Greetings from Santorini

see all photos »

Greeting from Greece. I feel like a tourist rather than a traveller right now -- a distinction that the backpacking set is keen to differentiate -- those who travel and explore and get off the beaten track vs. those who race from site to site in as quick a time as possible. So many Americans here, I'm not used to being in the travelling mainstream after being a bit off the beaten track in parts of Turkey. Spent 3 days in Paros and Naxos islands -- they were OK, but Santorini is defintely the jewel of Greece for me so far. Amazing cliffs and picture perfect photography opportunities everywhere -- I've been experimenting with B&W a little.

Kellie, Todd and I rented mopeds yesterday for the 2nd time in the Greek Isles -- it's a great way to see everything on your own time and since it's off-season here everything is still relatively cheap for another month -- 7 and 10 Euros for 24 hours of moped use and only 3-4 Euros for gas. Survived both experiences unscathed even though everyone warns about crazy drivers here -- it's been fine.

Greece is certainly more tourist savvy than Turkey was, and no matter what people say about the hospitality here, the Turks were much friendlier -- they would sit down and talk to you at the table, ask you about yourself and where you're from, etc. Maybe Greece has been on the main track for so long that they've lost that 'je ne sais qua' element. Thus, I have not learned a word of Greek yet and I probably knew 5 -10 words in Turkish by a week into it.

I'm surviving on crepes and gyros right now, although the Greek salad and suffed vine leaves are up there as well. We're staying on the backside of Fira town -- so it's a little walk in, but for 12 Euros a day to stay it's certainly worth it. Eventually I'm going to break down and stay in a really nice hotel with a swimming pool and cable and room service somewhere in Greece -- maybe during the playoffs so I can catch a Lakers game.

I'm going to slow down a little bit in the next few days and probably spend about a week in Crete -- I'm thinking about taking a diving course somewhere and would like to explore the island before heading to the Peloponese. In Crete I will again be a solo traveller so will have a little more time to ruminate about my experiences.

You'll have to excuse all of my mistyping and mispelling in these emails (as I pay per minute, time is of the essence).

Love, Elizabeth