MAAAAANNNNUUUU

Finally, some cheap internet with a USB port. I will attempt to post some pictures here, and explain the title of this entry!

After Florence/Pisa, Jeff and I headed to Venice for the day. It was stinking hot - like 45 degrees celsius, so it was particularly miserable. However, we saw some key sites, like the Rialto Bridge, the Venice version of the Bridge of Sighs, and Piazza San Marco with all the pidgeons. It was quite cute to watch the little toddlers chase the birds around.

Venice was a must see, but the heat and the smell of the canals kind of deterred from the day. We then experienced our first overnight train. I was in a couchette with 2 other Canadians, but Jeff got stuck with 5 female Asians!!! At the risk of sounding politically incorrect, the Asians run amok in Europe!!

We arrived in Geneva the next day. I have to say that Switzerland is the most awesome countrz we´ve been to yet. Everything is so clean, the trains arrive and depart when they say they will, and they speak French!! That day, we rented two bicycles for free and biked around town to see the Flower Clock, the Jet d'Eau, and the United Nations building - just as impressive as the one in the New York City.

Next, we got a well deserved break from the heat, as we travelled into the Alps to the little town of Zermatt, for some spectacular views of the Matterhorn - the tallest mountain in the Alps. We took a cable car up to 2500 m then did some hiking around. Jeff shouted "Ricola", as I captured it on video!! Later, we caught a concert by the local youth band in the town centre - it was such a throw back to band in high school. They even busted out the massive alpine horns!

An unanticipated stop in Interlaken was next on the bill. Basically, Interlaken is the "EXTREME SPORTS" capital of the world. As soon as we arrived, Jeff and I went White Water rafting. Our guide, was the illustrius Manu, the largest beast of a man I've ever seen, who is now earning his own Internet reputation as the usurper of the Chuck Norris joke: Manu sleeps on a bed of nails - face down! I saw Manu pick up a female Asian with one arm!!!

The next day, we went Canyoning, which is the most extreme of all. First, we repelled down a cliff face, then we proceeded to jump off ledges within a canyon in narrow and shallow pools of water - basically taking our lives into our own hands. I have pictures to prove I did this, but they're on DVD, so I'll share when I get back.

That night, I partied hard with the friends I met at our Hostel, Balmer's Herberge. Met lots of Canadians. They love EXTREME sports!!

As I said, Switerland was the best part of the trip to date. Right now, Jeff and I are in Salzburg Austria, where we will culture-afy ourselves.

Tchus!

And now, in reverse order ;-)

Me and Jakes, my Canyoning guide.


The Alpine Horns
The Matterhorn

Proof that I hiked in Zermatt

Me in front of the Jet d'Eau in Geneva



Me on the Rialto Bridge

Fast Update

Went to the village of Fiesole and saw some Etruscan and Roman ruins (really cool) and so an incredible view of the city of Florence and the Tuscan countryside.

Then, we went to Pisa and took the obligatory silly photos in front of the Leaning Tower - which by the way, leans quite a bit! It makes my chest hurt as an engineer ;-) !!!!!

Off to Venice for the day, then an overnight train to Geneva, where we finally get to test our French. Then immediately to Zermatt for some fresh mountain air. Won't have access to internet for awhile, but all is well and the knee is feeling much better.

Florence is just as beautiful as I remembered it

...except around the Mercato Centrale - quite filled with litter unfortunately. Unless you want to haggle for cheap wares, steer clear!

First thing we did today was visit the Galleria del'Accademia, which houses the famous David by Michelangelo...and some other paintings...;-) Truthfully, David was absolutely stunning. I cannot comprehend the attention to detail - the musculature, the veins on the inside of his elbows, the haunting gaze. All this in a single block of marble. How did Michelangelo do it without making a mistake??

