Having escaped from Ios, we made our way back to Athens to the Easy Access hostel where we had stayed when we first arrived. It's apparently the only hostel in one of the safer areas of Athens, though there was a lively community of prostitutes hanging around, providing us with much visual entertainment.
We were quite tired from another long ferry journey, so we hung out in the bar and watched Denmark vs. Cameroon before calling it an earlier night than the few before. The next morning we got up early (actually too early, because I've apparently forgotten how to tell time and set the alarm for an ungodly hour) and had the free breakfast offered by the hostel - toast. We decided to go an explore a market we'd heard about and took the metro out of Athens, passing the Olympic stadium from 2004 on the way. Can't believe those Olympics were six years ago. Turns out by 'market', our little info pamphlet meant 'lots of expensive shops you can't afford, like Gucci and Oscar de la Renta', so that expedition didn't last long and we went back to Athens.
After lunch we tried to visit the war museum, as Broseph is big into that sort of thing, but it was closed so we visited the Byzantine and Christian museum instead...which was brilliant. Huge and full of really interesting stuff - we learned loads about the history of the area with a focus on how religion shaped society. I felt well brainy after that!
That had taken us to the early evening so we had a rest at the hostel and then went out for dinner and some exploring around. We found some sort of music festival with Greek pop and rock acts performing in different city squares. The fırst one appeared to be Greece's answer to Lady Gaga-meets-Christina Aguilera-but-nice-try-not-even-close (only the photos will explain- getting them uploaded remains a challenge), and she sang a few pop numbers in English which basically consisted of the same one lyric over and over again. We eventually discerned that ''I want nuggets now'' was actually ''I want to knock it out'', but with no explanation of what she wanted to knock. Then we moseyed down to another nearby square where a Greek rock band was also singing songs in English, and they were actually very good. We did some head-bobbing and toe-tapping there for a while before heading back for bed.
The next morning we got up with plans to do a walking tour of Athens, but upon discovering the ridiculous price (after Adam in Budapest was so fab for free, we'll never pay for one!) we decided to set out on our own. First stop was the Acropolis, where I blagged my way in for the student price using my Syracuse University ID, which features a charming photo of myself aged SIXTEEN. The lady was a bit suspicious, but she let me go. The Acropolis was excellent - the Parthenon is really something to see and there's a brilliant view of the whole city from up there. Our ticket gave us access to lots of other sites of interest, so we traipsed around and saw the Ancient Agora, The Temple of Olympian Zeus, The Theatre of Dionysus, the original Olympic stadium. We walked around for about seven hours straight, and I got a nasty sunburn on my neck and the backs of my legs (really need to master this sunscreen thing) so all we could manage in the evening was to watch some World Cup and then hit the hay, especially as we had plans to get up early on Tuesday to go to Meteora and see the monasteries on the rocks. Read on for THAT adventure...
We overslept, and so sprinted to the train station like our lives depended on it, only to arrive and see loads of people milling around - no ticket office or information booth was open. We eventually deduced that it was a strike, but just a short one, until about 9am. We had arrived a little before 8, aiming for an 8:30 train. OK, we thought, so we got in line for tickets and grabbed some coffee. More and more folks started showing up, and queue for the tickets was rapidly growing behind us. We could already see that as soon as the ticket office opened, it was going to be a mad rush. As it was getting closer to 9, Bro and I had to create a blockade with our backpacks to stop two miniature and ancient gypsy people from cutting us in line, as well as a larger lady on crutches. It was craziness, and sure enough, when the ticket booth opened things got loony. Before we knew it the ticket guy was screaming at one of the passengers through the glass (which I thought he might actually smash), people were pushing and shoving and the tiny gypsy lady broke though our Great Wall of Luggage. Ultimately we couldn't get a ticket, so we went and got on a train, and just hoped it was going somewhere and we could buy tickets on board. The conductor eventually came around, sold us a ticket and then a couple of hours later threw us off the train and told us to change. We were seriously in the middle of Nowheresville, Greece at a little sleepy station, not sure what to do next. We got from the ticket guy that we should wait until 2pm...so we did that while watching Greece's top ten music videos on the cafe TV (no comment on Greek pop except for...yikes).
Eventually a train came along and sometime later we got kicked off again, but we had made it! We were in a little town surrounded by huge massive rock faces, and we set off to find Elena's guest house, where we had a reservation. DEFINITELY the nicest place we've stayed so far - it had a proper shower and a HAIR DRYER! Broseph said it was like I found a big bag of money when I opened the bathroom door, I was so excited. It was too late to go to see the monasteries, so we had a little walksies around town and watched some more World Cup before bed.
The next day we got up really early to hike up to the top of the rocks. Dang. What a climb! It will all make more sense when you see pics (I know, I know), but we estimate we walked and hiked about eight miles in one day, seeing about five monasteries and one convent. They're amazing, supposedly religious peoples built them up there in the 11th century, and I really can't fathom how they got all the way up there back then! The views of the area from the top were fabulous, it felt like I could see for miles, and I couldn't have felt further way from my "regular life", I guess. You know, my cube at work and apartment in San Fran and whatnot. I have filed this experience under "What Is My Life Right Now?", which will become a recurring segment throughout the blog, as things are getting loonier and loonier, I tell you.
Anyway, when we'd exhausted ourselves with walking, looking at religious antiquities and listening to monks chant, we hiked back down to get the train back to Athens, as we were headed to Istanbul the next day. Thankfully, the trip back to the city was uneventful, and we went back to the hostel for the THIRD separate time - they were really getting to know us there!
In the morning we checked out and hauled our luggage down to our dad's office in Piraeus (the port bit, right next to Athens). He has a WONDERFUL staff there who took us our for a brilliant lunch at a restaurant next to a lovely marina. I seriously ate enough to last me the rest of the trip - beef carpaccio, rocket salad, baked feta, filet mignon, baked potato, chocolate mousse with pistachio cotton candy (we think)...oh and lots of wine. We were SO full and exhausted on our way to airport in the company taxi - this backpacking life is REALLY hard, you know? ;)
Next up, Istanbul, where I think I left my heart.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
Greece: Parts I and II
Well, it certainly was an expedition, but we did finally get to Greece! We slept in the ship's bar from Dubrovnik to Bari, Italy, and then had 12 hours there to bum around with some guys from our hostel in Dubrovnik who were doing the same journey. It's a nice town, Bari, but is certainly built for and around the large port. Not much to report on Italy, but we did have some nice pasta!
Then it was 16 hours from Bari to Patras in Greece, but the boat was pretty well equipped with a restaurant and comfy seats and whatnot, so after some supper I did actually manage to sleep for about nine hours. When we arrived at noon the next day, we had a four-hour bus ride to Athens and then got a bit lost trying to find our hostel. Once we did, we spent the evening tootling around the area and getting our bearings, because we'll be staying there again when we go back to the city. We had some dinner and both bought new sunglasses, which have been our only casualties thus far in the categories of theft and breakage! Joseph's $5 Walmart aviators were taken off the outside of his bag on one of the overnight ferries, whereas I crushed my expensive sunny Gs against my chest when I hugged our Canadian friends goodbye in Croatia. I'd say we're doing pretty well if this is worst that's happened so far!
