Its over already? Well… not quite yet!

We arrived in Athens early in the morning and made it to our hotel.  As Travis will tell you (because I did not shut up about it) I was not impressed by our accommodations.  While we had initially read that the hotel  (a Best Western) was in a sketchy area, we booked it online as it was rated #33 in Athens (out of 300 hotels).  This was the rating on TripAdvisor and we book all our hotels by looking there and they’ve been awesome so far… but not this one.  Actually, sketchy was an understatement.  I’m not sure if  anyone remembers but in 2009 a 15 year old Greek boy was shot and killed by two policeman.  This resulted in weeks of rioting.  This occurred in an area populated largely by anarchists.  This also happened to be the area where our hotel was located. 

Our first clue about the suspect nature of our hotel was on our first day out.  We took a map and were headed to the acropolis (where the Parthenon is).  We walked out of our hotel and across the street into a park of people doing drugs.  Now I’m not talking about people sitting around smoking weed, I’m talking about people shooting cocaine into their toes and legs.  And not one or two either… like 50 or 60.   So we started walking more quickly….but this park wasn’t short so we our brisk walk became brisker and by the end of the park we were almost running.  Now you might say ‘ Carlie, stop being a baby ‘ But I have never done drugs.  Not even smoked a joint (yes you can start making fun of me now) and I get nauseous watching ‘Intervention’. Good thing I had Travis with me, working on the west side of Saskatoon and going to school in Shaughnessy made him tougher than I was.

Christopher Columbus trying to navigate us through Drugville

When we got out of the park we continued to walk towards the Parthenon.  But first we had to get across a square called Omonia.  We headed towards McDonalds to get a milkshake (because they are $1 here and it was 9:30 am and yet again over 35C).  Unfortunately we never made it there because ahead of us heading into Micky D’s was someone who obviously used his legs as injections sites and they had swollen into the size of tree trunks and had open wounds (I swear I saw maggots in one but Travis told me to smarten up…. only after I stopped gagging) so we veered the other way and decided to avoid old McDicks at all costs.

So although it was not a great start to Athens, we’ve decided that when we have kids we will be bringing them here to give them a lesson on why not to do drugs. The Parthenon was worth the scary walk though.  We bought our tickets and headed up to the top.  We then saw ancient Agora (the ancient city of Athens), Zeus’ temple and a few more sites.  We spent the afternoon wandering around and then headed back to our hotel (before it got dark because there was no way in hell I was walking there at night). 

The next morning we got up and decided since we had seen the sights to go shopping.  We ended up picking up a few things, going for a good lunch and then buying a carpet large enough to fit our new living room.  I know. Don’t ask.  (We went in to the store to buy pillow cushions for $4 and damn that salesman was good).

Anyways, our last night in Athens was again spent in our hotel room (again too scared) so we decided to order Pizza Hut and watch a movie.  We were supposed to fly home on a flight Monday afternoon but our flight got cancelled (something wrong with the tire – to which caused a major uproar but we didn’t care… I’d rather they fix it before I get on the plane) so Air Canada has put us up in a swanky hotel in downtown Athens (where Travis says he’s going to drink the minibar dry if its courtesy of Air Canada) and then we are headed home.  We are then headed to Penticton Wednesday (tight schedule I know… but that just means everyone has to come visit us – JEANINE!)

See everyone when we get home!!

And the sun is shining!

We arrived in Santorini at 2am after a 5 hour ferry from Kos.  The ferry ride was really smooth until the last half an hour in which if you tried to walk you’d find yourself slamming into the walls.  By the time we docked I was quite glad it was over.  We got a cab to our hotel where we found out that we had been booked two single beds (‘What?’, the manager said, ‘ I thought you were two girls. You aren’t brother and sister by chance are you?’) but said we’d get switched in the morning.

After switching rooms in the morning we walked to the beach to discover it was black lava rock.   While it felt really cool on your feet (it was just like sand) you couldn’t stand on it for more than 5 seconds without feeling like your feet were going to burn off (I bet Travis $5 that he couldn’t lay on it, even for a few seconds, but he didn’t take me up on the offer…)   Anyways, we spent the rest of the day on the beach and the night checking out the town of Perissa where we were staying.

The next day we spent by the pool and at night we went into Fira which is the main town on Santorini.  We got a restaurant where you could watch the sunset and it was amazing.  At night we walked around and checked out the shops (which consisted of a lot of gold shops).

