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Day 18/19- Athens
An early departure from Rome allowed us to stop in Pompeii on our way to the southern coast of Italy. We took a guided tour of the ruins of ancient Pompeii which was covered in volcanic ash many many years ago(can't remember the exact date); it is one of the best preserved Roman towns in Italy! We saw the forum, cafes, bakeries, houses of aristocrats, even a prostitute street and house! After lunch in a restaurant that was owned by a Mafian family Contiki is friends with(yes, apparently the Mafia is still alive and well), we continued to where we drove on the ferry and settled in for the overnight trip. The ferry was the nicest on I've ever been on, much like a hotel; restaurants, a disco, internet, and such. The rooms were very small and fit four beds, a shower and toilet into a few feet of space...the top bunks were murphy beds that folded into the wall, very cool.:) Much of the time on the ferry I spent sleeping in preparation for Mykonos...so exciting! We arrived in Greece around noon the following day, and saw the ferry get ran into by another boat, almost causing some cars that were driving down the ferry ramp to end up in the water because the ramp slid off the dock! Officials were yelling, waving, and blowing whistles, adding to the confusion, in my opinion, but it was hilarious to watch. When the coach finally got off the ferry, we piled in for our drive to Athens, about four hours. We stopped for lunch and saw the Corinthian canal, extremely deep and narrow, along the way. Finally arriving in Athens, we met up with a local guide, who took us to see the Parthenon and give us a tour of the city. The fact that these buildings were built thousands of years ago makes them absolutely stunning, i think, and is awe-inspiring....I took a lot of photos that I hope will give a good idea of the experience. Afterwards, we booked into our hotel, and got ready to go our for supper. An amazing authentic Greek meal awaited us, with live music and greek dancing that was really cool to watch. Audience participation was in order as well, so some of us got up and danced along, very fun! We took the Metro back to the hotel, and readied for a massive day, our travel to Mykonos!
Day 20-Mykonos
We woke up very early and rode the coach to the harbour to get on another ferry that would take us to the greek island of Mykonos that will be our home for the next 3 days; the ferry was around 6 hours, and we got into Mykonos around 2 pm. Jeremy had to leave the coach on the mainland, so we have a greek coach and driver here; and interesting experience, but it's all part of the life here! Our hotel is absolutely gorgeous, the typical whitewashed building, and we are right across from the ocean. There is a pool, bar, restaurant, shop...everything you need to have an excellent relaxing time. We have been watching bits of the Olympics as well in our spare time, but I really would rather appreciate the white pebbly beaches and clear blue green waters around here, for sure! Kallee and I did some exploring and sunbathing until the late afternoon, when we all gathered and took the coach into Mykonos town, about 20 minutes from our hotel. It's a small town, based along the shores of the Aegean sea, and Josh told us a little about the town before taking us to dinner, then out clubbing. The bars are neat here, about the same as home in terms of music and atmosphere....a little more expensive though!! The first place we were in was right on the water, so we could see the lights of the town and the moon and stars. The shops are open very late here as well; we left back for our hotel at around 1, and everything was still very much open and alive!
Day 21-Mykonos
Today was a relax day! My roomies Kelly, Mel and Kallee all rose around 11 after the massive night, and then got our swimmers on to go sunbathe and swim in the ocean! I love this life, absolutely enjoyable. Later, we ate, hung out by the pool, then gathered to head to Paradise beach, about 20 minutes again from our hotel; its supposed to be the best beach on Mykonos, although the only thing that I felt made it better than our own beach was the bars and club music. The beach was absolutely crammed, and got pretty wild by the time it came close to us leaving again around 9; our group was pretty tame in comparison to the other people around there, for sure! The experience was worth it though, and I enjoyed it as I always do! :)
PS- I miss you all, and hope you're doing well! Thanks for keeping tabs on me.
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