Island Hopping Part II: Naxos, Santorini (Again), and Mykonos

I think I mentioned it in my last post, but Avery and I were getting restless in Santorini. When we originally planned the trip, we had intentions of working on one of the Greek islands (at a bar or restaurant)…we were thinking something along the lines of saving money and getting a firsthand look at Greek culture. (To be honest, I don’t think Greek culture is that different from American culture, but I’m currently in India and my perspective is drastically different). Anyway, we realized that working in Greece is impossible--due to visa requirements--and we wouldn’t make that much money; so, we ditched the work-in-Greece idea, but stuck to our one-month plan. One month is way too long, but I am sure you all realized that when I first mentioned that leg of the trip.

Okay, so Avery and I decide to cut our time in Santorini down and spend 2 of the nights on the island of Naxos. We picked this island because it’s known for its mountain villages, castle ruins, and tons of Byzantine churches. Fun? Boring? We didn’t know, but thought we’d take the risk. (I was totally on board when I read that the island had a well-known Mexican restaurant. I was getting sick of strictly Greek food). We hopped onto a ferry and within 2 hours were far away from Santorini.

Naxos really wasn’t any different than any of the other islands; it had tons of hotels and hostels, even more outdoor cafes, and a rental car dealer on every corner. On the first night, when we were heading out for Mexican food, Avery and I stopped into one of the rental shops and decided to rent what can only be described as a go-cart for our future mountain adventures. The “car” was a metal cage with an engine and 2 seats. That‘s about it.

The go-cart was impossible to drive. First of all, we were belted into harnesses, making it impossible to shift from drive to park or reverse without unbuckling. The gear stick (I have no idea what that’s really called) was incredibly finicky. When we tried to reverse the car would occasionally rev its engine and stall instead of moving. Finally, the brakes barely worked. We had a close call when we were driving down a hill and started to accelerate. I slammed on the brakes and just barely cleared a rock wall. I don’t think our 5 euro go-cart insurance policy would have covered the damage.

Back to Naxos. Avery and I researched and thought Chalki sounded like the perfect village. Lonely Planet (our travel Bible) described the town as small, historic, and famous for its Kitron*, jams and jellys, and authentic Greek cuisine. When we got to Chalki it was teeny tiny. The main square was roughly 10 feet by 20 feet and was crowded with Yassi’s Tavern’s tables and chairs. Since Yassi’s was the only restaurant in town, we had no other choice but to eat at the Tavern.

Yanni's/Chalki's "Main Square"

After lunch we went into the one gift shop, bought a pack of gum at the news stand, and explored the famous Kitron Distillery--it was a two-room “museum” with a few dusty bottles and a certificate of authenticity. At the end of our self-guided tour, a Kitron expert offered us a taste of Chalki’s finest drink. The bright green liquor was absolutely horrific. It tasted like a sugary lemon drop mixed with rubbing alcohol. I tried to politely smile as I gagged on the Kitron, but I’m almost positive the lady saw the disgust in my eyes.

We were finished exploring the village in an hour and decided to follow the walking tour suggested on one of the maps in town. As Avery and I walked down a lizard-infested path we stumbled across one of the Byzantine churches. I think it was called the Church of Agio Nicolas (which is what 90% of the churches in Naxos are named), but I can’t be too sure.

The Church of Agio Nicolas

It was built in the 12^th century and was very small. After we circled the outside of the building, I got nosy and pried open the closed door. (It’s hours of operation were on Sundays, I believe, but the door swung open with ease). Inside there was a camera crew and a couple of stage lights; some art historians were shooting pictures for an upcoming textbook. They wouldn’t let us take pictures, but we were allowed to snoop around and look at the old frescoes that were painted on the walls and ceilings.

While the stuffy cameramen were distracted, I took a picture of the ceiling.

After we left Chalki we decided to try out another village; our plans changed, however, when we spotted signs for Zas Cave. We drove up narrow roads (with no guardrails) until we reached the middle of a mountain. Dressed in a tube top (Avery), jeans (me), and flip-flops (both of us), we decided to hike the trail up to Zas Cave.
Us in our hiking gear.

From what we could see, the trail was paved and had a slight incline. Easy enough, we thought. 30 minutes later we had hiked a mountain (and I mean hiked) and found the cave. It was small and really dark, but we poked around and then descended the very steep mountainside. We did a little more exploring, but the island seemed dead. I blame the month; mid-September is when tourists stop visiting the islands and head back to work, school, etc.

