Geneva

Geneva was actually the first trip I booked for this year!  It wasn't a massively obvious choice, but my friends Debbie and Jess qualified to represent Great Britain in their respective age groups at the European Triathlon Championships, so we organised a trip out to support them and see what Geneva was like at the same time.  They were competing on Sunday morning and the elites were racing on Saturday, so we thought we'd make a long weekend of it and go from Friday to Monday.

Brits Abroad ... 

Although Debbie had sixteen - SIXTEEN! - friends and family out to support her, there were four of us who knew each other well from triathlon camp in Greece.  That was Julia, Susan and me as spectathletes, and Jess who was competing with Debbie.  With such a big group, it wasn't really possible to hang out all together, so Julia, Susan, Jess and I really spent the weekend together, which was brilliant!  We had so much fun.

Julia, Jess, Susan and me on the winners blocks!

We all arrived separately, but at about lunchtime on Friday.  Jess was staying just down the road in accommodation organised by British Triathlon, but Julia, Susan and I were altogether at the inventively named Hotel Suisse (see what they did there?!).  Geneva, as it turns out, is TINY so we were all super-close together in any event.  Once we'd checked in, we wandered down to the lakefront to see what was going on.

Not sure the ice-creams are big enough really

I can't say what Geneva's really like on a normal weekend but I bet it's not quite like it was when we were there!  The entire north shore of the lake was transformed into triathlon heaven - and had been overrun with lycra lunatics.  We spent a while happily wandering through the stalls and thinking about things that we could buy (even though none of Susan, Julia or I were competing.  But KIT!) before we met up with Jess and Debbie, who'd been setting up their kit.  We also hooked up with Debbie's parents, fiance and parents-in-law and the ten of us set off across the lake on one of the tiny ferries that go every twenty minutes or so.  These are brilliant - they're also free to tourists, because you get a little travel pass when you check into any hotel in Geneva.  We could quite easily have just walked across the bridge, but why do that when you can get a free boat instead?!

Jet d'Eau from the ferry

The other benefit of the boat was that it gave us the best view of the Jet d'Eau ever.  Since the Jet d'Eau is Geneva's biggest tourist attraction, we thought it was important to see it from every angle.  It's unbelievably impressive from any viewpoint - it was initially installed as a safety valve for a hydraulic power network (how exciting) and could only (only!) reach heights of about 30 metres / 100 feet.  However, in 1891, it happened to be the 600th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation.  The Swiss realised that the Jet d'Eau was actually extremely aesthetic, and moved the Jet to its current location (which is just where Lake Geneva empties into the Rhone).  At that point, the maximum height was increased to about 90 metres or 300 feet.  The Jet was then renovated one more time in 1951 in order to get it to pump lake water rather than city water ... I imagine it was rather expensive before that!

Having made it to the other side of the lake, we had lunch at a tiny outside cafe.  Lunch was a definitely not very big, but it was delicious!  We had loads of different cheeses and meats, together with various breads.  It was delicious, but it reminded me much more of France than Switzerland really.

After lunch, we intended to head back to the hotel, but we made one more stop first ... the well-known tourist attraction of Lidl.  That's right folks, Lidl.  We'd discovered, somewhat to our shock, that down on the waterfront a 500ml bottle of water was five euro.  FIVE!  Euro!  For one tiny bottle of water!!!!  Given that it was a minimum of 35*C when we were there, Lidl was a necessary trip if we didn't want to spend every cent we had on hydrating.

Fondue.  Very friendly.

That night Jess, Julia, Susan and I hooked up for supper.  We found the most adorable little place just up the road from the lake which had the widest variety of French food we'd ever seen!  It also had the best menu, with tips like this to keep us occupied while we ate.  I had snails and steak.  Best.  Meal.  Everrrrrrrrrrrrr.

In the morning, it was time to head back down to the waterfront to support the elite women.  We met up with the troops for a lovely morning tea first, but I do like a bit of yelling and screaming for the elites (and I'd had to miss London) so I headed down to transition to watch the men in small trisuits whizzing past.  This was a fun pastime, but it soon got really crowded so that when Jess, Julia and Susan joined me there was no more room.  Fortunately, the stalls were practically empty still as we had an hour or so to wait til the finish, so we had a bit of fun hanging out with the box and generally soaking up the atmosphere.  Eventually the men started to finish, with David Hauss winning.

Julia, Susan, me and Jess

Susan's new man

Between the men's and women's races there was about an hour break, so we trotted off into town to get some lunch.  Once again, we found a lovely - if slight slow serving! - cafe to eat in and once again it was totally quirky and unusual.  It was kitted out like a cottage, with bookshelves lining the walls, lace doilies on the tables, and even a new boyfriend for Susan!  We finished up with ENORMOUS ice-creams before heading back down to the waterfront for the women's.  This time we'd learned our lesson and didn't even bother with transition, just headed straight for our new personal spot in the stalls.  It was perfect!  The atmosphere was amazing - so much fun!  The atmosphere was even more het up when the women came through and Nicola Spirig won, which was fabulous for the Swiss - especially as she hasn't even been racing the circuit much this year, so it was a doubly good victory!  Jess and I also managed to get our photo with Anna Maria Mazzetti (fangirling!) so that was fun.  It was surprisingly tiring watching in the heat, but we managed to cope(!) before heading back for a shower and change for supper.  In the event, supper that night was pretty lowkey - Jess was racing the following morning, so she didn't join us, and the other two and I headed for more traditional Swiss (rather than French) fare.  Fondue anyone?!  That is all ...!

