Hello Holland! Lets just say the Netherlands was a pleasant surprise. I didnt expect much from this country...it was a last minute stop-over, but man I loved it! What isnt there to love in a country that is known for cheese, windmills, bikes, tulips, being below sea level, clogs, red light districts and the legalization of marijuna? My personal favorite was the cheese. I bought a huge block of stinky old gouda and ate it in one sitting. Despite the fact that my stumach did not enjoy this afterwards, it was wonderful.
I ended up staying here with one of Bens friends from highschool, Ivan. Super nice guy who took the time to be my personal tour guide over the past three days. It did take me awhile to realize that I wasnt in Amsterdam though. I arrived in the airport (which was a half hour outside the city as they usually are), followed my directions to hop on a train to Den Haag, and then another one to Zootemetor Oost. That afternoon I went into Den Haag with him, which is the capital and important political center of the Netherlands. It took me about two hours of wondering around here before I stated " wow this really doesnt look like how I pictured Amsterdam". I was met with a "umm thats because were not in Amsterdam...". ohh what? I had to be shown a map before I understood. Den Haag was a half hour away from the airport in the opposite direction from Amsterdam. Then it made more sense! So I didnt get to spend as much time in amsterdam this way but I did get to see more of Holland. Den Haag was an interesting city with a lot of political history. My personal favorite was the giant (and I mean giant) blow up head of George Bush that sat in the middle of city hall. It was part of an art exhibit. The reason for blowing up a head of George bush? Well the artist simply described it as "its because there is nothing in there and I thought I would give a visual interpretation of the term 'airhead'". Pretty brilliant...and dont worry I took pictures. I also went to a traditional Dutch fishing village through the countryside. Holland really is a beautiful country...It is soooo green here. Driving down the road there are cannals on either side with boats cruising along, windmills in the distance and big gouda and clog factories everywhere.
As for Amsterdam. I spent two full days cruising around this city and it really blew my mind. It actually moved up into the number 2 spot of my all time favorite cities. So far this list looks like...1. Barcalona 2. Amsterdam 3. Naples and Istanbul (tied). Of course the red light district, sex museum and coffee shops were all cool, but the city just had such a unique and alive vibe to it. I loved all the cannals...had no idea that Amsterdam is like a more modern, better functioning and larger version of Venice. I loved all the bikers, the laid back atmosphere and beautiful buildings. This is the kind of city that I could live in...other then the fact that its expensive. When I walked past the downtown University I actually though "maybe they have some kind of education masters program...in english".
Anyhow I do need to begin wrapping this up since I have to catch my flight back to Canada soon! Crazy how fast time has gone by here...I actually hacve a hard time believing its been 5 months. So I bid everyone farwell! Thank you for reading my ramdon ramblings...I know it probably wasnt easy at times. I would say I miss you but I will be seeing you all (well maybe not all but some!) in less the 24 hours.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Hello! Yes Please!
I arrived in Amsterdam yesterday morning very tired and covered in spider bites. I have seen the sun rise too many times during this past month! I left at 3:00 in the morning from Istanbul (where lets note the weather was a balmy 30 degrees) and landed at 8:00 in the morning in Amsterdam where it was 15 degrees and raining. My body does not know how to handle cold! It doesnt help that I have no long pants anymore either...But before I launch into Amsterdam I need to do Turkey a bit more justice (1 short blog for 10 days doesnt even begin to describe it...).
Turkey went far too fast...I could have easily spent another month there, lounging with my feet up and drinking tea. The Turkish people were wonderful...actually all European people are wonderful but Turkish people really struck me as kind and well intentioned. Compared to Greeks too as a whole they are much more gentle, quiet, polite and believe it or not more organized. Side note...I have this theory that you can judge a country a lot based on two things; 1. Their public transportation and 2. their toilets. Compared to Greece, Turkey's transportation was a dream...their buses were airconditioned, they had waiters who served you tea and cookies in little bow ties and white shirts, they checked that you were back on the bus after every stop and left on time. Wow. In Greece I STOOD for 5 hours on my trip to Kalambaka. Not only did I stand but I stood with my 20 pound backpack on in a crowded little hallway with about 10 other people. At every stop people would scream at me in Greek to move away from the door (so they could leave) but where do you go when theres no where to go!?!? I was so happy I didnt understand the language that day. Regardless I find it hard to imagine nice, soft spoken, bow tie wearing men comping around with cookies there. I watched this one little Turkish girl, about 3 years old, quietly eat her icecream cone, lick her fingers clean and sit patiently waiting while her parents red their newspapers for about half an hour. I cannot picture any child from North America doing this...Three year olds do not sit quietly unless they have a Nintendo Ds or the likes of in their hands...On the other hand in Greece kids yelled at old ladies, cut people off on their bikes, and push down their younger siblings. I actually had one kind come up and hit me on the head with his plastic gun and then give me this cute "Sorry lady but I dont speak that language" look when I told him off. The parents just ignore it. It would be ignorant for me to call it bad parenting but the prior daycamp leader in me reaaaally wanted to restore order.
And while the Turkish people were really very kind they would pull the wool over a blind mans eyes just to stick their hands in his back pocket. We learned very quickly that everyone is always trying to rip you off. Thjey are always nice about it though...when you call them on it they simply apologize, smile and correct the mistake. For example, for lunch we owed 7Lira...the man gave us a cheque for 9lira...we gave him the 7lira and he smiled, couted it and said thank you. It was never made into a big deal but if they could they would screw you over big time. For example...at the Treehouses in Olympos one guy tried to charge an extra 100Lira for an upgraded room. The reason? It had a TV (which it actually didnt when we saw the room). Later a different lady charged us 40 lira for the exact same room. The only other barrier that I didnt expect was that no one spoke English. Now that may sound ignorant...I know you cant expect someone to speak your language but I became accostomed to it. I tried to learn German in Germany, Italian in Italy and EVERYONE spoke to me in English all the time! Even when I did my best to put together a sentence in Greek. Learning Turkish in ten days is a little like trying to lick your elbow...impossible. And even Ben who can speak 5 languages didnt get very far. Although granted his pronounciation was much better then mine. Whenever our Turkish family taught us a word they would go "Bravo Ben!" and then say it slower with syllabels to me. Ouch. I have learned that two things dont come naturally to me...languages and direction.
