Thessaloniki and on to Italy!!

We spent the night in Meteora with our wonderful "room wrangler" Totti....

Here is Totti's shop! We stayed above and on the right...it was like staying at the Marriott. 

From Meteora we moved on to Thessaloniki, where I learned many things:

1. Sometimes people will pick you up on the side of the road and drive you the rest of the way to your campsite because they know how hot and uncomfortable you must be

2. Sometimes you have to stick out your thumb I that universal sign to get a ride to the bus stop that is 7 km from your campsite to get to the airport in time...

An old Greek man in a small Toyota pickup might just give you a lift!

3. Campsites can be like resorts...like Akti Retzika!!! (www.retzikas.gr)

 4. They have peelable banana popsicles. Need I say more??

5. I love sitting in hammocks on the shore of the Aegean, watching the sun set and thunderstorm roll in

 

6. Ryanair is the budget traveler's best friend!! But don't expect your orange juice at 10,000 feet.

And with that we are in Italy! After a looooong day trying to get TO the airport (thank you Greek man with the pickup), waiting for our flight, waiting to get to the train station in Rome, almost (but not quite) getting pickpocketed in Roma Termini, and THEN crowding on to a very, VERY full train to Naples (I can still smell the sweat and cat dander), we made it to Pompeii. It was worth it to stay for €10 that night at Camping Spartacus!! 

Traveling Wisdom

Greeks are nice, they help you get on and off the train or bus at the right time, and they even give you rides! My lifelong dream to hitchhike was a success! And yes Dad, I was the one sticking my thumb out and flagging down the old man.

Do NOT let just anyone try to help you buy tickets for the train at the automatic ticket booths, they have a friend behind you standing a little too close and slipping a had into your pocket....

Majestic Meteora

Up early--3 different alarms on 3 devices to be sure--to catch the metro for the train station where we would head from Athens to Kalambaka. Why? To see the secret wonder that is Meteora. No spoilers here though, read on for the deets.

We made it on the train and it was packed! Our first experience with the Eurail pass went well though. No reservation fee, and we got on the train in a jiffy! It was pretty comfortable too as well. Harmon made friends with a Greek girl who started teaching him English. 

She also kicked his trash in tic-tac-toe. 

When we arrived in Meteora, we weren't met by "restaurant wranglers" on the street, but rather, by "room wranglers." However we were able to get a cheap room right under the cliffs for a killer price!

METEORA: 25 million years of Mother Nature combined with the religious fervor of 14th century Eastern Orthodox monks.  Cliffs sculpted and weathered by time rise up over 1800 feet high and these monks thought, "What better place to build some monasteries??" The results are truly breathtaking, as these edifices hang on the edges of the rock faces. There are 24 monasteries in all, with 6 remaining today. 

Our experiences are as follows:

14:15 Arrive in Meteora

15:20 Discover we missed the last bus (€1.40) up to the monasteries for the day

15:30 Decide to hike up ourselves

15:45 Stop for our 87th water break

15:55 Hear a rustle in the bushes, only to spot a speedy friend

16:30 Arrive at Monastery 1 (locally known as Agia Trias)

17:00 Hike to Monastery 2 (Agios Stefanos)

17:45 Decide we might as well hike to the other monasteries 3km away. Like a boss. This time using the road. Harmon actually tried hitchhiking and was denied...

18:30 Soak in the view...

We hiked back down, passing through Kastriki before arriving once again in Kalambaka, the city under Heaven. 

20:30 Ate pork souvlaki and Greek salad, making friends with a traveling couple from Australia!

Followed up by homemade Ferrero Rocher from the corner pastry shop...Mmmmm

Traveling Wisdom: 

Don't be afraid to go with a "room wrangler" and check out his room. You can always say no.

If you aren't up for a 5+ mile hike, then take the bus or cab. If you are, you will NOT regret the spectacular views available at every turn!

Camelbacks, or similar products, are amazingly useful, especially when walking around for hours each day!! And the Greeks are amazed by it! Or humored...we've seen both reactions.

Greece Day 2

After becoming somewhat familiar with Athens yesterday getting around town was much easier. We seemed like natives on the metro. Ok maybe not so much like natives, because people can tell we are American before we open or mouths. The Athens area has great public transportation. We were able to get passes good for 1.5 hours for only €.70. Skip tour busses!!! The €.70 passes were only good for students with an I.D. Card. Without it it was €1.40 for the same thing. 

