Med Cruise to Greek Islands

 Thira Port.

I have always dreamt of cruising the Mediterranean Sea; basking under the sun, enjoying the deep blue water and embracing the Greek islands. That would be a perfect holiday for me.

Last year I have gotten an opportunity to visit Greece and embarked on a mini adventure to 2 of world’s famous Greek islands, Santorini & Mykonos. The journey starts from Athinios Port in Santorini to Mykonos and then back to Athens.

Most Med Cruises cover many Aegean and Ionian islands, where one will experience breathtaking sceneries and be overwhelmed by Greek mythology and culture.

Oia town to view the famous caldera.

The blue dome church of Oia, Santorini

Santorini’s caldera was formed approximately 3,500 years ago due to a volcanic eruption which molded this beautiful island and its unique architecture, this also led to the famous myth – the Lost City of Atlantis. One place not to be missed in Santorini is Oia, which is voted to be the best place in the world to view sunset. It is renowned for its white churches with blue domes setting against deep blue Aegean Sea and perfected it with clear bright blue sky.

Most cruises take you to the island of white washed cube houses and narrow cobble stone alleyways; Mykonos. There are 3 key highlights for travelers and holiday makers alike; Petros the Pelican, a Mykonos mascot found in 1954. The Mykonos windmills, built by the Venetians in the 16th and is use to mill wheat. Last but not least the Little Venice; a place where you wind down as dusk sets in.

Petros the pelican.

Windmill of Mykonos.

Mykonos's Little Venice

There are other Greek Islands and Islets that you can visit while you are there, among them are Cretes, Rhodes, Paros to name a few. If you wish to experience a Mediterranean holiday, you can check out Med Cruises for more info.



Day 9 & 10 | McArthur Glen Designer Outlet

Day 9

We got an early flight out of Bucharest, I buffered this incase of any flight delay; and that we will still be able to catch it home (which is the next day dawn). PLUS to give Zali 1 day to cover Acropolis as he didn't manage to (being 3 days lesser then us girls). Everything went well, on time and no hiccup NOR strike. AMIN...

To avoid of being summon again, we decided to book the hostel taxi (splitting cost by 4pax kinda untung) to the airport. Why didn't we think of this earlier, bengap betui!

Our plan was that Zali will catch the Acropolis and us girls will be jalan-ing at Plaka, we will then meet up at Syntagma Square to catch the shuttle to McArther Glen Designer Outlet... tuk shopping sket sket. So, while Zali was discovering Greek early civilization, we decided to check-out the Acropolis Museum at the foot of Acropolis. Guess what? That day was FREE (AGAIN!!! cam na ler negara nih nak kaya, preee memanjang!)!

Few things I observed, the security "forces" (note I did not use the word GUARD) was all in black coat & tie, some with sunglasses,  and of cause a walkie. Serious look like CIA or something.

We felt that, if anyone were to knock down ANYTHING, they will rescue the artifacts before us. HAHHAHAHHA.....

The above 2 was how it suppose to look like then and now.They have a step by step on stages of Acropolis construction.

 

This is the cool part, one section of the museum is glassed so that one can view the archeology digging that is still going on. In fact, come to think of it, the whole museum MIGHT have built on an archeology ground. Cam na ler depa bina tuh agaknye.

Once we were done, we took the train to Syntagma Square to meet up Zali.

The shuttle came on time and took us here, rasa cam padang jarak padang terkukur looking at the scenery to the venue... wondering whether is it worth it ke dak masa tuh... hemm....  The selection was decent, what we wanted was there and murah, just don't compare to US FOS ler, but still murah banyak.The choice not as much though, but then again, if banyak pun; bukan ada duit nak nyopping. Wonder whether the Johor Premium Outlook looks like this dak?  I thought think brand was worth it, curi curi took some pics so that you guys can gauge.  Apparently, shirts like these; if it's new arrival, the cost will reach between RM500-800. Murah kan... I think this is 1-2 season backwards, but OK ler, cam ada orang nak perasan.  I bought this for work. Nasib masa ni tak da BF, else sure dah beli dah nih, murah tuh.  Tak beli ler kan hak ni, was waiting for Zali and Wahidah to finish their shopping. The bench was in front of this shop, snap pics je ler. As you know, am a travelholic not a shopaholic, sooo.... leh bosan gak masa ni. I shop ala-kadar jek. Some might beg to differ sure nye. Once we completed or should I say broke, we took the shuttle back to our hotel. We pecah pukal berbagai kat bilik and start packing as we have a super early flight the next day. Where to?  Balik Malaysia ler....!!!! (This is the Day 10 lerrr) Hyperlink credit : MrArthur Glen Designer Outlet

Day 6 | Mindblogging Mykonos

Don't ask me how I got to know or why I wanted to visit this island.

