Category Archives: Destinations

Getting to Glen Brittle

15 Wednesday Aug 2012

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I mentioned earlier that Glen Brittle was in the middle of nowhere.

I may not have mentioned that Kat & I were getting around Scotland without a car. Public transport all the way, baby! This wouldn’t have been a problem, if we had known not to trust the very convincing internet.

Kat while hitchhiking down the road in Glen Brittle

We had our fancy (and totally worth it) Explorer Passes for CityLink. These passes allowed us to travel on CityLink buses, the main company in Scotland, for 5 out of 8 days. It turned out being a very good investment, because we a) didn’t plan our trip, and the flexibility to hop on to any CityLink bus was comforting and b) almost none of the drivers’ marked the pass, even when presented to them, so we probably got a lot more out of the pass than we were supposed to. Ah, Scotland.

But I digress. We had arrived in Portree with the intention of staying for a few nights and using it as a home base of sorts to visit Old Man of Storr and a few other possible hikes. We really liked Bayfield Backpackers, the hostel where we stayed, and it was there that we ended up meeting some truly wonderful travelers and making friends. Again, though, I digress.

Portree. So, our lovely hostel didn’t have room for us for 3 nights in a row, and we really wanted to stay put. We wandered around town for awhile knocking on doors of B & B’s in the hopes that there’d be a room that wouldn’t charge 30 quid for each of us a night, which would equate to $60. Stupid exchange rate.

Alas, we had no luck. But everything happens for a reason, and so on to the internetz we went. Our next stop that we had wanted to make was Glen Brittle, which was where the Fairy Pools were, and a bunch of other hikes. Was there a way to get there?
  Yes! said the Internet. Bus 53 leaves from Portree to Glen Brittle twice a day during the summers! Lovely, we said. Let’s do that! 

So we booked the hostel in Glen Brittle, and the receptionist at the hostel said he’d look up the bus times, as we couldn’t seem to find when it actually left.

Foreshadowing!

We returned from watching the Olympic opening ceremonies to find a note to us from the hostel reception. “Couldn’t seem to find the bus schedule. Try Tourist Info tomorrow a.m.”

No problem, we said. We rose early, did some grocery shopping, and ate some yogurt while loitering outside the Info office. At 9:00 sharp they opened the doors and in we marched, determined to make it to Glen Brittle, armed with the knowledge of the Internet. Bus 53. (See!? This looks like a relatively legit source of info, right?!)

Us: We’d like to get to Glen Brittle.
Them: Do you have a car?
Us: Nope. But we have Explorer Passes! (insert expectant and optimistic smiles here)
Them: Well, there is no bus that goes to Glen Brittle.
Us: Oh, really? We read online that Bus 53 goes right there from here…

Them: You must be mistaken. That bus does not exist.
Us: Are you sure? It said it only ran in the summer, perhaps… (insert initial fade of our smiles)
Them: Sorry, there’s no bus to Glen Brittle. You can take a bus to Carbost. That’s about 8 miles from Glen Brittle.
Us: Okay…well, what are the rates for renting a car?
Them: The guy who runs the cheap place is in Glasgow for the weekend, so that’s out.

Them: 60 pounds.
Us: (insert furrowed brows) Hmmm…that’s a bit pricey for us. Do you think we can call the hostel? We already have reservations to stay there, perhaps they can pick us up or something.
Them: Probably not, but we can call.
Louise, Glen Brittle Hostel Co-Manager: Hello! I hear you’re having some trouble getting to us.
Us: Yes! What’s your advice?
Louise: Are you experienced walkers? Do you have packs?
Us: Sort of…
Louise: You can walk from Sligahan, but it’s quite a trek and I don’t recommend it. Take a bus to Sligahan Hotel and hitchhike from there. Many travelers get here that way.
Us: Okay.

And so my first hitchhiking experience began. We took the bus to Sligahan Hotel. The weather was overcast, as Scotland weather is wont to be, and after situating our bags, we started walking. I converted my pack into a backpack rather than rolling it, and as the rain started to fall, we pulled on our ponchos and trudged along the road.

Maybe 10 cars passed us, some of them looking more remorseful than others. A handful of cars were full up, but some just kept going. I can’t really blame them, although we were definitely not very threatening-looking, with our wet hair. I wished so much that I had Hermione Granger there with me to apply that water repelling spell on my glasses.

