Ioannina and Zagora

Leaving Meteora we made our way to Ioannina which is a nice town close to the Albanian boarder. We weren't really heading to Ioannina to see the town itself but mainly to use it as a point to get into the nearby Zagoria region. However buses only went to the region three days a week so we had to spend the rest of the day in Ioannina and the night before we could get a bus to Monodendri the following morning. So after finding a hotel and settling in we decided to go and explore the town starting with the tourist information office so that we could get some information about hikes in the area that we were heading to. After spending about 20 minutes trying to find the place we eventually stumble upon it only to find out that it's closed on Sundays so we couldn't get any more help. Additionally since it was Sunday almost everything in Greece closes down so the town seemed pretty dead. We ended up wandering around the old town and the castle within it. The castle was really just a large area surrounded by walls with a few old buildings around them. Inside two of the buildings was a well done museum detailing the regions (particularly the city's) past. After wandering around some more we just settled down to an early dinner and then bed.

The next morning we awoke at the ungodly hour of 5:15am so that we could make it to the bus station in time for a 6am bus out to Monodendri which is in the centre of Zagoria region. Arriving in Monodendri at 7am we quickly found a new hotel and walked out onto our balcony to enjoy the spectacular view. At that wonderful time in the morning the mist was just clearing from the surrounding hills and the view over the green hills of the Vikos-Aoos National Park was amazing. We then went down to enjoy some coffee in our hotel before wandering around the charming little town which was mostly composed of narrow cobblestone walkways zigzagging through the stone walls of the houses there. The town was just beautiful. In the town we found a good map of the area and returned to our hotel to get ready for a day of hiking and to plan our route.

Leaving our hotel we descended into the world's deepest gorge, as claimed by the Guinness Book of World Records in 1997. The Vikos Gorge is on average 1000 meters deep and runs for about 15 km from start to end. Monodendri lies near one end of it and so a popular hike is to walk the length of the gorge to Mikro Papingo, a town at the other end, but we were saving that for the next day. The first day when we finally got to the bottom of the gorge we decided to turn south towards the near end and the town of Kipi. En route we planned on passing some magnificent stone bridges along with admiring the gorge. After passing under the second of three that we hoped to pass by we came to a section of the gorge that was completely flooded with water. Seeing no route around the water we were forced to backtrack to a nearby road from where we decided to then follow the road up to the town of Koukouli where we hoped to find some lunch. After wandering around all 30 houses in the village and finding nothing open we stumbled into an old British lady who lived there and she quickly invited us over to her house for a drink and a tour around. Her house/small hotel was absolutely stunning and the stories that she and her husband had of living in the area were fascinating. After spending near an hour with them they phoned a friend to ensure that the gorge was hikable the following day for us, gave us directions on how to get back to Monodendri and a copy of their book containing the story of them moving there. We bade them thank you and quickly made our way back to Monodendri by crossing over the gorge and getting some great views of it. We arrived back at our hotel none too soon as a few minutes after arriving it started to rain so we spent the rest of the evening relaxing there and enjoying dinner just across the street.

The next morning we got up and after enjoying a leisurely breakfast we went back down to the gorge to hike the length of it. We started off walking along the dried river bed at the base which was fairly slow going and very soon we were forced onto the side to follow the trial due to a large waterfall. Hiking along the trail was much faster and before we knew it we were at the midway point and stopped to enjoy our packed lunch while sitting on a large boulder in the middle of the gorge. After lunch we continued on and quickly came to the end of the gorge so we were just left with the hour long climb out to the village of Mikro Papingo. About 15 minutes into the climb the heavens opened up and it started to just absolutely pour on us. After standing under the shelter of trees for a few minutes we decided it wasn't going to stop any time soon so we would just throw on our raincoats and make a run for it. The next hour or so was us slogging up a hill while a river run down the path and buckets of water continued to get dumped on us. By the time we reached Mikro Papiongo we were absolutely drenched so we found an open restaurant to try and warm up while we phoned and waited for our ride to come pick us up and take us back to Monodendri. The restaurant was really nice and the guy even felt sorry for us as he brought me a new t-shirt with his restaurant name on it when he saw me wringing mine out. A long taxi ride later we ended up back at our hotel in Monodendri where we enjoyed warm showers before heading to the restaurant downstairs for a fabulous dinner.

