It's all Greek to me!

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First of all I would like to apologize for the corny title, but I simply couldn't resist. Secondly, I know it's been a while since I posted, but I want to write about Greece all in one go!

Our first stop in Greece was on the island of Rhodes at a hotel called Vivian studios. It was a decent hotel, made up of different kind of rooms. Privates, dorms, apartments etc... We stayed in a four bed dorm. The room were very plain, the kitchen was sparse and it was very very hot at night. But it was also quite cheap, so value for money it wasn't all that bad. Additionally, Vivian and her mother go to all lengths to accommodate you and make you feel welcome. They are very kind people. Every morning her mother would be there to greet us, and Vivian herself was often there in the evening to wish us a good night. They really made the atmosphere at the hotel.

August 2nd was spent actually getting to Rhodes. We had a five hour layover in Athens, so we didn't get to the hotel until 11 pm. We were quite exhausted. Needless to say, it was a perfectly relaxing beach day for me the next day. I sat on the beach for 8 hours. I was so happy about it. It was very hot, above 30, but there was a nice breeze on the island, so I hardly even noticed it.

The next two days on Rhodes were spent driving around in a car that we rented. It was a new red Astra, in which I got to practice my manual driving skills. Definitely a good introduction before I drive all over Italy. On our drive we saw lots and lots of beaches, as well as an ancient ruins site. It is a beautiful island. We found a very secluded beach on the south east side of the island called Plimmiri, where we hung out one day.

On the morning of the sixth, we spent time in the hostel being lazy until checkout, then we got a taxi to the port. It was a bit boring because we had to wait around at the port until four o'clock when our ferry left. We took a 15 hour ferry to Athens overnight. It was a very long journey. Definitely cheaper than flying though. We decided to spring for a cabin which was definitely worth it. We had comfy beds and pillows, comforters, even a bathroom with a shower. And towels were provided for us. Such luxury!

We arrived at 7 in the morning on the 7th of August in Athens. We immediately dropped our bags off at the hostel and went site seeing. The BNB was the Athens Colourful Urban Home. Again, value for money it was fine, but the accommodations were meh. The actually room was quite nice, hot again but at least we had a fan. But the breakfast left a lot to be desired. It was literally bread and butter with juice and coffee. For a BNB I expected a little more. The worst part was that our kitchen had bugs. So gross. After the first night we decided not to cook in there anymore. Lastly, the hotel is in a pretty rough neighbourhood of athens, I would not have been going out on my own after dark. Like I said, for $20/night it was what you expect, but I would probably pay a bit more next time to get nicer accommodations.

Anyways, the first day we went to visit the Parthenon at the Acropolis. It is really a feat of engineering everything that the ancient Greeks built. Jay and I were in awe the whole time.we ate crepes for lunch at a restaurant down the hill for the acropolis before going back to our hotel for a bit of a snooze. In the evening we went and bought some groceries and cooked ourselves dinner, where we subsequently found out about the bug problem.

Our second day in Athens was spent on a day trip to Delphi. Delphi is a bit of a ways away, about three hours, but the drive is beautiful. And totally worth it! The town of Araxova right before Delphiis literally hanging onto the side of the mountain. It really is something to see. I find it amazing that this site of worship was built so long ago, so high up the mountain, with such beauty no precision. The amount of work and skill and labour that went into building these places is impossible to fathom. As I said, I was in awe the whole time. The tour guide we had talked a little bit too much for my taste, but I Get the impression that the Greeks are a very proud people (which they have every reason to be) and they just want to share their culture with anyone and everyone. At the very lest I can say it was a very educational day.

Saturday was spent having a lazy day in the hotel. Jay had a bad sunburn he was getting over, and besides, four days in athens is more than enough, and you definitely need rest days here and there.

Sunday was our super touristy day. We went to the national archeological museum, the temple of Zeus, the first Olympic stadium, flea market in Monastiriki, and I walked all the way to the top of Lycabeth hill which is the highest point in the city. The views from the top were amazing! It was a really hot walk up to the top, but totally worth it. The residential area surrounding the hill is definitely the rich area too. The streets are lined with quite new apartments and incredibly expensive designer stores. It's definitely the nice area of town. Absolutely beautiful to walk around even if you cant afford it.

On the 11th I made my 11 hour commute to Corfu. I had to take a bus and ferry to get to Corfu town, and then the shuttle from the pink palace came and picked me up from the bus station and drove me to the hostel. There I spent four days on a beach, it was glorious. And it's definitely one of the nicest areas I have been too. The village is in a valley that is in a small cove. The water is calm and crystal clear. Absolutely stunning. The hostel itself was interesting. I knew it to be a party hostel before I went, that's why I wanted to experience it, but it was a bit too extreme for me at some points. I was lucky that everyone in my dorm was quite chill, so we didn't do any of the extreme activities, but boy did we hear some stories. For example, there is a booze cruise that runs a couple of times a week. Once you are on the boat, apparently nudity is very strongly encouraged, even a bit forced from what I have heard. Additionally, there is a huge hook up culture at the hostel. To each his own, but it was just a bit more than I was expecting. I still had a good time doing my own thing, hanging out with the group of people from my dorm, but I do not think I will be going back.

And so concludes the absolutely amazing two weeks in. Greece! Talk soon! Xoxo.

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