Contiki Day 10: Med Cruise 5

Contiki Day 10: Med Cruise 5, Patmos (AM) and Kusadasi (PM) Tuesday September 13th, 2011.

Oh yes, it still hurts lol And it almost looks like my leg is rotting, it was a gross couple of days. My hand has healed quite nicely though. (So has my tattoo.)

Extremely early start today as we were arriving in Patmos at 630 am. To me, it wasn't a big deal, as I get up for work everyday at 515am. Just another day. Went for some buffet, noticed a lot of people decided to skip this morning, too much partying last night. I didn't know much about Patmos, except that it was a "Holy" Island, where St John (not the Baptist) went into exile and that's where he was visited by God and wrote the Apocalypse. This tour was included, and since it wasn't that long, nor that special, I guess that's why a lot of people bailed.

So we got out of the boat and into a bus, to take us up the hill, to have a quick guided tour of the main village. We were sharing a bus with some people from a tour with Globus, and although way older than our group, they were delightful people. I had a blast with them. (Hum, maybe if I get tired of Contiki, I could look them up..) When we got up the bus and gathered up close to the cliff, this is the view that greeted us. Needless to say, absolutely no one paid attention to the guide trying to start the visit. This view was extraordinary and demanded to be admired. Many many pictures were taken. It was early, the village was still asleep, and we were trying to be quiet as well, out of respect. It was magical.

Patmos is the "Holy" island, there are close to 400 churches and chapels and monuments, not counting the big Monastery on top of the Hill. We couldn't see it, as it was closed to the public. The guide was telling us that a lot of celebrities were seeking refuge on the island, for their vacation, and that more and more were actually buying little houses. (She was very excited that she saw Tom Hanks a few days prior.) The visit was interesting, but short, as it was a small village. We were then given more time to take pictures and then we noticed we lost Lewis. We waited around for him and he finally showed up, insisting he wasn't lost, he had wanted more time to take pictures. I loved Lewis, he was amazing :) So, back on the bus and a 20 min ride up the hills, to go see St John's Grotto.

I have never been very religious, raised as a catholic but decided to follow a more Pagan beliefs, but it was a very interesting place. I love stories, so I loved hearing how John was exiled, that he lived in a small cave (Grotto) and how he was visited by God and then wrote the Apocalypse. We couldn't talk inside, not take pictures, as it was a sacred place. But to me, the real big deal was the view, again. With the sun shining, you could almost feel a presence in the beauty of nature. That made me feel, comforted, somehow. I felt good. There was a lot of people on pelerinages who were praying and getting emotional, so we all tried to be respectful. We also had a few people in the group who really cared about religion, so I was glad to see how much they appreciated the visit.

We drove back to the port, where we stopped at a small cafe, to have a lovely Cafe Frappe, and they kept telling us to enjoy it outside in the Lemon garden. Sounded interesting enough, so I went. My cafe was way too strong, I didn't enjoy it too much and the Garden was a garden only by name. there was a few trees with greenish looking fruits hanging down and a few tables sitting in sand. Took a few sips and then walked away. There was a lot of shops; this was obviously the Touristy area. Still had some time before going back on-board so I shopped around for 45 min. Find a couple things to buy and then I ended up in this fancy-ish store, and somehow, found my perfect Artemis statue!!! I couldn't believe it, it was silver, she had long-ish hair, was holding a bow and a dog/Wolf was next to her. Exactly what I wanted. A bit more expensive that I wanted, but less than I would have expected in this weird shop. I was a happy camper!

Went back on the boat, had a shower, packed my things away, then went back to the Sports Bar to finish my Postcards before Lunch time. We had a few hours before getting to Kusadasi and the Ephesus. Time to relax!

Part 2 for The Ephesus and the House of Virgin Mary next!

Contiki Day 9: Med Cruise 4

Contiki Day 9: Med Cruise 4, Mykonos, Greece, Monday September 12th, 2011.

(Yeah, FYI- when it's that color, it kinda hurts...)

