical bar a few nudists. Day 1 we managed to catch a glimpse of a few at the other end of the beach, Day 2 and we didn't have to look very hard, in fact we were sitting directly behind an mid fifty's American couple proudly showing their wares...
Best part of the trip shortly followed - Kim cut her finger on the reef, went back to her lounger and complained to Elle before taking out a tissue to stop the bleeding, looking up only to find the previously mentioned American gentleman standing over her and holding out a plaster in all his glory!!!
Finally we ferried back to Athens, stayed a night and flew home the following day.
All in all it was an awesome holiday, reasonably friendly on the wallet by euro standards, totally relaxing and we're both sporting tans for the first time since we arrived in London.
Bring on the London winter...
Dave
