I arrived in Igoumenitsa without really knowing where to go. I knew there was another ferry that took me to Corfu, but I didn't know where to find it. I went inside the ticket building and asked a woman at one of the desks and she said it was at the other port, more towards the center of the city (whatever that meant).
So I headed out the door and headed in what I hoped was the right direction. I asked a woman I saw on the road and she pointed me in the right direction. When I got there I bought the ticket (8 euros), but unfortunately had to wait until 8:45am for the ferry to arrive. So another 2 hours of waiting around with nowhere to sit down, and it was pouring rain. I stayed by the ticket area under some cover, so I managed to not get soaked.
The ferry ride was good, and I was able to doze for another hour or so. Then at Corfu I wasn't entirely sure where the bus to get to the Pink Palace was. A guy told me that I should wait in this one area, but I still almost missed the bus an hour later (11am) when I saw it driving past. I hurried over and it was luckily stopped at a red light. I got in and was relieved to not have to worry any more.
On the bus ride I talked with the only other person on the bus (besides the driver), which was a guy named Hector from Spain. He had been to Corfu twice in the past and said it was his favorite island. This was his first time at the hostel, though, so he was also hoping that it lived up to the hype and to the website.
We stopped to pick up some people at the airport and got to the hostel at about 1pm. Check-in took another hour, plus or minus. I went down to get something to eat and laid on the beach for a few hours. Hopefully I didn't get sunburned.
Right now it is almost 8pm. I decided to get caught up on my Blog posts and wait around until dinner at 8:30pm. I think tonight I will go to bed early since I had mediocre sleep last night. I'm just going to take it easy and try to walk as little as possible. My feet need a rest before heading back into full gear for the last 2 weeks in Athens, Thessaloniki, and Istanbul.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Europe Trip: Day 38, June 27th
In the morning the hostel owner was nice enough to let me leave my stuff at the hostel and keep the key to the place until I picked up my stuff -- but I only had to pay for the one night.
I took a regional train (Ferrovia Sud Est - FSE) to Alberobello, which had a unique type of house found nowhere else in the world. The story that Lubna and Francesca told me was that back when the King or Lord of the area was taxing them based on the house they had, they came up with a way to make a house of stone with no mortar. So when the tax collector came around, they were able to knock down the houses and say that it wasn't a real house. Now they even paint some of them and people still live in them. There are even some 'hotels' which let you stay inside one for the night. The houses are called Trulli.
After walking around the town for a while and seeing the church, the Trulli huts, and eating some food, I headed back to the train station. By some miracle I found it without having to ask for directions. Just as I was about to ask for directions, someone asked me where to find the Trulli huts and when I looked back to tell them the direction I saw the sign to the train station. Fate? Maybe.
I got back, picked up my stuff, and walked to the port. I bought my ticket about 2 hours early and went onto the ferry immediately. As I was walking towards the deck I saw this guy and suddenly I was like: Wait! I know him! And I could see in his eyes that he recognized me as well. It was the Mexican guy who stayed at the same hostel as me in Naples. So during the ferry ride I stuck around with him and a Dutch girl he had met at his crappy hostel in Bari.
The ferry didn't leave the port until around 8:45-9pm. And we talked for a while and hung out until around midnight when we decided to find somewhere to sleep. We ended up sleeping on the floor, which while uncomfortable was not as bad as it sounds. I got about 5 hours of sleep, the ferry arrived in Igoumenitsa at 6:30am (but with the time zone change it was 5:30am in Italian time). The other two stayed on the ferry, which continued to Patras arriving around noon.
I took a regional train (Ferrovia Sud Est - FSE) to Alberobello, which had a unique type of house found nowhere else in the world. The story that Lubna and Francesca told me was that back when the King or Lord of the area was taxing them based on the house they had, they came up with a way to make a house of stone with no mortar. So when the tax collector came around, they were able to knock down the houses and say that it wasn't a real house. Now they even paint some of them and people still live in them. There are even some 'hotels' which let you stay inside one for the night. The houses are called Trulli.
