Trip of a Lifetime: Athens and Mykonos, Greece : 2015

As a wrap to planning this trip, I feel many mixed emotions. I feel happy that I will get to travel the world with one of my best friends and discover new things. But at the same time I feel very sad that this trip signifies an end of my University career at Western University. I will really miss being a student, and all of the connections I have made during my time here. But I know that this trip to Greece will help me making amazing memories that I will be able to share with my friends when I see them again at reunions.

The reason that I have chosen to stay away from Contiki tours is that I know that they are commissioned and over priced, along with the mere reason that I wanted this trip to be a learning experience for myself to truly discover Greece. I preferred this method over being simply handed a "welcome" package with a list a places I will be seeing through planned tours. Instead, I wanted to dive into the Internet and explore what other travellers have recommended and put together my own personal trip. I have to say the part that I am probably most excited for is when my roommate and I will rent a scooter in Athens for the day and ride it up the mountain and have lunch together. This is a very simple thing, but I feel it will help take our friendship to a deeper meaning and we will be able to spend quality time doing something not necessarily "typical" of tourists in Greece.

Review: Overall Budget & Expenses

Cost per person (Canadian Dollars)

Airfare: 974$ (round trip)

Accommodation: $519 /2 (Athens) + $465 /2 (Mykonos) = 259.5 + 232.5 = 492$

Metro: $18.81(Airport to hotel) + 5.38 x 5 days (Metro day passes) = 45.71$

Ferry Rides:192.10$ /2 (round trip: to and from Mykonos) = 96.05$

Scooter Rental: + 137.48$ /2 (Scooter in Mykonos for the duration of June 15-21) = 68.74$

Bus: 2.55$ X 6 (to and from beach on 3 days) = 15.30$

Tours: 55.12$ (Acropolis) + 100$ (Mykonos Kayak) + 6.72$ (Acropolis Museum) = 161.84$

Food + Spending $: ~1500$

Travel + Health Insurance: 250$

Grand Total: $3353.64

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. dream. Discover. " - Mark Twain

Tuesday, 17 February 2015

Mykonos - June 21 (Departure to Athens) + June 22 Final Night in Athens

June 21 - Wake up, have lunch and then return to Athens, Greece via the Blue Star Ferry which departs from the port at 2 pm and arrives at Athens at 8 pm. We must return back to Athens as the international flights back to Toronto depart from Athens, not Mykonos. In addition to this, my roommate and I would like to spend our last night sailing back to Athens and enjoy the scenery once again.

June 22 - Final night in Athens

The final Goodbye....
On our final day of being submerged in this authentic Greek heritage culture, my roommate and I will to see the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, which is a theatre built 161AD by Herodes Atticus as a tribute to his late wife. This landmark is located at the top of The Acropolis and on summer evenings it is run by the Greek National Opera. This is the perfect way to end our stay so that we are not too exhausted in the morning to catch our flight back to Canada.

Mykonos - June 18 - 20

June 18 - We will travel via bus to Super Paradise Beach, which is located 7 km south of Chora (the town centre which is where we will be staying). The bus operates until 4 am on an hourly basis, so this is how we will return to our apartment as the stop is located near where we are staying - according to the host of our apartment. This is a very popular sandy beach which my roommate and I are excited to wind back and relax as we let our bodies soak in the sun. Here we will enjoy authentic greek music and dancing come the night time, and delicious cocktails at the beach party.

June 19 - We will travel by bus to Paradise Beach which is located 6 km south of Chora, and is neighbours to Super Paradise Beach. Paradise beach is one of Mykonos most popular beaches and attracts younger crowds as it is known for its part scene and lively night festivities. This beach area which also has a pool, is described as a place only for "happy people" as it is filled with positive vibes.

June 20 - We will end our trip off with a day at Psarou Beach which is located 5km south of the Chora (town centre) which we will once again reach by scooter, or bus transportation. Some features of this Cosmopolitan beach include: parking, deck chairs, bars and restaurants. Online forums have mentioned that this beach can get very busy in the summer so it is important to show up early to get a deck chair, so we will have to make sure that we do that to soak in the sun all day!