On Thursday we decided that we would do a tour.  We were going to rent a scooter but after reading that Santorini has one of the highest accident rates in Greece (because they drive like retards, their roads are insanely narrow and there are mountains everywhere) we decided to do a tour that included seeing a volcano, hot springs and a small town on another island. 

The island of Santorini is what remains after a giant volcanic explosion that left behind a few islands.  It has, essentially, a giant central lagoon (which is the ocean) and is surrounded on three sides by giant cliffs.  We got onto a ferry and our first stop was the island where the volcano was still active.  The rocks were all black and not one thing grew on them.  I half expected to get on and see a giant hole in the middle with red lava bubbling (to which Travis said ‘ Do you really think they would let tourists walk onto an active volcano and into a lava pit?’ ) but hey that’s what I thought.  Anyways, there was no giant hole but rather quite a few and there was no lava either (dang).  Instead, there was just small puffs of sulfur clouds and greenish/white looking salt; nonetheless, it was pretty cool.

We were then off to the hot springs.  Because the volcano is still active and emitting heat, there are certain coves on the island that heat up (to around 35C). So we took the boat there and hopped off.  The best way to describe what we jumped into would be a giant rusty tub that smelled like the worst egg fart you can imagine.  So we swam until we felt how warm it was, turned around and hopped out (I’m sure the locals must think the tourists are mental for going into that). 

We then went to a small island where we walked one of the cliff edges (about 1000ft), had lunch and swam.  At the end of the day we went to a town called Oia to watch the sunset. 

We are now on our way to Athens.  When we first got to Santorini we realized that all the ferries were completely booked.   Although this wouldn't be a bad place to be stranded, we've now found tickets on an overnight ferry to the mainland.  Good bye Greek Islands!

We’re here for a good time… not a long time….

Right now we are on the ferry headed to Santorini after spending almost a week on the island of Kos in a town called Tigaki.  The ferry is a lot nicer than I thought (from the outside they look really dumpy) but on the inside its huge with restaurants and hotel rooms and lots of things to do (I can’t imagine what a cruise ship must look like).  Anyways, on to Tigaki.

The island of Kos is one of the closest Greek islands to Turkey.  We arrived early in the morning on a flight out from Bari to land at the airport and find out the taxis were on strike.  Normally Travis and I would have considered hiking into town if it wasn’t that far but we realized it was 18km, 10:30am and already 38C.  So we opted to take the city bus.  Now, as much as I hate taking public transportation (I truly am all for helping the environment) but the people who take it is what I dislike most.  Its also quite difficult to take a bus when you A. Have no idea where it is going and B. don’t speak the language.  Anyways, an hour later we arrived at our resort.

Tigaki is a small resort town (as are a lot of the ones on Kos) that must have built most of its hotels in the 70s and that’s where they’ve stayed (I felt a bit like we were in Dirty Dancing).  Anyways, our place was still great and right next to everything so we were glad we had chosen it.  We grabbed a quick lunch and spent the rest of the day laying by the pool.

When we arrived we noticed that everyone rents either quads, motorbikes, scooters or dune buggies to get around town.  We decided it would be fun to rent a dune buggy and check out the island (which is about 50km from one end to the other so its really easy to get around)

We drove into the main town (Kos Town) and wandered around there.  They have a lot of ruins there as well that are thousands of years old but for some reason – we’re not sure why – unlike all of the other places we have been they aren’t kept in very good condition.  Therefore, instead of being surrounded by gates, you actually can climb all over them (I’m sure they’ll regret this one day). 

Next we were on to a town in the mountains called Zia.  It is known as a tourist spot where people go and watch the sunset.  We then went to a beach where they kite surf.  Travis really wanted to try (partially because it looks super cool and fun and partially because Brett does it) but we didn’t have time and had to get our luxury sedan back to its owner.

The next couple days we spent lying by the pool.  At night we would walk into town and found some really great places to eat.  One place, called 7 Days, we found the most interesting, hilarious Greek girl who chatted with us long after everyone had left.  She told us all about the traditional Greek drinks, how the tourism industry has changed and how she thinks it will with all the problems Greece’s economy is currently having.  She was a lot of fun and we were really glad we met her.

The second last day we were here we decided to go to Turkey.  Initially we weren’t going to but we figured, being so close, we’d regret it if we didn’t.  After a 45 minute boat ride and a hot customs line later we were in Turkey.  We opted to do a city tour (because it was so, so hot) and were taking to some of the cities attractions as well as a few others (because they were the ones who had sponsored the bus).  While they were cool to see they were a bit misleading as they said because we had come in a group we’d get amazing prices however when Travis picked up a watch and asked how much it was he replied $1600. 

