Don't know if I mentioned the drowning in humidity thing we had the first night of the hostel, but we did. Since then we've left our downstairs window open and locked the shutters as tightly as we can. Out of all of us, I was the only one who caught a cold though. So now we can't go out in the rain, because like hell I'm letting it turn into something worse.
Today the roads are rivers, so we can't do any of the planned things we wanted to do. The one museum we can do is in Piraeus, and the metro line has maintenance on it until tomorrow (when we leave for Corinth). Our other options are the Sounion (outdoors) or the Kerameikos (outdoors). We're saving those for our last two days in Athens as I want to get rid of my cold before I even try to go outside in rain like this. I'm hoping Corinth is exempt from Athens' bad weather.
We went to the Monastiraki yesterday! I bought lots of things and had the best moussaka. We're definitely going back to that place. I think I'll have moussaka for the rest of the trip. I'm going to so have to learn how to make it the Greek way and make some at home. It's so nice (and so unhealthy but we've yet to find any healthy greek food! Apart from salad of course and even then it's coated in feta cheese!).
I bought some gifts for people. I still need to get a few more things though~ Of course I can't say what they are, but they're very 'greek' and touristy. I want to get a few more things but I'll wait until we get back from Corinth to buy them...
Today is a washout so I'm grabbing my blanket and huddling up next to a heater with my sniffles.
Monday, 6 April 2009
Sunday, 5 April 2009
[7 days til home?] National Park
One word about National Park. Wild. Tortoise. I have no idea why there was a wild tortoise, but there was. He was awesome. We fed him some of our salted sunflower seeds and Tunafish tried to feed him a flower. He was a brave little guy though, only hiding in his shell once and letting me pick him up to bring him back to the Italian One to show her how cute he was. I didn't realise that their heads were so soft either. His head was all warm and silky <3
Anyway, after National Park we went back to the hostel, where I preceded to empty an entire 500ml bottle of Sprite Zero all over my clothes. I was not impressed by this... So a change of clothes later I was on my way to dinner. We ate at a Greek taverna that had souvlaki, because I wanted some vegetables and it came with garlic flavoured spinach.
Tuna then proceeded to knock my drink over. Despite 'greek hospitality' we were not offered a replacement drink and I ended up paying over about 6 euros in total on drinks that night (cola here is roughly 3 euros in restaurants). This did not put me in a good mood for the rest of the night, nor did it put the Italian one in a good mood, as the coke went all over her side of the table...
After food we went to get ice cream. I was daring (or thought I was being) and had a bright blue ice cream with sprinkles in the shape of stars on it. When I say blue, I mean Dr Manhattan blue. It was vanilla flavoured. But at least it turned my lips, teeth and tongue luminous blue...
I'm such a kid 8D
Back at the hostel we finally managed to pry the PSP from the Italian One and get her started on Phoenix Wright. A far better game anyway =P Tuna now has my PSP and is playing Crisis Core. I think I lost out somewhere along the line 8D
I dreamed of Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy having a dance off last night. Draco Malfoy had the moves, man. He was boneless. Harry was too stiff. He lost. So he randomly had to collect cardboard for the Third World with Claire from Heroes and Zack Efron. My subconscious was clearly influenced by the blue ice cream last night...
Today we go to the Monastiraki Flea Market. Let's hope it's as awesome as everyone says it's going to be...
Saturday, 4 April 2009
[We don't even know what day it is] Notes Day
Today we are getting all our notes together. This generally means we'll play with cards, play DS/PSP games, read books and do everything else OTHER than discuss what we have learned so far. HOwever, I shall crack my whip at least once!
The hostel has gone down in my estimation. The room was so humid last night that we felt like we were swimming. We woke up this morning with a heavy chest, blocked noses and chesty coughs. Luckily, this retard brought cough drops with her on a whim, so at least one of us is alright.
Also, we're murdering the parrot... And the french students who all got up at about 6am and stood outside our room shouting.
The hostel has gone down in my estimation. The room was so humid last night that we felt like we were swimming. We woke up this morning with a heavy chest, blocked noses and chesty coughs. Luckily, this retard brought cough drops with her on a whim, so at least one of us is alright.
Also, we're murdering the parrot... And the french students who all got up at about 6am and stood outside our room shouting.
Friday, 3 April 2009
[Day Can't Remember] New Hostel and Benaki Museum
After getting lost, despite clear instructions, we found the San Remo hostel. It's in a pretty rundown tired out kind of area and on a main road. It reminds me of Lowesmoor I guess... It's just an inner city area that suffers from quite a bit of graffiti and doesn't get many tourists. My guess is that it's the kind of place that the Greeks stay when in Athens (an average Greek salary is only 600-700 euros a month!).
There is a shared bathroom and a roof terrace here. There is only one plug socket between the three of us. The sink is out of order in our room. The beds are nicer than S&T though. I guess that does make up for it a little. Somewhere there is a kitchen, but we haven't found it yet... Everything is clean though, so I guess we shouldn't grumble too much...
