Spotted a kid getting drenched by the port-side in Rhodes. She was just sitting there waiting for the high tide to come and splash her with water.
Note: This is a Black and White version of the original photo. I usually don’t alter my photos, but when I applied the B&W filter on Snapseed, I really liked the dramatic effect the water creates with the sun.
We spent the majority of our third week in Greece in Fira, Santorini relaxing after a hectic travel-filled first two weeks.
Wednesday, 27th June to Friday, 29th June: Fira, Santorini
We checked out of Fira Blue Horizon and found a better hotel at Hotel Thirasia, which was closer to the square. It had really nice hosts and a brilliant swimming pool. We camped here till June 30th. Some highlights from our stay in Fira:
Saturday, 30th June: Chorra, Ios
We kept most of our luggage in the hotel and checked out around noon. After grabbing a quick bite, we headed towards Athinas port to catch our ferry to Ios. Ios is a small island close to Santorini which is known for its beautiful surroundings and amazing nightlife. We reached the island around 5 pm and came to Hermes Hotel to spend the night. The view and the pool at the hotel is extremely good. We spent a couple of hours just staring into the sea view from the hotel. We swam for a bit, grabbed dinner and then chit-chatted/rested till midnight. After midnight, an Australian guy who was spending his summer at Hermes, took us out to show us the nightlife of Ios. The town was a 10 minute walk from the hotel, but it wasn’t all that difficult. We spent the next few hours hopping from cafes and clubs in the main town of Ios. It was pretty crazy to walk out of a club and see daylight outside when we finally exited the main town. We grabbed some breakfast and passed out.
Sunday, 1st July: Red Beach and Oia, Santorini
We checked out of the hotel at noon and took our 2 pm ferry back to Santorini. Our Rhodes ferry was to depart at 1 am the next day, so we had about 8-9 hours to kill in Santorini. We decided to rent a car and drive our way to the south end of the island to see the Red Beach. It’s a little bit of a hike off the main road but the beach is well worth it. It’s quite stunning to see the beach between the hills with vibrant red rocks. We left around 7 pm to pick up our bags from the hotel in Fira, and headed to Oia to watch the Euro 2012 final (Vamos Espanyol). Oia is a gorgeous city with its boardwalk along the caldera just makes you want to stop and never leave. After finishing the game, we headed back to the port to catch our ferry to Rhodes.
Monday, 2nd July: Rodos, Rhodes
Our ferry reached around 10 am in the morning to Rodos. As soon as you get off the port, you’ll be struck with awe at the heritage city of Rhodes. The walls, the castles, the turrets are quite well preserved. We walked through the old town a bit, caught some breakfast amongst squawking Macaws in the main square and then eventually headed to new town to check in at Hotel Parthenon City. As we didn’t sleep very well the last two nights, we passed out instantly and slept till 8 pm in the night. We roamed around the new town a little bit more, ate some dinner and then came back to discuss and divide work for the project before sleeping once again.
Tuesday, 3rd July: Rhodes
We spent the majority of Tuesday working out of a small cafe near the hotel. Internet is a consistent problem across Greeece with hardly a few if any cafes offering stable internet. We worked through the day and then ate some great food at the Oceanfront restaurant. The restaurant also has a stunning sunset view, so I highly recommend it for dinner. We went back, grabbed our laptops and then roamed around to find a cafe to work out of. We stumbled into one for the fanciest McDonald’s I’ve seen in my life. It was a complete modern McDonalds with plush couches and fancy chairs. As they had free Wifi, we worked out of there for a couple of hours before calling it a night.
We’ll be spending the majority of our time left in Rhodes. I love the city a LOT personally. They have the old town, the new town, beaches, the water, brilliant sunset and a ton of cafes around the area. We might do a weekend trip to Turkey as it is only an hour away by ferry!
Some epic pictures from our 30 days in Greece blog.
We spent most of our second week in Crete. After our excellent beach experience in Lygaria and others in week 1, we decided to check out other beaches and towns of Crete. Crete is the biggest island in Greece. It stretches for over 200 kms in width and 60 kms in height. We travelled mostly towards the Western and Southern parks of Crete and later headed to Santorini this week!