One of the places we visited along the way was the old windmills of Bodrum.  Before we had gone to Turkey I had said I really wanted to ride a camel while we were there but after getting there I realized it probably wasn’t going to happen . However, when we arrived at the windmills, there were two camels sitting right next to them.  And it was great.

Turkey is also know for its knock off clothes, purses and pretty much anything else you can think of.  It is the second highest producing country of this after China (or that’s what they told us).  Travis therefore took advantage of this buying 9 (yes 9) Lacoste t-shirts for a whopping $4 a shirt. 

Our last day we spent by the pool, enjoying the hot weather (every day it was over 35C without a cloud in the sky).   We are now headed to Santorini (this is the island that people think of when they think of Greek islands with its white houses) and will get to spend our 3^rd anniversary there. 

And last, but not least, I’d like to say congratulations to one of my very bestest friends Rebeccah and her new fiancé Chad! YAY!!!

Mamma Mia! Florence and Tuscany were beautiful! Belissimo!

Thanks everyone for reading and commenting on our blog!  We really like writing it and has been an awesome way to remember what we did... we miss everyone at home (we can't believe we'll be home in less than 2 weeks) but have had a really fun time so far.  We are now in Greece (after an eventful time getting there - we think that our mussels in Bari gave us food poisoning) but we are here and loving it.  Below is about our time in Florence... 

Old Bridge in Tuscany

We had been told before we got to Florence that, like Rome, they would be in the middle of a heat wave (45C).  Although we love the heat, it’s a little hard to see everything when it’s so hot.  Thankfully, when we got to Florence, the heat wave was over.

Florence, or Firenze, is known for its museums and history.  It was home to one of the most influential families in all of Europe - the Medicini family; it is also home to ‘David’ the statue done by Michelangelo (see pictures below but beware you may not be able to tell which is the actual David).  Anyways, coming into this city we knew there would be a lot to do and so, you may think that (by the information I just wrote) that we did all of it. But, alas, it was just a copy and paste from our good ol’ friend Wikipedia.  Travis and I were a bit done with museums and decided to take a cooking class, visit Tuscany, taste wine and drink balsamic vinegar (which we had a lot more fun doing) instead.

David? Travis??

When we first got there we walked around and then headed to our cooking lesson.  I think this is one of the most fun nights we have had during our trip.  We were put in groups of 5 and each assigned to a kitchen (I felt a bit like Grade 8 Cooking).  We started off by making our dessert which was a frozen chocolate and cookie roll as well as a strawberry and cream mousse.   Our appetizer was next and was an eggplant, tomato and melted mozzerella cup. We then made a mushroom linguini pasta from scratch (Rebeccah you would be SO proud of us!) and finished off with rosemary and garlic chicken.  They then took us to their cellar where they served the food we had made tonight and we drank wine and visited with our group.  In our group we had a couple from NYC (his name was Donny, he had an annoying accent and I was not impressed with him from the start when he said ‘what? at least I don’t play with dogs all day’) and a girl on a highschool exchange from Switzerland.  Nonetheless, Travis and I had a lot of fun and would recommend  everyone to try it out.

The next day we spent wandering around the markets.  Florence has a huge amount of leather goods (you can buy a really nice leather bomber jacket for around $100 Euro) so we spent the day shopping for a purse for me, some sandals for Travis and little presents for our families.  We also managed to go for a run through a  park that overlooked the historic center of Florence.

Our third day in Florence we signed up for a trip into the Chianti region of Florence (Tuscany area) and it was absolutely beautiful.  We left early in the morning and went to a small historic town.  Before we left, our guide asked if anyone was prone to car sickness because the roads were windy (and he drove like a bat out of hell which really didn’t help). While I thought I would be fine, by the next town I was sitting shotgun with my head out the window.  After arriving in the second town, we walked around a bit.  The historic part of the town was situated in the middle of a castle and you could walk around beneath the perimeter castle walls.  Also, every other shop was a wine shop, some with bottles over 100 years old. 

