I am currently back in Nantwich, England with my European family the Stockdales! Love you Guys! I am here for a week and they allowed me to use their computer so lucky for you readers can hear about some highlights!
I believe my last post was when I got Florence! So I start about talking to that! So I arrived by train to Florence I had been here before, so the sights were more or less just a refresher. I wanted to come back here to experience the atmosphere of the city and just walk around. When I arrived at the hostel it was like I just arrived home! The staff of Dany House Hostel created a family environment and made sure that everyone knew everyone! I met some really cool people. Bettina from Germany, Julio from Spain, Nahuel from Argentina, and Tyler from the States! As I had been going through Italy I had been practicing my Italian. When I met Nahuel from Argentina and Julio from Spain, they spoke better Italian than English if they didn’t know the words in English I was forced to talk to them in my broken Italian! It was perfect for me! Keep touch! As for Florence as a city it’s nice if you removed the cattle from the streets! Sorry I mean tourist groups. It was almost impossible to get near the main attractions never mind all of the lines. Definitely, a good place to go in the low season.
After Florence I went to Assisi I had booked 4 nights here. That was a bad idea! Assisi is very beautiful but also very small! You only need one full day to see it! The Basilica of St. Francis was worth the walk! As the whole city was built on the side of a mountain it was much easier to take the bus to the top and walk down, finishing your tour at the Basilica. Assisi is a very holy place! There are Fathers, Nuns and so on walking the streets and a massive church every 5 mins as you walk through it. Definitely good for a short time not a long time as there is not much else to do here than see the old town.
After spending a full day walking around playing tourist I then went back to the hostel looked for another place in the area. I found a cheap hostel in Perugia which is the capital of Perugia. It was 20 min away by train. Perugia is mostly a college town and I booked a place outside the city in a farmhouse mixed in the olive trees! It had a swimming pool free mountain bikes to use. Not to mention dogs, cats, horses, sheep, goats, chickens and horses every morning for breakfast I had fresh eggs from chickens I booked 3 nights here just relaxing, mountain biking and hiking the country side! Just what I needed to get me out of the rush of cities.
On my last day I left actually went into town to see the old town that had been built on top of a medieval fortress and to meet up with Jane that was coming from Croatia via ferry and then a train to Rome to fly to Athens. So a month to the day after Jane and I went separate ways we met up to have lunch and catch up and share stories before carried on to Rome. It was really nice to meet up. We talked about the differences of traveling on your own versus with someone and found that you really do get to experience more and meet more people on your own! I prefer it for sure!
After Perugia it was time to head to Ancona to catch my overnight ferry to Split in Croatia! I spent 5 weeks in Italy and had so much fun! I wouldn’t change anything except for more time and money there! I will be back to see you for a 4th time! Ciao Ciao Italia!
My original plan was to spend a few days in Split and drive to Dubrovnik and spend a few days there. When I got there everything changed. I had 11 Days before my flight to Athens from Dubrovnik. I spent 3 nights in Split and there isn’t much to see in Split but it is a good port to visit the Islands from. The things to see in Split itself are the Palace and I rented a bike to go around the massive sea side park. I also took a ferry to the Island of Brac. Which I learned it is pronounced Brach not Brack, because Brack means marriage in Croatian. I took the bus to the far side of the island to Bol, which is famous for its beach. On my way from the bus station to the beach I saw a dive shop! Since my last dive was in Chique Terre I thought I would check it out they were doing a dive in an hour. So I signed up. It was off the coast of Havr! This is an island I wish I had gone to for 4 nights, oh well next time. The dive was crystal clear and I will always remember it for its colorful caves! I really wish I had an underwater camera good for 60M/100ft but for now google will do haha! I ended up talking to the guy that owned the company and he told me he was closing his shop in a few days. So I asked what he did for the winter he told me that he travels every winter to different places all over the world doing commercial diving! He makes enough money doing that that he just does the dive shop for fun in the summers for now. He has been doing this for 18 years and wouldn’t change any of it! You can imagine I was listening very carefully! Food for thought! He invited me to go on an all day excursion the next day to the other side of Havr with a big group and go as deep as for 40m. My certification is only good to 18m but after seeing how comfortable I was at 30m he ask me if I was interested. Of course I was but I was staying Split and with ferry times and bus times I would not be there in time for their boat to leave. So I sadly declined his offer and walked back to the bus station to find out I had missed my bus back to the ferry port, apparently the schedule I was looking at was the old one not the one for the low season which you had to ask for! The last bus in the low season was at 4pm and it was now 6pm. This meant I had one option taxi! This Cost me 300 kuna or 50 cdn! Ouch! Oh well! What can you do! I was talking to The taxi driver on the way and thought I would learn some words in Croatian. He explained to me that I shouldn't bother as every town has its own version of the language and every time I changed cities or visited a city I would have to relearn everything. He said most people speak English anyway so just speak English!