After walking around the town for a while and seeing the church, the Trulli huts, and eating some food, I headed back to the train station. By some miracle I found it without having to ask for directions. Just as I was about to ask for directions, someone asked me where to find the Trulli huts and when I looked back to tell them the direction I saw the sign to the train station. Fate? Maybe.
I got back, picked up my stuff, and walked to the port. I bought my ticket about 2 hours early and went onto the ferry immediately. As I was walking towards the deck I saw this guy and suddenly I was like: Wait! I know him! And I could see in his eyes that he recognized me as well. It was the Mexican guy who stayed at the same hostel as me in Naples. So during the ferry ride I stuck around with him and a Dutch girl he had met at his crappy hostel in Bari.
The ferry didn't leave the port until around 8:45-9pm. And we talked for a while and hung out until around midnight when we decided to find somewhere to sleep. We ended up sleeping on the floor, which while uncomfortable was not as bad as it sounds. I got about 5 hours of sleep, the ferry arrived in Igoumenitsa at 6:30am (but with the time zone change it was 5:30am in Italian time). The other two stayed on the ferry, which continued to Patras arriving around noon.
Europe Trip: Day 37, June 26th
Lubna got up around 5am, and I got up to say good-bye. She headed out around 5:30am. Then my alarm went off at 6am, and I had to go take my shower, eat, and finish packing. I was out the door by 6:40am after saying good-bye to Francesca and her father (I had said goodbye to the grandmother the night before). As always, good-byes are difficult, and even more so when you have lived together for 2 weeks! We had become part of each other's daily schedules and it was sad to leave.
The train to Bari left at 8:20am and arrived at 2:20pm. I checked in to the hostel, talked with a Dutch girl who was also staying there, and then I explored Bari. I made my way to the seaside, walked along that until I saw signs to the big church and to the castello (castle/fortress). I went inside both, but they weren't anything so special. The ticket for the castle (1 euro) was only to go inside a couple small museums, and you weren't allowed to walk along the wall or anything. The church was quite simple as far as Catholic churches go.
Then I walked around in the old part of town, working my way back to the newer area, where I ate a pizza and then got back to my hostel as it started to get dark. I called Mom and Dad and went to bed early around 10pm.
The train to Bari left at 8:20am and arrived at 2:20pm. I checked in to the hostel, talked with a Dutch girl who was also staying there, and then I explored Bari. I made my way to the seaside, walked along that until I saw signs to the big church and to the castello (castle/fortress). I went inside both, but they weren't anything so special. The ticket for the castle (1 euro) was only to go inside a couple small museums, and you weren't allowed to walk along the wall or anything. The church was quite simple as far as Catholic churches go.
Then I walked around in the old part of town, working my way back to the newer area, where I ate a pizza and then got back to my hostel as it started to get dark. I called Mom and Dad and went to bed early around 10pm.
Europe Trip: Day 36, June 25th
I didn't do a whole lot this day. I just got up, had breakfast with them, and then decided that I was going to stay around the house all day and try to make sure I had the rest of my trip planned. This seemed important, because internet conditions would be uncertain for the immediate future.
When I got online I found out that I had gotten some positive responses from my CouchSearch requests and had hosts for both Athens and Thessaloniki! That added to my luck in finding a couch in Istanbul made me very happy indeed.
After finding out that the night bus I wanted to take from Corfu to Athens only departed on even numbered days, I had to move around my days in Athens and Thessaloniki, but that ended up working out even better for my hosts.
I had lunch with Lubna and her grandparents. And then Lubna was worried about how she hadn't packed anything for her trip to Milan. The plane was going to leave early the next morning. We both took a break, and went to a mall (more or less) near her house that I had never been to. I got a stamp and mailed a postcard to Nefi. Laren hadn't ever told me or Emily his address, so he didn't get one :P Lubna looked for some shoes, but didn't find anything she liked.