Wednesday, June 20 – Matala Beach
We got up late and decided to head to the beautiful beach of Matala. We reached there a little late in the afternoon and spent a couple of hours there. Matala beach has caves around the area that were used by Romans as tombs and Hippies as hangout spots. After a couple of hours of swimming and roaming around, we decided to head back to our friend’s parents (Monica + Yanis) place. We ate a really sumptuous fully vegetarian dinner. After eating such amazing Greek home food, we could never eat at a restaurant and have the same feeling again. We rested for the night and planned for the next day.
Thursday, June 21 – Agia Marina + Chania
We took some sleeping bags from Monica’s place and decided to head towards Chania and Agia Marina. Agia Marina is a great strip of beaches with nightclubs and restaurants on both sides of the road. We parked our car at Agia Marina and played some volleyball with some locals from there. We stopped on the way for Ice-Cream at Odysseys Hotel. That was probably the best Euro we would have spent in all of Crete. The owner, Katherina was so nice that she let us sleep on her beach in sleeping bags for the night (even though it was illegal). We wanted to sleep on the beach and although she had a hotel, she let us stay for free at the beach for the night. We put our bags in the car and then headed out to Chania for the evening. Chania is a beautiful city with an amazing old harbor. After an Arabic dinner near the harbor, we headed back to Agia Marina to check out the nightlife. Most of the clubs played American music and we stayed up till 4 am dancing and hanging out. Sleeping on the beach is a surreal experience with the stars over you. However, you do get woken up at 6 am with the burning sun!
Friday, June 22 – Elafonisi
After checking into the Odysseys hotel for the day, we rested a bit as we only got about 2 hours of sleep. After lunch, we decided to check out one of the most famous beaches in the world: Elafonisi Beach. On the way to the beach, we saw this nice monastery about 5 kms away from the beach. The route to the beach was quite treacherous and long, but it was all so worth it in the end. Although I don’t know Greek, I’m sure Elafonisi means Paradise. It has to be the most stunning beach I’ve ever seen in my life. We spent a couple of hours just lazing around and admiring the beauty before taking the long road back. Although the road and trip was exhausting, the views along the way and the beach itself are absolutely a must-visit if you come to Crete. We came back around 830 pm and the exhaustion from the trip and the sun made us sleep for about 12 hours!
Saturday, June 23 – Chania + Iraklion Concert
After leaving the hotel, we ate a quick bite at Chania before heading out to Iraklion again. On the way we stopped to give the sleeping bags to Monica and thank her for her amazing hospitality, and checked in again at Hotel Mirabello. Later in the night, we went to this brilliant open air cafe near Astoria cinema and met some people through Couch-Surfing. They took us to this concert where Imam Baildi was playing. They had a rapper, a classical female singer, two sets of drums, a guitarist and a bouzouki. The music was a great fusion of different cultures and we enjoyed the music till the wee hours of the morning.
Sunday, June 24 – Towards Santorini (Thira)
Woken up early to check out from the hotel, we ate a heavy lunch and headed to the port to take the ferry to Santorini. Reached the port and took the 6 hour long ferry. We were extremely exhausted, so we mostly relaxed in the ferry. Reached the port around 11 pm and headed to stay at Aretsou Villas in Perissa. Roamed around Perissa to eat and check out the beach before heading back to sleep.
Monday, June 25 – Perissa, Santorini
Spent a relaxing day at Perissa. Ate some good lunch, went to the beach, sat by the water and grabbed some great pasta. Later on, we ate some fiery dessert (literally, they had a firecracker on the dessert) and then rested for the night.
Tuesday, June 26t – Fira, Santorini
Woke up at noon as usual, and headed towards Fira. Fira is a gorgeous city nestled on the hills with a breathtaking view of the Caldera and the Volcano. Checked in at Fira Blue Horizon, a little away from the bustling city center filled with tourists. The weather in the afternoon was extremely hot, so we decided to head to the center only in the evening. The views from Fira are gorgeous and we spent a long time just admiring the views. Ate at this really really good restaurant called Stani. The Manouraki salad with Manouri cheese was exceptionally tasty. Roamed around the streets for sometime before heading back to our hotel.