The ride home from the mountains was easily the worst part of our Naxan adventure. The temperature had dropped significantly and our go-cart didn’t have sides or a windshield. As we made the 2 hour drive home, Avery and I huddled together to stay warm and sang show tunes (and some early 2000 pop hits) to pass the time and ignore the fact that our teeth were chattering and our lips were blue. I think we were delirious at this point.
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We got back to Santorini and had one more thing on our to do list: watch the sunset at Oia. According to every guide book and many other travelers, the sunset in the town of Oia is unparalleled. It is the only spot in all of the Greek islands (and all of Santorini) where the sun sets directly into the unobstructed the horizon. We knew that this was a popular activity among the Santorini set, but we weren’t prepared for the shoulder-to-shoulder traffic that blocked off most of the city. Although we elbowed our way into a good spot, we didn’t see the full sunset due to cloud coverage. The crowd didn’t seem to mind the less-than-perfect weather and everyone cheered when the sun finally set behind the clouds.
It was cheesy and touristy (obviously) but one of those things you have to do when in Santorini... I guess.

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Jordan left us after Santorini and Seth, Avery, and I went on to Mykonos. Nothing too exciting happened during our three days there, but the island was my absolute favorite place in Greece. The beaches were beautiful, the town (especially the Little Venice quarter) was adorable, and I couldn’t recommend it more highly.

Island Hopping: Part I, Santorini

Most of the hostels in Santorini are expensive, especially from June to September, so we were lucky to find Anny Studios on Perissa Beach. The hostel was reasonably priced and the pictures on its website made the place seem pretty big and clean (important qualities when traveling on a shoestring budget). HostelBookers.com even ranked Anny Studios one of its Top 10 Hostels of 2008. We were sold.

When we got to Anny Studios, our room (which was advertised as a four-person suite with a kitchenette and private bathroom) was more like a cave then a suite. It was dark, damp, and had a curved ceiling; the boys took the two lofted beds, because that’s where the bats lived. To add to our misery, the air-conditioning unit and TV didn’t work and the room smelled like stale sweat. The “kitchenette” was just a mini-fridge and a hotplate and it’s cord didn’t reach any outlets. (One night, when Avery and I tried to cook dinner, we had to put the hotplate on a wooden chair by the outlet nearest the bathroom. Mid-cooking the hotplate sparked, we heard a loud crack, and the power went out in our section of the hostel. Needless to say, we ate out every night). Despite the smoke and mirrors, HostelBookers managed to tell one truth: the hostel was actually 100 feet away from the beach. As a result, we spent many afternoons lounging on Perissa Beach, eating chicken gyros* and working on our tans.

*I overdosed and will never eat a meat-in-a-pita sandwich again. Ever.

Our schedule sounds lovely, and it was, but that's because up until this point we had perfect weather--between 80 and 90 and sunny with a breeze. It made avoiding the beach (even the gross Star Beach) nearly impossible. The hostel manager, Steve, jinxed our good luck when he casually mentioned that it hadn’t rained in 4 months on Santorini. The very next day we experienced a torrential downpour.

To be honest, I was thrilled; the unfortunate weather forced us to explore Fira/Thira (the names are interchangeable) for the day. And by explore, I mean that Avery and I had a delicious lunch, got pedicures, and window-shopped. We were of the mindset that Fira/Thira was posh, so we had to acclimate… despite the fact we hadn’t done laundry in three weeks. To end our girly day, we faked elegance and had a cappuccino and coffee in some fancy hotel.

The next day was sunny and we jumped right back into our routine; after dinner, however, we decided to head back into Fira/Thira to check out the nightlife. Per Steve’s suggestions, we were armed with a Post-it of the city’s best bars and all four of us were dressed to impress (read: stale-smelling and wrinkly outfits that we dug out from the bottom of our backpacks). We were styling.

To get to Fira/Thira you need to take a 30 minute bus. Like most transportation in Greece, the bus system in Santorini is sub par and the bus comes whenever it wants. So we get to the bus stop, conveniently located in front of the outdoor Bob’s Bar, and grab a drink while we are waiting for the bus. (The bar was somewhat of a dive, but it had cheap drinks and played 80’s hits making it an instant favorite). During our wait, I decide to strike up a convo with Bob (I presume he was the owner of the place) and convince him to let me DJ the next night. I spin some elaborate tale of my music knowledge and experience as a DJ and he gives me the job. In terms of a salary, he said he would give me free drinks all night long. I was slated to start the following night, but never showed up for the gig. I figured that being asleep by 11 was a more sound decision then pretending to be DJ Fig at an empty outdoor bar. I think we can all agree on that one.

