After Contiki - Leaving Athens / Returning Home

Monday September 18th, 2011. - Leaving Athens.


So this morning was time to say goodbye to Greece, hopefully not forever (I'm not done with you! One day I will have a significant other and we will come back, you mark my words ;) )

But anyways, I won't bore you too much with my details of getting my bags down to the front desk, in those narrow steep stairs, three floors down, nor will I tell you about my anxiety attack at waiting over an hour for my transfer to show up. (In a car, when I had booked a van, and that I had to keep my bags on me, because we were at full capacity.)  It's all part of the adventure, even though it might irritate you at first. It's all in the details and how you look at them.

The trip to the airport was uneventful, checking-in, dropping my suitcase and passing through security was normal as well, except for the extra security and the fact that you couldn't take 10 steps in one direction without someone asking to see your passport. But with all the trouble I had seen in Athens throughout the week, I wasn't that surprised. (Turns out the airport shut down the next day for a few days when everyone went on strike....)

I obviously didn't understand how airports and duty-free worked (I had never been anywhere but within Canada or the States until now.) Because I somehow thought, no need to shop right now, or go get some food at the million restaurants, I'll wait on the other side. Well yeah, DUH. I found myself stranded in a waiting area, looking in at the restaurants and duty-frees. Only a couple vending machines and that one cafe kiosk-thingy on our side. So I missed out on the exciting last-minute shopping. Which was probably a good thing, as I had bought quite a lot already. But I was hungry and didn't like feeling cooped up on such a small space.

And of course the plane was late, kept being delayed and delayed, ended up leaving almost 2 hours later than scheduled. I felt bad for my roommate Rick, who was supposed to pick me up at the airport, but I figured he'd check the schedule and see the arrival time had changed. It's not like I carried my phone with me or anything. (He didn't check departures and arrival times, and showed up an hour before we were scheduled to land, so he ended up waiting over 3 hours for me. Let's say that since then, I have booked my own transport from the airport lol)

Same drill on the flight back, lots and lots to drink, Air Transat and their +++ packages seriously rock, and after that it was back to reality. Sad but true, all good things must come to an end.!

After Contiki - Athens 3

Sunday September 17th, 2011. - Alone in Athens Part 2.


So, today was my last full day in Greece. I had to take the plane back tomorrow morning, and be back at work bright and early on Tuesday morning.

(*Trust me, allow some jet lag time-adjustment if you're not used to it... I now try to book a day in before my return and work...)

So, this morning, I had booked a half-day trip to Cape Sounion (Cap Sùnion) through my Hotel. So I packed a bag, and head out to the square for more walking around before the rendez-vous point, at a different hotel. Of, course, I had to go see the changing of the guards again, it is such a dance. Grabbed an iced coffee, I still say we don't do coffee right around here, and then started the day's adventure.

I wanted to go there, to see the Temple of Poseidon, my main purpose for visiting Greece was to see as many temples and ruins as I possibly could after all. And I was not disappointed, it was magnificent. It took close to 2 hours to get there, they let you loose with some information for about an hour (can't get lost, it's a Temple on top of a hill, surrounded by the Aegean Sea) and then they drive you back.

 

I highly recommend a visit to Sounion, the scenery is breathtaking, it is Beach-a-palooza and the Temple itself is absolutely impressive. The sound of the waves, the sun shining down on you, it is so easy to let your imagination running wild. Myself, I teared up a little, again. What? every time my mind was blown I had to check with myself that I was really here, that it was all real. Dreams do come true when you work hard.

 

 

And the drive back was just as lovely, after I've had a quick cold Mythos on the Patio of the Cafe, and of course bought a few trinkets. The sun was slowly setting over the sea, the pictures were quite awesome. But I was also worried about experiencing this trip through a lens, so I put my camera back in my bag, put on my earphones, sat back and just looked out the window, soaking it all in.

 

Back to the hotel, at the end of the day, sadly, it was time to start packing, for checking out the next morning. But not before I picked up some more gyros down the street. Then, I decided I just couldn't leave beer in the mini-fridge, and that I had to drink it all, while trying to repack my suitcase, and watching movies. I managed it all, even though the last of my night is a bit blurry, but I blame it on the tiredness, not the alcohol ;) Same goes for my suitcase, which was overflowing with stuff, and my carry-on too. Oh well.

