After thirty hours of overnight travel and undesirably sleeping on the floors of both a bus and a ferry, I’ve returned to Rome from my week-long break in Greece! My travels began at the World famous Pink Palace Resort in Corfu, one of Greek’s many beautiful islands. The Pink Palace was by far the best hostel I have stayed at in all of Europe. I’ve had to put up with some pretty disgusting hostels, but this one absolutely blew the rest out of the water. (Think bargain resort for college kids, rather than hostel.) We even had our own private room with a bathroom which was a nice change from some of the 20-person dorms I’ve stayed in.
Having given ourselves a big fat ‘F’ for experiencing the culture in Spain, my roommate Kate and I made it our goal to grasp the Greek way of life as much as possible. We enjoyed traditional Greek dancing, a toga party, cheered “Yamas!” with every drink, and even experienced the ancient tradition of having plates smashed over our heads! This customary act of plate smashing is considered to be a part of ‘kefi,’ the uncontainable expression of emotion and happiness. Kate and I also made sure we ordered a Greek salad with every meal and dug our teeth into the some of the other great traditional foods such as gyros, kebabs, and delicious baklava for dessert. Upon our arrival at the Pink Palace we had been greeted with a shot of Ouzo, Greece’s most infamous liquor, to which we all cheered ‘Yamas!’ to of course! We spent our days in Corfu relaxing on the beautiful beaches and soaking in the warm 80-degree weather. We even rented ATV’S one day and went on quad safari of the entire island, taking sight of the gorgeous mountains and scenic ocean views, not to mention the fun we had off-roading through the mountainous hills. On Monday night, we packed up our stuff, enjoyed one last meal in Corfu, and headed for Athens on an overnight bus. Kate and I spent the entire night sleeping in the alley of the bus; not what I would necessarily call a good night’s sleep!
We arrived in the large city of Athens early Tuesday morning, freshened up from our night’s travels and set out on a walking tour of the entire city. Our first stop was the original Olympic stadium. We also went to a museum that was built entirely over ancient ruins and had glass floors for looking down below. Next, we made our way to the Temple of Zeus, followed by the Acropolis to see the Parthenon, built by Pericles in the fifth century BC. The Acropolis, which can be translated as upper city, can’t be missed considering that it is located directly in the center of Athens. The entire city is built around it, with the mountains and the ocean surround the city. It was one of the most incredible views I have ever seen.
During my two days in Athens I soaked in a lot of history, saw some of the world’s most incredible sights, and even did a little bit of shopping with the girls! On our last night in Greece, Kate, our new friend, Lauren, and I all went out to dinner for one last Greek meal. I had lamb, one of Greece’s most popular meats. The food was excellent and the best part was that we had a beautiful view of the Acropolis all lit up at night! So despite the travels and sleeping in the alleyways of busses, my week in Greece turned out to be a great time! I returned to my apartment in Rome on Friday night and as Kate and I walked in the door, dropped our bags to the floor; we looked at each other and agreed that Rome, in spite of being thousands of miles away from the United States, has certainly come to feel like home!
Check out the Pink Palace at http://www.thepinkpalace.com/
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Just another WordPress weblog
RSS 2.0
