sean's musings

As we sit on the train headed from Milan to Venice, I can’t help thinking about why we are here in the first place. Aside from the obvious love of travel, Amanda and I are getting set to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary on July 22nd. Our honeymoon was to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, though if we had more money we really wanted to go to Ireland. Cabo was an interesting adventure since we drove all the way from Oregon, but ideally we’d have gone somewhere else. We thought “maybe we’ll try to go on a big trip for our 5 or 10 year anniversary”. At 5 years we sorta got our wish as we felt God calling us on a mission trip to Russia. That started our true love of travel and we’re slowly marking places off our list. We decided at that point to start saving up for our 10 year anniversary. For the past couple of years we’ve been putting money aside, and had decided on Italy and Greece. We’ve both wanted to go to Rome, and since Amanda graduated with a degree in history (focused on the ancient western civilizations), Greece was another logical choice. In planning we decided to start from northern Italy, work our way south and then fly to Athens. This trip will take us to Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre, Rome, Athens, Delphi and Santorini.

So far we’ve survived a little more than 24 hours of straight travel. We left Portland at 8:00am to a beautiful view of the Cacades as we headed east. No matter where we travel, I’m still always in awe of the area we live in and the surrounding mountains. Thats not to say I wouldn’t live somewhere else (overseas), but I love the Northwest.

Here are a couple shots from the plane of the mountains.

I’ve got to say I’m a big fan of Air Canada now. Ample seat room, and touch screen on demand screens for each seat.

We landed in toronto for a 5 hour layover. As we landed we noticed Air Force One out on the tarmac along with planes from Japan and other countries. I’d forgotten that the big summit was happening in Toronto. People on the plane were saying “obama’s here” until one little kid screamed “OBAMA’s HERE”. Everyone got a good chuckle out of that.

Here’s air force one from our plane as we taxi’d by.

Grabbed some food in the airport and tried to change our seats on the flight to London. We thought they were a window and middle seat on in a row of 3. Luckily the flight was full and we couldn’t change because it turned out we were the last row, and it was only two seats. Score for Air Canada again It was cool to see everyone in the aiport huddled around TV screens watching World Cup. The US was playing Ghana. From the cheers it seemed a lot of people were rooting against the US. That’s the french influence in Toronto for you

Hopped on the plane to Heathrow. As we took off, we got to see an incredible sunset over the clouds. The pictures from inside the plane don’t do it justice:

We had a 4 hour layover in Heathrow. I almost wish we had a day or two layover in London. We had a great time in the 5 days we spent there a few years ago. I can’t wait to hopefully come back in a few years.

During the two hour flight to Milan it was hard to stay awake. At some point you get so tired that you feel like you’re going to pass out. I think that’s how we both felt by this point. Landed, hopped on the airport shuttle to the main train station in Milan, where our hotel was a couple blocks away. Since we had landed at 3:30pm, we didn’t want to immediately get on a train to venice and arrive late late in the evening. So we had planned out crashing in Milan and then picking up the train in the morning. I’m so glad neither of us are in to real fancy hotels or needing everything to be first class. All we really need is a bed, bathroom and a shower. The hotel was 56 euro and I think we got about what was expected. Well, it was actually a little bit bigger than expected, but the toilet seemed to flush “some” of the time..you had to let it sit for quite a while before you could flush it again. We went to bed at 7:00pm local time, which is 10am in portland. It was hard to sleep all the way through as our bodies are adjusting to the time difference. Woke up a bunch of times, but eventually we got up at 5:30am in order to get ready and hit the Milan Duomo(Cathedral) when it opened at 7. Jumped on the metro from the train station and 4 stops later we got the the Cathedral with all it’s glory. It’s one of the 4 largest churches in europe. By the time we’re done with this trip, we’ll have visited 3 of the 4. The 4th will have to come when we visit Spain sometime in the future. The church was pretty darn impressive. When we walked in there was some sort of singing/chanting going on from the main altar, which was a treat. It is a gothic cathedral and looked similar to the ones we’d seen in England and Strasburg, France. The sheer size of it though was crazy. I’m glad we went first thing in the morning though when the Piazza in front was mostly empty and not many people inside.

Stopped back by the train station to pick up or train tickets to Venice. Rick Steves (whose book we’ve been using for some planning) mentioned using the automated machines instead of the Trenitalia agents, but the lady in front of us couldn’t figure out how to use it, we got impatient, and jumped into the short line to the ticket agents.

So here we are now sitting on one of the fast trains to Venice. 2 1/2 hours point to point. I can see how riding the trains all over Europe is the way to go. The seats are big, theres a nice table in between 4 people and there’s electricity to power your laptops. It’s comfortable and leisurely as we ramble through the Italian countryside. A lot of the scenery looks as I’d imagined, and as you see in a lot of pictures. Wheat fields, quaint towns, rows and rows of grapes and hay bales dotting the countryside. Amanda’s sitting next to me reading a book on her ipad while other people work on their computers. Our seats were originally across the aisle from each other, but a lovely older Italian woman motioned for us to trade after I helped an older lady stow her baggage above. She then talked for a few minutes in Italian as I smiled. Finally I had to say “English”. Time to study up a little more on how to say “I only speak English”. Glad my mom bought us a basic Italian phrase book. Thanks mom!

We have about an hour and 20 more minutes before we hit Venice. Then it’s on to our B&B and wandering around the city. We’re in Venice two nights before we go on to Florence. I don’t imagine I’ll have a lot of time for picture editing and blogging while in the cities, but I think these train rides will provide a good time to write things down and reflect. We’re supposed to have internet everywhere but Rome and Cinque Terre. Hopefully I can write on the planes/trains, and post when we get places.

(Pics at the end)

I think Amanda used the word enchanting to describe Venice. That would be an accurate description. From the moment we arrived at the train station and saw the grand canal, it was a non-stop barrage of beauty. We hopped on the “fast” vaparetto (water boat) and rode down the grand canal toward our B&B near St Marks square. Crossed under the Rialto bridge, which is very famous. It was lined with tourists. Got off at St Marks and hauled our bags across a couple bridges towards the place we were staying. At some point, I noticed the rolling duffle bags wheels were a little iffy so I had to carry it. Our place was down a tiny alley and was actually pretty cute. Of course we were staying on the top floor, so we had to carry everything up the stairs. Lorenzo, one of the guys that runs Ca Del Dose was nice and carried Amanda’s bag. By the time we reached our room, we were both drenched in sweat. One thing it is not, is cool here. I think the temps are right around 90 degrees F. I’m so glad we ended up bringing mostly all wicking clothes. No cotton. On the days we’re traveling, we’ve been wearing basic cotton clothes, but those end up drenched by the end of the day. So glad we brought all our columbia/mt hardwear clothes we had because it’s worth it. I think one would be horribly uncomfortable doing a whole trip in cotton. Light clothes that dry quick are the way to go.

After cooling off briefly in our room (praise the AC!)we set out to explore part of the city. First stop was St Marks Basillica. It was just about as impressive as I’d expected, though with construction occurring on the part of the church, and a big fence around the bell tower, I was slightly disappointed(mostly for taking pictures). The square was crowded with tourists, which is to be expected since this is such a popular destination. Cruise ships, tours, etc lined the square. I don’t think it was as busy as I’d thought it would be, but still pretty crazy. We grabbed some gelato(so good!) from one of the vendors and explored. Both Rick Steves and my buddy Ray say it’s easy to get “lost” in Venice (Rick Steves advises it). So we aimed to do just that. We had a general direction we wanted to head, but it’s easy to get turned around. The main route between St Marks Square and the Rialto Bridge is lined with shops and places to pick up food. We started picking alley ways to turn down off the main drag. This was fun as every turn was something new. A back alley dock where we could rest, a small garden, laundry hanging across the alley above. We wandered and wandered and wandered. And had a great time doing it! All the little alley way stores are incredible. I’ve never seen so many candies and ice creams and pastries displayed in the windows. It’s a feast for the eyes.