That evening we all ate together and then took group pictures. Lubna, me, and the grandparents; Francesca, Lubna, and the grandparents; Francesca, Lubna, and I; and just Lubna and I. Those pictures are up in the 'Rome II' album on Picasa.
We all went to bed fairly early, sometime between 11pm and midnight, since we had to get up very early the next morning...
When I got online I found out that I had gotten some positive responses from my CouchSearch requests and had hosts for both Athens and Thessaloniki! That added to my luck in finding a couch in Istanbul made me very happy indeed.
After finding out that the night bus I wanted to take from Corfu to Athens only departed on even numbered days, I had to move around my days in Athens and Thessaloniki, but that ended up working out even better for my hosts.
I had lunch with Lubna and her grandparents. And then Lubna was worried about how she hadn't packed anything for her trip to Milan. The plane was going to leave early the next morning. We both took a break, and went to a mall (more or less) near her house that I had never been to. I got a stamp and mailed a postcard to Nefi. Laren hadn't ever told me or Emily his address, so he didn't get one :P Lubna looked for some shoes, but didn't find anything she liked.
That evening we all ate together and then took group pictures. Lubna, me, and the grandparents; Francesca, Lubna, and the grandparents; Francesca, Lubna, and I; and just Lubna and I. Those pictures are up in the 'Rome II' album on Picasa.
We all went to bed fairly early, sometime between 11pm and midnight, since we had to get up very early the next morning...
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Europe Trip: Day 35, June 24th
The next morning was too early, but Lubna had to head in again to get more work done on the project. Since Lubna's grandparents were coming by train from their town to Roma, she wanted to go in earlier than the day before.
I stayed out of the way and tried to get some planning done for the last part of my trip. First I looked up hostels for Bari, and found a decent one. Then I looked up hostels in Corfu and found a giant one that seems to have all sorts of activities, as well as a private beach. So I decided that I would spend 2 days (1 night) in Bari, then take the night ferry directly to Corfu and stay 4 days (3 nights) in the Pink Palace hostel.
After that I will take an overnight bus to Athens, stay there for 3 days, then 2-3 days in Thessaloniki, and then take a train to Istanbul. My last week will be spent there before flying home to Seattle. Since I had been looking forward to going to Constantinople (Istanbul) for a very long time, I really wanted to have a local show me around.
Luckily it didn't take long at all to find hosts for the entire week! Within an hour of sending out 4 requests I had someone (a couple) say I could stay the first 3 nights, and then in the next 6 hours or less another person said I could stay the rest of the nights.
Anyway, after sending out those 4 couchsurfing requests I went and had lunch with Lubna and five of her friends. And then I headed off to fulfill another one of my quests: climb to the top of San Pietro (St. Peter's). While I was waiting in line, the family right behind me looked Hispanic and so I asked 'Hablan espanol?' So I had fun trying to communicate in Spanish. The dad was from Peru and the mother was from Spain. After going through the metal detectors we parted ways, as they headed for the Basillica and I headed for the stairs to the top of the Cupola (Dome).
I climbed over 500 stairs to reach the top, but it was well worth the 5 euros. The first half of the steps you can skip if you pay 2 euros, and that gets you to the inside of the Dome where you can see beautiful mosaics. Then the last half take you around the Dome to reach a viewing area on the very top with a great view of Roma. On the second set of stairs I ran into a woman who was very angry with her husband and was saying 'Why did you do this?! You know I am afraid of heights! I hate you right now. Don't talk to me!' At the top I saw them again and she was saying the same thing, and also on the way down.
From San Pietro I took some side streets and made my way to Campo di Fuori, proud of myself for not getting lost. I had gone here before with Francesca, and she had explained that it was where they used to do executions/beheading. There is a statue there of Bruno, a monk who had been killed by the church for having contrary ('heretical') beliefs and not staying in line. It is a favorite place for students to hang out in the evening. I took a break there, before heading back towards Piazza di Popolo.
