What better way is there to spend the Easter holidays than in Greece? Exactly. And Greece was only the beginning of my amazing April holiday stories.
Brit, Kari, Sarah and I set off for Athens early on the morning of Saturday April 9th. We met Sarah's friend, Tianne, at the airport there and excitedly made our way to our hotel. Not that there was anything exciting about the hotel itself; it was ancient and incredibly run down (although it is being renovated), and our room was about the size of my closet. But whatever, it was clean and that's all that matters.
The next morning we obviously set out immediately for the Acropolis, and on our journey I began to notice that everyone I had previously spoken to about Athens was right: it is a very dirty city. There were, however, once you got closer to the tourist area, some really nice things to see.
The walk to the center of Athens from our hotel was interesting, to say the least. Men just staring us down like they've never seen North American women before; men gawking, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, at our summer-dress attire; men whistling, cat-calling, and generally just being inappropriate...it was a little much. Oh well, though; it's hard being beautiful. :P
We first stopped at the Parliament building and watched the changing of the guards. Our guide book informed us that this was an event not to be missed while in Athens, and I would have to say, as one who has witnessed the "changing" in several European countries, that it was correct. It was very different to any I have seen before; the way the guards walked, and the funky shoes and uniforms they were wearing, was a very unique experience.
We then wandered to the Temple of Olympian Zeus, an ancient temple made entirely of marble which is now in ruins. It was gorgeous out so we spent some time doing a little photoshoot, as we tend to do.
Then off we were to the Acropolis, and man was it a hike! Like most must-see tourist attractions, the Acropolis is at the top of a gigantic hill, which sucks when you are seriously out of shape and wearing shoes that are giving your poor feet blisters. However, up I went, and it was definitely worth the sweat and tears. I've seen so many pictures of it in the past, but seeing it in the flesh was pretty fascinating. It is just so big, you wonder how human beings actually created it (with no modern day technology, that is). Here was another fantastic opportunity for a photoshoot, and did we ever take advantage of it! Here are some pictures to enjoy:
Now, what better way to relax after a busy morning staring at ancient ruins and pre-eminent monuments than by getting drunk on a ferry to Naxos? Can't think of one, can you? Neither can I. The five hour boat ride was actually so much fun. We drank, we enjoyed the hot sun (got a bit of a burn on my shoulders in fact), we played cards, we danced, we sang, we just had a merry ol' time on that boat. And the views were so spectacular that even if we hadn't had all the booze it still would have been a lovely afternoon and evening.
The next day in Naxos was spent exploring the adorable little island, bathing in the glorious sun on a beautiful beach, drinking ridiculous amounts of vodka/diet, and either totally sucking at or ruling as President in endless games of Asshole. Naxos was such a gorgeous island; our accomodation was fantastic (except for the mosquitos - face herpes!), the food was to die for (especially the deep fried cheese, which I will come back to shortly), and we couldn't have asked for nicer weather. Naxos was definitely my favourite place that we visited in Greece.
After two days of being utterly and completely spolied by the wonder that is Naxos, we were off again to the dock where we boarded a ferry for Santorini. But not before another photoshoot of course ;)
The ferry ride to Santorini only took a couple hours but it was equally as fun as the previous one. We also stopped off at an island beforehand (can't remember what one it was) which was a great opportunity to get some lovely pictures.
When we arrived in Santorini our guest house buddy picked us up at the dock and drove us up the ridiculously dangerous-looking volcano and to our wonderful hotel. There was a small but really nice pool there (freezing cold water), and our room was huge and really comfortable. The owners, an adorable Greek couple, were so friendly and accommodating. The man drove us into town a couple of times (which was nice since we were about a thirty minute walk from the center of Thira) and always made us fresh coffee and tea in the mornings.
On our first day we wandered around the town, browsing at all the shops and just experiencing Santorini. It was so beautiful when you were at the edge of the cliff looking out at the vast blueness that is the ocean. From there you could also see other bits of the island and it was simply breathtaking.
That day we also walked 20 minutes in the opposite direction to town from our hotel and went to the black sand beach. I have never seen a black sand beach before, and to be honest I really don't care to again. It just wasn't very pretty; not what I have in mind when going to the beach. The sand was excruciatingly hot on my feet and I didn't even want to sit on the "sand" because I didn't want it to discolour my dress!
I waded in the water for a bit, as you can see, and then we made it back to our hotel and went searching for a place to eat dinner.
Now, back to the topic of fried cheese. A huge block of cheese. And it's fried. Need I say more? Add a plate full of words-can't-describe-delicious tzitzeky sauce and you have yourself one saliva-inducing starter.
Just look at this combo and tell me you
don't want to bathe in it.
Now, as you all know I am a very health-conscious person, especially when on vacation, so as you can imagine I stuck to the healthy option for my main course. Gyro with french fries please. Now this should really be it's own food group: chicken (or pork, I tried that one too the next night), cheese, cucumber, lettuce, french fries and tzitzeky sauce all wrapped up in a huge pita wrap. Thank you and goodnight.
After a delicious meal and a long walk back to the hotel, we were out for the night. The next morning we left early on our excursion to the Palea Kameni volcano and hot springs. This morning was really windy, kind of cold, and a bit rainy. Waaaah, give me back my sunshine! The walk down to the water was interesting, to say the least. The path down the mountain is rocky, uneven, and smeared with donkey poop. Add a little rain water and you have yourself a slippery, and potentially very messy, experience. The donkey poop comes from all the donkeys (no kidding) - you can pay 5 euros to ride a donkey down the mountain. Um, no thanks. I barely trusted myself to walk down that thing, no way was I getting on anything that has more legs than me - the more legs, the easier to slip and fall in the poop if you ask me.
Although it was almost unbearably windy, the volcano was pretty cool. I mean, I've done cooler things in my day, but now at least I get to say I walked around on a volcano. The view was incredible and gave us another opportunity to have a photoshoot!
We then sailed over to the other side of the volcano to the hot springs. Except they didn't mention that you had to jump, from the boat, into freezing cold water and swim about fifty meters before you reached the hot part. That wouldn't have been so bad if you didn't have to swim back through the bitter cold to get back to the boat. No thanks. It was still so windy (a cold wind at that) and it would not have been fun times afterwards. I'm a little sad that we passed on this but I just think it would have been too miserable to bear.
We flew back to Athens that night and spent the next day wandering around, shopping (H&M me!) and drinking several chai tea lattes. We also stumbled upon the Olympic Theatre which I am really pleased about.
That evening we stopped at a nice restaurant for dinner and enjoyed the sun on the outdoor patio. I had a traditional Greek meal that night: Moussaka. It's basically like lasagna except with potatoes instead of pasta. It was absolutely delicious!
That night was our last in Greece. We went back to our hotel (did I mention there were prostitutes and dudes shooting up on our street?), bought some booze (surprise, surprise), and spent the night drinking and playing cards in the bar of our hotel with a couple from Australia we made friends with. And when I say "we spent the night drinking" I mean, like, the
whole night. Kari and I had to wake up at 4am to go to the airport, and man, was that the complete opposite of fun. I was horribly hungover and Kari was still drunk; we thought our lives had come to an end, but when we saw the McDonalds sign we knew we were going to be okay. Next stop: Sofia, Bugaria!