The eleventh car drove by and passed us, too, and I wondered, as it disappeared around the curve, whether we’d end up walking the many miles to Glen Brittle after all. We had heard hitchhiking in Scotland, and particularly in the islands, was easy and very safe. Lo and behold, the bright red tail lights of the car illuminated and it maneuvered slowly backwards towards us. We had a winner!

Of course, we got picked up by a Russian. Maybe I smell like borscht or something, because man, after I started dating a Russian they seemed to come out of all sorts of woodwork in my life. Yet again, I digress.

Sergei was a PhD neuroscience student studying in Cambridge, on the Isle of Skye to camp and kayak. He was on his way to the Talisker Distillery in Carbost, and the turn-off for Glen Brittle was on the way. We assured him that it was fine if he dropped us there. The backseat of his car was down and replaced with camping gear. A kayak graced the roof rack. We made small talk until the turn off, and he even got out of the car to help us with our bags, apologizing that he wouldn’t take us to Glen Brittle proper.

We parted ways and again started walking, still with a number of miles left, but at least much closer than we were.

Only about 10 minutes or so passed when another car pulled over; a Czech couple on vacation were on their way to a trail that happened to be across from the hostel, so we got a ride all the way to our final destination.

Total travel time: approximately 1.75 hours, maybe 2.

We arrived at the hostel just before Louise was finished cleaning; the kitchen and rooms close from 10:30ish to 5, and so we left our gear in the common area and waited for some of the weather to improve.

We managed to squeeze in 2 hikes that day, including one with another Russian who was staying at our hostel. My sweat must smell like borscht or something…

Miss Button Does a Turkish Bath

13 Monday Aug 2012

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After my experience years ago in a bath in Budapest (mentioned briefly here from back in the day) and after reading Adventurous Kate’s hilarious blog entry about her time at a Turkish hamam, I had to try it out.

Ready for my first Turkish bath! Note the sweet wooden footwear.

A traditional Turkish bath consists of a sauna/steam, an exfoliation and a soapy bath, all while lying down on a marble slab in the middle of a room. Other services available depend on the hamam, but you can usually get an oil massage and, on the ladies’ side, sometimes waxing or other spa treatments. We (a Turkish friend and I) opted for the basic steam/scrub/bath option, which sort of includes a mini-massage when you’re being soaped up, but not really.

The hamam we went to did a great job with online marketing, making it look like the masseuses were all these toned, attractive folk and that people regularly play music and eat while in the bath house. My friend had also heard that it was a hamam where people like John Travolta would rent out the whole thing; it was famous. That wasn’t quite the experience we had…

We walked in to the ladies’ entrance–hamams are segregated by gender–and there was a room with changing stalls that had windows (so no real privacy existed in the place, period). Prices were listed in Turkish Lire, which was probably a better sign than some of the hamams that straight up list them in euro and know the clientele they’re working with are all foreigners. Prices, though, were a bit steep (85 Lire–$47– for a basic service).

The women who were running the place were older, probably in their 60s, and were basically just wearing underwear. Gravity had definitely worked its natural magic and the rather well endowed women were completely blase about hanging out at work half-naked. Cool.

We were shown to a changing room that we shared, and were given these wooden sandal things that were more an accident waiting to happen than any kind of proper footwear, since they didn’t fit and the wood was heavy. It was easier to slide along the floor like a skier than pick up my feet and walk, so I kind of did that until we got into the bathhouse part, and then stopped using the shoes altogether.

We changed into our towels, and walked into the steam room. The room itself had high ceilings and it only took about 10 minutes for us to break a healthy sweat. The point of the steam part is to open your pores and get the sweat going, so that when you get exfoliated, more of the grime and gunk that has built up in your skin will come out.

I think even 5 years ago, I would have been a lot more uncomfortable with all the nudity in the bathhouse; it’s optional whether you want to keep your bikini on or go the way the Lord made ya. Maybe it’s maturity, or confidence, or just the fact that women of all ages and races and shapes were willing to let it all hang out, but I was totally unfazed by the skin, and I rolled how most of the other chicas in the place were rolling, too. And I’m glad about that.

Back to the bath. My friend and I chatted for awhile, getting in some valuable girl talk time that, although I love him to death, Boris cannot provide. Maybe after about 20 minutes, the scrubber lady (kecesi) summoned me to the block. See, in the middle of the room, which on all sides has water basins for washing, there is a big block of marble where the massage/scrub takes place. About 4 women could fit on this block, one on each side.

