mini-update

Hello everyone! We just wanted to give you a little update that we only have 5 weeks left of traveling before we come back to the USA. We have been traveling for 11 weeks currently and while our slacker blog doesn't reflect all of the places we have been, I thought I would give you a run-down in the meantime. Since Rome, we spent about another week in Northern Italy headed up to Germany for 9 days and then to the Roskilde music festival in Denmark where we stayed for 8 nights with Gena and Merlin. Since then we went to Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and now we are currently in Belgium, eating our weight in waffles and chocolate and beer, staying with a couple that is German-French/Belgium Brussels native. The next five weeks consist of us conquering France, Spain, Portugal and a mini-stay in Dublin, Ireland before heading back to the London for a few days to enjoy the Notting Hill carnival and say good-bye to our friends.

We just wanted to let you know what we have been doing apart from the time lapse that is our blog. We will finish this blog though so keep checking up on us.

Can't wait to see everyone in five weeks.

When in Rome... (do as the tourists do)

We arrived in Ancona 2hrs later than expected. For some reason crossing time zones on a ferry makes it very complicated to get an accurate schedule. We caught the bus to the Train station and got some Tofu stir-fry from a Chinese restaurant (the first non-Greek food we've eaten in awhile) before heading on the train towards our next destination.
We arrived in Rome just in time for 6:00 rush hour on the metro, so we just headed straight for our campsite. We decided the best (and cheapest) way to stay in Rome was at Tiber Camping. It is on the outskirts of the city, the last metro stop, 20 minutes from the center. The campsite was cute. It had a pool, a mini market, and a bar and restaurant. We stayed in a "Bungalow" which was really a small mobile trailer with 2 beds and no A/C but it was private and had a lock on the door.


We set our things down and headed straight for the market for a cold beer and ordered a pizza from the restaurant. The European cup was on so we sat down for a while and watched. In the restaurant we met a guy who is from Flagler Beach, which is very close to St. Augustine. We didn't know any of the same people, but it was strange to meet some one that lives so close to my hometown, in a foreign country.

The next morning we tried to get a head start and wake up early, so we could make the most of Rome. We tried to beat the tourists to the Coliseum, but when we got there the line to get in was already two hours long. We decided not to go inside. Many people told us it looks just the same inside as it does out. Plus, there are no signs to explain what anything is, so you have to pay the extra 20€ to get a guided tour.



After doing a little research, we did get to learn a little bit about this amazing building:
Originally capable of seating around 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. It remained in use for nearly 500 years with the last recorded games being held there as late as the 6th century. As well as the traditional gladiatorial games, many other public spectacles were held there, such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building eventually ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such varied purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry and a Christian shrine.
Although it is now in a ruined condition due to damage caused by earthquakes and stone-robbers, the Colosseum has long been seen as an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome.







After taking a few photos we opted to explore other parts of the city.


Ruins...




Government Building


gladiators making photos for money

Over the next few hours we hit all of the famous sites, starting with the Pantheon, meaning "Temple of all the gods" which is a building which was originally built as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome.


Since the 7th century, the Pantheon has been used as a Christian church. The Pantheon is currently the oldest standing domed structure in Rome (125 AD) It is really cool because it has an opening at the top that is never shut, so even if it rains to this day it will rain into the building. The circular opening at the top was used as a sundial and was one of the first calendars.




spanish steps (not sure what is so impressive about them)


Ttrevi fountain


It is good luck to throw in a coin...




Piazza Navona where the they would stage mini naval battles and flood the entire Piazza to recreate them. There is also a statue in the center that has the four then-known continents as four different men, europe asia africa and the new world.

unfortunately it was under renovations




After an exhausting day of sightseeing, we strolled through Via Borghesa, the large park in the city center, before heading back to the campgrounds.

There, we relaxed by the pool with a beer and then headed to dinner. The food at the Camp restaurant was surprisingly delicious. We got bruscetta, homemade tortellini with chicory cream sauce and a pitcher of Sangria. At the bar we watched a little more Eurocup. It was nice because the metro stopped running at 11pm so everyone who was at the campgrounds all hung out at the one bar all night.

