Seeing as though it is a typical rainy English day and a bank holiday, I’m taking the day to catch up on correspondence and give you folks some more reading material.
Friday April 4th- Day 15- Milan, Italy
That morning we sadly left behind beautiful Interlaken and boarded a train to Milan. We bid adieu to Adrienne who went elsewhere to visit a friend, and went in search of our hostel, which was actually a hotel. After a nice nap, at this point we needed a nap every time we got somewhere, we headed out. We visited the Duomo, which Milan is quite famous for, and for some reason always gets mentioned in my psychology class when we talk about neglect. Well at least now I can say I’ve seen it. We explored its neighbor, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II which had high end shops and was overall quite gorgeous in its design. We ventured towards Milan Castle and wandered through it and came across a park on the other side. We strolled through the park, discovering a concrete amphitheatre with actual chairs peeking out through the concrete. Then we shopped a bit which led to a few purchases, none of which were made by me. I was the one who came wanting to buy a handbag in Italy and I was the only one who didn’t. Funny how those things happen, huh? Anyway after shopping we went in search of dinner. After a few wrong turns and an overall very confusing journey we find a Chinese place near our hotel. While the service wasn’t great and the portions were tiny and the price was high, it was a nice meal. And aside from almost getting stuck in the bathroom all night, because the key had fallen out of the lock and wouldn’t turn properly once I put it back in, it was a good day.
Once we returned to the hotel we relaxed and Sarah turned on the TV so we watched TV in Italian. . .but Pimp My Ride was still in English (hmm. . .interesting)
Saturday April 5th-Day 16 Milan to Athens, Greece
After checking out of our hotel, we wandered for breakfast and got a bit choosey with our bakeries. Finally we found a nice café and had a pretty cheap breakfast. We then went on to see the Museum of Modern Art and another adjoining museum. We saw a park from a window and decided to head that way. Since it was the weekend there were a lot of kids running around with their families. They had games set up like bumper cars and it was very amusing to watch. We found a place to sit in the sun and hoped that the sun would restore our California tans. On the way back to the hotel to get our bags, we stopped to look at street vendors and grabbed a quick lunch. Once we had our luggage we went to the train station to catch a bus to the airport. We successfully made it to the airport and checked in our bags. Yes a legitimate airline where you can check bags! We didn’t have to worry about our bags being too heavy like we did when we left London. We waited in the airport for our flight to board and made a few phone calls home. Then once on the plane, we were once again pleased to be flying with a legit airline. And trust me you know you’ve been backpacking when you get excited for airplane food. A ‘free’ meal and ‘free’ drinks!
We arrived in Athens that night and met Sarah’s friend from home, Rachel, who would be joining us on our cruise. We took the metro to our hostel, a very long ride might I add. The hostel was not good. We have chosen some pretty good places in the past, but occasionally you get one that’s not so good. We were a bit scared to use the bathrooms and it was pretty dirty, but we reminded ourselves that we were only here for a night.
Sunday April 6th-Day 17- Athens (Day 1 of cruise)
So the hostel made up for its state with an amazing brunch. Sure we had to pay but there was a lot of food and it was good. It was a surprisingly amazing breakfast for the establishment. Excited for our cruise we took the metro to Piraeus where we would depart from. It was insanely crowded, with lots of knock off handbags and glasses being sold. We weren’t sure how far our port was so we decided to walk a bit. Then we asked someone and they told us it was too far to walk. We found the bus that would take us there and got on only to find out we had to buy our tickets elsewhere. We hopped off to get our tickets and the bus left. Luckily we still had plenty of time so we just caught the next one. After a ride that assured us that it was in fact too far to walk we arrived at Marina Zea and found our ship. We still had time before check in so we hung out by the end of the dock and enjoyed our first bit of Greece. This was our vacation from our vacation. We had signed up for tours so that we wouldn’t have to worry about planning our days. We met a few of the people who would be on the boat with us including a group of families who were from the US but living in Germany and a UCI alum.
Once we were allowed to check in we got settled in our rooms. Jennifer and I shared and Sarah and Rachel shared. Jen and I had the tiniest room. Our beds were less than a foot apart and there was zero (I’m not exaggerating) room to walk. Sarah and Rachel’s had the same distance between the beds, but had a bit of room. We then went exploring. There was a lounging area, an exercise area, a restaurant, a bar and a hot tub. I was impressed. I thought it would be really bad considering it was a pretty good price. It wasn’t great but it was better than I expected, okay well I did expect to be able to move around my room a bit.
Then we went in search of food. Since it was Sunday most places were closed so we ended up with chips (crisps) and ice cream from a news stand. Very healthy. After, we went back onto the boat and jumped in the hot tub before dinner. Relaxing. We decided to eat dinner on board since there was nothing around. Bad service, small portions, but convenient. And I think it was around this time that we realized there were about 40 obnoxious high-schoolers from an international school in Spain on our ship, which would explain why none of our friends were able to come. Basically for the majority of the trip the people on the boat and the crew thought we were part of that group.
After dinner we played Taboo and went to the cruise director’s meeting to get an overview of the ship and everything.
