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Euro Adventures Pt 23 - A Ferry, A Driving Tour, An Acropolis - Our Last Night With Topdeck

Oh my god... It's 515am... There is a drunk girl in our room!! Oh wait, it's just Megan! Haha we awoke to a very intoxicated Megan this morning - just arriving back from her second night out in Mykonos. Definitely not the best way to wake up - with stories of the drinks, the men, all of the inappropriateness! The girl knows how to make a hilarious entrance - god love her! Oh well, we had to be up and ready to go by 6am anyway. 

I headed down after leaving Alysha to deal with Megan and waited for our group to have breakfast (warm hot dogs and cold eggs are not really my thing for brekkie). All of a sudden I was itchy, on my arm, on my legs, on my back, on my face - CRAP! I had just been eaten alive by mozzies. Dammit. Back on the bus and to the port we headed, on another fun filled 5 hour ferry - catch ya Mykonos, it's been unforgettable! 

This ferry was owned by a different company than the one we travelled with on our first journey... This one SUCKED!!! There was no wifi, no comfy seats and we weren't allowed to sleep on the floor. Poor form. Oh well, with a crap tonne of snacks some Geordie Shore and my intense tiredness, I made it through the hellish ferry. We had arrived back to Athens for a fun filled afternoon and our last night with our Topdeck family. Oh dear... This could get emotional! 



We arrived back at our Athens hotel and had an hour to rest before we were back on the bus for our driving tour around the city and a free afternoon. We drove past the Arch of Hadrian which was one of the only parts of the Temple of Olympian Zeus that remained. It was pretty big and impressive, not surprising though as Emperor Hadrian built it in his own honour. We then headed up towards the Acropolis one the highest points in Athens, looking over the entire city in 360 degree viewing.



We drove up most of the way (as far as we could, then we began the massive climb of marble, slippery, stairs toward the top where the Parthenon and the Temple of Athena sits overlooking Athens. It wasn't too hectic a climb but it was very hot and very tiring - then when we got to the ticket hate we discovered it was even more stairs after that. Oh well. The views were absolutely worth it!! On the way back down to the bus there were so many injuries (thankfully none of them were mine) people slipped down, scraped their knees... Darn you Acropolis!

We finally made it down to the bus and made our way to the old Olympic stadium. Which was rather unimpressive but still so amazing that the first Olympics originated here. We stopped for a commemorative photo and started a long walk to the Plaka - we were all very very excited about that! Lots of amazing shopping awaited us! We definitely could have spent a lot of money there... Quite possibly all of our money!! Jewelry, art, souvenirs, clothes, food, there was so much to see and do and smell and experience - we needed another day and another €500 to spend. 



We had a delicious Gyros dinner and did even more shopping then caught the metro back to the hotel for our last night together with our Topdeck crew. We filled out or feedback forms for Noddy and Greg making sure those goons at Topdeck knew how awesome they were - perhaps they'll even get a bonus for how nice I was! Then we headed up to the rooftop bar and that's where stayed until midnight. People came and went to have a drink and say goodbye to the 9 people who were leaving the tour. There were laughs and tears and memories shared and promises of catch ups in the future. 

Travelling with Topdeck has been an absolutely incredible experience, even with all the ups and downs and sickness and stairs - I wouldn't change it for the world!! I have met some incredible people who I have every intention of staying friends with for a very long time. I will admit I shed a couple of tears on that rooftop and there will probably be more tomorrow morning - we agreed to say goodbye after breakfast. Off to bed we go for another sad goodbye tomorrow. 

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