Welcome Back to Reality

We finished off our last night with little to no sleep for old time sake. 
The trip to the airport was dark, cold and sad.

Alex took the last few shots of Erika sleeping and we boarded our flight back home.
In Toronto we were greeted by Sean and Ben who were enjoying beers at the bar.  We hugged one another goodbye and yes we wanted to see each other again soon!

We're back to work and life and are missing our travels dearly.  People are still asking a million questions, you'd think the blog would have helped with that.  Our parents are happy we're home and although we're happy to not be living out of a backpack anymore, we're sad that our packs have been put to rest. 
What we learned:
- European's give the most useless directions, even their subway signs lie
- there is, without fail, a crying baby on every single flight
- the Brits are the funniest people
- failure epicos
- backpacks are not glamorous by any means
- there is no such thing as beauty sleep
- street musician only play 'i did it my way'
- Australians are everywhere
- apparently a 'line' only exists in north America
- Cindy lopper is still a phenomenon

We're excited to watch our video and look at our pictures to remember details that we've already forgotten.  We had an unreal time and already can't wait for a chance to go back.  Reunion trip?!

                                                              Top Rated
Best Meal: Burgers in Valencia

Favourite City: Cinque Terre (Erika), Cinque Terre, Santorini and Amsterdam (Alex)

Most Interesting Person: Della from Kenya (Erika), Isabel from Brasil (Alex)

Favourite Activity: Hiking the 5 villages of Cinque Terre

Most Interesting Site: Holocaust Memorial, Berlin (Erika), dry riverbend, Valencia (Alex)

Best Hostel: Coco Mama, Amsterdam

Favourite Item Purchased: Leather satchel in Santorini (Erika), black leather pumps in Berlin (Alex)

Funniest Moment: Alex accidentally putting steroid cream on her face (Erika), waking up to Sam being back on the top bunk (Alex)

Worst Moment: Trying to find the entrance to the hospital in Rome (Erika), being hungover in Barcelona (Alex)

If you could change anything, would you?
Not a chance.

Amsterdam : Are you sure you can ride a bike?

Day 1

We landed in Amsterdam bright and early this morning.  We managed to get on all the right trains and buses to get to Coco Mama Hostel.

We were greeted by the oversized wooden door of the small hostel (the hostel used to be a very popular brothel up until roughly 1991 when it was made into a hostel.  We were lucky enough to be put in the brothel themed room).  Staff gave us the lowdown about the city and the hostel before we were back out on the streets getting to know the city.

We visited the market just down the street from the hostel where we enjoyed the most delicious Poffertjes, small pancakes covered in butter and icing sugar.  We walked over to one of the main streets where we stopped for some lunch and a coffee (and a little shopping).

Tonight we felt like Thai for dinner so we headed towards China town (right next to the Red Light District) where we ran into Andy, a traveller from Texas, who joined us for dinner.  He guided us around the Red Light District and gave us a little history before joining us at the bar for a few beers (Heineken really does taste better in Amsterdam).  Some friends of Andy’s joined and we went for our first coffee shop experience.  We refused to press “the red button” thinking that it was some sort of trap, turns out it was just the menu…how new are we?  We got a drink and pressed the other red button to open the sliding glass doors into a smoky room.

Day 2

We visited the market again, picked up some meats and cheeses for dinner had a coffee and indulged in more Poffertjes.  After dropping everything back off at the hostel we blogged while we waited for the sprinkling rain to stop.  Much to her surprise, Erika happened to find out that her friend Yannik from Dal was living in Amsterdam so we made plans to see him before we hit the road (on bicycles). 

The hostel receptionist asked us if we knew how to ride bikes, we looked at eachother confused and responded hesitantly…“yea?”

We shouldn’t have been so confident in our skills.  There were too many wobbly starts, walking bikes across the road and loosing speed mid pedal (Erika).  We zipped around the streets of Amsterdam going the right way and the wrong way then settled back into the comforts of the hostel to make some dinner and enjoy a catnap…with a cat.

