Throwback Thursday: Euro Trip for Mom's 50th - Part 1

One year ago today, my mom, William, my grandparents and myself landed in Athens for the trip of a lifetime. My mom wanted to celebrate her 50th birthday by travelling Greece, and visiting her dream destination of Santorini.

After 18 hours of transit, we arrived in the (beautifully warm) ancient city en route to our hotel to join the rest of our tour group. We booked the Trafalgar Aegean Odyssey tour, which comprised two full days in Athens before embarking on a seven night cruise.

Whilst in Athens, we visited the first Olympic Stadium, the Acropolis and the Olympieon and dined in Plaka, the oldest section of Athens. Now we know why the Greek economy is in recession: they've never heard of point of sale bills and more often than not we'd receive a handwritten bill in Greek. Other times our bill was of a verbal nature. Clever - no VAT.

View from our hotel

We boarded the Orient Queen and our first port of call was Istanbul, Turkey. We booked an excursion for a full day tour of the city. Learnt a lot about the city (including the fact that Turkey falls into both Europe and Asia). The The Blue Mosque and Aya Sofya were the first landmarks we visited. The structures were beautiful, but on a summer's day reaching temps of 30 degrees, and a couple of hundred people going barefoot inside, a rather unappealing smell lingered in the air. We had lunch at a traditional restaurant before continuing to the Grand Bazaar (imagine a flea market the size of a mall). Our tour guide warned us about the gypsies that roamed the market, selling 'gold' to tourists at extreme prices. We spent only a few minutes inside (just to see what the fuss was about) before exiting hastily and finding a coffee shop for some respite from the heat and to take a load off our aching feet. Shortly thereafter, we returned to the cruise ship for a swim and a cocktail on the pool deck. 

The Ampitheatre in the Acropolis

Our hotel

Olympic Stadium

Inside the Grand Bazaar

Inside the Blue Mosque

First look at Istanbul

Our cruise ship

Aya Sophya

Mom and I dressed appropriately

The Grand Bazaar

Exterior of the Blue Mosque

Overall impressions of the city: Pretty but we won't return in a hurry. Why do we say that? Whilst we were there, the country was experiencing some political unrest and although we were safe at all times, one could feel the tension emanating off the Istanbul uses. Would we return to Turkey? Maybe sometime in the future, but we would definitely bypass Istanbul.

Next up on our itinerary was Mykonos. Wow. Photographs of this beautiful island do not do it justice. We arrived in the late afternoon, and our tour guide took us for an evening stroll around town. The cruise ship docked in the harbour overnight, so passengers had the option of staying at a hotel on the island as opposed to a night on the ship. We walked around the maze of passages containing curio stores and restaurants a-plenty, and ate lamb for dinner at a restaurant on the beach, an idyllic sunset the backdrop. The next morning we disembarked the ship to start our day on the beach. A bus trip and 40 minutes later, we arrived at Paraga beach.

What a surreal feeling it was knowing we were actually in Greece, on this stunning island that has featured time and time again in magazines and movies. William and I swam in the Mediterranean (which was surprisingly cooler than anticipated) before enjoying a delicious lunch at the restaurant. Note to self: Make sure you know which beach is the nudist beach (awkward). Our time on Mykonos came to an end shortly thereafter, and sadly we did not see the infamous pelicans that call the island home. Definitely a reason to go back! Mykonos was my highlight of the trip. I would love to go back and spend more time exploring this gem of a hotspot. It has such a unique vibe.

Paraga Beach

Mykonos

View from our dinner table

Another beach shot

Sunset

Our fourth day of the cruise was spent at sea. We lay around the pool, reading and enjoying the scenery that surrounded us. Greece really is magnificent, and I would encourage any traveller to make a turn past the Aegean Sea.

Our third stop was the island of Patmos. We spent only a few hours here and due to the limited window of time, we literally disembarked the ship, had a bite to eat at a restaurant in the harbour, browsed some curio shops, and returned to the ship. Our fourth stop (and second for day four) was the thriving city of Kusadasi. Governed by Turkey, the town is very much the opposite of Istanbul as it encompasses more of the European free living vibe. The shopping is absolutely amazing in Kusadasi, and we picked up major bargains on branded products, perfume and of course a leather jacket for my mom. 

Patmos

We even found a South African store!

We had these beautiful sunsets every evening.

...to be continued...

Keeping a Dream Diary

Dreams have always fascinated me, partly because they are our sub conscious' creations, and partly because so much research has been done on them.

Our brains are so amazing in that they can throw the weirdest dream at us, and true, it may contain a tiny portion of relevance to the day leading up to the dream but they can also bring suppressed thoughts forward. Things we'd prefer not to think about during our waking hours. And our conscience protects us by pushing those thoughts to the subconscious level. With nightfall comes sleep, and that is a no holds barred event. We are at the mercy of our sub consciences.

