30 days plus one: 4300 km tour of Greece
- Thread starter hayabusaTravels
- Start date
hayabusaTravels
Registered
Thank you!
Being in Crete, Heraklion more precisely, after a not very successful beach day (the wind was blowing hard) we decided to go for a visit to the Lasithi Plateau, with Zeus Cave beeing the final destination.
On the way we got the first rain from Crete this year, so lucky we were. Retired to a gas station where the person there told us that it had not rained on the island since last year.
There is not much to tell here, the road is very good and the landscapes are exceptional.
I recommend you watch this video:
We arrived at the Cave of Zeus relatively quickly, after some adventures on some offroad roads - thank you Garmin - which involved some emotions because it was raining. If it was raining more, likely I would be stuck on that road - watch the video above.
But it didn't so we arrived at the cave well.
Obviously we left our rain gear in the room because it couldn't rain today, all the weather applications said it would be sunny, with little chance of rain.
The cave of Zeus is located in Crete, in the southwestern part of the Lasithi Plateau, at approx. 18 km away from Malia.
Arriving in the parking lot, we stopped to eat something and started on the partially paved path with stone, a road that goes up a gentle slope, up to 1000 meters altitude.
Up the mountain you can see the entrance, just above that pole:
You could take a donkey to get you up there, but I pity the poor animal that had to carry me all the way. My body weight is 116kg so I just couldn't do that to the poor animal.
Kitty is under 50kg but she also decided to give the donkey a break. So we walked.
With a few rains of rain on the way, we arrived at the cave, occasionally stopping for photos.
Once at the entrance, we paid the ticket (6eur / pers) and went down into the cave.
It descends on concrete steps, the cave having a predetermined route: first descend to the bottom of the cave, then obviously climb to the exit.
Diktaion Antron was discovered around 1883, and the excavations of archaeologists have revealed some Minoan remains dating from 1800 BC.
The cave is famous in Greek mythology as the place where Amalthea nurtured the infant Zeus with goat's milk.
It is one of a number of caves believed to have been the birthplace or hiding place of Zeus from his father Cronus, who ate his children.
Depending on how interested you are, it can take you 45 minutes to visit.
Video from the cave:
Exiting the cave we stood for a fruit juice immediately on the right and left the camera to film the view from above.
On the descent we caught some rain again making the trail very slippery. Descending with motorcycle boots was easy in this regard.
Arriving at the parking lot we returned to the terrace and it started to really rain.
I think we stood for over an hour on that terrace and the rain didn't stop.
More coffee, more juice ... talked with the people there. Time passed. And also the rain.
We left for the hotel with the thought of a warm shower. It was cold on the plateau, however, until Heraklion the weather changed, warming up considerably.
We also wanted to go to Balos Beach but it was too far from Heraklion, that is about 380 km round trip. That would have meant losing a day just for that. Didn't think it was ok. Also the petrol prices on the island are not that ok.
Maybe if we stayed for more days, but we have a lot of roads to cover still.
Being in Crete, Heraklion more precisely, after a not very successful beach day (the wind was blowing hard) we decided to go for a visit to the Lasithi Plateau, with Zeus Cave beeing the final destination.
On the way we got the first rain from Crete this year, so lucky we were. Retired to a gas station where the person there told us that it had not rained on the island since last year.
There is not much to tell here, the road is very good and the landscapes are exceptional.
I recommend you watch this video:
We arrived at the Cave of Zeus relatively quickly, after some adventures on some offroad roads - thank you Garmin - which involved some emotions because it was raining. If it was raining more, likely I would be stuck on that road - watch the video above.
But it didn't so we arrived at the cave well.
Obviously we left our rain gear in the room because it couldn't rain today, all the weather applications said it would be sunny, with little chance of rain.
The cave of Zeus is located in Crete, in the southwestern part of the Lasithi Plateau, at approx. 18 km away from Malia.
Arriving in the parking lot, we stopped to eat something and started on the partially paved path with stone, a road that goes up a gentle slope, up to 1000 meters altitude.
Up the mountain you can see the entrance, just above that pole:
You could take a donkey to get you up there, but I pity the poor animal that had to carry me all the way. My body weight is 116kg so I just couldn't do that to the poor animal.
Kitty is under 50kg but she also decided to give the donkey a break. So we walked.
With a few rains of rain on the way, we arrived at the cave, occasionally stopping for photos.
Once at the entrance, we paid the ticket (6eur / pers) and went down into the cave.
It descends on concrete steps, the cave having a predetermined route: first descend to the bottom of the cave, then obviously climb to the exit.
Diktaion Antron was discovered around 1883, and the excavations of archaeologists have revealed some Minoan remains dating from 1800 BC.
The cave is famous in Greek mythology as the place where Amalthea nurtured the infant Zeus with goat's milk.
It is one of a number of caves believed to have been the birthplace or hiding place of Zeus from his father Cronus, who ate his children.
Depending on how interested you are, it can take you 45 minutes to visit.
Video from the cave:
Exiting the cave we stood for a fruit juice immediately on the right and left the camera to film the view from above.
