After a 40 euro cab ride to our hotel, we arrived in Mijas, Spain outside of malaga. It was a quick couple days in this costa del sol region that has 6 months of summer. This equaled Katie looking more like a native American and Amanda and I having to go inside early because our skin was literally in pain. Best way to sum up this part of the trip is lots of sun, lots of sangria, and a failed attempt at a festival in Malaga that ended when we got there and people were puking in the street. Apparently we missed a doozy...
When we reserved our high speed train to Madrid we once again realized that we didn't do enough planning and the regular seats we sold out. Luckily, being under 26, we qualified for a youth discount. We booked our preferente seats, which we thought meant you picked your seats ahead of time. False. We were in first class! I mean...we were given hot towels just like in the Wedding Singer. And awesome food. And bloody marys. The "flight attendants" loved us and said they wished they could go out with us in Madrid.
After getting to Madrid we checked in to our hostel and just walked around the city. We had an amazing lunch of tapas and sangria before taking naps. We were told that people in Madrid stay out really late, and we were meeting our friends from Italy out that night, preparation was needed. Our friend Fran hosts weekly get togethers for foreign people to come mingle and speak different languages...we came to drink. We met some really cool people at this Irish pub, and watched the real Madrid vs. Barcelona soccer game. Afterwards a group of us went to a street festival that consisted of people everywhere, 40 oz drinks, and us being dancing machines. By us, I mean I had dance offs with anyone who dared compete :)
We are stuck in the Toronto airport for now...more to come later!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Arabian Nights
As I am beginning this post, I'm sitting on the train to Madrid and my seat is violently moving because the drunk guy behind me is using the table attached to my seat as a drum set to drum along to Akon's "Damn yous a sexy bitch". Never a dull moment. Thought we could avoid the drunks by buying first class tickets! (Just kidding, we had no clue we bought first class tickets. They were the cheapest available. Turns out "perferente" doesn't mean preferred seating assignments...it's first class) We'll share the video later.
Anyways....
Morocco. We arrived to the port and the map we had to get to our hotel showed that we were walking distance away. We were at the bottom of a huge mountain and women on donkeys were going up the mountain. Liz was convinced we could get to our hotel just fine, but we stopped for directions just in case. Well, turns out we were at a new port that was 30 kilometers from our hotel. So we waited a bit for the city bus and headed into the city center. The views were gorgeous over the huge mountains into the small towns along the highways. There were sheep, donkeys, cows, and camels along the roads. As we approached the city, the vibes changed. Lots of chaos and crowds everywhere. The bus dropped us off in the middle of a crazy turnabout and before we had time to process where to go from there, taxi drivers were already grabbing our backpacks to take us into their car. We stuck together hoping we would get to hotel in one piece. Our luggage barely fit into the trunk and the driver used a bungee cord to strap down the trunk. He could tell we were worried and he reassured us by saying "It is ok I use my mirror to see if luggage falls out while driving". Great. A tour guide, named Sheriff, jumped in the front seat and started rambling off every possible American reference to Morocco possible. "Rock the casbah...funky Cold Medina". He thought we would hire him for our trip. Um we'll pass.
We pulled up to the hotel with all of our luggage still under the bungee and said goodbye to Sheriff. He wouldn't give up on us, though, and gave Katie his number thinking we would call him later. We checked into our room and had some time to calm down after our overwhelming arrival into the city center.
Enter Ismel, the concierge guy who helped reassure us that we would be just fine in Morocco and we had nothing to worry about. We discussed what we wanted to see and do in Morocco and then he booked our driver and guide for the next day. Oh and most importantly, he showed us the way to the hotel bar and pool so we could drink local beer and relax there for the night.
The next morning we ate breakfast at the hotel (we were always the only people eating because it was Ramadan, therefore, everyone in Morocco was fasting from sunrise to sunset) and waited for our guide to arrive. At 9am, our pale yellow Mercedes pulled up with our driver and guide inside. None of us ever caught their names. Our guide spoke pretty decent English so he was rattling off facts as we drove the hour west on the coast to Asila, Morocco. We arrived to a city center and walked towards a group of horses. Our guide paid one of the horse owners to take us for a ride. Attached to the horse was a wooden flatbed with two wheels. We all jumped on (including our guide) and held on for our dear lives (Katie and I held onto Liz haha) as he galloped around the square.