The second week of Greece was much more relaxing and we spent a lot of time on beaches. Elafonisi has to be the highlight with its stunning water and silky white and pink sand! Come back next week to find out more about Santorini, Ios and Rhodes!
After a long cab ride to JFK and a 12 hour flight, we finally arrived in Athens!
Wednesday – Athens:
Landed in Greece at the airport and took the metro to our hostel. Dumped our bags and quickly headed out to the main square near Athinas street to grab some food. We had some great authentic Greek food at this charming restaurant called Attalos. The Tzatziki was especially quite good. Strolled around the city and went to this rooftop restaurant of Pella Inn. The view of the Acropolis from that place is just stunning. Spent an hour just admiring the view before passing out at the hostel.
Thursday – Athens:
Woke up and did the walking tour of the Acropolis with our guide George from the Zeus Hostel. He extensively covered every place in and around Acropolis providing us a lot of information about the history, culture and the mythology of the place. I highly recommend going for this tour. It gives you a deeper perspective of the sanctity of the place rather than just walking around. Scored the deal of the day by getting six bottles of one litre bottled water for just 50 cents and slept in for a bit. After grabbing a quick dinner, we went to see an Italian Opera in the Acropolis Theatre. The opera was OK but the view and the theatre was simply gorgeous. After the Opera, we headed to the rooftop restaurant at Pella for a bit and then passed off as soon as we hit the bed.
Friday – Athens:
We woke up pretty late on Friday, and decided to head to the Acropolis Museum after a quick lunch. The museum has recently been renovated (168$ million) and it looks stunning. If you’re a student, the museum is only 3 Euro and is probably the best 3 Euro you’ll spend in Greece. There are amazing exhibits, sculptures and a brilliant view of the Acropolis from the cafe. After the museum, we grabbed food at a couple of cafes and headed back home. After relaxing and getting ready, we headed to the Gazi district of Athens to check out the nightlife. The nightlife was quite glitzy with a ton of clubs around the area. We came back around 5 am and got ready to leave the next morning.
Saturday – Athens:
Checked out at noon and stored our luggage at Zeus for the day. Went to Noodle Bar for lunch, a nice classy asian restaurant about a mile from the hostel. Bought some Greek sandals, came back and planned our vacation a little bit. Went out again to grab some dinner and some nice straw hats for the trip. We then packed and then headed to Piraeus, the port near Athens. We booked our cruise to Iraklion, Crete. We were in for a surprise as the ferry was like a legit cruise liner and had all the bells and whistles. The cabins we booked also was comparatively cheap and we had a good time on the boat.
Sunday – Iraklion, Crete:
Sadly, the cruise was short and we were woken up at 630 am at Heraklion port. We searched around for a hotel and decided to stay at this place called Hotel Mirabello. After grabbing a sumptuous breakfast consisting of Bougasta and Turkish coffee, we came back and planned our journey in Crete for the next few days. Had a great lunch by a cafe near the sea, and then caught up on our sleep with an afternoon siesta. Woke up pretty late in the evening and found a cute restaurant a couple of blocks from our restaurant. Had probably one of the better meals in Greece with an amazing salad, sumptuous appetizers and some great rice.
Monday – Iraklion, Crete:
We woke up quite late and packed our bags as we had to check out of the hotel around 12 pm. Once we checked out, we decided to go grab some lunch and stroll around the main square of Iraklion. We then headed towards the Archaeological Museum of Iraklion, noted to be very famous and even a touch better than the Acropolis Museum. Sadly, the museum was being renovated so we could only see a small temporary exhibit. But the exhibit was quite amazing and the artifacts were definitely well preserved as compared to the Acropolis Museum. We then decided to go find a rental car agency as we needed a car to head to Ano Kalesia. It is a small village where Curtis’ friend’s parents lived whose house we were planning to live at for a couple of days. We reached their house and the next few hours after that were surreal. The parents lived in an entirely self-sufficient house. They had goats, pigs and a lot of vegetation for fruits and vegetables. The father, Yanis, taught us how to milk goats and showed us around. We had the BEST dinner ever. Quite literally. All the food was amazing, home made and very very delicious. Suffering from food coma, we talked for a couple of hours and then fell asleep.
