The funny thing about Athens is that in summer all the night clubs in the city close and move towards the coast. I absolutely loved Athens but I feel like that one small issue ruined a large part of my experience. In my previous blog post I was banging on about how I was so over Italian food and I wasn't expecting much of Greek food but my god, it was amazing. It was a large part of why I loved Athens so much. I actually enjoyed and finished my meals there. 

Athens is super fucking hot. Like 35 Celsius every day. And we're walking heaps, but we do go home for siestas around 3. The markets are abundant and the people are soooo nice and polite. You get your usual waiters at the front of restaurants trying to convince you to come in and eat. In the past they've been kind of annoying to deal with, but as we walk past the ones in Athens, we say 'sorry no thanks' or 'sorry we just ate' and they actually respond with 'you shouldn't be sorry!' Or 'thank you that's very kind' maybe they get snobbed a lot by other tourists. We've gotten so many drinks and desserts on the house cos were friendly with waiters, but really, it's their friendliness that fosters our conversations. 

The food is also so much cheaper here than in other countries, the alcohol is slightly more expensive but it evens out :). I have loved every meal I've had in Greece so far (with the exception of one Arab meal we had haha) it's all so fresh and so meat and vegetable based! Not like Italian which was 10000000% carbs omg, such a refreshing change from so many carbs!!!! 

I had a mixed souvlaki plate and I was actually left wiping up all the sauce and meat at the very end with my pita bread. I don't think I've ever done that with any meal ever! It was that fucking good. I also had the best grilled sea bass which reminded me so much of my mums fish from home. I was so happy :) 

We were all kinda weary coming into Greece cos everyone warned us of pick pocketing and riots in light of the refugee influx, but everything felt so relaxed and so calm. It was odd. I think it was because of this, and their surprising kindness that made me love Athens so much! However, the lack of a night life was such a big let down. On two nights I was actually so geed to go out, but we couldn't find anything open, only bars :( 

Athens would have definitely made the top of my list so far! But the club thing lol. Maybe if we had visited in October it would've been a different story. 

Going back, Naples was alright. It was more just a place to sleep in between our day trips to Positano and Pompeii. On the first day we were locked out and had to wait 2.5 hours for the owner to come and let us back in. We hung out with the neighbours and their dogs. The language barrier was such a struggle, but we had wifi and Google translate. One lady, Maria, kept calling us crazy girls cos there were 5 of us and we all managed to forget the key (but it was my fault lol) anyway, she basically told the whole neighbourhood we were locked out but they all tried to help in their own way. Another lady brought out her 3 dogs and we played with them for a while :) she was so nice. Offered us coke, water and food.

She had a son named Francesco and he would stare at us from his balcony during our time there. Lol teenage boys aye. During this whole event, she had made pasta and it was obviously time for Francesco to eat. However, instead of him coming down to eat in the kitchen/ living area, she packed 2 plates full of pasta and he dropped down a wide bucket attached to some rope. She put the plates in the bucket and he pulled it up! Like wtf. How lazy are u Francesco!!! 

Anyway, coming back from Pompeii, I saw the exact same thing happen but with a grandma and her grandpa husband! Maybe it's a Napoli thing...... Hahah def did not see that happen anywhere else in Italy. 

On the first day I was super hangry and the only thing open was a kebab shop. I was kinda glad cos I was so over Italian food, but I was a bit ceeb for kebab too cos I wanted a salad or something. Anyway, there was only one kind of kebab and 2 sauces you could get, and the guy put cucumbers and chips into it, it was odd but actually so tasty! I went back to him 3 times that day, once for food. Then water. Then directions. I think he started to like me hahha. We went there for dinner the next day and he gave Jenny Em and me free chips, water and discounted food. He was Arabic Indian and I later found out that his name was Saleem. Anyway, different groups of us would go and get food from him, like shanice Jenny and dalz, and he's also give them chips on the house and stuff. On our last night he asked how long we were staying and was so disappointed to hear that we were flying out the next morning. He told us to add him on Facebook and that we're always welcome back into his store the next time were in Naples haha. Really nice guy! 

It's cos of experiences like these that I really like a place, the beauty of Positano and Pompeii also added to it, of course. Even though there was literally nothing to do in Naples, I really enjoyed my time there. It's quite high on my list :) 

I keep mentioning this list, but I don't think I have actually shown u guys hahaha. Our group has a doc which ranks all the cities as we visit them, I can't access it right now, but from memory it was:  

From best to least best (cos I didn't hate any place, I just liked it the least) 

Barcelona

Madrid

Athens

Ibiza

Naples

Rome

Paris

London

Amsterdam

Milan

I think

Will confirm soon!

We're headed to Santorini, our third last city. I can't believe this trip is almost over! Time has gone by so quickly. I'm not ready to not be on holiday looool 

Can't wait for the rest, also can't wait to see my family and friends :) 

How are y'all?