She gestured for me to start lying face down, and donned a special exfoliating mitten thing. She proceeded to scrub every part of me, front and back, with the rough mitten (called a kese) until there were huge, grody rolls of dead skin all over the place. In my defense, I’ve never had a full body skin exfoliation done, so there was a lot of grit to get rid of.

My friend told me as I was lying there, “You should have her do your face, too!” and instructed the woman to do so in Turkish. I was compliant, although I have to say that I tried really hard not to laugh when she gave me no warning and clobbered my face with her huge, mitten-covered hand to scrub it.

I was sat up and got scrubbed some more, then led to one of the water basins and doused with water to get off all the dead skin that had accumulated during the exfoliation.

Next came the soaping. Again, face down on the marble, but this time she had a soapy bag that got frothed up and lathered all over. Its aroma was sweet without being overpowering, and we definitely smelled nice afterwards.

Again, I had no notice when not only the mitten-covered hand but a soap-lathered one descended onto my tiny face. In that moment, and later, too, when she rinsed it with a bucket of water, I was grateful for the childhood games of “Let’s Hold Our Breath As We Pass By The Cemetery,” because it must have built up my lung capacity for moments like these in a Turkish bath when my keseci is possibly trying to drown me. Who knew.

Soaping over, I was again rinsed at the water tubs and told I was all done. I felt cleaner, for sure. We were given new towels to dry off as we exited. Somewhere on the price board it had said there were free teas and coffees, but we were ready for dinner and didn’t take advantage of it.

Overall, I’m really glad I went. There are upsides and downsides to going to more touristed hamams. One upside is that the staff are used to dealing with tourists who have no idea what the frack is going on, and if I hadn’t had my Turkish friend with me I would have been a lot more intimidated to do it alone.

A huge downside is just price; the really nice places, ones that actually have nice architecture to admire, are even more expensive than where we were, meaning you’d pay maybe 100 TL for what we got. We were told about another hamam where they give you a bag of your own stuff–soap, sandals, shampoo–but that place was 70 euro, not even in lire.

In 2008, Boris went to a hamam in the countryside. He paid something like 10 TL for all of what we got and a massage, and has a pretty funny story to tell about the whole experience (ask him sometime, he’ll surely share with you), but did say that the hamam was pretty dingy.

I’m still unsure as to how many Turks really frequent these places. Obviously the ones in Sultanahmet are mostly for tourists, but I’ve heard mixed things.

Have you ever been to a hamam, or another kind of bath house? What did you think?  

Dorky videos from Scotland: Part I

11 Saturday Aug 2012

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Scotland was the first place I really started taking video, in part because Kat, my travel buddy, was really good about it and it reminded me to do it. But also because I never felt like I could really capture what I was seeing; video is slightly closer than a photo, but still not quite the same as being there. Excuse the utter nerdiness and unpolished quality of these vids. Needless to say, I will not be a YouTube sensation any time soon.

First video, taken across the street from our hostel in Glen Brittle, which we loved so dearly. You can hear Kat mention a rainbow, which will become a theme of the trip: spotting rainbows, photographing rainbows, wouldntitbecooliftherewerearainbowhere, etc. We heart rainbows.

This second video has symbolism that I think many of my close friends will appreciate. People who know me well know that I have a…er, reputation, for telling really…uh, let’s call them “compelling” stories that are incredibly detailed and then may or may not have any kind of resolution or point. They are known in some circles as Sara Button stories. My award in high school drama was Write It Down And Tell It At A Party award…you get the irony. 
As I was uploading this video, I realized the video itself quite parallels this theme. I had started taking it because the sheep appeared to be about to have some sort of rumble, sans finger snaps, so we watched with rapt attention. 
As you can see, nothing happened, and the sheep walked away. A lot like what happens in a Sara Button story. And then I found $20. 
This video (sorry for the bumpiness) is of our hike to the ruins of the MacAskill with Vlad, a Russian hiking buddy we picked up along the way. 

Stay tuned for more cinematic majesty, courtesy of Button Studios!

Temple of Poseidon at Sounio (mostly in photos)

10 Friday Aug 2012

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Greece is a maritime kind of place, and the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion is one of the best examples of their enduring devotion to Poseidon, god of the sea. Built around the 440s BCE, the temple is of Doric order and only 15 of the original 42 columns stand today. As is the norm in Greek temples, a huge cult statue of Poseidon would sit in the naos (the worship area), where his gold-leafed, bronze-hearted self would chill. 

