MurmansErosGreece!

We could see the moon peeking out over the hotel as we left. It was a 24 hour day to get home, spending a total of about 15 hours in an airplane! We got home at 1:00 AM.  

  End of the day send off.  View of the pool in the evening. Beautiful sunset. Our group of eight...The Ebers, Nebbias, Hayes & Murmans.  Every room had their own hot tub. Mike enjoyed that after our long hike! We hiked up and down in Thirasia. Our local guides, Yannis & Nicole. They have a winery, guide services for hiking and mountain biking. They live on the island. Not many people live there...a few hundred! Who wants grilled octopus? Herb boat! Lunch after hiking. Hilarious conversations with Brian & George about divorce & dating!! A shot of RAKA after many dinners. Tastes like Czech plum brandy to me, slivovitz.  Traditional lunch made by our guides. I think I ate Greek salad every day. They use cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, peppers, olives, a slab of feta cheese and vinegar & oil. NO LETTUCE! I liked it! Hiked to this church. There are 27 churches on the island. A beautiful church.  Prickly pear cactus. Our guide shows us the part of th...

 It was quite disappointing when we found out on Thursday Evening that our quick boat ride to Santorini, hike, dinner & shopping were all canceled because of high seas. We had to take a giant ferry with a load of many cars, cement trucks, and many other passengers. Our guides tried everything to get us there earlier - even airline tickets with no luck. It was a different kind of adventure! This is the port of Heraklion where we will take a ferry to Santorini .... but we have some time to waste as the ferry does not leave until 4:15 PM. W tour the archeological site of Knossos. It is the cultural center of the Minoan civilization.  We say goodbye to George one of our tour guides. This is the last Backroads trip in Greece and he will be driving all of the bikes back to France. We load up on drinks before we enter the boat. We saw big rigs pull on the boat-sand trucks, cement trucks, semi trucks, you name it, they loaded it. Elba, one of our guides drove the van on which was ...

Getting our gear going...Route maps, snacks & all electronics synced up! This E-bike is AMAZING! I feel like I am on a moped.   Mike stops to take a picture of the Aegean Sea. First break is at Areti Monastery where a monk still resides. Lime trees were abundant. Here is the monk. He is known to hug all men, lift and twirl them around. One of the skinnier & younger guys was hugged, twirled and pinched! Mike managed to get a hug & a "high five." I'm thinking he didn't want to hurt his back! Mike snapped this picture of this guy at the monastery.