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Today was our first beach day in Santorini, but the weather didn’t cooperate much.  Scattered showers, clouds, and a fierce wind were the theme of the day.  We still hopped on a bus to check out the “Red Beach” and I was fully intent on actually swimming until we got there and were greeted by four to five foot waves.  We walked around town and stopped for a beer at Murphy’s Irish Pub, which had an actual Irishman behind the counter.  On our walk back to the hotel it started to pour and the wind coming in off the sea was some of the most intense I’ve ever experienced.  You can’t win them all.

Today may have been my favorite day so far on this trip. Right now we’re staying up near the main town of Fira and there’s basically two ways to get down to the Old Port, by taking the nearly six hundred stairs or riding the cable car. (You can also ride horses/donkeys down the stairs, but we felt bad for the animals). We opted to take the stairs down where we proceeded to board a large wooden schooner that took us over to the volcano that formed all of the surrounding islands. We hiked up the volcano and had a look at the crater. All of the magma and activity is underground so it’s not like a volcano you’d see in the movies. There are a couple of places where steam is being created from the heat and from a distance the volcano looks like it is smoking a bit. After a walk around we got back on the boat and headed to an area of hot springs off the side of the volcano. The boat anchored and anyone who wanted to jump off and have a swim could do so. After our swim it was back on the boat to the island of Therasia. There are only a few hundred people who live on this island, but there are still a number of small restaurants when you dock that basically cater to the volcano tours. There are also steps that go up the side of the mountain to the village of Therasia. Cindy and I decided to go up since we had nearly two hours to kill on our stop. It was a little sad and lonely at the top as I’d say half of the buildings were abandoned. It’s really a very isolated place since everything has to come over from the main island via boat. We got back to Fira a little after 5pm and although I was up for taking the stairs Cindy convinced me to take the cable car. We were so worn out from the whole day that we just decided to hang out at the hotel tonight. Kalinichta!

Our hotel in Iraklion was right near where we had to pick up the ferry so that was really convenient.  The term ferry isn’t even really appropriate since it was one of the modern catamaran style ships where you can barely tell you’re traveling through the water.  After about two hours we were in Fira on Santorini.

Our hotel here is a large series of villas, with pools scattered around, a restaurant, and a poolside bar.  It’s great!  The shops and restaurants are all situated on the west facing cliffs, which afforded us what has to be one of the best dinner sunsets in the world.

Tomorrow we’re hopping on a boat to hike around the volcano!

Had a nice breakfast at the hotel and walked over to the bus station to catch a short ride to Knossos Palace. It’s actually more of an archaeological site than a palace since it’s about 4,000 years old. It was home to the Minoan Kingdom and was one of the early advanced civilizations in the world. It was interesting, but there wasn’t all that much to see. I think we were done in about an hour and a half. Most of the actual archaeological finds are housed in the museum near our hotel, but it has apparently been under renovation for years and years and only a small portion of it is open. (It’s supposed to be one of the best museums in Greece). Three hour ferry ride to Santorini in the morning! Six days of beaches! Did I mention it’s still in the 70s here?

Said goodbye to Chania and took a four hour bus ride east to the capital of Crete, Iraklion.  Our hotel is really nice and they upgraded our room without us even asking since they knew it was our honeymoon.  We’ve got a balcony looking out to the sea again, but this time it’s on top of a tall building and is big enough to walk around on.  The hotel also has a great restaurant on a rooftop patio that looks out to the Mediterranean.  I’m a little sad that we’re only here for two nights.  Tomorrow we’re going to see some historic sites and on Sunday morning we’re catching a ferry to Santorini.

We had grandiose ideas of waking up at 6:30am to catch a bus out of town to do some hiking.  We both got a little too much sun at the beach the day before and I was lucky enough to pick up Cindy’s cold/cough so when 6:30 rolled around we decided more sleep was in order.  We spent the day wandering around town, going to their market, which is not unlike the Milwaukee Public Market and doing a little shopping.  The view from our room is good enough that I don’t have a problem spending vast amounts of time sitting on our balcony.  This is our last night in Chania and tomorrow we move on to Heraklion for two nights before heading to Santorini.

Had a great breakfast at our hotel, the Porto Vesuviano.  We tried to walk to the bus station, but ran out of time to catch the only bus to Elafonissi and hailed a cab.  The beaches were amazing and the geography is very similar to northern California and the western US.  The bus had to navigate all of these narrow mountain roads where you are feet away from a thousand foot drop and it reminded me of going into the backwoods of Idaho to go rafting.

After twenty four hours and three flights we landed in Crete.  Too tired for much more than a stroll around and some dinner (fresh seafood).  Room has a balcony that opens right onto the Mediterranean. Two hour bus ride to the beaches at Elafonisi.

Waiting at the airport for my (direct!) flight to Minneapolis. I am done with domestic connecters; I’ll gladly pay a little extra to avoid visiting an additional airport. I’m generally a cautious flyer when it comes to getting to the airport on time, especially when I’m flying out of somewhere other than my home airport. As such, I managed to get here a full two hours before departure. My alarm was set for 5:30, but it didn’t matter, I had been restless since 1:30. I often have trouble sleeping if I know I need to be up earlier than normal out of fear of sleeping too late. (Having been late for work/tests in the past makes you extra vigilante I guess).

I think the biggest reason I couldn’t find rest (aside from knowing I’ll be in a suit and tie at my desk later today) is that I visited the National Holocaust Museum and Memorial yesterday. I’ve read books on the topic and have a fairly good understanding of the events leading up to WWII, but to see the mountain of shoes left behind by those brought to the camps, to read the details of entire villages wiped off the map, to see firsthand the games, posters, and publications used to inculcate Nazism into every fabric of existence really leaves you with a lasting image of an evil that you will never forget and almost can’t believe was real. (It’s hard to recommend Holocaust literature, but Maus is a gripping depiction through one family’s eyes of what they had to endure).

Last night we switched to Cindy’s business hotel, the Shoreham. What a magnificent building steeped in a rich history; I wish I’d had more than one night there. When we arrived I realized my DS wasn’t in my bag, which I had checked for the day at the hotel we were departing. I even went so far as to move it from my messenger bag to my carry on because I didn’t want it to fall out, or, get stolen. Ugh. I’m trying to work with the Courtyard Marriott to see if they’ve found it.

Check out Yelp if you want to see my restaurant/museum reviews. Pictures should be up this weekend.

Arrived in DC about 9 p.m. last night; Cindy doesn’t have to work until Monday, which is when I fly out. We walked around the mall today and are going back tomorrow for the Air and Space Museum and Natural History Museum. Cindy is pretty set on a Capitol tour so we might do that, too. (I’m less interested in that since I work in a capitol every day and the Wisconsin Capitol is so similar to this one). Dinner soon; probably Greek tonight. Last night we hit Brickskeller, which has decent pub food and a list of beer a mile long from countries around the world. (No Wexford, though). Time to eat!