You know all those beautiful pictures you see in magazines about Santorini Greece….they’re lies!!!! Those pictures give you the illusion that all of Santorini is beautiful, and in some way, shape or form, it is, just not like the pictures. If Paul Bunyan had a cousin Santorini would be his nephew.
We arrived early in the morning off the ferry and managed to haggle with an older Greek gentleman to get a room for 30 euro including transportation to the hotel. Get your hotel before you go to Santorini they have some very cheap options that Are on the beach and offer transportation to and from the port no matter what time you arrive. On our way to the hotel you have to go about 3/4 of a mile up a winding narrow laned cliff with traffic coming and going both ways and all the vehicles are stick shift….needless to say I was sort of freaking out. We arrived at the hotel in one piece. The room was actually quite lovely. I started to chat with the guy at the desk and ask questions about where he was from, if he liked Santorini, dealing with tourists, his name etc…and just because of a few simple questions we got a later checkout…yes! We needed it. After checkout we walked about two miles to our next stay: the villa dimitris. The owner there was warm and very inviting. She showed us to our room. The room was called a studio, we had our own bathroom and a sink and mini fridge, it was cheaper than all the other rooms on the island and served its purpose just as well. We decided to rent an atv 150cc for 25 euros….it took us all over the island in one day! The island isn’t very big. You can also rent a small car for 30 euros a day…but you honestly don’t need it more than a day. Most of our time was spent hanging out at the black and red sand beaches.
As far as the Greek people….they have no sense of hospitality. I think they’re rude, you can ask a question to someone who deals with tourists all the time and they just shrug and walk away….my thoughts..I’ve come to visit this place and pay money to do things on this island and you’re going to be rude…absolutely not. I’m pretty sure tourism drives half the money circulating on the island alone…they’re surly and rude and honestly if you can avoid dealing with them, I would recommend it. There were a few that were very pleasant but the majority left a bad taste in my mouth…
Oh and NEVER EVER take a bus on the island. It’s expensive and doesn’t take you to many places.

The second day we woke up at six and caught an amazing sunrise. We asked a local and he told us to watch it on the beach near our hotel but our advice is go to Oia, you will see it coming up from behind the adjacent islands and peer out over the ocean like a child playing peek a boo with their mother.
The beaches are beautiful and during the peak season I’m sure there are a lot of people partying but off season it’s very chilled and laid back. It’s still very hot though.
ATVs are definitely worth renting and a lot of fun.
On our way to Oktoberfest! Turn up!!!

Oh and everyone who suggested we plan, you guys were all right, we now have to backtrack. But it’s okay.

Side not there are a lot of random dogs in Greece that you may mistake for dead, but trust us they aren’t and don’t get to close to them

Tid bit for the day: bring your own sunblock!! on Santorini the sunblock is 15 euros for a small container that will only cover half your back. Crazy.

