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Blogs from Attica, Greece, Europe - page 18
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April 24th 2011
Athens completely surprised me. In my mind I had conjured up images of a busy and dirty city drowning in disorder; however, this ancient city was nothing of the sort! Maybe the Olympics last decade necessitated a massive overhaul of infrastructure and so on, or maybe it has always exuded the same charm and I should never again form such an unfounded opinion. Whatever the case or cause, I found Athens to be an efficient and clean city that is easily navigated and enjoyed. Arriving at the port after an overnight ferry from Santorini (who knew how well one can sleep when curled up on the floor of a ship?), we caught the metro to Syntagma Square and hunted out our accommodation. Due to the early morning arrival, this meant that we could sneak in a ... read more
April 20th 2011
I have been remiss in adding to my blog. I'm 2 countries later and I need to catch up. It may end up being more pictures than typing since it takes an insanely long amount of time to upload pictures with mediocre connections. Or maybe I'm just too tired at the end of a long day and ready to sleep!! On that note, I'll wrap up Greece... Temple of Poseidon - Sounio (Cape Sounion) Driving from Delphi to Sounion was pretty and relatively uneventful for the first half. The second half however was back to the stress of driving in Greece. Bits I didn’t add to the blog about driving: the roads are not well labeled AT ALL. If you have a map that is actually labeled to show you the road number, it probably doesn’t ... read more
April 17th 2011
Athens! Named after the Greek goddess Athena, it is the home of the Parthenon on the Acropolis and the birthplace of western democracy. It is the largest city in Greece and is on the Mediterranean Sea. It is so old… (how old is it?)…that every time they try to build they uncover more archeological ruins; history here goes back at least 3600 years. But before I explored Athens, I had arranged to spend two weeks volunteering at Serpentine Gardens. It is on the Pelion Peninsula north of Athens. The Pelion is known for its hiking trails and was a place I had planned to visit even before I knew I could visit Serpentine. There I met Doris and her two dogs, five cats, two geese, two ducks and three ducklings. I spent mornings pulling weeds and ... read more
April 2nd 2011
Greece - Athens These pictures are mostly from the Arcopolis. Day 2 was a day of some jet lag. Awake at 3:30 AM and instead of tossing and turning, used time to get on the computer, get a little organized, shower before the hot water was used up and get to breakfast early. Hit the streets before most places were open but it was a nice quiet (but chilly) morning. Today we hit the tourist bus - the Hop on-hop off bus which I think is a great way to orient yourself in the city and find all the major landmarks. The tour bus drivers are incredibly talented - the streets are narrow and often lined with cars. I swear we only missed cars, motorbikes and other by inches if that!! It is a testament to ... read more
April 2nd 2011
This morning we were up at 3am, as per the last post. After a quiet breakfast in the hotel, we headed to Syntagma Square to catch the "HOHO" bus. It is really a good tool for getting around easily and comfortably. One of the first stops was the Acropolis. Absolutely amazing. We walked through a tree lined lane, picked up our tickets, and proceeded to wander through a gorgeous tree and flower lined lanes. Actually, almost full broadways, as they are quiet wide. They are made of marble chips and fragments creating a very interesting pattern. I was amazed when we reached the top, bought our tickets and headed in, I was quite distracted by the rock formations. It is all gorgeous swirls and patterns, colors and types. I read that they are "Late Cretaceous limestone ... read more
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April 1st 2011
My European adventure starts today. Actually it started yesterday afternoon when I boarded the flight but that is always the worst of it - a long overnight flight in economy! Yuck. I have nothing more to say about that. Athens airport was fairly easy which is good because I was tired and disoriented. Getting the Metro to downtown was also easy but this is always when I wish I had packed even lighther than I did! The hotel is in the pedestrian shopping district which is just filled with shops of all sorts. The attached picture is actually from the roof-top terrace just outside the door of the room - it's the Acropolis! I think it will be stunning at night and I hope there are two photo's here eventually with that view. This is a ... read more
April 1st 2011
My first time posting here. So it is an experiment! This trip was a few months in the making, and I want to use this site to document some of the lesser known trip ideas we chose to follow. For one, we are renting a car. Yes, we are driving in Greece! For another, we are not doing the islands. Greece is too big to do it all. So this trip, we are doing the Peloponnese and the mainland. Next greek trip I want to cruise the islands. I also found it was difficult to find information about various roads, villages, towns, etc. So I want to fill some of what I perceived as gaps in this info. It was a rough flight. I was checking my bag, when I was informed of a problem with ... read more
March 20th 2011
So, I've been in Athens, Greece for a little over a day, and it is amazing! The hostel I am staying at, Athens Backpackers, is right next to the Acropolis. However, its more like mini apartments with people you don't know, but so far so good. Anyway, I arrived in Athens on Saturday evening. I took a train from Thessaloniki. It was the Intercity and took about 4-5 hours. I thought I had gotten a ticket for the express, but oh well. I wasn't overcharged so it's all good, and believe I checked when I realized I was on the 'slower' train. One thing I did learn on the train, when one Greek starts yelling, all the others have to join in. I kind of wish I could have understood what was being yelled down the ... read more
March 1st 2011
After a teary farewell to family in Cyprus our home for the last month, we boarded (much to Zoe's fear) Olympic Air bound for Greece. The last experience of Greece's national carrier included the spilling of coffee, bad food and scary Cruella de Ville-esque air hosties. Granted there was no spilling of hot beverages and evil stewards but alas the food is still just as crap. Landing in the out skirts of Athens we put on our world explorer faces and made our way to the bus into town and hey we survived the x95 into town. To be honest, it's one of the easiest airports to get to and from - go the Greeks! Driving into Athens is quite an experience, it's busy, busy, busy and you forget how big the city actually is. With ... read more
February 27th 2011
Hello all! I know it has been ages since I wrote (literally!) but it has been a very busy few months. Since I last wrote my Barecelona blog, I have been to Seoul, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, home in NYC, Costa Rica and Greece, and I am currently in Australia... know I have a lot of backdated entries to catch up on but I thought I would start with Greece since it's so fresh in my mind, so here goes! So I left the bitter cold of January in NYC to arrive in Athens, Greece in the 65 degree weather. Although 65 degree weather seems wonderful, unfortunately it is not the ideal time to be in Greece as the Greek Islands are not only dead in the winter- flights could get cancelled and ferries don't ... read more
