I was in Greece for about a week and a half and it didn't rain once (at least not that I remember, so not while I was walking around). I've been in Italy for 4 days now and it has rained every single day.
I spent the first couple of days in Naples. I went out to Pompei and got rained on. Not just a little; torrential downpour, thunder and lightning. But then it would stop for 20 minutes or so, before doing the same thing again. I was intended to climb up to the top of Mt. Vesuvivo afterwards but that idea got washed out.
I left Naples and came to Rome, and immediately I decided that I liked Rome [much better than Naples]. I don't know what it was exactly but the city just felt "nicer".
I'm here until the end of the week then I'm on my "break" for the week.
The plan tonight is to head off to the Spanish Steps Pub Crawl. The metro line stops before Midnight so I don't really have any idea how I'm going to get back to the hostel. Hopefully it will sort itself out.
I've finally got some sort of plan for what I'm going to be doing for some days in the future - basically planned out my time in Italy -> which was required because I needed to figure out how the days would match up with my Railpass. I'll go into details about that when I have more time, but essentially the city list is:
Rome -> Florence (day to Pisa) -> Bologna -> Venice -> Milan -> Switzerland (Zurich)
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
What a misson!
I've finally made it to Patra, and have the ferry tickets booked for tonight and Sunday. I'm spending two nights in Corfu. Luckily the times worked out perfectly.
However, getting here today was somewhat of a mission; I don't think I'll have the time to describe it all before I have to leave...
I basically conceived of the idea of going to Corfu yesterday. I started looking and the travel options, and discovered that had I been looking one hour earlier I could have jumped on the bus back to Athens then from there jumped on a bus straight to the hostel in Corfu. Oh, the frustration at being just ONE BLOODY HOUR too late. So, naturally, it took me an hour or so to get over that. I spent the night in Napflio and got on the 08:00 bus back to Corinth, intending to get the train to Patra from there.
While sitting on the bus, I had the thought that perhaps I could get another bus from Athens to Corfu, that might leave during the day so I would arrive there this evening. Several very unsuccessful phonecalls later and I didn't have any information about it. I called the hostel in Corfu and they told me that the only bus was at 19:00, so I was better to take the Ferry from Patras.
Meanwhile, I had disembarked at Isthmus, and NOT Corinth (Korinthos) as I had said I wanted. Somehow.
So I needed to get back into Corinth to get the train to Patras. When I went to Isthmus / Corinth Canal previously I jumped on the bus right near the bus station in Corinth. For some reason that didn't work today. I walked over to the bus stop (what looked like the bus stop) and stop there and waited, and waited. While waiting somebody even pulled over and asked me what I assume was "Where are you going?" I immediately said "Korinthos", since that was where I was thinking I wanted to go. Corinth isn't that far away, so he said, "Ah, ok", and drove off. As he was pulling away I realised that I could/should have said "Patra".... So, I spent the next hour or so trying (unsuccessfully) to hitchhike. Meanwhile buses were coming past, ones that looked like the ones I wanted, but they weren't pulling over, even when I "flagged" them. After about an hour I decided to start walking. I stopped and various bus stations on the way and buses came past but none pulled over for me.
In the end, I walked all the way into town.
The train station isn't actually "in" town, but a little further out. I also got a bus from the train station when I had arrived a few days ago. Looking around I couldn't see any likely bus stop, and asking didn't get me very far, so I jumped in a Taxi. Only cost me 3 Euros, so that wasn't too bad. Turned out that getting the Taxi was kind of lucky, because the train to Patra was leaving literally as I arrived - the guy at the counter started to say "I have no trains until..." then said "There's a train now. Platform 3, run run." I just made it.
Ah what an adventure. But now I'm in Patra, I've got 6 hours until the ferry leaves, but I'm glad that I've got all my tickets sorted and can just sit back and wait.
Rather annoying to waste a day screwing around like that, but at least I've got two days to sit on the island doing sweet FA.
I probably should figure out what happens after I leave Corfu...
However, getting here today was somewhat of a mission; I don't think I'll have the time to describe it all before I have to leave...
