My group were extremely pleased with the service we received from Prague Discount Hotels. The taxi service was fantastic, we thought that the Ibis hotel was perfect as far as location went and the service they gave us was good too. The price paid was better than if I had booked direct with the hotel, and altogether I am more than pleased that I booked through Prague Discount Hotels. Prague is beautiful but much more expensive than we thought it would be. We all had a very good time there and hope to return again. Obviously Prague Discount Hotels would be the website that I would use without question.

Good God, don't let Mel read this entry, she will kill me...

I call to Dani to know what he will do tonight... he told me that hang out a little bit, don't think so, but...

I take my most preciated bottle an almost empty bottle of St. Petersburg Vodka (Don't know the name i can't read cirilic, he bring me from there when he was in Russia).

And here we go a few shots:

Posolkaya: I bring a bottle from my cusin wedding, he married with a Russian, I was all time with the bride family...drinking Vodka :p

Russian Standard : Dani carry it from St. Petersburg!!! 

But finally Dani remains at his apt and I went with the gypsies,  I'll be the taxi driver... 

OMFG I went to sleep late and at 10AM is the 2º Cursa de Carretons, we were too lazy and we didn't one to run this year :(

2007:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oENXK0umWp0

2008: Waiting for the Video...

We really enjoyed our stay at Svaty Jan. When visiting other countries, my friends and I always look for places to stay that are connected to the culture and history. Large hotel chains are rarely inviting as they look and feel the same anywhere you are. To stay in a former rectory with its architecture and location added to our Prague experience. The rooms were airy, clean and bright, the beds comfortable and the breakfast certainly sufficient. I was particularly impressed with the effort made by hotel staff to accommodate my dietary needs. We have already recommended the hotel to a friend in Prague who often has visitors who need somewhere to stay that is good value for money. It would be even more comfortable if there were facilities for making tea and coffee in the rooms and maybe a little fridge. I shall certainly continue to recommend Svaty Jan to all my friends and hope to visit again soon.

In the morning of 21, my friend and I first went out for breakfast as there was nothing at home, but the left overs of the Lebanese dishes. She suggested me to have a typical breakfast in Paris at a cafe at the places des vosges, her favorite place.  The place was really calm and nice for sunny morning-birds were singing, children were playing but no traffic and busy people !

There we had a breakfast set-an espresso, a croissant, and orange juice, but after having the croissant, we both wanted a bit more, and so we ordered extra "tartine". I thought their typical breakfast drink was cafe au lait, but she said real Pariseans would prefer espresso. Anyway I really liked the cafe and also the Places des Vosges so much !

Then we strolled around Marais for a while. I really love this area so much, as there're so many little lovely shops ! After the walk, she had to go back to her place with Hadrian coming together with us, and I went for Petit Palais.

Petit Palais was so much bigger than I expected from its name "petit", and I spent more than 2 hours to see the whole floor. But I must confess that I couldn't exactly see everything, but skipped some ...visiting museums is really fun, but on the other hand, really tiring...
Still, I loved the collections there so much that I would like to visit there again next time !

It was alomost 15:00 when I finished Petit Palais, and I got very hungry. I planned to meet the other students that evening for our last Paris dinner, so I didn't want to eat a lot, but something light, so I first crossed the Pont Alexandre Ⅲ and went for the direction of Invalides. There I found a cafe which looked really nice, and ordered a cup of cafe creme and a chou fraise chantilly. I was astounded at the price, but since it was my last day in Paris, why not trying the expensive dessert ? And it was right that I ordered it, as it was so beautiful and delicious :-)

After the happy coffee break, I went back to Grand Palais just on the face to Petit Palais, but there I saw a really long line for the exhibition of Marie Antoinette...oh, no ! I coudn't have enough energy to stand in line for hours in the heat, even though I took great dessert...so, I only got a book about the exhibition at the nearest kiosk:P and headed for the opera where was our meeting point.

I had more than 1 hours before the rendez-vous, so... the time for shopping ! I went into a supermarket for cooling down and getting some souvenirs for my friends, parents, and my boss. I love super markets in abroad, as there are so many interesting stuff. I bought some canned pate of chicken, pork, beef, duck and boar ! I also found a cat food of hare meat which was unbelievable to find in Japan. And some chocolates and stuff...

And then the time for the last dinner in Paris ! Since it was the night of Music Festa, most tables at the terrace were taken, but we finally got one and had good dinner...with too loud strange music which forced us not to chat, but shout ! I liked the idea of Music Festa, playing music the whole evening on the summer solstice, but I preferred classical music if we had to hear at the terrace. Besides our conversation, we also had to shout so loud every time we ordered something, and it was really hard !

After dinner, I went back to my friend's apartment around midnight, listening other musicians playing blues or salsa music at every corners. It was really a fun evening, but I felt very sorry that the next morning I already had to go back to Sapporo...:(

The next morning I promised my friend to coem back there in the near future, and also would visit her mother in Marrakesh ! 

It's been more than 3 years since I last came to Paris. I have a friend there and I've heard that she gave birth a baby boy last year, so I was so much more excited to be in Paris than usual. And this time, I also wanted to visit Grand Palais where you could see the special exhibition of Marie Antoinette, Petit Palais and also the museum of decorative art. which I've never been to.

In the morning of 20, I took a TGV from Dijon with other students, and decided to have lunch together at ile Saint Louis. First I left my luggage to my friends office which located just in front of the Louvre-what a fabulous location !- then I took a metro to the meeting point. We found a nice restaurant there, and we also had ice cream at Berthillon after that.

Then we all headed for the defferent directions- for me, it was le Musee d'Arts Decoratifs. It was located next to the Louvre, and you can see great numbers of decorative arts from various ages. My favorite is Art-Noubeau, but I also enjoyed others. The museum is colsed at 18:00, and I arrived there at 16:00, so I could only see the 2/3 of the museum...2 hours was not at all enough !

After the museum, I met my friend again and went to her appartment together. There, I saw her family and of course her baby, Hadrian ! He was so cute, like an angel !!!
We had Lebanese dinner(it was my first time to try it, and was really good ) at home, and talked for hours ! We've been friends for more than 10 years, and had so much to talk about :-)

After the little adventure, I finally arrived at an accomodation-Centre Rencontre International(CRI) in Dijon on June 15, but it was almost midnight that I went straight to bed. This time I went there to attend a course teaching how to translate French into Japanese.
CRI was more like a hostel, but they have many single and twin rooms at a very reasonable price with breakfast. The room was clean, and it also had a restaurant inside, so it was OK. But it took 15 minutes by bus from the center, so we had to be stuck there during the day...good for studying, though...

The course was taught by a Japanese teacher and there were 4 other Japanese women coming from Japan. Well, it was fine, even though we did more fun talks than serious study... But later I found that some of the students came to the course not because of the study but because of the teacher's tastes in food and wine !