Next, we went into the fortress in Asila that lined the coast. We tried a green cactus fruit from one of the venders on the street, which tasted like a really sweet peach. Our guide said that all of the women ride their donkeys into the city to sell their produce and then use the money they make to buy what need to take home that night. Most of the women sat with a bucket of produce hoping to make money. Inside the fortress were homes with pretty tiles and huge wooden carved doors. All of the doors had knockers that are a tradition in Moroccan homes. They are used to alert the women that a visitor is present, but the women are only allowed to greet other women or their dads and brothers while their husbands are gone for the day working. A lot of rich looking Spanish people own homes in the fortress. The views from the top of the fortress walls were beautiful overlooking the ocean and the mountains.
We returned to the cab and departed to the Hercules caves. We were scared that there would be bats, but thankfully the dark area where the bats live was closed off. We walked down into the cave to see the natural opening that looked into the ocean. The opening was said to have perfectly resembled the outline of the African map. There were a couple of vendors including a guy who had the traditional women Moroccan clothing to use for pictures. Our guide dressed Katie up in the entire outfit and we took funny pictures. She fit the part perfectly because of her European tan :)
Onto the lighthouse where you can see the area that the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea meet. It was a nice view from up high.
The highlight of our day came next: riding the camels! Liz jumped on first to her camel named Nadia. Nadia was a little bit of a wild child and had Liz shrieking a few times. Katie then got on Sabrina and I got on Fatima. It was a little scary when the camels stood up, but no one fell off! Our camels formed what was supposed to be a caravan with Liz's camel in the front. Sabrina and Fatima were lovers so they would not take part in the caravan, instead insisting that they were always side by side intertwining their necks. We made our way around the cliff taking some fun pictures. After we got off, our guide insisted that we pose with the baby camels. Katie bravely went over to the first baby and all of a sudden, I see her running away screaming. Hilarious! He acted like he was going to bite her ear.
We drove back to Tanger to visit the markets. They were a bit nerve-wracking and very crowded. The meat market was wild...we were almost run over by a guy carrying a 5 foot long side of a cow. I also saw a guy sledgehammer a dead donkey's head off. Yuck. The seafood market was crazy and filled with people everywhere. A dead shark on the ground, weaving in and out of the crowds to avoid being touched by any of the fishtails sticking out, really slippery floors, and a lovely fishy smell. Great cultural experience, but it didn't leave us with the desire to shop there :)
The handicraft markets were our next stop, which started with our guide taking us to a store where they gave us a rug presentation and wanted to to buy $500 rugs to ship home. No thanks! We preferred the smalls stores where we could barter for pottery and jewelry. "Blondies make me go crazy..I give crazy prices to blondies!" -how Liz was lured into the first shop. The same guy also told Katie she had an Arabian nose. Haha We had some good laughs from him. Lots of necklace and pottery purchases later, we ended our tour with a walk up what felt like the world's steepest street in 100 degree weather back to our hotel. (Forgot to mention we were in jeans and 3/4 sleeve shirts to fit into the culture.) hot, hot, hot!
We spent the afternoon by the pool, had lunch, and then had dinner with the same waiter and menu. Food wasn't easy to get because we were the only ones eating. Our waiter served us free Ramadan soup, dates, and Moroccan cookies, which were quite good. The kabobs we ordered were a different story. Liz took the first bite and it didn't go so swell. We didn't want to offend him so we wound up cutting up the kabobs and mixing them around our plates so it looked like we ate them. Liz also put a napkin full of 1 kabob in her wristlet for good measure. Hahaha
Morocco was a very cool cultural experience. We were a bit out of our comfort zone, but our adventures were amazing. Back to Spain....
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Anyways....
