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Europe 2023

May - June 2023
A 52-day adventure by Tegan Read more
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  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 11

    Naxos Day 2

    May 14, 2023 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    Barcelona and Santorini already feel so long ago. We woke up and ate some cereal in our accommodation and then went out to try some Greek coffee — it wasn’t too bad but didn’t really taste like normal coffee. Apparently it’s lower in caffeine but higher in antioxidants. At the cafe there were all the old Greek men sitting around smoking and drinking coffee, it felt a little odd and surreal.

    We then wandered the streets and walked up and around the castle which looks like most of the other streets. We found an archeology museum and looked at the old Naxian artefacts. Then made our way up the hill to Apollo’s Doorway, the only part that was completed of a planned ancient temple — it’s so beautiful and the location provides an amazing view of Naxos. We then headed to Elizabeth’s Garden for some traditional Greek food and had falafel pittas/platter with wine. The white wine here is absolutely delicious.

    After lunch we planned to head home to recover from our food coma, only to have house keeping come. So we headed to the beach near the town Agios Georgios and enjoyed the sun. Before getting too burnt we headed back to home base to grab our bathers and head to Naxos’s famous beach, Plaka - it is a very very long beach. It was nearly 5:30pm and the water was freezing so we only put our feet in the water. We caught the bus back and went and had sushi for dinner and then walked to watch the sunset at Apollo’s Doorway. The sun was so big and orange, the photos definitely didn’t do it justice. We then explored the old market and weaved our way back home to plan for Athens :)    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 12

    Naxos Day 3

    May 15, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    High hopes and awful luck!

    Today began with us getting up early to make sure we made our tour bus that would take us to the highlights of Naxos. We were at the bus stop 10 mins early and there were a number of other people waiting. One bus came along and a woman came out calling out a name. It wasn’t us she was calling, and no one else got on the bus either. We figured we were all waiting for the next one. The next bus arrived eventually and we went to get on only to be stopped and told that it wasn’t our bus. We were left waiting by ourselves - everyone else had left, and we tried to email and call but couldn’t get through. It’s now 25 minutes later. We head to their main office and talk with the lady - who was the one calling out the name for the first bus. She apologises and asks if we can do tomorrow, but unfortunately we leave tomorrow.

    We head home confused and thrown off by missing the tour - which we were both pumped for. We still want to see something today, so we decide to catch the public bus to the Temple of Demeter. We catch the bus and were lead to believe it was a 30 minute walk, however it turns out to be a 50 minute walk from where the bus dropped us. It was 11:30am and already 28 degrees so we were hot and exhausted by the time we arrived.

    The temple was in a great spot and had a very interesting history — one of the first marble temples and apparently quite experimental, but it wasn’t as aesthetically amazing as we were hoping. Maybe that was just because of how hot we were, but we were slightly underwhelmed. We spent half an hour or so there and then tried to call a taxi, but to no avail, so we began the long walk back to the bus stop hoping that someone might pick us up along the way. Again no luck.

    We made it back to the bus stop with 10 minutes to spare, and fortunately there were a few other people waiting with us. But then bus after bus came and went and we were all worried that we weren’t going to be picked up. We told the others that we were having a bad luck day and that it was probably our fault, but eventually the bus did come and we made it back to town hot, sweaty, and exhausted.

    We grabbed our bathers and headed to the closest beach and swam. It was very refreshing after we’d spent most of the day in the sun. We then sat at a restaurant by the beach and got a drink to quench our thirst then headed home to shower and go out for dinner. It’s incredible each place we’ve eaten at for lunch/dinner gives us a free dessert. Most of the serving people at restaurants, cafes and coffee shops are men - who would have thought. Fun facts: you cannot flush toilet paper down the toilet. It goes into a bin next to the toilet and shops are open at such odd time off the day. 1 place we’ve been to is open 24 hours. It’s crazy

    While our day didn’t go as planned we still had an amazing day and we’re lucky enough to spend some time at the beach. We are sad to be leaving Naxos tomorrow. But we are excited to head to Athens!    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 13

    Naxos Day 4/Athens Day 1

    May 16, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Our final day in the Greek islands was a lovely relaxing one. We got up and packed then headed out to Apollo’s Doorway and walked around town before having brunch at ‘Honey and Cinnamon’. The food was delicious and it was the best place to relax and read for an hour. We then picked up our bags and headed to the port to catch the ferry to Athens which was a 4 hour ride.