 

 

After Contiki - Athens 2

 

Saturday September 16th, 2011. - Alone in Athens.


So, most of my group were gone by now, and I was all alone in that sketchy little Hotel-Motel. Still with the coffee table in front of the door, I slept well, considering I did not feel safe at all. It was so nice not to have to be up at 7am, and not have someone else in the room with me. I slept a little bit in, then had a long shower, ate some of the groceries I had bought the night before, and then decided to get started on my day.

I spoke to the clerk downstairs, seeing what kind of activities they could book on my behalf, and I decided for a half-day trip the next day to Cape Sounion, so I could visit Poseidon's temple. It was about 50 Euros, but included round trip transport, so I figured why not.

For today, I decided to use my tickets for the Hop-On Hop-Off bus to get around town and try to see/visit as much as I possibly could. This system is pretty amazing. I did a full round, listening to the commentary, watching people and studying the map, before even coming up with a plan on where to stop and what to do. It was a really great day. I saw and did pretty much everything I wanted to, and took tons of pictures. I spent about 3 hours at the Athens Archaeological Museum. It was a dream come true. So many statues and so many of them in such good state. It was unbelievable. It seemed to be in a pretty sketchy area though, so the 20 minutes waiting for the bus to come around made me pretty anxious. (This was 2 years ago, when things started to escalate in Greece, so there was a lot of homeless people, beggars and armed people around. Not the most reassuring feeling in the world when you're a solo female traveller...)

I also spent some time by the remains of Zeus and Hera's Temple, which was awesome too. Athens is amazingly easier to navigate than I thought. The Hop-on Hop-Off bus was a blessing and allowed me to have a great day! The only time I regretted not being with a group and just by myself, when when trying to take pictures, I suck at selfies haha! Oh well, the importance thing is the souvenirs, not necessarily my stupid faces in front of stuff ;)

I had made plans for dinner with another girl from Contiki who was still around for one day, but I completely misunderstood, and we ended up not seeing each other. I sorta stood her up at the restaurant. But in my defense, it wasn't on purpose, I really misunderstood the plans and I felt horrible and apologize via Facebook so many times.

I found myself a Gyros place, grabbed a few ones to go, locked myself back into my room, watched TV on my DVD player and had a few drinks and had an early quiet night. A long day out in the sun at 40 something degrees, not something I was used to before this trip, so I was spent.

End of Contiki : Athens 1

Friday September 15th, 2011. Athens.

Today was the "Official" end of this Contiki adventure. We've had to put our luggage outside our rooms last night, so it would get dropped off at the port while we got off. It was very early, as we had to check-out and settle our bills for 7h45. Of course, most of us had a very late/early drunk night, and/or we weren't packed or we had bills to settle, and all that kind of fun stuff.  I like to think I'm organized, so very early, I was finished packing my day bag, I was showered and dressed and I was lining up at reception to get my final bill (although I was smart enough to make final credit card payment last night, we still had to make sure I didn't make any more charges to my room card). All of this was taken care of, I was able to go and enjoy a last bit of breakfast. I also made sure to leave a very generous tip to my "maids" in various currencies and wrote up a nice feedback card as well.

It was far from the usual feast, as the cruise was ending and everyone was getting off and in a record time, they had to start the process all over again. The work these guys put in to turn everything around in a few hours is nothing short of amazing. It was impressive. We did feel a little rushed, as the instructions weren't exactly clear as to where to meet and when. (Contiki vs Official directions.)

We did manage to get off the ship, always missing a few people here and there. Once off, we all had to wait around and try to find our bags, and then after everything was settled and we could try to make our way out to the bus, we realized we had an extra set of suitcases. Someone still wasn't off the ship. So we played the waiting game, and let me tell you, people get very pissy very fast about that. On one side, I can understand since I am very anal about punctuality myself and would vote to leave people behind when they're late. But on the other side, sometimes, just sometimes, there are valid reasons for people to be late, and it doesn't matter which way it goes, name-calling and general rudeness and bitchiness and never acceptable. At least in my book, but apparently, I own a very outdated version that no cares about anymore. (FYI- in this case, it was a valid reason that the person got held up on the ship.)

