The worst part about vacation is being back at work! Ugh. Time goes by, so sloooooowly...
I guess when I said I'd make a real post at some point, I meant at some point later today. So. What do you want to talk about? I guess I will just do a day-by-day rundown of the trip and then if I get bored, I will post pictures of Greek street cats, because they are adorable and it's my blog.
Anyway.
Day 1: Fly to Rome. There are no pictures of this. The flight is 10-ish hours long (after the shorter 4-hour flight to Charlotte.) We arrive in Rome around 9AM on...
Day 2: Arrive Rome. Arrange for a shuttle to the hotel. Endure the most terrifying drive of our lives. Apparently in Rome there aren't any actual lanes of traffic, and maybe not even any traffic laws at all. There is only a traffic free-for-all, complete with little motorbikes dodging and weaving. Truly frightening. Fortunately we made it to the hotel alive, only to find out we couldn't check in for about 4 hours. We met up with some other Contiki girls and ventured out to find lunch. After meeting up with our group that evening, we had dinner then went out for a night time walking tour of the city. We saw the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, other things I am probably forgetting, and ate gelato.
Day 3: We take a tour of the Roman Forum and the Coliseum, then head over to the Vatican. We have a tour guide who carries a bandana on a stick and constantly says "Con-tee-keee! Woo-hoo! Follow the red flag! Don't leave me behind!" We have headphones and she speaks to us through a microphone. It's highly amusing. I take illegal pictures inside the Sistine Chapel. Part of me hates breaking the rules; the other part of me really wants the pictures, and everyone else is doing it...
Day 4: We leave Rome and head down the coast to Sorrento, where we eat, shop, and enjoy the view. In Sorrento I consume massive quantities of fresh buffalo mozzarella, for which I will make no apologies. We sample Limoncello, which is gross, and eat gelato, which is delicious. And we have a pizza party.
Day 5: We take a ferry to the Isle of Capri. We then take a boat tour on horrible choppy seas. I focus on not throwing up, but manage to snap a few pictures as well. The water is clear and blue and the views are amazing. We eat more pizza and more gelato, and buy more souvenirs. That night we celebrate my birthday at midnight in an English pub in Sorrento. I get a Murano glass necklace from the tour manager, because it's blue like Sorrento, plus a double cheek kiss. Not a bad start to year number 30.
Day 6: We leave Sorrento and head to Pompeii. On the bus I get a happy birthday serenade in Italian, and enjoy views of the Bay of Naples as we drive. We spend a little time touring Pompeii and I am sad to report to Adriane that your children's books left out the fact that the town was basically an ancient Las Vegas, only worse. For realz dudes, those Pompeiians were crazy. But it was impressive and old and enjoyable. Then we continued on across the whole width of Italy to Brindisi, where we catch the overnight ferry to Greece.
Day 7: We arrive in Corfu bright and early after a night of sleeping on tiny bunk beds on the ferry. We spend the day in Corfu shopping, eating, and wandering around on narrow streets. We see the Old Fortress, which has amazing views of the sea...maybe the Adriatic? That night we go to a traditional Greek dinner where I celebrate my birthday again. 3 girls are having birthdays, so we drink champagne, I think are sung to, and then get kissed on the cheek by all the boys on the tour. Humiliating, slightly, fun, definitely.
Day 8: Today we go on Georges Boat. I know, you'd think there should be an apostrophe in that word, but there isn't. I don't know why. Perhaps his name is Georges. Most people on Corfu are named either Spiros or Georges, so that is entirely possible. On Georges Boat you do whatever you want. We go to an island or a beach or something where we do water sports, then make various stops where people jump off the boat and swim in the Ionian Sea. I hide under my towel and try not to get sunburned. We also eat delicious tzatziki and bread and tomatoes and olives, do Greek dances around the boat, and take turns singing our national anthems. After Georges Boat takes us back to Corfu, we go to a toga party with a few other groups, where we get a lesson on authentic toga styling and generally behave like fools.
