Friday, July 11, 2008
Papho concludes and Athens begins
Just got back from Greece yesterday morning. And I am definitely feeling the effects of jet lag. I woke up this morning at about 4.30 am and then decided to go back to sleep for a few hours at around 7.oo am. That few hours turned out to be a full night of sleep when I woke up at 3.30 in the afternoon. We'll see how I go tonight I guess!
I believe I left off with my blog on the wedding day. Matt and Lee's wedding was really lovely. They had it right at their resort and then the pool area got closed off for for their private dinner. They should have closed the pool area for the wedding itself. Just when Lee started to walk down the carpet down to the alter, a man in his blue Speedos felt that would be an opportune time to step out right where Lee was walking. Other than that, the ceremony was great. Really short and sweet. After the ceremony we had champagne, the guys gave speeches and then we left the newlyweds alone for their private dinner. That evening, we all went out to a bar in Paphos called "Felix's." Like Felix the Cat. This is one of the many cartoon/fantasy themed bars in Paphos. Woody the Woodpecker Music Bar, the Robin Hood, The Flinstone Bar... Anyway, Felix was fun. We just requested songs all night, had some drinks, had some dances and quite a few laughs. Although we had a great time in Cyprus, it was time to move on. Paphos was nice but a bit too much of a resort/tourist town. (British invasion in fact - Lots of Brits take holidays there evidently. Heard more English accents than Greek while in Paphos). Larnaca was a bit more authentic so I'm happy we also stayed there for a few days for a Cypriot experience.
Fast forward to Athens. It was quite the adventure just getting to Athens. We flew out of Larnaca on a flight at around Noon. The whole flight it supposed to take about 1 1/2 hours. About a half hour into our flight the captain announces that there are some "minor technicalty difficulties" and that we need to turn around and land back in Larnaca. So we got to fly into Larnaca again. And sat in that airport for about 4-5 hours. They gave us food vouchers. Because free Hungry Jacks or Sbarros will magically make everything better. The second flight went smoothly and we made it to our hotel in Athens by around 8 or 9.00 pm. I was a little apprehensive about where we were staying. I had read that our area, Omonia Square, was a tad "seedy" so when we emerged from the subway and I looked around at the neighbourhood, I was a wee bit antsy and thinking to myself "Oh man.. is this what all of Athens looks like?" It doesn't seem dangerous. But it is pretty dirty. I was relieved that our hotel was nicer looking than the surrounding businesses. After a long, night's rest we got up the next day to venture up to the Acropolis and see what else Athens had to offer. The Acropolis is an exhausting walk when it is about 42 degrees Celsius (Roughly 108 degrees F). We laughed at the people who dressed in jeans, heels and other inappropriate articles of clothing for walking up a hill to a dusty ancient site in boiling temperatures. Other than the site being obviously very touristy, it is really neat. When we finished walking around the site and me playing photographer, we had lunch had a restaurant chosen purely on the fact that they had fans that sprayed a cool mist out. I didn't care what they served. I just wanted the cool mist hitting me in the face while I drank a bucket of water to replenish about 1/16th of what I lost in the 2 hours we spent walking. That day we also explored the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Being in the presence of such incredible structures is very powerful. I just stood there for awhile staring at the glorious monument and in the distance the Acropolis, rising above the city of Athens. Something funny about Athens we noticed walking out of the Temple of Zeus.... packs of stray dogs. In Cyprus, there are stray cats everywhere. Athens... it is dogs. There were about 9 dogs just laying in the shade when we walked out. We contemplated if they belonged to people inside the attraction. But concluded that they were stray because all looked unkempt and there were only 4 people looking at the temple when we were there. The stray dogs theory was cemented when we saw about 10 more in the time we were in Athens.