 It's about 9 am by then and we have 3 options: You take a cab to the airport or wherever your hotel is if you're staying longer or the bus will drop off most of the remaining group at the President's Hotel or lastly, they can drop some of us up downtown, at Syngtama Square. I chose the last option, as I had booked a small room right downtown for my next 3 nights. I made plans with a few girls staying at the President's to meet them back up at 6pm for a farewell dinner.

So I was now on my own with my big/full suitcase downtown Athens, looking for my hotel. I knew it was on the same street as the previous one we were at, but that was about it. So I had only a general idea of where I was going, and we were litterally just dropped off at the corner of the square, no time to say Goodbyes or anything. I noticed there seemed to be some kind of protests going on in the aquare and in front of the parliement, so I tried to stay out of the way. There were a lot of police and army around. Of course, when I got to the hotel, completely exhausted and sweaty, I was told that I wouldn't be able to check-in until after 2pm. It was barely 10am. This was going to be a long day. I sat at a cafe for a while, sipping on an way overpriced iced coffee, and then spent the rest of the day on the roof terrace, nodding off with my book. When I was finally allowed in my room, up on the 3rd floor with with narrow and steep staircases, it was almost 3 pm. I locked the door and put the coffee table in front of it, not sure who that would've stopped if they really wanted in.

I enjoyed a refreshing 2 hours nap and almost cancelled on the farewell dinner, I just wanted to sleep more. But I dragged myself in the shower, got ready and went downstairs to give my key back and tell them I was going out for dinner. It was a very small place, maybe a dozen rooms, with real keys, so whenever you were leaving, you had to leave your key with them. I walked back to the square, feeling a bit nervous with all the  armed "security" people in the street, and I hopped in a cab to get me to the other side of town, to meet with the group.

There were only 6 of us who met and decided to ask for a restaurant near by and walk there to enjoy a last traditionnal dinner, as most of us were leaving tomorrow. The restaurant we were sent to was wonderful. I do wish I remembered the name so I could recommend it to everyone, but sadly I don't. But it was absolutely the best. At first, the staff didn't seem impressed to see us walk in as the place was empty and they were watching some basketball game on TV. But we got a nice table outside and a very nice waiter. We got a huge starter of Tzaziki and bread and a cold beer. After that we switched to the house white which was very good and I had some seafood pasta, and it was delicious. Mid-meal, the waiter brought us another pitcher of wine, on the house!!! And when we were done eating and just chatting away, he brought over for each of us a piece of baklava, again on the house. Wow, who were we to say no to baklava? And it was one of the best I have had. And even after all that, he came back with 7 shots of Ouzo, again on the house, so we could have a cheer with him.

Well, after 2 weeks in Greece, I had been very proud that I stayed clear of Ouzo, not wanting to suffer the consequences, but it would have been rude to refuse. So we clinked and drank. My that was horrible. Like drinking gasoline. It went straight to my head and I felt instantly drunk. Seperating the bill was fun, as we are all generous tipper, we always seemed to end up with as much tip as the main bill. It took a long time to figure that one out lol But so much fun was had!!! We then walked to the supermarket close by to buy bottled water and I also decided I should buy snacks and beer and diet-pepsi. It was too much to carry on a normal day, so imagine when drunk-ish. I saw the rest of the group back to the hotel and then took another cab back to mine. I watched TV for a bit but I was glad to finally go to bed and get to sleep in tomorrow. I had nothing planned but to take the hop-on hop-off bus to get to the sights I hadn't been yet.

Contiki Day 6: 7 Days Mediterranean Cruise 1.

7 Days Mediterranean Cruise, Day 1. Boarding/ Free day. Friday September 9th, 2011.

Early rise, but I don't care, we are starting the cruise today!!! I'm always getting up early, to make sure I have everything ready. Excellent breakfast, this is a good hotel. We have a random bus picking us up, we had to make sure all the tags on our suitcases showed the right room number, it's complicated and there are a lot of rules. It's about a 30 min ride to the Port, and I sat at the back of the bus, and I tried to interact with my new group. I realized that most of them got to know each other at the dinner last night. Still, they all look nice enough :)

The whole process before getting on the ship was long, confusing and somewhat boring. I won't go into details, but you have to wait in line for a lot of things, you fill a lot of paper, answer a lot of questions and spend a few hours thinking you are completely lost. (They even take your passport after you get your boarding pass and you don't get it back until the last day. It's not reassuring.) It wasn't very fun. But I took the opportunity to talk to some new people again. I met this really nice girl from Montreal, Sabrina, and I detected no French accent from her, so we just kept on speaking English. (Found out at the end of the trip she was perfectly bilingual, like me, so we could have spoken either lol)

My bruises are getting darker, and I'm starting to think maybe I broke something in my hand, it's swelling and I can barely bend my fingers.

