Hello,

Is it reasonable to visit Greece and plan to rely on public transportation and taxis? Would we still be able to reach hiking destinations easily? I have a free place to stay in Athens but would really love to be able to explore more of the country and would be very grateful to hear suggestions. Thanks in advance for your help!

Hello! The short answer is that you can rely on them to some decent degree, however I would suggest that you remained a little cautious or alert for whatever situation could need preparation or adjustments. Obviously most places have a large public transportation system and taxis are available in most of them, however Greece culturally relies far less to public transportation compared to privately owned vehicles than states in western and northern Europe, so don't go entirely concern-free thinking it will all definitely run 100% smoothly even in remote places, because there is a chance it might not. Of course I don't want to scare you, I only want to ensure that you go about your plan well prepared for potential adjustments and not with the mentality "surely everything will be perfectly taken care off without a single hiccup" because then you could be caught off guard.

I can suggest a few plans based on the information you gave me:

Attica Love

You told me you will have a free base in Athens, so this can be a great and affordable way to explore a lot of of Attica. Attica is the prefecture / region of which Athens is the metropolis of. Even though Athens is huge, Attica is a quite big region and has more to offer. It has an extended coastline, two lakes (Marathon and Vouliagmeni) and other less known ones, three mountains over 1,000 m - 3,280ft (Parnitha, Penteli and Hymettus) and many more hills that are close to the city and offer nice views, such as Lycabettus and Philopappos hill. The mountains and the hills are great for hiking and have several trails. Needless to say, in this way you combine hiking, nature and city vibes at the lowest possible cost and with the exclusive use of public transportation or taxis or the subway, which is great. Within Athens, there's nothing to worry about. This screenshot gives some info about some basic trails in Attica.

These are just some examples. According to this page, greeka.com, Parnitha has more than 50 trails. Parnitha also is a national park and has wildlife, if you are fortunate enough to spot it. Again, Lycabettus is a hill, not a mountain, that's why the trail is shorter, but it's still great to accompany it with a city break within the same day.

Hiking view of Parnitha from the website xtremegreece. Check the link for more info and also remember you can get in touch with hiking / trekking / mountaineering clubs in Athens to go there in an organized group.

Travel & tour offices

Perhaps you want bigger mountains or the feel of exploring rural Greece far from Athens. I hear that. Based on your mail, I get the impression you don't have a fixed itinerary yet. In Greece this can be a problem because you can very easily get "lost" and don't know what to choose and what the smartest plan to make would be. That is because Greece has many things to see, its landscape is diverse and irregular, navigating it is harder and a little chaotic due to all this, so it has a real-life feel of being complicated and big in ways tourists never imagine by looking the map. Nothing tragic of course, but tourists definitely oversimplify and underprepare when it comes to Greece. So here's an idea. If indeed you have not a fixed plan and you are unsure where to go, you can make a search on the internet with all the travel offices or hiking clubs in Athens and pick up the ones that seem to go to places that interest you. So as soon as you land in Athens, you call or go to those offices and say this: "Hello, I am gonna be in Greece for the so and so amount of time, I want to see such & such landscapes, are you making any such trips during the time of my stay and if so are there available seats for me / my group?". And then you choose the best trip based on the info they give you. Of course the cost rises a bit, but if you get to go in farther places, you would have to pay a lot a taxi or spend more for overnight stays either way so basically sometimes these tour offices offer good packages, that might even end up being cheaper. And if not, they still curate your experience so you have nothing to worry about. They get you where you have to go, they schedule the stays, the drives, the hours, all that stuff, so... I think it's great if you want to go somewhere but don't know where, because they know better. Tip: if you find a trip you are interested in, always make sure to ask how many people are already in, because sometimes if not many people gather, the tour might get cancelled and you don't want to be left hanging. If they have more than 25 people, they make the trips. Of course this is about regular travel groups, we are not talking about super curated, exclusive services only for you or your group, because that's obviously a totally different cost.

