Day 5
Yesterday we took a boat cruise to the Blue Caves off the coast of Paxos and Anti-Paxos. We took a 3 hr ride to get to Paxos. When we got there we rode around close to the shore and were able to explore the caves off the coast.
Then we went to Anti-Paxos and went swimming. We had to jump off the boat in order to get into the nice blue water....... which was freezing cold and soooo salty. The water here is actually so salty that you don't have to put much effort into swimming to stay afloat. We swam for a bit and then got back on the boat and headed back to Paxos, where we then got off the boat for 3 hrs. We explored the island and then went to the beach. Their beaches are pebble beaches however we sat at the rockey edge because the rocks were too slippery to venture out further and Chrissy almost fell and resprained her ankle. We then had lunch and walked around the shops before snagging some gelato and heading back to the boat.
When we got back last night we showered in the tiny shower and had a bit of a mishap as the door fell off mid-shower. The bathroom was a bit flooded after all the showers were taken. We did our first round of "sink" laundry with Chrissy's shampoo so all of our clothes had an extra "body boost" today. Unfortunately we found out that we had to be checked out of rooms at 11am today not 6pm so we did a bit of quick drying with the blow dryer and plan on hanging the rest of the clothes tonight in our room on the ferry...opps.
We then headed to dinner and sauntered into a few shops on the way and one of the locals recommended a fabulous resturant. We decided to be adventurous and try the local speciality, Sofritas which was beef smothered in a garlic sauce with rice. The beef was great the rice was something that mom might have been cooking because it was a bit crunchy. We made friends with the waitress learned how to write our names in greek and ended up getting entertained by fellow customers from Sweden that Cindy likes referring to as "Woodland Ferries". They were celebrating the first day of summer we think and had flowers in their hair and kept singing ridiculous songs, doing the wave, and dancing around the resturant. We laughed hysterically and tried to figure out what the hell they had been drinking.
Day 6
Today we headed back into Corfu town after attempting to reblow dry our clothes and packing our bags. We walked around enjoyed a leisurely lunch and coffee and had some great people watching experiences. We are now sitting in the lobby of the hotel waiting to load up the bus in about 15min to catch a ferry back to the main land and then an over night boat to Italy. Although the forecast for Rome is rain so thats not super exciting, but we are excited to go to a new country and start some more sightseeing.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Day 4 Delphi and Day 5 Corfu
So yesterday was a busy day. We started the day off getting to have breakfast at the hotel watching them try to stuff all 50 people's luggage on the bus (it had a similar effect as sardines in a sardine can minus the smell) boarding the bus and heading off to Delphi. We stopped in a small town for lunch which was quite delicious. We split chicken rice and french fries which is apparently considered a vegetable in Greece so yes we are eating really healthy. We also split a dessert that we still have no idea what it was. Some kind of custard with whip cream but there was weird stringy pieces that lined the bottom that we sorta of poked at like a junior high science experiment.
Once we arrived in Delphi we had a tour guide that gave us the background about the prophecies and how Delphi came to be the top prophecy in the area. Delphi was known for worshiping the god Apollo for 9mo of the year and Dionysus the other three months. Idea being to balance out wisdom and wine/fun. So we were able to see the Temple dedicated to Apollo and what is left of Delphi. As we made our ascent up to the ruins it began to pour. Thanks mom for those great umbrellas :-) We made it to the top slightly wet, slightly grumpy and basically waiting to fall on our asses since most of the path is made of marble. At the top of Delphi is an arena where warriors were able to battle for honor. Some place for a prophecy eh?
After making our way down and the down pour ended we went into the museum where all the artifacts that have been found are now being housed. Apparently we found out you can take pictures of the artifacts however posing in the pictures with the artifacts as I tried to have Cindy do with outstretched arms is something you get yourself yelled at for. After a quick tour of the museum we boarded the bus and headed towards Patra to catch the night ferry.