The following morning was our last day in the Zagoria region as we had to take the Wednesday afternoon bus out or else wait until Friday. So we spent the morning relaxing around the hotel and continuing to dry our clothes before having to pack them. After finally packing up we wandered around the beautiful town one more time and out to a church built on the wall of the gorge. After admiring the view from the church we found a passage that lead around the wall of the gorge on a narrow ledge to a small cave that seemed to be used for protection of the villagers during times of danger as the ledge had a gate on it to block anyone from passing. After exploring this area for a bit we returned to the hotel to wait for the bus back to Ioannina.

Back in Ioannina we got settled in our hotel again and spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the town before enjoying dinner and heading to bed. The next morning we awoke and made our way back to the bus station where we quickly boarded a bus heading to the Albanian boarder for our next adventure.










The Fethiye Cami (Victory Mosque) in the grounds of the castle in the old town of Ioannina.



















Lianne stopping on the descent down to the gorge to admire the great view.





















The second stone bridge that we passed underneath on our first day of hiking in the region.



















Lianne standing in a very green forest on the side of the gorge which we walked through for a small part of the hike.















Lianne and I standing at the viewpoint of the church built on the side of the cliff face overlooking the gorge.


















Lianne standing at the edge of the rock ledge that led away from the church to where the town citizens would hide during times of danger.

Delphi and Meteora

We arrived in Delphi at about 11pm so all we did was walk a little ways down the street, find the a close hotel and settled down for the night. In the morning we enjoyed a decent breakfast before heading to the ancient site of Delphi which was the centre of the universe for the ancient Greeks. Here was also the Delphic Oracle which was the most important oracle in the ancient Greek world.

Arriving at the site we first toured around the ruins of the city outside which started with a street flanked by treasuries, statues and other donations to the god Apollo who the city was dedicated to. Most of the treasuries and statues were only ruins that we could see the foundations of but one treasury, the Athenian Treasury has been restored and is quite stunning. From the street flanked by treasuries we emerged at the Temple of Apollo which was the largest building at the site although now only a few columns remain. After the Temple of Apollo we continued to climb until we reached the theatre which provided its patrons with spectacular views over the city. After the theatre we continued to climb through the woods for a couple of minutes before we came out at the stadium, a really long track with seats built one on side of it where Greek athletes would come to compete.

After walking back down to the base of the ancient city we proceeded to enter the museum. The museum was extremely well set up and first talked about how large the Greek empire was before showing recovered statues and wall carvings from the site. Wandering around the museum was just as fascinating as the ancient site as things were described fairly well and the statues were amazing works of art to look at. From the museum we returned to the city of Delphi where we wandered around its picturesque streets and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and using the internet before enjoying dinner from a spot with a great view.

The next morning we awoke fairly early in order to catch a bus out of Delphi to Meteora, our next destination. Practically the entire day was spent riding buses because even though the two sites were only 300 kms apart we had to take 4 different buses to get there. As a result we didn't arrive in Kalambaka (the town right at the foot of Meteora) until the early evening so we only got to enjoy dinner there and not much else.

Awakening in Kalambaka we quickly had breakfast and went out to catch a bus which would take us the 4 kms or so to Meteora. Meteora is really a unique place as it is an area where several monasteries are built on top of rock pillars jutting up from the edge of a plain. Currently there are 6 monasteries which are still functioning and tourists are allowed to visit so our plan was to spend the day walking between these amazing monasteries. Today staircases cut into the cliff faces and bridges are used to climb up to the monasteries but in the ancient times wooden ladders were used and in some times monks were even hauled up in nets. The first monastery that we visited was also the largest and called The Holy Monastery of Great Meteoron. Inside this monastery there are a couple of small museums as well as great views of the area and a small church. Most of the rest of the monastery was off limits to visitors but that didn't matter too much as there was still lots to see.

