Blogs from Athens, Attica, Greece, Europe - page 101

Upon arriving in Athens Kostas came and picked me up from the city, he lives in a suburb called Kareas on the edge of the city beside a forest on the mountain side. Athens city is in a huge valley between two mountain ranges, we headed up the mountain to a perfect view over the whole city to watch the sunrise over Acropolis, it was quite spectacular and something I will not forget anytime soon. Because of the winds the previous night the sky was perfectly clear and I would find out later that I missed a rare photo op since I didn’t have my camera with me. Most days you can barely see acropolis and cant see the mountain range opposite because of all the smog :( That afternoon I headed into the city to ... read more

A hot and sweaty arrival into Athens after standing with our packs on a crowded bus for the 1 1/2 ride into the city from the airport. However, we had a nice surprise at our hostel, Hotel Lozanni, with spacious rooms and extra friendly staff. We found a local giro place for dinner and enjoyed our free shots of Ouzo (a licorice-flavored Greek liquor) at the hostel bar. We had a little old woman who smelled like bananas and barely spoke a word of English in our room. She hoarded all kinds of things in her little bags, and later we learned that she was German--maybe the reason for keeping everything, including spoiled milk! Oh, the interesting people we have shared a room with :) Anyhow, up early to sight-see the next morning. We grabbed breakfast ... read more

To any people other than my subscribers back home who are reading this and who are coming to Athens. If you want a great breakfast you must go to the restaurant called Plaka....in the suburb of.......you guessed it Plaka....which is the old bit of town. The address is 16, Kidathineon St. It is right beside the Taverna Vizantino that the Lonely Planet recommend. I wouldn't recommend it. The waiters are pushy as hell and once they get you seated loose interest and can't wait to get you out again. They litereally accoust people on the street and try to hassle them into the resturant. Plaka Taverna is not like that at all. Tell the lovely waiter Demetri that Dee from NZ sent you. I had breakfast there again this morning. Demetri asked how I was and ... read more

O M G yes I am finally here in Greece. Don't have much time, it has taken me two days of wandering and only running into a couple of fellow kiwis who are staying at a very swanky hotel that has internet, for me to be writing this at all. Got here safely......obviously. It isn't too hot.......THANK GOD Pavlos is fantastic............THANK GOD. Am staying in a hotel right under the acropolis. Couldn't stay with Pavlos as he is living with his Mum temporarily until he is able to move to Olympia with his new job. He still doesn't know if he can come to Santorini with me. Being self employed here in Greece has distinct disadvantages. He told all his customers he would be off work for a week (so he could come away with me) ... read more

Well here we are, our 3rd day in Athens (i think - the heat makes it hard to keep track!) We are doing fairly well, though ez espically is struggling with the intense heat (34 degrees forcasted for today) yay my turn, ez has been monopolising the blog site(tho partly this is my fault as have comp skills of retarded parsnip), as he was saying V. HOTTTTT and we have been quite lazy...just chilling and having afternoon sesita to beat the heat...and getting up as early as 4.30am(this morning) to be able to move with ease mwah.... ez back... yesterday started with a delish breky of fresh bread, feta, salami, red onion, and a beatiful beautiful beast of a tomato!!! (and some oregano chips that i'll convienently neglect to mention!) we then headed out into the ... read more