For today we started off by visiting the shop of famous poet/sandalmaker Starvos Melissinos (he has since retired and his son now runs the shop), who has sold sandals worldwide to customers such as the Beatles, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Jackie Kennedy. He wrote the world famous poem "The Rubaiyat." His sandals were awesome and were around €30 a pair, we passed in order to preserve the budget.

We then decided that we wanted to see the ocean; getting there was easy on public transportation. We didn't make it to an island due to time and budget but the water was great, of course we would prefer an island but we will live without for now. ( someday Hydra...someday)

After the beach we roamed our favorite portion of Athens, Monastiraki! I am sure this place is a huge tourist trap, however it is fun to walk around the tight streets among all the vendors. Be prepared to say no ...a lot. We were tempted by the four foot bronze statue of a Spartan, but decided it was too much to carry this early in our trip.

 They have have what we call restaurant wranglers who stand outside every restaurant and and entice you in. At one point the "wrangler" (not really called this, but we will refer to them as such from here on out) took us to his boss, because the food was too much he knocked the price down 4 euro...still too much, he looked bothered and shooed us away. This leads us to believe you can haggle on price at some restaurants. We decided on a cheap place (that had no wranglers) that served up some awesome gyros for €2, cheap and delicious! The meat may not have been as described but it tasted great going down:) We also grabbed another Greek salad loaded with  tomatoes, cucumbers and excellent feta cheese.

It was then time to head back home as we had some laundry to do. On the way out of the Market Brooke purchased some cherries and nectarines (we got a ton for a little cash, 2 kilos of fruit for €3 to be exact). On the way home we stopped at Syntagma Square, where The Tomb of The Unknown Soldier is located, to witness the changing of the guard. This happens every hour on the hour and is quite the mini ceremony.

Upon getting home we went to war with a washing machine that had all its labels in a different language. One would think it would be in Greek, alas, an Italian washing machine had found its way to the small apartment we rented. We decided to go for a late night snack and found something that we declare must be in the Unites States, look for the petition shortly, an Oreo cream filled chocolate bar!!!!!!

We now have clothes hanging all over the apartment so they can dry by morning before we head out for Meteora!  Fare thee well Athens, you have not seen the last of us!

Tips from Today!

-tipping is not obligatory, but a tip should follow good service

-you will see owl figurines everywhere this is the symbol of wisdom which is representative of the goddess Athena, after which the city is named

-the little beads you see people flipping around their hands are just cultural, no religious importance

-use the metro 1.5hr. Pass and get anywhere in Athens easy ( they are good for train, tram, bus and metro)

- the pass purchased at the Acropolis has small tear off tickets that are good for six other cultural sites (ancient Agora, The Theatre of Dionysos, Roman Agora, Kereameikos, The Temple of Olympian Zeus, and Hadrian's Library.

-when buying fruit they only sell kilos, making transactions quick and easy, and one kilo of cherries is a lot of cherries!

-buy an Oreo cream filled chocolate bar

-Airbnb.com works great ... So far. We payed €28 a night for our own mini apartment. Of course this was Greece so somewhat cheaper then the rest of our stops.

Athens and the Acropolis!

Yaissou (hello) from Greece!

We are proud to announce that we have officially seen the best of Athens  in one day!

First, of course, was the Acropolis!

 "Can we really be seeing something I've only dreamed about?" says Brooke and thousands of other tourists gazing upward before running to the shade...

Just a little souvlaki and Greek salad for lunch. We are basically natives now.

After asking for directions once, walking right by, and asking for directions again, we found the Athens LDS branch!! Woohoo! Great location 2 minutes from the Acropolis!

Our first real day in Europe would not be complete without gelato.... I think kinder and ferrero rocher were so delicious that we might have to get another tomorrow. But hey, if we walk 6 miles again, why not??

Traveling Wisdom:

The metro here is dirt cheap. Beats walking the 30 minutes to the acropolis in the heat.

Thunderstorms in Athens DO happen in June, and it would benefit you to pack your waterproof jackets even if it appears hot and sunny.

Students get in half price to some attractions, so bring a student card!!

You can share that €4 dinner. Cheap and delicious! 

Greek buses don't have the stops listed. Anywhere. So better have the stop you need written down if it's 11:30pm, you just flew into town, and you aren't familiar with the area.

Greek water is ok...so far...

Watermelon shaped popsicles are delicious. Like a fiesta of flavor in your mouth.

Antio! (Yes, we are learning Greek)