Athens, Venice, Vienna

Well it has only been 10 days since I last updated but we have been busy in that time. We took an overnight ferry to Athens spent 5 nights there, took another ferry and a train to Venice spent three nights there, and are now on our third night in Vienna. Tomorrow we are off to Budapest so to say we are hopping around is an understatement.

Greece and Athens were awesome. The landscape and water were just what you would expect. Surprisingly Athens was quite a clean city, which was not what I expected. I had heard what a chaotic place it was but after Naples and Milan it was quite pleasant. The Parthenon and Acropolis were both great, as were the other sites around the Athens area. The sculptures in Athens were excellent much more detailed and expressive than the ones seen in the museums of Italy. We enjoyed the ferry rides back and forth from Greece as well. Both rides were overnight and were 15-20 hours but a nice change from the typical running around we usually are up to. The food was expensive but we packed lots to offset the cost.

Venice was awesome! It was exactly what you expect it to be. It is a labyrinth of small narrow alleys, lots of different squares, and waterways with boats floating along all over the place. We spent our time in Venice just walking around and checking out shops and sights. We had seen so many museums and churches we were happy just to take it easy window shopping. Probably the best part other than just being there, is when I paid a Euro for some corn to feed the pigeons. It was awesome, I would put a little food on my hand and they would land all over me. It was kinda gross, cause they are pigeons but we were both laughing so hard. Melanie could hardly take any pictures.

Our train ride to Vienna wasn't the best we spent 4 of the 7 hours without a seat as we had to get on without a reservation and the train was full. We had a seat for a while but had to get out when we found out we couldn't sit there with the pass we have. Austria has been good though, it is very clean but colder than we are used to. It was 16 Celsius and we were nearly freezing. We went to the Zoo yesterday for a change, and it was great. The Vienna Zoo is the oldest zoo in the world and has everything. We saw Pandas, Elephants, Giraffes, Koalas, and a whole assortment of Monkeys and Penguins. There was even a bat cave which was awesome, it was freaky having so many fly all around you. I was proud of Melanie, she actually came into the cave (with a bit of coaxing). It was a great time and we spent 5 hours there. Today we walked around in the cold rain just looking and at the local cathedral and Hapsburg palaces. It would have been more enjoyable without the rain. Luckily the hostel we are staying in has a kitchen so we were able ti enjoy a good homey dish of fried potatoes and hot dogs. You would be surprised the things you miss when they aren´t around.

Off to Budapest tomorrow, our most easterly stop. Looking forward to the differences it will have from other countries we have been to . Not sure what exactly the things we will be up to but it should be fun.

A couple of pics of me with the Venetian pigeons

Some more pictures....

Melanie and I outside our Chalet in Rome


A nice picture of Saint Peters


Inside the Sistine Chapel (notice the God and Man painting in the middle)


The Hall of Maps inside the Vatican Museum - there were paintings along the entire corridor ceiling, which must have been 300ft long



A view of Mt.Vesuvius from Pompeii



A restaurant counter in Pompeii, the holes in the couters held soups and olives


One of the Ash People frozen in time


A view of Greece caught during our 16-hour ferry ride


The Parthenon


A view of Athens


A view of Athens

Naples and a ferry to Athens

Quick Note, we were in Naples Wednesday and Thursday. Went to see Pompeii, it was awesome. There are so many things that are still intact, like paintings, restaurant counters and writing/paintings on the walls. We even saw a few skeletons and even though we thought we wouldn't see any of the ash people, we went to a large roofed area just before we left and saw some of them. It was really strange seeing people frozen in time like that, you could distinguish the clothes they were wearing (like short sleeves), and and other fine details.

After Naples, we had to take a 16 hour ferry ride from Bari to Athens. We had a hard time finding the correct place to buy tickets, but a couple of Aussies pointed us in the right direction. The ride wasn't that bad, the seas were calm and the food was good. The boat was really nice as well, had 10 levels, a couple of restaurants, a bar, and a casino. We spent the ride hanging out with a Korean guy we met looking for the ticket counter, was nice to meet someone new and share experiences. He had just gotten out of two years mandatory service with the military and was heading back to Korea in three days.

First impressions of Athens are good, it seems fairly clean and well organized, which is nice after the chaos of Naples. Our train to Athens was late arriving so that caused a minor headache, but nothing we aren't used to coping with. Don't worry about the heat it has subsided a bit, it is only supposed to reach 34C/90F today.

A few pics, more to come

Me in the Forum Romanum

The Colloseum

Melanie outside our Hostel in Florence

In Rome

Have had a busy couple of days in Rome. We arrived after having four great days in Zurich with Melanie's cousin Tamara, and enjoying Switzerland and it's wonderful scenery.

We have been going almost non-stop, but have still only been able to see a bit of Rome has to offer. We saw the Colosseum on our first day here along with the Palatine. The Colosseum was interesting but not a whole lot to see really. The Palatine was really cool, it was where all the the rulers used to build their homes and various other buildings. It gave a really good view of the Forum Romanum where all of the temples once were.

