As I walked through the customs gate I looked at my passport. The re-entry stamp into the USA, bright red and still a little wet cramped itself onto a crowded page with my Turkish visa and entrance stamp into Japan. I am home and I can't believe I did it.
On my shuttle ride home, a rastifarian driver slowly, almost dancingly walked to the car and opened the trunk as I dropped off my backpack. Driving through Brooklyn, Queens, Upper East, and Spanish Harlem to the Upper west side I browse the neighborhoods again. In NYC, I could have met people from every single country I have been to. In NYC, I could have eaten every single cuisine I have tasted. In NYC, I could have easily gotten lost in neighborhoods where the language and customs of each country I have been to are still practiced everyday. And yet, in NYC, I wouldn't have seen the elegance and musicality of Turkey. I wouldn't have gotten lost in the subways of Moscow. I wouldn't have taken trains through medieval towns of Italy and get dizzy by the whirling scooters in Naples. I wouldn't have felt the cold wuthering wind of Iceland and the volcanic landscape that looks like the surface of the moon. I wouldn't have seen the azure waters of the mediterranean nor the thick smokey air of Beijing. I wouldn't have met my grandmother, good old friends, nor had the same conversations with the same open-ness with strangers.
My trip is not done. As I have yet to post the rest of my photos and stories and head onto Chicago. But as I hopped on the number 1 train to go to Times Square today I was amazed to see how in two months, I went around the world and NYC has't changed a bit. Keep checking for more photos and video clips. To my NYC friends, I am home. Hope to see you soon.
7/29/2007
7/22/2007
One Last Adventure
With only a few days left before I return home, I reach my final destination. Iceland.
Let me just say that I drove about 10 hours today, 6 of which entailed me stopping, shooting photographs, walking around and marvelling. All that time I was working my ass off and stressing about stupid things in NYC, Iceland has always been quietly and magnificently existing. Some of the scenary is just so beautiful I want to cry as beautiful white birds glide on the cold air, massive water falls seep from canyons so tremendous that no camera could do it justice. Even so, I have just run through 4 GBs and need to clear space on my cameras. Tommorrow I head to the Glacier which is supposedly one of the 7 big energy centers on the planet. Lets see if it gives me some creativity.
Everything looks so much smaller in these photographs... Add a 360 degree panoramic view, whie clouds that blanket your head, fresh cold air, birds whizzing in the air and very little people and that would describe what I am seeing here. The sun doesn´t set until at least 2am so its been interesting as I am very tired but don´t feel right sleeping.
p.s. Cross your fingers for me that I don't get into a car accident, the driving is very intense here too.
Let me just say that I drove about 10 hours today, 6 of which entailed me stopping, shooting photographs, walking around and marvelling. All that time I was working my ass off and stressing about stupid things in NYC, Iceland has always been quietly and magnificently existing. Some of the scenary is just so beautiful I want to cry as beautiful white birds glide on the cold air, massive water falls seep from canyons so tremendous that no camera could do it justice. Even so, I have just run through 4 GBs and need to clear space on my cameras. Tommorrow I head to the Glacier which is supposedly one of the 7 big energy centers on the planet. Lets see if it gives me some creativity.
Everything looks so much smaller in these photographs... Add a 360 degree panoramic view, whie clouds that blanket your head, fresh cold air, birds whizzing in the air and very little people and that would describe what I am seeing here. The sun doesn´t set until at least 2am so its been interesting as I am very tired but don´t feel right sleeping.
p.s. Cross your fingers for me that I don't get into a car accident, the driving is very intense here too.
London in the Rain
Oh GOD! Its so COLD. DOES IT RAIN ALL THE TIME? Laura, its London, they´re famous for that. I CAN´T BELIEVE HOW COLD IT IS. ISN´T IT LIKE JULY???
During our stay, London got so much torrential rain that certain areas were hit but flash flooding and several lines on the tube just simply shut down for the weekend. We might be the habringers of bad luck. Pictures of the tower bridge for the five minutes it was sunny in London.
During our stay, London got so much torrential rain that certain areas were hit but flash flooding and several lines on the tube just simply shut down for the weekend. We might be the habringers of bad luck. Pictures of the tower bridge for the five minutes it was sunny in London.
