Last Days in Greece

Ok back to blogging. So we slept in after the long ferry ride from Santorini. The next day we looked up some bus times, and decided to take the bus to one of our favorite beaches we'd already visited (not Tsigrado, Paleochori) and one we hadn't, Provotas. This time we spent a good couple hours at each beach. Provotas had lots of shallow waters, so we waded around a rock outcropping to a more secluded beach. It was also very... European shall we say. Kristen and I didn't join in, but it was an interesting experience. The shallow water made for a very fun beach to swim around in. Paleochori was a beach we had visited the second day on Milos with the car. It's also the place where I broke my camera, again on the second day. But despite that, it really was a great beach. Lot's of volcanic rock, complete with green sulfur deposits (at least I think that's what they were, that's what they were on Vulcano in Sicily). Again we climbed some rocks and found a beach with less people, but more nudity, which again we didn't join in. But it was nice to have less people around. We also had lunch here at a restaurant that cooks food in the volcanic rock. Very cool, and very delicious. That night we had one last dinner in Adamas. This time at a nice little family restaurant in the boats area. You could one of the older ladies in the family cooking all the meals in the back, and one of the younger kids (12-14) was serving us. Very greek, family, traditional, etc. This time we had fried squid, which was different from calamari in that it wasn't chopped up and was fried less. That was appetizer, for the main course I had a delicious spicy meatballs dish and Kristen had a speghetti with minced meat. So good.

The next day we grudgingly got back on the boat to Athens. This time we stayed at a five star hotel. Not that the Ledra Marriott wasn't nice, but this one definately earned that fifth star. The Intercontinental Athens. It had a pillow menu. We didn't use it, cause the pillows they gave us were great, but still pretty cool. All these high star hotels need to stop charging for internet though. It's just greedy. If a hostel or a McDonalds can do it, why can't you. It doesn't have to be Wifi. Cable works just as good. Anyway, other than that, this place was first class. The view from the terrace at the top overlooked the Acropolis and most of the city. The pool was heated to the perfect temperatures. The concierge helped us find a really good electronics store where I could buy a cheap digital camera. It was awesome. For our last dinner together we braved the tourist trap restaurant one more time, for the chance to dine on a rooftop in Plaka looking up at the Acropolis. We both had a delicious pasta, meat, and cheese lasgana type dish that was amazing. After walking our favorite Athens streets one more time, we headed back to the hotel. It was only the next morning that we learned that someone had sliced Kristens purse! Because it was double layered they didn't get anything, but they came close. Kristen fixed it with some thread so it could make it back to the states. I thought I might have seen the culprit lurking at the bus stop the night before. But I can't be sure. Thank god we didn't lose that camera. Unfortunately Kristen is not quadruple jointed and so could not fit in my backpack. So I had to let her head back to the states. And a few hours later I boarded a flight to Cairo. Olympic Airlines was nice. Meal and everything, roomy seats. They were actually a little better than my Virgin Atlantic flight. Anyway, first day in Cairo is next.

Athens and Acropolis

Wow, a lot has happened in the past week or so. I'm going to try to divide this into two to three posts. Bear with me if I jump around a lot. So Kristen flew into Athens airport on the 14th, the last day I blogged. She got in fine, mostly because the strikes got moved to the 15th. She was a trooper too, despite a long flight, she still had lots of energy. So we got to our hotel, which was a good mile hike down a busy Athens highway from the nearest metro station. The Ledra Marriott. Very nice, but lacking free internet and in a strange location. The city was a little grimy on the surface, but the people are all very nice. We both took quick showers before heading into Plaka (the nice part of Athens). We wandered around Plaka till we got hungry and then stopped into a nice little tourist trap of a restaurant. We had some Souvlaki to start (I'll be giving lots of detail on the food, possibly my favorite part of Greece) our trip which was a nice transition.

The next day we headed out early for the Acropolis. We saw the Dionysis Theatre, whole Acropolis, Temple of Saturn, and Temple of Zeus before 2pm. It really is easy to do since they're all right next to eachother. The hike up the Acropolis is the only tough part. The Temple of Saturn (I think) was impressive too because it was largely intact. After we headed back and took a dip in the pool on top of the hotel, overlooking the Acropolis and most of the city. That night for dinner we headed back to Plaka and went to a nice little family restaurant. They brought us a choice of 18 of their best dishes (all very greek) and we got to chose 5. We got Mousaka, fried zuccini, meatballs, sausage, and pork, none of which I am describing correctly, but all of which were delicious. Greek hospitality is amazing, you can't get this much or this quality of food for the same price in America. For 30 euro they stuff you with appetizer, two dinners, bread, water, wine, dessert, and dessert liquor. It's amazing. Anyway, stuffed and happy we went to bed early. The next morning we hopped a cab to Piraeus (Athen's port) and got the 7am ferry to Milos! Which will be the subject of my next post. I only have 45 minutes of free internet here in Athens airport though, so more posts might have to wait till Cairo. We will see.

Downtime in Bari and Ferry to Greece

Hey everyone, sorry the blog posts have been slower. Not much to say since I left Rome. I stayed in Bari for three nights at the same hostel as Kristen did, Bari Belle Camere. Really nice hostel, got my own room for cheap. Bari was a really nice, very Italian city. Lots of shopping and a cool medieval section. Unfortunately timing (and laziness) didn't let me go on any day trips from there. Mostly I think I needed a few days to recharge. I have been going non-stop since Dublin, and it was beginning to wear on me.

Yesterday I took an overnight ferry to Greece, Supfast Ferries. Bari to Patras. The ferry was nice, and the food actually wasn't too expensive. It was pretty good and there was a selection. The airline seats were worth the extra price, but you really have to stake your territory. I didn't head down to sleep until 11, and by then my seat had been taken. Normally I would have asked for it back, but it was a family and it was a little girl in my seat cuddled up with her mom. I couldn't do it, that would be like punching bambi. A lot of people without seats will also steal them or spread out on the ground. I slept on the ground for the first 4 hours, only to wakup and find my water stolen. Little sketchy. After we docked at the first stop, I went back down and found the family gone. I laid out across some seats and got some real sleep (with my backpack in my stomache, wasn't taking any chances after the water). One person (who did not have a seat) claimed they were sleeping there, at which point I pulled out my ticket and told him to get lost. Nice ferry, but some of the people on it were nasty.

The coolest part of the ride were the friends I made. Met a very cool couple from Newfoundland and two other couples from Portugal. I hung out with them for most of the ride, which made it a lot more fun. 15 hours on a boat doesn't feel long at all when you're making friends. Now I'm in a hostel in Athens, waiting for laundry to finish before I head to the airport to pickup a beautiful young woman who will be touring the Cyclades with me! Less than 4 hours until shes here!!! While we're in the Cyclades I won't have much internet, so expect the next post sometime next week. With pictures of course.