Debbie starting off

We had to be up at stupid o'clock the next day, because Jess and Debbie started racing at the ghastly hour of 06:40.  Ugh.  We had decided that being Brits Abroad was the answer to all our problems in life, so kitted out in Union Jack tattoos and tshirts and wielding our British flags, we headed down to the waterfront to start shouting for the girls.  We saw them head off, and then spent a fun morning zigzagging between the transition, the bike course and the stalls.  They both had cracking races, with Jess coming fourth in her age group and first British woman!

Winning!

That meant we were all on a massive high after it, although we didn't get to celebrate with them for too long before they had to head off and rescue their bikes from transition.  While they did that, Julia, Susan and I headed off to have yet more food, this time in another tiny cafe where we could sit outside.  Geneva has the best food!

Hench

That afternoon, the four of us stayed back and watched the elite relays, which were also good fun.  The highlight was that lunatic David Hauss deciding to save about four seconds in transition and run in barefeet ... along the black tarmac in 35*C heat.  Madman.  It did provide a good talking point however!  Further, we were given clackers and flags to wave.  Poor athletes must've been terrified coming down the finishing chute with all the noise that we managed to create!  It was super fun though and we really enjoyed it.  Jess was shattered after her race, so we left for supper fairly early and went back to the same restaurant we'd been in the first night.  It was really lovely, and I'm so glad we went back as the staff were adorable!

Susan on the beach

The Monday was our final day.  Initially I'd had all sorts of grand plans about visiting Lucerne, just along the river, or otherwise doing all kinds of touristy things.  In a nod to actually visiting the city, rather than just seeing the triathlon, my run that morning took me over the bridge and past the English Gardens, then through the old cobbled town.  It was nice ... I feel like between that and the lake and the Jet d'Eau I've seen Geneva.  Especially since we spent the rest of the day at the BEACH!  There is the cutest public beach set up on the shore of the lake with a climbing wall rising out of the water, diving boards, and water polo courts set up in the complex.  We had loads of fun chilling out (with all twenty of us making it there at some point during the day) and chatting, looking back over the weekend and then, one by one, heading off to catch our respective flights.  Susan and I were the last to leave, as my flight was that evening and she was off to meet family who lived in Switzerland.

I feel like I can't really comment too much on Geneva itself - I'd definitely love to go back when the triathlon isn't on because I feel like it would be a totally different place.  I'd also like to do some of the more touristy things, although there isn't loads to do.  Mostly, it's just a lovely place with gorgeous weather, great food and the nicest, most polite people.  What more could you ask for?!

Sunrise over the lake

Aigina / Aegina

OMG you guuuuuuuyyysssssssssssssss ... I can't even with Aigina!  It is the most perfect little island ever.

Aigina

So, as I mentioned in my Athens post, Harri hadn't been to Greece before, whereas it's my favorite country.  Accordingly, she was really keen to see a Greek island as well as Athens.  I was also keen that she should do so because it's important that everyone goes to a Greek island!  Luckily - also as I mentioned last time - Piraeus is a quick 40 minutes on the tube from the centre of Athens, and from Piraeus, boats go frequently to not one, not two, but three islands just off the coast.  The choices are Hydra, Poros and Aigina (which for some reason is spelt Aegina on the interwebs but in Greece is spelt Aigina), each of which has its own website.  Of them, Aigina is the closest and most easily accessible because it's only 40 minutes by boat from Piraeus and boats go really frequently.  It was really this that decided us, because we didn't have much time overall in Athens so we didn't want to spend too much time on boats or waiting around Piraeus.  In addition, Aigina has a really cool history - it has been inhabited since about 3500 BC!  It was most prosperous between about 900 BC and 480 BC, and it minted the first Greek coins way back in the seventh century BC.  Further, it was actually the first capital of modern Greece from 1827 to 1829 - beat that for a random fact!

Tom in first class

We got on the early train in the morning and hit the port by 08:00, all ready for the first boat of the day.  After a bit of a kerfuffle at the port (the boat moved three times in the harbor, necessitating the entire queue of waiting passengers to move with it) we finally jumped on and settled in.  It's a serious business getting the ferry to Aigina - you get allocated seats and everything!  Romy and I were sitting at the front of the boat, while Harri was off to the side and lucky Tom got bumped up to first class.  Posh!

Romy Harri and Tom at Aigina port

The ferry ride over was pretty uneventful, and we landed at the Aigina port a little while later.  We jumped off to find ourselves in the most adorbs little town.  Seriously - it was so cute, with one main promenade boardering the harbor/port, lined with trees and (importantly) ice-cream parlors, pistachio vendors, and the usual tourist shops.  Aigina itself isn't really a tourist destination per se - its visitors are mostly Greeks who have come over from the mainland, so it doesn't feel like it's mass-produced, but it's good to know that you can buy sunscreen if you need it!

We debated which way to go, as we wanted to find a nice beach, and a quick consultation with GoogleMaps told us that there was just such a beach about 20 minutes away to our right.  We decided to head that way, because if we headed left, then the next beach would be about an hour's walk.