Athens is a strange city. As I mentioned before our area was seedy and dirty. But if you walk about 5 minutes, you'll find yourself in Syntagma Square which is exponentially nicer and there are many more flourishing businesses. We found this one night when looking for a place to eat. We were walking down what I considered to be some dodgy side streets and then we turned a corner and we were suddenly surrounded by nice little cafes, tavernas and restaurants. Athens is worth a visit but only need a couple days to see what you want to see. Matt and I wish we would have stayed overnight at one of the closer islands but it's in the past now. On our last full day, we did take a one day cruise to three islands: Poros, Hydra and Aegina. Completely different world to Athens! Hydra was probably my favourite island. Each of the islands we went to were beautiful though. The houses are built up on the hills and everybody seems so laid back. Definitely could live that lifestyle for a while! Hydra is interesting in that no cars are actually allowed on the island. Donkeys are the main mode of transportation. When we stopped at each island, we just took a stroll down the streets, looked at some shops, enjoyed cold beer (if we were lucky) at a cafe and snapped some pictures. I think I took too many but I kept saying telling myself, "Well, I can always delete them." But I probably won't.
Overall, a splendid holiday. And I can't wait for my next trip already. I don't know where I'm going but that is probably the best thing about travel - the possibilities.
I believe I left off with my blog on the wedding day. Matt and Lee's wedding was really lovely. They had it right at their resort and then the pool area got closed off for for their private dinner. They should have closed the pool area for the wedding itself. Just when Lee started to walk down the carpet down to the alter, a man in his blue Speedos felt that would be an opportune time to step out right where Lee was walking. Other than that, the ceremony was great. Really short and sweet. After the ceremony we had champagne, the guys gave speeches and then we left the newlyweds alone for their private dinner. That evening, we all went out to a bar in Paphos called "Felix's." Like Felix the Cat. This is one of the many cartoon/fantasy themed bars in Paphos. Woody the Woodpecker Music Bar, the Robin Hood, The Flinstone Bar... Anyway, Felix was fun. We just requested songs all night, had some drinks, had some dances and quite a few laughs. Although we had a great time in Cyprus, it was time to move on. Paphos was nice but a bit too much of a resort/tourist town. (British invasion in fact - Lots of Brits take holidays there evidently. Heard more English accents than Greek while in Paphos). Larnaca was a bit more authentic so I'm happy we also stayed there for a few days for a Cypriot experience.
Fast forward to Athens. It was quite the adventure just getting to Athens. We flew out of Larnaca on a flight at around Noon. The whole flight it supposed to take about 1 1/2 hours. About a half hour into our flight the captain announces that there are some "minor technicalty difficulties" and that we need to turn around and land back in Larnaca. So we got to fly into Larnaca again. And sat in that airport for about 4-5 hours. They gave us food vouchers. Because free Hungry Jacks or Sbarros will magically make everything better. The second flight went smoothly and we made it to our hotel in Athens by around 8 or 9.00 pm. I was a little apprehensive about where we were staying. I had read that our area, Omonia Square, was a tad "seedy" so when we emerged from the subway and I looked around at the neighbourhood, I was a wee bit antsy and thinking to myself "Oh man.. is this what all of Athens looks like?" It doesn't seem dangerous. But it is pretty dirty. I was relieved that our hotel was nicer looking than the surrounding businesses. After a long, night's rest we got up the next day to venture up to the Acropolis and see what else Athens had to offer. The Acropolis is an exhausting walk when it is about 42 degrees Celsius (Roughly 108 degrees F). We laughed at the people who dressed in jeans, heels and other inappropriate articles of clothing for walking up a hill to a dusty ancient site in boiling temperatures. Other than the site being obviously very touristy, it is really neat. When we finished walking around the site and me playing photographer, we had lunch had a restaurant chosen purely on the fact that they had fans that sprayed a cool mist out. I didn't care what they served. I just wanted the cool mist hitting me in the face while I drank a bucket of water to replenish about 1/16th of what I lost in the 2 hours we spent walking. That day we also explored the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Being in the presence of such incredible structures is very powerful. I just stood there for awhile staring at the glorious monument and in the distance the Acropolis, rising above the city of Athens. Something funny about Athens we noticed walking out of the Temple of Zeus.... packs of stray dogs. In Cyprus, there are stray cats everywhere. Athens... it is dogs. There were about 9 dogs just laying in the shade when we walked out. We contemplated if they belonged to people inside the attraction. But concluded that they were stray because all looked unkempt and there were only 4 people looking at the temple when we were there. The stray dogs theory was cemented when we saw about 10 more in the time we were in Athens.