After the first monastery we continued to the Holy Monastery of Varlaam is the second largest monastery and also quite spectacular. From there we continued to the Holy Monastery of Rousanou which was pretty small and just contained a small church and a couple of small rooms for the monks to sleep in. While we were here it started to rain quite heavily so we ended up enjoying our picnic lunch from one of the balconies and enjoying the view of the area while the rain pounded away. Once the rain stopped we made our way to the Monastery of Holy Trinity which is probably the most famous monastery in Meteora as it was used in the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only. This monastery also gave the impression of being fairly remote as the rock pillar it stood on was completely separated from nearby cliffs so no bridge could be built to span its gaps. Finally I continued on to the Holy Monastery of St Stephen while the girls (Lianne and Naomi, an American girl we were spending the day with) went back to Kalambaka. This monastery seemed huge from the exterior and had an excellent location but you couldn't see much once inside it so it was kind of a let down. After this last monastery I also returned to Kalambaka to meet up with the girls and to relax for an hour before dinner. The site of Meteora was truly magnificent and although the monasteries were also fantastic I thought the most amazing part was how they were all built on huge pillars of rock, completely cut off from everything surrounding them.

The next day we got up and made our way to the bus station where we quickly got on a bus to Ioannina where we were stopping off shortly before heading into the Vikos-Aoos national park. But more about that next time.










Lianne standing in front of the Athenian Treasury in Ancient Delphi.


















The theatre at Ancient Delphi.














Lianne and I standing in front of the remaining columns in the Temple of Apollo.















The Tholos at the sanctuary of Athena which was located just outside of the ancient city of Delphi.















The Holy Monastery of Varlaam as seen from the Holy Monastery of Great Meteoron.


















Looking back up at the Holy Monastery of Great Meteoron.















A ladder that used to be used to climb up the side of the Holy Monastery of Rousanou.



















A view of the Monastery of Holy Trinity, the one used in the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only.

Santorini

So we left Ios and took one of the fast ferries to Santorini, a great experience and although it does go nearly twice as fast you're not allowed outside to see the views and also the ride doesn't seem as smooth. Too bad we had already booked another fast ferry to return to Athens from Santorini on. The island of Santorini is essentially a dormant volcano with the centre caldera having collapsed on itself after a massive eruption in 1500 BC. Along with a sunken centre, a massive earthquake ripped apart the remaining ring of the island about 60 years ago and as a result all that remains is a crescent moon shaped island with the interior of the crescent thrust up high in the sky on the caldera rim. So arriving at the island by ferry one approaches the island through a gap in the volcano and docks at the sheer vertical caldera rim wall, truly magnificent to see.

Arriving in Santorini we found an affordable hotel located near the beach of Perissa (one of the more famous beaches on Santorini complete with black sand) and then went out to explore the small town there and grab some food. After lunch we organized a scooter rental for the following 48 hours that we planned to stay on the island and we took off to explore the rest of the island.

Our first destination was the magnificent red beach which is a small beach covered in black sand but completely surrounded with dark red cliffs. We parked the scooter and followed the small path a couple of hundred meters to the beach and then spent the next half and hour or so just admiring it. Unfortunately by this point in the day it was really too late to enjoy the beach so we just walked along it and took some photos before heading off. Our next destination for the day was the light house located at the furthest southwest point of the island. Along the way here we also stopped off at a few view points to admire the rim of the caldera, take some pictures, and let Lianne have a go at driving the scooter (she did pretty well for the little that she rode it). From the lighthouse we went back up the island to the main town of Fira where we wandered around the touristy alleyways that were perched up on the edge of the caldera before enjoying dinner on a rooftop terrace while watching the disappointing sunset. After dinner we just returned back to the hotel where we quickly fell asleep for the night.

