Using Athens as a base, Celeste explores some islands before beginning the long flight home.
European Tour, My Own Way #5: I am home, oh so sweet home
Europe
I am home, oh so sweet home.
Before you read the rest of this, I want to emphasize something about my trip from Brindisi to Greece. When I got off the Train Station I went to the first place that said it accepts Eurail which is right in front of the Station.
DO NOT GO THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now, the guy may seem all friendly and sweet buy you will get screwed. DO NOT BOOK A HOTEL or even take a TAXI when you get to Athens. Don’t be afraid to walk down the street and start shopping for a ferry when you get to Brindisi. Get there in the afternoon so that you have plenty of time to shop. I didn’t know this but I really want to spare misery for anyone else because it is pure hell to have travelled 30 hrs in 48 hrs.
In my last log I mentioned that I was in Athens and Kioshi and I were thinking about going to the Oracle of Delphi. The trip to the Oracle would have cost 6000 dr and includes a 7 hr round trip. We were not keen on the idea of travelling 7 hr total to see something for a few minutes and go back for 6000 dr. So we took the bus to Cape Sounion to see the Temple of Poseidon for 2600 dr round trip. The bus stop is located close to the Omonia Square of Athens and you pay when you get on the bus (one way at a time).
The route to Cape Sounion is actually a public bus route where people were being picked up or dropped off in the middle of nowhere. The trip was worth it because you get a beautiful view of the Aegean Sea. The sea is blue blue blue and you can see the bottom of the ocean from the edges of the cliffs. We stayed there as late as possible to try and get pictures of the sunset which begins around 9 pm. Unfortunately we had to leave at 8 because that was the last bus.
Kioshi ended up befriending another Japanese guy who ditched his tour to join us for the sunset. We later ate dinner at a restaurant in the Plaka area of Athens. We were overbilled on the beer, but the waiters kindly altered the bill and gave me a rose.
Then we walked around the Acropolis area to see it at night which is very beautiful. We finally went back to our hotel which is Hotel Louzzani located close to the train station. We paid 3500 dr per person per night for the double room. Currently the rate is 2500 dr for the dorm but they are renovating the hotel and installing air conditioning units in most of the rooms which will raise the rates to 1400 dr. It will still be worth it to go there as the people are very nice and is centrally located in Athens.
The next day we did the day cruise which was very nice. However, make sure you put on sunscreen because you will fall asleep on the boat and possibly get fried (as I did but no sunscreen). The cruise took us to the islands of Poros, Hydra, and Aegina. We had an hour at the first two islands and 2 hrs for the last island. We had a very good lunch but when you get a drink, don’t be surprised to pay for it. I got a coke for 700 dr which at the tobacco shops on the mainland you can get them for anywhere from 150 – 250 dr.
I took a chance at the last island to go for a swim which felt really good. The water is so clear (which you can’t get in California) and you can see for up to 20 meters underwater. We headed back to the hotel and for some reason Kioshi has decided to be very distant from me. Oh well, it happens.
Later on that night I ended up going with a guy name Alex who works at the hotel and another girl from Iceland named Linda to the rock. The rock is next to the Acropolis and at night you get a fantastic view of the city and the Acropolis. We drank something like 3 liters of cheap wine (you can only guess what that means). We finally staggered back to the hotel and sang ole enough to wake up the city (if that was possible) and before we even got back we got some beer. Linda apparently didn’t fair too well but she did survive and the next day went off to the islands which I wish I could have done.
I of course slept in the next day and really didn’t do much. My legs were beet red and I didn’t feel like walking around all day so I just wandered to the Temple of Zeus and the Olympic Stadium. It was my very last day of my holiday and I was both happy and sad. Of all the countries I went too, I liked Austria and Greece the best. I would love to go back to Greece maybe even next year to do some island hopping. I want to go to the Island of Mykanos not for the partying but because my great grandfather was born there.
Kioshi and I had to get up at 4 am on Friday where I was catching a flight to Luton England and he was going to Rome. Now, the way I did my trip is that I bought a round trip airfare (US$575) from San Diego to London. Flew to Amsterdam out of Luton via the Easyjet Airline (cost me about US$50) and took a train (and ferry) all the way down to Greece. I then flew from Athens to Luton by Easyjet (US$90).
This worked out well except I had only 3 hrs when I landed in Luton to get to London to fly back to the States. I had just about enough time but I had been awake for 8 hrs, hadn’t eaten, nor had my morning shot of caffeine. By the time I got to Gatwick Airport my head was ready to explode and I had enough money to buy coke and candy to settle my stomach. I would not change a thing except give myself more than 3 hrs to get to the airport so I can have a healthier lunch.
I finally made it home and on my first night of sleep I woke up in the middle of the night very confused. I didn’t know where I was and started to panic but then my two cats were between my legs and I figured out I was home.
I am so grateful to my company ICC for letting me take a month off for holiday to go the Europe. It was an awesome trip and I recommend it to anyone young and old to do. If anyone has questions please by all means email me. I will be happy to help as I have learned a lot on what to do and take for such a trip.
Thanks again for taking time to read my logs. When I get over my jet lag I’ll fix up some of my work.
Happy Travels!!!