Athens Day 4

We woke up really early that morning (remember it's 2 hours ahead at Athens as compared to the UK), caught the metro and set off for Pireus port to catch our cruise.

We arrived there early and went around looking for breakfast.

Pastries, cakes, and more pastries. See the pastry on the middle bottom with white cream and a cherry in the middle? It looked so familiar as I've eaten it in Sandakan when I was younger.

Finally, after taking the free bus service from Port 6 to Port 1, we finally boarded our cruise!

It was quite a big ship with 3 decks. Initially we sat on the top deck but F and I decided to move to the middle deck as it was quite chilly. Don't be fooled by the sun.

What we had for breakfast. I had Spanakopita (top left) which is a traditional spinach pie. It looked like a very healthy option till I saw the oil seeping through the paper bag. M had chocolate cake for breakfast and F had potato pie.

First stop: Aegina island

Groupie

We came across this really cute shop selling chocolate, sweets and gift boxes in the shape of bunnies. So adorable.

There was an abundant of seafood and fruits. I thought the fruit stalls reminded me a bit of Malaysia with the pineapples and watermelons. You could see octopuses hanging on a string outside each restaurant you pass by. We decided that we had to have seafood for morning tea.

From grilled octopus to deep fried calamaris and shrimps. They tasted so sweet and fresh. Best morning tea ever.

There was this bakery next to the restaurant that we were at and the smell was so inviting that we had to go in to have a look.

She was making Tsoureki - Greek Easter bread.

Greek Red Easter Eggs which represents the blood of Christ and rebirth. Somehow it reminded me of the red eggs we have for Chinese weddings.

There is a busy street, one up one down along the coast of Aegina island. There were many shops, fruit stalls, a tiny fish market and boats along the way.

There were carriages pulled by donkeys if anyone is interested as well.

We went back to our ship and set sail for the next island.

2nd stop: Poros island:

We only had 50 minutes to explore this island so we decided to climb to the clock tower. From there, we could see the panoramic view of the whole island. On my way down, I saw an orange tree and a lemon tree which was practically crowded with fruits. So tempted to pick them and M had to refrain me from doing that firstly because I am allergic to citrus fruits and secondly, the trees are within a compound of somebody's house.

View from the top

Finally, it was our turn to have lunch on the ship.

First course was salmon with cabbage salad, followed by main course which can be either pork with chips or Gemista with chips, and finish off with lemon ice-cream cake, where I had to donate the lemon topping to someone.

Finally,
3rd stop: Hydra island

The most beautiful island out of the three. There were no vehicles on this island and the only mode of transport is....

This little donkey

It was a really beautiful place

With small boats along the coast

Restaurants were filled with people by that time as it was lunch time. The water was soooo bluish green and clear.

We spent like 40 minutes just sitting there sunbathing and getting that occasional cold splash of water when the tide is high enough. Disadvantage of having short legs.

I heard from an ex-sailor that the water is darkest at the equator and gets lighter as the latitude increases or decreases. I really love the colour!

Finally, we had to bid farewell to this beautiful island. May I visit you again in the future.

On our way back, there were entertainments on board. I was really sleepy at that time but this Greek dance caught my attention.

Towards the end, he picked a Japanese girl to be a volunteer. Made her balance on that small glass, turned her around, and after doing all that, they were pronounced as husband and wife. Hahahaha.

We got back to Athens around 8pm and by that time, we were starving. Thanks to C, we had the best dinner ever at this small restaurants, so hidden from the main streets but it is highly popular with the locals.

A map of the place if you're interested and able to read Greek.

It is famous for its grilled octopus. Just look at the size of the tentacles.

That is the restaurant name.

Potato salad

The body of the octopus was prepared in a salty base sauce.

Whereas the tentacles were prepared in a spicy sauce with peppers. Seriously this is the best grilled octopus ever.

My favourite dish of the night. Mushrooms fried in olive oil with coriander. I would love to eat this again.

Deep fried cod

The main chef responsible for the delicious grilled octopus. He was so funny. After this photo, his daughter appeared asking her dad what was he doing posing with so many girls. He asked us to send this photo back to him. So, A, make sure you develop and post it to him.