The next morning we enjoyed some breakfast before jumping on the scooter again to explore more of the island. We tried to find the site of Ancient Thira, the remains of an ancient town located on top of a hill on the island. However we first ended up the wrong road which took us to a monastery (and army base) located at the highest point of the island. While here we spent some time gazing out over the island with the near perfect views that we had. Afterward we eventually found the site of Ancient Thira and after climbing up the hill for an hour to the actual city we were disappointed to find that it had closed about 30 minutes before we got there. We were able to see some of the ruins through the fence and again the views were phenomenal so it wasn't a complete waste of time. Leaving Ancient Thira we made our way back to Fira where we wandered around the town for another hour or so to see some churches that we missed the previous evening. We then continued up to the most northwest point of Santorini to Oia where we planned to watch the sunset. Oia is a famous spot for watching the sunset on Santorini and we definitely weren't alone as it seemed most of the other tourists on Santorini were there watching it with us. The sunset was beautiful when we finally saw it, much better than the previous night, but it was slightly ruined by everyone applauding the sun as it disappeared below the horizon. After the sunset we returned to Perissa to enjoy dinner along the beach for our last night on Santorini.

The following morning we just had time to return the scooter and grab some food before we left for the ferry terminal and eventually our 5 hour ferry ride back to Pireaus (Athens). The ferry ride thankfully seemed to go fairly fast although it wasn't that pleasant and we found ourselves in Athens in the early evening. Arriving in Athens we quickly made our way to the bus station and caught a bus out to Delphi, our next destination.








Standing in front of the magnificent red cliffs at red beach.















A view along the caldera rim from some point at the southern end of the island on our way to the light house.













A view of Fira perched right on the rim of the Caldera.













A church that we stopped off at in Fira on our second visit there. Most of the buildings on Santorini look similar to this and it makes it quite beautiful.













A view of Oia looking back along the caldera rim the white in the background on top of the cliffs is the town of Fira.














A windmill located in Oia.




















The sunset that we saw from Oia.

Ios

We arrived on Ios after our short ferry ride from Paros and quickly got settled in our hotel in Hora, also known as the village and just a short drive up a hill from the town at the port. Once settled in we went to explore the town and grab some food. We were delighted to find that the streets in this town were just as small and narrow as those on Paros so it made it so nice to wander through the town. After enjoying dinner in a small restaurant we returned to our hotel to start enjoying the night life on Ios. Ios is known as one of the party islands in the Greek islands and the small square in the heart of Hora is almost completely surrounded with nightclubs so Lianne and I went out that night to enjoy some of them.

The next day we awoke late after our late night the night before and went to find some breakfast in the town. After breakfast we made our way down to Mylopotas which is one of the nicest, and also the easiest accessible, beach on Ios. We spent the afternoon relaxing on the rocky sand and enjoying the water before returning to Hora in the evening where Lianne went shopping while I used the internet before our dinner. Again after a really enjoyable meal we returned to the hotel where we planned to start off our night for another big night of partying. Unfortunately we were both kind of drained from the previous evening so we didn't make it very far tonight and instead just had an "early" night.

We had originally only planned on spending 2 nights on Ios but because of our uneventful night the second night we decided to stay for a third. Our second full day on the island was much the same as the previous one as spent most of the day on Mylopotas beach before returning to Hora in the late afternoon to organize ferry tickets to Santorini the following day. Again that evening we enjoyed a late meal and went straight our to a bar after to start our night out which we again thoroughly enjoyed.

The next morning we hauled ourselves out of bed and packed up to make it down to the ferry port for our mid morning ferry out to Santorini. So our adventures on Santorini to follow soon.










The view of the ferry port and out to sea from our balcony at the hotel.

















Lianne on our balcony with the sunset behind her.

Paros

Leaving Athens Lianne and I travelled to the Greek island of Paros which isn't known as one of the more famous islands but it is a convenient point for onward travel and is very nice in it's own quiet way. We arrived on the island late in the evening as the ferry from Athens took 5 hours and we didn't leave until late afternoon. So all we did was quickly find a great room located right on the water front and then went out to get some food and a drink before calling it a night.

