M So we arrive in Patras at 5:45am. It is dark, the tourist information is closed, we don't have a place to stay (even if we did we could not check in until the afternoon anyways), and the place looks mostly deserted. Decided to head to the train station and see if there was a train going somewhere we wanted to go. Both of us were so tired we sat at the train station arguing over what our options were and trying to read the screen which was in Greek, but luckily did flip to English letters. Jes was just starting to get a head cold so was even more out of it. We decided to try going to the hostel that was mentioned in our guide book.
The first Greeks we met were 2 teenage guys who were sitting outside at a bench, yes at 6:30 am and Jes thought as we approached they might just decide to rob us. On the contrary they asked "American?". We said "no, Canadian", and they responded "Welcome to Greek". They were the first of many friendly Greeks we were to meet that day. We wandered, and ended up again in a not-so-nice part of town. Then we saw it.. a total God sent.. nope not the hostel, but an internet cafe open 24hrs. We spent the next 4 hours in there having a coffee, using the internet, and Jes met a guy who played WOW. They hit it off really well, and shared how the game sucks up time in thier lives. By the time we left our new friend gave us a ride in his car to the hostel, which would have been quite a walk.
This hostel was the worst hostel we have stayed in yet. Sure it was only 10 euro each, making it one of the cheapest, but the bedding looked dirty (so we paid extra for clean sheets), the bunk beds looked like they were out of the 60's, the owner smelled of alcohol, there was no hot water, it was so cold I slept with my hoodie on with the hood up, and the showers well, let's just say I refused to take one. Oh and did I mention the mold all over the celling? Anyways, it was good that Jes and I were the only one's in our 6 bed room, as his head cold was getting worse and he would have kept our roommates up all night coughing and blowing his nose.
After having a nap we ventured out to see some of Patras, which is really a nice city. We saw a huge Greek Orthodox church which was beautiful, and enjoyed a slow stroll along the beach. We ate some slovaki and got a few groceries, but by 8pm Jes was so sick and weak that he needed to go to bed. So back to the hostel, and I spent the evening reading, planning, and making us sandwiches for the next day.
The next morning we were on a train to Olympia. Again we did not have a place to stay, and we were just going to wing it. This seems to be a common theme lately, but we are finding a real lack of hostels in Greece anywhere outside of Athens. But what did we find when we got off the train? Four backpackers with Canadian flags on their packs. They pointed us in the direction of the hotel that they had found for a decent price. Speaking of seeing other Canadians, we have a test, as we have actually run into Americans who claim to be Canadians while traveling! We ask the "Canadians" if they know what a toque, chesterfield and inukshuk are. We have not met an American yet who knows any of these things.
So we found the hotel, which turns out would have been easy, as Olympia, the home of the first Olympics is nothing but a small tourist town, and at this time of year is a bit of a ghost town. After ditching our bags we were off to see the famous archaeological site of the origional Olympics. It was neat, but to be honest there is not much left after being rampaged back in the 400's when it was destroyed by order of the emperor, and afterward struck by 2 earthquakes. After taking our time strolling around the site, it was off to the museum, only to find it closed at 3pm. Darn off-season-traveling. So we took it slow as Jes was getting worse by the hour coughing none stop and blowing his nose constantly. After a rest at the hotel we went out for dinner. On our way home we met a Greek taxi driver who talked to us for about an hour on the street. He was so dramatic with his hand guestures it made us giggle as we reminised about him later. Then it was bed time for us at about 9:30pm.
The next morning we went to the museum of the history of the Olympic games. It was very interesting. First though we stopped by a pharmacy to get Jes some stronger drugs as what we brought with us was not doing the job.
J We left Olympia and started our journey east, which ended up taking a lot longer then we had hoped. Some of the trains in Greece simply were not operating at this time of year, that meant the only way we were going to see some of the other major towns in the Peloponnese area was by bus. So after waiting almost two hours we were on the next train back to Patras, from there north-east towards Corinth, and finally after a short bus ride we arrived in the small but touristy town of Nafplion. We had met 2 Americans on the train and enjoyed their company as we searched for our hotel. It was another night of not much sleep with my cold, but the new drugs seem to help slightly.
Our first day in Nafplio(n) we did almost nothing, and spent a good portion of the day resting. We spent some time at the local internet cafe, (our favorite thing to do in Greece apparently), went for a short walk, and then I passed out in the hotel room while Mich went in search of the laundramat. She found one fortunately, but not after spending 20 Euros to get there (Taxi) and on two loads of laundry. For some crazy reason the only laundry facilites all seemed to be dry cleaners, which of course aren't cheap even at home. Later we walked the quiet streets of the town, stared up at the eluminated fortress on the hill above us, and then had great dinner out.
During the course of the day I watched about 3-4 hours of CNN, needless to say I'm all educated on the US economic situation, and the situation in Gaza where the Egyptian border was breached. lol
M We decided to forgo our plans to visit 2 nearby towns due to Jesse's cold which was getting better, slowly. We strolled down a beautiful walkway beside the water, lined with numerous cacti. Jesse tried to sample a cactus fruit, but ended up with tiny prickels in his hand. lol We then took a taxi up to the fortress which was 999 steps to the top, and Jes wasn't up for that. We explored the ruins for a couple hours, took some pictures, bought a book, and had a light picnic lunch. Then we took the 999 stairs down, with a few stops on the way to rest. Then after stopping to grab the ipod we headed back to the internet cafe (again) to upload pictures. We went out again, this time at a less fancy, cheaper dinner, then headed for bed.
