I swear there are more Greek ruins in Turkey than there are in Greece
Yes, yes, I am fully aware of my neglect. I could say I was too busy on my Contiki to make a post but that would be a lie as I spent half of my time on that Contiki in my room. However, I will attempt to excuse myself by saying I was too self-absorbed to bother letting anyone know what was going on. It may not be the most redeeming excuse but points for honesty right?
So I'll go through all of the places I've been, say something funny, maybe give you a highlight but obviously I won't be going into as much detail as I have done in previous posts.
Gallipoli
Gallipoli was incredible. The scene had an incredible contrast to it; so sad and sobering because of the graveyards and the haunting feeling of desolation alongside one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen. It's amazing to walk where our soldiers walked and see what they saw right before they passed.
Of course there was the typical thing that pisses Lexi off of the day; the sight of people taking silly faced selfies on the beach where thousands of soldiers perished in vain. But we move on.
Troia
Troy was wonderfully anticlimactic. Packed full of history and yada yada but also so hot I could've cut through the air with a knife. I spent our tour jumping from shady spot to shady spot and sitting on my ass.
Pergamum
Pergamum was genuinely impressive. We didn't go to the acropolis as was planned according to my itinerary however, we did go to what was said to be the best hospital in ancient history. This place was amazing. We walked around and saw how they helped the psych patients using running water that flowed through the entire hospital using no pumps- purely physics and ice cold despite the 38 degree heat! Amazing. I could go on forever but once again yada yada we move on.
Izmir
Izmir was the first night I 'properly' went out, though I did go home early. I feel as though during my Contiki there was a disappointing lack of party attitude on my behalf but seriously guys, you've all seen my Facebook. There are ten million Lenin photos on there, I'm on holiday so I feel as though I'm kind of on holiday from the pressures of going out and getting wasted 4 times a week. Anyways, I went out for the beginning of the night where we sat the entire group down at one massively long table. I watched one guy yell "We need bottles!!" and try to shove a credit card in the waiters mouth which was interesting but 6 bottles of vodka later, I didn't mind. We had vodka and shisha and I bought so stupid light up Minnie Mouse ears, also almost bought a Snow White helium balloon but I think I may have struggled to bring that home. Highlight of Izmir was probably walking down the street outside of the hotel and seeing a stray dog chewing on a heroin syringe- yay for European red light districts...
Pamukkale
So after checking my itinerary to figure out what I was actually doing on this day because I couldn't remember for the life of me, I realised that I've been spelling Pamukkale wrong on everything (thanks Chrome spellcheck- you officially suck) which is ever so slightly embarrassing. But aside from that I was hella pissed off about this excursion. Our tour guide tells us that this one is going to be disappointing so I think oh no! I won't even need to carry my camera, jokes on me though 'cause it was freakin' spectacular. I would describe it as Turkey's version of what we used to call the 'Pink and White Terraces' in New Zealand. Incredible.
Lycus River Hotel
Lycus Rive hotel was awesome, I finally got around to trying that fish foot thing that I meant to do in Thailand and never did. It was the most weirdly awesome thing to do. It was uncomfortably ticklish, I mean I was using every single part of my willpower stopping myself from crushing those little fuckers but at the same time it was a very cool experience. I also had a piña colada by the pool and experienced one of the best buffets since the Langham which made me undeniably happy.
Kusadasi
A few things happened in Kusadasi actually, we started off in the morning going to Ephesus which was fantastic. The excavation of the site was done impeccably and it was probably the biggest historical sight I've been to yet.
While we were in Kusadasi we also went to a Turkish carpet and a Turkish leather factory where I spent way more money than I should've as usual.
We also went to the Turkish baths which everyone who ever goes to Turkey will tell you to do but I am about to break the trend. I would NEVER do it again. I forgot to pack my togs so I ended up doing it Turkish style in the nude, with only a towel to conceal all the loveliness that is Lexi Jones HAH and it was possibly the most uncomfortable thing I've done in my life, scratch that- definitely. I'm sure it wouldn't have been so bad if I had my togs but still, never again.
When we returned to our hotel after our day travelling in the general direction of Kusadasi, we went out into the world. I remember at the beginning of the night, telling the girls very explicitly that I was NOT going to have tequila. However, 9 shots, a cocktail and a few vodka red bulls later, I was dancing on a bar and taking selfies with some strange Turkish bartender. I also ended up throwing up everything but my memories and lying down in god knows what on the floor of a Turkish club. AK to the rescue though, I spent the rest of the evening slurring my way through a phone call instead of getting kidnapped and raped.
I don't think that kind of thing has ever happened before and I had the mother of all hangovers. Holy fuck. Another level.
Patmos
Our first stop on our cruise around the Greek islands was the island of Patmos. Famous for their Patmos Pie, which is famously shit in my opinion. Its just scrambled eggs with pastry around it, plus its served at room temperature. Thumbs down.