On the way to Patra we stopped for what we had hoped would be a swim however it was freezing so we skipped the swim and enjoyed the view. Once in Patra we stopped for dinner before boarding the "ferry". Yes "ferry". I'm not sure what you think of when you hear ferry but we think of something small wooden like and yes it might possibly stuff a bunch of people into a small room with your luggage. Apparently "ferry" meant mini cruise ship. So once we all boarded we immediately wandered around checking it out and were a bit bummed since the casino was indeed closed. We ended up turning in early because we had to be at breakfast at 6am and off the boat by 7.
Ya 6am came around real quick here and there coffee does not help. I'm basically non-functional in this country secondary to lack of coffee. So again we boarded the bus and headed to our hotel right outside of Corfu Town, Poppi Star. Ya we're having fun with that one too. Today we relaxed for most of the day a bit at the beach and then found a boating excursion to nearby islands, Paxos and Anti Paxos that we will embark on tomorrow. So in Greece they name an island a name and the one opposite it anti-whatever name. So we are excited for that. Right now we are going to change after our little afternoon nap head to Corfu Town for some window shopping in dinner and then out for another girls birthday.
Once we arrived in Delphi we had a tour guide that gave us the background about the prophecies and how Delphi came to be the top prophecy in the area. Delphi was known for worshiping the god Apollo for 9mo of the year and Dionysus the other three months. Idea being to balance out wisdom and wine/fun. So we were able to see the Temple dedicated to Apollo and what is left of Delphi. As we made our ascent up to the ruins it began to pour. Thanks mom for those great umbrellas :-) We made it to the top slightly wet, slightly grumpy and basically waiting to fall on our asses since most of the path is made of marble. At the top of Delphi is an arena where warriors were able to battle for honor. Some place for a prophecy eh?
After making our way down and the down pour ended we went into the museum where all the artifacts that have been found are now being housed. Apparently we found out you can take pictures of the artifacts however posing in the pictures with the artifacts as I tried to have Cindy do with outstretched arms is something you get yourself yelled at for. After a quick tour of the museum we boarded the bus and headed towards Patra to catch the night ferry.
On the way to Patra we stopped for what we had hoped would be a swim however it was freezing so we skipped the swim and enjoyed the view. Once in Patra we stopped for dinner before boarding the "ferry". Yes "ferry". I'm not sure what you think of when you hear ferry but we think of something small wooden like and yes it might possibly stuff a bunch of people into a small room with your luggage. Apparently "ferry" meant mini cruise ship. So once we all boarded we immediately wandered around checking it out and were a bit bummed since the casino was indeed closed. We ended up turning in early because we had to be at breakfast at 6am and off the boat by 7.
Ya 6am came around real quick here and there coffee does not help. I'm basically non-functional in this country secondary to lack of coffee. So again we boarded the bus and headed to our hotel right outside of Corfu Town, Poppi Star. Ya we're having fun with that one too. Today we relaxed for most of the day a bit at the beach and then found a boating excursion to nearby islands, Paxos and Anti Paxos that we will embark on tomorrow. So in Greece they name an island a name and the one opposite it anti-whatever name. So we are excited for that. Right now we are going to change after our little afternoon nap head to Corfu Town for some window shopping in dinner and then out for another girls birthday.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Day 2/Day 3-Athens
Okay so we made it....and yes Cindy is still with me...dam...I'm sure she is thinking the same thing. So the flight was not restful at all however we did get a fun upgrade from O'hare to London. We were not in first class but we did get our own tv's and not only did our seats recline but we had footrests too. It was fun!! Once we landed in London we hopped the bus to the arrival area and proceeded to jog to our next gate. Unfortuanately we didn't have a next gate and had to go through security again and Cindy didn't drink her free wine from the previous flight and almost got us in trouble with her over 6oz of liquid in her bag. We made the next flight sat in the last seat, next to the bathroom and hardly slept a wink. Once we arrived in Athens we got our bags and found the rest of the group which is apparently made up of 49 kids ranging from 18-26yr. old plus our tour guide. We got on the bus and headed to our hotel.