We were then off to the winery.  When we got there, the owner told us that he used to be a veterinarian but after working for over 20 years decided to buy an old vineyeard and fix it up (maybe that’s in my future???).  He had since fixed it up into a paradise.  In addition to his vineyard and growing rosemary (which was delicious) and lavender, he also made balsamic vinegar and organic creams as well as hunted wild boars and truffles.  We sampled his balsamic vinegar (who knew that if you let it sit for 30 years it evaporates into a syrup – one that he charges ~$50 for) and then he made us a lunch that he paired with the different wines of his vineyard.  He also had an outdoor pizza oven (which is something I’ve been talking about building since I was in Seattle) so he explained to me and Travis how he built it and how to cook food in it.

Balsamic Vinegar Barrels

We then headed home.  We spent the rest of our day wandering around Florence and at night went back to the park overlooking the city to watch the sunset (with a couple hundred other people).  We also tried to call the Carusos (who are in Florence) because we thought it would be cool to see them but they didn’t have their phones on.  Anyways…

This guy drew this... in chalk

We are on the train now to Bari, Italy (its in the south east) where we will be catching a plan to Kos, Greece tomorrow.  CIAO!

Rome wasn’t built in a day… but it was seen in 3

you know what they say... when in Rome?

We arrived in Rome to find out that we were in the middle of a heat wave (and as we found out later, the two hottest days of the year).  The first day we wandered around to see what we wanted to do in the next couple we were there…  Our bed and breakfast (another awesome one) was about 10 minutes from the Colosseum so we decided to walk and check that out first. 

On our second day we did a lot of the touristy sights.  We found the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps, lots of plazas and churches, and a monument dedicated to Vittorio Emmanuel (the first president).  Travis and I thought it was pretty cool but, as we read later, a lot of people in Rome thinks it a bit of an eye sore as all of buildings in Rome are brown and this one is made from marble (and has 50 tonne bronze statues on it).  We spent the night walking down by the river where there was a lot of restaurants and things to do.

What crowds?

Our day in the Vatican City was probably our most entertaining. We had heard from multiple people to book tickets in advance as lines can get very long. When we got there we were happy that we did because the line was close to a kilometer long.  Once in the city (which is a separate state so you are no longer in Italy) we went to the Vatican Museum.  There we saw lots of statues, books, pots, etc. (dating back thousands of years) as well as the Sistine Chapel. 

Travis' illegal picture of the Sistine Chapel

The Sistine Chapel is where our entertainment began.  When you enter, it is a long rectangular room with  frescoes (by Michelangelo, among others) painted on the ceiling and is packed with people.  As a rule, you are not allowed to:

      a. take pictures

      b. sit on the steps or

      c. talk loudly. 

Well, as you can imagine, that doesn’t bode well with tourists so people try to secretly try to snap photos.  This results in being screamed at by the guard (see rule a.) who then yells SHHHHH to everyone.  Because the room is so crowded and the ceiling has so much to see, many people try to sit down (again guard yells and see rule a, b and again c).  So, while it is amazing, most of the time is spent in a very crowded room with guards screaming and people trying to secretly take pictures.  Anyways, the Sistine Chapel was really amazing and an experience to see.

After looking at the rest of the Vatican Museum (which consists of the different wings that different popes have had built) we were off to St. Peter’s Basilica.  Before you are allowed in, you are shuffled through security and then pass through two guards who inspect your clothing (the real life ‘fashion police’ as Travis called them).  If you were wearing something that didn’t cover your shoulders or was above your knees (aka no tank tops or shorts) you weren’t allowed in.  Despite there being multiple signs and people being turned away everyone still tried to get in.  So, instead of going right into St. Peter’s  we decided to sit on the steps and watch the tourists who hadn’t dressed properly try to change their attire to get in. 

This included:  1. Unbuttoning your skirt and pulling it as low as it would go even if that meant your butt hung out

                           2. tying a scarf around your knees and waddling in

                           3. tying a scarf around your wife beater and getting turned around by guards who tell you scarves are only for women

                           4. wrapping yourself in a giant sheet

   … or (my personal favorite) 5. Charging the guards and running as fast as you can away from them into the church

         

After watching this for a while we went in. The Basilica is absolutely amazing and something that really can only be seen (I’d be doing it a disservice to attempt to describe it). 

Our last day in Rome was spent at the Colosseum and Palatine Hill.  It was really amazing to see something that old (and really, kinda hard to understand how old it really was).  We then walked around some more and went to one of the top 3 rated restaurants in Rome (delicious of course).  We are now on a train to Florence.  We have a cooking class booked for tonight and are thinking about booking a Tuscan wine tour for tomorrow (I’ll check it out for you mom!).  CIAO!