On the road to Cape Sounion, where Greeks buy snazzy vacation property
The ruins of the temple are nice, but the best part about it is really the setting. The drive from Athens to Sounio–if you take the scenic route, along the water–takes about 45 minutes or so. From the temple, located on the southernmost tip of the Attika peninsula, the views of the water are grand.
Lately(especially after my trip to Scotland) I’ve been realizing that, despite my desire to be a writer, some things just cannot be explained, especially certain levels of beauty, which is such a subjective thing anyway. So, as a picture is worth a thousand words, check out the photos I took on our little trip to Sounion. Hopefully they will suffice. 

The view’s not too shabby, eh?

Weeeee!

Supposedly Lord Byron, on his first Grand Tour to Greece, inscribed his name on the bottom of one of these columns. There’s not much evidence that it’s his real signature or anything, but it’s cool to know that these places really inspired incredible writers and legends like him. 

Turkey Dinner

08 Wednesday Aug 2012

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Tonight we had dinner at a Turkish mall. 

Let me explain. We’ve booked our lodging through Roomorama, and got a really cheap deal on a room in Istanbul with full use of an apartment that has wifi and laundry. The owner is in Hong Kong for the week, so we have the place to ourselves at least for a few days, until some other guests arrive. About $15 a night per person for our own apartment? Yes, please! 

The other advantage (mostly) is that we’re in a completely residential area of Istanbul, called Mecidiyiköy, which is a couple metro stops away from Taksim Square, on the European side of the city. I’m pretty sure we’re the only tourists around. Our street is rife with burger joints, grocery shops, and locals just doin’ their thang. 

There is also a huge mall, Profilo, about a block away. That’s where we ate dinner last night. 

Why the heck would you eat dinner in a mall in Istanbul? You might be thinking. Not a strange question, as I would probably ask the same myself to any other traveler telling me this story. For good reason! I reply. The locals directed us to it! And I kid you not. 



Like most travelers, Boris & I prefer not to eat in super touristy areas. Prices are better, and usually quality is higher, when you get out of the craziness of the tourist district in any city you’re in. Istanbul is no different. So, being in a normal neighborhood, we asked a lady on the street where she recommended to eat. In broken English, she told us the name of a place that was pretty cheap, and gestured directions. With the name in mind, we turned and went in search of this local eatery, wondering what it would be like.

We stopped a couple times and asked for directions of a group of men sitting in a little convenience store. They gave us a thumbs up when we asked whether this place was good, and proceeded to direct us to the food court of Profilo Mall. And so we went. 

We ate a two-course meal with Turkish apple tea at Otantik, which is a Turkish chain. The prices were good. The food was good. The waiter was nice. And again, we were the only tourists in the place. Apparently there are other locations in more trafficked parts of town, but we were hanging out in the mall in Istanbul for dinner. There was also a KFC in the food court. 

My Favorite 5: Things to Do in Scotland

07 Tuesday Aug 2012

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When I agreed to go a bit out of my way to hike in the Scottish Highlands, I wasn’t sure what I was getting into. Scotland was on my list of travel destinations, to be sure, and hiking in the Cuillins with a photojournalist sounded pretty good, despite the fact that we had never met in person before. Turns out, Scotland is one of the most breathtaking places I’ve been privileged to visit, in every sense of the word.

Oban

 Here are my favorite 5 things we did in Scotland:

View in Oban


Isle of Skye (#1-3): Kat, my travel companion, really wanted to head for the hills on this trip. She’s an avid hiker and has summited a jillion things. I was game to try to keep up as well as I could, and so we took an early morning bus to the Isle of Skye.

The Isle of Skye is in the Inner Hebrides, a series of islands off the western part of Scotland. It’s also home to some of the most striking landscapes I’ve ever seen: lush, rolling hills with patches of forest, waterfalls rushing down rocks and glimmering lakes in places you’d never expect. The highlights of our trip really took place here, with no frills except those provided by nature.

How the heck can anything be so beautiful!? 

Clouds drifting in above the Fairy Pools waterfalls

After our swim in the Fairy Pools. It was COLD.

