My Big Fat Greek Bucket List Trip, Part 3 of 3: Santorini

Our last stop on my bucket-list trip to Greece was the Island of Santorini. Santorini was the place I always dreamed about travelling to. It is indeed very beautiful, but perhaps not very "real". It is set up for tourists and packed with tourists, especially when the cruise ships come in, but the views are absolutely amazing! All of these photos were taken in the villages of Thira, Oia and Imerovigli.

I am happy to report that I completed my bucket list walk from Thira to Imerovigli. It involves a lot of stair climbing and descending. It was a real challenge with my rickety knees, but I took my cane and persevered. Not only did I make it one way, but with rest stops for coffee and lunch and time to enjoy the vistas, I made the return trip on foot as well.

If you want to see what this walk looks like, someone made a video of it and posted it on U-tube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMJJO94zXp0

I hope you enjoy the photos. Did I mention that I'm in love with blue and white again?

My Big Fat Greek Bucket List Trip, Part 1, Athens

I've been back home for a week today, but hit the ground running. Finally taking some time to share some visual inspiration from my big fat Greek bucket list trip. We start with two days in Athens. Athens is a very large city with pretty intense traffic, and lots of high rise buildings. We did our research on where to see the old part of the city.  We began our walk in the Anafiotika area. This is a small and lovely neighbourhood close to the Acropolis. It has the old winding streets I love, but offers the added contrast of some colourful graffiti.

There are lovely little restaurants here with colourful seating.

Classic blue and white of course!

Looks like someone did some zentangles on the wall at this restaurant!

We walked and walked and walked, past the Agora (ancient market) where Socrates, Aristotle and St. Paul all made speeches.

One can't visit Athens with out visiting the Acropolis and its temples.

But like many well-known tourist attractions, there were way too many people, even in September.

The Temple of Athena seemed the best preserved to me, and held the most visual appeal for me.

We met a lot of dogs in Athens. They just drop to the stone and cement and sleep wherever they like. These two were found near the Acropolis. I guess the coolness of the stone gives relief on a hot Mediterranean day.

This orange tablecloth caught my eye. Just up the stairs is a lovely little restaurant.

Of course cats are plentiful everywhere in Greece. Many of them are homeless but are fed by kind people.

I hope you enjoyed this little slice of Athens. Next post we will move on to the main events, the Greek Islands, which were the destination on my bucket list.