Greece - Athens and Santorini

My European travellings resumed last week, after a crazy 31 hours spent in transit. I went from Shanghai to Amsterdam to Copenhagen to Paris then finally my final destination Athens.

Athens has a long history, but there are not a lot of sites to see: history may take a long time to read and digest but you can only tour ruins for so long. I liked the Akropolis and the Parthenon perched on top, the Temple to the Olympian Zeus and the Panathenaic Stadium (the site of the first modern Olympics). Also somewhat interesting was the pond in the middle of the National Gardens which contain many many turtles.

The Akropolis, the symbol of Athens and of this nation

Temple to the Olympian Zeus, with the Akropolis in the background

 I thought it was interesting that there were so many dogs sleeping in the sun. What a life!!

Santorini was an 8hr ferry ride away. I suppose when I say Santorini, people immediately conjure up that famous image in their mind of beautiful white houses with blue windows and doors built onto the cliff-side facing the Aegean Sea. But that scenary was not so ubiquitous as I had expected. Only a few places look like that, the rest (and the majority) of Santorini was mostly countryside? It's a very small island, most roads do not have names, and right now is their low season when everyone goes home and almost nothing is open. Even Oia,, one of the places with the abovementioned views, was a ghost town! 

But Oia was just as the travel shows had depicted: beautiful. The houses are all so cute,  they have funky, unconventional shapes and the colour arrangment had to the sensention that you've jumped straight into a fairytale (or cartoon). Even the paths have not escaped the meticulous attention of designers. 

Interesting facts (and travel tips) about Oia: 

• there are no street or path names here, good luck finding anything.
• there are a lot of cats, in addition to dogs, and they also use donkeys to carry heavy things on the steps. So many animals make for treacherous walking, so keep an eye on where you step! ;)
• there is a look out point that gives the best views of the houses and the best place to take photos. It is at the far end of town, close to the Post Office. The place is set among the houses but jutts out both physically and to the eye as it is made very rustically of ugly brown rocks (it looks like a ruin amongst the houses)

Oia

The sunset at Oia is reputed to be beautiful

Other beautiful sites of Santorini:

White-Black-Red beach

Many roads in Santorini are along the cliffs, sometimes they are windy and steep, but invariably, your eyes will be blessed with beautiful views of the ocean and small off-shore islands