Trip - 2011 Greece — ThePhotoGuy.dk

My 2011 Trip to Greece

11 Days solo

After managing my very first post-divorce solo trip from Boston to Montreal without major injury, I decided to go to several Greek islands and attempt a solo photographic trip in earnest.

I had several misadventures. I fell off a scooter on Mykonos. I forgot to set the parking brake on my rental smart car on Naxos, which I discovered as the car rolled away from me at a scenic viewpoint. I pushed myself so hard that on the last full day of my vacation I ended up sleeping nearly an entire day. I did not feel that I could take pictures that lived up to my ambitions.

Of course, I believe now that I was learning. Both how improve my photographic skills and also my solo travel skills.

My route

Day 1 - Monday, October 3, 2010

Wonder how they chose their flag colors...

Mykonos 20:14

So here I am in Mykonos (well, on the island, not in that town).

It is pretty... and I am being a bit neurotic.

I still think this will be interesting. I met a young couple that live in my hotel. I noticed them getting on the bus to Mykonos (the town) outside our hotel, and then they asked if I could take their picture at the windmills. I did with their camera and then offered to do so with mine, so we got to talking.

To start a bit earlier, here is what has happened since yesterday:

1. Flight to Munich was no problem.

2. Flight to Athens was delayed a couple of hours due to air traffic control striking in Greece.

3. Only got to the hotel after midnight (didn't realize that Greece is one time zone over). Was glad I pre-arranged for a taxi from the airport and to the ferry port.

4. Got up at 5:45 (after about 4 hours sleep) to have breakfast, take a few shots of the Acropolis, then head off to the ferry at 9:30.

5. Took pictures from the ferry. Nothing great. 100s of Japanese tourists doing the same (OK, maybe 6 or so).

6. Finally got tired and moved inside to sleep on a chair.

7. Took a few more pictures and ate a sandwich before arriving.

8. Beautiful Russian blond held my name when I arrived. That was nice, but embarrassing, because when I thought she said "It's nice to see ya" she was actually saying her name is "Anastasia". She led me to a bus.

9. Got to the hotel, checked in, found my room unmade up, reported it and agreed to wait before going up. Started taking pictures.

10. Met Anastasia again and she gave some advice for the island (after declining when I asked if I could take her picture, ouch!).

11. Went for a walk to take pictures of buildings and survey the nearby beaches.

12. Took a bus to Mykonos (as suggested by Anastasia). Took lots of pictures. Ate a giro. Returned to wait for the bus once the sun went down, feeling a bit sheepish for not staying for any nightlife or dinner.

13. Was surprised when literally everyone who had been on the bus when I went returned on the same bus as me.

Never before published picture of Lou & Sarah

Day 2 - Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Mykonos 18:03

Ouch. Headache. Of course, I forgot aspirin. Perhaps I should buy some.

Today's activities:

1. Jogged 4 km.

2. Organized my stuff, realized that I forgot the US to DK adapter in Athens. Damn. Thought I would not be able to recharge my camera battery, then finally discovered that the "razor only" outlet with international fittings often found in bathrooms actually works for charging my camera battery. Cool.

3. Got picked up to rent a scooter. Turns out that the place Anastasia recommended is in Mykonos. A bit of a pain, but that's what it is. I rented a scooter for 2 days. Will return it on Thursday morning before my boat leaves.

4. Drove around Mykonos a bit. Stopped and took some pictures.

5. Drove out of Mykonos and was immediately lost, but found myself where I was going anyway (Ano Mera). Took pictures.

6. While driving through the town, decided to visit Agrari beach.

7. Walked from Agrari to Elia beach. Walked back to Agrari and then to the far end (after buying a bottle of water). Laid out for about an hour. Took one dip in the water. Most beaches are pretty empty.

8. Drove to various beaches (Super Paradise, Paradise, Delios).

9. Returned to the hotel and took a nap.

10. Took a shower. Both to try to get rid of my headache, no luck.

11. Trying to decide what to do with the rest of my time here.

IDEAS:

A. Drive to Agios Ionnis and Ornos beaches (close to my hotel, but will require driving to Mykonos first).

B. Drive to Panormos Beach (on the northern, that is, other, side of the island).

Must say, I suspect that the scooter is part of the cause of my headache, so both sound unappealing at the moment.

