The Final Leg

We left Paros on Sunday morning and caught the ferry to Athens. It was a sunny day and the ferry crossing was nice and smooth. Athens on a Sunday is a rather sad state of affairs as literally everything is closed. Everything except a handful of takeaway shops - so Sunday evening we really didn't get up to anything.

We were scheduled to fly out again at 7pm on Monday, so we really ended up with a bonus day in Greece. Given that our flight was going to be such a large one we tried to make the most of getting outside and exploring. Our first stop was the ancient Agora of Greece, which conveniently was just a single train station from our hotel. Surrounding area is called the Monastiraki, which is a really interesting market area. During the week it has a few alley ways full of interesting shops and on a Sunday (apparently) it turns into a rather dynamic farmers market. However, it was Monday, so we just too our time looking around the different shops many of which stocked a wide array of weapons and camouflage clothing , not really sure why.  Inside the Agora was very interesting, the highlight of the site is the Temple of Hephaestus which is one of the most well preserved temples in Greece. The temple was officially inaugarated in 416-415 BC and impressively the roof is still in tact.  We spent a couple of hours there looking around the ruins and exploring the museum.

From the Agora we took a bit of a walk through the downtown area. We walked from the Monastiraki down past the Greek Parliament to the Museum of Cycladic Art.  This is one of the more recommended museums in Athens and as a bonus its open on a Monday - which many are not. So we went and looked through it. The Museum is spread over six floors and explores ideas about how the various people groups may have lived based on the art work. Many of the pieces dated back over 6000 years and were unique because the ancient Greeks used simple household items such as vases and jugs to tell stories and depict scenes from everyday life. We spent a few hours looking around and watching the various short films before making our way back to the hotel to collect our mountain of bags and catching the train to the airport.

The actual process of flying back was okay. We flew with British Airways and were pleasantly surprised by the comfortable seats and wide array of movies. I was delighted to see the entire back catalogue of 007 films which kept met entertained for much of the trip. Our trip was divided into four legs Athens to London, London to Singapore, Singapore to Sydney and finally Sydney home again. The entire process too from 4pm Monday when we first checked in till 4pm Wednesday afternoon when we got through New Zealand Customs minus our bags which had managed to be misplaced along the way (one in London and one surprisingly still in Athens). We were also pleasantly surprised to be picked up at the airport by Kimilla's Uncle Alan and Aunty Vimila.

Looking back over the last three months we feel like time has really flown by and at the same time feel like we were gone forever. We have had such a good time and have seen some incredible places. The highlights for me include Barcelona, the Sahara Desert, Dublin and Drummond Castle in Scotland. Kimilla really enjoyed the beach in Milos, her 20 min Camel ride in the Sahara and Kilkenny in Ireland.

Even though we miss many people back in Canada we are happy to be home and looking forward to catching up with all the people that we haven't seen for a while.

For those that have been following we hope that you have enjoyed our long way home.



Items Lost or destroyed
1 Linen Shirt - Sam
1 Camping Mat - Sam
2 Pairs of Shorts - Sam
1 Pair of Flip Flops/Jandals - Kimilla
16 Kilos (between the two of us)
1 Berber Pizza in Morocco due to stomach bug - Sam
1 Haggis Dinner in Scotland due to stomach bug - Kimilla
4 pairs of socks - Sam
3 pairs of underwear - Sam
1 travel pillow - Sam
2 Wall Posters - Kimilla
1 Entire Camping Pack (although we will get this back in the next couple of days) - Sam