In London
In London we spend a few days hanging out with my friend Kristine. At the British Museum we finally get a picture of the three of us together. Being in London after all this travel is like a mini-new york break without the 24 hour everything. The British Museum is a treasure trove of thievery from around the world and we see valuable mummies, buddhist statues, chinese vases, African, Greek and Roman art and precious Indian art. I am glad I got to go there as the last time I was in London I missed out. The only caveat is that at 1 pound=2 dollars, we sort of cry through our wallets as we pay for everything. With the help of one of my big sisters, we scored an apartment in Notting Hill and cooked many meals but even the groceries are pretty expensive. I was most surprised to visit Leciester Sqaure´s China >Town and learn that Chinese ingredients aren´t really cheap there. Apparantly Iceland is worse.
Random Travel advice that you may already know: (My sisters are probably going no-duh right now)
Number 1:
For budget travel, go to India, South America, South East Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. My itinerary is expensive and we generally only eat out for dinner and cook in often for dinner too sometimes. I often stay with friends, friends of friends, hostels and pensions where the going rate is around 20-30 euro a head and breakfast of toast, tea and marmalade, hard boiled egg is included. Ps. find the supermarket, not the grocery store for water, yoghurt and go to fruit markets in local areas.
Number 2: Only buy things that you absolutely love. Its sounds like a simple and no-duh advice but many times you get caught in the moment and air and you buy low-quality why did I do that? Junk. I´ve made a purchase or two where I am like... why? They are small but they still take up room in my tiny bag and annoy me when I pack. They were cheap but not cheap enough to chuck so I stare at it everytime I think of how heavy my bag is. Take cash and if you are traveling for a while don´t just buy 20 table clothes because one of them is cheap and you think somebody will want it. They won´t. You´ll be stuck with 15 table cloths and everybody you know will have to get one for Christmas. I´ve seen many travelers/tourists do this for some reason.
Number 3: Also don´t plan so much ahead. I bought a rail pass and made some hotel reservations so far in advance that I´d forgotten about it and got burned in the process. For very busy areas it is better to book in advance but we´ve been in some pretty deep fleabag hostels by booking later than earlier. If you are one person, sometimes its easier to just show up and negotiate a price or find one at a hostel or pension.
Number 4: Pensions and hostels are interchangeable and sometimes about the same price. Laura wasn´t very keen on the backpacker/frat boy scene so hostels with 5 other people were out. We found we paid just a little more than hostels and often got our own bathrooms.
Number 5: Skip the towel, pack the sarong. I´ve needed a towel many many times on this trip. The sarong has been lighter, faster to dry and is multi-purpose and can function as a sling/bag, skirt. Also on packing light, Laura is more hard-core than I am and as she was staying in one-climate zone(summer) she packed the following:, 3 bottoms (2 skirts, one pair pants), 2 tops (two camisole bras), 4 underwear, 2 pair of sandals/flip flops, a bikini, toiletries and a sweater. She bought an entire wardrobe of about 4 shirts, 3 dresses, a hat and a big dish in florence and still fit it into her backpack. When she would run up the stairs to go to the train I just stared in envy and awe. But I am happy I packed many of my goods too.
Random Travel advice that you may already know: (My sisters are probably going no-duh right now)
Number 1:
For budget travel, go to India, South America, South East Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. My itinerary is expensive and we generally only eat out for dinner and cook in often for dinner too sometimes. I often stay with friends, friends of friends, hostels and pensions where the going rate is around 20-30 euro a head and breakfast of toast, tea and marmalade, hard boiled egg is included. Ps. find the supermarket, not the grocery store for water, yoghurt and go to fruit markets in local areas.
Number 2: Only buy things that you absolutely love. Its sounds like a simple and no-duh advice but many times you get caught in the moment and air and you buy low-quality why did I do that? Junk. I´ve made a purchase or two where I am like... why? They are small but they still take up room in my tiny bag and annoy me when I pack. They were cheap but not cheap enough to chuck so I stare at it everytime I think of how heavy my bag is. Take cash and if you are traveling for a while don´t just buy 20 table clothes because one of them is cheap and you think somebody will want it. They won´t. You´ll be stuck with 15 table cloths and everybody you know will have to get one for Christmas. I´ve seen many travelers/tourists do this for some reason.
Number 3: Also don´t plan so much ahead. I bought a rail pass and made some hotel reservations so far in advance that I´d forgotten about it and got burned in the process. For very busy areas it is better to book in advance but we´ve been in some pretty deep fleabag hostels by booking later than earlier. If you are one person, sometimes its easier to just show up and negotiate a price or find one at a hostel or pension.
