ABD Greece 2016 Trip Report
- Thread starter CaliforniaGirl09
- Start date
We had Mary and Chris for guides on one of the first Greece trips--our son David (then 18) , very shy, surprised everyone by standing up at the farewell dinner to talk about the trip. That was the story I submitted to the recent ABD contest. Please send our best to them (George, Miriam, David and Ashley)--they may not remember us but hopefully they remember that moment!
Cousin Orville
Inventor of Air Cooling
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2000
- Messages
- 3,027
I had no idea the 3rd floor of the Parthenon Museum was the same dimensions as the Parthenon. I guess that should have been apparent when I was there, but I don't think I realized it. Cool. Great photos. I'm very excited to follow along. We had a chance to cruise there on DCL a couple of times, but I would love to spend more time and evenings in Athens and the islands. Really one of my all time favorite places.
CaliforniaGirl09
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2009
- Messages
- 4,090
I have names written down and will pass on all the well wishes tomorrow. Another great day today.
We did pop in to check out the view, but ended up eating the street food. It looked great though.
CaliforniaGirl09
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2009
- Messages
- 4,090
ABD Day #3: Delphi!
As promised, here is the breakfast spread at the hotel. Omelette station is located at the opposite end, and all the hot food is on the other side of the buffet. We definitely aren't going hungry on this trip, but I've been making a concerted effort to not over eat. Always easier said than done
Today was the Oracle at Delphi--something DD was really looking forward to. It, too, didn't disappoint, despite the 3 hour drive each way. We've been on ABDs with long drives before so we are used to the routine. Usually there is guiding or periods of guiding on the way, a comfort stop each way, and a movie and/or quiet time on the way back. Part of the problem with knowing the spheil is that I was a little disappointed that neither of the stops (on the way or coming back) were "surprise" treats. We had to pay for our own coffee drinks on the way and ice cream or baklava on the way back. A little weird (and cheap) in my opinion of Disney--especially since they've benefited by a drop in the Euro since booking. I missed the "put it on the Nat Geo" tab that Calfan and I had on our last trip.
The picture below is of the stop on the way for coffee. We had to laugh because the upstairs had a bunch of wide-open floor level windows the thad absolutely nothing beneath them. It's survival of the fittest I guess in Greece, LOL. My husband kept quoting Josh Gates from Expedition Unknown: "Safety last."
Through most of the drive, Mary shared some of the myths associated with Delphi, including some of the non-Disney-friendly ones like Oedipus and Antigone. It was pretty funny listening to her relay the story while putting a softer spin on it for some of the younger listeners. I really enjoyed the Leonidas/Sparta stories, and the story of the original Marathon runner. Poor guy dropped dead after running with the news of Greece's great victory over Persia. He ended at the place they built the Olympic Stadium.
We made a second stop on the way to Delphi at a very picturesque village near Mt. Parnassus. One of the interesting things that Mary related was that in Greece the villages are built on the slopes of the hills to preserve what little flat land there is in Greece for cultivating.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a picture of one, but Mary also told us the story behind the pretty (and sometimes fancy) shrines that dot the sides of the highways. They are left as markers and never removed. Not all are of people who died, some are of people who survived accidents and put up a shrine as a thanks for their survival. There were lots of them, which I couldn't help thinking wasn't exactly what I wanted to be seeing on a long bus ride on the same road!
We finally arrived at Delphi and it was--surprise--hot! Mary did a good job though of stopping to talk under the trees, which did offer some relief from the sun. The columns below are what is left of Apollo's Temple. It was a fascinating place in an absolutely stunning setting.
The jagged big rock in the middle of the frame is supposedly "Baby Zeus." If you know the myth of his birth, his mother tricked his father Kronos into eating a rock instead of him.
There was an optional short hike up to the stadium that most of the group did. We set a quick pace and it took about 10 minutes to get up there, but it was just steep and hot enough to make everyone very hot and sweaty. Totally worth it though, aside from the exercise, as the stadium was really cool, and there were some of the best views to the valley below.
And what about the oracle? My son wasn't too keen on putting his arms down on it with ants all over the place
We met up with the rest of the group at the site's museum. It was a nice little museum with some very interesting pieces, including this bronze charioteer. There are very few bronze pieces the have survived so this was definitely the museum highlight.
Today might have been a good day to over-eat for breakfast because by time we got to our lunch spot it was past 1:30, and I was starving (we'd eaten breakfast at 7). The setting was absolutely spectacular and the food was delicious. I'm horrible at food porn shots--sorry to those who love those--but the highlight for me was the rooster in some kind of red sauce, and the phyllo stuffed with feta and topped with honey and balsamic. You can't really see from this shot but there is a valley below that supposedly has a million olive trees.
We were all exhausted after the long day and long bus ride so we decided to get something quick at the hotel for dinner so we could have plenty of time to bathe and pack for a very early morning tomorrow. We are off to Santorini at 7:15 and can't wait!
As promised, here is the breakfast spread at the hotel. Omelette station is located at the opposite end, and all the hot food is on the other side of the buffet. We definitely aren't going hungry on this trip, but I've been making a concerted effort to not over eat. Always easier said than done
Today was the Oracle at Delphi--something DD was really looking forward to. It, too, didn't disappoint, despite the 3 hour drive each way. We've been on ABDs with long drives before so we are used to the routine. Usually there is guiding or periods of guiding on the way, a comfort stop each way, and a movie and/or quiet time on the way back. Part of the problem with knowing the spheil is that I was a little disappointed that neither of the stops (on the way or coming back) were "surprise" treats. We had to pay for our own coffee drinks on the way and ice cream or baklava on the way back. A little weird (and cheap) in my opinion of Disney--especially since they've benefited by a drop in the Euro since booking. I missed the "put it on the Nat Geo" tab that Calfan and I had on our last trip.