On the descent we caught some rain again making the trail very slippery. Descending with motorcycle boots was easy in this regard.
Arriving at the parking lot we returned to the terrace and it started to really rain.
I think we stood for over an hour on that terrace and the rain didn't stop.
More coffee, more juice ... talked with the people there. Time passed. And also the rain.
We left for the hotel with the thought of a warm shower. It was cold on the plateau, however, until Heraklion the weather changed, warming up considerably.
We also wanted to go to Balos Beach but it was too far from Heraklion, that is about 380 km round trip. That would have meant losing a day just for that. Didn't think it was ok. Also the petrol prices on the island are not that ok.
Maybe if we stayed for more days, but we have a lot of roads to cover still.
hayabusaTravels
Registered
Thank you!
We must not loose our optimism, everything will be fine soon.
Let's continue...
The next day we left the motorcycle in the parking lot and decided to go by public transport to Knossos Palace which is 5km away from the city of Heraklion in Crete.
Knossos was the capital of the Minoan Civilization and the residence of the legendary King Minos. It is also the oldest and most sophisticated city in the ancient western world.
The palace was built 2000 years ago and would have around 1300 rooms, joined by a system of corridors being the symbol of the monumental Minoan civilization due to its construction in which luxury materials, architectural design, techniques were used, advanced construction and its impressive size.
Throne Room:
It was hit by a massive earthquake and rebuilt on a larger scale about 1650 years ago.
Knossos is the place where "Europe was born", the Minoan civilization being the oldest advanced civilization on the continent, dealing with trade and trading at sea long before Mycenaean.
The city benefited from a well-developed sewerage system since the 17th century BC, but also an empirical system of septic tanks!!
Crete's influence spread throughout the Aegean Sea, pottery from Crete being discovered in Egypt, Syria, Anatolia, Rhodes, Sicily, even in Cyprus.
The palace of Knossos was also associated with the legend of Theseus who killed the Minotaur, the half-man and half-bull beast, who lived under King Minos's palace. Theseus hid himself in a group of young Athenians who were to be offered as a sacrifice to the monster, which he then killed quickly.
Then he managed to find the way out of the maze using a thread given to him by Ariadna, daughter King Minos.
Unfortunately, upon his return to Athens, he forgot to raise a white cloth on the mast of the ship, as promised to his father, King Aegean, in case he returned safely and unharmed. Seeing a black cloth raised on the mast of the ship and supposing that Theseus died, Aegeus threw himself from the rocks into the waves of the sea, which has since gained the name of the Aegean Sea.
More detailed video with the palace:
Most of what was discovered at Knossos was taken to the Archeology Museum in Heraklion.
Heraklion: Museum of Archeology
The remarkable Archeology Museum in Heraklion is the second largest in size and importance in Greece, after the National Archeology Museum in Athens, thanks to its unique Minoan collection.
The collection covers the Cretan civilization from the Neolithic to the Roman Empire period and includes ceramics, jewelry, statues and sarcophagi, as well as some frescoes, most from Knossos and Agia Triada.
We must not loose our optimism, everything will be fine soon.
Let's continue...
The next day we left the motorcycle in the parking lot and decided to go by public transport to Knossos Palace which is 5km away from the city of Heraklion in Crete.
Knossos was the capital of the Minoan Civilization and the residence of the legendary King Minos. It is also the oldest and most sophisticated city in the ancient western world.
The palace was built 2000 years ago and would have around 1300 rooms, joined by a system of corridors being the symbol of the monumental Minoan civilization due to its construction in which luxury materials, architectural design, techniques were used, advanced construction and its impressive size.
Throne Room:
It was hit by a massive earthquake and rebuilt on a larger scale about 1650 years ago.
Knossos is the place where "Europe was born", the Minoan civilization being the oldest advanced civilization on the continent, dealing with trade and trading at sea long before Mycenaean.
The city benefited from a well-developed sewerage system since the 17th century BC, but also an empirical system of septic tanks!!
Crete's influence spread throughout the Aegean Sea, pottery from Crete being discovered in Egypt, Syria, Anatolia, Rhodes, Sicily, even in Cyprus.
The palace of Knossos was also associated with the legend of Theseus who killed the Minotaur, the half-man and half-bull beast, who lived under King Minos's palace. Theseus hid himself in a group of young Athenians who were to be offered as a sacrifice to the monster, which he then killed quickly.
Then he managed to find the way out of the maze using a thread given to him by Ariadna, daughter King Minos.
Unfortunately, upon his return to Athens, he forgot to raise a white cloth on the mast of the ship, as promised to his father, King Aegean, in case he returned safely and unharmed. Seeing a black cloth raised on the mast of the ship and supposing that Theseus died, Aegeus threw himself from the rocks into the waves of the sea, which has since gained the name of the Aegean Sea.
More detailed video with the palace:
Most of what was discovered at Knossos was taken to the Archeology Museum in Heraklion.
Heraklion: Museum of Archeology
The remarkable Archeology Museum in Heraklion is the second largest in size and importance in Greece, after the National Archeology Museum in Athens, thanks to its unique Minoan collection.