So the best part of my stay in Dijon was, of course, "dinner time" ! We took a bus to the center and the teacher looked around and found a good one every evening. I usually go on a trip alone, and this makes it difficult for me to have big dinner, but this time I could enjoy so many kinds of dishes at one time, and it was a great experience !
One thing I really felt sorry was even though they ordered good, expensive Bourgogne wine, I only sipped some, and gave my glasses away-I can't hold much alcohol...:(

On 18, the teacher let us have an afternoon exploring the city. So we wrapped up our study in the morning, and took a bus to the center. I first visited the Palais des Ducs and its museum which was full of beautiful sculptures, paitings and also some furnitures which were used in the palace, and gorgeous tombs of Ducs. Then I walked around the old part of the town until 19:00, then met others to have dinner together.

Anyway, even though it rained and was very cold on the first 2 days, we had good time, talking, doing some study, and having great dinner :D

Arriving at Charles de Gaulle airport on time, and I first rushed to the ticket office to get a TGV ticket to Dijon.  There was only an hour left before the departure of the train, but what I found was a very long line in front of the office. Actually there were ticket machines outside the office, but they only accept coins or IC credit cards, so I needed to stand in line.

About 30 minutes later, I could finally get closer to the entrance, then the line I was standing turned out to be the one for trains for Paris and the suburbs...! I got off the line, and I found another line on the other side of the office. I only got more or less 20 minutes, but the line had proceeded very slowly...5 minutes before the departure, there were still more than 10 people waiting in line, so I gave up the direct train for Dijon from the airport, and changed to PLAN B; going to the Gare de Lyon and catch another train leaving in 2 hours. But do I have to stand in that horribly long line again to get an RER ticket for Paris ?!

Never !!! So I first tried to break my bank note into coins in order to use the machine all of which had little lines, but all the surrounding shops were closed -it was over 19:30. I tried to ask some poeple for the change, in vain-but cannot blame them at all !

And here came a guy who carried a plastic bag full of coins asked me if I wanted to change money. Usually, I would ignore this kind of guy, but this time, I was desperately wanted coins, so I exchanged mine with plenty of coins. I should've counted them twice, but seriously I had very little time left to catch the train for Dijon, so I assumed it was heavy enough to be 10, and went to the machine...

Then He told me not to buy an RER ticket, as he always took one without tickets...OK, I've heard the story, but the fine must be really expensive, so I said no, but he insisted me to come with him...maybe because I was too exhaused to get rid of him, or I might secretly want thrills...? hmm, I don't know, but the next moment I hopped over the gate and got on a train... And by doing that, those coins I desperately wanted became nothing but just heavy coins I wanted to spend as soon as possible...now I think I should have asked him to change them again, but it didn't popped up in my mind at that moment...let me say, I was too tired to think !

In the train, he started to talk about himself. He talked in French, so I couldn't understand the whole story, but he said that he lived in underground close to the airport at that moment, because some mafia/police tried to kill him in some parts of Paris.
He also asked me if I wanted to come to the party he would have that night, even though I had already told him my destination before...Maybe he was crazy, but anyway I had an "interesting" journey on RER...and what's more, for free :p

But at the gates of the Gare de Lyon, I encountered another difficulty...they were different from the ones at the airport and it was impossible to hop them over ! I regret that I shouldn't have done something like that on the first place...but then I found some people who carried many luggages opened a large gate next to the normal one !

RUN !!!!! I got out from the gate just behind them, and finally caught the TGV for Dijon in the end :D 
What a long evening after 10 hours flight from Seoul !
And all those coins were perfectly used when I took a taxi to the hotel from the train station in Dijon-almost 10 euros.

I was very lucky this time, but I will never do that again, and just be prepared for enough coins or a new credit card !

After having been called Six Flags Holland between 2000 and 2005 this amusement park in Biddinghuizen got back its old Walibi name. Under the Six Flags brand the parc got to be known as a 'thrill park' full of rollercoasters and as such I was rather surprised to find that it now more resembled Moviepark Germany or Avonturenpark Hellendoorn in set-up and atmosphere. This results in a rather strange mixture of family parc and thrill parc with lots of things for the smaller kiddies in between the big rollercoasters and water rides. And the seemingly obligatory Hollywood Main Street at the entrance. A bit of a schizophrenic parc personality ... Having said that, I had a great time on all the major rides. 'Crazy River' is a fun wild water ride, partially done backwards. 'El Condor' is a great suspended rollercoaster. 'Robin Hood' a wonderful wooden rollercoaster. 'Tomahawk' is a fairground attraction; sort of a rotating see-sawing frisbee. I almost lost my lunch in this one. Absolute highlight was the 'Goliath', a 'hypercoaster' that takes you 45 feet up before throwing you straight down at a speed of 106 km/hr. I almost sh*t myself ... Unfortunately, two coasters (The Xpress and the Via Volta) were out of order when we visited the parc in July 2008. :-( Oh, but there's also one or two things that suck big time. 'Merlin's Magic Castle' is a poor copy of The Efteling's 'Villa Volta' that won't impress anybody who has seen the latter. 'El Rio Grande' tries to emulate Holland's best theme parc's 'Piranha' but the only thrill you'll get is the fear of dying of boredom. There's much more than the stuff I described (check their website). A lot is for kiddies and a lot is your standard fairground stuff that seems to function as filler material between the big rides (and I'm not a big fan of fairgrounds). Still, more than enough to keep the young ones happy, including some theatre shows. Most of the catering is your standard theme parc fast food affair, but if you pay attention you'll be able to spot an occasional juice bar or waffle stand. All in all, not the best parc in Holland (nothing beats the quality of The Efteling). It's too much torn between two ideas (thrill versus family) and as such wasn't exactly what I had expected. Having said that it certainly deserves a spot in the Top 5 parcs of Holland and although I ignored a lot of the more dodgy stuff I thoroughly enjoyed the described thrill rides.

Our drive from Mt. Nemrut to Sanliurfa (which also goes by its old name, Urfa, which is also faster to type) was quick and uneventful. And although Urfa is not a small town, we somehow managed to drive right to the hotel. Luck! We checked in to El Ruha (pretty unremarkable place), and then headed out after a bit to explore the town. The hotel didn’t really have what you’d call a map per se, so we were kind of on our own.  

First thing we did was find lunch at a place with a nice terrace and a view of Urfa Castle. It was really hot out but the breeze and shade made it quite tolerable. The prices seemed so much lower! I guess it’s much less touristy than Cappadocia. I ordered a salad that was under $1 -- it was small so I had another. Still, cheap! Steve had pide, a sort of Turkish pizza.

Fortified, we walked through the bazaar, where locally made copper pots were being sold, as were other useful household, food, and clothing items. This was not a “bazaar” set up for the sake of tourists…this is where the locals do their shopping. So much more interesting than, say, WalMart.

