​Though the bunk I had was no larger than a yoga mat, sheer exhaustion led me to sleep without stirring, and wake feeling surprisingly rested when the alarm went off at 05h. Having packed our bags the night before we were ready in short order, returning the room key to the appropriate parties and standing in line with a small group by the escalators to the lower deck for our eventual exit. We waited for over half an hour as the line of people grew behind us, each seeming to be in a big rush to get somewhere. The truth was that we were too, as the rental car company couldn’t confirm availability beforehand and told us to show up the morning we arrived, hoping for the best. 

Getting off the boat we managed to be the first people to grab a taxi, and 20 minutes later were at the sleepy Crete Chanya (the latter pronounced with a silent “C”) International Airport. So early were we that the rental car desks weren’t even open, and we waited a while for the rental agent to arrive. The only availability was for a more luxury midsize, which would come with an extra $50 cost. Not feeling the need to argue over the price, we agreed and were off in no time to find a beach. The ‘more luxury’ vehicle is a midnight blue BMW 116i, a diesel powered six-speed that proved being worthy of its German descent just minutes later while merging onto the islands’ main highway. Our destination was Elafonisi Beach, famous around the world for its pink sand and turquoise waters washing in from the Mediterranean. The drive took nearly two hours of our early morning, the majority of which was spent navigating windy switchbacks on narrow roads that were literally cut into the sides of mountains. Grinning from ear to ear I stuck to just two gears, second for steep climbs and corners, and third for straightaways between the previous two. The feel of the vehicle made the entire process joyful, the tightly tuned suspension allowing minimal roll in corners and the buttery smooth shifting making me feel like I was racing in some mountainous Grand Prix. Crossing through a single lane tunnel in the side of the highest mountain, we began our descent into the lower lands and on toward the sea. 
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Arriving at the Elafonisi Beach well before the masses (it was only 09h00 at this point) we parked close to the entrance with another half dozen cars; by the end of the day there would be hundreds. Walking down the long shoreline we saw faint hints of the notable pink sand, and read signs of the deterioration of its colorful presence due to visitors taking it home with them. The signs poignantly reminded readers that we were borrowing the land from future generations, and to respect it accordingly. Setting up our beach towels on a quieter spot of land across a 50’ wide waist deep river of inlet water, we retained a bit of solitude throughout the day as crowds (and busses) of people arrived in the following hours. I regretted aloud not having taken pictures of the serene landscape when we first arrived, as now there were people everywhere. Temperatures peaked in the low 90s shortly after noon, and we lingered around swimming and reading our books until almost 15h00.

The drive back was far less enjoyable for me due to the swarms of traffic leaving the beaches, but we made it over the mountains in a hour as our GPS directed us to Kissamos, the small town where we would be staying for the next two nights. We met the Airbnb hosts, a woman and her mother, and got checked into the in-law apartment they have behind the main house. For $45 USD per night we have the place to ourselves, access to a washing machine and air conditioning, all while being just two blocks from the beach. After quick showers and starting a load of laundry we walked down to the water and enjoyed an amazing meal at a small local restaurant called Maria’s. We dined on baked feta cheese with peppers and tomatoes, veggie risotto, and a dish called Pastisito, made with macaroni, mashed potatoes, cheese, and minced meat. Both the service and food were exceptional, and the manager surprised us with dessert and a local liqueur as we watched the sunset over the town’s northern bay.  

By the time we returned to the apartment it was 22h30, plans in place to wake up early and head to another famous beach on the northwest corner of Crete, hoping to get some photos and footage of the beautiful landscape before countless numbers of people arrived as they had today. Located just 9 miles away the drive is said to take over an hour, which has me eagerly anticipating the kind of terrain we might be crossing to get there.

​With no air conditioning in the Athens Airbnb, a lone fan in the corner of the room tried its hardest to circulate the otherwise stagnant air. I woke up early and used the time and my electric beard trimmer to give myself a quick haircut, a necessity due to the 90+ degree temperatures we’d been seeing thus far. By the 10h00 we had our bags packed and were walking to the rented Suzuki parked a few blocks away. The Airbnb checkout time was noon, and our ferry to Crete didn’t leave until dark; to avoid carrying our gear around all day we extended the rental car by a few hours and used it as storage for our bags. 