I also need to describe the Turkish bath (the one I mentioned previous blog). It was a process I wont forget. First of all it was done in German...which (believe it or not) I understood! It was like coming home to listen to German spoken again. Anyway, the whole process took almost the whole day and by the end I felt like I would fall over I was so jello-legged. The process starts with a 10 minute sweat in the hammon. At first I felt fine...nice and relaxed...but after about 8 minutes I started staring down the door willing our German bather to come back! She did eventually and thats when I learned that the rest of our bath process (2 hours) will take place in the sweat room. Holy mother of god I didnt think I would make it. First part is your scrub down...you lay on your back, with cold water poured occasionally over you and are literally scrubed from head to food by what feels like sandpaper. Not going to lie...the amount of dead skin that comes off is disgusting and impressive all at once. If anyone asks me where my tan went I can honestly say...I left it in the Olympos hammon. I actually walked out of there two skin shades lighter. Sad to say goodbye to my tan but very happy with my soft skin. After the scrub down you have the washing section, where you are covered from head to toe in soft bubbles (about 1 foot high) that smell like honey and jasmine. Then you are washed (gently) and massaged (mmm...). The last stage is having your hair shampooed and then being escorted to a roof-top jacuzzi with pillows, bar and view of the ocean. Our German bather told us "If you can survive a Hammon you can survive life". I think I believe her.
On to Istanbul! Ben and I were asked two quetions here...1. Are you married? and 2. When are you getting married? I felt like I was getting drilled by his Nonna again! The blue mosque, topika palace and Agia Sofia were all beautiful but my favorite by far was the spice market and grand bazaare. The guy who we bought spices from took Ben aside and gave him his buisness card...he told him "When you two get married call me and I will come to Canada". Ha! I lauged but then again thought it was cute he was so serious. The grand bazaar and spice market were crazy. So busy and colourful and crowded. Everywhere you walk you get " HELLO YES PLEASE!" basically meaning come here and buy my things please please!!! We usually got this in French or Spanish tho...apperently we look French or Spanish. Ben would speak to them in French or Spanish too which egged them on of course. The barganing was crazy. Things that started at 180Lira we bought for 15. They would moan and complain "I am going hungry" or (personal favourite) "You are breaking my balls!!!" but really in the end we were still getting ripped off. Lets just say my backpack is now stuffed beyong belief with pillow cases, backgammon boards, spices, pashminas etc...Everything was beautiful and I could have spent the budget from my entire trip within a two block radius. I was not a very good barginer tho...actually I sucked because I either got upset (oh the woes of taking something too personally) or too prideful. Sometimes if someone eventually went down to my price I would walk away thinking "No way! They gave me such a hard time theres no way they deserve my buisness...they can stare at my back and see all the money they are losing!!!" Foolish foolish me. Its all a game and you can never take a game personally!
Needless to say I loved every minute of it...even the ones I hated at the time.
Turkey went far too fast...I could have easily spent another month there, lounging with my feet up and drinking tea. The Turkish people were wonderful...actually all European people are wonderful but Turkish people really struck me as kind and well intentioned. Compared to Greeks too as a whole they are much more gentle, quiet, polite and believe it or not more organized. Side note...I have this theory that you can judge a country a lot based on two things; 1. Their public transportation and 2. their toilets. Compared to Greece, Turkey's transportation was a dream...their buses were airconditioned, they had waiters who served you tea and cookies in little bow ties and white shirts, they checked that you were back on the bus after every stop and left on time. Wow. In Greece I STOOD for 5 hours on my trip to Kalambaka. Not only did I stand but I stood with my 20 pound backpack on in a crowded little hallway with about 10 other people. At every stop people would scream at me in Greek to move away from the door (so they could leave) but where do you go when theres no where to go!?!? I was so happy I didnt understand the language that day. Regardless I find it hard to imagine nice, soft spoken, bow tie wearing men comping around with cookies there. I watched this one little Turkish girl, about 3 years old, quietly eat her icecream cone, lick her fingers clean and sit patiently waiting while her parents red their newspapers for about half an hour. I cannot picture any child from North America doing this...Three year olds do not sit quietly unless they have a Nintendo Ds or the likes of in their hands...On the other hand in Greece kids yelled at old ladies, cut people off on their bikes, and push down their younger siblings. I actually had one kind come up and hit me on the head with his plastic gun and then give me this cute "Sorry lady but I dont speak that language" look when I told him off. The parents just ignore it. It would be ignorant for me to call it bad parenting but the prior daycamp leader in me reaaaally wanted to restore order.
And while the Turkish people were really very kind they would pull the wool over a blind mans eyes just to stick their hands in his back pocket. We learned very quickly that everyone is always trying to rip you off. Thjey are always nice about it though...when you call them on it they simply apologize, smile and correct the mistake. For example, for lunch we owed 7Lira...the man gave us a cheque for 9lira...we gave him the 7lira and he smiled, couted it and said thank you. It was never made into a big deal but if they could they would screw you over big time. For example...at the Treehouses in Olympos one guy tried to charge an extra 100Lira for an upgraded room. The reason? It had a TV (which it actually didnt when we saw the room). Later a different lady charged us 40 lira for the exact same room. The only other barrier that I didnt expect was that no one spoke English. Now that may sound ignorant...I know you cant expect someone to speak your language but I became accostomed to it. I tried to learn German in Germany, Italian in Italy and EVERYONE spoke to me in English all the time! Even when I did my best to put together a sentence in Greek. Learning Turkish in ten days is a little like trying to lick your elbow...impossible. And even Ben who can speak 5 languages didnt get very far. Although granted his pronounciation was much better then mine. Whenever our Turkish family taught us a word they would go "Bravo Ben!" and then say it slower with syllabels to me. Ouch. I have learned that two things dont come naturally to me...languages and direction.
I also need to describe the Turkish bath (the one I mentioned previous blog). It was a process I wont forget. First of all it was done in German...which (believe it or not) I understood! It was like coming home to listen to German spoken again. Anyway, the whole process took almost the whole day and by the end I felt like I would fall over I was so jello-legged. The process starts with a 10 minute sweat in the hammon. At first I felt fine...nice and relaxed...but after about 8 minutes I started staring down the door willing our German bather to come back! She did eventually and thats when I learned that the rest of our bath process (2 hours) will take place in the sweat room. Holy mother of god I didnt think I would make it. First part is your scrub down...you lay on your back, with cold water poured occasionally over you and are literally scrubed from head to food by what feels like sandpaper. Not going to lie...the amount of dead skin that comes off is disgusting and impressive all at once. If anyone asks me where my tan went I can honestly say...I left it in the Olympos hammon. I actually walked out of there two skin shades lighter. Sad to say goodbye to my tan but very happy with my soft skin. After the scrub down you have the washing section, where you are covered from head to toe in soft bubbles (about 1 foot high) that smell like honey and jasmine. Then you are washed (gently) and massaged (mmm...). The last stage is having your hair shampooed and then being escorted to a roof-top jacuzzi with pillows, bar and view of the ocean. Our German bather told us "If you can survive a Hammon you can survive life". I think I believe her.
