Posts Tagged ‘Greece’

Ancient Athens with a Twist

Posted: June 5, 2024 in Art, Travel
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
0

Ok we did drink in Athens, but that is not what I’m talking about when I say “Twist”.

The ruins are scattered about as much as the graffiti.

Every move you make, every step you take, no one is watching you, but you may run into a ruin.

Well, that is a lie, I may be watching you from one of the many sidewalk cafes!

And splattered in between and around there are sprays of paint. Graffiti, mostly tags, some political statements, and fortunately some art as well. It makes an already chaotic scene even more busy for the eyes. I will gladly say, I did not see any graffiti on any of the ruins.

Getting back to what is important…the ruins. Some still in somewhat of a building form, some partially there and some are just in piles.

The history and the stories of the people that lived back then are way more interesting, than the ruins themselves. If you ask me.

There was so much more to Athens then just ruins, history and graffiti.

Like the meat and fish market, a Soccer event and the cats!

And finding cool little spots, that have big personalities!

To Athen’s flora & fauna!

A big city of history and we just learned a tiny bit of it.

You have to spend time to go through it all because modern life lives over layers and layers of history. It may take a lifetime to peel them off.

We are in Rome now and leave tomorrow, so not sure what my next post will cover. I may do one just for Rome. Although we were here only a short time, we crammed a lot of big buildings in.

Thank you once again for visiting

MY GNOME LITTLE WORLD!!!

____________________________________________________

Not a Gnome, but a Gnomad Goddess

Santorini Oh Santorini

Posted: May 28, 2024 in Art, Travel
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
0

After Rhodes I was a bit at odds with Greek Islands. Don’t get me wrong, the history is unmatched, old medieval Rhodes Town unbelievable, the clarity and color of the sea to die and dive for.  Yet, the very arid plant life and rocky geography, and the super cold water were not what I was expecting. The beaches I saw were wonderful but not…ok…Caribbean Island Beaches. I said it. With that said, we did enjoy our time on the Santorini Beaches.

I wasn’t expecting the same, but I also wasn’t expecting cold water and desert landscapes.

So I was, ok,  just here for the history. But… Somehow the people of Santorini turned a dry rocky deserty volcano erupted place with crazy high cliffs and rocky beaches down stupid curvey roads and with cold water to boot into a beautiful worldwide sought after vacation location.

And to top it off, they grow grapes here in such an interesting way that the plants basically water themselves. It doesn’t stop there, they have been making wine for 100s, 1000s of years.

The building decision was amazing too. So although Santorini has plenty of solid ground land to build on, they decided to build down the very high cliffs. And get this…instead of “streets” they decided to have pedestrian only walk ways and alleys that have stairs and curves and turns down the cliffs too.

And to make that attractive the architects designed the buildings with curves and domes, and painted them all white, with a splash of blue on churches!

Well it worked! And I am sold and in love.

Waiting for a ferry to Athens now, but will miss Santorini.

I learned things about myself. I can, although extremely scared, jump off the top of a 5k mountain, but walking down extremely steep, uneven gravely steps with no railing sends running away these days. Go figure, aging is weird.

ADVICE:

We were in Santorini in the late of May, but still it was chilly at nights and mornings. Maybe it is this way all summer long. Depending on the winc and cloud, it may be cool all day long.

The beaches are very hard to get to, but you must. I mean, you’re on an island…see the beaches. They are very rocky, the water is cold, and depending on the popularity there will be a place to eat, drink or lay on lounges. One in particular is really cool, not because it is most likely a beach beach, but the back drop cliff/sand walls are beautifully drastic. Nature has made art all on its own, so go see Vlichada Beach.

We tried to visit Oia, but it was too crowded. I recommend to stay in another town. We stayed in Imerovigli and looooved it. Will tell you more about our hotel there, and all the hotels we stayed in on this trip, in a future post. Do definitely go to the tiny cover fisherman village below Oia, Ammoundi Bay. It is Adorable with the best seafood! Warning, it is not easy to get to. We rented a car, and that helped. I recommend getting a car, only if you are ok driving crazy winding mountain roads. We saw all of the island though!

PS…Santorini is an amateur photographer’s dream. There are no bad photos here.

Thanks for visiting

MY GNOME LITTLE WORLD.

___________________________________________________

The Road to Rhodes

Posted: May 24, 2024 in Art, Travel
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Like the roads in Old Town Rhodes, it started off bumpy!

Our ferry was cancelled, so we had to drive 2 hour to get to another ferry spot, and then was told we had to wait 5 hours for the next ferry. Was a bit stressed, but things turned around qwhen I saw a colony of bunnies! They were just hanging out! And then better yet, Jim got us on an earlier ferry we were told was full. We were the last to get on, but all was right in our traveling hearts.

We stayed in the medieval area of Rhodes Town. It’s beautiful, with tiny streets going off in all directions made either of river rock or marble. Ancient rock walls line these streets. It’s just beautifully confusing. You can meander the tiny streets and alleys for hours, picking a street cafe to then people watch, when your feet and legs get weary.

We did our own tour of Old Town our first afternoon/evening, including a meander inside the palace.

Our second day we took a bus to Lindos, another cute but way way smaller town of meandering foot traffic only streets and alleys. We went straight up around 30 flights of hills/stair to the amazing Acropolis. Then we meandered down around 50 flights to the beach for lunch and a cold dip in the Aegean Sea. It was smart because we had a 20 flight up climb still to do and it kept us cool.

Our 3rd day we took sail on what I thought was going to be a nice big catamaran, but nope, Jim booked a pirate ship! It was not a pirate themed tour though, they did keep us well fed and had plenty to drink. There was no walking of planks either. We went to 3 wonderful spots to swim, we jumped off the front of the boat and snorkeled, although the water was beautifully clear and blue, there were no fish. I brought bread on the 2nd stop, we got a bunch of fish and snorkeled a bit more, but the water was sooooo cold it affected my body and I opted out of the last swim spot, but Jim jumped off the top deck and swam to shore. It was mostly overcast for the day, but we got some sun for the trip back to town

Our last day, we slowly made our way up to the Acropolis in town, which is nothing compared to the one in Lindos. And then after a 2pm lunch, we lounged, and then hit a museum for our last day!

ADVICE:

I recommend staying in the medieval part of Rhodes town. Our place, St. Artemois Boutique hotel was more than awesome. Attached to the old, maybe ancient, church St. Artemois. It has only 4-6 rooms only with a pretty courtyard. Made to order Breakfast was in the courtyard and came with our $125. a night fee. Maria is a gracious host too.

I’llSTILL ADVICE:

If you don’t like cold water to swim in, do not go to Rhodes in May, even late May. Even hot out some days the water was still freezing.

We found Rhodes town and Lindos kind of crowded at times, (of course especially with cruises) but the locals said it is nothing compared to high season, which starts in June.  I don’t know if the water gets warmer later into the summer, but the air does.

Also, I recommend Lindos, it’s definitely a workout but as far as history / ruins go its cool and with a beautiful view. Maybe go with a guide to learn more about it than the few informational signs we read.

We are off to Santorini now! Thanks for visiting…

MY GNOME LITTLE WORLD.

____________________________________________________