After three glorious, super relaxing weeks in gorgeous Greece, it's finally time to leave. It's our Greek exit - Grexit*!
*Grexit is also what the non-stop news coverage has termed Greece's potential exit from the Euro. The coverage is on hyper drive at the moment because there's a big meeting tomorrow on Greece's debt repayment.
I wasn't quite sure what to expect from our trip to Greece, given the economic crisis. At one point, I was wondering if it would be better not to go at all.
But I'm so glad we did. Greece has been a fantastic trip - it is stunning and filled with the nicest people!
My worst case scenario persona was imagining protests, riots, banking collapse and general despair. But there has been barely a hint of the crisis we keep seeing on the news. The people we have met are friendly and welcoming and the shops, cafes, restaurants etc are full.
It seems from the news coverage that a lot of people have been badly impacted by the economic issues. But from the glimpse of an outsider, the Greek spirit is strong... buffered by friends, family, good food, a frappe and some Greek worry beads to hand.
It's not exactly polite to broach the topic with someone you met five minutes ago... but this morning our taxi driver shared his view on the way to the airport, laughing heartily, "I was poor with the drachma, now I'm poor with the Euro!"
We did bump into some riot police on the way home from a late dinner on Friday night who had roped off several roads and told us to change our route because it wasn't safe... but then nothing seemed to happen that night at all.
Athens
Anyway, we spent our last week in Athens, and went a bit museum crazy.
In addition to the Acropolis and Byzantine museums I mentioned last post, we went to the main Benaki museum which was filled with antiquities and its other branch across town had an impressive photography exhibition. Phil loved the photography exhibition so much, he went twice!
We hit the Acropolis and the shopping district and walked through a few different neighbourhoods just trying to soak it all in.
At the Acropolis... I was melting from the heat in this pic
We also ate many, many, many Greek salads, drank plenty of frappes - and at one point (may have been after a glass of wine at lunchtime), I managed to walk into the men's restrooms in the very posh Cafe de Athenes, much to Phil's amusement.
Apparently, he was onto it the moment I walked in. I noticed nothing. How mortifying right? Except, I couldn't even work up to mortification!! I think I'm in what's called a holiday bubble...
Living with cats
One of the highlights of the stay was our accommodation. Our first airbnb apartment with Louise was gorgeous and once it was just Phil and I, we moved to a smaller place across town... with cats!
Playful Leila... check out those amazing eyes
Slightly grumpy Titoo
It's pretty unusual to find an apartment on airbnb that includes pets, so I jumped at the chance to spend some time with some kitties (I've been missing my own...) and it was so nice!! As nice as cuddling reluctant cats in 36 degrees with no air con could be!Totally worth it though.
Istanbul!!
And now, we're in Istanbul! There was only the option of a flight or a 14 hour bus, so we took our first plane trip since I arrived in February.
The GOMP hates everything about air travel, declaring the 1.5 hour flight "slightly better than a 14 hour bus ride". But then he assented to a taxi to the airport, so I think he's going soft...
We have only been in Turkey for a couple of hours and we have already seen wonders of nature... No, not the Bosphorus. We've barely made it out of the airport!!
Let me explain. Sonia Palmer, aka, my mum is flying into Istanbul tomorrow morning and Phil and I are spending just over a week with her in an apartment.
We flew from Athens to Istanbul, arriving today at 5pm and she arrives tomorrow morning at 6.30am. So rather than make a trip into town and then back to the airport, we decided to spend the night at the airport hotel and swing by to pick her up in the (very early) morning.
On arrival, we noticed a couple of restaurants just next to the hotel and decided to check them out for dinner, without a great deal of optimism for authentic Turkish fare. Which was spot on. But we got something even better... Turkey in Turkey!! Like this sort of turkey:
Gobble, gobble - he really made that sound...
We had stumbled into a restaurant with large garden and pond filled with ducks, chickens, geese (and adorable baby geese) and this guy above. Just strolling around the yard like he owned the place. I was beside myself and tried to take as many pics as possible.
Awww... Look at these little guys...
The strangest thing about the restaurant was that everyone was just sitting there eating, as though it's normal to have a giant preening turkey wandering around a restaurant. Weirdos!!
So what are the plans?
It's my mum's birthday on Wednesday, so I've booked a nice place for dinner to celebrate, but apart from that, we have no plans at all in Istanbul.
There's a lot to see, but we have 8 days and I'm looking forward to just letting the city tell us what to do.
I'll keep you posted!
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