We've reassessed our budget as well. San Remo has a pretty good information board and it has all the times for trains and buses (and where to catch them from). To get to Corinth by train (2 mins walk away) it will only cost us 6 euros. However, to get to Olympia it's going to cost us 5o euros return. We've decided, after not much deliberation at all, to strike Olympia off the list. Maybe if they offer an excusion or cheaper route from Corinth, but as it stands, we just can't go.
There is a parrot in this hostel. He is an African Grey. He can't speak but he shrieks like mad. He has right outside our room and right next to my ear. In a minute I'm going to politely as that he is moved because he is annoying me and my ears hurt.
We went to the Benaki Museum today. It was pretty useless to us. We learned nothing from it and only took one picture. Although it was recommended by our lecturer, there was nothing there for us to see, so it was a wasted journey. The only good thing out of it was that I got to try a greek pie (finally). Greek pies have sweet pastry compared to English ones, but other than that they're pretty normal. I'm going to try the Feta and Spinach ones next though, for a bit of Athenian flavour.
Tomorrow is either the Kerameikos or an internet research day. It all depends on the weather...
There is a shared bathroom and a roof terrace here. There is only one plug socket between the three of us. The sink is out of order in our room. The beds are nicer than S&T though. I guess that does make up for it a little. Somewhere there is a kitchen, but we haven't found it yet... Everything is clean though, so I guess we shouldn't grumble too much...
We've reassessed our budget as well. San Remo has a pretty good information board and it has all the times for trains and buses (and where to catch them from). To get to Corinth by train (2 mins walk away) it will only cost us 6 euros. However, to get to Olympia it's going to cost us 5o euros return. We've decided, after not much deliberation at all, to strike Olympia off the list. Maybe if they offer an excusion or cheaper route from Corinth, but as it stands, we just can't go.
There is a parrot in this hostel. He is an African Grey. He can't speak but he shrieks like mad. He has right outside our room and right next to my ear. In a minute I'm going to politely as that he is moved because he is annoying me and my ears hurt.
We went to the Benaki Museum today. It was pretty useless to us. We learned nothing from it and only took one picture. Although it was recommended by our lecturer, there was nothing there for us to see, so it was a wasted journey. The only good thing out of it was that I got to try a greek pie (finally). Greek pies have sweet pastry compared to English ones, but other than that they're pretty normal. I'm going to try the Feta and Spinach ones next though, for a bit of Athenian flavour.
Tomorrow is either the Kerameikos or an internet research day. It all depends on the weather...
Thursday, 2 April 2009
Day Four - Olympeion and Panathanaic Stadium
Yesterday ended with us eating carbonara at 'world famous' greek taverna that was two houses away. Expensive but filling <3 The place was called Byzantino Vizantino and was really nice. We ended up spending a little over our normal meal budget but it was totally worth it. The restaurant near the hotel tried to bully us to a table, something that there was no way that I was going to do... I mean, come on, no matter how charming Maximus was the first night in trying to get us to eat there, we don't need virtually marching to a cash point and being told to sit down and he'll be right with us when we've been consistently saying 'no thank you' to him...
We got up fairly late this morning and ate breakfast at a crepery place. It was the most epic bacon butty I've ever had. Feta cheese, tomato, green peppers and black olives... The Italian one promptly scraped everything off hers and just ate the bacon. What a waste of 6 euros...
We then went to the Temple of Olympian Zeus. It's mostly a ruin, but there are lots of daisies. There are lots of daisies and apple grass around temples I've noticed. Delphi was the same. This has led us to the conclusion that the Greek gods had a thing for them. To be honest, I can believe that of Apollo. He was probably a bit of a daisy lover. As well as Hyacinths. Okay, geeky classics joke. Moving on...
There was a protest today going on outside the temple. Don't know what it was about but I took a picture. The roads were closed. In any case, it just made our journey to the Panathenaic Stadium quicker as we walked along a closed road. Of course, while we were at the Panathenaic Stadium, the roads reopened and we got trapped in an island of traffic with protest shouting and drumming happening in the background. Talk about deafening.
Panathenaic stadium looks like it should be impressive, but seeing as you can't get into it and can only look at it from the outside, it is a moment where you go "Wow" then "Now what". We played cards in front of it for ten minutes and then we went back to the hostel, where I had an ice cream and typed this up.
We got up fairly late this morning and ate breakfast at a crepery place. It was the most epic bacon butty I've ever had. Feta cheese, tomato, green peppers and black olives... The Italian one promptly scraped everything off hers and just ate the bacon. What a waste of 6 euros...
We then went to the Temple of Olympian Zeus. It's mostly a ruin, but there are lots of daisies. There are lots of daisies and apple grass around temples I've noticed. Delphi was the same. This has led us to the conclusion that the Greek gods had a thing for them. To be honest, I can believe that of Apollo. He was probably a bit of a daisy lover. As well as Hyacinths. Okay, geeky classics joke. Moving on...
