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Published: April 28th 2009
So I know it has been a while but I have been bogged down with work since I have returned to Rome. It’s a shame that sometimes I associate Rome with work. Regardless, I had an excellent spring break minus a few snags, which are expected in long trips with budget traveling. So let me start this blog, which from the week I had should be of epic proportions. Brace yourself!
Athens
Leaving from Rome at 11 and losing an hour crossing into Athens we arrived at our hostel, Fivos, at around 2. Quickly dropping off our bags, Jordan, Laura, and I made our way out into the city for a half day in Athens before departing for our next destination. Walking down the street we headed to the huge hill in the center of the city housing the Ancient Acropolis and Parthenon. Getting in for free as "EU students" using our IES Roma student cards we were off to a good start and were excited to make it to the top of this world famous site. Climbing the hill was no easy tasks and the only breaks we took were to discover ancient runes that scattered
the path leading up to the top including sacred caves and an ancient church. Making our way around the hill we saw two theaters before finding the staircase that would take us to the top. Climbing the stairs through an ancient building our eyes fell upon this massive ancient temple known as the Parthenon. It was awesome with columns supporting all four sides and seemed to be kept in great condition for how old it is. Across from the Parthenon is the Erechtheion, also an impressive structure but slightly dwarfed by the Parthenon. Taking in the sight from atop this hill took a while as well as circling the massive structure. Looking off the left side of the cliff we saw the Ancient Agora, similar to the Roman Forum, and headed down for a closer inspection. Scattered among the ruins and erected columns there were two main buildings. First the Stoa of Attalos, which housed a small museum (also free) and then the very preserved Temple of Hephaestus. As we finished touring the ancient grounds, we headed across the town to the National Archeological Museum and had enough time to see everything before my feet gave out beneath me. After
a slow walk back to the center of town and a quick stop at our hostel we walked 200 feet to Monastiraki Sqaure filled with the energy of the city and were sucked into an outdoor restaurant with a view of the square as we ate. For dinner we all split Greek sausage and grilled feta, both amazing, and for a main course we all copied each other and got the lamb Souvlaki. Full and tired, we walked the streets, made our way to the famous Syntagma Square square, always lively at night, and saw the Greek parliament building located at the top of the square. After grabbing a smoothie for dessert we dragged back to our hostel for a few hours of sleep before the day tour to Delphi the next day.
Delphi
Excited we woke up to our alarms, we waited outside for our tour bus. After waiting a couple minutes the bus picked us up and we were off to Delphi. So far so good. After two of the three hour journey through the hills, we arrived at a rest stop and only after ordering the food realized that we were being ripped off. After
realizing how cheap food was in Greece the day before, the overpriced pastries and coffee that wasn't even that good got us a little upset. Then as we got high into the mountains we hit a lot of fog and it started to rain as we hit a small city as a pit stop before Delphi. Getting off the bus we were yet again disappointed by a small town with one overpriced shop filled will hand woven goods for an arm and a leg. Boarding the bus yet again we were not pleased with this tour so far and were yet to realize that it would only get worse. As the bus rolled on tour guide would ramble about the history of Delphi, very repetitive and switching between English and French. She was more of an annoyance than a help. We signed up for the English tour and were not informed that it would be intermingled with other languages. Arriving at Delphi with the rain stopping shortly after, we got to tour the ruins without our guide’s presence and really got to enjoy it. We saw many of the ancient ruins that composed this ancient town that has housed both