But I suspected because when I googled, HRC is also located in Mykonos. Hahahha.... Yup! I go where HRC is. Giler kan?

Been busy this week with the start of our new business quarter for FY12...sigh... now catching up with life. Psst.... I plan a give-away on the next blog entry... tunggu yek!

Well, we rode on a Hydrofoil from Santorini to Mykonos which took us approximately 2.5 hours to arrive (cool boat huh!) and of cos we were superbly excited as we landed on this island.... who wouldn't right? It's whitewashed buildings of which none of it were more then 2-3 stories height (al-kontot jek semua), turquoise Aegean Sea and clear blue sky perfected the scenery here. Personally, I felt it was nicer and warmer then Santorini (perhaps because I wasn't on honeymoon trip to Santorini kot...ehhehe.... (abit potong steam ler kan...kuang kuang kuang).

The cost for this Hydrofoil? RM230 / EU52, you can google randomly and it will always direct you the standard few liners, so you need not worry; all boats are safe (at least from what I see lar) and clean. But of cos, if there's a concern, do read the reviews; after all, everyone's expectations are different :)

Oh! Do note that the cost varies as it is base on the boat & speed that you wish, for us we felt we should pay slightly more to arrive earlier, else we loses time. There was also another worry as most site I read says that the boat are not on time, oh well.... it was true for this particular journey; it was 20mins or so delayed... so, ok lor.... (No, the sea wasn't choppy!)

This is the view from my room. Hemm... abit about where we stayed.

Remember in previous blog entry, we stayed at this magnificent hotel? Well, this time around we need to EXTREMELY CUT OUR COST (hahahhaha...... to recover the overspend!) hence we chose to stay in a hostel or to me was more of Bed & Breakfast (minus the breakfast actually, maybe I should say Bed & Grape ... hiihihi, She gace us a plate of grape from her orchard). I was never fussy of where I have to stay as long as it is clean and accessible. Betul tak travelholic sekian? Janji dapat jalan ndak?

And you know what, this was the perfect choice as it is a walking distance to EVERYWHERE. How good can this be, ngam mou? Those sophisticated hotels are located on the other side of the island and one need a car to the town... NEH!!!! It's ok, I stay here cheap cheap and near near so its easy peasy.

The cost? RM14 / EU3.2 per night. HAHHAHAH... real shocker huh! Click here if you need to see our costing. I did say, we need to cut cost! Kiasu or not?

How can you not fall in LOVE? Sigh.... quaint giler! We took a cab which I can't remember the cost (I doubt it hit EU10 per trip) to the hostel, GUESS WHAT? 5 MINUTES DRIVE, you can even walk!!! KID YOU NOT!!! But of cos, upon arrival; we wouldn't be able to get our barrings right plus it's located in the maze lane, you can easily get lost here. The risk is too much for us we figure.

We encounter a problem upon arrival at the door step, the hostel was CLOSE. BETUL!!! The taxi helped to call the owner and he said he will arrive in 5-10mins, ok lar, we wait jek. When he arrives, he said he had CLOSED DOWN his hostel because there was a family issue back in Athens and he is required to be there. In fact, he just arrived Mykonos 2 hours earlier because he did not receive any email reply from Wahidah with regards to his notification of hostel closure. Ntah betul atau tidak sebab Wahidah check email just before depart and tak da email from dia pung. Hem....

Anyway, he was responsible enough to rebook us with another hostel which was a walking distance at same cost, owner name - Maria and she was the sweetest person! (I tell you way later). Sooooo.... no regrets with this misscomm. YEAY! (Giler nasib baik, else mana nak cari tempat tidur, kene tidur kat tepi pantai kot, ala ala trip Fatt to Korea! Hehhehe... mencabou tuh).

After dumping our bags, apa lagi, we took a stroll to the sea front ie the town, YEAH! It was only this big. Easy peasy huh! If you claimed you got lost here, I be utterly SURPRISE!

We didn't even get any direction, pandai pandai jek... it is reallllllly easy!

As we have only 1 night here and the fact that we arrive at 2.40pm, hence we don't have that much time (depart via ferry at 2.15pm the next day) so we decide to dump our luggage, refresh and jalan jalan.

