Beautiful Mykonos Alleyways.

Little Venice in Chora

The peak season is actually from July to September but it feels like it is still chock a block full of tourists. The COVID - 19 pandemic has made people so desperate to travel that every country (with the exception of China) is rolling out the red carpet to tourists to boost up their ailing economies badly hit these last 2 years. 

White Washed Church - a symbol of the Greek islands 

If there is one symbol which typifies the Greek islands, it must be the white washed small buildings and churches at every turn. The Greeks are Orthodox Christians and the Disciple Paul made his was here to preach the Gospel in the 1st century AD. 

If not for the Christian outreach, who knows whether the gods of the past would still remain in the minds of the modern day Greeks ?

We were blessed with brilliant sunshine and weather all the 5 days (so far) of our trip. I am really fortunate to make the 2 week holiday practically a must do since 2016 and the memories accumulated hopefully will last a lifetime. At least this blogspot site is my go to site when my memory starts fading (hopefully later than sooner) 

Chora View 

Narrow Alleyways always sunny

Party Time In Paradise Beach 

 

21st Sept 2022 Day 4 - Mikonos - Party Island

 We didn't know it then, but when we mentioned the island 'Mikonos' most of the people we spoke to straight away said : "Ah Party Island" and " LGBT friendly", I knew this was going to be a real fun 3 day 2 night stay. 

MIkonos is in between Athens and Santorini. Greece has some 6000 odd islands and islets, and there are inhabitants in less than 300, so if you actually wanted to visit all the inhabited ones, assuming you stayed 1 week in each one, you woudl spend 227 weeks or roughly 4 years and 5 months just visiting each and every one !

We had a transfer at 6.00 am for a ferry at Athens port to take us to Mikonos. The Seajet ferry is both a vehicular, and passenger ferry and can easily seat 1000 passengers plying the major islands of Saxos, Mikonos, Santorini and many others.

Our hotel called the Elena Hotel was perfect for us ; situated at near the top of the mount, all we had to do was to walk downhill via the narrow alleyways, and we are in the main downtown street of the capital, called Chora.

The place has a buzzing vibe. Coupled with clear tourquise blue waters, the windy waterside is everything a holidaymaker would want. Great seafood restaurants by the waterside, touristy shops selling souvenirs, whitewashed buildings with their blue domes (greek home churches). The vibe here is relaxed and friendly

Tourists are mainly from Europe (Germany, UK and French make the largest gorups) and then there are the US (North and South). I recall standing in a bus full of noisy Italian tourists from Palermo. They were obviously happy and drunk just to be here and their extended family and friends numbered over 20, or almost half of the bus capacity.

Lunch was at Kadena, waterside restaurant, and we seem to be the only Singaporeans here. Several of the shopkeepers thought I was from the US, and when I told them that I was from Singapore, they were genuinely pleased.

Tourists from Asia are well received, as we (as a rule) cause no or little problems and tend to be (relatively) big tippers to the serving staff and tour guides.

In the afternoon, we headed off to Paradise Beach.

That, in itself is another story for another blog post.

CARPE DIEM. 

  

Can I get 150K views by end 2022 ?

 

I have one small wish, can I get 150,000 views by 31st Dec 2022 ? I will try to show more interesting content so please write me a comment on how to improve my blog. 

Surprisingly, I am still at it after almost 16 years on Google. 

I aim to get good at the presenting better Youtube videos, and improve my Blogspot blog.

 

20th September 2022 Day 3 Western Greece Corinth Napfoli Palamidi and Mycenae

The Canal at Corinth

The third day of our trip, we had a visit to the Western part of Greece. Corinth (yes the book of Corinthians is about the voyage of the Apostle Paul in the New Testament as he founded the Christian community in Corinth Greece. There is a bridge over the waterway linking the western island to the main land mass and was build during Roman times.

The first stop was the lunch place at Napfoli where I daresay that this was the best Calamari I have ever eaten (so tender, sweet, the owner said it was caught that very morning !). The restaurant in Napfoli is called Alaoum and it is by the waterside. The suburb is an enclave for the well to do Greeks and the harbour boasts numerous yachts. 

We had the best seafood meal eaten in over 3 years, the last was in Portugal in 2019. The seabream was also freshly caught with just grilled over a fire and some added salt. So tasty.

