There is a saying my dad uses that states “Head in the oven, feet in the ice bucket. Are you warm?” It really is just to say two extremes don’t always make a logical average. So when people ask me “How was Greece?” I say “great!”, however great implies the whole trip was great when really about 50% was more than great it was absolutely incredible, 30% alright and 20% pretty crappy. But if you ask me about the days that were incredible, I had an amazing time and wouldn’t trade it for anything.
So I know you are all super excited to hear what went well but I am going to get rid of the bad news first and then get on to my bragging! The bad news involved having a very bad first day. I got to Athens with no hiccups in my transportation and settled into my hostel just fine. For my first day I had planned on going to the Corinth canal to check out the bungee jumping there and see if I would have the guts to do it. After being followed by a very creepy man for about 20 minutes on my way to the bus station and then being followed onto my bus by the same man I was officially creeped out. Thankfully there was another bus coming in 5 minutes so I jumped off the bus Mr. Stalker was on and grabbed the next bus. Once I had made my bus transfer I settled in for the long bus ride however I settled in a little too well and I missed my stop by about an hour and ended up in some very small coastal village about an hour north of where I wanted to be. With no one speaking English I awkwardly managed to communicate with the owner of the bus station and she figured out my grave mistake. After balling my eyes out and having this lovely lady offer me gum and Kleenex to cheer me up I managed to get on a bus to where I actually wanted to be. But alas the bungee jumping company had closed the season early due to heavy winds so my efforts were a loss. Finally I headed back down to Athens to go to an English movie and pretend I was back in Canada. My other major hiccup was having about 500 euros stolen from me. I had put it in the hostel safe however there were construction workers working on the boiler in the same room as the safe and one of them lifted it. THANKFULLY! The hostel staff embraced their inner CSI and managed to figure out who might have taken it and the guy came forward and I got my money back but I had about a good 24 hours of not knowing whether or not I was out 500 euro. My last piece of -not so happy news- is that it is a lot harder traveling by yourself than I thought it would be. I am 100% a people person and although I met some really great people during my trip it’s just not quite the same as having someone by your side the whole time. It was nice only having to worry about myself but at the same time I was in fact the only one worrying about myself and had no one to look out for me when I was by myself (that gets a little scary when you are alone after dark in a foreign country).
Ok negativity aside, now I get to brag!!!! Too much happened over the past week so the easiest way to explain my trip is a top ten list!
My Greece trip top ten:
1. Swimming in the Aegean Sea in my undies
I went to Napflio for the day and didn’t think to bring my swim suit but the water looked beautiful and it was such a nice day so I striped down and joined the Greek men in their Speedos and went for a swim! The water was amazing; it was perfectly clear and turquoise!
2. Acropolis! Especially at night!
The Acropolis was so cool to explore and see the very impressive work in real life. Also our hostel as a roof top view of the Acropolis and at night the Parthenon gets lit up so you can see it from all across town but it is best when you are higher up i.e on a roof! Amazing scenery!
3. Waiting in line for lunch with 12 fat Greek men all over 40! (Waiting for the best souvlaki in town I might add!!)
I found a really good and cheap souvlaki place that wasn’t touristy at all and it was great! I was squished in this tiny hall waiting to order with a bunch of old Greek men and I was this 18 year old Canadian girl, it doesn’t get much better!
4) Climbing some random hill to see a bird’s eye view of all of Athens.
Two guys from my hostel and I made the trek up this large hill in central Athens, once you get to the top you can the acropolis from above and see all the way out to the sea, it is definitely worth the walk.
5) Seeing the ancient jewelry of the Greeks!
So much of the jewelry I wear today is so similar to what they created in Greece so many years ago. It was so cool to see what trends people started hundreds of years ago had carried on to my generation! (National Archeological Museum was the heart of this number 5 on my list)
6) All of the ruins!
It is so cool to see all the ruins from where people had earlier civilization. Delphi was especially cool to see the mountain-side village that had be discovered in ruins, with a track, Apollo temple and statues in relatively good condition. (although the statues are all in museums now, which is too bad)
7) Learning about History!
Self explanatory.
8) Greek Salad in Greece.
So cool, it just had to be done and of course it was delicious.
9) The sun shine and sitting in my bathing suit on a random beach on the island Aegean.
10) Everything in between.
All the little things that added up to a good trip i.e. going for walks after dinner and going through the touristy shops, meeting new people, eating so much souvlaki, taking the ferry, walking through an old mountain-top fortress, standing at the “center of the earth” in Delphi, seeing the fresh fish markets on the island of Aegina, randomly going to a Hookah bar (not really greek!!) etc.
