Andy on the Acropolis

the Acropolis

the view from the Acropolis

The view of the Acropolis from the roof of our hotel.

View of Athens from the Acropolis

Athens

Brit on the Acropolis

We are currently in Athens and it is 88 out. Doesn't seem bad until you realize it is after eight at night!! It has been incredibly hot since we took a fast ferry from Mykonos to Athens yesterday. We got in around 4, settled into our hotel, walked around the area (only to the right out of the hotel - as the doorman stated), and had a nice gyro. Needless to say, gyros have been at a premium for me this trip (pork is the best). Brit has had a fair share of the chicken version!
Today we ventured down to the Acropolis, saw the museum, ancient agora, temple of olympian Zeus, and a number of other neat ancient sites. However, the heat was strong as temps hovered around 100 all day. We finished up with more gyros, gelato, and a nice walk through the Plaka.
It is crazy that we have been traveling for two weeks already. Tomorrow we deal with the worst part- the long trek home. From there... Planning the next adventure...

Having fun in our expensive hotel robes...

Mykonos, Greece - Our fancy robes.

Mykonos day two - our balcony

Mykos Beer Ad.

Mykonos night one - Our tent

Not exactly our room with a view...

Mykonos

Well we have had an interesting two days. Yesterday, we left Samos on a boat to Mykonos under the impression that there were five boats a day to Santorini and we would have no problem getting there. The travel company that we talked to told us they didn't want to book our Santorini ticket just in case our boat to Mykonos was late. They made us think that we were all set. Little did we know, they knew nothing and were so wrong!

The five hour boat ride to Mykonos was quite enjoyable, we were on a big cruise ship. We sat on the top deck in the shade and read most of the ride. When we got to Mykonos, we went to buy the ticket to Santorini and were told that there were only two boats a day and the boats were booked through Friday! As we came to the realization that Santorini wasn't going to happen, and we weren't going to be able to sit on our private balcony relaxing, we were getting more and more angry at the people from Samos who had given us false information. Needless to say we booked our boat to Athens for Friday before leaving the port because there was no way we were going to do this again! At the port we were approached by a British girl who told us we could stay in a private cabin at the Paraga Beach hostel for under 20 Euro each, so with no other option we got on the bus. The whole time Andy was muttering about how he missed Turkey and hated Greece.

When we arrived at the hostel we were in for quite a surprise. The "cabin" was more like a permanent tent. While private yes, we realized we were essentially camping for the night. Stereotypical campground bathroom, dirty and gross. And above else, we were still upset that our private balcony wasn't going to happen! We walked to the bar area and realized the worst part was that it was like being on a college spring break trip! Tons of young drunk people everywhere. Not our scene anymore, and so far from the quiet private balcony and relaxing two days we were looking forward to!

So, while our situation wasn't ideal, an island in Greece isn't all that horrible a place to be stuck, so we decided we were going to make it what we wanted it to be. So we went into the town and found another place to stay for Thursday night. We didn't see the place first, it is a little ways from the main town, but we booked it through the "sister" hotel and kept our fingers crossed that we were getting our sea view room!

Today, we got up early, checked out of our campground and were at our new place before 10:00am. It's amazing. It ended up being even better than we imagined! We have sat on the balcony all day and enjoyed every second of it.

Tomorrow we are off to Athens.

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Beautiful sunset in Samos, Greece

Sunset from our Hotel, Samos Greece

Samos, Greece

Samos, Greece

Today we took a ferry from Kusadesi port in Turkey to the Greek island of Samos. When we got here we were told that we couldn't get on a boat for Santorini (by way of the island of Mykonos) until tomorrow at 9 am, so we had to get a room on the island for the night. It works out ok, Samos is not a bad place to have to stay the night. We spent some time in the town and then sat on the patio of our hotel reading til sunset. There was an amazing view and the day has been relaxing. Tomorrow we are off again, We should be in Santorini by dinnertime.

Ephesus, Turkey

Ephesus

The ruins. Ephesus, Turkey.

Well yesterday was pretty uneventful. We took the 9:30 bus to Selcuk, and arrived around 1:30pm. Our hostel came and picked us up at the bus stop and we just relaxed for the rest of the day. This morning we went to Ephesus to see the ruins. They reminded us of Rome. It is really hot again today. So hot our hostel guy told us, that the tar is melting on the roads! Today is our last official day in Turkey, tomorrow we are taking a boat to Santorini to spend a few days of relaxation on the Greek island!

Pamukkale

the view from the top of the hot springs. Pamukkale, Turkey

We took an overnight bus from Cappadocia to Pamukkale, arriving at 5am. After a brief nap in the hotel lobby, followed by another nap in our room, we started our day around 12:30. It is really hot again, up over 100, so we decided to take it easy and just see the natural springs. We are taking it easy tonight, using this hotel as a rest place, and we are off to the west coast, Selcuk, tomorrow am.

An amazing sunrise hot air balloon ride.

Cappadocia, Turkey

Cappadocia day 2

Enjoying our hot air balloon ride.

It was an early morning, but well worth it. We were in a hot air balloon for sunrise! The views were amazing and it was crazy how many balloons were in the air. Afterwards we took a quick cat nap before going on an all day tour. On the tour we explored an underground city, had a nice walk along a river, visited an ancient cathedral, and then saw pigeon valley. All in all it was a great, albeit hot (101), day. In a few hours we will be on another overnight bus to Pamukkale

The view of Cappadocia, from our hot air balloon.