The walk to the beach

This was a good decision, because in true Greek style, the beach that we had chosen was actually at least an hour's walk away.  We were totally confused at first because we couldn't believe that it could be so far away, given GoogleMaps's instructions.  However, eventually we saw the umbrellas lining the beachfront looming up in the distance, remembered that we were in Greece, and pressed on.  I tell ya what though, first - the walk was absolutely stunning.  We didn't have to come off the seafront once, so to our right was the gleaming green and blue sea, above us was the blazing sky, and to our lefts were tiny white cottages lining the street.  We crunched along the sandy footpath, enjoying the view and - of course - taking zillions of photographs.  I don't know why we bothered, as literally none did it justice.

When we finally reached the beach, it was so perfect.  We literally could not have mail-ordered a more picturesque, perfect and private beach.  Although there was a shop/cafe there with ice-cream (oh, and other food, and loos), there was no-one else there.  We had the choice of the sunbeds and umbrellas entirely to ourselves!  After we settled in and ordered some frozen cocktails, it was time to put in some serious relaxation.  I take my tanning very seriously, so I immediately fell asleep, whereas the others read magazines and books and took turns dipping in and out of the sea.  We had opened a tab when we got there, and the shopkeeper would periodically appear to see whether there was any tiny whim of ours which he could fulfill (generally this took the form of more frozen cocktails, but we did manage to make the effort of ordering and eating lunch at one point).  Tom decided to wander further down the coast, so he left us for a bit, but the rest of the day was pretty much spent the same way.  It was the most ideal day - and leaving at about 17:30 was too early, frankly!  However, since we had to get back to catch the ferry, eventually we packed up and got going.

Snails covering the fence outside the beach

Rather than walk back, we took a cab so that we could explore the tiny town before we got on the ferry back - this was another excellent decision!  We soon discovered that behind the promenade was the cutest, tiniest town, with cobbled streets lined with artesan shops selling everything from clothing to pistachios (Aigina is known for good pistachio crops) and pharmaceuticals and natural remedies.  It was the nicest little town and I'm so glad we got to explore it.  If you're feeling more culturally minded than we were on the day, you can also visit the Temple of Aphaia and the Church of Agios Nektarios, which we saw from the outside but didn't venture into due to lack of time.

Finally, it was back to the ferry for us.  We were pretty shattered by all the energetic and aggressive sun-bathing we'd done that day, so we stayed at the hotel for supper as we could eat on the rooftop.  It was the perfect end to the perfect day.

If you're going to Athens and you want a daytrip to the most magical place ever, please go to Aigina!  I'm sure Poros and Hydra are lovely too, but Aigina is perfect.  I really hope that I can get back there soon.

Athens

As I said in my last post, Greece is my favorite country in the world.  I was therefore absolutely horrified to learn that my lovely friend Harri had never been!  The horror!  In order to rectify this problem, we planned a quick trip to Athens.  We gave the organising to Harri again because she is brilliant at that, including amazing at getting the most bargainous flights and hotels.

At Peripatos ...!

Harri booked us into the Melia in central Athens, and we planned to spend four days out there.  In retrospect, this was the most perfect length of time - we had enough time to see everything we wanted, and also to relax.  Athens isn't that big, so you can walk around it really easily (if you can stand the heat of course!) and it's super-easy to navigate.  Besides, if you get lost, a friendly Athenian will take you by the arm and walk you all the way to wherever you want to go.  They'd probably do this even if you wanted to go to Turkey.  They are that lovely in Greece.

The Acropolis

We flew out at a pretty civilized time on the Wednesday evening and arrived in Athens at about midnight, so Wednesday was all about falling straight to sleep!  We'd agreed to have breakfast in the hotel on Thursday morning to make life easier, so we all met up about 09:30 (leaving enough time for me to run first).  My pre-breakfast run was lovely!  I had already planned to go to the Panathenaic Stadium at some point during my stay, but I didn't want it to be the first day when I was tired.  Therefore, I just ran up to the stadium and back; a nice 5km run which led me up a main street at first, but then once I got past the government buildings I could divert into a cool park which was properly shaded.  It was lovely in there, but also - being Greece - was completely random, with a tiny zoo in the middle and costumed guards wandering through from time to time.  By the time I emerged back out onto the road on the other side, I was completely mentally back in Greece and ready for anything!

Temple of Olympian Zeus

This was good, because the first thing I saw was the changing of the guard outside the Presidential Palace!  This isn't like Buckingham Palace, where the guards are enclosed behind a fence.  It just takes place right in the street, and people, dogs, tourists and cars who are passing can wander through in the middle of it whenever they feel like it.  The guards themselves are fabulous - FABULOUS!  They are called the Evzones, which is a particular unit of the Hellenic Army.  They are symbols of bravery and courage for the Greek people, but their duties are of a ceremonial nature now only.  Since by the time the guards change, they have been standing immobile for an hour, the steps that they take are extremely slow.  This was originally because it was thought that this would help their circulation and prevent blood clots, but it looks amazing, especially as the ceremonial outfit is fantastic - it is based on the uniform of two groups of Greek warriors during the Greek War of Independence against the Ottomans in the 1820s, and it is extremely gorgeous. The guards are also chosen according to their height, excellent physical condition and psychological state, and due to their fine character and morality.  I was totally honored to get to see the changing of the guard so unexpectedly.  I also graded them marks out of 10 for the most excellent physical condition.  I wouldn't want them slacking on that physical condition ...