For dinner we ate at the Hard Rock… I know I know, the Hard Rock? But we tried some more local food during the day, and we have been to the Hard Rock in many of the other places we’ve been. Sorta tradition.

After the hard rock we found a gondolier to take us on a Gondola ride. Romantic? Absolutely! Overpriced…very absolutely. Worth doing at least once.

After the gondola we headed back to the square. At night there are 4 or 5 cafe’s that have live musicians playing classical music while people dance in the middle of the square, or dine. You can simply walk around the square listening to the music and it’s a wonderful time. We got more gelato and sat on the steps right next to the “best” ones(we thought) at Cafe Florian. They played a beautiful piece that I’d heard before and loved but didn’t know the name to. In fact I tried to upload video to facebook, hoping for someone to identify it, but had issues. It was a great moment, sitting in the square as the sun was setting listening to beautiful music with my wonderful wife.

The next morning we got up somewhat early and had coffee in one of the stand up shops. We waited for 9:30, when we could check our bags to go into St Marks Basillica. Rick Steves mentions skipping the long line by checking your bags. He was right! The line was really long before it even opened. While waiting to check our bags we met a lady from the Dalles, Oregon. Small world! They were traveling all over europe, and her and her husband were in their 50s, maybe 60s. I sure hope we’re still doing things like this when we’re that age! (Like my buddy Ray )

The basillica was awesome. The interior celings were all mosaics. Up close it is crazy to think how much work went into building it. We got to see the tomb of St Mark (of John, Paul, Luke and Mark (4 gospels) fame). That moment was pretty cool. They’re just bones, and just a tomb, but really cool to see.

Walked around more in the day, hit some other churches, but mostly just explored. Took a siesta in the middle of the day to cool off and rest. Dinner was in a little cafe in some alley, but some of the best 4 cheese pizza ever. As the sun was going down we went to Cafe Florian for some overpriced wine. Like $35 for 2 glasses of wine. You pay an orchestra fee, but we’d planned for it, and it’s all part of the experience. Cafe Florian is one of the first places to serve coffee in europe and was a meeting place for Casanova, amongst many other famous folks (google it).

Took the camera out for some pictures in the square and on some alley ways. During this time we had 2 “God” moments. One is in the square, the Cafe Florian band played Canon in D, which we used in our wedding…a sweet moment was had. The other was as we were walking I heard a gondolier singing the tune I previously mentioned that I liked. I stopped and tried to ask what he was singing. He said “Bochelli” and covered his eyes. Turns out the artist was blind and the song was Con ti Partito. A great way to end our time in Venice, as the next morning was a travel morning to Florence.

Some things we’ve learned so far:
* When you order a latte, you simply get milk.
* When you order a cafe macchiato, you got a pure shot of espresso in a tiny cup with a dot of milk.
* You pay more to eat something at a table then if you take it and go (even at the same restaurant).
* Sometimes the train you are riding will be listed under a different destination…always check the train number rather than the final destination.
* Sit in your assigned seat on the train or there’s bound to be some voices raised when someone comes to claim their seat on a busy train. Not a good sight with some americans(not us) are getting told in italian they screwed up everyones seating.
* Always trust Rick Steves Maps. When hauling a heavy bag in heat you do not want to wander the directions given by the hotelier if he’s clearly marked it on the map. We turned left at a street (as noted by the hotel), when we should have turned right (as noted by Rick)

Here are some pics. I’ll add some of the “Best” to my flickr once we get home and I have a chance to actually edit them.

(more pics below)
Home of the Renaissance, famous paintings, a famous bridge and a ton of sculptures, I was excited that we were stopping off in Florence for a couple of days. The train Ride from Venice was pretty packed, but bearable. Getting off at the train station was BUSY! Made our way to the TI (Tourist Information) across from the train station for a free map. Another good tip from Rick Steves is the “Tourist Office” inside of the Florence train station is NOT a TI where you can get a free map. They try and trick you and charge a Euro for the map. After grabbing our map, we headed toward the hotel. The instructions we got from the hotelier said to turn left onto the street, but the map showed right. We followed her instructions and found ourselves wandering in the wrong direction. Not fun when you are carrying a duffle bag and backpack over your shoulders. We have a rolling duffle bag, but one of the wheels is getting stressed a bit much, so I’ve been carrying it. This bag has been around the world with us and I think has finally seen better days. Time for a new one after this trip.

By the time we climbed the stairs to the hotel we were drenched in sweat. Did I mention it’s hot? The very nice gentlemen at the hotel grabbed us some fresh water and glasses. The woman who checked us in did not speak any english, but we got along well enough with gestures. She grabbed the keys and said “special room”. We climbed to the top floor (which seems to be our luck so far) and opened up the door. The room was much larger than we expected. The bathroom looked like it had been remodeled recently. After changing from our hot sweaty clothes we stepped out to head towards the Duomo(Cathedral). From the map it looked further away then it turned out to be. 5 min and we were there. I have to say that we’ve seen some pretty impressive churches so far in our travels, but this one was the most beautiful from the outside. St Basils in Moscow might still top it, but the architecture is different. At this point the inside was closed but the stairs to the dome were open. We’d climbed the dome in London at St Paul’s and plan to climb the Vatican dome, so this was a must. Climbing the dome of 3 of the 4 largest churches in the world is pretty cool. There are something like 474 steps to the top, and we were huffing a little by the time we got up there. It was around 5:45 to 6:00pm, so the sun was on it’s way down. The view looking east was awesome the way the sun was hitting it. At 6:00 you could hear all the church bells ringing around town. It was a beautiful sound. Took some pictures, lingered, and made our way down for some food. We then wandered down towards the Ponte Vecchio which is a pretty famous bridge. Along the way we came across the Piazza Vecchio, which is where the original David statue stood. Today there is a replica in it’s place, and many other sculptures near it. There was another Michelangelo sculpture in the square. Made our way over past the Ponte Vecchio, where there are normally shops opened during the day. The view I wanted to see was from the next bridge down. The Ponte Vecchio spans the Arno river, which runs east/west. With the sun setting, you have a great view of the bridge with the sun behind you if you go up one more bridge. I’d scoped this out on google maps before we left home There was a bagpiper standing in the center of the bridge we got on to view the Ponte Vecchio. Another great moment as the sun sets staring at a beautiful bridge with bagpipes playing. Headed back towards the hotel, stopping again in the square by the Duomo to gaze in awe. Turns out there are a lot of gypsy looking ladies that work the square begging for money. They walk around with pictures of kids and get real close and start talking to you. I told one i had no money and she seemed a bit agitated. I don’t have an issue with people standing silent with cup out for change, but people who hassle you and walk up while you’re minding your own business is a bit off putting. In Venice we’d given some change to an older lady who was hunched over holding a cup. As we looked back she blew us a kiss. I’d take that over someone giving me a hard time any day.