After talking to the people in the hostel I took a bus to the city of Zadar. I highly suggest you go! The Old town is really nice to walk around but the highlight for me here was the Sea Organ! It was built into the sea wall and it is just that an organ that is played by how big the waves were in the sea! This one was the original the same architect also made a copy of one in San Francisco. Vancouver or Victoria needs one of these for sure! After I was talking to a local about it and they said that the locals wanted it removed! I guess in the winter Zadar gets hit with some pretty heavy winds and between the sea organ going crazy and the bells of the churches the noise becomes very annoying! I just think they need an off switch personally for the winter. I do have a video of the Sea Organ but its to big to upload. When you see me next ask me to show it to you or maybe you can find something on YouTube.
After Zadar I went to a town called Sibenik. Once again, not much here either, but good port to the islands and Krka National Park. You cannot go to Croatia without seeing at least one national park! This was the only one close on route but there are many more in the north, plus it was getting cold and I needed to move south not north! I took a bus from Sibenik to Krka National park and then took a boat through the park to the water falls and did a small 1 hour hike around the falls. Took the ferry back down to the entrance and spent time on the beach before going back to Sibenik. The next day I woke up and took a ferry to a small island called Zladin. I only went to the island as there were no beaches in Sibenik. When I got there I found the same beautiful clear water and even at 40 feet deep you can still see the bottom as you are swimming! PS if you decide to go to beaches in Croatia, Greece or Southern Italy expect to see people constantly changing in and out of their swim wear on the beach! It was a shock at first to me but now…… when in Europe…..! After the day at the beach I took the ferry back to Sibenik just before the sunset. I can’t pick my favorite sunset they are all amazing!
Then next day I headed down to Makarska. I rented a mountain bike and for 5 cdn a day and toured around. I went to the beach at this point found out I am no longer a fan of sandy beaches I love the small gravel beaches. For 2 reasons the stone don’t get everywhere and when it’s hot the stone are just nice to lie on and just as comfortable as sand! The Croatians and Greeks are on to something here! While biking around I found a dive shop and went for 2 more dives which were really good but no Havr. Makarska also has a massive mountain in just inland from the town. You can actually go for a hike and finish the hike at the beach. As I was pressed for time I couldn’t do any hiking here! My last night there I met a girl named Shannon from Aussie working Edinburgh, Scotland. We ended up going out for dinner because it was super cheap to eat out in Croatia, 10 dollars cdn for a home cooked meal, a salad and drink! We went to a patio in the port and watched the storm come in over the sea! It was amazing to watch the lightning as it came in. Until it reached us and it poured buckets! We were done our meal at this point so we just grabbed our drinks and ran inside the restaurant! This was also the time the rugby world cup was on!
Heading south again to Dubrovnik! I took the 3 and half hour bus down the coastline I wanted to rent a car and drive and trust me I am glad I took the bus because there was so much to see along the way! I also had to go through Neno, Bosnia as north and south Croatia are not connected on the mainland! It sure was nice of Croatia to give Bosnia some water front. I had one night in Dubrovnik and flew out the following afternoon. I am glad for that, Dubrovnik although very beautiful is also very busy during the day with the cruise ship and tour bus unloaded every day at 9 am! Lucky for me the city walls opened at 8am so I got to see what I wanted to see before the cattle filled the streets! Dubrovnik is not Croatia and it is just a tourist trap one day is more than enough here!
Now for a little bit of stress! It was brought to my attention my VISA for the EU had expired! It was good for 90 days within 180 day period! So that being said my flight out of Croatia was to Athens! Back to the EU! I had been in the EU for 114 days at this point (UK and Ireland are not included in this or Morocco or Croatia). So if I was caught I was facing fines as well as deportation and a band from the EU for a length of time. After talking to a few people and saying a few prayers I decided to carry on! I got to Athens airport for my connecting flight and nothing! I spent the night at the airport sleeping in the Chapel as you can’t sleep in the terminal. The next morning I flew to Santorini!
