The Cyclades

A little geography lesson...the Cyclades (ky-clod-ees) are islands to the SE of Greece mainland in the Aegean Sea. They have been absolutely beautiful...but not what I imagined. I imagined lush vegetation coconut trees and passion fruit in plenty. The islands are actually quite dry with very little vegetation. When you get off of the ferry at any of these islands and see dry dry rock...you can't help but wonder..."where the hell am i?!"


Ios has the reputation of being a party island...and it lived up to it. It is basically like the "Cancun" of Europe...tons of ppl come for the beach in the day time (the best place to go is Far Out Beach Hostel for cold drinks and loud [trance] music) and people don't start going to the "discos" until 1:00...Greek Style. Ios is so very picturesque...very much what you see in paintings and postcards...so blue and white against the backdrop of the Mediterranean. We stayed at Franchescos - which is an ABSOLUTE MUST!! But make reservations early...we tried 3 months in advance and it was tight...but well worth it, they treat you like family. Each night there are tons of creperies and bars along the strip playing a variety of [not so great for us] music.

After Ios, we took a ferry into Thira, which is also more well known as Santorini. It wasn't as blue and white as i imagined and definitely not as blue and white as Ios! Thira is very much for romantic couples..and it did live up to its rep We stayed near Parissa - the black beach made of volcanic ash. The first night we went to the northern tip of Thira - Oia, to see the sunset over the water - i have never seen such a fluorescent pink sun! The next day we went on an excursion to Nia Kamini - an active volcano in the middle of the group of islands. We climbed up the black volcano in the scorching heat and peered into the crater -- we could actually see the smoke rising out of it and smell the pungency of the sulpher. Then we swam in some natural hot springs - they were bright red and filled with sediments and "healing" mud - very odd how the water changed from aqua to a bring bubbling red. Then we sailed to Tharissa and had an amazing Greek lunch, and after that we went to the town Fira - absolutely breathtaking views.

Then we got into Mykonos which was nice but a bit too commercialized - it was beautiful and windy and super expensive! We stayed near Paradise beach and had some major monstrosities of mutant bugs in our room that we had to exterminate...not fun!

Can't believe we are back to Canadia so soon!

It's all Greek to me!

So we got into Athens yesterday after a 2 hour flight delay....its so crazy to see the signs here...i know a lot of the greek letters from years and years of ODE's and PDE's (ordinary/partial differential equations) but to string them together with sound is just something else!

After we got in we met up with a "local" (she's from Canada, born in Greece, and spends all her summers here) and we went to a really hype place called Verde...it was like an out door lounge/patio and it was absolutely beautiful. It was, as usual, awesome to be hanging out with locals...you get more of a feel of their culture. So far all i've seen is that everyone is SO in love! People will know eachother for 3 days and act like they've been together for years. The PDA's are a far cry from what is acceptable in North America, but it is still quite cute although almost a bit on the annoying side :) Also, for a tuesday night the place was packed! But its been like this all over Europe...people just enjoy life more generally...they may have to wake up early for work but that doesnt mean that they dont enjoy drinks or dinner with friends every night. Its a great philosophy...really makes you wonder why our culture in North America forces us to work so hard.

Today we did the regular tourist thing...shopped at ZARA. haha well i guess thats all we do, in EVERY country. ZARA, Mango, shoe stores, etc. Its so sad. We are soooo not made for backpacking! We have a backpacking facade but when you zip open our stuffed full bags you will find stillettos, designer purses, and apricot face scrub. Anyways after some much needed air conditioning and our bellies full of an amazing Greek feast (i thought mozzarella and tomatoes were good but Feta and tomatos?? absolutely divine!) we trekked in the 46 degree heat to the Acropolis and saw the ancient ruins. Our last sight-seeing stint...yayy!! Now we are just going to relax on the Cyclades islands -- Ios, Santorini and Mykonos.

We all can't believe its been 5 weeks of travelling! It feels like only yesterday we were looking at London Bridge!!

Yassus (goodbye) till tomorrow!

When in Rome...

Eat butter chicken!! After a breakfast of pizza and a lunch of pizza, yesterday we decided to hit up the only thing open on a Sunday night....Indian food! With burfi for dessert of course!


Roma has been a pleasant surprise...really awesome site seeing. Yesterday we went to see the Pantheon, which was actually really nice and different then most cathedrals we have seen. It had some neat engineering aspects to it as well....the mammoth dome was built with decreasing density as the top of the dome was approached to prevent the dome from caving in and it was all done without scaffolding! Definitely an engineering feat in its symmetry and structural integrity.


After the Pantheon, we saw the Spanish Steps and drank from Trevy fountain....the heat is insane here!! Then we went to the Colliseum, which was huge and really cool to see. Probably the first set of ruins ive ever seen. After the Colliseum we walked through the Palentine Hills and saw the Roman Forum...where Rome began. The Roma Pass is a very cost effective way of travelling around, including free admissions and 3 days of metro...highly recommended.