    We both nearly finished our books! We also got to see some of the other islands we missed out on, as the boat stopped at Mykonos and Syros on the way. We arrived in Athens and caught the metro to our little apartment. It’s a nice little place — but Steve cannot stand up in the tiny kitchen. We arrived around 7:40pm so dropped our bags and went straight out for dinner at a place called Vegananki - it was amazing, we were able to try a vegan moussaka and we also had a wrap. As we walked home we could see so many ancient sites and we were both buzzing to explore Athens and wished we had more time to do everything.

    We booked our first walking tour for tomorrow morning and are ready to explore. So far loving Athens.    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 14

    Athens Day 2

    May 17, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    After our experience in Naxos we got up nice and early to make sure we were at the walking tour meeting point with plenty of time to spare. Our tour guide told us that nothing runs on time and/or goes to plan in Greece, which we had definitely experienced. Billy was our tour guide and she was very knowledgeable and funny whilst telling us all about Greek history. Steve and I got a lot out of the tour — it was a great way to get our bearings. We walked through the botanic gardens, saw a bunch of different ancient monuments and ended up back near our accomodation.

    We then had a quick lunch at another vegan place, then decided to head to the Ancient Agora. Tomorrow is International Museum Day which means that everything will be free entry, but also that the crowds will be horrendous, so we decided to go along today. We used a free audio guide to talk us through the Agora and found it fascinating. We then had a quick drink at A for Athens, a rooftop bar that looks out towards the Acropolis.

    By then it was about 6pm and we figured it would be a good time to head up there and visit the Acropolis — the sun wasn’t too biting anymore and we assumed a lot of people would be heading down for dinner. The climb up wasn’t too bad, and while there were plenty of people around it didn’t seem too bad. We once again listened to an audio guide and spent an hour or so enjoying the view and checking out the remains of the Parthenon and other buildings. It’s absolutely mind blowing! We cannot believe we are here in Athens. It started to get very windy so we headed down to get some dinner in the Psyri neighbourhood, which is sort of like Fitzroy in Melbourne. There was a demonstration at the main square with heaps of people waving flags and singing.

    We had dinner at Flint which was beautiful and we both enjoyed a glass of white wine, stuffed mushrooms and octopus. We then headed to a beer place to have another drink and as we went to pay they gave us shots of tsipouro on the house. We then stumbled home well and truly ready for bed.    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 15

    Athens Day 3

    May 18, 2023 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    Today was International Museum Day and we wanted to avoid the crowds as much as possible, but we still wanted to go to the Acropolis Museum. We had planned to wake up early and go first thing but we slightly overslept so didn’t make it until a bit later. The crowds fortunately weren’t too bad (the line coming in when we were leaving was horrible) and we got to enjoy the museum before heading over to Hadrian’s Arch and the Temple of Olympian Zeus. This was a fairly quick stop — another semi-standing temple from ancient times. It was close to Veganaki so we headed there for lunch, and then went home to prepare for our afternoon day trip — we were booked on a tour to Cape Sounion to watch sunset at the Temple of Poseidon.

    On the way to the temple we stopped at the oldest exisiting theatre in Greece (the world?), and then got to Sounion where we grabbed dinner at the cafe — surprisingly good, roasted veggies and a burger — before watching the beautiful sunset in front of the ruins of the temple.

    We got home and desperately needed to do some washing and they had the facilities at our place, so we put on a load and then put it in the dryer but an hour later the clothes were still wet and it was 11:30pm. We felt bad for the people in the room right next to the laundry, so we grabbed our wet clothes and headed to the laundromat to dry them. A quick 30 mins and they were dry so we walked back home in the rain and were in bed by 1am. Both regretting our decision to do laundry.    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 16

    Athens Day 4

    May 19, 2023 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Our last day in Athens came around way too quick. We felt like there were many things left to see and explore and wish we had a few more days. Athens wasn’t originally on our list but we absolutely loved it and would love to come back and do some day trips to Delphi etc.