The plan was to meet up with some friends from the night before for a pub crawl but when we arrived at the centre square we bailed, hid from the small crowd of people waiting and never looked back.  Instead, we met up with Yannik at a friend’s apartment and learned how to play deathly drinking game.  We stumbled home after the group finished 2 26ers of vodka, 1 of rum, a mickey of some foreign liquor and a few more than too many beers. 

DAY 3

French fries and mayonnaise were the cure for the hangovers this morning (well Erika went for Ketchup and threw some Poffertjes into the mix). 

Next stop, the Van Gogh Museum and a slow stroll through the streets of the city.  Not only did we get to enjoy Van Gogh but there were also works on display from Monet and other artists.

After a much needed nap and a movie (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) we were headed out for tapas with Yannick then out dancing (Erika may have fallen in love with a saxophonist who played alongside the DJ)

Berlin : Sprechen sie deutsch?

The climate change is putting a bit of damper on the excitement of arriving in Berlin.  It is 15 degrees and we are not very pleased.

DAY 1
Erika learned pretty quickly that she is not well versed in the German language and doesn't expect to be by the end of these 3 days.

We hopped onto a bus, got directions from guys sitting behind us (yes, we got on a bus not really knowing where we were going), transferred to a train and made it to PLUS Berlin (right before Erika tried to open a large, old, wooden, locked door that was right next to the automatic sliding glass doors that we actually the entrance to the hostel).  We had to wait before we could go to our room but it was worth it, we got upgraded to a hotel room (this place is both a hostel and a hotel).  We settled in for a few minutes then headed downstairs to find out where the best shopping was.

We were headed just around the corner to an area filled with restaurants and boutiques.  After sitting down for a bite to eat and a few hot to warm up we were on a mission to shop.  We HAD to buy shoes because we both realized that we brought nothing appropriate to wear out in 15 degree weather other than running shoes.

After a tiring afternoon of shopping we hyped ourselves up to go down to the hotel bar.  We met a few friends and it didn't take long before we were on a dancefloor.

DAY 2
Sightseeing was the plan for today, until we ended up on the biggest shopping street in Berlin.  We did get to walk along the longest stretch left of the Berlin Wall, stroll past parliament, see the world clock and wonder around Checkpoint Charlie.

We went to an area referred to as the "New York" of Berlin to sit down for dinner.  We lounged outside at a table with strangers until dark sipping wine.

Tonight ended up being a dud.  There wasn't much going on in the hotel bar and we lost the motivation to get out there on our own in the cold!

DAY 3
Rain.  We've been so spoiled with beautiful weather (with the exception of London, but what else could we expect) this whole trip so we can't really complain, it's only sprinkling.

Sightseeing was the plan again for today and we were sticking to it!  We were headed directly to the Jewish War Memorial.  We wandered through the tall (and small) cement blocks then down to the exhibition that lays under the memorial.  We toured through the exhibition taken aback by how personal it really was.

We were hoping to go to the top of the glass domed parliament building but upon arrival found out that tickets had to be booked a few days ahead of time online.  So...we went back to "New York" to shop!  Much to our dismay there was a fall festival going on that filled the streets with screaming children (not much laughter was left in them, it was the end of the day).  We shopped some more, not that we have anymore room in our bags, then got on the metro back to the hostel.

We thought it might be nice to try out the hotel bar/restaurant for dinner and were pleasantly surprised when the food was delicious and there were lots of people around!  Who would have thought that it would be busy at 8:00 p.m. vs. the 12:00 a.m. that we had been arriving at nights prior.  We ate, drank and met some more Aussies until we put ourselves to bed with only 3 hours to sleep before having to wake up for our last within Europe flight!!!

Santorini

DAY 1

What a nice treat it was to be picked up from the airport by Stelios, the owner of Stelio's Place Hotel.  He greeted us with a smile and began the drive with a little commentary of Santorini and what we were passing by on the drive to Perissa Beach.  

We finally got to have some eggs and bacon for breakfast and then immediately hit the black beach...where we stayed all day.  We napped, read, swam and loved the breeze blowing off the ocean.

