Greece on a coach tour

Kalee-spera all,

Touring Greece, yay!

Day 1 consisted of meeting the tour guide & other travellers at 6pm for a short talk about the trip - I did an open top bus tour of Athens & quite a bit of solo sightseeing.
Day 2  was a free day or an optional day cruise - I decided to do my own thing & went on a continuation of yesterday's bus tour to Pireaus Port, had lunch there, took photos, then hopped on the bus back to Athens. Good value, €20= for both trips combined & I had time to walk as well.
Day 3, finally we did a highlights tour of Athens & visited the Acropolis with an excellent guide. Then at last we started travelling, first to the Corinth Canal which looked great. Would you believe, you can bungy jump there! Those Kiwis have a lot to answer for, eh. We stayed overnight in Nauplia.
Day 4 we stopped in Epidaurus to visit the open air theatre which still can seat 14,000 spectators, then travelled on for a guided visit to Mycenae. The description says, a city fortress cursed by the gods but rich in gold & warrior kings! In the afternoon we went into the Peloponnese to Sparta. We wandered around the ruins there, the Theatre of Ancient Sparta & the Spartan Acropolis, stayed in Sparta overnight.
Day 5 we drove to the medieval Byzantine citadel of Mystras, visited the ruins & did a fair amount of climbing, clambering up to the castle then wound our way down again. Lots to see there, enjoyed the hiking, enjoyed seeing the Byzantine style of architecture with the domes. In the arvo on to Olympia for a leisurely dinner & overnight, with pool!
Day 6 was an optional tour of Olympia, where the athletes of antiquity performed in honour of the king of deities, so the advertising said, lol. I chose not to do that & wandered around the town instead with a few of the others. Arvo was on the Patras Port, again interesting to look around. Followed the coast road through fishing villages, one was Nafpaktos which I liked so photos on fb. We crossed the 'spectacular Rionantirion Bridge' & stayed overnight in Delphi. Another pool!
Day 7 we had a guided tour of the archeological site of Delphi which was great. Also went through the Museum, photos on fb. After that it was a long day driving through Lamia, Trikala in Thessaly to overnight in Kalambaka, another pool but much too cold for me. Where it rained, stormed, thundered, & lighteninged just as some of us were going to go for a walk after dinner. So now I'm sitting in the lobby writing my blog. Aren't you all so lucky?

I am enjoying the tour & the varied company. Some nice people on this trip. Sadly not my room share but I'm mostly in the room just to sleep so that's okay. Tomorrow is Day 8, another instalment to come. Wifi has again been a bit dodgy at some of the hotels which is why I'm sitting in the lobby. It's still raining so I guess no walking tonight.

I hope you're all well & happy.

Andio!

Milano, Vienna, Athens

Hello again,

I need to write this more often, I think. By the time I do write atm I've forgotten where I got to last time & have to go back to see where I was.

Milano was great, the swim in the Lido was cooling, sightseeing is always great, & the Milano Expo was interesting. I've covered all that with the photos & comments on fb. Oh, plus on my last day in Italy I went on a canal cruise touted as Leonardo di Vinci territory. He apparently had a hand in the design of some of the canals around Milano, & certainly designed the particular lock system currently in use around Europe, so they say. Having seen a display of some of his inventions a few years ago that wouldn't surprise me.

I flew to Vienna late on the Tuesday night so stayed in a hotel reasonably near the airport, went there by taxi as I didn't want to cope with arriving in a strange place late at night by public transport. The next day I caught a train to the city & met Christine. We stayed in a flat in the city & I talked Christine into going to a furniture museum. Not somewhere she had been before & probably never will again, lol. But we all know me & my liking for home furnishings. These were v sumptuous home furnishings - the collected furniture & furnishings of the Imperial palaces, the stuff not in use atm, stuff collected over the centuries. Some was ho hum, some was v eye catching, some was to drool over. I still have a strong liking for the Art Deco & Art Nouveau styles. The next day we had an enjoyable day lakeside, relaxing & swimming. All on fb now. Then I flew to Athens.

I had one night in the hotel by myself then I acquired another person to room with for the duration. I didn't want to pay that ubiquitous single supplement. This lady seems okay, talks a lot but I can deal with that if necessary. I went on an open top bus tour of Athens yesterday then continued today to Piraeus Port. I could have done it all in one day but I need to walk as well, not just sit on a bus. Photos on fb.

Tomorrow we start the tour of Greece. All is good. I'm looking forward to the experience.