Finally on the ship. I'm super excited, it's impressive and it so totally feels like a real vacation. I like directions and instructions so it was a bit weird that there was nothing to follow. We were going to have a meeting this afternoon to discuss what optional activities we could/would do and some general information, but that's about it. Laura pointed us in general directions of things, but we were on our own. Got settled in the room, then I grabbed my camera and just went to walk around. It was a bit hectic but I was loving it. I spent hours exploring, taking pictures and trying to find my way around. I stumbled upon a big part of the group, on a deck, already drinking. I met another group at the bar by the pool, and sat down with them and had a few relaxing drinks. (I made sure I went and registered for my all-included alcohol drinks package right away. 166 euros. That way, any drinks I wanted during the week, water, pop, booze, was all included, all I had to do was swipe my card. This was great, it was my room key, my ID and my account at the same time.)

I even went to the evacuation drill with my life vest on, looking like an idiot. But it was funny, and who knows, at least now I knew how to put it on. All and all, a pretty normal almost boring day. Except I was on a cruise ship!!! I went to play Bingo with Tanya, we both won lol and we attended the meeting, picked our activities and made plans to all meet for dinner later on, before going to the Disco.

Dinner was a bit fancy, but excellent. Everyone had pretty much been indulging the cocktails today, so add the wine for dinner and we all ended up having a terrific time at the disco. It's been a long time since I've been this excited to be at a club, before 10pm haha Had a few drinks, danced, had a lot of fun but I didn't want to stay out too late as we had a pretty big day tomorrow in Istanbul. Of course I had to stop by the Sports Bar, made friends with the wait staff and bartender, grabbed a last beer and went to the casino. It was a small room with a Black Jack table and about a dozen or so slot machines. I love slots, it can be dangerous. But I kept myself in check, played cheap and broke out even. Then I went to bed.

I have to note that I don't suffer from sea sickness at all, and you could barely feel the boat move, except when the wind was exceptionally strong, and that didn't happen a lot. And it night, it was so peaceful, this rocking sensation that helped me sleep. Also, the bathroom was really small and the corner that was the shower was really tiny, and the shower curtain looked very gross. We barely ever used it. It was a very not-fun shower, as the whole bathroom would get soaked as it was all on the same level. You couldn't leave anything in there and you had to stuck your towel and clothes on the higher shelf. It was weird, but hey, at least we had decent toilets. (You can't <flush> any toilet paper in Greece, even on the cruise ship. It's a bit gross but you get used to it.)

Contiki Day 5: Spotlight on Greece 4

Spotlight on Greece, Delphi, Thursday September 8th, 2011.

I woke up feeling drunk still. I barely had a few hours of sleep. I was not feeling sick, just hungover. Bec had to tease me, apparently I did not make any sense when I got back to the room last night. To be honest, I barely remember getting back to the room myself, so it's no surprise. What I don't like is that I have a very long cut on my big toe, and there is blood and dirt everywhere. What the? I vaguely remember tripping on something, so I guess it was glass. Luckily, I had a first aid cut, so I cleaned and bandaged my toe, showered and then packed my stuff. Somehow, I left my sweatpants on the bathroom floor when I left, never to see them again.

Too tired to care much, I slipped in a summer dress, my hat and my ballerina shoes (worst idea ever as we would be walking and climbing stairs all morning.) and went outside for breakfast. Of course, I'm not really hungry, but I nimble on a few things and drink water and tea and juice. Gotta love those fluids. It's a very hot day, perfect for climbing Mt Parnassus. I make my rounds, chatting here and there, gotta suffer a lot of teasing for my craziness of last night and I also make sure I find the other girls who left late. Everyone is here, I'm relieved. I don't know why I sometimes feel responsible for others, I just do. There's been a few cats running around the place, one girl even had to switch rooms because when she got to her room, there was one sleeping on her bed and she's allergic, and one of them seems friendly enough so I knelt down and attempted to pet it. Yeah, great idea and I got a bloody hand for my troubles. It's a good thing I'm prepared, antiseptic spray and voila, good to go.