Our first full day on Paros we spent the morning sleeping in and wandering around the charming little town that we were staying in after breakfast. The town was quite nice as it spread out along the waterfront with a main road there but just behind that the town was full of little twisting and turning alleyways that only pedestrians could walk through. So the morning was spent walking through some of these alleys and admiring the perfectly white Greek houses and little shops that were tucked back in the heart of the town. That afternoon we caught a small water taxi to take us across the bay to one of the nicer beaches in the area and spent the remaining time lounging on the sandy beach and swimming in the gorgeous Mediterranean. After relaxing on the beach for a while we returned to town to enjoy a dinner and a couple of drinks while watching the sunset into the sea.

Our second day on the island we rented a scooter to tour the rest of the island. We started off by driving down by Antiparos (a small island just off the coast of Paros) before heading down to Alyki, a small town with a nice beach. After lying on the beach for a short amount of time we decided that the wind had picked up too much so we jumped back on the scooter to continue exploring the island. Our next path took us along the southern coast of the island driving through tiny villages and seeing small beaches until we came to Chrisi Akti (Golden Beach). Golden Beach is Paros' best beach so we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing here and again swimming in the fabulous water. In the early evening we started to make our way back to Paroikia (the main town where we were staying) by driving around the other side of the island to complete the circuit. On the way back we stopped off in Naoussa, the island's second biggest town, for a quick wander around before finally returning to Paroikia. Again the evening was spent enjoying a delicious dinner right on the edge of the sea while watching the sunset, absolutely great.

Our third day was our last day on Paros so we got up and arranged ferry tickets to Ios, our next destination, before checking out of our hotel. The ferry didn't leave until the early afternoon so we had a few hours to kill so we spent an hour or so touring around Paroikia on our scooter before returning it. Finally while waiting for our ferry we spent our last hour on the island using the internet, shopping (Lianne) and checking out the Byzantine church of St. Constantine. Then we boarded our short ferry ride to Ios where we planned to spend a few days enjoying the party life on the Greek islands, but more of that next update.










The little alleyways that are the main streets in the heart of Paroikia and contain several shops and cafes along with the beautiful Greek houses.


















Lianne standing on Krios beach, the beach where we spent the first afternoon relaxing on Paros.















Lianne enjoying the waters of the Mediterranean on Alyki beach, complete with a few local fishing boats in the background.

















The interior of the Byzantine church of St. Constantine.

Athens

So I left mom in Selcuk, Turkey to continue on with my trip and head to Athens to meet Lianne (my girlfriend for those who don't know her). My original plan was to take the ferry from Cesme in Turkey to Chios in Greece and then continue directly onwards to Athens with an overnight ferry. However when I arrived in Chios I was informed that there was no overnight ferry and I would have to spend the night on the island and wait for the ferry that left the following morning at 9am. This was all great although I did have some problems finding a cheap room in Chios as they all seemed to be full, but in the end I found one and met some other American students there. The rest of the night was spent enjoying dinner and having a few drinks with the guys I met before retiring for the night to catch my ferry the next morning.

The next day I spent 9 hours on the ferry to Athens so not a whole lot happened during the day. Upon reaching Piraeus (the ferry port for Athens) I made my way to the metro and was easily able to navigate my way to the hotel in the centre of Athens that we had booked. The rest of the night was spent just wandering around a few streets in Athens and relaxing in the hotel.

My first full day in Athens I headed out to the airport early in the morning to meet Lianne's flight. After taking the metro and the bus I finally met up with her after a long 10 months apart. We then returned to the hotel and spent the rest of the day resting (Lianne was tired from her 11 hour flight) and then trying to plan the rest of journey through Eastern Europe. We planned on leaving the sight seeing in Athens to the following day as I had been told that all of Athens main sights only took 1 day to see.