    Due to our late late night of washing we slept in and checked out around 11 am. We went to go see the theatre of Dionysus but when we got to the entry the line was ridiculously long as it was Friday so we decided to explore the gardens around the area instead. We saw Socrates prison, where they hid some of the Parthenon relics in ww2. We also saw where they used to hold assemblies prior to moving to the agora.

    We headed to our favourite vegan place - Veganaki and ate some pizza and wraps. We hope the place is still there when we come back. After dinner it was time to pick up our bags and head to the airport. We had a lovely cab driver who hit 150kms and so we arrived at the airport ahead of schedule!

    We encountered our first line to check in our luggage. We’ve been very lucky at airports so far. The flight was less than 2 hours and before we knew it we were at Cairo airport buying visas and in a cab with another great driver who pointed out lots of amazing things. There are no road rules here. It was a crazy drive but we made it safely to our hotel where you have to go through security every time you enter. By the time we settled in it was time for bed.

    We both cannot believe we are in Cairo.

    Athens highlights/facts:
    - veganaki - delicious
    - cats everywhere
    - lovely people and amazing things to see and do    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    21
    Day 17

    Cairo Day 1

    May 20, 2023 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    There was some sort of celebration last night near our hotel that had loud live music and was going until past 3am, so Steve didn't sleep that well (it didn't seem to bother Tegan). Steve was awake just before 7am so decided to watch the footy in bed while Tegan slept. Once the game finished and we were ready to head out we met Sam, Christina, and Nick at a nearby cafe for Turkish coffee, which was very strong and oily. After coffee we went to a local place for lunch and had some nice falafel wraps, and discovered how cheap everything is here -- the wraps were 20 EGP, approximately $1 AUD.

    Christina had to go and meet her family after lunch so we went off to explore the Cairo Citadel, which was a huge fortress type area with multiple mosques on site. From the terrace of the Citadel you can see the pyramids in the distance which was pretty amazing. We spent quite a bit of time exploring and then decided to grab an uber back to town and find somewhere to have a drink. It took some work, but we found a nice rooftop bar/restaurant and ended up spending the rest of the day there. The roads here are insane, there are no walking lights, you just have to walk with confidence and pray that no one hits you. The roads have constant beeping to let the other drivers know not to hit you or to beep because you're in the way.

    We found a cool bar called the Cartlon Rooftop bar where we spent the rest of the evening drinking and smoking shisha. It is amazing to be catching up with friends in Cairo -- we had the best day/night talking and laughing. Amy and Burnso met us there after the long flight from Melbourne. They were both exhausted by the time it got to 10-11pm (and so were we) so we caught an uber back to the hotel with them. Burnso fell asleep in the back of the uber and we took photos of him snoring with his mouth open, which the driver thought was hilarious and made us show him the photos whilst he was driving.    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 18

    Cairo Day 2

    May 21, 2023 in Egypt ⋅ 🌙 32 °C

    Today we saw the pyramids! We are still pinching ourselves that we’re in Egypt. Christina had booked a tour for us but then cancelled it a few days beforehand because we wanted to go to a different museum after the pyramids. She ended up getting another guide while we were having coffee yesterday morning, so we jumped in the cars and went off hoping for the best.

    We had two separate cars and we were in a car with Sam, and our driver didn’t speak English. Our first stop was Sakkara — we saw the step pyramid and also went inside the best preserved tomb that had a 3D imagine engraved on the wall that you can only see in a certain light.

    We then headed to Dahshur to see the red pyramid and the bent pyramid (from a distance). We went inside the red pyramid which was a very long steep tunnel that meant walking down being hunched over. It was very claustrophobic and there wasn’t much down there!

    We finally headed back up towards the Giza pyramids. We all did camel rides and Tegan’s camel was a pest, bumping and biting everyone. The ride was bumpy, long and extremely hot (39 degrees) but they took us to a pretty good view of the pyramids where we got a bunch of photos. We then headed to the Sphinx, but by this stage we were all very hot and tired. The size of the pyramids is incredible.