Also, what should I do tonight?

I could, of course, just go for a walk without my camera. Just put on a pair of shorts. Will consider it.

I'm also thinking of going to a nicer restaurant, although I can't help wondering if that would be a waste of money. I will need to eat though.

I don't have a clear sense how well the picture taking is going. I'm taking pictures and some of them seem interesting when I take them, but the slow MacBook makes it difficult to even review them. I don't have a sense that I'll be amazed with the results.

I'm not taking any pictures of people, and people pictures are definitely the popular ones that I post, so I imagine that most of my pictures will be boring to the viewing public. I suppose it's OK as a thing to do, though. I'm not sure what I'd do otherwise.

I didn't, by the way, take on sun screen today, which is probably a big reason for the headache.

So, what should I do for dinner?

Eat at a fancy restaurant? Get something "quick"?

The sun hasn't set yet, but it might as well have.

I took a lot of sunset pictures yesterday, so I don't feel motivated to be out there today.

OK, tomorrow:

Morning: Drive to Panormos.

Afternoon: Drive to Agios Giannis

Evening: Review pictures.

Thursday: Return scooter at 9am

02:08

Notice, 2am.

I had an Irish coffee after dinner. Still not really tired, but heading to bed.

Spent much of the night working on my pictures. Feeling better about that, at least. I will need to weed them out, but I have a number that I like in various categories.

Had dinner in an Italian restaurant.

Worked for a while in the hotel lounge. Listened to 2 American girls fight a bit (seemed drunk). Saw Lou and Sarah again, Lou came over to talk. He confirmed my ideas for tomorrow without my asking, just suggested these two places to visit.

Strange news, forgot to mention. Fell down the stairs on my way into the hotel. I was sort of hurrying, because some women had just gotten off the bus and I scooted in front of them. Still, it was a careless mistake. Both embarrassing and annoying. Dropped my iPad, although luckily it survived apparently unscathed, as did I.

The women caught up and checked on me. They spoke Spanish, so I'm not sure that they understood my protests that I was fine. Wished I hadn't had the Irish coffee. I don't think it effected me, but I feared the whiskey showing up on my breath.

Found some headache pills. The shop owner asked if it was because I drank too much. I told him it was the sun, but I doubt he believes me.

Day 3 - Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Mykonos 14:42

Damn. I am not doing well this vacation when it comes to physical agility.

Last night I fell down the stairs. Today, after scooting all over the place, I got a little cocky when I was just about at the hotel, and fell off the scooter going down hill.

I had actually been being very careful all day.

The problem was that I "just wanted to check something" real quick, and then scoot back to the hotel to use the toilet. I had to slow down to avoid a couple of boys and bang! I was sliding down the hill and the scooter was sliding in front of me.

Fuck!

I don't know what the damage is going to cost me. But whatever it is, that sucks. I've lost a little of my confidence now. I need to return it tomorrow. I had been planning to scoot out to Agios Giannis this afternoon for the sunset.

I wasn't hurt, luckily. I had my helmet on and felt my head hit the road through the helmet, so that turned out to be wise (I had actually considered dropping it, because it was annoying yesterday and I feel that I look like a dork with it on, but I told myself it would be stupid not to have it on).

I got a tiny amount of road rash, but nothing anyone would notice if I didn't point it out to them.

Hmmm, perhaps I might as well record my activities today:

1. Up at about 7am, shower, sun screen, breakfast.

2. Drove out to Panormos. Got there at like, 8:30 or so, took pictures.

3. Drove to Agios Sostis and took more pictures.

4. Drove to Agios Giannis. Enjoyed relaxing on the beach until my arms started to tingle from the sun.

5. I checked out the other beaches on the way back to the hotel, but there was nothing really interesting.

6. Was just about to pull into the hotel parking lot, and decided to check what the road behind the hotel otherwise led to. Came upon some 4 wheelers eventually who were looking for the same thing. Can make it more than half way to the local beach. Was happy and heading back to the hotel when I fell.

Now wondering if I should drop my trip for tonight and just return the scooter tomorrow. But it's only 3pm...

15:55

Took a shower and worked a bit on the computer. The network is up today.

Read the contract for the scooter, saw that I need to report any damage immediately. Went out to check again, then called. The guy on the phone was pretty relaxed about it.

