Very early wake up call this morning, before 530. I set up my alarm early to have time to repack. Bec was still sleeping so I tried to be quiet until the hotel wake up call at 545. I'm really not feeling so good, again. We took turns for showers and I got sick again. Wonderful. I drank plenty of water, wasn't able to get anything down during breakfast, but I packed a few fruits in my backpack for later. Talked to more people and then we had to walk to the main square, with our suitcases to get to the bus. The locals must have hated us, as it is very early in the morning and then you have 50 excited people talking and rolling their suitcases down the empty street.
I treated myself to a window seat on the bus and Larissa came to sit with me :) Kelly and Julie sat across from us as well. Paola had to explain that there was no reserved seating, you can switch at every stop if you want. I think people pretty much stuck to similar arrangements though. I know Larissa and I managed to kept the exact same seats the 4 days. (But I was always one of the firsts on the bus too.) If you've ever heard or been on a Contiki trip, you'll know that they always a song. I've read about Day song and the wake up song, but since we were on a short 4 days trip, we only got the one song, that Paola would play every morning. Imagine my surprise, and complete delight when I hear the familiar notes of "Don't stop believing" Glee style. I sang at the top of my lungs, along with Larissa. Funnily enough, that's how I met Lewis. (I LOVED Lewis) Since I'd been singing so hard, seeing this adorable little Asian guy turned around in his seat, I thought I'd be told to be quiet, but no, he was excited that I loved Glee and said I could really sing. (Lol not really but I like it all the same.) We became fast friends and promised each other we would sing on the cruise ship, he was doing the 7 days too.
We picked up a local guide, a very nice and knowledgeable lady. We got a quick bus tour and we stopped at the Olympic Stadium for a few minutes, for a picture, since there is no other buses there. Then we went to the Acropolis. This was a dream come true for me, I was very emotional, but unfortunately, I was also very sick. I wasn't dealing with the 36 degrees very well. Gulping down water barely helps and I regretted not buying a hat yet. The site/sights were absolutely breathtaking and I loved the tour with all the explanations. I was home. I was miserable but still so excited. I took lots of pictures, but that day is a bit of a blur, I was feeling so sick. I had to go up and down the mountain several times for water and bathroom breaks. I was disappointed we were not going to all the sites, nor the museum.
When we got back to the bus, Paola had to give us a lesson in tipping. I had no idea it was so important to tip your guides, it just never occurred to me. But the trick is you have to be real quick about it because they don't linger, they're done, they say thanks and they leave. We would make up for it with the next guides. Now the plan is to drive to Olympia for the night, but we have many stops on the way. The first one was the Corinth canal, where we took a break and could get some food and souvenirs.
After that, we headed to Mycenae, the see the Palace of Agamemnon. I love everything about the story of Troy, I've the Iliad both in French and in English, so to be here, at this site was very exciting. The guide was great, she knew so many stories and I couldn't get enough. Turned out that I was the only one in the group who had read the Iliad, I was very surprised. We visited these giants tombs, got to see the ruins of the Palace and the Lioness's Gate (without the golden heads who were stolen a long long time ago) It was very nice, I really enjoyed it, even though I was always going back and forth for water and washrooms. This being sick business was seriously not fun. I also remembered to tip this time. So far, it had been a lot of walking, and I wondered if my foot would last the entire trip. (I had cracked 2 bones in my left foot a few months before.)
Back on the bus, we had time before we would stop again for Lunch at 2pm. Paola put a movie on "My life in ruins" I loved it. I had to go and buy once the trip was over, because it was just the best, especially if you're or going on a tour in Greece. So we stopped at this nice little restaurant, to eat outside. I had a Greek salad (mainly ate the cucumbers) some bread and about an Ocean's worth of water. But the smell of the rest of the food made feel sick all over again. Paola was worried for me, she was such a sweetheart. I decided maybe it was time to take some medication and see if it helped. After Lunch, we had so more driving to do until we stopped for a gelato break. So we played the introduction game. Everyone had to go to the front of the bus, you say your name, your age, where you're from, what you do and what color you are in the romantic dpt. (Green, yellow, red.) It was very funny, and we got to know everyone. (I'll always remember Scott, "Hi, I'm Scott, I'm Aussie and I really have to pee-pee." He ended up using the bus's bathroom and we all assumed he fell or something, he was a bit drunk and we all heard this big "Thump" noise.)
Stopped for a quick gelato break in Napflion, delicious, and as we were by the bus, those 2-3 little girls started chasing each other around us. Paola warned us they were probably trying to pickpocket us. They were grabbing people and everything. Nobody got fooled and then they started begging us for money. It kinda broke my heart, but they were wearing nice clothes so I doubt they were really starving. Gelato was nice (I had meringue) and they also had a few stores there, to Julie's delight. (See, with all the delays she she had coming in, somehow her suitcase didn't make it. She had to buy clothes for the next few days, until we got back to Athens. She was such a trooper though, I would have been so pissed off.) I also found out it was Mike's bday, thank you free wi-fi and Facebook, so we decided to tell Paola so we could do something about it at the hotel. After that, another long drive and we would be at the hotel. I dozed on and off and took pictures, while listening to "Mamma Mia" in the background.
The Hotel looked more like a big cottage, but it was nice enough and had a big outdoor pool. I was rooming with Bec again. She went straight to the pool while I relaxed in the shower and then plugged in all my stuff and got ready for dinner. (My hair straightener never worked. I had the plug converter thingy and everything else worked, except that evil device of mine. Even back home afterwards, it was still dead.) Of course, by the end of the day I'm feeling fine, hungry and even willing to have a few drinks. Went downstairs, grabbed a Mythos at the bar (Excellent greek beer) sat down with some people for a bit and then went outside to see the pool. Dinner was a very decent buffet, it was quite tasty. We even managed to get the kitchen to prepare some kind of special dessert for Mike. It had been a very long day and we were tired, but a dozen of us or so decided to go sit outside and have a drink or two. And of course we all wanted to buy Mike a drink. They had a souvenir shop, so the girls and I stopped by and bought a few things. The rest of the evening was pretty fun, made a big table outside, it was so warm out, and we all sat there and drank and talked.
That's really when the "Free Stuff" started. I think the beers were like 3 euros each, so I would generally leave 1 or 1.5 as a tip and apparently that was really generous. It was a big enough bar inside, completely empty as we were all outside and the bartender was kinda bored. Every time I'd go in for a drink, he was offering me wine, like small bottles, if I stayed in and sat with him. No thank you. He was nice, but I didn't want wine and I wanted to stay outside. After a while a while, he realized that by giving me free drinks I'd feel obligated to stay in for a few minutes and talk to him. sigh. Remember, being polite, smiling and tipping in Greece will get you a lot of free stuff, trust me :)
I was among the last few ones to go to bed, around 2am that night and we had an early start again the next morning. But it's vacation!
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