That's all for now. Watch out for the final post in this series: Athens Day 5.

Guess who's here

Yay! Y3 came to Liverpool to visit me for the weekend. So happy. I think I have an affinity for guests now. It's one after another.

We went to Zizzi at Liverpool One for lunch as she wanted something Italian.I couldn't remember what I'd ordered the last time I was here no matter how hard I tried. Guess what, I ended up ordering the same thing I had due to my love for mushrooms. Just can't run away from it.

Risotto Al Funghi Con Pollo. I thought that it tasted a bit different from the last time but nevertheless, it was still delicious. Y3 thought it tasted a bit like Chinese porridge. Where can I get wild mushrooms here? They tasted so nice!

Y3 had Calzone Carne Piccante. Basically it was folded pizza with chicken, meatballs, mushrooms, chilli, cheese in bolognese sauce. It was delicious as well.

Happy Y3 with her Calzone.

We went window shopping around Liverpool One followed by grocery shopping. So sorry! I'm not a good host (made her carry my groceries) plus I've failed to make her buy anything. Seems like JPA's allowance wasn't a good enough factor to make us spend money.

Athens Day 3

We set off that day going towards Pireus port as we wanted to book our tickets for the ferry to visit the islands the next day.

After a long metro ride, we realised that we were heading in the wrong direction. It took us that long because C was telling such interesting ghost stories that we didn't pay attention to where we were heading. However, we came across this really nice cafe and decided to calm our hungry stomachs before heading to our destination.

Old Baker's - the best sandwich in town, which was very true. They made the best baguettes I've ever tasted. I remember eating my first baguette at Delifrance in Malaysia. I couldn't even cut it with a knife and I had difficulty chewing it. One friend commented that the BLT (£2.85) was so much cheaper as compared to the UK. The nicest one amongst them was with the sausage (top right). I had Greek coffee to go with my turkey baguette. It was quite strong and sweet but not too creamy.

Next stop on our was to the port was M's favourite destination - football stadium and gift shop. I must admit that I am totally ignorant about football.

M's smiling after buying her playing cards, keychains and pins which she collects from each and every football club she visits. A very expensive hobby.

Finally, we arrived at Pireus port

Nice group photo

And when it came to my turn, of course I have to 'bergaya' a bit, but actually it's because I didn't have enough time to turn and pose.

There were so many ferries and they were huge! I would love to go on a long cruise when I've got the time and money. At least we've booked our 1 day cruise to the islands but that left us so much poorer.

Next stop: National Archaeological Museum

It had one of the biggest bronze collection but I thought it seemed quite small. The museum was quite big and M and I didn't have enough time to explore the 1st floor as we spent most of our time queuing up at the Post Office buying stamps and first day covers.

Finally, at 4.30pm, we took the bus to Sounion to visit Poseidon's temple. The bus ride cost € 5.70 and the journey took 1.5 hours.

As soon as we arrived, we were greeted by this breath taking view.

The Temple of Poseidon.

Just a brief history on how Athens got its name: Athena and Poseidon were two of the most important deities to the people but due to the love of olives, the people chosed Athena in the end and named their city after her. I heard this piece of information from our guide on the first day, so don't quote me on it.

The temple was built from white marbles and it still looked white today.

Cape Sounio, blue skies, sparkling sea, added the fact that it was almost sunset, perfect.

Now for some entertaining shadow play:

Try identifying me from the pictures. Clue: I've gained weight on this trip.

Loved the heart shape

So many arms. Good for multitasking.

I came across this plant with unopened flower bulbs. From far, it looked like golden balls on the ends and it looked so artificial.

We were trying to make the letters: L.O.V.E. Not very successful.

The only successful jumping photo out of many and of course, I was the camera person.

Sunset

Such a beautiful place. Too bad we're leaving.

As long as the scenery is beautiful, you could get away with any horrible poses.

Last picture of Poseidon's temple

Group picture before we head back to Athens

Seafood platter for dinner. This was the only time I have close to zero photos of food due to the degree of hunger and poor lighting. It was delicious. There were fried anchovies, shrimps, mussels, grilled octopus, potato salad, Tzatziki, and olives.

Next time: Day 4 - Day Cruise to 3 islands.