After a 1 mile walk in the already stifling heat, we found ourselves at the entry gates to the Acropolis. Surrounded by hundreds of other people we showed the park employees our tickets and made our way through the gates and up the hill. The first sight was of the theater, down the steep hill on our right. It’s being used for music festivals throughout the summer, and I enjoyed seeing the way the production equipment was utilized in the literally-ancient space. Continuing up the stone pathway, slippery from hundreds or even thousands of years of people walking on them, we passed through the Propyla, the west-facing stone entrance to the upper portion of the Acropolis. Straight ahead of us were Athena’s temple and the Parthenon. Having seen the latter for years in both media and throughout my public school education, it was nothing shy of spectacular to stand next to and admire this 2,300 year old structure. The myriad of tourists and selfie sticks make it a little harder to truly enjoy the experience, but I felt as if I had a better relationship with the Parthenon than others around me thanks to the 30 minute drone flight I did overtop of it the night before. Dani and I snapped some photos and read all of the surrounding signage, the majority of which talked about the reconstructive and restorative efforts for the buildings. They detailed the removal process of old stone pieces, then lab-based laser scanning for 3D imagery, new piece machining, and ultimately the replacement of new stone into the structures. The grout and filling work the crews do to original pieces is 100% removable and reversible if future technology proves to be superior. All of this was information I found absolutely fascinating and undeniably impressive, though Dani and I had hoped for a little more information on how the Parthenon itself was originally built.

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We descended from high atop the city as temperatures grew higher, stopping for milkshakes at a shaded street-side restaurant. Moving on to visit the Stoa of Attalos and Temple of Hephaestus, we saw hundreds of stone pieces including transcribed laws, statues of political figures, and busts of Gods and Goddesses dating back to between 200 and 500 BC. I questioned aloud who must’ve first drawn these Gods, so that for centuries others could carve and draw them identically, comparing it to Coca-Cola’s 1931 print advertisement drawings of Santa Claus; an influence that lasts throughout global culture to this day. After an We spent the mid afternoon continuing walking through the city streets of Athens, deciding to visit the Hard Rock Cafe for a drink and ultimately staying for a more ‘American’ meal. While the local/regional food here has been delicious, the menus are very monotonous, and I jumped at the opportunity for a BBQ pulled pork sandwich. 

The walk back to our car took an hour or so, and we closed in on a total of 6 miles of walking city exploration for the day. We dropped the Suzuki off at Enterprise with enough time to get a relaxing drink at a wine bar before taking a cab to Athens’ Port Piraeus where we met our cruise ship/ferry. For the price of $60 euro each we reserved a private cabin on the Blue Star Line “Blue Galaxy”, a 650’ ship that would carry both passenger, cars, and freight trucks between Athens and the southern island of Crete. For the geographically inclined, Crete is the dividing piece of Greek territory between the country’s mainland and Africa, located just 200 miles north of both Egypt and Libya’s coastlines. We stood on the deck watching the sunset and listening to the muster drill instructions over the ship’s loudspeaker, slowly watching Athens disappear behind us. Engines came to full as we cleared the end of the channel, and we headed back to our berth to sleep quickly, with alarms set early in hopes of being the first off the ship at our arrival port shortly before 06h00. 
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​The sun came screaming in the glass balcony door at 06h00, almost instantly causing the temperature of the room to rise. We sleepily turned on the A/C to combat it, eventually giving in to the heat and waking up to pack our belongings for the day ahead. It was already 86 degrees by the time we were in the car, water bottles replenished and music on loudly at 10h30 as we began the long haul back to Athens. 

