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Published: August 13th 2012
We really wanted to make it to Greece while Nick is here in England. Luckily, we decided to go for it! We really had no excuse for not going even if it left our pockets empty by the end. So, we got our three tickets and started planning. This trip will be broken up over several blogs as we went and saw SO much thanks to Nick's family. They were such great hosts and made sure we had a great time every second we were there.
Saturday, July 14th 2012 London~ Our first leg of the trip meant driving from St Neots to our hotel- near Gatwick Airport. This drive is over 2 hours-took us almost 3 due to traffic queues (jams). *Note to family who want to visit-please don't fly into Gatwick-it's too far to drive 😊* Since Claudia hadn't been to London since she was around 6 yrs old we decided to include that in our journey. So, we got a hotel for later that night near the airport and took the train into London for the day. We had pre=booked our train tickets to save money. Due to the traffic jams we missed
our train and had to get new tickets which were somehow even more inexpensive as our initial ones. So, sometimes it pays to book train tickets in advance and sometimes it doesn't. London of course was as amazing as it usually is. We saw all the sites and had some tasty chinese food near China Town. I'll include a few photos from this trip. We saw most of London in a matter of hours between walking and using the tube. As darkness approached we grew tired and knew we needed to head back to the hotel to get ready for the real part of our trip.
Our Greece trip was going to be 10 days long so we decided to use an off site car park farm. The price is much nicer then at the airport. If you try to park at the long stay at the airport the day of your flight it's 13gbp a day....which is equivalent to over 20$ a day. NO THANKS! You can book your parking at the airport IN ADVANCE to get a discounted rate for about 10 gbp per day---or 15+$ a day. We ended up using Cophall Farm Parking...For 10 days
Plane ride to Athens
Notice the huge thunderstorn cloud we had to avoidit was around 69 gbp....They also drive you in a van (takes 10-15min) to and from the airport and your car is in a secured lot.
*Lesson here is make sure you book your parking in advance to get the best savings. Sunday July 15th 2012 London~Athens With enough time we got to the airport, through security, and to our gate safely and securely. We flew to Athens on Easy Jet. They have some great flight rates to certain parts of Europe. To save money, we decided to pack light and only take carry on luggage. This saved us the 40gbp/50 euro to check a bag. By carrying on our luggage we not only saved money but also time as we didnt have to wait for our baggage in Athens. The flight was smooth. A little over 3 hours. I luckily got the window seat and was able to see a huge thunderstorm cloud as well as the coast of Greece as we made our descent. (Pictures of this will be included as well)
Nick's uncle picked us up from the Athens Airport. After picking up his aunt, we headed down to the Monastiraki area which
First Greek meal
Nicks family showed us how it's done is below the Acropolis. This was on a Sunday early evening so many of the shops were already closed. They treated us to a magnificent dinner of souvlaki, mythos (beer), and much much more! Our evening was wrapped up with freddo cappucino's (iced) and greek coffee (hot). They took us back to their apartment they were letting us use for our time there. Luckily it was in great proximity to the metro (subway) and the US Embassy. After dropping our things off there, we went back to their place to meet and greet the rest of his family. It was a great night talking and meeting everyone. Later on that night Nick and I went out for a few drinks. We were advised to go to the rooftop bar at the Hilton Hotel-called Galaxy Bar, which was near by. This we did.
http://www.hiltonathens.gr/en/dining_and_. bars.html. It had beautiful views of Athens at night and the decor was just as stunning. The drink prices however were a bit pricey. If you are on a budget go for one drink to see the sights at night then head down to the local outdoor bars that are near the area. Much better prices and friendlier
staff who like to give free shots 😊
Monday July 16th 2012 Athens~Pireaus~Chios Today's day was going to be filled with a lot of traveling. Luckily, all of it is sitting back and enjoying the ride. Nick's Theo (Uncle), picked us up from the apartment and drove us to the ferry port in Piraeus. We of course had a pit stop in an area near a marina filled with some amazing yachts. The place we ate was called Piscina in Marina Zhea. I found a video on youtube..look at the end of this blog for the link. We were here before noon so it was pretty empty. I can assure you this would be an amazing place to hang out all night! I have photos of our coffees and ice cream. The ice cream was expecially amazing. The vanilla had baklava in it! It was just brilliant! While enjoying our breakfast snack we got a call from the ferry company stating we had a 3hr delay. After we finished, his uncle dropped us off at the gate with a waiting area that had AC!!! Thank goodness as it was extremely hot in Greece!
Many of the
ferry gates do not have buildings to wait in but we did see another gate that had a restaurant and bar so if you find your trip delayed look for it. The buses take you to and fro at no additional charg so why not wait in comfort? 😊
Our ferry was through Hellenic Seaways.
http://www.ferries.gr/hsw/chios-lesvos-ferries.htm They go to many of the islands from Pireaus but our trip was luckily direct to Chios so it was a slightly faster journey (6+hrs). Aside from the Jet Express to Port Clinton or Key West I haven't ridden a ferry this far or long. We opted for the Panoramic Section. Deck tickets are much more inexpensive but it was hot and we wanted to be comfortable. Now through our 6 hour journey we did move about the ferry so we didn't actually spend a lot of time in our seats aside from the last 90 minutes as we all fell asleep. They have a restaurant, cafes/bar, souvenir shop and lots of places to walk and sit to enjoy the views. Many people brought blankets and mats and literally laid on the floors in the hallways to sleep. They also have cabins that
you can actually book that have beds to stretch out in. Either way it was really an enjoyable experience! Lots of great sights and photos!
We arrived at the Chios port more then 4 hours past our scheduled time. Luckily his Aunt and Uncle were still able to meet us. This part was a little blurry as my mind and body were exhausted from the traveling over the last few days. They treated us to a nice dinner at a great outdoor restaurant right near the port. It was late, I believe well after 11pm by the time the ferry docked and everyone got off. The streets and restaurants were crowded and buzzing with hungry energy. It was great! The food was delicious and the Ouzo was chilled. A great end to our busy day.
We start our journey in and around the island of Chios for the next 5 days. This will all be followed by additional blogs. 😊 Enjoy the photos. If you are a random reader and have questions don't hesitate to ask.
Piraeus Cafe video link:
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