Morocco. We arrived to the port and the map we had to get to our hotel showed that we were walking distance away. We were at the bottom of a huge mountain and women on donkeys were going up the mountain. Liz was convinced we could get to our hotel just fine, but we stopped for directions just in case. Well, turns out we were at a new port that was 30 kilometers from our hotel. So we waited a bit for the city bus and headed into the city center. The views were gorgeous over the huge mountains into the small towns along the highways. There were sheep, donkeys, cows, and camels along the roads. As we approached the city, the vibes changed. Lots of chaos and crowds everywhere. The bus dropped us off in the middle of a crazy turnabout and before we had time to process where to go from there, taxi drivers were already grabbing our backpacks to take us into their car. We stuck together hoping we would get to hotel in one piece. Our luggage barely fit into the trunk and the driver used a bungee cord to strap down the trunk. He could tell we were worried and he reassured us by saying "It is ok I use my mirror to see if luggage falls out while driving". Great. A tour guide, named Sheriff, jumped in the front seat and started rambling off every possible American reference to Morocco possible. "Rock the casbah...funky Cold Medina". He thought we would hire him for our trip. Um we'll pass.
We pulled up to the hotel with all of our luggage still under the bungee and said goodbye to Sheriff. He wouldn't give up on us, though, and gave Katie his number thinking we would call him later. We checked into our room and had some time to calm down after our overwhelming arrival into the city center.
Enter Ismel, the concierge guy who helped reassure us that we would be just fine in Morocco and we had nothing to worry about. We discussed what we wanted to see and do in Morocco and then he booked our driver and guide for the next day. Oh and most importantly, he showed us the way to the hotel bar and pool so we could drink local beer and relax there for the night.
The next morning we ate breakfast at the hotel (we were always the only people eating because it was Ramadan, therefore, everyone in Morocco was fasting from sunrise to sunset) and waited for our guide to arrive. At 9am, our pale yellow Mercedes pulled up with our driver and guide inside. None of us ever caught their names. Our guide spoke pretty decent English so he was rattling off facts as we drove the hour west on the coast to Asila, Morocco. We arrived to a city center and walked towards a group of horses. Our guide paid one of the horse owners to take us for a ride. Attached to the horse was a wooden flatbed with two wheels. We all jumped on (including our guide) and held on for our dear lives (Katie and I held onto Liz haha) as he galloped around the square.
Next, we went into the fortress in Asila that lined the coast. We tried a green cactus fruit from one of the venders on the street, which tasted like a really sweet peach. Our guide said that all of the women ride their donkeys into the city to sell their produce and then use the money they make to buy what need to take home that night. Most of the women sat with a bucket of produce hoping to make money. Inside the fortress were homes with pretty tiles and huge wooden carved doors. All of the doors had knockers that are a tradition in Moroccan homes. They are used to alert the women that a visitor is present, but the women are only allowed to greet other women or their dads and brothers while their husbands are gone for the day working. A lot of rich looking Spanish people own homes in the fortress. The views from the top of the fortress walls were beautiful overlooking the ocean and the mountains.
We returned to the cab and departed to the Hercules caves. We were scared that there would be bats, but thankfully the dark area where the bats live was closed off. We walked down into the cave to see the natural opening that looked into the ocean. The opening was said to have perfectly resembled the outline of the African map. There were a couple of vendors including a guy who had the traditional women Moroccan clothing to use for pictures. Our guide dressed Katie up in the entire outfit and we took funny pictures. She fit the part perfectly because of her European tan :)
Onto the lighthouse where you can see the area that the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea meet. It was a nice view from up high.
The highlight of our day came next: riding the camels! Liz jumped on first to her camel named Nadia. Nadia was a little bit of a wild child and had Liz shrieking a few times. Katie then got on Sabrina and I got on Fatima. It was a little scary when the camels stood up, but no one fell off! Our camels formed what was supposed to be a caravan with Liz's camel in the front. Sabrina and Fatima were lovers so they would not take part in the caravan, instead insisting that they were always side by side intertwining their necks. We made our way around the cliff taking some fun pictures. After we got off, our guide insisted that we pose with the baby camels. Katie bravely went over to the first baby and all of a sudden, I see her running away screaming. Hilarious! He acted like he was going to bite her ear.
