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Yasu, from the Greek Islands!
This was our vacation from our vacation, so we spent most of our time on the Greek Islands relaxing and hanging out at the beach (and, as you can see from the picture, we do mean "hanging out!") Because we arrived a month later than we'd originally planned, we completely missed the wild, crowded tourist season. Also contributing to the subdued climate was the fact that the terrorist attacks on the U.S. caused fully 50 % of the tourists to cancel their bookings here, according to one tour organizer. Even though it was a much quieter experience than expected, we made the most of it and had a truly memorable time!

JOE: We divided our time here between three islands: Samos, Santorini and Crete. And to get around, we broke a bunch of our transportation rules. Earlier in the trip, we had promised ourselves we would not even take a taxi; that we would go everywhere by public transportation. Instead, during our stay on the islands, we ended up taking three plane flights (because the ferry was making Jenni incredibly sick). We also took taxis, rented a car and even paid to ride a mule! But these budget busters were calculated and well worth the financial hit for our tour of this enchanting part of the world.

JENNI: On the short hour-and-a-half ride from Turkey to Samos, something happened to me that I thought happened only in cartoons - I turned green! I thought I would die from seasickness, if such a thing can be a cause of death. And I even had on my little wristbands that are supposed to combat seasickness! Apparently not in the Aegean Sea. On Samos, we spent very little time - less than a day, actually. I don't even know what Samos has to offer, really. This was just a place to spend the night on the way to Santorini, where the most fabulous sunsets are reportedly found.

JOE: Yeah, Jenni's voodoo wristbands just didn't work their magic this time. So it was off to Santorini by airplane. This is arguably the most beautiful of the Greek Islands. Originally populated by the peaceful Minoans in 3000 BC, it changed hands many times over the thousands of years. At one time it ended up in the possession of the Venetians, which is why the island is still popularly known by its Venetian name (Santorini) and not its Greek name of "Thira". Santorini used to be a circular island. That's until a huge volcanic eruption in 1600 BC that blew half the island into the air and probably ended the Minoan civilization. Now the island is in three parts: Santorini, Thirasia and a volcano. The force of the explosion created huge tidal waves, caused earthquakes and threw ash all over the Aegean Sea. This event may have buried the famous "lost continent" of ancient Greek history. Some researchers have suggested that Santorini could be the source of the legend of "Atlantis"!

JENNI: We stayed in the beach town of Kamari, right along the beautiful black volcanic sand beach. It was sort of eerie here, because most of the restaurants and hotels were closing up shop for the season. Our own hotel was closing down before we intended to leave, so we planned to look for another place to stay as soon as we could. We basically had the place to ourselves. Everything was empty! And the clerks and waiters and shopkeepers were ready to get outta town, it seemed. They appeared incredibly uninterested in anything Joe and I had to ask, order, buy, or sign up for. The one person who gave us the time of the day explained it was because they were all tired and looking forward to the end of the tourist season. She said she's been working every day since April. I suppose working that long and answering the same questions every day from tourists would make me a little testy too…but this chilly reception is a long way from the warmth of the Turks!

JOE: It was like getting to a party at 4 o'clock in the morning. The best of the festivities were over and the hosts were tired and wanted everyone to go home. Which was fine with us because we were determined to spend most of our time lounging around the beach and trying not to bother any shopkeepers. However, we did manage to set aside one day for taking a tour of the island. Around 9 o'clock in the morning, we crowded on to a big bus with about 100 other tourists. The tour guides provided an introduction in four languages: Greek, German, English and … "Scat." Actually, the fourth language turned out to be Danish, but it sounded a lot like "skiddley-be bop scoob-delly-ah-ba-doh," which, of course, is "scat," also known as improvisational jazz singing. Joe tried to sing along but was roundly booed. After a twisty drive down the side of the mountain (in a giant tour bus!), we were dumped out at a port where we boarded a replica of a 19th century sailboat. The boat took us for a short ride to a close-up look at the volcano. (Jenni didn't get so sick this time…the seas were calmer.) After a 20-minute steep climb, we got to the top of the volcano where we could actually see steam escaping from holes in the rocks. That's me on the volcano wall in the picture on the wall. Afterwards, we climbed back in the boat and jaunted over to some hot springs caused by the volcanic heat, where we jumped into the water with a few other swimmers and rubbed warm mud all over ourselves. Back at the boat, we dried off and sailed to the other side of the island where we climbed another steep hill and ate our picnic lunch of bread, cheese, meat and olives in complete solitude on a windswept patch of an olive garden overlooking the Aegean Sea. Only the braying of a nearby donkey broke the silence of this breathtaking, tranquil scene.

