Day: 24

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Well the twenty-two hour train ride for Istanbul today was cancelled and replaced with a ferry ride that is ten hours shorter and gets us closer to our destination in southern Turkey. The ferry didn’t leave until 7pm so that left most of the day for me to chill out and do a little wandering. Maarten and I had also came across two others, George (a Hungarian traveling for six months) and Lotte (A Belgium girl who likes to play music in the street for change then pay for everything in 10 cent pieces)

I went to all the “Areas of Interest” on the map that I hadn’t hit yet and hiked up the “Hill of Nymphs” (by the way there were no nymphs present, unfortunately). Yet after a couple of hours I realized Athens is just another big city and as with London, Paris, or Rome I have a 3-day big city time limit and then I just seem to get bored with all the people, crowds, smog, and cars and want to head somewhere just a little more relaxing. Around two in the afternoon I just went back to the hostel and had a glass of tea. While waiting for my ferry time I spent the afternoon in the movie room, (where my bag was stored for the day) reading, napping and just having a lazy day. I can’t complain, but I am not sure it makes the most interesting blogging for all of you out there that can’t quit your jobs and come with me.

Maarten, George, and I, left the hostel about 5:30 in the evening to get the metro to the ferry stop. This was the beginning of a 29 hour Ferry/Bus/Walking/ HireSomeGuyWithACar trip and if I had know my traveling companions were so hard up to make it all the way to the south of Turkey in one go, I may have mentally prepared a little more. Well I made my ferry with no problem, we meant up with Lotte, had a picnic lunch on the boat and I found some chairs to climb under and went to sleep for the night. The boat was arriving at 5am.