We drove back to Tanger to visit the markets. They were a bit nerve-wracking and very crowded. The meat market was wild...we were almost run over by a guy carrying a 5 foot long side of a cow. I also saw a guy sledgehammer a dead donkey's head off. Yuck. The seafood market was crazy and filled with people everywhere. A dead shark on the ground, weaving in and out of the crowds to avoid being touched by any of the fishtails sticking out, really slippery floors, and a lovely fishy smell. Great cultural experience, but it didn't leave us with the desire to shop there :)
The handicraft markets were our next stop, which started with our guide taking us to a store where they gave us a rug presentation and wanted to to buy $500 rugs to ship home. No thanks! We preferred the smalls stores where we could barter for pottery and jewelry. "Blondies make me go crazy..I give crazy prices to blondies!" -how Liz was lured into the first shop. The same guy also told Katie she had an Arabian nose. Haha We had some good laughs from him. Lots of necklace and pottery purchases later, we ended our tour with a walk up what felt like the world's steepest street in 100 degree weather back to our hotel. (Forgot to mention we were in jeans and 3/4 sleeve shirts to fit into the culture.) hot, hot, hot!
We spent the afternoon by the pool, had lunch, and then had dinner with the same waiter and menu. Food wasn't easy to get because we were the only ones eating. Our waiter served us free Ramadan soup, dates, and Moroccan cookies, which were quite good. The kabobs we ordered were a different story. Liz took the first bite and it didn't go so swell. We didn't want to offend him so we wound up cutting up the kabobs and mixing them around our plates so it looked like we ate them. Liz also put a napkin full of 1 kabob in her wristlet for good measure. Hahaha
Morocco was a very cool cultural experience. We were a bit out of our comfort zone, but our adventures were amazing. Back to Spain....
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
How to: see Athens in less than 24 hours, by Liz Bieze
Step 1: have Dennis the taxi driver pick us up in kefalonia at 5:15am
2: Allow a bunch of European travelers to drive you absolutely insane because of their lack of "first come, first served" and/or "this is a line, get to the back of it ass hole" mentality.
3: leave you luggage at the airport baggage storage for the day
4: prepare for 100 degree weather, or in our case, don't prepare and walk around looking like tomatoes for the rest of the day
Thanks to our early morning flight we had all day to see the sights in Athens. We were told to not go to the acropolis during mid day because of the crowds and the blazing sun, but we had no time to spare. We started with a stroll through the National Gardens, basically a Central Parkish feel in the center of Athens. Whether due to lack of sleep or true boredom, we spent about 5 minutes in there before moving on. We happened to see the crossing of the guard outside the royal palace...basically guys in over the top uniforms resembling a high school girl's kick line dance team. All the major sights were pretty close together, so we moved in a circle around the gardens.
Sights:
1. Original sight of the first modern Olympics...now used as the finish line for the Athens marathon and was used during the 2004 summer games. Anyone who knows me and my love for the Olympics knows how cool this was for me.
2. We saw the remnants of an old temple and arch, where Amanda thought she was going to barf. Lovely.
3. Walked up a huge hill to grab some lunch and head into the Acropolis grounds. Mind you, by this point it had hit 100 degrees and we had sweat coming from every pore of our bodies.
4. Made it to the top to see the Parthenon and all the other temples at the top of the mountain. One would think that knowing you will be doing so much hiking you would wear tennis shoes...you thought wrong. At least we aren't like most of the women here wearing high heels all day every day. If you think we stick out now, just add heels to Amanda and I to make us 6'2.
We continued to walk the grounds taking in the amazing views and scenery, despite the restoration projects that left scaffolding at a lot of the buildings. We had some cold brewskis at a cute cafe where we met some Greek/Americans from North Carolina that were taking time off from the Greek restaurant they own. Good conversation and a free round of beers. We decided it wasn't a good idea to be in Athens at night while waiting for our 4:25 (eek!) flight to Spain, so we headed to the airport.
Update on what we have been doing the past 18 hours: slept on Athens airport floor, had nasty McDonald's because it was the only thing open, flight to Barcelona, slept on Barcelona airport floor, arrived in Malaga. Against all instincts, we listened to people at the information counter telling us our bus to Algeciras port to get to morocco would pick us up at the airport, not at the city center as indicated online. At 12:23 I took matters in to my own hands and cried to a taxi driver to get us to the bus station by 12:30. We didn't get there on time, but luckily the bus was late. That being said, I'm still not convinced the bus we embarked upon was the bus we actually had tickets for. Nevertheless, we made it and are currently on the (swaying) ferry. We changed in to long pants and jeans to prepare for the conservative culture of morocco, much to the dismay of the Moroccan men who loved our shorts.
