Past POIs - Acropolis [Athens, Greece]

Point of Interest: Acropolis
Location: Athens, Greece
Date of visit: June 2017

If you ever visit Athens, Greece, it will be pretty hard to miss the Acropolis if you are near the city center. It is actually built on what looks like a small mountain/hill and you can see if from everywhere. We were lucky with our hotel rental because it actually had rooftop views of the Acropolis which was very nice.

The Acropolis is included in the multi-site pass and is well worth it since the Acropolis itself is 20 euros and the multi-site pass is just 30 euros. It can be a bit of a hike for those that are not in shape since there is no cable car or assistance with getting up there. You'll have to take the side roads to get to the entrance and then just follow the path and up the stairs like everyone else.

Since it is high up and not covered, I would advise you to visit either in the morning or in the afternoon/evening to avoid the mid-day sun.

Well worth a visit, there is plenty to see up there and the are plagues everywhere telling you what you are seeing (however I tend to not stop and read those for long). Unfortunately when we went, it was under renovation, which seems to be the story of our travels. I am recalling how we got out in Rome to see the pyramid and the entire thing was covered in scaffolding for renovations.

Come back next Friday for another Past Point of Interest!

Past POIs - Temple of Zeus [Athens, Greece]

Point of Interest: Temple of Zeus
Location: Athens, Greece
Date of Visit: June 2017

When we visited Athens in 2017, we knew that we were going to visit a lot of the historic museums and luckily for us, there is a multi-site pass that allows you to visit a majority of the sites for a low rate of 30 euro. Since the Acropolis itself (the north and south side) cost 20 euro, it is a no brainer to pay an extra 10 euro which gives you access to an additional 6 other sites. One of those sites is the Temple of Zeus.

Oddly, the Temple of Zeus sounds more interesting than what remains today (which is also true for a lot of the sites). What you see when you go today is several columns left of what was once an enormous temple dedicated to Zeus.

We went because of the name (well, I did) and because it was included in the multi-site pass, however, there isn't really much to see here. You can complete the site in under 10 minutes (depending on your interest in reading plaques and imaging how the temple must have looked).

Not to say that it is a bad site, however, if you are to visit Athens and this is on your list, I would try to visit all the other sites before Acropolis since it is the most restored site that gives you an idea of how things were back in the day.

Come back next Friday for another Past Point of Interest!

Past POIs - Meteora [Greece]

While in Greece (specifically in Athens), try to make it to Meteora which is known for it's monasteries that are literally built on top of rock formations. Meteora itself is actually a UNESCO World Heritage site.

There are currently 6 monasteries remaining of the original 24 that are built on natural rock pillars that you will stare at and wonder how it was made.

We visited this on a 2 day tour and it was a good enough time spent being there in my mind. On the 2 day tour you stay at Kalampaka where you will actually be able to see the monasteries if you have a good enough eye.

The tour itself consisted of us visiting the Great Meteoron, the largest of the monasteries and St. Stephen which is a small monastery, but is actually only for females. Both places are very interesting to see, especially when you look and wonder how it was built and when you are inside, it is as if you were just in a regular monastery.

Well worth the visit in my mind, although I would guess that you will need 2 days to visit it since it is a 4 hour drive from Athens.

Come back next time for another Past Point of Interest!

Past POIs - Samaria Gorge [Chania, Crete, Greece]

Point of Interest: Samaria Gorge
Date Visited: June 2017

Samaria Gorge is a must see if you are in Chania. You do need to be somewhat physically fit, however, they do allocate roughly 8 hours for you to complete the hike (and we took roughly 7 hours for reference).

The hike itself is 16km in length (14km for the gorge and 2km to get to the town where you will take a ferry back). While Allison did the research for this trip, it is possible for you to coordinate the trip yourself, however, it came out to roughly 5 euros more per person when we went with the hotel. We thought that it would be best to go with a group since they would coordinate all the transfer points and making sure that everyone makes it back. For reference, it cost us 24 euros each at the hotel, there were shops in town that cost 19 euros.

You will need to wake up really early depending on where you start. Apparently you can start at other places such as Rethymnon, but I believe Chania is the closest, so you can sleep in a bit more. For reference, we started in Chania and had to get up and ready outside our hotel for 6:00am.

There is a pit stop before you get there at the local store which has both washroom as well as final items that you might have forgotten or need (such as hiking shoes, poles, snacks, etc). We got to the pit stop at 7:20am and had 25 minutes to get ready with our hike actually starting at 8:00am.