Anyway, the next morning we got up super early (5:30ish) to catch our nine-hour ferry to Santorini. There was literally nowhere to sit, so I squashed myself into the luggage rack (almost literally) for a little sleep! We arrived in the mid-afternoon and a driver from our hostel (Anna's - brilliant and SUPER cheap, only 7 Euro a night!) picked us up. We checked in and cleaned up and took a little walk around the area - Perissa beach, famous for its black sand. Afterwards we had supper (LOVING the Greek food!) and met some of the other folks at the hostel. We got together a good crew of Brits and Americans to watch USA v. England. Sorry Brits, I had to root for my adopted country because the American contingent was a bit smaller than the English one!
The next day was a full-on beach day which was lovely, but here's a problem with a black sand beach - it SERIOUSLY burns your feet. Even with shoes on. It's lethal, worse than the Croatian pebbles! (SUCH a tough life I lead, I know.)
The big thing to do on Santorini is rent a little ATV and tootle around, so that was our plan for Monday. First though, we grabbed some coffee from the restaurant across the road. We got chatting to the waitress, an English lady who told us that about 15 years ago she left England to travel for a month or two aaand, here she is! Joseph said I had just met my future self.
Anyway, we got ourselves an ATV and drove it to the capital city of Thira on the windy Greek roads with the lunatic Greek drivers overtaking us constantly (to the mothers reading, especially my own, I bet this sounds great to you! We did wear helmets though...sometimes). It was a lot of fun though, and we spent the afternoon strolling (a.k.a hiking up tiny little streets. We could have taken a donkey (seriously) but we're too skint for that) through Thira, which is beautiful - all whitewash and blue buildings. On our way back to the hostel we stopped to go wine tasting at Gavala family vineyard which was brilliant. Really amazing wine like nothing I've had before. Santorini is all volcanic soil so it gives the wines a really unique taste. The girl working there taught us a lot about how the wines are made and things. Probably most educational thing we did on Santorini!
The next day we took our little motor out to the red sand beach (pick your favorite color, Santorini probably has a beach for you), which isn't really red but more a delicate shade of poo-brown. Still it's in a beautiful setting and we literally had to hike to it. No one told us that, but loads of people were doing it, even old grannies were clambering over these crumbly, burning hot rocks in flip-flops so we figured we could handle it! We stayed there for a few hours, and in the evening took the ATV to the other side of the island to Oia to see the sunset. It took about 45 minutes to get there with our new friend Maria from Germany and, just our luck, the sunset was rubbish compared to what it's supposed to be like. It was really hazy so there wasn't much to see. The town of Oia is absolutely gorgeous though, even more lovely than Thira, so it was definitely worth the trip for that. We had some supper and drove the ATV back to Perissa in the pitch black on windy cliff roads (calm down mothers). I was riding with Maria and at one point her little motor just died in the middle of the street, but we talked to it nicely and it came back to life. Eventually we got back and got ready to go out with a group of people to a place called Beach Bar, which is basically what it sounds like! We boogied a little to the same five songs we've heard EVERYWHERE in Europe and called it a night sometime, well, in the morning.
Our last day we had to turn in the ATV, so spent the day again on the black sand beach. We had a pretty chill evening because we were getting up at 7am to head to the island of Ios, where I am now. It's very beautiful, but we're actually leaving two days early. I never thought I'd say this (well not while I'm still in my twenties), but it's TOO much partying here! It's basically spring break and it's too expensive and so we've decided we've got to get out of here. We're going to back to Athens tomorrow and possibly do some more exploring of the mainland with the time we would have stayed here pretending we're 18. (Well, one of us is 18, but, you know.)
I mentioned earlier that our only casualties have been our sunglasses, but I thought I'd wrap this up with a note on how the travelling thing is going overall now that it's been almost a month. Strictly speaking, we've had two other casualties. One was Bro's flip flops which he packed while still wet and which subsequently made his bag and all his stuff absolutely STINK. Like, gagging stinky, so we had to bin them. The other one was a pretty bad sunburned tummy belonging to me, resulting in sunblock user error on my part. Said user should have put sunblock on more than once a day in stifling Mediterranean sun! Gave tummy a day off though, and all is now well.
Anyway, back to travelling overall. It's definitely going well and I absolutely know it's what I should be doing, I've never had doubts about that. It has been an adjustment though, leaving a fairly strict work life routine to do this, but I'm learning every day. In PR one has to be very flexible, which I was, but travelling requires an entirely different sort of flexibility. It's a lot of fun, but can feel like real work at times, like the three-day odyssey between Dubrovnik and Santorini. It's also certainly interesting working out the dynamic with my little bro. He's wonderful - funny, helpful, relaxed - but when you think about it, we haven't lived in the same house since he was 9 and I was 17, so in lots of ways we're getting to know each other (we have had some moments, but they've passed quickly!). I also have to remind myself that he's a grown-up now (sort of...I do have to remind him to brush his teeth) but it's hard when I so vividly remember the day he was born and carrying him around and changing his diapers!! Special note to my mummy: I KIND of understand what this actually must be like for you, having us so far away exploring the world! Thank you, again, for your unwavering support of our adventure!
Thanks again to all my loyal readers and friends, actually. I'll raise a glass to you this evening - Yiamas!
Then it was 16 hours from Bari to Patras in Greece, but the boat was pretty well equipped with a restaurant and comfy seats and whatnot, so after some supper I did actually manage to sleep for about nine hours. When we arrived at noon the next day, we had a four-hour bus ride to Athens and then got a bit lost trying to find our hostel. Once we did, we spent the evening tootling around the area and getting our bearings, because we'll be staying there again when we go back to the city. We had some dinner and both bought new sunglasses, which have been our only casualties thus far in the categories of theft and breakage! Joseph's $5 Walmart aviators were taken off the outside of his bag on one of the overnight ferries, whereas I crushed my expensive sunny Gs against my chest when I hugged our Canadian friends goodbye in Croatia. I'd say we're doing pretty well if this is worst that's happened so far!
Anyway, the next morning we got up super early (5:30ish) to catch our nine-hour ferry to Santorini. There was literally nowhere to sit, so I squashed myself into the luggage rack (almost literally) for a little sleep! We arrived in the mid-afternoon and a driver from our hostel (Anna's - brilliant and SUPER cheap, only 7 Euro a night!) picked us up. We checked in and cleaned up and took a little walk around the area - Perissa beach, famous for its black sand. Afterwards we had supper (LOVING the Greek food!) and met some of the other folks at the hostel. We got together a good crew of Brits and Americans to watch USA v. England. Sorry Brits, I had to root for my adopted country because the American contingent was a bit smaller than the English one!
The next day was a full-on beach day which was lovely, but here's a problem with a black sand beach - it SERIOUSLY burns your feet. Even with shoes on. It's lethal, worse than the Croatian pebbles! (SUCH a tough life I lead, I know.)
The big thing to do on Santorini is rent a little ATV and tootle around, so that was our plan for Monday. First though, we grabbed some coffee from the restaurant across the road. We got chatting to the waitress, an English lady who told us that about 15 years ago she left England to travel for a month or two aaand, here she is! Joseph said I had just met my future self.
