So this weekend Rafael and I took a side trip to Athens, Greece. 2 days isn't nearly enough time but it gave us a little taste of the area. I definitely wanted to do some sort of cruise to check out the islands, so there was a 1-day cruise available that went to 3 islands in the Saronic Gulf.
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We were on the boat for another hour before reaching Aegina, the third and largest of the islands we visited that day. Aegina is also known for its pistachios. Apparently it’s one of the largest producers/exporters of pistachios in the world. As we reached there during the hottest part of the day (around 4pm), we opted for a bus tour that took us to the Temple of Aphaea and a Monastary that’s not completely finished on the inside but really beautiful. You could see all the pistachio trees while we were driving (don’t worry mom – I got pictures for you!) and I even had some yummy pistachio ice cream later when we reached the Temple of Aphaea. The temple was really amazing!! When you just imagine how old these ruins are and that they were uncovered and still standing…it just takes your breath away. I also love to hear about the mythology behind these places! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Aphaea.
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The last week was actually pretty good. I’d gotten most of my work done and our Director came into town Monday night for a day. We took him out to this Lebanese place we really enjoyed and he loved it! He’s big on the Middle Eastern type food since he lived in Saudi Arabia for 12 years. Paul, our Director, is a pretty interesting/funny guy to talk to. Tuesday was a busy day of wrapping things up and having meetings, etc, but it flew by as did the rest of the week. And by Thursday, we were really ready to get back home. The Affiliate took us out to dinner Thursday night to an Italian place “Trattoria Il Calcio”. It was tooo good! So all in all, I had a really great experience in Romania – the people were awesome, but the only big downside was the amount of smoke I had to deal with. I wish I had taken some more time to wander around the city, but who knows if I’ll maybe go back for something else. I’d also become really good friends with Diana, our PwC person. Hopefully we’ll be able to meet up again at some point, she’s a lot of fun and we definitely plan on keeping in touch.
Monday – July 2, 2007
So now I’m back in Chicago – woohoo!! The plane ride was around 12 hrs with connections, etc but I got a few good hours of sleep in. Saturday I went to the Taste of Chicago with my friend who came up from Dallas, Arnand, and then after a 5-hour nap, I was ready to hit the town! Jet lag got the best of me and I spent most of Sunday sleeping, but now it’s the start of a new week and only 2 days of work J.
Next trip – Japan for 5 weeks…should be interesting!
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Friday, June 22
So tonight we got to the hotel around 10pm from the airport, got ready and headed out to a restaurant called Central – suggested to me by Lily, my co-worker. This restaurant was located in the Kolonaki Square area, but turned out to be closed by the time we got there. Kolonaki Square is a huge shopping area with lots of great designer stores. Good thing we went there late because I probably could’ve spent wayyyy too much money there. We had walked around the area for a while and couldn’t find Central, so finally we asked someone and he told us it was closed. We ended up grabbing something quick to eat at one of the 24-hour cafes nearby. There were still quite a few people out and about around the time we were eating (midnight or so). We thought there would be more to do in the area – bars, nightclubs, etc. but after asking our waitress, we apparently were in the wrong area for that. Most of the places to go out were in Psiri. By the time we finished eating around 1am, Rafael and I were both pretty tired so we just headed back to the hotel since we had to get up around 6am for our day-cruise on Saturday!