Somewhere in the middle of our eight nights in Santorini, Avery and I hopped on a ferry to the island of Naxos. I‘ll get to “Part II: Naxos & Santorini, Again” tomorrow, in addition to our harrowing tale of forgotten passports, pickpockets, and how we managed to get stuck in Greece for 5 extra days instead of going to India.

Two Days in Chania

After our little excursion to Anogia, Avery and I were on a “let’s get out of here” kick. We scoured her Lonely Planet guide book with the boys and settled on Golden Beach in Agio Nikolas, about an hour away from where we were staying. It had everything Star Beach in Hersonissos didn’t: white sand, turquoise water, a secluded cove, no signs or flashing lights. I was in heaven. There isn’t much I can say about our afternoon; we just sat by the water and relaxed. It wasn’t until we were on our way to the center of Agio Nicolas that things got interesting.

Golden Beach, Agio Nikolas


Avery was navigating the roads in our neon green Fiat Panda when we heard another car aggressively honking it’s horn. The two cars in front of us suddenly stop and turn off their engines and the driver of the first car jumps out and starts cursing her head off. She runs up to the window of the car behind her (and directly in front of us) and smacks the other driver right across the face. Now, Lady #1 (the smacker) is about 65 years old and has her two baby grandkids in the back seat. Lady #2 (the smacked, 25 year old girl) jumps out and goes after #1 and a full-blown cat fight breaks out in the middle of the road. In a matter of minutes a dress is ripped, hair is pulled, and #1’s glasses are snapped in half. Finally a police man breaks up the scene, but while this was going on a passerby peeks her head into our car window and mutters “Sometimes, this is just the Greek way.” (This is the Greek way? Really? I have a hard time believing her).

Agio Nikolaus Harbor

(I am not really into the transitions on this blog… basically the day after Agio Nikolas we left Hersonissos for good. We drove 3 hours to Chania and that is where I’ll pick up).

As I’ve mentioned before, I came on to this trip with an idealistic picture of Greece. I thought Greece was ancient and charming, but a lot of the buildings and cities we saw were more modern than I expected. When we got to Chania we were pleasantly surprised. The seaside village was absolutely adorable with its cobblestone streets, old buildings, and a lighthouse in it's center. We were staying in an old Turkish guesthouse right in the center of town that was owned by Lena, a middle aged lady whose uniform was strictly mini-skirts and high heels. She wasn’t the friendliest person we met, but she did offer a couple of restaurant suggestions.

The Old Quarter in Chania

On the first night we followed Lena’s lead and ate at Doloma. The restaurant was an actual hole in the wall; we walked past the place a few times before realizing it was tucked behind a seedy looking parking lot. As soon as we sat down, the hostess ushered us into the kitchen where the chef stood proudly in front of his pots and pans. One by one he lifted the lids to show us what was on the menu that night: rabbit stew, a green bean casserole, homemade mousakka, some sort of cod, etc. I settled on the rabbit (when have I ever ordered rabbit??) and it was amazing. Everyone enjoyed their meals, but the wine was gross.

Side note: the chef wasn't too keen on me snapping pictures,and tried to explain this in broken English, but I couldn't help myself. As a result, I got this poor picture of the appetizers.

(I’m going to take a moment to rant about the wine. Rumor has it that Santorini has some of the best wine around and since most of the Greek islands harvest grapes, I figured that the wine on all of the islands would be amazing. Absolutely not. Cretan wine--both red and white--tastes like nail polish remover with a hint of grape juice. It’s undrinkable.)

Seth, Avery, Me, and Jordan in Chania

I spent the few days in Chania wandering through art galleries, window shopping, and ordering Starbucks iced soy chai lattes. Greece isn’t exactly dairy-free friendly, so I gave in and went to Starbucks multiple times a day. I was even tempted to buy a jug of soy milk off of the barista, but figured that request was probably crossing some line.

The public transportation in Crete isn't the world's finest, which caused some problems when we were trying to leave Chania for Santorini. When we asked a travel agent how to get from point A to point B, we were fed something along the lines of, "The ferry system only runs from certain ports on certain days, but not on Wednesdays after 5, and never from Chania to Santorini, and the high-speed boats are 30 Euro more, but only at peak times, and we can book three of you, but not the fourth..." and so on and so forth. Basically, it was confusing and we had to backtrack to Hersonissos at midnight, sleep in the port, and catch an 8AM ferry to Santorini. Unbeknownst to us, the port closes at midnight and reopens at 6AM, forcing us to sleep outside like this:

Avery, on chairs in the outdoor cafe at the port.

