Contiki 11- Med Cruise 6.

Contiki Day 11: Med Cruise 6, Santorini, Wednesday September 14th, 2011.

Today is going to be a big day. Santorini. I was so looking forward to this island. I was up very very early, walking on the deck and taking pictures. I know vacation is usually a time to relax and sleep in, but not for me. I sleep-in every weekend I'm not working. Hell, I paid 3k to be on this trip, I was going to enjoy every minute of it. I guess that philosophy probably caught up with me, as I was very tired and a bit moody that morning.

We were getting off at 8am, and we had to line up and take those little boat shuttles to bring us to the island. It was pretty great to sit on top of this boat and watch the scenery for 10-15 min. (Although it did take forever until we finally got to go.) We have to take a bus and go take a tour of the Island, and a visit to the Village of Oia. It was included with our Contiki Tour. I'm not going to go on and on and on about the scenery's, it was breathtaking, yes, but you've all seen pictures before, the tall volcanic island with all the white houses with the blue domes. It's featured in every movie and on every postcard. This village has a lot of movies filmed there too, think the Sisterhood of the Travelling pants, the scene with the donkeys :)

This spot was just marvelous, it was a picture-perfect moment everywhere we turned. We were given some time to walk around this enchanting city and do some shopping after the tour. I am not quite sure what I did wrong this morning, I was a bit moody, but I was basically told I should spend the day alone by the girls I usually hung out with. I felt like I was in High School again. We had time in this village, then we were being driven back to the top of the Island, different village and we had the rest of the day off. Most of the group wanted to take a cruise in a pirate boat later on, and go see some volcanic rocks from up-close. I really wanted to do this, the other girls didn't want to, and I might have said something wrong, I really don't know. Oh well, it stung, but it wasn't the end of the world. And it was so beautiful and peaceful, I wasn't going to let it ruin my day. I walked around with other people, bought a lot of souvenirs, paintings included and discovered my favorite snack ever, peanuts covered in honey and then sesame seeds. Oh it was so good!

So, after that, we were left at the other village, Thira, where we had 3 choices, take the Cable Car down (We had a free ticket) or walk down, about an hour-long walk in stairs (with my foot? No Thank you!) or take the donkey ride for a few euros. Well, I absolutely wanted to take the donkey ride, but going up, no way I had the balls doing that going down. The Cable Car was going to be scary enough as it is. (And it so was.) It was shortly before Lunch and I decided to go back to the ship and grab some buffet there, before coming back and doing the Pirate thing. I broke off from the rest of the group, everyone was pretty much going their own way anyways. The Cable Car was absolutely terrifying, especially when you don't like heights, but it was a once in a lifetime thing, and it was beautiful. I couldn't take enough pictures of the view.

Grabbed some food on the ship, then found out the shuttle boats were not running for 2 hours, Lunch break so I took a nap in my room; I was feeling sorry for myself at that point and I wanted to shake out of my funk. Because of this, I completely missed out on the Pirate Ship cruise, so that was disappointing. So I finally went back after my nap and my shower, took the boat back and then decided to try the Donkey ride on top of the island. Well, it would have been great to have people I knew with me, I could have had my picture taken on the donkey. There was only a couple with me. It was a fantastically hilarious experience! I laughed so much, I got scared, I got hurt, it was awesome! It's one hell of an experience. My donkey was crazy, he wanted to be the first in line so he was running up and cutting other donkeys off and hugging the walls. (I have videos.) I wasn't really able to take good pictures, as you have to be using both hands to hold yourself steady, but still, best time ever, even by myself. After that, I spent a long time shopping around and ended up sitting at a table by the view and I watched the sunset with a nice glass of wine and a very yummy gyros. Aaaaah.

Went back to the ship on one of the last shuttles and then I had to change, we had a Contiki Cocktail Party/Hour scheduled at the Disco. They opened early for us, since we missed the captain's Cocktail yesterday, we wanted something special. It didn't turn out so great. I won't go into too much details, but a lot of the group was on "rowdy" and rude behavior, throwing peanuts around and being very demanding to the staff, who were doing us a favor after all. But the drinks went down very fast and then we went straight to dinner as a group, using 3 big tables. lot of wine was consumed again, and a very late night was had by most of us. I went to see the last showing of the Mama Mia presentation by the crew, and it was very fun!!!

Of course, I had to make a fool of myself at Karaoke at the Disco after that ;) Nah, I wasn't so bad, I love singing. It was a nice icebreaker I guess, as I got the whole thing going! Ended the night at the Sports Bar and Casino, as per usual and that was it. Another very nice day with Contiki :)

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!