On the way to meet up with Lubna I stopped at a couple random churches, but nothing too fantastic. When I reached her university I found out that she had finished early, and was eager to head back home to see her grandparents.
When we got back I was introduced to them, and throughout the evening I attempted some rudimentary communication with her grandfather, using what Italian I had managed to pick up. Whenever Lubna or Francesca were in the room they helped translate stuff, and it wasn't too bad.
I stayed out of the way and tried to get some planning done for the last part of my trip. First I looked up hostels for Bari, and found a decent one. Then I looked up hostels in Corfu and found a giant one that seems to have all sorts of activities, as well as a private beach. So I decided that I would spend 2 days (1 night) in Bari, then take the night ferry directly to Corfu and stay 4 days (3 nights) in the Pink Palace hostel.
After that I will take an overnight bus to Athens, stay there for 3 days, then 2-3 days in Thessaloniki, and then take a train to Istanbul. My last week will be spent there before flying home to Seattle. Since I had been looking forward to going to Constantinople (Istanbul) for a very long time, I really wanted to have a local show me around.
Luckily it didn't take long at all to find hosts for the entire week! Within an hour of sending out 4 requests I had someone (a couple) say I could stay the first 3 nights, and then in the next 6 hours or less another person said I could stay the rest of the nights.
Anyway, after sending out those 4 couchsurfing requests I went and had lunch with Lubna and five of her friends. And then I headed off to fulfill another one of my quests: climb to the top of San Pietro (St. Peter's). While I was waiting in line, the family right behind me looked Hispanic and so I asked 'Hablan espanol?' So I had fun trying to communicate in Spanish. The dad was from Peru and the mother was from Spain. After going through the metal detectors we parted ways, as they headed for the Basillica and I headed for the stairs to the top of the Cupola (Dome).
I climbed over 500 stairs to reach the top, but it was well worth the 5 euros. The first half of the steps you can skip if you pay 2 euros, and that gets you to the inside of the Dome where you can see beautiful mosaics. Then the last half take you around the Dome to reach a viewing area on the very top with a great view of Roma. On the second set of stairs I ran into a woman who was very angry with her husband and was saying 'Why did you do this?! You know I am afraid of heights! I hate you right now. Don't talk to me!' At the top I saw them again and she was saying the same thing, and also on the way down.
From San Pietro I took some side streets and made my way to Campo di Fuori, proud of myself for not getting lost. I had gone here before with Francesca, and she had explained that it was where they used to do executions/beheading. There is a statue there of Bruno, a monk who had been killed by the church for having contrary ('heretical') beliefs and not staying in line. It is a favorite place for students to hang out in the evening. I took a break there, before heading back towards Piazza di Popolo.
On the way to meet up with Lubna I stopped at a couple random churches, but nothing too fantastic. When I reached her university I found out that she had finished early, and was eager to head back home to see her grandparents.
When we got back I was introduced to them, and throughout the evening I attempted some rudimentary communication with her grandfather, using what Italian I had managed to pick up. Whenever Lubna or Francesca were in the room they helped translate stuff, and it wasn't too bad.
Europe Trip: Day 34, June 23rd
Lubna and I went into Roma on public transportation, she had to meet up with Rosi to work on a project due when she gets back from her trip to Milano. I stuck around for a little while and then went and had ice cream with two of her other friends, Maria and I don't know the other girls name. Maria and Lubna are going on a trip to Istanbul and the Turkish coast in August or September.
After the ice cream I split and headed towards the Vittorio Emanuelle monument. Getting inside it had become a quest for me. I had been thwarted many times by its ambiguous closing times, but this time low and behold it was open! I climbed up the steps and got a good view of Rome from the top, and on the side I found an entrance to a museum on the history of Italy. All the explanations were in Italian, but still it was interesting to see everything.