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We arrive in Athens and it is dirty. Dirty and busy. It’s a city filled with a medley of people who are drinking Freddo cappuccinos everywhere. Some areas were nicer than others. We sat in the center of syntagma using the free wifi to find where we’re going to sleep because it certainly won’t be on these streets of this city. We find a hostel and walk for 20minutes only to find out it is fully booked. The woman at the front told us to look at some hotels, there are plenty in the area. We check out a few hotels and they are all fully booked. We come across one hotel and there are three women standing outside, in neon tight fitting short clothing, they honestly looked like prostitutes, I look at Daniel and think this is probably not where we want to stay, I tell him not to bother asking but of course he goes to ask anyway, and the hotel was full. I guess this city has a lot to offer. We finally stumble on to this small hotel-Hotel Artemision. From the outside, the lobby and the elevator, the hotel looked pretty good and the cost for a room at the hotel was the same price we would’ve paid for a hostel, 25 euro per night. Well we get upstairs to our room and this hotel is a shit hole. The room is outdated and doesn’t look very clean, it is filled with bad artificial lighting, something resembling that of a prison. The walls were dirty and the bed soiled and dark. The pillows were stained and we had one bathroom that we shared with an entire floor- which usually is okay in a hostel because they keep the bathrooms clean. The only thing keeping us from the dirty mattress were clean sheets that didn’t even cover the whole bed! I had to use the restroom so I go to the one on our floor. There are two stalls. I go to lift the lid of one of the toilets and a fly flies out and there’s a giant turd sitting there almost touching the rim- I’m mortified. I go to the next stall and there’s shit sitting there on top of a pile of toilet paper. Do people not know how to flush? I go to another floor and find a clean toilet- but it doesn’t flush! There’s no water to flush any thing! Not only that, in Greece you are not to flush any toilet paper down the toilets, your supposed to place ALL toilet paper in a trash bin beside the toilet. So when you lift that bin you smell and see everything. I mean soiled toilet paper covered in poo, some toilet paper as yellow as a crayon and some covered in blood- yes a bit gross, but true. After this mess, we decide to go around and find something to eat. We find this huge pastry shop, everything looked so delicious! We decided to go for dessert before we ate dinner and we got two free cookies in addition to our sweets, maybe it’s because we were being so nice to the cashier and he taught us a few Greek words or maybe it was customary I don’t know but we liked it. The officer on patrol there gave us directions to an authentic Greek restaurant. It was called Neon and it was very good. Daniel ordered moussaka and I ordered a Greek salad with some artichokes ( I can’t remember the name of this dish but it was artichokes, with potatoes and carrots cooked in olive oil with lemon juice and dill, very flavorful) and a traditional Greek beer which was very aromatic. I will caution all those going to Greece- the bread is not free, it usually costs about a euro and they bring it out without you asking, if you eat it, you pay for it. However the bread goes well with traditional Greek meals to soak up the oil and absorb the wine. Traditional meals are eaten at a relaxed slow pace and wine is cheap here. We went back to the hotel to get ready to sleep, it was very hot in the room so we had to open the doors leading to the balcony. The one good thing about this hotel was the balcony and the check out time which was at 12:00 PM. We leave the hotel the next day with our backpacks and decide to explore Athens. We hopped on the metro towards acropolis. Acropolis cost 6 euros for us with our student IDs and they had a place where we could store our bags for free… What’s crazy about all of this is they don’t check for tickets at the baggage place…and then if you enter from the backside all they ask for are student IDS not tickets….so does that mean that we could’ve gotten in for free and still dropped off our luggage? I think so. After two in a half hours of exploring and walking we finished our tour and headed to the port to catch a ferry to Santorini.

Tid bit for the day: Follow the seven P’s: Proper Prior Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance. If we properly prepared for a place to stay we would’ve had a place to stay that we had thoroughly checked out. But we tend to do things spur of the moment which doesn’t always leave us with much wiggle room. But we’re learning.

** side note: all markets and restaurants are closed on Sundays in Greece. If you need to eat a bakery is your best bet. After 5 or so they sell all their pies for 1 euro, which is a pretty good deal.

“He has said to me to go to Israel. My name is Miriam, it’s holy, and I am from Holland on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. I have nothing, no passport, no money, I get everything through gods will.” Miriam was small and blonde, she knew a lot and was on a journey of her own when we met her at the port on our way to Greece. She had confessed to crying a few days earlier for her travels have been lonely and asked if we could be her company for the ride over. We said yes. She boarded with us onto the second class deck, we sat there for a few hours talking, but she generally kept saying that she was on a pilgrimage. I was a little skeptical at first, to tell you the truth I thought she was suffering from a mental breakdown , while Daniel held open arms. The wind started to pick up and the deck became an uncomfortable place to sleep. Two other travelers came up to us and asked us where we were sleeping, and before we could answer said that they were sneaking into the airseats section inside. Miriam scoped it out and 30 minutes later we were sitting peacefully in cushioned seats with no wind and a tv to watch as we dozed off to sleep. There was absolutely no one in there at 9:00 pm around 10:30 you could see the other travelers walking in glancing around to make sure they weren’t going to get caught. To tell you the truth, I think 97% of the people that slept there didn’t reserve a seat, and no one came to check! I don’t think anyone cared.

It was morning and we just hit Igoumenitsa. Miriam had mentioned she needed a swimsuit as she was going to use that as her way to bathe herself at the beach. Having brought an extra pair, I gave it to her. She told us that she was traveling without a passport and that her only way into Jerusalem would be through Syria, it was gods will that she not take a passport for he’ll bring her protection. I think she’s very bold and has a very strong faith regardless of her family and friends believing in science more than a god. I truly wish her all the best. We arrived at our destination Patras, and there we parted ways with Miriam.

