Yesterday we left Athens after 3 days and arrived on the island of Santorini. While we enjoyed the opportunity to see such significant sites such as the Acropolis, several ruins and the Olympic Stadium, we are glad to be moving on. Much of our time spent in Athens was conflicted. We enjoyed a top notch room at Athens Studios which included a comfortable bed, clean washroom and small kitchenette (which we used to pinch a few pennies) and a decent view sans scaffolding. The Australian run operation provided great service, friendly faces and of course – English! The city itself however, was a bit of a different story. The very definition of sprawl, the streets are crowded and dirty. We stayed a mere 3 minutes from the Acropolis which worked well for exploring but proved frustrating when constantly battling the hoards of tourists. Every which way we turned it was more of the same. While we knew expect this coming in it still proved difficult to deal with. We chose instead to enjoy our time by hiking and walking far from the crowds and sipping wine on our hostel balcony planning the next 2 legs of the trip. We also reminded ourselves of the historical significance of our surroundings at that it is a privilege to be able to experience this country. Along the way we were also fortunate to have met some very nice Australians while drinking beer on a rooftop overlooking the Acropolis as the sun went down. All in all, we’re satisfied but looking forward to 10 days of sun and beach as we move on to Santorini, Paros and Naxos.