Other things: saw the Duomo and went to the top of the bell tower, Ponte Vecchio lined with the jewelry stores, went to a small Leondardo Da Vinci exhibit, but missed out on the Museum of the History of Science, which we were both looking forward, too. It closed at 13:00. Maybe we'll swap our walk in the morning for a proper visit tomorrow, before heading off to Pisa.

As good as Italy is, can't wait to get out of this heat!

The Streak is Alive at 5 out of 5

... that is 5 out of 5 nice places we've stayed at. If I haven't mentioned it before, the two places in Greece were awesome for the price. Guesthouse on Santorini was top-notch, hostel in Athens was party central, Naples was only 1.5 months old so spotless and brand new, Rome was expensive, but clean, and now Florence is quaint and the price is right.

Alas, no photo updates, because this computer is running ghetto Windows 98 that doesn't understand what a digital camera is. However, picture in your mind the following things, which we saw in Rome over the past day and a half - Rome may not have been built in a day, but the highlights can be visited in one:

• St. Peter's Basilica: third time that I've seen it, but still quite impressive.


• Santa Maria della Concezione: a freaky crypt, where all the decorations are constructed of human bone.
  
• Piazza Navona: for lunch and people watching
• The Pantheon: extraordinary for the concrete dome erected BC
• The Vittorio Emanualle II Monument and the tomb of the unknown soldier
• Free Art Gallery filled with gorgeous landscape modern art; name eludes me, but trust me - it's there!
• Palatino: the original site for the foundation of Rome
• The Roman Forum
• The Coloseum

After, we met up with Jeff's friends and our former classmates, Chris and Lara for a 4 course Italian meal - Primeri (Pasta), Secundi (Meat), Salad, Dessert, then we had gelato, had more liquor walking along the boardwalk of the Tiber, got lost, ended up at Circus Maximus where a whole bunch of homeless backpackers were playing bongo drums, then finally made it home.

This morning, we quickly went to see the Catacombs outside the Roman wall. These were extremely cool, both figuratively, and temperature wise - at least 15 degrees cooler than outside. Geez it was over 40 degrees yesterday!

Impressions of Rome: you can always find something new to do there, in my case the Catacombs and the Palatine Hill. But, it is a dirty city, to be quite honest, nothing compared to Florence, where we are now.

Tomorrow, we intend to have a yummy Tuscan meal.

A quick hee hee: Jeff peed in the bidet!!!!

Trevi Fountain legend is true!

Roughly, 11 months ago, while on my European co-op, I tossed a Euro coin in the Trevi Fountain. As the legend tells it, doing so will forever draw you back to the Eternal city.

I've now been to Rome three times this year!!!

Quick message: Jeff and I just arrived in Rome, after spending a pleasant day in Herculaneum, just outside Naples. We saw the archaeological site and went up to the caldera of Mt. Vesuvius. Hung out with our new friend, Ben, frome Sydney, Australia. Pics to come.

Ciao

I got my gimp leg to Italy

Unfortunately, my knee hasn't gotten better. I'll entertain any suggestions that people may have... Jeff says Tiger Balm.

Not much has happened in the way of excitement. I took Sunday easy, then went out for dinner in Athens with three of our roommates - Lindsay, Kelly, and Alicia from the US of A. We took some amazing pictures at night from the rooftop bar of our hostel. They light up the Parthenon at night! I'll post the pics this week hopefully.

Jeff and I have been travelling for 36 hours. Train from Athens to Patras, Patras to Brindisi, Italy via a really ghetto ferry (hey, we only spent EUR 42 and I had a great nights sleep), then to Naples via insanely slow train. We are now official Eurailers.

Tomorrow, we'll do a quick day trip to Herculaneum, then it's off to the Eternal City for a couple of days.

Ciao bella!

Athens is Freakin' Hot

Here I am sweating bullets trying to focus on my computer screen and trying to come to grips with the price I just paid for a hostel in Rome.

