and fortunately, when you prepare a feast for 25, there's usually enough left over for the two temporally challenged stragglers. We eventually arrived at the beautiful Villa Agnanti which would be homebase for the next two weeks, and dined on a smorgasbord of Greek cuisines, which had escaped the clutches of the ravenous and playful four kittens and their doting father which came with the place.
The villa was a bit more remote than anticipated, but this didn't stop anyone from making day trips into Athens. Our first was the day after we arrived where we spent the night with Kate's siblings; her brother, Chris, and his wife, Collins, who had a hotel room for their final night in Greece (Chris had to get home for a class) and invited the two of us as well as Kate's sister, Stephanie, over for a slumber party.
We had actually gone into town earlier that day to check out the National Museum, the Plaka, and supposedly the best tyropitas in the city (which were tasty and quite different, but not quite the best any of us had ever had). After a failed attempt to check out the changing of the guards at the Parliament, we went out for a huge dinner overlooking the town, then the young whippersnappers amongst us (the aforementioned siblings and myself) headed out for a night on the town. Taking in the lively bar district overlooking the Agora.
We went to the airport with them as Stephanie's boyfriend, Kyle, and Tara's (one of the cousins) husband, Brian, were both arriving that day. Both got in relatively on time, but only Brian's bag made it. This was something of an especial consternation as the following day was picture time.
Jim and Elizabeth had arranged for a photographer to come by to snap some family portraits at the villa (which makes sense when you have this kind of view) and we were all supposed to be in white shirts and jeans... but Kyle only had the khaki shorts and colored shirt he rode in on. Luckily he was able to borrow some clothes and the pictures went ahead as coordinated as planned.We soon ventured back into Athens for a day of sightseeing that just so happened to be "Every Historical Sight in Athens is Free Day." Weird, but true. Free admission, therefore, to the Temple of Jupiter, the ancient agora, and, of course, the Acropolis. So we climbed up to check out the Parthenon and all its neighborly temples and
ruins... or at least the ones that weren't completely disassembled so that they could systematically catalogue each and every marble block, replace those in poor condition, and reassemble at some later date in a "restored" state. The temple we missed out on was that to Athena Nike, the goddess of victory, but is this really a "victory" (ha!) of preservation science?Also in Athens, we went by the sprawling meat and fish market, the neighboring - and considerably less unpleasantly odiferous - fruit and veggie
market, we strolled back through the tourist market of the Plaka, made it to the Olympic Stadium, and actually caught the ridiculous changing of the guard.We had a day or two back in the vicinity of the villa where we explored the local culinary delights of Marathon's best lamb restaurant, the nearby beaches of Nea Makri, and just the peace and quiet of the villa itself.
Some memorable highlights from this included teaching the card game Yaniv to everyone, cooking lots of food, diving into the icy - but color-changing - pool, and watching baby Gregory stuff his face with bananas.After a couple days of laying low, it was time to venture back into the city again - this time straight to the port of Piraeus to catch a ferry out to Santorini. We were all sort of dreading this 10 hour ferry ride, but it turned out to be quite pleasant actually; we had tons of space, we were covered but still outside, and the day was beautiful. We finally arrived in late afternoon, which gave us enough light to marvel at the sheer,
volcanic cliffs surrounding the port, as well as be terrified by the transfer driver's handling of said cliff edges. We did, however, arrive alive and well to the Villa Manos hotel, which was beautiful and cheap, at about 15 euros/person/night for double rooms, and has one of the best owners we have ever encountered, Poppy. Anyway, we checked in, regrouped, and headed out for a dinner (of Greek food, obviously)at 000, which ended with a free round of ouzo for the whole table. As most of the diners were Mormon, however, most of that ouzo would have gone to waste if it weren't for the valiant efforts of Kate, Stephanie, Kyle, and myself. While the ouzo soaked in, we soaked up a beautiful Fira sunset over the caldera that likely was once Atlantis.
We then headed out with Stephanie and Kyle for beer and views over the lights of Fira with the added bonus of wonderfully cheesy renditions of The Girl from Ipanema and other elevator classics from the house band.
Our little tetrarchy slept in the following morning and got a late start to the day, which, paradoxically, led to a life-changing (or at least trip-changing) decision; namely, we rented ATVs.
For some reason, ATVs are extremely affordable on the island (30 euros for a 2 person ATV for 2 days - with a full tank of gas costing an additional 7 euros but lasting the whole time) and they really do change everything. Suddenly, transportation became an activity in itself.
We spent most the day riding around, taking empty back roads along the beach side of the island (as opposed to the volcanic cliff side) which allowed us to get off Santorini's well-beaten touristy track and stop whenever we saw anything that looked fun.
We also went to Oia, a particularly touristy artist's town that has the classic Santorini white and blue thing going on. But really, the main event was the ATVs and, by that evening, everyone in our group was so jealous the we all had ATV's - even Kate's parents - by the next morning. Our fleet of ATV's headed to the beach at Kamara, which, while lacking the stunning views of Fira and Oia, is a more laid back town with actual access to the water - something Kate's mom, Elaine, took advantage of to fulfill her dream of swimming in the Mediterranean (we know its the Aegean but close enough). After lunch on the boardwalk, we zigzagged up the mountain in an ATV caravan of arachnid proportions before heading back to the hostel and out to Fira for an evening of gyros and a new bar - this one with better prices... and the lovely aroma drifting up from the donkey path below.
But sadly, the next morning was go time. The ferry was around 2PM, so Kate and I took our ATV out for one last spin, out to a completely empty black sand beach, probably a
good alternative to fleeing disgruntled donkeys down the slippery and narrow donkey path, as Elaine and her sister did (if only we had pictures).
Back on the mainland, things were breaking up. First, Kyle flew home the day we got back, then Kate's parents and sister went the following day. We stayed on for a few more days but didn't venture much further than a couple walks to the nearby beach, preferring to spend our time by the pool,
playing with Kate's youngest cousins, having her cut my hair, or consuming the silly amounts of delicious food that is ever present at the best family gatherings. But all good things must come to an end and, after two weeks of family and luxury, it was time to get back on the road...
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