Monday April 7th- Day 18 Kiato (Day 2 of cruise)
We woke up in the middle of the night because the ship started shaking and our phones and books and things on our headboards attacked us. Turns out the ship was starting up to leave port. Not fun.
We woke up before 8 am because we were told there would be an alarm and drill at 8. But it didn’t happen til 8:30. We all had to put on our life vests and go to the edge of the ship. It was slightly amusing.
Since we had a tour for the day and had run out of granola bars long before, we ate breakfast on the ship. The waiter was extremely rude and snapped at us for asking if we could order but then tried to be nice when we paid, probably because he realized when he swiped our cards that we weren’t part of the school group and in fact were adults with our own money or credit card linked to our accounts.
Our tour departed not long after and we headed toward Nemea where the Nemean games were held. It was excavated by a Cal professor in the 1970s (go Cal!). We saw the ruins of the locker room, the stadium and the tunnel which connected the two. We then heard more about it from a professor the cruise hired to give us lectures (oh no not school again!). We then went down the road and saw more ruins (the theme of our time in Greece) including one of the Temples of Zeus but not THE Temple of Zeus. After we got back on the bus and headed to Mycenae, which I studied in Art History in high school. We saw the Treasury and Lion Gate with Grave Circle A. All of which I once knew more about.
For lunch we were taken to a nice restaurant where we were served roast lamb and potatoes, salad, and yogurt and honey for dessert. I usually don’t eat lamb, but it wasn’t bad. Oh yea, and it was included in what we originally paid for the tours, which was way less than people were paying if they booked on board.
Then we were taken to a gift shop place which specialized in sterling silver. For the most part it was out of our price range, but I did pick up a few things, which cannot be disclosed to my mother.
We got back to the boat with enough time to go to the grocery store before the ship activity for the night. We weren’t supposed to bring food on board so we hid it all in our purses. We bought granola bars and bread and jam for breakfasts.
Then we relaxed until the ship activity: wine tasting. We had a free wine tasting (without the pesky high school group) and sampled 2 whites, 1 rose and 2 reds. We learned a bit about how the wine was made and talked with some of the people we had lunch with. It was fun because they taught us how to properly taste wine.
For dinner, we went to a gyros place recommended by the couple we spoke to at the wine tasting. They were really cheap and the best we had the entire trip. We took our gyros and found a playground by the port where we hung out for a bit before deciding we were still hungry and needed another gyro. Those things are pretty small. Then we went in the hot tub again before bed. It was nice to be able to relax.
Tuesday April 8th-Day 19- Ithaca (Cruise day 3)
We didn’t have a tour for the day so we decided to have a nice low-key relaxing day. We slept in a bit to account for the hectic day that was tour day #1. After eating our breakfast of backpackers: bread and jam, we headed out to explore the island a bit. We picked up some postcards and stamps and got some souvenirs. Apparently post offices dislike my family, because of all the cards I sent that day only my brother’s got lost, as far as I know. I bought a turtle charm for my phone and it broke just a few days later. So long to my souvenir. We returned to the boat to lounge out on the chairs, except it wasn’t particularly sunny that day. After finding a fax machine for Jenn we went in search of lunch. We found 40 euros on the ground and I saw one of the families walking by the area just before so we found them and asked them if it was theirs. One of the dads thought his son might have lost it, but later said his son hadn’t lost it. We tried our best to find its owner and continued our search for lunch. We had a late lunch, another Greek dish for me: pastiscio which is a noodle dish kind of like noodle casserole. The menu for the restaurant said “Come to the kitchen to see our specials” and he wasn’t kidding. As soon as we walked in we were led to the kitchen to see what was available. It all looked so good. I wish you could do this in the States so you wouldn’t get so many surprises when you see that roast chicken and potatoes that you ordered. Then we grabbed some gelato and sat by the water followed by a nap and reading time. The activity for the night was Greek lessons so we decided to check it out with our happy hour drinks in hand. We decided to treat ourselves on our relaxing day. For dinner we had gyros yet again and sat by the water and for dessert we went to a pastry shop and I got a mini chocolate crème cake. A bunch of people from the ship came into the same shop including one of the families we met on the first day who wanted to hear more about our backpacking adventure. Once back on the boat we played Trivial Pursuit and realized we need to learn more random facts.
Wednesday April 9th-Day 20- Patras (Cruise Day 4)
We went on an all-day excursion again. We went around the ancient Olympia site and saw the Temple of Zeus, the Temple of Hera, the Philippeon, Hera’s Altar and the Stadium. After a short walk we arrived at the museum which houses some of the statues which were originally a part of the site’s structures. Then the professor gave another lecture, which I only heard part of because we wasn’t speaking loud enough, so I ended up joining the girls who were already sitting across the quad.
For lunch we were taken to a restaurant and served Greek salads, pastiscio, and a gelatin thing with jam all of which were very good. We then had some time to shop for souvenirs before heading back to port where we visited St. Andrews Church on the way to the grocery store (which was a lot further than we thought). But we had the company of a stray dog who led us to the grocery store.