The next morning we got up since we had reservations at the Uffizi Gallery at 9:00. The Uffizi has the largest collection of Renaissance work in Florence. I’d downloaded a free audio guide from Rick Steves to listened to as we walked through the museum. Beats paying for the museums guide, and turned out to be very helpful and informative. As you walk through the gallery the art turns from medieval and more 2 dimensional to renaissance art which is a lot more 3 dimensional. A lot of the paintings were religious and it was interesting to see some of the changes in style as the years went on. I think the highlight for me was Botichellis Venus. It’s a pretty famous piece of art and was quite stunning to see in person. There were a lot of other famous artists represented, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo..they are all here.

We grabbed some food and headed back towards the hotel. On the way we stopped and went inside the Duomo. It’s free to enter and the line moved pretty quickly. The fresco painted on the ceiling (i believe by Giotto) was really cool. Took a couple close up shots which you can see in the photos on this post. Other than that, the inside wasn’t as impressive as the outside in my opinion.

Grab a siesta and headed to the Accademia gallery to see David. We went in the reservation line since the lady at our hotel had booked us for 3pm. However we found out at the ticket counter that the code she gave us was for the Uffizi only, and not the Accademia. That was supposed to be a separate number. Tried to explain that to the ticket man. He very nicely let us buy tickets instead of making us go back and stand in the long line outside. Photographs are not allowed inside the museum, but I managed to make a couple stealth shots. The framing and what not was as best I could do without looking suspicious. Point from around my by my chest, shoot, and hope something comes out….a few did. David was pretty impressive. The rest of the museum, not so much. Pretty cool to see the true work of Michelangelo in person. After grabbing some gelato we headed across the Arno to the Pitti Palace to check out the Boboli Gardens(of pizza fame ) and the Costume Museum. Both were pretty cool, though I favored the garden of the two There was a great view of downtown Florence from up there. Went back to the hotel, dropped bags off and found a little cafe just down the street to eat dinner. Grabbed some fruit and $1 box wine from the supermarket and relaxed in the room the last couple hours before sleep. Tomorrow we head to the Cinque Terre.

A quick note about the trains. We’re on a regional train from Florence to La Spezia so we can change trains to the Cinque Terre. The regionals don’t require seat reservations, so you just hop on, stow your stuff and grab a seat. It seems a bit less crowded than the ones between the major cities we’ve ridding so far. Our car is full of backpackers. It’s interesting to listen in as some of them talk to each other. Talking about where they’ve been, where they are going, sharing some common experiences. Sharing information about their home countries. There’s a couple americans and some Australians. Sitting in any one of these train stations you’re bound to hear and see people from all over the world. It makes me want to buy a Eurorail pass and go for a month or two on a journey all around. Hoping we can make something like that happen in a couple years. At least for 3 or 4 weeks.

(More Pics below)
They say life moves slower in the Cinque Terre. Boy were they right. From the time we got off the train in Vernazza, you could sense things went at a slower pace. The hurried masses in Florence were replaced by people strolling slowly through the town taking in the coastal atmosphere. We carried our stuff down the main drag to the harbor where our room was. The Cinque Terre is 5 towns each set into the hillside along the Ligurian Sea. We were staying in the second most northern of the 5 towns, and the only one with a natural harbor. Our hotel (Alberga Barbera) was right in the main square overlooking the harbor. As luck would have it, we had another top floor room. But this one came with a sea-view which was pretty awesome. After dropping our bags and changing(traveling in the heat, carrying bags works up quite a sweat), we took a stroll to survey the town. People we strewn everywhere soaking up the sun and swimming in the sea. There’s a small beach that kids were playing soccer on, and large groups of people walking around. There’s not much to actually “do” in the town except relax, eat, swim and hike. The buildings are all multicolored and built into the side of a hill with rows of grapes high up on the hilltop. We spent a lot of the day exploring, eating gelato, and swimming in the sea. I must say it was very very salty. It was cold at first but was welcome after the heat and sweat of the day. We bought our two day Cinque Terre cards which are good for hiking the trails between the towns. This allowed us to walk up from Vernazza in either direction and scope out some photo opportunities. Found one spot and took some pictures on the north side of town, and planned to return a bit later in the evening. We made reservations at a restaurant that sat up above the town looking at the sea and the setting sun. The meal was ok, but the view was better. Hiked back up to the northern side and there were already a couple photographers camped out in the spot I’d eyed earlier. I snapped a few as the sun was going down, but they stayed for a couple hours at least. Perhaps I’ll have that kind of dedication at some point.

Amanda and I spent the rest of the evening hanging out on the harbor. She reading a book, and me snapping photos of the town and it’s lights as it got darker. She got quite a few looks and questions about her iPad. One guy was from Seattle and his son went to UW.

Woke up early the next morning to catch the train to the northern most town Monterroso to start our hike. Walking around Vernazza before most of the tourists have woken was a fun experience. Locals sweeping their section of cobblestone, someone grooming the beach with a rake, and folks out getting their boats ready for the day. This is the “real” Vernazza, sans the tourists that descend each day and stay out late. Of course it figures that the ticket office doesn’t open until 7:00am and this is one of the few train stations without self ticketing stations. We hopped the train anyway and figured we’d tell the ticket checker if he asked.

We’d decided to hike from north to south as it seemed that would be the best way of viewing the towns from the trails. This turned out to be a great idea especially since the hardest part of the trail was the first part, and it was before 7am when we started. The stairs that rose out of Monterroso were butt-kicking. The stairs just seemed to keep coming. And coming. And coming. I’d agree the trail can be done by someone in good shape, but that initial climb was a killer and tiring. I think it was tougher than we’d both anticipated. Walking along a cliffside through rows of grapes, lemon orchards, flowers and a great sea view more than made up for it. It was truly spectacular. We eventually dropped back into Vernazza and stopped to eat a little food. Next we made our way to Corniglia, which was another climb. The town itself sits on the hill, and is the only of the 5 not on the water. After descending 400 stairs to where the train station is, I can see why it’s the least popular place to stay. No way I’d want to lug my stuff up those stairs. I guess there is a bus though that can take you up to the town though.
We stopped in Manarola to get a cappuccino. Manarola was a cute town with a little marina. People were still starting to get up in this town too, so it was nice and quiet. The stretch between Manarola and Riomaggiore is a 20 min walk along the semi-famous Via dell’Amore. When the trail was first built it allowed a way for people from the two towns to actually meet up, which led to romance between couples from the towns. This trail is where they would meet up. The path is covered in graffiti, mostly professing love between couples. I even saw someone wrote John 3:16 on their, describing God’s love which was cool. There were also locks everywhere chained to the fence. Apparently the crazy right now is to close a lock on the fence with your loved one. Once we hit Riomaggiore, we hopped the train back to Vernazza. We planned to return later in the evening for dinner and photos.

In all, we took about 4 hours including picture taking to do the trail. I think the guides say it would take an average of 5, so I think our hiking conditioning helped a lot. Not the mention the fact we’ve been walking everywhere and climbing a lot of stairs on this trip

Siesta time and some reading and nap-taking ensued. The nice thing about this place is there’s nowhere you really have to be, so a lot of time can be spent relaxing and enjoying the beauty. Had some more gelato and take out pizza for lunch.

I’d read the trains between the towns are unreliable, and we certainly found that to be true as we were going to dinner. The first train we’d expected to take was cancelled 6 min before it was supposed to arrive, the next one never came, and finally an hour to hour and a half later, we finally got a train to Riomaggiore. Walked through the pedestrian tunnel to the main town, which is very steep. Found a little place to eat on the main road. Pesto bruchetta for me, and lasagna for Amanda. One note about eating out in Italy. The food is good, the service typically sucks. Since tipping is not customary we seem to end up with a bunch of waiters who do not have very happy personalities.