So today is Delphi, which was one of the 3 places I was looking forward most to see. (The 3 being, Delphi, The Ephesus and Delos. I know, it's all about the Sun and the Moon, Appollo and Artemis hehe) I am very emotional as we drive to the site, I can hardly believe I am here.

 

It's 36 degrees out, everyone is pretty much hungover, we meet with a guide at the museum, and we start with the indoor visit first. It's very impressive and I'm taking pictured like a maniac. A lot of people are dragging their feet and sitting down every chance they get, some even skip the visit and go sit outside at the restaurant, with Paola. I'm feeling crappy myself, but there is no way I will miss a minute of this. After plenty of time in the museum, with amazing stories and facts (I really like this guide) we go outside and prepare for the real site. We will be climbing up Mt Parnassus, yes, I teared up, again. There's a lot of stray cats outside, lots of babies too, they're absolutely  adorable.

I can't describe this place properly. It was without a doubt, breathtaking. Apollo's temple, the Oracle, the theater, plus the view, it was just a fantastic day. The guide had fantastic stories, and all I could picture was all the stories I've read, especially my favorite "The Firebrand" a fantasy novel about Cassandra of Troy. Anyways, it was a perfect day.

The guided tour ended pretty much at the middle of the climb, after the biggest sights. I so remembered to tip. I spent a lot of the morning walking with the guide and talking about facts on this place, it was fascinating. After that, we were free to make our way down to the shop/restaurant, etc, or if we were brave enough, to make the whole climb to the top for another amazing view and for the stadium. No questions asked, I was in for the climb. It was hard, all that walking under a scorching sun, and the steps were sometimes pretty steep and uneven, you know, the original rocks from 2000 years ago. Very slippery and you get distracted by the view. A few girls and I stuck together. By now, my feet are absolutely killing me, wearing the ballerinas was the worst idea ever. I needed more support than that for this type of walking/exercise. I miss my sneakers. Oh well, I can always take painkillers later on tonight.

 I'd say it took about another hour to reach the top, with lots of stops for pictures. But it was definitely worth it, the stadium was impressive yes, but it was the bird's eye view that was magical. Then we made the trip back down, using a different trail, so more to see. I did not want to leave, but unfortunately, our time was running out. Instead of sitting down outside for a drink, I went to check out the souvenirs and run around in the museum a bit more. This had truly been a wonderful day.

Back on the bus, we had a long drive before making it back to Athens. When booking this trip I  did not realize I would leave so many new awesome friends behind after only a few days. I almost wished I had picked the 3 days cruise instead of the 7. We stopped for Lunch at this nice little restaurant where you had a very limited menu, but it was delicious. I was truly enjoying being able to eat and keep the food down. I had a cheese omelet which sounds very simple, but eggs and loads of fried feta cheese? I still drool thinking about it.

Back on the bus, nothing really exciting happened, lots of driving, a few pit stops for breaks and snacks and we also stopped at this amazing view for a group shot. It was really fast, our awesome driver would accept just a few cameras and take the shots, and we would have to keep in touch to share. Ah! Works for me :)

What we didn't realize when we got to Athens was that us, the ones on the 7 days cruise were being dropped off at a different hotel than everyone else. Not a lot of time for goodbyes, but there is always facebook. So, the 8 of us got dropped off at the President Hotel and I found out I was not rooming with Bec anymore. It felt weird, we had assumed we'd be together the whole time. We only had a short meeting with out new TM later on that night, so we had hours of free time. The rooms were amazing but as everyone was tired, we lost track of each other fairly quick. My new roomie quickly went to the roof, to the pool, and I headed for a shower and a change of clothes instead. Then, since we were in a different part of Athens, I went on my own to explore a little bit around the hotel. I didn't go far, as it felt like we were downtown, in the not so safe neighborhood. Walked around, found a 1Euro store (I love Dollar stores) and a very good cheap Gyros place. Yummy! Then came back to the hotel to relax. I even went on the roof to check it out. It was beautiful, but others were either drinking or swimming and I didn't feel like either.