Conveniently, all of this took place near a large park area that is home to several of Urfa’s sites and Balikligol, or the Pool of Sacred Fish, which was our next stop. The protected and very well fed carp were practically climbing out of the water for the handfuls of special food (available for purchase, of course) that people were tossing in. Carp are really ugly, especially in a feeding frenzy! There were no handrails on the pool and I was very careful to stay away from the edge … if I had fallen in I think the slimy things would have gobbled me right up, too!

After “admiring” the sacred carp, we spent some time strolling through the park. There was a small lake and pools, several picturesque old mosques, and shady trees. It was busy with locals, but not crowded… a really nice atmosphere. We had tea at a shaded café and relaxed and enjoyed being out of the sun.

For dinner, we braved driving through town to find a restaurant recommended by Fodor’s. Our good luck held out: we found it without a problem. Urfa Sofrasi’s menu was all in Turkish, so I ordered the only thing I knew: pide, that Turkish pizza. It was huge and loaded with cheese, so I ended up taking most of it home. It will be our lunch tomorrow. Steve had kebab, which was served with huge sheets of flat bread. He wrapped the meat up along with vegetables for a sort of Turkish taco. They also served us “yogurt soup,” yogurt with chickpeas and wheatberries. It tasted better than it sounds…I really liked it and was happy to eat it all up (Steve didn’t care for it).  

A lone lady came in for dinner while we were there. She was obviously not a local (I think Italian), as she was about 6-feet tall and wearing a semi cropped top that showed a sliver of back and stomach. Every man in the place stopped eating to stare at her, which they continued to do as she ordered and then as she ate. She seemed unphased by all the scrutiny -- maybe she has been here awhile or something. I had also felt myself being stared at in the park (and no, I wasnt wearing a cropped top)… I don’t think they get many foreigners here in Urfa.  

We will stay here in Urfa just this one night. Tomorrow is another drive to another town -- Gaziantep. Til then… Allahaismarladik!

 Today was Clay, Suzanne, Mar, Amy, and Patrice's last day with the tour as they chose not to continue to Athens. Suzanne and Clay had a few extra days here in Rome to themselves but everyone else would be flying home tomorrow morning. Today was a full on day of sightseeing. Another early wake up as we were to be met at the Vatican for our tour of the Vatican Museum. We caught the public bus to the stop for Vatican City and rushed to get in line. It was still quite early but the line was already really long. Our guide was an older woman who kept saying "Mama Mia" with every sentence. At first it was kind of humorous but eventually got quite irritating. Once inside, we had to go through an enormous amount of security which was understandable considering the enormous amounts of historical artifacts here as well as this being the center of Catholicism. It was quite irritating trying to get everyone in order for the tour. People were either wandering off or their headsets didn't work. I must have taken a good 20 minutes once inside, to get everything settled. We were led through various halls, galleries, and courtyards. Each was filled with intricate statues, ornate ceilings, and faded paintings and tapestries that you could immediately tell were hundreds of years old! Many of the male statues had the genitalia removed which left a huge hole in that area. Quite a funny sight....I guess someone in power must have taken huge offense to this back in the day. None of the pieces of art caught my attention as they were nothing that I could really identify. I was actually getting kind of bored with the tour. The slow pace and the guide weren't helping matters much either. I could have easily done without the tour and walked around at my own pace. I would have enjoyed just wandering all the various room and soaking everything in. We finally arrived at the museum's main attraction, the Sistine Chapel. It was stuffy and warm inside as it was jam packed with tourists looking up at the ceiling. Every 5 seconds, you would hear the noise police saying "quiet, no photo". However, this didn't stop people from trying to steal a photo or take a video. I was standing with Amanda who tried to take a photo and was immediately approached by a guard who told her to refrain from taking a photo. She was really intent on getting a photograph, so she pretended to put her camera away and moved to another spot in the room when she attempted another shot. The same guard, angrily approached her and was threatening to remove her from the museum.  I really wanted a shot as well but was far too nervous to even attempt pulling my camera out. It seemed like every time I looked up, there was a guard watching me. With all our concentration on trying to get a photo, we seemed to not notice the commotion on the other side of the room. The guards had pounced on someone for apparently trying to pickpocket. These guards really do have their eyes on everyone in this room! Just as we had tired of gazing up at the ceiling, we learned that the doors had been closed. Apparently, some important bishop was passing through a nearby hallway and they had to shut the place down. We had no idea how long we would be stuck inside there. It started to get really stuffy and claustrophobic. Roz even started to feel sick and had to sit down. Thankfully, they finally opened up the doors and we were able to proceed. The tour guide wanted to avoid the crowd and the possible detours created by this visiting bishop so she decided to take us on a short-cut. This short cut eventually led us outside into the square. Her short cut caused us to completely miss walking through St. Peter's Basilica. I was very annoyed and pissed off at this point. I had wanted to climb to the top of the dome and possibly visit Pope John Paul's tomb. Once the tour was over, I was more than grateful that we could finally be left to our own devices. It was now about lunch time and we wandered the area looking for someplace to eat. Being a very touristy area, I knew the food in the area wouldn't be that great. We ran into Rebecca and Julie who were also looking for something to eat. We settled on a small restaurant where the tables were right in the street.  After lunch Amy, Mar, and Patrice wanted to do a little shopping before continuing with our sight-seeing. Since our tour guide prematurely guided us out of the Vatican, we weren't able to browse the gift shop. So they decided to trek back to the museum to see if they can get into the gift shop. Suzanne, Clay, and Julie decided they were going to get a head start on the Collisseum. I agreed to stay back here and wait for the others to finish their shopping and we'd meet at the Collisseum. After about a half an hour, I started to get ancy so I thought I'd kill some time and have another gelato. There's nothing worse than waiting around when you have such limited time.  When they finally arrived, we made our way to the nearest metro stop 3 blocks away. We were all very aware of our surroundings as we had heard all the stories about public transportation in Rome being hot spots for pickpockets. The subway system in Rome has very few stops compared to other European cities. This must have something to do with all the archaeological sites in the city and ruins. They must not want to dig underground for fear of undermining the ancient sites. The metro stop for the Collisseum was pretty awesome. The second you step out, the Collisseum is right there in front of your eyes. We dodge the cheesy men dressed in gladiator outfits who were posing for pictures and made our way to the ticket booth. Today must be our lucky day as it was Roman Heritage Day and it was free to enter! I guess a lot of people had heard that it was free as it was absolutely packed inside. The 4 of us walked around dodging tourists and soaking it all in. We stopped at a couple of viewing spots and just imagined what it must have been like inside here with thousands of spectators cheering a gladiator match. The place was pretty much in ruins now with all of the marble removed from the facade. We met up with Suzanne and Clay who had spotted us from above. Walking around the upper levels was also pretty cool as I imagined sitting up here with all the other peasants. After the Colliseum, we took a walk through the Roman Forum. This area was the center of Ancient Rome. Walking along the cobblestone streets was very difficult as I had to tread carefully as not to fall flat on my face. We saw the Arc of Titus, the home of the Vestal Virgins, the Temple of Saturn, as well many other noteworthy ruins. We climbed to the top of Palatine Hill which was much cooler, shadier, and quieter. This was a nice little peaceful spot to enjoy the views of the Roman Forum below. It was here that we lost Clay, Suzanne, and Patrice. They had went ahead to do a little more exploring. Amy, Mar, and myself decided to stay back. After waiting for probably half an hour, we decided to go on our separate ways. I hope Patrice was with Clay and Suzanne. Knowing how bad she was with directions, I can just imagine her reaction if she was lost and by herself. Continuing on, we wandered more through the Roman Forum and ended up at the ?Piazza. Having remembered the Vittorio Manuele Montument from the night before, we decided to take the relatively short walk to check it out. Along the way, we ran into Michael, Claire, and Tina. They were lost and were trying to figure out the bus schedule. We tried our best to assist but I was in no mood to figure out someone else's dilemna. Especially since the 2 girls were not being friendly. Neither one of them even gave a hello to us. We arrived at the monument and started to climb the steps. This monument was also the home to the italian version of the tomb of the unknown soldier. The tomb had an eternal flame and was guarded by a few soldiers. Some of them even had machine guns!! Amy, Mar, and I wanted to take a quick little rest and sat down on the steps. Almost immediately, we were being yelled at by one of the machine gun toting soldiers. Apparently, it is prohibited to sit here. I guess it makes sense, as this attraction would then just be another place for people to hang out like the Spanish Steps. Not sure of what to do next, we decided to walk Via del Corso for a bit and eventually ended up getting another gelato.  It was getting close to dinner time, so we decided we would try to make our way back around towards the Vatican. We backtracked and walked through the Roman Forum again hoping we would run into Clay, Suzanne, and Patrice. No such luck so we caught the subway at the Colliseum back to the Vatican.  We wandered around looking for a decent place to have dinner. At the same time, we did a few last minute souvenir shopping. We settled at this one restaurant with sidewalk seating. After sitting for a while, it was noticeable that the only people here were tourists. I immediately knew my dinner would probably be sub-par. After dinner and yet another gelato, we made our way back through St. Peter's Square to the bus stop that would take us back to the hotel. Once back at the hotel, we were wondering if Patrice, Suzanne, or Clay had made it back. None of them had arrived back. I was really starting to get worried if Patrice was even with them. Would she even be able to find her way back to the hotel? Does she even know the hotel name? After resting in our rooms for awhile, we decided to walk over to the neighboring hotel to use their internet access. While walking up the driveway to the road, we heard the sound of voices coming our way. Sure enough, it was Clay, Suzanne, and Patrice. They had apparently gotten lost and couldn't find us so they proceeded to continue on. With that worry out of the way, we made our way over to the other hotel.  This was such a plush and upscale hotel. I was starting to get jealous that we weren't staying here. They had valet, porter service, a piano bar, huge lounge area, and a fancy restaurant. Why couldn't we have taken a tour that stayed at these types of places? After checking our e-mails and Amy confirming her flight info for the next day, we made our way back to the reality of our hotel to call it an early night after such an exhausting day. After hanging out in my room for a while, I started to get bored. I decided to go and visit Mar and Amy's room. They were on the second floor and when I went to knock on their door, I realized it was the wrong room. I correctly knocked on Mar & Amy's door but before she could open it, Amanda and Jess answered the other door. Eventually, me and Amy ended up in their room catching up on more gossip and learning Australian slang words like "cozzies" and "yurt". The night ended when Mar came out looking for Amy. He yelled to her "Come back in here". It was all pretty funny to see quiet little Mar come out yelling. With that, we called it a night and retreated back to our rooms.