Tid bit for the day: When traveling you have no idea how much shit you can get for free, literally. You just can’t be scared. People are lazy, everywhere! Just walk in and they don’t ask, just sit, or talk to people and be very polite. It can get you a lot. Smile. And if anything happens….well, you didn’t know.

Zagreb, should we stay, should we go? Knowing very little about Croatia, we decided to follow the backpackers, in particular one backpacker named Zack. He was 26 and somewhat of a stout fellow with dark hair, glasses and a warm smile. You could tell he was well educated but very friendly. He worked for a company working to improve the environment and was headed to Split. So we followed him onto that seven hour train ride, only hoping that at the end there would be a beach. On the outskirts possibly 30 km out Split seemed like an industrial town which neither of us wanted to visit. We both agreed before we even saw the town that we would stay an hour explore find a market then leave. We got far more than what we expected. Split was right off the beach, the ground looked white and clean, almost a posh place. We needed food, so we found a grocery store opened at 7 AM, and for feta, a large Fanta, a good heeping of ham from the deli and two loaves of bread the total cost was $5.46 US dollars! Everything here was so cheap! After exploring the city and crossing paths with the crew of the game of thrones as they were filming a fight scene we were on our way to find a hostel. We walked around for an hour looking for a hostel and stumbled across some Americans doing the same. Their guide was an MTV Europe travelers book from the 90s. It was hilarious! We went our separate ways, and eventually Daniel and I found an apartment we could rent for a night. It was private we had the space all to ourselves and it was cheaper than a hostel and just as close to the pier. After an intense half hour of bargaining to get a cheaper price and looking at different places I was a little frustrated. I cried for a few minutes in front of a church it may have had something to do with Daniel’s persistence to get an apartment it was a mixture of exhaustion and frustration and my cycle, I suppose the realization that traveling isn’t always glamorous hit me , and maybe having a total of 3 hours of scattered sleep in the past 54 hrs. But I knew that before I left, for I had traveled before. Once Daniel and I hit the bed later in the afternoon we fell straight asleep. We slept for four hours and then decided to grab something to eat. We found a local restaurant that had huge helpings of food for super cheap. When we got there there was a line of people made up of both locals and travelers. The host would sit people with strangers at a table to make room for everyone to eat. We both really enjoyed that. We were sat with four guys from Greece with hefty dark beards who took taxis, trains and a bus to get to Croatia. After realizing that Croatia doesn’t really use credit cards he asked if they did, which of course they didn’t. So it’s about 10 at night and all the places to exchange currencies are closed and it looks like we won’t be eating a delicious Croatian meal this evening. After running around we stumbled across a place that was closed, but since the employees were so caught up in the soccer game they forgot to close up. We entered and they said they would help us out after we pleaded with them that we wouldn’t be able to eat unless they helped. Since Croatia was so cheap we exchanged only 28 US dollars and received 154 konas. We rushed back to the restaurant praying that they weren’t closed just yet and to our luck it was still open. The host told us to seat ourselves and perhaps the cheapest yet most filling dinner I have had was served. Our server came to greet us, he was tall, slender, with dark features and could speak five languages (English, French, Italian, German and Croatian). Our meal consisted of pasta with the most amazing tomato sauce I’ve had in a while and a local fish ( two whole fish) cooked in olive oil and a side of mashed potatoes. It was good meal to end our day with for our journey was to start again tomorrow for Greece.

Tid bit for the day: Before you and your woman go around the world you need to either make sure she’s menopausal or get her on the shot so she doesn’t have a period for six months ie no PMS and no crazy lady emotions for a week straight.