Tomorrow it's off to Athens!
The first Greeks we met were 2 teenage guys who were sitting outside at a bench, yes at 6:30 am and Jes thought as we approached they might just decide to rob us. On the contrary they asked "American?". We said "no, Canadian", and they responded "Welcome to Greek". They were the first of many friendly Greeks we were to meet that day. We wandered, and ended up again in a not-so-nice part of town. Then we saw it.. a total God sent.. nope not the hostel, but an internet cafe open 24hrs. We spent the next 4 hours in there having a coffee, using the internet, and Jes met a guy who played WOW. They hit it off really well, and shared how the game sucks up time in thier lives. By the time we left our new friend gave us a ride in his car to the hostel, which would have been quite a walk.
This hostel was the worst hostel we have stayed in yet. Sure it was only 10 euro each, making it one of the cheapest, but the bedding looked dirty (so we paid extra for clean sheets), the bunk beds looked like they were out of the 60's, the owner smelled of alcohol, there was no hot water, it was so cold I slept with my hoodie on with the hood up, and the showers well, let's just say I refused to take one. Oh and did I mention the mold all over the celling? Anyways, it was good that Jes and I were the only one's in our 6 bed room, as his head cold was getting worse and he would have kept our roommates up all night coughing and blowing his nose.After having a nap we ventured out to see some of Patras, which is really a nice city. We saw a huge Greek Orthodox church which was beautiful, and enjoyed a slow stroll along the beach. We ate some slovaki and got a few groceries, but by 8pm Jes was so sick and weak that he needed to go to bed. So back to the hostel, and I spent the evening reading, planning, and making us sandwiches for the next day.
The next morning we were on a train to Olympia. Again we did not have a place to stay, and we were just going to wing it. This seems to be a common theme lately, but we are finding a real lack of hostels in Greece anywhere outside of Athens. But what did we find when we got off the train? Four backpackers with Canadian flags on their packs. They pointed us in the direction of the hotel that they had found for a decent price. Speaking of seeing other Canadians, we have a test, as we have actually run into Americans who claim to be Canadians while traveling! We ask the "Canadians" if they know what a toque, chesterfield and inukshuk are. We have not met an American yet who knows any of these things.
So we found the hotel, which turns out would have been easy, as Olympia, the home of the first Olympics is nothing but a small tourist town, and at this time of year is a bit of a ghost town. After ditching our bags we were off to see the famous archaeological site of the origional Olympics. It was neat, but to be honest there is not much left after being rampaged back in the 400's when it was destroyed by order of the emperor, and afterward struck by 2 earthquakes. After taking our time strolling around the site, it was off to the museum, only to find it closed at 3pm. Darn off-season-traveling. So we took it slow as Jes was getting worse by the hour coughing none stop and blowing his nose constantly. After a rest at the hotel we went out for dinner. On our way home we met a Greek taxi driver who talked to us for about an hour on the street. He was so dramatic with his hand guestures it made us giggle as we reminised about him later. Then it was bed time for us at about 9:30pm.The next morning we went to the museum of the history of the Olympic games. It was very interesting. First though we stopped by a pharmacy to get Jes some stronger drugs as what we brought with us was not doing the job.
J We left Olympia and started our journey east, which ended up taking a lot longer then we had hoped. Some of the trains in Greece simply were not operating at this time of year, that meant the only way we were going to see some of the other major towns in the Peloponnese area was by bus. So after waiting almost two hours we were on the next train back to Patras, from there north-east towards Corinth, and finally after a short bus ride we arrived in the small but touristy town of Nafplion. We had met 2 Americans on the train and enjoyed their company as we searched for our hotel. It was another night of not much sleep with my cold, but the new drugs seem to help slightly.
Our first day in Nafplio(n) we did almost nothing, and spent a good portion of the day resting. We spent some time at the local internet cafe, (our favorite thing to do in Greece apparently), went for a short walk, and then I passed out in the hotel room while Mich went in search of the laundramat. She found one fortunately, but not after spending 20 Euros to get there (Taxi) and on two loads of laundry. For some crazy reason the only laundry facilites all seemed to be dry cleaners, which of course aren't cheap even at home. Later we walked the quiet streets of the town, stared up at the eluminated fortress on the hill above us, and then had great dinner out.During the course of the day I watched about 3-4 hours of CNN, needless to say I'm all educated on the US economic situation, and the situation in Gaza where the Egyptian border was breached. lol
M We decided to forgo our plans to visit 2 nearby towns due to Jesse's cold which was getting better, slowly. We strolled down a beautiful walkway beside the water, lined with numerous cacti. Jesse tried to sample a cactus fruit, but ended up with tiny prickels in his hand. lol We then took a taxi up to the fortress which was 999 steps to the top, and Jes wasn't up for that. We explored the ruins for a couple hours, took some pictures, bought a book, and had a light picnic lunch. Then we took the 999 stairs down, with a few stops on the way to rest. Then after stopping to grab the ipod we headed back to the internet cafe (again) to upload pictures. We went out again, this time at a less fancy, cheaper dinner, then headed for bed.
Tomorrow it's off to Athens!
No comments:
Post a Comment