Day 9: Another day, another boat. This time we take a short ferry ride to the mainland of Greece, or something near there, to begin the long drive to Athens. We stop for lunch and have gyros, which are cheap and amazing. We also stop at the Canal of Corinth, where we spend 3 seconds snapping photos and then eat ice cream from a mini-mart. On the ride to Athens our manager shows us the map of Athens and all the streets we can't walk on, lest we be mugged by Albanian street gangs. Good times. We have dinner out and then go back to the hotel, where there is a roof deck with an amazing view of the Acropolis.
Day 10: We take a driving tour of the city and a walking tour of the Acropolis. It is hot and crowded, but fun. It is our last day together as a group, and we go out to dinner at a traditional Taverna. There are kittens in the restaurant and they are adorable. Wild street cats, yay Greece! We eat way too much Greek food, then head to a bar for a final drink where we take stupid photos with our tour manager and get ready to say goodbye.
Day 11: We start the cruise. Back to the Port of Pireus, where we board the Aquamarine for our voyage on the high seas. Or something. Not everyone from the first part of the trip opted for the 3-day cruise, so it's a bit of a different group. On the first day we sail to the Greek island of Mykonos. We get there around 5PM and have until 10 to explore the island. We wander, we shop, we get lost in the labyrinth of streets that are meant to block the wind and confuse pirates. I keep saying things are beautiful, which is so trite, but I don't know what else to say. Mykonos was brilliant. We saw the sunset over the ocean then headed back to the boat for mediocre food and some much-needed sleep.
Day 12: First stop is Kusadasi, Turkey, which- surprise!- is in Asia! Yes! An entire new continent is added to our trip. Here we take a tour of ancient Ephesus. These ruins are fantastic- just really, really impressive. Then we watch a demonstration on Turkish carpets and drink apple tea. The rugs are awesome, but at 300 Euros and up, slightly beyond our price range, so we head to the main bazaar to do some bartering. I fail massively at bartering because it's completely unnatural, but do come away with some cool jewelry, ceramics, tea, and of course- Turkish delight!
Our second stop is Patmos, which is fitting because after John was exiled from Ephasus, they sent him to Patmos. In Patmos we take a tour of the island and get to visit the Cave of Revelation, which is supposedly where John received the Revelation from God, and wrote the book of, you guessed it, Revelations! You couldn't take any pictures inside the grotto but it was pretty amazing to sit in there and think about how God spoke to John in that very same place. You know, if the stories are true, anyway. The shopping in Patmos was great, of course, and it was a fun place to wander around.
Day 13: We stop at Heraklion, Crete, for no apparent reason. There is nothing within walking distance of the port, and it's Sunday so everything would be closed anyway. We spend a long time docked here. It's boring. We are annoyed. Finally we set sail for Santorini, the island you think of when you think of Greece. We get there with only 3-4 hours to spend before we have to head back to Athens, but manage to tour the two main towns on the island, Oia and Thira. We take pictures, we shop, we wander. We ride donkeys. It is terrifying. Seriously, I thought I might die, but figured if I did, at least I died riding a donkey in Santorini.
Day 14: We arrive back in Athens are are booted off the ship at the crack of dawn. Or 7AM, same difference. We have the entire day to kill. Fortunately this time our hotel is in a much safer area, and we're able to come and go to shops and restaurants without fear of being robbed at knife point. We shop. We eat gyros. We eat ice cream. We lounge on the roof deck and enjoy an even better view of the Acropolis than the first hotel had. We pack. We repack. We throw away clothes so we can fit our souvenirs into our bags.
Day 15: This is the end. We catch a cab to the airport at 7AM. We undergo questioning by multiple airline employees about when and where we packed our bags. We wait. The flight is supposed to be 11 hours, but it's a bit shorter. In Philadelphia, we spend an hour and a half going through customs. The 4-hour flight to Phoenix is the longest flight ever, but finally we make it home, where we eat Taco Bell and go to bed only to wake up at 3AM.
