Athens/Cruise Boarding

I woke up at 8 am, got dressed, packed my suitcase and went to breakfast where I met up with Eric from Cali. We decided to go tour the town together. We went to the changing of the guards at the Parliament, the National Gardens, Zapion Exhibition, Congress Hall, Temple of Olympian Zeus, Hadrian's Arch, Panathinaikon Stadium (where the original olympics were held), then to the Lycabeitus Theatre which is the highest point in Athens. There were so many steps just to get to the funicular (almost as many as sacre coeur) It was a beautiful view and the theatre was cool except for the fact that you couldn't go into it. When we arrived back to the hotel we had just enough time to grab our suitcases and meet the group. At 12:15 we all left to go to the bus and go to the boat- Louis Hellenic Cristal! We checked in as a group and after we boarded we went to the buffet at 2 pm. After that we had a mandatory life safety mtg (u know those annoying orange vests!). Then we had a contiki mtg where we talked about optional excursions and kinda just hung out from there. I then left and walked around the boat to get my boundaries. I activated my on boat account and drink card. I only bought the non alcoholic one because i knew I wouldn't take advantage of the alcoholic one. I didn't need to drink THAT much (although it was a good deal-all u can drink for 140 euros-mine was all u can drink non-alcoholic for 56). I then went to the piano bar to listen to name that tune! I didn't participate...but i did listen :) I then read my book for a while...so relaxing! Off to a great start! Then went to my room to change for our 8:45 dinner time slot. We met at the Caruso dining hall (that was the name of my jr high!). We ate til around 10:30 and then went to the Metropolitan show lounge to see the show! The show was HORRIBLE! I mean, i can't believe I sat through it! It lasted 45 min, thank g-d! We then went to the disco, which was also pretty lame! I decided to go to bed at 12:15.

Begin Athens

Let me start off by saying...this was an amazing experience! One i will never forget! Thank you to everyone for my memories! For those of you reading this and looking at the pictures, I will be as precise as I can, but most of the pictures I can't remember exactly what they were...so I'm prolly just gonna post slide shows! So enjoy it all...cause i know I did :) And P.S. A fun little fact about Greece- they don't flush toilet paper...so you had to wipe and then put it in the trash can! That took a little time to get used to! WEIRD!!!

I woke up at 3:30 am because my Paris shuttle picked me up at 4:15. SO annoying. I arrived to the airport at 5 am which was 2 hrs and 20 min before my flight. However the shuttle was so cheap I had to do it. I waited one hr before I could check in and then another til I could board the plane. What a waste of good sleeping time!!! I had a couple of coffees to perk me up and to get started on my vacation! I then boarded the plane which took off on time and got me into Athens, Greece at 11:15 (one hr later than Paris). I got my baggage and took the bus to my hotel. The bus driver had longer hair than mine and he spent about 5 min in the mirror fixing it! It took about an hr to get there. I dropped off my luggage, got settled into the hotel hermes (4 stars) and immediately left! I took my coat with me because i was a bit chilly, but as i started to walk I was boiling! It was gorgeous out! I first walked to lunch and before hand managed to pick up some dude. I tried to walk away from him, but he wouldn't shut up. Anyway, at lunch i had a greek salad! I had to start right away eating greek food, especially feta cheese! It was yummy. Then I walked the Plaka area. I didn't want to go into the Acropolis because I was going to do that the last day of my vacation. After that I went shopping and all I bought was a belt because my pants were falling off of me and it was annoying! Then I came back to the hotel and showered and relaxed a bit before my 7 pm mtg with the contiki group I was going with. So we finally had our briefing with the other tour mates! There were 14 of us (plus our tour manager). Supposedly this was a very small group. Normally they are 30-60 people. I think it was good so I could remember everyones names and we were actually very close by the end of the trip! So the people are Eric-California, Mark- New Zealand (lives in London), Louise- Australia (lives in London), April- Australia, Carrie and Bed- Australia (lives in London), George and Geri- (newlyweds)- Kentucky, Tuly, Jose, Maria and Marcela- Columbia (live in London) and then our tour manager Ryan- Australia (lives in Athens while touring) and then me!! So it was a good group. At 8:30 we went to an authentic Greek restaurant for dinner as a group. There was dancing and singing and just overall Greek Fun!!! We got home at 11 and I went to bed around 11:30!

Back home...well Paris!

