At the bus stop from the airport I met a Ricky, a German guy who was heading to the same hostel as me. It was a long journey to the hostel from the airport and I was tired and hungover but we made it, checked in and got lunch. That evening 3 of us went on a free boat ride at the port of Tessoliniki. Yes free! It was not a scam! They strongly encouraged you to buy a drink which was how they made their money but it actually wasn't a scam- I was shocked. That evening a group of us went to the bars.
The next morning was the 25th and we all met up for breakfast and then explored the city.
While exploring we saw a fighter pilot, a submarine, and a bunch of cool streets with things going on. After exploring we decided to go to. He beach which was an hour bus ride away. We got snacks, changed into swim suits, and headed out. More refreshing water! We also stumbled on a gorp of people throwing blue chalk, making music, and walking around a fake camel. We joined in on the festival, they threw chalk at us and wished us good luck. We have no idea what had happened but it was fun and random!
That night we were inspired to watch Top Gun which was relaxing. The next morning Brandon B and I had planned on hiking Mt. Olympus but were up really late so struggled a bit in the morning to get moving. We probably got three hours of sleep, left the hostel at 7:30 and started hiking at 10:10 from the base of the mountain, Litohoro, where the bus dropped us off.
We got the the shelter at around 4:30. Towards the end of the hike it became a struggle. The temperature had dropped because it was later in the day as well as the altitude change and the shade was more frequent. I was wearing shorts and a tank top and clutching my water bottle to my chest with my fingers interlocked tougher. When we finally reached the shelter we had to sign in and my handwriting looked like a 2 year old's handwriting because I could barley move or feel my fingers. We were shown our room which was a twenty person dorm with two giant beds. There was no heating so we took as many blankets as we could, made our beds, and went to warm up and get some food in the common area. We both had spaghetti and meatballs with celebratory wine. We sat with Anna A and Jacquline. While talking to them we realized we had seen each other at the parking lot part way up the mountain and as we continued talking realized that pretty much everyone drives to that parking lot and then hikes to the Refuge. Brandon and I realized that we had done 11km more than almost everyone and that's why everyone else was making it look so easy and why we were struggling so much towards the end. Talking with Anna and Jacquline over dinner and hanging out afterwards was so nice; we couldn't have met better people! We joined another group of Greeks who were Los great to talk to and shared s bottle of vodka that they had brought up the mountain.
The next morning Brandon and I decided to walk up the mountain a bit more instead of heading back down. As we were walking we kept wanting to go higher and higher because the view kept getting more incredible.
We then realized we were on the trail to the main summit. We continued hiking and said if we ran out of water or thought we couldn't do it without gear that we would tun back. Before we knew it we were about 30-40 min from the summit. However, it wasn't going to be a stroll in the park. We talked to several groups coming down who gave us some tips, told us to be extremely carful, but encouraged us to go for it. 40 min later we were at the highest point in Greece looking at the most stunning view on the most beautiful day.
After appreciating the view, the experience, the spontaneity of this endeavor and taking a bunch of pictures we headed back down to the shelter. Fortunately they had space for us one more night because there was no way we could make it back down the mountain before dark or without freezing. We had another rewarding meal, hung out, and went to bed.
Our final morning on mount Olympus was the 28th. We had breakfast, hiked down to the parking lot, and hitchhiked back to Litohoro where we started and needed to get the bus. The couple that drove us back into town were really friendly and made my first hitchhiking experience a positive one.
That evening I did my laundry and relaxed back at The Little Big House Hostel.
Athens, Greece 2 nights
After waiting for my laundry to dry I packed up all my things and took a bus to Athens. I left at 15:15 and arrived in Athens at 21:15. The bus stop in Athens that I got off at was not that well established and I could not figure out how to get to my hostel. I asked two people for directions. The first person said he didn't know where I was trying to go and the second person said what I was looking for was very far away. He tried to help me figure to a metro and a bus to get there but it got really complicated so he offered me a ride when his friend picked him up. With my new found hitchhiking skills I took the ride. They were very nice guys who told me that was a pretty sketchy part of town and thought I was crazy for traveling alone. They dropped me off right in front of my hostel which I could not have been more thankful for because it could have been a very long night for me. My last full day in Europe was the 30th. I did a free walking tour of Athens which lasted a couple of hours and allowed me to see most of what I wanted to. After the tour I headed back to the hostel planned some arrangements for India (my next destination), took a nap, had dinner, wrote postcards, and had a beer with some people from to hostel. The morning of the 31st I went to the post office then made my way to the airport to get my flight to India. I spend my Halloween on a flight form Athens to Moscow, Russia and in the Russian airport. I brought along pumpkins seeds to celebrate and had a candy bar.
Olympic track:
Acropolis:
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