Amanda booked us at the Intercontinental Hotel in Tangier. It's not the Ritz Carleton, but it will have to do. We are very excited for the rooftop pool with the lions head fountains spouting water, though I told her that based upon our misadventures thus far, the pool will probably be empty and the lions head will be cracked in half. Bring on the camel riding...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
2: Allow a bunch of European travelers to drive you absolutely insane because of their lack of "first come, first served" and/or "this is a line, get to the back of it ass hole" mentality.
3: leave you luggage at the airport baggage storage for the day
4: prepare for 100 degree weather, or in our case, don't prepare and walk around looking like tomatoes for the rest of the day
Thanks to our early morning flight we had all day to see the sights in Athens. We were told to not go to the acropolis during mid day because of the crowds and the blazing sun, but we had no time to spare. We started with a stroll through the National Gardens, basically a Central Parkish feel in the center of Athens. Whether due to lack of sleep or true boredom, we spent about 5 minutes in there before moving on. We happened to see the crossing of the guard outside the royal palace...basically guys in over the top uniforms resembling a high school girl's kick line dance team. All the major sights were pretty close together, so we moved in a circle around the gardens.
Sights:
1. Original sight of the first modern Olympics...now used as the finish line for the Athens marathon and was used during the 2004 summer games. Anyone who knows me and my love for the Olympics knows how cool this was for me.
2. We saw the remnants of an old temple and arch, where Amanda thought she was going to barf. Lovely.
3. Walked up a huge hill to grab some lunch and head into the Acropolis grounds. Mind you, by this point it had hit 100 degrees and we had sweat coming from every pore of our bodies.
4. Made it to the top to see the Parthenon and all the other temples at the top of the mountain. One would think that knowing you will be doing so much hiking you would wear tennis shoes...you thought wrong. At least we aren't like most of the women here wearing high heels all day every day. If you think we stick out now, just add heels to Amanda and I to make us 6'2.
We continued to walk the grounds taking in the amazing views and scenery, despite the restoration projects that left scaffolding at a lot of the buildings. We had some cold brewskis at a cute cafe where we met some Greek/Americans from North Carolina that were taking time off from the Greek restaurant they own. Good conversation and a free round of beers. We decided it wasn't a good idea to be in Athens at night while waiting for our 4:25 (eek!) flight to Spain, so we headed to the airport.
Update on what we have been doing the past 18 hours: slept on Athens airport floor, had nasty McDonald's because it was the only thing open, flight to Barcelona, slept on Barcelona airport floor, arrived in Malaga. Against all instincts, we listened to people at the information counter telling us our bus to Algeciras port to get to morocco would pick us up at the airport, not at the city center as indicated online. At 12:23 I took matters in to my own hands and cried to a taxi driver to get us to the bus station by 12:30. We didn't get there on time, but luckily the bus was late. That being said, I'm still not convinced the bus we embarked upon was the bus we actually had tickets for. Nevertheless, we made it and are currently on the (swaying) ferry. We changed in to long pants and jeans to prepare for the conservative culture of morocco, much to the dismay of the Moroccan men who loved our shorts.
Amanda booked us at the Intercontinental Hotel in Tangier. It's not the Ritz Carleton, but it will have to do. We are very excited for the rooftop pool with the lions head fountains spouting water, though I told her that based upon our misadventures thus far, the pool will probably be empty and the lions head will be cracked in half. Bring on the camel riding...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Paradise
After a 40 minute cab drive through the windy island of Kefalonia, we had arrived. The receptionist, John welcomed us with open arms. We got the key to our room which had a huge balcony with a sight to see. John invited us downstairs for some breakfast. We were starving and needed coffee as soon as possible. Luckily, the kitchen was stocked with fresh fruit and Greek yogurt, croissants, fresh jam, toast, and hot coffee. It was perfect. John ended up being a chatty Kathy but in the end helped us out so much. He recommended where to eat, shop, and explore. We got ready for the beach and started to explore the island. It was a cute, small island which was what we wanted. We booked a tour for the next day to swim in the sea and explore the island. We grabbed gyros and Greek salads and headed straight to the beach. The water was crystal clear and we definitely got some color. It was a relaxing day. After the beach we went to the bar for happy hour that included piña coladas, margaritas, and tropical drinks. The evening came around and John recommended a restaurant that served traditional Greek food. We have never ate so fast...the food was delicious and we were stuffed.