June 14: Vatican City

This morning we slept in and got some cold pizza from the market for breakfast. It was only €0.50 and way better than dry cereal bars. Since we ended up seeing almost all of the ancient sights the day before, we figured that we could just take it slow today and visit just the Vatican. It's a good thing we did because the Vatican museum was massive! It was so ornate with so many murals, tapestries and sculptures. We overheard a guide saying that if you spent only 5 seconds looking at each thing in the museum, it would take over 12 years for you to see everything!
Inside the museum:












At the end of the museum you reach the Sistine Chapel. It is indescribable to see something that famous and inspiring in real life.


But there were a few annoyances:
1. no one is allowed to take photos
2. you had to remain completely silent while inside the chapel
3. men in suits (who worked there I hope) kept yelling "no photos! keep moving! no talking! silence!" kind of ruined the awe (and the silence) slightly...

Next we planned on going into St. Peter's Basilica, which has the largest dome of all the churches in Europe and is supposed to have an amazing view if the city. We waited in line for about half an hour, just for the security guards to tell us that we were not modestly dressed enough to be allowed inside! We had heard of this rule, no bare sholders and no bellies showing, however I was wearing a rather modest jean skirt and kelly had jean shorts on. We tried to argue with security, but they pointed to a sign which showed a stick figure with a dress that was supposed to be below the knees. So we left, slightly defeated, and headed home to get some laundry done. (but not before taking some pictures of the outside...




The next day was our last day in Rome, we had to pack up and head out. But first we stopped for lunch. It was an amazing find: An African restaurant in the middle of the city center. We got cold draft beer and food just like the Ethiopian food we had in London. Plus it was huge! One dish was more than enough for both of us. It was a nice break in the midst of pasta and pizza coma we were putting ourselves in. Now we were ready to move on to Florence!

PS- my (Ellie's) foot is OK. It was looking pretty swollen but has healed nicely so far.
This is what it looked like in Italy...

<3 Ellie

Santorini

When we arrived in Santorini, we got off the ferry and found George from Pension George where we staying in Kartados, a small authentic bit of Santorini located 10 minutes away from Fira, the main town of Santorini. It’s funny because I think we thought before we came to the Greek islands that they were going to be a lot like Key West with only one town on them but Santorini is pretty big and has a couple of different little towns on in it. To get from the port, George drove us in his van up the incredibly narrow, hairpin turns on the mountain.

(driving away from our ferry)

I don’t think I had ever been on a road that tight and scary. Once we arrived at Penison George and we met Helen, George’s English wife who runs the pension, we knew we were in good hands. Helen said she met George on vacation from England and never went back. They have two daughters who are teens who grew up on Santorini. Our room was again, 35 euro and amazing. It overlooked the property pool with a nice balcony and a huge loft bed with a kitchen and a tv.





We knew we were getting too used to luxury but we were so happy to relax a little while in Greece. We swam for a little while in the pool, while meeting a couple from Canada and a family from Northern England who were also vacationing there.


The outside of our room!

We went to the market and bought supplies for our kitchen and made some pasta for dinner before I fell asleep at the ridiculously early hour of eight.


The next morning, after some eggs for breakfast, we walked into Fira and made a reservation for a boat trip the next morning.



Wildflowers!


Beautiful view from the port of Fira.


Fira, little houses clutters on the caldera.

We window-shopped and looked around, watched people ride on donkeys up from the old port to the stop of Fira.





Santorini is built on a caldera and is extremely high off the water at points so people often take donkeys from top to bottom, well tourists do mostly. It is pretty sad for the donkeys it seems. After enough whining to each other about the sad state of the donkeys, we knew it was beach time. The bus schedule was complicated and expensive so for the same price we decided to rent an ATV(four-wheeler) with helmets to get us the 30 minutes to the beaches.


It was very scary at first since most cars and semi-trucks just pass you and the 4-wheeler must be driven on the main road which often includes sharp turns. I(Kelly) was petrified for my life and made Ellie drive and held on so tight and was praying to who knows what, but I relaxed a little halfway through and enjoyed it because we got to see the countryside of the island, including the wine roads and the small authentic villages and little churches.


