Onboard the Andrea Cay: September 2012

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Signing off... (for a few weeks)

Sandy, Andy, Jeff, Judy, Cindy, John and I are all suffering from culture shock, having been back in the real world now for almost a week. After one afternoon and evening in Athens, we agreed that we much preferred the peaceful beauty and friendly, laid-back atmosphere of the Greek Isles. Clearly showing the strain of Greece’s current economic disaster, this historic old city is showing signs of it’s crumbling infrastructure – there is trash and graffiti everywhere, the once beautiful parks are barren, and many of the famous historical sights are poorly maintained.

Our very brief visit was hindered by what we were told was a “festival” in the historic part of the city, which was completely closed for the day to all traffic, including taxis and buses. It was very difficult to get around to see the main sights and museums we had hoped to visit. We believe the “festival” was most likely a precursor to the violent protests that unfolded in the very same area the day after we left.

I want to let any loyal blog-followers know that you will not be hearing from us for a few weeks. We shall return to the Andrea Cay around October 10^th and work our way from Greece up to Montenegro and Croatia for our next adventure!

Friday, September 21, 2012

The Race to the (Greek) Finish

We are down to our last few days here in Greece, and have really packed in the activities! From Santorini, on Wednesday we cruised to Folegandros, a small, steep and rocky island of 600 people. The town sits 1000 feet above sea level and is accessed by visitors from the tiny port only by foot or bus. The small village is an oasis atop this bleak and arid island – flowers and trees deck the narrow streets of traditional white block houses, cafes, restaurants and a few shops. A large, beautiful cathedral sits at the highest point of the town and is another 15 minute hike, but was quite a disappointment since it was locked up tight when Cindy reached the top. That afternoon we were treated to some Greek beach nudity. Must be a reflection of our age… none of us participated or were particularly thrilled.

Thursday we spent on the island of Milos (pop. 4500), another dramatic, volcanic island with much to see and explore. The island is known for its wealth of minerals and was invaded by pirates for hundreds of years. We rented a couple pee-wee cars and set off, driving first to the main town of Plaka, which sits 2 ½ miles above sea level and has incredible views. From there, we drove to a well-preserved 1^st century AD Christian Catacombs. We took a tour down into tunnels that were built into the hillsides and where over 8,000 people were buried over a period of about 500 years. Our third stop on the driving tour was to a visit to a very dramatic and strange area of stark white pumice cliffs and beaches, emptying into the deep blue water. After returning the cars, we headed to the south side of the island where we anchored for the rest of the afternoon and explored stunning colorful, rock cliffs and formations jutting out of the water by tender and kayaks. (P.S. Yes… the famous Venus of Milos was found on this island and is now in the Louve.) Milos afforded kayaking, rock diving and cool cave exploring opportunities.

We cruised for 7 hours last night and are now anchored off of mainland Greece at the island of Spetses. After the barren and stark landscapes of the Cyclades Islands, this one is much greener. Spetses means “piney” in Greek and the island is covered in aromatic pine trees. Today it is a fashionable resort spot for Greeks and for British ex-pats, and there is a ban on cars, except for residents. Most people travel around on mopeds and ATV’s (Sandy called these ATM’s…) so that is how we explored this island. It was a little scary at times, traveling on fairly steep inclines, negotiating the hairpin turns, and detouring on gravel roads to hunt down the recommended, off-the-beaten-track restaurant. We were rewarded with a gorgeous sea-side lunch, but had to curtail our wine consumption, in order to avoid any SUI’s (“Scootering Under the Influence”) on the way back.

After a final dinner on board tonight (top deck, wind permitting), we head to Athens tomorrow for an afternoon of touring and dinner at a restaurant overlooking the Acropolis. Then, on Sunday, we’re all heading back to the good old (or, I guess I should say "young") USA!

Folegandros

Cindy hiking to the top of the church at Folegandros
(and hoping to catch up with the black goat)

Jeffery finally came down out of his tree for lunch

Cindy and Andy climb to the top of the belltower
at a church on Milos

The first century AD Christian catacombs

John and Nancy at the amazing white cliffs in Milos

Another view of these incredible cliffs

Dramatic and colorful rock formations on the south
coast of Milos

Guess we can't quite fit through...

Cindy finds a studmuffin to kayak with

Sandy and Andy spelunking

Cindy cliff diving with perfect form

Get ready, get set, GO!

Motorcycle mama Cindy off-roading

The ladies modeling their new scarves

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Jewels from Judy

This blog brought to you by Judy, another guest aboard the Andrea Cay…

Change is an inevitable part of life and no one knows that truth better than the people of the Greek Isles. For centuries they have seen many changes. Empires and conquerors have come and gone and left traces of their individual cultures behind, but the essence and vitality of the Greek people has endured. The strength and flavor of Greece has survived it all.