This morning we got to the Vatican....the smallest city in the world. They are not lying when they say that the lineups are huge!! It was probably a 5 hour line! We chose to pay 2.2 times more the price of the ticket to bypass line and get a 3 hour tour of the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, and St Peters Basillica. The artwork was absolutely incredible and the Michaelangelo frescos on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel were amazing. The sculptures and the mosaics were beautiful...all in all what a wonderful and priceless collection of art.

[Sistine Chapel ceiling - highly classified picture taken incognito]

Tonight we have decided to stuff ourself with our last truely italian meal...and and by the way all the pasta here is cooked a little less than we actually cook it at home....so all that time i was actually doing it right....hee hee. Tomorrow we leave for Athens!

Ciao Italia!

[my backpack with all of my country patches sewn on]

"It's not a Pizza, it's a Cake-ah!"

The title on this post is based on an italian cop that we partyed with the last night and the detestful look on his face when i told him that in Canada, we enjoy ananyas (pineapples) on our pizza! He proceeded to tell me that if i said that out loud in Naples they would throw me in the Sea!!!

The rest of Firenze was so much fun...we did some market shopping and then went out with some locals which made the experience so much better. We started off at this place called "Angie's Place" both nights as the owners were friends with the locals we were hanging out with. It was a cute tiny little place that only a local would know about! We also ate AUTHENTIC margherita pizza at this other random hard to find establishment called Cafe Italia, and we enjoyed expressos at an expresso bar. I'm so excited that i actually enjoy expresso! its so.....italian chic!! We just had them this morning too, with a yummy mozzarella and tomato sandwhich....meal of my dreams!!!

Yesterday we got into Venezia and passed out in our hotel room...thank god for air conditioning. We are staying in Meastre which is a 10 minute bus ride from Venice and is a smart choice of a place to stay b/c its no hassle getting to it. We got into Venice in the evening and took a water bus through the grand canal. A city built on water, its insane! And so very romantic. Sophia, Sahra and I have been doing a lot of romantic things together... "Via del amore", horse and carraige rides...etc....lol so we decided to NOT take a romantic gondola! Then we had some good pasta at this place called Vino Vino and we got laughed at when we all ordered pop!!

Ok once again i am racing the clock on this post! Will update from Rome!

Gratzi, Gratzi - Prego Preeego!!

Ciao Bellas and Bellets!! (im pretty sure thats not what you call a senor)

So i have 6 minutes and 50 49 48 seconds left at this internet cafe underneath the Firenze (florence) train stazion before we leave for venice! lets see how much i can write out! excuse the grammer mistakes and spelling errors!

So the food in italy has been absolutely AMAZING. tomatoes mmmm i love tomatos and cheese!! We got into Firenze on monday and we are staying at Youth Firenze 2000 -- we were excited cuz we thought we would meet some young people (weàve been pretty isolated at hotels lately ) but it turns out this place is like a hotel too! dammit! and there are OLD people -- like 2000 year old people!!

Anyways so the day we got in we went to Piazza de Michealangelo which had the original David over a century ago...we just took in (yet another) view. they are all starting to blend together now!! then we had the most amazing gelatto i think iàve ever had in my whole entire little skinny existance!! 3 mins left! ahhh

The next day we went to see the Duomo and then the Uffizzi museam. twas nice, very nice but everything is looking pretty much the same now! then we were pooped so we went to sleep like the party animals that we are!!!

The day after that we went to 'the mall' which is like this outlet place with gucci, burburry, etc. it was fun. yesterday (wow i am writing like a child! 2 mins left!) we went to the market and the shops and we tryed to squish more isht into my backpack. i am finding a lot of work clothes which is good cuz i dont have have to buy them in calgary and they are half the price here!! i love saldis!! (sales). it was like ' shopaholics take italia'! but we are all crazy!! so its ok

ok time running out!!
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ciao ciao!

I double heart Gelato!!

Italia has been amazing so far!! After our all nighter in the Milan Melpensa airport (in the middle of NOWHERE) we caught a slow train into La Spezia which is the gate way to the Cinque Terre towns of NW Italy. Our hotel, Villa Argentina is the cutest little place, very Italian, complete with nutella and cherry tomatoes included in our brekky! Speaking of food, Italia is food heaven for me!! cheese and tomatoes on everything and gelato for dessert! We are staying in Rio Maggiore, which is the first town. We have successfully hiked through all 5 towns: Rio Maggiore to Manarolla to Cornegilia to Vernazza and finally to Monterosso, which we are at right now after a day of a 4 km hike and then the beach. We passed through beautiful vineyards, olive groves and lemon trees, all framed by the turquoise blue of the Mediterranean sea. We relaxed on beautiful white quartz rocks, went on rock beaches full of colourful large stones and hiked the coastline while looking out at picture perfect images of colourful houses built on cliffs edge. Cinque Terre is definitely a sight to see!!







Leaning tower of Pisa and Florence tomorrow!

