It's All Greek To Me

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Another early morning as we had to catch the ferry back to the Greek mainland before our long drive to Athens. Patrick was sound asleep with his headphones on. How the heck was he going to wake up if I he didn't sleep in my room. He would have slept right through his alarm and missed the bus. It wouldn't have been a first for him. It was a chore in itself to wake him up but I eventually succeeded. We went down to have one last amazing breakfast at this hotel before leaving to catch the ferry. Leaving Corfu was a little bittersweet. I was anxious to move on to another destination but had such a great time here. The island's relaxed atmosphere was the perfect cure for all the bumps and bruises we had accumulated from non-stop travelling for the past two weeks. Although much of the island showed qualities of mass tourism, there was still a level authenticity to be found if one dug far enough. The ferry ride back to the Greek mainland was about an hour long as we docked back in the port of Igoumentsa. From here, we boarded our private coach that would take us all the way to Athens. We drove along the coastlilne along a very steep and windy road for probably the first 2 hours with such incredible views of the Mediterranean Sea. The winding road coupled with last night's heavy partying seemed to get the best of some people. I noticed some had bags over their mouths ready to throw up. Our first stop was at a small roadside cafe and general store. We used this stop basically as a bathroom break. I found it very odd that once we stopped the bus driver immediately got into a car and drove away. He eventually did return. Apparently, the bus driver's family owned this cafe and he lived in this small town. We continued driving through the Greek countryside and had a lunch stop at a small seaside fishing village. When we arrived we practically invaded this small gyro shop. The look on the shop owner's face was priceless when he saw us all coming in. I don't know if it was from glee at having all these customers or from horror for running out of food. 2 gyros for the price of 1, you can't beat that. After lunch, I took a quick stroll down to the pier and along the beach. Along the way, I noticed quite a few empty beachfront cafes. This small town must see a lot of visitors during the peak of summer. We came at a good time as we got to see a small glimpse of fishing village life in Greece. Back on the coach, we continued our long journey through Greece by crossing the newly constructed Rio-Antirio Bridge. This bridge connects western Greece to the Peloponeese peninsula, saving travellers from having to backtrack or take a ferry. We had a brief stop at the city of Corinth. Here we were to grab a quick bite to eat as well as check out the Corinth Canal. This canal was cut through this narrow isthmus to link the Adriatic and the Aegean Seas. It is known worldwide as being the narrowest canal. Cruise ships have been known to pass through this canal coming inches from the canal walls. We had a look at the canal which just looked like one huge narrow ditch. There were however no cruise ships or other large boats coming through to make the scene a bit more interesting. After checking out the canal, most of us grabbed a bite to eat at a little kebab stand. The kebabs were only one euro! One of the best things about travelling in Greece is that everything is cheap compared to the rest of Europe. I was excitingly anticipating our arrival in Athens. Growing up you learn so much about Greece being the cradle of western civilatization. I was really looking forward to checking out some of the ancient sites. My expectations of Athens were not that high to begin with as I had heard the stories of Athens being extremely polluted and congested. However, since they hosted the Olympics last year, built a new airport, and created a new subway system; I was hoping things would not be as I had imagined. When we finally arrived in Athens in the early evening, my first impressions were not very flatering. We were stuck in rush hour traffic and the areas we were driving through looked polluted and run down. We finally arrived at the Olympic Hotel and again I lucked out getting my own room. My room was very run down. It was tiny and cramped while the bathroom was worse than anything we had in Italy. I decided not to sweat it too much as it was the second to last day. Our hotel was located on a busy thoroughfare and the street traffic was heard throughout the hotel. However, we were located right across the street from some ancient ruins and from the rooftop restaurant, there was amazing views of the Acropolis. After resting up a bit, Kevin and I went to the rooftop restuarant for our final dinner together as a group. We headed straight for the bar and had our first tast of Ouzo. It had a very licorice like flavor and reminded me very much of Jaegermaester. Not wanting any more, I opted for a greek beer, Mythos. For dinner, I sat with Kevin, Sandra, Rebecca, and Julie. I probably could have done with out this dinner as the meal was just average. However, since it was the last dinner, I felt like I had to attend. After dinner, all we basically did was go from table to table taking group photos one last time. We said our goodbyes to Jayson and Andria who were leaving tomorrow morning for their flight back to Seattle. Most everyone had started migrating back to their rooms to call it a night after such a long day. Erin, Roz, Rob, Kevin, and myself were the only ones left hanging out. We decided to go back to Erin and Roz's room to hang out for a bit. We spent the next hour debating Australian politics. It was mostly Rob and Erin going back and forth. Roz and Kevin had fallen asleep while I just listened intently. It was way too late to get into such a heated debate for me. Eventually, Rob and I left deciding to just call it a night. We left Kevin in there sleeping not wanting to wake him up. I would learn the next day that he stayed there until 4am not wanting to disturb his roomate Michael who was having one last night with Claire.

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