Rhodes
Well well, Rhodes treated me so very well. It's an island split into two pieces, the old town and the new town. I got up relatively early and went exploring around the old town. I took some beautiful pictures of the beach and the fortifications. The town is beautifully preserved in all its medieval glory, which was refreshing due to the poor quality of pretty much everything else we saw.
In the afternoon I set off towards the new town to do some laundry with our guide, Sylvia. I intended to go to the beach after doing my laundry however I was the only one who showed up for it so Sylvia ended up taking me on a wee shopping tour of the island. I love Rhodes, however my bank account most certainly does not.
After my shopping day I settled into the cruise ship spa for a Pacific sea shell massage which was pure bliss. I am going on a hunt for a place that does them the second I get home. Though on the more alarming side, the woman who looked after me found a knot in my shoulder that she thinks is from work that was pinching one of my nerves. She told me if I left it for a couple more years I might have lost feeling in my arm- lucky save. Now I have some 'cooling' gel that actually feels like fire that I have to put on it daily.
Crete
As you all know, I had already visited Crete prior to my Contiki with mi madre, so instead of getting off the boat to rewitness the boringness that was Crete, I slept through the entire morning. I got up at 12.30 just in time for our meeting about Santorini and it was bloody lovely.
Santorini
Oia, as expected, was purely stunning. The shopping was perfect, the little rooftop restaurant was perfect, the views were perfect, my outfit was (as always) perfect and ahhhh, sooooo good! I fell in love with a sculpture in one of the shops but after mulling it over for 15 minutes and asking the man the price (5600 euro), I had to tear myself away and return to the tour bus.
We then drove to Fira, the capital of Santorini and saw the beginning of the sunset. The shopping in Fira got me good, as did everywhere else and I went home with a couple of extra bags. We took a cable car down the cliffside to the Old Port where our tender boats waited which was rather precarious but also fun.
Athens
Our tour finished back in Athens and I set off without really saying goodbye to anyone. I didn't really connect with anyone hugely other than my room mates so I didn't really want to deal with the whole awkward hugging goodbye thing when I didn't know half of the peoples names. Now that's not because they weren't lovely people, because they were, it's just we all know that I'm fucking terrible at making friends and my memory is even worse than that skill.
After ditching the group I set off to find the travel agent where I could store my bags until my flight where I ran into Saffire, who I spent most of my time with on the trip. We then went to an ATM and I got the absolute fright of my entire life. I tried one card and it didn't work, tried another card, didn't work, walked down the road to a different ATM, both cards; no luck. Getting very afraid at this point. Walked into a bank and asked them to get cash out using an Eftpos-ish sort thing and again, no luck. Then the panic set in, I called Westpac, I called Mastercard, I yelled and I bossed them around but they weren't doing shit all to help anyone so I ended up talking to Trevor, the guy who works at the local bank on the phone who Alison has tracked down for me at 7.30pm on a Friday night. He talked me through everything and helped me find an ATM that would work which ended up being successful so crisis averted. I then went for some retail therapy to calm the nerves, thank you, Zara! After that I jumped in a cab and tottered off to the airport.
Paris
I'm not quite sure how it happened but when I arrived at the airport in Athens, I found out that I had somehow booked a business class seat. Now it wasn't real business class, the small planes on Air France only have one kind of seat, but I did get 2 seats to myself and about a metre extra leg room because I was in the front so I was happy. It was a short flight too so I was happier. I started reading a new book on the plane; The Quiet Game by Greg Iles, this was yesterday and I'm already more than halfway through- its a great read for anyway who's looking for a refreshing novel about old southern hate crimes.
I then spent 60 euro on a taxi which blew my brains out. So fucking expensive. But I arrived safely at the 3 Ducks Hostel. This hostel is the nicest hostel I have ever seen, its only 25 euro per night but its the cleanest and trendiest establishment I've come across on this trip and the moment I walked in the door I found some friends to do something with. We set off towards the Eiffel tower for a boat cruise of the Seine by night.
After the cruise I retired to my room for more Greg Iles and some sleep. I had McDonalds for dinner too, I think I may have to edit my judgement of London's nuggets being the best in the world, I think it may just be Europe in general because Paris' are equally as scrumptious.
In the morning I rose bright and early to go for my self-planned walking tour of the main sites in Paris. I got to the Eiffel tower by day, saw Notre Dame, the Louvre etc etc and only bought one thing! I was impressed with myself until I got to the bookstore Shakespeare & Co. which was recommended to me by a friend on Contiki. It was the coolest bookstore I've ever seen and 50 euro later I have a very heavy carry-on luggage. Oops! To the post office for me!
I also managed to master the Parisian metro within my first morning- proud moment! But now I must be off to continue my first day of site-seeing.
Au revoir!
Lex