Went down to the marina to take some pictures, though the sun was covered by clouds, so the light I was hoping for wasn’t there. I did have fun climbing over a bunch of boulders that make up the jetty to get a view back on the town.

We waited about an hour for the train back to Vernazza. Its funny that the trains only take a few short minutes between towns, but you can end up waiting an hour for the train itself. Things really do move slower here.

Quick side note: You see people from all over the country in the towns and riding the trains. It’s pretty interesting though when you see people from your region of the States. Saw a guy with a USC shirt, a Washington State shirt, UW shirt, and chatted with some people from Boise, Idaho (and the woman used to work for IBM).

As mentioned earlier, things move slower in the Cinque Terre and the trains were no exception. We got up early this morning in hopes of getting to La Spezia around 8 to catch an early train to Pisa. The plan was to arrive in Pisa sometime around 9, and leave on the 1pm train to Rome. The plan soon had to be modified when we discovered that the normal 7:16am train from Vernazza to La Spezia apparently doesn’t run on Sundays. This would have been great to know before waking up early and hauling our stuff to the train station, only to have to wait an hour Oh well. Changed trains in La Spezia and made it to Pisa around 10:40. Quickly stowed our luggage in the bag check, and hopped on the bus to the “Field of Miracles” where the leaning tower was. Grabbed a snack and took a look at the sights. We were on a bit of a time crunch, so we snapped a few pictures, gazed at the leaning tower, the church, and the other buildings made of marble on the complex. It was pretty cool to see in person, but didn’t really warrant a bunch of time. On the bus back to the train station ran into a school group from the Seattle area. They ended up on our train to Rome and are making a similar trip to Athens and Santorini.

Arrived in Rome around 3:50pm to a very busy train station. There’s something like 24 tracks at the Rome Termini station and it was hopping. Bought our Roma Pass (good for 2 museum entrances and all public transport for 3 days). Found the bus we needed to take to the B&B, 2 stops and we were off. Had a bit of a scare moment when the address for the B&B didn’t match the name on the buzzer outside the locked door. Pushed the button and said “San Michele?”. They said yes and we were up to our room. A/C was $5 euro more per night, but it was so hot that it was worth it to pay the extra.

After relaxing for a bit and cooling down in the room, we decided to walk down to check out the famous Trevi Fountain. It was a bit farther than the 15 min advertised, but definitely worth the visit. It’s spectacular and bustling with activity. A large crowd gathered, but I worked my way up to it to take a couple pictures. After taking in the atmosphere, we worked our way to the Spanish Steps. I think we were both a bit disappointed (I’d expected something more fantastic), but the view from the top was worth it as the sun was setting over Rome. The sun was red and looked pretty cool going down over the city. Headed back to the B&B to rest up for the morning.

Today was spent visiting Romes ancient sites, including the Colosseum and the Roman Forum.

Had a great breakfast at our B&B and chatted with the owner (we think). He gave us some great tips on taking the bus. Turns out there are buses that go from our B&B directly to some of the major sites. This ended up helping immensely. I’d figured we’d have to be taking the Metro everywhere and walking, but the bus system here is incredible and extensive. After breakfast we took his advice and hopped the #60 bus which goes from our place at Porta Pia, directly to the Colosseum. As we approached it , we passed the massive monument to Vittoro Emanuele. And I mean massive! We hopped off the bus a few stops early just to walk and take it all in. Walking down the Via dei Fori Imperiali towards the Colosseum, you have the Colosseum itself looming in front, with the Roman Forum ruins and capital hill to your right, and some imperial ruins on your left. I know Amanda was loving all the ruins. We reached the Colosseum and breezed through the security lines. We had our Roma pass which allowed for skipping over the really long line to buy tickets. I’m so glad we did this, because it saved a lot of time standing in lines. Began our tour of the Colosseum listening to the free Rick Steves audio guide we got from iTunes. These things have been really handy. 1) It saves from having to hire a guide 2) a lot of things are pointed out and explained that you’d never have known about 3) on the ipod touch there are even pictures of what you should be looking at.

The Colosseum was pretty darn impressive and cool to see in person. It’s massive and you feel so small inside it. From the ground level, you can visualize what it would be like to have 50,000+ people screaming for your death.

Next we wandered by the Arch of Constantine on the way to the Forum. We climbed Palentine hill and worked our way through all the ruins. Its something to be looking at crumbling brick that’s been around for a couple thousand years and you learned about in history. This was even more exciting to Amanda as she pointed out some of the stories and legends along the way. It’s like having my own history guide Two of the coolest parts of the Forum were the memorial to Julius Caesar (where his body was buried), and the Senate building. You see renditions of it in movies (Gladiator, etc), but to stand in the same spots and view the actual buildings is fantastic.

After this,we walked down to the Pantheon. Again, I’d seen so many pictures, but to be standing under the open roof, with the light shining in was a great experience. It is the oldest surviving building still in use. Since it’s been in constant use in one form or another since it was built, the inside is still in great condition. I was disappointed they were doing restoration work on the outside, with scaffolding and tarps on half of the front pillars, so I didn’t get any pictures of the outside.

Walked to the nearby (and quite famous) Piazza Navona. This Piazza has 3 fountains in it, the centerpiece being a Bernini. I didn’t think it was as spectacular as Trevi, but I think it’s more famous because of the artist.

Spent of the rest of the day resting and eating dinner Went to bed a bit early because of the early start we plan to get tomorrow.

This morning we got an early start. I’d timed and planned things out at the Vatican perfectly because we got reservations for the Vatican Museum. The church opened up at 7am, the Dome at 8, and our reservations were at 9:30.

We grabbed a direct bus to the Vatican and arrived at St Peters square about 6:20am. They still had the square closed off, which was cool to see before the throngs of tourists which would invariably visit later in the day. Snapped a couple pictures as the sun was shining directly on St Peters Basilica. Entered the church right at 7am. As the church bells were going off, the guards were opening up the gates. Good timing! Walking in took my breath away. Not so much by how pretty it was (which it is), but by the sheer size of the inside. Sadly parts of it were blocked off, like the center aisle which has markings where other churches would end, if placed inside the Basilica. We also couldn’t get very close to the main altar, which is apparently directly over Peters remains. The grand scale of the statues, pillars and ceiling was overwhelming. After looking around, and listening to another Rick Steves guide, we stopped and looked at Michaelangelo’s famous Pieta sculpture. It’s behind bulletproof glass and features Mary holding Jesus‘ body after it was taken down off the cross. It’s quite a piece of work.

After this, we headed outside to stand in line to climb the Dome (cupola). We were first in line and got the first elevator up all alone. After booking it up the steps, which actually slope and lean at an angle in ward, we emerged out on the dome. For about 5-10 minutes we were the only people up there, at the highest point in Rome, looking over the city. No building is allowed to be built taller, so we were the highest you could be, all alone. Quite a view looking back down onto St Peters Square, especially since it was mostly empty.