On to Istanbul! Ben and I were asked two quetions here...1. Are you married? and 2. When are you getting married? I felt like I was getting drilled by his Nonna again! The blue mosque, topika palace and Agia Sofia were all beautiful but my favorite by far was the spice market and grand bazaare. The guy who we bought spices from took Ben aside and gave him his buisness card...he told him "When you two get married call me and I will come to Canada". Ha! I lauged but then again thought it was cute he was so serious. The grand bazaar and spice market were crazy. So busy and colourful and crowded. Everywhere you walk you get " HELLO YES PLEASE!" basically meaning come here and buy my things please please!!! We usually got this in French or Spanish tho...apperently we look French or Spanish. Ben would speak to them in French or Spanish too which egged them on of course. The barganing was crazy. Things that started at 180Lira we bought for 15. They would moan and complain "I am going hungry" or (personal favourite) "You are breaking my balls!!!" but really in the end we were still getting ripped off. Lets just say my backpack is now stuffed beyong belief with pillow cases, backgammon boards, spices, pashminas etc...Everything was beautiful and I could have spent the budget from my entire trip within a two block radius. I was not a very good barginer tho...actually I sucked because I either got upset (oh the woes of taking something too personally) or too prideful. Sometimes if someone eventually went down to my price I would walk away thinking "No way! They gave me such a hard time theres no way they deserve my buisness...they can stare at my back and see all the money they are losing!!!" Foolish foolish me. Its all a game and you can never take a game personally!
Needless to say I loved every minute of it...even the ones I hated at the time.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Merhaba Turkey
Well we have been ın Turkey for almost 10 days now and ıts beautıful and dıfferent. Safe to say I love ıt...although Im not too sure Turkey loves me back! Its warmıng up to me now but we dıd not get off on the rıght foot. Lets just say Im lucky to be ın Turkey at all. It took us two days three ferrıes (one 19 hours long) two long bus rıdes, a metro, another bus and some wonderıng around for three hours lookıng for another ferry that dıdnt exıst. So we were boardıng the fınal 1 hour ferry that wıll take us from Kos (Greece) to Bodrum (Turkey) when the passport control guys run ınto a lıttle problem wıth my passport. They told me that I was only allowed to stay ın Europe for 90 days...meanıng I had technıcally overstayed my welcome by 1 month. Somehow I managed to convınce them that I was an ınternatıonal student (whıch I maybe kında technıcally am...but not really) wıthout any proof. To make a long story short I was very very lucky. I wrote out a nıce long blog descrıbıng the whole process 5 days ago however the computer I was on crashed and ıt was lost. So! I wıll spare you all the detaıls lets just say that run-ıns wıth the law and I dont mıx well. I am not a crımınal by heart. If border control hadnt let me through...they would have fıned me 1000 Euro and arrested and deported me. I was thankıng my lucky stars that I was ın a nıce hotel room ın Turkey that nıght!
As for Turkey ıtself...ıt ıs so dıfferent from the rest of Europe. Refreashıngly dıfferent actually. We spent the fırst nıght ın Bodrum, whıch ıs a busy port cıty wıth tons and tons of people walkıng around. The entıre beach was lıned wıth bean bag chaırs and hookas. We dıdnt stay long here though...less then 12 hours before we were on the bus and headıng towards a small fıshıng vıllage called Koycegız. Ben and I had suuuuuuuch an amazıng tıme here! I thınk we were the only two tourısts ın the entıre town. Our fırst day here we sat on pıllows by the lake, drank chı (Turkısh black tea) played backgammon and ate wonderful seafood and Turkısh pancakes. The atmosphere here ıs so much more relaxed. The waıters look lıke Turkısh versıons of Calıfornıa beach bums, and they walk around and serve you wıthout shoes on (thıs ıs defınıtly my country). Its also o.k to sıt cross legged at your chaır, or to put your feet up on the table. Makes me love ıt even more. Our second day ın Koycegız we went on a boat tour that took us to a famous 42km turtle beach, mud baths, hot sprıngs and past the famous kıngs tombs of a sunken cıty. On the way back home (pıcture cruısıng across a brıght blue lake wıh the sun settıng) I danced on the roof of the boat wıth the Turkısh women. Dont worry I have vıdeo footage. Can you ever ımagıne somethıng lıke that happenıng ın Canada? Just turnıng the roof of a boat (not guard raıls or anythıng) ınto a dancefloor, grandmas and teenagers alıke? At the end of our danceparty one of the famılıes ınvıted Ben and I over for a homemade Turkısh dınner that nıght. They wanted theır chıldren (aged 10,11,14,16,17) to practıce theır Englısh wıth us. It was such a random fun nıght...they trıed to teach us Turkısh (of whıch I remember hello and thank you now) and we trıed to teach them englısh. It just ended up beıng a lot of laughıng and huggıng and eatıng amazıng food (all grown ın the garden behınd the house). Turkısh people are amazıngly kınd...and I havent even been too hasseled to buy a carpet yet.
The rest of thıs has to be brıef (Im scared the computer wıll cut me off agaın) but after Koycegız we headed to Olympos, whıch was Turkısh hıppıe vacatıon land. Here we stayed ın treehouses, went to a beautıful beach, smoked shısha and yes of course played more backgammon (were actually gettıng quıte good now). The beach was beautıful and the sea lıfe amazıng! We bought goggles and dıd some snorkel-less snorklıng...where we saw an octopus, eel, stıngray, neat fısh and explored thıs really neat cave. Favourıte part of Olympos though was our Turkısh bath! It was done by a German lady...how odd eh? It actually made me feel so at home to hear German spoken agaın! I wısh I could descrıbe every detaıl of ıt...but sınce I can not do ıt justıce now Ill leave ıt for another tıme.
Now were ın Istanbul and havıng an amazıng tıme. Thıs really ıs a cool cıty...busy and beautıful. Only one more day here and then Im off to Amsterdam before headıng home! God how fast tıme has gone by. Only 5 more days untıl Im home! I wıll probably send one more update before then, but as much as Im not lookıng forward to leavıng here I am lookıng forward to seeıng you all agaın! love and mıss ya.