Will have to see how it is tomorrow.

17:55

Not sure what I'll do for dinner tonight.

• Just stay in the hotel restaurant?

• Go down to the supposedly good Italian place?

• Try another of the beach restaurants?

Hmmmm.....

It's easier to eat here, but then I won't have much to fill the evening with. The Cavo Psarou was too dark to get to last night and I would guess that it's expensive. It's just a bit intimidating having to go out and eat alone. It's good that I have the iPad and can read.

I skipped lunch today, so I really shouldn't complain about the cost.

I also need to start thinking about what to do on Naxos. Especially if it rains, as promised. I'm starting to wonder why I picked that island. I think I was a bit intimidated by the thought of crazy party beaches, and I wanted something a little more sedate.

I'm thinking I'll rent a car, the distances seem larger.

20:56

Went to another beach hotel. Cavo was literally empty.

I'm reading Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island, which puts me in a good mood, because he travels alone, and My Horizontal Life, about a woman's one night stands, which depresses me.

Had a glass of wine, feel more tired than yesterday, when I had an Irish coffee. But I felt, during the dinner, that I should actually go out for dinner more often while I'm on vacation. It is kind of cosy, especially when I have a book to read. Makes me feel more like I'm on vacation. I'm dreading Naxos a bit. I don't have any idea what I want to do there.

Day 4 - Thursday, October 6, 2011

Naxos 17:03

OK, so here I am on Naxos. Big mistake. At least, it looks that way. The island looks huge and empty. My hotel is a little outside the port town. I can walk in along the beach, which I expect to do tonight and to take a few pictures. It feels like I'm the only one in the hotel, which isn't itself a bad thing.

Here's a run down of today.

1. Got up.

2. Returned the scooter. The damage cost me 79€ and took nearly all my cash. I had about 3€ left in small change. Didn't realize this until back in the hotel. All ATMs are in Mykonos, of course. Damn, no lunch.

3. Packed and left my room, my suitcase in the lobby, and went to the beach. Laid out for about 2 hours.

4. Went back to the hotel and waited for my ride to the ferry.

5. When we arrived in Mykonos town, our ride said the ferry would be a bit late. Asked a couple if they would watch my suitcase as I went to get cash.

They did so I did. Got 200€.

When I got back, we started talking. I said I was from Denmark. They were surprised that my English was so good, but I said I had lived in the US, both in Boston and SF. As the conversation went on, I felt bad about "lying". Wondered why I did it.

6. Left them when the ferry arrived and when the boat made it to Naxos, headed out quickly.

Got my ride, only one other pickup for this one (2 older women).

7. Got to the hotel. The guy seemed so happy for a customer. He walked me to my room, in a separate building. The key was in the door.

8. I put my bags in the room and went for a walk, first along the beach to the port town edge, then back and as far as I could go int the other direction. In the end, it was a very deserted beach.

9. Back in my room after about an hour walk. Turned the TV on to hear that Steve Jobs is apparently dead.

Trying to decide what to do next.

23:17

So I walked into the town to take a few sunset pictures. There really isn't much of interest to photograph. Quite a difference from Mykonos.

I tried to find a specific restaurant, but failed miserably. Decided in the end to walk back to the hotel and eat there. That turned out to have a surprising result. The woman waitress had smiled at me earlier, and was the most welcoming at a restaurant in Greece. There was a boisterous table with 6-7 people, but otherwise the restaurant was empty. That was fine, I just wanted to eat and go back to my room.

It turned out, that was not meant to be. After dinner, the waitress pulled the other table up and started Greek dancing with them. After a while, she pulled me from my table to join them. It was entertaining, at least. It meant that I couldn't leave until 10pm, but I didn't have anywhere else to go, so I went along with it.

It turns out the group was a Dutch singles vacation.

Day 5 - Friday, October 7, 2011

Naxos 18:30

As always, there is something to be said for low expectations.

Today I went for a 4K jog along the beach (I’m in awful shape, hard to run in the sand, did about 11 km/hour), then called to rent a car. I decided on a Smart car, even though it cost more, just because I wanted to try one.

The rental guy came to pick me up at about 11:30. I took off going south, as he suggested, to see the beaches.

