DAY 10: Γεια σας από την παραλία

In case you can't read Greek, that means 'Hello from the beach!' JJ and I are picking up rather quickly on the language here, despite many idiomatic differences (even though I did use Google to translate that phrase). I read the words phonetically (thank you New Member Education in ΑΞΔ) and she picks up on key words that she recognises (thank you UCLA Classics Department). JJ already briefly mentioned this translation process, but in order to truly understand the comedy of it, picture me standing in front of monuments, street signs, tramway maps, etc., verbally sounding out the Greek words one letter at a time, and JJ waiting for me to pronounce the word a few minutes later, followed usually by an exclamation about Emperor What's-His-Face and So-and-So's military expeditions. It's quite a system (albeit flawed at times), and between the two of us, we can get around on public transportation—quite a feat if you have ever travelled through Athens!

Public Transport...

Our adventures today led us to the beach! Thus the point of the title...which according to my translation sounds about like 'gheeliasty apo tin paralia' (the first word of which I can't actually figure out, but is said quite often in 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding', my second most important source of Greek knowledge). According to Google, I'm not half bad at this—their translation phonetically reads 'Geia sas apó ti̱n paralía' (told you the system works). This morning, following yet another incredible breakfast, JJ and I hiked on over to Syntagma (Σύνταγμα) Square where we hopped on a tram to the coast. About the time that the doors shut, we realised that we had gotten on a tram that would go about half way to where we wanted, and then veer in the opposite direction (thank you, poor quality maps at the station). We hopped off the train at the next stop and waited for the correct tram to come, which at this point we had correctly figured out thanks to better maps ON the tram...funny how that works out.

About an hour and a half later, we found ourselves at the end of the line and walked to the nearest beach, which was—unlike many other beaches in the area—free! There were also many freely spirited individuals walking along the beach...nude...partially nude...or just in completely inappropriate swimsuits given their physical conditions. We decided to stay, as we didn't really have an option and we planned on tanning the whole time anyway. After laying out our towels and stripping off our outerwear, we tested out the water—which was NOT warm, AT ALL! So, tanning it was. The sun and the breeze made out for a perfect combination: we got to tan without the typical burning sensation. One of the old men who had been swimming in the bay came over to us and tried to convince us that the water really wasn't all that bad. Funny.

Around about the time that my tanning tolerance had reached its peak, we decided to bust out the goods and chow down on our fantastically authentic Greek lunch, which consisted of ΛΑΒΑΣΗ (giant flat bread), Zakoyeka (salami?), Ανθότυρο (feta-ish cheese?), salad, and Athenian tap water. Breaking news: (I am enjoying Google translator way too much at this point) the cheese stuff we ate translates to 'cream cheese'—but it definitely wasn't (zakoyeka doesn't translate, and salami in Greek is σαλάμι...who knows what we ate). About half way through our feast, we both decided we were no longer hungry and would finish eating our surprise substances the next day on the drive to Kalamata. Then, I made an executive decision:

'If an old man in a Speedo can handle it, so can I!'

And I proceeded to walk out into the water, JJ laughing at my facial expressions the entire time. I got the last laugh as she, of some strange notion, decided to follow me into the crystal clear waters (that's not an exaggeration). Whilst the temperature wasn't actually all that bad, we decided to head back in about fifteen minutes later, as neither of us were keen enough to get entirely wet, and the waves weren't large enough to really play around in. Our beach stint lasted another hour or so, and we hopped back on the tram (using expired tickets...) and headed towards Syntagma Square.


Along the way, we happened to spot a full sized grocery store and decided to venture in and see what there was to eat for our journey west. If you thought that grocery shopping in a foreign country was strange, try doing it in a country that uses a different alphabet! Our translations couldn't help us now, so we wandered up and down each aisle until we found a few things to satisfy our preconceived appetites. AND THEN...as if by God's almighty hand, our eyes came to rest on modern day manna from heaven. Could it be? Yes folks, it is true: we found Reese's Peanutbutter Cups in a tiny, Athenian grocery store. Sorry England, but the Greeks have reclaimed their ancient place as Europe's shining glory. Maybe you should start importing Reese's too. We checked out, hopped on the tram once again with our still expired tickets, and headed for the hotel.