Anyways, updates since last posting: Jeff and I stayed an extra afternoon on Santorini. We took a boat to the caldera and hiked up to the top. Didn't see any fumes, but took some cool pics. Then, we took a dip in the rusty hot springs, which died my swim trunks red. Finally, we took an agonizing 10 hour ferry from Santorini to Athens, after which we got ripped off by an Athens cabby who took us to our hostel. First, he took us on a wild goose chase. I guess we can blame the language barrier, but apparently, there are two Makri streets in Athens.

Yesterday, we did the typical tourist things - saw the Acropolis and the surroundings, walked to the 1896 Olympic Stadium, and ate too many gyros.

Today, we went on our guided tour to Mycenae and the Temple of Agememnon, Corinth, and then the Theatre of Epidaurus. It was a small, older crowd on our tour, but they were almost all Canadians. I also finally had a decent, 3-course Greek meal - Moussaka, Souvflaki and rice, and Greek salad.

So, just to make mom worry, I've strained my knee and I'm having trouble walking up and down stairs. Not sure how to make it better, aside from rest. I'll get plenty of that on Monday during our 12 hour ferry to Italy.

Now, for some pics:



Sunset in Ia, on Santorini



Me posing in front of the Santorini Caldera



Me in front of the Parthenon



Me in front of the Lion's Gate at Mycenae

Until next time...

Travel Woes (nearly) and Beautiful Weather

I'm coming to you live from the island of Santorini, where it is now 11:21 pm and it is a comfortable 20 degrees (give or take).

Some news on my travels. We left Montreal late on our Air Canada flight - figures ;-), arrived in Frankfurt to find our transfer to Athens was oversold and a flight attendant was sick and four passengers were kicked off the plane, along with their luggage. Needless to say, we left Frankfurt 1 hour late. We then bee-lined across Athens to the port of piraeus, sprinted with our 60 L bags on our backs to the "superjet" to take us to Santorini. Some speedboat - it took longer than the flight across the Atlantic!!!!

First impressions of Greece: lots of construction, but all very historic in style; very little obvious vegetation, except for the clearly artificially planted palm trees, and narrow streets. We'll see what more Athens has to offer tomorrow.

We were greeted by the extremely friendly, George (go figure), when arrived at Fira, the capital city of Santorini. We are staying at his guest house, which might as well be a hotel - it's really nice, and the location is perfect. I had a good sleep last night, while Jeff suffered through my snoring.

Today, Jeff and I took a bus to Pyrgos, walked up to the monastery on top of the hill and snapped some great pictures of the island (to be posted when I have more time...11 min left at the internet cafe...). Then, we walked to the Santo Winery and got drunk at noon...I jest...no seriously. Jeff had to carry me out! ;-) Then, we went down to the black-sanded beach of Perissa, so lot's of beautiful foreign women and swam in the cool, clear waters of the Aegean. I also napped and got random sunburns in unusual places.

Finally, we took the bus to Ia, famous for the views of the sunset, which were absolutely perfect in the cloudless sky. It was very romantic - why isn't Jeff a beautiful Greek woman????

That's all for now. I'll try to check in again from Athens.

Quick Props...

...to Rohit and Arvind for the blogging idea and the sidebar tracking of my Euro-trip progress.

T-minus 18 hours.

T-Minus 29 Hours

The count down jumped quite a bit since my last post. Since then, Jeff and I have been working hard, planning this crazy trip. We start on the Island of Santorini in the beautiful Aegean Sea, return to Athens for 3 days, one of which we spend on a day trip to the Peloponnese to see the ruins at Mycenae, the Theatre at Epidaurus and the Strait of Corinth.

My feelings are really mixed right now: certainly part excitement, but also part anxiousness. With the exception of our first week in Greece, this is pretty much an unplanned trip. We have a start point, an end point, and some dotted lines written in pencil in between, but THAT IS IT. We'll see how Chris copes with living in the moment!

The most important question: can I fit everything in my 60L back-pack??