The picture below is of the stop on the way for coffee. We had to laugh because the upstairs had a bunch of wide-open floor level windows the thad absolutely nothing beneath them. It's survival of the fittest I guess in Greece, LOL. My husband kept quoting Josh Gates from Expedition Unknown: "Safety last."
Through most of the drive, Mary shared some of the myths associated with Delphi, including some of the non-Disney-friendly ones like Oedipus and Antigone. It was pretty funny listening to her relay the story while putting a softer spin on it for some of the younger listeners. I really enjoyed the Leonidas/Sparta stories, and the story of the original Marathon runner. Poor guy dropped dead after running with the news of Greece's great victory over Persia. He ended at the place they built the Olympic Stadium.
We made a second stop on the way to Delphi at a very picturesque village near Mt. Parnassus. One of the interesting things that Mary related was that in Greece the villages are built on the slopes of the hills to preserve what little flat land there is in Greece for cultivating.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a picture of one, but Mary also told us the story behind the pretty (and sometimes fancy) shrines that dot the sides of the highways. They are left as markers and never removed. Not all are of people who died, some are of people who survived accidents and put up a shrine as a thanks for their survival. There were lots of them, which I couldn't help thinking wasn't exactly what I wanted to be seeing on a long bus ride on the same road!
We finally arrived at Delphi and it was--surprise--hot! Mary did a good job though of stopping to talk under the trees, which did offer some relief from the sun. The columns below are what is left of Apollo's Temple. It was a fascinating place in an absolutely stunning setting.
The jagged big rock in the middle of the frame is supposedly "Baby Zeus." If you know the myth of his birth, his mother tricked his father Kronos into eating a rock instead of him.
There was an optional short hike up to the stadium that most of the group did. We set a quick pace and it took about 10 minutes to get up there, but it was just steep and hot enough to make everyone very hot and sweaty. Totally worth it though, aside from the exercise, as the stadium was really cool, and there were some of the best views to the valley below.
And what about the oracle? My son wasn't too keen on putting his arms down on it with ants all over the place
We met up with the rest of the group at the site's museum. It was a nice little museum with some very interesting pieces, including this bronze charioteer. There are very few bronze pieces the have survived so this was definitely the museum highlight.
Today might have been a good day to over-eat for breakfast because by time we got to our lunch spot it was past 1:30, and I was starving (we'd eaten breakfast at 7). The setting was absolutely spectacular and the food was delicious. I'm horrible at food porn shots--sorry to those who love those--but the highlight for me was the rooster in some kind of red sauce, and the phyllo stuffed with feta and topped with honey and balsamic. You can't really see from this shot but there is a valley below that supposedly has a million olive trees.
We were all exhausted after the long day and long bus ride so we decided to get something quick at the hotel for dinner so we could have plenty of time to bathe and pack for a very early morning tomorrow. We are off to Santorini at 7:15 and can't wait!
calypso726
Escaping reality one Disney vacation at a time
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2006
- Messages
- 7,936
Excellent report!!! Gotta say though, I'm still reeling over the idea of no credit cards 
90 degrees and humid sounds like home LOL It looks like you are having a good time though. I am looking forward to reading more. Enjoy!
90 degrees and humid sounds like home LOL It looks like you are having a good time though. I am looking forward to reading more. Enjoy!/
Cousin Orville
Inventor of Air Cooling
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2000
- Messages
- 3,027
Very cool pictures of the Oracle at Delphi. I'm looking forward to hearing about Santorini.
CaliforniaGirl09
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2009
- Messages
- 4,090
Santorini! Yay! Looking forward to your impressions of the resort!
Sayhello
We don't want to leave about covers it, I think, LOL.
Excellent report!!! Gotta say though, I'm still reeling over the idea of no credit cards
You, too! Loving your report so far, and it sounds like you are really enjoying Ireland.
Thanks! We've been so busy, I'm going to try to catch up right now...
CaliforniaGirl09
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2009
- Messages
- 4,090
As you can probably tell, we’ve been very busy since we arrived in Santorini. I’m hoping to catch up on the past two days as I sit by the pool, waiting for dinner. Yes, it's that kind of life on this ABD
ABD Day #4: Santorini
We were up early for the very short flight from Athens to Santorini. The iPhone was set at 5:45 am for a 6:15 breakfast/bag pull and 7:15 bus time. We arrived at the airport in plenty of time for our 10:15 flight. I’m sure this is a very stressful day for the ABD guides, but they seem to have it down to a well-oiled machine and everything went very smoothly. After about a thirty minute flight time, we arrived on Santorini and went straight to the winery, which was four minutes away from the airport. I know this because we were all teasing Mary who had estimated it at 5 minutes—her previous estimate have been on Greek time (i.e. they took much longer). But on this one she redeemed herself
Lunch was a buffet of Greek favorites. I went with a stuffed pork spiral thing that was delicious. I warned you I was horrible on the food, but it has all been really good. Love the Greek diet, and everything is so fresh. After lunch, the kids went off and the adults (and any kids old enough to drink in Greece with their parents' permission) had a chance to taste four wines. It was a lot of fun, and the people (including the gentleman below who greeted us outside the winery) were lovely.