I am back in Paris and my Portugal trip blog is up! Give me a few days and Greece/Turkey will be up! I had an amazing time. I make my trek back home to the US on April 24th. See you soon. Toodles

Lisbon, Portugal Day 3

Today we woke up at 9:30 and layed around for a while. We eventually left the house at 11. We drove to Cascias which was about a 45 min drive to another town just outside of Lisbon. We made a pitstop before getting there to the famous pastry shop called Pasteis de Belem. They make a bunch of pastries but the specialty are the mini custard pies. I bought one for Asima. It was a madhouse there. (when i took the bus tour-there was a line out the door) We also walked the mini market. Portugal is known for the tiles they put together on walls to make a collage. I almost bought one from a 16th century building but it was 150 euros...so i didn't :)




Then we continued on our journey to Cascias. It was a cute town for shopping, walking, touristy stuff, drinking tea and most of all beach! We did it all! I fell asleep on my back a little too long and I got a little toasty! Ooops. Eventually one of Maria's friends, Teresa met up with us for some tea. It was nice because she spoke english. Then around 6 pm we headed back to Lisbon.







We relaxed til 8 and then went to the mall to a chain restaurant called Portugalia for some traditional Portuguese food! I had a sirloin with a fried egg on top. Interesting to say the least. Lots of protein!!!! Then we came home and at 10 pm I crashed. THANK YOU MARIA! I had a blast :) You are the best!!! What a great vacation!!!!!

Lisbon, Portugal Day 2

On Saturday we woke up around 9:30 and Maria insisted she go to the gym...so of course I went with her (although not too happy of a camper about it until after i went...duh!) We got home and showered and got all pretty because today was the day she was taking me to the restaurant she worked at for almost 2 years called Eleven. It's the ONLY 1 star Michelin restaurant in Lisbon. The chef is Joachim Koerper. She is friends with everyone there! We met Maria's daughter there around 2ish for lunch. I had the menu which consisted of 3 courses, plus an amuse bouche amongst other tastings. I thought the meal was ok...but not outstanding. Maria actually agreed with me and was perplexed as to why? She said it's normally not like this. Anyway, it was a beautiful atmosphere.

After lunch, Maria and her daughter went to a fish and wine expo and i took the bus tour of Lisbon. It was an hr and 40min and it was really pretty. We then all met up at 7 pm in the main square where we started.

Then we dropped Maria (daughter) off and went to the Casino to walk around and have a cup of tea. As we were drinking our tea we decided to go home and change for the night and come right back to eat at the second best restaurant in Lisbon called Pragma. Now this meal was OUTSTANDING! Maria knows the sommelier, so that was part of the reason we went there, but the other part was because of the talk it had. And this was worth the money and the time! I, specifically, had 9 courses and Maria had 5. Everything was perfect! I wanted more ;) I took pictures of everything of course. As we left the casino Maria said to me someone called me a model (i had to throw that in my blog! hahaha). We then picked up her friend Nuno. We went to another set of "Docas" because the first place we went to said it was going to be 180 euro cover....i mean WHAT?!! So the docks had a bunch of bars. First we went to a karaoke bar. Pretty lame...but MUCH better than the second one we went to which was 70,80, 90s music. OLD people. hahaha. But it was funny to watch nuno and maria laugh! We had a good time. We were in bed by 3 am.

Lisbon, Portugal Day 1

What an amazing vacation! I am SOOOO glad I went. Starting on Friday April 4th, I left for the airport at 12 and as usual with me, my flight was delayed. So i got into town about an hr late. When I arrived I had to change shirts since I spilled on mine. But it was ok, because I put on a tank top and I was already wearing flip flops! It was GORGEOUS there! It was almost 80 degrees (compared to the 50 degrees in paris). Anyway, Maria was waiting for me in her convertible :) We first drove around Lisbon so she could show me the town. Then eventually we went home to Maria's apartment to drop off my stuff.










Then right off the bat we went to the mall. It's SO close to her house so we walked around. I didn't buy anything. We have the same things in Paris, but i still wanted to see. We did buy a few groceries. We then went back to her house and I cooked dinner for myself. Maria eats at 9 or 10 pm...but 1) i was still an hr later (b/c of Paris time) and 2) i had eaten lunch early so I was starving. So around 7ish I ate dinner. Then we waited for her daughter at 9:15 to arrive home. We all then proceeded to go to Las Docas (the docks) where Maria (the daughter) split off from us and Maria Laura (my friend) and I went out so she could eat. I had a diet coke and we caught up! It was so good seeing her! Around midnight I got sleepy. It was a beautiful night so we walked the docks a bit and then left shortly after. I got to bed around 12:30ish.

Portugal Posts

I have 3 posts about Portugal waiting to be posted....however every time I try to post the pictures...it won't let me! SOOOO...you will all have to wait patiently until I get home from my cruise to Greece and Turkey :) Then you will get double the postings! Sorry to keep you waiting. I am just as anxious as you are and pretty frustrated myself!!!

Toodles and happy vacation to me!!!!