As for Turkey ıtself...ıt ıs so dıfferent from the rest of Europe. Refreashıngly dıfferent actually. We spent the fırst nıght ın Bodrum, whıch ıs a busy port cıty wıth tons and tons of people walkıng around. The entıre beach was lıned wıth bean bag chaırs and hookas. We dıdnt stay long here though...less then 12 hours before we were on the bus and headıng towards a small fıshıng vıllage called Koycegız. Ben and I had suuuuuuuch an amazıng tıme here! I thınk we were the only two tourısts ın the entıre town. Our fırst day here we sat on pıllows by the lake, drank chı (Turkısh black tea) played backgammon and ate wonderful seafood and Turkısh pancakes. The atmosphere here ıs so much more relaxed. The waıters look lıke Turkısh versıons of Calıfornıa beach bums, and they walk around and serve you wıthout shoes on (thıs ıs defınıtly my country). Its also o.k to sıt cross legged at your chaır, or to put your feet up on the table. Makes me love ıt even more. Our second day ın Koycegız we went on a boat tour that took us to a famous 42km turtle beach, mud baths, hot sprıngs and past the famous kıngs tombs of a sunken cıty. On the way back home (pıcture cruısıng across a brıght blue lake wıh the sun settıng) I danced on the roof of the boat wıth the Turkısh women. Dont worry I have vıdeo footage. Can you ever ımagıne somethıng lıke that happenıng ın Canada? Just turnıng the roof of a boat (not guard raıls or anythıng) ınto a dancefloor, grandmas and teenagers alıke? At the end of our danceparty one of the famılıes ınvıted Ben and I over for a homemade Turkısh dınner that nıght. They wanted theır chıldren (aged 10,11,14,16,17) to practıce theır Englısh wıth us. It was such a random fun nıght...they trıed to teach us Turkısh (of whıch I remember hello and thank you now) and we trıed to teach them englısh. It just ended up beıng a lot of laughıng and huggıng and eatıng amazıng food (all grown ın the garden behınd the house). Turkısh people are amazıngly kınd...and I havent even been too hasseled to buy a carpet yet.
The rest of thıs has to be brıef (Im scared the computer wıll cut me off agaın) but after Koycegız we headed to Olympos, whıch was Turkısh hıppıe vacatıon land. Here we stayed ın treehouses, went to a beautıful beach, smoked shısha and yes of course played more backgammon (were actually gettıng quıte good now). The beach was beautıful and the sea lıfe amazıng! We bought goggles and dıd some snorkel-less snorklıng...where we saw an octopus, eel, stıngray, neat fısh and explored thıs really neat cave. Favourıte part of Olympos though was our Turkısh bath! It was done by a German lady...how odd eh? It actually made me feel so at home to hear German spoken agaın! I wısh I could descrıbe every detaıl of ıt...but sınce I can not do ıt justıce now Ill leave ıt for another tıme.
Now were ın Istanbul and havıng an amazıng tıme. Thıs really ıs a cool cıty...busy and beautıful. Only one more day here and then Im off to Amsterdam before headıng home! God how fast tıme has gone by. Only 5 more days untıl Im home! I wıll probably send one more update before then, but as much as Im not lookıng forward to leavıng here I am lookıng forward to seeıng you all agaın! love and mıss ya.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Help! I'm stuck in Greece and I can't get out!
Yup. Literally stuck in Greece. You know...you would think that after three months of backpacking I would be getting better but I am apparently getting worse at planning. This is my theory: The high season of August has screwed over my easy-going backpackers mind-set. When I first started out in May everything was so simple. You book last minute or you don't book at all and it still works out. Well yesterday I went to go book our ferry from Athens to Samos (which will then take us over to Turkey) and was told the next available ferry is August 17!!!!!!!!!!!! ha! I fly out of Istanbul on the 23rd!!!!!!!!! How ridiculous. It's high season in Greece and NO ONE is staying on the mainland....everyone is going to the islands (which doesn't help me!) So basically there are two options I'm debating between...paying an extraordinary amount to take a very loooooong ferry in three days and or just showing up at the port and hoping there are cancellations. Problem with the second one is there may not be any cancellations and then....? If anyone has some genius brainwaves about this predicament please send them to me! Otherwise I may have to take up permanent residence in Greece...life as a beach bum prehaps? If you don't see me at the end of August then you know this is the road I went down!
Other not so great news...because of my ferry brain fart we've missed our Turkey tour. I've been getting a little tired of all the planning that comes with traveling. I do think it makes the experience better however I was looking forward to just jumping on a bus in Turkey and paying some professionals to do all the work for me! Well now Turkey is looking like I'll have to plan a 10 day blitz...so another favor: For anyone whose been to Turkey and has advice about places/accommodation/travel means that would also be appreciated! Funny how I planned to spend two weeks in Greece and a month in Turkey....I have now been in Greece for over a month and am looking at 10 DAYS in Turkey! Oh my horrible planning.
Now to get off my soapbox (I apologize). I've actually been having an amazing time in Greece. 5 days ago I picked up Ben from Athens airport, and then we took off with two of his highschool friends (Stef and Con...the two Athens boys who hosted me for a couple nights) to their beautiful house in Kiffalonia. Kiffalonia is an island on the Western side of Greece...basically as far away as possible from Turkey. Since being here our days have had a very set itinerary: 1. go to the beach 2. eat dinner 3. have a nap 4. stay out until 6:00 in the morning. Then wake up at 1:00 the next day and repeat. The Greek people have a crazy way of life. Everyone stays up late. I mean moms, babies, children, old men and women...restaurants don't even open until 10:00pm. To fight this system would be very detrimental. The schedule from your normal life doesn't matter...when you're here you do as the Greek people do. It's a fun life style but tiring. The last three mornings I've watched the sun rise. Last night there was a group of us sitting on the beach, having beers and singing along to the guitar as the sun was rising over the mountain. It was beautiful...one minute there were shooting stars everywhere and one minute later the entire sky was on fire. But the most wonderful thing about late nights is early morning bakeries. In Victoria our late night post-dance snack is greasy 99cent pizza... In Greece its home baked buns, cheese pies, spinach pies etc...made at 5:00am fresh from the oven. Stay up all night, eat buttery pastries and go to sleep. I've never known a better end to an evening. Also a word about the beaches here: They are rated 3 best in the WORLD! Watch Captain Corellis mandolin...that was filmed here. The water isn't crystal clear but rather this really really vibrant, almost cloudy bright blue. I thought it looked a little like koolaid with far too much powder dumped in.