From the monument I tried to enter a cool looking church, but it was locked. In Italy they close the churches for lunch time, anywhere from noon to 4pm they can all be closed. It was after 3pm, which is when about half of them open up again -- apparently not that one. I made my way back to Via del Corso: the main street between Piazza Venezia (Vittorio Emanuelle monument) and Piazza di Popolo (Egyptian obelisk and many churches).
When I reached Piazza di Popolo (I had seen the Mormons here the previous week) I tried to enter a church that my San Francisco friends from the Catacombs had told me about, but once again it was closed. I saw some people walking up these stairs, and so I followed them to see where it went.
The stairs led to an viewpoint overlooking Piazza di Popolo and the rest of Roma. I stayed there for about half an hour, and then headed back down. When I reached the bottom I saw that the church was open -- finally some luck! There were several paintings, but since I didn't know their significance it wasn't as amazing as the guys from San Francisco had said.
Lubna's university isn't far from Piazza di Popolo, so I met her and we drove back with Francesca. I bought some pizzas and we ate back at their apartment -- they kept trying to pay for it, but my stubbornness finally won out. Then Alessandra came and picked us up to go to a concert (open air) in a park called Villa Ada. The music was more or less Arabic, with the leader vocalist singing songs in both Italian and Arabic. Funny enough there was a guest singer (or whatever you call that) named Lubna. Despite not being able to understand it, I enjoyed the music.
After the concert finished and the band went off stage, and after a couple encore songs, music kept playing from the speakers and people danced (including the four of us). My favorite was when out of nowhere this guy, who looked homeless, came out and was dancing like crazy. Then he disappeared and came back 10 minutes later drinking beer, so he may or may not have been drunk. I wish I had brought my camera, oh well...
After the ice cream I split and headed towards the Vittorio Emanuelle monument. Getting inside it had become a quest for me. I had been thwarted many times by its ambiguous closing times, but this time low and behold it was open! I climbed up the steps and got a good view of Rome from the top, and on the side I found an entrance to a museum on the history of Italy. All the explanations were in Italian, but still it was interesting to see everything.
From the monument I tried to enter a cool looking church, but it was locked. In Italy they close the churches for lunch time, anywhere from noon to 4pm they can all be closed. It was after 3pm, which is when about half of them open up again -- apparently not that one. I made my way back to Via del Corso: the main street between Piazza Venezia (Vittorio Emanuelle monument) and Piazza di Popolo (Egyptian obelisk and many churches).
When I reached Piazza di Popolo (I had seen the Mormons here the previous week) I tried to enter a church that my San Francisco friends from the Catacombs had told me about, but once again it was closed. I saw some people walking up these stairs, and so I followed them to see where it went.
The stairs led to an viewpoint overlooking Piazza di Popolo and the rest of Roma. I stayed there for about half an hour, and then headed back down. When I reached the bottom I saw that the church was open -- finally some luck! There were several paintings, but since I didn't know their significance it wasn't as amazing as the guys from San Francisco had said.
Lubna's university isn't far from Piazza di Popolo, so I met her and we drove back with Francesca. I bought some pizzas and we ate back at their apartment -- they kept trying to pay for it, but my stubbornness finally won out. Then Alessandra came and picked us up to go to a concert (open air) in a park called Villa Ada. The music was more or less Arabic, with the leader vocalist singing songs in both Italian and Arabic. Funny enough there was a guest singer (or whatever you call that) named Lubna. Despite not being able to understand it, I enjoyed the music.
After the concert finished and the band went off stage, and after a couple encore songs, music kept playing from the speakers and people danced (including the four of us). My favorite was when out of nowhere this guy, who looked homeless, came out and was dancing like crazy. Then he disappeared and came back 10 minutes later drinking beer, so he may or may not have been drunk. I wish I had brought my camera, oh well...
