We found a little bit of heaven--Or at least the closest we will find here on earth! The last 5 nights we spent on a smll island called Amorgos. It is not one of the 'regular' island hopper stops, alhtough Jason and I both agree it should be. The quaint town we stayed in in called Katapola; it is a small strip of restaurants, pensions and cute shops around a beautiful bay.
We rented scooters for a few days as the bus system is not very developed. What an awesome way to explore the island! Aside from beautiful bays and deep blue water, Amorgos has incredible rolling hills, steep cliffs and cute towns filled with white houses. As we would turn each corner, we felt as if we were seeing a new, picture-worthy sight. The one frustration was that it was very windy for most of our days; once we even had to turn back because the wind was threatening to blow-over our scooter (and there are few rails on the hairpin turns! yikes!!)
Needless to say, Amorgos was our favorite stop on the Greek islands; we will certainly be returning! Our last few nights are scheduled for Athens and Rome. And then on Wednesday we will be heading home!
Love Kristin and Jason
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
A peek into our last week or so...
The island tour of Santorini was fabulous! We hiked to the top of the last active volcano in the Greek Islands. What a hot day! The sun was beating down on the black rocks and we could see the heat waves coming off the volcano surface. As we walked around the crater, we could see steam being released and we learned that an egg could be fried in less that 20 minutes if you dug a hole 6-8 inches down and placed a frying pan in it. It was a really neat experience!
Next stop was a natural hot spring, heated by the volcano. The water actually bubbled up into a bay in the ocean, so we had to jump off our sail boat and swim about 50m into the hot spring. The water was a muddy brown from the minerals and iron, but it was about 27 degrees.
After the hot springs, we boarded our sailboat once again and headed for the village of Oia. It is a classic Greek town with white cubist homes with blue trim/shutters. Here we watched the hot sun sink below the horizon, painting a beautiful sunset.
We are now on the island of Naxos and have been relaxing on the beach. This beach is the nicest we have seen yet; white sand and clear, blue water. We have spent the last week with 3 girls from Norway. They are an absolute hoot and we are sad to par, t ways tomorrow. Our next stop is the island of Amorgoes, so we will write more from there...
And a quick congrats to Karla and Andy, who had their baby, Eli, on June 9th! We can not wait to meet him!
Love Kristin and Jason
The island tour of Santorini was fabulous! We hiked to the top of the last active volcano in the Greek Islands. What a hot day! The sun was beating down on the black rocks and we could see the heat waves coming off the volcano surface. As we walked around the crater, we could see steam being released and we learned that an egg could be fried in less that 20 minutes if you dug a hole 6-8 inches down and placed a frying pan in it. It was a really neat experience!
Next stop was a natural hot spring, heated by the volcano. The water actually bubbled up into a bay in the ocean, so we had to jump off our sail boat and swim about 50m into the hot spring. The water was a muddy brown from the minerals and iron, but it was about 27 degrees.
After the hot springs, we boarded our sailboat once again and headed for the village of Oia. It is a classic Greek town with white cubist homes with blue trim/shutters. Here we watched the hot sun sink below the horizon, painting a beautiful sunset.
We are now on the island of Naxos and have been relaxing on the beach. This beach is the nicest we have seen yet; white sand and clear, blue water. We have spent the last week with 3 girls from Norway. They are an absolute hoot and we are sad to par, t ways tomorrow. Our next stop is the island of Amorgoes, so we will write more from there...
And a quick congrats to Karla and Andy, who had their baby, Eli, on June 9th! We can not wait to meet him!
Love Kristin and Jason
Monday, June 8, 2009
Sorry we have been so neglectful of our blog in the last week! We have been losing track of the days; I guess that's the real sign we are on holidays! :)
Well, we have covered much ground in the last week. After our few nights at Lake Egirdir, we headed out to Pammukale. This tiny town is famous for the "cotton castles" which are beautiful white mineral deposits located on the side of a massive hill. They are truly stunning and unlike anything we have seen before; it is a strange feeling to be standing on what looks like big puffs of cloud!
After Pammukale, we jumped on the bus and made our way to Selcuk which is the city where the ruins of Ephesus are located. We spent a day touring around Ephesus, a very surreal experience. Not only are the ruins incredible, but there is so much amazing Biblical history. We stood in a massive theatre where the Apostle Paul tried to preach, but his words were drowned out by the shouts of opposition from those who worshipped the Roman gods. We saw the prison where Paul was held captive before he was eventually put to death for his faith. We also stood on the hill where it is believed that John wrote his gospel and was buried. So awe inspiring...
We are now on the island of Santorini, Greece. It is a beautiful island that meets the classic Greek image; white cubist houses with blue shuttters (the national colours), gorgeous beaches with deep blue water, cloudless skies, yummy food and cheap wine! We are having a blast relaxing and working on our tans!
Today we are heading out on an island volcano tour. Santorini was created from numerous volcanic eruptions and is the last island with an active volcano. We will be hiking to the top of the volcano and swimming in the nearby hotsprings. After sailiing around the harbour, we will be watching the sunset from a village called Oia. Apparently this village has the most beautiful sunsets in all of the Greek islands. We'll let you know how it is! :)
Our trip is certainly flying by; we only have about 2 weeks left! Our plan is to stay on the islands for most of it and then fly from Athens to Rome, where we will catch our flight home. We will try to be more diligent with updatingour blog and posting pics.
Love Kristin and Jason :)
Well, we have covered much ground in the last week. After our few nights at Lake Egirdir, we headed out to Pammukale. This tiny town is famous for the "cotton castles" which are beautiful white mineral deposits located on the side of a massive hill. They are truly stunning and unlike anything we have seen before; it is a strange feeling to be standing on what looks like big puffs of cloud!
After Pammukale, we jumped on the bus and made our way to Selcuk which is the city where the ruins of Ephesus are located. We spent a day touring around Ephesus, a very surreal experience. Not only are the ruins incredible, but there is so much amazing Biblical history. We stood in a massive theatre where the Apostle Paul tried to preach, but his words were drowned out by the shouts of opposition from those who worshipped the Roman gods. We saw the prison where Paul was held captive before he was eventually put to death for his faith. We also stood on the hill where it is believed that John wrote his gospel and was buried. So awe inspiring...
We are now on the island of Santorini, Greece. It is a beautiful island that meets the classic Greek image; white cubist houses with blue shuttters (the national colours), gorgeous beaches with deep blue water, cloudless skies, yummy food and cheap wine! We are having a blast relaxing and working on our tans!
Today we are heading out on an island volcano tour. Santorini was created from numerous volcanic eruptions and is the last island with an active volcano. We will be hiking to the top of the volcano and swimming in the nearby hotsprings. After sailiing around the harbour, we will be watching the sunset from a village called Oia. Apparently this village has the most beautiful sunsets in all of the Greek islands. We'll let you know how it is! :)
Our trip is certainly flying by; we only have about 2 weeks left! Our plan is to stay on the islands for most of it and then fly from Athens to Rome, where we will catch our flight home. We will try to be more diligent with updatingour blog and posting pics.
Love Kristin and Jason :)
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