Hola from Lisboa!

We did an overnight train from Madrid to Lisboa and thankfully we lucked out and the three of us got a four person cabin. We had a massive beautification party in the cabin and used some well needed products like apricot exfoliator!!! Sigh the life as a backpacker...complete isolation from essential products :(

Lisboa was a hectic 2 days...we got to do Golden Jubilee Kushali there and im quite glad we made sure we put it in our trip. Regrettably we didnt get to see much else of Lisboa but i guess ill save that for another time! We got into Lisboa at a bit of a shaky start...we got lost on our way back from the pèost office! We finally go tto the kushali celebrations and found a little canadian crew that we hung out with. It was brutally hot but so interesting to meet portuguese Ismailis!! Some knew english but most just spoke portuguese and gujrati! But it felt like home... and we got some good nourishment...biryani and fanta and fruit and other yummyness. The next day Sahra and I ran around trying to find the Centro Ismaili -- the ismaili center. it was quite hidden and when we did find it (an hour from our airport departure time) we ran around it snapping pictures like crazy women.

Then we flew into Milan and had nowhere to stay so we pulled an all nighter at the airport, straight backpacker style!! It was quite fun!!

The Fragrant Flowers of Andalucia

[The orange trees in southern Espanya]

Andulucia...sweltering heat and absolutely stunning views of rolling hills and azure skies. We started off in Grenada and saw the Al-Hambra Palace, which was incredible. Beat Versailles anyday! It was built for Grenada´s muslim caliphs between the 13th and 15th centuries. The plaster work and intricate woodwork is breathtaking and pictures definitely didnt do it justice. It is an excellent example of the beauty of islamic architecture using perfect semmetry and a combination of tranquil pools of water with lotus flowers and an assortment of roses in full bloom. In its intricate design and sumptious inner quarters, we could not even begin to imagine what the Nasrid Palace (Palacio Nazaris) looked like in full color before the process of natural weathering.



Cordoba was our next stop and it was a cute little town. We were a stones throw from the Mesquita, which was an 11th century mosque that was turned into a cathedral when the Muslim empire fell in cordoba. After both Sevilla and Cordoba fell, the Muslims moved to Grenada, which is when the Al hHambra was built. It was crazy to see how the characteristic Islamic architecture was ¨Christianized¨... the delicate woodcarvings were stripped and worked over by embellished gold and the 8 point stars atop the domes were redorated with flowers. Lattice worked windows were converted to stained glass and crucifixes replaced the spaces under the characteristic arches. After seeing the Mesquita we walked in the sweltering heat and passed the famous Andulucia orange trees. It was beautiful! That night we went to the Festival Guitarra Cordoba and watched manuel Barrueco play the spanish guitar.



We got into Sevilla (pronounced Sev-ee-ya) yesterday morning and it is such a cute town. Beautiful old hispano-muslim architecture and horse and carriages everywhere! i wish i could get pictures on this thing! There are Rebajas (sales) everywhere but the stores were closed today (domingos-sunday), the only day we had to shop! maybe its a sign!!! The heat sucks the life right out of us and we are trying hard to stay hydrated. We went to the alcazaba today which had some more beautiful islamic architecture that was retained in some areas and christianized in others when the muslim empire fell. Then we saw the Sevilla Cathedral which was beautiful as well... we went to the top of the Giralda tower (which was a minueret of the mosque in the muslim days) and soaked in beautiful views of the city. Right now is siesta time...it is way too hot to walk around! Tonight we are going to see an authentic flamenco show and then go to a festival where there is food from around the world and awesome spanish music. On to Madrid tomorrow!

Hola...Siesta Time!

Currently in Barcelona -- and its actually not all what i expected it to be. I find that the city doesnt have much unique character...it could be any big city with lots of people and odd smells. I dont see much local culture, and there are a lot of random people on the streets.

The timings here work so differently...clubs dont start bumping until 2:00 am ... so what are people supposed to do until then? Its pretty crazy...so most people wake up really late, then go shopping or to the beach, then siesta time you eat and sleep and rest up...until around 10:00 when you go for a really late dinner, then a pub until the clubs open at 2:00, then party till 6:00 and start all over again. We haven´t done any of this yet because we end up getting sooo tired by 12:00...so lame!! But we have been waking up quite late and its more laid back and relaxed. Today we decided we are going to nap until about 12:00 am and then go out!! lets see if it actually works!!



I guess there is a bit to see here...we saw some very very random architecture by Gaudi...and tomorrow we might see some Picasso. Shopping season started on July 1st --we saw the prices change over night. Other than that i feel as though Barcelona is quite the dissapointment! I have 2 more days here...i´ll keep an open mind and hopefully my opinon will change.



As for trendspotting...Satin is in in in!! Longer leggings seem to be the new rather than the calf long ones and white skinnys are chic!!

There is a HUGE roach at this internet cafe! ewww!

i´m cutting my losses and leaving!!! EWWW