Monday, December 1, 2008
Greek Islands
The islands in Greece were much more enjoyable than the big cities, although Crete has more than it's share of big, dirty cities with too much construction. We stayed in Heraklion because of it's proximity to the port, but took a couple of day trips. The first day trip was to Knossos where we enjoyed exploring more ruins. The Knossos Palace was once the center of Minoan civilization. Parts of it have been restored (I don't know how accurately), but it's pretty fun to explore! Rebecca was very enthusiastic because Knossos was very important in Indiana Jones' search for Atlantis!!! Brook, I hope my extremely brief description gets a better grade than Rebecca's. Another fun day trip was to a couple of coastal towns. We just really enjoyed getting out of the cities, walking along the coast, and and enjoying some fresh air!
We took an overnight ferry from Crete back to Athens, then transferred to a ferry going to Syros, one of the smaller islands. Again, the highlight was being out of the city. The people were nicer, more helpful, and the atmosphere was, in general, much more pleasant. We found a hotel that let us store our luggage while we took a bus to see more of the island. Late that night we caught another ferry that took us to Chios where we were greeted by a very kind man who runs a hotel about 7 kilometers outside of town. I had called to book with him because his prices were so good and he offered to come pick us up at 2:30 in the morning so we wouldn't have to look for a taxi. Not only that, but the hotel actually turned out to be apartments, so we had a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and living room. It was great!!! The town was pretty small and out of the way (better in my opinion) so we walked around a bit, enjoying the scenery, the quiet, and the small market a short walk from our apartment. After two nights there, we caught a ferry from Chios to Tcesme, which is in Turkey. I have lots to say about Turkey, but that will have to wait for next time...
Pictures:
1. This is Knossos. Obviously, much of it has been reconstructed, so this isn't what it actually looked like...just what Arthur Evans thought it probably looked like...
2. This is me during our day trip away from Heraklion. I am sitting on rock on the coast in a town called Elounda.
3. This is an old Venetian Port in Heraklion that we walked by every day.
4-5 These pictures are from Syros. We only had an afternoon and evening in this lovely town, but we enjoyed every minute!
6. Here I am on the island of Chios where we spent a day prior to heading to Turkey!
We took an overnight ferry from Crete back to Athens, then transferred to a ferry going to Syros, one of the smaller islands. Again, the highlight was being out of the city. The people were nicer, more helpful, and the atmosphere was, in general, much more pleasant. We found a hotel that let us store our luggage while we took a bus to see more of the island. Late that night we caught another ferry that took us to Chios where we were greeted by a very kind man who runs a hotel about 7 kilometers outside of town. I had called to book with him because his prices were so good and he offered to come pick us up at 2:30 in the morning so we wouldn't have to look for a taxi. Not only that, but the hotel actually turned out to be apartments, so we had a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and living room. It was great!!! The town was pretty small and out of the way (better in my opinion) so we walked around a bit, enjoying the scenery, the quiet, and the small market a short walk from our apartment. After two nights there, we caught a ferry from Chios to Tcesme, which is in Turkey. I have lots to say about Turkey, but that will have to wait for next time...
Pictures:
1. This is Knossos. Obviously, much of it has been reconstructed, so this isn't what it actually looked like...just what Arthur Evans thought it probably looked like...
2. This is me during our day trip away from Heraklion. I am sitting on rock on the coast in a town called Elounda.
3. This is an old Venetian Port in Heraklion that we walked by every day.
4-5 These pictures are from Syros. We only had an afternoon and evening in this lovely town, but we enjoyed every minute!
6. Here I am on the island of Chios where we spent a day prior to heading to Turkey!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Interlude...
Well, there's much to say about my travels, but I'm not going to say them now. This is a short interlude as suggested by the title! We've arrived in Ukraine where we were surprised and blessed to spend Thanksgiving with the Lynches. We're having a great time here and are enjoying the many people we meet! Our trip is winding down now...one more week here, then two weeks in eastern Europe. After that, we will spend a week with our family in Germany for Christmas, then two more weeks in England before flying home. In many ways the time has gone by so quickly, and in other ways I feel that I've been gone for years. I'm excited to see my family and all of my friends, but it will be strange to be home. Only about six weeks left...we'll be home on January 15th. And by the way, Aubrey, if you're reading this, I'm in desperate need of a shopping trip! I'm so sick of my clothes now and they're sick of me! Well, that's all for now, folks. I have news of our travels and pictures to share, but those will have to wait as I'm very tired and am about to go to bed!!!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Slovenia to Greece
Well, the last week or so has been an adventure. We stayed a couple of nights in Lake Bled, Slovenia, where we enjoyed the view of yet another castle, walked around the lake, rented a row boat and headed out to an island, and enjoyed the hospitality of the hostel owners. Damien drove us into town and back, and they had an amazing 6 euro dinner which turned out to be a four course meal! After leaving Lake Bled, we spent one night in the capital, Ljubljana (pronounced Lubliana, although I called it Libblejibble before I knew that...)
After reviewing several options on getting to Greece, we finally decided on taking the train from Slovenia back into Croatia, then on through Serbia, Macedonia, and then into Greece. That meant we had to go through immigration eight times...each time we left a country and each time we entered another one. That gets really annoying! We had about four hours in Serbia during which time we visited a local fast food restaurant and got some delicious burgers. After that we met a guy named Marco who we chatted with for a while before finding our beds. (It was an overnight train, so we got beds...fortunately for us, we had the little room to ourselves.) Marco was an interesting character. Our train car didn't open up until right before we left, so we sat in another part of the train talking about things like jobs and politics. Ugh...I'm sick of people asking me about U.S. politics! Anyway, he was pretty nice, but in Serbia there aren't really any non-smoking areas so after a while we had to politely excuse ourselves from the small cabin with limited air flow where he was continually blowing smoke in our faces. I tried to put up with it as long as I could, but I already had a headache and I do have my limits...