Today was pretty much a free day, we weren't scheduled to get to Mykonos until 4pm. It was a good day to sleep in, but the first thing I realized when I got up (at like 9am) was that I could feel the boat move. I don't get sea-sick, thankfully, but I was feeling shaky on my feet, like my sense of balance was gone. I walked around, souvenir shop, picture shop (Found a picture of me boarding the ship, grinning like a maniac, I basically bought it so it'd be off the wall lol) went for some food, etc. A very relaxing day. A lot of people were sleeping, a lot were sick or not feeling well. There was apparently a biiiig storm somewhere close and that was making the sea very upset. Rumors were that the Delos expedition would be cancelled later on. Well that made me panic. Delos was in my Top 3 of MUST SEE things. Spent the morning and the beginning of the afternoon walking around and reading my book and drinking Mocktails at the Sports Bar while writing all my postcards. I didn't have my massage session until later that afternoon.

For Lunch, they had a Taco Bar by the pool so I went for that instead of the Buffet. It was good, and a lot of my group went for that too. We ended up several tables of us just drinking and eating and killing time until we finally got to Mykonos. Then I went for my massage and although it was pretty expensive (140Euros) it was the BEST thing ever. Of course now, I can't remember what it was, but it was a special package of 4 massages, Head-Feet-Hot Stone and whatever the regular stuff's called. 90 min in heaven, and my girl was a young lovely girl from the Philippines, we kept chatting until I kinda fell asleep. She didn't mind, I guess she's used to it. It even helped my foot, I walked so much better after! The only thing I should say, is to be careful of the pushy sales afterwards. You're so relaxed and half asleep and then they start telling you about products they recommend for you, I just kinda nodded, thinking I'd just say no at the reception and then she said she'd throw in a free facial for me tomorrow and demonstrate the body scrubbing lotion, by giving me a free session. I'm not sure what happened, but I ended up with a free demo the next morning, before the center opened and then I had ahuge bill because I had somehow agreed to buying all those products. (So expensive... I gave some of it away and used some, but a lot is still sitting in my pharmacy, untouched. Oh well, it's vacation.)

We finally got word that the Delos excursion was cancelled, the weather was just too bad. It was understandable, because we could see and feel the wind, but I was sooo disappointed. :( Even approaching Mykonos, there were more problems. We couldn't go where we were supposed to, because of the wind, so we had to wait close by for another ship to leave, so we could take its spot. Of course they were late and blah blah blah, so we didn't end up getting off the ship until close to 6pm, instead of 4. At least, the officials decided to change the all-aboard time to Midnight, to make sure we had plenty of time in Mykonos. Well, as I wasn't really supposed to see Mykonos, I was a bit confused. I wanted to go to Paradise Beach and party, but I also wanted to walk around the island, shop and watch the sun set and run to the windmills. What helped was that most of my group was well advanced in the pre-drinking, so very loud. A few girls took a different bus to get to the beaches, the non-party ones and I started walking with a couple more people, thinking I'd start with the scenery's and then maybe go to the beach.

Mykonos was breathtaking. The sun was setting so we got treated to an explosion of colors, with the sun, the water and the white houses. It was fantastic. The wind was absolutely crazy, it made it very difficult to take decent pictures, with your hair flying all over the place like that. It was hilarious. We were a bit in a rush, trying to make sure we saw everything, that we "lost" Lewis in the crowded streets. But I knew he wanted to take his time and take a lot of pictures, the rest of us were looking for a decent place to eat. And of course, I was wearing the wrong shoes again (never again with the ballet flats) and I wanted an elastic bandage and Kelly wanted some cold meds. So we hunted for a pharmacy. We kept getting distracted with all the lovely shops; a real paradise for jewellery and art and hand-made stuff, not your regular touristy souvenirs. We finally lucked out and bought our medical supplies. Kerri had the brilliant idea to ask the nice pharmacist where he would recommend we eat, as we didn't want to pay a fortune just to eat close to the water. He gave us a card for his favorite restaurant and told us to tell the owner he sent us, as they don't usually accept tourists, just locals.