Following a sugar binge on Haribo, Peanut M&M's, and Reese's, we cleaned up and hit the town to find some dinner. A three minute walk from the hotel, we found ourselves in a picturesque Greek restaurant. The perfect day at the beach was capped off nicely with a bread, yoghurt, olive, and pepper starter along with calamari and chicken souvlaki. Incredible!

Lunch!

Holding up the horizon

JJ found some of her people (the luminescent kind, that is) and felt obligated to take a picture.

Learning the language...uhh 'στάση'!

DAY 9: Romping in the ruins....

...and by romping, I mean in the American sense of the word, clearly. Today was explore Athens day and see how much I remember of my Greek history classes day.

We set our alarm for 9, in hopes of a slight lie in—after waking up at 4:49 in the morning (yes I checked my phone) the day before—but needless to say, we woke up about an hour early. However, we both drowsed (it was warm under the blankets and just cold enough with the tile floors not to want to get out of bed) until nearly 9. Breakfast (included with this hotel deal) was until 9:30, so we booked it downstairs and stared at the feast awaiting us.

As a sidenote, I must mention that I got a 3 for 2 night deal on this place, which is actually a really lovely hotel (Apollo Hotel), though it is certainly not in the tourist part of central Athens and the surrounding streets look a wee bit sketchy. BUT THAT'S OK. We don't mind walking. Or cheaper prices.

So, our feast. Options included: museli, hard boiled eggs, wheat or white bread with sliced cheese and ham, oranges, cereal (corn flake type), tea, coffee, orange juice, peach slices, sponge cake/sweet bread, real cream, and some yellow juice all laid out buffet style. One look and we knew what this meant: free lunch source.

We managed to steal bread, an assortment of jams (to use with our ever present pita bread stash), and oranges for lunch along with pita and digestives from Ireland. And then we set off with our handy map to find our ancient sites. We walked through the square that our bitch of a taxi driver (epithet necessary) said to avoid because of pocket thieves (he at least wasn't lying about that) and then (after carefully deliberation) found the right street and made our way from Mataxourgio where the hotel is, down to Psiri and finally the Monastiraki neighbourhood at the bottom of the Acropolis.

There, we entered the Athenian Agora, the ancient centre for the trade, temples, and basic hang out activities for the Classical citizens. It is cushioned at the base of the Acropolis and the Areopagos, which was the hill where the citizen council used to meet. We took tons of photos of the Temple of Hephaistos, the gymnasio, and basically all of the crumbling former center. That was when my camera died, sadly. Katie's was also low on batteries so we saved the pictures for the cool stuff.

We then made our way up to the top of the Acropolis, which needs no introduction. Our experience itself does, however: March 25 is a national Greek holiday. I knew this when booking our time in Athens, but just assumed it would mean people in the streets. Instead, it meant that the majority of tourists were out watching the 10 a.m. parade while we romped about the ruins. There were still people, but the agora was practically empty (this might possibly be because it is boring, but that is not truee!) and the Acropolis had many tourists but not enough to describe it as crawling with them. Another benefit of this holiday was that all sites were FREE!! That's right, we saved at least 20 Euro for the agora, Acropolis, and then the temple to Zeus Olympian which is down the backside of the Acropolis and across the main street. The Acropolis was pretty awesome, just seeing how big the Parthanon was, though (and this is equal to our Castle snobbery) I think the Egyptian temples were almost cooler because you could walk through the columns/pylons and such. And there was a huge crane that was in the middle of it, ruining the mysticism of it all.

But still very cool! As was the Odeion of Herodes Atticus (thank you guide book)for explaining its proper name), which was basically a giant theater, still mostly there, which was extremely impressive. From there we walked down the wide walkway to Hadrian's arch (between K knowing the Greek letters and me knowing what they're referring to, we definitely have figured a lot of the sign plaques out) and the remaining Corinthian columns of the temple to Zeus Olympian. We ate our lunch here, finding entertainment in the fact that this thing called the sun feels wonderful when you wear these things called shorts and it actually TURNS YOUR SKIN DARKER/RED. Weird, right? Clearly not in England any more.