This morning we said goodbye to Amy, Mar, and Patrice. They were heading to the airport after breakfast for their flight back home to L.A. Today was also Suzanne and Clay's last day of the tour. However, they would be spending a few more days in Rome and along with Chris and Wendy, would be travelling down to Pompeii with us. Back on the bus for a 2 hour drive down to Pompeii. It was a beautiful and sunny morning made even more spectacular once we starting driving along the coast near the city of Naples.  Driving through Naples, we could easily see Mt. Vesuvius and knew that Pompeii wasn't too far. Pompeii, like Florence and Venice was like Disneyland for tourists. There must have been 30 other coaches parked in the parking lot when we arrived.  I was quite excited to check out these ruins which I've learned so much about growing up. My excitement was made even more once I learned that admission today was free! Gotta love those freebies! Today was by far the warmest day we've had on the trip. It was defenitely shorts weather as the temperature probably hit around 90 degrees. We met up with our tour guide and all I was hoping for was that this guy was half interesting. If I have to endure another guided tour with a boring and disengaging guide, I think i'll go crazy. Once we entered the ruins, it was all downhill from there. Not only was this guide boring but he seemed to rush us through the tour. He gave us way too much information and eventually I just tuned him out and went into my own little world.  Then as if it couldn't get any more disappointing, we learned that the brothels were closed for cleaning. This was the one part of Pompeii that I was really looking forward to. It would have been really cool to see these brothels with all their phallic imagery and depictions of sexual positions. The one highlight of the tour was being able to see the plaster castings of the the people buried in the ash flow. Apparently the ash flow that buried the city ocurred so quickly, that people were instantly buried and entombed forever. When excavators were searching through the ash, they would find voids where bodies had been. By pouring plaster into these voids and letting it solidify, the body shape of the victims would be created. On many of these plaster castings, you could even see their facial expressions. Many of these plaster castings were placed in glass casings for the public to view. It was all very morbid and interesting at the same time. Once the tour was over, we had about a half an hour to grab a bite to eat or souvenir shop. We all walked back to the coach and said our goodbyes to Clay, Suzanne, Chris, and Wendy. They were going to catch the local train back up to Rome while we crossed the Italian peninsula to catch our ferry to Greece.