Andio!

Menaggio & Milano

I really like this travelling solo life. You have the freedom to change your plans, talk to any people you meet, relax whenever you feel like it, & best of all, keep on being alive, alert & happy.

Anyway, Menaggio was fun. I even hiked as far as Lake Lugano on Tuesday & stood at the Italian end of the lake looking towards the Swiss end. I could have continued on into Switzerland, I had plenty of time, but I wasn't sure how I would be able to get back to the hostel. From Porlezza on the Italian end I could catch a direct bus to Menaggio.

Wednesday I joined up with a couple of others from the dorm & we travelled locally by various ferries, just sightseeing, a bit of hiking, & a little shopping. It was fun. Then I decided on another hike for Thursday. While I was at breakfast talking to some others I said where I was going & another woman at the table asked if she could come to. Of course I said yes & when I was ready to go she had another woman with her. So three of us went hiking, quite challenging in places & extremely scenic. The pictures are on fb. We were going to play/swim in a mountain stream under a waterfall I had been told about but the water was so cold we only went in to our knees, lol. Chicken, eh. After the hike the others went off to where I had been the day before while I went for lunch. I caught the tourist train complete with flashing lights for a lazy look along a few more towns/villages. The final town it stopped at was Nello which had a more accessible (to my feet!) beach so I hopped off the train & finally swam in Lake Como. Amazing thought, Lake Como, me swimming in it! Then I caught the little train back to Menaggio.

The hostel I stayed at was in a fantastic location & the staff were friendly & helpful. But - the cleaning & maintenance were abysmal, the plumbing leaked onto the floor, when you sat on the loo your knees nearly hit the wall. How the taller guys managed I don't know, but they do have to sit down sometimes, lol. I'm sure the floors were not cleaned the 6 days I was there. Wifi was constantly dropping out, when you could get it to connect at all. It was the worst hostel I have stayed in, & I've stayed at quite a few over the years.

I'm now in a hotel in Milano with a single room, a working bathroom, & wifi. All is good. I went sightseeing this morning, think Duomo, Galleria, & a few more, then found a couple of nice, green parks to wander around this arvo. I have bought a ticket to the Milano EXPO 2015 for Monday, but I'll miss Circ du Soliel as that's their day off, drat it. The Expo will be good, I hope. I'm interested to see if New Zealand & Australia have pavilions both being such agricultural exporters. Tomorrow, Sunday, I plan on catching the Big Red Bus. If I get the right one I can get off at the Lido, have a swim or two, then hop back on the bus to see the rest of the tour. So a fairly lazy day, eh. 

I haven't said much about the weather in Italy. That's because I'm loving it! It's hot & sunny every day, I think well over 30c, maybe up to 35c. I haven't actually looked it up, I'm just thoroughly enjoying it. This is my sort of weather.

Oh, my Italian SIM card runs out tomorrow so I'll be switching to my UK giffgaff SIM. My UK no is +44 7756 353 004 so use that if you need to contact me.

That's my news for now & all is good.

Ciao!

Manarola, Cinque Terre, & onwards

Okay, I hiked to Manarola my 2nd day in Cinque Terre, another challenging trail, v high up. But not as narrow as the 1st day, thankfully. The only section that narrowed was just for about a metre & there was incentive to stay balanced - a thorn bush on the downside! All was good & I reached Manarola for a late lunch. That was the best place of the towns for a swim to cool off, more accessible & secure. My time in Cinque Terre left me with slightly aching leg muscles though. Golly, I must be getting so fit, eh.

Moving on by bus, three trains, & another bus to Menaggio on Lake Como, I ended up in a lovely setting. I have wandered around the town this morning, photos on fb, just taking it easy today. I finally located the swimming pool which turned out to be where all the locals swim. I didn't hear any English conversations anyway. It is fine to swim in the lake but I find the stony shore too painful underfoot. I was happier in the pool, cooled down nicely.

I may go on a hike tomorrow but first I want to check with the Tourist Info people to find out how I can get to Lake Orta. Hopefully they'll be able to sort it for me. I have identified a possible day tour if I have time & will take a ferry ride to sightsee more of the area. I may not even go into Como, the little I did see from the bus seemed like just another city & I'm enjoying the smaller towns.

Wifi here is v unreliable. I have had to use my phone for a lot of the time. I'm glad I got the Italian SIM card, for sure. Anyway, I will write again when I can.

Ciao, ciao.