Once we got to the hotel, climbed the stairs which I found to be quite easy (Cindy needed some assistance) we met our roommate who is oh just lovely. Cindy "loves her". She has two suitcases that each could accomodate Cindy, a snoring issue, and a love for the showers that last an hour. Cindy and I walked around town for a bit and then headed to dinner with her new beloved friend for gyros. We hung around the hotel for the rest of the night and went to bed early.
Today was quite busy for us. We were up early and out the door for a bus tour of Athens and then a walking tour including the Acropolis. We made friends with a lovely girl from Utah, April, and she hit the town with us after the walking tour. We went to the new museum of the Acropolis where they moved the actual artifacts from the Parthenon, Athena's temple and Erectheon. At the Parthenon we found out that Areosmith was there....however we did not see him other members of our group did.We also stopped by the Olympic field, Zeus' Temple, and the three most beautiful buildings in Athens which was a library, goverment building and the first University. We also stopped for the best gyros we have ever had in the "Old City" that were smothered in paprika, great decision. We mastered the metro system for these little adventures unfortunately we haven't mastered finding the metro stations. We meandered around the city in Plaka a bit before finding the tram outside the Parliment building and heading back to the hotel. Only to endure an hour long tram ride, standing, with no air conditioning. It was fun. We missed our tram stop though and found ourselves at a gelato shop excellent choice after a long hot day.
We came back for about an hour before meeting with some other people from the group and headed out to watch the Greece vs. Argentina soccer game. Greece lost and we enjoyed some wine and a greek salad with no lettuce ( Mom would be so proud). Other than that it is close to midnight and we are ready to hit the hay and head out to Delphi tomorrow.
Once we got to the hotel, climbed the stairs which I found to be quite easy (Cindy needed some assistance) we met our roommate who is oh just lovely. Cindy "loves her". She has two suitcases that each could accomodate Cindy, a snoring issue, and a love for the showers that last an hour. Cindy and I walked around town for a bit and then headed to dinner with her new beloved friend for gyros. We hung around the hotel for the rest of the night and went to bed early.
Today was quite busy for us. We were up early and out the door for a bus tour of Athens and then a walking tour including the Acropolis. We made friends with a lovely girl from Utah, April, and she hit the town with us after the walking tour. We went to the new museum of the Acropolis where they moved the actual artifacts from the Parthenon, Athena's temple and Erectheon. At the Parthenon we found out that Areosmith was there....however we did not see him other members of our group did.We also stopped by the Olympic field, Zeus' Temple, and the three most beautiful buildings in Athens which was a library, goverment building and the first University. We also stopped for the best gyros we have ever had in the "Old City" that were smothered in paprika, great decision. We mastered the metro system for these little adventures unfortunately we haven't mastered finding the metro stations. We meandered around the city in Plaka a bit before finding the tram outside the Parliment building and heading back to the hotel. Only to endure an hour long tram ride, standing, with no air conditioning. It was fun. We missed our tram stop though and found ourselves at a gelato shop excellent choice after a long hot day.
We came back for about an hour before meeting with some other people from the group and headed out to watch the Greece vs. Argentina soccer game. Greece lost and we enjoyed some wine and a greek salad with no lettuce ( Mom would be so proud). Other than that it is close to midnight and we are ready to hit the hay and head out to Delphi tomorrow.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Off to the airport
Well, Its Sunday and that means we have a looooonng day of traveling ahead of us. We are flying to England, and then to Greece. We are going to arrive in Greece at 2PM. We are finally done packing...... each with a suitcase, backpack and purse. We hope the traveling goes safe and fast!
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TIME TABLE:
Greece is 8 hrs ahead of us
The other places we are going are 7 hrs a head of us
Friday, June 18, 2010
Packing!
Well it's Friday June 18th, 2010...... and Chrissy and I have yet to begin packing lol! Looks like we will be doing the best kind of packing.....last minute!
Then on Sunday we will be flying from Chicago to England, then England to Greece!!!! Can't wait!
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