By this time it was about 2, so we headed around aiming roughly for the flea market that we passed at the base of the agora. We walked through the Platka which the book I have described as such: “If Athens maintains anything of its old charm, the Platka is it.” It's cutesy, touristy, typical European cafes and bazaar shops, etc. which we looked through as we passed.

After panicking for a bit because we could not find any grocery type stores, we bought what we thought was going to be lunch for tomorrow, but instead has become dinner tonight owing to the fact that we found a grocery store immediately after purchasing the food.

We made a quick getaway from the sketchy parts back down the street to our hotel, where we have since been due to the fact that we spent 6 hours today walking around. And the sunburns that we may have, though we are extremely lucky and couldn't have asked for nicer weather for running around Athens.

K, imitating obnoxious poses from a tourist immediately preceding us

DAY 8: [insert witty title]

After checking out of the hostel and being asked to leave the premises before we had completed breakfast, we completed the following activities:
--rode Dublin Bus 41 to the airport
--used a luggage trolley between the bus stop and Terminal 1
--used Self-Check In for our BMI/Aegean Airlines flights
--checked our bags at the BMI counter
--successfully passed security
--sat at our gate
--boarded our flight when called (unlike many other impatient passengers)
--sat in a plane that flew from Dublin to London Heathrow
--walked off the plane via stairs and boarded a bus to the main airport
--exited the bus and entered the airport
--found and used the bathroom
--went through security successfully (again)
--found a restaurant
--purchased a sandwich and apples
--consumed said foods
--purchased Haribo and mocha (highlight of the day, btw)
--consumed said purchases rapidly
--walked to Gate 21
--boarded our plane when called
--sat in a plane that flew from London Heathrow to Athens
--threw free mints at one another across the aisle between us
--walked off the plane via stairs
--boarded a bus en route to baggage claim
--retrieved our luggage
--found bus area
--purchased tickets for 95X bus
--boarded said bus
--exited said bus at final stop
--found taxi
--sat in taxi that went to our hotel
--were financially raped by cheating taxi driver
--checked in to hotel
--found and entered hotel room
--ate pita bread and jam and digestives in hotel room
--showered in hotel room
--slept in hotel room

Not that you needed to know all of that, but just though we would give you a sense of how mundane our day was. Sorry for the lack of photos.

DAY 7: Guinness for strength

I think it goes without saying that we will wake up before our alarm, regardless of the time it is set for. Thus, our morning started with a brisk jog to a cash point on my behalf followed by a taxi ride to the train station. Three hours and numerous card games later, we arrived in Dublin for our final day in Ireland.

Impressed with the scenery last time we visited, we picnicked in St. Stephen's Green before wrapping up the Tour de Ireland. As an appropriate salute to the Irish, our afternoon was spent touring the brewing museum at the Guinness Storehouse and riding the escalators within the world's largest pint glass. Every day in Ireland has increased my conviction that Guinness has more control of the people than any government ever has—it would be a challenge to find a street in this country without a Guinness sign or Guinness paraphernalia. Our walk to the Storehouse was guided once again by Google Maps—which led us down a lovely street through the beginning of Dublin suburbs. And by lovely, I mean sketch. Google Maps: someone should get fired.

The nicest stretch of our walk to Guinness Storehouse

After entering the museum, our tour began at the base of the pint glass shaped tower that has been built around the original steel beams of the Guinness Storehouse. At the base of this tower, a faded piece of paper lay encased in the floor, encircled with writing in several languages. This document, one of the most famous documents in Ireland, was the 9000 year lease that was signed by Arthur Guinness in the 1700's. Take a minute and re-read that sentence. Moving on, we entered a multi-story display covering the brewing ingredients, brewing process, shipping, and advertising, ultimately ending at the Gravity Bar in the top level of the pint glass. We were a bit disappointed that the tour of the plant wasn't actually of the plant, rather of displays of antique brewing equipment, but it was nevertheless interesting. We found it difficult to seriously follow the diagram of how to properly taste beer, however, and nearly spit out our tasting glass of Guinness from laughing when we reached the ultimate step: tasting the beer on different parts of the tongue. (Dad, if you are reading this, I know that this is a very, very serious part of testing beer quality...)