1.       Glen Brittle: Not even a true village or town, Glen Brittle is where you want to position yourself if you ever go to the Isle of Skye. It’s along only one road, at the end of which is a campground and lake reaching into the sea. We stayed at the Glen Brittle Scottish Youth Hostel, which was located minutes away from trailheads leading to some of the coolest hikes I’ve ever been on. We swam in the Fairy Pools and made our way up a mountain to find a stunning lake. I think specific posts deserve dedication to what we did and saw there, so stay tuned for more on the jaw-dropping beauty of Glen Brittle. (And also, a post on how we got there…)

The Cuillin
2.       Driving through the Quiraing: One of the best things about travel happens to be meeting new people, and Kat & I sure did that. In our hostel at Portree, we were fortunate enough to meet Anna-Marie and Bas, whose plans to hike around Portree were foiled by bad weather. What luck that was for us, because the four of us ended up renting a car and driving around the island together for the day! Yes, I drove in the UK and didn’t crash/harm anyone/kill a sheep! It was quite thrilling, and one of the very cool, windy roads we went through was in the Quiraing, which is a landscape created by a series of landslides called the Trotternish Landslip, some of which still occur.
The Storr
3.       The Storr: part of the whole landslide-derived landscape, the Storr, which includes the famous Old Man of Storr, has alien-looking rock features that jut into the sky. There are sheep, too. 
Me at the Storr

4. Edinburgh Fringe Festival: Every August for most of the month, artists from all over the world descend on Edinburgh. The Royal Mile is clobbered by tourists, performers and locals just trying to get to their bus, and acts ranging from general street performers (you know, fire eaters, magic, balancing acts, guitar) to music to mime to dance to experimental theatre to whatever the heck one can qualify as “art.” Hundreds—yes, hundreds—of shows take place, many of which are free or very cheap. If you hate crowds and the risk of hit-or-miss performances, avoid Edinburgh at this time, as accommodation prices skyrocket, but if you’re interested in the quirky, thought-provoking or plain old funny, definitely check out the Fringe. (FYI: We stayed at a great hostel, Castle Rock. Highly recommend!)

5. London 2012 Olympics! We heard that tickets to soccer in Glasgow were cheap, sometimes even free, so we figured we’d break up the long bus ride from Skye back to Edinburgh with a stopover in Glasgow to catch some Olympic action. Although we didn’t get to see Team USA play that day (they were over in Newcastle or somesuch), we did get to see France defeat Sweden in a hard fought women’s quarter-final soccer match! Tickets were not as cheap as we had been promised, but when else was I going to go to the Olympics? 

Team USA during the Opening Ceremonies! We watched from a pub in Portree.

Why I loved traveling in Greece (and why you should try it sometime)

02 Thursday Aug 2012

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Port of Nafplio, Greece. See the couple having their wedding photos done? 🙂

By now, I’ve got a little more than a month in Greece under my belt. Now I can say that I’ve traveled it solo and accompanied, and both were majestic. If you didn’t realize that a lot is happening economically in Greece right now, you’ve probably been living under a remote rock somewhere. Their economic crisis and the political turmoil that is part of that has made an impact on tourism in Greece, too, which is a bummer when you think about the fact that last year, 16.5% of Greece’s GDP was based on tourism. So, here are a few things I’d like to share about my time in Greece, in case you’re having doubts about traveling there! 