Mykonos bus services will cost us 1.90 Euros which will cost us 2.55$ Canadian - this is very reasonable. The bus departs everyday from Fabrica Square, and the destinations include the beaches of: Platis Yalos, Ornos, Paradise, Paranga, Psarou, Super Paradise Beach and the Airport. The bus departs on the hour every hour, and every half an hour until 4 am during June and July.

Mykonos - June 16 - 17

June 16 - One way to get to absorb the wonderful landscape of Mykonos is through kayaking! My roommate and I plan to take a day trip kayaking tour with "Mykonos Kayak" which will include a kayak trip along Little Venice, a tour of the cove, a snorkelling experience and a delicious lunch with other tourists like ourselves. This experience will cost: 75 Euro's per person (100$ Canadian), and if you pay the entire price upfront online, then you receive a 10% discount - so we will be saving money! The trip is roughly around 6 hours and starts at 9:30 am ending at around 3:30 pm.

June 17 - Mykonos is known to be one of the rather expensive islands in Greece, so in anticipation of this I searched up some affordable recommended places on TripAdvisor to eat/visit. The search results include: Niko's Taverna, Madoupa's and Joanna's Niko's Place. We will definitely spend some time at these locations during our stay as we do not plan to bake our own home-made meals on this vacation!

Dine at Niko's Taverna - reviews online say that it is tasty, very quick for service and reasonable prices averaging around 20-22 Canadian Dollars per meal. Also it is known to be very packed so must make reservations.

Mykonos - June 15 - The Arrival

Now, since we are young, free, and excited travellers we chose to leave Mykonos (the fun part!) to the end of our trip so that we could appreciate the rich history aspect of Greece in Athens, and instead just relax, party and enjoy the beaches in Mykonos.

June 15 - Arrive in Mykonos. Dimitri, our kind Host for our visit in Mykonos will be picking up us form the ferry port when we arrive at 1:15 pm. We will then check into the apartment that we found on www.airbnb.ca with Dimitri as our host. By 3 pm our scooter rental should arrive at this location as we will be renting a two-person scooter for the week (from www.mykonosrentals.gr) so that we can get around to eat and visit beaches!

To rent a scooter you must be 21, and I will be 22 years old so this will not be a problem. The cost for the week will be 97.20 Euros, which equates to 137.48 Canadian Dollars. This means it will be only 68.74 Canadian Dollars per person - a great deal for the week - looks like we will not be needing metros for our stay in Mykonos!

While staying in Mykonos, we will stay at studio 109, which has a great location right near Ornos Beach - so we will be spoiled by the spectacular view of the ocean. This place will cost us 465$ divided by 2 people to stay for the duration of June 15 - June 21. The host has offered to pick us up from the ferry port so this will be perfect for settling in and adjusting to our new location. We found this place on airbnb.com and compared it to alternative locations - but decided this would best suit our needs at an affordable rate. This is offer is inclusive: air conditioning, wifi, kitchen, and heating.

Ferry (Athens to Mykonos)

June 15 - *Depart to go to Mykonos - Ferry leaves at 7:30 am (arrives in Mykonos at 1:15 pm)*

To travel from Athens to Mykonos we will be taking a Ferry from Piraeus which is located 1.5 km from the hotel in Athens, and shuttle service will be provided for this. The company we have chosen to go with is the one that we found repeatedly mentioned on several blogs by travellers over the internet. The company is called Blue Star Ferries, http://www.bluestarferries.com/.

We will depart from our hotel at 6 am, so that we can arrive at the Piraeus Ferry Port early - as it is a 15 minute ride on the metro from the apartment we are staying at.

Since our flight to return to Canada departs from Athens June 22nd at 12 pm, we must catch the return ferry to Athens on June 21st (the night before our departure for Toronto, Canada) as there is only one time that the BlueStar ferry will head back to Piraeus (Athens, Greece) and that is 2:15 pm, arriving in Piraeus at 8 pm - this will give us enough time to grab a late night dinner and fit in a good nights sleep just before returning back to reality - our homeland of Toronto, Ontario.

136.00 Euros = 192.10 Canadian Dollars

This round trip ferry ride per person will be a total of 96.05 Canadian Dollars.