Our second full day in Athens we started to see some of the sights that Athens has to offer. Our first stop was the Greece Parliament building where we got to see a changing of the guards in front of a war memorial. The changing of the guards was fairly interesting to see as the guards were dressed up in their traditional costume and the movements of the guards seemed to be perfectly synchronized so it was impressive. After the changing of the guards we proceeded to enter the National Gardens and took a quick walk through a nice peaceful and relaxing park before continuing on to the Temple of Olympian Zeus. We didn't actually enter this site to see the temple as all it seemed to be were several columns still standing but the main reason was that the ticket to the Acropolis that we were going to buy also covered the admission to this site. From the Temple of Olympian Zeus we continued past Hadrian's Arch, which was a fairly simple but still beautiful arch standing on the side of a road, and then onto the Theatre of Dionysos. The Theatre of Dionysos is a huge theatre capable of seating 17 000 people that has been built on the southern slope of the Acropolis. This theatre was one of the most important theatres in all of Greece as it held an annual festival that showed some of the most famous dramas of the time. From the Theatre of Dionysos we continued past the Stoa of Eumenes, which was mostly in ruins but being restored, to the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. This theatre has been completely restored and now it is used for performances of drama, music and dance during the Hellenic Festival, which unfortunately we didn't get to see although it appeared as if they were setting it up for a performance. From here we entered the proper Acropolis, what is arguably the most important ancient site in the Western World, which is built on top of a huge cliff in the centre of Athens and our first introduction to it was the Propylaia. This is the only entrance to the top of the Acropolis and it certainly made an impression on you. Initially we walked past the huge Beule Gate before climbing up past the Temple of Athena Nike and through a walkway between several huge columns and under another arch. Upon reaching the top of the Acropolis we were amazed by the impressive buildings here, namely the Parthenon, and we spent a few minutes just standing there admiring all of them. Our first views of the Parthenon were somewhat disappointing though as they were currently doing some restoration work to the structure so the entire front of the building was covered with scaffolding and cranes almost. So our first stop on top of the Acropolis was the Erechtheion and really first we saw the Caryatids which are 6 huge maiden columns that support the southern porch of the Erechtheion. After gazing at the Caryatids we continued on around the building to see the rest of it including the northern porch which consists of several beautiful columns and behind these the open area of the building. After the Erechtheion we continued around the edge of the cliff to get some great views out over the city and to see the Parthenon from the backside. The Parthenon was absolutely spectacular when it wasn't blocked as the building seemed to be almost fully restored to its original appearance and so contained columns all around its perimeter holding up the roof. After slowly wandering around the exterior of the Parthenon and gazing up at its beauty we slowly descended from the Acropolis and made our way back into the city part of Athens to find some lunch.

After lunch our tour of the city sights continued with the Ancient Agora which was the city centre in ancient Athens. Here were the administrative, commercial, political and social activity buildings of the city. Today most of the buildings are only ruins but you can still see their foundations and the general layout of the city. The only intact buildings are the Stoa of Attalos, which now houses a small museum showing some artifacts found in the area, and the Temple of Hephaestus. The Temple of Hephaestus is, in my opinion, the most impressive ancient temple left in Athens. This is because it is fully restored and isn't covered by any scaffolding or other restoration work like most of the buildings on the Acopolis were when we visited them. After the Ancient Agora we continued to the Keramikos which was the city's cemetery from the 12th century BC to Roman times. This place was quite nice and peaceful as there weren't very many tourists here but the ruins were still pretty impressive. There was even a small museum here that showed some of the statues that were found in the cemetery. After seeing the cemetery we were pretty beat and had covered everything that we really wanted in Athens so we just made our way back to our hotel to refresh before going our to dinner by wandering through the flea market (really just a tourist trap). That evening we enjoyed some good quick Greek food before heading back to our hotel to spend the night.

The next day was our last day in Athens as we planned to leave that afternoon for one of the Greek Islands. So our first thing on the agenda was to go and organize a ferry ticket. After getting that all sorted out we wandered past a few more smaller ancient ruin sites before finding a small coffee shop to relax and try to plan the rest of our trip. That afternoon we grabbed our bags from the hotel and proceeded to Pireaus (the ferry port) on the metro to catch our ferry to Paros and the start of our next adventure in the Greek Islands.







The Changing of the guards ceremony in front of the Greece Parliament building.














The Theatre of Dionysos on the southern slope of the Acropolis.















Lianne standing in front of the Erechtheion with the Caryatids columns visible on the building.


















The backside of the Parthenon which wasn't covered in scaffolding (although you can still see a crane in the background). It really was a spectacular building.
















Lianne standing in front of the Temple of Hephaestus in the Ancient Agora.