…and Finally into Turkey

I called my parents and my sister when I arrived by ferry in Samos, Greece from Athens at 2:15 in the morning.  The morning ferry to Kusadasi, Turkey left at 8:30 am so I thought I would save money by not getting a hotel for a couple of hours and staying in a 24 hour restaurant.  Little did I know when I called home that night that I would be stuck in Samos all day because there was no ferry that morning.  The ferry leaves at 5pm and I had basically had no sleep.  Luckily, I ducked into a nearby hotel to enquire about using a hotel room for the day.  They offered a room for 23 Euros which is about how much a hostel is in Athens/Rome.  I had the best 4 hours of sleep ever!  I got on the ferry at 5 and everything else turned out fine.

Right now, I’m in Selcuk (Sell-Chook) which is right next to these amazing Roman ruins (Efes- there are several ways of spelling the site I choose the easiest).  I think the ruins are better than the ones in Italy!  In Italy and Greece there is a big effort to restore the sites to make them look like the originals and sometimes it is hard to tell what’s original and what’s not.  Here, they have left the site alone and only used concrete as support in some areas but it is very obvious what is original.  This is probably my favorite ancient Roman city.  Anyone going to Turkey should include Selcuk and Efes on their intinerary.  Oh, and the city during it’s heyday  (around 100 to 200 ad) also had running water!  Them Romans are quite smart!

I also went to the Artemis Temple which is one of the original ancient wonders of the world.  All that’s left is one column.  Apparently, it was four times the size of the Partheon.

So far Turkey is a very pleasant country but then again I’ve only been to one place.  The people are very friendly and eager to please.  We had free fresh fruit after dinner and after we paid.  Unheard of in my traveling – nothing’s free.

Turkey has shown me a good first impression.  We’ll see if it continues…

I’ve Fallen in Love…

… with Greece.  We are so happy together.  Italy and I had a good run but I’ve moved on.

I left Italy by train and overnight ferry to Greece.  The ferry was amazing.  It was basically a cruise complete with restaurants, bars and even a disco with a dj blasting music.  I met Tara, a California girl, immediately while waiting in line to board.  And then I met Megan, from British Columbia, while I was moving into the dorms on the ferry.  All three of us traveled together for the next couple of days.  We eventually found out that we booked the same hostel in Athens.

I’ve met so many people in this hostel and it has been fabulous.  I had expected Morocco to be similar and it’s the only reason I didn’t like Morocco that much.  If fact, I’m traveling with Katie from Canada here on Santorini (more on that later).

I spent three nights in Athens and have only seen the Parthenon once in passing on the tram to the beach.  I’ve been wandering the streets of Plaka ducking into shops, eating yummy gyros, and splurging on ice cream.  I’ve been trying new foods such as tzatiki, a greek specialty, made with yougurt, cucumber, dill, and garlic.  It goes good with the roasted pork gyros.  Jealous??

Meaghann arrived last Friday and we immediately hightailed it to Santorini because this past weekend was extremely busy due to May Day.  We’ll get back to Athens later this week to do all the touristy stuff.

Santorini is absolutely amazing just like you would imagine a Greek island to be- narrow cobblestone streets, steep steps, and the occasional donkey.  A Holland America cruise ship was docked today so I imagine it is a bit busier today than usual.  It’s still low season here until July.  Today we spent the afternoon at the black sand beach apparently related to the volcano that erupted hundreds of years ago.  The island was originally round until a volcano erupted through the center.  It is now shaped like a half moon.

Tomorrow, we will be going on an all day cruise around the island including sunset at Oia – supposedly the best place to the see the sunset.  We will also swim in the hot springs near the crater of the volcano.

I’ve been looking for ways to upload some pictures for you all but it’s been a bit of a hassle.  I tried in Morocco and failed miserably.  So, I’m trying.

Well, I’m off to get some dessert and some local wine, yup, Santorini also has a wine country.  What more could a girl want??  Now, do you see why I’m in love!

Cancelled in Athens

As some of you may have noticed, Meaghann, my friend that is coming to Greece, left a comment in the last post that our Greek cruise has been cancelled.  It is a new ship and it’s still in the shipyard.  (Don’t I know how that works?!)  It’s a bummer because it was so cheap (just over $300 for the both of us not including food) and got us to a lot of the islands.  All well, I’ll just roll with even though it’ll be a bit more expensive than I anticipated.  Plans will hopefully soon come together and I’ll keep you updated.  Luckily the hostel in Athens we’re staying at has a travel desk and last night I had a dream about Santorini and scooters…