I basically conceived of the idea of going to Corfu yesterday. I started looking and the travel options, and discovered that had I been looking one hour earlier I could have jumped on the bus back to Athens then from there jumped on a bus straight to the hostel in Corfu. Oh, the frustration at being just ONE BLOODY HOUR too late. So, naturally, it took me an hour or so to get over that. I spent the night in Napflio and got on the 08:00 bus back to Corinth, intending to get the train to Patra from there.
While sitting on the bus, I had the thought that perhaps I could get another bus from Athens to Corfu, that might leave during the day so I would arrive there this evening. Several very unsuccessful phonecalls later and I didn't have any information about it. I called the hostel in Corfu and they told me that the only bus was at 19:00, so I was better to take the Ferry from Patras.
Meanwhile, I had disembarked at Isthmus, and NOT Corinth (Korinthos) as I had said I wanted. Somehow.
So I needed to get back into Corinth to get the train to Patras. When I went to Isthmus / Corinth Canal previously I jumped on the bus right near the bus station in Corinth. For some reason that didn't work today. I walked over to the bus stop (what looked like the bus stop) and stop there and waited, and waited. While waiting somebody even pulled over and asked me what I assume was "Where are you going?" I immediately said "Korinthos", since that was where I was thinking I wanted to go. Corinth isn't that far away, so he said, "Ah, ok", and drove off. As he was pulling away I realised that I could/should have said "Patra".... So, I spent the next hour or so trying (unsuccessfully) to hitchhike. Meanwhile buses were coming past, ones that looked like the ones I wanted, but they weren't pulling over, even when I "flagged" them. After about an hour I decided to start walking. I stopped and various bus stations on the way and buses came past but none pulled over for me.
In the end, I walked all the way into town.
The train station isn't actually "in" town, but a little further out. I also got a bus from the train station when I had arrived a few days ago. Looking around I couldn't see any likely bus stop, and asking didn't get me very far, so I jumped in a Taxi. Only cost me 3 Euros, so that wasn't too bad. Turned out that getting the Taxi was kind of lucky, because the train to Patra was leaving literally as I arrived - the guy at the counter started to say "I have no trains until..." then said "There's a train now. Platform 3, run run." I just made it.
Ah what an adventure. But now I'm in Patra, I've got 6 hours until the ferry leaves, but I'm glad that I've got all my tickets sorted and can just sit back and wait.
Rather annoying to waste a day screwing around like that, but at least I've got two days to sit on the island doing sweet FA.
I probably should figure out what happens after I leave Corfu...
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Last few days of Greece
In Napflio currently, nice little beach town. Apparently if you ask any Greek person what their favourite town is they will say here (according to the Lonely planet book).
Enjoyable, but not a whole lot to do. I went for a run - which didn't "go" as well as I would have liked.
Trying to figure where to go next. Heading to Patras in the morning, and hoping to catch a ferry either to Italy, or, probably the same ferry, to Corfu.
Don't really have that many days to spend though.
My attempts at Couchsurfing have those far been unsuccessful. I think it would help if I made the requests further in the future, but I don't know where I'll be that far ahead of time.
Ah, planning, planning. A little stressful.
Enjoyable, but not a whole lot to do. I went for a run - which didn't "go" as well as I would have liked.
Trying to figure where to go next. Heading to Patras in the morning, and hoping to catch a ferry either to Italy, or, probably the same ferry, to Corfu.
Don't really have that many days to spend though.
My attempts at Couchsurfing have those far been unsuccessful. I think it would help if I made the requests further in the future, but I don't know where I'll be that far ahead of time.
Ah, planning, planning. A little stressful.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Arrived in Athens
Well, I decided to just come straight to Athens from Thessaloniki. I was considering going to some other small towns on the way but decided it wasn't worth the effort. I would like to get a car/van and drive around that way. I think that's really the way to do it. Have to try and organise that some how another time.
I arrived at the train station this morning shortly before 11am, intending to take either the fast IC train at 11 something or the later one at 12:30. There was no mention of the IC train (another station maybe?) and I discovered that the 12:30 train was already fully booked - and there wasn't another one until 11pm. Seems like a problem, however I was already aware that there were a number of buses throughout the day as well, so, after a bit of effort getting there, I managed to jump on the 12:15 bus to Athens instead.