Phew. That was a long post and it's still not time to go home. What the heck.
I guess when I said I'd make a real post at some point, I meant at some point later today. So. What do you want to talk about? I guess I will just do a day-by-day rundown of the trip and then if I get bored, I will post pictures of Greek street cats, because they are adorable and it's my blog.
Anyway.
Day 1: Fly to Rome. There are no pictures of this. The flight is 10-ish hours long (after the shorter 4-hour flight to Charlotte.) We arrive in Rome around 9AM on...
Day 2: Arrive Rome. Arrange for a shuttle to the hotel. Endure the most terrifying drive of our lives. Apparently in Rome there aren't any actual lanes of traffic, and maybe not even any traffic laws at all. There is only a traffic free-for-all, complete with little motorbikes dodging and weaving. Truly frightening. Fortunately we made it to the hotel alive, only to find out we couldn't check in for about 4 hours. We met up with some other Contiki girls and ventured out to find lunch. After meeting up with our group that evening, we had dinner then went out for a night time walking tour of the city. We saw the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, other things I am probably forgetting, and ate gelato.
Day 3: We take a tour of the Roman Forum and the Coliseum, then head over to the Vatican. We have a tour guide who carries a bandana on a stick and constantly says "Con-tee-keee! Woo-hoo! Follow the red flag! Don't leave me behind!" We have headphones and she speaks to us through a microphone. It's highly amusing. I take illegal pictures inside the Sistine Chapel. Part of me hates breaking the rules; the other part of me really wants the pictures, and everyone else is doing it...
Day 4: We leave Rome and head down the coast to Sorrento, where we eat, shop, and enjoy the view. In Sorrento I consume massive quantities of fresh buffalo mozzarella, for which I will make no apologies. We sample Limoncello, which is gross, and eat gelato, which is delicious. And we have a pizza party.
Day 5: We take a ferry to the Isle of Capri. We then take a boat tour on horrible choppy seas. I focus on not throwing up, but manage to snap a few pictures as well. The water is clear and blue and the views are amazing. We eat more pizza and more gelato, and buy more souvenirs. That night we celebrate my birthday at midnight in an English pub in Sorrento. I get a Murano glass necklace from the tour manager, because it's blue like Sorrento, plus a double cheek kiss. Not a bad start to year number 30.
Day 6: We leave Sorrento and head to Pompeii. On the bus I get a happy birthday serenade in Italian, and enjoy views of the Bay of Naples as we drive. We spend a little time touring Pompeii and I am sad to report to Adriane that your children's books left out the fact that the town was basically an ancient Las Vegas, only worse. For realz dudes, those Pompeiians were crazy. But it was impressive and old and enjoyable. Then we continued on across the whole width of Italy to Brindisi, where we catch the overnight ferry to Greece.
Day 7: We arrive in Corfu bright and early after a night of sleeping on tiny bunk beds on the ferry. We spend the day in Corfu shopping, eating, and wandering around on narrow streets. We see the Old Fortress, which has amazing views of the sea...maybe the Adriatic? That night we go to a traditional Greek dinner where I celebrate my birthday again. 3 girls are having birthdays, so we drink champagne, I think are sung to, and then get kissed on the cheek by all the boys on the tour. Humiliating, slightly, fun, definitely.
Day 8: Today we go on Georges Boat. I know, you'd think there should be an apostrophe in that word, but there isn't. I don't know why. Perhaps his name is Georges. Most people on Corfu are named either Spiros or Georges, so that is entirely possible. On Georges Boat you do whatever you want. We go to an island or a beach or something where we do water sports, then make various stops where people jump off the boat and swim in the Ionian Sea. I hide under my towel and try not to get sunburned. We also eat delicious tzatziki and bread and tomatoes and olives, do Greek dances around the boat, and take turns singing our national anthems. After Georges Boat takes us back to Corfu, we go to a toga party with a few other groups, where we get a lesson on authentic toga styling and generally behave like fools.
