After having an awesome time in Croatia, I boarded the overnight ferry back to Italy (Ancona). Matt and I worked it out that it would be possible to meet up in Perugia, where he was staying, so after getting off the ferry in Ancona, I took a train to Perugia. As soon as I got off the train, Matt was waiting for me on the platform and welcomed me with a huge hug.
While touring around Perugia, we exchanged tons of travel stories and shared photos & videos of our adventures over the past month. I particularly was excited to hear about Matt's Ferrari/Lambourghini factory experience and how it felt to drive a Lambourghini. Amazing!!!
Here's a photo of us just before we're about to dive into some pizza:
After almost 7 hours of visiting, I had to leave to catch my train to Rome as I had a flight to Athens early the next morning. It was awesome to meet up!! Hopefully we can do it one more time before I go home for Christmas.
Athens
As some of you know, I was very hesitant to add Athens to my itinerary for this trip due to the current events in Athens and the never ending stories I heard from fellow backpackers of muggings and how dodgy Athens was. Most backpackers I talked to stated that they did not feel safe in Athens and that their main goal was to see the sights and leave asap.
With all the precautionary advice at the forefront of my mind, I arrived at the Athens airport and as soon as I picked up my luggage from the carousel rack, I removed all of my valuables out of my daypack and transferred them into my big backpack. Shortly thereafter, I learned that there was a public transportation strike and that my only options would be to take a taxi or take the regional train part way and taxi the remainder of the journey. I really didn't want to be standing at a train station waiting for a taxi so I opted to take a taxi the entire journey. I went to the train ticket booth and asked a few people where they were headed to see if they wanted to share a taxi and split the costs. I was so thankful to meet 2 girls from California who were headed to the city centre...and to the same hostel!! An answered prayer for sure :)
The traffic was insane in Athens and it took close to 2 hours to reach our hostel which was located less than a 5 minute walk from Acropolis. How perfect because that is the only thing I wanted to see and with no public transportation, I didn't need to rely on a bus/metro to get to my sight seeing venue.
After dropping off our luggage, all 3 of us girls headed to grab a bite to eat and then headed to Acropolis. We lucked out in that it was International Tourist Day and most of the museums/archeological sites were free including Acropolis!
Acropolis was amazing! I was so impressed by the preservation and ongoing restoration work and the amazing views of Athens from all corners of the site. I was also surprised at how big Athens is - it's a huge city.
Here are some photos from Acropolis:
After visiting Acropolis for a few hours, Kate and I headed to the Acropolis Museum. We then went back to the hostel to rest for a bit before heading out to dinner.
Dinner was excellent! We went to a restaurant right near our hostel that was recommended by both Rick Steve's and the Lonely Planet. The service was wonderful and the food was delicious - it was so good that I ate it and didn't even think to take a photo until I was done. What a shame!! I had the calamari and it was as fresh as fresh could be. Nom nom nom! Here's a pic of Kate, Lynn and myself at the restaurant.
After finishing our dinner, we went to a nearby bakery to buy some baklava. We then went to the rooftop patio of our hostel to enjoy a beautiful view of Acropolis (see photo below). A perfect evening to a wonderful day of sightseeing.
While touring around Perugia, we exchanged tons of travel stories and shared photos & videos of our adventures over the past month. I particularly was excited to hear about Matt's Ferrari/Lambourghini factory experience and how it felt to drive a Lambourghini. Amazing!!!
Here's a photo of us just before we're about to dive into some pizza:
After almost 7 hours of visiting, I had to leave to catch my train to Rome as I had a flight to Athens early the next morning. It was awesome to meet up!! Hopefully we can do it one more time before I go home for Christmas.
Athens
As some of you know, I was very hesitant to add Athens to my itinerary for this trip due to the current events in Athens and the never ending stories I heard from fellow backpackers of muggings and how dodgy Athens was. Most backpackers I talked to stated that they did not feel safe in Athens and that their main goal was to see the sights and leave asap.
With all the precautionary advice at the forefront of my mind, I arrived at the Athens airport and as soon as I picked up my luggage from the carousel rack, I removed all of my valuables out of my daypack and transferred them into my big backpack. Shortly thereafter, I learned that there was a public transportation strike and that my only options would be to take a taxi or take the regional train part way and taxi the remainder of the journey. I really didn't want to be standing at a train station waiting for a taxi so I opted to take a taxi the entire journey. I went to the train ticket booth and asked a few people where they were headed to see if they wanted to share a taxi and split the costs. I was so thankful to meet 2 girls from California who were headed to the city centre...and to the same hostel!! An answered prayer for sure :)
The traffic was insane in Athens and it took close to 2 hours to reach our hostel which was located less than a 5 minute walk from Acropolis. How perfect because that is the only thing I wanted to see and with no public transportation, I didn't need to rely on a bus/metro to get to my sight seeing venue.
After dropping off our luggage, all 3 of us girls headed to grab a bite to eat and then headed to Acropolis. We lucked out in that it was International Tourist Day and most of the museums/archeological sites were free including Acropolis!
Acropolis was amazing! I was so impressed by the preservation and ongoing restoration work and the amazing views of Athens from all corners of the site. I was also surprised at how big Athens is - it's a huge city.
Here are some photos from Acropolis:
After visiting Acropolis for a few hours, Kate and I headed to the Acropolis Museum. We then went back to the hostel to rest for a bit before heading out to dinner.
Dinner was excellent! We went to a restaurant right near our hostel that was recommended by both Rick Steve's and the Lonely Planet. The service was wonderful and the food was delicious - it was so good that I ate it and didn't even think to take a photo until I was done. What a shame!! I had the calamari and it was as fresh as fresh could be. Nom nom nom! Here's a pic of Kate, Lynn and myself at the restaurant.
After finishing our dinner, we went to a nearby bakery to buy some baklava. We then went to the rooftop patio of our hostel to enjoy a beautiful view of Acropolis (see photo below). A perfect evening to a wonderful day of sightseeing.
No comments:
Post a Comment