A Place Called Athens...

I'm in love alright, with my crazy beautiful life. 


With the parties, the disasters, with my friends all pretty and plastered. 


Every night we're down to go out, waking up on a different couch. 


Till the next night on the next flight, 
Yea I guess we're doing alright. 


- Crazy Beautiful Life, Ke$ha.

The heart of Ancient Greece...ATHENS!!!

So much fun and so much mesmerising history!!! 

When I was younger I used to always think the ancient world was ruled by one power at a time. So the world of Ancient Egypt was different from Ancient Rome or Ancient Greece. I get so excited now as I learn more about history and I see sites and artefacts and think about how all these ancient civilisations were all interacting, trading and evolving at the same time. To hear and see the connections and influence they had on each other. Ohhh....I love it!!

So two days in Athens meant we had to be efficient. We made a list of our MUST DO'S in Athens and bought a 48hour ticket on the hop on/hop off bus to begin our exciting journey.

Stop 1 The Parthenon and Acropolis

The Acropolis was built to protect the city of Athens and contains a variety of ancient buildings. The most famous of course being the Parthenon which was built as a temple to the Goddess of Athens, Athena.

It was amazing to be walking through this site and imagining the history of it. 

It was the most important place in ancient Greece and in Athens.  

From the top you can look out onto Mount Olympus. That was a surreal experience.  

Stop 2 The Theatre of Dionysus.

This was an open-air theatre used in ancient Greece for festivals to honor the god Dionysus.

Stop 3 the Temple of Zeus.

I was so excited to see a Temple...and even though the Temple of Zeus is only ruins and a few pillars. The idea of where I was and what once stood was enough to send my imagination off. I was seeing images from Disney's Hercules (and singing the songs at this point). 

Stop 4 Parliament

Stop 5 The History Museum 

This was so interesting, I could go on and on,,,instead I will just give you my highlights: 

 I was amazed how influenced the Greeks were by societies around them and how early sculptures held a resemblance to ancient Egyptian statues. 

Their Jewellery was so detailed and well designed. I was in love and probably spent most of my time in these rooms. I cannot wait to get back to Newtown in Sydney pick up some beads and create items similar. 

The art work from ancient ruins was breath taking! 

Day 2

Stop 1 Hadrian's Library.

The Library was built in 132AD by the Roman Emperor Hadrian and consisted of 'books' rolled up papyrus, reading rooms and lecture halls. 

Stop 2 Roman Agora (Market). 


I think I enjoyed this site the best. I recalled images from the TV shows Hercules and Xena and could hear and see people from the Ancient world in this market place negotiating over price, calling out their prices and stock, chatting and living their every day life. It was fantastic, real life and fantasy in one.

Built by astronomer Andronikos from Macedonia, this tower stood in the Roman Agora. A bronze weather vane showed the direction of the wind, carved below was a sun clock and a water clock was installed for cloudy days and nights.

Stop 3 Ancient Agora.

The Agora was the center of political and public life in Athens. It was a large open area surrounded by buildings of various functions. 

 The Agora was utilized for commerce, political, religious and military activity. Located within the Agora is The temple of Hephaestus...

Hephaestus was the patron god of metal working and craftsmanship. Construction stated on the temple in 449 BC and it remains standing to this day.

Stop 4 - Panathenaic Stadium. 

Surprisingly, this was one of my favourite sites in Athens. The audio-guided tour brought the site to life and really captured the olympic spirit. 

This site, which was reconstructed from an ancient Greek stadium, hosted the first modern olympic games in 1896.

We got to walk down the passageway competitors from ancient to modern day have walked down. 

and run the track! 

They had an excellent display of posters and torches from all the Olympics games. 

Sydney 2000 Olympics. 

London 2012 Olympics 

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I found this painting in a local church in Athens, near the Acropolis. I instantly fell in love and it is my favourite painting of Jesus on the cross.

 I normally find them too dark or too glorified. I find this one honest and true. A simple depiction of Christ exhausted with some of his hair falling over his face. 

This is my Saviour!!!! 

And so my time in Greece came to an end. I don't think there was one day In my 14 day stay in Greece that I didn't eat Greek yogurt, in fact I would eat it twice a day most days. 

It was amazing and another blessing! I continue to be so thankful to my Lord and Father who has provided me with all these opportunities. He is continuously blessing me. I will forever be singing His praise and THANKING Him!!!! 

στοργή (love), 

Joey!!!! 

The Greek Islands!!!!!

So I put my faith in something unknown,I've been living on such sweet nothing,But I’m trying to hope with nothing to hold,

I'm living on such sweet nothing.

- Sweet Nothing, Calvin Harris Feat. Florence Welch.

Greek Islands...

Where to start. Contiki around Greece was definitely an experience. One full of ups and downs, excitement and disappointment, laughter and tears. But, like everything this year it was AmAzInG!!! The beauty of these Islands sang the praises of an imaginative and creative God, the GREATEST artists who formed the rocks, beaches and warm sun but also crafted the snow white alps and stunning waterfalls of Switzerland, I saw just a few months ago! 

We arrived in Athens and headed to Lambraki street. It is about sixty minutes from Central Athens but definitely the BEST place for shopping. 

And shopping we did. I think the clothes I brang doubled in size by the end of the day. I have decided I am in LOVE with Greek Fashion, my new fashion capital!!!

However, that day came my first tears. As I went to try on a shirt I realised the wax I got the day before had left a disgusting rash all over my chest! Red lumps seemed to appear and multiply. Not the look I was going for. Ha Ha! 

However, convinced it would not ruin my holiday - even if it meant the next 6 days I spent tanning and swimming my shirt on - we carried on shopping AND EATING!