Off to organize my life! Please send me good-luck-get-out-of-Greece-soon vibes!
Other not so great news...because of my ferry brain fart we've missed our Turkey tour. I've been getting a little tired of all the planning that comes with traveling. I do think it makes the experience better however I was looking forward to just jumping on a bus in Turkey and paying some professionals to do all the work for me! Well now Turkey is looking like I'll have to plan a 10 day blitz...so another favor: For anyone whose been to Turkey and has advice about places/accommodation/travel means that would also be appreciated! Funny how I planned to spend two weeks in Greece and a month in Turkey....I have now been in Greece for over a month and am looking at 10 DAYS in Turkey! Oh my horrible planning.
Now to get off my soapbox (I apologize). I've actually been having an amazing time in Greece. 5 days ago I picked up Ben from Athens airport, and then we took off with two of his highschool friends (Stef and Con...the two Athens boys who hosted me for a couple nights) to their beautiful house in Kiffalonia. Kiffalonia is an island on the Western side of Greece...basically as far away as possible from Turkey. Since being here our days have had a very set itinerary: 1. go to the beach 2. eat dinner 3. have a nap 4. stay out until 6:00 in the morning. Then wake up at 1:00 the next day and repeat. The Greek people have a crazy way of life. Everyone stays up late. I mean moms, babies, children, old men and women...restaurants don't even open until 10:00pm. To fight this system would be very detrimental. The schedule from your normal life doesn't matter...when you're here you do as the Greek people do. It's a fun life style but tiring. The last three mornings I've watched the sun rise. Last night there was a group of us sitting on the beach, having beers and singing along to the guitar as the sun was rising over the mountain. It was beautiful...one minute there were shooting stars everywhere and one minute later the entire sky was on fire. But the most wonderful thing about late nights is early morning bakeries. In Victoria our late night post-dance snack is greasy 99cent pizza... In Greece its home baked buns, cheese pies, spinach pies etc...made at 5:00am fresh from the oven. Stay up all night, eat buttery pastries and go to sleep. I've never known a better end to an evening. Also a word about the beaches here: They are rated 3 best in the WORLD! Watch Captain Corellis mandolin...that was filmed here. The water isn't crystal clear but rather this really really vibrant, almost cloudy bright blue. I thought it looked a little like koolaid with far too much powder dumped in.
Off to organize my life! Please send me good-luck-get-out-of-Greece-soon vibes!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Meteora
Whatever I was looking for in Greece I definitly found it in Meteora! Lets just say I came for two nights and stayed 6 (but I do have a problem with leaving places...good thing I dont really plan ahead)... O.k so I will attempt to describe Meteora. It's in a region of Greece called Thessaly (mainland Greece about 5 hours North of Athens), and for whatever reason that geology cant really explain, it's home to massive monumental limestone rock towers that literally jut out of an otherwise normal looking valley. If you havent googled Meteora images do that now because I really cant describe them!!! They literally look like they were just randomly placed here by god or a tornado or some other catostrophic event. So basically what happend is in 60AD (approx)when Christians were being persecuted in Greece, the rocks caves became sort of a safe-haven, hiding spot for the criminal hermits. The caves themselves are a whole other story...the rocks are covered in them. They look like someone took a spoon and dug out little scoops everywhere. Eventually the Christians began building monartaries on top of the rock towers for protection and to be closer to god (of course). Now there are stairs (alot of stairs) that climb up to the towers but before if you wanted to enter you would climb inside a net and they would haul you up (for half an hour, spinning thousands of feet in the air). There was 21 monastaries at one time, but you can only visit 6 of them now...and those 6 are less like monastaries and more like monastary museums for tourists. But regarless beautiful and incredibly spiritual. On a side note...some of the monastaries weren't built ontop of rocks but inside them. You look at a flat rock face and there is a monastary in there just as flat as the rock surface. It looks like the rock is hugging it...but really its just been built inside a large cave opening. Crazy!!! The first thing you read when entering Meteora is "YOU ARE ENTERING A HOLY PLACE" and man does it feel like it. I would challenge anyone to sit there (it feels like on top of the world) and not feel at least the smallest tug of spirituality. Its impossible, the place is so alive with it.
On my first night here I met George, the hotel managers son. Turned out to be good luck for me because he has personally invested in being my personal tour guide over the past four days! I have seen the most amazing things. The sunset from the highest peak of Meteora, the tiny town of Kalistraki, eaten grandmas home made spinach and berry pies. Yesterday his grandma gave me a cooking lesson: on the menu was greek stuffed peppers. She explained everything to me in Greek...I tried to write down what she was doing (and help) and the end result was the most amazing stuffed peppers I have ever tried. I will attempt to make them again in Canada but no garantees that they will be nearly so tasty! Yesterday I also went to a Mountain region, a two hour car ride away from Kalampaka (the town Im staying in). It actually kind of looked like Canada...it was incredibly isolated, in the mountains (the temperature dropped 20 degrees) with the most beautiful beautiful torquoise lakes. It was so far from anything else...you could yell into the mountains and hear your voice echo for 6 seconds after. Also there were animals everywhere! fox, wild pigs, turtles, horses, sheep and goats...man I love the goats! I was standing on a hill, when up comes about 30 goats all bahhing their little hearts out AND being followed by a little old man goat herder. He had the walking stick and bell and all. It was incredible. So needless to say this place also stole my heart a little bit. On the way home I had the best meal of my life. The restaurant was just picnic tables on a wooden platform built over a river in the middle of no where. When you ordered your fish (and you had to order fish because thats all they serve) they go down to the river and literally FISH out your lunch. Then they gut it, grill it up for you and serve it whole, eyeballs and everything, with olive oil and oregano. It was quite the experience....I named my fish Ted.
