When I arrived in Athens, I figured out how to get on a bus and headed for the city center. It was really odd having everything in Greek and realizing I would be completely helpless if no one spoke English. The bus ride took an hour but I finally made it to the square I was headed for. Luckily, my friends Ally and Patty had arrived a few days earlier and were able to meet me and take me to the hostel. We stayed at AthenStyle and I liked it a lot. We met Caryn at the same place I got dropped off and then all of us went to this very cool Greek sandal shop. The man who runs it has apparently made shoes for lots of famous people like John Lennon and Sophia Loren etc.
After we all go outfitted with our custom leather sandals, we got picked up by Caryn's dad's friend and his wife who live in Athens. They took us to a really nice restaurant and we enjoyed the first of many wonderful Greek meals. We had Greek salad, salad with bread, bean salad, eggplant dip, fava bean dip, oven roasted eggplant, three kinds of bread, tzatziki, feta, and grilled feta in foil. Then we got the entrees! I had grilled lamb and fries. For dessert (and on the verge of bursting) we shared a panna cotta, a fruit plate, and two kinds of cake with ice cream.
We got up very early the next morning to get on the ferry to Ios, the island on which we stayed. The ferry took about seven hours, most of which I slept. The weather was not very good. It was chilly and rainy. The ferry was very deluxe, with large semi-reclining chairs. When we got to the island, a guy working for the hostel (Francesco's) named Alex came and picked us up. We loved Alex! He was super nice and would later come to get us at 2:00 in the morning when a different ferry dropped us off. Anyway, after unpacking we went in search of food and made a discovery: all the businesses on Ios closed during most of the afternoon. So do not go looking for a restaurant during that time! Luckily, after walking all the way back to the port, we found a place open.
There wasn't a menu. Instead, a guy just came up to us and told us what they had in the back. We asked if we could take a look before deciding, and he said sure. We decided on chicken and potatoes with lemon, Greek salad, fava beans, and eggplant dip. It was all very tasty. Sadly, Caryn came down with a stomach flu our first few days, and could not eat.
View from our hostel terrace:
On Wednesday we went to the main beach, Mylopotas. It was totally deserted since it was the off season. We again had trouble finding food places, but thank goodness Ally had made us all peanut butter sandwiches earlier that morning. We didn't go in the water because it was a little too cold, and it was very, very windy. We met some fellow travelers back at the hostel from South Africa, Israel, and Japan who were studying in Hungary. What a strange combination! They were nice.
We had a lot of wine and took naps. It was very relaxing! That night we all went out to dinner at a Thai restaurant, and we met a half Thai, half Greek girl who Patty spoke to in Thai. Very cool.
Thursday was probably the most eventful day. We took a ferry (about 1 or 2 hours) to Santorini, another island. There we got to ride donkeys to the top of the mountain! It was not very organized. We simply came up, paid, they put us on the donkey, and the donkey took off at a trot. There wasn't a guide with us until the very end of the trip. I am in general not very comfortable with animals, especially those that are larger than me. But it made for some great pictures.
We met up with some people we knew, saw the famous sunset, and ate gyros at a place called Lucky's. Lucky (whose card said "Lackey") was a bit weird, but he ended up giving us some free food and lots of free beer, so it was ok. We went to the bars at night. There was really cool music at this one Scottish bar and we ended up dancing with these high schoolers from New Jersey who were on a class trip. Hah.
Friday was a day of total relaxation. We spent all day on the private terrace coming off of our two rooms. Caryn and I went out to lunch while the others sunned and had lemon chicken (me) and tomato chicken (her). Then we got free cake for dessert. Seriously, I felt like everywhere we went in Greece we got free stuff! That night we went to the Ios bars again, and met some Canadian guys who were staying at our hostel.
Saturday was our last day. We went out to some very good brunch and listened to music with the Canadians and chilled. Then Alex took us to the port and we went back to Athens and then to the airport. It was a bit of a hassle getting home as the flight was super delayed, but I made it. I had a fantastic time, and got to hang out with three of my favorite girls. Nice!
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