The collection covers the Cretan civilization from the Neolithic to the Roman Empire period and includes ceramics, jewelry, statues and sarcophagi, as well as some frescoes, most from Knossos and Agia Triada.
hayabusaTravels
Registered
The night before the planned departure day, I was in port to buy tickets to Santorini.
The woman from BlueStar Ferries in the port told us that the last one leaves at 11 in the morning, so we had time to get them in the morning without any problems considering that no office was open and we didn't want to search the city for a travel agency.
Morning surprise: the only ferryboats to Santorini from Heraklion were at 8 and 9.30 AM.
Obviously we lost them, arriving at the port at 10 in the morning.
That cost us one more night of accommodation in Heraklion.
Very bad that hotel, at the same price of 50 euros but without breakfast and small rooms.
Anyway, the next morning we arrived in the port early and took our tickets from the Minoan Lines office. 175 euro for us and motorcycle.
The ship came, high speed boat and we embarked without problems.
The trip was short, under 2 hours.
You have to stay inside during the trip because the boat is moving quite fast, access on the deck is prohibited.
Also, as is normal, the car dock is locked until arrival at the port of destination.
On September 16th, 2019 we arrived well in Santorini.
After "we landed" we had to wait 40 minutes to clear the area because it was very crowded.
The port is very small, it's just a larger piece of cement poured near the rock. See the video at the end of this post.
We stood for a coffee and this time I also took the tickets for departure, sensing the bullying that would have been expected if I had not taken my tickets in time.
We stayed in Kamari because in the big cities, Thira and Oia, we couldn't find accommodation under 150 euros / night.
In Kamari we found with 50 euros / night, double room with small breakfast included, near the beach.
I had seen absolutely astronomical prices for Thira, 35.000 euros for 3 nights ...
The accommodation also has its own beach at about 1km from the hotel, so after checkingg in, we ran to the beach.
Pretty cold water and steep.
We will stay for a few days here to enjoy the beach: the water has been warmer since the second day.
The woman from BlueStar Ferries in the port told us that the last one leaves at 11 in the morning, so we had time to get them in the morning without any problems considering that no office was open and we didn't want to search the city for a travel agency.
Morning surprise: the only ferryboats to Santorini from Heraklion were at 8 and 9.30 AM.
Obviously we lost them, arriving at the port at 10 in the morning.
That cost us one more night of accommodation in Heraklion.
Very bad that hotel, at the same price of 50 euros but without breakfast and small rooms.
Anyway, the next morning we arrived in the port early and took our tickets from the Minoan Lines office. 175 euro for us and motorcycle.
The ship came, high speed boat and we embarked without problems.
The trip was short, under 2 hours.
You have to stay inside during the trip because the boat is moving quite fast, access on the deck is prohibited.
Also, as is normal, the car dock is locked until arrival at the port of destination.
On September 16th, 2019 we arrived well in Santorini.
After "we landed" we had to wait 40 minutes to clear the area because it was very crowded.
The port is very small, it's just a larger piece of cement poured near the rock. See the video at the end of this post.
We stood for a coffee and this time I also took the tickets for departure, sensing the bullying that would have been expected if I had not taken my tickets in time.
We stayed in Kamari because in the big cities, Thira and Oia, we couldn't find accommodation under 150 euros / night.
In Kamari we found with 50 euros / night, double room with small breakfast included, near the beach.
I had seen absolutely astronomical prices for Thira, 35.000 euros for 3 nights ...
The accommodation also has its own beach at about 1km from the hotel, so after checkingg in, we ran to the beach.
Pretty cold water and steep.
We will stay for a few days here to enjoy the beach: the water has been warmer since the second day.
hayabusaTravels
Registered
Thank you!
"You ain't seen nothing yet"
"You ain't seen nothing yet"
hayabusaTravels
Registered
After a day at the beach, I took a "boat cruise" from a local agency to the caldera of the volcano.
We spent the day visiting the volcano and the island of Thirasia and then enjoying the sunset on the boat.
We were taken by bus from Kamari to the port of Thira where a simple boat awaits us. Kitty wasn't impressed, as expected. She still has problems with small boats.
They took us to the thermal area, where the water is sulfurous. The idea was to take a bath, the water being thermal: very nice, if we could swim.
You must not wear white clothes because they will be stained.
We stayed on the boat with others who didn't know how to swim.
I had seen on youtube that the boats go deep into the "mountain" where the water is lower.
But those boats were smaller, probably rented by the hour.
Oh, well ...
After the swim break, we ran to the volcano for a visit.
Very hot, very rough terrain, me being in "swimming shoes".
After some information provided by the guide, we were left free to explore the area. You can't lose yourself as there's a single path which is sometimes made of smaller or larger stones. A real pleasure for the feet.
Okay, you can lose the departure of the boat. You might as well annoy everyone waiting for departure from the harbor on a scorching sun.
Some Italians came in so late that it was debated whether it was appropriate for someone in the crew to go bring them.
There is a lot of information about this volcano on the internet, so I will just say that the largest eruption occurred in 1613 BC. having catastrophic effects on a planetary scale.