The dishes came fast and furious and we washed it down with a Sauvignon Blanc.

a) Grilled Calamari with some lemon and pepper

b) Grilled Seabream (no seasoning), perhaps some salt

c) Mussels

d) Grilled Sardines

e) Greek Salad

It was all too much for us and we regrettably let the leftovers to the restaurant.

 

Happy Meal 

I wrote in my diary that this is the day my beloved Papa (Geoffrey Abisheganaden) passed away on the 20th of September some 12 years ago. So it was a poignant moment for me at lunch.

Grilled Sea Bream

Grilled Sardines.

Clams marinated with some sauce and chilli pepper

The restaurant called Alaoum in Napfoli is well worth a second visit sometime in the future. 

The rest of the afternoon, we visited the Roman castle at the nearby Palamidi. The view of the Mediterranean is stupendous. 

 

                                                View from Palamidi Fortress 

We ended the third day eating at the Ella Restaurant at Mitropoleneous Street with another gastromic feast :

a) Seafood Linguini

b) Chickpea salad

c) Sauvignon Blanc

We rested early, as we had a very early start the next day to Santorini. Pick up time of 5.45 am meant that we would awake by 4.45 am !

 

Changing of the Guard - Athens

                                                Guardsmen walking back to their barracks. 
 

Beside Sygnama (or Freedom) Square, is the New Parliament House. Every hour on the hour, there is an elaborate, almost comical changing of the guard. Please watch the video below to see what happens and the synchronisation is perfect. The balance of these guardsmen is perfect as is their timing.

The changing of the Guard is on the hour every hour every day outside Parliament House

                                                A fascinating watch isnt it ? 

19th Sept 2022 Day 2 ; Flavors of Athens

 

Posing outside the Parthenon 

By late morning Aleks, had passed us to the next guide, a charming gentleman called Andreas, he let us try the amazing variety of street Greek food, namely

- Bougatsa (pastry with salad)

- Spanacopita (flaky savory pastry with spinach)

Andreas our Food Guide 

We next went to dine at Thanasis, which is a 'must go' place for foodies. Their signature dish is a plate of Soulvakis which is essentially meat grilled and done kebab style. (See below for the plate we shared)

We tried the :

a) Lamb

b) Pork gyros

c) Tsajiki (cold slaw)

We later went to the Monastirakis street wet market and saw the various types of seafood, meats (tripe) and poultry all freshly slaughtered and awaiting buyers.

We ended our food tour at 3 pm with some purchases of Greek pistachios, raisins and sultanas. 

All in all 2 superb tours well worth the time and money spent.   

Soulvakis 

In the early evening, we end up at Erdoo Street which is something similar to the Vittoria Emmanuelle II street in Milan or the Walking Street dedicated soley to the shoppers serious or otherwise.  Athena's cooking 

An Alice in Wonderland Themed Restaurant 

Freshly Slaughtered Chicken 

Our meal consisted of :

- Lamb Chops 

- Seafood Risotto

- Saffron Flower with Rice.

A gorgeous 2nd day in Athens. 

                                                        Carpe Diem 

19th Sept 2022 Day 2 ; Acropolis and Flavours of Athens.

 

The Acropolis 

The Acropolis sits proudly above the city of Athens and there are 1001 fables about its history.

Originally built by the Romans, it was supposed to represent the 'high city' of the elites. The gods of the Greeks were up in Mount Olympus some distance away. Everyday, thousands of tourists flock to see the ruins and the Parthenon which was the seat of the first known democracy.  The Acropolis is declared a UNESCO Heritage site. There are 4 main items to check out :

a) The entrance or Propylea

b) The Temple of Athena Nike

c) The Temple of Erechtheon

d) The Parthenon temple. 

The Greek country is a relatively new concept. 'Greece' by itself was effectively a collection of city states and were perpetually warring within themselves and the neighbouring Persians (now called Turkey). They came together to fend off the Persians time and again and were conquered by the Romans for about 500 years ( I need to fact check this). 

Hence you will time and again here like Athenians, the Spartans, the Florentines, the Persians and Venetians because in those days the city state was the way for commerce (trade) and wars only increased their GDP exponentially by claiming victory over the neighbour and taking over their lands, peoples, agricultural produce, products and whatever they owned.