Saturday, June 23
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Rafael and I took a one-day cruise that we reserved on Key Tours set up by our concierge at the Marriott where we stayed. Because we were only in Athens for the weekend, it was too short of a time period to go very far to many islands. This one-day cruise was perfect because we stayed in the Saronic Gulf area and hit up 3 islands: Poros, Hyrdra, and Aegina. The boat was packed with people of all different cultures and age groups…especially interested to watch was this group of high school kids who were on a summer trip from somewhere in the States. I’ll come back to this in a bit. So the boat had multiple levels inside and outside and because the weather was so great, Rafael and I spent most of our time on the boat on the top level to enjoy the scenery and weather. The first trip took about 2 hours to get to Poros where we were given about 45 minutes to walk around, shop, explore, etc. It was a cute little island (the smallest of the 3) that had a lot of souvenir shops and this beautiful clock tower at the top. The 3 islands we went too had a small community of people which basically made a living off tour groups and vacationers visiting the islands. So we hiked up to the top of Poros to see the clock tower and check out the view of the surrounding area. It was just like what you’d imagine a Greek Island to be, mountainous with narrow stairway paths to get to the various houses on the island. There were very few cars and most people transported items via horse or donkey. Pretty old school but very endearing. It was an extremely hot day and turned out to be a record-breaking HOT weekend in Athens, reaching 105 farenheit on Sunday..jpg)
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The second island that we went to was Hydra. Another cute island very similar to Poros. We had 1 ½ hours here and didn’t really feel like doing much shopping. There was a swimming area here that a lot of people went to and with the day getting hotter by the minute – I ended up there as well. The water was so beautiful that I just had to jump in…and did I! As we walking to the swimming area, I saw the high school kids jumping off the cliff and into the water about 75 feet below. It looked like so much fun and I figured – hey, if these kids can do it why can’t I? Sometimes a good mentality and sometimes not…but that’s me! So first I wanted to check out the temperature of the water to see if it was ridiculously cold, but it felt great considering the weather outside. Rafael just hung out at the restaurant nearby and enjoyed a fruit smoothie while I ventured up to the Cliffside and proceeded to plummet into the water below. I have to admit I was a little scared, but it was an amazing rush! Similar to my skydiving experience several years back but minus the parachute and old guy strapped to my back – haha. So I enjoyed the coolness of the water for a bit and then when Rafael finished his smoothie, I went back to the cliff to jump off again for him to take some pics. I had to have proof that I did it!.jpg)
So off I went again…When I returned to where Rafael was, he just kept shaking his head calling me “Crasy girl”. We joked about how it was higher than I originally thought, and he told me that I’m one of a couple people in our group that would actually do something like that. I think I’m gonna be the “crasy girl” of the audit group. So that was that – and then we had to head back to the boat. .jpg)
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So tonight we got to the hotel around 10pm from the airport, got ready and headed out to a restaurant called Central – suggested to me by Lily, my co-worker. This restaurant was located in the Kolonaki Square area, but turned out to be closed by the time we got there. Kolonaki Square is a huge shopping area with lots of great designer stores. Good thing we went there late because I probably could’ve spent wayyyy too much money there. We had walked around the area for a while and couldn’t find Central, so finally we asked someone and he told us it was closed. We ended up grabbing something quick to eat at one of the 24-hour cafes nearby. There were still quite a few people out and about around the time we were eating (midnight or so). We thought there would be more to do in the area – bars, nightclubs, etc. but after asking our waitress, we apparently were in the wrong area for that. Most of the places to go out were in Psiri. By the time we finished eating around 1am, Rafael and I were both pretty tired so we just headed back to the hotel since we had to get up around 6am for our day-cruise on Saturday!
Saturday, June 23
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Rafael and I took a one-day cruise that we reserved on Key Tours set up by our concierge at the Marriott where we stayed. Because we were only in Athens for the weekend, it was too short of a time period to go very far to many islands. This one-day cruise was perfect because we stayed in the Saronic Gulf area and hit up 3 islands: Poros, Hyrdra, and Aegina. The boat was packed with people of all different cultures and age groups…especially interested to watch was this group of high school kids who were on a summer trip from somewhere in the States. I’ll come back to this in a bit. So the boat had multiple levels inside and outside and because the weather was so great, Rafael and I spent most of our time on the boat on the top level to enjoy the scenery and weather. The first trip took about 2 hours to get to Poros where we were given about 45 minutes to walk around, shop, explore, etc. It was a cute little island (the smallest of the 3) that had a lot of souvenir shops and this beautiful clock tower at the top. The 3 islands we went too had a small community of people which basically made a living off tour groups and vacationers visiting the islands. So we hiked up to the top of Poros to see the clock tower and check out the view of the surrounding area. It was just like what you’d imagine a Greek Island to be, mountainous with narrow stairway paths to get to the various houses on the island. There were very few cars and most people transported items via horse or donkey. Pretty old school but very endearing. It was an extremely hot day and turned out to be a record-breaking HOT weekend in Athens, reaching 105 farenheit on Sunday.