     Back on the bus, the LA6 had become the LA1. Now by myself, I had to make more of an effort to hang out with some of the others. This would be no problem as I had gotten to know most everyone on the tour. Southern Italy was much poorer and rural compared to the rest of Italy. This was evident on our drive across the peninsula. Towns were few and far between and our rest stops were definetly of a different standard. It was here that I saw the first squatter toilets of the trip. We finally arrived at the port in the early evening. It was here that we also said our goodbyes to Fridge and the Contiki bus. We wouldn't be needing the coach in Corfu and we would be taking a private coach over to Athens. This was Fridge's last tour and he would be driving this coach back up to London. We all boarded the overnight ferry and went in search for our rooms. This was my first night without a roomate so I was wondering if I would be getting a room all to myself or if I would be sharing with one of the single guys. Thankfully, it turned out that I would have my own cabin for the night. The cabin was very small and had 2 bunk bed style beds. Since we were on a Greek ship we had to follow the Greek rules when it comes to plumbing. We were informed that we were not allowed to flush any toilet paper down the toilet. It would have to be placed in the trash bin. I would hate to be the one having to empty these bins. Just the thought of this sounded very disgusting to me. Apparently the plumbing system in Greece is unable to handle toilet paper. My first time using the toilet, I completely forgot and dropped it in the toilet. I was worried that if I flushed, it would cause the toilet to back up and flood the bathroom. I took my chances anyways and flushed.
     For dinner, a few of us met up in the cafeteria. I had a Greek Salad, lasagne, and fries with tzatziki sauce. This sauce made from yogurt and cucumber would become my newest favorite thing once this trip was over. I sat with Rob, Kevin, Sandra,  little Sara, and Canadian Andrea. We ended up killing an hour or two by discussing politics in America. After dinner, there wasn't much else to do. I browsed the shops and walked the decks. The ship had a casino, internet terminals, a few duty free shops, and a huge lounge area. I killed a few hours in the lounge area hanging out with the Aussie Gossip crew doing what else? Catching up on my gossip. We sat there and smoked and had a few drinks while discussing which perfume they were going to buy in the duty free shops. Needing some fresh air, I decided to go for a little walk when I ran into Kevin. He told me that a small group was at the top deck hanging out and that I should join. Before going up there, I checked out the casino and played a few slots before losing 5 euros. I ran into Patrick in here and we both went in search of the group at the top deck. It was a cool chilly evening out on the top deck. Up here Matt, big Dave, Claire, Kevin, Jason, Andria, Mark, Dave, and Mandy were all out enjoying the night air and sipping some wine. Eventually, it became a bit too chilly for my tastes. I excused myself and called it a night. On my way back down, I noticed the Aussie Gossip Crew still hanging out in the lounge. I joined them for one last drink and started having a very deep conversation with Amanda. We started walking up to our rooms where we continued our conversation in my cabin. I wonder what it may have looked like if someone saw her coming into my cabin at this late hour. We ended up chatting for about 20 minutes before she retreated to her cabin and we both called it a night.
     

 I was jarred awake this morning at an ungodly hour by the sounds of someone in my room yelling at me to wake up. "30 minutes until docking" he was yelling. The nerve of this guy to enter my cabin unannounced to wake me up. I was still able to hear him as he went down the hall yelling at all the other passengers to wake up. Not wanting to be left behind, I quickly ran in the shower and gathered my things. We docked in the port town of Igoumentsa. From here, we were to catch another ferry that would take us to Corfu town. It was still dark outside and everyone was still half asleep as we were disembarking. We walked along with our suitcases to the port terminal where we were to kill the next 2 hours before catching our next ferry. Everyone quickly gobbled up the seats in the waiting lounge and spread out to catch up on some sleep. Not much sleep was to be done as the seats were horribly uncomfortable and hard as a rock. After realizing that we were not at the correct spot, Matt lead us to the other side of the port terminal where he would have a few taxis waiting to take us to the correct departure point. Apparently, the ferry that we were waiting for was departing in 20 minutes. When the first taxi arrived, we packed as many suitcases as possible into the trunk and squeezed as many people inside as possible. The taxi took off speeding down the road like a bat out of hell. When people realized that the correct departure point was not very far, some of us started to walk. It only appeared to be a brisk 5-10 minute walk away.  Not wanting to walk this early in the morning, I got into the second taxi. Once dropped off, those who were already there hurried to remove the suitcases from the trunk so the taxi could speed back and pick up the others. Everyone managed to arrive just in time to catch the ferry. This second ferry ride was only about an hour and it was jam packed with people. Luckily, most of us were able to find a seat to crash in. It was still somewhat early in the morning when we finally arrived in Corfu town. From here, we caught a private coach that would take us to our hotel. The sun was shining brightly and was already a bit warm. It was definetly going to be a nice day to relax by the pool. We drove for about 20 minutes uphill in a residential part of the town. The driveway leading to the hotel was quite steep and the coach wasn't able to make it all the way up. He managed to take the coach about halfway up the driveway before we all had to get off and drag our suitcases up this steep driveway. Once inside the hotel, the rooms were not yet ready but breakfast was just about to be served. No one was prepared for how awesome the breakfast at this hotel was going to be. After horrible breakfasts of bread and juice in Italy for the past week, most of us were starting to get used to it. The breakfast here was buffet style with a wide variety of breakfast dishes, cereals, fruits, and juices. Needless to say, everyone took full advantage. After breakfast, our rooms were assigned and I lucked out again. I was able to get a room all to myself. After about 2 hours of resting, Matt took those of us who were interested into town for the afternoon. After being dropped off, we were free to roam around and do as we pleased. By myself for the first time on the trip, I just decided to wander and do some shopping. Corfu town was a labrynth of narrow alleyways with small cafes and shops. It was easy to get a bit lost amongst this maze but since it wasn't very large, eventually you would find your way out. I eventually made it out onto the main street where I continued my window shopping. There were quite a few stray dogs in this town that would just wander and lay down anywhere, including the middle of the street. After walking along the waterfront, I started to get a bit bored. My craving for American fast food started to set in which led me to the Mcdonalds. Here they served Mcgyros, Mcdonald's version of Greek food. I probably should have tried this but settled on a filet-o-fish and fries. After the Mcdonald's trip, I sat at an outdoor cafe and ordered a Bailey's latte and scone to pass the time. Our meeting point was just off the main square. Lesley was here already waiting so we sat around making small talk while we waited for everyone else. Finally, the coach arrived and it was back to the hotel to lounge around.

     After dropping off my things in the room, I made my way down to the poolside bar. Just like a resort, you were able to charge food and drinks to your room as long as you paid before you leave. This could be quite dangerous as I tend to lose track of how much I'm spending. I hung out at the bar with Sandra, Andrea, and little Sara before making my way down to the pool. Slowly more people started to trickle poolside and enter the pool. There was another Contiki group staying here and we met some of them poolside. While me and Amanda were swimming around, some guy from the other group came up to us and started chatting. I don't remember what his name was but he was Perth, Australia. He was amazed at how close knit most everyone in our group appeared. This guy seemed awfully chatty, and I think he was trying to hit on me. The rest of the afternoon and into the evening was spent going back and forth from the bar, to the pool, to lounging poolside. It was a perfect day for just sitting back and relaxing. A day of rest that most everyone desperately needed.  Dinner tonight was just as impressive as breakfast. They had a wide variety of dishes to choose from as well as soups, salads, and dessets. As with breakfast, most everyone engorged themselves. Nothing big was planned for this evening. Matt was going to take us down to a bar via the local bus. Most everyone had good intentions of going out but it turned out to be about 10 of us. Many people just wanted to stay in and call it an early night after such an early morning. Matt, the Aussie Gossip Crew, Rob, Sara, Claire, Roz, Erin, Patrick, and myself all walked down to catch the local bus at the bottom of the hill. We were dropped off in town where Matt led us threw a winding maze of back streets and dark alleys. We all started to wonder where he was taking us when all of a sudden we arrived at this really trendy outdoor bar. The bar was pretty quiet as it was only about 10pm. We all tried to order some drinks which proved to be difficult. Our server spoke very little English and some of the girls were ordering drinks with very specific instructions. Eventually we all got our drinks and chatted the night away. Roaming dogs seemed to be the norm in this town as 3 stray dogs wandered into the bar and seemed to take a liking to our group. It was a pretty low key evening. Around 12am, we all decided to return back to the hotel for our big day tomorrow.