After dinner we climbed to the top of these stairs which afforded an amazing view, except it was night so it wasn’t that amazing, but it was a workout. We looked around that area a bit before heading back on board. Once again, we played a board game and went to sleep, something that became a habit and caused some of the people on board to tease us about coming all the way from California to play cards in Greece.
Thursday April 10th-Day 21- Itea (Cruise Day 5)
We had a half-day excursion to Delphi where we saw the Treasury of Athens and another stadium as well as a Greek theater and some cute stray cats that made me miss my Billy. It was long-ish but tiring walk to the stadium since it was very hot out and the terrain was hilly. After we went to yet another museum which thankfully was air conditioned. We were served a free lunch on board of pasta and a pear. It was very little food compared to the days before. We then wandered for a bit to find internet. I got stressed out when I found out about a bunch of stuff I somehow had to do for an apartment and the girls went and wandered while I tried to get some stuff accomplished. They came back and Jen had bought everyone a pastry and it was yum and made me feel a bit better. We headed back to the boat and put on our suits and went swimming in the cold Mediterranean, with sandals on because of the rocky beach. The beach we were on had those straw umbrellas you see in Corona commercials which was a little amusing to me. After, we jumped in the hot tub to warm up a bit. Then after a nice shower I read for a bit and just relaxed out on deck in the sun. For dinner we had gyros again. We couldn’t find anything else that was cheap and sounded good as we wandered the area. We ate them on a bench by the water and were attacked by giant bugs that were attracted to the lights around us. Just thinking about it makes me shudder. Then we went back on board for the activity that night: belly dancers.
Oh man. . those belly dancers were something else. First a male one came out and started dancing with the high schoolers who just loved it. Then a female one appeared and started accosting the male guests. Basically slowly but surely they grabbed everyone. Half the room cleared out and we soon followed. We ran for our lives. We ended up running to the hot tub bar and playing cards before joining a few of the guests who were dancing. The belly dancers later came to that deck and I kept my eye out for the awkward male one to avoid him. *Shudder*
Friday April 11th- Day 22- Aegina (Cruise Day 6)
The ship arrived at port later than usual so we took it as an opportunity to sleep in a bit. We had another half-day excursion. First we went to the Temple of Aphaia. By this point we were too tired to stand around and listen to all the information, and we got a little tired of taking so many photos. After, we headed to Kolonna which was actually right by the port. We went to the museum first, and then to the site. Sarah and Jen stayed behind at the museum, but Rachel and I explored the site and found an amazing ocean view awaited us. We then walked back to the pier and ran on the shop to grab our books and such since the ship was going to leave for a few hours. Since we had decided to stay off the boat for those few hours, we walked to the beach because Sarah wanted to get away from the high school kids, but there were annoying kids there and it was really dirty so I decided to head back to the pier where I sat and read and wrote for a bit. Then I went to look for internet and a postcard for my cousin. I don’t think it ever made it to him. Along the way I stopped in some shops and a grocery store to get some jelly for out bread, and some juice for Jen who was starting to get a cold. I was able to find a postcard for my cousin but no stamp. I ended up having to get a stamp in Germany. But overall I really enjoyed looking around the town and just having some alone time. I needed it. After returning to the boat I took a nap and then went to dinner and had an English style meal.
Saturday April 12th- Day 23- Piraeus (Cruise Day 7)
We had another day trip on this day. We went to the Acropolis and the National Archaeological Museum and had lunch in an area of Athens near the Acropolis. The Acropolis was pretty much just as I imagined it. It was weird to be there. It’s just one of those things you saw on TV during the Athens Olympics and you read about and see pictures of, but never really imagine yourself there, kind of like when I saw “David”. I just tried to take it all in, which I feel like is impossible to do. After lunch which was okay and gave us time to talk to people on the ship a bit more, we went shopping in that area. It is known for its markets. It was fun to look, but by this time, it hurt even to think about spending money, and I was exhausted and slightly burnt. Sarah wanted to go take a look at a theater so we headed back to the Acropolis. I decided not to go back in to take a closer look at the theater, but to sit out on a bench in the shade and enjoy just being there.
We decided to eat dinner on board that night. We had planned to have the buffet, but when we got there I found out it was a seafood buffet, and for those of you who know me at least semi-well, I do not eat seafood. Jenn kept trying to convince me to try it, but I tried shrimp for them in Barcelona. I was not eating seafood. So I ordered off the menu. We played cards that night and were teased by one of the families on board. They worked for the US military in Germany and told us if we ever wanted American food, they had access to it and invited us to stay with their families when we came to Germany. But we already booked Munich and Berlin so we didn’t end up taking them up on their offer. But overall all the people we met on the cruise were very nice. Especially one of the receptionists who continually fixed my card which would either work on my door or the entrance and not both.
Sunday April 13th- Day 24- Athens to Munich, Germany
After settling out accounts on board and checking out we looked for a place to do our laundry and failed. So we headed to the airport where we spent pretty much the whole day. We said farewell to Rachel and boarded our plane to Munich were we met up with Curtis another UC student from Royal Holloway and relaxed in the hostel with a few cups of tea as we prepared ourselves for the last week of our adventure. . .
. . .more to come in Part 4 (hopefully the last part)
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