Athens - June 14

June 14 - The Ancient Agora. The name 'Agora' in Greek means "gathering place". Below is an image of the Temple of Hephaestus. This magnificent landmark is free of cost with the purchase of a museum day pass, so we will also be visiting the Acropolis Museum which costs 5 Euros for a visit ($6.72). I am very excited to get to learn more about the Greek architecture and have lunch at the Acropolis Museum. Also - I will be sure to Instagram photos while I am there as the Museum offers free Wifi all day!

Athens - June 13 (My 22nd Birthday)

June 13 - My 22nd Birthday!

For my 22nd Birthday my roommate and I will rent a scooter in Athens and ride up to Mount Lycabettus which is known for its amazing sunset, and gorgeous panoramic view of Athens. At the top of this mountain we will find a little cafe which is very popular for visitors to have dinner at. I am very excited for this exciting adventure as I love going on hikes and exploring new areas. The trip will begin at the end of Aristippou Street in Kolonaki and then proceed to wind up the mountain.

Athens - June 12

June 12 - Visit the Plaka District which is known as a village just below the Acropolis. My roommate and I will be able to experience the authentic Greek culture here as we enjoy the unique scenery and try out the cafes and walk around the boutique shops. In particular we will look out for the Saita Taverna which is known for serving bakalairo (a very tasty and well-made cod).

After we explore the Plaka District, we will venture east and head towards the Greek Cathedrals and visit the Churches. My roommate and I come from religious families, and we are Orthodox so this will be very special for us to connect with our spirituality and see how other people around the world experience Church.

Athens - June 11 (The Acropolis)

June 11 - Visit the Parthenon, Acropolis and Syntagma

The Parthenon, Acropolis is located on a magnificent hill that overlook Athens. It is significant because it has a temple which was created in honour of the goddess Athena Parthenos - as she protected Athens during the Persian Wars. The statue of Athena was made out of elephant ivory and gold, and this historical landmark dates back to 447 BC. The Acropolis is Greece's most iconic national treasure, and I am probably most excited for this part of the trip, and for the wonderful pictures that will come!

One building that I am most excited to see at the Acropolis is the Erechtheion. This building is named after Erichthonius, the mythical King of Athens, and it was built to house the statue of Athena. This building also is also known as the shrine centre for other gods such as Hephaistos and Poseidon.

The tour will begin at Syntagma Station (which is the metro station 3 minutes walking from where my roommate and I are renting an apartment), Central Athens at 9:30 am

Duration: 3 hours (approximately)

Cost per person: 55.12 Canadian Dollars

Trip finishes at the top of the Acropolis of Athens at 12:45 pm. The tour does not include the entrance fee to the Acropolis which is 12 Euros per person (16.95 Canadian Dollars) and this allows for multiple re-admissions to the acropolis site for the remainder of the week. The website used to find this tour is: http://www.viator.com/ it was recommended to me by my uncle and aunt who previously visited the Greece.

Athens - June 10

June 10 - Arrive in Athens! Settle in at apartment, become acquainted with the city and explore by foot what is in the surrounding area of our apartment. Dine out for dinner at a local restaurant.

Upon our arrival - we have decided that in Athens we will travel using the metro (which will cost us each 14 euros from the airport - so 18.81$ Canadian, as this is a special price for travellers travelling in pairs of two) as we have a location that is central and within walking distance to the main attractions and sites we would like to see, along with the restaurants and lively downtown city core.

We will get our metro passes, and head to our apartment rental which we will be staying at for the next couple of days during our stay in Athens. To get to our apartment which is located near the Acropolis, we will be taking Line 2 as shown on the map below:

The which will cost us 4 euros per day each - so 5.38$ Canadian per person.

The place that we are staying has a kitchenette so we will go to the local market and buy some breakfast foods and snacks so that we do not have to eat every single meal outside at expensive diners. This is the location that we have searched hard and for: https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/1108690. It is located at the heart of Athens in the city centre, just 200 meters away from the Acropolis and right in front of a metro stop.

Monday, 16 February 2015

Itinerary

Now that I have found the perfect airfare round trip deal. My next task is to research places to stay! My roommate and I are very tidy and sanitary individuals, so we anticipate that the place we stay in might cost us a bit, but we are willing to pay the extra bit for that comfort. A friend of mine who does a lot of travelling recommended to check out https://www.airbnb.ca a site which does not support commission of agents, so will have cheaper rates than sites like www.expedia.ca.

