I seem to be in the minority of people who love Athens. I’m here to change your mind, though. I hope you have read the first part of my experience in Athens. Like I said, I have too much to say, so enjoy the next part about the rest of the city!
You have probably heard that Athens is dirty and there is graffiti everywhere. Yes, that’s true. For that reason, I had no expectations for the city and was merely looking forward to seeing the islands rather than the inland. However, I was taken by surprise once in Athens. It may be dirty, but it’s so full of life and culture.
“When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.”
Samuel Johnson
Never have I agreed with words more. Stepping off the plane, I get so excited. London is spectacular. It can be daunting, for sure. London is so huge. It takes an hour just to get to the center from Heathrow airport. Yet, London literally has something for everyone.
Unfortuantely for me, I only had one full day this time around. I was determined to fit in as much as I could in my short time, which would be mostly taken up doing on specific thing. Even though I didn’t arrive at my hostel until after midnight, I woke up before 8 AM, eager to get my day going.
If you saw my previous post, you would know that my main reason for visiting Krakow was to go to Auschwitz. Previously when I had been in Poland, I was in Warsaw. Getting to Krakow would have been a four-hour (or more) trip. I thought I would never have the opportunity to see this place full of horrific stories. When I had the opportunity to travel to Krakow for a long weekend, the first thing I did was plan to visit Auschwitz.
Way back in November or December, a lot of the major airlines were having “Black Friday” sales. I decided to hop on that and get some flights that were cheaper than normal. I knew that in March, I would have a long weekend break, but where to go? Do I go to a new country or somewhere I had already been? Finally I made my decision.
Blarney Castle was magical, but the biggest part of my trip was yet to come. I jumped into my right-hand-drive car and headed toward the west coast. After a few hours of driving, I arrived in Killarney. It was kind of scary driving there. The roads were small and not in the best condition. I was happy when I finally made it there.
When I was planning my trip, Killarney sounded really familiar. Then, I learned it was because the Ireland part of Busch Gardens is “Killarney”! I must say, though, the real Killarney is not much like the Busch Gardens version. That wasn’t the main reason for going there, though. I really wanted to drive the Ring of Kerry.
While planning my trip to Ireland, I wasn’t happy with just visiting Dublin. I felt that if I only saw Dublin, I was missing out on so much Ireland has to offer. So, I did something that worried many people: I drove a car. On January 3, I rented a car and started driving south on the left-hand side of the road.
Ireland was another one of those places that I had wanted to come to forever, but never had the right opportunity to do so. Plus, Ireland is drab and cold, right? Well, that changed when I kicked off 2019 by traveling to Dublin. Dublin was just my first stop on a whole Irish adventure, but it proved to be a good starting point.
While we were planning our Christmas vacation in Italy, I threw out the idea of Rome. Why? There was one particular reason: Pompeii. I had wanted to visit Pompeii since learning about it in school. Little Erika could never have imagined actually visiting.
After finishing up in Milan, we took a train down to Rome. This was not my first time in Rome, but I wanted my family to experience Rome. Plus, it’s always good to see it again.