The other thing I really have to comment on is Greek culture...it is my big fat Greek wedding X 10000000000. I was talking to a local the other night about Greek weddings and he asked if I'd seen the movie, I said yes...and he replied with "take that movie times it by 100 and your still no where close to how crazy Greek weddings are". He had been to one the night before...800 people and a party that went until 11:00 am the next day! The people here are in no rush to do anything...the men sit outside their stores all day, coffee in one had and cigarette in the other, The women wear long skirts and cross themselves everytime they see me wearing short shorts. They ALL cross themselves when they find out that I'm travelling on my own. haha its hilarious. Its just not somethig thats done in Greek society...first of all people dont take off for 5 months to begin with and furthermore young women should never travel on their own. The result of this? A huge group of men and women who feel its their personal responsibility to take care of me! My hotel manager actually asked me to come check in at night so he knows I'm home safe. Moreso its nice to have people here to talk with. If I feel like conversation I can wonder down to the kabob place to have a chat with the old man there, to my favorite restaurant where I know the two owners and their two-year old twins, or the hotel where I play backgammon with George or his dad (yes I have learned how to play backgammon). The conversation is great too...I feel like I know the entire course of Greek history, mostly focused on the bad blood between Turkey. The Greeks really get into a rage when I say thats where I'm going next! But most of the time I like just being on my own. I've done a lot of mountain climbing (todays hike was exhausting...two hours of straight up), reading, writing, singing alone on mountain tops, sitting in caves during thunderstorms and taking an obscene amount of pictures. Its really lovely and I cant seem to make myself leave!!!
Well this is probably long-winded enough for one day...sorry...I'm actually amazed that anyone other then my mom bothers to read them :)
On my first night here I met George, the hotel managers son. Turned out to be good luck for me because he has personally invested in being my personal tour guide over the past four days! I have seen the most amazing things. The sunset from the highest peak of Meteora, the tiny town of Kalistraki, eaten grandmas home made spinach and berry pies. Yesterday his grandma gave me a cooking lesson: on the menu was greek stuffed peppers. She explained everything to me in Greek...I tried to write down what she was doing (and help) and the end result was the most amazing stuffed peppers I have ever tried. I will attempt to make them again in Canada but no garantees that they will be nearly so tasty! Yesterday I also went to a Mountain region, a two hour car ride away from Kalampaka (the town Im staying in). It actually kind of looked like Canada...it was incredibly isolated, in the mountains (the temperature dropped 20 degrees) with the most beautiful beautiful torquoise lakes. It was so far from anything else...you could yell into the mountains and hear your voice echo for 6 seconds after. Also there were animals everywhere! fox, wild pigs, turtles, horses, sheep and goats...man I love the goats! I was standing on a hill, when up comes about 30 goats all bahhing their little hearts out AND being followed by a little old man goat herder. He had the walking stick and bell and all. It was incredible. So needless to say this place also stole my heart a little bit. On the way home I had the best meal of my life. The restaurant was just picnic tables on a wooden platform built over a river in the middle of no where. When you ordered your fish (and you had to order fish because thats all they serve) they go down to the river and literally FISH out your lunch. Then they gut it, grill it up for you and serve it whole, eyeballs and everything, with olive oil and oregano. It was quite the experience....I named my fish Ted.
The other thing I really have to comment on is Greek culture...it is my big fat Greek wedding X 10000000000. I was talking to a local the other night about Greek weddings and he asked if I'd seen the movie, I said yes...and he replied with "take that movie times it by 100 and your still no where close to how crazy Greek weddings are". He had been to one the night before...800 people and a party that went until 11:00 am the next day! The people here are in no rush to do anything...the men sit outside their stores all day, coffee in one had and cigarette in the other, The women wear long skirts and cross themselves everytime they see me wearing short shorts. They ALL cross themselves when they find out that I'm travelling on my own. haha its hilarious. Its just not somethig thats done in Greek society...first of all people dont take off for 5 months to begin with and furthermore young women should never travel on their own. The result of this? A huge group of men and women who feel its their personal responsibility to take care of me! My hotel manager actually asked me to come check in at night so he knows I'm home safe. Moreso its nice to have people here to talk with. If I feel like conversation I can wonder down to the kabob place to have a chat with the old man there, to my favorite restaurant where I know the two owners and their two-year old twins, or the hotel where I play backgammon with George or his dad (yes I have learned how to play backgammon). The conversation is great too...I feel like I know the entire course of Greek history, mostly focused on the bad blood between Turkey. The Greeks really get into a rage when I say thats where I'm going next! But most of the time I like just being on my own. I've done a lot of mountain climbing (todays hike was exhausting...two hours of straight up), reading, writing, singing alone on mountain tops, sitting in caves during thunderstorms and taking an obscene amount of pictures. Its really lovely and I cant seem to make myself leave!!!
Well this is probably long-winded enough for one day...sorry...I'm actually amazed that anyone other then my mom bothers to read them :)
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
On my own again (sang to the tune of "on the road again")
So I'm on my own again...Carolyn caught a ferry to Athens two days ago (to fly home) and I caught one to another Greek island, Naxos. Needless to say it was a very teary goodbye!!! I think I cried (not tear trickling but actual crying) for the first half hour of my ferry. Once I started it just didnt seem to stop...I got hit by my first real wave of homesickness then too (but it passed thankfully!). Our last week in Santorini SPED by. We did a lot of exploring the island on Atvs, sunset watching and donkey riding. We also hiked up Santorini's active volcano and swam in the hotsprings that were lukewarm at best and stank like rotting eggs, not the most pleasant experience. Riding a donkey up a hill was however worth every penny! For whatever reason my donkey had a real competitive streak and every time it was passed be another donkey it would literally run until it was in the lead again. I should mention that it didnt seem to care whatsoever about its driver during these moments and would plow my legs into the walls or other donkeys.
Naxos is a very picturesque island. It is also entirely Dutch and German. I would bet money that I am the only Canadian here. It has beautiful white sand beaches, really shallow and really blue lukewarm water and very friendly people. But after three days here I'm ready to leave...its a little boring in all honesty. Other then go to the beach or spend a ridiculous amount on boat tours there is really nothing else to do. I've been trying to take advantage of the slow pace and relax but I've had just about enough beach bumming after Santorini. Today I went to the beach, sat in the shade and read my book for about 5 hours...I wont go to the beach if I cant find a nice shady spot to sit in...lying in the sun just doesn't interest me anymore! Plus...this really is the worst time to be here. All the Greek people are out-numbered by European vacationers and you really dont see ANY Greek culture. Just Euro culture with Greek buildings on a Greek island. I chose to come to the Greek islands to recharge and take a break from the crazy whirlwind that is backpacking but...I feel like I've done that now. Plus the first week of August I will be on another Greek island (Kiffalonia) with Ben and his friends Stef and Con. So all this contributes to my decision to head into mainland Greece for the next week. Its more then a little impractical (money and time wise) but I want to see Moteora and some other smaller Greek towns, which according to all the Greek people I've met is much more the "real" Greece. I also have a new mission (given to me by these two awesome American friends we made in Santorini) and that is to crash a Greek wedding. Haha I will keep you updated on how that goes!
