Greece

Georgina and I went to Athens, Greece last weekend. We had such an amazing time. We stayed at this hotel called the Alassia, was said to be a four star hotel, but I think the standards in Europe are different than in America. It was nice not staying in a hostel though.

We left on Thursday afternoon and took a train to Bologna, and then a short bus ride to the airport. We had to transfer in Frankfurt, and we ended up arriving around 1:00 or so in the morning. Because all the public transportation was closed by that time, we ended up having to take a very expensive taxi to our hotel. Apparently they double the price at night (how ridiculous!) so we had to pay twice the amount for our ride. The taxi driver was kind of sketch too- he was hauling some serious butt on the freeway... we were actually a bit freaked out.

Once we got to the hotel, we pretty much passed out from exhaustion. The next day, we had a leisurely Breakfast at the hotel. I had fried eggs (I miss those on a regular basis!) and some toast with cheese and cereal. I really enjoyed the Breakfast buffet over the weekend. It is a nice change from what I am used to at the pensione. After Breakfast, we got ready and then took the metro into town. I got this really cool souvenir- a necklace with my name in Greek! I also picked up a couple fake designer sunglasses from the African guys on the street (gotta love bargaining!) We saw a view of the Acropolis from the distance, and had a lovely lunch outside in the sun. I must say... the Greek food in Greece was everything I hoped for and more. I love the Tzasiki (sp?) sauce, feta, and the fresh grilled gyro meat. We also had this delicious Greek salad (see picture). Georgina and I were talking about how the gyro meat in the states is way different because it comes in long strips and it is way more greasy. I definitely prefer the meat in Greece.

After lunch, we walked around some shops and around the town some more and ran into this very friendly local named Yannis. He ended up talking to him for awhile and he showed us some sites nearby.
Here is a picture of a park he took us to- it was beautiful! His English was a bit hard to understand, but he was very nice.

Once it started getting dark, Georgina and I took the metro back to our hotel and hung out there for awhile and got ready to go out to dinner. We got a great recommendation from someone who worked at the hotel. We took a taxi there (the first guy didn't know where it was- strange) and once we got there, all the workers greeted us with smiles. We split some wine, feta and a grilled chicken dish with rice. Again, another delicious meal. There were singers at this restaurant too- couldn't have asked for a more "Greek" experience!

After dinner, Yannis met up with us and took us to a fun bar where we tried Oozo. It is the typical liquor in Greece. I actually wasn't too fond of it because it tasted like black licorice. I am not a fan, but I was thinking "oh I bet my dad would love this!" he LOVES black licorice. After the bar, we went to a really fun club with his friend (I forget his Greek name, but his "American" name was George). He was very nice too but he didn't speak any English. Yannis acted as the translator... hehe

We ended up staying out pretty late and didn't get much sleep because we had to get up early for what we thought would be our cruise tour to three different islands. The guy that was working at the hotel said that we originally had to go another hotel in the morning to meet up with other people on the tour, but then he told us that they would call our hotel when they wanted us to head over... well half an hour or more went by, and no call. Then the worker said that the tour already left. We were pretty bummed at first, but were excited to go back to sleep for a bit. We ended up signing up for a mid afternoon tour leaving on a bus at 2:30.

After our nap, we went down the street to a little hole in the wall with amazing Greek food. I have a wrap with grilled chicken and tzasiki sauce. We then looked around the town for a bit and then stood on the corner where the tour was supposedly supposed to pick us up. Well, we waited around 15-20 minutes, and NO tour bus. We went back inside the hotel and called the company, and they said that they were looking for us for two hours (yeah right!) and that the tour ended up being canceled because all 15 people on the tour canceled (again ya right!). We basically think the lady on the phone was a complete idiot and liar and she probably just canceled the tour because it wasn't filled. LAME! Anyways, the only tour that was left to do was the night tour (and unfortunately it had to be with the same company). The night tour ended up being really fun. We had a tour of the city at night, and even got to go to the port area where the water is. The tour ended at a restaurant with live Greek dancers and singers. Again, the food was amazing! We had fried meatballs with falafel, tzasiki with pita bread, a grilled chicken dish, Oozo (which we didn't drink) and fruit for desert.

Yannis and his buddy met us at the restaurant because he wanted to say goodbye. Once we said goodbye, Georgina and I left for the hotel, watched some Sex and the City, and called it a night. On Sunday, we got up for Breakfast, and took the metro to the Acropolis and Parthenon. We didn't think we would be able to go close to it, because the workers at the hotel said it was on strike. It was very easy to get to the top though- so not sure why they said that. None the less, it was great to see it up and close!

We ended up having lunch at the same place we went to on Friday, because it was just so darn good! Instead of chicken gyros though, we had meat gyros. I think it was beef and lamb. After our lunch, we got some souvenirs like postcards and other various things, and then we packed up and left for the airport on a bus at 2:30. We had such a long day ahead of us though- our two flights didn't get in until 11:00 into Bologna, and the last train to Florence was at 10:20, so we had to wait in the airport until 5:00 or so in the morning, and we took a taxi to the train station to take the 5:30 train into Florence. It was so exhausting, and the seats in the airport were made of metal so they were super uncomfortable. Needless to say, I skipped my morning classes on Monday and slept until lunch time.

Whew! Well there is the recap of the weekend. It is raining so hard in Florence today. Reminds me of Seattle... this weekend I am going to Vienna!