It was a very crowded place, they weren't that friendly and service took forever (We even lost a girl while waiting, who decided to go some place else, leaving just 3 of us.) But boy was it worth it! I decided to have Salmon as it was the fish of the day. It was something like 12 euros for a plate, and it was the best, freshest, biggest piece of fish I have ever had. Wow! Unbelievable. We have shared a few pitchers of red wine (the girl's choice, I'm a white wine kinda gal) but it was actually really good. And we also had complimentary dessert, the biggest piece of baklava ever. It was an amazing meal, absolutely worth it. Very cheap too, considering the portions and the quality. We ended up a bit tipsy, waking slowly back to the ship, shopping and laughing on our way. It was a great evening, very relaxed and I was glad to share it with Kerri and Kelly. We even stopped in a shop and for some reason, I feel in love with a great dress, which wasn't all that expensive and even fitted me. Crazy. (I still blame the wine.) I bought it, knowing I wouldn't wear it very often, but still, what a great souvenir!

Went back to the ship, it was shortly after midnight, we went and grabbed another glass of wine by the pool (white this time) thinking we would stop by the disco where the rest of the group was bound to finish the night, but after a glass or 2, we were so tired, we decided to call it a night. But what a night :)

Contiki Day 8: Med Cruise 3

Contiki Day 8: Med Cruise 3, Izmir, Turkey, Sunday September 11th, 2011.

As you can see, my leg is having a nice display of colors. It didn't really hurt, and my hand was healing too, but it was definitively gross. But I got lucky, I most certainly could have broken something.

With an arrival of 130 pm today, and only a meeting at 1 with the group, it was a great luxury to sleep in. Not for too long, but for a bit. I got up shortly before, as the breakfast buffet I liked ended at 10 and there was usually a long line. I quickly showered and then headed out, with my book and my camera. Got some food and went to sit under the sun, poolside. A few girls joined me and it was nice that were all reading or writing postcards, so we had company, but we didn't really have to talk all that much. A lot of them had been treating themselves with a spa or at the beauty salon, and I got convinced I should give it a try too. By now, my foot was killing me, it was swelling and I had it bandaged most of the time. I figured a nice massage could only do me some good. So I booked a treatment for the next morning, some 150 euros for 90 min, 4 different types of massages. (Thank god for insurance, I knew I'd be able to claim some of that money back. There's no way I was willing to pay that much for a massage.) I killed some time walking around, I went to read outside on a sun chair for a bit and by noon I was back by the pool for Lunch.

*Let me make a quick note about what happens on the cruise everyday. Everyday, there is this little newspaper that is distibuted in every room, trust me, READ IT. It's so useful. It tells you all of the activities on board all day, schedule for meals, show times, everything! Also the arrival and departure times. It also mentioned tea time, which was a wonderful discovery (more on that later) and my favorite was one that would show what lunch special there was. See, everyday, at lunch time, they had a poolside mini station that would cook something special, and it was usually delicious. If there was a way to be aboard at lunch time, that's where I'd be.*

So today they were having having a gyros station. Oh, it was soooo good. I've always been a sucker for gyros to start with, but in Greece, it's a whole different level. A lot of us gathered there to wolf down on food before the meeting. Yesterday in Istanbul, everything had been planned by Contiki, but today was different, there had 2 optional activities offered, a city tour and an excusrion to some ruins, but Laura had suggested skipping on those. She said that it was too expensive and not worth it, and that there was an hop-on hop-off bus starting at the port. That seemed like the perfect solution, so no one took the optionals. It felt weird to get outside and not realy have to follow a guide or have anything specific organized. We followed Laura for a bit, just to get some basic instructions, she gave us a rendez-vous point for later that afternoon, main square under the clock tower, so we could go pub crawling by the water. I'd say maybe half the group decided to head straight for the pubs. But it was a beautiful day and I wanted to explore the city and see some of the sights as we felt so rushed yesterday in Istanbul. So the buses idea was great, in theory. What did not make sense was that there was ONE little bus waiting, and there were thousands of people getting off the boat. Sigh, and of course the next bus was only in 2 hours. That wasn't fun at first, everybody wondering what to do and blah blah blah.