After snapping some pics and looking around, we made our way back down towards the museum. You have to actually walk back around outside the Vatican walls, which is about 15 min from the square to the museum. As we got closer, I was so glad we’d booked tickets in advance. The line was quite long to buy tickets. I hear sometimes the wait is 2 hours to get tickets, and we pretty much walked right in. This is a great tip that saved us so much time in Florence at the Uffizi and Accademia, and now again here. It’s worth the couple extra Euro to book a time if you can and skip the long lines in the heat. After checking our bags, we headed up the escalator for one of the things I was most looking forward to: the double helix exit stairs. I wanted to get some photos in the morning before floods of people were going down it. I got my wish and snapped a bunch of photos before we entered the museum. This great tip I got from Ron in Rome

The museum itself is vast (4 miles worth of art) with the highlight of course being the Sistine Chapel. The art was overwhelming. Lots of sculptures from Ancient Rome, some from Greece, pieces of the book of the dead, art by everyone you can imagine (Chagall, Salvador Dali, Van Gogh, and of course the Renaissance artists). I will say that the Sistine Chapel was fantastic in its own way, it was not the overwhelming beauty and “wow” that I’d expected. I think I’ve been more “wowed” by a few of the other churches here, and especially the Chris the Savior Church in Moscow, Russia. When we were in Russia, a lady on our trip, Carmen had said at the time “I’ve been to the Sistine Chapel, and this right here is more impressive.” Now having been at both I can agree. However, that doesn’t downplay the importance of the room, and the artwork that Michaelangelo put into it. Personally it didn’t live up to the hype I’d expected, but perhaps we’re a bit jaded by some of the other things we’ve seen. I did manage to snap a few “stealth” pictures even though pictures are prohibited inside the chapel. I managed to get the famous image of God touching the finger of Adam.

After the Vatican, we headed back to the B&B for a nap and siesta. Our days have been working in a rest, naturally it seems. Since a lot of places close from 12-2 or so, it’s only natural. Plus the heat gets to you after a while.

We went back out later in the evening, with intentions of seeing some of the sites at night. Had some dinner, headed down to the Colosseum about 8:30, and sat in the park waiting for the sun to set. Got some cool pictures of it all lit up, and then headed for Trevi Fountain. Grabbed some gelato and enjoyed the atmosphere of the evening with loads of people looking onto the fountain all lit up.

A couple more tips learned along the way.
It pays to get to major sites early. Tourists are generally lazy, sleep in, and end up in droves by late morning, early afternoon. But getting up at 5, and arriving in places by 7 gives you peace and quite to take it all in. The Vatican was a prime example. We did the same thing at St Pauls in London and had the “Whispering Gallery” all to ourselves. It pays to get up early.
We dislike tour groups. I know for certain people tour groups are a great way to visit places and have a guided tour, but its also limiting. We’ve seen so many groups being herded around like cattle, that I’d much prefer exploring on my own, with a guide book, or Rick Steves audio guide. Getting lost and wandering is half the fun.
Reserve ahead if you can. We’ve probably saved at least a half a day that could have been spent standing in lines by taking advantage of pre-booking entrance to places. I realize that sometimes it isn’t practical, but definitely worth the money to plan and book a time. I can’t imagine standing for hours in some of the lines we’ve seen waiting to enter.
Rick Steves is a leader of Men. His book has been a killer tool, spot on, and full of tips to save us from lines, and other hassles. Thanks again Mom for buying us the books!

Today was spent touring the National Museum of Rome where the largest collection of Roman artifacts are held. There were a lot of cool sculptures that were a couple thousand years old. One of the coolest is a roman copy of the greek “discuss thrower”. I’ve seen the image before, but it was pretty rad being up close to one of the originals. We spent a bit of time in the coin collection looking at how the coins changed throughout the years.

Afterwords we spent most of the day criss-crossing around hitting up various churches. The nice thing about most of the churches is they are free, and cool inside when it’s scorching outside. It’s amazing too to see the exterior of most, which look pretty rundown, only to be surprised by the ornate-ness of it all once you enter the doors. A couple places of note that we went to:

San Giovanni’s church where supposedly the heads of Peter and Paul are contained. Across the street from San Giovannis is the “Holy Steps”. Legend has it these steps are the ones Jesus ascended when he met Pontus Pilate and has some of his blood-stains on it. Many people ascend these stairs on their knees, saying a prayer at each step, believing that each step will save them 9 years in purgatory. I personally don’t believe these were truly the steps, but it was interesting to see nontheless.
St Peter In Chains Church- This church holds the supposed chains that bound Peter when he was in Rome. It also had a famous Michaelangelo statue of Moses.
St Pauls Outside the Walls Basilica – This church was built upon Pauls grave, and you can see his tomb under the altar along with a piece of a chain that bound him as well. Interesting as now we’ve seen the resting places of Mark, Paul, and Peter on this trip.

This evening we had a great dinner at Piazza Navona along with some entertainment of an old man lip synching to Italian Opera. It was quite the sight.

Today we set out to walk the ancient Appian Way. The Appian way was the ancient main road that led into Rome and was likely used by Paul to enter Rome. The part that we walked was outside the original Roman city walls, and one of the big claims to fame is the Christian Catacombs that exist along the road. Since the Romans would not allow anyone to be buried inside the city limits, the early Christians dug out catacombs just outside the city. We toured the Catacombs of St Sebastian, which are underneath the church of St Sebastian. It was quite fascinating taking the tour underground to see all of the places where bodies used to be. Legend has it that Peter and Paul were buried here at one point for protection. Apparently in the areas that are roped off, remains still exist. There were Christian symbols and carvings inside the catacombs that the guide pointed out and were quite interesting. There are 7 miles of tunnels, but we only got to tour about 45 minutes worth. It was much more impressive than the Cappuchin Crypt which we’d visited earlier in the week. I was quite disappointed by the Cappuchin Crypt.

Also in the Church of St Sebastian are the “footsteps” of Jesus. Apparently in the Catholic Apocrypha Jesus visited Peter along the Appian Way and his footprints we imprinted in this slab of marble. Personally don’t believe it, but fascinating all the same. They have it locked up behind bars along with a piece of the arrow that pierced St Sebastian.

The Appian Way was a nice country walk, which felt nice after the hectic-ness of downtown Rome.

Afterwords we relaxed a bit at home and then got some Pizza and Gelato at Trevi Fountain and enjoyed the atmosphere. Minus the seagull who attacked a smaller bird, rendering it pretty much dead. Some tourist had to pick up the bird and dispose of it. Other than that a wonderful evening

Another travel day today. In the beginning of the trip these were nice because it gave us a chance to relax since we were constantly going. Since we got to Rome we’ve had a lot more time to relax so having the travel day isn’t as big of a deal. Somehow we scored emergency exit rows on the plane, so we had tons of legroom! It was quite nice. Landed at the Athens airport and was surprised there was no passport control. We went through the lane that said “arriving from other EU countries”, which we were, and there was no passport control. No stamp to add to the collection, and hoping we didn’t break some law. I guess we’ll find out when we try to leave. Pretty straight forward in getting on the airport metro towards downtown Athens. We lucked out because there was a 24hour strike yesterday which shut down all public transportation in Athens and caused a 4 hour walkout with the airlines. Had we travelled yesterday, our flight may have been cancelled and we wouldn’t have been able to use the Metro. Instead we’d have had to use a taxi which would have been FAR more expensive. As it is the metro is very nice and very clean. It’s relatively new, having been started when they were looking to host the 2004 olympics. 6 euros each and we made it into town. Our stop turned out to be about 80 meters from the hotel which was fantastic. The hotel itself is really nice. We got an online special for $87 euro a night and the inside is very nice. Free DSL, a gym, sauna and a rooftop restaurant with view of the Acropolis. For about the same price as every other place we’ve stayed, it’s a lot nicer.

After settling in, we went out for a walk, as we’ve been doing the day we arrive in each city. It’s good to get a map and start walking to get oriented with where your hotel is in relation to the places you plan to visit.

Stopped by the tourist information office and got a free, very nicely detailed map. Much nicer than the gimmicky “tourist” map that our hotel had. That one was full of advertisements for a hop on, hop off tour bus.