The Little Venice

The plan, we walk to the town and take pics here and there and look for Little Venice & the famous icon of Mykonos - windmill. And .... the windmill must be catch at sunset! That was my requirement! No other time but sunset okay! Dengar dak???

We arrives at the "hill" as the sunset approaches.... giler excited babe! This is how the city looks like during sunset! Beautiful huh!

And of cause, the windmill is not that hard to locate.

FOUND IT!

In fact, I found a prop as well (the girl).... I think her view is nicer from my angle, perhaps I should sell it to her hubby!?!? Hehhehe....

Sigh.... God is great huh! A simple sunset can give a different impact and mood to scenery and human alike.

We were told by the cab driver that we MUST catch Petros - The Mykonos Pelican (a VERY HUGE Pelican). He is always seen in the morning when the fisherman comes back from their fishing trip with their daily catch. And we must be there by 8ish... Apa lagi, esok pagi set jam awal awal ler.

We woke up around 7ish, did a quick caribou shower (mandi kerbau ler tuh, rasa nye the guys tak mandi kot!) and walk to the market (5mins walk... I told you everywhere is near!). Some cafe was already opened by then, serving hot yummy smelly breakfast.... lapou! We took a walk and lots of pic while waiting and wondering "where is our Mr. Petros the Pelican???!"

Hhehehe.... FOUND HIM TOO!

Wanna know the story?

Legend has it that more than 40 years back a Mykonian fisherman stumbled upon a wounded pelican. He was so moved by the pelican’s discomfort that he decided to take care of the Pelican, provided the cute creature with medication and once he regained his strength decided to set him free. But surprisingly, the Pelican did not become airborne to his destined abode. Instead he made Mykonos his home. With every passing day, the cute creature became the cynosure of all eyes and became a celebrity.

It came as no surprise that when the Mykonos pelican died way back in 1986, the whole of Mykonos went into mourning. It took a person of the stature of Jackie Kennedy-Onassis to come to the rescue of Mykonos’s grieving populace and the compassionate Jackie Kennedy-Onassis rightfully donated another pelican to the island, Irene. It is learnt that the Hamburg Zoo had also donated a pelican named Petros.

A few years back, there was an instance of another injured Pelican found in Mykonos by the local people who nursed it back to normal.They named the Pelican Nikolas. Now, in Mykonos, there are not one but three Pelicans that can be seen wandering about Mykonos’s harbor.

Then obviously we walk at every alleyway, turn at every corner, peep at every lane AND look what we found on the wall..... Interesting huh!

Even a cat have privilege of having their own network here.

OK, this is amazing.... I couldn't find a single dustbin wild walking in the town... and yet the alleys are clean... giler bersih! Then.... I found him... the dustbin collector... One hell of discipline folks here! Malaysian!?!?!

When I said alleyways, I meant alleyways... YUP! This small!

There's so many stuff to show you but I think the best way is for your to check out my Facebook album here.

Well, we have to rush back to the hostel to check out and take our bags for our next LOOOOONG ferry ride to Athens.

Remember earlier I said Maria was the sweetest soul here, she got her hubby to send us to the ferry port FREE. Sayang Maria!

She said to wait here for her hubby so as usual, I will roam around to snap few pics while waiting, these are the nicer houses here lar... but not for B&B sob sob..... And next, JENG JENG JENG... how the windmills look like during day time...

Carparks HAHAHHAHA...... not as nice huh! 1 min walks from Maria's place. Dekat gilos

Bye bye Mykonos, really hope to visit you again!

Hyperlink credit : Wikipedia, Greek.com

Day 5 | Santorini, Voted the Best Sunset In The World

I am in Olympic!!!!!

Olympic Air that is.... HAHHAHAHHA.... by the way, they give away nice & yummy chocolate.

You guys must be wondering, we must be rich taking a flight instead of boat/ship from Athens to Santorini right? Story mory sikit, when I made the decision (Yah! I was in charge of all "big" transportation and Wahidah handles the accommodation - that's how we split our chores), if I remembered correctly the boat (ermm... perhaps we call it ship cos it's really huge) takes more then 7 hours from point to point (click here for more detail) which cost us RM155 p/pax (diff liner, diff speed, cost differently). I figure a flight taking only 50mins which cost RM276 will buy us more time (6 hours more) in Santorini as we only be spending 1 night here. At the end, it's cost versus time and time won. I guess at times we need to be practical lor.

Oh yah! I book my flights via Expedia as it was cheaper at that point of time. Of cos occasionally I book directly with the airline lar.

