I have now been home from the Greece trip for 2 weeks & I have yet to put something down in this blog!  Pretty soon we will be on our next trip & if I fall behind it will all go to pot for sure... 

Our trip included 3 days in Athens, 3 days in Santorini & one day on a multi-island ferry with stops on three islands close to Athens.  For starters, www.greecetravel.com is a fantastic site with lots of info on the whole country so if you want more information than you can possibly digest or if you are planning a trip, check out that website.   We also used Fantasy Travel so we wouldn't have to worry about any transfers & they booked our hotels & everything... it was soooo easy that way.   You don't need to do a big group tour with this company, but you can... I felt that since there were a few key sights that were not to be missed & this city has things spread far & wide (like all the way to Delphi, which we did see on a 1-day tour) that it would be easier to hop on a bus & have the tour guides tell us the important info vs. trying to research & rent a car & find our way around.  I recommend this for Athens!  We didn't walk around following a flag on a stick with a herd of people, thank God! In February you get the benefit of less crowds which is really appealing.  Our hike up to the top of the Acropolis to see the Parthenon was nice & congestion free... allowing photos of the ruins without too many tourists in the shots.

The hotel they booked for us in Athens was right in Plyka & it was called Central Hotel Athens... I feel the location was ideal for the dining, shopping, ancient pubs, restaurants, flea market areas, ruins & Acropolis museum plus it seemed to have the best rooftop bar anywhere we could see from that vantage point with a phenomenal view of the Acropolis.

The 1-day tour out of Athens to Delphi was super interesting, especially seeing how long it takes just to drive all the way out of Athens!  What a giant city!!!  It was a very long day but in the end it gave us a much broader understanding of the ancient civilizations & how they lived.  Rather than bore you or worse, misrepresent what Delphi & the ancient oracle are, I've included a link to the wikipedia entry for this important archeological site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphi

After a few days in Athens, we took a 1-day ferry from Athens to Santorini.  The ferry day was sort of a down day but we appreciated the break.  I am not sure I recommend going this route... it eats up one whole day of your trip so it is probably better to fly.  We did the ferry from 7am-3pm but then flew back to Athens on the way out.

We spent 3 days in Santorini & I would have loved a whole week.  I could just tell in the summer it would be amazing wondering from one little bar to the next all day.  We took a car one day & that is about all you need to see the whole island.  We did the drive to Akrotiri to see the archeological site & Red Beach.  By the end of the day we headed all the way north to watch the sunset at Oia... well, we actually sat down on the water in this little tiny fishing cove called Ammoudi which was absolutely gorgeous...I think there would be tiny bars there in summer.  The setting was unreal.

Not a lot of beaches on this island so if you go, I recommend securing a good hotel looking at the ocean with a pool for sure.  Ours was Dana Villas in Fira & was very nice!  They have one room with a private hot tub which would be killer if you can get it.   I would also check out anything on the cliffs in Fira.  We ate at a place called Crystal Bar at the Loucas Hotel & that place looked like it would be fun.  Visiting there in February means of course 50% of everything is closed but we also loved having the place to ourselves.  I hear if you find a beach in the summertime it is wall-to-wall people. . .

One day we walked down the really looong path (or you can take the tram) down to the water & took a boat to the volcano.   Helpful hint!  The regular boat filled with tourists was charging 20 euro per person so for the 4 of us we would have been in it for 80... we instead we booked a private charter for 50 euro & had the schedule we wanted.  So this volcano is cool....or actually quite hot!  Yes, you see the thing venting sulfur!  It takes about 2 hours to hike to the top, look around, photograph the beautiful views.   There's nothing on the volcano island so it's byo...food, water, etc.  I think there is a hot spring to swim in there...we just didn't get to it... oh & one of the best parts was the donkey ride back up the hill!  I feel rather sorry for those animals working so hard but I imagine it has been going on for years this way & the donkeys just don't know anything else.  Plus their "office view" is to die for!

Also on Santorini there's a couple vineyards & I hear the wine tasting is great but we just didn't get to that with the kids, etc.  I had a lot of local wines that I liked a lot while there.  The food was super fresh, especially the fish & almost everything we had was great but do not expect tons of variety.  Lots of souvlaki!!

On the last day before we left Greece, we toured the three islands of Hydra, Poros & Aegina which were small but adorable.  Very picturesque...check out the pictures!

Yes, so hopefully some of the photos will speak for themselves... this was a fantastic trip & probably our favorite so far.  Kai actually liked Athens best but of course I was favoring the islands.  He was a fan of the history & also the Greek Mythology.  His memory for facts is something I really wish I had!!