Got our first glimpses of the Acropolis which were awe inspiring. I think mostly it’s just surreal to be staring at some of these places that you’ve read about and heard so much about. Once you’re finally there and looking at them, it makes you stop and say “wow”. Went to a couple souvenir shops along the pedestrian walkway leading up to the Acropolis. On the train ride in, Amanda studied a few basic phrases and I tried hard to remember the word for “thank you” (efharisto). After purchasing a few postcards, I said it to the woman behind the counter. She got a huge grin, which made my night. One of the things I’ve noticed as we’ve travelled (and also read) is that the people of each country appreciate you at least trying to speak their language. Even if it’s something like a simple thank you. The look on her face was priceless as she knew we were obviously not from around here, and were making a bit of an effort. It made my day.

One thing we noticed is the relative calmness of the city. By this I mean from tourists. The streets are filled with cars and people driving, but the area around the Acropolis was pretty dead for 4 or 5pm. If this were the Colosseum or some other major site in Rome, it would be surrounded with people and very busy. Leading up to our visit, I’d been reading about the effect the strikes have had on the economy and the huge number of people who were canceling their trips. 1/5th of the Greek economy relies on tourism, and it certainly seems pretty dead, at least today. It was a nice change of pace compared to Rome where there were tourists EVERYWHERE.

Also, it’s still very hot here, though the humidity doesn’t seem high at all. It’s a dry heat compared to Italy Still a bit much for me, but at least a little more bearable and comfortable when your skin can actually breathe.

Got up early today and hiked up to the Acropolis to visit the ancient sites. The view from up there over the city is incredible. We didn’t realize how large and spread out the city actually is, especially when most of the main “sites” are all within walking distance of our hotel. But the city extends as far as you can see. From the top of the Acropolis you can see all the way to the Port of Piraeus and further out into the Aegean Sea.

Climbing the marble steps up into the site, it was already starting to get warm at 8:30 am. The sun reflecting off all the white was quite overwhelming. So glad I brought sunglasses. Otherwise I think I’d end up with something similar to “snowblindness”. The Parthenon was quite spectacular, minus all of the scaffolding sitting in the middle of it. Of course you can’t actually get within 5 or 10 feet of the main structure, but looking at it you can’t help but be impressed. We’d seen a lot of the marble friezes that had been taken off when we visited the British Museum. For those who don’t know, Lord Elgin( Elgin Marbles ) took a lot of the friezes and sculptures off of the Acropolis site on behalf of Britain during their rule. There’s a lot of controversy even today over whether they should be returned to Greece. Of course if Britain did that, they’d have to return a lot of other things they’d taken during their reign over many countries

After taking in all of the sites on the Acropolis, we climbed Mars Hill, also known as Aeropagus. Paul delivered a sermon (Acts 17) to the Greeks from this hill, and there’s actually a plaque with his speech on the hill. It was cool yet again to be standing in some of the same places as Paul. From the hill, you can see down over what used to be the Roman Forum and Ancient Agora which we plan to visit in a day or two. The stairs up the hill are VERY slick and I can imagine it would be hard to climb if they were even remotely wet.

We explored the “Plaka” area which is full of shops and cafes. Tried “souvlaki” and a gyro, which are both basically meat wrapped in a pita with tomatoes, onions and some sauce. It was actually quite tasty. After a bit of a rest at the hotel we visited the Temple of the Olympian Zeus. It had a similar structure to the Parthenon with massive marble pillars rising up, though most of it is no longer present.

Also visited the original Olympic stadium in Athens. It wasn’t used much in the recent games, but was quite impressive.

This morning we got up to visit the largest flea market in Athens. Sundays were supposed to be the best day to visit, which is why we went today. Down then narrow street there were stores on either side. It seemed like most of them were selling shoes until we got down towards the end of the street. There you got into more of a “flea market” feeling with people just selling stuff off tables in a large open space. There were guys selling pirated DVD’s for $3 euros. Apparently Amanda didn’t want to see the new Twilight movie bad enough to pay $3 euro for a greek subtitled copy

We saw a large group of illegal bag (think fake luis vitton and gucci) sellers running from the cops in the middle of the market. We’ve seen these setups in every city we’ve been to: a blanket on the street with bags or sunglasses set out on them for sale. As soon as the cops come, the blanket is very quickly picked up with all the goods already inside it. Then the folks RUN. It was quite comical actually.

After the market we were right next to the ancient roman forum/agora area. This is where a Roman forum had been built, similar to the one in Rome, but on a smaller scale. After a while ruins start to all look the same, but it was fun to see nonetheless. Plus it had another great view of the Acropolis.

After resting for a bit, we set out for Lykavittos (spelling) Hill, which is the highest point in Athens. It’s even higher than the Acropolis. The plan was to take the funicular, which is sort of like a tram that was tunneled thorough the hill and takes people to the top. After climbing a lot of steps to get to the funicular, we found out it was out of order. Joy. We were not to be denied the view from the top, so we hiked. We climbed a lot of steps again. I think by the end of this trip, we’re going to have amassed 10,000 steps. It sure feels that way

The view from the top was well worth the effort. Looking down on the Acropolis with the sea in the background was fantastic. There are a couple cafes at the top that hang out over the cliff which would have been fun to eat at as the sun was setting. Also a small church greets people at the top of the hike. It’s painted all white and can be seen from the city below. We’d seen the shining white from the ground, and now got to stand right in front of it. Headed back to the Plaka for dinner.

Delphi is another place that I’d heard a lot about and always thought it would be fun to visit. It’s the location that the ancient Greeks would journey to and have their questions answered by the Oracle. It’s set way up in the mountainside about 3 hours outside of Athens. Instead of taking a special tour and joining a group, we’d read that it was easy enough to get there using public transportation. We wanted to get out their earlier in the morning, so we got up early and made our way to the long distance bus terminal on the outskirts of Athens. This involved the Metro and a city bus.

We bought our tickets and hopped on the bus. I’d expected it to be much fuller on the bus, which is why we’d gotten to the bus station by 6:15am for the 7:30 bus. However it wasn’t that bad as far as being busy. The bus stopped about half way there, in the middle of nowhere at a nice little cafe/ hotel. The rest of the way up was climbing. And climbing, and climbing. We hit a small town called Parnassos (which is named after the mountain Delphi sits on) and the road narrowed. It narrowed so much through the city that in a few places the bus was only inches from another big truck trying to go the opposite direction. I thought we were going to hit someone, or something for sure. Parnassos looked like a ski town, with lots of advertisements for ski shops and rentals. It certainly seemed high enough in elevation

Got off the bus shortly after in Delphi and immediately bought our return ticket for 4:00pm. We’d thought the archaeological site didn’t open until 12, so had an early lunch at this cafe dangling off the cliff. The view was outstanding, as we were perched on the mountain looking all the way to the Sea of Corinth. Walked through a couple of shops along the way to kill time, until we got to the site. At that point we realized it was already opened, so we got tickets and went in. Delphi is built into the side of the mountain on multiple vertical levels. This meant more stairs. I think my calves are pretty well solid now.

I can see why they would have chosen this location for the Oracle sanctuary, as the views were awe-inspiring. We climbed all the way to the highest point and saw an old stadium where olympic-like games were played. The main highlight was looking back down over the theater, and the Temple of Apollo. It was hot, and we were done pretty quickly looking at all the sites and still had a lot of time to kill. We knew there was a 1:30pm bus going back to Athens, and the guy at the bus depot said we could use our ticket to get on that one. Headed back home and slept most of the way, as the heat was getting to both of us.