It’s so nice to go wherever you feel like going and whenever. We started at the black sand beach of Perivolos which is black because of the volcanic activity on Santorini. Santorini is actually an archipelago of islands in the Aegean Sea. Santorini, itself is what remains after an enormous volcanic explosion, destroying the earliest settlements on what was formerly a single island, and leading to the creation of the current geological caldera. The black sand was gorgeous but really hot because of it’s dark color.



The cliffs were beautiful and the water really refreshing. We laid on the beach eating some snacks we brought with us, telling lots of Thai men and cd-hawkers that we weren’t interested in the fine art of massage and that we couldn’t understand the cds because they were in Greek so they should leave us alone. Aside from that, it was gorgeous. We decided to check out the red sand beach next. We rode our ATV, stopping a lot for photos.

Once we got to the red sand beach,



we realized we had to hike down a mountain to get to the sand and umbrellas and felt that in flip-flops that was a bit too complicated so we headed home. We went for a swim, ate dinner and then took our 4-wheeler to Oia which is the northern tip of Santorini, famous for it’s sunsets. We took this beautiful coastal road there which was flat with little traffic and just vineyards and cattle.

It was a gorgeous moment to be flying through some Greek countryside on an adventurous motor vehicle with our helmets on. Once we made it to Oia, it was packed similar to Mallory Square in Key West.

Walking to the sunset in Oia.

The sunset was worth it though as it was almost neon pink and unblocked by the clouds.



Getting home was a little scary on our 4-wheeler as we had to take the mountain roads in the dark with huge trucks coming around turns and passing us. We honked the horn every single time we came around a tight turn, holding our breath that we would make it back to Pension George with no head on collisions, which we thankfully did.

The next morning, we awoke and returned our vehicle and headed for Fira where our boat trip was taking off. Ellie slipped on some marble and scraped a huge chunk of her foot off and that was when we realized that perhaps we should have worn sneakers for this boat trip, rather than flip-flops.


This was confirmed when we got to Nea Kameni and had to climb up tons of rock paths to see the volcanos.



The volcanic material which formed Nea Kameni.
The volcano last erupted in Nea Kameni in the 50’s but is set to erupt at any time. The volcano is over 3000 years old. It didn’t look like what you see in textbooks but was just a crater full of rocks.



Ellie sitting on top of a volcano.

Our guide did tell us to hold our hands over the earth in one spot about 2-3 inches
deep and the spot was scorching hot on the surface from all of the heat being generated below. Our guide said that magma was only 3 km below us. After the volcano, we went for a swim around Nea Kameni in the sulfur hot springs.



Sulfur is not the nicest smelling water to swim in but it was fairly warm, although not so hot like you would imagine it. A lot more mild than what came to mind. We met two couples who were traveling separately but both happen to be from Florida as well. Gainesville and Destin. We chatted with them for awhile before out boat pulled into Thirasia island where you had the choice to stay on the bottom for lunch or climb 500 steps to see traditional Manolos.

The zig-zags is where we had to walk up.

Thirasia

The view from Manolos

So this group of donkeys was coming up the narrow path with little concept of my personal space, almost knocking me down a 500 foot cliff. Notice my face.
Well, we decided to climb the marble steps in flip-flops to Manolos where once we arrived at the top, we realized it was so traditional that there was nothing but houses to see in the scorching heat so we came back down and ate a rather disappointing tomato ball lunch at a trap called Capt. Johnny’s before taking the boat back to the harbor where our trip concluded. We said good-bye to our fellow Floridians and went home to finish off some Greek salad we had made and left in the fridge and watching bad tv before drifting off.

The way to the port to catch our ferry.
The next morning, we went to this amazing restaurant next to our hotel where we ate stuffed grape leaves and then headed to the port to catch our ferry back to Athens to catch the train in the morning back to Patras and then the other ferry back to Ancona. We slept at Evangelo’s apartment for 4 hours before having to wake up and travel for 48 hours straight. It was the longest we had to travel yet and we were sad to say good-bye to the amazing vegetarian food that Greece had offered but we knew that on the other sad awaited Rome and some really good red wine.