After wine tasting we had a chance to join the junior adventures and crush some grapes. A good number of adults joined in the fun, including yours truly. I grew up close to Napa and have been to wineries many, many times, but this was a first for me. After the initial weird feeling, it was a lot of fun--but slippy. I'm glad we did this after the wine tasting or I might not have been as eager to drink the wines. We did wash off our feet before, but ... probably something I shouldn't think about too much!
Before hitting the bus, we did a short tour of the wine museum that they have there. It had a lot of interesting old presses and told the story of wine growing on Greece--and the family who started the winery--in a series of vignettes some with dummies that were pretty old school (and provoked some chucky jokes) but part of the fun.
We went from the winery to the capital city of Santorini called Fira to take a couple pics and have some free time for shopping or strolling around. It was a little hot for both, but the gelato (on Disney) helped Glad to see they picked up this one. Had a couple surprises along these lines while in Santorini, which is always a nice touch.
Many of the businesses on the view side of the city have doorways like this that lead down to amazing hillsides restaurants and views. Thought it was so fun and interesting looking. You can really see the blue and white inspiration for the flag in these pics.
One of everything, please? I settled for banana.
One of the shopping alleys in Fira. Fira was cute, but the shops were a little on the touristy side. We poked around a little, but we were hot and tired and ended up plopping down in front of the church pretty early to wait for the gang.
Awesome views while we were waiting though:
By time we arrived at the hotel--the very gorgeous Vedema resort--we were exhausted and plopped down on the bed and didn't get up until it was time to shower for dinner. I wish we'd had enough energy to hit the pool because it was wonderful as we found out the next day. Absolutely gorgeous resort though. Check out the huge room.
We met the group for a relatively late dinner to head to dinner at a local taverna and take advantage of the amazing--amazing--sunset. It was truly spectacular. The sun turned a very vibrant red before sinking over the horizon. This might be my favorite picture of the trip so far. It's DD and ABD guide Chris taking a selfie from a roof top. Awesome, right?
We have a great group of travelers on this trip and have really enjoyed having a chance to talk to every family. This is one thing that I really missed on our last trip with the huge group. IMO, 30-35 is about perfect for an ABD trip.
ABD Day #4: Santorini
We were up early for the very short flight from Athens to Santorini. The iPhone was set at 5:45 am for a 6:15 breakfast/bag pull and 7:15 bus time. We arrived at the airport in plenty of time for our 10:15 flight. I’m sure this is a very stressful day for the ABD guides, but they seem to have it down to a well-oiled machine and everything went very smoothly. After about a thirty minute flight time, we arrived on Santorini and went straight to the winery, which was four minutes away from the airport. I know this because we were all teasing Mary who had estimated it at 5 minutes—her previous estimate have been on Greek time (i.e. they took much longer). But on this one she redeemed herself
Lunch was a buffet of Greek favorites. I went with a stuffed pork spiral thing that was delicious. I warned you I was horrible on the food, but it has all been really good. Love the Greek diet, and everything is so fresh. After lunch, the kids went off and the adults (and any kids old enough to drink in Greece with their parents' permission) had a chance to taste four wines. It was a lot of fun, and the people (including the gentleman below who greeted us outside the winery) were lovely.
After wine tasting we had a chance to join the junior adventures and crush some grapes. A good number of adults joined in the fun, including yours truly. I grew up close to Napa and have been to wineries many, many times, but this was a first for me. After the initial weird feeling, it was a lot of fun--but slippy. I'm glad we did this after the wine tasting or I might not have been as eager to drink the wines. We did wash off our feet before, but ... probably something I shouldn't think about too much!
Before hitting the bus, we did a short tour of the wine museum that they have there. It had a lot of interesting old presses and told the story of wine growing on Greece--and the family who started the winery--in a series of vignettes some with dummies that were pretty old school (and provoked some chucky jokes) but part of the fun.
We went from the winery to the capital city of Santorini called Fira to take a couple pics and have some free time for shopping or strolling around. It was a little hot for both, but the gelato (on Disney) helped
Glad to see they picked up this one. Had a couple surprises along these lines while in Santorini, which is always a nice touch. Many of the businesses on the view side of the city have doorways like this that lead down to amazing hillsides restaurants and views. Thought it was so fun and interesting looking. You can really see the blue and white inspiration for the flag in these pics.
One of everything, please? I settled for banana.
One of the shopping alleys in Fira. Fira was cute, but the shops were a little on the touristy side. We poked around a little, but we were hot and tired and ended up plopping down in front of the church pretty early to wait for the gang.
Awesome views while we were waiting though:
By time we arrived at the hotel--the very gorgeous Vedema resort--we were exhausted and plopped down on the bed and didn't get up until it was time to shower for dinner. I wish we'd had enough energy to hit the pool because it was wonderful as we found out the next day. Absolutely gorgeous resort though. Check out the huge room.
We met the group for a relatively late dinner to head to dinner at a local taverna and take advantage of the amazing--amazing--sunset. It was truly spectacular. The sun turned a very vibrant red before sinking over the horizon. This might be my favorite picture of the trip so far. It's DD and ABD guide Chris taking a selfie from a roof top. Awesome, right?
We have a great group of travelers on this trip and have really enjoyed having a chance to talk to every family. This is one thing that I really missed on our last trip with the huge group. IMO, 30-35 is about perfect for an ABD trip.
