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Published: December 10th 2008
The Team
Matt, Shaz and the Sethinator.Hi all. First of all a big thank you to everyone that has emailed their lovely comments about the blog. It has been great to get some positive feedback and it's nice to see that people are actually reading it!
Since we last spoke we have been to Santorini and back, and we are now in the Italian capital of Rome. On Friday the 5th we got up at 4:45am and caught the Metro to the port of Piraeus for our ferry ride to Santorini. The trip lasted about 8.5 hours including some brief stops in Paros and Naxos where people, cars and trucks got on and off. While the trip was generally pleasant, there was a brief period where I was very close to losing my breakfast, the heat, cigarette smoke and enclosed nature of the ferry all adding up. However after heading up to the deck of the ferry and having some cool air on my face I was fine. The owners of the hotel that we stayed at on Santorini were nice enough to pick us up from the port which is some 10km away from the island's main town, Fira, and this saved us a bit
Shaz and friends
Apparently the people of Fira feed the dogs every day and look after them. Surprising though. All of the locals that we saw only seemed to yell at them and scare them off. of hassle.
We were lucky enough to have the company of one of the guys from our Classical Tour, Seth, for the duration of our stay on Santorini. Coincidentally he happened to be on the same ferry as us and for the majority our time on the island, the three of were together.
After heading back to our respective hotels, we met again in Fira for a bite to eat - gyros plates and ouzo, can you get any more Greek than that?! While the gyros plates were delicious and huge, the ouzo was a challenge. The waiter was impressed that we had ordered it but then suggested that the best way to drink it is to have it neat. That lasted one mouthful. For anyone that hasn't tried it, ouzo is an aniseed-flavoured spirit which the Greek's swear by, but none of us could work out why. It was fairly average. Full points for trying it though I guess.
On our second day on the island, we met up with Seth at 10am and headed down to the old port which is accessible by cable car or by 588 steps. We took the cable car down and after
'I can fly!'
Matt in mid-flight at Santorini's Old Port. So much fun. deciding not to pay 20€ each for a ride on a ship to the volcanic rocks at the centre of Santorini's caldera, we headed back up to Fira and walked in the direction of the nearest beach with two of the town dogs in tow. 2 hours later we arrived at a rocky, windy and deserted beach which was more like a disused port than anything else. Oh and the dogs were still with us.
Having walked there with the intention of swimming - at least Seth and I had that intention - we were disappointed and after a quick bite to eat we trudged slowly back toward Fira. About 15 mins into the 2 hour walk, we half-jokingly signalled to a gentleman driving a ute that we might like to partake in the sharing of his vehicle. He was good enough to stop, and we rode in the tray of the ute back to town. Now, bear in mind that the road back into Fira is fairly hilly and quite windy, but the two dogs didn't care. They were determined to keep up, and keep up they did, sprinting behind the ute all the way back into town. A
Fira
The town of Fira overlooking the caldera. commendable effort if ever I saw one.
After the disappointment of the 'beach' we took a gamble and took the cable car back down to the old port in the hope of swimming there. It paid off. We spent half an hour or so running and jumping off the dock into the harbour, surrounded by the imposing cliffs and the crazily-located town of Fira perched hundreds of metres above us. Seriously, who builds a town at the top of a cliff on an island that has been plagued with volcanic eruptions for as long as we aware? Having said that, it is an amazing place, so good on them.
Now being boys, Seth and I just had to have a crack at the 588 steps. Now 588 doesn't sound that many, but between each of the steps is about 3 metres of path, on an incline of about 1 in 10. We ran for about the first 20 steps then realised that we didn't want to die while on holidays. Put that plan in the 'seemed like a good idea at the time' basket.
The three of us caught up for dinner again, and I just had to compare the
Our escort
We just couldn't get rid of them. Cute though. Until they try to steal your lunch anyway. gyros plate to the restaurant of the previous night. Not as good, but still delicious. Despite being tired from a long walk, a swim, and a climb up the cliffs, the three of us headed to a bar in town for a couple of quiet drinks. It was a nice end to the day, and Seth met a couple of other American travellers there who he was going to try and catch up with after we left the island.
Our last day on the island started with breakfast with Seth at a local diner, before another swim down at the old port. I genuinely thought we would be asked to get out of the water, being a harbour and all that, but all we got was a couple of 'it's winter, you guys are crazy' looks. On account of the fact that the day before happened to be a public holiday - on a Saturday, I know - the cable car was free. On the Sunday though the normal price of 4€ was in effect and stupidly we decided to save some money and hike up the 588 steps. Now I'm a relatively fit guy but I'm not to
Synchronised Diving
Yay, I jumped higher. proud to say that I would probably pay the 4€ if I had the choice again. But then again, sense of achievement and all that.
After a quick coffee we said goodbye to Seth. It was sad to leave him behind after we had spent the last week or so with him, and hopefully our paths will cross again soon.
Later in the afternoon Sharon and I headed to the bakery to buy a couple of pastries to eat on our ferry ride back to Athens. Unfortunately the shop owner, who spoke only Greek, short-chaged me by 10€. After a few minutes of fruitless hand-waving and exasperated attempts to get my point across, I employed the translating services of the lady who was next in the queue. Lucky she was there.