We ended up, a random dozen of us, getting the maps of the city out, and figuring we could walk, following the bus stops's path, so that we could see the sights and then eventually get on the bus, when people would get off. (Again, good idea in theory lol)It was a very sunny, very gorgeous day. We walked towards the water, after applying plenty of sunscreen and this time I was wearing appropriate shoes for walking, although my foot still hurt. I'll say it right now, Izmir was one of my favorite places ever. It's hard to pinpoint exactly why, it wasn't the best day, but it was incredible. I absolutely loved it. So we started walking, going in the general direction of the water, we lost a few people by the pubs, who decided they didn't feel like walking after all. We made photo stops whenever we could, it was so beautiful. There were also the "Picture guys" They were standing by the water, with a big camera and a color printer and they would take your picture for a Lira (about .50 cents/Euro) I was so charmed by the concept, I got the guy to take a pic of the 7 of us, and I was trying to get 2 for a Euro. It was funny, we kept arguying, 1 Lira or 1 Euro, and it just didn't make sense to me, as 1 euro is about 2 liras lol No one else really wanted a picture, why buy when you can take your own, but we ended up putting all our coins together and everyone got a copy of the pic. I love that picture!

The first part was easy, getting to the water, the more "touristy" area, with a few monuments and all the pubs ans restaurants. From there, it was also simple to walk to the main square, with the clock tower and the spice market and everything. But we also wanted to get to the Agora and the ruins, and that was pretty much in the opposite direction. So we figured out the map, and started walking again. It's hard to describe that day, the sun was shining, it was very hot (I went through like 6 bottles of water) I was in good company, we would stop here and there at stands and shops. It was fantastic. We were basically lost and always wondering where we were, not a very rich part of town, a bit sketchy, but it felt real, you know? I wasn't on a bus looking out the window, I was right there. Exhausted and sweating and pretty much limping, but living the dream. After a lot of walking, more sunscreen and water, we finally made it to the Agora. Somehow, we never really saw that stupid hop-on hop-off bus, despite many signs. We didn't actually go in the Agora, it was a bit dirty and pretty small and it was in a very secluded, poor area. We were a bit scared, to be honest. I saw some pitiful-looking kittens, small kids begging for money and lots of garbage. Our group almost broke off at that point, as we did a lot of standing around, hesitating and discussing what to do. We were tired, hot and not sure what to do. After a long time, we decided to walk back down. The damn bus just wasn't coming and people were intimidating, begging for money or taxi drivers wanting to take us on "tours". I'd rarely been that glad to have 2 guys with us.

We walked back down to the main square, and made it barely in time to meet with the rest of the group. This place was breathtaking, a jewel in the middle of the main square. It was packed, with vendors and tourists and locals. Earlier that day, I decided I was in love with Turkish flag, come on, a moon and a star? Of course I was sold. I had been looking for a tattoo shop, where I could get a permanent souvenir of my trip. I didn't see any and Laura didn't know of any "clean" ones either. Oh well, probably for the best. We sat there for a while, shared our adventures with the others and hearing about what the rest of them had been up to, I would not have changed my day. Then, as a group, we headed back to the waterfront, where we looked for a place where we could all sit

outside together. This proved tricky, as there was 50 of us. I kinda hung back a little and kept to myself, as apparently the night before had been filled with gossip and I heard stories back and forth. Well, this was Contiki after all, I shouldn't be surprised. We ended up in a small place, where we had to sit inside, at like 3 different tables. I got a cafe Frappe and then a beer and then some fries. It was all so great! I was sitting at a smaller table, with great people and the conversations were awesome too. I like quieter time when you get to know your fellow travel mates. Being on the boat with a lot of free time, you don't get to see everyone all the time.