CaliforniaGirl09
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2009
- Messages
- 4,090
Have to add a few more pictures from Day #1 in Santorini, including a few more shot from around the resort
These are actually from Day #2, but since I'm anticipating having more than 10 pics in the next post I decided to put them here. This is our two rooms and the breakfast buffet around the pool.
:
These are actually from Day #2, but since I'm anticipating having more than 10 pics in the next post I decided to put them here. This is our two rooms and the breakfast buffet around the pool.
:
CaliforniaGirl09
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2009
- Messages
- 4,090
Day #6 (Day #5 of ABD): Santorini
Today was easily my favorite day so far. The highlight of the trip so far was seeing the Acropolis/Parthenon, but today was just plain fun. It started out with the great breakfast buffet pictured in the post above. I thought the one in Athens was good, but this one blew it away in terms of freshness. The fruit was exceptional, and they had so much to choose from. My son loved the French toast that was almost like beignets. They also had made to order smoothies, which were a big hit.
After breakfast, we boarded the bus a short but scary ride down the side of the cliff to the port to meet our boat. Here's a hint for anyone thinking about taking this trip. Do not think to yourself, "I wonder what happens if the brakes go out?" like i did on the way down. We actually take the same road to meet the ferry tomorrow, which I'm trying not to think about.
The boat was wonderful--a very beautiful wooden sailboat (schooner?) that was well outfitted. There were fairly decent for a boat bathrooms, and a refreshment center that was stocked with treats for the day.
We had a short trip to the volcanic isle of Nea Kameni where we had my favorite activity of the trip so far: a short hike up to the top of the isle. It was rocky, but kind of like walking on sand. There was some steepness, but it probably isn't more than a mile and a half round trip and the guides took it at a fairly leisurely pace so that no one seemed to have much trouble. Seemed to be a pretty fit group overall though.
View from the "summit."
After the hike we sailed around to another island and had a chance to jump in the water. Just about everyone swam, and most people did the mineral "mud" bath (you can see the edge of brown in the picture below). My son wasn't interested, so DH took DD to do it. No pictures of that unfortunately, but I think they had a group pic with mud on their faces that I'm looking forward to seeing. The water was a little cool getting in, but it felt really good after the hike and was so refreshing my son didn't want to get out. I think it was his highlight of the trip so far.
We had another short trip to a taverna called Captain John's in a little lagoon on another side of the island (I kind of lost track of all the islands). So fun to pull up in the boat, get off the dock, and head into the restaurant.
Loved this meal (that's a theme, BTW)--the swordfish souvlaki were delicious as was the incredibly ripe fruit at the end. The fruit is exceptional here.
Hopped back in our boat and headed back to Santorini to visit the other major town: Oia. LOVED this little town and see why it's such a destination. Reminded me quite a bit of Capri, although not quite as over the top fancy. I finally did some shopping. And oh yes... there are some views
On the ship approaching our dock below Oia.
Gorgeous!
The famous blue roofs of the Orthodox churches.
More to come in part 2....
Today was easily my favorite day so far. The highlight of the trip so far was seeing the Acropolis/Parthenon, but today was just plain fun. It started out with the great breakfast buffet pictured in the post above. I thought the one in Athens was good, but this one blew it away in terms of freshness. The fruit was exceptional, and they had so much to choose from. My son loved the French toast that was almost like beignets. They also had made to order smoothies, which were a big hit.
After breakfast, we boarded the bus a short but scary ride down the side of the cliff to the port to meet our boat. Here's a hint for anyone thinking about taking this trip. Do not think to yourself, "I wonder what happens if the brakes go out?" like i did on the way down. We actually take the same road to meet the ferry tomorrow, which I'm trying not to think about.
The boat was wonderful--a very beautiful wooden sailboat (schooner?) that was well outfitted. There were fairly decent for a boat bathrooms, and a refreshment center that was stocked with treats for the day.
We had a short trip to the volcanic isle of Nea Kameni where we had my favorite activity of the trip so far: a short hike up to the top of the isle. It was rocky, but kind of like walking on sand. There was some steepness, but it probably isn't more than a mile and a half round trip and the guides took it at a fairly leisurely pace so that no one seemed to have much trouble. Seemed to be a pretty fit group overall though.
View from the "summit."
After the hike we sailed around to another island and had a chance to jump in the water. Just about everyone swam, and most people did the mineral "mud" bath (you can see the edge of brown in the picture below). My son wasn't interested, so DH took DD to do it. No pictures of that unfortunately, but I think they had a group pic with mud on their faces that I'm looking forward to seeing. The water was a little cool getting in, but it felt really good after the hike and was so refreshing my son didn't want to get out. I think it was his highlight of the trip so far.
We had another short trip to a taverna called Captain John's in a little lagoon on another side of the island (I kind of lost track of all the islands
). So fun to pull up in the boat, get off the dock, and head into the restaurant. Loved this meal (that's a theme, BTW)--the swordfish souvlaki were delicious as was the incredibly ripe fruit at the end. The fruit is exceptional here.
Hopped back in our boat and headed back to Santorini to visit the other major town: Oia. LOVED this little town and see why it's such a destination. Reminded me quite a bit of Capri, although not quite as over the top fancy. I finally did some shopping. And oh yes... there are some views
On the ship approaching our dock below Oia.
Gorgeous!
The famous blue roofs of the Orthodox churches.
More to come in part 2....