2-day tour group in Meteora from Meteora.com

Tips if you are going on your own

The truth is that most travellers navigating Greece on their own prefer to do it with a rented vehicle. It is the optimal way. If that's not an option, I am gonna give you some tips in order to avoid problems. Within cities and towns, you will not have a problem with either taxis or buses (you might get suffocated in a crowded bus in Thessaloniki but other than that you'll go where you want). The city buses also get you to the immediate suburbs. Outside that, you will be needing the intercity buses where you have to figure out their routes well. You start from Athens, you get an intercity bus to the largest city closest to your destination. And then you get a regional bus towards the closest town or village to your destination. Times must be figured out. After that you're on your own. If your destination is a trail or a national park or some other remote landscape or an uninhabited mountain and all that, you will have to either go on foot or fix an arrangement with a local driver and also agree very clearly on the terms of the time and location for the meeting for the return. Find a taxi driver who can communicate well in English and listen to them. If they say "no you shouldn't go from this side, you won't make it till sunset, that trail is too hard for your equipment / outfit, I can't bring the car from that road etc" listen to them. They know the place. Greek rescuing teams have to save annually at least like a dozen tourists being lost or injured in gorges and mountains so keep that in mind, if you are going alone. Listen to the locals. Now such a taxi driver can be found if your last stop is a town but it is not at all certain you'll find one if your last stop is a remote or small village. In such cases, the plan must be changed unless it's safe and doable to go on on foot. Several trails start from the villages, such as the ones in Zagorohoria which are stunning, so there's that. Furthermore, you have to always keep in mind that a taxi driver can't be stand-by for whenever you need to go to the hike place or whatever, so there's always the chance that you'll need to wait a few hours or something.

You can try and find taxi drivers from Athens to get you wherever you want. However, you might need two drivers for going and returning but in any case the cost is going to be A LOT and the communication and arrangement between you must be perfect and crystal clear.

Now, knock wood, something goes wrong and you find yourself in a place you don't know and even the maps can't help you navigate it. Here are some tips for safety:

Stay calm. Greece is a generally safe place. Even if you are inside a national woodland or something, big animals avoid the contact with humans. Poisonous animals are too few and you will 99% not stumble onto one. In the province you are also very safe regarding people. You're gonna be good.

As soon as you are convinced you can't find your way, call 112. It's the free EU emergency number. It will bring you to contact with police, hospitals, firefighters, rescuers etc

If the region seems pretty safe, the ground is steady, you are well equipped, the sun is still up, you are calm but just have trouble finding your way, and you know you are close to the sea, here's the trick: always head to the sea. It will certainly lead you to coastal towns or villages that are usually more cosmopolitan.

About the steady ground thing: if you can't find your way and you are on rocky ground, do not take risks. Stay put and call 112. Greek mountains may not be the Himalayas but they are usually very rocky, with sudden drops and steep paths that cause landslides all the time. Be very careful, don't make experiments. Call 112 and wait calmly.

Obviously have water, hat, glasses, sunscreen, healthy snacks and full battery on the phone. Also a warm jacket and an umbrella if you intend to be on a high altitude.

Avoid hitch-hiking. We do not have a hitch-hiking culture, people will likely not pick you up. A lonely truck driver might XD

ALWAYS have cash on you. Provincial areas still operate largely on cash. If you are gonna be out of town for more than a night, have a minimum of 100 euros cash for whatever may occur.

If you want your excursion to be one day and not stay overnight, I think that's the range you can travel to, starting early in the morning:

Anything beyond that range would be too exhausting or impossible within one day or you would't have the time to get a decent experience of what is available there before you'd have to go back to Athens.

Anyway that's all I guess. I am sure if you get an organized tour or do it on your own and take some basic precautions and are prepared, everything is gonna run smoothly and you're gonna have a great time! I had to scare you a little so that you won't underprepare, because A LOT of tourists do that and it is often what causes mishaps in their experience. They kinda have in mind that Greece is one city with a couple of islands next door and everything is connected with a wide clear super comprehensible straight highway and none of this applies in truth lol.

Hope that helped! Cheers!

Vikos-Aoos gorge. This one needs good planning and at least two days out of Athens.

hoshi and woozi cancelling plans with their parents, joshua's mom, and seungkwan's mom 😭

Tell 'em how the crowds went wild Tell 'em how I hope they shine

alien emoji

“at least he FOUGHT in the war what did ur queen do hm sit on her ass and eat cake 🤓👆” buddy boy your king was turned into applebee’s barbecue in his very first battle and spent over a year high on the medieval equivalent of opioids only to be ambushed in his second battle and lose to a thirteen year old little girl on her equally baby dragon i wouldn’t be talking shit if i were you

⛅️ dreaming of furu bay by @furubaycrossing

+ taking a break at the baths

louis could easily record only one concert and release it like “live from the o2 or sheffield” as most artists do, but having each song from different places makes it so special and meaningful to the fans who got to be at those specific shows

I don't remember anyone talking about what Bojan said about Käärijä in a Croatian interview two weeks ago so lemme check if y'all know this:

"He was our guest at all four concerts in Finland, and it was unplanned. At the beginning, the plan was for him to play with us only in Helsinki, and then he actually kinda offered to go with us on the trip through Finland, and we had a great time, he was like a part of the band for those three days."

Well if it still wasn't clear to anyone who Bojan's No. 1 groupie fan is, it's mister - 'Maybe I can go with you to all concert yesyes? I be good tour guide I promise' - who then proceeds to show them only "left side we have building, the right side people".