It is the largest "documented" volcanic eruption, with scale 7 out of 8 possible. The eruption of Vesuvius in the Roman era was cataloged with 5 scale.
The eruption of the Thera volcano, Santorini was at least four times greater than that of the Krakatoa volcano, being felt at a distance of approx. 5.000 km, generating tsunami waves that reached up to 12 meters high.
Although it did not lead to the extinction of the Minoan civilization, the eruption contributed to the rapid decline of this civilization, seriously affecting naval trade capacity, with tsunami waves destroying the fleet.
Now, although the volcano is active, nothing spectacular is seen except steam with the smell of sulfur and heat emanating if you get too close.
It will definitely erupt again.
After visiting the volcano, we stopped for an hour on the island of Thirasia, where you can find more cats than humans. We stayed to eat and drink, these costs not being included in the "cruise" price.
I would have wanted to climb up, but it seemed too far and I might not have arrived in time to leave.
It didn't take long, the time passed very quickly and here we are, getting ready for the sunset on the water.
Please watch the full video:
We spent the day visiting the volcano and the island of Thirasia and then enjoying the sunset on the boat.
We were taken by bus from Kamari to the port of Thira where a simple boat awaits us. Kitty wasn't impressed, as expected. She still has problems with small boats.
They took us to the thermal area, where the water is sulfurous. The idea was to take a bath, the water being thermal: very nice, if we could swim.
You must not wear white clothes because they will be stained.
We stayed on the boat with others who didn't know how to swim.
I had seen on youtube that the boats go deep into the "mountain" where the water is lower.
But those boats were smaller, probably rented by the hour.
Oh, well ...
After the swim break, we ran to the volcano for a visit.
Very hot, very rough terrain, me being in "swimming shoes".
After some information provided by the guide, we were left free to explore the area. You can't lose yourself as there's a single path which is sometimes made of smaller or larger stones. A real pleasure for the feet.
Okay, you can lose the departure of the boat. You might as well annoy everyone waiting for departure from the harbor on a scorching sun.
Some Italians came in so late that it was debated whether it was appropriate for someone in the crew to go bring them.
There is a lot of information about this volcano on the internet, so I will just say that the largest eruption occurred in 1613 BC. having catastrophic effects on a planetary scale.
It is the largest "documented" volcanic eruption, with scale 7 out of 8 possible. The eruption of Vesuvius in the Roman era was cataloged with 5 scale.
The eruption of the Thera volcano, Santorini was at least four times greater than that of the Krakatoa volcano, being felt at a distance of approx. 5.000 km, generating tsunami waves that reached up to 12 meters high.
Although it did not lead to the extinction of the Minoan civilization, the eruption contributed to the rapid decline of this civilization, seriously affecting naval trade capacity, with tsunami waves destroying the fleet.
Now, although the volcano is active, nothing spectacular is seen except steam with the smell of sulfur and heat emanating if you get too close.
It will definitely erupt again.
After visiting the volcano, we stopped for an hour on the island of Thirasia, where you can find more cats than humans. We stayed to eat and drink, these costs not being included in the "cruise" price.
I would have wanted to climb up, but it seemed too far and I might not have arrived in time to leave.
It didn't take long, the time passed very quickly and here we are, getting ready for the sunset on the water.
Please watch the full video:
hayabusaTravels
Registered
With only one day to spend in Santorini, we decided to visit some tourist attractions of the area.
We were still on the beach and we were looking at that mountain that was always covered by clouds so we thought about going there first, then in the established tourist cities of Santorini.
We left at five in the afternnod because earlier you couldn't really ride the bike because of the heat.
The first location: the meteorological tower, the highest point in Santorini:
The last two images also show the Santorini airport.
From here we leave for Thera (Fira), the first major tourist town in Santorini.
The idea was to visit the city for a while because we wanted to catch the sunset in Oia, the other important town in Santorini.
Fira is full of small narrow streets, free parking found in the "back".
We stopped for a coffee in a restaurant located just on the edge of which you can see an impressive view of the city.
Lost a lot of time on my return because I didn't know the exit to the parking lot, being on foot. That wasn't fun at all.
Now it's time for Oia, which is a short distance, on a spectacular road.
Arriving in Oia after parking at a distance, the city welcomes us with lots and lots of people everywhere.
We missed the sunset because of that time lost in Thera searching for the parking lot.
We did not linger much because it was already getting dark and we wanted to eat something, but not in Oia as the prices there were not friendly at all.
We went back to the hotel on the same road in the dark.
Affortable street food, near our hotel...
From here we go to Athens where we will stay for a few nights to visit the "stuff" there.
We were still on the beach and we were looking at that mountain that was always covered by clouds so we thought about going there first, then in the established tourist cities of Santorini.
We left at five in the afternnod because earlier you couldn't really ride the bike because of the heat.
The first location: the meteorological tower, the highest point in Santorini:
The last two images also show the Santorini airport.
From here we leave for Thera (Fira), the first major tourist town in Santorini.
The idea was to visit the city for a while because we wanted to catch the sunset in Oia, the other important town in Santorini.
Fira is full of small narrow streets, free parking found in the "back".
