Athens

Today we checked out of our wonderful airbnb in Zakynthos and caught the ferry back to the mainland Greece. Then we drove the 3.5 hrs back to Athens. Since we arrived it's been chilly and drizzly; apparently it had been raining all morning but luckily we missed that. We were able to check into our airbnb just fine and then we walked to the Acropolis.

The Acropolis is an ancient citadel located on a tall rocky hill overlooking the city. It contains the remains of several significant buildings, the most famous being the Parthenon. The Parthenon was built in 447 BC and is a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena. It's pretty impressive sitting on top of the hill. 

Also inside the Acropolis is the propylaea which was the gateway into the acropolis. Then there's also the Erechtheion is another temple that was dedicated to both Athena and Poseidon.

The Erechtheion:

Look at those pillars!

The propylaea:

The Erechtheion on the left and Parthenon on the right:

Getting into the Acropolis was pretty pricey at 20 euro/person, but we obviously couldn't leave Greece without seeing it. After leaving there we were looking for dinner, so we walked back towards our airbnb to a place our host recommended. But once we got there we found out they didn't actually have food. So then we retraced our steps to a pizza place which turned out to be a delivery-only place without any seating. So we ended up walking almost back to the Acropolis before we stumbled on an Italian place which turned out to be really good. When we got there there were two other couples and they were both from the US as well. How strange!

Tomorrow we fly to Helsinki Finland, where we begin the last stage of our international journey: Scandinavia!

Last Day in Zakynthos

Today was a slower day for us. We took our time getting around this morning and then headed to Gerakas Beach. We had heard from our host that this was one of the nicest beaches on the island and we were not disappointed. It had soft sand and gorgeously crystal clear water. Like, this water couldn't have been clearer. It was also nice and shallow with few waves. You could wade out pretty far and still not be very deep, so it was good for kids as well. There were lots of sun beds with umbrellas for rent but we decided not to do that and instead we went down left of the stairs and just found some sand to lay out our towels. Further along that way was a "naturalist" (aka nude) beach. Also that area is known for being a nesting area for the Caretta Caretta loggerhead turtles so depending on the season you have to be really careful about that. There were a couple of areas today that were roped off to protect the turtle nests. Right off the shore was what's known as turtle island where you can see them pretty consistently. Since we've seen lots of sea turtles on this trip we decided not to pay the money to go out there to see them.

The beach was really nice though and we spent several hours there. The water was cool but it felt nice after sitting in the warm sun. The water was so clear you just couldn't believe it. I walked out until the water was to my neck and I could still look down and see my toes perfectly. It was pretty cool. Also there were lots of duos in the water playing ping pong above the water which was unique and apparently is a thing here. That looked fun. There weren't any bathrooms or places to eat or drink along the beach which would bother some people but I kind of liked that they weren't there. It just felt very natural and non-commercial. There are all of the amenities just a bit up the road where you park your car.

After the beach stopped in Argassi briefly for a snack. Matt had been wanting to get a gyro so we split one of those which was really good. Then we came back to the airbnb to wash up and shared a beer on the patio. Then we went back to Argassi for dinner. We found a Mediterranean restaurant right on the water called Anadalis. It was really beautiful. In fact there was a wedding reception going on there tonight as well. The food was really good. We started off with warm pita rolls served with butter and local olive oil. Matt got chicken and I had a pasta dish. For dessert we tried something called "white chocolate soup" which was basically exactly as it sounds. It was warm liquid white chocolate served with frozen berries and chocolate ice cream. Yum! We also were able to watch the sun go down over the island during dinner, so it was a great last night on Zakynthos.

After dinner we decided to drive over to Laganas which is where all the "nightlife" is (although I didn't see any animals at all...). It definitely looked like a happening place with lots of bars and clubs which were just firing up for the Saturday night since it was around 9:30pm. We didn't stop at all but had just wanted to see what it was like. Seems like Zakynthos has just about everything you could want!

We're sad to leave the island as it's turned out to be a great place to visit; it's been everything we could want in our brief Greece stopover. But tomorrow we head to Athens for a day!

Scuba Diving Zakynthos

We spent a lot of time in the water today! We started our day by driving down to a small village called Limni Keri and went to the dive shop called Nero Sport. I hadn't realized when I booked the activity that the dive club was German. When we arrived everyone was speaking German which confused us for a bit. But we were able to get all of my paperwork signed and my equipment sized and then we all headed to the boat.

