We've Washed Up on Santorini

We are currently on the island of Santorini in the Aegean Sea. This is island paradise with its white washed houses, blue domed Greek Orthodox Churches and warm beaches. The common way to get around is to rent a scooter or quad. We will do likewise tommorow. We have our own room at Pension George. It is very nice as far as pensions go: pool, marble floors, AC, TV, pleasant service.
Our trip from Rome to Athens took two days of traveling. We rode the train from Rome to Bari and then got aboard a Ferry at 8:00 pm. We were both suprised when we only had to pay 30 euros each to stay in a couchette with our Eurail pass--well worth it since the other alternatives are buying an expensive cabin or sleeping (or more likely not sleeping) on the deck in a sun chair. The Ferry was very much like a cruise with Internet access, a pool, a disco, a restaurant and a few cafes. The ship arrived at the port of Patras on the western side of Greece the following day at noon. From there we rode a train to Athens (that took about 5-6 hours). We laughed a bit at the end of the train ride because some Greek men were all to accomodating in helping a couple of pretty girls from Toronto find their way to their hostel. One man even inquired where they were staying and physically walked them to the Metro.
Athens was stupidly hot...around 45C, which is about 113F. We spent the first evening on the roof top of the hostel our studio apartment was affiliated with taking in the view of the Acropolis lit up at night. The insane heat, plus our weariness of traveling slowed us down quite a bit. We managed to see the Parthenon and other amazing buildings commisioned by Pericles during the Golden Age of Athens, the Ancient and Roman Agoras, and the bazzar-like shopping district of Monastraki. The other parts of our two day stay there were spent hiding from the heat in our studio apartment. We also tried to go out of our way to obtain our Ferry tickets in advance. We made a four hour trek outside of Athens in search of the Ferry office in Glyfada, only to meet some nice men at the end of the Metro line who with a map told us at 7:00pm that we were still too far from the office and too late. Frustrated, we returned back to our hostel hungry and worried about our departure the next morning at 8:00 am.
That morning we got up around 4:45am, having slept little, and got on the Metro when it opened at 5:30. We rode to the port of Piraeus and found an office that sold tickets for Aegean Speed, our Ferry to Santorini. When the sleepy attendant took our confirmation number and easily printed us out tickets our jaws nearly dropped. As we walked out, Amy's eyes got a bit teary. Probably just the diesel from the Ferrys ;o).
We have had lots of great food for very reasonable prices. We have mainly been eating in our hostels/pensions, buying tomatos, cucumbers, and feta for salads and honey and yogurt for sweet breakfasts. In Athens, we ate gyros, Amy's without the Pita, for a good price. The souvlaki meat, as Jerry had told us, is very good (if you like salty and greasy like I do). I have published some photos from Greece to Fotopic. You can view them once they are approved at this location http://rustyandamygoeuro.fotopic.net/c1333355.html
This afternoon we are off to the beach, Amy wants to swim in the warm water and lay on the beach. She has been getting tan with little effort...I am just trying not to get a sunburn, I've been lucky thus far, although I am getting sick of putting on sunscreen. We miss you guys and will see you soon. Be rest assured though, we are taking it E A S Y.