Chris Hotel Attica

... reboard the bus and travel on to our start point, walking back to the hotel in the cooling afternoon sun past the wide road along the base of the Acropolis walls. As we enjoy a drink on the hotel roof we see a lot of smoke in the city centre and a helicopter hovering over the area. We discuss our options for moving on and decide to head for southern Spain on Tuesday and then into Portugal. Whilst I was booking the flights online, Norah watched the tv news and both ...

... in Athens... and in a few hours Amanda and I are getting on a ferry to the island Paros, and spending the night there at the Apollon Hotel (http://www.hotelapollon.gr/) and then we are taking a ferry to SANTORINI tomorrow afternoon and spending two nights there at Margarita Hotel (http://www.hotelmargarita.gr/)!!!! We are taking a ...

... in 30 years. Ed ordered with the Parma ham, which was awful as it was too salty, and I had the spinach, which wasn't great but it made me feel healthy, and with enough Hollandaise it was good. They had an Irish pub, nearly empty when we went in at 11am, but jumping in the afternoon, so full it overflowed into the hallways. Can you imagine allowing people to stand about in the concourse talking amiably ...

Dutch, Chaplain, Nurse Cubby, Gramma, and I all walked up to the Acropolis today. What a difference one month makes. First of all, the weather was beautifully breezy instead of blow-torch hot, we got to walk at our own pace instead of leaving me in the dust as always happens with the student group, and I have finally achieved some familiarity with the area so I didn't get us lost once. I felt proud at each site along the way to be able to rattle ...

Hey, did you know that the European Union has the equivalent of state quarters? This was my bit of enlightenment for the day from our Greek language professor Gina. The Euro coins are all the same on one side, but each country can determine their own design on the other side. So the Greek One Euro coin is Athena's owl of wisdom, based on coins designed in 300 BCE. The Greek Two Euro coin depicts Europa on the bull, from ...

... Apparently, the ocean's here are much saltier than the Atlantic, or Pacific for that matter. We also stopped and bought some fresh figs. I've never even seen a fig in my life. The closest thing I've ever had is a Fig Newton cookie. Definitely not the same thing though--fresh figs are much more delicious. They grow on trees, you pick them, peel the skin off, and eat them. I think they ...

... as soon as it was over... it went straight back up again. It would be interesting to hear what the athens people think about it. The tour was with other backpackers from a couple of hostels around the city. I was one of 3 from Aphrodite, the other 2 were guys from Canada, and we stuck together for most of the trip. I also made friends with a girl from Argentina; she was full of questions but found the guide was too quickly spoken and had a hard time understanding ...

... Temple from the road and from what we can see, it seems to be more impressive from a distance than close up anyway. We don't have to be at the airport until 11am and it looks as if its only half an hour away max (and probably only 15 mins), so we continue round the coast road and stop at a big town that's probably just an attractive seaside suburb of Athens. We kill some time by wandering round the waterside and Chelle and Trevor stock up on a couple of bottles of Ouzo and local ...

... not believe how big this vessel w*s *nd once on bo*rd we were t*ken to our lovely 4-berth room, which w*s converted to * 2-berth room, *nd got settled in before dinner. We were so d*rn tired so we gr*bbed * quick n*p *nd then cle*ned up for dinner. We h*d * nice dinner in the m*in dining room *nd w*tched the sun set off the b*ck of the bo*t. This bo*t w*s gliding on * sheet of gl*ss which w*s * welcome ch*nge from the *wful night ...

... so hard that it was blowing me over when I tried to walk. No joke. I bruised my hand when I got pushed against a boulder. And then I found out that the site of Akrotiri was closed indefinitely for restoration. So I didn't actually get to see any of the sites on Santorini. However, the black sand beaches and the Red Beach made the trip worth it. And I found a bookstore with English books. It was tragic, I had ...