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Greece, Egypt and Jordan

December 2022 - January 2023
Our first proper overseas post-pandemic trip! Read more
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  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan
    Day 4

    A couple of bus tours

    December 24, 2022 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    We do like a hop-on hop-off bus tour when we're in a new city and, after walking 🚶‍♀️ over 26,000 steps yesterday, it seemed like the perfect way to spend today.

    There are three tourist bus routes in and around Athens. We did two of them today - the city tour and the Attica Coast.

    It was a warm and sunny morning and the city tour was very enjoyable. We hopped on and stayed on until we completed the circuit - no hopping off for us! 😂 We did earmark a couple of places to go back to tomorrow.

    Once we'd done the loop, we went for a really expensive drink - one small beer and one coffee = €11!!

    Suitably refreshed, we hopped on another bus to go and see the coastal resorts south of Athens. Our intention had been to hop off at one of the resorts to have lunch before catching the last bus back to the city. In the end, we stayed on until the end and did the full circuit. It was still sunny, but it was freezing cold on the top deck of the open-topped bus. We figured it would be even colder if we came back a couple of hours later. Also, as nice as the beaches ⛱ and resorts looked, it is winter and many of the restaurants appeared to be closed. There were plenty of brave souls sunbathing, though. Some of them were even swimming 🏊‍♀️ 🥶🧊 - bonkers!!    Read more

  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan
    Day 4

    Lunch at Liondi

    December 24, 2022 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Back from our bus trips and chilled to the bone, we headed to Liondi which we had spotted when we were walking through the Plaka district the day before. This restaurant is famous for serving the best moussaka in Athens so we had to give it a go.

    We ended up having a fabulous meal. We shared a Greek salad and some pitta bread to start, and then both had the moussaka which was as good as all the reviews said it would be. We drank the house red. We were then served a delicious complimentary homemade caramel and vanilla cheesecake with a shot of something equally tasty! We finished the meal with strong Greek coffee. Perfect! And, like yesterday, we didn't need to eat again until breakfast on Christmas morning!

    After lunch, we wandered through Plaka to Monastiraki Square. The area is full of souvenir shops. It's very pretty but we weren't tempted to buy anything! 😀    Read more

  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan
    Day 4

    Little Kook off Monastiraki Square

    December 24, 2022 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Little Kook is a very popular, fairytale-inspired cafe offering sweet & savory crêpes amid over-the-top decor. The theme changes four times a year and, obviously, the current one is Christmas.

    Dorella, our guide on the food tour, had shown us it in daylight. Now we went back to see it all lit up. Very festive! 🎄🎅🌲    Read more

  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan
    Day 5

    The changing of the guard

    December 25, 2022 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    This Christmas morning, after sending and receiving messages from friends and family, we set off to watch the changing of the guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in front of the Presidential Mansion on Syntagma Square.

    The changing of the guard takes place every hour on the hour every day of the year. On every day except Sunday the Greek guards or 'Evzones' wear khaki uniforms. On Sundays, however, they wear their ceremonial white dresses which are instantly recognisable throughout the world. And at 11am on Sundays, there is an extra special changing of the guard ceremony involving many more soldiers and a marching band.

    As luck would have it, Christmas Day has fallen on a Sunday this year and we are fortunate to be in the city to witness the pageantry.

    As our tourist bus tickets were still valid, we caught that from the Acropolis Museum, arriving at Syntagma Square just in time for the 10am changing of the guard ceremony. There were very few people about so we were able to get some good photos and video of what was going on. I really need to do some research on why the guards March in the unique way they do. I'm sure it was them who inspired John Cleese's Ministry of Silly Walks! 😀

    After the ceremony, to kill time until the main event at 11, we wandered through the National Garden, a 16-hectare oasis of greenery in the centre of the city. There are thousands of century-old trees and a couple of ornamental lakes with turtles 🐢 and lots of varieties of water birds.

    It was a very peaceful way to spend part of Christmas morning - until the peace was shattered by the sound of a band tuning up. We followed the noise and emerged from the south entrance to the garden right next to the guards' barracks where the parade was starting from. How lucky were we?? We walked alongside the band and soldiers all the way to the front of the Parliament building where the changing of the guard ceremony takes place.

    Once there, there were crowds of people, meaning we couldn't get near. We didn't care, though. We'd seen it all an hour before!    Read more

  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan
    Day 5

    Christmas in Monastiraki Square

    December 25, 2022 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    After watching the changing of the guard, we hopped back on the tourist bus to go to Monastiraki Square for a drink. It was showing 23 degrees on the thermometer and the place was buzzing! Hundreds of people were out and about and all the bars and restaurants were open. There were street performers entertaining the crowds and balloon 🎈 sellers tempting children to buy. It was a pleasant place to spend an hour while Mark spoke to Gill and Paul to wish them a happy Christmas 🎄. (Sorry I wasn't there to speak to you both - I'd wandered off to watch the acrobats! 😂)Read more

  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan
    1
    Day 5

    Bus trip to Piraeus

    December 25, 2022 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    We spent Christmas afternoon visiting Piraeus. The sun shone and we enjoyed seeing all the gin palaces and imagining who owned them! 😀

  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan
    Day 6

    Moving on

    December 26, 2022 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    We had a leisurely morning before heading to the airport. All of our connections worked out and we arrived in good time. Check-in and security were both navigated without incident. We even had time for a relaxed lunch before our flight ✈ to Cairo! A better experience all round than when we left Gatwick! 😂

    Some final photos of Athens. Our few days here have been amazing. Fingers crossed it won't be another 40 years before we're here again!! 😂    Read more

  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan
    Day 6

    Arrival in Egypt

    December 26, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Our flight with Egyptair from Athens to Cairo went without a hitch. It was only one hour and 45 minutes so we didn't expect much of an in-flight service. How wrong could we be? They served us a full 4-course lunch plus coffee ☕. It was really quite good!

    We left Athens in full sunshine and arrived in Cairo just as the sun was setting. As we were descending, we flew over buildings arranged in strange geometric patterns. I'll have to do some research into what they are.    Read more

  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan
    Day 6

    Checking in at the Oasis Hotel

    December 26, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    When we arrived at Cairo International Airport, we were met by Osema from Timeless Tours. He was there just as we got off the plane so he ushered us through passport control and security. We didn't have to queue for anything - it was real VIP treatment!

    We did have to wait for the baggage to come through - even Osema couldn't speed up that process! But once we had our bags 🎒, we were quickly shown to our very comfortable airport transfer transport.

    We have been to many busy cities and even lived in some of them, but Cairo in rush hour takes traffic chaos to a whole new level!! We had a hair-raising drive to our hotel. Fortunately, we made it unscathed! 😂

    We were delighted to get our first glimpse of pyramids en route, too. It seems so incongruous to have them as the backdrop to the busiest traffic jam ever!!

    At the hotel, we were met by Sam who explained everything we needed to know. Hotel staff brought us orange juice and Ferrero Rocher - bizarre!! After a few minutes we were shown to our room (none too shabby!) where we unpacked, freshened up, and went to dinner. It was buffet style and very tasty.

    After dinner, we went for a drink in the hotel bar, The Thirsty Camel! At the prices they charge, we won't be making a habit of it!! 😂    Read more

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