athens

so.

ha.

lots has happened, many sights seen :o) where to begin??

the overnight us ride sucked, as i suppose all overnight bus rides do. arrived at kusadasi at 8:30'ish, went to our 'hotel' (such a piece of crap, but it did have a hair dryer) to change and freshen up, and then back into a shuttle to start the tour. went to the temple of artemis (one of only two remaining seven wonders of the ancient world) and walked around. it was totally amazing, unexplainable really - how can you describe being in a place that has been around for thousand(s) of years!

then to ephesus, which at one time was a port city and home to over 250 000 people! it was remarkably intact, with shining white marble all around. it was quite warm that day, and our tiredness did not help, but it was still totally amazing. a full greecian and roman city, mostly there :o) very cool.

then lunch and a visit to the supposed house of the virgin mary, up in the hills beyond ephesus. was a very neat little building. lots of walking around that day, and seeing of sights.

next day was pamukkale. dont know if it was because it was sunday or what, but our guide slept the whole bus ride and then didnt tell us anything special, so that was a kick in the pants, but it was still a good day. we swam in some copper-filled thermal water baths, which felt wicked after all the sitting we'd been doing. the water was super warm, like a hot tub! then lunch and up to the terraces of pamukkale. the spring water is full of calcium, and about 37 degrees, and then as it trickles down the mountain it cools and deposits calcium, so the whole side of the mountain looks like it has been covered in ice. we walked in those as well, and saw some ruins of ancient hierapolis.

that night we arrived in marmaris, where we stayed for two days and had our first suntan beside the meditterranean (yeah i spelled that wrong) walked around the city, and saw a guy catch and octopus!

then it was goodbye turkey and to greece on a 'ferry' to rhodes. a great island, a great city. the old town was fantastic, and we stayed with this crazy guy named mike. walked around for hours, getting lost in the good way, and then another tan day by the sea.

then we got up at 3 am to catch a ferry to santorini. 18 hours on a boat - actually not as bad as it sounds. stayed in a nice hotel for a bargain price, and went hiking in the volcano and swimming in the 'thermal pools' (they were warm'ish) then back to the old port and WALKED UP 600 STEPS to the town of Fira.

the next day we rented a car (couldnt get a moped, grrrrr) with an american girl, carey, and drove to the black, red, and white beaches in the south of santorini, before boarding our boat to athens in the afternoon. what a ride that was. 7 hours on a heaving ferry, and i got so sea sick - totally sucky.

today being sunday, all the sights in athens were free!!!! so i went up to the acropolis, saw the parthenon, temple of nike, temple of hephaistus, the roman agora, the ancient agora, the original olympic stadium and more for the bargain price of $0!!! yay!!!

tomorrow is off to delphi for the day :o)

everyone should go to turkey, it rocks. and when you go on vacation, spend limited time in big cities - the smaller ones are best :o)

love ya all,

-michelle :o)