 It was another amazing breakfast this morning as we all stuffed ourselves silly in preparation for our full day on the water. We were all warned about George, the operator of the boat we were about to board. He was a perverted old man but was loads of fun and laughs. We got off bus and walked towards the docks. I was wondering which boat we were going to get on. I saw this dinky little thing and was hoping that wasn't the boat. Sure enough, George was heading towards this boat. It was so small that I was beginning to wonder if we could safely carry all 45 of us aboard. No life rafts either! After seeing Titanic, this was a big deal to me. We all boarded and most of us headed towards the front of the boat. As we made our way, a cool morning breeze was blowing. I decided I was just going to lay out and relax. After about a half an hour of sailing. We arrived at a small beach resort where we would participate in water sports if we so wished.  After looking at all the options, the prices scared me away. I decided that I was just going to sit back, watch, lay-out, and maybe take a dip in the sea. Patrick and I left the dock to find a lounge chair to lay out in. I was laying out for about 20 minutes before I left to take a walk on the beach. Sandra convinced me to take a dip into the water. The water was really cold and the bottom was really rocky. We swam around for a little while before returning back to the dock to see what activities were on hand. The first activity was a tube racing thing where 4 inner tubes were at the top of this waterslide. All 4 tubes were attached to a boat. The boat would take off pulling all 4 inner tubes with it. Erin, Sara, Mel, and Lesley decided to try this out. The contest was too see who would fall out first. Once the boat took off, the inner tubes raced down the slide. The first to fall off was Erin, apparently her top came off with her. They rode around for a good 15 minutes out in the ocean. There were a few moments where they were going so fast that they caught some good air. After the inner tube thing, a few people did para-sailing. Matt went first, followed by Mel, Lesley, and finally Dave and Mandy. The parasailing lasted about 20 minutes for each person. They got to some pretty impressive heights and ended with a dip into the cold ocean. While waiting around for the para-sailers to return, little Sara, Sandra and I decided to be daring and do a little dive into the sea. The water seemed overly salty but was nice and refreshing. Patrick was trying to get me to go with him on one of the activities. I told him if he could find a third person, I would do it. I was wondering what had happened to him when I noticed he was about to do the flying fish with big Dave. Oh well, I really didn't want to shell out the cash for that anyways. The flying fish was this big yellow contraption that you would hang on to while being pulled by the boat. This also went at high speeds and caught some good air. Other water activities that people partaked in were wake boarding and the sea-doo's. We were at this spot for a good 3 hours before we re-boarded our boat to continue on with our cruise. We followed the coastline for a good 30 minutes. The watersports seemed to lift everyone's spirits as we were all in a good mood. George was playing cheesy 1980's rock hits but no one seemed to mind. We dropped anchor in a small bay lined with oceanfront homes to do more swimming and have lunch. The azure waters of this bay were very tropical-like and hard to resist. I took the plunge just as George started blasting the music. When YMCA starting playing, we all starting doing the cheesy YMCA dance in the water! Back on board, we munched on small sandwiches, a salad, and fries complete with homemade tzatziki sauce. I just could not enough of his tzatziki sauce and kept going back for more. All of this washed down with ice cold Greek beer! We continued cruising along the coastline; drinking beer, listening to music, and just enjoying everyone's company. We dropped anchor again at a spot not too far from the shore. The waters here were even more clearer than the previous spot. Again, most everyone took a dip and swam to the shore. Matt brought out a few balls and we started throwing them back and forth from the shore to the ship. Back on the boat, George announced for all the Australians to head to the front of the boat. He was going to do this with all the nationalities aboard. Once they were all at the front, he started playing their national anthem and instructed them all to sing along. He would do this to every nationality on board. Matt was well prepared for the event as he brought out an Australian flag for them to hold up while singing. After their national anthem, George played Men at Work's "Down Under" while all the Aussies sang along. Once the Aussies had their turn, it was time for the Canadians to show their stuff. All 8 of them sang along to "Oh Canada" and were completely off key. Their singing was like 3 seconds ahead of the music! After their laughable rendition to their national anthem, Bryan Adams' "Summer of 69" was played. After the Canadians, it was our turn. Patrick, Andria, Jason, and myself represented the USA as best we could giving our rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. Then our pop song was Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA". It was pretty hilarious trying to sing it. None of us really knew the words except for the Born in the USA line. George didn't have the anthem to Taiwan available. Still, he made the 3 Taiwanese girls go up and sing their anthem. It was pretty funny seeing them up there. It was the most vocal they had been the entire trip. Last but not least was Michael, the lone South African. Surprisingly, George had his national anthem available and he bravely sang it all by himself. Afterwards, there was no second song but a traditional South African dance that surprisingly Michael was able to perform quite well. With all of our national anthems out of the way, George went up to the front of the boat and led us in some really corny and silly chants and songs.

     Prior to arriving at our last stop on the cruise, another boat full of tourists passed close enough to us that a bunch of us went to one side and gave them a good mooning. I supposed we had to give them Contiki's version of a hello. Perverted George took us to our final stop, Hanky-Panky Island or Skinny-Dippy Island. It was basically a small outcrop in the middle of the sea with no one around. The idea here was to go stark naked if one wanted to. Matt was the first one in as he quickly dropped his shorts and cannon-balled in. Shortly after, he was joined by Rob and Patrick who took off their shorts after jumping in. Jayson, Andria, Dave, and Mandy joined in as well, also taking off their tops and bottoms after jumping in. The guys swam over to the island and proceeded to walk around buck naked, much to the laughter of everyone still aboard the boat. Fortunately for everyone, it was strictly butt shots and no full frontal to be seen. I didn't feel like getting back into the water so I stayed aboard and watched all this nudity unfold around me. A few others decided to jump in but kept their clothes on. Back aboard, we slowly made our way back to Corfu town. After spending the entire day in the sun, everyone seemed a little tired. I know that I layed out for a bit and eventually fell asleep. Back ashore, we jumped on our coach back to the hotel. Not much rest to be had though, as we were soon to be taken to the center of town to find dinner and catch the bus to another hotel for the toga party.