Tuesday – Palaiokastro + Lygaria + Agia Pelagia, Crete:
We woke up quite late after the heavy meal and decided to head for the beaches. We stopped on the very first beach we saw on the way. It was a small rocky beach called Palaiokastro. We spent a couple of hours there enjoying the water, the sun and some cliff diving. After that, we headed to the Lygaria beach. A beautiful beach with nice water. The most surprising part about the beaches in the Mediterranean were that they were quite rocky and had hardly any sand. After spending an hour there, we went to Agia Pelagia which was another beach town. We walked a bit on the boardwalk and grabbed a late dinner. Finally, spent for the day we drove back to Ano Kalesia, and passed out.
Our first week in Greece was quite an amazing experience. We roamed a lot, ate a ton, did an abundance of activities and enjoyed like nobody’s business. Greece has been one of the most amazing and fun country I’ve been to (already) in the recent past. Hope the remaining weeks are as good as this one. Going to post pictures soon! Also, wait for another post about our activities next week! 🙂
Never got time to post this. But, this post is for the week of Tuesday, 5th June to Tuesday, 12th June.
This week was all New York. Spent a ton of time in the city and enjoyed a lot! Missed the Brazil-Argentina game but spent a great time with friends and family.
Tuesday – East Brunswick: Lazy day, just bummed around a lot and ate a lot.
Wednesday – New York: Headed to New York to meet my cousins who live right across the city. Saw my little cousin’s play. I was really impressed with what 5 year olds could do in a 15 minute play. They had props, costumes and each one had their lines memorized. Ate an amazing mozzarella pesto sandwich and headed to a beautiful park. Came back home, and while heading to Chorito’s saw a stunning rainbow across the entire New York City . Ate some great mexican food (especially the fonduta) and then caught up with cousins throughout the night.
Thursday – New York: After eating great Sushi at Sushi Garden, went to the Greece consulate to pick up my visa. Spent some time with cousins before heading to the city to meet two of my best friends from UIUC: Aviral and Eeshaan. We hopped from various amazing restaurants, bars and cafes (Horus Cafe, Bua, Sushi something) Took the Path around 3 am and went back to Aviral’s pad in Jersey City
Friday – New York: Checked out Union Square and then headed to the New York Film Academy. Helped Eeshaan and his team for a 30 second film which took us about four hours to shoot. Exhausted from the day, we headed back home and watched Prometheus.
Saturday – New York: Left Aviral’s place and headed to Times Square to meet another cousin. Went to the Museum of Modern art (favorite place in the city) and Top of Rockefeller Center. Ate a quick dinner and went to see the musical Avenue Q. The musical was outright hilarious and a must-watch if someone who hasn’t seen a musical comedy before. Took the bus back home to New Jersey.
Sunday – East Brunswick: Ate some great barbecue and had some family over for the majority of the day. Played 3 games of bowling later in the night.
Monday – East Brunswick: Went to Costco to get some food for the Greece Trip. Spent a quiet day playing Catan and watching TV.
Tuesday – New York: Headed to a crazy rainy New York to meet up with David, Swapnil and Curtis before the trip. Spent some time in the city before taking a cab to JFK and the flight to Greece!
Learn more about adventures in Greece next week!
Last time I had written my blog post, I was traveling in a train from Boston to Rochester. My 10 hour journey had transformed into 13 hours, and I was almost on the verge of passing out when I finally reached. You can read more about how I survived the 13 hour trip without Wi-Fi here
Week 3 was probably the most active and exciting week I’ve had in this summer yet.