The next day we had to get up early for the boat excursion. We ate breakfast at our hotel again and chatted with John and Kathy, the owner of the hotel. Very helpful once again and helped us book a flight back to Athens the following day instead of going the ferry route again. We arrived to the boat which was full of people. We started with a hour and a half ride to Fiskardo, which was a famous town where Madonna, Tom hanks, and Bruce Springsteen often visit. The little boutiques were cute however the prices were outrageous! Half of the items didn't even have prices on them. It had many bakeries and coffee shops too which was awesome. We left that area and went swimming. The boat had two levels so we went to the top level to get a better view and more sun. We stopped in the middle of the sea and jumped off the second level deck. There was some hesitations but once we did it, we couldn't stop jumping in. There was also a slide which was amandas favorite. Many hilarious videos to come later. After the captain called us in we went to the cave a little farther inland. You enter the cave and see bright blue at the end of the tunnel. We got in little row boats and went around the sea cave. Most beautiful place created by an earthquake in the 50s. We ate a quick lunch and headed back on the boat to another swimming area. At this beach the water was a clear bluish greenish, and the waves were a little stronger. Super fun and had an awesome time spending the day exploring the island. After, we went for happy hour again and ate at pita bozo. So far we are loving Greece! On to the next adventure...Athens!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
The next day we had to get up early for the boat excursion. We ate breakfast at our hotel again and chatted with John and Kathy, the owner of the hotel. Very helpful once again and helped us book a flight back to Athens the following day instead of going the ferry route again. We arrived to the boat which was full of people. We started with a hour and a half ride to Fiskardo, which was a famous town where Madonna, Tom hanks, and Bruce Springsteen often visit. The little boutiques were cute however the prices were outrageous! Half of the items didn't even have prices on them. It had many bakeries and coffee shops too which was awesome. We left that area and went swimming. The boat had two levels so we went to the top level to get a better view and more sun. We stopped in the middle of the sea and jumped off the second level deck. There was some hesitations but once we did it, we couldn't stop jumping in. There was also a slide which was amandas favorite. Many hilarious videos to come later. After the captain called us in we went to the cave a little farther inland. You enter the cave and see bright blue at the end of the tunnel. We got in little row boats and went around the sea cave. Most beautiful place created by an earthquake in the 50s. We ate a quick lunch and headed back on the boat to another swimming area. At this beach the water was a clear bluish greenish, and the waves were a little stronger. Super fun and had an awesome time spending the day exploring the island. After, we went for happy hour again and ate at pita bozo. So far we are loving Greece! On to the next adventure...Athens!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Overnight Ferry Adventures
After a train ride an hour south to Brindisi, Italy, we hopped on a shuttle to the port. Check in this time around was a breeze! A golf cart shuttled us and our backpacks to the ferry. We went up the escalator and when we showed the worker our tickets, we were directed to the ferry's outside deck where we would spend the next 15 hours. There were no rooms left so this was going to have to work! Phil, our half Greek/half Canadian friend was along for the ride with us. He also had planned on taking the ferry a day earlier, but couldn't get on. We dropped our stuff by a bench and used our backpacks to create a perimeter for our sleeping spot on the pool deck. Liz claimed the wood of the pool deck "would have more give" than the concrete deck below. No comment. The pool was empty at the time, but of course with our luck, they filled it after we took off so a few drunk Italians could cannonball into it with their cargo jorts still on. The party scene was hopping with a full bar a 30 second walk away. We were drinking cold beer in the sun until the sunset. At that point, we pulled out the screw top boxed red wine that we bought for 1 euro each before we left Bari. Much needed in order to sleep outside in the tail wind of the ferry. We played cards, used the iPad as a juke box/karaoke machine, and laughed the night away. Phil taught us some very basic Greek to use for the next 4 days. At around 2am we attempted to nap, which went well despite how cold and windy it was. Eventually we claimed some couches under the awning in the bar area. And FINALLY at 8am we arrived to the gorgeous Greek Island of Kefalonia....we walked down the ferry to find our cab driver Dennis holding a sign that read "Ms Bieze Party". Perfect. We arrived to partyy.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Sold Out