Anyway, we got ourselves an ATV and drove it to the capital city of Thira on the windy Greek roads with the lunatic Greek drivers overtaking us constantly (to the mothers reading, especially my own, I bet this sounds great to you! We did wear helmets though...sometimes). It was a lot of fun though, and we spent the afternoon strolling (a.k.a hiking up tiny little streets. We could have taken a donkey (seriously) but we're too skint for that) through Thira, which is beautiful - all whitewash and blue buildings. On our way back to the hostel we stopped to go wine tasting at Gavala family vineyard which was brilliant. Really amazing wine like nothing I've had before. Santorini is all volcanic soil so it gives the wines a really unique taste. The girl working there taught us a lot about how the wines are made and things. Probably most educational thing we did on Santorini!
The next day we took our little motor out to the red sand beach (pick your favorite color, Santorini probably has a beach for you), which isn't really red but more a delicate shade of poo-brown. Still it's in a beautiful setting and we literally had to hike to it. No one told us that, but loads of people were doing it, even old grannies were clambering over these crumbly, burning hot rocks in flip-flops so we figured we could handle it! We stayed there for a few hours, and in the evening took the ATV to the other side of the island to Oia to see the sunset. It took about 45 minutes to get there with our new friend Maria from Germany and, just our luck, the sunset was rubbish compared to what it's supposed to be like. It was really hazy so there wasn't much to see. The town of Oia is absolutely gorgeous though, even more lovely than Thira, so it was definitely worth the trip for that. We had some supper and drove the ATV back to Perissa in the pitch black on windy cliff roads (calm down mothers). I was riding with Maria and at one point her little motor just died in the middle of the street, but we talked to it nicely and it came back to life. Eventually we got back and got ready to go out with a group of people to a place called Beach Bar, which is basically what it sounds like! We boogied a little to the same five songs we've heard EVERYWHERE in Europe and called it a night sometime, well, in the morning.
Our last day we had to turn in the ATV, so spent the day again on the black sand beach. We had a pretty chill evening because we were getting up at 7am to head to the island of Ios, where I am now. It's very beautiful, but we're actually leaving two days early. I never thought I'd say this (well not while I'm still in my twenties), but it's TOO much partying here! It's basically spring break and it's too expensive and so we've decided we've got to get out of here. We're going to back to Athens tomorrow and possibly do some more exploring of the mainland with the time we would have stayed here pretending we're 18. (Well, one of us is 18, but, you know.)
I mentioned earlier that our only casualties have been our sunglasses, but I thought I'd wrap this up with a note on how the travelling thing is going overall now that it's been almost a month. Strictly speaking, we've had two other casualties. One was Bro's flip flops which he packed while still wet and which subsequently made his bag and all his stuff absolutely STINK. Like, gagging stinky, so we had to bin them. The other one was a pretty bad sunburned tummy belonging to me, resulting in sunblock user error on my part. Said user should have put sunblock on more than once a day in stifling Mediterranean sun! Gave tummy a day off though, and all is now well.
Anyway, back to travelling overall. It's definitely going well and I absolutely know it's what I should be doing, I've never had doubts about that. It has been an adjustment though, leaving a fairly strict work life routine to do this, but I'm learning every day. In PR one has to be very flexible, which I was, but travelling requires an entirely different sort of flexibility. It's a lot of fun, but can feel like real work at times, like the three-day odyssey between Dubrovnik and Santorini. It's also certainly interesting working out the dynamic with my little bro. He's wonderful - funny, helpful, relaxed - but when you think about it, we haven't lived in the same house since he was 9 and I was 17, so in lots of ways we're getting to know each other (we have had some moments, but they've passed quickly!). I also have to remind myself that he's a grown-up now (sort of...I do have to remind him to brush his teeth) but it's hard when I so vividly remember the day he was born and carrying him around and changing his diapers!! Special note to my mummy: I KIND of understand what this actually must be like for you, having us so far away exploring the world! Thank you, again, for your unwavering support of our adventure!
Thanks again to all my loyal readers and friends, actually. I'll raise a glass to you this evening - Yiamas!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Dubrovnik, a.k.a. "Dubs"
"Dubs" was so named before I even got here, because of course it needed a fitting abbreviated name. And it rocks. It´s hot, it´s beachy, and it´s got an amazing ancient walled city, the Old Town. Last time I wrote I mentioned we´d be taking a long bus journey down here - not so much. We got up early in Zagreb on Friday, but had missed the morning bus and the next one wasn´t until 7pm. I was starting to get a sore throat and whatnot and was scared of what an 11-hour night bus ride might do to me, so we hopped on the phone with Croatia Airlines and booked a cheap one-way flight for that afternoon. Easy! We headed to the airport to pick up our tickets and were in Dubrovnik by 5pm or so after taking the bus from the airport. We had booked a hostel/guesthouse (Begovic Boarding house - highly recommended) online, and our host, Bega (real name Dennis?) was magically waiting at the bus station for us to drive us to the place. It´s fabulous. We have our own room and bathroom with a small kitchenette and fridge and there´s a terrace with a great view of the area (Lapad) where we can sit and eat and just generally hang out.
After we arrived we were pretty tired, so we got some dinner on the main street near us and then took a bus to the Old Town. We explored a bit and came across a cliff-side bar with amazing views of the sun setting over the Adriatic. The drinks were very expensive (for Croatia, that is), but it was a spectacular setting. Broseph and I were looking at all the couples around us, both thinking that we must come back NOT with each other some time!
The next day we slept in a bit late and then went to the supermarket to stock up on a budget breakfast. We did a bit of a walk along the water to see what else we might discover (most importantly sandy beaches, as the vast majority of the beaches here are pebble). Then we took the bus again to the Old Town and walked the city walls. Brilliant views again (I still can´t get my pictures up!) and good exercise! Some parts of it were super steep. Later on we made our own dinner in the hostel kitchen, and as we were sitting outside deciding what to do that night, a new guest had arrived and it was a guy we´d met at our hostel in Vienna- Kyle from Australia. The backpacking world is very small, we´re learning!
Kyle decided to join us on our night out, so we set off for the Old Town without any plans, and as we were walking around, we heard the unmistakable beat of dance music. We followed the sound, and came across a coffee bar that Broseph and I had in fact stopped into earlier, which had been transformed into an actual bar with a dance floor and DJ. There were even glow sticks, so I knew we were on the right track. We bought a few drinks, including a cocktail bucket - literally a little bucket like kids take to the beach. It even had a little sieve on top. Would have been tops for making sandcastles, if there was any sand around here.
We danced there for a bit, and it was a friendly casual environment and a couple of older Italian guys (well, older than me) start chatting to me, asking where I´m from and talking about how wonderful it is to travel and whatnot. All very nice and friendly. One of them was called Fabrizio (yes, really) - I mention this because it will be relevant in a bit. After a while we get a bit bored of this bar and head to the world-renowned (not really) Club Fuego. It was about as fabulously tacky as it sounds. We´re dancing away to this bizarre mix of American pop/hip-hop (three Michael Jackson songs in a row - I´m worried the news hasn´t yet reached Croatia that he died) and Latin music, and Fabrizio turns up again. Oh, hi Fabrizio, I say, yep, isn´t this fun, oh ok you can twirl me around once or twice. Then suddenly, Fabrizio´s got me in a lock and says, "I want to spend my life with you!" (say this to yourself in a heavy Italian accent, it´s much funnier). Oh, um, thanks Fabrizio, but I, uh... Suddenly I spot Kyle and all I could do was point my toe and kick him in the leg and he rescued me by taking me to the bar or something. Fabrizio was perfectly sweet and harmless, but I am NOT interested in spending my life with a chubby Italian man I´ve known for 45 minutes and who was wearing a serious man-purse.