Athens

After that I turned around and headed back to the hotel, meeting up with the others at the appointed time.  According to the forecast, this was going to be our coolest day in Athens, so we thought we'd take advantage of it to see as much as we could.  Accordingly, we started by visiting the Panathenaic Stadium first (more about that later), and then heading to the Temple of Olympian Zeus.  The way that the ancient attractions work in Greece is that you buy a little booklet tickets for 12 Euro, which gives you admittance to six ancient attractions of your choice.  Each time you attend an attraction, one of the tickets gets ripped out of your booklet so that you can keep going til you've got none left.  It's a brilliant system because it saves queuing up at each attraction, and it's such a total bargain that even if you don't use all your tickets you've still hardly spent anything.

Temple of Olympian Zeus

The Temple of Olympian Zeus is magnificent!  It's a huge ruin right in the middle of Athens which was dedicated to - funnily enough - Zeus.  It was built in about 174 BC and it's absolutely huge.  I can't describe how massive it is - it doesn't even look that big til you're in it, and then you realise that each column is 17 metres or 55 feet in height - it simply dwarfs all the tourists around it.  Unfortunately in Mediaeval times the site was plundered for materials to use for building houses and buildings around Athens, so it is pretty ruined now.  However, fifteen columns are still standing, and a sixteenth still has all its stones, but it's fallen and lies horizontally across the site.  It's really awe-inspiring and definitely worth a visit.

From there, we headed up to the Acropolis.  The Acropolis is really easy to find - you just have to look up at any point in Athens and then head that way!  We just went straight towards it and eventually found ourselves at one of the entrances on Acropolis Hill.  Having sacrificed another ticket, we started wandering up the hill.  We were really excited to say that we'd been to Peripatos, as one of the stones told us ... until we found a number of others all over the hill, also indicating that we were in Peripatos.  After some confusion we finally worked out that it means edge.  As in, of the cliff.  Oops.

Theatre of Dionysus

Putting that behind us, we walked past the Theatre of Dionysus to our left.  This was at the very bottom of the hill and since we'd made it so far up we didn't go down but it was impressive from above.

Then it was up and into the Acropolis itself!  It was the most amazing place ever - it's huge, with the Parthenon dominating the right of it as you come in.  The stones look almost like they're fake - they're the most beautiful yellow, and almost glow in the sun.  You can't get too near to the Parthenon because it's a bit crumbly, but you can certainly get near enough to realise how immense it is.  You can get much nearer to the Temple of Athena on the left (as in, you can go into it) and that is equally stunning, if a little smaller.  We spent ages wandering around, taking photos and generally marvelling at the site as a whole - it was absolutely magnificent.  After about an hour, we left and wandered back down the hill for slushies - perfect in the weather!

The Acropolis

From there, we went off to visit the Ancient Agora, but on the way we found a tiny market selling all kinds of jewelry and touristy things for crazy cheap prices!  Harri and I each got necklaces for a whole 2 Euro.  I'm still trying not to feel guilty ... I can't think that we contributed much to the Greek economy!!

The Stoa

Once we got there, the Agora was - like everything else in Athens - amazing.  It feels like it's almost complete, because your imagination fills in the blanks!  We started off in the Stoa, which now houses a museum showing the building and eventual decay of the Agora.  It's the most beautiful building even now and when you're gazing out through the windows you really feel like nothing has changed since Classical Greek times.  We spent some time with the models there, then wandered out through the grounds to the Temple of Aphrodite in the opposite corner.  Although the grounds are mostly ruined now, the Temple is still complete so that each end of the Ancient Agora are almost intact.  After looking at the Temple from every conceivable angle, we realised that it was late afternoon and we were STARVING and popped out into nearby Monastiraki for lunch.  I love Monastiraki!  It's got a really hippie, vibrant feel to it, with restaurants and traders all over the place, and at all times you can see the Acropolis sitting watch over you.  We had a lovely - and huge - lunch in a tiny restaurant with (of course!) free ouzo to finish.  We then dived into the icecream parlor over the road for the most delicious icecreams!  Athens has the best icecream ... icecream parlors and bakeries.  Yum.

We were pretty shattered after that, so we decided to wander back to the hotel for a quick break before we were going to be heading out that evening.  We were lucky enough to be able to tick off two further major boxes on the way - first, Syntagma Square, which is where all the political rallies tend to take place in Athens, and Plaka, an inner city area of Athens which is was built over the ancient city of Athens.  There are areas of Plaka where the city underneath has been excavated and you can see down into its ruins.  It's really pretty, so it was lovely to be able to walk through it on our way home.

Romy and Harri at Athiri - SO YUM

That evening, we'd thought that we'd go to the Funky Gourmet, a double-Michelin starred restaurant about a 20 minute walk away from our hotel.  We made our way there for 21:00, all dressed up and super-excited about our food!  Unfortunately there was a mix up with our booking (our fault, not the restaurant's) and there was no room for us, but this turned out to be the best thing!  As we were wandering back to our hotel, we stumbled across Athiri ... and all I can say is please please please please please pretty please with sugar on top please go.  It is A.MAZ.ING.  We sat outside in the courtyard and had the most attentive waiters bringing us everthing we could possibly want.  I had the scallops to start and they were soooooo delicious.  I might never forget the scallops ... all our meals were fabulous for all three courses but the starters were particularly good (or perhaps we were just spoilt by the time the mains and puddings came!).  Once we'd stuffed ourselves to capacity, we rolled out and back to the hotel as it was really late by then.

