Foto: The characteristic white houses with blue roofs of Santorini (bron: Ronald van der Veer)
Greece - On the way to Santorini, the wind is directly against the ship. It gets so cold that I get up. At quarter to five, almost two hours later, the ship arrives in Santorini. It seems as if the entire population is on the shore with signs reading “rooms.” But that was not our intention. By bus, we serpentine frighteningly through the mountains to a place by the beach. The bus driver takes the hairpin bends so fast. The bus barely passes along the mountainside. The distance to the beach turns out to be much farther than we thought. At quarter to six, the full bus arrives at its final stop by the beach. Our luggage was on the roof and is unloaded. We flop down on the beach and unroll our mats. The beach consists of small pebbles. On the horizon, it is already light. I have slept briefly. By half past eight, the sun is already so warm that sleeping is hardly possible. Until ten o’clock we lie down and have breakfast in bed. We decide to take the bus to Thira, although none of us really knows what we can do there. The backpacks, poor things, have to go on the bus roof again. In Thira, we find a good hostel where we can leave the backpacks and enter the city. Thira consists of many small alleys with shops. The streets mainly consist of small steps against the rocks. All houses are painted white, with bright blue doors. We walk through the city and try to reach the highest point. We try all possible steps and alleys. Although sometimes we are in people’s gardens, it often leads to a nice route. At the top of the cliff, over a kilometer from the center, we find a quiet terrace. It is empty. From there we have a nice view of the bay with the volcanic crater.
Delphi
Greece - The Temple of Apollo is just outside of Delphi. Yesterday, I already walked past the entrance. Although it’s a short distance, we’re picked up by bus. Outside the hotel, I meet Jorgos, the new driver. It still feels a bit strange to step into his ...
Surprisingly trendy Xanthi
Greece - From Alistrati we continue to the overnight stop in Xanthi. The hotel is located in the city center. Here too, the Land Rover does not fit under the entrance to the parking lot. We are allowed to park right in front of the hotel. On the central square, ...
The Acropolis
Greece - Today, we leave early with a large bottle of water and a bulky Weekend Telegraaf newspaper on our way to the Acropolis. We’re still unsure what we’ll have for breakfast, but luckily the small corner shop is open. Problem solved. At the Acropolis, ...
The caves of Alistrati
Greece - We continue to Alistrati. In the center, we park our Land Rover in front of a little eatery. The owner immediately comes to meet us. He has worked in Germany for 30 years and wants to know everything about our trip. He translates our travel program for ...
The Games of Olympia
Greece - At the entrance to Olympia, I meet Saskia. She is guiding our travel group through the old city today. Saskia used to be a tour guide but met a Greek man. She has now lived in Greece for 23 years. In Olympia, the ancient sanctuary of the god Zeus, games ...
The monasteries of Meteora
Greece - The landscape becomes more rugged as we approach Meteora. Steep rock points protrude in the landscape. In the 14th century, hermits lived in these hard-to-reach places. Later, monks built monasteries on the rock points. Many monasteries were destroyed ...