Church
ATHENSGreek and Romans in its time. It was thought to be the nave of the world by Zeus and was marked with a cap stone. In my pictures you can see this stone. More interesting though was the Treasury of the Athenians, Altar of Apollo, Theater, and Stadium. Climbing up the hillside was fun along with teasing Laura that the flowers I picked for her were illegal to pick and she would be fined if she was caught holding them. After some good laughs and much to see, a small drizzle hinted that it was time to make it to the museum for an optional guided tour. Arriving at the small museum we listened to her from the back leaving every now and then to wonder around the rooms that she did not include in her tour. As we entered the last room of the museum, we met up with the group once more and stood in the back with Jordan. I whispered something in Laura's ear and kissed her on the check. She abruptly stops the tour, yelling at me and Laura for being very interrupting and disrespectful, displaying my affection publically, and insulting the French family for God
knows what reason. Dumbfounded and caught off guard, as well as the rest of the group including Jordan who was feet away from us who didn’t notice any of it, we had no idea where she was coming from. As we left the museum I called her out for treating me in such a manner, especially in front of others. Pissed at what had just happened we all boarded the bus to go to lunch. When we arrived for lunch in the "town of Delphi" we unloaded the bus and saw we were at the top of a hill with one restaurant. When we signed up for the tour we picked the no lunch option and though we would have other options in the town of Delphi. Walking into the restaurant, we informed her we didn't pay and she yelled at us to eat and insisted that we did, refusing again we decided just to eat and to refuse to pay latter if we were charged. I felt bad for a couple that she didn't have on the list who had to sit and watch us eat. This tour was very misleading and a rip off and would not suggest
it to anyone. Stopping at the same rip off rest stop on the way back and realizing it was owned by the tour group we got even more pissed off. Refusing to buy anything we boarded the bus and were happy to return to Athens. As we got off the bus Laura asked for her name so we could file a complaint later and the lady refused to release it to us. Furious we went back to our apartments with a good day at the site of Delphi but a crap tour everywhere in between. I guess the most important thing is the site and as far as that is concerned it was cool. (sorry for rambling but the tour was really shitty). That night we went out to dinner again in Athens, this time at a place close to the Acropolis and I ended up getting stuffed tomatoes, which were delicious. We than walked through Athens at night and stopped at the Temple of Zeus, which is a bunch of massive columns and Hadrian's Arch. We grabbed dessert again, this time caramel cake, before going to bed before our 5:45 wake up call.
(Funny story: That night after returning
from the tour we had no bathroom light and wanted to take showers before our early departure. Asking the guy to change it before we went to dinner, we called to complain. Later that night we returned ant the light wasn't working so we called again and he said “o my god” and thought that meant it wouldn't get fixed since it was already late. Already giving up on our showers and laying in bed we get a knock on the door. It's the guy with a light bulb and is standing there with it. He wants me to change it and since I'm already half asleep/half naked and the light ficture has to be unscrewed we tell him to do it. After a couple minutes and him obviously not knowing what he is doing there is an explosion in the bathroom and all the lights go out in the rest of the room. Jordan, Laura, and I are trying our bests not to laugh but let out a small few chuckles. Then we hear him stumbling and tripping over our bags as he tries to make it to the door. As soon as he exits we burst out laughing
only to have the bedroom lights fixed, bathroom worse than before, and him telling us he was scared of getting electrocuted. Already late we just decided to go to bed and not complain any further.)