I arrived in Santorini and took a cab to the hotel as the buses were not running. When I got to the hotel it was 7am and reception did not open until 8. So I had a nap by the pool. Yes for 5 euro a night it had a pool and a 5 min walk to the beach! When reception opened I put my bags in my room and saw that there were 3 other people in the room sleeping so I had a couple hour nap. After I woke up I rented a quad for the day for 10 euro as I had to go to Kamari which was on the other side of the mountain from where I was staying. I drove over and found a dive shop that was open. The only reason I came to Santorini for a second time (I was here 2 years ago) was to see the world’s largest active underwater volcano. When I talked to the people at the dive shop they said that the volcano dive wasn’t really anything to see. So I was a little disappointed but they did inform me that there were some nice volcanic caves to dive in! They also said that they were not doing dive as the weather was not very good in the water and to call tomorrow. So I went back to the hotel and met my now awaken roommates the one guy was from the States and had been working all summer and Ios and had been in Santorini for 18 days. He was heading with a guy he met from France to Rhodes that night which was also staying in the room. There was also another girl sleeping in the room still at 3pm. So I asked the guy if he knew where she was from, he said Calgary I think. I thought awesome a Canadian! As soon as he said that she quickly chimed in and said I am from Prince George, BC! I work in Calgary but I am not from there! I said me and you are going to get along just fine! I told her I would normally be hunting moose in PG if I wasn’t here! So nice to talk to with common ground! Bergen told me that she worked for Air Canada and was told that a strike notice had been issued and that she should probably be responsible and head home. The other 2 guys and I convinced her that she is on strike and should take advantage of and just say she is stuck in Greece, after all the most of Greece’s Civil workers were on strike too! That night the 2 guys left and we went to a bar called Atlas that sure enough was owned by Canadians! We had a cheap meal there and also met 2 more girls from Comox, BC stay in Santorini! Who would have thunk it! So we Canadians in a Canadian bar in Santorini, Greece had a wicked time making fun of a couple that was from Washington, DC! They were proud to say it. They were on their honey moon and the owner of the bar asked what was your wedding song we will play it and you can dance! She quickly said some rap song by Akon! We were trying so hard not to laugh because she was dancing like a stripper! I wonder what their grandparents said about that! Anywho, I was introduced to 2 new songs the First was Business time by Flight of the Concords. The second was a parody of that song…….. I don’t know what it’s called but it goes……. If it makes you happy it can’t be be that bad! …..Only this version was If you make slouvaki! This mixed in with swing the lamps that hung over the bar to make it appear as if there were spot lamps going all over the room! I am not going to lie we Canadians made that bar happen! The next day we slept in and I called the dive shop and they were doing a dive the next day. So I ask Bergen what her plans were and if she wanted to try diving. I told her my plan was to go diving all day and then the dive shop was going to drop me off at the port to go to Rhodes and that I was going to go to Marmaris in Turkey for the day. After we went to the black beach for a few hours (the water was warmer than the air) She decided that she was going to join me I helped her find a flight from Antalya, Turkey for cheap so she could find her way home. That night we went back to Atlas, one last time to say goodbye to Cinta and Emma from Comox. The next morning we woke up and the dive shop picked us up and we got prepped for our dives. We got a tour of southern Santorini by truck as well as by boat. We did 2 dives with a provided lunch on our private beach on a small volcanic island all for 85 Euros! Bergen was amazed by how much she got to see and more in one day! I now think she is going to get her dive certification. The second dive I did was in the Volcanic caves and I must say it was very neat to be doing a dive in these condition as he had to use flash lights to see and I got my first glimpse of a shrimp, which under water looks very transparent! There were a lot more fish here than the first dives I did in Malia on Crete. We also saw black and white sea snails and another octopus as well as millions of fish!
After the dives we took an overnight ferry to Rhodes. After getting organized we went to the beach only 100m from the hotel! That evening we went to walk around the old town of Rhodes and have dinner on a patio roof top! Bergen was so grateful of all the things I had convinced her to do she treated me to dinner! Thank you so much by the way! The next day we took a one hour ferry to Later she took a bus to Antalya to catch flight early the next morning and I headed to the port to catch my ferry back to Rhodes. Bergen, high five for BC and the good times! Will see you back in Canada one day when I get there, Cheers!
The next day I was supposed to catch my flight from Rhodes to Athens and then Athens to Chania on the island of Crete. Only the people at air traffic control decided no, that’s not a good idea! So I was going to miss my connection but I would be going to Athens. As I had a flight on the 19th and it was the 15th. I thought oh well it’s not risk losing my flight so I will just stay in dumpy Athens until my flight! So I got to Athens and booked a 70 euro a night hotel! It was all I could find. So I sucked it up and went to the hotel it was right on the beach only it was 10 degrees and raining! I was officially depressed! The next day I woke up and logged into Facebook and I found out Emma and Cinta from Comox were also in Athens! I quickly said let meet up and decided to go for dinner! We met and talked about traveling and places in BC, you gals are completely 8 and will have to meet up in Comox for some riding or something Cheers Girls. They left the next morning to fly to Rome. I woke up back in my hotel the next morning and it was still raining and now 9 degrees! I looked online at the news and found out my flight on the 19th was now being canceled and I would have to be here for at least 6 nights! I also found out the next day it would be impossible for me to get the airport as transit would not be running and a taxi was 50 euros! I quickly looked online for cheap flights and found a flight to Chania on the 18th I also found another flight on the 20th from Heraklion (also on crete) direct to Manchester! Booked and Booked! I grabbed all my things and checked out of the hotel and headed for the airport.
