We took a two hour flight to Athens and couldn't believe we were in historical Greece. We love historical places and we love exploring. We visited all the usual places and explored the Placa neighborhood next to the Acropolis. My FAVORITE part was looking at the Acropolis at night with the spotlights. The whole hill top is bathed in light and you can see the Parthenon and other structures. It almost floated in the dark night sky. We visited the terrific Acropolis Museum and a private museum called the Benaki museum that had an amazing collection of things. (I bought a beautiful scarf there.)We learned and re-learned so much history. The weather was perfect, the people were so nice, and the food was great.
We loved Santorini also and stayed at a great little bed and breakfast place. We rented a Smart car and explored the island which started out non-volcanic but is now considered a volcanic island. A final eruption in 1627-1600 BC destroyed the Minoan civilization and we toured a large archaeological site that uncovered buildings and artifacts from this period. It was so interesting. We drove from one end of the island to the other, stopping here and there. One of my favorite exploration sites was the ancient city of Thera that sits on a hill 360 meters high. It's amazing how high up they built their cities. Ancient Thera dates from the 9th century BC until 726 AD. Pottery shards everywhere. I could hardly get over the fact that these shards in the dirt were 2000+ years old.
I will post more photos later. I'm having trouble with the Internet and my blog photos.
Sylvie, we LOVED Greece when we visited, and also loved Santorini. You are lucky that you are so close for the next several years. We found the Greek people to be positively charming and friendly and welcoming. Besides Santorini, we also visited Poros - small and quaint. And my absolute favorite island - scratch that - favorite PLACE I have ever been in my life - was the island of Hydra. It is small, no motor vehicles (I think there are a few emergency vehicles on the island but nothing else - primary transportation is via foot or donkey. I tell Jack that if I ever vanish (and he does not suspect foul play) he should look for me there :-) So glad you got to experience Greece!
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