SANTORINI - ATHENS

Seperti biasa, lepas habis long trip, hubby ada off days, which means - vacation! So our next destination was Greece. Sepatutnya we went to Greece first, baru Italy. Tapi dek kerana terlalu excited sangat nak pergi Rome, maka jadi lah Greece yang kedua.

We took Turkish Airlines to Athens. We decided to go to Santorini first, so from Athens we flew to Santorini Island via Aegean Air. To tell you the truth, flight tickets mahalnya ya ampun! Tapi sebab there were only 2 of us, and we didn't really have much time to spend, so pejam mata aje la beli ticket. Tips jimat untuk anda yang punya banyak masa untuk spend in Greece, sila naik ferry from Athens. Lama. Tapi murah gila lah compare naik flight. Ambil lah ferry malam so that you can sleep throughout the journey.

Sampai Santorini Airport we took the city bus to go to Fira. Hubby booked hotel kat situ. Besides, Fira tu macam center of attractions lah jugak. Banyak shops, hotels, museums and cable car. Sampai je Fira, turun bas. Nganga. Tak tau celah mana hotel nye. Haha. Biasalah tu kan. Kami laki bini kan suka menggagau (dan berjaya). Mehmehmeh. So we all jalan2 between the shops, tengok balik map yang ala2 tu.. tengok nama jalan yang merepek2. And we walked and walked and walked. Berjaya tanya orang. And berjaya jumpa hotel nya. Hehehe. Memang tak jauh pun tapi sebab tak tau, so rasa penat lah jugak berjalan. Nasib baik view cantik. Sebelum check in, hubby sewa scooter from a place tak jauh dari hotel. Sebab nak murah punya, so dapat lah yang bunyi bising. Hahaha. Rasanya macam satu Santorini dengor. Hahahaha. Padan lerr pun dengan price nye, 24 hours for 10 euro. Janji sampai semua tempat nak pergi.

Airport nya sedikit padang jarang padang tekukur.

In between shops.

Jalan2 cari hotel.

Dah jumpa hotel!

We stayed at Sea of Aegeon Hotel. Hotel budget yang sangat cute! The room was very nice and clean to the max! Interior macam sangat baru tapi owner kata dah more than 4 years. Ada pool. Most of hotels in Santorini memang ada pool. Regardless how small the hotel is. I don't know why.

Lupa nak snap masa sampai. Ni sebelum balik. hehe.

The balcony

The pool

After checked in and solat, we asked the owner (I think that was the daughter of the owner) for her recommendations to go sightseeing. Memang very helpful. Dia bagi map, tunjuk mana tempat2 famous. Siap pesan suruh pergi tengok sunset kat mana. And we did follow all her suggestions. Naik motor pusing Santorini. Tak besar mana. Sehari memang boleh cover. Kat sana banyak beaches. First kami pergi ke Monolithos beach. Paling dekat dengan airport. Tak ada orang sangat. Not the famous beach there. And then kami ke Kamari beach. One of the famous beach. Memang lawa macam nak terkeluar biji mata. Geram je tengok air. Rasa nak halau semua orang yang dok baring2 tepi pantai tu semua suruh masuk dalam air. Ntah hape2 je boleh mandi tapi tak nak mandi. Kang den masuk dengan baju skali dgn jeans and tudung kang melopong lak korang tengok. Huhu. Tapi pergi jugak dekat air tu celup kaki. Sebab irresistible sangat. So after that we continued our rempit to Perissa and Perivolos beach. From one beach to another tu bukanlah dekat2 macam sebelah2 tu, so along the way tu kami stop2 jugak bila jumpa tempat lawa, we stopped to take pictures and stuff. Siap singgah minum coffee and makan souffle lagi. Ada satu lagi beach called Red Beach but I didn't think we found it. Tak sure sebab macam banyak sangat beach. Rasanya macam tak sampai.

Monolithos

Helmet berat nak mamposs!!

Kamari

Happy

Perissa

Perivolos

Kalau kat Turkey, masjid merata-rata. Kat sini, church bersepah.

Sedap nak nangis!

