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Published: February 17th 2013
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Corinth CanalThe seats on the ferry got very uncomfortable after a while, and it was really hard sleeping upright. Eventually Megan took the floor and I layed down between our two seats. At 5:30 am an announcement came on saying that we were approaching our destination. Everyone jumped up and started freaking out because we were about six hours early and none of us were packed or ready. Turned out - we were just at the first stop that the ferry goes to, Corfu. We still had quite a while to go, so everyone went back to sleep.
I woke up at 9:30 am and decided to skip breakfast for today. After getting ready I went for a walk around the outside deck with Debs. Our whole group spent the morning relaxing and watching a movie (Derailed with Jennifer Aniston). The ship finally docked at Patras at about 12:30 pm. We were finally in Greece!
After two hours of driving we reached the Corinth Canal. This is a canal that connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea. It is only 70 feet wide, making it unpassable for most ships these days. However it was
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View of Athens from the Acropolis a beautiful place to stop and take some photos. It would be wicked for bungee jumping! (Not that I'd ever be brave enough to try haha). I have a huge fear of heights so I could only stay on the (tiny) bridge for so long! We stopped here for a snack and I had some fries at the fast food restaurant located nearby. I was finding that food in Greece was much cheaper than it had been in England, France, and Italy.
After another hour of driving we got to Athens, where we drove straight to the Acropolis. Here we got an included guided tour of this ancient citadel, as well as the Parthenon. The guide we had here was my favourite by far - she was a great speaker, easy to understand, and gave us lots of interesting information. The Acropolis is one of the main tourist attractions in Greece, and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historic significance, including the Parthenon. This is a temple dedicated to the maiden goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their patron. These ancient buildings were built in around 400-500 BC. I had been wanting
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Acropolis to visit these sights for a very long time, so it was so amazing to finally see them in person. Like many other monuments in Europe, they were covered in scaffolding. This is because they are so old they are starting to fall apart, so many countries are "rebuilding" them so that they don't eventually disappear.
After this tour we drove to a very old Olympic stadium - Panathenaic Stadium (Panathinaiko). This is the most ancient stadium in use in the world, and it hosted the very first modern Olympic Games in 1896. It was reconstructed from the remains of an ancient Greek stadium, and is built entirely of white marble. This was a very cool sight to see also.
Our last stop was our hotel - Balasca Hotel Athens. This hotel wasn't too bad, but it was in the "ghetto" area of Athens. Looking out the window from my room it looked as if we were in Cairo or something alike. Tonight I would be rooming with Rosie and Christine in room 602. We had three single beds, an ensuite bathroom, and a deck. I believe there was free wifi in the lobby as well.
Tonight
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Panathenaic Stadium we had the option of a Plaka dinner excursion.
Plaka meal (38 euro): Head to the winding streets of the historic Plaka district, set on shady slopes beneath the Acropolis. Feast on a traditional 3 course meal in a typical Greek taverna and soak up the culture with your friends. With Greek dancers, singing and Bouzouki music, the tone is definitely fun and festive.
I decided not to do this optional, and thinking back I actually cannot remember why. It seemed like everyone who went had a great time though. It might have been the fact that it was quite expensive, or because I didn't like Greek food (now I love it!). You don't get to spend much time in Athens on this tour though, so I recommend doing this to get the opportunity to see some more of the city. Instead I spent the night chatting with friends back home (using the lobby wifi) and getting ready for our "holiday within a holiday" in Mykonos. I was so exited!
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