CaliforniaGirl09
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2009
- Messages
- 4,090
Continuing ...
Our first stop was the fish spa. A fish spa is where you put your feet in a bath and little fish eat away the dead skin. Sounds horrible, right? It was actually really cool! I'd heard of it before, and after a few of our group did it the first day, DD and I were all in. The guys were happy to wait in the air-conditioning to take a break--any break--from the apparent torture of shopping. My son's words, BTW.
This is the fish going to town, LOL. It actually really works. I wish I'd done it longer. We only did it for 20 minutes. It doesn't hurt. Some people think it tickles, but I thought it felt like having a shower head on your feet--kind of bubbly.
Here is my son being tortured along the gorgeous shopping roads.
And I finally bought something! Absolutely loved this shirt. It's kind of a luxe typical Greek shirt, and pretty much exactly what I was looking for. The store is called B.Loose, and if I'd had more luggage space I would have bought a lot more. Highly recommend this place. DD bought a similar shirt in white.
One of our fellow travelers had bought an "evil eye" bracelet the day before, which is a traditional item from Greece (and Italy, I think they said) to protect against the evil eye. I wanted to get one, but DH said he was the one who needed it. Funny guy.
We had time for a cafe stop to try a "nescafe frappe" which is kind of a really strong iced coffee. The guy warned us to drink it slowly because he's had tourists get shaky from all the caffeine. He didn't know who he was talking to I would have told him this wasn't my first rodeo, but I think it would have been lost in translation, LOL.
Joined the group for another gelato (yum!) before heading back to the hotel. We had dinner on our own tonight, but because of big lunches (and late afternoon gelatos), we weren't hungry enough to make the effort to venture into the square to try one of the restaurants. This is become a theme for "on our own" nights, i.e. finding something small so we can shower and get to bed. Tonight we ate out by the pool and most of the group had the same idea. I think there were only two families who weren't out there. Super fun, and had another magnificent sunset. This really is the life, and I could have stayed out there for hours. But it's check out time tomorrow (no!!!) so we had to go back to get organized. Fortunately it's a late bag pull so we can sleep in a little and enjoy our morning at Vedema.
Our first stop was the fish spa. A fish spa is where you put your feet in a bath and little fish eat away the dead skin. Sounds horrible, right? It was actually really cool! I'd heard of it before, and after a few of our group did it the first day, DD and I were all in. The guys were happy to wait in the air-conditioning to take a break--any break--from the apparent torture of shopping. My son's words, BTW.
This is the fish going to town, LOL. It actually really works. I wish I'd done it longer. We only did it for 20 minutes. It doesn't hurt. Some people think it tickles, but I thought it felt like having a shower head on your feet--kind of bubbly.
Here is my son being tortured along the gorgeous shopping roads.
And I finally bought something! Absolutely loved this shirt. It's kind of a luxe typical Greek shirt, and pretty much exactly what I was looking for. The store is called B.Loose, and if I'd had more luggage space I would have bought a lot more. Highly recommend this place. DD bought a similar shirt in white.
One of our fellow travelers had bought an "evil eye" bracelet the day before, which is a traditional item from Greece (and Italy, I think they said) to protect against the evil eye. I wanted to get one, but DH said he was the one who needed it. Funny guy.
We had time for a cafe stop to try a "nescafe frappe" which is kind of a really strong iced coffee. The guy warned us to drink it slowly because he's had tourists get shaky from all the caffeine. He didn't know who he was talking to
I would have told him this wasn't my first rodeo, but I think it would have been lost in translation, LOL. Joined the group for another gelato (yum!) before heading back to the hotel. We had dinner on our own tonight, but because of big lunches (and late afternoon gelatos), we weren't hungry enough to make the effort to venture into the square to try one of the restaurants. This is become a theme for "on our own" nights, i.e. finding something small so we can shower and get to bed. Tonight we ate out by the pool and most of the group had the same idea. I think there were only two families who weren't out there. Super fun, and had another magnificent sunset. This really is the life, and I could have stayed out there for hours. But it's check out time tomorrow (no!!!) so we had to go back to get organized. Fortunately it's a late bag pull so we can sleep in a little and enjoy our morning at Vedema.
sayhello
Have Camera, Will Travel
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2006
- Messages
- 16,859
Glad you liked Vedema! It's kind of crazy how well it blends in with the surrounding buildings, but the rooms and the setting are beautiful!
And you did the fish spa!
I thought it was pretty fun.
Looking forward to more!
Sayhello
And you did the fish spa!
I thought it was pretty fun. Looking forward to more!
Sayhello
CaliforniaGirl09
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2009
- Messages
- 4,090
Your review is amazing and your pictures are wonderful - My DD and i are doing this tour in 3 weeks and I cant wait! Thank you for your updates
Thank you so much! so glad you are enjoying You and DD are going to have a blast--it's exhausting but wonderful. I was just flipping back through my pictures and it's amazing how much of it goes by in a whirl (and we haven't even left yet, LOL).
Glad you liked Vedema! It's kind of crazy how well it blends in with the surrounding buildings, but the rooms and the setting are beautiful!
And you did the fish spa!
Looking forward to more!
Sayhello
I know, it is amazing how it all blends in. We actually really loved the fish spa. We did 20 minutes and were regretting not doing 40. It was relaxing and really worked. I heard it worked even better the longer you did it.
