I left off after the first night in Mykonos, well in a word Mykonos is a bit disappointing.  Expensive, not much to do during the day other than walk around town or go to a beach.  Food is subpar, bars are hit or miss.  I would imagine if you came here with a boat load of cash it would be fun, touring the town buying jewelry and buying overpriced drinks at night. I’ll let the photos tell the story.

Delos, an ancient Greek seaport was a bit interesting, it’s quite amazing walking the same roads ancient Greeks did, a very interesting trip.  Amazingly it was not too hot out, a nice cool breeze; the island has a small museum and a juice bar.  Again I will let the photos tell the story.

Well that just leaves Santorini, I am a bit behind on the blog but will try to get the details of Santorini in.  Mykonos was forgettable which explains why I chose to let the pictures do the talking.  Santorini is an amazing place, we even rented a car and explored the island, but that is for another entry.  Until then, adio.

So where my last post left off… The Ouzerie; after going back to the hotel and taking a nap we decided call a cab instead of taking the metro back into the Plaka. There is a particular place I read about “To Kaperia”, a low key, authentic ouzerie. We hop into the cab and the driver has never hear of the place (awesome), he turns to his GPS and punches in the address, sure enough it’s there, down a small side street. After a short trip through Athens, past the Embassy, the Temple of Zeus, Hadrian’s Arch then our stop. To tell you the truth when I first saw the place I was a little skeptical, the placed looked a bit sketch, I sucked it up and decided to give it a chance. We decided to sit on the street at a a stretch of dimly lit tables. We sit down and we are greeted by a goofy looking short old dude … I did my best to keep a straight face. We glance over the menu and decide on drinks, a bottle of Retsina and of course a bottle of Ouzo. Let me explain what Retsina is; basically its a normal dry white wine, what gives Retsina it’s unique flavor is the Pine tree resin that is used to seal the barrels that the wine is aged in. The flavor of the resin leeches into the wine and gives it a odd but enjoyable flavor. OK, tangent over … back to dinner. Much of the usual, eat, drink, talk, get drunk. Long story short it was pretty damn good. Definitely would recommend this place. Tomorrow is a half day, so the plan is to visit the Archaeological Museum and then walk through Thissio and lunch in the Plaka.

The next day the plan went well, Museum was nice, a bit overwhelming though. After the first hour there I grew tired of looking at statues could have used a break but I pressed forward and tried to see all I could. Thissio, a bit of an odd place, not incredibly touristy, there are street musicians and performers. Mostly small drink cafes, places you can get a good frappe. Thissio is along the perimeter of the Acropolis park and is the location of the ancient agora (marketplace). We stopped at a cafe and both had a frappe, then decided to walk around the Acropolis and then into the Plaka to Vyzantino. I can’t stop singing praises for this particular restaurant, the waiter remembered us and immediately seated us. At the end of the meal he even gave us a free dessert, Halvas, I liked it but Sunja didn’t; maybe because it was free that I enjoyed it or maybe because it was not as sweet as traditional desserts was. Who knows, as far as I know I like Halvas, add that to my short list of desserts. Now to get to the airport, time for Mykonos.

After about 3 hours of “traveling” for what was a 20 minute flight we land in Mykonos. The airport is rather small and only consists of a small departure waiting section and a two carousel baggage claim. We walk out and were promptly shoved into a packed cab. OK, not so much shoved but we were able to find a cab quickly, but the driver packed us three wide in the back seat of a Mercedes e-class, needless to say this was not comfortable, but was expected as the guidebooks warn you of this (*** tangent **** Frommer’s travel guides are junk, it has led us wrong every time we tried to get information from it). After a short ride we are at our hotel, The Vencia. This place is amazing, the views are beautiful, the rooms comfortable and modern, crazy infinity pool overlooking the hill the hotel is on and the piece de resistance is the shower in the bathroom, man it kicks ass. We are tired and don’t feel like venturing onto Mykonos town after sunset and decide to order room service and enjoy the first day here. I finally got my grilled octopus and boy was it good, the feta cheese is also really good.