On another note...I have successfully completed the two requirements of "Julia traveling on her own" 1. To get utterly and hopelessly lost for a significant period of time and 2. Have dinner with a very nice middle aged man. I didn't really realize how bad my sense of direction was before traveling. Yesterday I decided to take a quick walk before breakfast...aand found my way back 2.5 hours later. It's embarrassing how lost I was! Maps don't even help me thats how bad I am. I need my navigator (aka Carolyn) back! As for the dinner...every time I go for dinner on my own I end up in a conversation with someone (usually older men since they seem to be the only ones who go for dinner on their own). Last night I met Yannis, a Greek highschool teacher who actually used to teach in Montreal. We had a really interesting conversation about Greek words (how every scientific word has a greek orgin: My big fat greek wedding anyone?) and about the differences between Greek and Canadian school systems.
So! Tomorrow I am back to Athens and then to mainland Greece...I will let you know how it goes! Miss you all...sorry that these blogs aren't more personal but its challenging to keep everyone updated. xox
Naxos is a very picturesque island. It is also entirely Dutch and German. I would bet money that I am the only Canadian here. It has beautiful white sand beaches, really shallow and really blue lukewarm water and very friendly people. But after three days here I'm ready to leave...its a little boring in all honesty. Other then go to the beach or spend a ridiculous amount on boat tours there is really nothing else to do. I've been trying to take advantage of the slow pace and relax but I've had just about enough beach bumming after Santorini. Today I went to the beach, sat in the shade and read my book for about 5 hours...I wont go to the beach if I cant find a nice shady spot to sit in...lying in the sun just doesn't interest me anymore! Plus...this really is the worst time to be here. All the Greek people are out-numbered by European vacationers and you really dont see ANY Greek culture. Just Euro culture with Greek buildings on a Greek island. I chose to come to the Greek islands to recharge and take a break from the crazy whirlwind that is backpacking but...I feel like I've done that now. Plus the first week of August I will be on another Greek island (Kiffalonia) with Ben and his friends Stef and Con. So all this contributes to my decision to head into mainland Greece for the next week. Its more then a little impractical (money and time wise) but I want to see Moteora and some other smaller Greek towns, which according to all the Greek people I've met is much more the "real" Greece. I also have a new mission (given to me by these two awesome American friends we made in Santorini) and that is to crash a Greek wedding. Haha I will keep you updated on how that goes!
On another note...I have successfully completed the two requirements of "Julia traveling on her own" 1. To get utterly and hopelessly lost for a significant period of time and 2. Have dinner with a very nice middle aged man. I didn't really realize how bad my sense of direction was before traveling. Yesterday I decided to take a quick walk before breakfast...aand found my way back 2.5 hours later. It's embarrassing how lost I was! Maps don't even help me thats how bad I am. I need my navigator (aka Carolyn) back! As for the dinner...every time I go for dinner on my own I end up in a conversation with someone (usually older men since they seem to be the only ones who go for dinner on their own). Last night I met Yannis, a Greek highschool teacher who actually used to teach in Montreal. We had a really interesting conversation about Greek words (how every scientific word has a greek orgin: My big fat greek wedding anyone?) and about the differences between Greek and Canadian school systems.
So! Tomorrow I am back to Athens and then to mainland Greece...I will let you know how it goes! Miss you all...sorry that these blogs aren't more personal but its challenging to keep everyone updated. xox
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Opa! Welcome to Greece
It took us two over night ferries, one very long train ride and a two-night stay in Athens but we made it to Santorini! Our travells were fairly eventful, both good and bad. On the first overnight ferry from Italy to Greece, we decided to splurge the extra 10 Euros for what they call "airplane seats". They are exactly what they sound like...a room full of airplane seats with a little more the usual space. Well by the time we made it back to our airplane seats there was some old man snoozing away in mine, so being the friendly citizen I am I decided to just camp out on the floor anyways. When I woke this man had gotten off his chair, snuggled up to me and was snoring in my face. He was louder then the ferry horns I swear to god. Needless to say...I spent the entire night poking him in the back until he stopped snoring long enough for me to sleep (which wasnt a lot). Im pretty sure he hated me but I wasnt really the biggest fan of him either. Anyway we eventually landed at 11:30 after about 2 hours of sleep and got on a 5 hour train to Athens. The only interesting thing about the trains was that these HUGE june beetle looking things kept hitting the open windows and flying inside the compartment. A few of them landed on some Asian toursits which was hilarious!They almost tried to jump from the train.
When we eventually got to Athens we hit a bit of a brick wall...we were supposed to be staying with two of Bens friends but they didnt answer the phone! So we were stuck in the train station, with no idea where we were or where we were going. That was one of those "you should have planned this better" moments. This was where we met the first of many amazingly nice greek people. According to greek people, we've just been lucky because most people (greek people) are not that nice, especially for foreign people. But we were blown away with greek hospitality...including... Amazing greek women number
1. Lady on the train who offered to help us find our stop and explained how Athens transport system works. Amazing Greek women number...
2. This lady at the train station who not only helped us work the greek pay phone card BUT stayed and called with us (helped us leave a message in greek) and gave us her cell phone number in case we didnt get through to our friends.
3. Asked a women where a payphone was, and not only did she help us search but when we couldnt find one, went into a store and asked the manager if we could use his phone. Last was...
4. A women who saw us waiting outside the train station with our packs on, stopped and asked if she could give us a lift somewhere.
We eventually got through to Stef and Con and made it out to their house. Talking about amazing greek people...I cant even begin to describe how wonderful these boys were to us. They cooked us food, bought us drinks, gave us their room, helped us organize our travel plans and ferries, plus took us out and showed us around Athens. We spent two days with them and loved it. One of the nicest things was taking a break from feeling like the tourist. We didnt even bother going to see the acropolis or the parthenon and I couldnt have cared less. Instead we drank warm wine with honey and warm liquor with honey, ate amazing greek food, learned some greek words (the most important being Malaka:wanker), listened to greek hiphop and watched the sunrise from a beach bar at 6:30 in the morning. First and only time I think I will be kicked out of a club at closing: 8:30am. Also I have to go on a little tangent about greek food here....its delicious. Feta soaked in olive oil and oregano, fried eggplant, calamari, octopus in vinigar, fried cheese, greek salad...all washed down with ouzo. Stef and Con swear that greek oilve oil is the best in the world and that Italian olive oil is actually Greek anyways. So far I agree. I could drink bottles of it. But then again anything other then pasta and pizza is tasting pretty amazing right now. Oh to eat meat and veggies again! Dont get me wrong...they had meat and veggies in italy but they were always twice the cost of pizza and pasta.