Little "scheduling issues" simp 💚❤️

Trolls - Branch and Keith Brothers AU

HI!!! I'm back! With more Trolls plot bunnies. This one does not take place in the Prince Char Au, or the Veneer re-carnation one. It's completely separate and closer to canon.

Pre-movie.

Keith is the little trolling who likes to watch his parents sleep, and it's clear by the reactions from his classmates that he's not the most popular kid. A bit of a odd outsider, that finds happiness in things that others don't. There's another troll in Pop village who's a bit of an outsider, our favorite grump, Branch.

Branch would be in the village market one winter day, making some rare purchases rather then getting them from the wilds, when he first comes across Keith. The trolling would've been lost, left behind by his classmates. Branch would be a little confused by the kids blankness, but he isn't going to leave a kid lost in the snow, and helps Keith get back home to his dad. One the way he asks if this, keith getting left behind, happened often. Keith would blankly gripe about it, and how he thought his friends didn't actually like him, and he didn't think he liked them. Branch says that friends should like each other.

Couple of weeks later, Branch is working on gathering supplies, and Keith appears out of no where, then continues to follow the grey troll. When Branch asks what Keith is doing. Keith says, "You said befriend people I like." "Yeah so?" "I like you."

It throws Branch off, no one liked him.

Keith would continue to find and follow Branch for the next few days, it's only after a chance run in with a predator, that the grey troll realizes this kid isn't going away, and he starts training Keith in the ways of survival. Even more shockingly Keith listens to him when he's teaching. Everyone in the village always called Branch crazy with his survival bunker and apocalypse prep, but Keith listens intently. Even if it doesn't appear like it. Branch teaches Keith about, the forest, which fruits were safe to eat and where/when they grew. How to defend yourself from different type dangerous predators. And even about some of the extra traps and defenses Branch made for the village.

Branch gets used to his new little protégée, and honestly likes being able to pass on his knowledge to someone. He eventually learns to read the subtle differences in Keith's expressionless expressions to know how the kid's mood is, whether it's happy or upset. One day, Keith comes to visit Branch upset. Seeing the kid angry makes something in Branch's stomach turn, and he has this need to fix it. He doesn't know how, he hasn't comforted someone in years. So, pulling from vague memories of Floyd helping him when Branch was upset, he asks Keith what's wrong. Keith's upset about the other kids calling his school project weird. They were supposed to make a short presentation on people, they care about and Keith chose Branch. None of the kids would listen to him and said, that Branch was weirdo, and Keith was weirdo and they deserved each other. It made Keith Mad, because, he doesn't think Branch is weird, he thinks the Grey troll is cool and he doesn't want people to be mean to him. Branch does his best to console, Keith saying that sometimes people just don't agree with you no matter how hard you try to convince them, sometimes people just can't hear you.

K: Some times it feels like no one hears me

B: Yeah, I get that. it sucks, Makes you think their something wrong with you. But there isn't. Different doesn't mean bad, it just means you see things other don't.

Keith hugs Branch, and he can't turn the kid away. It's the first person the grey troll hugs in nearly twenty years.

K: Thank you, Branch

B: No problem kid, I'm always here.

K: I've always wanted a brother.

After this, Branch fully is attached. He goes all out for Keith any chance he gets. He's always there if Keith is upset, or to help with home work. Keith is one of the few people Branch allows in the Bunker. Branch makes sure, that he'd be the brother to Keith that his own were never to him. Always there.

Especially when Keith suddenly loses his dad. Branch fights and fights hard to keep Keith, knowing just how much the grief of losing a caretaker is crushing the kid. Unsurprisingly, the Pop trolls foster system fails Keith and eventually Branch gains his custody. "Let the outsider raise an outsider." Keith moves into the bunker, and Branch is with the trolling no matter what, making sure that this kid never goes Grey like he did. Though, waking up to Keith just staring at him is a little startling at first, but branch gets over it, anything to make the kid more comfortable.

By the events of the first movie, Keith has fully moved in with Branch and stays with him during the Chef's attack. And after the whole village is hidden in the bunker by Poppy, Keith pushes Branch to go after her. Peppy stepping up to watch over Keith while Branch is gone. All through out the mission Branch is thinking about Keith, worried how he's fair one his own, because while he can trust Peppy to make sure Keith doesn't die, he doesn't' trust the king to take care of Keith's mental health. They're reunion in the bergan pot is a hard one. On one hand, Branch is happy to have Keith back in sight, but on the other he feels like a failure for not being able to protect Keith from getting eaten. And When Keith goes grey in his arms...let's just say Branch isn't going down with out a fight.

I have no plans for World Tour, other then the possibility of Keith ending up captured with Poppy, and Barb mistaking Keith as her and Branch's son.

Its in Band together that things get a little more interesting...

