ATV's on Poros, Sanctuary of Poseidon, Vagionia Beach, and Askeli Beach

Our children hate bugs. They are completely unnecessary, terrifying creatures that can spoil a vibe within 2 seconds. At this point in our trip, bugs = screaming. It did die down and there was progress!!! The cicadas in Poseidon's Sanctuary were not our favorite, but BOY THAT DRIVE!!!! I have never had a more beautiful drive with Ella on the backseat!!! We all had our ATV buddies and enjoyed the wind in our hair as we went up and down the hills of Poros. We explored 95% of the island and the views were just breathtaking.

It was pretty hot, so we didn't stay at Poseidon's Sanctuary too long. Besides, some Greek decided to commit suicide there and it was basically rocks.

We headed to our 2nd beach of the day and got to enjoy our very own private yacht party. Some locals were shouting at them to turn the music down, but they couldn't hear, and personally, we loved it! There was a small dock the kids jumped off that probably wasn't too safe. We swam to rocks, and enjoyed some small snacks. Eli found some cool things underwater with Joe.

We decided to explore 1 more beach by ATV. This one was a little more crowded, but we still managed to drive safely! It was fun to learn how to use them. Eli was the hero!!! He was able to focus and turn them on every time. He desperately wanted to drive one, but was a little too small. The last beach, Askeli beach was stunning. Fortunately there were more umbrellas!! I fell asleep hard for an hour while everyone swam to shut the island down. We enjoyed a lovely dinner in town and had time for a walk to the Clock Tower of Poros. Don't ask me how we timed this so perfectly, but the views from the tower were just stunning as the sun was beginning to go down just a little. It was quite the set of stairs and I was nervous about Jody's knee, but he was a trooper and scampered up. The only way we got the kids up was to promise ice cream after.

Ice cream was thrilling. It was so beautiful and there must have been 100 flavors. Jody made friends with the owner who offered him some water and asked if he was having a heart attack. We waited for the ferry along a beautiful dock and everyone could attest it was the best day ever and we were fully exhausted. 

 

Getting to Poros, P*nis Park, and Kanali Beach

The only things in Greece that run on time are the metro and the ferries! And they are PROMPT!!! Like you have to hop on the boat as it pulls away if you are 10 seconds late.

And of course. We decide we have time for a quick bite before the ferry. It was a struggle trying to find the right ferry as well!! Now we know what to look for. The name!!! Poros is a quick 1 hour ferry trip from Athens and I had read online how lovely it was. We google mapped a 5 star breakfast, and it was definitely worth the 5 stars. They were so polite and helpful wanting to get us to the ferry on time. The crazy thing in Greece is at times, tips at restaurants can offend people if it's too big. It was hard gaging!!

Truly, people want their food and hospitality to be the focus.

As we were walking around the port area, Pireaus, we saw many beautiful buildings! I liked a church and Jody liked a bank building by our breakfast spot.

The first ferry to Poros was much different than all our other ferries. We could go outside on the deck and enjoy the sunshine. Once we got to Poros we rented some ATVS but they weren't available right away. We decided to walk 1.5 miles to Kanali beach in the mean time. When you step off the ferry, it's like you step into this beautiful screen saver, but it's real. There are perfectly lined boats, tourist shops, white buildings, beautiful flowers, and the colors just seem more vibrant against the sea and bright blue sky. 

We stopped at a park along the way. Little did we know Greeks have an obsession with male genitalia. It dates back to ancient times. More information to follow in our Delos post. We decided to call this park, P*nis park, because there were upwards of 100 drawings all over. Very creative renditions, Maria took a picture by the shark one. It was getting very hot. Fortunately, we had stopped for snacks and water at a store on the way. I was carrying about 20 pounds. Even though it was only 2 miles, it seemed longer. We accidentally stopped at the wrong beach, it was for the Navy only.

But once we got there, it was by far the best hosted beach!! A woman owned the restaurant (Kanali Beach Bar) and umbrellas and everything was very reasonable. We ate hamburgers and fresh fries, had delicious drinks and enjoyed a crystal clear, sparkling sea. We got to spend about 3 hours total relaxing, swimming, diving, playing in the rocks/sand, and just enjoying the beauty of the earth. There weren't too many people on the beach at all and it was nothing more than absolutely pleasant.