O.k so onto Santorini! We took another 12 hour night ferry to get here...and thought we would be smart this time by buying "deck" tickets (then our plan was to sleep on the floor in the airplane carrier room. However, deck on this ferry ment "deck" as in outdoor deck. It wasnt too bad until a wind kicked up at 3:30 in the morning. I think I put on every piece of clothing I owned...which wasnt much consider I dont even have long pants. All the other back packers out there had hardcore sleeping bags and tents...and then there was Carolyn and I wrapped up in our little sheets. Un-prepared to say the least! I think I got 20 minutes of sleep but saw a beautiful sunrise and finished an entire novel. Santorni itself is beautiful. We are paying 10 Euro a night to stay in the "holiday beach resort" and it literally is a beach resort. Theres a beautiful pool, gardens and beach bar. Plus they decided to upgrade us to a privet room for free! That means for the first time in 2 months Im not sharing a room with at least 6 other individules. The room is pretty average but for us it feels like pure luxery. We have our own shower (although its only 50cm across) and its clean enough that we dont need to wear flipflips. Plus new towels every day and they make the beds. unreal. The resort is on Perissa beach, which is the famous black sand beach...and the sand is actually black. It gets so hot that if you stand on it with bare feet your skin will blister. Its really busy too...the whole thing is lined with lawn chairs and umbrellas that you pay 7 Euros to rent for the day.
Yesterday we rented an ATV and explored the entire island...which was very impressive. We went all the way up to Oia, which has the most dramatic sunsets and scenery. This place perfectly embodies the white washed, blue topped image that people have of the greek islands. It was almost surreal to look at. We also drove along wine roads past a super windy beach called paradise beach, went to the bigger town of Fira and checked out the red and white sand beaches. Theres a ton more to tell but Im getting tired of typing and Carolyn is getting impatient for dinner! She says shes not but she is :)
Oh important other note! We sang kareoke last night...famous rendition of our Greece lightening days. Lets just say we should let memories be memories BUT we got a free pina colada!
When we eventually got to Athens we hit a bit of a brick wall...we were supposed to be staying with two of Bens friends but they didnt answer the phone! So we were stuck in the train station, with no idea where we were or where we were going. That was one of those "you should have planned this better" moments. This was where we met the first of many amazingly nice greek people. According to greek people, we've just been lucky because most people (greek people) are not that nice, especially for foreign people. But we were blown away with greek hospitality...including... Amazing greek women number
1. Lady on the train who offered to help us find our stop and explained how Athens transport system works. Amazing Greek women number...
2. This lady at the train station who not only helped us work the greek pay phone card BUT stayed and called with us (helped us leave a message in greek) and gave us her cell phone number in case we didnt get through to our friends.
3. Asked a women where a payphone was, and not only did she help us search but when we couldnt find one, went into a store and asked the manager if we could use his phone. Last was...
4. A women who saw us waiting outside the train station with our packs on, stopped and asked if she could give us a lift somewhere.
We eventually got through to Stef and Con and made it out to their house. Talking about amazing greek people...I cant even begin to describe how wonderful these boys were to us. They cooked us food, bought us drinks, gave us their room, helped us organize our travel plans and ferries, plus took us out and showed us around Athens. We spent two days with them and loved it. One of the nicest things was taking a break from feeling like the tourist. We didnt even bother going to see the acropolis or the parthenon and I couldnt have cared less. Instead we drank warm wine with honey and warm liquor with honey, ate amazing greek food, learned some greek words (the most important being Malaka:wanker), listened to greek hiphop and watched the sunrise from a beach bar at 6:30 in the morning. First and only time I think I will be kicked out of a club at closing: 8:30am. Also I have to go on a little tangent about greek food here....its delicious. Feta soaked in olive oil and oregano, fried eggplant, calamari, octopus in vinigar, fried cheese, greek salad...all washed down with ouzo. Stef and Con swear that greek oilve oil is the best in the world and that Italian olive oil is actually Greek anyways. So far I agree. I could drink bottles of it. But then again anything other then pasta and pizza is tasting pretty amazing right now. Oh to eat meat and veggies again! Dont get me wrong...they had meat and veggies in italy but they were always twice the cost of pizza and pasta.
O.k so onto Santorini! We took another 12 hour night ferry to get here...and thought we would be smart this time by buying "deck" tickets (then our plan was to sleep on the floor in the airplane carrier room. However, deck on this ferry ment "deck" as in outdoor deck. It wasnt too bad until a wind kicked up at 3:30 in the morning. I think I put on every piece of clothing I owned...which wasnt much consider I dont even have long pants. All the other back packers out there had hardcore sleeping bags and tents...and then there was Carolyn and I wrapped up in our little sheets. Un-prepared to say the least! I think I got 20 minutes of sleep but saw a beautiful sunrise and finished an entire novel. Santorni itself is beautiful. We are paying 10 Euro a night to stay in the "holiday beach resort" and it literally is a beach resort. Theres a beautiful pool, gardens and beach bar. Plus they decided to upgrade us to a privet room for free! That means for the first time in 2 months Im not sharing a room with at least 6 other individules. The room is pretty average but for us it feels like pure luxery. We have our own shower (although its only 50cm across) and its clean enough that we dont need to wear flipflips. Plus new towels every day and they make the beds. unreal. The resort is on Perissa beach, which is the famous black sand beach...and the sand is actually black. It gets so hot that if you stand on it with bare feet your skin will blister. Its really busy too...the whole thing is lined with lawn chairs and umbrellas that you pay 7 Euros to rent for the day.
Yesterday we rented an ATV and explored the entire island...which was very impressive. We went all the way up to Oia, which has the most dramatic sunsets and scenery. This place perfectly embodies the white washed, blue topped image that people have of the greek islands. It was almost surreal to look at. We also drove along wine roads past a super windy beach called paradise beach, went to the bigger town of Fira and checked out the red and white sand beaches. Theres a ton more to tell but Im getting tired of typing and Carolyn is getting impatient for dinner! She says shes not but she is :)
Oh important other note! We sang kareoke last night...famous rendition of our Greece lightening days. Lets just say we should let memories be memories BUT we got a free pina colada!
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