The first adventure comes to an end...

Carolyn and I are back in London. Danielle has decided to extend her trip, and is staying in Barnstaple (Rob's town) a little longer before heading to Ireland to meet up with Jeff and Al and do a bit of travelling there. Carolyn and I are really jealous, and also really sad to be down to the two of us. The bus back into London was so quiet!

Our last while in Devon was great. After going to the sheep racing (also learning about breeds of sheep, playing outdoor lazer tag, and getting fish and chips on the beach), we had another great dinner, then went out on the town and met a bunch of Rob's friends at a pub. Great times!

Tomorrow morning we're off to the airport to fly back to Canada. Wow.

In Devon right now, staying with Rob's family. They're awesome, his sisters are super fun, and everyone is so hospitable. Rob's mum even baked a dairy-free cake for dessert last night, and picked up soy milk for my tea. The hostels sure dont cater like that.

There is talk of us going sheep-racing today. Danielle, Carolyn and I cant stop laughing at the mention of it. It pretty much confirms every stereotype we've ever had of the British countryside.

Basta pasta!

Hello all,

We're in Venice, quite possibly our most expensive stop yet (though we were helped in the budgeting by my family who loaded us up with tonnes of sandwiches, fruit, cookies and jars of peanut butter which we're living off of now)! We're having a lazy day after a full (and hot) day yesterday wandering through the maze of the city and riding boats. No one wanted to feed the pigeons, which I thought was rather disappointing. :)

EC is here now after arriving a day late, and we stayed up late last night at the campground chatting with two Americans that we had met the day before.

Today were going to head to the beach at some point at Lida, an island beside Venice. Tomorrow we catch a plane to London, where we're spending a night before heading by bus to Devon, the city that Rob is from, to stay with his family for a couple of nights before heading home to Canada!

We have less than a week left now...... so weird to think it's all finishing up! Eep!

Boo hiss.

I had written, and I thought posted an update from Rome a couple of days ago. Alas, it does not appear to be there anymore.

So just a quick one. We're in Codroipo, Italy right now, staying with my family. It has been great to see them again, and they have pampered us like crazy. Today we drove up to the Alps! So fun.

Tomorrow we take the train back to Venice, where we're spending three nights, and connecting with EC again! Hurray!

More when Im less angry at computers and have more time.

Greek adventures

We're in Athens now, our last stop in Greece. The full tour included Samos, Naxos, Ios, and Santorini, all islands, then Athens for last night and tonight. Tomorrow we're headed by ferry to Bari, Italy and then to make our way to Naples.

Greece has been much fun -

Naxos was definitely not the green island as the guide books said, but exploring the island with one American, one scooter and one gutless ATV named "Seven" proved to be super fun. We also watched the World Cup final game in a busy square our first night here - it was great fun being in the European vibe for this game (hurrah Italia!) as well as the whole tournament!!!



Ios lived up to it's party reputation, but the campground we were staying at was more of a "Florida for College Spring Break" kind of destination. All the pretty people in the world with not much in their heads were there drinking copiously, so the whole scene got tired save for some super nice folk from Vancouver area who showed us the ropes of the Ios nightlife. Here's a shot of our unbelievably tiny wooden/canvas tent. I slept with my bag on my cot because there wasn't enough room for all 3 on the floor!

Santorini was rather impressive with the small white villages on top of tall rock, and black sand beaches (so weird). We ended up spending two nights there, and got to explore an active volcano island before going swimming in an ocean hot spring heated by the molten lava underground.

This picture is me trying to be all stealth and blend into the black sand beach.






We did the Athens sightseeing today. The Acropolis was more amazing than I really imagined. It was so unbelievable to see how grand everything was back then, and how horrible a job we've done of attempting to restore the buildings in the last 150 years.

New friends abroad as well as some at home will appreciate this wonderful gun show display in front of the Temple of Olympius Zeus.

Hurrah Italia!