The next day (Sunday) was a full-on beach day. Not much more to say about that, as I didn´t move off the sun lounger for a good several hours. When we got back to our hostel we met four new guests, girlfriends from Canada travelling together - Elaine, Erin, Lois and Sam. We made some supper and then just had a relaxed evening with them on the terrace, chatting about this that and the other thing.
The next morning we got up a little earlier and after a gourmet supermarket brunch, we went back to the Old Town to learn about some of the history of the place at the museums (it´s been around since the early 13th century, and at one time was ruled by the Habsburgs, whose massive palace we saw in Vienna). We also learned some more about the civil war that was going on here until about 1995. It was very sad to see pictures of this beautiful place on fire and bombed out. It really made me appreciate how lucky the world is to have it.
We went back to hostel in the early afternoon to figure out how we´re going to get to Greece (nightmare - more on that later), and then did some more beach-lying. It was Lois´birthday, so after some dinner we geared up to go out and celebrate. I was hoping not to do Club Fuego again, but the other place we had chosen was closed (it´s just the very beginning of the season here, so it´s not as bumping as it will be in a few weeks), so before I knew it, there I was, reliving the dream. It was a good time with our big crew though, as we´d also picked up Chris from Canada, Luke from New Zealand and Artu from Finland who´d all been studying together in Prague. (A note on Finnish people - we´ve met several now, and they´re all lunatics. Lovely and fun, but absolutely off their rockers.)
On Tuesday we got up early to do a fabulous day-long boat cruise of the surrounding Elafiti Islands with the Canadian ladies and the Prague boys. We visited Kolocep, Sipan and Lopud. On each island we had some free time to explore or lie on the beach, and we were served a fabulous lunch on the boat. Lopud was our longest stop, about three hours, so we walked across the island as we´d heard rumors of a sandy beach. We indeed found one and it was beautiful- definitely worth it after all the pebbles which really hurt your feet!
When we got back, Broseph and I got some dinner and he spent the evening on the terrace with everyone, but I wasn´t feeling well (felt another sore throat coming on) so I went to bed really early. Good thing though, as I feel much better now, and we´ve a real odyssey ahead of us to get to Greece. We take an overnight ferry tonight to Italy (on the deck, as those were the cheapest tickets), then we spend the day in the port town of Bari, then we take another overnight ferry to Patras in Greece, then we take a train to Athens! We´re staying one night in Athens (we go back there again at the end of June) before we head to Santorini and then to Ios for about five days each.
Well, I did say I was going travelling, so that´s literally ALL I´ll be doing for the next three days! Wish me luck!
After we arrived we were pretty tired, so we got some dinner on the main street near us and then took a bus to the Old Town. We explored a bit and came across a cliff-side bar with amazing views of the sun setting over the Adriatic. The drinks were very expensive (for Croatia, that is), but it was a spectacular setting. Broseph and I were looking at all the couples around us, both thinking that we must come back NOT with each other some time!
The next day we slept in a bit late and then went to the supermarket to stock up on a budget breakfast. We did a bit of a walk along the water to see what else we might discover (most importantly sandy beaches, as the vast majority of the beaches here are pebble). Then we took the bus again to the Old Town and walked the city walls. Brilliant views again (I still can´t get my pictures up!) and good exercise! Some parts of it were super steep. Later on we made our own dinner in the hostel kitchen, and as we were sitting outside deciding what to do that night, a new guest had arrived and it was a guy we´d met at our hostel in Vienna- Kyle from Australia. The backpacking world is very small, we´re learning!
Kyle decided to join us on our night out, so we set off for the Old Town without any plans, and as we were walking around, we heard the unmistakable beat of dance music. We followed the sound, and came across a coffee bar that Broseph and I had in fact stopped into earlier, which had been transformed into an actual bar with a dance floor and DJ. There were even glow sticks, so I knew we were on the right track. We bought a few drinks, including a cocktail bucket - literally a little bucket like kids take to the beach. It even had a little sieve on top. Would have been tops for making sandcastles, if there was any sand around here.
We danced there for a bit, and it was a friendly casual environment and a couple of older Italian guys (well, older than me) start chatting to me, asking where I´m from and talking about how wonderful it is to travel and whatnot. All very nice and friendly. One of them was called Fabrizio (yes, really) - I mention this because it will be relevant in a bit. After a while we get a bit bored of this bar and head to the world-renowned (not really) Club Fuego. It was about as fabulously tacky as it sounds. We´re dancing away to this bizarre mix of American pop/hip-hop (three Michael Jackson songs in a row - I´m worried the news hasn´t yet reached Croatia that he died) and Latin music, and Fabrizio turns up again. Oh, hi Fabrizio, I say, yep, isn´t this fun, oh ok you can twirl me around once or twice. Then suddenly, Fabrizio´s got me in a lock and says, "I want to spend my life with you!" (say this to yourself in a heavy Italian accent, it´s much funnier). Oh, um, thanks Fabrizio, but I, uh... Suddenly I spot Kyle and all I could do was point my toe and kick him in the leg and he rescued me by taking me to the bar or something. Fabrizio was perfectly sweet and harmless, but I am NOT interested in spending my life with a chubby Italian man I´ve known for 45 minutes and who was wearing a serious man-purse.
The next day (Sunday) was a full-on beach day. Not much more to say about that, as I didn´t move off the sun lounger for a good several hours. When we got back to our hostel we met four new guests, girlfriends from Canada travelling together - Elaine, Erin, Lois and Sam. We made some supper and then just had a relaxed evening with them on the terrace, chatting about this that and the other thing.
The next morning we got up a little earlier and after a gourmet supermarket brunch, we went back to the Old Town to learn about some of the history of the place at the museums (it´s been around since the early 13th century, and at one time was ruled by the Habsburgs, whose massive palace we saw in Vienna). We also learned some more about the civil war that was going on here until about 1995. It was very sad to see pictures of this beautiful place on fire and bombed out. It really made me appreciate how lucky the world is to have it.
We went back to hostel in the early afternoon to figure out how we´re going to get to Greece (nightmare - more on that later), and then did some more beach-lying. It was Lois´birthday, so after some dinner we geared up to go out and celebrate. I was hoping not to do Club Fuego again, but the other place we had chosen was closed (it´s just the very beginning of the season here, so it´s not as bumping as it will be in a few weeks), so before I knew it, there I was, reliving the dream. It was a good time with our big crew though, as we´d also picked up Chris from Canada, Luke from New Zealand and Artu from Finland who´d all been studying together in Prague. (A note on Finnish people - we´ve met several now, and they´re all lunatics. Lovely and fun, but absolutely off their rockers.)
