Greece
Welcome to Greece
I arrived in Athens, Greece on May 24 in the early afternoon. I had been riding on various trains for nearly 56 hours having slept just two short nights in hotels. I knew that I didn't want to spend much time in Athens, wanting instead to quickly get to the islands. I didn't know where in Athens to stay; so I walked across the street to a little greek bar and ordered a Mythos (Greek beer).
While I consumed that terrific, well-deserved beer, I looked through my travel book. First I needed to know where I was; second I needed to know what part of town to stay in, and third I needed to figure out how to get there. I was stumped for a bit but finally decided, in the interest of time and convenience, to stay near the train station. I walked up and down a few streets until I found a few hotels together. After looking at a few rooms, I selected Cosmos Island Hotel.
YUCK!!!
I hadn't done laundry for a week, my hair was getting out of control, and I had no Euros (money). Anticipating having to wait for laundry machines, I strapped a camera around my neck and loaded my backpack with dirty clothes. An inexpensive, full-service laundry was just around the corner; I dropped my clothes off and started looking for an exchange (to change money). I must have walked into 4 banks - for one reason or another they couldn't exchange any money. Good thing I had an ATM card.
As it happens I passed a barber while looking for a way to get money. I explained that I needed just my sideburns, which had grown way to bushy after 4 weeks away, trimmed, and asked how much. She cleaned me up and didn't want any money. I had to stay local if I wanted to pick up my laundry that afternoon, so I strolled around my new neighborhood shooting photos for a couple hours. I found a travel angent who booked me on a 4-night trip to a couple islands, and even found an exchange to rid myself of various, now useless currencies.
Off to the Parthanon
After collecting my clothes, I set off for the Parthanon. Athens has Greek ruins dating back to 500ad, and I needed to see them for myself. I figured out how to grab an underground, and spent the rest of the day and the following morning taking photos.
Off to Mykinos
After getting back from the ruins, I quickly packed a bag and caught an underground to the port. My ticket had the name of the ferry and a slip number. When I got to the port, I found that the slip number corresponed to absolutely nothing. So I walked around looking at the back of ships for a name.
Good thing I left early, because I must have searched for a half hour before completely giving up. I asked every official looking person I could find to no avail. Eventually I checked my big backpack to gain some agility and inadvertantly strolled by a travel agent. The woman pointed her finger and told me that my ship was just past another ferry that was in plain view. I walked to the end of the dock twice - nothin' there. I went back to find out what she'd been smokin' and found out from another employee I was nowhere near my ship . I quickly got my backpack and ran (no really). I wasn't going to make it, and just then I found a taxi. I got to the ship just as they were about to close the doors.
Bad Weather / Good Time
It was windy, and the ferry did its share of tossing. The trip was around 6 hours, and I arrived that night. The hotel was nice, and I crashed hard. The weather in Mykinos was windy and cool - definitely not bathing-suit weather. I read in my travel book that this island had nude beaches, and after surveying the travelers on the island, I was really glad nobody would be sunbathing nude in front of me. I spent two days unwinding, eating great food, and taking photographs.
Island 2 - Paros
After a couple nights I moved to Paros. Here the weather improved and I did more unwinding, this time in flower trunks. The seafood was wonderful - my first night I ate octopus, calamari, squid, and shrimp. I did almost nothing, except soaking up the sun and wine. Here I found a spectacular sunset, which I duly captured.
Back to Athens
I spent my last couple days in Athens. I found some ruins I missed the first time around near my hotel. In the afternoon I caught a bus down to Cape Sounion for a sunset. The buses leave Athens just about every hour - they take two hours to get there. Once at the cape I checked to see when the last bus home left and had lunch and a few beers.
I shot the Temple of Poseidon in the daylight and hung around waiting for the sun to set. While I was waiting I met Josh and his wife. It turns out that Josh's mother was celebrating her birthday that night, and she took the whole family to Greece. After talking for a bit, the sun began to set - I was on a mission. I shot this way and that until the sun went all the way down. I checked my watch and packed up. As I climbed down I encountered Josh, said goodbye, and headed for the bus stop, where no bus was to be found. I missed the last bus home!! Lucky for me Josh hadn't left, becuase he and his family drove me back to civilization.
Off to Budapest
After my 4-day train ride from St. Pete to Greece, I was in no mood to train it back to Budapest (24 hours). I booked a relatively expensive ticket on a hungarian airline and got there in 2 hours. In a stroke of luck, my flight landed at the same time my family's did. We picked up our bags at the same carausel and headed for the Hotel Budapest together.
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