Off To See The World

Well, we are on the ferry now to Barcelona… and yeah, I had to pay for internet to see if we had a free place to crash in Barcelona… but we don’t. So I paid 5€ for 15 mintues of internet… just thought I’d let you know… I’ll post for real when we are on land.

Oh, that’s right… we went and saw the Pope!

It’s weird to think about it that way… like… it’s just part of the day or something.
So last night turned out pretty awesome… I saw most of the main buildings at night and John got drunk and had to take a cab back to the hostel..haha. I will have to say though that some of the men in Italy are pigs… they will actually come right up to you and pretty much harass you. I was lucky that I was dressed in my grubby blue shirt and blue pants so I looked like the unattractive Ev that roams the streets in Edmonton… the girls I was walking with, however, were dressed in nicer clothing and it was scary how close the men got sometimes.

Anyway, today, we went on a tour where we got to see the Pope address everyone in St. Peter’s Square… we also got to walk through the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, Catacombs, and St. Peter’s Basilica (sp?). It was a pretty good tour and our tour guide was really good. I actually felt like I learned a lot but I can’t remember any of it now.. haha. Afterwards, John and I decided to cover some ground so we wouldn’t have to rush through the Colosseum tomorrow. So on the way back to the hostel today, we also went to Piazza Del Popolo, The Spanish Steps, The Pantheon, and Piazza Republicca.

Boy our feet are tired now… but we just had the greatest slices of pizza (with a pop) for under 5 €. I think I will go and try to find a place to have a Canolli tonight… and maybe some more Gelato… man, I love that stuff. Well, I guess I’m off for a dessert hunt!

Found it!

It felt like we were on the Amazing Race yesterday. We ran into a couple Koreans that we have been running into since we left Istanbul. Anyway, the Koreans, and 3 other couples all showed up at the Athens train station looking to get to Petras… so all of us followed the same route until we got to Petras. When we got there, we followed them for a bit but they were all going to the bathroom… so I went and got directions to the ferry station. By the time John got back from the bank, all the couples had gone to the ferry station so we hustled over there and found out the Ferry left in 15 minutes! So we went sprinting (with our big-assed backpacks on) to the boat… turns out none of the other couples made it onto the boat so I guess we won?

Anyway, the boat was frickin’ amazing… we sat poolside (although the pool was actually empty) and sun tanned on the deck. The view was amazing as we passed the greek islands… the water was calm and chrystal clear and there was a light breeze blowing into the boat. Well worth our 16 Euro. As we watched the sun set over the water, we found a place to camp out on deck… we reclined our pool chairs and rolled out our blankets. It was actually quite fun to camp out on the deck… although I think there was actually and area that we could have gone to sleep in. Either way, it was an adventure and a half. To top it off, I woke up to the most amazing sun rise over the horizon of the ocean… it was breath-taking. It was really just the best way to wake up.

We arrived in Ancona in the morning and then made our way to Rome (where we are now). I just took a few hours to check out the sights at night. They are lit up really wickedly at night so it was much worth it… I think John went on a pub crawl or something. I’ll try to post a few more pictures as soon as possible.

Awww, I love my family… my brother and sister-in-law sent me this picture of my doggy as an early birthday present to me. I love it!

Today we went up to the mountain/hill that the Parthenon sits on. The view from up there was spectacular! At one side, you could see the chrystal blue waters where all the Greek Islands lie, to the other side, you could see all of Athens (it’s HUGE).

The Parthenon itself was quite impressive as well… it’s hard to imagine what the area would have looked like back in the day but from what’s left standing today, I can only imagine how amazing it was. It took John and I the bulk of the day to walk up and down the mountain checking out all the ruins and what not. The sun was out in full force today so I got a little fried. John was smart enough to bring his cap.

The city part of Athens is actually not that impressive… I really wish we had the money to go check out the islands because they look absolutely amazing! Maybe that will have to be for the next trip. Tomorrow, I think we will head to Petras and try to catch a boat to Italy. We’ve decided to skip out on Venice and we’ll head straight to Rome. From there, I think we will catch another boat to Barcelona and then it’s off to Madrid, Malaga, and then a week in Morocco! Which reminds me, if anyone has attempted to take a train/boat from Spain to Morocco, some pointers would be greatly appreciated.

I love it… don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind the winter at home but there’s nothing like spending a day in shorts, t-shirt, and flip flops walking all around Athens and realizing that I have a sunburn while people at home are probably starting to have to warm up the car in the morning.

Just thought I’d rub that one in a little to my peeps back home :).

P.S. Happy (belated) birthdays: Kent, Kim, Ada… Oh, and there are a couple pictures up now. I’ll try and get more next time I find a computer with and SD reader.

hehe, I’m so corny, I know…

Anyway, I just wanted to jot down some side thoughts… the 36 hour trip here gave me a lot of time to Ponder about stuff and such.