The following day we got up early and caught the metro out to Piraeus, the Athens port.  It's at the end of one of the tube lines so it's super easy to get to, and we made it in good time for our trip over to Aigina, a tiny island off the coast.  I'll write about that separately as technically that is another one of my new places for 2015!

Panathenaic Stadium

The athlete's tunnel to the stadium

Our third day in Athens was also our last full day.  My first thing to do on this day was RUN!  I had been super-excited to discover that before 09:00, you could go and run at the Panathenaic Stadium, which was about 3km away from our hotel.  The Panathenaic Stadium was built for the very first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and is built on the spot where Pheidippides is said to have shuffled off his mortal coil after running from Marathon to deliver the news of the military victory in the Battle of Marathon.  The stadium is all made of marble with a black track, and has fabulous views over Athens, as well as a tiny museum dedicated to the modern Olympics.  I couldn't wait to run there, so I set off really early to try and beat the heat and made it up there for about 07:00.  I wanted to do 10x 400m repeats and then spend some time looking around the actual stadium and museum.  All that for 3 Euro!  The run itself was fun - the track is really long and thin which was a bit weird when I'm used to a modern shaped track. but that kind of made it more interesting.

Medal blocks

Once I was done, I spent ages climbing around the stadium (I don't know what Greek people were built like in 1896 but they apparently loved super-steep, super-shallow steps!!) and admiring the views.  I also went up the shoot to the museum, which is house in what I guess would have been the old changing rooms when it was built.  The museum doesn't have much in it; just posters for all the years of the modern Olympics, but it was lovely seeing them.  It was even nicer coming down the shoot and imagining what it must have been like as an Olympic athlete, emerging from the cool tunnel into the blazing white stadium and the roaring crowds ... so cool.  I've never gotten to do anything like that before and it was super fun.  For a sports geek like me anyway!

Rooftop pool at Melia

Once I got back to the hotel, it was, frankly, boiling.  Fortunately for us, the hotel had a fabulous roof-top pool, so although Tom went off exploring, Romy, Harri and I literally spent the entire day by the pool.  It was perfect - if we fancied being a bit cultural, all we had to do was look up to our left and admire the view of the Acropolis and the Parthenon.  Totally cultural.  Otherwise we could just lie there and enjoy the sun - a rare novelty for anyone English this summer!

It''s quite steep up to Mount Lykavetos ...!

By the time it got to the evening though, Tom, Harri and I were keen to explore a little more.  I'd been wanting to head up Mount Lykavetos the whole time, because I'd read that it was amazing at sunset.  Therefore, Harri and I hauled our carcasses off our sunbeds (Romy wasn't persuaded that climbing up an enormous hill was a great idea in 35*C heat) and met Tom to scramble up the hill.  It was again pretty easy to find (just looking up helps, as it's the highest hill in Athens!).  We fortified ourselves with a carb-loading icecream each, and then headed up the steps ... and more steps ... and more ... and more ... and more ... There were so many steps!!  Eventually we hit half-way up and found ourselves on a road which sloped up for a bit before leading back onto the path and more steps.  I tell ya what, I'm supposed to be the one who's fitness mad but those steps were hard work!  Harri and Tom didn't find them as much of a struggle.  I suspect they've been drinking unicorn blood or something - that level of natural fitness is not normal!

Top of Mount Lykavetos

However, once we got up Lykavetos it was well worth it.  It was absolutely beautiful and we'd timed it perfectly - just before sunset.  There isn't a lot up on the top - just a small church which is filled with Greek Orthodox relics, a bell tower, and a restaurant.  Oh and seven million tourists.  Since we were going out for supper, we skipped the restaurant and just spent our time squeezing people out of the way and taking loads of photos.  It was so beautiful up there, I could've stayed there for hours.  Our stomachs reminded us that we had to collect Romy, however, so we left after an hour or so and picked her up, then we ventured back down through Plaka and to the edge of Monastiraki for supper.  We were in the mood for Greek food since it was our last night ... so chips were the order of the day for me!  No but seriously, Greek chips are amazing.  Worth their own weight in, um, body fat.  I did manage to mix them up with a gyros - sort of like a Greek kebab, with salad, mixed meats, and flatbread.  It is delicious!  It wasn't the best Greek meal I've ever had, but such is life.  One cannot have everything.  It had chips and that was enough.

Another shot at Mount Lykavetos

The fourth day was our last day, but we weren't flying out until the evening.  Therefore, we had the whole day to finish off whatever we fancied.  In truth, we'd done almost everything that we wanted to see on our first full day, and it was also slated to be boiling hot again.  Therefore, Harri and I in particular were keen to get as much done as early as possible and then come back and get the most out of the pool as possible.  The one thing we hadn't been able to see before was the flea market in Monastiraki, because that's only open on a Sunday.  We made our way down there nice and early, but before we got there, we found the one remaining site that we hadn't seen - the Roman Agora!  You can go into the Agora but there's not really much point, because you can see it just as well from outside it.  It's split across a road, so that one part is behind bars and you can see in, and the other part is below street level and you can look over it.  It was like a cross between the Ancient Agora that we'd see a couple of days earlier and the Forum in Rome.  The most exciting bit about it for us was that it had a family of tortoises wandering about in it!  I've seen tortoises a lot in Greece and they're so funny - so ponderous, and completely oblivious to anyone or anything around them.  We watched them making their way across the Roman Agora, then moved on to the flea market.