I ordered an omelet for dinner one night and this is what I got! Whimsical!
The food. If you’re anything like me, you like to eat. A lot. Food is one of my favorite things, and I strongly believe that sharing food is a huge part of sharing in a community’s culture. Greece is no different, and lucky for us travelers, the food here is wonderful! Like seafood? No problem! Pretty much anywhere you go in Greece, the seafood is guaranteed to be fresh and pretty local. Vegetarian? Definitely no problem! Tons of salads and vegetable options grace tavern menus. Need gluten-free? Also not an issue, especially if you eat meat. Can’t really help you vegans out; pita is the shiznit, so you’re missing out. But again, the produce in Greece is incredible, and you won’t find better cherries anywhere. My favorite Greek foods are their traditional yogurt, horiatiki (which is basically what in America we call a “Greek salad:” olives, tomatoes, onions, and a HUGE chunk of feta to top it off), and biftekis gemistas, which are stuffed hamburgers without a bun, essentially. There are dozens of other incredible foods that I love there, but those are some standouts. Oh, and of course don’t forget to try the pita souvlaki! 
The transport. Getting around in Greece is quite easy, despite the fact that they don’t even have the same alphabet! The KTEL bus system goes almost everywhere you could want it to go, and since the national train service has been cut quite a bit, it’s a lot quicker generally to travel on the busses. We did take the train, and that was great, too, although it’s running less and now there are no international trains out of Greece (so don’t try to get on one bound for Turkey; you’ll be waiting for Godot for that one). Sometimes it’s tricky to find schedules on the KTEL website, because each region has its own site. Generally, hotel and hostel folks are very helpful in figuring these things out, though, so I never had a problem, even when I was traveling on my own. For tips on navigating from BusStation A to Bus Station B, check out my post! 
In Athens, at least, the metro is super easy to navigate, thanks to the 2004 Olympics. There’s a direct train from the airport into the center of the city, and you can buy a ticket that’s valid for both bus and metro, in case you need to transfer. Ferry travel is relatively easy to organize, although you might be advised to stick with a Greek travel agent for that. We were able to book our overnight ferry to Santorini no problem, but figuring out where to pick up the tickets caused some confusion. Greece still has jobs for travel agents, so you shouldn’t have a problem finding one in Piraeus or in the cities; they can book your ferry and accommodation, which is helpful because not all the ferry times are online. Overall, though, I found Greece super easy to get around in, even all by my non-Greek-speaking self.
The Acropolis at dusk
The sights. Greece truly has something for everyone. If your dream vacation is lying on a beach with a drink in your hand, go to the islands. You’ll see some of the world’s greatest beaches and most picturesque sunsets. Prefer something more outdoorsy, like hiking? That’s cool, try Olympus or hiking up to the monasteries in Meteora. If history is your cup of tea, then Greece is definitely one of the top places to be. The Acropolis (and essentially everything in Athens), ancient Olympia, Mycenae, Epidaurus, Rhodes, Crete, Santorini…all of these places have notable ruins and interesting histories, and that’s barely scratching the surface. 
These reasons are not the only ones I loved Greece, but they are some big ones. It’s helpful that the Greek people I encountered were, without exception, eager to help me have the best experience possible in their country; whether it was the locals advising Boris and me on where to eat dinner, or a periptero owner directing me to the bus stop, folks weren’t bothered by my lack of language skills, nor did I feel talked down to for being a tourist. Most Greeks speak English (many of them really well), but even if they don’t, a general eagerness to communicate exists. 
A final note about safety in Greece: last year, headlines were rampant in American newspapers featuring the riots in Syntagma Square and the protests happening in Athens. A lot of people were freaked out about this, especially us danger-wary Americans. The general rule of thumb when protests like that happen is to avoid the areas of the city where protests are happening and you’ll be fine. I had friends who were excavating in the middle of the city and had to go around the protest areas daily; they were fine. I had other friends who were working in the Peloponnese when things were going nuts; they were fine (if inconvenienced by transportation strikes). Just like anywhere else, if you avoid an active conflict, you should be fine. What I’m starting to learn is that America is actually a much more dangerous place compared to most European countries.
There’s my endorsement of traveling Greece. What are you waiting for!?

Itinerary update!

25 Wednesday Jul 2012

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Geia sas, Greece!

For those of you who don’t know from previous posts and Facebook status updates, today I”m heading to Edinburgh, Scotland for 10 days of touring through the Highlands! My last days in Greece have been truly wonderful, and I am honest in saying that Greece has become one of my absolute favorite countries in which to travel. If you haven’t been here, definitely consider it for your next vacation spot. 


So, what does my Scotland trip mean for you lovely folks?

I’m not sure how frequently I”ll be posting, but I will try to at least do some photo updates as we go along. I have a feeling we’re going to try to take advantage of as much as possible, and there may not be as much down time as I’ve had lately to work on writing and photo editing, etc. But never fear! This is what you can look forward to, post-wise, in the coming weeks from Bumblings of Miss Button:

  • Why I loved traveling in Greece (and why you should give it a shot, too!)
  • My trip to Sounio, the temple of Poseidon at the southernmost part of Attica
  • Tips about how to be a considerate hostel patron
  • And, of course, all about our trip to the Highlands!
Thanks so much for reading! Please don’t forget to “like” my page on Facebook, follow me on Twitter @SaraMelanie14 and on Instagram @SaraMelanie14!