Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece, also known as one of the world's oldest city. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state. A center for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum, it is widely referred to as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy, largely due to the impact of its cultural and political achievements during the 5th and 4th centuries BC in later centuries on the rest of the then known European continent. People said that I'm crazy to go to Athens alone, especially after the crisis in Greece, well I call it experience, I'm sure it's not that bad there, and I might get the chance to meet new people and have new friends (One of the reason I choose hostel).
Day 10 - Arrived Safely in Athens
After 3 hours sleeping in the plane, I finally arrived in Athens. You can get the x95 bus to the city (syntagma square). The ticket cost 5euro one way and you can buy the ticket in the ticket machine or in a locket (like in syntagma square). After 70 minutes of travel I finally arrived at Syntagma Square, I walked about 15 minutes to the hostel (Pella-Inn). I got the 8 mixed dorm and paid 18euro/night. The bathroom is not ensuite, so you have to go out from your room to take shower, the hostel has an elevator, common room and also rooftop bar with the view of Acropolis. When you checked in you will get a free "Ouzo" coupon which you can redeem at the roof top bar. Once I checked in I sit down for a moment, enjoying the air conditioner before looking for dinner. Traveling alone is not that bad, you can do whatever you want and no one will complain. I found a supermarket nearby and buy a bottle of water and some bread for dinner (I'm not in the mood to go to a restaurant and sitting there all by myself :p). and I walk around the city, enjoying the sunset and prepare myself for the sailing trip tomorrow.
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| Sunset at Monastiraki Square |
Day 11 - Sailing Trip
Other than it's mythology Greece is also famous for the beautiful island and crystal clear sea. Sailing is one of the way of enjoying both at the same time. I join the sailing arranged by the hostel and pay 45euro (I got 10% discount for staying in the hostel). We left the hostel on 9am and take the bus to the port. When we get to the port we're welcomed by the owner of the yacht we're going to use to go to one of the closest island Aegina. The tide was high (just like the song) and the boat is bumping like crazy, it was too dangerous to sit on the deck, so we're stuck on the back of the yacht, one of the passenger got seasick, and I thought I wouldn't get seasick, but I threw up eventually, because the ship bumped like crazy and I only ate a bite bread for breakfast. After a while the yacht stop in the middle of the sea and we can jump in or snorkel. I have my underwater camera (yay!!!I finally use this one after a while) so I can take a picture and swimming at the same time. The view underwater is not that great (The one in Pulau Tidung, Indonesia is way much better). Being here makes me feel grateful about the underwater beauty of Indonesia. After tired of swimming we continue our journey to Aegina Island to have lunch and lay down on the beach. I don't really remember what I had for lunch but it's quite expensive for me (10euro/person). After dinner we walked to the beach, and relax on the beach, swimming, and just enjoying the cold water in the hotness of summery Greece. Oh and you have to pay to rent the chair of umbrella, so if you have a big towel to sit down, you can just sit down under the palm tree for free ;)
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| Swimming in the sea |
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| My fellow sailor |
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| Sunset on our way home |
After tired of sailing and swimming we went back to our hostel. On our way back we saw a strike, people protesting about something (I feel like home, because there's always a strike in Jakarta about something or even about nothing :p). Today was long and tiring, I took a shower and ended my day with a free "Ouzo" shot (it taste like licorice), and of course I got drunk easily so my head already spinning after a shot.
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| Strike at Syntagma Square |
Day 12 - Back to Aegina Island
So you might questioned why I go back to Aegina Island, well the reason is mainly becaue I didn't know that we were going to sail to Aegina Island, and I already booked a night staying at Seaside Village Rooms, a family-run hotel near the Pebble beach. To get there you can take a Metro to Pireaus (Line 1, ticket is 1.40euro valid for 90 minutes), from the Metro station you can just follow the sign to the port. Once you arrived at the port you have to go to gate 8, there you can find the "Alexandros" kiosk where you can buy the ferry ticket that will take you to Aghia Marina (9.50euro one way) and you can call the hotel for a free pick up service. I paid 24euro/night at the hotel, quite expensive I know, I got a single private ensuite (which turn out to be a double bed suit), with private bathroom and your own remote for air-conditioner (I really love that technology!!!!). After sit down for a while and eat rice pudding offered by the owner of the hotel (they said you have to pay extra for breakfast, or even air-conditioner but really I didn't pay more than 24euro stated on my booking details). When I was there the hotel was under construction so the wifi didn't really reach to you room, which means you have to stay at the lobby to enjoy the wifi. After I dropped my bags and lay down a little while I decided to walk to Pebble beach, a secluded beach only 3 minutes walking from the hotel. They said you can also walk to the city if you want to but I got lost, so I give up, and decided to have a "Me" time laying down, reading book, listening to the music and enjoying the sunshine.