However, while staying in Athens - I think it is best to stay in a hotel rather than an apartment so that shuttle service can be included for transportation to/from the airpot AND to/from the ferry port when we go to Mykonos from Athens (as these costs can quickly add up!). I found reasonable rates at www.hotels.com which provide these services as they are larger hotels, instead of apartments.

Luckily we are not going during the peak season of July - August, so we can find places for more reasonable rates. In total there will be 2 people staying in the hotel room, myself, my roommate from university.

We will be arriving in Athens on June 10th at 2 pm, and departing from Athens on June 22nd at 7:50 pm. We will begin our journey in Athens for about 5-6 days and then venture over to Mykonos via boat for the remainder of the trip, and then back to Athens for one final night before take-off for home (Toronto, Canada).

Here is the itinerary:
June 9: Head to Athens, Greece (Begin Trip!)

June 10 - 15: Athens, Greece

June 16 - 20: Mykonos, Greece

June 21 - 22: Athens, Greece
June 22: Head back to Toronto, Canada (Home!)

Tuesday, 3 February 2015

Airfare Arrangements

The first part to planning this trip was to find a reasonable airplane ticket deal. In order to do this, I chose to search up blogs of experienced travellers to see which search engines I should explore. I quickly learned to avoid the big common search engines such as expedia.ca as they take large commission. Instead the bloggers suggested using http://www.momondo.ca/ for airfare, and http://www.hostelbookers.com/ for a place of accommodation - which I found to be less expensive indeed. I compared rates of flying from Toronto to Athens, Greece, vs flying from Athens to Mykonos, Greece and found it was cheaper on almost every website to fly to Athens, so this is where our trip will begin. As for return fare, it was also cheaper to return from Athens than from Mykonos, so my roommate and I will be returning to Athens by a boat (which is a very reasonable rate) for one final night before returning to Canada on our final day.

Here is the deal that I found on expedia.ca :
(Total per passenger round trip including tax: $974):

Here is the airfare deal I found on http://www.momondo.ca/
(Total per passenger round trip including tax: $840):

Looks like we will be going with Air France from www.momondo.ca as it is the cheaper option with only 3 extra hours of flying time (we are okay with that - we are young and this is an adventure!).

Sunday, 1 February 2015

The Start Of A Great Idea

It has always been my dream to visit Greece and experience the rich culture that it has to offer. As a child, one of my favourite movies was the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, which was partly filmed in Santorini, Greece. The indescribable landscape and deep blue oceans, complimented by cloudless skies has always been my dream vacation scene. This year, as a fourth year student ready to graduate and enter the real world of work, I want to reward myself with a graduation trip. I have been talking with my roommate for a couple of months now, and we have decided that our graduation destination trip will be Greece. While we are there, we will visit Athens and the islands of Mykonos and Ios. We spoke with our friends who have travelled to Greece before and they recommended these places, especially for the time that we are going. Also June 13 is my birthday, so this trip will also serve as a tribute to my 22nd birthday as we will be in Greece at this time..

Luckily due to our graduation, my roommate and I will be selling our furniture from our apartment and textbooks (which we have been collecting since first year!). The funds raised from this will contribute towards the cost of our trip. Also throughout the year I have been working at Western University as a Research Assistant. Each week I have been putting aside half of my pay cheques into my savings account at the bank to go towards this trip. With the collaboration and support of my parents, the expenses of this trip will be looked after, ensuring that I still have spending money to enjoy myself while on this adventure.

The plan is to head to Athens on Monday June 9, 2015 and return on June 22, 2015. We figured that this would give us enough time to explore the wonderful city of Mykonos before we begin working in the mid-July, and prepare for our graduation programs.

Why Travel?

Gives you a wide perspective of what there is in the world
Experience different cultures
Travelling can help you discover more about yourself
Develop your own personal growth
To meet new people and make new friends
To get a break from reality and get away from work/routine lives

Trip of a Lifetime: Athens and Mykonos, Greece

Saturday, 28 February 2015

References

My Reflection