Number 4: Pensions and hostels are interchangeable and sometimes about the same price. Laura wasn´t very keen on the backpacker/frat boy scene so hostels with 5 other people were out. We found we paid just a little more than hostels and often got our own bathrooms.
Number 5: Skip the towel, pack the sarong. I´ve needed a towel many many times on this trip. The sarong has been lighter, faster to dry and is multi-purpose and can function as a sling/bag, skirt. Also on packing light, Laura is more hard-core than I am and as she was staying in one-climate zone(summer) she packed the following:, 3 bottoms (2 skirts, one pair pants), 2 tops (two camisole bras), 4 underwear, 2 pair of sandals/flip flops, a bikini, toiletries and a sweater. She bought an entire wardrobe of about 4 shirts, 3 dresses, a hat and a big dish in florence and still fit it into her backpack. When she would run up the stairs to go to the train I just stared in envy and awe. But I am happy I packed many of my goods too.
7/21/2007
Cinque Terre
Along the coast of the Italian Rivera there are five towns carved like stairs into the mountain side called the Cinque Terre. It is a backpacker favorite and Laura and I cinched up our Italy stay walking uphill and through many many stairs to get to our hotel room. It was a bit too crowded for our spoiled tastes but we both had to admit, it was a beautiful place. Unfortunately, after climbing down into the waters from waaaaaay up high, we were often greeted with Jellyfish and their stinging so although the water was blue and beautiful but came with a hefty price.
Knossos and Pompeii
Knossos was the ancient palace of the Minoan culture which is rumoured to be the basis for the myth of Atlantis. Situated on Crete its mind-boggling how much mythology and archeology blend in Greece as the palace was also the basis for the famous labyrinth, minotaur and Icarus´s flight and fall into hte ocean. The unfortunate thing about the palace was that it was created in alabaster and is melting apart due to pollution AND the archeologist who discovered it took many liberties in putting it back together again, yielding a disney-fied view of what the palace was actually like.
Replica of the artwork that was on display on the walls. Greece doesn´t quite have their priorities straight and decided to close their archeological museum during their peak tourist season. As a result, Laura and I missed out chance to the see the original artwork. Bummer.
In Pompeii, we see a different set ruins. When I visited Ephesus our tour guide boasted that it was better than Pompeii but I have to disagree. Pompeii is enormous, jawdropping in its scale, details and remainders. We would slip our sandals off and rub our feet on the original mosaic tiles of ancient mansions and see old paintings and signs on the walls. Unfortunately much of the really good stuff was also in the Naples archeological museum which we also missed. Double bummer. I guess I just have to go back.
Plaster cast of actual human bodies that were preserved in the eruption.
The birth of venus. Apparantly Pompeii has been undergoing excavation for about 200 years now and yet still 25% of it remains to be uncovered. Seeing the frescos on the wall is quite a trip. Laura and I kept wailing holy crap! As we walked around for 4 hours.
More figures and left over pottery. We wondered how they got all these pots to stand up with their tapered bottoms.
Bath house, still intact with a marble pool in the center with bronze lettering. Very amazing.
Back in Rome at the Colesium. Laura didn´t see much of Rome because of my tantrum but apparantly she was ok with it? Sorry Lar, wish I had dragged you to the Vatican...
Replica of the artwork that was on display on the walls. Greece doesn´t quite have their priorities straight and decided to close their archeological museum during their peak tourist season. As a result, Laura and I missed out chance to the see the original artwork. Bummer.
In Pompeii, we see a different set ruins. When I visited Ephesus our tour guide boasted that it was better than Pompeii but I have to disagree. Pompeii is enormous, jawdropping in its scale, details and remainders. We would slip our sandals off and rub our feet on the original mosaic tiles of ancient mansions and see old paintings and signs on the walls. Unfortunately much of the really good stuff was also in the Naples archeological museum which we also missed. Double bummer. I guess I just have to go back.
Plaster cast of actual human bodies that were preserved in the eruption.
The birth of venus. Apparantly Pompeii has been undergoing excavation for about 200 years now and yet still 25% of it remains to be uncovered. Seeing the frescos on the wall is quite a trip. Laura and I kept wailing holy crap! As we walked around for 4 hours.
More figures and left over pottery. We wondered how they got all these pots to stand up with their tapered bottoms.
Bath house, still intact with a marble pool in the center with bronze lettering. Very amazing.
