Last night I met all of my Contiki crew and they are all so friendly! Everybody went to the beach last night after we had dinner but I had to go to bed because I was so exhausted from jet lag but I got 11 hours sleep again and was fine for this morning to explore Athens!

We went on a bus trip around Athens and saw the Temple of Zeus, the Modern Olympic Stadium, and the Acropolis! It was all very interesting and I loved hearing the tour guides' information about all of the history. A lot of people were slipping at the Acropolis. Nobody from our tour fell as far as I know, but one woman completely stacked it and really hurt her knees, I felt so sorry for her! The stones on the ground were really slippery...Rosie would've fallen about 20 times if she were here hahaha. I have made really good friends with two girls from the Southern Highlands and we spent the day together on the tour and we got some extra time after seeing the sights to go to the flea markets and have some lunch.

We found this amazing little cafe' on our walk from the Acropolis to the markets that was very secluded as we strayed away from the group to get out of the heat. We ordered a traditional Greek salad to share and it was absolutely delicious. After that we went walking around the shops which was nice.

I haven't been very hungry on this trip because it is so hot! I've been drinking about 2-3 litres of water a day and just eating salad and fruit and yogurt. For breakfast they have a full buffet like they do in Bali so i've had some bacon and eggs in the morning but I don't enjoy it as much as the lighter cold foods. I'm feeling really healthy, although i'm sure that will change shortly as we are going to the Greek islands tomorrow morning. We have to be up at 5:15am to catch the ferry for 5 hours which isn't too bad..it has WiFi and a deck up the top to sunbake or do whatever and i'm sure it'll be a lovely view.

My roommate is from Bundeena and went to school with Rosie. Her name is Laura Fox and she is very outgoing. I haven't spent much time with her yet but we do get along really well. Our group has 45 people in it and half came from a London to Athens tour so they already know each other but they have been really accepting. To make the world seem even smaller, there is a couple on the tour who are also from Cronulla! The girls name is Prudence and she graduated the same year as Katrina and Mitch and she knows Mitch and said she was his first girlfriend in primary school haha. Mitch will get into trouble when I get home for that one!

It has been so good to finally get some human contact! I told Rosie and Mitch about yesterday morning when I hadn't spoken to anybody aside from airline or hotel staff for about 2 days and I heard some people talking on the balcony next to me (our balconies were kind of joined) and I went out to see if I could make some friends but it was a midget woman and an older woman who looked like "tan mom" it was so awkward! I said hi but they just stared at me so I went back inside haha.

I am missing home but it isn't so bad now that i've met some nice people. I would have liked for somebody to be here with me but it's a good thing in a way because i'll make more friends and be more social this way. There are a few really pretty girls on my tour...one girl is really nice she seems to be in her late 20's and she's from South Africa and always has a cigarette in her hand haha. I don't know how anybody could smoke in this weather it is so hot! It's been between 35-40 degrees everyday! It's a very dry heat though so it isn't as bad as it sounds and the air-conditioning in the rooms are great as well as the roof top pool.

I can't wait to get to the islands! Our guide has reminded us to be very careful of drink spiking and bag snatching so I will make sure that we stick to our group and I'm not taking a bag anywhere with me. The dogs here are still really cute they all seem to like me even though I haven't pat any of them. They wag their tails when i walk past but they are so well trained! They don't bother anybody unless somebody approaches them, they don't enter shops, and they even know when it's safe to cross the road!!