Me!

I didn't love the flea market, but Romy did!  She spent ages wandering around it, while I found a side street and bought shoes.  One can never have enough shoes, so I bought two pairs.  Harri and I were also super-excited to find that - like in Russia - you could buy Christmas decorations!!  In June!!!  We were so excited about this that the gorgeous shopkeeper decided to give us a decoration each (this is exactly why the Greek economy is failing!!  The Greeks are too nice!).  In Greek/Russian tradition it is now hanging up in my bedroom all year round.

By this time it was almost lunchtime and it was so hot that we decided to spend the rest of the day hanging out by the pool again.  We bought a final icecream for good luck and wandered back to the hotel for a relaxing afternoon topping up our tans and reading.

Athens is 100% my favorite city ever.  Four days was the perfect length of time to stay there - we got to see everything we wanted to see, we got to relax, we got amazing tans, we spent almost nothing (sorry Greece, we tried, but you are insanely cheap), we ate fabulous food, we had delicious icecream and we had the best time.  Obviously I was in great company, but even if I'd been by myself, Athens would be my top 1 city.  I can't wait to go back there!

Sunset

Rhodes

I absolutely LOVE Greece - it's far and away my favorite country in the world.  It's got beautiful weather, the people are the most adorable people in the world, the food is fabulous and the landscape is both ever-changing and stunning.  What's not to like?

Sunset

I used to go to Sivota in the north mainland of Greece for triathlon training in May, but this year that wasn't feasible with my 15 new places in 2015 plan (and the fact that I was no longer doing triathlon in a competitive fashion).  However, I was really keen on the idea of still going to Greece, but to a new part which I'd not visited before.  I was also really tired, having had a mammoth few months at work, so I looked around and decided that a week on the beach in Rhodes was just the ticket.  Not only would the weather be amazing in May, but the old town looked beautiful, and it would actually work out cheaper than staying in London if I did an all-inclusive package.  SOLD!

I was going by myself and I planned a week of doing NOTHING and recharging my batteries.  I was hoping that I'd meet some people out there, but I wasn't really that bothered if I didn't because I had my kindle loaded up and my iPod sorted with some toons, so I thought I'd be cool my myself.  It was lucky that I'd anticipated not meeting anyone else because I had booked into the Club Kalimera Sunshine Resort and, as it turned out, it was all German speaking!  Everyone there was either a German couple who didn't speak English or a Russian family ... .who didn't speak English.  This was fine though and I settled in to enjoy myself, soaking up the sun.

The first few days were absolutely lovely - I really did nothing at all apart from go for a run each morning, then lie on my sunlounger all day, only emerging to feed myself at mealtimes.  The beach was pebbled (which I like, I hate sand because it gets everywhere) and had the clearest, most amazing water I have ever ever seen.

Sea water!  How clear is that?!

I also went for a walk along the beach each night, because I was staying on the west of the island so I 

got the benefit of the amazing sunsets that nature put on.  It was also an interesting walk, because there were loads of remnants and reminders of the Dodecanese Campaign from WWII, including old Nissen huts.  They were a poignant reminder that no matter how peaceful the beach was, Greece's history has been turbulent and is still today with its economic issues. 

Nissen Hut left over from the Dodecanese campaign

 By about the fourth day, I decided that it was really better for me to haul myself off my sunlounger and do something a bit more proactive.  I was staying in Ialyssos, which is about a 15 kilometre walk from the Old Town and New Town, so I thought it might be nice to walk up to town, have a look around, then potter back in the afternoon.  The walk itself is STUNNING - straight along the coast.  It's almost impossible to get lost as long as the sea is on your left!  Once I got into town I cut down the most lovely avenue and found myself on the outskirts of the Old Town. 

Fortress of St Nicholas

The Old Town is not very easy to describe ... it feels incredibly ancient, but it's so well preserved that at the same time it feels very modern.  It's completely walled, and the walls contain tiny winding cobbled streets which all lead off from each other and snake around to join another street, and the vast majority of them are lined with stalls, shops, icecream vendors, cafes and tobacconists.  The atmosphere is incredibly peaceful, despite how busy it is, and it feels almost completely timeless.  After I'd spent some time pottering about, I headed down through to the port on the other side of the Old Town.  The port was incredible - the water was crystal clear, even with the boats all jostling for position in the docks, and it was huge, spilling out into the harbor.  I walked all the way around the harbor and then doubled back on myself to see the Colossus of Rhodes and the Fortress of St Nicholas, which is on the same peninsula.  Unfortunately for me, the Colossus was being repaired so I didn't get to see him!  The Fortress was wicked though, and I really enjoyed climbing around it and looking at the view.  There are loads of stray cats around which are all looked after by the Greeks quite well, so they wanted to come and play, and there were some gorgeous kittens as well.  After a lot of photos, I headed back up through the Old Town, past the New Town, and back along the coast to the resort.  All up it was almost 40km, so I was glad to reach my sunbed again!

