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Saturday, 07 November 2009

A weekend in Northern Greece

This weekend I decided to be a bit adventurous. Last night (Friday), I took the 10:55 pm sleeper train and headed off to Thessaloniki, which is basically the second capital of Greece. It's a city filled with bohemian culture mixed with a modern trendy lifestyle. And of course, it's situated right on the water, so what could be better, right?

I booked a hotel online for Saturday night...one that was overlooking the water. Anyway, so I was a bit apprehensive about travelling overnight on a train (a 6 to 7 hour train ride). I kept thinking...what if someone sneaks in and steals my stuff...my passport...my wallet...then I'm stuck in this random city with no means of getting back. Luckily that didn't happen (knock on wood). I actually didn't book my train ticket ahead of time, and luckily I got one of the last ones on the sleeper train. I was in a compartment with bunk beds...two sets of three beds on top of each other. And of course, as luck would have it, I got the top bunk. There was no room to move around...you just get up there, move your stuff to one side, and go to sleep. That's it. Well, it was a new experience. I basically slept on top of all my stuff to make sure nothing would get stolen. It ended up being fine...I got a good 6 hours or so of sleep, and I arrived in Thessaloniki around 6 AM. Right away I went to book my return ticket for Sunday, and once again, I got the LAST available seat on the train that I wanted.

Anyway, it was really early in the morning after all that, so I walked around town, watching the stores and other businesses slowly "wake up." I found a laundry place to drop off my clothes and headed in the direction of the White Tower, by the sea. The sun slowly rising and the clouds clearing...an awesome sight. And suddenly it dawned on me...I forgot my camera!!!!!!!!! What an idiot! Luckily I have my iPhone, so thanks, Apple!

I'll have to put up pics soon. This place is amazing. There are cafes right on the water and so is my hotel. The view are amazing. I hit up the Archeological Museum and the Byzantine Museum to get my dose of culture while I waited for check-in time at the hotel. Oh...the hotel....RIDIC! It's the best hotel I've seen in Greece, and rivals some of the top hotels I've stayed in. The location is exactly what a single traveler would want, and it's modern and trendy and reminds me of the W hotel chain. The minibar is FREE here...it' doesn't have hard liquor, but a couple of beers, a cold bottle of water, a few fruit juices, sodas, and RED BULL for tonight! Hahaha. And you get free fruit as a welcome gift. Just what one needs after an overnight train ride. After a nice hot shower (the bathroom is fantastic...like the Vegas Venetian bathrooms), I was refreshed!

I'm chillin in the hotel lobby now, looking up what to do next on the Internet. Looking forward to more adventures this evening.

Tuesday, 20 October 2009

First weekend

The weather was better this weekend. Friday was really weird as it would pour for 30 minutes, then get sunny for an hour, then overcast and pour for a bit, then sunny, then showers...etc. Very unpredictable. But it cleared up by nighttime. I was able to head downtown to an area called Gazi. There's a really cool plaza with a ton of restaurants and bars/clubs surrounding a park/plaza in the middle. It's packed with people...locals and tourists alike. I hit up a place called Mamacas for a really nice dinner. It was my first really Greek meal. I had a grilled octopus appetizer and grilled cod with tomatoes, peas and onions. It was one of their specials of the night. Amazing!

Saturday I woke up early and headed to the island of Paros by ferry. It was a 7:35 departure from the port of Athens and a 4.5 hr ferry ride. I spent the day walking around, exploring the towns and stayed there the night in a hotel. Since it is off-season, I was able to get a nice room for 30 Euros. It actually rained that night, but it died down by morning...just in time for a sunny walk around town and then a ferry ride back to Athens.

Thursday, 15 October 2009

I came from a marble quarry?

So...I was checking out places that I could hit up this weekend. I've been busy with work all week and haven't had much time to go sightseeing. One island that caught my attention was Paros. It's about a 4 hour ferry ride, and is a cool little rustic location that might be perfect for a relaxing weekend. As I was checking out what there is to see and do on the island, I came across the website listed below. It turns out that one of the attractions is an old abandoned marble quarry called "Marathi"!!!! Apparently in ancient times, it used to contain some of the world's best marble.

For those of you who don't know, I am from the state of Maharashtra in India, and thus, my people are referred to as Marathis.

...or so I thought!!!!! Um ha ha yeah!

http://www.paros-online.com/sightseeing.htm

Wednesday, 14 October 2009

Eurotrip revisited

It was a total stroll down memory lane this evening as I headed to downtown Athens after work. In 2005, a few good friends and I hit up Greece as the last leg of our European journey. We arrived in Athens, but didn't stay long before heading of to the islands - Crete and Mykonos. Well, today I was able to revisit the area where we stayed back in '05. I took a hotel shuttle to Syntagma Square in downtown Athens. The square is the heart of downtown - a bustling area filled with tourists and locals alike.

Underneath the square is a Metro station, and I realized it is the same station that we got out at when we first arrived in Athens. I had to retrace our steps, so I walked down the same street we took to get to the hotel back in '05. I passed the office where we purchased our flights to Crete. I even saw our very own Hotel Hermes. Unfortunately during that trip we had booked only 1 room and we all couldn't squeeze in. So a couple of us had to head down to local hostel for that night. Well, I didn't go all the way down to the hostel, but I did have dinner at the McDonalds in the Square. That's right...I ordered off the value menu...2 chickenburgers. They were basically McChicken sandwiches but with a thinner chicken patty. Oh...and they just doused them with Mayo...and the European Mayo, which all sweet. Ew! I had to wipe some off before eating.

The trip down memory lane was pretty sweet. I even picked up some ties (everyone wears a tie to work) and an umbrella (it's supposed to rain the next few days) at a local department store. By the way, Greece is NOT cheap! I had to shell out a lot for those three items. Anyway, I had to head back after that since the last hotel shuttle back was at 9:30. I'm sure I'll be back there often to check out the surrounding areas.

Monday, 12 October 2009

Greece Monkey

The title of this blog was suggested to me by Raj. So um...there ya go, dude! For those who don't know, my current project at work is in Athens, Greece.

Anyway, I landed yesterday, and was hella tired after the 15+ hours spent flying out here. The weather here is quite warm and humid, as summer is slowly winding down. Apparently it is supposed to get pretty cold here in the next few weeks. And it supposedly snows here sometimes. I wasn't really prepared for that!

My hotel is alright...the room is a pretty average European hotel room. The bed feels like a Holiday Inn Express, but it could be worse. I guess I'm spoiled by the Courtyards and Marriotts in the US. It kinda sucks not knowing the language and having to figure out the everyday stuff in the non-tourist locations. Many people speak English, but not all. However, everyone has been pretty helpful so far, especially people at work. I'm going with one of my coworkers to get a Greek cellphone tomorrow, since my US phone doesn't even get any local cell signal here. He's going to make sure I get the local rates as opposed to the tourist rates.

Tomorrow evening I'm thinking of heading downtown to check out the scene. I need to buy some ties since everyone wears a suit to work over here...crazy!