Athens is a strange city. As I mentioned before our area was seedy and dirty. But if you walk about 5 minutes, you'll find yourself in Syntagma Square which is exponentially nicer and there are many more flourishing businesses. We found this one night when looking for a place to eat. We were walking down what I considered to be some dodgy side streets and then we turned a corner and we were suddenly surrounded by nice little cafes, tavernas and restaurants. Athens is worth a visit but only need a couple days to see what you want to see. Matt and I wish we would have stayed overnight at one of the closer islands but it's in the past now. On our last full day, we did take a one day cruise to three islands: Poros, Hydra and Aegina. Completely different world to Athens! Hydra was probably my favourite island. Each of the islands we went to were beautiful though. The houses are built up on the hills and everybody seems so laid back. Definitely could live that lifestyle for a while! Hydra is interesting in that no cars are actually allowed on the island. Donkeys are the main mode of transportation. When we stopped at each island, we just took a stroll down the streets, looked at some shops, enjoyed cold beer (if we were lucky) at a cafe and snapped some pictures. I think I took too many but I kept saying telling myself, "Well, I can always delete them." But I probably won't.
Overall, a splendid holiday. And I can't wait for my next trip already. I don't know where I'm going but that is probably the best thing about travel - the possibilities.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Cyprus continued
The last couple of days have been full of activity! The other day we all went out and hung at our friend's resort pool. After we each lost about 2 gallons of sweat it was then decided that we needed to partake in a water activity. We opted for the inflatable disc that can fit three people and then you get pulled behind a motor boat at top speed as the driver tries to throw you off the disc. It was a pretty wild ride! The worst fall I had was, funny enough, when the guy killed the engine on the boat so Lee (the bride getting married) and I slipped right off the front of the disc face first into the water. Super salty water! But it was all good fun. The three guys we're with played a bit rougher on this thing - like wrestling on disc and trying to throw each other off into the water. Us girls were a bit nicer to each other and figured we would have a hard enough time staying on the tube without adding fighting. After the disc we tried the "banana ride" which is same principle really. The banana is an inflatable tube that looks like, well, a banana. It can fit up to about six people. I think this one was a bit more challenging. The first time everybody got thrown off somebody's knee met my rib. Kind of winded me and I decided that was it for the ol' banana ride for me. Not a fan.
Yesterday we had another day full of activity. Started the day off with taking a dip down at the
birthplace of Aphrodite (Goddess of Love). After having this refreshing dip in the salty sea, we headed off to Aphrodite's Waterpark (no mythology related to this establishment). Pretty average waterpark, honestly. I think Wisconsin Dells water parks have more to offer actually. After the park, we went to a go kart track. Not the classiest of operations but the guy was nice enough. He probably doesn't get very much business we figured and he seemed real happy to see us. We all thought it was funny that any other go kart place you'd go to there would a half hour safety orientation, no open toed shoes etc etc. The safety orientation here pretty much was "Friends. Please drive careful." Oh yeah and we were all wearing flip flops. Perfect footwear for go karting.
So that in a nutshell has been the last few days here in Paphos. Well, in addition to eating, drinking and lying outside. Today is the big wedding that we came here for. So I best be off to prepare for that.
Yesterday we had another day full of activity. Started the day off with taking a dip down at the
birthplace of Aphrodite (Goddess of Love). After having this refreshing dip in the salty sea, we headed off to Aphrodite's Waterpark (no mythology related to this establishment). Pretty average waterpark, honestly. I think Wisconsin Dells water parks have more to offer actually. After the park, we went to a go kart track. Not the classiest of operations but the guy was nice enough. He probably doesn't get very much business we figured and he seemed real happy to see us. We all thought it was funny that any other go kart place you'd go to there would a half hour safety orientation, no open toed shoes etc etc. The safety orientation here pretty much was "Friends. Please drive careful." Oh yeah and we were all wearing flip flops. Perfect footwear for go karting.
So that in a nutshell has been the last few days here in Paphos. Well, in addition to eating, drinking and lying outside. Today is the big wedding that we came here for. So I best be off to prepare for that.
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