When we finally headed back to the hotel we had to drop off our laundry at the local bakery/laundromat and get changed into the one clean outfit we had left before it was dark and past dinner time.  We obviously were not going to miss out on dinner our first night in Greece, we had be anxiously waiting to try some authentic greek cuisine, espcially after a diet full of bread and cheese the past few weeks.  We went to a nearby restaurant, Yazz, on the beach strip where the waitress recommended a delicious tasting of greek food.  We also had the best greek salad, our first serving of vegetables in weeks.  We finished our bottle of wine while sitting on the beach and headed to bed.

DAY 2

We picked up our laundry and some baked goods before boarding a bus to Fira, the main village.  The buses around Santorini are coach buses filled with tourists and locals climbing the narrow and windy roads up to various villages.

Fira was our shopping destination.  After not having much luck in Rome we were excited to wander the small streets of the village that were packed with all kinds of small shops.  4 hours, 2 gyros and multiple shopping bags later we decided to board another bus heading to Oia to watch what they say is the most beautiful view of the sunset of all of the villages.  We had some time to kill before the sunset so we wandered again the small streets filled with shops.  Oia was beautiful, it sits on the top of the mountain and looks across the edge at the whole inner crescent of Santorini.  It is filled with small hotels whose pools and patios hang off the edge of the cliffs.

Before we knew it the crowds of tourists were squishing through the tiny streets to the edge of the village where they would sit and watch the sunset.  We grabbed some of the local beer, Alpha, and a seat on a few steps and waiting for the sun to begin dropping into the ocean.  

The whole sunset lasted about an hour with the last moments taking only seconds before the sun disappeared into the ocean.

Tonight we strolled along the beach strip, Alex stopped and pet almost every day we passed, and got a beer at a bar with a live band.

DAY 3

We were up early today to board a sailing ship to the volcano and Therasia.  The bus took us all the way down the windy road along the coast to the port where we were lifted onto the deck of the sailboat.

A funny little comedic voice spoke on the microphone to welcome us on board and give us information about what we were about to embark on.


When we reached the volcano we stepped onto the rocky island and started the climb.  20 minutes later we were atop the active volcano.

We witnessed the sulphur steaming out of holes in the ground and felt the high temperatures under the rocky surface.  We were assured that although the volcano is expected to erupt again one day today was not that day.

We had lunch on the very small island of Therisia and then boarded back on the boat to the port.  Erika was very ready for a nap on the way back, wasn't she worried about getting sunburnt?

Later that night our friend Renee, an aussie we met on the boat, met up with us for drinks on the beach strip.  We had a drink and met up with some travellers that she had met on another island earlier in the week.  We learned about friends from Africa that have pet cheetas, that the Pink Palace in Corfu is insane, and that, according to them, we should never visit Ios.


DAY 4
Sadly this is our last day in Santorini.  We decided that the whole day would be dedicated to working on our tans one last time before heading away from the South.  We peeled ourselves out of bed early and made it to the beach before falling back asleep.  Another relaxing day on the sand and in the water came and went and a little sunburnt later we hit the beach strip again for our last dinner.  We listened to Dorothy and went to a restaurant called The Volcano where we ate delicious food and drank the worst wine we had ordered all trip.  At the end of the meal when everyone else asked for their bills they received some sort of small desert, when we asked for our bill we received a shot.  Erika had already sucked it up and drank the whole bottle of wine herself so the shot went down relatively easy for her, Alex sipped it for a while and amused Erika with distasteful faces.


On our way to the bar for a few last drinks in Santorini we ran into some friends and they joined us.  The bar had a surprisingly good band playing while we got to know one another a bit more and shared our last drinks in Santorini.


Again we were left with only 3 hours of sleep before having to get on yet another flight.  The sad part is we think our bodies are actually getting used to this.

Rome

DAY 1
Sean had warned us that the hostel has almost no postings and that finding it would be a bit of a challenge. We take pride in the fact that not only did we find it without any problems but we also helped other lost and confused back packers find it. Before we could even drop our bags Sean insisted that we had to get pasta at a nearby restaurant that he and Mike frequented during their visit to Rome. Erika heard the word carbonara spill out of Alex's mouth and couldn't get her shoes on fast enough.