Rmmc07
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2012
- Messages
- 11
Hi all! I'm Hoping that you ladies who have done this trip can help to guide me. As noted my DD12 and I are doing this trip in 2 weeks (it's our 3rd ABD, viva Italia and NYC being the other 2). And I wanted to add the Poseidon temple as was recommended by others on the board but the only place that it seems to work and still allows you to stay late enough to see the sunset there is at the end of day 3 because on day 2 you go back down into the town for dinner at 6:30? Is that right? Some advice would be greatly appreciated. Also is the sandal poet in the plaka? Or do I need to go find him? Dad would love sandals. Thanks everyone and I can't wait Trip sounds amazing thus far.
CaliforniaGirl09
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2009
- Messages
- 4,090
Day #7 (day #6 of ABD):
Today was kind of a weird day. I felt like we were kind of waiting around most of the day and biding time for the ferry at 5 pm. Thinking about it, this is the first trip we've been on that relied on public transportation (the interior flight and the ferry) and I think that's why it felt strange to me. The other trip we did that had a flight--Scotland--was a private plane so it felt much easier. Anyway, we did do some fun things, but it would have been *really* nice if we could have had a late check out at the hotel (4ish). When I read the itinerary for the day I assumed that would be the case, but I was wrong--it made for an awkward day. For me at least, as I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to really shower or just wash off after the beach time. Turns out we did have use of the spa at the hotel, but I wasn't exactly sure how much time we'd have, etc. so didn't want to rely on it. Anyway, this will make more sense after I finish the post!
We had a later start time than usual, which was really nice as it gave us a chance to have a more relaxing breakfast and pack. Our bags had to be out of the room at 10 (which was our meet time). We hopped on the coach and had a 20 minute or so drive (Santorini is only 45 square miles so nothing is that far) to the Minoan Archeological site at Akrotiri. I thought this sounded cool in the itinerary, but it was every cooler than I thought. It's basically Greece's answer to Pompeii, and it's nearly as impressive. At first, I was overjoyed to learn that a building had been build around it--if you've been to Pompeii in the summer you know how miserably hot it is with the hot sun shining down on you--but the building doesn't have AC so we exchanged hot sun for sauna. Throw a little water on the lava rocks was DH's joke of the day. Still, it was probably preferable to the hot sun. Misery wasn't accompanied by a sunburn!
Before heading into the building, Mary had a print off for us to read of one of the stories of Atlantis. Near Santorini is apparently the prevalent thought for where it might have been favored by most archeologists (and Plato), but there are a couple of others.
The building behind Mary houses the dig site.
Example of some of the buildings that have been uncovered from the layers and layers of ash. I want to say the volcano was 163O ish BC
One of the stores/shops in the village.
We only spent about an hour at the site, but it was so hot everyone was pretty drained and ready to collapse. We hit Kamari Beach where you can order lunch from one of the many restaurants (on our own) and then use one of their lounges. If you don't eat at the restaurant the chairs cost 8 euros or something. Mary recommended a fancier restaurant at the other end, but everyone was so tired we pretty much all ended up at the one that was right in front of our drop off spot: Oasis. I think she's a little disappointed in our group, LOL--we seem to opt for the casual/early side of things and Greeks don't get going until after 8 o'clock. One of the group was laughing when he ordered a beer or something at 7 pm and it was still happy hour.
Lunch was actually delicious, and among my favorite meals. I ordered the Pork Gyro, and it could have fed two people. It was so big that I ended up skipping dinner (which I almost never do). We aren't really beach people, but it was nice to hang out for a couple hours on the loungers. There was a nice breeze for most of the time, and it wasn't unbearably hot. It would have been nice to jump in the water. Some of our group did, but we didn't wear our swimsuits because we didn't want to be grimy for the rest of the day (including sitting on the ferry). As I mentioned above, I wasn't sure how the whole shower thing was going to work. We probably could have done it, but I would have had to have all our clothes and toiletries accessible and shower in the hotel spa. Too many logistics to think about late at night after an exhausting day. Figuring out what we are going to wear is hard enough, LOL. Again, this is where it would have been awesome to know that we could go back to the room and shower before heading to the ferry. I think that's why it felt like a wait around day. A late check out would have been a true Disney magical touch but I suspect impractical with the amount of rooms we take up
We ended up hanging around the pool with the rest of the group in the shade for about an hour. We had our first celebrity sighting: Geraldo Rivera was there with his wife and daughter(?) I said hello, but didn't want to bug him while he was on vacation. I guess the hotel has become very popular since Angelina Jolie stayed there years ago when filming one of the Tomb Raider movies.
We left at about 4:15 for the ferry, and it was ... chaos. The guides have everything down, but there's only so much you can plan for. We watched from the stifling hot building as our ferry pulled in (a little late), and then pulled back out immediately after an even later ferry arrived. It then, for some reason, pulled back in a few minutes later right next to the other one. Weird. Anyway, this created chaos as all the tourists tried to figure out what ship they were supposed to be on. We boarded our ferry with the mass of humanity and I tried not to pay attention to our luggage, which was being loaded right along side everyone (they were watching it, but it would have been easy for someone to walk away with one of them). I'm super luggage paranoid after a few bad events, and it all worked out (although they did have to go back on for DD's bag after we didn't see it come off). Anyway, I told Chris about my phobia, and he was very nice about it and not dismissive at all--he was definitely on the look out!