On Tuesday we got up early to do a fabulous day-long boat cruise of the surrounding Elafiti Islands with the Canadian ladies and the Prague boys. We visited Kolocep, Sipan and Lopud. On each island we had some free time to explore or lie on the beach, and we were served a fabulous lunch on the boat. Lopud was our longest stop, about three hours, so we walked across the island as we´d heard rumors of a sandy beach. We indeed found one and it was beautiful- definitely worth it after all the pebbles which really hurt your feet!
When we got back, Broseph and I got some dinner and he spent the evening on the terrace with everyone, but I wasn´t feeling well (felt another sore throat coming on) so I went to bed really early. Good thing though, as I feel much better now, and we´ve a real odyssey ahead of us to get to Greece. We take an overnight ferry tonight to Italy (on the deck, as those were the cheapest tickets), then we spend the day in the port town of Bari, then we take another overnight ferry to Patras in Greece, then we take a train to Athens! We´re staying one night in Athens (we go back there again at the end of June) before we head to Santorini and then to Ios for about five days each.
Well, I did say I was going travelling, so that´s literally ALL I´ll be doing for the next three days! Wish me luck!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Budapest Nights (oh, and days)
Ah, Budapest, how I already miss thee! Despite the pouring rain the WHOLE time, we had a blast there. There's so much to see, and the nightlife is as bumping as they say. Our first full day there (Monday), we got up early and got some food from the local supermarket for breakfast and lunch and started off with some good old-fashioned walking around. We crossed the river (the Danube) to the Buda side of the city (we stayed on the Pest side) and explored the castle, which offers some fantastic views of the whole city. We stumbled upon a place for one to practice his archery skills if so desired, so Broseph paid a few Forints for five shots at some burlap sack targets - he was a pretty decent shot, and we got a photo with the 'knight' which I'll put up when I can plug the camera in.
It was windy and cold and threatening rain, so we decided that we might as well not waste any time and get straight to the thermal spas/baths Budapest is famous for. There are lots of them, but we went to one we had read about and that is fairly popular with tourists. It was divided up into men's and women's baths with one co-ed pool. I ended up staying in the women's pool mostly, because the co-ed pool was full of old dudes in Speedos and couples making out. (Sidebar, I have never seen as much PDA as in Budapest. I think there actually might be a shortage of rooms and people are forced to get it on in public. If I thought it was bad on the streets, it was terrible in the baths!) The women's pools were very mellow and it was nice to sit in the hot water and just muse on life, etc.
After a bit and because the bro and I weren't meeting up for a while, I decided to go and get a cheap massage. It was, um, a new experience. Here's the TMI alert, so skip this paragraph if you're squeamish about being nekkid. So, I go back into the women's locker room and inquire about a massage. I pay for a 20-minute session and am ordered up the stairs with a Hungarian woman approximately 100 years of age. She takes me into a room with a massage table, and I just stand there while she gasses with her equally ancient lady-friend about some gossip magazine she's holding. After a minute or two she turns to me and says, "Take off, please." I was in bathing suit with a towel wrapped around so I thought, no problem, and put the towel on the chair. She turns back around and says, "No, everything." "Everything?" I said, and she nods so I think, ok, when in Rome, sort of thing. I strip off while she's still gabbing with her buddy, and lie face-down on the table as instructed. The other woman left, and my old lady masseuse gets to work. It was a great massage, I have to say, but she left the door open the WHOLE time, and continued to shout to her mate through the door! I was only in the women's part of the baths, but it was a little disconcerting at first! She did a top-notch job though, and after walking around with my massive backpack which is slowly destroying my back and shoulders it was much needed.
After the baths we went back to the hostel (Good Morning Budapest, very small and chill place: http://goodmorningbudapest.hu/), grabbed some dinner and drank a few beers before heading out. We were playing a drinking game when some new guests showed up - Dave and Pete, brothers from North Carolina - so we asked them to join us, not knowing that we would soon become a partying foursome, the Tribe of Siblings. We played some cards and then went out to a crazy bar called Morrison's which was absolutely bumping and it was only a Monday. We tore up the dance floor, singing along to all the American rap songs that the Hungarians love but I can't imagine they understand for the most part.
We got a bit of a late start the next day after a long night of dancing, but decided to go on a walking tour that we hadn't done the day before because of the rain. It was still raining, but there was no sign of it letting up so we decided to just go for it. The good thing was that in the bad weather, the group was small so we could really get to know our tour guide and had the opportunity to ask him lots of questions. His name is Adam, and he's LOVELY- absolutely fabulous and he gave us an excellent tour. I highly recommend his tours if you go, which are free. I'll put some info up about it. We walked the castle again, but this time we had Adam telling us all sorts of interesting facts and tidbits, and pointing out things we had missed before. It was a three-hour tour, so we really felt both exercised and educated once it was over!
Afterwards, we went back to hostel to make some dinner, and had some cheap pasta and sauce and even cheaper Hungarian wine with the brothers. Then we geared up to go out and went to explore more of Budapest's notoriously bizarre bars and clubs. Apparently there's a law in Hungary that if a building/commercial space stays abandoned for long enough, anyone can start a business there, so there are lots of derelict bus stations and things that have now become these crazy drinking holes, in some cases run by teenagers. First we went to Instant, which was a sort of covered courtyard between two buildings and had hundreds of black fish hanging from the ceiling. We then tried to go to a club we'd read about called Kuplung, but was closed so we ended up at a place called Szimpla, which was totally loony. We sat in old car seats, and there were lots of old computer monitors on the wall and screens with kaleidoscopic images fading in and out. It was a trip, and as Broseph said, it would never work in the states because the fire hazards were too many to count!
Wednesday was another late start after another late night. First, the bro and I went to the main train station to get our tickets to Croatia the next day (where I am now), as we'd heard it can be a bit of a nightmare. It was actually fairly easy to do, though the ticket office was a bit sketchy and desolate, and it was nice not to have to be doing it with all our luggage etc. After that, it was still raining but we wanted to see Heroes Square which has some cool monuments and whatnot. On our way we came across some sort of festival, which turned out to be a horseback riding expo of some kind. Alongside it though, they were serving all sorts of traditional Hungarian food and offering wine-tasting. Yes please! Bro and I got to taste some great wine, a major step up from the grocery store variety the night before, and learned a bit about wine making in Hungary. Then we went to the square and walked back to the hostel through city park. We put some laundry on, took naps etc., and the brothers watched The Watchmen (I tried to follow, it was a lost cause). Joseph and I were planning on doing a bar crawl that we'd heard was pretty good, so we left around 10 to do that, but the weather must have been keeping people away because it was actually a bust. After trying out a few places on our own, we ended up back at Morrisons from the first night. This time, however, we ventured downstairs and found not one, not two, but THREE crazy cave-like dancefloors packed with Hungarian ravers. We had a great time dancing to American jams as well as what sounded like Hungarian folk music set to a techno beat. Result.