We got all of our equipment ready on the short 10 minute boat ride out to the dive site, called Eastreef. I was paired with a nice German couple, Elias and Rebekka, who seemed about my age. After a brief skills check in the water with the instructor (so they could make sure I knew what I was doing) we were off. Diving here was nothing like diving the Great Barrier Reef since it had so much less color and life (fish and corals). It was still cool though! the water was quite a bit colder than the GBR so we had to wear decently thick wetsuits. The water visibility was really good though. The landscape was quite rocky and we were diving alongside some large cliffs.

We dove for 52 minutes and only went down to a depth of 18 meters but we saw quite a bit. There were lots of little fish that I don't know the name of but they were very colorful. They had yellow vertical stripes with patches of green and blue as well. We also saw some very old pottery along the sea floor which is probably hundreds if not thousands of years old. The most notable things we saw were a school of barracuda (although they were much smaller barracuda than I've seen before) and we also saw two moray eels poking their heads out of their caves. That was kinda creepy! You could see their teeth and they were flexing their jaws at us rather threateningly. 

So overall a successful dive! Matt was able to snorkel a bit while we dove and he said he had a good time as well and saw lots of fish. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures since I no longer have an under-water camera. 

After getting back to shore and getting all my equipment put away we decided to head to a beach. We went to Vassilikos peninsula which has a lot of beaches. We started off by going to Banana Beach but it was clearly on the windward side of the island so it was windy and rather cold! We didn't even want to get out so we ate our packed lunches in the car. Then we decided to try the other side of the peninsula and went to Daphni Beach which was much better. Although we had to go over a mountain and down windy steep roads to get there we made it eventually. The beach was really nice with lots of free sun beds. It was far less windy and warmer over there so we grabbed some beds and took naps. Eventually we made our way to the water and waded in a bit and enjoyed the scenery. The steep cliffs dropping down into the sea is just so beautiful, and there was also another small island not far off the coast. 

For dinner we decided to drive across to the west side of the island so we could watch the sunset. We went to a great spot called Machali's Sunset Taverna in Kampi. Wow, it was so beautiful! The place itself was adorable with all stone and flowers. And it was set on a high cliff overlooking the water and cliffs on the other side. The sunset was absolutely gorgeous.

For dinner Matt tried souvlaki which was a meat skewer, and I tried a traditional Greek pasta dish called pastitsio what had beef and noodles with a bichamel sauce. We also tried a local beer and wine which was good as well. Then they served us some traditional cakes for dessert. What a nice meal!

On the way home from dinner Matt mentioned that most of the island's nightlife was in the neighboring town. I just looked at him blankly and was thinking, "What? Why?" By "nightlife" I thought he meant nocturnal animals and I was trying to puzzle out why they would all be in the next town. Apparently he meant the bars and nightclubs. Oh. Someone has been on safari for too long...

Blue Caves and Shipwreck Beaches

A big day on Zante island! (Zante is the Italian name for Zakynthos Island). We started by going swim suit shopping for Matt since he conveniently left his in Egypt. I told him that was clever and I should've thought of that...

Then we drove an hour north along the eastern coast of the island until we got to the very tip. From there we got on a boat which took us to the Blue Caves! It's pretty much exactly as it sounds. I'm not exactly sure of the science of it but it seems the sunlight reflects from the blue water onto the white cave walls and so everything look blue. It's gorgeous! You can only get there by boat and on the way we passed some really pretty rock formations including the double arches. There are tons of boats and people who advertise taking to the blue caves but we choose to go with the one that was at the very tip of the island and thus closer to the caves. They are called Potamitis Trips. They also had a small boat which was key to actually going inside the caves (the bigger boats that leaves from Zakynthos Town can't go inside) and it had a glass bottom. The water was remarkably clear so we could actually see quite a bit below us as well.

Then we also went to Shipwreck (aka Navagio) Beach with the same company but on a bigger boat. It was about a 20min boat ride there and back but well worth it. It's called Shipwreck Beach because there is a large boat which remains there after it wrecked there in 1980. It's a stunning beach and only accessible via boat because it's surrounded by high cliffs. The beach is made of small white pebbles and the water is the most gorgeous blue. We were able to stay there for an hour and we enjoyed our packed picnic lunches on the beach. Then we crawled around in the ship and took tons of pictures.

After our boat ride back we decided to drive over to the viewpoint over shipwreck beach. After parking our car it was a 10-15 minute hike on some sharp rocks but the view was absolutely worth it. We were on top of one of the huge cliffs on the side of the beach looking down on it and I honestly can't imagine a more picturesque view.

We took our time driving back home and admired the beautiful scenery along the way. There are olive trees everywhere and occasionally these cute little towns with cobblestone streets. Every so often there's a vendor alongside the road selling fresh olive oil, honey, wine, and fresh fruits. We stopped and sampled some and ended up buying some candied nuts. We also stopped at another one and bought some of the biggest, juiciest grapes I've ever eaten in my life. They are delicious!