We stopped for a coffee in a restaurant located just on the edge of which you can see an impressive view of the city.
Lost a lot of time on my return because I didn't know the exit to the parking lot, being on foot. That wasn't fun at all.
Now it's time for Oia, which is a short distance, on a spectacular road.
Arriving in Oia after parking at a distance, the city welcomes us with lots and lots of people everywhere.
We missed the sunset because of that time lost in Thera searching for the parking lot.
We did not linger much because it was already getting dark and we wanted to eat something, but not in Oia as the prices there were not friendly at all.
We went back to the hotel on the same road in the dark.
Affortable street food, near our hotel...
From here we go to Athens where we will stay for a few nights to visit the "stuff" there.
hayabusaTravels
Registered
I cannot help but take a picture in front of the hotel, before leaving the hotel in Kamari, Santorini:
We left Santorini on September 19, arriving at the port an hour earlier.
It gets very crowded every time a ship arrives in the port and it becomes "interesting" to descend or climb the access road to the port.
We had already had the tickets, costing 170 euros ...
We pull in front of where the "guards" tolds us to and we expect the boat drinking some water and juice.
Great heat and no place to hide, where we were supposed to stay.
In the meantime, another ferryboat is coming:
In the video above you can see that road we were talking about ...
Shortly after, I hear our boat.
I knew it was good because it looked like the picture on the ticket.
World Champion Seajet!
We get on and the guys out there tell me where to park and how, then start to secure the motorcycle.
After we take our seats, I start to see what's out there.
The boat makes several stops along the way.
Kitty was beginning to wonder that she would go down to Mykonos.
So I got her a cake
The journey to Piraeus lasted under 2.5 hours, the ship was moving quite fast at sea. At one point it was more difficult to keep your balance if you were walking.
There was very little time in each port, the landings and boardings being executed with a haste to the extreme.
On board you can buy your coffee, food, juices, all with "super offer" prices, at least 15-20% higher than normal.
Here are some "on the road" photos:
Sitting on the upper deck is forbidden during the "flight", shortly after leaving the port, they came and locked the access door to the deck.
The upper deck is a platform of maximum 10m long and 3m wide, located behind the boat, "with a view" at the lower deck where the boarding is done.
Video from the boat:
And here we are again in the port of Athens.
From here we go to the city to look for accommodation. We will stay for a few days to visit the historical and tourist attractions.
We left Santorini on September 19, arriving at the port an hour earlier.
It gets very crowded every time a ship arrives in the port and it becomes "interesting" to descend or climb the access road to the port.
We had already had the tickets, costing 170 euros ...
We pull in front of where the "guards" tolds us to and we expect the boat drinking some water and juice.
Great heat and no place to hide, where we were supposed to stay.
In the meantime, another ferryboat is coming:
In the video above you can see that road we were talking about ...
Shortly after, I hear our boat.
I knew it was good because it looked like the picture on the ticket.
World Champion Seajet!
We get on and the guys out there tell me where to park and how, then start to secure the motorcycle.
After we take our seats, I start to see what's out there.
The boat makes several stops along the way.
Kitty was beginning to wonder that she would go down to Mykonos.
So I got her a cake
The journey to Piraeus lasted under 2.5 hours, the ship was moving quite fast at sea. At one point it was more difficult to keep your balance if you were walking.
There was very little time in each port, the landings and boardings being executed with a haste to the extreme.
On board you can buy your coffee, food, juices, all with "super offer" prices, at least 15-20% higher than normal.
Here are some "on the road" photos:
Sitting on the upper deck is forbidden during the "flight", shortly after leaving the port, they came and locked the access door to the deck.
The upper deck is a platform of maximum 10m long and 3m wide, located behind the boat, "with a view" at the lower deck where the boarding is done.
Video from the boat:
And here we are again in the port of Athens.
From here we go to the city to look for accommodation. We will stay for a few days to visit the historical and tourist attractions.
Kiwi Rider
Registered
Going to the Greek Islands is definitely on my ‘bucket list’, what an incredible adventure it must be for you guys... and the history dating back to ancient civilisations is something I’d be very keen to look at and enjoy in this short lifetime we have here on Earth.
Thanks for taking the time and effort in presenting this travel log to us here !
Thanks for taking the time and effort in presenting this travel log to us here !
hayabusaTravels
Registered
Thank you!
Having just arrived in Athens, we headed to the hotel we picked up just a day before.
The problem is that I couldn't book because they were asking for payment in advance. We left with cash, having no card with us.
By phone, the girl at the reception said that we can have the room if nobody comes and buys/reserves until we arrive.
Obviously they gave the room in the meantime so I had to leave the motorcycle in a parking lot and look for a hotel.
2.5 hours I kept searching, I think I went 3km on foot, it had already started to get dark and I did not find any hotel that had a free room.
As I was returning to the motorcycle with the thought of going somewhere else in the city to continue with finding a hotel, I decided to cut off the road and turn right into a small street.
There I found a two-star hotel, also with parking.
Stalis is called the hotel, but I do not recommend it.
Although the room was good, the hotel was full of immigrants who made a hellish noise every night. Music on the phone at 1.30 in the morning, doors slamming into the night, talking as if they were in the field.