This morning we got up late again, but had to pack up to head to Zagreb. It took us about six and a half hours on the train which wasn't bad as we didn't have to change, and about 30-45 minutes of that is the train sitting at the border between Hungary and Croatia and customs officials checking everyone's passports. Anyway, Zagreb is really just a stop-over for us, and we're seriously keen to get down the Dalmatian coast for some sun after all this rain (it's raining here too) but it's a 10-hour bus ride- no trains go there. Apparently it's a very scenic drive, but we have to get up pretty early to get going. We'll explore Zagreb next time.
Speaking of next time...until then!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Osterreich: Wien und Hallstatt
For you non-German speakers (erm, like me) that's "Austria: Vienna and Hallstatt." The Broseph and I arrived in Vienna last Tuesday after a pretty easy journey from New York, despite almost missing our flight! After finding our hostel (http://www.hostelruthensteiner.com/) we cleaned up and set out to find some lunch and hike around the city a bit.
Vienna has this great way of sort of springing sights on you. You're walking around thinking, this is nice, very Euro, nice buildings and whatnot, and then all of a sudden you walk around a corner and past some trees and see some giant palace or something. It's truly amazing how you just stumble upon these giant edifices- we just sort of came across the place where Hitler told 250,000 people that Austria was part of the Third Reich in 1938, and it's not a small place! My favorite building was the city hall, or the 'rathaus', a huge gothic (I think?) monstrosity that goes on for a few blocks. With several huge Austrian flags hanging from it, it looks very grand and imposing. (I'm afraid I haven't yet found a location to plug my camera in and get some pictures up - almost everything I write about will be better once those are in here. Hopefully soon.)
Anyway, after that we came across the cathedral, also lovely. We were feeling a bit tired though, so we decided to go and sit in the park opposite. Vienna is very pro just sitting and taking life in (there are literally chairs everywhere), and there were huge comfy deckchairs in the park that were free for anyone to use. It was glorious, just chilling there in the sun, watching the people and soaking in the Euro-ness.
After a bit more walking about we went back to the hostel for some happy hour cheap beers and then we grabbed some traditional dinner - sausage, sauerkraut and a cube of hash browns - before crashing out after our long journey.
The next day we went back to some of the buildings we'd seen to take them in with fresh eyes, and grab a coffee at a sidewalk cafe. After that we took the tram to the big cemetery in Vienna where lots of famous people like Beethoven and Brahms are buried. There's also a lovely big church right in the middle which was nice to look around. We did suddenly find ourselves exhausted however after a lot of walking, so we went back to the hostel for a nap. After that we met some of our roommates - Courtney from Vancouver and Chris who's from England but works for Disney Cruise Lines out of Orlando. They were lovely and gave us all sorts of good travel tips, especially as Courtney had just come from some places we're going (like Budapest, where I am now and am staying in the hostel she recommended). We went to happy hour with them, and there we met a lot of other people - more from Canada, some from Ireland and one from Santa Cruz in Cali! We nabbed some pizza for supper at a local restaurant before hitting the sack again.
On Thursday we took the subway out to Schonbrunn Palace, where the royal Hapsburg family lived and ruled Austria from 1282-1918. The palace is fantastic - a Austrian Versailles - and the grounds are spectacular. It was drizzling a bit, but we still did a good old walk and during a real downpour hid under some thick trees and ate our lunch (super budget bread and cheese from the local 'Penny Markt'). When the rain stopped, we did the maze and the labryinth and played all these silly games they had in there - kaleidoscope mirrors and bouncing board thingies. We seriously might have been having more fun than the kids, who were looking at the two Americans bouncing around like we were loony.
After the palace we went back into the city and did a bit of shopping - "Joe" (that's the Broseph - it's how he introduces himself now, a college thing. At 6'2"ish, with a new buzz cut and aviators, it's like I have a bodyguard) needed some new t-shirts for 'going out', so we hit up an H&M and whatnot. Then we did some laundry and stuff at the hostel and got some salad for dinner from the Penny Markt and made it in the hostel kitchen. After that everyone got together at the bar for happy hour where we met Jason from Australia, Chris from Australia but living in Slovenia, Tara from Chicago and Nick from London. We all went out together to the 'Tanzcafe Jenseits' (which means 'Dance cafe other side'), which used to be a brothel. It was all red velvet with chaise longues everywhere. There was no dancing to be had though, so we went back towards the hostel where we went to the Traveler's Bar. It was full of, guess what, travelers! Packed to the gills with hammered Brits, Aussies, Americans, you name it. I felt like I was in college. Which was kind of great.
Friday we packed up to head out of Vienna and go to a lake town in Austria called Hallstatt. Several years ago, I used to load up my computer with awesome travel photos as my screensavers. One photo I particularly loved was of this little fairytale town, and I promised myself I would get there one day. Well, I kept that promise! It took us about four hours on the train. I was SO excited and had SUCH high expectations, I was almost nervous I'd be let down. The train pulled in, and we got off at a teeny tiny deserted station. We couldn't see the town at all. We followed the only path - which was more like a hiking trail - and at the end was a little ferry to take us across the lake and across the lake...there it was! Hallstatt!!! I actually got quite emotional because I had been so committed to this place I know barely anything about. The ferry ride was fewer than ten minutes, and we got off and it seriously was everything I'd dreamed of! Tiny little houses built into the side of a mountain, little window boxes full of flowers, windy narrow streets everywhere, the church spires I'd seen in the picture...
We ran to our hostel (very basic sort of place, also a restaurant so the proprietor checked us in from behind the bar) and dumped our stuff. It was getting to be dinner time, so we found a fabulous little lakeside restaurant where we had a big slap-up meal. Then we walked along the water, and literally sat by the lake and watched ducks for about an hour. I had read it was all about nature in Hallstatt, and it's so true. Then we grabbed a drink at our hostel - about 10 old Austrian dudes were there smoking away and shouting at each other as they put the world to rights, which appeared to be the extent of the raging nightlife in Hallstatt.
We had read when we arrived that the hostel served breakfast from 8-9:30, so we got up bright and early to eat. However, the place was deserted and there was no breakfast to be had. We walked over to another hotel and asked if we could get breakfast there. It was a buffet, which was great because we wrapped half of it up and stuffed it in our backpacks for lunch! Afterwards, we went on a walk around the lake. It took us about an hour to get to another cute town called Obertrau. We moseyed around there for a while, and then walked back and ate our pilfered lunch in the town square, or Marktplatz. Then we walked to the other end of the town (took us about 30 seconds) and went BACK to the Marktplatz for a coffee, as we had by now seen everything Hallstatt had to offer...or so we thought.
We had heard rumors of a bone chapel, so we hiked back up the windy roads to the Catholic church to investigate. We had missed it before, but there was indeed a small chapel. We paid our way in, and inside was one of the looniest things I've ever seen (I have a feeling I'll say a lot in the coming months, but it was pretty crazy!). This small chapel was packed with skulls, decorated with the names of the people whose bodies they'd once inhabited and their years of birth and death. There are 1200 skulls to be exact, and were put in there to make more room in the tiny graveyard in Hallstatt (if it's not yet clear, this place is teensy weensy!). When I have more time and have put the photos up to give some context here, I'll share some more info I have on the history of this place. After the bone chapel we went back down to a park by the lake and watched swans and put our feet in the water (freezing!). We had dinner at our hostel as it was pouring and way too wet to find anywhere new.