Santorini
Waking up at 5:45 and catching a 6am taxi to the port we were dead tired. The asshole at the hostel told us that there was no easy way from the hostel to the port the night before and informed us he could have a taxi here to take us in the morning for 30 euros. Accepting what seemed like friendly advice, we got ripped off. Meeting a girl on the ferry turns out we can get to the port directly by a 1 euro metro ticket, right next to our hostel (literally) and if we were to take a taxi it should have only been 10 euros total. Pissed about getting ripped off we tried to let the past be the past but not before we planned to get revenge when we returned to Athens the last day before catching our flight to Rome. (never happened) So the ferry wasn't bad. We got on relatively easy and the seating wasn't too
bad with a table separating two rows of chairs facing each other. After five hours and much interrupted sleep, we arrived in beautiful Santorini. Bypassing all the taxis looking to rip us off, we got a shuttle to the main city to Fira and with little difficultly found our cozy hostel. Much better than the one in Athens we were pleased with our accommodations and were even greeted with wine on our arrival. Talking to helpful owner George he helped us map out two of the best days I have had in a long time. In the ended, we ended up opting to bypassing the volcano (a pile of rubble) and hot springs (cold this time of year) and rented ATVs for the whole 2 days we would be there. Jordan ended up getting his own ATV while Laura rode on the back of mine. After we grabbed gyros it and secured the ATVs for two days it was already 3. Fira, where we were staying, is situated in the center of the island. Only taking an hour and half to make it from top to bottom of the island we headed to the south to discover the black beach
and the highest point of the island before heading to the northern coast for the sunset. Getting used to driving an ATV we passed through the town of Pyrgos and made it the high point of the island Profitis Ilias. Snapping pictures of the island and observing the black beach, our next destination, we made our descent. The roads were winding and most parts were only enough for one car once you left the small towns. Arriving at Perissa, we ran into 6 people from IES who were headed for the beach and ended up talking for a while. After, spending some time on the beach we drove down the coast until we ran out of road. The sun was then starting to set so we floored it to the other side of the island, passing back through Fira. We took the east coast scenic drive and found an abandoned cliff to observe the sunset. It was spectacular and although we thought the clouds would get in the way it actually made for a more picturesque landscape as you can see in the pictures. After the sunset things obviously started to get dark real fast and after finding out that
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ATHENS Jordan's lights didn't work we hurried back to Fira before it got too dangerous to drive through the mountain pass. The ride back was awesome driving around mountains with a cliff on one side and rocky slope on the other. Laura was squeezing onto me for dear life (I have scars to prove it, jk) but noticed out of the corner of my eye that she had a grin across her face and could tell that she was enjoying every minute of it. Arriving back at the hostel just before it got really dark we dropped our stuff and helmets off and asked George's brother for a good place to eat. Best decision of my life! He instructed us to a small restaurant called Nikolas. Passing by this place you would think that it’s a hole in the wall. Walking in, we were quickly seated and greeted by Nikolas himself. He goes "Ok guys i'm gonna tell you what your gonna have tonight." With no menus he recites his menu, detailing each dish, and making suggestions for each of us. I ended up getting Mousaka, almost like lasagna but with meat inside of it. It was delicious and Laura and
Jordan were bragging about their dishes as well. Jordan even stated that it was the best meal that he ever had. After we left, we stopped to get Crepes and went back to the apartment to relax and have a few Greek beers we bought earlier in preparation for tonight. We also had our first showers in Greek that we didn't get to do since Athens was really disgusting and we had no light. You heard right, I went 3 days without a shower. Eww. That's what happens when you budget travel.
The next day we got to sleep in a little although we were excited to discover more of the island. We planned to see the east side of the island first by the airport and the town of Monolithos. Unlike the cliffs on the west side of the island the east side is all beaches. We took a break as we came across deserted beaches with black pebbles. We worked our way down the cost and drove through a town called Kamari where we spotted our next destination, a winding road up the mountain side. Through this narrow road that doubled back and forth at least a