We are going to the Vatican tomorrow, can't wait for that. It should be wonderful. I walked through Saint Peters Square the first day I was here and was impressed but was to busy to really appreciate it. Will have an early morning trying to beat the crowds. Off to Naples next, going to see Vesuvius and Pompeii !!

Random Pictures

Views in Switzerland

Bern's Old Town


Out for a drive with Tamara

Pictures from Milan

The Scala Theatre (not my pic)



The Church where the Last supper is, as close as I got to it.


The Vitorrio Emanuelle Gallery, a shopping mall if you can imagine




Milans Cathedral

In Milan, heading to Zurich tomorrow

Well we took another diversion from our intended path, which I am sure will not be the last. We were going to go to Lyon, but everything was either to expensive or didn't have room. So we decided to go to Milan instead and see "The Last Supper". Well it turns out you have to book a reservation to see it, we knew that, but you have to book 2-3 weeks in advance. We didn't know that. We were able to take in a few other attractions though, Melanie wasn't feeling so well so we didn't get a chance to see as much, and I didn't want to leave her by herself to much. Don't worry though, she is feeling fine now.

Milan isn't that bad of a city, but people like to relieve themselves in the streets, which is sick. The city is really noisy, noisier than Paris, but the people are alright even if my Italian is terrible and barely existent. Write again soon

Bordeaux and Cannes

Now for a proper post....

Bordeaux was a nice place to visit after the busy time we had in Paris visiting all of the sights. It is a decent sized city, but has a more relaxed feel about it. We were only there for 2.5 days, but managed to get a wine tour in. The tour was a decent expense, but an opportunity we couldn't miss. We toured the Medoc region of Bordeaux and visited 3 different Chateau's, the Wine was great and the Chateau's were beautiful. The wines we sampled sell for up to $150, so when we got back to our hotel and poured a glass of our $3 wine, it had lost its appeal. Other than that we just walked around the city, found a shopping mall and looked around there. Have been enjoying the cheese here,it is so cheap. We can buy a piece of Roquefort here for $3, a piece that would cost $10 back home, and as you can tell from the $3 bottle of wine I mentioned earlier the wine is cheap as well. People said they were cheap and they were right. Talking about things France is known for, they really do love their baguette we quite often see people walking home with 3 or 4 loaves under there arm. They use them for sandwiches so you can go through one fairly quick.

Cannes is beautiful as you can see from the picture I posted. Melanie and I laid out in the sun yesterday, and a fairly red today but it was worth it. The sun is so warm, and the water is nice as well. We went for a boat ride to St.Magerite today, a small island off-shore that held the man-in-the-iron-mask for the first 40 years of his captivity before he was transferred of to the bastillle for the final 5 years. It was cool, and the island was nice.



The prison, he was the third window from the left on the wall at the end.

Finally some pictures

Below are a few pictures of our times in Paris and Bordeuax. We are now in Cannes, decided to come here instead of Spain. It is absolutely beautiful, so sunny, full of multi-million dollar yachts, and expensive cars. The mediteranian is great, and the water is warm. We spent today going to the local market and tanning/swimming on the beach. Will update again very soon, have to go eat supper.


The Cannes Waterfront

In Bordeaux, wine country

The fountain Quinonces in Bordeux

Part of the fountain in Bordeux

Wine fields

The wine Chateau Dufort

More fields

A few wine barrels each one costs 750 Euro about $1100 Canadian

Melanie in front of a fermenting tank

Paris Pictures

One last shot of Dover and the cliffs

The Eiffel Tower

Melanie and a few Egyptian Sculture...

A view from atop the Arc de Triumphe

Napolean's Tomb

In the Pantheon, notice the paintings depicting Joan of Arc's life behind me

And finally a picture of Notre Dame

Paris, so much to see so little time......

Well the past couple of days have been insane to say the least. We bought a Paris Pass that gives you entry to a bunch of local museums, we bought a two day pass which meant we had to be really busy running around town to see everything we wanted to see. Our first stop was the Louvre, so many beautiful paintings, scultures and historical items. We saw the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and a whole bunch of Egyptian artifacts, including a mummified croc. We also went to Notre Dame, Saint Chapelle, the Tomb of Napolean -Incredible-, the Pantheon, and Army Museum. I would descibe everything we saw, but that would take alot of time and the pictures will say more than I can.

I know it sounds corny, and I hesitate to say this, but the shear beauty, and incredible works, have taught me the true meaning of the word magnificent, itis really the only word that suits some of the things we have seen.

We are off to Bordeaux tomorrow, than San Sebastian. Should be a nice chance for some relaxation after the hectic time in Paris. Not that I amcomplaining. Oh and if there are error in my typing I appologize, the keyboards here are different, and I don,t have the time to make corrections.