We greatly enjoyed our time on the Greek Islands of Crete and Santorini. We finished our trip with a couple days in downtown Athens.
June 11, 2026
Up early for breakfast. Packed our suitcases and drove to the airport early. We boarded a bus to take us out to the plane where we climbed the stairs into the plane. Debbie and Angelo took a shuttle bus with a scissor jack underneath that raised them up to the plane door. Angelo felt like he was in a garbage truck! After a 30 minute delay. We took the short flight to Chania on the island of Crete. Deplaned onto the tarmac and walked to the small terminal.
Picked up a rental car at the airport. The Elia Bettolo Hotel is located in Old Town, which is closed to vehicles, so we couldn’t park near the hotel. We dropped off the girls and luggage at a coffee shop while we parked the car. Long walk to find the hotel. Ate Souvlaki, enjoyed a beer and ice cream just outside hotel.
Walked around Old Town, lots of shops and restaurants.
Live music in many places.
June 12, 2026
Breakfast at hotel was nice. Explored the harbor in Chania and to the flag Angelo raised while he was stationed here in the Greek Navy over 50 years ago.
Pretty harbor with an old historic lighthouse.
Beautiful Muslim mosque that dates back to when the Ottoman Empire controlled Crete.
The Cathedral of Eisod was beautiful.
Drove a beautiful road along the coast of Crete to Heraklion.
Found the Hotel Olympic in old downtown Heraklion. The area around the hotel is filled with shops and restaurants. We walked a short distance to a wonderful restaurant for lunch at the harbor.
Linda and I walked through the Heraklion Archaeological Museum which contains the most complete collection of artifacts of the ancient Minoan civilization of Crete. We walked back to meet up with Debbie and Angelo and found Linda’s favorite treat,
Lukumades. Watched him make them fresh from the fryer.
We found a nice second floor restaurant with a great view over a busy courtyard. We then walked to the harbor before sunset. I walked to the Koules Fortress to take pictures of the harbor.
Pretty sunset.
June 13, 2026
Up early to make the short drive to the Sea Jet harbor. Boarded a large ship called Champions League Jet 1.
Dropped off suitcases in the cargo hold before heading up to our seats at the window. Not a full ship. Very comfortable for the one hour and 35 minute ride to Santorini.
Got a blue and yellow Kia rental car which was very small. Santorini was formed by a volcano with most of the buildings are high upon the edge of the crater. Driving the steep curvy road from the port to the top of the mountain was interesting.
Drove to the historic Akrotiri Excavation site. Angelo and Debbie relaxed at a restaurant on the beach. Linda and I took a wrong turn to a private home, but got a nice picture of the restaurant and the harbor.
The prehistoric city of Akrotiri is very impressive! The entire site is covered with an elevated walkway all around the site. Learning that they built 3 story houses on the side of the mountain in the second century BC was amazing!
Drove to the famous Black Beach, but no place to park.
Drive 35 minutes to check into Agnadi View Villa Hotel. A cute hotel on the side of the mountain with beautiful private views of the Sea and a nice view from the pool.
Made the short drive to return to one of Debbie’s favorite restaurants with capers in the Greek salad.
Relaxed on our lanai.
Sunset was partially blocked by a cloud bank, but still spectacular.
June 14, 2026
Breakfast at hotel. Drove to the to see some classic blue dome churches with 3 bells in Fira.
Walked along the steep cliffs of the Caldera formed by the volcano. Coffee at a small restaurant at the top of the mountain overlooking the Caldera.
Saw the cable car that has mostly replaced the donkeys. Donkey and mule rides are a historic tradition in Santorini, ferrying passengers up the steep, winding steps between the Old Port (Skala) and the main town of Fira.The traditional ride covers about 500-600 steps between Fira and the Old Port.
Found the Santorini Brewery to taste their donkey inspired ales and lagers.
Visited the town of Oia to see the historic castle, a windmill and a couple beautiful old churches.
Tried the Finikia Restaurant next to the hotel for dinner. Nice table overlooking the sea and a wonderful meal!
Watched the sunset on our lanai at the hotel. The red sky just hung over the
mountains on the island of Ios. Beautiful evening!
June 16, 2026
Our last morning in Santorini was a beautiful clear day.
Drove to the small airport for our short flight to Athens.
After landing in Athens, we took a van to Nike Athens Hotel which is a nice modern hotel in the Plaka area, which a busy shopping area. Enjoyed a great meal at the Athens Cook restaurant nearby.