dozen times we made it to the top where there was a small parking lot for our ATVs. We abandoned our ATVs which we have become too attached to and started to climb the rest of the way to the ruins of ancient Thira. There we saw an old church, ruins of an old city, and new technique of carved animals such as a dolphin into the stone side that I haven’t seen before. Seeing enough ancient stuff from Rome and our first two days in Greece we made our decent to head to the south west tip of the island for lunch and relaxation at the "Red Beach". Flying through the island, wind in our face, we followed signs to the Red Island but it only lead to a parking lot on the slope of a red mountain. After a couple minutes of searching, we climbed the cliff around the red mountain and spotted a small secluded beach lined with red cliffs. We relaxed on the beach for an hour or two interrupted slightly by a group of European teenagers that spoke over 4 languages. Being in Europe makes you feel like shit sometimes because so many people know
multiple languages. After catching some rays we went to Akrotiri to grab a bit to eat before venturing to the light house. At the lighthouse we climbed the cliffs and were even daring enough to reach the very tip of the island with a steep drop into the rocky sea bellow. On this island, unlike cliffs in the U.S., there is no guard rails or ropes just a steep drop. If we make a mistake you could fall a hundred feet off a cliff into the sea lined with rocks. Anyway, we were able to make it to the edge and back without losing anyone and with every "man" accounted for we rode back to Fira. After a short break and walk around Fira to discover the main city of Santorini, we made sure to make it to Ios again for another sunset. Taking the mountain pass both ways this time we went to a different cliff and watched the sunset once again, this time without any clouds. That night we went to Nikolas's restaurant again and as we were approaching he opens there the door and orders us to come in. Just as friendly as the night before, he
repeats the menu and this time I get the lamb, the dish Jordan was craving about the previous night. He was right. The lamb is the best meal I have ever had. It was moist and full of flavor and the tomatoes, onions, and peppers that accompanied them were just as good. We stayed for dessert this time, Baklava for me, and left happy from such a good meal but disappointed it would be our last there. We walked around Fira for 2-3 more hours while waiting for our departure to the dock. I passed a kitten that was hiding under a motorcycle and tried to call in over with little luck since Jordan and Laura had a stray dog following them for over 20 mins. (It’s a shame but there are a lot of stray dogs in Greece, mostly on the mainland but not uncommon on the islands. These dogs look malnourished and very sad and it’s depressing to see.) Eventually, we returned to the hostel to pick up our luggage and grab a free ride from George, the hostel owner, to the dock. After a short wait, and a long time watching the ferry unload before we were
allowed on we finally got onto the ferry at 1am. Once aboard we located our seats only to find a guy sleeping across all three of them. After an unnecessary debate of what to do, we woke him up and informed him that he needed to move. Thank God he left without a problem. We tried to get comfortable in our airplane style seats since they would be our “hostel” for the night. Jordan ended up sleeping on the floor while Laura was able to lay across me and I tried to sleep the best I could sitting up.
Rhodes
Half rested we arrived in Rhodes early the next morning. Grabbing a shuttle and a cab it only costs us 6 euros between the three of us to reach our hotel. So far so good. Yes you heard correctly… HOTEL not HOSTEL. The hotel ended up being cheaper than a hostel since we paid per room and not per person and found it at a good prick. We had a frig to put our drinks in, balcony with table and chairs, TV with a handful of channels in English, and a clean bathroom. Still half tired, Jordan
slept in the room since he was burnt from Santorini, while Laura and I walked 500 ft to the beach to laid out for three hours. After I returned I looked in the mirror only to find that I looked like I have been burnt to a crisp. I guess that’s what you get when you use SPF 6. Since we were all rested up we spent the second half of the day around Rodos the main town which has an “Old Town” encircled in an ancient city wall. We walked the perimeter of the wall till we found an entrance. Once inside we saw ancient medieval looking streets, arches, and of course a castle. All of the own town is dedicated to tourist shops and food stands. We stopped for a quick gyro since it was both fast and inexpensive. After looking around the shops we walked around Rodos itself. Finding churches, beaches, and scouting out restaurants for dinner. That night we got some dinner at a small restaurant down the street and ended up being the only people below fifty there. They were signing karaoke and dancing and more energy than I had. Later we were back at
the apartment when we heard a huge bang. Stepping out onto our balcony we saw a parade marching down the street with people in uniform, bands, priests, and church goers. We soon thereafter found out that it was a march for Good Friday. Apparently Greeks have a different Easter than Catholics. It was exciting to watch an after we settled in for the night.
