Delos

Our last day in Greece we explored Delos. We lucked out for most of our trip, but that day was very hot! But it was a great day trip; Delos is a massive sacred site, with so many temples and ruins. My favorites were the temple to Poseidon (first two, and another temple for him his second from the bottom) and the temple for the dolphins (third and fourth photo). The last photo shows part of the ruins, it is massive! An amazing way to end an amazing trip!

Mykonos

Our next stop was Mykonos, another lovely island. We rented a 4-wheeler and drove around the island, which was great fun. Found some great stops, like a active convent built in the remains of an ancient castle, with goats running around the ruins. We saw lots of friendly feral cats, and enjoyed more time on the beach for sunset. Another gorgeous view from our apartment balcony :)

Paros and Naxos

Paros and Naxos were lovely - very quiet days spent wandering the beach, enjoying good food and amazing sunsets. Super relaxing! We stayed at a lovely place called sunset on the beach - very aptly named as you can see from the view from our balcony! And they have a restaurant on the water, with grapes growing throughout the ceiling, which they use to make the house wine. The white wine we had their was the best from the whole trip. Such a nice relaxing place to recharge! And still with amazing sites; the photo at the top is the temple to Apollo, with a view of the port town in back.

Santorini - volcano and sunset cruise

Our last day in Santorini we hiked up the still active Volcano (and found that amazing boulder which cracked from the heat, amazing the power of it!).  You could see the steam coming out of the volcano vents! We then swam in the Mediterranean, in a hot springs warmed by the volcano, and finished with a sunset cruise near Oia (another of the main cities on Santorini). Amazing trip!

Santorini - Akrotiri

Akrotiri is the greek pompei; Santorini was formed by a massive volcanic eruption (4 times larger than pompei). At the time a minoan bronze age settlement was on the island, and the inhabitants had warning so they left before the explosion. By the city was perfectly preserved. It was amazing to see how advanced they were; they had three story buildings, and beautiful frescos like the one above.

Santorini

After Athens, our first island stop was Santorini. We stayed in Fira, one of the main towns on the island which is situated at the top of a cliff. You can see the steep path in the photos; it is quite a climb up! Some people ride donkeys up the steps, but Marc and I felt bad for the donkeys and took a cable car instead. The views from the top of the cliff are unbelievable, so gorgeous!

Athens - Acropolis

Our second day in Athens we spent exploring the Acropolis, acropolis museum, and ancient agora.  We went to the acropolis first thing to avoid crowds, and were surprised to find that a group of feral dogs live there; as we walked up, we had a doggy guide travelling up with us. When we left, we saw someone come in to feed the group. The acropolis itself is amazing; such great views of the city from up there! And we were able to explore a series of temples, some completely demolished, others in various states of repair. The largest and most impressive is the parthenon, which was undergoing active repairs while we were there.  The temple of Athena is also very impressive, although the original tree was lost, they have planted an olive tree at the spot where Athena was said to have brought forth the first tree to win patronage of the city. The theatre of Dionysis was also really cool; you can see the seats saved for the VIP's in the photo. We went to see the statues which had been removed from the site at the acropolis museum, which is super cool as some of the floors were replaced with glass, and you can see the archeological dig site underneath the museum. Ancient agora was beautiful, with the temple to Hephaestus being the best preserved ancient temple in existence. Such a cool day exploring ancient Athens!