Today was the first day we’d seen any effect from the recent economic unrest here in Greece. With all of the striking that’s been going on, we’ve been lucky, but today we got to the National Archaeological Museum about 10:30, only to find out they were closed until 12 because the guards were on strike. We wandered the streets to kill time and eventually went back around 11:30 and joined the masses sitting on the front steps. While waiting in line, a man asked us if we’d been to any of the other museums and asked to look at our Rick Steves Athens book to look up a few others. Turns out he is a writer (of history) from Moscow Russia. We talked for a little bit and he explained that he was doing research for a book. He was very nice and introduced us to his wife as well. Went our separate ways in the museum but ran into them as we were getting close to leaving.

This museum turned out to be overwhelming and large, but at the same time fascinating . We got to see some of the oldest artifacts found, dating as far back as 5000 B.C. The museum is laid out in a timeline so you can watch as sculptures, vases, and things evolved over time. A couple highlights were the supposed mask of Agamemon and some really old bronze statues of Zeus (or Poseidon). They even had some artifacts and frescos from the ancient city of Akrotiri on Santorini which we are going to tomorrow. We got tired and hungry after about 2 hours (we hadn’t eaten and it was close to 2pm now), so we breezed through the last part and glanced at things as we made our way out.

Our time in Athens is about at an end, but I’m really looking forward to our time on Santorini.

Got out of bed this morning, checked out of the hotel, and hopped on the Athens Metro heading for the airport. On the Metro, we noticed a couple with a bag bearing the logo of the company I work for. I asked them about it and sure enough they worked on the east coast. The best part was they’d just been to Santorini and said they loved it. This of course made us even more excited about going. One thing they really enjoyed was renting an ATV and riding around the island. This isn’t something we’d really planned for or heard much about, but apparently there are rental places everywhere. Sounds like a blast, and I think we might try and do it.

The flight itself was rather comical. It was supposed to be 45 minutes, but I think we were only in the air for 20. Enough time for the stewardesses to rush out complimentary beverages to everyone, and then turn around and collect the garbage. I couldn’t finish my coke fast enough before they were asking for the cup back .

We landed on a very small landing strip, with a very rudimentary looking airport terminal building. After being bussed all of about 300 yards to the one door, we went into baggage claim. Baggage claim consisted of one single turnstile for luggage to come out. We’re definitely on a small island

A little bit about Santorini. According to Wikipedia, it is about 120 miles southeast of mainland Greece, and is one of the southern most of the Greek Islands. It has an area of only 28 square miles and is essentially a volcanic island that collapsed, but is still active. It’s built a lot like Crater lake is here in Oregon, with an island in the middle, but it’s not encircled completely by land. When the volcano collapsed, it allowed the sea to fill up the caldera.

Santorini is probably what you think of when you think of Greece, or at least Greek Islands. White-washed houses built on cliffs overlooking the sea. Think the movie Mamma Mia (quite a few asked me if it’s filmed there, and actually it’s not, but perhaps is supposed to be based on Santorini), and that’s Santorini. It’s long been a dream destination for the two of us, and is considered to be one of the most romantic places in the world. The sunsets in Oia are world renowned. There are a couple major villages that are built on the cliff that most visitors stay in. Fira is the “happening” village with clubs that stay open all night, and a lot of shopping. It’s the main tourist village. Oia on the other hand is supposed to be much more relaxed, and where everyone migrates to in order to watch the sunset. We had chosen Oia, based on a lot of different recommendations from people, and namely the man himself, Rick Steves.

Now back to the trip.

We’d previously arranged for a taxi with our hotel, which would be the only time on our whole trip we’d used something other than mass transit or public transportation. Just as we’d expected, someone was holding up a sign with our name on it as we exited the airport. After loading our bags, the driver asked a large group of people waiting for taxis if anyone was headed for Oia(the driver told us Oia was the most beautiful village in all of Greece). One couple said yes, and he packed their luggage on the roof of the car and piled in with us. We were ok with this since it meant less money in cab fare The cab ride was something to behold, and quickly gave us a taste of what the roads were like here. Since Oia is perched on the cliff (about 700-900 feet), and we were at sealevel at the airport, we had to climb a bit. All the roads are two lanes, and our taxi driver seemed to know them well. He whipped around the corners, passed people in a few iffy spots, talked on his phone repeatedly, but eventually got us to our destination.

A nice young guy was waiting there to take our bags and we walked a short ways to the hotel. As it turns out we were a bit early and they were still working on cleaning the rooms, so they held our bags and asked if we could come back in 20-30 minutes. We decided to take a walk and get oriented with what was nearby, and mostly take in the scenery.

And boy was it spectacular. Wow, Awesome, Beautiful, Gorgeous, Fantabulous. Redonkulous. Not sure I have the right words to describe how beautiful Santorini is.

For one, I’m glad I brought sunglasses because with the sun, no clouds, and white EVERYWHERE, it was hard not to be blinded . White and blue everywhere. The main walkway through the town was pretty much white marble, all the buildings were mostly white, and blue doors and church domes everywhere.

Everywhere we walked on the walkway had a breathtaking view out over the caldera and into the sea. The walkway was lined with cafes, restaurants, shops, souvenir stands and markets. And that was just the top level of the town. As you peer over the edge, you see more houses, cafes, churches, etc essentially under your feet. This is going to be fun exploring!

After 20 or so breathtaking minutes we went back to check into our hotel. We’d found it online and read a lot of good reviews on Trip Advisor, so we were interested in seeing whether it met expectations. I will say that “traditional” Santorini houses and rooms are “cave rooms” which are pretty much just that. Caves built into the side of the cliffs, with rounded ceilings and rooms where your ceiling is the floor for the house above you. We did not get one of those rooms because they were quite expensive, but we did opt for a “sea view” room. However, I think if we ever come back, we’ll have to spring for the cave room.

Our hostess Rena introduced herself and took us into our room. At first glance I was slightly disappointed because we’d gotten a “double” room. In all the other hotels this meant one bed (which happened to have two double mattresses pushed together). This room actually had two separate bed frames, with two double beds pushed together. Essentially separate beds. But, when we looked at the balcony outside, it pretty much made up for anything we were thinking. The balcony opened up to a gorgeous view of the sea, with no obstructions. Being on the cliff, from inside the room it looked like you could walk off the edge of the balcony right into the sea. Rena was very sweet and asked multiple times “You like?” We told her yes and she gave us some pointers and tips about the island.

After settling in, we of course wanted to go out and see more. There are two small bays, or harbors below the town that we’d seen in pictures, so we decided to walk down to one of them. The trail leads from 700-900 feet above sea level, down to sea level. So the walk down was pretty easy, but we were dreading the walk back up. What we saw though made us laugh and amazed. Coming up the trail were donkeys with people on their backs. We thought “We have to do that!!”. So after checking out the harbor, we found the man with donkeys and asked how much. He said $5 euro. Now at first that seemed a bit much, but $5 euro to ride a donkey up a steep cliff in the heat? Count us in! Some australians had the same idea as we did and hilarity ensued. You can check out the video here

It was priceless riding that donkey up that hill

Grabbed some food, and didn’t watch the sunset tonight, but headed to the area where everyone watches to get some evening photos of the town. There are some windmills that I’d seen in so many pictures and we found them Can’t wait to see what tomorrow holds.

Last night we’d decided on renting ATV’s, so we checked a couple places for prices. It turned out the cheapest place for renting a 150cc ATV was actually right across from our hotel.