We sit in a special Platinum lounge that is usually pretty much just ABD, although Chris and Mary both warned that there could be a few other people in it. Everyone--including the server--was surprised when it was full. People initially weren't seated in their seats and more chaos ensued. It was pretty crazy--picture musical chairs. At least it was air conditioned. It was probably the most comfortable I'd been up to that point. The AC in Greece for the most part leaves a lot to be desired
Eventually, all the seats were figured out and we all enjoyed a drink on the mouse for being so patient (usually not part of the trip). This was an awesome touch, but right away it was clear that our young hostess wasn't going to be able to handle it. She took forever and seemed very confused. Fortunately Chris was watching and attempted to help her out, but she was not going for it. When she finally brought the bill, she'd charged Chris for ALL the drinks in the lounge. Poor Chris. They then had to go through it line by line to figure it all out. Boy, was I glad I wasn't handling all this!
I really can't say enough about Chris and Mary. They are both great guides--although very different. Mary really provides a depth of knowledge of Greece that can only come from a local--we've never had this on an ABD before. I really feel like we've learned so much more having her than just having a local guide at times (like we've had in other places). She also has a great sense of humor and is able to cut through a lot of the issues that come up because of her fluent Greek.
Chris is not only an awesome ABD guide--with all the usual bells and whistles--but he is also just a really cool guy and someone I could totally see hanging out with. It's like picking a favorite child with ABD guides, but Chris is right there at the top. One of the differences with this team is that the Disney factor is very played down. I'll put my thoughts in order about this and comment more about it later.
Lounge:
Our ferry.
The ferry was very fast, and even better: DD who always gets sick was fine. I guess they switched ferries a while back because the other one could be more bumpy. We had a boxed lunch (delicious fruit, water, chips and a sandwich), but I was still full from lunch.
We had about an hour drive to the hotel and watched part of a movie before arriving at the gorgeous Porto Elounda Resort. As we came in we could see an enormous yacht in the sea. We found out it's 200 million euros and belongs to the owner of the Chelsea football club who apparently has 4 others for a total of 1.5 billion euros in yachts. As Mel Brooks said: It's good to the the king!
We pretty much collapsed and went to bed--this has been a theme. The trip is definitely busy, but it's also the heat and humidity, which take a lot out of you. We would have loved to explore the hotel a little, but it took everything just to unpack enough and prepare for the following day.
Today was kind of a weird day. I felt like we were kind of waiting around most of the day and biding time for the ferry at 5 pm. Thinking about it, this is the first trip we've been on that relied on public transportation (the interior flight and the ferry) and I think that's why it felt strange to me. The other trip we did that had a flight--Scotland--was a private plane so it felt much easier. Anyway, we did do some fun things, but it would have been *really* nice if we could have had a late check out at the hotel (4ish). When I read the itinerary for the day I assumed that would be the case, but I was wrong--it made for an awkward day. For me at least, as I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to really shower or just wash off after the beach time. Turns out we did have use of the spa at the hotel, but I wasn't exactly sure how much time we'd have, etc. so didn't want to rely on it. Anyway, this will make more sense after I finish the post!
We had a later start time than usual, which was really nice as it gave us a chance to have a more relaxing breakfast and pack. Our bags had to be out of the room at 10 (which was our meet time). We hopped on the coach and had a 20 minute or so drive (Santorini is only 45 square miles so nothing is that far) to the Minoan Archeological site at Akrotiri. I thought this sounded cool in the itinerary, but it was every cooler than I thought. It's basically Greece's answer to Pompeii, and it's nearly as impressive. At first, I was overjoyed to learn that a building had been build around it--if you've been to Pompeii in the summer you know how miserably hot it is with the hot sun shining down on you--but the building doesn't have AC so we exchanged hot sun for sauna. Throw a little water on the lava rocks was DH's joke of the day. Still, it was probably preferable to the hot sun. Misery wasn't accompanied by a sunburn!
Before heading into the building, Mary had a print off for us to read of one of the stories of Atlantis. Near Santorini is apparently the prevalent thought for where it might have been favored by most archeologists (and Plato), but there are a couple of others.
The building behind Mary houses the dig site.
Example of some of the buildings that have been uncovered from the layers and layers of ash. I want to say the volcano was 163O ish BC
One of the stores/shops in the village.
We only spent about an hour at the site, but it was so hot everyone was pretty drained and ready to collapse. We hit Kamari Beach where you can order lunch from one of the many restaurants (on our own) and then use one of their lounges. If you don't eat at the restaurant the chairs cost 8 euros or something. Mary recommended a fancier restaurant at the other end, but everyone was so tired we pretty much all ended up at the one that was right in front of our drop off spot: Oasis. I think she's a little disappointed in our group, LOL--we seem to opt for the casual/early side of things and Greeks don't get going until after 8 o'clock. One of the group was laughing when he ordered a beer or something at 7 pm and it was still happy hour.
Lunch was actually delicious, and among my favorite meals. I ordered the Pork Gyro, and it could have fed two people. It was so big that I ended up skipping dinner (which I almost never do). We aren't really beach people, but it was nice to hang out for a couple hours on the loungers. There was a nice breeze for most of the time, and it wasn't unbearably hot. It would have been nice to jump in the water. Some of our group did, but we didn't wear our swimsuits because we didn't want to be grimy for the rest of the day (including sitting on the ferry). As I mentioned above, I wasn't sure how the whole shower thing was going to work. We probably could have done it, but I would have had to have all our clothes and toiletries accessible and shower in the hotel spa. Too many logistics to think about late at night after an exhausting day. Figuring out what we are going to wear is hard enough, LOL. Again, this is where it would have been awesome to know that we could go back to the room and shower before heading to the ferry. I think that's why it felt like a wait around day. A late check out would have been a true Disney magical touch but I suspect impractical with the amount of rooms we take up
We ended up hanging around the pool with the rest of the group in the shade for about an hour. We had our first celebrity sighting: Geraldo Rivera was there with his wife and daughter(?) I said hello, but didn't want to bug him while he was on vacation. I guess the hotel has become very popular since Angelina Jolie stayed there years ago when filming one of the Tomb Raider movies.