The boys took turns guarding our stuff:


Seth and Jordan, being brave

We made it safe and sound onto the ferry and tomorrow I'll try and update with tales from Santorini, Naxos, and Mykonos.

The Cretan Way of Life

Everyone told me I would LOVE everything about Greece: the food, the beaches, the history, and more importantly, the wine. In fact, most people questioned why fabulous, picturesque Greece was even on my bug-infested, rough and tumble Asian itinerary. (I can’t answer that question. Avery and Seth planned the whole thing).

I gave Greece the benefit of the doubt when Athens was a bit on the undesirable side, but I had high hopes for Crete. After all, Crete is an island--a Greek island--and therefore (in my mind) it was supposed to fit the following description: beautiful beaches, friendly fisherman, and quaint seaside villages. Maybe if I did a bit more research I would have seen that Hersonissos, our home base in Crete, was the Greek equivalent of Seaside Heights on the Jersey Shore. I’m talking boardwalk and all. The place was gross. Really gross.


This is a picture of the coastline in Hersonissos. I know that it looks all nice and pretty, but this picture is deceiving.


The boys seemed pretty happy with their routine: 11 am wake up, 4 or 5 hour hang at the beach, dinner at a local restaurant, and then the dance clubs at night. I tried to put a smile on and feign interest, but by day 3 I was ready to go. Avery was having similar thoughts, so we decided to ditch the boys for a day and explore the lesser known villages around the island. We rented a car and headed for the hills to a teeny tiny town called Anogia. (Side note: I must give Avery credit. She isn’t a big fan of driving, but since our car was a stick-shift she was forced to take the wheel. I tried to provide emotional support, but that didn’t make the 367* hairpin turns any less treacherous. Thankfully we made it unscathed.)


Here I am, in all my touristy glory, on the windy road to Anogia. It probably wasn't the safest idea to stop for a photo op on a just-barely-two-lane road, with cliffs and hairpin turns...

We picked Anogia mostly because every guide book raved about its weddings. Every weekend the town holds a wedding and all 2000 citizens attend. Tourists are invited (and encouraged) to celebrate with the town and experience Greek culture firsthand. Of course the day we get to Anogia is the only day that a wedding isn’t going on, but I digress…

Anogia has one main road and it’s lined with small cafes and tons of outdoor seating. As Avery and I strolled along looking for a coffee shop we noticed that we were the only women on the streets. The only people in all of Anogia were black tee-shirt clad men with thick moustaches. (And aside from the 12-and-under crowd, EVERY man had the moustache and the black tee.) Later in the day women emerged from their homes, but they were also clad in black from head to toe.

The town didn’t look too exciting, especially since there wasn’t a wedding, so we decided to meet some locals and learn about the town. We met the owner of a coffee shop who told us that we were the first Americans he had seen all year. Some other townspeople told us that everyone wore black because the town for unity; Anogia was burned down during the World War II and the town wears black because it's still in mourning. We even came across some football (soccer) players who told us about the towns large mob population and then treated us to dinner. By the time 10 pm came around we found ourselves drinking coffee and Raki ** and discussing Anogia’s history with the head priest/mayor of the town, affectionately known as Papa. (Apparently he saw us wandering town earlier in the day, noticed that we were outsiders, and wanted to tell us exactly why Anogia was the best city in all of Greece. It was a great town, but the best? I think that’s debatable).

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I will be more diligent about updating this blog, but up until Anogia, Greece just wasn’t that interesting. I am now in Santorini and heading to Naxos tomorrow, but will fill in the gaps when I get a chance.

-Jess


*A local in Anogia told us that there were 367 turns you have to make in order to reach the town.
**A local Cretan drink.

Athens Part 2

Just a little side note: Apparently the title of my blog is a bit misleading. Yes, I am backpacking through Asia, but that officially begins September 29th in India. Until then I am traveling around Greece. I thought "backpackingthroughgreeceandasia.blogspot.com" was way too long. (And to be quite honest, I am not exactly roughing it in Greece. To me, backpacking is what I am least looking forward to: bugs, dirt, and carrying 45 lbs of my stuff around on my back. In Greece I am showering daily and spending time on the beach.)

Our second day in Athens wasn't much different. The city did not get prettier or cleaner, the dogs were just as rabid, and the Acropolis was still standing. We had lofty goals of seeing the National Archeological Museum, the new Acropolis museum, and the actual Acropolis, but how many major tourist things could we actually do if we were still jetlagged?