There was a protest today going on outside the temple. Don't know what it was about but I took a picture. The roads were closed. In any case, it just made our journey to the Panathenaic Stadium quicker as we walked along a closed road. Of course, while we were at the Panathenaic Stadium, the roads reopened and we got trapped in an island of traffic with protest shouting and drumming happening in the background. Talk about deafening.
Panathenaic stadium looks like it should be impressive, but seeing as you can't get into it and can only look at it from the outside, it is a moment where you go "Wow" then "Now what". We played cards in front of it for ten minutes and then we went back to the hostel, where I had an ice cream and typed this up.
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Second and Third Days - Delphos and National Archaeological Museum Athens
Yesterday we went to Delphi. This meant a 6am start. We got the metro to Larissa Station and then we followed the hostel's directions. About 3 hours later, we managed to find Terminal B of the KTEL bus... This involved walking the entire length of Liosson st (Λιοσιων). To give you an idea, here is a link to Google Map. Check the scale against the length of the street. Needless to say, we missed the 7:30am bus. We did catch the 10:30am bus though, and arrived in Delphos/Delphi at 2pm. Yes. That's a three and a half hour bus journey from Athens. It cost us 30 euros to go as well and we couldn't get the bus back until 6pm (back in Athens for 9pm). We were pooped.
Once we got there we discovered that 1) Delphos is a beautiful little town with lots of nice restaurants and hotels named after Greek gods 2) there is one cash point in the town and 3) that everything closes at 3pm. We had a mad rush around the archaeological site, never made it to the museum and then sat playing cards and listening to stupid Japanese pop songs and the Nightmare Before Christmas Revisited soundtrack.
Getting back to our hostel was an easier affair as we found a metro stop next to the bus station. Our hostel had told us to get off at the wrong station before... We got back to Syntagma at about 10pm and got a McDonalds. The McDonalds in Greece is perhaps the only McD's in the world that serves black tiger prawn salads for under 5 pounds.
Today we slept in while 11am, got ready, had lunch (gyros again) and went to the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. It's a pretty good museum. Not as big as the British Museum, nor as varied. They also don't let you take pictures of the most important stuff. I had to delete some of my photos when someone caught me, luckily the rest I managed to keep because my camera (which got broken by Tuna on the acropolis) has been playing up and randomly went to a photo from teh British Museum instead of the ones I had just taken.
One thing I will point out though. Never ever stay in the Omonia area of Athens. I had heard it had a bad reputation, but I didn't expect it to be as bad during the day all the same. There were prostitutes plying for trade on the main road that the museum was on. It was rather strange. No one else apart from tourists seemed bothered by it. I guess it's the Athenian version of Soho or something...
We returned to the Plaka, had a milkshake (banana split flavour) and got warned that there are Bulgarian and Romanian 'mafia' working in the area. It took us a while to realise the man meant 'pickpockets' not mafia XD As in all tourist spots, we have to watch out bags, even in the classier areas like Plaka.
Tonight I think I'm going to have Lamb Souvlaki skewers. It might be 10 euros, but today I have only spent a grand total of 2 euros getting to the museum and back and 3 euros on lunch. The milkshake was the left overs from yesterdays budget XD
Signing out~
Once we got there we discovered that 1) Delphos is a beautiful little town with lots of nice restaurants and hotels named after Greek gods 2) there is one cash point in the town and 3) that everything closes at 3pm. We had a mad rush around the archaeological site, never made it to the museum and then sat playing cards and listening to stupid Japanese pop songs and the Nightmare Before Christmas Revisited soundtrack.
Getting back to our hostel was an easier affair as we found a metro stop next to the bus station. Our hostel had told us to get off at the wrong station before... We got back to Syntagma at about 10pm and got a McDonalds. The McDonalds in Greece is perhaps the only McD's in the world that serves black tiger prawn salads for under 5 pounds.
Today we slept in while 11am, got ready, had lunch (gyros again) and went to the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. It's a pretty good museum. Not as big as the British Museum, nor as varied. They also don't let you take pictures of the most important stuff. I had to delete some of my photos when someone caught me, luckily the rest I managed to keep because my camera (which got broken by Tuna on the acropolis) has been playing up and randomly went to a photo from teh British Museum instead of the ones I had just taken.
One thing I will point out though. Never ever stay in the Omonia area of Athens. I had heard it had a bad reputation, but I didn't expect it to be as bad during the day all the same. There were prostitutes plying for trade on the main road that the museum was on. It was rather strange. No one else apart from tourists seemed bothered by it. I guess it's the Athenian version of Soho or something...
We returned to the Plaka, had a milkshake (banana split flavour) and got warned that there are Bulgarian and Romanian 'mafia' working in the area. It took us a while to realise the man meant 'pickpockets' not mafia XD As in all tourist spots, we have to watch out bags, even in the classier areas like Plaka.
Tonight I think I'm going to have Lamb Souvlaki skewers. It might be 10 euros, but today I have only spent a grand total of 2 euros getting to the museum and back and 3 euros on lunch. The milkshake was the left overs from yesterdays budget XD
Signing out~
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