Our tickets fortunately included a pint each at the Gravity Bar. Whilst JJ and I are becoming accustomed to this thick, dark stout, the looks on the faces of first time Guinness tasters were priceless—especially the group of French girls, who took one sip then sat around looking miserable, waiting for the rest of their group to finish. From our seats (which were tough to get, by the way), we could see a 360° view of Dublin, which was quite impressive. The city spanned in each direction farther than one could see due to the smog, except for when the buildings met the coastline. The variety of architecture was unique; modern shopping malls and sports arenas juxtaposed with the oxidised domes and delicate spires of Ireland's history elucidated the rapid modernisation of Dublin.

After meandering aimlessly through the gift store (where we saw our chocolate/alcohol obsessed American friends—one of which was wearing a Harvard Medical t-shirt...? Surely he didn't go to Harvard), we headed back towards the city centre and stopped by Dublin Castle to have a look. We didn't find the original castle, which apparently lay behind the government plaza we did find, but nevertheless, we concluded that Durham Castle must be better—any castle worth visiting would have been visible from the Gravity Bar. In all fairness, we figured we'd probably missed the business hours anyways, as it was nearly six in the evening. The rest of the night was pretty much uneventful, concluding with pizza and grocery shopping. On a side note, it was amusing to see Doxbridge students wandering the streets like lost puppies.

Christchurch Cathedral

Waiting at Step 4 in the Gravity Bar

The part of Dublin Castle that we DID find

PS-we love comments. they confirm that our writing is not an excersize in futility... thanks to those who have (Mom and Sophia)

DAY 6: Cliffs, sunsets, and salami

We assumed since we had biked so much in the Killarney National Park that we would have an excellent night's sleep, only needing to be up for the 10:30 bus to the Cliffs of Moher. However, we still managed to wake up about an hour before our 8:30 alarm, though we both laid in our respective beds attempting to take advantage of the rest time.

After our futile attempts, we finally got up and prepared for the day, ending up going upstairs for the breakfast part of our B&B. After our amazing dinner the night before, neither of us were terribly hungry, and by that time it was 9:30 and our aim was to start walking to the bus station which was about a mile and a half away. But, apparently breakfast was a multiple course deal: we got apple/orange juice, tea, a bowl of museli, and then came out the plate of two very large strips of bacon, four mini sausages, 2 pieces of toast, an over easy egg, and half of a cooked tomato. I ate about half of it, and I believe Katie ate about half of hers too; both of us would've been fine with the museli only.

We eventually left our rooms and started our trip to the bus station...at 10:10. Halfway there we realised we would have to book it to the station to catch our bus. Suffice to say we made it, but there was two definite sprints involved, much more pleasant due to the fact that we weren't dragging our bags around. It made up for missing our planned early morning run.

Now we had about a two hour bus ride ahead of us, and thank God we enjoy seeing the countryside that way. This one was pretty spectacular with the ocean, little back bays, tons and tons of sheeps and cows, and strange rocks just randomly covering the hillsides. We unfortunately realised that once again we were with a group of Americans, but the ride there was pretty quiet overall.

We reached the cliffs around 12:30, knowing the last bus left in an hour (again, thankfully we kind of like the bus sightseeing). Katie knows my love for cliff beaches and coastlines, so this excursion was pretty much pandering to that. They were gorgeous (see the pictures), but we were annoyed to find that they wouldn't let us walk all the way along them, putting a fence up that clearly stated that no one shall pass this point. So, we walked to the other side of the allotted distance (5 minute walk) and ate lunch while looking over the sheer drops and the gulls flying hundreds of feet below us. (This was the first time we were correctly identified as Americans by a group of Italian tourist guys walking the other way, but we weren't speaking at all, so I maintain they just saw the very small AXiD symbols on Katie's bag. Which would say a lot about their knowledge of American university Greek systems, but who really knows.) We then realised (we're pretty sure, based on gift store paraphernalia) that the white dots all along a certain rock cliff below us were puffins, which we have no way of proving and is slightly odd, but still very cool. After wandering about a bit more, we returned to the bus for the trip back.