Went to the other meeting, got introduced to our new TM Laura, lovely girl from Australia. The meeting was in the lobby, we didn't really had anywhere to sit and not half the group showed up. Granted, most of us were coming from different trips and we only had to feel in paperwork, but it would have been nice to see everyone. Then, Laura was heading the optional Greek dinner, which was the same one we did on our first night in Athens. We decided not to go, as it was 35 Euros and we've done it before. *** This was a mistake. I strongly recommend you do this, it is the BEST way to meet your group.***

Some of the other girls were going for Chinese, but I was so tired I wasn't really in a mood to be around people, I just wanted to grab some food and go relax in my room and go to bed early. My roommate decided to come with me. So we walked around for a bit, couldn't really found anything, it was crowded. We saw this little store, down a flight of stairs that seemed to have a lot of clothes, for really cheap. We decided to go take a look. Now thew thing is, my foot was hurting, so I was wearing my flip-flops, and the stairs and floors are most often freaking marble. Slippery in general, imagine a clumsy girl wearing flip-flops walking down marble stairs. Sigh. I flew and I fell hard. I was lucky not to fall down all the stairs, I only missed a couple and fell on my ass. I hurt my hand and one of my calves. I didn't think anything was broken so we kept browsing, but I could not bend my fingers anymore. Not fun. And the limping wasn't fun either.

Back to the hotel, another shower, more first-aid kit, then in bed for some TV and reading. We have an early day tomorrow, since we have to go board the cruise ship :)

Contiki Day 3: Spotlight on Greece 2

Contiki Day 3. Spotlight on Greece, Athens, Tuesday September 6th 2011.

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.

The view was pretty insane, but as I don't really like heights, I couldn't stay on that tiny platform for more than a few pictures. Still couldn't eat, so more water, 7up and an apple. I also bought myself a nice shawl/skirt/blanket lol Very amazing colors and I swear, to this day, it still smells like Greece.

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!

Contiki Day 2: Spotlight on Greece 1

Contiki  Day 2. Arrival in Athens, Monday September 5th, 2011.

So I made it. Landed safely, waited in an extremely long line for customs (Got my first stamps, nobody asked me no questions lol) then waited for my suitcase. Then it hit me. I was in freaking Athens. I had booked a shuttle service online from the airport, and they sent me an email saying they would wait for me at the arrivals, with my name on a sign. I'm a silly girl, so I was very excited about that. I looked everywhere in the crowd, walking around for like 15 min and didn't see my weird name anywhere. After worrying a lot, I found the counter where that shuttle said they operated from. Turned out it was a different company, but the lady was able to call the driver for me. He was very late and I would have to wait 45 min for him. I sat down with a bottle of water and waited, people-watching.

By the time finally he showed up, I was hungry and feeling sick. I guessed it was the excitement, the hung-over and the non-sleeping, but especially the heat and the jet lag. The shuttle was very cheap, there was barely any A/C and it was 34 degrees  and he made me wait for a big family with screaming kids for another 20 min at least. But I didn't care, I could see mountains. I was in Greece. I teared up.

It was a long shuttle ride, close to an hour, and I was starting to feel really sick. I went through my water real fast. I got dropped off 2 blocks from the hotel, as the street was very narrow and the driver said he couldn't go there. I think normally it would not have mattered but at that time I thought I was going to die. I was going to be sick right there. I took big calming breaths and soldiered up. Walked down the street to the hotel. A display of fish at a mini market 2 buildings from the hotel so did not help, but I made it. It was about 930 am, I was afraid the room would not be available yet, even if i sent an email requesting an early check-in. As I feared, the lobby is filled with people and their suitcases, sitting on the floor and waiting. The guy at reception said the rooms were not ready. I almost cried when I heard that, and decided I would have to ask him for the nearest restroom anyways, when he asked for my name. He said I was very lucky, that it turned out my roommate actually checked-in last night so I was one of the lucky ones who could go right up. Thank the Goddess. He also gave me a message. Weird. I made my way to the mini elevator, seriously after me and my suitcase it was full. I don't see how 3 people could have fitted in there.

