For our fifth day we were due to board the EasyCruise ship for a week of island hopping round the Cyclades. Because the ship wasn’t departing until later that night we decided to kill some time in the morning wandering round a few places we missed previously in Athens before heading down to the port area.

Now one thing that had been playing on my mind since our first day in the country was the sheer number of Greeks with one of their hands bandaged. I lost count of the number of times I would spot a bandaged hand, and was intrigued as to the story behind them. Perhaps there had been a huge punch up in the city days before. By this time though I thought I had got to the bottom of this enigma. After watching the locals driving and the careless nature of those on motorcycles, I concluded that these injuries were the result of side swipes from other road users.

After taking it easy, making a few souvenir purchases and successfully navigating the public transport network, we arrived at Zea Marina. Checking in took a little while, but we finally got our cabin assigned and went to investigate our lodgings for the next week.

As expected the cabin was cramped, but for £30 a night for two, I couldn’t really complain. The ship itself was reasonably kitted out, with sun deck, restaurant, outdoor bar with Jacuzzi, sauna and even some gym equipment on the top deck. Personally I wasn’t planning on spending much time onboard, preferring to spend as much time exploring and experiencing each of the islands as I could.

After unpacking our stuff, there was still good part of the afternoon left. We went for a walk round the marina, admiring the ridiculously expensive yachts, and dreaming of what it would be like to have that much cash. The area was pretty nice, and we made a mental note to return to one of the restaurants later that evening. The rest of the day was spent just lazing about taking in the surroundings, stopping at the local coffee bar and looking round the odd shop.

Once evening rolled on we returned to the afore-mentioned restaurant, which turned out to be a good choice. This saw the close of our city-break in Athens, but I for one was really looking forward to the island hopping part of our holiday.

The story continues: Greece Tour - Day Siz Milos
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To view photos of our trip to the Zea Marina Click Here.