It’s cold, the wind chill is coming from the east. You can hear the gears grinding as the they struggle to maneuver from first gear to second. They’re still people walking the streets of Trieste at 3 in the morning. We’re on the streets, the lights from the fountain blur as I daze in and out of sleep.
We arrive in the city late and have nowhere to sleep, having heard of a hostel by a local we catch the number 6 bus to the castle, close to where the hostel is. We searched for an hour by the beach for both a place to camp and a hostel but to no avail, we find nothing. We catch the bus back to the city center and try to find an area to sleep that would be quiet, being cheap we didn’t want to spend money on a hotel. I always fantasized about the idea of travelers sleeping wherever they deemed necessary. I thought it was a romantic way to marry the nomadic ways of a traveler to the land. NEVER AGAIN. Not our thing, I don’t mind camping out but when you sleep on the streets there’s a lot you have to worry about, and quite frankly, I want to sleep peacefully without the worrying.
But the city was nice, the beach was gorgeous and if you believe it or not we found the hostel the next day. We actually passed by it the night before, maybe we were honestly too tired to recognize it, I’m not sure but in any case we decided to leave Trieste for Croatia.

Tid bit for the day: always know the name of at least TWO hostels in the city you’re visiting. Trust us it’ll help.

So this is a very strange toilet in the train station of Trieste. You have to hold onto the rail and squat to pee or poo. I know my mamma ain’t squatting. It isn’t user friendly for those who have bad knees or the elderly.

We arrived In Venice after changing trains three times. We’ve learned that we don’t have to pay any additional money with the eurail pass if we take regional trains only. Unfortunately that may mean a longer train ride but we don’t mind. We left the train station and took bus 15 to camp jolly, part of the plus hostels (thank you mom for telling us about it). On our way there we walked under a tunnel filled with graffiti, or art, depending on how you look at it. A lot of Italy is covered in graffiti, I would think that they would like to preserve the beauty but maybe they want some modern touches? 🙂

We arrived at camp jolly and immediately see a gondola stationed in the entry way. The camp was like most of the other plus hostels but the pool was lovely and the restrooms had a modern feel to them.

Although we arrived later in the day and without a reservation the camp had room for us. It was 9.90 euro per person for a three bed tent. When we get to our door we hear music being played on the bench near our tent. Sitting there were two people that we would spend talking the night away until the early morning hours. Their names: Erica, from NY and her boyfriend Fergus from Scotland. The two of them are cycling across Europe with their end destination being Turkey. That’s pretty incredible. They too have a blog: thepilgrimschoice.wordpress.com.

As we all sat there drinking our rum and having a good time another traveller came to sit with us, his name: Ayoib. Ayoib was from Saudi Arabia and just finished getting his masters at Edinburgh.

The next day we had arranged to go into the city. Again, we took advantage of the bus system. The train stop was just one away from where we were staying. Venice has absolutely no cars, there are a ton of bridges to walk over or you can take a water taxi or gondola ride. The gondola ride was about 80 euros. The streets of Venice were crowded and you can easily get lost. The streets almost always look the same, one right turn, becomes another and before you know it your an hour away from where you started. If you have time it’s a great city to explore. In almost every window you can find artwork made of glass and masquerade ball gowns and masks. And if your lucky you can catch people dressed up for some social event. There’s lots of energy in this city.

Tid bit for the day: Always look at the app prices for hostels and compare it to what the hostels advertise. Often times you’ll find that the app proves are cheaper.

We woke up late in the day after falling asleep to our neighbors grizzly snoring. My calves were burning from the day before as we both woke up to greet the day light. It was sunny and very warm outside our tent, a perfect day to start our adventure of the city. But not before we got food in our growling tummies, having survived the night on Daniel’s moms granola, which we greatly appreciated, because we didn’t reach the market in time. Our meal consisted of bread, sundried tomato spread and meat (for Daniel).

Our adventure was then to begin but first we had to find a way to get there. Our favorite phrase of the day became “dove si trova?” Which means where is. The bus system or autobus works on an honor system. You’re supposed to buy the ticket before and have it valid on the bus- but there’s no one to verify, not even the driver. So sad to say but true, we took advantage of this system and got around town on the autobus for free, I’m sure we’re not the first. Although it wasn’t the fastest way and certainly not the easiest. We got lost a few times and did a lot of walking but all in all a very successful day!

Tid bit for the day: when I get lost I ask for directions, and I accept responsibility that it’s my fault, but when she gets lost, it’s still my fault. I feel like I got to see half of Rome today by foot, strong man competition here I come. Usually all guys work on their upper bodies but when I return I’m gonna be all legs no arms. All in all though a great day in Rome with my wife.