The towns we passed through on our climb from the seaside were each colorful and very alive with activity, mopeds zipping by and schoolchildren running this way and that. Driving so far has been both fun and challenging as I do my best to respect what little laws it seems they have. An hour or so from Monemvasia we were deep inland, winding through and around some massive peaks that towered over the road. I’d guess these peaks to be 7-8,000 feet each, and their protrusion from the otherwise flat valley was something spectacular to see in person. So many friends have visited Greece and seen only the islands, our backcountry tour between the ocean villages has given us an entirely different experience that I feel privileged to have had. Our only real pit stop during the 4 hour drive was a bathroom break at a little roadside bakery. Dani grabbed a cold Coca-Cola from the fridge and I picked up a freshly made raspberry strudel pastry for myself. By early afternoon we arrived in Athens, and the open roads and limitless freedom of the last two days driving came to a screeching halt as the city streets became packed with traffic and the typical hellish confusion that always seems bustling in major metropolitan area roadways. 

Our Airbnb was not as nice as we had hoped, and the host informed us we had to turn on the water heater at the electrical breaker panel “then leave for half an hour”. I asked if the leaving was for enjoyment of time outdoors or safety reasons, and he didn’t go into detail after saying it was the latter.  Combined with the miserable condition of the bathroom itself, we each decided against risking our health and lives just to take a shower. We had a light snack in a nearby shopping district, street vendors everywhere and restaurants galore, each place convincing you that their (nearly identical) menu was the best. The evening was spent high atop Athens from a place called Philopappos Hill, a part of the city park that has an elevated monument to Julius Philopappos, a prominent regional administrator in 114AD. Most importantly the highest point of the hill has a direct and unparalleled view of the Acropolis - perfect for anyone looking to photograph the ancient architecture. I set up my tripod and got the camera ready, reserving our spot as more people arrived, and we talked for a while with a younger UK couple who were on a two week vacation as well. The guy, after asking where we were from, complimented Tom Brady, saying he waits up to watch Sunday American Football in the fall. Conversation turned to the more internationally friendly Formula 1 racing, and we talked about favorite teams and tracks around the world as the sun began to set over Athens. Getting a few photos and some footage with the drone, Dani and I packed up and headed down the hill, ultimately finding an upscale restaurant with an elevated terrace that looked out over the Acropolis, perfect for a nice dinner on our first night in the city. We shared a salmon salad, both surprised to see it came out raw, and an unparalleled gluten free brownie dessert with fresh strawberries and a light caramel drizzle. It was quite the experience to sit there enjoying a meal, our view being straight across to what my arguably be the most recognizable structure in the world, the Parthenon.  With a rare opportunity in front of me, I took a moment to fly the drone up over the Acropolis. It was a nerve-wracking experience, but captured some of the most beautiful footage of our entire trip, which I'll share with you in a few weeks once I have it edited.

After putting the camera equipment away, I navigated us back through the city streets with no GPS, Dani somewhat doubting my internal compass but following along nonetheless. Sleep came fast, alarms set for early in hopes of making it up to the Acropolis before the heat made the completely unshaded monument unbearable. To be honest, so far Athens hasn’t blown my sox off, but we shall see if that opinion changes in the morning. 
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​We woke up on day two to the sound of waves crashing against the cliffs below the Panorama B&B. Birds were chirping loudly, and the smell of salt water was coming in through the balcony door in the most refreshing way each time a breeze picked up. Still a bit tired we lazily packed up our gear, comprised of two hiking backpacks, her 46L Osprey and my 60L Cold Cold World, a duffle bag, and a small personal backpack. Truthfully I think we did a pretty good job packing for the trip and maintaining mobility with our luggage, which will be very handy when we return the car in a few days and begin traveling by foot and ferry to the southern islands. 

