Santorini- Hospitals and Sunsets.

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Santorini- Hospitals and Sunsets  Hey everybody. Well, the rollercoaster that is Leash’s dream trip continues. Seriously, you couldn’t even make this stuff up- it’s ridiculous. We caught the ferry from Athens to Ios- which was about a 4 hour trip. Unfortunately, the Greeks all smoke and I was already feeling wheezy. Once it got too cold to stay up on deck I had to go back inside and it was hell. I swear that’s what killed me. We arrived at Ios about 9.30ish. That’s something you should know about Greece- they operate on ‘ish’ time here. everything happens at AROUND the time it’s scheduled for. We got into our hotel which had a beautiful view over the pool to the bay. I was sick as a dog by the next morning but managed to get the bus to town with a few of the others for a quick look around. There’s not much in Ios but bars and stairs- a LOT of stairs!! Oh my god it’s ridiculous. After the second night in a row of no sleep (one of my room mates snores like a chainsaw- so bad that earplugs or headphones don’t even help), I was too exhausted to cough and breathe at the same time. Luckily, our driver Muffin (who’s in charge while Petula is in Egypt with the other half of the group) is a star. He sorted out a room on my own and brought me some dinner up. The next day saw us board another ferry for the island of Santorini. This is somewhere I’ve wanted to visit my entire life- I’ve dreamed of seeing the sunset on Santorini for years. I was so sick by this stage it was all I could do to look around on the bus trip to the Hotel Ikaros. It’s even more stunning than you could ever imagine. I asked Muffin to get me to a Dr, but he didn’t manage. By the evening, I was so sick I had to call him and get him to take me to the hospital- I couldn’t breathe and I was running a huge temperature. I knew I was bad when the nurse took my temperature, stared at the thermometer, felt my forehead, said something urgently to the lady doctor in Greek, then stuck the thermometer back to double check. I’d been on antibiotics for 3 days dammit- I shouldn’t have had a fever!! I did an impression of Puff the Magic Dragon for a while (i.e. they put me on a nebuliser to help me breathe). So I have severe bronchitis (which I’d guessed). Eventually they gave me a script for some different antibiotics and a ton of other stuff, then sent me home with orders to stay in bed for a few days. Yeah right. The next day was a boat to the volcano (everyone else hiked to the top, I stayed on the boat), then to swim in the warm springs (which was heaven) then some lunch on another island. After lunch, we headed over to the most photographed part of Greece- complete with the white and blue church. Muffin had promised me no stairs for the day as we were getting a donkey ride up the 370 odd stairs from the dock to the town. Unfortunately, they hadn’t told him that the donkeys stop halfway up and you have to climb the rest of the way. These stairs were almost VERTICAL. Oh my god, I seriously considered just giving up, rolling back down to the ocean and drowning. Once I got to the top, one bitch in the group came over and had a go at me, telling me that everyone has problems, I was being an attention seeker (cough, talk about hypocrite, cough) and that I was making Muffin’s life hard. I was too sick to even tell her what I should have- to drop dead. I’d been told she was a bitch to everyone, but it was the first time I’d experienced it personally. It was terrible timing- I was sick, tired and couldn’t breathe and that was the final straw- as soon as she’d gone, I started crying. Luckily, Stevo and Muffin came to the rescue and I made it through the town to watch the famous sunset of Santorini. It was so worth it- I might have to completely write off the next week, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. So today I’m staying in bed most of the day, apart from coming downstairs (VERY slowly!) to keep you all up to date on the latest. We’re back to Athens tomorrow night where we’ll meet up with the Egypt people, then head to Kavala, and on to Turkey!! Hopefully I’ll be feeling better by the time we hit Gallipoli and Istanbul. Hope all is well. Leash xx