After the very long train ride to Thessaloniki, we arrived at our hotel and went out around the city for a few hours before bed. The next day we took a bus to Mount Olympus where we hiked for a while. It was a beautiful area and again, nice to be out of the city...oh, and lots of cats for Rebecca to play with!
From Thessaloniki we took an overnight train to Athens...and for anyone who might consider doing such a thing in the future, don't! Or at least, take the later train and make sure to get a bed or couchette! It would have been worth paying a little extra. That was the most miserable train ride ever! But that's enough of that...we don't wish to discuss miserable things!
Athens...Athens...well, our hostel was really nice. After the miserable train ride, they kindly let us check in really early (7 am) and we slept until noon before heading out into the city. As for the city...it's a city! The ruins are amazing and the area is great for its historical importance, but overall, I didn't love Athens. It's huge, dirty, and a typical big city I guess. Anyway, we spent three full days in the area, but the second day we took a day trip to Delphi where we saw more ancient ruins. This time, though, they were away from the city. It was really nice. Most of our last day in Athens was spent making arrangements for our ferry travel and ultimate arrival in Turkey. We will be visiting a few islands before taking a ferry to Turkey.
Picture Explanations...
1. Temple of Athena in Delphi.
2. The stadium in Delphi.
3. Parthenon
4. This is a panoramic view of the sprawling city of Athens. We were at the Acropolis when I took this photo.
5. Mount Olympus (or around there)
6. The White Tower in Thessaloniki.
7. This is the island in the middle of Lake Bled.
8. And this is the Bled castle, up on the hill, overlooking the lake.
After reviewing several options on getting to Greece, we finally decided on taking the train from Slovenia back into Croatia, then on through Serbia, Macedonia, and then into Greece. That meant we had to go through immigration eight times...each time we left a country and each time we entered another one. That gets really annoying! We had about four hours in Serbia during which time we visited a local fast food restaurant and got some delicious burgers. After that we met a guy named Marco who we chatted with for a while before finding our beds. (It was an overnight train, so we got beds...fortunately for us, we had the little room to ourselves.) Marco was an interesting character. Our train car didn't open up until right before we left, so we sat in another part of the train talking about things like jobs and politics. Ugh...I'm sick of people asking me about U.S. politics! Anyway, he was pretty nice, but in Serbia there aren't really any non-smoking areas so after a while we had to politely excuse ourselves from the small cabin with limited air flow where he was continually blowing smoke in our faces. I tried to put up with it as long as I could, but I already had a headache and I do have my limits...
After the very long train ride to Thessaloniki, we arrived at our hotel and went out around the city for a few hours before bed. The next day we took a bus to Mount Olympus where we hiked for a while. It was a beautiful area and again, nice to be out of the city...oh, and lots of cats for Rebecca to play with!
From Thessaloniki we took an overnight train to Athens...and for anyone who might consider doing such a thing in the future, don't! Or at least, take the later train and make sure to get a bed or couchette! It would have been worth paying a little extra. That was the most miserable train ride ever! But that's enough of that...we don't wish to discuss miserable things!
Athens...Athens...well, our hostel was really nice. After the miserable train ride, they kindly let us check in really early (7 am) and we slept until noon before heading out into the city. As for the city...it's a city! The ruins are amazing and the area is great for its historical importance, but overall, I didn't love Athens. It's huge, dirty, and a typical big city I guess. Anyway, we spent three full days in the area, but the second day we took a day trip to Delphi where we saw more ancient ruins. This time, though, they were away from the city. It was really nice. Most of our last day in Athens was spent making arrangements for our ferry travel and ultimate arrival in Turkey. We will be visiting a few islands before taking a ferry to Turkey.
Picture Explanations...
1. Temple of Athena in Delphi.
2. The stadium in Delphi.
3. Parthenon
4. This is a panoramic view of the sprawling city of Athens. We were at the Acropolis when I took this photo.
5. Mount Olympus (or around there)
6. The White Tower in Thessaloniki.
7. This is the island in the middle of Lake Bled.
8. And this is the Bled castle, up on the hill, overlooking the lake.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Questions
So I've had a couple of questions that I haven't answered. My dad asked if we had gone up in the Tower of Pisa, and the answer to that is no. While viewing it is free, they like to charge a lot of money to go inside, which makes everyone feel like they have to go inside. This is a very common trap which we have sadly fallen for a few times. Rebecca likes to call it the GUS Syndrome (Go Upstairs). I find that the outside of any given structure is most often more interesting than the inside, so unless we really want to go in somewhere, we tend to avoid the ridiculously priced fees. Maybe it would be cool, maybe not. I just get annoyed with how over priced things like that are, so we tend to avoid them.
Okay, next question about the Anne Frank tree. As far as I understand, it is still standing. There was a plan to take it down, but of course that was met with resistance and I think the protesters have won for the time being. The tree itself is enclosed in a courtyard that is not accessible to the public, so no, we didn't get to see it.
I think that's it for now...
Okay, next question about the Anne Frank tree. As far as I understand, it is still standing. There was a plan to take it down, but of course that was met with resistance and I think the protesters have won for the time being. The tree itself is enclosed in a courtyard that is not accessible to the public, so no, we didn't get to see it.
I think that's it for now...
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