Sunday morning (today) we got up and got ready to head to Budapest. We had about eight hours of trains ahead of us, so we pilfered some more buffet breakfast for lunch. We took the ferry back over the train station and I watched my beloved Hallstatt shrink away. I think my bro said it the best: "I'm really digging this Austro-Bavarian cuteness." Tru dat. I will certainly be back.
Now we're safe and sound in Budapest, with help from the buffet hotel's receptionist who helped book our tickets for us because there was no Internet around and our hostel guy was useless. She (Adela, I think) was seriously the kindest, nicest person ever. She even picked up our tickets for us, and we weren't even staying there. Therefore, the least I can do is recommend that everyone stay at the Hotel Gruner Baum in Hallstatt- its buffet breakfast is very nice.
Anyway, we got to Budapest late in the evening and it's pouring, so we haven't done much except dash across the road from our hostel to get some dinner - amazing hummus and falafel. We're here for four nights and on Thursday go to Croatia. I'll update more as soon as I can.
Auf Wiedersehen!
Vienna has this great way of sort of springing sights on you. You're walking around thinking, this is nice, very Euro, nice buildings and whatnot, and then all of a sudden you walk around a corner and past some trees and see some giant palace or something. It's truly amazing how you just stumble upon these giant edifices- we just sort of came across the place where Hitler told 250,000 people that Austria was part of the Third Reich in 1938, and it's not a small place! My favorite building was the city hall, or the 'rathaus', a huge gothic (I think?) monstrosity that goes on for a few blocks. With several huge Austrian flags hanging from it, it looks very grand and imposing. (I'm afraid I haven't yet found a location to plug my camera in and get some pictures up - almost everything I write about will be better once those are in here. Hopefully soon.)
Anyway, after that we came across the cathedral, also lovely. We were feeling a bit tired though, so we decided to go and sit in the park opposite. Vienna is very pro just sitting and taking life in (there are literally chairs everywhere), and there were huge comfy deckchairs in the park that were free for anyone to use. It was glorious, just chilling there in the sun, watching the people and soaking in the Euro-ness.
After a bit more walking about we went back to the hostel for some happy hour cheap beers and then we grabbed some traditional dinner - sausage, sauerkraut and a cube of hash browns - before crashing out after our long journey.
The next day we went back to some of the buildings we'd seen to take them in with fresh eyes, and grab a coffee at a sidewalk cafe. After that we took the tram to the big cemetery in Vienna where lots of famous people like Beethoven and Brahms are buried. There's also a lovely big church right in the middle which was nice to look around. We did suddenly find ourselves exhausted however after a lot of walking, so we went back to the hostel for a nap. After that we met some of our roommates - Courtney from Vancouver and Chris who's from England but works for Disney Cruise Lines out of Orlando. They were lovely and gave us all sorts of good travel tips, especially as Courtney had just come from some places we're going (like Budapest, where I am now and am staying in the hostel she recommended). We went to happy hour with them, and there we met a lot of other people - more from Canada, some from Ireland and one from Santa Cruz in Cali! We nabbed some pizza for supper at a local restaurant before hitting the sack again.
On Thursday we took the subway out to Schonbrunn Palace, where the royal Hapsburg family lived and ruled Austria from 1282-1918. The palace is fantastic - a Austrian Versailles - and the grounds are spectacular. It was drizzling a bit, but we still did a good old walk and during a real downpour hid under some thick trees and ate our lunch (super budget bread and cheese from the local 'Penny Markt'). When the rain stopped, we did the maze and the labryinth and played all these silly games they had in there - kaleidoscope mirrors and bouncing board thingies. We seriously might have been having more fun than the kids, who were looking at the two Americans bouncing around like we were loony.
After the palace we went back into the city and did a bit of shopping - "Joe" (that's the Broseph - it's how he introduces himself now, a college thing. At 6'2"ish, with a new buzz cut and aviators, it's like I have a bodyguard) needed some new t-shirts for 'going out', so we hit up an H&M and whatnot. Then we did some laundry and stuff at the hostel and got some salad for dinner from the Penny Markt and made it in the hostel kitchen. After that everyone got together at the bar for happy hour where we met Jason from Australia, Chris from Australia but living in Slovenia, Tara from Chicago and Nick from London. We all went out together to the 'Tanzcafe Jenseits' (which means 'Dance cafe other side'), which used to be a brothel. It was all red velvet with chaise longues everywhere. There was no dancing to be had though, so we went back towards the hostel where we went to the Traveler's Bar. It was full of, guess what, travelers! Packed to the gills with hammered Brits, Aussies, Americans, you name it. I felt like I was in college. Which was kind of great.
Friday we packed up to head out of Vienna and go to a lake town in Austria called Hallstatt. Several years ago, I used to load up my computer with awesome travel photos as my screensavers. One photo I particularly loved was of this little fairytale town, and I promised myself I would get there one day. Well, I kept that promise! It took us about four hours on the train. I was SO excited and had SUCH high expectations, I was almost nervous I'd be let down. The train pulled in, and we got off at a teeny tiny deserted station. We couldn't see the town at all. We followed the only path - which was more like a hiking trail - and at the end was a little ferry to take us across the lake and across the lake...there it was! Hallstatt!!! I actually got quite emotional because I had been so committed to this place I know barely anything about. The ferry ride was fewer than ten minutes, and we got off and it seriously was everything I'd dreamed of! Tiny little houses built into the side of a mountain, little window boxes full of flowers, windy narrow streets everywhere, the church spires I'd seen in the picture...
We ran to our hostel (very basic sort of place, also a restaurant so the proprietor checked us in from behind the bar) and dumped our stuff. It was getting to be dinner time, so we found a fabulous little lakeside restaurant where we had a big slap-up meal. Then we walked along the water, and literally sat by the lake and watched ducks for about an hour. I had read it was all about nature in Hallstatt, and it's so true. Then we grabbed a drink at our hostel - about 10 old Austrian dudes were there smoking away and shouting at each other as they put the world to rights, which appeared to be the extent of the raging nightlife in Hallstatt.
We had read when we arrived that the hostel served breakfast from 8-9:30, so we got up bright and early to eat. However, the place was deserted and there was no breakfast to be had. We walked over to another hotel and asked if we could get breakfast there. It was a buffet, which was great because we wrapped half of it up and stuffed it in our backpacks for lunch! Afterwards, we went on a walk around the lake. It took us about an hour to get to another cute town called Obertrau. We moseyed around there for a while, and then walked back and ate our pilfered lunch in the town square, or Marktplatz. Then we walked to the other end of the town (took us about 30 seconds) and went BACK to the Marktplatz for a coffee, as we had by now seen everything Hallstatt had to offer...or so we thought.
We had heard rumors of a bone chapel, so we hiked back up the windy roads to the Catholic church to investigate. We had missed it before, but there was indeed a small chapel. We paid our way in, and inside was one of the looniest things I've ever seen (I have a feeling I'll say a lot in the coming months, but it was pretty crazy!). This small chapel was packed with skulls, decorated with the names of the people whose bodies they'd once inhabited and their years of birth and death. There are 1200 skulls to be exact, and were put in there to make more room in the tiny graveyard in Hallstatt (if it's not yet clear, this place is teensy weensy!). When I have more time and have put the photos up to give some context here, I'll share some more info I have on the history of this place. After the bone chapel we went back down to a park by the lake and watched swans and put our feet in the water (freezing!). We had dinner at our hostel as it was pouring and way too wet to find anywhere new.
