Brad and Asia's 'Greece on the improv' had been working out fine so far despite it being close to the peak tourist season. The only thing we had booked up to the time of the wedding was the flights there and back. I guess it helped to have accommodation provided. The whole time we were in Crete I was thinking I really should book the ferries to the islands for after the wedding. Well as it turned out, it wasn't until the day before we left that I decided this was a necessity. Unfortunately the ferry to Santorini was fully booked for the Tuesday, so some quick decisions on my part and I decided we would only spend one night in Santorini and two in the Island of Naxos, followed by a night in Athens before the long journey home. It meant that we had to spend one further day and night in Crete - things could be worse right? The rental car that we had hired as a group was due back on the Monday evening, so I decided we should get it for another day so that we could explore the west and south of the Island before we left. It turned out that we had a really great day on that Tuesday, visiting a truly amazing beach on the South Coast (Libyan Sea, funny to think we were so close to Africa).
In the end it turned out that Nick and Georgia were catching the same boat as us to Santorini. We really enjoyed the ride and the chance to catch up with them, as during the week prior to the wedding they had just been so flat tack we hardly saw them. The rough guide (and the lonely planet too) says that the best way to arrive at Santorini is on an open deck 'slow' ferry, which is what we happened to be on. I must say after riding on the fast ferry the next day I have to agree with them. Comparing the fast ferry to the slow ferry is somewhat like comparing riding in the car to riding a bike - you get where you are going a hell of a lot faster in the car, but man do you see a lot more on the bike. As we approached the port, the walls of the caldera rose up around and enveloped us - the sheer cliffs hundreds of metres above you to which photos can scarcely do justice. Santorini was incredibly touristic and I guess one of those places you just have to go once. There are amazing photo shots of the caldera on every street corner.
The next day we were on our way to the Island of Naxos. There were plenty of tourists here too, but much less than Santorini. Asia and I really enjoyed the chance to unwind with a couple of days on the beach and eating some great food. In fact I would say the best meal we had while in Greece, with the wedding as an exception, was at the taverna Scirocco in the main square we ate at the first night - big ups to the rough guide for this recommendation.
The final adventure of our trip was in Athens. We had given ourselves one night and two days to explore and as it turned out this was plenty. Everybody who goes to Athens goes to the Acropolis, the high rocky outcropping in the centre of Athens host to a plethora of ancient monuments including the famed Parthenon, one of the most recognisable icons from the ancient world. However, in a mean stroke of luck, there was a workers strike on at the Acropolis so it was closed for the whole weekend and we couldn't go and see it. We had to make do with views from below and the none to unimpressive National Museum of Greece.
So that was it, two weeks of sun, surf, fun and relaxation. Only 22 hours on a plane and we were back home...
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