day 411 – we finished packing in the morning, checked email and headed to the airport. we flew to istanbul and headed to the backpacker district.
it turns out that, with anzac day just around the corner, hotels were booked solid and prices had risen considerably. annoyed, we checked into a dormitory and went for a walk to get some food. we had some beer, returned to the hotel and slept.
day 412 – things weren’t working out in turkey. we couldn’t stay in the hotel and everything was becoming expensive. we decided to make a run for it and head to greece. we walked to the train station and booked two tickets to thesaloniki.
when christina and i returned to the hotel, we checked out and stored our luggage for the day. we walked into the city and looked in suhanahmed mosque and the markets. i bought a lonely planet europe.
then we visited the million stone, constantine’s column and sat on the grass near the fountain. christina bought some corn, so we ate it and talked for a while. we returned to the hotel to collect our bags and walked to the train station.
the overnight train to thesaloniki was comfortable and we officially entered europe. we had our own little private two bed compartment, so we sat and talked and slept for the whole trip.
day 413 – after passing through the border stops we got some more sleep and in the morning arrived in thesaloniki. we found a hotel in the city and walked along the foreshore.
we went to a supermarket and bought some food, made sandwiches at the hotel and then went out for another walk. we ended up at a small cafe where we had beer and wine. christina got a little drunk so we went back to the hotel. she slept and i watched a movie on the computer.
day 414 – we checked out and walked down to the train station to get a train to athens. however, all the trains were full. damn! we had to walk over to the bus station and were able to get bus tickets instead. we had to wait two hours and then it was a long bus ride to athens.
when we arrived it was getting late. we found a hotel and the owner only had one room left, a single room, which he let us have. the owner was very nice and we were happy to have somewhere to crash (cheaply).
we walked around a little and found a small supermarket. we bought some sangria and salad which we took to the hotel and ate on the balcony outside our room.
day 415 – souvlaki for breakfast (yum!) was followed by a long walk around town. christina bought some sandals and we got some food to take back to the hotel.
we ate lunch and headed to the acropolis for the afternoon. however, we discovered that the acropolis shuts at 3pm (every day) and we couldn’t get in. then we noticed that almost everything shuts down at around 3pm. everyone quits work and goes drinking … the cafes and bars are full but everything useful is closed.
we bought some more food, to cook for a late lunch, as well as sangria and cheese for the evening. we went for another long walk before retiring for the night, enjoying sangria and cheese on the balcony with a view of athens and the acropolis. nice!