On this journey we have visited many of the Greek Islands and every island stop has been similar in some ways and yet each has been as individual as a fingerprint. We’ve explored caverns, seen ruins, heard legends of love and betrayal. We’ve met people who were born on an isle and have never left the family home; staying to raise their children and their children’s children…an enduring legacy of family continuity.

We’ve unwillingly ridden donkeys up hundreds of feet of cliff faces, visited a small winery, and driven hairpin-turn roads, often lost and disoriented. Unable to agree if the next turn should be right or left, the one thing we can all agree on is that we have been totally charmed by the Greek people who are so welcoming to strangers. Perhaps we are the new hoard of invaders. And yet they still welcome us.

We spent two days on the island of Santorini, certainly one of the most well-known and beautiful of the Greek Isles. It’s precariously perched at the rim of a volcanic caldera (the hole in the middle when a volcano erupts and blows all the pressurized detritus out). When this volcano erupted thousands of years ago it created a tsunami which devastated Crete. It also resulted in the creation of a loose circle of islands of which Santorini is the largest. To get to the towns of Fira in the middle of the island or Oia at the north end, you must travel either by donkey or cable car. We chose the donkey ride. This resulted in Sandy vowing to join PETA both for the animal’s sake and so that she would never have to ride another donkey. Truthfully, none of us is eager to ever again experience “the essence of donkey” again.

The town of Fira is the largest island town. It was bustling with tourists. The streets were maze-like and seemed to go in all directions with no evident plan. There were many shops and varieties of wares for sale. A true market place atmosphere. There were even several spa-like fish pedicure places, but sadly, we ran out of time and did not get to experience the fish foot-nibbling.

Oia was another beautiful town which was accessible only by donkey or taxi. Our party was too early for the donkey experience and chose to walk up the steps to the town. The coup of this adventure goes to Nancy and me. We managed to snag a brand new Mercedes tour bus to take us up the long winding road to Oia while the rest of our party did the donkey poop two-step on foot for almost 300 steps. While smaller in scale than Fira, we voted Oia as one of the most picturesque places any of us has ever seen. The streets are smooth white marble – the houses and buildings white-washed and trimmed in a vibrant blue color. There is a huge traditional Greek Orthodox Church in the center of town and many outdoor restaurants placed just right for sunset dining overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

While in Santorini, John, seeking patience to deal with his unruly crew (us), entered an ancient church to pray for divine guidance. Upon entering the church, he found that it had been converted into a bar. At this point, John experienced a religious conversion of his own and we were all forgiven for our tardy and focus-lacking way. (We celebrated our redemption by joining him for yet another glass of wine.)

Santorini

Jeff and Judy donkey riding up to Fira

You were required to cable-car down the mountain
(much to Sandy's disappointment)

Houses built into the sides of the hills

Sandy and Andy

Cindy

Cathedral at Oia (Santorini)

100's of small shops

John's "church-bar"

...after the conversion

another incredible view

Pictures cannot begin to capture the dramatic scenery of the Greek Isles

The famous windmills of Greece (originally used for grinding corn)

The Andrea Cay anchored off Santorini

Launching the tender

And, one final picture of our favorite island

Sunday, September 16, 2012

The Journey Continues

It’s time to pay the fiddler… as consideration for the trip thus far, I have been assigned blog duty for today. This is Cindy by the way. I’m taking time off my busy schedule of reading, sun bathing, eating/drinking (which has morphed into a combined event), touring, and in general just living the HIGH LIFE. So far Greece ranks right up there with winning the lottery and getting your first big raise. Amazing weather, crystal blue water, scenery that gets better from one day to the next. And this all set against a backdrop of amazing historical significance.

We spent a day touring the ruins on Delos. Nancy has covered this in a prior blog. Very meaningful to consider we were walking the same streets as people thousands of years prior. After returning to the boat, we were awarded a little beach time by Captain Johnny. SOME OF US even braved the slightly cold Mediterranean water for a swim. The much needed beach fix was our first, and hopefully not our last. A fantastic dinner was cooked by Shaz (female chef extraordinaire/lovelier-looking half of new crew team…) After a few competitive rounds of “Speed Scrabble” (which is like Banagrams with scoring) we were off to bed. (Positive correlation between alcohol consumed and creative word usage.)

By the way, our first two nights included boat alarms that went off at various times in the middle of the night. I got up the first night, reviewed the computer screens on the bridge, and determined we were not sinking. We decided that if in the future there were middle-of-the-night alarms, but there was no water on the floor, we would just ignore it and go back to sleep.

