From Israel to Greece

We left Israel with $2500 on my belly button in a money belt and we were footloose and fancy free after a year of au Pairing in Israel.Our ferry left from Haifa and the first two nights were calm and although cold, bearable. We slept on deck but found ourselves a nice little niche where we could spread out our sleeping bags to sleep. We met Russians, Turks, South Africans, Colombians, Frenchmen and Argentinians! All much more experienced travelers than us, and they gave us lots of tips. We had too much luggage - a lot too much! Many travellers said, forget Europe go for something more exotic, because we are young and have the energy, and Europe will still be there in 30 years time. But we are here now and will see how it goes. The third night was hell. We were not let off the boat at Cyprus or Rhodes and on the third night it started to rain. The boat was in constant motion - everyone was feeling sick. There was a lounge like in an airplane cabin, set up with rows and rows of seats, which we were allowed to sleep in because of the weather. Still, by then I had a cold. At least we had brought plenty of food with us - tuna, baked beans, cucumbers and lots of fruit. But we scoffed it all in the first 2 days and had little left for the last 24 hours on board. So we occupied ourselves with eating. We finally arrived in Athens, having eaten 3 carrots and 2 pears in the last 24 hours. It was getting late and we had not planned, or booked anywhere to stay. It was very cold and our backpacks were unbearably heavy. We couldn't even get them on without help.