Still alive -

Were on Naxos, the second Greek Island of our island hopping adventure (1st stop being Samos for a night). Its georgous, hot, and there is nothing to do but relax on the beautiful sandy beaches. We're renting scooters this afternoon to explore the island a bit. Next stop is Ios -the party island- where we plan to finally get in some camping.

Pıcture tıme agaın!

Were ın Selçuk, our last Turkey stop. Tomorrow were headıng to Samos - the fırst of the Greek Islands. Its not a partıcularly nıce ısland apparently, but ıt seems to be a necessary launchıng poınt to the other ısland we hope to hıt. Today we vısıted the ruıns of Ephesus - absolutely unreal. Check Carolyns blog for pıcture from Goreme... and scroll down for some shots from our past week or so.

Thıs ıs our full group atop ruıns of the tsaravets ın Velıko Tarnovo, Bulgarıa

Gıvıng Alan a haırcut. Everyone got hım way worrıed about ıt, but my two fınger technıque pulled through as always, and he was as handsome a stud as ever. (You can see Jeffs amazıng tan lınes ın the background. Theyre legendary)

Group shot agaın. Thıs tıme were on the boat of a wonderful Turkısh famıly who took us on a tour of the Bosphorus rıver (the one seperatıng Europe from Asıa ın Istanbul) It was amazıng!

As you can see - thıs crew had a wıcked tıme together. Its back to just Danıelle, Carolyn and I... and we're a lıttle lonely. But ıts new-country-day tomorrow... whıch always means fun new adventures are ahead!

Goreme - the cave-resort town

Istanbul was a blast. We keep havıng such wonderful experıences wıth amazıngly frıendly people who are genuınely ınterested ın teachıng us about theır cıty and culture. Were all now obsessed wıth Turkısh delıght, Turkısh tea and coffee... but not turnıp juıce (blech!)

I pıcked up a few small thıngs after hagglıng ın the Grand Bazaar. Hagglıng turned out to be much more fun than I expected - I was quıte proud of my ınsıstance ın several occasıons. But then thıngs went downhıll. Carolyn, Danıelle and I ran ınto a super hot hot Turkısh guy on the street that we had been partyıng wıth the nıght before. We chatted wıth hım for a few mınutes, then he offered us tea back at the shop he worked at. We assumed ıt was a restaurant so off we went. Turns out ıt was a carpet store, but we went ın for tea anyways, tellıng hım up front that we werent buyıng anythıng....

Carolyn and I are now each proud owners of a handmade Turkısh rug.

When we left Istanbul last nıght, we saıd goodbye to one member of our awesome team of 6 that weve been travellıng wıth. Rob has gone to Germany and then back home to UK. Even though weve only spent a week or so together all 6 of us, ıt was super sad to see hım go.

One uncomfortable 11 hour overnıght bus trıp later and the Irısh boys and Canadıan gırls are ın Goreme, a small cıty ın central Turkey ın the regıon of Cappadocıa. We dont have a pıcture yet to show, but almost all of the buıldıngs are buılt ınto caves ın the hılls. Apparently Star Wars was fılmed here - ıts where the Tuscan Raıders lıved (perhaps thıs wıll rıng a bell for you lıke ıt dıd for Carolyn).

Our hostel ıs lıterally lıke a resort. Also buılt ınto the caves, our rooms are super cool - a nıce change from the last week of unbearably hot nıghts. The hostel has a pool table, a pool, and a room full of pıllows and cushıons. Ahhhhh... the atmosphere of the whole town ıs so chıll that our energy levels have gone ınto major relax mode. Its a good thıng too, because Im startıng to get sıck agaın - the classıc cold turned ınto asthma that seems to brıng me down every couple months. Im goıng to try and beat thıs one quıckly though.

Were off ın a few mınutes to Turkısh Nıghts where well get to watch and partıcıpate ın a few dıfferent types of Turkısh dance - tradıtıonal and belly dancıng. Should be fun!!!!