Many websites will encourage their visitors to analyse their dreams, and find some deeper meaning. It is not an exact science but I believe there is some truth to it. Firstly, here are some facts about dreams

• You can't read or tell the time while dreaming;
• You can have up to seven dreams per night (the average is three to five), depending on how many REM (rapid eye movement) cycles you have;
• Dreams can last anywhere from a few seconds to 45 minutes, and it has been suggested we dream two out of every eight hours worth of sleep;
• Blind people dream too. Their dreams are as interesting as ours, except their dreams involve senses other than sight;
• You always dream, but don't always remember it.Up yo 60% of people are unable to recall their dreams;
• Approximately 12% of people dream only in black and white.

So I decided to keep a dream diary for one week. I kept a notepad in my bedside drawer to record my dreams as soon as I woke up. This is what happened...

Friday, 3 January

The dream: I was at my longtime friend's wedding, in Australia. Stephanie (Angelo's bride) was wearing a beautiful deep purple wedding gown, and the ceremony was held in a jungle. You may think it odd but writing down what I experienced in my dream does it no justice. I guess you just had to have been there.

Background: Angelo and I have been friends since high school, and he got engaged to Stephanie in 2012. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the wedding due to financial constraints (it was actually held in Melbourne, Australia), so I followed the updates on Facebook from South Africa. 

What I think it means: My subconscious was obviously aware of how badly I wanted to attend the wedding, so I was treated to this glimpse of the big day. No, Stephanie did not wear a purple gown on her wedding day and no I'm almost positive the ceremony wasn't held in a forest/jungle setting. 

Here is a photograph of the newlyweds on their special day. Angelo and Stephanie - I wish you many mnay years of happiness together. Please don't forget my invite to your 50th wedding anniversary!

Saturday, 4 January

I could not remember my dream when I woke up that morning. I willed my brain to produce something, anything, but no. I fell into that 60% category that night. I do remember that it was a broken sleep though. I kept waking up at odd hours, and it didn't help that a fellow resident was letting off fireworks at midnight. The really loud crackers that sound like a bomb has detonated. If only those people understood what they were doing to the animals in the suburb, but that's a story for another day.

Sunday, 5 January

The dream: William and I were living in Durban, and we woke up one morning to find a little girl of about eight years (dressed in her finest frock and with a ribbon in her hair) standing at the foot of our bed. She told us that the house next door to us had set alight during the night, and a part of our roof had also burnt. No one had been injured in the blaze but the family had lost all their belongings. Afterwards, my mom and I went to Computicket to buy two tickets to the rugby game taking place later that day to raffle off for the benefit of the family that had lost everything.

What I think it means: I'll be honest, this one unnerved me a little and I have no idea why I would dream this. A house in Atlasville burnt down in November last year, and I was on scene so possibly the dream was related to that?

Monday, 6 January

The dream: Chantel and I had lunch (and cocktails) at this beautiful restaurant built on stilts in the middle of a crystal blue ocean. The restaurant was made of wood, and a thatch roof. It was enclosed in glass providing the most breathtaking views of our surroundings. I have no idea where we were, but picture a beautiful Maldives resort. That's what I experienced.

Background: I met Chantel through Courtney way back in 2008. The pair had been friends since Courtney met Chantel at Dream Nails and the two have been inseparable ever since. At her brother's wedding in the UK last June, Chantel met the man of her dreams. They got engaged a few months later, and Chantel moved to the UK to live with her fiancee. The couple are to be married later this month, and Chantel recently announced she is pregnant. Congratulations Chantel and Andrew, we wish you all the best and may your little bundle of joy bring you much happiness and joy.

What I think it means: Gosh, aside from the dream being totally off in that Chantel couldn't have been drinking cocktails since she's pregnant, I have no idea. Ha ha! It was nice to "catch up" with you Chants.

Here is a photograph of the happy couple with Chantel's godson Dylan, taken at Sun City when Andrew holidayed in South Africa last year.

Tuesday, 7 January

Another night I was unable to recall my dream. No strange occurrences during the day, maybe I was just tired.

Wednesday, 8 January

The dream: We (my mom, William and I) were on holiday with my grandparents. We were on a cruise (not sure if it was the one we went on together last year or perhaps another one) but we soaked up the sun, swam in the pool and just relaxed. It was wonderful.

What I think it means: Need to go on another holiday/cruise! Below is a photograph of the five of us in Athens in June 2013.

Thursday, 9 January

The dream: I was in some warehouse, it was deserted and in a desolate area. Gregg & Courtney came in and told me they intended selling some storage space. They then took a cardboard box off a shelf and opened it, but it was empty. Gregg then said that that (the cardboard box) was what he intended selling.

What I think it means: Absolutely no clue. It was very random and it makes no sense at all. Courtney, Gregg and Dylan, below.

And that concludes my dream diary. Granted, a professional may delve a bit deeper into the meaning of the above dreams but the purpose of this post was merely to recall my dreams and let any of the people featured in my dreams that I do think of them, even if only subconsciously.

Have you ever kept a dream diary, or have any remarkable dreams that you'll never forget?

Happy Friday everybody, have a fantastic weekend.

Simone