The next day we headed to our first Island Mykonos....

We were staying in a lovely hotel opposite one of the many beaches. It was a beautiful view. However, to be honest I was surprised how small the beach was. I was expecting long, sandy beaches and though the sand was soft and the water refreshing the images did not match up.

That night we went out to dinner and visited a few bars.

Day 2 in Mykonos saw us head over to the infamous Paradise Beach. Where we had our first Gyros and danced and drank and enjoyed our night.

The next morning we headed to Paros...

Paros was definitely my favourite Island on Contiki. Not for the place itself - though it was beautiful. But because of the people.

On our first day we went to a jewellery store and made friends with the lovely sales assistant. She spoke of DELICIOUS Cheesecake cocktails from a bar called Republic down the street. When we went we were amazed. The man who owned and invented/perfected these cocktails was so nice to us and spoke and drank with us they night. We order Strawberry Cheesecake, Bounty, Turamussu and After Eight ( Choc-Mint) every single one was a sip of heaven. He also brang us shots throughout the night: Strawberry Vodka, Mango Vodka and frangelico in an edible chocolate shot glass. Delicious! Absolutely one of the best nights.

Tamara and I had a great day shopping and exploring town. We even found time for a fish pedicures with Garra Rufa fish. We laughed and laughed as they tickled our feet and ate our dead skin. Our feet felt so smooth!!! 

We also went to a delicious dinner in Paros, where we were invited to join in on traditional dancing and the smashing of plates! So much FUN!!!

 

Our last night in Paros we also visited a quaint fishing village. 

It was amazing we tried our first grilled fetta (another new addiction) and ate fresh, flavour filled food.

Our last stop for Contiki was Santorini...

The famous Santorini, the donkeys, the sunset, the white and blue buildings BUT DID EVERYONE KNOW IT WAS ALL CLIFFS?!? 
We were greeted at the port by nothing than large rock cliffs. Not the sandy beach I was still waiting for!

Our first night we headed to a beautiful restaurant with a gourgess view of the Island. 

We ordered different dishes to share between six of us!

Fried tomato balls and more grilled fetta.   

Strawberry and salmon salad and prosciutto and vodka penne.







Fava (lentil dip) and moussaka.



The food was delicious and so full of flavour with fresh, quality produce.

The next day we did a day tour of the Island. I was so tired and had to start my day with a local favourite. Freddo, a strong, iced coffee. 

and BOY was it strong, but it worked!!! 

We visited both the red sand and black sand beaches. 





















The black sand was SO HOT! You couldn't walk on it with bare feet!


















Prehistoric Thera is believed to be the town Plato based his writings 'The Lost City of Atlanta' on.

The people who lived here in the bronze age had inside toilets and had pipes leading to the ocean and volcano waters for hot and cold water.

 I cannot believe how intelligent and innovative the ancient world was. Definitely smarter thinkers and better problem solvers than most of this generation. :P




On our walk back to the bus we passed a farmer who was sun drying his tomatoes. So amazing!!!!













Our visit to the Santarini winery concluded our day. We got a tour of the factory and were able to taste a selection of wines. My favourite was a dessert wine made with raisins. It was very sweet but very delicious. It would have been magical poured over vanilla ice cream.

 
That evening we settled in for the Santorini Sunset.

The sun lit up bright PINK and set the sky ablaze. It was beautiful but I have to admit, even though our sun doesn't go pink, Sydney also has amazing sunsets, painting the sky blue, pink, orange and yellow. 

Later that night we relaxed at our hotel, eating chocolate and chips and drinking Smirnoff Vodka North (Northern berries).

Finally, the day had arrived. On our last morning in Santorini we rode donkeys. It was brilliant, so much fun.













 My donkey kept walking on the cliff side though and I knew if he leant too that side I would fall right off and down the cliff. Thankfully I survived!!

Sadly, after our donkey rides our time on Contiki had come to an end. As we said goodbye to our new friends now headed to Athens and made our way on our Ferry to Crete...

Even though we spent the first hour in Crete a little anxious and desperately searching for a hotel, our 3 days in Crete were amazing.

The beach we stayed at in Crete, Amoudara, was the one I had dreamed off. It was a lushes sandy beach that stretched on and on with crystal blue warm water! I was in Paradise!

We spent day one at the beach. Laying in the sun, swimming, walking along the beautiful long sandy beach and even got a massage.

That night we ate a traditional greek dinner at a beautifully decorated Cretan restaurant. 

The restaurant was run by a very friendly husband and wife with the help of their daughter. The food was full of the local flavours and every mouthful was heavenly.  

Olives, dips and bread to start. 

Dolma (Greek stuffed vine leaves) and Zucchini flowers. 

Eggplant. 

Greek salad (Look at all that feta...delicious!!!!) 

Chicken souvlaki.  

Day 2: We did history in Heracleum.


 Visiting the ancient palace of Knosses, 

the historical museum, 

the fort,

 churches 

the ancient fort, 

and market square.

We stopped and ate a delicious Greek mixed grill overlooking the sea. 

Day 3 was a mix of city shopping and laying on the beach. We then made our way to the Port to catch a ferry to Athens.

Our 6 hour overnight Ferry to Athens only had Deck seats left. Tamara and I were both very unsure what this meant and envisioned sleeping on the floor of an outside deck with best case scenario being we may have deck chairs?

Thankfully our 'poor' seats just meant sleeping inside on unreserved reclining seats. We both gots seats and were able to catch a few hours of sleep before our 6am arrival in Athens.

Well boys and girls, that's all the writing I have in me today as I still have an exciting summer to enjoy. We will have to leave Athens for another time!

Love, SUN and kisses, 
Joey!!!