Not the most delightful phrase to hear as we tried to buy ferry tickets for Greece. Sold out until Monday was even worse considering we wouldn't make it to the Greek Islands at all! We thankfully found a travel agency that was quite helpful so we're taking a train to another port today. We have tickets and should be on our way to Greece at 6pm. We stayed overnight in Bari, Italy, which is a gorgeous wealthy town. The screw top bottles of Pinot grigio helped us to rationale that worse things could have happened and we'll make it to our destination just a day late. Hoping the next time we'll blog will be as we're on our terrace in Kelfalonia overlooking the clear blue sea!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
5 towns, 1 boat
Cinque Terre was amazing...even though we had to sleep outside the first night. In the end, we didn't have to pay for our room, and we got and upgrade to the master apartment suite. Totally worth it. Catching you up...we took a mid sized boat out in the Mediterranean with 6 people: the 3 of us, 2 travelers from Madrid, and Gianni, our local captain. It wasn't until much later that we realized his name was not Johnny:) though we never had a chance to do the hiking trails, I wouldn't have traded the boat for anything! We took off at about 11 after stocking up on fresh, local food and wine. We stopped at a couple stops along the way to anchor down, jump in to swim and snorkel, and to get sunburned. The food, wine, and company was amazing...and we learned how to say bad words in Italian. After being on the boat for over 8 hours, we made dinner plans at the restaurant in the square that our other local buddy, Alessandro, worked at. Words cannot describe this meal...2 rounds of anti pasta, main pasta dish, huge dessert platter, and mucho mucho vino. Dinner was followed up with limoncino, a local dessert drink that tastes like 5 lemon drops, and some warm whiskey shot....wowza. Our meal was supposed to be 50 euro/person, but because of Gianni and Alessandro, it was only 30. We have pictures of every course....delicioso. Cinque Terre is definitely our favorite place thus far, and we are meeting up with our Madrid friends before we leave.
After some goodbyes, including getting our butt pinched and singing our names down the street, we took the train to Rome. After hearing horror stories about theft and the men, we were a little nervous. Well either we are lucky or they know not to mess with this bunch! We haven't seen anything to be worried about, and Roma is amazing. Everything is so old and full of history. It is also ungodly hot and there are people everywhere. We did a guided tour of the colosseum this morning after sleeping in a bit, and then did everything Vatican city has to offer. We saw the Spanish steps last night, and had some dinner at a place recommended by our hotel. We are taking a little break now before heading out for dinner and drinks, but we have to take it easy tonight for our loooooong journey tomorrow. We are taking a. 5 hr train to eastern Italy so we can take the overnight ferry to kefalonia Greece. Considering how our trip has gone thus far, I'm sure we will have some misadventures to update you on. Ciao for now!
After some goodbyes, including getting our butt pinched and singing our names down the street, we took the train to Rome. After hearing horror stories about theft and the men, we were a little nervous. Well either we are lucky or they know not to mess with this bunch! We haven't seen anything to be worried about, and Roma is amazing. Everything is so old and full of history. It is also ungodly hot and there are people everywhere. We did a guided tour of the colosseum this morning after sleeping in a bit, and then did everything Vatican city has to offer. We saw the Spanish steps last night, and had some dinner at a place recommended by our hotel. We are taking a little break now before heading out for dinner and drinks, but we have to take it easy tonight for our loooooong journey tomorrow. We are taking a. 5 hr train to eastern Italy so we can take the overnight ferry to kefalonia Greece. Considering how our trip has gone thus far, I'm sure we will have some misadventures to update you on. Ciao for now!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)