As a sweet friend volunteered to treat us ladies to a 1 free night in Santorini, I "assume"; Santorini will be managed by them lar.... after all, the island is fairly small. No trains, subways etc, only buses - easy peasy kan. So, panic giler they all sesampai airport, baca map cam nak rak camna pi hotel. Heheheh... kesian and kelakar ler pulak. I will cite their outcome and thoughts on the trip. Very interesting I must say.

We took cab which cost us EU15 from airport to hotel which is less then 10 mins away (seriously, luckily we split the cost 4 way, else memang leh kopak!). How the hotel look like, cost and view will be storied towards the end of this entry yah. Be sabou.

This is a must share, this is actually a fridge magnet and abit mahal but since I collects fluffy fridge magnets too; I just must have this lar kan! And the guys sombong tak nak beli yet but ended up with no magnets from Santorini (at all). YUP! None! Kelakau giler, tuh ler, procrastinate and dok pikiq lama lama sapa suruh. Picky ler lagi! By the way, magnet CUTE kannnnnn!!!!

This one, Zali excited giler, cos Pontian town is in Santorini. (Pontian is a town in state of Johore located in Malaysia).

I read about this cable car but it doesn't sound at all impressive in fact it was so hard to get more info aside from the cost. We stumbled on the signage to go the cable car station so we decided to check it out (naik atas ler gak), of cos along the way was caldera view and shopping lanes (click here for more info on caldera) which is breathtaking.

It cost about EU4-4.50 per way and you can only go up either via cable car or donkey at EU5/=.

Once you reach the bottom/port, there's nothing much to see, well.. you CAN take some of the island ride from here. And since we only have today for sightseeing the tomorrow leaving to Mykonos, we decided to forgo the island hopping. Rationally all the islands are beautiful and not to be missed, but can we cover the whole island on Aegean Sea? I figure we can't lor... sooo... opted it out. Sedih ler gak kan... abih nak buat cam na, cuti 2 minggu jek.

Nih bodyguard kiterang, check out the water... everywhere looks like this okay! The water is crystal clear, felt like jumping in!!!! GERAM!

Then we headed to... yup! You've guessed it! Oia (pronounce as Ia), this is where the most beautiful Caldera located, apparently it IS said to be the MOST BEAUTIFUL sunset in the world. Wallahuallam... To me, if you are with you love one, anywhere is the MOST BEAUTIFUL sunset ler kan. Hehhehe..... But, it is superbly beautiful even though I wasn't here during sunset.

Thus.... there's so many wedding couples come here for their wedding album, I asked the planner and the news is that most of them are from China. In fact, 27 couples stayed at our hotel. Meaning.... KAYA!!!! (Rich!). WOW!

How to go about here? You need to get to Oia from Thira or Fira town bus stop/terminal which cost around EU1.60 or so, the journey took 30-45mins and it goes thru the mountains overlooking the sea and what I believe either a vineyard or olive farm. A very scenic ride for sure.

First thing when we reach Oia was this Proton shop, amboi!!! Side business ker En. Proton kite? Hehhehe....

We asked for direction (in general, following the crowd will do ler), and the tourist info counter at the bus stop happily told us tourist... "turn here, go straight, turn there, then you see the caldera... yeah! That's where the blue domes are". I guess, she gets the same question 10000 times a day. Hahhahha.... As we go upwards (Yeah! UPWARDS).... we did few stops here and there to take picsss and picssss and more picsssss.....

Then woe behold!!!!!! You see it??? There... the Aegean Sea, the caldera, the blue dome, the most beautiful place in Greece! I have been here, done that! WOO HOOO!

I believe the below is one of the popular scenery pic to all tourist.

Donkey is everywhere... like everywhere.... it's hard to miss them.

It will take you about 1-2 hours to reach this nice site and of cos shorter time if you do not stop everywhere to looksee-looksee and take those awesome view pic. Not sure whether is it a good idea to overnight here as I imagine it will be very quiet at night. Oh yah! So, we stayed near the town and airport (Thira/Fira).

OK! Next, about our hotel. We stayed at Volcano View Hotel & Villa.... I really need to thank our dear friend, it was the absolute best (but Bucharest bed was nicer lar) view hotel I ever stayed in my WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE.

This is my little room facing the sea.... oh yah.... cool huh!

This is my hotel view, all rooms are facing the sea. I suppose I do not need to describe in details, pic says a 1000 word right :)

I checked out shortly after this pic was taken. Sigh.... next island - Mykonos.

For more pics, please stop by my Facebook link :
Athens click HERE
Aegean Island click HERE

Hyperlink credits : Wikipedia & Volcano View Hotel