We left at about 4:15 for the ferry, and it was ... chaos. The guides have everything down, but there's only so much you can plan for. We watched from the stifling hot building as our ferry pulled in (a little late), and then pulled back out immediately after an even later ferry arrived. It then, for some reason, pulled back in a few minutes later right next to the other one. Weird. Anyway, this created chaos as all the tourists tried to figure out what ship they were supposed to be on. We boarded our ferry with the mass of humanity and I tried not to pay attention to our luggage, which was being loaded right along side everyone (they were watching it, but it would have been easy for someone to walk away with one of them). I'm super luggage paranoid after a few bad events, and it all worked out (although they did have to go back on for DD's bag after we didn't see it come off). Anyway, I told Chris about my phobia, and he was very nice about it and not dismissive at all--he was definitely on the look out!
We sit in a special Platinum lounge that is usually pretty much just ABD, although Chris and Mary both warned that there could be a few other people in it. Everyone--including the server--was surprised when it was full. People initially weren't seated in their seats and more chaos ensued. It was pretty crazy--picture musical chairs. At least it was air conditioned. It was probably the most comfortable I'd been up to that point. The AC in Greece for the most part leaves a lot to be desired
Eventually, all the seats were figured out and we all enjoyed a drink on the mouse for being so patient (usually not part of the trip). This was an awesome touch, but right away it was clear that our young hostess wasn't going to be able to handle it. She took forever and seemed very confused. Fortunately Chris was watching and attempted to help her out, but she was not going for it. When she finally brought the bill, she'd charged Chris for ALL the drinks in the lounge. Poor Chris. They then had to go through it line by line to figure it all out. Boy, was I glad I wasn't handling all this!
I really can't say enough about Chris and Mary. They are both great guides--although very different. Mary really provides a depth of knowledge of Greece that can only come from a local--we've never had this on an ABD before. I really feel like we've learned so much more having her than just having a local guide at times (like we've had in other places). She also has a great sense of humor and is able to cut through a lot of the issues that come up because of her fluent Greek.
Chris is not only an awesome ABD guide--with all the usual bells and whistles--but he is also just a really cool guy and someone I could totally see hanging out with. It's like picking a favorite child with ABD guides, but Chris is right there at the top. One of the differences with this team is that the Disney factor is very played down. I'll put my thoughts in order about this and comment more about it later.
Lounge:
Our ferry.
The ferry was very fast, and even better: DD who always gets sick was fine. I guess they switched ferries a while back because the other one could be more bumpy. We had a boxed lunch (delicious fruit, water, chips and a sandwich), but I was still full from lunch.
We had about an hour drive to the hotel and watched part of a movie before arriving at the gorgeous Porto Elounda Resort. As we came in we could see an enormous yacht in the sea. We found out it's 200 million euros and belongs to the owner of the Chelsea football club who apparently has 4 others for a total of 1.5 billion euros in yachts. As Mel Brooks said: It's good to the the king!
We pretty much collapsed and went to bed--this has been a theme. The trip is definitely busy, but it's also the heat and humidity, which take a lot out of you. We would have loved to explore the hotel a little, but it took everything just to unpack enough and prepare for the following day.
Rmmc07
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2012
- Messages
- 11
Great report - now I now what to look out for with the luggage transfers and will also pack a small bag for that day in order to shower after - I too had thought it was a late check out. I do hope we get Chris and Mary for the July 22 departure - They sound awesome! Thanks again for the amazing trip reports.... and I am hoping they sort out that ticket change thing for the Zeus Temple in Athens by the time we arrive - but if not it all sounds so wonderful that I suppose it really won't matter.
- now I now what to look out for with the luggage transfers and will also pack a small bag for that day in order to shower after - I too had thought it was a late check out. I do hope we get Chris and Mary for the July 22 departure - They sound awesome! Thanks again for the amazing trip reports.... and I am hoping they sort out that ticket change thing for the Zeus Temple in Athens by the time we arrive - but if not it all sounds so wonderful that I suppose it really won't matter.-
Universal Express Pass Now Available at Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure
-
3 Must-Try Sweet Treats from Universal Epic Universe
-
Disney Cruise Line Tipping Calculator
-
What ID You Need to Buy Alcohol at Disney Parks
-
Last Chance to Enjoy These EPCOT Flower & Garden Treats!
-
Lowest Prices of the Year on DVC Rentals - Save on Disney Deluxe Resorts!
-
Stream the Music from Hollywood Studios' New Disney Villains Show
Save Up to 30% on Rooms at Walt Disney World!
Save up to 30% on rooms at select Disney Resorts Collection hotels when you stay 5 consecutive nights or longer in late summer and early fall. Plus, enjoy other savings for shorter stays.This offer is valid for stays most nights from August 1 to October 11, 2025.
CLICK HERE
New Posts
Resort Thread
Disney's YACHT & BEACH CLUB Resorts
- Poll
