The final stop of my month long European Travel Adventure was the amazing country of Greece. I couldn't believe I had finally made it there! For me, Athens has always seemed like on of those exotic places that I would only ever dream about visiting. It seemed so unlikely to me that I would ever be fortunate enough to actually go there. But I did go there and it certainly lived up to my very high expectations. Greece is one of my favourite travel adventures I have been on so far.
Despite being a solo traveller, I did not feel scared or intimidated here, but instead fell in love with the place and the people - not to mention the food and the weather too! I loved the fact that Athens has not become overly touristy yet and you could see how the locals really live.
It was amazing to learn about the history of Greece too, something that had never really interested me and my small mind in the high school classroom. It obviously helped that I was there amongst it, standing in front of the Acropolis, while hearing some tales of Greek Mythology.
The flight from Vienna, despite only being just over two hours, was probably the most painful flight of my life. Travelling for two weeks had made me sick (yes I got a cold in 30degree temperatures!), and my ears made my head feel like it was going to explode for the duration of the flight. I basically cried the whole way there.
The first biggest observation I had, besides the immmediate heat, was the infrequency of the trains which only came every half hour, a massive shock for anyone used to the London transport system! While waiting for the train I met an Australian couple who happened to be on the same trip of the Greek Islands I was joining in Athens. They had just arrived from Australia and were absolutley exhausted.
We helped each other to find the square where we were all staying. After checking in I found a Pharmacy for my ears and throat, and took a long cool shower. It was soooo hot in Athens that you couldn't step outside (or even out of the shower) without sweating. I had an afternoon nap and woke in time to watch the sunset from the rooftop bar at the hostel. It was spectacular and I got a great view of the Acropolis sitting high up on the hill.
The next day I decided to join in on a free walking tour which was run by a local guy who was a friend of the hostel owner. It was a unique tour, which was more about where to go and what to do, rather than facts and figures. This was a nice change from the information overload I had got so far from my travels. I learnt some tips for the days when I would be back on my own in Athens. We climbed up to the Acropolis, where there is the best view of the whole of Athens.
For lunch I was introduced to Gyros - basically a kebab but with tzatziki and hot chips inside! They became a part of the staple diet as they were so fulling and so cheap! I joined my tour group that night (Busabout) in Athens which was going to take us on an eight night trip around the Greek Islands. It was a massive group of Aussies with six Kiwis and two Canadians.
Day One of the tour involved a 5am start where we boarded a bus bound for the ferry terminal for our first island adventure, Mykonos. The five hour ferry ride was spent getting to know the rest of the group, the six kiwis decided to stick together. Upon arrival in Mykonos I was surprised to find vast barren hills with only brown dry grass, small narrow roads, and white houses with blue roofs.
We arrived at our accomodation for the next two nights, Paraga Beach, a small resort in the bay over from the famous Paradise Beach. Despite there being a beautiful sandy clear blue ocean with swimming pool and bar beside it, the accommodation resembled army barracks, with concrete floors and walls, no windows and one industrial light on the roof. That evening we had dinner as a group and headed into the town to watch the sunset at the famous windmills.
Our full day in Mykonos didn't involve a lot. After sleeping until the barracks became unbearably hot, we spent the day between the pool and the beach, lying in the sun and drinking beers. It was so amazing to finally be back at the beach again after over a year since the last time I had seen sand! We had dinner all together again that night and watched fireworks out over the ocean, before climbing back around the bay to our beds.
On Day Three we packed our things and boarded the ferry for Paros. No one really knew what to expect because no one had ever heard of the island, but we were all pleasantly surprised to see a bit more greenery around the place. After checking in to our accommodation, this time a house located amongst the other residential buildings, we went on a walking tour of the main square. We saw a castle, a church and a windmill, not many big attractions on Paros!
We had a traditional Greek dinner in a private bay that night, with four courses and a local wine, while watching the sunset. Greece has some of the best sunsets I have ever seen! After dinner we took part in traditional plate smashing and dancing which was so much fun.
