Thurs, Nov 30 - Athens

I had most of the day to hang out in Athens since my ferry was at 5:30. I checked out, stored my luggage, and had my free breakfast. A bunch of us chatted for a while in the breakfast area so I didn’t get out of there for an hour or two.

From hostel rooftop.

Once I did, I decided to check out part of Athens that I hadn’t seen before. I walked to the Temple of Olympian Zeus and walked through the adjoining National Gardens. I past a pack of stray dogs and tried to feed them some crackers, but they were picky. Then I past a group of stray cats but they were happy because someone left some food for them on the path.



I walked toward Lycabettus Hill, the highest point in Athens. It took about half an hour to walk up the windy path. There was an awesome view and I took a panorama to give an idea where things are.




Next, I walked toward Monastiraki and Plaka area and browsed in the shops. Then I ended up walking towards the Acropolis through a really cool residential area full of cute lanes and cats on the side of the hill. There was a great view from there too.



Eventually I made my way around the Acropolis and headed back to the hostel to collect my bag. I walked to Syntagma Square (below) and bought a yummy sandwich for dinner and saw the changing of the gaurds. Then I took the metro to Pireaus to catch the ferry home.



The ferry ride was interesting. It was fine apart from an hour of major wind and rocking back and forth, back and forth. Warning! The next part may make your stomach flip: I was sitting in a chair, reading, while the boat rocked and I started getting nauseous. I heard the sound of puke piling onto the floor a few rows back, so I had to leave! As soon as I got a whiff, I almost puked myself and I was outta there! Gross! Then I went into the washroom and an older man was puking in the sink (I guess he didn’t have time to find the men’s). So I got outta there quickly too. I was getting really sick at this point, so I decided to go out on the deck to get some fresh air. It was sooo windy and was blowing sea water onto the deck so I got a little wet but I had to stand near the edge of the boat just in case. Finally, I went back inside and just sat on the floor in the hall by the door, just incase I had to run out or incase the ship sank (it was sooo windy!). It took a while for the sickness to pass but once the wind calmed down, it wasn’t as tipsy and I felt a little better.

I finally got home at around 10:30 and Linda picked me up from the ferry. Home sweet home.

M