     After about a two hour rest, we all met up in the lobby to catch the bus together to the center of town. Once there, we had some time to do a little shopping and grab dinner. A large group of us were walking around in search of a place to eat. We came to a small cafe and some people wanted to eat there. Little Sara, Andrea, and myself were not content with getting just a light snack. All 3 of us really wanted a good traditional Greek meal. We wandered around some more and found Rebecca and Julie having dinner at an outdoor restaurant. We checked out the menu and decided this looked traditional enough. Dinner turned out to be delicious. I was thankful we didn't settle on just getting a small bite to eat. After dinner, we met up at the bus stop to catch the bus for the toga party. The bus was really packed and we all had to squeeze in the back just to all fit in. After about 30 minutes of having to stand in the back of the bus, we finally arrived at the hotel. There was another Contiki group here whom we would be partying with. They were already decked out in their togas and having a good time when we showed up. We walked in and rented our sheets for 2 euros. Not having any idea how to put together a toga, I had one of the staff wrap mine around me and put it all together. Since we had no pockets, we also had to purchase chips in order to buy drinks with. The rest of the evening was spent on the dance floor hanging out with everyone and getting to know the other Contiki group. Not really in the mood to party, I decided to call it an early night. I saw Sandra and the Taiwanese girls getting ready to leave so I decided to join them. Big Dave also left with us when he saw us leave. We were only there 2 hours and it seemed like it was going to be a fun and long night. I was just exhausted by being in the sun all day and from the entire trip. Big Dave and myself caught a taxi back to our hotel. What is it with Greek taxi drivers? They seem to have no problem going 90mph through curvy and residential streets. I kept my eyes shut for most of the drive back hoping we would just arrive in one piece. Before going to bed, I made sure to pay my hotel tab which ended up being around 80 euros! At around 3am, I was awaken by Patrick knocking on my door. I completely forgot that he had wanted to sleep in my room tonight. I let him in and we both just crashed. 

Another early morning as we had to catch the ferry back to the Greek mainland before our long drive to Athens. Patrick was sound asleep with his headphones on. How the heck was he going to wake up if I he didn't sleep in my room. He would have slept right through his alarm and missed the bus. It wouldn't have been a first for him. It was a chore in itself to wake him up but I eventually succeeded. We went down to have one last amazing breakfast at this hotel before leaving to catch the ferry. Leaving Corfu was a little bittersweet. I was anxious to move on to another destination but had such a great time here. The island's relaxed atmosphere was the perfect cure for all the bumps and bruises we had accumulated from non-stop travelling for the past two weeks. Although much of the island showed qualities of mass tourism, there was still a level authenticity to be found if one dug far enough. The ferry ride back to the Greek mainland was about an hour long as we docked back in the port of Igoumentsa. From here, we boarded our private coach that would take us all the way to Athens. We drove along the coastlilne along a very steep and windy road for probably the first 2 hours with such incredible views of the Mediterranean Sea. The winding road coupled with last night's heavy partying seemed to get the best of some people. I noticed some had bags over their mouths ready to throw up. Our first stop was at a small roadside cafe and general store. We used this stop basically as a bathroom break. I found it very odd that once we stopped the bus driver immediately got into a car and drove away. He eventually did return. Apparently, the bus driver's family owned this cafe and he lived in this small town. We continued driving through the Greek countryside and had a lunch stop at a small seaside fishing village. When we arrived we practically invaded this small gyro shop. The look on the shop owner's face was priceless when he saw us all coming in. I don't know if it was from glee at having all these customers or from horror for running out of food. 2 gyros for the price of 1, you can't beat that. After lunch, I took a quick stroll down to the pier and along the beach. Along the way, I noticed quite a few empty beachfront cafes. This small town must see a lot of visitors during the peak of summer. We came at a good time as we got to see a small glimpse of fishing village life in Greece. Back on the coach, we continued our long journey through Greece by crossing the newly constructed Rio-Antirio Bridge. This bridge connects western Greece to the Peloponeese peninsula, saving travellers from having to backtrack or take a ferry. We had a brief stop at the city of Corinth. Here we were to grab a quick bite to eat as well as check out the Corinth Canal. This canal was cut through this narrow isthmus to link the Adriatic and the Aegean Seas. It is known worldwide as being the narrowest canal. Cruise ships have been known to pass through this canal coming inches from the canal walls. We had a look at the canal which just looked like one huge narrow ditch. There were however no cruise ships or other large boats coming through to make the scene a bit more interesting. After checking out the canal, most of us grabbed a bite to eat at a little kebab stand. The kebabs were only one euro! One of the best things about travelling in Greece is that everything is cheap compared to the rest of Europe. I was excitingly anticipating our arrival in Athens. Growing up you learn so much about Greece being the cradle of western civilatization. I was really looking forward to checking out some of the ancient sites. My expectations of Athens were not that high to begin with as I had heard the stories of Athens being extremely polluted and congested. However, since they hosted the Olympics last year, built a new airport, and created a new subway system; I was hoping things would not be as I had imagined. When we finally arrived in Athens in the early evening, my first impressions were not very flatering. We were stuck in rush hour traffic and the areas we were driving through looked polluted and run down. We finally arrived at the Olympic Hotel and again I lucked out getting my own room. My room was very run down. It was tiny and cramped while the bathroom was worse than anything we had in Italy. I decided not to sweat it too much as it was the second to last day. Our hotel was located on a busy thoroughfare and the street traffic was heard throughout the hotel. However, we were located right across the street from some ancient ruins and from the rooftop restaurant, there was amazing views of the Acropolis. After resting up a bit, Kevin and I went to the rooftop restuarant for our final dinner together as a group. We headed straight for the bar and had our first tast of Ouzo. It had a very licorice like flavor and reminded me very much of Jaegermaester. Not wanting any more, I opted for a greek beer, Mythos. For dinner, I sat with Kevin, Sandra, Rebecca, and Julie. I probably could have done with out this dinner as the meal was just average. However, since it was the last dinner, I felt like I had to attend. After dinner, all we basically did was go from table to table taking group photos one last time. We said our goodbyes to Jayson and Andria who were leaving tomorrow morning for their flight back to Seattle. Most everyone had started migrating back to their rooms to call it a night after such a long day. Erin, Roz, Rob, Kevin, and myself were the only ones left hanging out. We decided to go back to Erin and Roz's room to hang out for a bit. We spent the next hour debating Australian politics. It was mostly Rob and Erin going back and forth. Roz and Kevin had fallen asleep while I just listened intently. It was way too late to get into such a heated debate for me. Eventually, Rob and I left deciding to just call it a night. We left Kevin in there sleeping not wanting to wake him up. I would learn the next day that he stayed there until 4am not wanting to disturb his roomate Michael who was having one last night with Claire.

