Constant Beginnings

We were picked up at our boat by Paul for PK Travel. I booked this tour for 380 Euro which included a 12 person tour, private bus and private guide. It was a great deal. He gave us some information about the city, pointing out the Olympic stadium, which is used very infrequently now, rules of road use--odd/even plates dictate who is allowed to drive into the city on given days, and other odds and ends. The poor economy has helped decrease the traffic conjestion immensely. We met our guide at the Acropolis, which refers to all the hills in Ancient Athens which were used for political purpose. We heard a very detailed explanation, checked it all out, touring for a few hours, then headed over to the Changing of the Guards ceremony. We completed a driving tour of the city, then opted to skip the museum and head over to the shopping/flea market district where we dined on gyros and shopped a bit. It was a lovely day! The Acropolis from below. The theater where numerous greats ...

Santorini was our third stop on the cruise and one of our most favorite. We had to depart our ship via tender boats as the ship could not dock at the port directly. Corraling 12 people to ensure we would meet our tour guide on time was a small feat in and of itself. We ended up making it to the top with time to spare. Santorini was as I imagined--quaint, relaxing, beautiful views at every angle. It was lovely. We enjoyed the tour which took us around the entire island. We stopped at the most famous St. Irene's dome to capture pictures, traveled to the highest point on the island, also enjoyed Red Sand and Black Sand beaches, ate at a cute little Greek restaurant overlooking the ocean, checked out the volcanic views and learned about life on the island. Most of Santorini is built around the tourism industry. It used to be a huge farming island, growing pistachios, tomatoes, wine, but most of those producers have moved into the tourism market as it is much more lucrative. Land is in...