We've been a bit slack about updating again, so thought I'd grab a few mins out of the steaming heat of Athens and let you know what we've been up to.
From Madrid we made our way to San Sebastian on a very long 7 hour train ride, although it did mean we saw a lot of Spanish countryside, including some very cool castles.
San Sebastian is a chilled out little beach resort town and we had great accommodation right in the heart of the pedestrianised old town. Not only was it picturesque, but it's also the place to go for tapas, which are evidently the best in Spain. We definitely put that to the test heading out for Sangria and tapas tasting. Once we'd worked out the system - the tapas are enticingly arranged on plates that cover the bar, you just pick then pay at the end - we got stuck into some very good food!
Other than that we didn't get up to anything more taxing than climbing the hill overlooking the bay and spending an afternoon at the beach (where I managed to get a sunburnt stomach - not fun!). Sadly the weather for the next few days of our stay wasn't so good so we never ended up going for a swim.
From San Sebastian we made our way to Bordeaux. On first impressions it's not so pretty - the area around the train station is a bit of a dive - but when we hit the centre of town (after a hideous ride on a severly overcrowded bus) we were blown away. The buildings are all a similiar shade of pale stone, which coupled with the wide cobblestoned streets and tree lined boulevards is just stunning.
Our hotel was a bit freaky, but the great location made up for the rickety old building (that and the fact it was super, super cheap at 29 euros a night!). Unfortunately that same bad weather from Spain followed us and over our three days in the city it pretty much rained constantly. This put paid to our plans to take a trip out to the Atlantic ocean and climb Europe's biggest sand dune as it didn't seem quite so appealing in a thunderstorm! Plus, Paul was (and still is) quite sick with a very bad sore throat, so I wanted to keep him dry! Instead we did the only thing you can do in weather that wet and headed for the movies, luckily finding a film in English.
The next day we braved the elements to head to St Emilion, a gorgeous town out in the Bordeaux countryside. I know I like to go on about how pretty everything is, but this place really was stunning. We did the tourist thing and headed out to a vineyard where we were taken around the ancient cellar (from about the 12th century) and tried the local red, with the rest of the time spent walking the town.
From Bordeaux we caught a fast train to Paris (it was so speedy I felt sick looking out the window), arriving there about 7.45pm. We went straight from the train station to the airport and I was a bit sad that my first taste of Paris didn't involve any monuments! Luckily Paul spotted the Eiffle Tower in the distance out of the bus window, so I was a happy girl.
Because we had to check in for our flight to Greece at 4.20am we decided there was no point getting accomodation, we'd just sleep at the airport - probably an experience we won't repeat! Although, I was quite surprised how comfy we got and how much sleep (3.5hours) we managed.
Our flight was supposed to leave at 6.20am, but at that time we were meant to bord we discovered it had been delayed till 8.10am. We weren't too fussed, and flying Easyjet, we sort of figured that would happen to us eventually. However when we were supposed to board for the new time they then announced they were giving us breakfast and the flight was delayed to 8.45am. We got to watch some very pissed off French people abuse the airline staff, it would have been much more entertaining if we knew what they were saying! Finally at 9.30am (three hours later and the time we were supposed to land!) the plane took off - needless to say, we were feeling like zombies by this stage!
The feeling didn't get much better when we got to Athens, especially when the ride into the city took over an hour on a stinking hot bus and then we had to walk another 10 minutes to our accommodation (of course we were wearing jeans!).
From everything we've heard about Athens we weren't expecting a lot, but we've been quite surprised. The area we're staying in (Plaka) is great - the place has a very cool vibe and nice friendly people but I guess it's the heart of the tourist area so we're a bit removed from everyday Athens.
Because we'd heard the temperature was going to be 37 degrees today, our plan was to get up early and hit the Acropolis (which we can see from where we're staying - cool!) at 8am when it opened. Despite going to sleep before 9pm, we just couldn't wake up this morning (we're clearly too old and need too much recovery time for sleeping in an airport to be worthwhile!) so we were right in the heat of the day when we finally made it up there. I have seriously never sweated so much in my life, it was appallingly gross!
To try and revive ourselves we found a nice taverna with outside tables (despite the shade, and the fan going it was still crazy hot!) for a good Greek lunch, which I'm still currently letting settle before we hit the shops. Mmmmm, so good!
Can't wait to hit Santorini tomorrow, especially cause we have a pool!!!
Update you soon
xxx
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