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Europe Trip: Day 33, June 22nd
I woke up at around 9am and headed down to have some breakfast (2 euros; $3). It was only some croissants, but I ate them up and stuffed two more in my pocket for later.
The train that goes from Napoli to Portici continues on towards Mount Vesuvius, circling around it -- hence being called the Circumvesuvia. I bought a day ticket for it and headed to Pompeii Scavi (Pompeii Ruins).
I decided to join a guided tour, because without some sort of reference there is no way to know what is important and what is not, or even to know what is what. Our guide was an older Italian guy who usually gives private tours in 6 different languages. He was entertaining, and of course especially enjoyed showing the brothel. The level of preservation in the city is amazing, even frescoes/paintings on the wall still exist in their original form, which in the case of the brothel meant pictures showing the 'specialty' of the woman inhabiting the room.
The tour guide also showed us the bath house, the villa of Crassius, a big pagan temple, a bakery, and much more. Once the hour and a half long tour was over he told us that there was an ampitheater (small version of the Coliseum) about a kilometer away. So about half of the group ended up heading there, myself included.
After wandering around the city for a while by myself I decided it was time to head back to the hostel and pack up. Raphaele had said that he would tell Agnese that I would stay at the hostel until 5-5:30pm, so I waited a while after I checked out, but at 5:20pm I decided I better leave if I wanted to get back to Rome at a decent hour.
I paid 20 euros instead of 10 euros in order to get there an hour earlier. It was by that time easy for me to take the metro, bus, and then walk 5-10 minutes to their apartment. I arrived around 9:15pm, and surprisingly both Francesca and Lubna were home. Lubna had said before that she was working at the voting place (there was a referendum in Rome), but apparently not that many people voted and she got done early. Also it was her birthday, but she didn't want to make that big of a deal about it. And Francesca had stayed home that day because she had a bad headache, so she had slept most of the day.
We ate some pasta, and then when I told them I had never really listened to Italian music they decided they had to show me some. So for a good two to three hours we went around on YouTube watching (and they translated) different Italian hit songs -- much of which was from the 80's.
The train that goes from Napoli to Portici continues on towards Mount Vesuvius, circling around it -- hence being called the Circumvesuvia. I bought a day ticket for it and headed to Pompeii Scavi (Pompeii Ruins).
I decided to join a guided tour, because without some sort of reference there is no way to know what is important and what is not, or even to know what is what. Our guide was an older Italian guy who usually gives private tours in 6 different languages. He was entertaining, and of course especially enjoyed showing the brothel. The level of preservation in the city is amazing, even frescoes/paintings on the wall still exist in their original form, which in the case of the brothel meant pictures showing the 'specialty' of the woman inhabiting the room.
The tour guide also showed us the bath house, the villa of Crassius, a big pagan temple, a bakery, and much more. Once the hour and a half long tour was over he told us that there was an ampitheater (small version of the Coliseum) about a kilometer away. So about half of the group ended up heading there, myself included.
After wandering around the city for a while by myself I decided it was time to head back to the hostel and pack up. Raphaele had said that he would tell Agnese that I would stay at the hostel until 5-5:30pm, so I waited a while after I checked out, but at 5:20pm I decided I better leave if I wanted to get back to Rome at a decent hour.
I paid 20 euros instead of 10 euros in order to get there an hour earlier. It was by that time easy for me to take the metro, bus, and then walk 5-10 minutes to their apartment. I arrived around 9:15pm, and surprisingly both Francesca and Lubna were home. Lubna had said before that she was working at the voting place (there was a referendum in Rome), but apparently not that many people voted and she got done early. Also it was her birthday, but she didn't want to make that big of a deal about it. And Francesca had stayed home that day because she had a bad headache, so she had slept most of the day.
We ate some pasta, and then when I told them I had never really listened to Italian music they decided they had to show me some. So for a good two to three hours we went around on YouTube watching (and they translated) different Italian hit songs -- much of which was from the 80's.
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