Back in Rome at the Colesium. Laura didn´t see much of Rome because of my tantrum but apparantly she was ok with it? Sorry Lar, wish I had dragged you to the Vatican...
Do the nasty! Another alert!
Laura´s turn for feet pictures. Mine are pretty recovered by now but lets just say we both look forward to returning to civilization and our regular grooming schedule. Laura got attacked by mosquitos in Athens and instead of just swelling they blistered and bruised badly.
Doing Laundry in the sink. After several days at the beach, we both are disguuisted and amazed at how much dirt comes out of a piece of cloth. Keep in mind that this scarve was the dirtiest piece in the bunch, we washed regularly so everything else doesn´t look as bad.
On of the relatively few photos of Laura not making too much of a face. They are really rare.
Doing Laundry in the sink. After several days at the beach, we both are disguuisted and amazed at how much dirt comes out of a piece of cloth. Keep in mind that this scarve was the dirtiest piece in the bunch, we washed regularly so everything else doesn´t look as bad.
On of the relatively few photos of Laura not making too much of a face. They are really rare.
Food Glorious food
In Italy our itinerary was often mandated by what our stomachs wanted. Which led to us going to Naples to see Pompeii and eat Pizza. We got on a train from Rome for 2 hours one way to walk for 15 minutes up a dizzying street of scooters and hectic drivers in Naples for PIZZA. I also got napolitano style pasta. The food was cheap, flavorful and was worth the four hour ride.
7/20/2007
Stitching up and recovering
I find myself sewing quite often on this trip. Perhaps one of the best things I packed for this trip is my sewing kit as I sew up ripped shirts, bags, shorts, pants and now my backpack. I read in one of my travel books that dental floss is stronger than thread so I dig out my floss and go for it. Its very hard to get dental floss through a regular needle head. Every day we do laundry right after we take our showers and our legs and clothes are starting to show wear and tear. After my little thievery incident Laura and I pick up and just leave Rome to go to Florence. In a clean, secure hotel/pension right next to the American consulate we wash up and sew up again. After Naples and Rome we are relieved and amazed to see so many Americans and be in such quiet civility. No wonder why everyone loves Tuscany. Although it isn't as safe, the south has better food (or I just think so) and is more intriguing in a different way. The graffit is angrier but the people seem warmer. I hope to befriend a local someday and revisit Naples and the South.
The rip in the bottom of my bag and the wallet in which a plastic bag contained copies of my passport and emergency money.
Stitching up.
I am a talented seamstress. I will sign up for project runway immediately.
The rip in the bottom of my bag and the wallet in which a plastic bag contained copies of my passport and emergency money.
Stitching up. 
I am a talented seamstress. I will sign up for project runway immediately. The suspect
She was frail, thin, sort of mousy and punctuated every sentance with ooh la la. She told us she was 32, a waitress with medical problems and wanted to become a youth counselor. The more I think about the incident I am pretty sure it was her. I had no proof at the time as she had only stolen cash and had no way to prove that she had robbed me. But the more I think about our interaction my gut and Laura's gut points towards our Swedish roommate Anna.
Once upon a time in my senior year of college I lived with a kleptomaniac/compulsive liar who told magnificient stories about her family and where she got her money and electronic toys. It wasn't until a month or two in which I started to notice inconsistancies in her stories and the stories from others did I know to start doubting her. I was extremely naive and pretty stupid but I just didn't know people lied so much and I did not completely doubt her lies until things of my own started to go missing. When Swedish Anna started to tell her stories, I started to remember my former crazy roommate and my gut cried out to me to beat her up. But I had no proof. Had she taken any of my treasures from the trip, my camera equipment or my hard-drive I would have beat her up and hung her upside down from the top of the nunnery with my laundry cord and I wouldn't have cared what the nuns or Jesus thought. It also would have been easier to prove and to call the police on it. But she didn't and that was probably the wisest thing she did. Quite frankly I just started to feel sad for her pathetic stories and for the danger she put herself for 200 dollars. Because of the poor exchange rate, 200 USDs does not go very far and Swedish Anna spent two nights in a room with an asian girl, twice her size, who usually walks around with a mono-pod/club for protection and who was extremely visibly angry with what had happened. The nun at our hostel looked slightly skeptical at Anna and gave me a hug and told me I would make it back 200 times and that Jesus was watching all. In the end I don't think anybody believed Anna, but we all let her go because we had no proof.