I spent that night at the airport and got my flight the next morning to Chania and got a place staying at a hotel for 10 euro a night 50m from the beach! I checked in and was so happy! I decided I was going to take it easy and relax outside as the weather was nice and just figure out the mess of travels and what I was going to do. I received another email saying my new flight on the 20th was going to be canceled as well! I changed my flight free of charge and received a refund for my flight on the 19th. I was now fliying from Heraklion on the 25th which now gave me a week in Chania, Crete! Now I was really happy! So I there was a few things to do on the west part of Crete! The first was diving of course, 2nd hike Samaria Gorge, 3rd visit Elefonisi and 4th Explore the old town of Chania!
So I called the dive shop and they told me that we need at least 4 people to do a dive to offset the cost and to call every day to see if they were going the following day. So I told the reception that I would like to do Samaria Gorge the next day so he arranged everything. I went out and later came back and found out Liam from Tasmania had also checked in and wanted to do the same hike. We got up early the next morning at it was about 10 degrees but clear sky so we knew it should be nice later so didn’t wear much for the morning which made for a long bus trip. After getting there we started hiking. We passed everyone as we were trying to keep warm. Samaria Gorge is the deepest (1250m), narrowest (4m at the narrowest point) and longest (16km) gorge in all of Europe. It took us 4 hours to complete and we finished on the beach on the Libyan Sea. Such a good day minus the millions of rock towers! Don’t worry we took care of them for future visitors! We took a ferry to watch the sunset and then took the bus back to the hotel. The next day we went to and explored Chania. Which was severely bombed during World War II and some of the ruins are still there today! We went back to the hotel and George in reception asked if we could change rooms with a couple French Canadian girls obviously we said sure! So after talking to them we found out that the also wanted to see Elefonisi. We decided to rent a car and drive there as it was half the price compared to the bus, 20 euro for the bus each or 38 plus 20 for gas for the car for the day. We ordered the car from George and the next morning I drove down with them to Elefonisi. It was a 2 hour drive and it wasn’t as bad I had thought it would be. Elefonisi is an island attached to the mainland only by a sand bar. Sometimes of the year it is an island others it’s not depending on the tides. Waters were crystal clear and sandy shallow water. We ended up there for the day and tossing a Frisbee around and soaking in the sun! Very productive day I must say! We drove back and found out the girls were going to take a ferry the next day but they were on strike so they had to quickly book a flight so they could get home to Montreal. Then next day I went diving and it was fantastic! It was a dive site I had heard about called the Cathedral. It the many reason I wanted to dive here! It is a massive cave about 30ft high and 15ft wide with a hole in the top to let sunlight in! When you come into the cave it looks like the light beam of God shining down into the cave hence the name. It also had a fresh water spring that leaked into it and it was interesting to swim through as the water became very blurry as the salt and fresh waters mixed. The second dive was also very good it I got to see a fish about 2 feet long called a grupa that can be up to 2m in length. I also saw a fish that was really colorful blues, oranges, reds and yellows about 5 in in length. When I got back on the boat I asked what it was called they said it’s a german. I laughed and said why is that they said because they taste like crap and no one likes it in Crete so we called them germans! I guess the Cretans are still a little bitter! This fish has come up from the Red Sea and has only been in Crete for about 15 years! I am excited to see what the Red Sea is going to be like if this is a preview! I got back to the hotel and Liam was leaving the next day to Heraklion. I decided that because of costs I was going to stay in Chania for 2 more nights until I had to leave and then go to Heraklion on the 25th in the morning (3 hour bus) and go see the Palace of Knossos. We tried to meet up before my flight out at 1030pm but it didn’t work out because communication was limited. Oh well sometime in the future bud!
The Palace of Knossos was very impressive! That is until I read some of the signs saying that most of it is not ruins but made of concrete and what the archeologist thought it had looked like. This is the place of the famous battle and legend of the minotaur! The ruins were dated back some 4000 years, 2000 years BC.
Greece is one of those places everyone must visit as it has so much history to do with Western Culture! Did you know that the original Olympics was not for the best of the best but for the most harmonious competitors and the prize was dinner and an Olive tree! Most of the words we use in the English language are derived from the Greek language! I could keep going on about history but it’s boring! You just need to go to Greece especially the island of Crete!
As I said I flew to Manchester and am now staying with my friends the Stockdales! Once again you guys are awesome people I just wish more people were like your family! I fly to Sharm El Sheikh, Eygpt on November 3rd to spend a week in Dahab, diving the Red Sea and depending on the political situation possibly a trip to Giza to see the Pyramids! But that will be another post!
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