For this ride, we were surrounded by Texans, who decided it was their duty to talk about their lives very loudly. The conversations included such diverse topics as alcohol (“Guinness is going to be the best part of this trip”) and chocolate (“I just loove chocolate”) and the miracle of alcoholic chocolate drinks. Who could forget the following conversation about bacon flavoured vodka?

After getting back to Galway, we decided to walk back a more scenic route than the sketch one we had originally taken the day before. We found the main little street area, with tons of restaurants and tiny shops and loads of people/tourists. We had stopped to get groceries for dinner (no more eating out for us!) and made our way back to the B&B to pick up the food we had already gotten.

We prepped our picnic and made our way along the water to the curve in the road at the end of the buildings. There we sat on a mini pier/breakwater outcropping that jutted into the water, facing west and laying out our (delicious) mozzarella and salami sandwiches, bag of sliced carrots, oranges, and salad. And then the show started.

The glorious sunset lasted a little over half an hour, gorgeous both before and after the sun itself actually sunk below the horizon. The water turned a soft pink colour and the clouds picked up the golden rays, shifting slowly from gold to pink and finally orange. The entire bay seems to be lit up, though the buildings and distant hill cut off the final streaks of light toward the end.

That was when we decided that today had been a good day (even the sprinting through downtown Galway had worked out in the end).

Puffin Rock

Side note...

Disclaimer:  For the benefit of the adult population that may possibly read our blog,  we would like to make a disclaimer about our Killarney adventure.  Our initial plan was to search for live music, which we found, and have a pint while watching it.  Beer makes me gag and Katie definitely didn't approve of the bubbliness of hers, making it an extremely entertaining sober night.  We made our bedtime of midnight and clearly got up to do a casual 20 mile (not km!) bike ride the next day.  The previous blog is a highly theatrical one and done so to solely provide entertainment (as well as let people know we're still alive).  If none of it was taken out of context it may have been a slightly more boring post, and we definitely couldn't have that.

DAY 5: The longest route to Torc Waterfall

No surprise, we woke up before the alarm again. We were also extremely hungry (again). I headed downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast, checked emails, and reviewed the itinerary for the day. Unfortunately, check out was at ten, but our planned bus route didn't come through Killarney until two that afternoon. Don't get me wrong, Killarney is great, but I'm not sure I can find 4 hours of activities that allowed us to carry our luggage with us, especially since we had planned on renting bicycles and touring Killarney National Park. After navigating my way through the Bus Eireann website and finding an earlier bus, JJ and I packed lunch and rung the doorbell for the hostel keeper.

The hostel keeper, a short man with a potentially Italian accent and a unique hair style, met us in the common room and it turns out we could rent the bikes there and leave our luggage until we returned-score! We checked out of our room and hopped on our bikes, planning to return in an hour and a half to catch the bus at noon. We had no idea where we were going, but a handy postcard sized map from the hostel provided us with enough sense of direction to find the mountains (which may or may not have been obviously looming to the west of town). The hostel keeper had also given us verbal directions which JJ fortunately listened to, as I have developed my zone-out tendencies to a dangerous level. If you thought I was bad before this trip, it's gotten worse.

After taking the first turn, we had already gone the wrong direction. Fear not: JJ and I sorted things out and found our way to the entrance of Ross Island. The signs at the entrance said that the loop to Ross Castle was about 5k, no big deal. About ten minutes later, we had made it to Ross Castle—as had a large group of American tourists. Go figure. We pushed onwards, mostly to avoid the glob of disoriented individuals, and made it to a strange abandoned building (Ross Cottage, I think). We turned around and headed back to the castle to get some scenic pictures sans idiots, and I practised my riding and shooting abilities. Interpret that last statement as you wish, here are a few of my masterpieces:

Quality.