I am grateful that I have the upbringing, work experience, contacts, education and skills to easily make back the money she stole in a few hours. But I am extremely angry at myself for not acting out and for being duped again by another thief. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. If I fall into a similar situation again, the third person will pay for it three-fold.
Once upon a time in my senior year of college I lived with a kleptomaniac/compulsive liar who told magnificient stories about her family and where she got her money and electronic toys. It wasn't until a month or two in which I started to notice inconsistancies in her stories and the stories from others did I know to start doubting her. I was extremely naive and pretty stupid but I just didn't know people lied so much and I did not completely doubt her lies until things of my own started to go missing. When Swedish Anna started to tell her stories, I started to remember my former crazy roommate and my gut cried out to me to beat her up. But I had no proof. Had she taken any of my treasures from the trip, my camera equipment or my hard-drive I would have beat her up and hung her upside down from the top of the nunnery with my laundry cord and I wouldn't have cared what the nuns or Jesus thought. It also would have been easier to prove and to call the police on it. But she didn't and that was probably the wisest thing she did. Quite frankly I just started to feel sad for her pathetic stories and for the danger she put herself for 200 dollars. Because of the poor exchange rate, 200 USDs does not go very far and Swedish Anna spent two nights in a room with an asian girl, twice her size, who usually walks around with a mono-pod/club for protection and who was extremely visibly angry with what had happened. The nun at our hostel looked slightly skeptical at Anna and gave me a hug and told me I would make it back 200 times and that Jesus was watching all. In the end I don't think anybody believed Anna, but we all let her go because we had no proof.
I am grateful that I have the upbringing, work experience, contacts, education and skills to easily make back the money she stole in a few hours. But I am extremely angry at myself for not acting out and for being duped again by another thief. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. If I fall into a similar situation again, the third person will pay for it three-fold.
7/15/2007
In which I learn another lesson
Walking through the streets of Rome after getting in from Crete we see our building. Oh god laura that place is an entire DUMP. We need to get out of here. Our Hostel is in very very old building and supposedly had good reviews but when we got to the reception we were shown to a tiiiny cramped room with a million books and four people passing papers around. Oh, you know we do not have any room here. They say and send us to another hostel a few blocks away. Walking with my backpack and camera bag we sweat our way over and I stop by and bury my face in Gelato. When Laura and I planned our trip to Italy all we really wanted was to eat... and eat... and eat... Its been pretty good so far. Walking towards our hostel we meet another backpacker, Swedish girl named Anna also going to the same place. We head towards our building and find out we are staying in a church. A sweet Filipino nun opens the big locked door and we are in a quiet, clean, and secure hostel room with soft foam beds and simple but clean sheets that smell of floral fabric softener. In the breakfast room big paintings of saints and Jesus grace the wall and several other Filipino nuns who all look related run in and out of a separate apartment where they pray in the morning and in the evening. A big difference from my stay in Athens. We sleep peacefully for the first night and with Jesus looking over us in every room we feel sort of protected.
Jesus gave me a false sense of security. Lets just say that after two nights in a nunnery, I am now 200 dollars poorer and have a rip in my bag where a thief knived his/her way through, reached into my emergency pouch and removed my emergency money. We are trying to figure out if it was Anna, the other backpacker, or another backpacker, or maybe the nuns were not nuns? I do not know but I guess sleeping in church does not mean you are protected.
Jesus gave me a false sense of security. Lets just say that after two nights in a nunnery, I am now 200 dollars poorer and have a rip in my bag where a thief knived his/her way through, reached into my emergency pouch and removed my emergency money. We are trying to figure out if it was Anna, the other backpacker, or another backpacker, or maybe the nuns were not nuns? I do not know but I guess sleeping in church does not mean you are protected.
7/11/2007
Beauty and Death
On the western most tip of Crete there is a secluded lagoon called Balos. You drive a rocky dirt road off a cliff for 30 minutes, hike down 497 stairs of crumbly stoned path and listen to bleahh-ing goats, bees buzzing towards their honey combs and beetles making as much noise as possible and you get here.
Possibly the most beautiful place to which I have ever been. Everyday only 200-400 people visit this bay on foot or boat(200 come by boat for 2 hours). There is no bathroom, shower, beach umbrellas, lounge chair, tour buses, cruise ships or reggae/hip hop music blasting from speakers. A little hut at the bottom of the bay will sell you watermelon and salad and you do nothing but stare, swim, eat, swim, stare. (And burn your shoulders bright red if you are me) After spending 5 hours on the beach, we climbed (I sweated and dripped actually) our way back up to the top and were thoroughly entertained by the goats running around the parking lot.