The beginning of the hike is basically all downhill at the beginning and it evens out about half way through. Bring hiking poles if you like, I didn't find them useful, but Allison did.

Note, we made it to the ferry at 5:30pm and we ended up at the hotel at 8:30pm.

Come back next Friday for another Past Point of Interest!

Past POIs - Akrotiri Lighthouse [Santorini, Greece]

While in Santorini, make sure that you rent an ATV and drive around the island. When we were there, it seemed like there were actually more ATVs than cars! All the tourists seemed to do it and it was fairly inexpensive (roughly 25 euros a full day).

With our ATV in hand, we drove it down to the Akrotiri lighthouse which is the southwestern tip of Santorini. Which is a great spot to watch the sunset (or at least that's what we were told). Unfortunately, when we went, it was cloudy and the sunset didn't happen as nicely as expected. However, it seems like a nice place to visit and hang around.

Like a lot of the places in the area, it seems like most people just park their vehicles wherever they can and hope for the best. There is a small parking lot there at the very end, otherwise you would just park on the side of the road and walk to the lighthouse.

Both the parking and the lighthouse is free to visit in 2017, however, you aren't actually able to go inside the lighthouse which I thought would've been neat, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. If you say for the sunset, make sure to stay a bit longer because the lighthouse is actually a working lighthouse and the light will come on shortly after the sun has completely set.

The surrounding areas has some nice views of the island and it is nice since it is not as busy as Oia would be for watching sunsets.

Come back next Friday for another Past Point of Interest!

Past POIs - Fira to Oia Hike [Santorini, Greece]

During our trip in Santorini, Greece, we did the hike from Fira to Oia which is a 10km hike with an estimate time of 3 hour hike. You can also do it from the other direction (Oia to Fira), however, it is easier from Fira to Oia since you'll be walking mostly down instead of up.

Signage from Fira about potential hikes and duration.

The time it takes is really dependent on your ability and I would say how many stops and detours you take. It took us roughly 5 hours to do the full hike, but we got sidetracked by things like Skaros Rock which took us about an hour to do and just where you decided to take breaks and enjoy the scenery.

Skaros Rock (view from the bottom looking up at Fira)

I would say that as long as you are in okay shape, you can do the hike. We saw all types of people doing the hiking and nobody seemed to have any issues doing it.

Skaros Rock (looking down from Fira)

Note, the hike itself is out in the open for the full hike, so do prepare yourself accordingly. Make sure that you bring enough water for yourself since there really aren't many shops that you can just stop at on the way. For the most part, once you leave Fira, it is fairly empty with no shops until you get to Oia. Bring sunscreen or an umbrella depending on the weather.

Panorama between Fira and Oia

Overall, I'm glad we did the hike, it was a great experience.

Come back next Friday for another Past Point of Interest!

Past POIs - Athens Central Market [Athens, Greece]

As someone who is used to how Canada and United States work where you buy your groceries from a grocery story, going to visit a market in foreign countries is always a treat since you get to see how things operate elsewhere. Mind you, they do have grocery stores as well, but the atmosphere, price, and quality differ significantly.

The Central Market is about a 15 minute walk from Syntagma Square, you'll find fresh meats and fish in the Central Market. It is a market open to the public and you will see stalls upon stalls filled with what I assume are the catches of the day. Mind you, you will walk past 5-10 stalls that all sell the same thing with the same prices, but still worth seeing my mind. Note, the market isn't for the faint of heart. You will see a lot of blood (and liking be walking in blood soaked tile), and some recently killed animals that they are butchering on the spot. We did notice that there weren't fresh seafood, which was a bit odd.

When you are done, just across the street is the fresh produce market which is outside and not covered, however, you can find all the fruits and vegetables that you desire, as well as shops that sell essentials like oils, spices, herbs, etc.

Sorry for slacking off, I'll try to maintain my usual schedule again. Come back next Friday for another Past Point of Interest!

Past POIs - Red Beach [Santorini, Greece]

Located in Santorini, Greece near Akrotiri is the Red Beach which is known for the red rocks that are located there. It is one of many beaches in Santorini and actually one many beaches, other ones include the White Beach, Black Beach as Karami to name a few.

The Red Beach gets its colour from the iron-rich rock and sand that is there. Oddly, it is actually supposed to be off limits due to the potential for rockslides and the waves that take place here. However, when we went, there were plenty of tourists there with no fear although we didn't see any swimmers while there.

Worth a visit if you happen to be at Akrotiri, it is a very short 10 minute walk. It is a public area with no cost to enter and visit.

Come back next Friday for another Past Point of Interest!