June 16, 2026
Breakfast at hotel was nice, but all vegan. Angelo took us shopping in the Plaka area to find gifts for grandkids.
I had a T-shirt made with Antetokounmpo 34 on the back. Giannis Is very popular in
Athens. He does many good things for his old neighborhood.
Nice view of Acropolis at the end of many streets.
Walked through the Cathedral on Mitropoleos Square.
Ancient ruins are found all around the city of Athens.
This is the remains of Hadrian’s Library.
Linda and I walked to Barley Cargo, a beer “harbor” with an impressive selection of mostly Greek beers. I tried a flight of 4 different beers. Linda enjoyed a lemon Radler. The 608 Brewing Company is named for a bus. Their Lager is called a “bus stop” beer. Reminds me of the 608 Brewery in La Crosse WI.
There are motorcycles and scooters everywhere in Athens. They don’t seem to follow any driving rules.
After leaving Barley Cargo, we walked quickly across the street in between parked motorcycles when Linda bumped into a license plate that ripped a gash on her shin. The people from the store saw all the blood and brought paper towels to try to stop the
bleeding. We walked across the street to a pharmacy. One of the pharmacists cleaned the wound and wrapped her leg with gauze.
The pharmacist who spoke English said Linda needed stitches and ran out to the street to grab an Uber taxi. She told the driver which hospital to go to. We got in and away we went. The Uber driver spoke pretty good English. He took us the General Hospital of Athens-Hippocratic.
The Uber driver would not accept any money, just wanted us to get in the hospital quickly. Nice guy.
The Emergency Room was packed with people and very confusing. A nice man who spoke English told us to press a button and take a number. We sat and waited. When our number came up on the screen, we registered Linda and then sat again and watched a different monitor.
Our number came up and we went to the triage area. Explained what happened. The doctor took Linda’s blood pressure and sent us back to the waiting room to watch yet another screen.
When her number came up again, we walked back to the surgery area. The doctor met us in the hallway and took us back to the surgical suite. She spoke very good English. We were surprised that she had no help. She prepped for the case herself. She numbed the area and went through two packs of sutures to close the wound. The doctor cleaned everything and put on a waterproof bandage. No documentation on paper or on computer. She wrote a handwritten prescription for antibiotics. No charge for the service.
Looking back, we were fortunate to have strangers come to our aid many times after Linda’s injury.
Took an Uber back to the hotel. Walked to a nearby restaurant and had a wonderful meal. Linda invented a way to take a shower and keep water away from her bandage.
June 17, 2026
Slept in before breakfast at the hotel. Walked around the Plaka shopping area. Linda found a nice Greek pendant. Debbie bought gifts for the grandkids. Had a wonderful lunch at an outdoor restaurant.
Walked around Plaka. Stopped at a different outdoor place for a drink and ice cream for Debbie. A pigeon flew down onto our table. I chase it away, but it flew into Angelo’s wine glass. Breaking the glass and spilling the wine before flying to a nearby awning.
Stopped at a local bar where the women seemed to be serving more than just expensive drinks!
June 18, 2026
Uber arrived early before the 6:00 am pick up time. Traffic to the airport was light in the early morning. Long walk to C gates, but we got through TSA ok. Coffee at the gate was welcomed.
12 hour flight back to Atlanta. Getting alerts that Hurricane Arther might cause travel delays in Atlanta. Hot humid day, but no rain when we landed. Tight connections, so said goodbye to Debbie and Angelo on the plane. Thanked them for a wonderful trip!
Clearing customs in Atlanta was a bit confusing. First, they just took a picture and looked at our passports, then we walked through the maze to TSA. Next, they didn’t want passports or boarding passes, didn’t have to take out anything from our bags as they went through the scanner. Nothing in our pockets. Both Linda and I needed extra pat downs with our artificial knee and hip joints.
Walked quickly to catch train and got to Gate B2 just as they were boarding the flight to MSP. After everyone was on the plane, it started to rain hard. They closed the door and I thought we made it just in time. Then the captain told everyone that flights were backing up, so we stayed at the gate for over 30 minutes before the plane got in line for take-off.
Fortunately our flight from MSP to CWA was also delayed. We took a cart from gate F9 to the start of the A and B gates. Got to our gate in plenty of time to board. We got home shortly after 10:00pm CST. A long day, since our first flight in Athens boarded at midnight CST.
What a fantastic trip!
Steve Pelton 