So I've been here for about 5 hours so far. I've seen the Acropolis briefly, when I was wandering around earlier. I thought I might be going out for a 'night on the town', since it is Friday, but I'm rather tired and will be going to be shortly.
I'll definitely make it out tomorrow night.
I haven't decided how long I'll be staying in Athens. I was originally thinking that I'd stay Monday night and leave Tuesday to go to Corinth, probably spend the night there and then off to Patras. I probably should stick to that, but we'll see.
It's pretty late; I think I should head off to bed.
I arrived at the train station this morning shortly before 11am, intending to take either the fast IC train at 11 something or the later one at 12:30. There was no mention of the IC train (another station maybe?) and I discovered that the 12:30 train was already fully booked - and there wasn't another one until 11pm. Seems like a problem, however I was already aware that there were a number of buses throughout the day as well, so, after a bit of effort getting there, I managed to jump on the 12:15 bus to Athens instead.
So I've been here for about 5 hours so far. I've seen the Acropolis briefly, when I was wandering around earlier. I thought I might be going out for a 'night on the town', since it is Friday, but I'm rather tired and will be going to be shortly.
I'll definitely make it out tomorrow night.
I haven't decided how long I'll be staying in Athens. I was originally thinking that I'd stay Monday night and leave Tuesday to go to Corinth, probably spend the night there and then off to Patras. I probably should stick to that, but we'll see.
It's pretty late; I think I should head off to bed.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Lazy day in Thessaloniki
I've spent today in Thessaloniki doing very little. I guess that's relative though - I did go for a 5-mile run, but since then I haven't done anything. I considered going to a few of the museums but didn't really feel like it.
I was considering stopping off in Litohoro, which is near Mt. Olympus, but I've decided I'll skip it and just jump on the train straight down to Athens. I figure I should probably spend a bit of time there.
No Idea when I'm going to get some photos up. Might not be until I return. That could be a long time.
What do I want to say? I'm not sure. I'm still alive. Yeah. Haven't had any real problems yet - the hostel I was aiming for here in Thessaloniki has been closed done, but there are plenty of "cheap" hotels around. Walking is fun.
Currently trying to book a hostel in Athens. I don't have the luxury of my normal long-winded selection process, especially given the short notice. I should try and make use of couchsurfing more, but again that kind of requires a bit of planning in advance, which so far I haven't managed to do.
I'll have a wander around tonight; see if I can get into any trouble.
I was considering stopping off in Litohoro, which is near Mt. Olympus, but I've decided I'll skip it and just jump on the train straight down to Athens. I figure I should probably spend a bit of time there.
No Idea when I'm going to get some photos up. Might not be until I return. That could be a long time.
What do I want to say? I'm not sure. I'm still alive. Yeah. Haven't had any real problems yet - the hostel I was aiming for here in Thessaloniki has been closed done, but there are plenty of "cheap" hotels around. Walking is fun.
Currently trying to book a hostel in Athens. I don't have the luxury of my normal long-winded selection process, especially given the short notice. I should try and make use of couchsurfing more, but again that kind of requires a bit of planning in advance, which so far I haven't managed to do.
I'll have a wander around tonight; see if I can get into any trouble.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
It is hot in Luxor
Just a quick note as I've got no time left.
Egypt has been full-on. There has been very little time for rest (and not much for sleep either) since the tour started. Today was in Luxor, seeing a lot of temples. I'm all templed-out now, and we've still got Cairo tomorrow.
The heat was almost unbearable today, which didn't help the mood walking around the temples.
Tuesday morning it's back to Istanbul then probably over to Thessaloniki on Wednesday.
I'll try and be more descriptive next time.
Alan.
Egypt has been full-on. There has been very little time for rest (and not much for sleep either) since the tour started. Today was in Luxor, seeing a lot of temples. I'm all templed-out now, and we've still got Cairo tomorrow.
The heat was almost unbearable today, which didn't help the mood walking around the temples.
Tuesday morning it's back to Istanbul then probably over to Thessaloniki on Wednesday.
I'll try and be more descriptive next time.
Alan.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)