Now sunning myself in the Greek Islands, having left Italy by 21 hour ferry for Patra and then a 3 hour bus into Athens.

After drinking so much in the previous 3 weeks, it was nice to have a few days off in Athens where I had 4 nights. It was very hot (obviously), so it paid to follow the lead of the locals and have a siesta in the afternoon after sightseeing in the morning.

The Acropolis was amazing, and i just sat up there overlooking the city for a quite a while taking it all in. Once again using my (still valid but shouldnt be) student card to get a substantial discount, i got a pass to all the main archaeological sites and the acropolis museum.

The next day i went to the National Archaeological Museum, which was very interesting, if a little tiring.

By this stage i had moved into the nice Achilleas Hotel where i met alot of Busabout people, most of whom had just been in the greek islands and had alot of stories to tell, whetting my appetite for the adventure to come.

The remaining day or so before i left, I had a couple of good wanders by myself around Athens. Putting the map away is very liberating. I ended up in various narrow dingy streets, and didnt see any tourists for 3 hours! Which when youve just been at the acropolis is very refreshing.

Although it was very hot, unlike most of central Europe, The greeks actually know how to deal with the heat. EG. Such inventions as refrigeration, air conditioning, cheap bottled water in large bottles (1.5L for 0.55c in the supermarket), and alot of juice that is actually 100% juice!

Finally I met up with Tracy, our guide for the greek islands, and 10 or so of the group for dinner the day before we left.

The next morn, at an hour that could only be described as unearthly, we rose bleary eyed to catch the ferry to the first stop, Mykonos, the busiest and most expensive of the Cyclades.

we were staying in the contiki resort of all places which was very expensive but very nice. Not surprisingly, Ive found that you get what you pay for everywhere you go.

After some laying in the sun, we headed into town and did a bit of a tour and had a nice and not too expensive greek dinner. Then, it was off to some bars and clubs, where, a long island ice tea or 8 later, fun was to be had.

The next day, we once again laid in the sun at the pool and beach, where we also did a spot of sea kayaking.

In the early arvo, it was off to town and then to Paradise Beach.
The roads on the greek islands and the people travelling on them have got to be the most crazy in the world. There are a lot of people on mopeds with no safety gear at all speeding around through incredibly narrow gaps between buses and walls and pedestrians going in various directions.

So having survived the bus ride across the very arid and sparsely populated island, we entered through a door into a massive beach with clear blue water, almost entirely covered with sunbeds and several bars at the back pumping out music.

Unlike the rather disturbing sight at the Englischer Garten in Munich (Old german men laying out with all to see and nothing that anybody wants to), there were hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds (you get the idea) of stunning girls.

But it all started about 5pm when the music started really pumping, and everyone started dancing on the tables. After an hour or so, it was basically just a massive massive massive beach party!

And we supposedly havent got to the 'party' island (ios) yet!


Today we moved over to the rather more serene, inexpensive, and greek island of Paros, where my room looks over yet another picture perfect beach.


I'm now at about the half way point of the trip and it has gone so fast, but telling people where ive been and where i'm going (as you do all the time when you are meeting hundreds of people), and looking over this blog, i cant believe how much ive done and seen and spent and experienced.


Oh, i forgot to mention the weather, but you don't really notice it when you havent seen a cloud or any form of precipitaion for months....