"I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” - Mary Anne Radmacher HersheyHey Everyone!! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year. I can’t believe its been soooo long since I have updated my blog. Its crazy how much I have been working. The Christmas season is massively busy at the hotel, and we are a bit short staffed at reception as one of our colleagues went home for the holidays. Meaning we have all been a bit over worked. Its alright though because it’s a fun time to be working. Everyone is in good spirits.
At the beginning of the month I had the pleasure of taking a trip to Greece! I went with Judith and 4 other girls from the states. 3 from Connecticut and one from Kentucky. We landed in Athens on the afternoon of December 3rd and we stayed for 3 nights. We stayed at a hostel called “Athens Backpackers” and were originally going to have a six bedded dorm room with en-suite bathroom but upon arrival we were upgraded to an apartment suite, complete with a kitchen, living room and two balconies. Our bedroom had six beds (3 bunk beds) and every night it was like we were 12 years old at sleep away camp. Lots of laughs and girl talk time. Our first night in Athens we took er easy, had some authentic Greek food at a near by restaurant (I had chicken souvlaki and it was amazing) and we had an early night. This was followed by an early morning, when Judith, Sabrina and I went on a walking tour organized by the hostel. We saw many things in the city, including, Temple of Zeus, the Parliament buildings, a beautiful park, the market and much more. The guards at parliament do these funny steps every half hour. Posted is a picture of the guards. The pompoms on their feet look cute but they actually used to have small blades in them back in the day for kicking. At Parliament they had people selling seeds so you could feed the pigeons. They practically swarm you. Posted is a picture of this in which I am clearly terrified.
Many of the streets in Greece are lined with these fruit trees. The fruit is safe to eat but it is super sour, tastes like a bitter lemony grapefruit. They are fed by city rain water and dog pee. Thus, we referred to them as pollution fruit. & yes, we did eat some. In Athens they don’t have a dog catcher service or a pound for stray animals. They just have an organization that travels around and vaccinates and neuters the stray animals. So there are lovely dogs all over the city. They are very friendly and would protect any one if the sensed something was wrong. At night a lot of the restaurants put their scraps outside to feed the dogs. The market was really good can we took a good gander there, this is also where we had Gyros and they were like heaven in a pita. After the tour we explored the Acropolis, complete with a mini photo shoot vogue style. Sabrina from Kentucky is into photography, so she has a killer cam and takes amazing photos. Attached are some of my fav’s. Our tour guide suggested we hike up the mountain which you see in the background of the photo of me at the Acropolis. Its was a steep climb, but it was worth it at sun down, the best views of Athens. We enjoyed our €2 bottles of wine and just took in the city. The next day we took a day trip to Delphi, organized by the hostel. It was a little expensive, but totally worth it. The drive into the mountains was 3 hours and the temperature dropped about 7 degrees. (Athens was 20C and sunny for most of our trip). We visited an ancient city where the centre of the universe and the oracle of Delphi were located. Posted is a picture of the centre of the universe. Myth has it that Zeus sent two eagles away in different directions and he claimed that where ever the eagles met up again was the centre of the universe. Yes you guessed it, it happened here, at Delphi on this egg shaped rock. It is believed that if you touch the stone you will have weird dreams. I can’t say that it is untrue… Also posted is a picture of the Temple of Apollo where the famous Oracle of Delphi would sit. Many people would make the massive journey from Athens to Delphi to consult the Oracle. Who was a young girl that was chosen by the Emperor. When she got older she would be replaced by a younger girl who had a similar resemblance. Many famous people consulted the Oracle such as Aristotle and Plato. We then toured a museum with many photographs and artifacts from the excavation of Delphi. On the way back from Delphi we stopped a small picturesque mountain village which is a really popular ski resort town in the winter season. They didn’t have snow when we were there, but our guide said it usually starts snowing around January. The views in this village were incredible. See the photo posted. We then returned to Athens and had some pizza and bevy’s in the bar at our hostel. That night we got all dolled up and the six of us embarked on an adventurous night on the town. The next day we did some last minute sightseeing and we went back to the market to buy some souvenirs. We missed the riots in Athens on December 6 by about two or three hours. Last year on this date the police gunned down a 15 year old boy, and so there were protests in the city and BBC said they got pretty violent. By that time though we were back on board easyjet, heading home to the UK. That night, Judith and I stayed in a hostel in London, which was sketchy at best. But I will leave those stories for later so that I have something to tell you when I come home. Anyways, we got up super early on December 7th because Judith forgot to put her clock back two hours upon arriving in London. So we got up at “8:30” but really it was “6:30”. It was okay though because it gave us more time to sight see in London town. We caught a glimpse of Big Ben, and of course I had the classic photo taken in a red phone box. We then met up with Brynn (my friend from university who is currently living in London) and her boyfriend and we had a full English (breakfast) at Shakespeare’s. Then we headed down to Buckingham Palace and watched the change of the guard. Something I have always wanted to do! We took a nice walk through Hyde park which had a Christmas festival going on, and we stopped to take photos of the peter pan statue. Then it was time to get back on the bus and travel home to North England. The bus was only £22 round trip, but it turned a 5 hour ride into about 7 or 8. Its all good though because I have taught myself how to sleep on public transport.
So that’s the details of my epic Greek adventure. I am planning to go to Ireland at the beginning of February to see my friend Meghan who will be vacationing there. I am really excited to see her and chill in Dublin!
We have had snow here for over a week now. I am still surprised about it. I didn’t think it would last this long. Temperatures are not harsh, never dropping lower than -5 but it is cold enough to keep the snow around. I guess its nice for Christmas but I hope it doesn’t last. My boss Mathew returns from his vacation home in a few days so hopefully our schedules will go back to normal. I am looking forward to New Years because it is my friend Zivile’s birthday so we are going to celebrate in style. First up to the hotel to watch the fireworks and ring in the new year with our friends who will all be working because there is a disco in the restaurant that night, then we will hit the town and do some dancing and such. Anyways, hopefully it is not such a long time before I post on here again. Know that I miss and love all of you and I am thinking about home a lot these days. Wishing you well for an amazing new year and sending lots of English kisses !!!