The Monastery at Ancient Ialyssos

The track to Ancient Ialyssos

After a relaxing break the next day (God forbid that I should do an activity two days in a row), I decided to walk up to Ancient Ialyssos on my last day in Rhodes.  Ancient Ialyssos sits on a huge hill above Ialyssos where I was staying, and I knew that there were ruins and a monastery up there.  Ancient Ialyssos used to be one of the three major polis's, or regions, in Rhodes which mainly flourished in about the fifth century BC.  It has only recently been excavated and Minoan and Mycaenaean settlements have been found as well as the monastery.  The monastery was founded by the Knights of St John a lot later, not having arrived in Rhodes until the early 1300s, so that is far better preserved than the acropolis generally.

Filerimos Hill

There's also a tiny cobbled avenue (the Road of Martyrdom) from the monastery which leads slightly further up the hill, and all along it are shrines with various depictions of Christ's walk to Calgary.  They finish up with an enormous cross at the end and it has the most amazing views over the west coast of Rhodes from it.

The Road to Martyrdom

I thought since it was only 5 kilometres away, according to GoogleMaps, it would be a bit rude not to bother to go.  Oddly, GoogleMaps also told me that it was going to take about an hour and forty five minutes to get there, but since it was only 5km I thought Google must be drunk again and took little notice.  I started off really early so that it would be nice and cool, and the first part of my walk was lovely - through the tiny town of Ialyssos and up through the fields.  I then had to turn right to start my ascent up the cliff, but I was a bit confused because it didn't look like a road.  The blue dot assured me that it was the right way, and it swiftly turned into a lovely path in a tiny wood.

However, the path became steeper and steeper the further up I went ... and steeper ... and steeper ... until it was almost vertical.  With a bit of help from my hands I got up it, but it was definitely not the nice walk I'd anticipated!  After passing a little church I found myself on a road.  You know how normally roads up very steep hills are winding?  Well this road didn't bother ... it sort of tried to wind and thus cut the gradient, but in a very desultory way.  I was determined that I would make it by this point, so I kept on going, passed by busloads of slightly confused looking tourists who'd obviously decided that going in a coach was a much better idea!  Clever people ... but it was all worth it in the end, because the little abandoned monastery at the top was absolutely beautiful.  Not only that, but for the most part I didn't have to compete with too many tourists - even the busloads who'd passed me had either left again or were in some other part of the complex.  I absolutely loved the Road to Martydom and the views from it, and I was sorry to have to leave to get back in time to check out of the resort.

Ancient Ialyssos

I loved Rhodes but I wouldn't necessarily do this particular trip again - I'd like to have been able to meet loads more people, although it was good for me to be able fully to relax and do whatever I wanted for a week.  It did get a bit boring towards the end of the week though, even though I spent ages learning lots of Greek words to bore people with when I got back!

Ancient Ialyssos

Cork, Blarney and Cashel

The third day of my crazy Irish tour was back down in the Republic of Ireland.  Once again I was on an organised coach tour, because I had so much to fit in!  I wanted to get to Cork in particular, but I was also keen on seeing the Blarney Stone (I need better chat, it seemed like I needed to get there).  I found a tour that did Cork, Blarney and Rock of Cashel and I thought that would be perfect.

Rock of Cashel

Sadly, my Cork tour wasn't quite as good as my Northern Ireland tour - the guide was plainly in a hurry to get back to Dublin to get to the pub or to bed or something, because he was determined to rush us through as much as he could.  He also had a visceral hatred for the English which colored his entire commentary (and in case you're wondering if he was trying to be funny, he definitely wasn't).  However, at least I got to get to three new places which was winning!

Rock of Cashel

Our first stop was the Rock of Cashel.  Cashel is actually a teeny tiny little village in Tipperary which is the cutest place.  I wish we'd had time to visit it properly as it was adorable, but we were pressed for time and only had time to visit the Rock itself.  The Rock is a collection of mediaeval buildings which were formerly the seat of the kings of Munster.  Most have now crumbled into ruins, but the Round Tower still exists, as does the Cathedral.  The old walls are also mainly still standing and contain a lovely graveyard within them as well as the buildings.  The Queen visited Rock of Cashel in 2011 and an entire room within the Cathedral is dedicated to her visit, but otherwise the main attraction is the graveyard and the rolling views across the Tipperary landscape - it is really stunning, and totally what you'd expect from Ireland in that it's green, has a lot of cows, and loads of space!

We only stayed at Rock of Cashel for about half an hour, but that was about right in terms of timings anyway as there isn't much to do once you've taken the obligatory hundred or so photos.  We drove down through the countryside to Blarney, where we were dropped with strict instructions to be back within three hours.

Blarney Castle

Chocolate Factory!!

My first introduction to Blarney wasn't the castle, but the high street.  This was because before I hit the castle, I found the sign pointing to the Chocolate Factory!  This definitely seemed worth a visit, so I popped along.  It wasn't quite as exciting as I'd anticipated, being just one room, but it does have lovely chocolate and, most importantly, it has samples and tasters!  Once I'd managed to eat my own body weight, I rolled back out of the door and along back to the Castle.

