The ferry ride from Ios was a rough one. There were some strong winds that day which not only shook the boat pretty hard but also made us arrive in Athens an hour later than expected. This meant we arrived in Athens at about 1am, 25 minutes after the metro closed. So the only option was to take a taxi back to the hostel, not something we like to do on our budget. So 30 euros later we arrived at our hostel.
The next day we got up and were planning on taking the 20ish hour train ride all the way around Greece and over to Istanbul. After checking out we headed over to the train station where it was oddly deserted. So we went up to the ticket counter where we read a small sign that said the railway workers decided to go on a 24 hour strike that day. Great. So we went back to the hostel where we looked into other options to get to Istanbul, but in the end decided to check back in and take the train the next day. That afternoon we took a walk around the city. On our walk we happened to stumble upon a fairly main square where we saw some interesting things (think Vancouver's downtown east side). An eye opening experience. That evening we had some delicious Gyros and Greek salad expecting it to be our last dinner in Greece.
The next day basically started of the same as the one before only this time the station was open and running. So we went to make the reservation for our trains to Istanbul only to find out all earlier trains to Thessaloniki (the city in northern Greece we had to make a connection in) were already full, meaning there was no way we would make it to Istanbul in the next 24 hours. At this point we were ready to get out of Athens so we booked the next train (5 pm) to Thessaloniki and bought tickets for the train from Thessaloniki to Istanbul the next night (this train only goes once a day at 10pm). So we pretty much had another afternoon in Athens and decided to visit the olympic stadium. It was a nice subway ride out to there and when we arrived we realized they had huge olympic grounds where many events would have been heald. There was also some impressive structures to see.
The next day we got up and were planning on taking the 20ish hour train ride all the way around Greece and over to Istanbul. After checking out we headed over to the train station where it was oddly deserted. So we went up to the ticket counter where we read a small sign that said the railway workers decided to go on a 24 hour strike that day. Great. So we went back to the hostel where we looked into other options to get to Istanbul, but in the end decided to check back in and take the train the next day. That afternoon we took a walk around the city. On our walk we happened to stumble upon a fairly main square where we saw some interesting things (think Vancouver's downtown east side). An eye opening experience. That evening we had some delicious Gyros and Greek salad expecting it to be our last dinner in Greece.
The next day basically started of the same as the one before only this time the station was open and running. So we went to make the reservation for our trains to Istanbul only to find out all earlier trains to Thessaloniki (the city in northern Greece we had to make a connection in) were already full, meaning there was no way we would make it to Istanbul in the next 24 hours. At this point we were ready to get out of Athens so we booked the next train (5 pm) to Thessaloniki and bought tickets for the train from Thessaloniki to Istanbul the next night (this train only goes once a day at 10pm). So we pretty much had another afternoon in Athens and decided to visit the olympic stadium. It was a nice subway ride out to there and when we arrived we realized they had huge olympic grounds where many events would have been heald. There was also some impressive structures to see.
The train ride that evening was long and uneventful. We checked into our cheap motel and passed out.
Our train left at 10pm so this allowed us to explore Greece's second largest city for the better part of a day. We pretty much took a walk down the boardwalk, checked out the white tower and hung out a bit.
Being our first overnight train we were not quite sure what to expect. As well we would be leaving the EU for the first time on our trip so the boarder crossing was also a surprise. As it turned out the sleeper we got was fairly nice but the boarder crossing was a real pain. Of course we got to the boarder town in Greece at about 4am. So we all get off the train and gave the boarder guard our passports. After everyone was done doing this the train left. Then maybe 30 minutes later we all got off and got to go through the process again with the Turks, only this time we had to pay for our visa. Being Canadians it cost us 45 euro, apparently one of the most expensive. The Americans only had to pay 15. Either way, that got that all taken care of and arrived in Istanbul around 9am with less sleep than we hoped for. The hostel we where at was a little bit of a walk from the station and we were lucky enough to walk the wrong direction. It was at this point we experienced how nice the Turks are and after asking a few people for directions we finally found the place.
Our train left at 10pm so this allowed us to explore Greece's second largest city for the better part of a day. We pretty much took a walk down the boardwalk, checked out the white tower and hung out a bit.
Being our first overnight train we were not quite sure what to expect. As well we would be leaving the EU for the first time on our trip so the boarder crossing was also a surprise. As it turned out the sleeper we got was fairly nice but the boarder crossing was a real pain. Of course we got to the boarder town in Greece at about 4am. So we all get off the train and gave the boarder guard our passports. After everyone was done doing this the train left. Then maybe 30 minutes later we all got off and got to go through the process again with the Turks, only this time we had to pay for our visa. Being Canadians it cost us 45 euro, apparently one of the most expensive. The Americans only had to pay 15. Either way, that got that all taken care of and arrived in Istanbul around 9am with less sleep than we hoped for. The hostel we where at was a little bit of a walk from the station and we were lucky enough to walk the wrong direction. It was at this point we experienced how nice the Turks are and after asking a few people for directions we finally found the place.