When we arrived around 10am there were only about 4 cars in the parking lot and ours was a rickety old rental which we got for 40 euros a day. When we returned hours later, the parking lot was full with other rentals and many four wheel jeeps that had been overtaken by goats looking for shade or food. As our car was particularly old and rickety our drive back was very slow and careful and many many cars would zip past us. Newer and safer looking we looked on in envy as they passed us in their AC cars with 4WD. And then all traffic stopped.
One of the jeeps went down the cliff and had to be dragged up the cliff by crane making terrible cracking, creaking sounds as they pulled it up. The passenger and driver side were completely smashed and as it was open at the top, the passengers either died upon impact or drowned in the water. Suddenly we were grateful for an old car that didn't make us take things for granted. Greece apparently has the most traffic accidents in all of Europe and watching how everybody drives we are not surprised. Frightened and tired we head back to Hania with our car but stop to see this scene.
Incredible natural beauty and yet death is so close by. Sometimes you forget how precious each moment is.
Possibly the most beautiful place to which I have ever been. Everyday only 200-400 people visit this bay on foot or boat(200 come by boat for 2 hours). There is no bathroom, shower, beach umbrellas, lounge chair, tour buses, cruise ships or reggae/hip hop music blasting from speakers. A little hut at the bottom of the bay will sell you watermelon and salad and you do nothing but stare, swim, eat, swim, stare. (And burn your shoulders bright red if you are me) After spending 5 hours on the beach, we climbed (I sweated and dripped actually) our way back up to the top and were thoroughly entertained by the goats running around the parking lot.
When we arrived around 10am there were only about 4 cars in the parking lot and ours was a rickety old rental which we got for 40 euros a day. When we returned hours later, the parking lot was full with other rentals and many four wheel jeeps that had been overtaken by goats looking for shade or food. As our car was particularly old and rickety our drive back was very slow and careful and many many cars would zip past us. Newer and safer looking we looked on in envy as they passed us in their AC cars with 4WD. And then all traffic stopped.
One of the jeeps went down the cliff and had to be dragged up the cliff by crane making terrible cracking, creaking sounds as they pulled it up. The passenger and driver side were completely smashed and as it was open at the top, the passengers either died upon impact or drowned in the water. Suddenly we were grateful for an old car that didn't make us take things for granted. Greece apparently has the most traffic accidents in all of Europe and watching how everybody drives we are not surprised. Frightened and tired we head back to Hania with our car but stop to see this scene.
Incredible natural beauty and yet death is so close by. Sometimes you forget how precious each moment is.
In Athens
I am slowing down in my travels and going more European in my travel methods in which I seriously just stare into the ocean and do about one event a day. Here are some choice photos from Athens.
Statue of Aphrodite beating away pan, a very horny creature, with a sandal. Greece hasn't been so bad for me but I sort of understand. If you walk around looking confused or relaxed some strange men do follow you around and one of my friends from the cruise was followed around for a while when we were separated for just an hour.
In which I admire the art.
Boys will always be boys. I feel like I see more phallic art in Greece than in any other city I have been too. The souvenir shops have also been rather interesting in their t-shirt collections, very Cancun-esque. I guess the ocean/beach culture does that to a place.
Laura in front of the Roman Agora. She didn't have her hat so she decided to go the nun-routine.
My new friend Su from the cruise and I at the top of Lytvos (I completely forgot the name) hill. It was a very steep climb and neither of us were prepared but we got to see the acropolis that closed on strike before I got to go in there. At least I could see the Pantheon and the scaffolding from afar.
Laura calls everything "old crap", with a strange reverence. I waited for three days in Athens to see the Acropolis and when Laura finally came, they closed the entire place down due to a labor strike for the two days that we were in. We tried to climb in and get as close as possible to everything else.
In an attempt to see as much of the acropolis as possible, Laura and I climbed up another hill, the Hill of the Nymphs to get a better view of the acropolis from a higher view. 15 minute hike uphill later Laura's sandal breaks far far away from any other vendors.