I got to my room, my roommate was on the patio outside, having a smoke and speaking on her cell phone. I forgot all about being shy and nervous and whatnot, I had only one intend, introducing myself and then making a dash for the bathroom. Turned out my roommate was Bec, a nice Australian girl I had spoken to online before. And she was with me for the entire trip, for the 7 days cruise too! I survived a few minutes of polite chit-chat and then I started sweating like crazy and just lost it. How embarrassing! I locked myself in the bathroom and I was SO sick. I honestly thought I was going to die. I had my shots before the trip so I wasn't sure what happened. Poor Bec! How nightmarish for her. I was sick for hours that day. I decided to sleep, with a wet wash cloth over my face. The problem was that our single beds were pushed together and that it was morning so Bec had things to do and errands to run and whatnot. She was coming in and out of the room and I was dozing on and off in between trips to the bathroom. I must have apologized to her about a million times for being such a horrible roomie, good thing she was very understanding.

Technically, we didn't have to meet with the group and Tour manager until 6pm. But, we had set up a meeting between ourselves around noon, since a lot of us had flown in early that day. We wanted to maybe walk around the city and do some stuff, and get to know each other. I had pretty much set that up, and I was the one with the list of everybody's arrival times and whatnot. And I had received a message from Julie, another online friend, who got delayed and wouldn't be in until later on that night. So, I showered, changed and went downstairs. I met for a few people who were there early, Kelly, Tina, Laura/Tony and Mike. But I didn't last long. I couldn't stay, so I apologized (again!) and went down the street to buy more water (so effing cheap) and 7up and crawled back to bed. I was still very sick. I cried a bit, not impressed at all so far.

I took a very long nap and woke up again around 430pm. I was feeling a bit better. I knew it must have had something to do with the jet lag as the time back home was now like 10am. It was a very unpleasant experience. I showered again, in this weird, no curtain just a half piece of glass/window thingy shower. I went back out, needed more water and for a calling card, as I promised my mom I would call her. Saw more people from my group on the way, bought my stuff, spoke to my mom (bought the wrong kind of calling card, had to call collect) I'm literally 2-blocks from the Hotel and I'm sure I know my way back as I have only made a few turns. Yeah, I got lost. As in completely and absolutely lost. I'm very stubborn and I've had a bad day as it is so I refuse to admit defeat and keep walking around for 30 min, trying to find my way. When I finally give up (I'm going to be late for the meeting if I don't get my butt back to the Hotel) and I grab a cab. Nice driver, doesn't speak much English and... doesn't know where my hotel is. I don't have the address with me, I went out empty handed except for a bit of money. We drove around for about 15 min, he tried really hard to ask me questions so we could figure out where it was (Apparently, the street name I gave him is in every neighborhood.) He finally got me there, I can't thank him enough and he never started the meter. I try to give him money but he refused. Nothing I said or tried to give him could change his mind. He said he was just helping. That was my first Greek freebie, I didn't know yet, but I was going to get so much free stuff on this trip.

6pm, Official Contiki meeting. (My friend Julie left me another message, she got even more delayed and wouldn't get in until very late at night.) We met our Tour Manager for the first 4 days, the Spotlight on Greece tour, and her name was Paola, very lovely Spanish girl. There is 49 of us, 26 will do the 3 days cruise and 12 on the 7 days (the rest were in between other travels) Looks like an awesome group. The meeting is a bit boring, as we need to fill out paperwork (Why did I check-in online with the same information then?) blah blah blah. Then, we had an optional dinner for 35 euros and almost everyone is joining. (I absolutely recommend to go on this dinner, it is one of the best we had all trip!!!!) It's about 10 min away, so I did try to meet as many people as possible. I was still tired, but amazingly feeling great considering I was sick all day. I did my best not to sit down right away with the people I've been walking with. I sat down at the last table, along with Helenka, Jessica/Justin, Larissa and Shawna. It was such a good dinner, delicious food, awesome atmosphere and incredible show. We were siting right in front of the entertainment, the musicians and the dancers. It was insane. I had such a great time. And the food, oh my. Lots of appetizers (Fried Zucchinis) and then a nice plate of souvlakis with lots of wine and desert. I was surprised I could eat and drink and we had a wonderful time.

