jandjodyssey

[jandjodyssey]

Athens to Barcelona

The last day of our holiday 😢 We slept in a little as it was quite a late night. After breakfast we went shopping at Funky Buddha. It’s a Greek brand that I’ve seen people wearing over here and I really like the laid back style.

After that we went up to the parliament to see the changing of the guards. We’d driven past it when we arrived in Athens 2 weeks ago but hadn’t had a chance to go and watch the full performance.

We didn’t have much time left so we went to a cafe for our last Greek coffee (no baklava, I over indulged at breakfast) and then back to the hotel to finish packing and check out.

We caught the bus to the airport and collected our bikes before checking in for our flight. I really dislike travelling days, a 3 hour flight takes up about 7 hours of the day 🙄

Budget flying this time so no meal, no movies. Having said that the flight seemed to pass fairly quickly and soon we were landing in Barcelona.

After a bit of phaffing around for me with the National Police for my citizenship we were in a taxi into town and our hotel.

A quick change and out to dinner. We’re both feeling a bit tired and we’re now an hour behind Greece. A bit of tapas and cava and now we’re sitting up in bed in front of the tv.

So that’s it for our Odyssey. It’s been absolutely fantastic! And now it’s time to return to reality and with that from tomorrow we’ll be back on Where in the World.

[jandjodyssey]

Changing of the guards

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[jandjodyssey]

Athens - take 2

Well I thought my decadent breakfasts (rice pudding for breakfast the last 4 days) had come to an end but thankfully not, the breakfast at our hotel here in Athens is amazing. Totally stuffed we waddled off for a day of sightseeing.

First stop was the site of the first modern Olympics held in 1896. We then headed up to the hill of the Nymphs and the Pynx, the original assembly meeting place. After a lovely Greek coffee (we’re really going to miss them) on the way down we ended up at the Agora.

Again today we have marvelled over the ruins of a civilisation from 3000 years ago. You can absolutely imagine them walking through the stoa, etc and going about their daily lives.

From there we had a great lunch at a very unassuming, very local establishment. The food was delicious and fortunately (or not) it was right across from a place that made sandals (a pair of which are now in my possession).

We then headed to the Acropolis Museum. This is where all the originals of the statues, friezes, etc have ended up (other than those that have ended up in museums in other parts of the world). We liked the fact that we had already visited the Acropolis and seen the replicas and now could see the real deal in a much better state than if it had been left up on the Acropolis.

We had just stopped for a coffee when the heavens opened. It had not been forecast and in fact as it was raining my app was convinced it was still sunny. When it finally stopped we ventured forth to look at some excavated houses and then on to a bit of shopping before we finally depart Greece.

Tonight we had drinks and then dinner and then more drinks with a colleague (and her partner) of Jose’s from his Stockland days. A fun night and totally envious as they are just starting their Greek holiday as ours is ending 😢

[jandjodyssey]

Athens

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The Agora

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Lunch

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The Acropolis Museum

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Hadrian’s library

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New sandals and tonight with friends

[jandjodyssey]

Kefalonia to Athens

A sleep in, some breakfast, packing and then a last swim in the ocean. It is magic here, very hard to tear ourselves away. However our shuttle was due at 11am so it was inevitable.

After a fairly relaxed morning the shuttle ride was somewhat hair raising. The ride started with him backing down the driveway from hell and then driving like a maniac on the narrow twisty roads of the island. I was very glad we made this journey after cycling here.

We arrived a bit too early at the very small airport and had to wait to check in. Finally we were relieved of our luggage and through security and we had a passable airport lunch (though the rose was rather sweet 😒).

Tara from our tour arrived and we thought we must all be on the same flight, but hers was after ours so she also had arrived super early.

When it was finally time to board I saw we were in a tiny plane with propellers 😳. I’m surprised our bikes fit on the plane. After my initial doubts the flight passed smoothly and before I knew it we were descending into Athens.

We deposited our bikes in left luggage and then caught the bus into the city. We are staying in the thick of it this time and it came as somewhat of a shock to have all these people milling around after our time out in the wiles and islands of Greece.

Having checked in and changed our clothes, our first port of call was for an afternoon ouzo. Once we started to relax it was good for people watching.

A bit more of a stroll and we found a great place for dinner. The clientele were a mix of tourists and locals so we thought that was a good omen and that proved to be correct.

Stuffed we went for a stroll before heading back to the hotel which, like our last Athens hotel two weeks ago, has a roof top bar with views of the Acropolis. It never gets old 🥂

[jandjodyssey]

Last swim in Kefalonia

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The trip from Kefalonia to Athens 😬

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Tonight in Athens

[jandjodyssey]

Kefalonia day 3

A very relaxed start this morning but it felt weird. We still saw all the group at breakfast but then we all just drifted off 😢

For us the morning was spent with Jose packing up the bikes and me doing washing. We caught up with Charlie for lunch in town and an ice cream before heading back to the hotel for a swim (it was quite hot and we still have to walk up that damn driveway).

We spent the afternoon doing admin and bookings for the next week until Charlie came over for drinks and then we all wandered into town for dinner. We had already agreed we were going back to where we had dinner two nights ago - their moussaka is the best 😋

We started dinner with ouzo and some mezze and then a bottle of the local white wine with our moussaka, delicious. After dinner we wandered on to another bar for bubbles before tackling the walk back up to the hotel. I don’t think any of us wanted the night to end. It will be very sad to leave here tomorrow. The bustle of Athens will definitely be a bit of shock.

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Our last day on Kefalonia

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Kefalonia day 2 - day trip to Ithaca

This morning was a later start as the vans took our bikes to Ithaca by ferry and we caught a water taxi. Ending our Odyssey tour in Ithaca, home of Odysseus, was quite special as literally this is where The Odyssey ends.

It was a tough day, only about 53km but 1300m of climbing and from the get go. By about 14km in we had covered a good part of the elevation 🙄 So as you can imagine with that sort of elevation the views were spectacular.

We had coffee in a cute little village on the sea and then climbed up to fairly recently discovered ruins that are allegedly Odysseus’ palace. Historians are still arguing about whether they are or not but either way it was great to see a new site in the early phases of excavation.

From there it was more up and down riding until we got to Vathy for a lovely lunch right on the water. I couldn’t believe the fish life I could see sitting at the table 😯 Unfortunately from

lunch it was more steepish climbing and by now very warm. Thankfully there was a kiosk where we could buy Calippo ices 😋

Our ride on Ithaca complete and in fact our riding for this tour completed we got ready for our water taxi ride back to Kefalonia. However a bunch of us prepared to swim in the last 100m or so off the water taxi. A perfect ending to a fantastic tour!

We then had a bit of a wait before our bikes and bags arrived so another couple joined us by our pool and we drank up the remnants of a couple of open bottles of wine - very civilised.

Eventually the vans arrived and we all showered and prepared for our last night dinner. It was a great night but as always very sad that the tour has ended.