We found out what had happened to the girl yesterday, the one we were missing after the Bazaar in Istanbul. Something happened, she got scared or something and ended leaving early, taking a cab back to the boat. At least she was safe and sound, that what counted. That girl was from South America, and she had an accent I sometimes struggled with a bit. It was funny, because her friend, who also had an accent, turned out not to be from teh same area at all. We were talking and then she said she was from Montreal !?! I can usually pick out a french-canadian accent in a crowd, but somehow, hers, not at all. It was funny to find out we could have been speaking french this whole time. I sometimes forget, I've been living in an English environment for so long now, I only think of speaking French when I go home to my family....Anyways, after this one drink, most of the group decided to go to a different pub and drink some more and smoke some chicha. A few girls and I decided to walk back to the boat, but using different streets, to see if there was any interesting shopping to be done.

A whole day in the sun, and I found out my sunscreen was not 30 spf like I thought, but only 15, so I had nice red shoulders. Lovely. We found an adorable little shopping neghborhood, compeltely typical, with basically no tourists, it was all locals. It was amazing, as people were friendly, not pushy and agressive and it was so beautiful. We had a very nice moment there. There was this one little shop, lots of souvenirs, but hand-made craft too, we must have spend like 30 min there. We all found something we liked. Next to the store there was a table with several books filled with tattoos, I couldn't believe my eyes. The drawings and pictures were incredible. We had barely an hour before we had to be back on the ship, so I knew I couldn't get a tattoo but I wished I could. I walked around in the store some more, while the girls paid for their stuff. I found some earrings I really liked, when this guy came over to talk to me. He was clad in leather with a bandana on his hair, with lots of tattoos and piercings. He was kinda cute, in a hot-rebel way. He started speaking to me, smiling and pointing at my tattoos. I had to explain I didn't speak Turkish. With a lot of hand gestures and a few English words, he was able to tell me his name Durukan, and that he was the tattoo artist whose book I was looking at earlier. We managed to talk for a few minutes, told him I wished I had time for a tattoo, because his drawings were really great. I showed him the star designs I liked, and when i told him I was from Canada, his face lit up and he said " 1 star, for Canada girl, 10 min, no charge." How freaking tempting. I hesitated, a alot, but in the end, I had to decline, the girls were waiting on me.

So we left. I hung back with Zina and June, walking back to the boat, and I was already regretting not jumping on the occasion. Zina had also felt rushed getting out of the store, there were earrings she liked and wanted to look at. That decided it. We had maybe, 45 min total before the all-aboard call and were 10 min max away from the ship. So we told the rest of the girls we were going back, and we ran back to the store. Durukan saw us and, all smiles, took me by the hand and took me to the back store, in a small room where he had all his equipment. I did pause to ask myself what the hell I was doing, but there was like 3 other employees and my 2 friends were in the store too. So, I got a simple black star. (He did try to convince me to have it done deep in my cleavage lol) But we agreed on my shoulder. (I've had so many ideas since, that shoulder will be dedicated to getting stars every time I go on a trip. Not every country, but every trip.) It did only take 10 min, he was very nice about it, he didn't want any money. Zina and one of the girls working there popped in there once each, just to make sure everything was fine. He even drew s tiny shooting star on the side of my hand, as his "signature". It was soo kool. We had apple tea with the store owner and his son and Durukan after, before we left. It was a freaking fantastic experience. They gave us evil eye pins, Durukan put a ring on my finger and I kissed him on the cheeks (We still joke to this day that maybe I got married and I just don't know haha) We would have loved to stay longer, but we were running out of time.

We had to run back to the ship, but it was worth it. We each had more stuff that we bought, had a lovely time and would remember this experience for the rest of our lives. We were too exhausted to make it to the dining room tonight, we just dropped our bags in our rooms and met back at the buffet. Then I went back to my room, to shower and change, as it was Karaoke night at the disco and I wanted to try it out. I had promised I would do it at least once. It was a very intimidating experience, as no one else was doing it, so I needed a couple extra drinks to get it started. But I did it, even though they didn't have too many recent songs, I had to go with a few chosen classics. But I got the party started, if I may say so myself, and we had a lot of fun. I drank too much, danced for too long and then even after all that, I went back to the sports bar for a few more drinks and to spend more money at the casino. It was my routine and I loved it. I went to sleep sometime after 1am, knowing I didn't have to get up until 830.....

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 :)