 The final day of the tour has arrived. As with everything in life, all good things must come to an end. Those of us who were staying at this hotel one more night had to remove their things from the room only to be reassigned another room later this afternoon. Thankfully, we were able to store our things in a locked room behind the reception desk until then. After breakfast, we boarded the coach one last time for our drive to visit the Acropolis. Once at the foot of the Acropolis, it was a relatively steady incline to get to the Parthenon. Since it was a warm day today, I knew this wasn't going to be easy. We got our ticket which also provided us with entrance to a few other sites around town. The views of a hazy Athens started to come into view the further we climbed. Our guide continuously stopped to give us some information on the history but I was too consumed with trying to stay cool to pay attention. The final steps leading to the top of the Acropolis were chocked full of tourists. Apparently, a few cruise ships docked in town today which accounted for the overwhelming number of tourists. Once at the top, we were free to wander around the site. The Parthenon was an amazingly beautiful structure. Its hard to imagine what it would have looked like back in it's heyday. After centuries of decay and neglect, there is a strong effort to try and piece most of the structures back together. Many pieces of the structures are simply lying around. However, they are roped off to prevent tourists from taking them as souvenirs. Scaffolding is everywhere as the restoration workers and archaeologists try and decipher where most of the stray pieces belong. Back on the coach, we made one last stop at the stadium for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. They didn't use this same stadium for the 2004 Olympics. However, they did use it for the marathons. The Stadium was much smaller than modern stadiums and the track had more of a stretched out oval shape. Since the gates were locked, we weren't able to go in and have a walk around. We just had to be content with having a look. Once we arrived at Syntagma Square, this marked the official end of the tour. We had the option of getting off here or taking the coach back to the hotel. Most people got off here to continue their sightseeing. I said my goodbyes to Erin and Roz. Once off the bus, I noticed that the Aussie Gossip Crew had stayed on the bus. I didn't get to say goodbye to them. I was very thankful that they let me tag along and hang out with them. Most everyone who got off the coach wanted to check out the changing of the guards at the tomb of the unknown soldier. The guard changing took place at the top of every hour. Since we just missed it, I decided to have a walk around the square. Syntagma Square was Athens' main square. It contained their House of Parliament, the luxurious Hotel Grand Bretagne, as well as numerous travel agencies and souvenir stands. I decided to have a snack at the McDonald's before checking my e-mail at the Easy Everything Internet Cafe. In here, I ran into Tina who was also checking her e-mail. Tina, along with Claire, the Aussie Gossip Crew, Sara, Erin, Roz, and Patrick were all headed towards Mykonos. I said my goodbyes to Tina and then headed over to the changing of the guard. The whole ceremony lasted about 20 minutes. It was nothing spectacular but the outfits the guards were wearing were quite amusing. They may have been practical for warfare centuries ago but look really laughable today. Not only were the uniforms funny, but the marching style was as well. It was all in slow motion as they had to extend their knee practically all the way up to their stomachs as they marched. They looked like wind-up toy soldier dolls. After this finished, I walked back to our hotel which was only about a half mile away. On the way, I ran into Lesley, Sara, and Mel.  Lesley was catching a flight tonight to London before going home to Calgary while Sara and Mel were off to Mykonos. We exchanged hugs, said our goodbyes, and wished each other well. Back at the hotel, I got my bags and checked into my new room. On the way, I ran into Patrick who was freaking out about not having a way to get to Mykonos. I told him if he didn't make it to Mykonos tonight that he could crash in my room tonight. He was going to try and catch the Contiki shuttle later this evening. Needing to do some shopping, I decided to venture out again. I ran into Andrea and little Sara in the hotel lobby who told me of an official Olympic store where everything was on clearance. I made my way down to the Plaka. This is one of the oldest parts of Athens whose streets are pretty much closed to automobile traffic. It's a very touristy area with many shops selling the same type of things. However, there are quite a few restaurants and cafes here where one can stop and have a beer or light meal. I wandered around browsing in and out of shops looking for gifts and souvenirs to take home to friends and family. I found the official Olympic store which had almost everything half off.  I basically was on hyper-shop mode darting from store to store picking up whatever I needed. While shopping, I ran into Michael and Claire who were also exploring the Plaka area. I chatted with them for a while. It's funny, but I think that was the first time I had actually spoken to Claire. In the end, I probably spent a good $200 on souvenirs and gifts. I made my way back to the hotel where I was informed that those who weren't leaving today were going to meet up for dinner at around 6pm. I also ran into Matt who leaving for London to start up another tour. Matt was an awesome tour manager. He was very knowledgeable when it came to the history of the places we visited. He was also very good at mixing with everyone, making everyone feel like they were part of the group. I was saying my goodbyes to Matt when I ran into Michael and Claire. Michael was leaving as well to go home to South Africa. Both him and Claire were in tears as they had apparently developed a really close bond together. I went back to my room to drop off my bags and made my way back to the lobby to meet up with Sandra. We were going to check out the Temple of Olympian Zeus across the street. It was free for us to get in, as the tickets we received at the Acropolis was good for here as well. Some drama ensued as Sandra wasn't able to find her ticket. I tried to give her mine but the ticket woman caught on and starting yelling at us in Greek. Eventually, she found her ticket and we made our way in.  We wandered the grounds, admiring the ruins and were impressed with the sheer size of some of the columns. While exploring, I picked an olive growing from one of trees to taste. I quickly spit it out in disgust! We ended up following a stray dog who was also having a good time exploring the grounds. The stray led us to an older American couple who came here daily to feed the stray dogs. After exploring the ruins, we met up in the hotel lobby with the stragglers to find dinner.  We wandered into the Plaka and found a quaint little outdoor restaurant. It was Rob, Kevin, Andrea, little Sara, Sandra, the 3 Taiwanese girls, Claire, big Dave, and myself. It was a nice chatty time as we all reminisced about our favorite highlights of the trip. Kevin, Rob, and I decided to share 2 bottles of red wine. By the end of the dinner, we were definetly starting to feel it. After dinner, we all walked together for a while shopping and looking for some dessert. However as with most large groups,  people start wandering off to do their own thing. I looked around a few shops with Sandra and Kevin and purchased some Absinthe at a wine and spirits shop. We eventually started to make our way back to the hotel and said goodbye to a few more people. Sandra, Kevin, big Dave, and myself all agreed to meet up at 5am to ride together to the airport. After sitting around in my room doing some packing, I was feeling a bit ancy. I actually felt like going out to have a drink or dance. I knew there was a club down the street so I went in search of anyone to go with. Rob always seemed like someone down to go out. I went to check out his room but his door was wide open but he wasn't there. Oh well, I figured everyone else was asleep so I didn't bother looking for anyone else. Still feeling bored, I walked back up to Syntagma Square to check my e-mails. While making my way back to the room to call it a night, I ran into Dave and Mandy who were being a bit playful in the hall. We chatted for a bit, bid our farewells, and wished each other a safe flight tomorrow. It was a very quiet ending to what was an awesome 3 weeks.