There really are better pictures that I took whilst riding.

JJ: "Please take pictures of the trees instead. I'd rather have pictures of Ireland, not of me on a bike."

My feelings when we found Ross Castle... the second time...

We reached the exit with an hour to spare. Should we venture on to the 12k loop around the lake? I think so. The waterfall on the other side was too much temptation to resist. Following the guide of our oh-so-accurate map led us down a picturesque lane framed by blossoming trees towards what we assumed to be the Muckross House. At the end of the lane, there was indeed a house—but it was not the Muckross House, which stood at the entrance to the 12k loop. We reassessed our location, and determined that the next street on the right was surely the one we needed—in case we haven't mentioned it before, the Irish have a tendency to not use street signs. We followed this road for another 3k give or take, which headed directly for the base of the monolithic mountains. Just as we thought we were nearly to the Muckross House, a strangely familiar sight rose above the trees. For any of you who plan on visiting Killarney soon, keep in mind this morsel of information: Ross Castle is NOT the Muckross House, and can be accessed from both a walking path and a road.

Whilst our second trip to Ross Castle had been lovely, time was working against us. We had two options: accept defeat and take the bus at noon, or venture onwards hoping that an additional two hours would give us time to reach the waterfall. The bag I was carrying had two sandwiches, four oranges, and our water bottles, making the choice quite simple. Bring it on, Torc Waterfall.

Again, we reviewed the map and returned to the main road. A few kilometers later, we came upon the entrance to the Muckross House. Another glance at the map we were given revealed the source of our original issue: Ross Island had been disproportionately expanded and the actual streets had been shrank. Awesome.

As we rode around the lake, our sacrifice was well rewarded—the views were absolutely breathtaking. The mountains, still tipped with fog, rose sharply from the opposite bank, and the waters reflected the overcast hues of the clouds overhead. We took a break for lunch next to the lake, and discovered a rocky outcropping that defied the laws of physics. At the point where we were exploring the base of this mass of stone, we both realised how grateful we were that there are no snakes in Ireland. Our lunch break had left us with a bit less than an hour to spare, and at this point, the map was useless as an approximation for distance. We nearly turned back, but decided that we could always catch the bus at four if all else failed.

The risk was worth it—the remainder of the loop was even more incredible than the first half, and we reached the Meeting of the Waters and the Torc Waterfall with time to spare. It is important to note, however, that such suggestively impressive titles should be reserved for spectacular things...the Meeting of the Waters was just a bridge over a stream between two lakes, and Torc Waterfall was a runoff pipe with a trickle that happened to go downhill before reaching the lake. A few kilometers later, we returned the bikes and hopped onto the bus towards Limerick.

On the way to Galway via Limerick, the views were pretty great—I personally enjoy the inside of my eyelids. There was an irritatingly helpless American girl on the same route (surprise), and once we arrived in Galway we followed the Google Maps' directions to the White House B&B in nearby Salthill. Whoever is in charge of Google Maps in Ireland should use better discretion—the walking route gave us a sketchy industrial road route to Salthill (which was avoidable, as we discovered today). Checking in to our room was unimpressive, as was the woman who greeted us (if you can call it that).

Dinner, on the other hand, was amazing! We decided that we were both finally hungry enough to each eat a full sit-down meal, so we headed to The Galleon restaurant where the evening two course special was in line. JJ ordered a Cajun chicken salad and roast chicken with stuffing and gravy, and (being a 200m walk from the coast) I ordered seafood chowder and the catch of the day (cod). I can honestly say I have never enjoyed seafood chowder so much. All of our dishes were served quickly and were impressively delectable. Not one to ruin a good meal, we passed on desert and grabbed some groceries for the next day before calling it a night.

PS--if you plan on taking a casual 20 mile ride as we did through the semi-unpaved paths of Killarney National Park, make sure you rent bikes with shocks...

The Supernatural Rock Formation

Ross Castle

^Note the mileage...