When I told them to calm down in English, they started to do even worse: they were kicking in the door.
The front desk did nothing. So, avoid it.
Plus it's over 2km away from the Acropolis.
For the second day of Athens we plan to visit the Acropolis, the most important point in the city.
For me, Athens means history, for Kitty ... not so much, she is more attracted to the streets in the center with shops and terraces.
We woke up late, had breakfast near the hotel and then walked to the center.
On the way, we were still looking for a new hotel, but nothing was left.
Arriving at Acropolis, I realized that I could not visit it because of the crowds.
We decided to leave it for the next day, when at the first hour, we were going to show up at the entrance.
We were happy to visit what was in the area:
The Library of Hadrian and Roman Agora
Areopagus Hill
Prison of Socrates
Filopappos Monument, and the road up there
Hefaistos Temple
Agora of Ancient Athens
I also have a video but it has romanian voice over.
Watch it if that's not an issue for you.
Having just arrived in Athens, we headed to the hotel we picked up just a day before.
The problem is that I couldn't book because they were asking for payment in advance. We left with cash, having no card with us.
By phone, the girl at the reception said that we can have the room if nobody comes and buys/reserves until we arrive.
Obviously they gave the room in the meantime so I had to leave the motorcycle in a parking lot and look for a hotel.
2.5 hours I kept searching, I think I went 3km on foot, it had already started to get dark and I did not find any hotel that had a free room.
As I was returning to the motorcycle with the thought of going somewhere else in the city to continue with finding a hotel, I decided to cut off the road and turn right into a small street.
There I found a two-star hotel, also with parking.
Stalis is called the hotel, but I do not recommend it.
Although the room was good, the hotel was full of immigrants who made a hellish noise every night. Music on the phone at 1.30 in the morning, doors slamming into the night, talking as if they were in the field.
When I told them to calm down in English, they started to do even worse: they were kicking in the door.
The front desk did nothing. So, avoid it.
Plus it's over 2km away from the Acropolis.
For the second day of Athens we plan to visit the Acropolis, the most important point in the city.
For me, Athens means history, for Kitty ... not so much, she is more attracted to the streets in the center with shops and terraces.
We woke up late, had breakfast near the hotel and then walked to the center.
On the way, we were still looking for a new hotel, but nothing was left.
Arriving at Acropolis, I realized that I could not visit it because of the crowds.
We decided to leave it for the next day, when at the first hour, we were going to show up at the entrance.
We were happy to visit what was in the area:
The Library of Hadrian and Roman Agora
Areopagus Hill
Prison of Socrates
Filopappos Monument, and the road up there
Hefaistos Temple
Agora of Ancient Athens
I also have a video but it has romanian voice over.
Watch it if that's not an issue for you.
hayabusaTravels
Registered
On the last day of Athens, we go to the Acropolis, early in the morning.
When we got to the tickets, at 7.45 in the morning, although it had not opened yet, there were already over 100 people in line.
About Acropolis, I will not insist on details because I am convinced that you know about the importance of the location and what it represents for the history of Europe.
We take the subway to the Archeology Museum because it is at a considerable distance from the market where you arrive after visiting the Acropolis.
Their subway seems to me significantly lower than in Bucharest in terms of appearance.
I didn't film or photograph the subway, but it took a snapshot:
From the museum:
Agamemnon's mask
Other exibits:
As far as the history of ancient Greece is concerned, in my view, the museum is not that great.
Only partially saved from the Mycene collection.
We some luck with a temporary exhibit: The Countless Aspects of Beauty in Ancient Art, which I included at the beginning of the video with the museum:
From here, we leave for Delphi, but first we go to the Temple of Poseidon in Sounion, which is approx. 70 km south of Athens.
When we got to the tickets, at 7.45 in the morning, although it had not opened yet, there were already over 100 people in line.
About Acropolis, I will not insist on details because I am convinced that you know about the importance of the location and what it represents for the history of Europe.
We take the subway to the Archeology Museum because it is at a considerable distance from the market where you arrive after visiting the Acropolis.
Their subway seems to me significantly lower than in Bucharest in terms of appearance.
I didn't film or photograph the subway, but it took a snapshot:
From the museum:
Agamemnon's mask
Other exibits:
As far as the history of ancient Greece is concerned, in my view, the museum is not that great.
Only partially saved from the Mycene collection.
We some luck with a temporary exhibit: The Countless Aspects of Beauty in Ancient Art, which I included at the beginning of the video with the museum:
From here, we leave for Delphi, but first we go to the Temple of Poseidon in Sounion, which is approx. 70 km south of Athens.
hayabusaTravels
Registered
Thank you!
On September 22, 2019, starting in the morning, we leave Athens.
We wanted to stay one more night but not at this hotel. This hotel made us want to get out of there as soon as possible.
The problem is that we kept looking for hotels while we came and went to different locations on our way but no hotel in our path had any rooms.
As if we were "cursed" to have no alternative.
The problem with that hotel was that it was full of rude imigrants, arab speaking youngsters.