Breakfast was served down on the porch at cute little tables looking out over the sea. A trellis roof blocked the sunlight and as we ate Dani got some work emails written while utilizing the free WiFi.  We were packed and on the road by 09h45, a little later than we had hoped but not too bad in the grand scheme of things. Our first stop for the day was a sight-seeing adventure just ten minutes down the road at the famous Caves of Diros. We paid $26 for our tickets at a small booth just a few hundred feet from the beach, and after being fitted with fluorescent orange life jackets, headed down a long staircase into the dark entryway to the cave system. Long blue flat bottom boats were lined up ahead of us floating in the immaculately clear water, while stalagmites and jagged rock became visible everywhere around us as the ceiling of the cave opened up expansively. We floated through the half-mile cave system tour route (to date there are nearly 15 miles of caves explored down here) with four other people and our guide, soaking in the beauty of this underground world. The water depth was shallow and the only noise perceivable was the quiet drip of droplets from the ceiling to the water below. At the end of the half hour paddle ride we were dropped off and told to follow a 300m walking path through a different section of caves back to the main entrance. All in all the Diros caves were impressive, but the lack of history or details from the “guide” left us a bit disappointed. By the time we were back at the car the temperature was already in the mid 80s, perfect for windows-down driving as we made our way an hour east to the little town where we’d spend the next night. 
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The drive was beautiful, back up through some of the same mountains as the day before, then splitting onto a different road closer back to Sparti and heading off towards a different more western coastline. The little Suzuki engine tries its hardest in the hills, and I pretend to be Mario Andretti whenever possible, downshifting through the gearbox on curvy descents and letting our tiny blue roller-skate car “lean” into the turns as best it can. 

Half an hour out from our destination we came up over a hill on the edge of the Aegean Sea that provided us with a clear view of the bay. I saw something I instantly recognized in the water, a wrecked shipping/cargo vessel rusting away on the shoreline. It’s a ship I’ve seen photos of for years on the internet, and one I had hoped to see during our trip. We pulled off the paved road and followed a dirt path to a small restaurant at the waters edge, each getting a cold drink before walking down the beach to see the wreck. The Dimitrios is/was a 220’ cargo vessel said to have been smuggling cigarettes from Turkey to Italy in the early 80s. They began having troubles both with the ship and its crew, causing them to dock locally, but the Greek government demanded the boat be anchored offshore. During a storm the anchorage let go, and the large ship floated free, pushed inland by the current until it was run aground on this very beach outside the town of Githio. The wreck went completely ignored, and almost 35 years later it’s now just the rusted out carcass of a ship with nothing but intrigued travelers visiting, and the ocean’s waves continually crashing against it. 
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We arrived in Monemvasia shortly after 15h00, a massively protruding rock island with a centuries old village built into the steep hillside. We drove over the small the bridge dividing Monemvasia from the mainland, at which point we found a little restaurant with a deck overlooking the bay and a menu that looked incredibly appealing. After a relaxed lunch (the pace of life here is refreshingly slow, and I’m doing my best to adjust to it) we walked out to the end of the road on Monemvasia and entered into the old village through a thirty foot stone gateway, the only access point at the end of a tall boundary wall that ran up the side of the islands steep and rocky hillside. Exploring the cobblestone streets reminded me of my time in Venice last year, and after a few hours exploring we headed back to the car to find our Airbnb. 

A late afternoon nap refreshed us plenty, and we returned to the small island across the bridge to watch the sunset over a hazy mountain skyline, ultimately finding drinks at a rooftop bar overlooking the sea. Eventually ending up at another rooftop restaurant, The Cannon, we were served a completely customized dinner designed for us by the manager. After a while we became the only patrons left, and dined quietly by faint light while the music changed to a live Pink Floyd album, the sounds of the sea adding to the soundtrack of our evening. 

On the way back to the Airbnb we stopped to photograph the Milky Way lingering due south over the ocean, the darkness of the surrounding region allowing the sprawling and colorful comprising stars to shine brightly overhead. It’s always a special moment to see the Milky Way with the naked eye, moments that are only possible in the summer when living in or visiting the northern hemisphere. Dani saw two shooting stars while I was focused on making photographs, and before we knew it it was after 02h00 and we returned to the apartment to call it a night. 

Tomorrow we head back to Athens for two days, then turn our sights towards the southern islands Greece is so famous for.