We made another stop at Porto Limnionas which was a cool area where you could jump into the water from the rock side. We didn't jump in since it was later in the evening but we did rest there for a bit and I took a quick nap on the cliff side overlooking the water.

We made it home and changed clothes and went for a nice Italian dinner that was recommended to us. We're so close to Italy here that there's lots of Italian places- heaven for me. It was delicious!

Tomorrow I'm going to try to go scuba diving!

It's all Greek to Me

We're in Greece!!

Man I'm exhausted though. After sleeping for only 3 hours we woke up at 11pm and Sayed drove us to the airport. We got there just fine but then we hit a snafu. First, we got in line for security and got all the way to the front when they told us that women had to go to a different line, presumably because they had to do pat downs and that was where the female agent was. Would've been nice to know that before waiting in line but whatever. Then after we waited in that line and got to the front the security officer asked for our ticket, which we didn't have since the check-in counters are after security there. When we told him we didn't have it he yelled at us to get out of line but when we kept asking where to get a ticket he either couldn't understand or didn't care to help us. He also wouldn't listen or let me get my stuff that had already went through the security scanner and was on the other side. So Matt went off in search of a ticket and I stood there nervously watching my stuff, even though there would've been nothing I could do to prevent someone from walking off with it since I was trapped on the other side. I'm still not really sure what we were supposed to have done but Matt ended up going to the airline travel office and printing off just a plain piece of paper with our flight number and our names. It looked like something we could've typed up and printed off from Microsoft Word. Then when we got back in line he didn't even look at the piece of paper. And to top if off the other agent then asked us for a tip for "helping us"! I was baffled. He really didn't help us that much and even if I'd wanted to tip him my stuff was on the other side of security and he never helped me get it back! Luckily it was still sitting there being constantly shoved to the end by the moving belt when I finally got through. 

But after that it was smooth sailing. A quick two hour flight later and we're in Greece! We got through customs and passport control just fine. We grabbed some cash (which was a really good thing since we went through many toll roads) and got our rental car and hit the road. It's weird to be driving on the right side of the road again; first time since New Caledonia! We basically drove around Athens and went 3.5 hours to Kyllini. It was a really beautiful drive as most of it was right along the coast. From Kyllini we were able to buy ferry tickets to Zakynthos Island, where we'll spend the next 4 nights. We got some lunch as we waited for the ferry and then drove aboard the ferry! It was weird to drive a car on a boat. This is also the biggest boat I've been on in my entire life; it has several restuarants and bars and things. We found a comfy couch on the back deck and that's where I am right now! Blogging and enjoying the view of the Mediterranean.

We docked in Zakynthos and eventually made it to our airbnb. It seems to me to be a quintessential Greek town with tiny narrow streets that are basically all one-way. Google was not aware of the one-ways so we made a few wrong turns before we got the hang of it (jeeze Google!). We love our airbnb! It's an adorable old multi-story home. Our host and his wife are on the first floor and then his parents are on the middle two levels while we're on the fourth floor. It's like an apartment with our own kitchen and everything. And it's so cute! And the best part is that it has a huge balcony with a view of the Mediterranean Sea. Our host was awesome as well. Before we arrived he had sent us emails with great information about the house, activities to do on the island, and recommendations for the local restuarants nearby. When we arrived he also had some waters and snacks for us and had printed off the weather forecast for the duration of our visit. How sweet!

Our view of Zakynthos island from the ferry. It's so beautiful!

View from our balcony!

We settled in and took a half hour nap and then we went to the grocery store for some food the next few days. It's always interesting to go to local grocery stores. But we're back to not being able to understand what anything is since it's all in Greek! After dumping the groceries at home we went to walk around the town for a bit. I'm not sure of the names of where we visited but we angled ourselves toward the water until we hit it and a nice open square with a couple of statues. Then we walked along the coast checking out the restuarants as we went. We came upon one of the fish restuarants that our host had recommended so we tried that. They had fresh cod that I ordered fried, but it came out with the head and tail and all so I wasn't super enthused about that. The fish was good though and we enjoyed the ambiance of the place and it was right across the street from the sea. 

A cool old church along the water:

Then we wandered around a bit more and found some other cool streets with lots of cute little restuarants and shops. I'm so excited to spend the next few days exploring here! It's pretty much exactly as I imagined Greece to be and I'm so thrilled about it. We enjoyed our "sundown drinks" on our balcony around 9pm since the sun sets so late here. Great start to Greece!

I published our Egypt summary so please check it out and let me know what you think!