They made incredible noise douring the night: loud music on their phone, speaking loud everywhere, slamming room doors.
Asked them in english to quite down at they did worse. They seemed to act in spite, laughing.
Of course the hotel reception did nothing. They did raised their shoulders in acknowledging the problem.
So I advice to stay away from this hotel.
Hotel Stalis.
The hotel itselsf is ok, cheap and has nice rooms with everything. Not to mention locked private parking.
The imigrants ruin everything there, though.
Also it's pretty far away from the city center.
We left for Sounion, but it took us some time to get out of Athens, all with GPS.
The problem was that many streets were closed due to an jogging event.
At one point I had to go to another part of the city in order to "reset" the GPS that kept takeing me again and again to the same place with streets closed by the Police.
We reach the temple location.
Not at all intuitive to enter the location, you suddenly come to a forbidden road sign - see the end of the video above. I have seen this practiced frequently in Greece.
You ride along on your lane and suddently there's a forbidden road sign in front of you. Gotta be extra carefull in all towns in Greece as I also encountered this situation in Oia, Santorini.
See the video above and you'll understand better as my english skills cannot properly describe the situation.
There are two parking lots there but we chose the one above, clearly we were not going to carry the tank bag and the headphones behind us as far as it was from the bottom parking lot up to the temple. Well, at least I could leave them at the ticket desk where the entrance tickets were purchased.
The temple of Poseidon in Sounion is about 70 km south of Athens, the road being very good.
If I remember well, we paid 6 euros/pers.
Anyway, it's good to come here to see the sunset, but nah ...
The construction was made during the great ruler Pericle, known as the craftsman of flourishing Athens, at about the same time as the temple of Hephaistos (450 BC) in the Ancient Agora of Athens.
The temple had 34 columns, of which only a few remain today.
In the central part of the temple, there was a rectangular building, without windows, used as a worship hall, where the statue of Poseidon was located.
The statue was made of bronze, probably gold-plated, with a height of almost 6m, up to the ceiling, and depicted the sea god holding a trident, the weapon with which it could cause storms to appear.
In Greek mythology, Poseidon, the brother of Zeus, was the god of the sea, so no wonder he was highly revered in a country with over 13,500 kilometers of coastline.
The ancient Greeks, especially the sailors, believed that the storms were signs of Poseidon's anger and, therefore, the temple at Cape Sounion was a sacred place where sailors and the general population came to offer sacrifices of animals and other gifts to appease him.
Legend also says that in this place, King Aegean of Athens threw himself from the rocks into the sea, seeing the black cloths of the ship of Theseus, his son.
Theseus was returning from Crete where he had defeated the Minotaur, but had forgotten to change the black cloths with white ones, as he had promised he would do in case of victory over the Minotaur.
His father, King Aegean, threw himself into the sea, believing that Theseus died. Thus, the sea became known as the Aegean Sea.
In addition to the religious significance of the temple of Poseidon, it was also used as a strategic observation point for ships coming to the ports of Attica.
The area was well protected because here were in ancient times the silver mines of Athens.
We didn't linger too much though we could sit on a terrace at the base of the temple.
Although the initial plan was to go from here to Marathon, where the famous battle site is, we decided to leave it at another time and go directly to Delphi, which is less than 240 km away.
Been dreaming to see The Oracle of Delphi for way to much time.
On September 22, 2019, starting in the morning, we leave Athens.
We wanted to stay one more night but not at this hotel. This hotel made us want to get out of there as soon as possible.
The problem is that we kept looking for hotels while we came and went to different locations on our way but no hotel in our path had any rooms.
As if we were "cursed" to have no alternative.
The problem with that hotel was that it was full of rude imigrants, arab speaking youngsters.
They made incredible noise douring the night: loud music on their phone, speaking loud everywhere, slamming room doors.
Asked them in english to quite down at they did worse. They seemed to act in spite, laughing.
Of course the hotel reception did nothing. They did raised their shoulders in acknowledging the problem.
So I advice to stay away from this hotel.
Hotel Stalis.
The hotel itselsf is ok, cheap and has nice rooms with everything. Not to mention locked private parking.
The imigrants ruin everything there, though.
Also it's pretty far away from the city center.
We left for Sounion, but it took us some time to get out of Athens, all with GPS.
The problem was that many streets were closed due to an jogging event.
At one point I had to go to another part of the city in order to "reset" the GPS that kept takeing me again and again to the same place with streets closed by the Police.
We reach the temple location.
Not at all intuitive to enter the location, you suddenly come to a forbidden road sign - see the end of the video above. I have seen this practiced frequently in Greece.
You ride along on your lane and suddently there's a forbidden road sign in front of you. Gotta be extra carefull in all towns in Greece as I also encountered this situation in Oia, Santorini.
See the video above and you'll understand better as my english skills cannot properly describe the situation.
There are two parking lots there but we chose the one above, clearly we were not going to carry the tank bag and the headphones behind us as far as it was from the bottom parking lot up to the temple. Well, at least I could leave them at the ticket desk where the entrance tickets were purchased.
The temple of Poseidon in Sounion is about 70 km south of Athens, the road being very good.