We finished up all of our delicious pasta and jug of wine before making the dark journey to the Trevi fountain. We followed the street signs with our large colorful map glued to our hands. A few side streets later we stumbled upon what obviously had to be the Trevi fountain. We grabbed some gelato before taking a seat on the edge of the fountain to watch the crowds of people tossing in their coins and snapping their pictures. We tossed in a coin each of our own and made our way to the Spanish steps.


We had been forewarned by other travelers not to expect much from the Spanish steps as they were just a large set of steps in a square but when we took our seat on the lower steps there was still something neat about being there and watching the crowds of other tourists take their pictures and be just as excited as we were to be in Rome.

DAY 2

Today we had a lot to tackle: the colleseum, Paletine hill, and the Vatican. We pre ordered tickets and got some tips from other backpackers about how to avoid the ridiculously long line ups for these places. First up was the colleseum. We entered into the centre of the falling walls and were in awe of what little remains are left compared to the original pictures and descriptions of the original structure. We did the loop, read up on the history and before we knew it it was time to head to the Vatican (we didn't have time today anymore for Paletine hill as the Vatican closes early).

We sat down for a quick pizza lunch and walk up the street to Vatican City. The walls surrounding the city made it difficult to get in on time. When we reached the entrance to the Vatican we were both refused entry because we had nothing to cover our shoulders, we had thought out dressing ourselves "appropriately" from the waist down but apparently forgot about our shoulders. Luckily a man selling scarves outside the walls made it hassle free. We followed behind large crowds through the skinny halls of the Vatican. It was a long way through the Vatican before finally reaching the Sistine Chapel. As you entered you were greeted by a groups of guards who gave you approval to enter upon making sure you are " appropriately" dressed, you have put away all cameras and you are silent. The room was overcrowded and busy with chatter. The walls are stunning and we couldn't get our heads around the fact that someone had actually painted all of this. Finally Erika looked up and pointed out the famous piece of Adam and God in the middle of the ceiling. We didn't stay here for long as there was much more to see, too many people and not enough air conditioning.

DAY 3

Another early morning, we headed straight to Paletine Hill where we dragged our feet along the dusty trails of the old city and snapped pictures of the ruins.

We passed crowds of tourists, entertainers and monuments on our way to shopping and the Pantheon.

Hours of roaming the streets later, and not very successful shopping, we were already on our way back to the hostel to get changed and ready for dinner.  We ate at a restaurant we had happened to pass by on our way to the Spanish steps on the first night on a small, dark side street.  We finally had our first bottle of champagne then wandered the Roman streets one last time, or so we thought.

We are both getting sick, boo hoo.  Alex was positive strep throat was coming on and Erika had already stocked up on nasal spray and throat lozenges.  As we were leaving for Santorini the following morning we decided that we better be safe rather than sorry and take Alex to a clinic before it got worse...we would rather have been sorry.  Obviously there are no clinics open to travellers at 10 p.m. so that meant we were headed to the hospital.  Hostel staff wrote us a note in Italian so that we could catch the bus with the help of the driver and getting to the hospital would be very easy.  Locals on the bus told us where to get off and which street to walk down, "it's easy, just walk 10 minutes down this street and the hospital is huge, you won't miss it" they said.  WRONG.  Yes, there was a massive hospital right beside us 10 minutes down the street but it was separated from us by giant stone walls.  We walked for 40 minutes before spotting an old man inside the walls, through a gate, who directed us around the block to the only entrance.  Finally, when we reached the emergency room, or hallway we should say, we were greeted by a nurse who told us that there was no "specialist" present to write a perscription.  Moments later, after a lot of talking with our hands, the nurse wrote a note for the pharmacist and off we went to the pharmacy.  The bus never showed and young strangers at the bus stop were also on their way to the main train station so the adventure following behind them home began.  2 hours later we reached the closed and locked doors of the pharmacy.  