The next day we woke early to get a good start on the rest of the city. We took a cheap “train” tour which looked like a little kid ride. It drove us up to the ancient part of Rodos where there was a Stadium and Temple of Apollo. After taking a tour of the coast we returned back to the “train station”. We then walked down the bus station, bathing suits on and towels handy, for a ride to the world famous beaches dotting the southern side of Rhodes. We ended up in the town of Lindos which had both an ancient castle with ruins dating through various centuries and a sand beach blocked by the wind from the north. Deciding to relax first, we made our decent through the town and down to
the beach. The beach was beautiful and might add that it was also topless, not that I was a creeper. Anyway, we enjoyed the sand, unlike the pebbles on both the north shore the previous day and the beaches of Santorini. The water was also crystal clear and since it was closed off to the rest of the sea by protruding rocks there were no waves which made it possible to see the bottom. Still a little cold to go it all the way like Jordan and Laura, I made it up to a little below my waist. After three hours and fear of getting burnt again we made our way to the top. From the looks of it I was only expecting to encounter a big medieval castle. Soon after entering the castle and enjoying the view from the top did I noticed that there were ruins in the castle dating back the B.C. The medieval castle must have been built on the ruins of an ancient settlement. Climbing the stairs to the castle, something out of LOTR, think Helms Deep, we entered the castle. Walking to the top we located two ancient temples and a wonderful view of
the beach we just came from along with the rest of the town of Lindos. On our decent Laura made an encounter with an apparent bees nest and started to freak out and ran away. If you look in the photo album you can see her running out of the doorway. Jordan and I couldn’t stop laughing. Satisfied at what we discovered and able to enjoy the castle with no one else in it, we descended into the town for a nice lunch before we headed back to Rodos. We ate at small place on a rooftop, which turned out to be quite good. After catching a bus back to Rodos, we all took our showers and laid in bed watching BBC World News since we have been out of touch with the outside world for the most part. Later that night, we went to a better restaurant than the first night and after finishing a handle of vodka in under 30 mins at the hotel headed out for a midnight festival to celebrate Easter Sunday with the locals. There were tons of people scattering the streets holding candles and fireworks going off over the light house in the bay.
It was cool to see how Greece’s celebrated Easter since we just witnessed how the Romans celebrated it just a week earlier. It seemed to me that Greeks, since orthodox, are much stricter when it comes to religion but makes it much crazier when it comes to celebrating. A little drunk and drained from the sun we went back to get some sleep before catching our plane back to Athens.
Athens (Take 2)
We arrived back in Athens without any problems and had 4¬-5 hrs to spend in the city before our flight back to Rome. We ended up climbing this massive hill to take an overlook over Athens. (Still not sure if it was worth it but we had time to kill, o well.) We also went to get a closer look at the Temple of Zeus but it was closed since it was Easter Sunday. The rest of the time was spent walking through the park behind the Greek Parliament which was beautiful. Grabbing a bite to eat, we got ripped off one last time in Athens when we ordered the Easter Lamb Special and ended up getting a pile of fat on bones and
a bunch of French fries. (Greek food is amazing but if there is one thing I must complain about is that they serve everything with fries.) We ended up having no trouble catching our flight on the way back to Rome but when we arrived it was without Laura and Jordan’s luggage. After sitting in the airport 3 hours and trying to figure out what was going on it was finally told that we would have to leave and they would have to send it to us. In the end they ended up getting their luggage a day and a half latter and everything turned out to be ok other then the time wasted in the airport. All and all it was a good trip and including the bad times I would do it all again in a heartbeat.
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Laura Sahyoun
non-member comment
Greece vs. Rome
Ok, first I checked the photos, they are amazing. It doesn't matter that know one else understand me but I know you will, I am sure you could hear me, get away from the edge!!! No ATV!!! watch the cliff and OMG!!! Lol...Love the action shot of Laura fleeing from the room with bees. I was shocked at the poor hospitality, and lack of courtesy you received in Greece. Glad George was wonderful, he should be their Ambassador. Thank goodness for the owner of the restaurant too. I am so glad you toughed it out, I know how burnt you got there. Sight seeing there looks grueling, thank God it wasn't with extreme heat as well. Mi Manchi, Ciao