Don't Stop Believing : Greece

My family trip is Greece will be a vacation I will remember forever.

Kate and I arrived from India and were greeted by my father at the airport with a backpack of ice cold beers. After travelling from India --> Russia --> Paris --> Athens, over the span of almost 36 hours, we needed that beer!
That night we ate dinner at a beautiful restaurant with white linen table cloths, proper cultery and waiters tending to our every need, as we stared at the beautiful Acropolis.
It was a dramatic shift in culture and sceenery but Kate and I welcomed it with open arms.

Together the three of us explored all the ancient monuments of Athens while we waiting on my Dad's girl friends arrival. Once Diane had joined our threesome we head out to the beautiful island of Santorini. (It is on the map, above Crete but it is very small).

Santorini is one of the most stunning places on earth I have ever seen and definitely battles with my number one spot, Gili Air in Indonesia. We spent a few days in Santorini watching gorgeous sunsets, drinking cheap red wine, laying on black/red sand beaches and absorbing the never ending beauty of Oia. If you ever come to Greece I highly recommended going to Santorini especially the area of Oia.

The next island we conquered was Crete.
Crete is a much bigger island with many more places to see but doesn't compared to Santorini beauty wise (in my opinion anyways). We started our journey on Crete in Hersonissos to celebrate Kate's Birthday....and celebrate we did! :) Kate and I found an amazing place to stay that night; cheap, large rooms, full kitchens and a free bottle of wine on arrival. Definitely our kinda spot. My parents took the room above us and we spent a few nights there laughing, chatting about life and catching up on the balcony over red wine and olives.
After our dose of Hersonissos we headed off to Georgioupolis, home to the longest, white sandy beach on the island of Crete. We spent a few days there simply relaxing on the beach and reading the various love novels Diane found. Close to Georgioupolis is a little town where we connected with our neighbours from Winnipeg whom were visiting their home town. They live two doors down from us yet I had never officially met them. Our encounters were limited to the occassional drive by wave. It is an interesting world when you are meeting your neighbours from home, for the first time, in a remote town on a Greek island. They are great people whom we enjoyed a delicious dinner with and many laughs and perhaps too much raki (traditional Greek liquor).

From Georgioupolis we continued to drive to the west end of the island hitting up almost every major town along the way. We went from Georgioupolis to Chania, to Kissamos, and then back to Rhythmom and finally back to Hersonissos were it all started. In each place we spent a few days getting to know the area and exploring the local sites. We took a boat ride around the end of the island by Kissamos and saw a beautiful lagoon with goregous crystal blue water. We climbed many mountains to view ancient rocks, no wait,... I mean ruins, and rode ATVs around Santorini. We ate the most expensive sushi I have ever had. Kate and I went out to a rock bar one night with my Dad and practiced our air guitars. We shopped, we danced, we stuffed ourselves full of Greek food and wine, we laughed, we explored, but most of all we simply got the chance to spend time together. After six months of being away from home seeing my family refreshed my soul and relieved any bits of home sickness that had started to reside in my heart. In so many ways I am blessed with two fasntastic parents. They love me unconditionally and willingly travelled around the world so they could hug their daughter.