JENNI: After lunch, and back down the steep hill, our boat took us back across the water to the main island of Santorini. We faced another steep hill, but our now-wobbly legs couldn't take it. This time we rode uphill on the backs of mules! The cliffs were sheer and potentially murderous, but the mules turned out to be very sure-footed so we made it safely to the top in no time. At the top of the cliff lies the picturesque town of Oia. We wandered around the shops and narrow alleys of Oia for about an hour, before finding an ideal café on the western tip to sit and watch the sunset. We parked at a tiny table and took turns taking pictures and toasting ourselves over a bottle of wine, and watched one of the most glorious sunsets on earth. Such a dreamy evening…and we slept like rocks that night after that full day. But it was now time to move on, since our hotel was closing down. We've opted to go to Crete, since most hotels on the beaches at Santorini are ghost towns, and the weather was getting downright chilly. We've chosen to go to Plakias, a small town on the southern side of the island, smack in the middle of the coastline overlooking the Libyan Sea. We're thinking that Plakias will be warmer.

JOE: And it is! It's glorious our first few days there - hot sand, warm sunshine. Relaxation! Our Plakias experience consisted mostly of waking up late, doing a little exercise, and then going to the beach to lie in the sun. In the late evening we would eat dinner at a restaurant and then go home and get to sleep early. Our only stress happened when the waiter took too long to bring our dinner. Every day on the beach we'd pay for our umbrellas, park near the naked sunbathers and then just soak in the rays. On cue, the donut man would walk by, yelling out in his thick accent: "Donuts. Get your donuts. We got chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and Vee-ahgra!" After nearly a week of this very unchallenging schedule, it started to rain and got a little chilly. That meant we couldn't go to the beach, so all we could do was sleep all day. Needless to say, we both got a little stir crazy. Finally, the skies cleared up and we felt comfortable renting a car (when it was raining we didn't want to drive on slippery roads along those harrowing cliffs!) and we ventured out away from Plakias for some sightseeing, starting at the Imbros Gorge.

JENNI: With clear skies, a bite in the air, and pent-up energy from doing absolutely nothing for a week-and-a-half, we were ready for some activity! So we decided to visit the Imbros Gorge (a gorge is a narrow pathway between two very tall cliffs.) The Imbros Gorge is accessible by way of a winding, twisty, narrow lane along the edge of very sharp cliffs. There are no guardrails, but there are rather pretty little dollhouses lining the sides of the skinny little roads. The tiny houses have candles and pictures in them. Sort of like a memorial. No, exactly like a memorial! For everyone who has died on these treacherous roads? It's creepy in a beautiful way, to see all these "God's little mailboxes" as Joe dubbed them along the most dangerous of roads.

Almost two hours down the road, we reached the Imbros Gorge, got a bite to eat at the tavern (conveniently and expensively placed right there at the foot of the gorge) and set off. It's a simple climb, slightly uphill, which is good since the views were so spectacular we couldn't watch our step all that carefully because we were always looking up in awe. It was also peaceful and quiet, not too hot, and we passed lots of people coming down from the top. (Turns out that you have the option of getting a ride to the top then walk down to the bottom going only downhill. Hmmmm.) About halfway to the top, or an hour's worth of climbing, we came across a "checkpoint." Surrounded by goats and goatskins, it looked anything but official - more like an ingenious entrepreneur looking to make a few bucks off tourists. But apparently it was legit, charging a fee imposed by the municipality's sanitation department. It's still a sleazy way to make a buck, so we decided not to pay. We turned right around and walked back down. Near the entrance, we fell prey to the little Taverna Grandma who lured us inside with tea and orange juice. She also plunked down little spinach pies, which we thought were free. But she ended up charging us for them later. A sort of underhanded sales technique, it turns out. The short pit stop cost us right about $10 - highway robbery! And the old man appeared irritated when we wouldn't buy his crappy little T-shirt for another $10. We were mollified only by the engaging presence of their dog, cats and children, who were a real delight. All in all, the trip to the Gorge was beautiful and well worth it, despite the many off-putting attempts to make a buck.

JOE: All in all, our Greek Island adventure was much more subdued than the one we'd expected because we simply got here very late in the season. Gone were the crazy parties and massive crowds of tourists that usually give the experience much more vibrancy and fun. But we made our own party and had unique experiences because of the small crowds. For example, it would have been impossible to find a secluded beach during tourist season, but we found a gorgeous little sliver of sand and rocks that we will always call our own. We also picked bright marble-like stones off the surf and had a jeweler turn them into necklaces.

Our down time here on the islands was priceless. And, because it almost got monotonous, it had the interesting effect of getting us excited about doing some more sightseeing! Athens, here we come!