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The second island that we went to was Hydra. Another cute island very similar to Poros. We had 1 ½ hours here and didn’t really feel like doing much shopping. There was a swimming area here that a lot of people went to and with the day getting hotter by the minute – I ended up there as well. The water was so beautiful that I just had to jump in…and did I! As we walking to the swimming area, I saw the high school kids jumping off the cliff and into the water about 75 feet below. It looked like so much fun and I figured – hey, if these kids can do it why can’t I? Sometimes a good mentality and sometimes not…but that’s me! So first I wanted to check out the temperature of the water to see if it was ridiculously cold, but it felt great considering the weather outside. Rafael just hung out at the restaurant nearby and enjoyed a fruit smoothie while I ventured up to the Cliffside and proceeded to plummet into the water below. I have to admit I was a little scared, but it was an amazing rush! Similar to my skydiving experience several years back but minus the parachute and old guy strapped to my back – haha. So I enjoyed the coolness of the water for a bit and then when Rafael finished his smoothie, I went back to the cliff to jump off again for him to take some pics. I had to have proof that I did it!
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So off I went again…When I returned to where Rafael was, he just kept shaking his head calling me “Crasy girl”. We joked about how it was higher than I originally thought, and he told me that I’m one of a couple people in our group that would actually do something like that. I think I’m gonna be the “crasy girl” of the audit group. So that was that – and then we had to head back to the boat. .jpg)
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We were on the boat for another hour before reaching Aegina, the third and largest of the islands we visited that day. Aegina is also known for its pistachios. Apparently it’s one of the largest producers/exporters of pistachios in the world. As we reached there during the hottest part of the day (around 4pm), we opted for a bus tour that took us to the Temple of Aphaea and a Monastary that’s not completely finished on the inside but really beautiful. You could see all the pistachio trees while we were driving (don’t worry mom – I got pictures for you!) and I even had some yummy pistachio ice cream later when we reached the Temple of Aphaea. The temple was really amazing!! When you just imagine how old these ruins are and that they were uncovered and still standing…it just takes your breath away. I also love to hear about the mythology behind these places! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Aphaea.
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The view from the area was really great too – I coulda hung around there for hours. But of course we didn’t have that much time. We headed to the Monastary and checked out that building. It had really beautiful and intricate woodwork on the doors, chairs, art deco. That was about it for the second stop and then back to the boat. So I made the mistake of spending the entire day outside with no sunscreen and got MAD sunburned. I mean sunburned on my shoulders, chest, arms, and legs! I’ve never been that badly sunburned before. Oh well, live and learn – now I know better. But the cruise in general was really relaxing and beautiful and it definitely made me want to go back and check out the other islands. Apparently only 30% of the Greek Islands are inhabitable, so there weren’t many “sandy beaches” or areas even with trees on them from what we saw in the Saronic Gult. Rafael said that he definitely preferred the Caribbean. I’ll have to check that out next time.
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Saturday night – We got back to the hotel around 8pm and prepped to go out for the night. This time we were determined on checking out the night scene so we went out to Psiri. We walked around checking out what restaurants were in the area and settled on this one really cute one. Wish I could remember the name, but it was written all in Greek. It was pretty crowded and most people there seemed to be our age so I figured that it would be a pretty good place. The food was YUMMM. After we filled up on dinner we walked around for a while to check out the scene. By this time it was close to midnight so we figured people would finally be going out. There were some cute bars and a lot of people just sitting outside patio-style in front of them. There was also some pretty decent music, so we went into a couple bars and settled on this one night club that had the best music (in my opinion). It was definitely great people watching, but there’s only so much fun you can have with you’re with 1 other co-worker of the opposite sex. Of course, people thought we were together so it was pretty difficult to meet any new people. Hopefully Japan will be better as there’s a bigger group and mostly girls. So we stayed out till around 3 or 4 and then headed back to the hotel since we’d had a pretty long, exhausting day.
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Sunday – June 24
Today our flight left around 4pm so we had some time to sight-see around Athens. Our hotel was in the old center of town, so within walking distance from the Acroplis. So just our luck…the day we decided to go to the Acropolis, it was closed due to a strike. We still walked there and took some pictures from the outside. I wish we coulda gone up, but something to do for the next trip. Today was ESPECIALLY hot!!! On top of that, I was crazy sunburned and exhausted from the previous 2 days of not sleeping. I didn’t make it very long, but we still walked around for a couple hours and saw the Temple of Zeus on the way back. Rafael’s obsessed with Hard Rock Cafes, so if there’s one in the city that we’re in, we HAVE to go there. So we hit up the Hard Rock before making it back to the hotel where I proceeded to pass out for a couple hours before our flight. Rafael went up to the rooftop pool to enjoy the water and I’m sure there was some good eye candy for him there as well. Unfortunately our weekend of fun was over and back we went to Bucharest for our last week of work.