After the meal, I left with Shawna and Larissa, 2 lovely young girls from Australia (Larissa was to become my seat and sometime picture buddy on the trip) It was almost 10 pm, and we bumped into Mike, Greg and Rick on their way out of the Hotel, going out for drinks. It sounded like a good idea and I wasn't tired, so Shawna and I went with them. (Greg and Rick were from Australia as well and very very hot.) It was a lot of fun, I really liked Greek beer, but we only had 2, as we had a super early wake-up call at 545, and it was almost midnight. On the way back, I found out I didn't speak "Hottie Australian" as I was walking with Greg and somehow I wasn't able to understand him at all. And by the way, there's only so many times you can make someone repeat and then just nod and smile before you look like a total idiot. I would have to be careful around these guys lol Got back to the room, Bec was asleep but she left a light on for me, I thought that was very thoughtful. I fell asleep right away, with my wet cloth, just in case.

Contiki: Spotlight on Greece + 7 days Med cruise, September 2011

Here we go. My (very late) blog about my fantastic Contiki trip last year. Technically it was a 2 parter, the Spotlight on Greece, followed by the 7 days cruise. More on that later.

Contiki Day 1. From Toronto to Athens, September 4th 2011.

Sunday Morning. I went to bed very late and I got up early, I wanted to make sure I would be able to sleep on my overnight International flight. I booked this trip back in December 2010, so I had a long time preparing/waiting for this. I was a nervous wreck that morning, feeling nauseated and stressed out. I almost didn't want to go anymore. Almost. It was just nerves though. It was just hard to realize that after almost a year of planning, it was time to go. I had my shuttle pick me up at home promptly at 10 am and drive me to the airport. With the time difference, I was to be landing in Athens around 7am (midnight for me.) I wanted to spend the day in the city, so I absolutely had to sleep on the plane. I figured, with all the included booze with my Option Plus ticket, it would be more than easy, as I can doze off in an hour long plane trip. Boy was I wrong! Next time, I will either stay up all night before, or bring sleeping pills or something.

I was at the airport a bit too early, but there was  a long line so it was ok. By the time I made it to the counter to get rid of my giant suitcase and check-in, I was allowed to check-in for my flight. 5 min earlier, it was too early still. (Another note to myself, next time, you can leave 30 min later.) In no time, I found myself on the other side of security, with my backpack and my carry-on, in a part of the airport I was unfamiliar with. And a very long wait ahead of me. I was disapointed that I didn't found any friends online leaving from Toronto, it would have been cool to have someone from Contiki on the same flight. Oh well, I'd have plenty of new friends by tomorrow anyways.

I walked around a bit, but finally caved in and sat down at the bar near the gate. That was probably my 2nd mistake. day-drinking very rarely ends up well, unless you eat a lot and do exercise. I figured I'd be fine, reading my book and nervously looking at my watch every 5 seconds.

Finally it was time to board, thanks to my priority tickets. I was disappointed in the plane, you know I was expecting a big comfy, luxury bus but no, we got the cheap-ass regular one. Pretty much the same one I take all the time for my Toronto-Quebec flights. There was only a few TV screens here and there and the closest to my seat made me crane my neck. Not a good start.

I was sitting on the window side, as I had chosen previously. I settled in, still excited. Not too long after we took off, I received my comfort package (earphones, socks, earplugs, blindfold and a blanket) and then my mini bottle of champagne. Drinking it was probably my 3rd mistake lol I tried watching a movie on my dvd player, which for some reason has decided it won't play for more than 30 min if it's plugged in. It's fine, I can read and listen to music. I also tried to watch the movie playing, it was Thor, I had to give it a try. I had a beer during snack time and pringles, seriously they wouldn't stop offering me booze lol I had another mini bottle of wine with dinner (which was some kind of rice with gray chicken) I barely touched the food as I didn't want to be sick. I ate some rice and some salad and the desert.

Sleeping didn't really work, I guess I was too nervous. I'd doze off and then wake up in a jump. The lady sitting next to me wasn't too impressed. And I hated to disturb her and her husband whenever I needed to use the bathroom. Downside of a window seat.

After an exhausting night though, it got better as I started seeing land. We had breakfast with tea, which was really good and made me feel better. All the alcohol throughout the day probably didn't help my night and the jet lag. (I always have at least 1 drink before I fly, but I'll never have that much again in the air.) But seeing the pink sky and the  sun rising over the mountains made me forget it all. It was amazingly beautiful and I couldn't help but take pictures.