In Istanbul, we met a lot of people… more so than anywhere else. Anyway, so we met a whole schwack of people from Canada (one from Edmonton), a guy from Iceland, a few girls from the States, and a guy from Sweden. I think the atmosphere of the hostel was perfect for meeting people… there were a bunch of table to play chess/backgammon(sp?)/cards on and a bunch of floor cushions… it was a really relaxing atmosphere.

Anyway, it occured to me on the train that I have answered one of my age old questions… Where do you meet good guys (and for the guys reading this post, Where do you meet girls)? Back in Edmonton, people generally go out to the bars to meet people… or you could meet people at school but once you’re done school it’s harder to find genuine people. But here, on the road, I find it so easy to just sit down and strike up a conversation about anything. I spent probably 3 hours straight just conversing with the guy from Sweden about India and how his prefered method of travel is his bicycle! And the great thing is, people we’ve met on the road have a genuine interest in the world outside of their own (unless their sole purpose of their trip was to get drunk in every Country)…

I find the people I’ve met on these travels so much more open minded and interesting then the average Joe you meet back home. I guess the only catch is that, once you leave the Country you are visiting, you will be a whole world away from that person. Anyway, that was my side thought… maybe I’m just too much of a hermit back and home and don’t get out and meet people or something.

So we took the train from Istanbul to Athens… which normally wouldn’t take 36 hours but of course, we had another adventure. As we got off the train in Pythion (Border between Greece and Turkey), we had to change trains. But guess what? John dropped his camera on the train… now, if you were reading earlier, John’s camera is actually broken so it shouldn’t really matter right? Wrong, there’s probably over a gig of pictures in the card that is in his camera! Sooooo, we asked the people at this little train stop to see if there was anything they could do. At first they told John that this was an issue for the Police. Of course, you send a sweet little girl in like me and we can get different results :).

So, I went in to ask if they could call the train and see if they could find it and sure enough, they found the camera and said that they could bring it back for us on the next train! Whew! There was only one catch… the next train didn’t come for another 12 hours… at 2am. SO, after the train that got us there left, all the people who worked in this little train stop also left… leaving John, me, a stray dog, and a bunch of frogs as the only living things in this little town. Tick tock tick tock… 12 hours is a long time where there is absolutely nothing to do. John and I passed the time by catching bugs and feeding them to the frogs… it was actually quite entertaining. It was actually really cold at night and John and I shivered ourselves to sleep on some benches.

When 2am finally rolled around, the camera arrived safely and we were put on the sleeper train to Thesoloniki (Where we had to change trains for Athens). All in all, we made it here ok. It’s a lot warmer than Pythion and definitely less dodgy. Due to our little set back, I think we might need to take Venice out of our schedule… does anyone have any opinions on that? It’s just the furthest one out of the way but is it a MUST SEE destination?
I will try and do the picture thing when I have free internet again.

We met a couple people from Canada at the hostel (one guy is from Edmonton!) as we all went to the spice market (small version of the grand bazaar but with more spices and foods and what not). We spent all day practicing our bartering, and we actually had people going down considerably on their prices! We didn’t actually buy much but it was still fun. I was also fun to have some different company all day.

After the market we went and checked out Agia Sophia Mosque today and checked that out for a while. It was a lot bigger than the Blue Mosque but there was a ton of scaffolding in the middle because they were restoring the ceiling.

John and I went down to check out the coast after… very very nice. There was a lady climbing on the rocks posing for a picture, which her husband was taking, and she fell in the water! She took it quite well but I felt so bad for her… that water isn’t exactly nice. Still it was quite a sight to see! ANNNYYYWWAAAYYY… we ended up going to dinner with the guy from Edmonton and then taking in some delicious Turkish desserts.

It will be sad to leave Turkey tomorrow but the trip must go on!

I just tried uploading some pictures but I can’t figure out how the heck to make the appear… anyone use bootsnall before?

Well, we just got back from the Whirling Dervishes Ceremony. The music and dancing was quite enchanting… almost hypnotizing. It was quite a sight to see and I’m glad I got a chance to catch that while in Turkey.

Today, we went to the Grand Bazaar (even though it’s freaking cold now!)… Basically its an area with more than 4000 shops where people are trying to sell you anything from silver to “D&G” clothing. John is a horrible barterer (is that a word?)… when the vendor asked him how much he was willing to pay, John actually told the guy his top price (which was already pretty high)… haha. We got better at talking people down… I bought a couple of little things and a good luck charm of sorts (at least thats what the guy told me).

Anyway, I’m totally addicted to Turkish Apple Tea now… I don’t know how I’m going to go on without it later. I can only carry back so much. I hope it warms up tomorrow so we can go and check out the coast without freezing our butts off!