Yesterday was spent in Mykonos. Euros flew out of wallets for mandatory shopping purchases, scooter rides, mid-day meals and beverages of choice (guess…) We toured this charming island at the right time for perfect weather and minimal other pesky tourists. Andy pointed out that all of the buildings in Greece are white, unless they are under construction (and sadly usually abandoned.) The town is very quaint, with blue shutters and doors, white steps, white paint around the stone streets, even white stairs. The streets were purposefully narrow to help the residents fight off invaders (and now to confuse shoppers.) We rented one scooter (2 wheels) and one ATV (4 wheels) and took turns cruising around the island. The slightly less coordinated riders were assigned the training wheel (ATV) vehicle. We roughed it through a self prepared taco dinner (crew night off!) then went back into town and closed down the discos. I think we got back to the boat around 4 AM. (anybody believe this last part..?)

We continued our journey south today and are anchored near Paros. Decided to add spelunking to our list of chores for the day. Tendered in and then toured a cool cave on Antiparos, the island next to Paros. (The Greeks have cleverly named their islands so that you have no prayer of remembering, pronouncing, or spelling them.) Of course we felt obligated to do our part to help the Greek economy by shopping a little more and making the mandatory lunch/beverage stop. Tom Hanks owns a home on Antiparos. Judy told the cab driver he was expecting us but no amount of Euros would convince her. Back on the boat for dinner, winds seem to be picking up a little tonight and we are off to Santorini tomorrow.

The country is beautiful; it has FAR EXCEEDED my expectations and we still have so much to see. The residents are lovely but they do all talk about the condition of Greece, what will solve it, what are the hurdles. Amazing parallels to our country in some ways. There is NO TV on the boat so we have been spared the political barrage that’s become normal right now in the US. News is sporadic and comes/goes with the internet. Captain Johnny has been forced to exceed his bed time on more than one occasion as he struggles to FIX the internet problem, participating in soul searching and heartfelt conversations with some poor tech support employee in the US who no doubt is applying for a transfer OUT of his job as I type.

All in all a wonderful trip thus far. Each day seems to exceed the prior which does not seem possible.

Delos

Cindy and Andy hike to the top of Delos

The famous windmills of Mykonos

Mykonos

Typical narrow, steep residential street of Mykonos

You'd never know this guy has a huge Ducati he rides at home!

Off to the races!

The town mascot of Mykonos

The caves at Antiparos (45 million BC)

411 steps to the bottom

Sightseeing at the top of Antiparos

Shopping in Antiparos

And... more shopping...

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

The Changing of the Guard

Saturday (9/8), Carol, Peter, John and I rented a car once again and drove around the southern peninsula of mainland Greece. We went to the port city of Nafplion (not too far from the Corinth Canal we passed through several weeks ago). The town sits at the base of very steep hills, surrounded by several imposing and well-preserved forts. The greatest "find" for us, was the local Saturday morning market, which must have had 70-80 vendors who sold everything from local fruits and vegetables, fish, flowers, nuts and candies, and even plastic bottles of the locally produced wines. We had a great time, and came back to the boat loaded with all sorts of wonderful fresh produce.

We also visited a 3rd century amphitheater at Epidavros, one of the most acoustically perfect in all of Greece. It seats 13,000 people and is still used for concerts and theatre productions today. (I will have to say though, they certainly were not the most comfortable seats.) We climbed to the top and really could hear people whispering from the center of the stage floor. It was really cool. Peter entertained us with a few choice political comments...

It was with great excitement we greeted our newest cruising guests Monday: Jeff & Judy, Sandy & Andy, and my sister, Cindy. They flew into Athens and took a 40-minute, high speed ferry to Aegina where we were anchored. With an equal amount of disappointment, we bid farewell to Carol and Peter, our longest-lasting guests/crew. We will miss them a lot, from Carol’s constant researching of the sites we visited, to Peter’s brilliant political commentaries under the influence of his scintillating “wine personality”. Hopefully, we can talk them in to re-joining us after they’ve had some time to recover from the demands of the last few months, which included many, many “watches” (day and night), boat cleaning, cooking, and restaurant selections, not to mention John’s abuse at the bridge table. We did manage to talk them into staying one extra night to party with our new arrivals, and a great time was had by all, with the help of a little Greek wine of course… (It’s still not our favorite, but it is growing on us.)

After giving everyone a lazy first day to get over their jet lag, we rented cars Tuesday and drove around the island, showing them our favorite sights from our first visit here 2 weeks ago. We visited the very large Ayios Nekarios Byzantine church and monastery, the remains of the 300+ small churches on the hillside nearby and the Temple of Aphaia. And of course, we had a big, fat, Greek lunch.

Today, we headed down to Hydra, to spend a couple hours in what I consider one of the most charming towns we’ve visited, and are now heading east back towards Mykonos. The Meltemi winds subsided this morning and we have a great forecast for the next 6 days, so we plan on visiting several new islands in that area.