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| A walk to the beach |
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| Aegina Island |
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| Me time |
After finished enjoying myself at the beach and feel like I'm tanned enough, I walk back to the hotel, and take a shower, I don't know what's wrong, maybe because it's too hot the pipe is warm and I couldn't take a cold shower, so it was a torturing hot shower on hot summer day. After I take a shower I relax a little bit and after a while I went down to the lobby to enjoy the sunset.
Day 13 - Off to Athens
Today I go back to Athens and continue exploring Athens. I took the same ferry back to Athens, and metro back to the Monastiraki Square. This time I stay at Students & Travellers Inn and paid 20euro/night. I got 4 bed mixed dorm, the bathroom is also outside the room (and they don't have female/male bathroom, so it's mixed as well). But to be honest I like this hostel better than the hostel I stayed in the night before I went to Aegina Island. The room is cleaner and it has nicer environment (except the fact that I was almost kissed by a drunk Canadian guy). When I arrived at the hostel I immediately go to my room and enjoying the air-conditioner (soon named as "my love"). I relax a little bit, and suddenly a guy came into the room, his name is Luke and he's from Australia, but currently living in London. Luke also travels alone, so we decided to be travel buddy. We don't have any plans this evening, so we just walk down and explore the city and look for dinner.
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| Brettos, the most colorful bar in Athens |
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| Acropolis at Night |
Day 14 - Acropolis and Other Site
Today our plan is to conquer the acropolis, to enter acropolis you need to pay 12euro, but this ticket also valid for other site (Ancient Agora, Roman Agora, Hadrian's Library, Dionysus Theater, New Acropolis Museum, Kerameikos Cemetery Archaeological Site). And you can use it for a week, so no need to rush and finish everything in one day. The journey climbing the acropolis is quite tiring, and it's really hot that day. But it's all paid off when you get there, you will be amazed by the beauty of acropolis and how they are able to build such a beautiful temple on the top of the hill without the help of technology or any heavy machine we have nowadays.
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| Acropolis with Rob & Luke |
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| from the top of Acropolis |
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| City of Athens |
After tired exploring the Acropolis and few other site we went back to the hotel and get some rest. We're planning to look for a roof top bar to enjoy the sunset in Athens. After googling, we finally found some place, a bar on the top of the hostel, well they said it's for customer only, but we managed to enter the bar anyway. It wasn't a fancy bar, just enough to sit down drink some beer and enjoying the sunset (Of course I got tipsy after a bottle of beer *sigh*). After the sunset we walk down to find some food, there are lots of restaurant, and our choice goes to one of the restaurant located in the stairs to the highest ground of Athens. It was really nice restaurant, and they offer food with reasonable price.
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| Athens's Sunset |
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| Acropolis at Night |
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| The restaurant |
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| Fish for Dinner |
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| Lamb Chop |
Day 15 - Saying Goodbye to Athens and all the good time
Last day in Athens, I wake up and check out from the hostel, but I still have to wait because I have 10pm flight to Milan (why Milan??? I'll explain later). Luckily I still have my travel buddy Luke to accompany me. So today we continue our journey to explore some of the site we haven't got the chance to explore yesterday. One of them is temple of Zeus, a big temple in the middle of the city. After that we stop at one of the restaurant to get some lunch, I had some wrap and strawberry smoothie, enough to fill my empty stomach and freshened up my day.
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| Some Mozaic |
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| Random Site |
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| Temple of Zeus |
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| Super Lunch |
After finished exploring Luke sneak me up into the hostel to get some rest before I continue my journey. Yup, I'm going to Milan, simply because the plane ticket is cheaper if I make a stop at Milan instead of direct flight to Prague. It's not fun without a trouble, I was kinda running late to the airport, and out of sudden my suitcase breakdown *sigh*, so I have to carry the heavy suitcase while trying to catch the bus to the airport. To go to the airport you can take the x95 bus, and pay 5 euro.
Conclusion: Who says that traveling alone sucks, it's actually quite nice and I get to meet new people and make some friends. My expense in Athens is quite high due to fancy food I ate (Kinda have to when your travel buddy wants to eat some good food *sigh*), nevertheless it was quite fun. If you have some extra time, I suggest you to visit the blue beach just near Athens, or go to other island like mykonos or even santorini (I have budget concern, that's why I only go to Aegina). You have to try the tzatziki and greek salad, it was the best tzatziki I've ever had in my life :)