They were pretty, but empty, so I kept driving. I stopped at one beach where there were a couple of cars. There are lots of abandoned structures around. Finally broke down and took pictures of one of them.

Otherwise, I stopped occasionally to take pictures of animals or other subjects. I didn't go in the water at all.

I drove north through the mountains eventually. This reminded me a lot of Corsica. I didn't have any specific aim, so I just drove, again, I stopped to take pictures occasionally. I picked up some cookies and bananas in a little supermarket, then skipped lunch. At about 4pm, I stopped in a little down to take pictures and got a mocha (I had to explain how to make it, but the guy was willing).

As I was paying he asked where I was from. It turned out he had a sister in Florida who had given him a Skane watch from Denmark.

I listened to podcasts as I drove and that indeed improved my mood.

All in all, it was a surprisingly pleasant day.

I was only upset at myself once, when I had the opportunity for a good picture of a church, but didn't want to stop the car on this tiny winding road in the mountains. I felt lazy for not doing so. Ah, well. The picture is probably better in my mind than it would have been in reality.

The roads were nearly empty. It was nice to be able to drive slowly when I wanted. I let other cars pass on the few occasions that someone caught up with me.

Tonight I hope to find the restaurant with muscles in garlic butter and parsley.

19:25

Whew! I found O Apostilis. I'm glad it turned out to be tonight.

Day 6 - Saturday, October 8, 2011

Day 7 - Sunday, October 9, 2011

Naxos 10:41

Hmmm, where to start. I think I cracked a rib when I fell off the scooter. I've noticed it when running (I ran on Friday and again today). I can feel it a lot now when lifting things or otherwise stretching. The pain is on the left side of my back, below the shoulder blades. I can feel it when I take a deep breath.

I drove to the other side of the island yesterday. There were fewer photo ops, given the clouds, although the rapid changes between light and shade offered a few good shots. I got a bit lost and didn't take entirely the route I was planning, but that was no big loss.

At one point, I stopped at a little parking / viewing area up in the mountains. As I was waiting for the light to change, I saw another white car slowly driving past me and I thought, "Damn, someone else is here."

Then I realized it was my white car!

I had forgotten to put on the parking break. I was SO lucky. The car rolled slowly into the stone wall placed around the parking area (in front of a huge cliff).

The front bumper was scraped, but otherwise no damage. I'm going to try to just ignore it. I'm a little worried that this will cause an angry response from the rental agency.

I got back to the hotel fairly early. About 3pm. I took a nap, then spent some time working on my pictures.

The hotel has a Greek dinner on Saturdays, and I thought it started at 20:00, so I waited, getting increasingly hungry, in my room until then. Turns out, it started at 19:30. Oops.

The food was edible, but not great, of course. I managed to pay and slip out before the music started. Woohoo!

I then used the internet a bit in the lobby.

I saw the Apple presentation about the iPhone 4S and iOS 5. The stuff looks nice, but I have to admit that I watched it feeling inadequate.

While driving, I had heard lots of tributes to Steve Jobs. What resonated was the point to follow your passion. Life is then understood backwards. I do feel like photography is a passion, at the moment, at least. Work is OK. People (that is, Kim) have commented that I'm quite passionate about work. Which may be true, but only to the extent that I have passion for all that I do.

Santorini 16:57

My rib seems to be getting worse, but that could just be because I am conscious of it now.

I'm in my new hotel room on Santorini. It feels more like a dorm room.

It has rained pretty heavily all day (and for much of last night), as promised by the DMI (Danish Weather Institute website), despite what the locals claimed. I am glad I managed to run before the rain set in. I don't think I can run again regardless, due to my rib. Great excuse. I'm glad I have a doctor's appointment set up for when I get home.

Not sure what to do for dinner. Think I'll just eat at the restaurant here at the hotel.

DMI promises rain all day tomorrow as well, with dry weather only on Tuesday, although cloudy. Will have to see. Not sure what I will do if this holds true. May be nice to just relax.

Lonely Planet points out that a rental car may be the best way to see the island. Hmmm. Was hoping to avoid this and may do so. A bus would be much cheaper.

20:40

OK, I got tired of the whole, single-glass-of-wine, thing, so I ordered a half-liter tonight. Whew, am I buzzing!