Blarney Castle Gardens

Stairs up to the Blarney Stone

The Castle is actually amazing - it's surrounded by the most lovely gardens where there are all kinds of weird things going on.  The first thing I saw was this guy, dressed as an elf, playing the harp.  I don't think you could ever find this anywhere else.  Passing him, I headed up the path, past the trickling stream and over the stones, up past the caves, and eventually found myself at the entrance to the Castle.  Lucky I ate all that chocolate - I needed it for the next bit!  Once you get into the Castle, it's a mass of winding staircases, tiny rooms (with terrifying drops in the floors), and little enclaves.  Once you've finished exploring them, if you have the will, you can climb up the world's narrowest, most winding staircase to the top where the Blarney Stone is housed.  The Stone is actually set into the wall, so you have to queue around the turret (and back down the stairs, if you're particularly unlucky, but it was pretty quiet when I was there) while each person kisses the Stone in turn.

Kissing the Blarney Stone

I hadn't quite appreciated before I did this that to kiss the stone you have to lean backwards over the parapet and underneath it's a sheer drop underneath the stone to the ground, a good 35ft above a concrete courtyard below.  Banging.  Especially since heights are not my favorite thing in the first place ... fortunately, however, they have installed metal handles that you can grab onto as you bend backwards, and there is also a nice man who holds you steady (although not particularly forcefully, so I hope his reflexes are good!).  In the event I managed to get through the kiss without tumbling to my death which was winning.  However, that meant that I had to go back down the winding staircase (which was about the same width as me, and I am not a large person ... built more along the midget scale really) which almost scared me to death anyway.

The top of Blarney Castle

Once I'd navigated my way out again, I spent some time in the poison garden.  There are loads of different gardens within Blarney Castle but that was the one that interested me the most and, since I didn't have loads of time, I spent most of my time in the gardens in there.  The plants in the garden used to be used for medicinal purposes but are highly toxic in anything but the most minute quantities.  It was super-fun in there, imagining all the potential Agatha Christie-esque plots that could be hatched using the herbs there!  Once I was done there, I went back down the path to the exit, but this time I stopped at the Owlery and Falconry just below the Castle itself.  I'm not sure what the purpose of this was, but it was heavily populated with slightly bemused looking owls and falcons.  They didn't seem too keen on socialising so I left them fairly quickly and headed back across the road to the Woollen Mills to have lunch.

Poison Garden

The Woollen Mills are HUGE!  I spent some time looking in the tourist shops before I went into Insomnia to grab some lunch.  I had already learnt to LOVE this coffeehouse chain - it's sort of like a cross between Pret and Starbucks but way better than both!  It had loads of sandwiches and salads, plus this amazing herbal tea.  I really liked it!  I had a bit of time to spend over my crab noodle salad (oooh posh), but eventually it was time to get back on the bus and travel the 20 minutes or so to Cork.

Cork was, frankly, a bit of a disappointment.  We were warned by the driver that almost nothing would be open because it was a bank holiday weekend.  I hadn't really believed him (he was such a miserable sod) but actually he was right - nothing was open!  Luckily I had really only wanted to walk around and to visit St Anne's Church Shandon ... because ... you can ring the bells there!!!  I'd read about it before I went and I was well keen to check this out.  Therefore,I had just a very quick scout round town.  It was really pretty with loads of art deco buildings, built on either side of the river.  However, as nothing was open, it was difficult to get a real feel for it, though it was very pretty.

Main Street in Cork

After I'd looked around for a bit, I headed up into Shandon to find the church.  After a couple of false leads, I finally found it tucked away in a sort of hippie courtyard, full of coffee houses and tea shops and art galleries.  I was issued with a pair of noise-cancelling earphones, with instructions to put them on and climb up through the church to the next floor, where the bells were.  I dutifully put on my earphones and trundled up the stairs, but there was already someone ringing the bells when I got to the next level, so I continued up and through the belfry to the very top of the spire.  You can go outside here and look at the panoramic views over Cork - it's well worth it!  It was freezing up there and massively windy, but it was so beautiful that I stayed anyway, looking out at all the different facets of the city.  Eventually however I climbed back down (and I do mean climbed, some of the access way involves climbing over a sort of stile thing next to the biggest bell!) and back down to the bell-ringing room.  There's a whole book of tunes you can play and they're actually super easy!  I stuck to Frere Jacques because I know it, but had I felt so inclined I could've played songs as complicated as Amazing Grace.  The poor, poor locals.  They must be nearly deaf with all the incompetent tourists getting hold of the bell ropes!

Bells of Shandon

Once I'd played to my heart's content, it was time to get back to the bus.  I did have a quick squizz round the church itself and it was beautiful, but I didn't really have time to linger and I got back to the coach just in time.  From there it was a straight run back up the motorway to Dublin and the end of our trip.

In summary, Cork was a bit of a disappointment but then again, maybe if anything had been open it would've been better!  The bells at St Anne's are loads of fun and I would definitely recommend them.  Similarly, I'd also massively recommend Blarney (not just the Castle, but also the village and the Woollen Mills) and Cashel - I really wish I'd had more time at Cashel to explore the village.  However, I wouldn't recommend the specific tour that I did ... especially if you're English!  Unless you're really keen on vitriol being poured into your ears about the iniquities of the English and a disparaging stare being levelled at you every time you open your mouth with your appalling English accent, I would definitely go with someone else!

Cork from the St Anne's spire