And the we continued our journey back to Fira before we went to Oia (pronounced as IA). Singgah kedai-kedai in Fira to find some souvenirs. Lepas tu terus ke Oia untuk sunset view. Oia is a small village, tapi rasanya memang situ famous spot for sunset sebab banyak tourist buses. Tapi memandangkan kami ada motorbising, so of course kami cari tempat yang tak ada orang, sunyi tak ada gangguan and paling clear untuk tengok sunset. Ngehehehe.

Oia

Memang terpencil. Walaupun berdua je tapi tak ada pun yang
ketiga datang menghasut. Muahahaha.

Click photo for panoramic view.

Tamat di Santorini. The next day we took the city bus from Fira to airport, and from there we flew back to Athens. 2 nights in Athens. Stayed in Aristoteles Hotel in Omonia. Walking distance from Omonia Metro Station but the town was a little bit creepy for me. Macam bandar mati. Almost semua kedai tutup during weekends. But the second day we found out kat tepi2 hotel tu ada a few halal places. Sebab situ rupanya area pakistan, bangladesh dan seumpanya. hehe. Makan kat Greece memang SUSAH gile cari yang halal. We already knew that sebab ada kawan bagitau. So memang kami bawa banyak makanan. Haha. Tuna, roti gardenia, maggi, sup campbell, nestum. Cukup la walaupun masuk hari kedua dah mula bosan. Perut dah meraung2 mintak nasi. *sigh

So my suggestion, kalau you all pergi Greece membawa checked-in luggage, sila lah bawa sanyo cooker dan Brahim's banyak2. hehe. Kalau anda tak kisah makan Greek salad and roti all the time, then you're totally fine.

I found Athens a bit boring.  Teruk tak? Huhu. Untuk orang yang obsess dengan histories, that is the place for you. But for me, it was just too much. We visited the Acropolis (and the museum) and the Parthenon, Ancient Agora, Olympieion & Hadrian's Arch, Panathenaic Stadium, Temple of Olympian Zeus and a few yang dah tak boleh recall. Banyak sangat and most of the places ada tiang. Hahaha. That's it. Yang agak best nya I think was at Monastiraki. Situ je pun rasanya yang agak meriah sebab banyak shops, ada flea market yang jual antique things (which I found sexy - yes, I have a thing for old stuff I don't know why). Transportation in Greece senang. We bought the tourist unlimited ticket (72 hours for 20 euros). So dari airport terus beli and pakai. Boleh naik semua public transportation kecuali taxi. Metro yang paling accessible. Station banyak. 

I love the view though.

The second day sampai dah tak tau nak buat apa. Naik turun metro je kerja. Dari Omonia pergi Monastiraki, pergi Syntagma. Last2 naik tram pusing tepi pantai pulak. Banyak beach kat Athens. So bila naik tram, tram tu lalu tepi pantai all the way sampai lah ke port. Sightseeing dari dalam tram je. Haha. Sampai port konon2 nak tengok sunset. Tapi port tu ada ferry semata2. Tempat lepak2 minum yang fancy2, haram. Haha. Tapi sebab dah sampai, so duduk lah kejap minum kopi and makan roti dengan tuna. Athens ni almost semua tempat dia hampir mati. Pelik jugak. Or maybe kitorang tak tau mana nak cari tempat yang hidup. Baca guides, ada banyak jugak mall around Athens tapi we were not on shopping trip so malas nak pergi. Takut kalau pergi nanti gagal mengawal syaitonirrajim. Haha. Kata backpackers!

Tramway

Port

Monastiraki (again)

Acropolis at night. Terlalu malas untuk berjalan
to the other side for better view. *sigh

The last day, sebelum pergi airport, once again kami singgah Monastiraki. Haha. Only to find out rupanya banyak gila kedai fancy brands - Sephora, Forever 21, Zara, Bershka, Mango and so many moorreeee kat situ. Huahuahua. Yelah. Pergi time malam, semua tutup. Kalau lah tau, mesti dah spend the whole day yesterday kat situ je. *nangis [Takpe lah sayang. Kalau kita pergi sana the day before mesti kita penat melawan syaitonirrajim. Haha] It's oookaayyyy. Kat Istanbul pun ada semua tu. Besides, sekarang kan tengah Istanbul Shopping Fest. Nguahahaha.

Monastiraki area

Dah. Jom balik!

But first, let's take a selfie. Poyo. Bai.