Keith is Gristle and Bridget's ring bearer, though the rings are to big for him to hold, so he just stands inside of them to keep them from rolling away, with a very flat smile. Poppy and Branch end up dating in this two, and she does put in effort to get to know Keith, understanding that the trolling would be in branch's care for years to come. She's not as good at reading him, but she's getting better at it. And she finds Branch's caregiver side, adorable.

"Stop the Wedding!"

When John Dory shows up, Keith leaves his post, and runs to Branch after the elder troll was finished being man handled, bY JD. John is thrown off by the sight of a tiny Trolling in Branch's Arms. Seriously, when did his baby brother get a baby? Or a girlfriend? Was the kid theirs? Oh crap he missed a lot....

Keith is angry, through out the course of the third movie. Branch had already told him about their (yes, their, Keith is branch's brother now, which sadly makes him also related to these idiots) brothers, and how they all walked out on him. Keith has seen how much this hurt Branch, and how much they are hurting Branch now, he's clinging to his older brother all through out the mission.

Bruce is also shocked, and kind of feels bad, because Keith would be in Branch's hair when Bruce tossed him jostling the trolling. But he likes kids, so quickly warms up to the idea of Keith being a new baby brother. Even if he creeps Bruce out. And Keith is constantly creeping him out on purpose...thought Bruce doesn't realize it.

Keith doesn't like the hustle button.

Clay is scared of Keith. Because thanks to living with Branch the trolling can point out all of his safety measures and traps, understand how the work, and how to out smart them.

While practicing, John tries to get Keith toe join in but the trolling will only sing the words in the same flat stale note. Branch knows he's messing with john (Keith naturally sings flat but he's not that tone deaf) but doesn't say anything. Keith is hugging Branch all through out the fight, and along with poppy promises to not leave.

Floyd's too tired to really notice Keith until after he's rescued, however he's curious about the trolling. He feels proud watching Branch take care of trolling, but it also makes his stomach churn. Watching Branch with Poppy and Keith it feels like he's looking in on a family that Branch built and he missed it. Floyd would move into the bunker continuing his recovery, and during that is where he really interacting with Keith. He finds the kid adorable, not in the sparkly eyes way that Branch was but utterly adorable none the less. Keith becomes family to him too.

The fic would conclude with All the brother's accepting the fact that Branch and Keith are a package deal, and apologizing to branch for abandoning him (Keith and Poppy don't let them get away with shit). There's no long five brothers in Brozone, but six....and at least three sister-in-law...

au in the works rn

25th Anniversary Vans Warped Tour

Shoreline Ampitheatre

Mountain View, CA

07/20&21/2019

Bojan really was like I need you to look in to my eyes when I say this word… no don’t look away! Ljubav

Alaina Demopoulos at The Guardian:

Madelyn Ritter expected to leave the St Louis date of Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts Tour with merch – she didn’t expect to also go home with some free emergency contraception. But that’s just what she saw upon entering the stadium. There, right by the women’s bathrooms, was a table where concertgoers could donate to abortion funds and pick up free condoms and morning-after pills, also called Plan B. “We noticed it immediately,” said Ritter, who is 25 (and, as she jokes, “too old” to love the 21-year-old pop star). “I was like: ‘What’s this about?’ They told me it was free, so my sister, her friend and I all took some. I personally don’t need it, but I’m going to save it in case something bad happens.”

Last month, in conjunction with her world tour, Rodrigo launched the Fund 4 Good campaign, which aims to protect women’s and girls’ reproductive rights. A portion of sales from the tour will go toward the fund. As part of the initiative, Rodrigo paired with the National Network of Abortion Funds, which connected her with local chapters at various stops on the tour. “There are plenty of singers making a stand about social issues, but I’ve never seen anything like this,” Ritter said. Abortion is illegal in Missouri. (It is only permitted in the case of an emergency that threatens the life of a pregnant person.) Missouri Republicans are also trying to defund Planned Parenthood, which provides reproductive healthcare like STI screenings and contraception in the state. Activists who staffed the table Ritter stopped by came from Right by You, a youth-focused text line that connects Missouri teens to abortion care out of state, birth control and information about their rights, and the Missouri Abortion Fund, which helps people cover the cost of an out-of-state abortion.

God Bless Olivia Rodrigo! Glad to see her taking a stand against Missouri's oppressive anti-abortion laws by giving out free emergency contraception items.

See Also:

PinkNews: Olivia Rodrigo hands out free Plan B tablets at Missouri tour, where abortion has a total ban

Just like the guys gave us a Tavastia 2.0 here's my sequel to my first set of Bojere sketches from the reunion gig (x) :D!!

Also some Cecil Palmer doodles because I am actually a big fan of welcome to night vale and I love to draw him being silly

That one thing Heather said in World Tour to Sierra about how “boyfriends come and go, but girlfriends are forever” or something 🤨🏳️‍🌈⁉️

Anyways Heatherra is real and canon in my heart goodnight everybody