Greece

So...been around Athens since last blog -miles to climb upto the top of the Parthenon but really really amazing and wonderful views. You could almost imagine you were an ancient greek -except for all the tourists! Archaeological museum had some amazing stuff -you really need several days to see it all then off to Delphi yesterday. Delphi is a huge town -a grand total of 2800 people and about 4 whole roads! Amazing views of the countryside though right up in the mountains. Seeing the ancient town was very cool -being where all these famous legends have been-though no oracle to tell me whether I'm going to run out of money anytime soon! Crazy steps to climb up so naturally I've sprained my ankle plus from sitting on buses and so on my feet are so swollen I actually have CANKLES. Seriously. Like old people feet. Ew. Have been wandering around with a girl from Brazil staying at my hostel though which has been very fun. Plus she's vegetarian too so have tried some totally scrummy greek food. Traditional stews, stuffed vine leaves, tomatoes and peppers. Saganaki -cheese cooked with lemon and lots and lots of spanakopita for 1.50 euros each. LOVE GREEK FOOD. Also love hostel. Am staying in Athen's Backpackers and they have a rooftop terrace right under the acropolis. It's great. Plus free ouzo shot per stay so I've tried that. Well, it certainly stays with you for a while lol. Have loved Greece and, again, definitely coming back but onwards bound... Rome tomorrow!

Just a short entry to say I have broken my not getting lost record :-( 14 hr ferry last night so was planning on sleeping but everytime I was dozing off a steward would come by and go no, no you cannot sleep here. Well no kidding I can't if you keep waking me up! What the hell? So got like 2hrs sleep then was assured metro only 1km from port. Well, whatever was it! Took me like an hour to find it and when I finally got to the other end no one knew where the hostel was and it was off the edge of my map and wandered around for about 3hrs until finally just gave up and came here. More expensive though...and so knackered...so knackered.

So... I'm taking advantage of internet now while it's cheap (you should all feel blessed -I could have bought a Spanakopita with what this cost)I may have mentioned this before butI HATE having to make reservations I mean really, what the hell? I'd much rather just amble on as and when I feel like it. Nevermind I guess. I was also in this cafe last time i blogged and I couldn't mention it at the time but...OK so I talked to this guy at the ferry port -agreed to go and see his hotel/hostel which i must say is really quite scummy but he was like you know what -it's low season you clean for me for an hour a night you stay free. Well, a gal's on a budget so I was like OK but then he couldn't even be bothered to show me what he wanted me to clean so I basically just got 2 nights free acomadation! Yay! Anyway he said to me that there was only one other person in the dorm so i'm thinking that's great -good night's sleep etc. Then he goes: it's an Albanian and he's an alcoholic. Well, an Albanian alcoholic now doesn't that just sound promising! No actually he was pretty helpful and showed me here -which is why I couldn't mention this before.
Anyway, Rhodes has gorgeous old cobblestone streets and seems pretty much like what I expected of Greece -except with loads of leftovers from when it was owned by Turkey. (Mosques and so on) Beach gorgeous but don't dare swim. You can see there's a strong rip and loads of rocks. Mind you I was sat up on the fortifications yesterday having my lunch and looking down at the Agean and it was actually quite funny because all the tourists would approach the edge with trepidation but the Greeks would just hop right over onto the rocks about 15 ft below! Also I saw a funny sign yesterday. It said: "Don't Even Think About Parking Here". Well it amused me anyway!
Island life must be lovely and certainly everyone seems very laid back -and let's face it, it's hard not to be so close to the sea- but I'm feeling quite energetic so I've decided to head straight on to Athens. Night ferry (13 hours, how fun!) Oh and btw I have a tan! I know, I almost fell off my stool yesterday when I realised! Some people from Somerset were talking to me like i was greek! For real!

So I think when I last checked in, I was heading to Ephesus which was absolutely wonderful (an ancient city) -and a man outside the gate lent me his guide so I found out a bit more than I otherwise would have. Amongst other things saw an ancient sign for a brothel -a woman, left foot and heart. Also murals of Socrates etc. Well worth the 2 km walk each way then the 3 around then the 3 back to the other gate to return the guide...lol! Next day onwards to Marmaris to get the ferry here. Bought ticket -man assured me bus was direct. Well...had to get off in the middle of goodness only knows where -beautiful sceneery but still- and get on a minibus that smelled like it was mainly used for transporting fish. Yay! Finally found where hostel should have been in Marmaris -in the middle of a thunderstorm- and they were like. Oh that closed down last week. Well. Fantastic. Eventually found somewhere and set out to book ferry. Oh that left yesterday. So??? It was supposed to leave 2x a day! Travel Agent like OK OK I make some calls. And finally got passage on a catemaran. So that's just as well. Boat filled with tourists who freaked out everytime we went over any kind of a swell. Lots of beer bellies in sight too...Anyway, finally here and Rhodes is very touristy but lovely. Sea so clear -turquoise and green. Loads of fishing boats. Sunny. Whish you were here...?Medieval old town -and I'm lucky enough to be staying in that part. Mind you if you didn't know where you were going you'd never find it down the cobblestone alleys! Wander around tomorrow and then see about heading to Athens. Owner of hotel said I can stay free in exchange for some cleaning so we'll see how that goes... Oh and 5 more scores. Really feeling the love...