The following day was probably my favourite day of the whole trip, 'Boat Day'. We set sail on an old sailing ship and circled one of the nearby islands. Throughout the day, we anchored amongst the clearest water I had ever seen for us to jump off the boat and cool down. We moored for lunch at a secluded bay where we ate homemade greek salad and meat skewers, bread and tzatsiki and drunk warm wine from a goon sack, magic! The day ended with some very drunken bodies, me included, frantically trying to stay afloat as we swum in the beautiful Greek waters.
After such a great day, I wondered how it would ever be beat. Fortunately, the next day happened to be the day that I went to Santorini. I was so excited as we stood at the back of the ferry as the ramp to disembark was lowered. Santorini is huge! It is made up of four islands with an underwater crater in the middle. A long time ago, a massive volcano erupted there, seperating the islands and making waves that reached as far as Crete, some 200km away.
The main island, Thira, has very narrow streets and there are lots of tourist buses making it very dangerous for quad biking. On our first night in Santorini we spent the evening having cocktails and dinner, with the most unbelievable view over the crater and other islands as the sun set. You can go across to one of the other islands and see the craters left behind from the volcano.
Day Two on Santorini saw us check out the famous red and black beaches. Santorini beaches don't have sand due to the volcanic activity, instead they consist of very small volcanic rocks, meaning they weren't the most pleasant beaches to visit. For our second and final evening we went to wine tasting at a vineyard, which also had a stunning view over the crater. We tasted three wines and learnt a bit about how they were made in the local region.
We then headed to Oia, a small village on the main island, with the world famous Santorini Sunset. There were so many tourists crammed onto a tiny bit of rock, cameras out, watching the slowly sinking sun. We decided to fake a marriage proposal and all the tourists got very excited as one of the girls from our group (an opera singer) started serenading one of the other girls. We had dinner delivered to us on the rock, Greek Salad and Gyros, so good! After the sun set we wandered the small narrow streets, trying to find our way back to the bus.
The final island we visited was Ios, the up and coming place to go. We stayed at Far Out Beach Club, a massive beach village with varying styles of accommodation, two swimming pools and a few different resturants and bars, all located across the road from a beautiful white sandy beach. We stayed in two bed shacks which, fortunately, had air conditioning - a necessity with 35degree heat!
We spent our days poolside, venturing outside the pool area only to check out the beach and try stand up paddleboarding and head to the shops to buy huge chucks of fresh watermelon. In the early evenings we took strategic naps in the airconditioning before beginning our 9 and 11 bar pub crawls.
The first night only a handful of us made it to the 9th bar, but that involved walking in and out the door of the last place at 5am, followed by finding the nearest Gyros shop and wandering home as the sun was rising. On night two we only made 7 or so bars but still didn't get to bed until 5am. The bars were pretty insane, with each one having a different specialty - facepainting, absynthe, free pour into your mouth and slammer shots where you wore a helmet and paid someone to hit you over the head after having a tequila shot - not for me!
Throughly exhausted we slept the whole boatride back to the mainland. Our tour ended when we arrived and us kiwis went out for one final meal together as a group before parting our own ways. One of the girls was staying on an extra night and me and her decided to explore Athens together the following day.
I had one full day in Athens to check out all the sites and ended up walking for hours, up and down hills to see the Temple of Hephaestus, in the Ancient City Agora. This led up the hilltop to the Acropolis which was covered in scaffolding, but amazingly huge and ancient looking. Herodion's Theatre, which is still in use today, was also at the top of the hill. We walked down the other side to Hadrians Gate and the Temple of Zeus, which turned out to basically be a pile of rubble.
The Panathenaic, the first modern Olympic Games Stadium, was really cool and we got to climb the stairs in the stands and even stand on the podium. Finally on the loop we went to the Hellenic Parliment and watched the changing of the guards. As I ran out of time to go to the town of Larissa, we went to Larissa Railway station instead which is Athens main national railway station. We climbed the other highest mountain in Athens, Mount Lycabettus, where we watched the sun set over the city. It was a magical way to end my two weeks in Greece.
"It's better to see something once, than to hear about it a thousand times." - Unknown
I hope this has inspired you.
LARISSAJODEE x