The ferry ride back to the mainland was fairly uneventful. After nearly losing the contents of my stomach on the way to Santorini we decided to sit on the deck of the ship from the very start of the ride back. While this ensured that I kept my dinner down it also meant that we could see the sun setting over the Aegean and boy oh boy, was
588 steps
See that zig-zag up the cliff. That's 588 steps my friends. *coughs and wheezes* it worth it. Following the amazing sunset, we had the worst 24 hours of the trip so far.
After disembarking at Piraeus at 11:30pm feeling tired, sick and a little bit disorientated we pulled out the reservation print-out for the hotel that night. 'Head toward the big church and we are on the second street after that'. Sounds simple enough, but considering that there are two big churches right next to the port and the streets aren't signposted, it wasn't all that easy. An hour and bit later we dragged our sorry arses into the hotel lobby, paid for the room, staggered upstairs and collapsed onto the bed.
Four hours later it was time to get up - we had a flight to catch. We stumbled out of bed, down the street and up to the bus stop to get on the X96 Airport Express bus. 45 minutes later, and feeling worse than the night before, we rocked up at the airport.
I guess the flight was ok but we were both so tired and I was still feeling sick from the night before - maybe something I ate. By the time that the flight arrived in Rome I was
Sunset over the Aegean
I've certainly seen worse sights in my time. more than ready for a nap, and given that the place we were staying was '2 minutes walk' from the main train station, Roma Termini, it shouldn't have been far away. Oh how wrong I was.
After another two hours of wandering around the streets of Rome, walking up and down streets we had already checked, asking people who looked at us like we were aliens, we had had enough. It turns out that the so-called 'Termini B&B' is in some massive building with a gate that's 5 metres high, and the only signpost is a 3cm long name strip next to a doorbell. Fantastic.
So tired, hungry, frustrated as hell and sore from carrying our backpacks around Rome for half a day we plonked into the foyer of the building, only to discover that the landlady didn't speak a word of English. I honestly don't know how we managed to get through that exchange but somehow we did, and after all that, the room is actually really nice and is very close to everything that we need. Also, despite how frustrating the aforementioned 24 hours were, I guess we were really lucky that we missed all of the
Us
Awwh. nastiness in Athens. The closest we got was on the tour bus back from the Classical Tour, where we were diverted away from Syntagma Sq. because there was some sort of protest going on.
So that brings us up to yesterday morning.
We had more language-barrier issues as we reserved our seats on tomorrow's train to Florence - the gentleman at the desk reserved them for that day and with the use of a pen and paper to write the date and time, we had to point out his mistake. Or rather the fact that we didn't know how to say 'Thursday' in Italian. We still don't.
Later on we took the Metro toward Vatican City for the obligatory touristy things. We spent about 3 hours in the Vatican Museums perusing all of the artefacts and trinkets that the various popes had pinched for the Vatican, culminating in a visit to the Sistine Chapel. It certainly is an impressive building, what with Michelangelo's frescoes, 'Last Judgment' and 'Creation'. Following that we headed over to St. Peter's Square, and St. Peter's Basilica which were both massive, daunting and certainly worth the visit.
On the way back to the train
Dad, this is for you
Hall of the Maps at the Vatican Museum. 100 metre long corridor, both walls covered in massive maps like this. Amazing. station we had to laugh as we walked past all of the various souvernir shops and stands. There really is no other way to say it - the Pope is a rock star. There are Pope towels, scarves, shirts, jumpers, badges, magnets, bowls, cups, mugs, binder books, posters - anything. It's quite crazy. Nothing like turning His Holiness into a marketing tool.
We spent today walking around the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill and the Colosseum. All three are simply amazing not least of all for their sheer size. The number of buildings that made up the Forum and Palatine Hill was far greater than I had expected, and a lot of them are still in fantastic condition. It is hard to pick a favourite building out of those that make up the Forum, but the Temple of Saturn and the Arch of Augustus are both superb.
The Colosseum too is a sight to behold. As soon as you come out onto the street from Colosseo metro station you can see the ancient building in front of you. Sure, it's not in the best condition but you can still get a feel for the atmosphere that spectators must have felt
there. Apparently the central corridor that runs under the (absent but partially rebuilt for illustration) floor of the stadium extends well beyond the walls of the building, allowing both gladiators and the emperor at the time to enter and leave the Colosseum without being approached by the plebs. Pretty awesome.
That's about all, but before we go a quick word about Roma Termini railway station for those of you who find yourselves intimidated by Spencer St. Station, or should I say, Southern Cross. Termini has 29 platforms, and that's just for the domestic and international trains. Add to that two underground metro lines which only converge at Termini, meaning a massive amount of pedestrian traffic changing lines all day and night, a shopping centre, various ticket offices, information booths, automatic ticket machines, phone booths etc. It really is a beast. Having said that, it's kinda cool to walk through there and get the feeling that you are not the only ones who have no idea where they are or where they are supposed to be.
So, a well done and a thank you for managing to read this entire entry - it's a big 'un. As I mentioned
Rock Star Pope
We found a photo of him skiing. No joke. in passing before we are jumping on the train tomorrow morning to head north toward Firenze for a few days. It's a shame we can't spend longer in Rome but with so much to see, and family to meet in Rotterdam by Christmas, we have to keep moving. Perhaps some other day.
Until next time, thank you and stay cool.
Matt & Shaz
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