30th May – Niagara Falls: Did a solo road trip to Niagara Falls from Rochester. Experienced the falls from the Maid of the Mist, got drenched in the Cave of the Winds, saw some sea creatures at the Aquarium, ate some tasty nachos at Hard Rock Cafe and ended the day with some history about the Falls.
31st May – Rochester & Finger Lakes: After seeing my cousins office and warehouse, we went to watch my very first horse derby. I was surprised with the number of people attending the derby and playing in the casino even on a week day. Ended the day with some great Italian food and an hour of Tom & Jerry.
1st June – East Brunswick: We got some tasty lunch and then we drove 6 hours from Rochester to East Brunswick. The weather was amazing and the drive was very beautiful. Arrived late at night, unpacked a bit and dozed off as soon as I hit the bed.
2nd June – Atlantic City: Spent a very lazy Saturday morning and afternoon, and then headed to Atlantic City for the evening. Ate a quick dinner and walked around the boardwalk. After that, we got the see the amazing and melodious Rahat Fateh Ali Khan live in concert at the Boardwalk Hall. RFAK and Adele are two singers whose vocals are untarnished and need no music to help them sound great. The concert ended late, and we got home around 3 am
3rd & 4th June – East Brunswick: Slept more than 12 hours on a lazy Sunday. It was raining off and on, but we saw an amazing full rainbow on our way to dinner. Ate some super tasty South Indian food (vada, dosa) and slept even more. Went to the office with my aunt and uncle on Monday. Helping them revamp their website before I leave East Brunswick. Ended the day by re-watching one of my favorite movies: Kung-Fu Panda
Next week, I’m going to be spending more time close to New York City and excited to see Brazil – Argentina in action
16 days since I graduated. It’s already been such a ride that my parents (in India) have to call me to ask “Where am I?” instead of “How’re you doing?” or “Is everything OK?”
13th May – Champaign: Graduation and the sadness of leaving college. Left as soon as the graduation ceremony was over, and headed to Chicago with my family. Checked in to the hotel and passed out instantly.
14th May – Chicago: Walked a good part of the magnificent mile, did the boat architecture tour, saw the sunset at the Skydeck in Sears Tower and the stars at Adler Planetarium.
15th May – Chicago: Went to Navy Pier and spent a good part of the morning and afternoon there. Went again to Adler to get one final look at the Chicago skyline before heading to the airport to take a flight to East Brunswick, NJ with my grandparents. Reached in the night and after meeting my aunt, uncle and family slept.
16th May to 23rd May – East Brunswick: Stayed for a week with my grandparents at my aunt and uncle’s place. Slept a lot, ate a ton of food and had too much fun.
Highlights:
– Ate home cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner almost every day. Bonus: Home made Paneer Tikka and BBQ vegetables with goat cheese
– Watched an amazing play on Jainism enacted by members of the Jain Association of North America
– Witnessed the opening bell of Facebook live from Times Square with my grandfather
– Roamed a lot of uptown Manhattan while trying to get my Greek visa
– Took grandparents shopping in at least 3-4 different malls, and bought myself some clothes as well
After my brother and sister-in-law came to NJ, we headed to Boston to attend my sister-in-law’s graduation at Harvard.
24th May to 29th May – Boston: Spent almost a week at my cousin sister’s place to attend a graduation and spend some time with the family
Highlights
– Attended my sister-in-law’s graduation and had an awesome day at Harvard Square. Congrats Bhabhi!
– Went to Melting Pot and ordered 6 fondues (serving size: two each) to share between the 5 of us. So much cheese and chocolate!
– Spent a beautiful day at Boston commons and Quincy market. The live shows there were particularly good.
– Saw wonderful exhibits at the Museum of Science and ate fantastic coffee ice cream.
Today, I took a train and am headed to Rochester to stay at another cousin’s place. Currently, I’m tethered to my phone’s 3G connection and trying to figure out what I’ll do for the next 5 hours till I reach there.
Plan for next few days? Read about it next week 🙂
♪ Good Life 