Down in the Plaka shopping district the problem was quickly justified. Laura has packed NOTHING. I have my backpack and shoulder bag with which I am pretty proud of for packing rather light in my 74 day/7 country/3 climate tour. Laura brought a normal backpack the size of a school bag and it was half full of bread and NY cookies for me. I hope she buys alot of sandals and suffers a little bit but she is packing very little. In the meantime I carry my bag and huff while I climb around looking for my hostels.
Random graffiti in Athens. I don't know why I found it so cute. Athens has lots and lots of graffiti and outside the main tourist areas its not the nicest city.
Statue of Aphrodite beating away pan, a very horny creature, with a sandal. Greece hasn't been so bad for me but I sort of understand. If you walk around looking confused or relaxed some strange men do follow you around and one of my friends from the cruise was followed around for a while when we were separated for just an hour.
In which I admire the art.
Boys will always be boys. I feel like I see more phallic art in Greece than in any other city I have been too. The souvenir shops have also been rather interesting in their t-shirt collections, very Cancun-esque. I guess the ocean/beach culture does that to a place.
Laura in front of the Roman Agora. She didn't have her hat so she decided to go the nun-routine.
My new friend Su from the cruise and I at the top of Lytvos (I completely forgot the name) hill. It was a very steep climb and neither of us were prepared but we got to see the acropolis that closed on strike before I got to go in there. At least I could see the Pantheon and the scaffolding from afar.
Laura calls everything "old crap", with a strange reverence. I waited for three days in Athens to see the Acropolis and when Laura finally came, they closed the entire place down due to a labor strike for the two days that we were in. We tried to climb in and get as close as possible to everything else.
In an attempt to see as much of the acropolis as possible, Laura and I climbed up another hill, the Hill of the Nymphs to get a better view of the acropolis from a higher view. 15 minute hike uphill later Laura's sandal breaks far far away from any other vendors.
Down in the Plaka shopping district the problem was quickly justified. Laura has packed NOTHING. I have my backpack and shoulder bag with which I am pretty proud of for packing rather light in my 74 day/7 country/3 climate tour. Laura brought a normal backpack the size of a school bag and it was half full of bread and NY cookies for me. I hope she buys alot of sandals and suffers a little bit but she is packing very little. In the meantime I carry my bag and huff while I climb around looking for my hostels.
Random graffiti in Athens. I don't know why I found it so cute. Athens has lots and lots of graffiti and outside the main tourist areas its not the nicest city.
Santorini and Donkey Poop
Sing to the tune of spiderman theme song.
Donkey Poop
Donkey Poop
I fell into Donkey Poop
What a stench
What a ride
Climbing down from way up high
Look out!
There's so much donkey poop here
Landmines of donkey poop there
I fell on Donkey Poop!!!
Donkey Poop
Donkey Poop
I fell into Donkey Poop
What a stench
What a ride
Climbing down from way up high
Look out!
There's so much donkey poop here
Landmines of donkey poop there
I fell on Donkey Poop!!!
As mentioned before Santorini is simply amazing. In my quest to conquer as many modes of transportation as possible I decided to get on a donkey to get down the long long cliff to the bottom of the island and my boat. I have now been on airplanes, overnight trains and buses, a hot air balloon, a cruise ship, a sail boat, a hydrofoil, a tube sled, a funicular and a cable car. I thought a donkey would just top it off. As I am a city girl I got on the donkey and my leg wouldn't stop shaking. I nervously laughed the entire ride down and cringed as my leg would brush up the tail/behind of the donkey before me. Until I got to the end and tried to get off the donkey I was safe. Then I grabbed onto the wrong thing (a donkey's ass) and fell onto the ground and into donkey poop trying to get off the animal. Let me just say those pants are now in the trash and I scrubbed the living daylights out of my skin after the ride. You mentally kind of think that you still smell after a trip like that. My cabin-mates with whom I shared a room on the cruise with were playing the "who had the worst day" game when I won with my donkey poop story. I also won the "most annoying and catchy song" game with above tune.
P.S. Never trust a donkey's ass. (Yes, I know that should be obvious but it seemed like a good idea at the time. )
The long climb down. It was really steep and there were tons of people trying to get down on foot to avoid missing their boats.
I couldn't fit the donkey in. At this point I had climbed a volcano and dived into murkey rust colored water so hygiene and looks were sort of out of the window.
What the ride looked like going down.
Another view of the path.
At the beginning when I thought it would be a good idea to get on. Like many other things on this trip... I am glad I did it. I don't plan on doing it again.
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