One of the best things about my post-season travel agenda this year is that at just about every stop I've got someone to travel and experience the city with. In Athens...I've got my sister! Time for an eagle reunion! I landed late Friday night while she landed early Saturday morning, so in order to save money and time I stayed at the airport overnight. Surprisingly enough I wasn't the only one with this idea. Although I'm sure most of the other people were there for layovers or early morning flights out (not because they're cheapasses). At least when Carly arrived we were both in similar sleep deprived states. Our first day consisted of wandering (surprise surprise) and trying to stay awake until a socially acceptable hour. With the help of some Greek coffee we made it till sundown. We didn't waste anytime the next day and decided to start with a hike up Mount Lykabettus for a view of the entire city. Since it was Easter and Sunday we knew that almost everything was going to be closed so we had another relatively relaxing day. Well relaxing for me, Carly wasn't super stoked on the amount of walking we did. I sort of got us lost trying to find a temple. After a long day we decided to reward ourselves with drinks atop one of the upscale hotels of Athens: The Grand Bretagne. Most of its appeal comes from its amazing rooftop views of the Parthenon, although the free champagne was a definite plus. On day 3 we were finally able to check out some of the historic sights of Athens: the Acropolis! We started out with the Parthenon, Erectheon and that gosh darn temple, before wandering over to a bustling strip for some lunch. With some daylight to kill we headed to the beach and spent the rest of the day meeting people from across the globe...a lady from Egypt, 2 older men from the Middle East, a young kid from Belgium traveling with his family, a skateboarder from Iran and a break dancer from South America. After a pretty awesome show in Syntagma Square (we managed to sit down right in front of a group of break dancers) we headed home to rest up for our last day in Athens. Our final day consisted of checking off the last of our historic sights: Temple of Zeus (the largest temple of its time), Panathenaic Stadium (stadium where they held the first official Olympics) and the Acropolis Museum (Greece's newest museum built over some of the ancient ruins). Since we had an early morning wake up call we grabbed some dinner and called it a night. The next morning we were off to Naxos! Although it's not as well known as Santorini or Mykonos (two of the most popular among tourists), Naxos is one of the Cyclades Islands. When most people think of Greek islands they probably picture white square buildings with blue doors built on hills along the seaside. Well, that's pretty much what it looked like, except without the hoards of tourists. We spent the first day wandering the tiny streets, relaxing by the seaside and gorging ourselves on amazing Greek food (well in Carly's case free wine...bonus to traveling with Alyssa: when the restaurants entice you with a free glass of wine you will actually get 2). The next day we set out to explore as much of the island as possible. We rented a quad bike and headed across the island. There were so many spectacular views, rolling green hills, tiny hidden villages and a whole lot of sunshine. After stopping in one of the villages for a coffee to warm up a bit (yes it was sunny but that breeze went straight through our jackets) we headed to the coast for some beach exploration. It was pretty awesome being able to take the quad right up to the beaches, many of which were completely deserted. It almost felt like we had the entire island to ourselves (one of the bonuses to traveling in the off-season). Island life was really quite the experience. People work in sweatpants for goodness sake. I'm sold! Not to mention their food was awesome and surprisingly cheap. Lets just say I loved it so much that after Carly and I headed back to Athens (6 hour ferry ride) and said our goodbyes, I made my way back to the islands. Nothing like a last minute trip to Crete! Crete is probably one of the better known islands. It's also the biggest so with 2 days I didn't get to see a whole lot. I tried to make the most of it though. First up, a bike ride! What I had in mind was a nice cruise along the seaside to one of the nearby beaches but somehow I ended up climbing the hills of Chania for 3 hours with the wind working against me. That's probably why I was asked if I was a good cycler before I left. Silly me for assuming it meant I know how to pedal and use the breaks. Let's just say I was beyond relieved when I saw the beach. Unfortunately that relief dissipated when I realized I had to ride back up the side of the mountain I just went down. I'll try and give you an idea of how steep it was...I spent 3 straight hours climbing and it took me a little over 2 minutes to descend. It was essentially a cliff. It was faster to just walk my bike up than to even attempt to pedal. So I began my hike. About the time I got to the first switchback a gentleman pulled up and offered me a ride up the mountain. Yes please! Turns out he's from Florida and is stationed nearby. By the time he dropped me off the rest of my ride home was pretty much all downhill.
By the time I made it to the port I was famished and ready for dinner. After over a week in Greece I learned that it's impossible to walk by a restaurant without someone telling you to take a look at their menu. Often times they even offer you a free glass of wine but this was the first time I couldn't talk my way out of it. The man literally took me to a table with a group of Australians and told me it wasn't acceptable for me to not have a drink in his restaurant. My plan was to stay for one and then sneak out when he wasn't paying attention. That went over real well. The man just kept bringing drinks. Even when we stopped ordering them, they kept coming. When they started coming before we even finished the one in front of us we decided it was time to leave. With very little sleep under my belt (my ferry was an overnight ferry) and having just done a killer bike ride, I headed back to my hostel for a good nights sleep. The next day I met up with my new Australian friends before heading back to the port to catch my ferry to Athens. Then it was off to Barcelona!
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