If I remember well, we paid 6 euros/pers.
Anyway, it's good to come here to see the sunset, but nah ...
The construction was made during the great ruler Pericle, known as the craftsman of flourishing Athens, at about the same time as the temple of Hephaistos (450 BC) in the Ancient Agora of Athens.
The temple had 34 columns, of which only a few remain today.
In the central part of the temple, there was a rectangular building, without windows, used as a worship hall, where the statue of Poseidon was located.
The statue was made of bronze, probably gold-plated, with a height of almost 6m, up to the ceiling, and depicted the sea god holding a trident, the weapon with which it could cause storms to appear.
In Greek mythology, Poseidon, the brother of Zeus, was the god of the sea, so no wonder he was highly revered in a country with over 13,500 kilometers of coastline.
The ancient Greeks, especially the sailors, believed that the storms were signs of Poseidon's anger and, therefore, the temple at Cape Sounion was a sacred place where sailors and the general population came to offer sacrifices of animals and other gifts to appease him.
Legend also says that in this place, King Aegean of Athens threw himself from the rocks into the sea, seeing the black cloths of the ship of Theseus, his son.
Theseus was returning from Crete where he had defeated the Minotaur, but had forgotten to change the black cloths with white ones, as he had promised he would do in case of victory over the Minotaur.
His father, King Aegean, threw himself into the sea, believing that Theseus died. Thus, the sea became known as the Aegean Sea.
In addition to the religious significance of the temple of Poseidon, it was also used as a strategic observation point for ships coming to the ports of Attica.
The area was well protected because here were in ancient times the silver mines of Athens.
We didn't linger too much though we could sit on a terrace at the base of the temple.
Although the initial plan was to go from here to Marathon, where the famous battle site is, we decided to leave it at another time and go directly to Delphi, which is less than 240 km away.
Been dreaming to see The Oracle of Delphi for way to much time.
hayabusaTravels
Registered
We left for Delphi with the intention of arriving as soon as possible.
I booked the room the night before, so we had no cause for concern.
The road is beautiful and we decided to take a meal break when we still had 100 km to Delphi.
A small family place beside the main road. This was the view from the parking lot:
We moved on...
After checking in to our hotel, we take a short walk through the city, eat something and retreat to the room.
The "city gates":
The next day we should go to the nearest city because the hotel owner did not want to receive our 500 euro bill, reasoning that he's not allowed by the state.
But that crappy hotel from Athens accepted the 500 euro bill wich I gave them back then.
They can only change it at the bank, it's not accepted... all kind of stupid reasons.
The situation becomes problematic since I only had 50 euros, besides the two remaining 500 bills.
The next day, after breakfast we go to the neighboring city and, every bank we enter tells us that they cannot change us that bancnote.
Seeing that I am still refused at the banks, I go to the police crew I saw passing by and explaine them the situation.
We all walk into a nearby bank, that refused me just a few minutes back, and... what do you reckon?
The bank calls the hotel guy and assures him to take our money and come later to the bank in order to exchange the bill with them.
Plan B was that bank a office clerk to exchange the bill passing it through his account.
So, entering with the police seems to work everywhere... remember Sanliurfa, Turkey?
When we arrive at the hotel, we are amused by the situation and we go out again through the city.
It was clear that we could not visit the Delphi Archaeological Site because of the crowds, so we left it for the next day.
Here's Kitty relaxing after a long day...
Please watch this video with the road to Delphi:
Thank you!
I booked the room the night before, so we had no cause for concern.
The road is beautiful and we decided to take a meal break when we still had 100 km to Delphi.
A small family place beside the main road. This was the view from the parking lot:
We moved on...
After checking in to our hotel, we take a short walk through the city, eat something and retreat to the room.
The "city gates":
The next day we should go to the nearest city because the hotel owner did not want to receive our 500 euro bill, reasoning that he's not allowed by the state.
But that crappy hotel from Athens accepted the 500 euro bill wich I gave them back then.
They can only change it at the bank, it's not accepted... all kind of stupid reasons.
The situation becomes problematic since I only had 50 euros, besides the two remaining 500 bills.
The next day, after breakfast we go to the neighboring city and, every bank we enter tells us that they cannot change us that bancnote.
Seeing that I am still refused at the banks, I go to the police crew I saw passing by and explaine them the situation.
We all walk into a nearby bank, that refused me just a few minutes back, and... what do you reckon?
The bank calls the hotel guy and assures him to take our money and come later to the bank in order to exchange the bill with them.
Plan B was that bank a office clerk to exchange the bill passing it through his account.
So, entering with the police seems to work everywhere... remember Sanliurfa, Turkey?
When we arrive at the hotel, we are amused by the situation and we go out again through the city.
It was clear that we could not visit the Delphi Archaeological Site because of the crowds, so we left it for the next day.
Here's Kitty relaxing after a long day...
Please watch this video with the road to Delphi:
Thank you!
Wonderful write up and beautiful pictures, Thank you for taking the time and sharing your trip with us. Greece is one of the few places I was ever interested enough in visiting that I would consider getting on a plane. I hope to one day have the ability to take a trip like this.
Similar threads