After a good nights rest we go to the lobby and eat our complimentary breakfast, nothing special, breads, cheese, meats, eggs. After breakfast we ask the receptionist about a shortcut into town that she mentioned the night before. After a quick explanation we are on our way, let’s see what all the hype is about.

Unfortunately I am tired of typing again, hopefully I have Internet access in Santorini.

Day two, I’m determined to make up for the poor showing the night before, I wake up at 5 AM and begin my research, by the time the sun rises I have a plan for my day.

• Take the Metro to Omonia station and want south to the Agora, or the Central Market.
• Walk to the Plaka and visit Brettos (more on that later).
• Have much at a real Greek restaurant.
• Climb the Acropolis.
• Hang out at an Ouzerie.
• Take the Metro back to my hotel.

I’m usually not the one to plan, but I wanted to make the most of my two days here so I sucked it up.

I sat around waiting for my Sunja to wake up, which she finally does at 8:30 AM, it was time for my master plan to take effect. We ate breakfast and began what began a daily walk to the metro. After a few stops and a connection we were at Omonia Station, the north of Athinas St. After a few minutes south and a detour at pigeon shit central (Omonia Square) we were at the Central Market.

This place is a meat lover paradise, whole carcases of lamb, pork, any meat you desire. Butchers chopping up meat while at the same time trying to drum up business, shouting at the top of their lungs, urging passersby to choose their product over the competition’s. The market has produce, meat and fish sections. If you like olives the stands here will make you happy. Many varieties and you can try them all. One thing to keep in mind though, with all this raw meat comes a scent, some may like is some may not. Sunja could not take the scent so we walked as quickly as we could through while taking in as much as we could.

OK, Plaka round II …. I am determined to redeem myself after last nights showing. I navigate the streets and find Brettos; OK this place is cool, they make their own Ouzo. You can sit down and order wine, ouzo and raki among other spirits, The Ouzo is top notch but I was won over by the Raki; some of you may have watched Anthony Bordain and remember his experience with Raki. True, this thing is like rocket fuel but I like the flavor; it is made from grapes just like Ouzo but it lacks the anise flavor that gives Ouzo its licorice flavor. The lack of this flavor lets the grape flavor come forth, but I did not expect to taste raisins, a subtle raisin flavor that I was surprised that I liked. After a few glasses of Raki I was on my way to find my lunch destination.

A bit buzzed I find my way to Vyzantino, a restaurant recommended by many locals, this was for a reason, the food is good. I ordered the fried sardines and an octopus salad, AMAZING. It may have been the beers I had thrown back or the Raki that was still affecting the firing of my synapses but I thought the food was superb. Definitely check this place out if you are ever in the area.

OK, the acropolis. You all know it, when you think Athens, you think of the Acropolis. For one thing you don’t have to ask where it is, it dominates the landscape of Athens no matter where you are. I knew it would be a tourist trap but I could not leave Athens without seeing it. I had planned to make the hike later in the afternoon but as luck would have it it was 2pm and we happened upon the parks entrance. At that point I made up my mind that I would make the hike then not later as my master plan dictated. We bought our tickets and began the ascent to the top of the hill… man it was hot out there; the hill was steep, the steps slippery (really watch out and don’t bust your ass) but we finally made it. There we were standing in front of the Parthenon, what an impressive structure, it’s amazing that we are more advanced than the Greeks because it boggles the mind how this thing was not built without modern machinery. To say the least, this is a must see and can only be appreciated standing in its shadow. One thing that was upsetting was that the whole thing was surrounded by scaffolding as repairs were being made; it took away from the beauty. On the way back down we took another route, I felt rather idiotic for taking the path I did before, this one was a breeze; marble steps instead of dusty slopes, even a bathroom and a drink kiosk. After all that I was tired and was dying for a shower so we put the ouzierie plan on hold and headed back to the metro station to take the metro back to out hotel.

I’m also tired of typing this novel so until tommorow…