I went to a Thai Chinese restaurant, my first choice, after seeing it empty and walking on, but eventually returning to it after not being able to find something better.

The place was nearly empty when I got there. Just one table with 4 young women, probably from Sweden or Norway. The waiter indicated that I should sit next to them, but, oh no, not me! I sat with a table between them and me.

I ordered my meal and started reading. The funny thing is, though, that there seem to be many Danes here. At my hotel, for example, I have seen many older Danes. So I wasn't surprised that 3 Danes sat near me in the restaurant. They spoke Danish to there waiter, which made me laugh, so we struck up a conversation.

That was the first real, meet-people-because-I-am-alone experience I've had, although the dancing the other night probably applies as well. Not that I wanted to be friends with them, but I was buzzed and it was nice to have someone to talk to. I returned to my book periodically to give them time to speak amongst themselves.

Now I'm back in my room. If I really wanted to meet people, I should go out to a bar later, but I can't really imagine that. I'm happy to be buzzed and safe in my hotel room. Stupid as it may seem.

Day 8 - Sunday, October 10, 2011

Santorini 18:51

That rib was really bad last night, but seems to be better today. It will be interesting to see if it is healed by the time I get home.

I woke up last night at about 1am and already felt bad from drinking. Oh well, that'll learn me (hopefully). I took some aspirin and felt pretty good when I got up for real at 7:30.

Today was incredibly windy and rained a fair amount. I went to Fira anyway and took a few pictures, but nothing worth publishing (I've got a few that I may publish, if I don't get anything better, but I still have a fair amount of weeding to do for the trip as a whole).

I got back to the hotel pretty early and have just hung out here. Luckily, my room had already been made up. I ate lunch here, published pictures, watched a movie and a Faulty Towers, then found that my MacBook can reach the net from the room, and used it for a while.

I'm not sure what I'll want to do with my vacation time. I still have roughly 4 weeks left for this year. What am I to do with that?

I've got to decide what I want to eat tonight. I ate lunch fairly late, so I'm not hungry yet, but I imagine I will get hungry before I should sleep.

It's pretty loud outside. I wonder what's going on. Perhaps I should go out to read a bit.

19:18

I did. It turned out to be about 100 middle aged Frenchman, collected for some reason in the hotel lobby and talking loudly. I pushed through them and found a seat in the empty lounge (in the dark, actually), and read until they left. Then I moved to a better lit area and sofa and read a bit of Bill Brysan. He makes me feel a little better about traveling alone.

This trip has put a dent in my impression of myself as a youth. I still feel young, but being so accident prone, healing so slowly, and seeing myself through the eyes of others has me feeling very old.

Day 9 - Wednesday, October 11, 2011

Santorini 21:06

Big noise just a moment ago. Like the roar of a plane or thunder, only more sustained and for a longer time. It started out pretty loud and grew louder, then continued for a while, before finally decreasing in volume for a longer time and then stopping. While it was going on I couldn't help but wonder if it was either a tsunami or volcanic eruption. Being on this island makes me a little nervous.

Day 10 - Thursday, October 12, 2011

Santorini 15:25

Whew! What a day. That is to say, I almost haven't had a day.

I got up and had breakfast quite early today. Then went into the common room and posted pictures and looked at some from yesterday.

At about 9am I went back into my room and felt pretty tired. I figured I'd take a little nap.

I just got up, at almost 15:30!

House keeping woke me several times, until I eventually admitted that they didn't need to service my room today.

I'm still feeling pretty groggy.

On the one hand, I'm a bit embarrassed to have "wasted" a whole day sleeping. On the other, I didn't really have any plans for today and apparently I needed the sleep. I have been sleeping pretty erratically during the night, and a mosquito woke me early this morning (I found and killed the bastard), and I've been pushing myself to take pictures and be productive the other days, so it does make sense.

I saw a TED presentation as well which talked about how babies think, and mentioned that we go into this state when traveling to new places, when we're in love, and when we drink coffee. That might explain why I was so forgetful about setting the handbrake on the Smart car on Naxos.

As she put it, the problem is not that babies don't pay attention, the fact is that they pay attention to everything. They don't know how to limit what they pay attention to, so they are overwhelmed and easily distracted.

So now I'm thinking I should have some lunch perhaps, although I'm not starving. My eating rhythms are all off.