We arrived back at the hostel with 3 hours of sleep left to catch before getting on our flight to Santorini.

Cinque Terre: Riomaggiore

From the moment we arrived in Riomaggiore we were speechless (I know it's hard to believe that Alex could be speechless). Everything about this place screams picturesque. Our hotel, found through a small alley, was quient and perfect. We're still not sure why, too much Italian, but we were upgraded to an apartment on the tallest level of the hotel (another 88 step climb from bottom to top). The view was more than we could ask for, then we were taken out to the terrace!

DAY 1
We ate some more pizza, can't get enough of it, and browsed around the small town. A hike up the rocks was followed by a visit to the rocky beach soaking up the view. We headed back to the hotel to change our train time leaving to Rome. What sounded like a simple task turned into a nightmare, much like any sort of transportation in Italy. 

When we finally finished, thanks to the help of hotel staff, we snacked on salami, crackers, Jarlsberg, grapes and wine while looking down on Riomaggiore from our balcony.

DAY 2

This morning we had to rise and shine relatively early to get ready for what turned out to be the best and worst hike of our lives.

After breakfast in the small underground cafe/bar/reception of the hotel we got to walking. The first trek took us from Riomaggiore to Manarola along the coast. We stopped for quick pictures of the hundreds of locks that lined the Via dell'amore. Our feet stood over waves crashing into the rocky shoreline 20 meters below us. Soon that path ended and the not so clearly posted detour to Corniglia, the centre of the Cinque Terre, began.

We followed many of other confused looking hikers up the narrow, steep roadway to the top of the town. Before us lay 382 steps of doom. Slowly but steadily we made our way up the steps and across the very narrow (and close to the edge with no guard) path along the top of the mountains. Roughly 2.5 hours of hiking up and down repeatidly, we made it! What an accomplishment we thought, the big detour was behind us and we could return to the boardwalk above the shoreline. We stopped for some wine and what Erika deems to be the best bruschetta she's ever eaten, before moving onwards.

The path to Vernazza seemed to be leading us in the opposite direction of the water. We were reassured that we were following the right path that was leading us right back up into those mountains...we could see the tiny figures of people climbing stairs up in the bare spots between trees! Yup, we ended up right back up at great heights where the views were unbelievably beautiful. This hike was probably the least challenging and brought us into the small town of Vernazza which streets were filled with tourists shopping for locally made products and enjoying cones topped with gelato. We dipped our feet in the ocean for a brief break before mentally preparing ourselves for the last hike up into those mountains to Monterosso, the largest of the Cinque Terre.

Alex laughed when the map said that the roughly 4 km from Vernazza to Monterossa was going to take 2 hours to finish. She was not laughing when she threw a small tantrum in the middle of yet another set of stone steps and when 1.5 hours later we reached Monterossa.

WE DID IT!... and are now completely exhausted.

7 hours and 17.5 km later we had hiked the whole Cinque Terre.

As fit as we are mid way through this trip, after snacking on nothing but bread and olive oil, we decided it would be best to take the local train back to Riomaggiore. Leave it to us to board the express train to La Spezia...genius.

A test of patience

So after close to no sleep we arrive in Barcelona for our connecting flight to Genova (followed by connecting train to Cinque Terre) only to find out that all of Italy's transportation has shut down due to a strike. Aka we have no flight and are currently stranded in Barcelona.


We waited to claim our luggage for 1.5 hours before being told that Alex's bag is traveling somewhere within the airport luggage system, not to be found as of yet.


We waited in long line ups of other stranded passengers trying to sort this mess out and desperatly hoping to get out of there! We were luckily booked on a flight to Genoa later that day (with a 3 hour connection in Madrid and still missing our train). Alex's luggage was finally found, we found some Internet to sort out booking details and arrange for a hotel for the night in Genova.


We literally spent 13 hours caged in the confines of airports before anxiously checking our luggage and boarding a flight to Genova.


A nice surprise to put a smile on our faces was when we boarded only to find out that the agent who rearranged our flights put us in first class.


Cheers to champagne and a goodnights sleep!