We went to the National Archeological Museum first. The museum was filled with your standard statues, jewelry, pottery, and other relics, but one of the collections most prized pieces was the Mask of Agamemnon. It was kind of anticlimactic; slightly smaller than we pictured and surrounded by a similar looking death mask and other golden artifacts. I was more into the cartoonish, black-figure pottery. The boys were not interested in any of it.

The Acropolis was next on our list (we decided to skip the new Acropolis museum since we are coming back to Athens in 2 weeks). At the risk of sounding like complete cliche, it was really beautiful. The real Parthenon (which we never correctly identified) was enormous, pretty well preserved, and partially covered in scaffolding. I get that these crumbling buildings need to be restored, but something about a big metal cage wrapped around half of the columns kind of takes away from the picture-perfect idea that I had in my head. (I have pictures of all of these sights, but since I am working off some sketchy computer in an internet cafe, I can't upload them yet.)

After four-ish hours exploring the Acropolis we killed time by eating and then made our way over to the port for an overnight ferry (read: low-end cruise ship) to Crete.

As always, I am running out of time on the computer, but I'll add more when I can.

-Jess

my big, fat greek introduction

Without being too harsh, let's just say Athens isn't my cup of tea. We flew into the city on Thursday morning and took a less than scenic drive to our hostel. I think the little building was actually a "hotel" but our room was 4 twin beds pushed up next to eachother with no walking space. I shouldn't complain, especially because the place was clean and had hot water--things that might be hard to come by when we are gallvanting around India.

After a lovely nap, we got all ambitious and decided to explore the city. The buildings are pretty modern (and my modern I mean not made of marble with porticos and massive columns, like I pictured). The streets were filled with fake bag vendors crazy motorcyclists, and seemingly rabid, homeless dogs. In terms of ruins, there were these glass pyramids with the city's dusty remains in them every couple of blocks, but nothing too spectacular.

After wandering through the Athenian streets, we remembered that we hadn't eaten all day and were starving. (I can't even go into the meal Continental tried to pass as food. I think it was some pasta-chicken-possibly-broccoli mixture, but the neon orange color had me baffled. I passed and opted for a dairy-free granola bar instead). Jordan, who makes friends everywhere we go, met a lady on the plane and got reccommendations for a restaurant in the center of the city. It was supposedly tourist-free and delicious. (Both were true).

After dinner we were wide awake and still on American time so we decided to climb the Acropolis and see what all the hype was about. Of course the Acropolis grounds were closed, but there is this little path that winds up 2/3 of the mountain along the gates of the grounds and it's open all day and night. The top of the mountain and all of the ruins were illuminated, which made it eady for a quick game of "Guess the Ancient Ruin." Despite the multiple Ancient Greek History, Art, and Literature the four of us took over the past four years, none of us could correctly identify the Parthenon. (Disclaimer: There are MANY massive stone buildings with enormous pillars and that are rectangular in shape in and around the Acropolis. I just think the overtired/new location combo had us confused...)

Nothing really exciting or hilarious happened on our hike back down the mountain/hill/whatever you want to call it. We ended up heading back to our hotel and sleeping off our jetlag.

I'll write more about visiting the Acropolis in the daytime, our bizarre boat trip to Crete, and my life in Iraklio next time I get the internet.

-Jess

p.s. spell check does on this greek computer highlights all of my english words. just excuse the typos.

First of all, my apologies to everyone who I didn’t get a chance to see/call before I left. I was so busy fittng my life into a backpack, getting vaccinated, and renewing my passport. Per usual, I left EVERYTHING to the last minute and ended up taking my last Typhoid pill on my way to the airport.


So for those of you who are still in the dark (and there are a few of you), I am taking a 4-month long trip through Greece, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. I’m traveling with two friends from Columbia, a 4500cu backpack (whatever that means), and a very low budget. If all goes as planned I’ll be back in the states around Christmas time, but Mrs. Carluccio is insisting that I return for her birthday on November 14th. In any case, I expect to come back with an empty wallet and a ton of stories, pictures, and videos.


Trying to fit my life into a backpack was a struggle. The bag itself is probably close to 3 and ½ feet tall and weighs 45 pounds (I blame the 120 dairy-free granola bars my mom forced me to pack. I‘m not kidding.) But in addition to my food supply, I am carrying a full pharmacy, a bunch of “disposable” Forever21 clothing, and the ugliest walking shoes you’ve ever seen. I think I'm all set.


Feel free to email or skype me (my ID is jessicaleighfig)!!



-Jess