http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Thirsty-Hurst/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Thirsty Hurst en-us Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:33:07 +0000 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:33:07 +0000 I awoke in a bit of a daze this morning after last nightrsquos frivolities. I walked around my room and noticed a small card on the foot of my bed. Something from the hotel on checkout procedure I thought to myself last night. Then I read it. In fact it was informing us that munchies were in the fridge courtesy of the newlyweds. Sweet breakfast.After my breakfast I went out for another swim http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Jamaica/Negril/blog-460700.html I started off the day with some exercise trying to remove the effects of the umpteen dirty bananas I drank last night. With the failed attempt at running yesterday I decided a swim would be much more fitting. After walking down to the bridge I jumped off and swam up the length of the water towards the pool back to the low platform and then back to the pool again where I wrapped up my exercise. http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Jamaica/Negril/blog-460663.html This morning I set out on a run to burn off some of those beers I had last night. I headed out along the main road in the direction from which we arrived yesterday afternoon. I spent the bulk of the trip dodging oncoming traffic on the tight roadway.Along the way I searched for beaches in the area since our hotel is all cliffs. I finally found one over a mile away. Some beach. It might have been a http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Jamaica/Negril/blog-460633.html Today I departed Philadelphia for a few days of fun in the sun and Jeff and Melrsquos destination wedding in Negril Jamaica. I was happy to be leaving freezing temperatures for according to Jeff and Mel ldquo88 partly cloudy with a 100 chance of an incredible time.rdquoThis would be my second trip to Jamaica after heading down with some friends from Baltimore in March 2006. But it is m http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Jamaica/Negril/blog-460513.html A confession Irsquom writing most of this almost a week after I returned. Itrsquos taken me several days to properly reflect on things. And the marathon and the RR that followed it have not led to expediency. Nevertheless Irsquove decided to write it as of the last day of my trip. Irsquove included a few of my favorite pictures from the most memorable spots along the way.Coming homeAs t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Pennsylvania/Berks-County/blog-449474.html This morning after another good nightrsquos rest Dave and I went out to look at a couple flats since he needs to move out of his current one this weekend. One was near his current place and the other at Pembroke College. While he looked at the Pembroke flat I sat out on a bench in one of the quads. While I was there one of the servers from the dinner the night before walked by. The guy looke http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Canary-Wharf/blog-449140.html Last night I got a great nightrsquos sleep. The sangria helped.Dave and I grabbed a small breakfast with a ham and cheese croissant while scheming on our possible Everest Base Camp trek sometime this spring.He took off to do some more work at the business school while I went for a five mile training run around Oxford. The run went well although Irsquom still well below where I should be for pa http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Oxfordshire/Oxford/blog-449033.html Today I departed Athens and started heading back west. After an uneventful flight and a long bus ride I arrived in Oxford to visit Dave for the next couple days.I met up with Dave and Ellie at Said Business School. I dropped my stuff off and we headed out to lunch at a place called The Mission which is a Chipotle knockoff. With a big dinner planned for tonight we each went light and ordered th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Oxfordshire/Oxford/blog-449025.html I awoke this morning to the sound of pouring rain out my window. A little extra sleep canrsquot hurt. Around 900 it subsided so after a small breakfast I set out on a short run in Athens.Athens is a very hilly city. After my run Irsquom convinced there isnrsquot a single naturally flat square meter in all of Athens. I was constantly trekking uphill then down then up some more. Of course I http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Attica/Athens/blog-448412.html After getting in late last night morning came a bit too soon. I showered and packed up my things to store since I have to change rooms today. After leaving my things in the storage room I checked in at the front desk and found out that there was a walking tour organized by the hostel that would leave at 1030.About 20 of us joined the tour mostly college aged girls many of whom were likely stu http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Attica/Athens/blog-448124.html I left Ios today to return to Athens. Before I caught the ferry I went down to the port for lunch. As I looked around at the sea and the surrounding hills I was still surprised how beautiful and how grotesque this island really is. There are gorgeous white homes spread out intermittently all overlooking the clear blue sea below. But there are also barren wastelands full of rocks and dead vegeta http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Attica/Athens/blog-447814.html This morning I went on the same running course as yesterday. I knocked three minutes off my time from having the benefit of knowing the terrain. And no walking or stops. It felt good.After a small lunch I returned to the same beach as yesterday. There were a few more people there today. And it also appears as if this is a topless beach. While that sounds appealing in theory in reality itrsquos http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/South-Aegean/Ios/blog-447800.html Last night I got some much needed sleep. Well rested I went for a run to familiarize myself with part of the island. I set out towards the beach where Irsquod likely spend most of my day. Getting there was easy. There is one road that leads down to the beach and it is entirely downhill. Along the way I stopped a few times to take pictures of the gorgeous views of the surrounding sea. About 3km http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/South-Aegean/Ios/blog-447461.html Last night I got a terrible nightrsquos sleep. Trying to get to bed early proved to be a futile effort as people celebrated the nice weather out on their balconies into all hours of the night. One girl laughed like a hyena after every sentence someone spoke. Sometimes I think she even laughed at her silly laugh. And when all that finally calmed down one of my roommates had a great snore. Now I http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/South-Aegean/Ios/blog-447456.html Today I left Budapest for Athens and the warm weather within it. I got to the airport and made my flight without a hitch.When we arrived in Athens we disembarked onto a stairway and were treated to the warm weather immediately while we waited for a shuttle to take us to the main terminal. It felt like 75F here wonderful after the 30s and 40s the last week and a half.I caught the metro from the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Attica/Athens/blog-447453.html After a good nightrsquos sleep I set out this morning on a day of touring Budapest. My first stop was the Central Market a few blocks from the hostel. But itrsquos Sunday so it was closed. I did get a peak inside through the window and it looks enormous. I think I missed out on this one.From there I took a leisurely stroll over the bridge to the Buda side. I had my eyes set on climbing to the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Central-Hungary/Budapest/Pest/blog-447450.html After last nightrsquos merry making I along with all the other guests at the hostel took our times getting up and getting ready. I still hadnrsquot done any research on what there is to do in Budapest when Steve asked what I was up to today. He said a lot of people were going to a Turkish thermal bath in the city. Sure. Irsquom in.We walked to a nearby metro which wersquod use to get to http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Central-Hungary/Budapest/Pest/blog-446424.html I arrived in Budapest this afternoon. Another uneventful train ride. The train was late again. They seem to always be. Not a big deal I donrsquot have grand plans here.The hostel in Budapest is a bit different than most Irsquove stayed at. Itrsquos much more of a laid back crowd. I could easily see them having the place on a beach with a campfire if they could. A guitar hung from above the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Central-Hungary/Budapest/Pest/blog-446295.html I awoke this morning to something totally unexpected. Some of my roommates were staring out the window and with childlike joy exclaiming ldquoItrsquos snowingrdquo Yoursquore full of shit. They werenrsquot. It was really coming down.None of it laid as the temperature bordered on freezing. But when itrsquos snowing and itrsquos supposed to be in the 50s thatrsquos a bit frustrat http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Vienna-State/Vienna/blog-445405.html I knew the weather was supposed to be bad today. Reports were calling for chilly weather with rain the next several days. So it looked like I would have to do my last long training run in bad weather no matter what. When I woke up and it wasnrsquot raining I figured this would be as good a day as any.After fueling up at breakfast and checking the weather freezing temperature and 2030 mph wind http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Vienna-State/Vienna/blog-445224.html