Our tour guide, Aleksandro Politis (see below) is a certified tour guide and he proudly tells us that less than 2% of the 1500 entrants (25) each year make it to the licensed (certified) tour guide. He is supremely knowledgeable about his work and has a Masters in Geography. The impression I get from our meetups with the guides is that the Greek people are warm and friendly. They carry no airs about them and are willing to help at every turn. He is fluent in 3 languages, English, Greek and Portuguese and can be contacted at 

                                                        alex.politis@icloud.com

Do contact him, if you want a really thorough guide to show you Acropolis and the neighbouring towns. I highly recommend him. 

We were blessed by Beautiful Weather. 

The temples are made by marble, and each piece weighs 10 tons (10,000 kg). The columns of the temple are designed to withstand earthquakes, and the columns give the appearance of leaning in towards the centre as well as the centre columns appear bigger at the centre. All these give the illusion that the columns are totally straight !

Transporting the marble blocks 17km away from a quarry in Mount Pentelikon to the acropolis is no mean feat. The marble is glittering white and it gleams in the sun. 

Built in the 5th century BC, I believe by the emperor Hadrian. It cost a lot of money at that time. The Propylea is the grand entrance and the temple of Erechthian, which has the famous Porch of the 6  Maidens. 

Every line of the Parthenon is curved, and the ramparts appear to sag downwards and upwards to give it a rather eccentric look. Above the entrance, there are reliefs of all the processions of Greek life. 

The long queues of people climbing up the Propylea at 10 am 

There are a lot of carvings showing the wars and battles between the Greek gods and one can imagine how grand it was when it was new. The Parthenon started as a temple to the Greek gods, then became the home of the rulers, followed by a Church, to the Mosque and subsequently an ammunition storage, got struck by lighting and bombed by Venetians, stolen of its treasures by the British (Lord Elgin) and subsequently reinstated to partially its former glory.

It is now a UNESCO heritage site and definately a pride piece for all Greek people.   

The Temple of Erechtheon 

The temple of Erechtheon is another visible piece of architecture and has withstood the millenia, partly because it was restored piece by piece by subsequent Greek Governments since the 80s with newer pieces of marble and other stone strutures. There is a famous Hallway of the Maidens, which is world famous.

                                                An open air theatre.

The Greeks were also the first to create open air theatre to entertain, teach and subsequently discipline their subjects. There were brilliant orators, who spoke about the teachings of Homer and many other portrayals of ordinary Greek life.

The phrase 'Greek Tragedy' is so infused into our lexicon of word use that nobody gives it second thought. In addition, the use of the word Greek gods are also very prevalent in international lingo. 

Greece, in particular Athens has much to offer the world in the concept of democracy, though it is not clear if the ancient Greeks could actually vote, but the Senate (made of of wealthy Athenians of lineage) would discuss issues of the day on behalf of ordinary Athenians, hence the concept of Government "for the people, by the people"  was born.   

The tourists in Athens were mainly made up of Europeans and Americans (almost 90%). The Asians are very much a minority, as I guess the costs (still expensive ; for example a return trip to Athens on Qatar Airways if you book 1 month before the trip in Sept would easily costs USD 2,500). Our landed costs were in total USD 6,100 before meals. So its roughly USD 3,050 for 8 days in Greece.   

The tourists from Asia are mainly from Japan, Korea, Singapore and some Chinese who are based in Europe of US and have never gone back to  China. Most Chinese have not returned to overseas travel, owing to COVID restrictions so their absence is felt on many tourist restaurants, establishments and places of interest. 

We used this great landed travel agency called Kim Kim. The arranged every thing for the 8 days (7 nights) we were there. These include :

a) Pickup at Athens airport

b) 3 nights hotel stay in Athens (3* hotel but felt like 4*) w breakfast

c) 2 full days guided tour in Athens, include 2 fabulous lunches

d) Transport to Port for ferry to Mikonos

e) Ferry to Mikonos

f)  Pickup at Mikonos

g) 2 nights in Mikonos (4* hotel really nice) w breakfast

h) Transport to Port and Ferry to Santorini

i)  2 nights in Santorini (3* hotel but central) w breakfast

j)  Half day tour of special waterless farm with full home made vege dinner.

i) Transfer and flight from Santorini to Athens (Business class superb).

I would highly recommend Kim Kim tour agency, who made our first 8 days so seamless and fun. They customise your trip according to your budget.  You can easily check them out on Google.

                                                team@kimkim.com    

Tel : +1 888 982 9496

                                                Our Top Guide Alexandro Politis 

                                                        alex.politis@icloud.com