Day 9: Another day, another boat. This time we take a short ferry ride to the mainland of Greece, or something near there, to begin the long drive to Athens. We stop for lunch and have gyros, which are cheap and amazing. We also stop at the Canal of Corinth, where we spend 3 seconds snapping photos and then eat ice cream from a mini-mart. On the ride to Athens our manager shows us the map of Athens and all the streets we can't walk on, lest we be mugged by Albanian street gangs. Good times. We have dinner out and then go back to the hotel, where there is a roof deck with an amazing view of the Acropolis.
Day 10: We take a driving tour of the city and a walking tour of the Acropolis. It is hot and crowded, but fun. It is our last day together as a group, and we go out to dinner at a traditional Taverna. There are kittens in the restaurant and they are adorable. Wild street cats, yay Greece! We eat way too much Greek food, then head to a bar for a final drink where we take stupid photos with our tour manager and get ready to say goodbye.
Day 11: We start the cruise. Back to the Port of Pireus, where we board the Aquamarine for our voyage on the high seas. Or something. Not everyone from the first part of the trip opted for the 3-day cruise, so it's a bit of a different group. On the first day we sail to the Greek island of Mykonos. We get there around 5PM and have until 10 to explore the island. We wander, we shop, we get lost in the labyrinth of streets that are meant to block the wind and confuse pirates. I keep saying things are beautiful, which is so trite, but I don't know what else to say. Mykonos was brilliant. We saw the sunset over the ocean then headed back to the boat for mediocre food and some much-needed sleep.
Day 12: First stop is Kusadasi, Turkey, which- surprise!- is in Asia! Yes! An entire new continent is added to our trip. Here we take a tour of ancient Ephesus. These ruins are fantastic- just really, really impressive. Then we watch a demonstration on Turkish carpets and drink apple tea. The rugs are awesome, but at 300 Euros and up, slightly beyond our price range, so we head to the main bazaar to do some bartering. I fail massively at bartering because it's completely unnatural, but do come away with some cool jewelry, ceramics, tea, and of course- Turkish delight!
Our second stop is Patmos, which is fitting because after John was exiled from Ephasus, they sent him to Patmos. In Patmos we take a tour of the island and get to visit the Cave of Revelation, which is supposedly where John received the Revelation from God, and wrote the book of, you guessed it, Revelations! You couldn't take any pictures inside the grotto but it was pretty amazing to sit in there and think about how God spoke to John in that very same place. You know, if the stories are true, anyway. The shopping in Patmos was great, of course, and it was a fun place to wander around.
Day 13: We stop at Heraklion, Crete, for no apparent reason. There is nothing within walking distance of the port, and it's Sunday so everything would be closed anyway. We spend a long time docked here. It's boring. We are annoyed. Finally we set sail for Santorini, the island you think of when you think of Greece. We get there with only 3-4 hours to spend before we have to head back to Athens, but manage to tour the two main towns on the island, Oia and Thira. We take pictures, we shop, we wander. We ride donkeys. It is terrifying. Seriously, I thought I might die, but figured if I did, at least I died riding a donkey in Santorini.
Day 14: We arrive back in Athens are are booted off the ship at the crack of dawn. Or 7AM, same difference. We have the entire day to kill. Fortunately this time our hotel is in a much safer area, and we're able to come and go to shops and restaurants without fear of being robbed at knife point. We shop. We eat gyros. We eat ice cream. We lounge on the roof deck and enjoy an even better view of the Acropolis than the first hotel had. We pack. We repack. We throw away clothes so we can fit our souvenirs into our bags.
Day 15: This is the end. We catch a cab to the airport at 7AM. We undergo questioning by multiple airline employees about when and where we packed our bags. We wait. The flight is supposed to be 11 hours, but it's a bit shorter. In Philadelphia, we spend an hour and a half going through customs. The 4-hour flight to Phoenix is the longest flight ever, but finally we make it home, where we eat Taco Bell and go to bed only to wake up at 3AM.
Phew. That was a long post and it's still not time to go home. What the heck.
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