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Saturday night – We got back to the hotel around 8pm and prepped to go out for the night. This time we were determined on checking out the night scene so we went out to Psiri. We walked around checking out what restaurants were in the area and settled on this one really cute one. Wish I could remember the name, but it was written all in Greek. It was pretty crowded and most people there seemed to be our age so I figured that it would be a pretty good place. The food was YUMMM. After we filled up on dinner we walked around for a while to check out the scene. By this time it was close to midnight so we figured people would finally be going out. There were some cute bars and a lot of people just sitting outside patio-style in front of them. There was also some pretty decent music, so we went into a couple bars and settled on this one night club that had the best music (in my opinion). It was definitely great people watching, but there’s only so much fun you can have with you’re with 1 other co-worker of the opposite sex. Of course, people thought we were together so it was pretty difficult to meet any new people. Hopefully Japan will be better as there’s a bigger group and mostly girls. So we stayed out till around 3 or 4 and then headed back to the hotel since we’d had a pretty long, exhausting day.
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Sunday – June 24
Today our flight left around 4pm so we had some time to sight-see around Athens. Our hotel was in the old center of town, so within walking distance from the Acroplis. So just our luck…the day we decided to go to the Acropolis, it was closed due to a strike. We still walked there and took some pictures from the outside. I wish we coulda gone up, but something to do for the next trip. Today was ESPECIALLY hot!!! On top of that, I was crazy sunburned and exhausted from the previous 2 days of not sleeping. I didn’t make it very long, but we still walked around for a couple hours and saw the Temple of Zeus on the way back. Rafael’s obsessed with Hard Rock Cafes, so if there’s one in the city that we’re in, we HAVE to go there. So we hit up the Hard Rock before making it back to the hotel where I proceeded to pass out for a couple hours before our flight. Rafael went up to the rooftop pool to enjoy the water and I’m sure there was some good eye candy for him there as well. Unfortunately our weekend of fun was over and back we went to Bucharest for our last week of work.
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(The strike at the Acropolis)
The last week was actually pretty good. I’d gotten most of my work done and our Director came into town Monday night for a day. We took him out to this Lebanese place we really enjoyed and he loved it! He’s big on the Middle Eastern type food since he lived in Saudi Arabia for 12 years. Paul, our Director, is a pretty interesting/funny guy to talk to. Tuesday was a busy day of wrapping things up and having meetings, etc, but it flew by as did the rest of the week. And by Thursday, we were really ready to get back home. The Affiliate took us out to dinner Thursday night to an Italian place “Trattoria Il Calcio”. It was tooo good! So all in all, I had a really great experience in Romania – the people were awesome, but the only big downside was the amount of smoke I had to deal with. I wish I had taken some more time to wander around the city, but who knows if I’ll maybe go back for something else. I’d also become really good friends with Diana, our PwC person. Hopefully we’ll be able to meet up again at some point, she’s a lot of fun and we definitely plan on keeping in touch.
Monday – July 2, 2007
So now I’m back in Chicago – woohoo!! The plane ride was around 12 hrs with connections, etc but I got a few good hours of sleep in. Saturday I went to the Taste of Chicago with my friend who came up from Dallas, Arnand, and then after a 5-hour nap, I was ready to hit the town! Jet lag got the best of me and I spent most of Sunday sleeping, but now it’s the start of a new week and only 2 days of work J.
Next trip – Japan for 5 weeks…should be interesting!
So far this is what I have planned for those weekends:
On our way to Tokyo, stopping in Beijing to check out the Great Wall
First weekend in Tokyo - Mt. Fuji
Second weekend in Tokyo (long weekend) - possibly go to a music festival and check out the Oban festivities
Third weekend in Osaka - check out the area
Fourth weekend - go to Hong Kong to visit my friend Vishnu
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