    Unfortunately the guide we had wasn’t very good — he took us to two unplanned stops, a carpet making school and a papyrus art shop, both of which gave us short tours and then tried to get us to buy something. He also wasn’t an informative guide, and came up with some pretty ridiculous answers to a few of our questions.

    But we had a great day and loved seeing the pyramids and tombs in person. We were supposed to go to the civilisation museum after the pyramids but we ran way over time and so we just got the drivers to drop us home.

    We went out for a quick dinner after a rest and then came home and slept very well.    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 19

    Cairo Day 3

    May 22, 2023 in Egypt ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    Today we had a sleep in, then met for coffee and went out for a local dish koshary which was delicious! We all devoured it and then had rice pudding, which was supposed to help settle the stomach.

    We then headed to the Civilisation Museum where we got to see all the mummies. It was so interesting to see and learn how they preserved them. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take any pictures. Some of the mummies still have hair, finger nails and teeth. Most of the mummies we saw were found in the same place and were all related.

    We met Christina’s family at the museum - two aunts and a cousin and they took us to the Coptic area to show us some churches. We only had half an hour to view them as they closed at 4pm so it was a fairly quick visit.

    We then decided we wanted to see the cave church and caught three Ubers. Unfortunately, our Uber driver was terrible and took forever to pick us up — we waited 30 minutes for him when he was just around the corner and then when he finally picked us up he kept missing turns. Eventually we asked him to pull over and we got out and had to pay him more then what Christina’s cousin told us to. We were stranded at a petrol station on the edge of some neighbourhood watching tuk tuks do burn outs. We ordered another Uber and the driver was so much better. We decided it was way too late to meet the others at the cave church and headed to one of Christina’s family’s cafes on the Nile. We made it first and decided to get some well deserved drinks before heading over after the big mess around with the Uber driver. We were right on the Nile and ended up staying for a lot longer than planned and watched the sunset. It was so nice to relax on the Nile.

    We made our way to Christina’s cousins cafe and ordered some food. Little did we know that what we thought was a mushroom burger and mushroom piccata turned out to be meat dishes with mushrooms in them. Lucky the table had plenty of vegetables and rice and everyone ended up sharing their meals. It was a lovely night. We headed home early as we had a tour booked for 7am the next morning.    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 19

    Cairo Day 4

    May 22, 2023 in Egypt ⋅ 🌬 25 °C

    Today was an early start. We were doing a day trip to Alexandria, and the bus picked us up from our hotel at 6:45am. Unfortunately Sam wasn’t feeling well so he decided to stay home, but the rest of us were bundled into the bus and taken on the long drive to the coast. It took about three hours, and on arrival we were met by our tour guide for the day. We were a little hesitant after our experience at the pyramids but he turned out to be really great. Our first stop was the new library of Alexandria which is a massive, modern building with a huge collection of books. 8 million to be precise. We then went to a few different historical sites — the catacombs, the Roman amphitheatre (where they are still digging in hope of finding Alexander the Great’s tomb), the location of the old lighthouse of Alexandria, and then a trio of mosques. The day ended with a seafood lunch at a restaurant called the Fish Market, which was another really nice meal. Amy and Tegan were asked to have their photos taken on the pier and more times throughout the day. Steve had a kid pestering to buy a balloon. He was absolutely relentless. This was the only form of harassment we received.

    The day really made us realise how poor our previous tour had been, and how much we were ripped off, but no one really minded too much — it was still a great day.

    We then jumped in the car for the drive home and everyone fell asleep for a while. It was around 7pm when we got in, and the plan was to head to the markets, but after we called the airline to change our flight from 4:35am to 5:55pm the next day everyone was happy to hang out by the hotel pool and have a relaxed evening.

    It’s been so nice to catch up with friends and explore a place like Cairo. It’s so different to what we both thought it would be like. Being in a big group means people don’t pester us too much, and it obviously helps a lot that Christina speaks Arabic. Cairo is hard to describe - there are so many tall, rundown buildings, some that are empty. The roads are insane with no rules and I assume no car insurance. There seems to be a car horn language with beeps meaning many different things. There are people everywhere!    Read more

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