I know this is an odd way to recap a week so if you want more details about my trip just email me, or facebook or if you’re really interested you can skype me!!!
Today: unpack, clothes everywhere, work,
So I know you are all super excited to hear what went well but I am going to get rid of the bad news first and then get on to my bragging! The bad news involved having a very bad first day. I got to Athens with no hiccups in my transportation and settled into my hostel just fine. For my first day I had planned on going to the Corinth canal to check out the bungee jumping there and see if I would have the guts to do it. After being followed by a very creepy man for about 20 minutes on my way to the bus station and then being followed onto my bus by the same man I was officially creeped out. Thankfully there was another bus coming in 5 minutes so I jumped off the bus Mr. Stalker was on and grabbed the next bus. Once I had made my bus transfer I settled in for the long bus ride however I settled in a little too well and I missed my stop by about an hour and ended up in some very small coastal village about an hour north of where I wanted to be. With no one speaking English I awkwardly managed to communicate with the owner of the bus station and she figured out my grave mistake. After balling my eyes out and having this lovely lady offer me gum and Kleenex to cheer me up I managed to get on a bus to where I actually wanted to be. But alas the bungee jumping company had closed the season early due to heavy winds so my efforts were a loss. Finally I headed back down to Athens to go to an English movie and pretend I was back in Canada. My other major hiccup was having about 500 euros stolen from me. I had put it in the hostel safe however there were construction workers working on the boiler in the same room as the safe and one of them lifted it. THANKFULLY! The hostel staff embraced their inner CSI and managed to figure out who might have taken it and the guy came forward and I got my money back but I had about a good 24 hours of not knowing whether or not I was out 500 euro. My last piece of -not so happy news- is that it is a lot harder traveling by yourself than I thought it would be. I am 100% a people person and although I met some really great people during my trip it’s just not quite the same as having someone by your side the whole time. It was nice only having to worry about myself but at the same time I was in fact the only one worrying about myself and had no one to look out for me when I was by myself (that gets a little scary when you are alone after dark in a foreign country).
Ok negativity aside, now I get to brag!!!! Too much happened over the past week so the easiest way to explain my trip is a top ten list!
My Greece trip top ten:
1. Swimming in the Aegean Sea in my undies
I went to Napflio for the day and didn’t think to bring my swim suit but the water looked beautiful and it was such a nice day so I striped down and joined the Greek men in their Speedos and went for a swim! The water was amazing; it was perfectly clear and turquoise!
2. Acropolis! Especially at night!
The Acropolis was so cool to explore and see the very impressive work in real life. Also our hostel as a roof top view of the Acropolis and at night the Parthenon gets lit up so you can see it from all across town but it is best when you are higher up i.e on a roof! Amazing scenery!
3. Waiting in line for lunch with 12 fat Greek men all over 40! (Waiting for the best souvlaki in town I might add!!)
I found a really good and cheap souvlaki place that wasn’t touristy at all and it was great! I was squished in this tiny hall waiting to order with a bunch of old Greek men and I was this 18 year old Canadian girl, it doesn’t get much better!
4) Climbing some random hill to see a bird’s eye view of all of Athens.
Two guys from my hostel and I made the trek up this large hill in central Athens, once you get to the top you can the acropolis from above and see all the way out to the sea, it is definitely worth the walk.
5) Seeing the ancient jewelry of the Greeks!
So much of the jewelry I wear today is so similar to what they created in Greece so many years ago. It was so cool to see what trends people started hundreds of years ago had carried on to my generation! (National Archeological Museum was the heart of this number 5 on my list)
6) All of the ruins!
It is so cool to see all the ruins from where people had earlier civilization. Delphi was especially cool to see the mountain-side village that had be discovered in ruins, with a track, Apollo temple and statues in relatively good condition. (although the statues are all in museums now, which is too bad)
7) Learning about History!
Self explanatory.
8) Greek Salad in Greece.
So cool, it just had to be done and of course it was delicious.
9) The sun shine and sitting in my bathing suit on a random beach on the island Aegean.
10) Everything in between.
All the little things that added up to a good trip i.e. going for walks after dinner and going through the touristy shops, meeting new people, eating so much souvlaki, taking the ferry, walking through an old mountain-top fortress, standing at the “center of the earth” in Delphi, seeing the fresh fish markets on the island of Aegina, randomly going to a Hookah bar (not really greek!!) etc.
I know this is an odd way to recap a week so if you want more details about my trip just email me, or facebook or if you’re really interested you can skype me!!!
Today: unpack, clothes everywhere, work,
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