Sunday morning (today) we got up and got ready to head to Budapest. We had about eight hours of trains ahead of us, so we pilfered some more buffet breakfast for lunch. We took the ferry back over the train station and I watched my beloved Hallstatt shrink away. I think my bro said it the best: "I'm really digging this Austro-Bavarian cuteness." Tru dat. I will certainly be back.
Now we're safe and sound in Budapest, with help from the buffet hotel's receptionist who helped book our tickets for us because there was no Internet around and our hostel guy was useless. She (Adela, I think) was seriously the kindest, nicest person ever. She even picked up our tickets for us, and we weren't even staying there. Therefore, the least I can do is recommend that everyone stay at the Hotel Gruner Baum in Hallstatt- its buffet breakfast is very nice.
Anyway, we got to Budapest late in the evening and it's pouring, so we haven't done much except dash across the road from our hostel to get some dinner - amazing hummus and falafel. We're here for four nights and on Thursday go to Croatia. I'll update more as soon as I can.
Auf Wiedersehen!
Monday, May 24, 2010
And so it begins...
Eeeeek! I'm leaving for the airport in an hour. People have been asking me for ages if I'm nervous about this whole thing, and I've kept saying no, because I really wasn't, but today I feel totally nervous! Excited nervous. And not sure exactly what's making me nervous. I'm packed (sort of...this has to be quick!), flights confirmed, cell phone charged... I think I just can't believe this thing I've dreamt about and planned for so long is happening. Now. Today. Like I said, eeeek!!!!
The past two weeks at home have been great, if a bit stressful trying to get everything ready. This last week in particular I have: raided Wal-Mart three times (I'm fine if I NEVER go there again), packed and unpacked twice, called AT&T three times and the bank three times (adding up to about 4 frustrating hours on the phone), booked five places to stay, broken down and cried about how it's all too stressful and I don't want to go anymore four times and stayed out waaaaay too late in NY City once (which was enough - 24+ hours later I'm still feeling it!).
I'm exhausted, and the thing I've done ZERO times is read any travel books or Web sites or know anything about anything except that Greece will be cheap and Bangkok is dangerous.
I'm going to try to stay Zen though, and remember the below advice that I read on a wall in that most sacred of retail places, Cost Plus, many moons ago when the Voyage was but still a dream:
("A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving." - Lao Tzu)
Until next time...Ciao!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
East Coast Love
The Notorious B.I.G once said, "If I got to choose a coast I got to choose the East, I live out there, so don't go there." I say, I'm with you Biggie, except DO go there. I just spent a totally fabulous weekend in New Hampshire with my little sister and her BF in their new fancy house on Lake Winnipesaukee, and was reminded of all the joys of New England living (the greatest of which being the wide availability Dunkin' Donuts coffee, which I missed deeply and dearly in California!).
The weekend actually began in the great city of Boston, when I stopped off to see a good friend from my Syracuse days, Scott. We had a lovely dinner and a good old catch up. The following day, I lunched with my San Fran friend Natalie, she of the Sonoma birthday party a few weeks ago. She's moving to Boston (good luck, Natalie!), and happened to be there looking at apartments and things. Was great to see a friendly San Fran face when I'm still missing it so! (I am!)
Friday afternoon it was on to NH with Miranda (the aforementioned sister) after she got out of work. We had a delicious dinner at a local restaurant with Abe (the aforementioned sister's BF) and went home to get ready for a weekend so chock-full of activities I might have been up there for a month! As this is a travel blog and therefore meant to provide information on what one might do when one travels somewhere, I'll share the highlights of the Center Harbor area, interspersed with my general musings.
We kicked off on Saturday with a New Hampshire-style epic voyage to Polly's Pancake Parlor (http://www.pollyspancakeparlor.com/). Wow, those were some good 'cakes. Whole wheat chocolate chip, served in two batches so one half doesn't get cold (such a simple concept and yet makes all the difference!). But Polly's not limited to just one sort of pancake. Oh no, you could have yourself a sampler of all six types with tons of toppings to choose from. Polly's Potatoes were nothing to mess with either.
Later on, Abe took me for a ride in his 1974 MG Midget. It was my own Mad Men moment and a great way to see more of the beautiful scenery up there. I love the little country towns, particularly (this will sound weird) the post offices! They're all so tiny, I went into one that was literally half the size of my studio in SF, and anyone who knows me knows I loooove mini stuff. The travel-size aisles at Wal-Mart and Target practically give me seizures.
In the afternoon, I was privileged to be part of that most domestic of tasks - purchasing a grill. Abe and Miranda had invited everyone over to the house for a barbeque the next day, but were missing that one vital component. So, it was off to the local Lowe's where more hilarity than one might expect ensued, mostly to do with getting the grill home. Once purchased, we three looked at the Toyota Corolla and said, no problem, the huge heavy box will go in the back seat- not a chance. Ok, we said, it'll probably go in the trunk - no way in hell. We eyed the new roof rack. Somehow, with three people, two bungee cords and the entire population of the Lowe's parking lot unabashedly laughing at us, success was had! We had to take corners veeeery slowly, but the Corolla handled it like a dream. Say what you want about Toyota, but we got the Master Forge home safe and sound. (We were about three minutes from home when Miranda suddenly said, "We should have taken it out of the box!" Aaaaah, yes, good idea.)
We woke up Sunday to a gorgeous day- sunny, warm, just perfection. We had initially planned to go kayaking, but it was too windy so we did ourselves one (actually two) better - go-karts and mini golf! I have seriously never seen so many mini-golf courses in one place. There must be some statistic about New Hampshire and mini-golf, like there is about the vanity license plates...but I digress. Miranda, Abe, Abe's friend Jake and I had a tip-topmost day out, even though I lost at mini-golf and was the slowest go-karter. I definitely recommend the "Funspot" (yes, it's actually called that) if you find yourself up a creek in Hew Hampshire without a kayak.
Sunday evening was barbeque time, and Abe's family all came round for a slap-up meal. It was fabulous to meet everyone whom I've heard so much about. The Master Forge gave a world-class performance and we wrapped the whole thing up with some 'smores on the fire pit. I was so happy I didn't even mind when the bugs came out. It's just all part of being back East!
So, there you go, a totally brilliant New England weekend. I probably haven't helped much if you actually do plan to visit New Hampshire, other than making a strong recommendation for my sister's house with its lovely lake views! Good thing I love it so much, as Abe and Miranda might hear a knock on the door when I get back from the Voyage, broke, homeless and unemployed.
I was musing on all of this as I drove back down to Connecticut yesterday, through leafy Massachusetts with a cup of beloved Dunkin' in hand, when Katy Perry - esteemed songstress that she is - came on the radio with a new tune. As if reading my mind and speaking only to me, she sang, "You could travel the world, but nothing comes close to the Golden Coast." OK Katy, I hear ya. Duly noted.
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