When filing out the paperwork for the ATV, the gentleman asked if I’d ever driving one. I told him it’s been a little while but yes. He looked at me again and said “Maybe it’s not good for you to drive?” I think he assumed I was younger than I am since I’d cut my hair before the trip. I look like a 18 year old kid, not a 29 year old man I suppose. He showed us how to drive it and wanted me to demonstrate I knew what I was doing. Apparently I passed with flying colors because he gave us the key and let us go.

Renting an ATV was simply the funnest thing we’ve done so far on this trip. Some of the other things may have been cooler, or more awe inspiring, but this was simply the most fun we had. For $25 euro (for 24 hours) we ended up with the best way to see and explore the island. Amanda hopped on the back and we started towards the capital of Fira. The road between the towns is a two lane, cliff top drive, and was quite windy. As we drove, we had to be aware of other cars trying to pass since the ATVs obviously are slower than cars. We stopped in Fira to grab a cup of coffee and take a quick look around. We plan to come back another day, so a brief glance was all we had. The plan was to hit a couple of the beaches on the island and simply explore. We made it down to Kamari Beach, which is one of the more popular, lively beaches. We ended up arriving sometime around 10am, so it wasn’t very busy yet. We walked along the “boardwalk” and looked at all the umbrellas and chairs that you can rent, along with all the clubs/restaurants along the main drag. From here we wanted to go to the “red beach”, so we headed in that direction. What happened was another story. See the roads are not terribly well signed, so we aimed in the general direction of the red beach. We ended up instead at the highest point on the island, at some sort of army lookout. We climbed a road until we couldn’t go any further. The view was beautiful of the whole island, and we pulled out the map for a bit of a reset.

The red beach is near the ancient city of Akrotiri, so we got our bearings right and headed down there. After parking in a really busy lot, we hiked a little ways around some rocky areas and saw the red beach. The rock that lines the beach is red volcanic rock, hence the term “red beach”. It was pretty cool looking, but we didn’t stay long. After snapping a couple pictures, we started back towards Oia, as we were as far south as we could go on the island. In one of the small towns we stopped and had lunch.

Afterwords, we headed to Monolithos, which is the beach we were going to swim at. On the way we stopped at the Santo Winery, which is perched beautifully on the cliff facing the caldera. We did a little wine tasting and got out of the sun for a few minutes.

The beach at Monolithos was more “family friendly” and the sand was much more like the sand we’re used to at the beach. The other beaches were a little more rocky, where as this one was more “normal” sand. We plopped down $5 euro for two chairs and an umbrella and went swimming. It was nice and peaceful, as well as nice to get out of the sun and under some shade for a little bit. We’d put sunscreen on, but failed to put a good amount on our arms and legs, since we’d already tanned a bit. However 6 hours riding an ATV in direct sunlight started taking it’s toll.

On our way back to Oia, we followed the signs, which ended up taking us the long way around. Sometimes the long way around though is more fun. We ended up in the middle of nowhere, with only a few cars passing us along the way. By the end of the trip we’d pretty much hit every section of the island.

Tonight we had our first taste of the sunset. As I mentioned in a previous entry, Oia is world renowned for it’s sunsets, and people from all the other villages make their way to Oia for the sunset. As we found out, every available perch is filled up with people along the northernmost tip of the village. We made our way to the castle ruins, which is one of the most popular locations to view the sunset from. There were people everywhere. The sunset itself was dazzling and after the last sliver of light disappears below the sea, everyone begins applauding. People start cheering, clapping, and whistling at what they just witnessed. It was a bit odd, but actually kinda cool. Afterwords everyone files back through the narrow streets and begin the nightlife. Whats weird is that everyone starts eating dinner AFTER sunset around 9:00pm. We’d had dinner at 5:30 or so and there was no one in the restaurant, but as we walked back after sunset, everywhere was packed. There was also a group of people playing greek music(and asking for change of course) and they were quite fun to watch.

While we really wanted to rent an ATV again, we realized that sunscreen should have been put all over our legs before yesterdays ride. We were both pretty burned (in a very odd pattern) so decided to take the bus into Fira and explore. We’d also found out that one of the famous pictures you see of Santorini is taken in the town just before Fira, Firostefani. We hopped onto the bus fairly early, and began our ride over to Firostefani. The ride was interesting, much like the ride to Delphi because the road was windy and very narrow. The steep dropoffs didn’t seem to phase the driver. We were the only ones that got off in Firostefani, as Fira is the capital and main tourist center on the island. Luckily the bus stop was right near the church where we wanted to take the picture.

After taking a number of pictures, which had an ugly power line in it, we walked to Fira, which is only about 10 minutes. We found a really cool coffee bar, Pure, which was all white, had free wifi, and was very European-Modern looking. The daily coffee jolt gave us what we needed to wind through the alleyways and shops of Fira. There were definitely a lot more shops than Oia, and was a bit more hopping, but overall I’m glad we are staying in Oia. We had lunch at a fantastic crepe shop. We’d had crepes for lunch a couple times this trip, but these were by far the best. When we told the owner/cook she said “I know” Apparently she’s been told plenty that their crepes are tops around. After doing some shopping, we headed back to Oia for some general relaxing and swimming in the hotel pool. We also decided to set up couples massages for tomorrow, as one last splurge before we head home. In the evening, I went over to the Castle at around 5:30pm to stake out a spot for sunset pictures. Amanda joined a bit later (what a trooper), and we waited for 3 hours as the sun slowly went down and I snapped pictures.

On our last full day in Oia, I wanted to get up early for sunrise pictures. I didn’t quite get up in time, but 5:30 was good enough. To my surprise, my lovely wife got up too and wanted to go out with me. We were greeted to a very quite village, with some clouds allowing the sun to pierce through, giving some beautiful rays. As we walked through the village, 2 dogs started following us. Those 2 turned into 3 and eventually 4. By the time we got to the Castle, we had a posse of 4 dogs following us around. A classic scene unfolded when Amanda sat down to take in the scenery while I shot away. All 4 dogs lounged out as well with Amanda. Everyone was tuckered and needed a break

Today was spent picking up gifts, paintings, postcards and stuff we wanted to bring back home. We then rested up for our couples spa package. We finally got to see the inside of a real cave house, which was fantastic. I think I want to buy one We both got our massages, which was a bit awkward since a) they were in separate rooms and b) we both had men performing the massage. It was really nice though, and was topped off with a roman bath(together) full of mud, honey, milk and oils. Nothing like getting in touch with your feminine side in a gorgeous location. It was spendy, but worth every penny!

We ate and early dinner, and found a different sunset location. This time we set up closer to the windmills, where there weren’t as many people. It turned out to be a great spot for watching the sunset. Tonights sunset was bittersweet since it would be the last one we would see Hopefully it’s not the last one ever, as we both want to come back some time in the future.

As I’m slowly working through editing photos from our anniversary trip to Italy and Greece, I realize how hard it is to pick my favorite shots. In keeping with the rule Ray and I had used on a few photo trips around Portland, as I work through each of the cities we visited, I’ll post my top 5 favorites. More images will likely be on my flickr stream as well. More venice shots(top 30) can be found here

This shot is taken from the bell tower in St Marks Square. We went up to the top as the sun was setting, and it afforded a great view of the city.

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Another shot from the bell tower featuring another part of the city.

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Hidden canal alleyway at night in Venice

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Interior of St Marks Basillica with light streaking in from the top. All of the interior work is done in mosaic. In other words, it’s not paint, but individual tiles glued to the ceiling and walls.

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Gondola along the canal.