La Belle Montréal

It was a loong flight and an exhausting day but we are finally back to Canada! Getting to the Athens' airport was as expected. We got on a subway which was clearly mapped to go straight to the airport. It didn't mention that half way through you had to get off the subway, and wait for another train which came every 40 minutes. No, this was told to us by some Greek lady who did not speak any English. We eventually got the hint to get off the subway, where there was an English speaking Greek who informed us of the next train. Anyway, we got there. We took a plane from Athens to Munich, where we started this whole mess. We found ourselves at the Munich airport, exactly two months later, at even the same time of day. We weren't there long, as our first flight was delayed and our second was 10 minutes from leaving. We got on the plane and began our 8 hour transatlantic journey.

We didn't sleep at all on the plane and by the time we arrived at in Montreal, we were up for close to 24 hours. The day before we were looking over Athens in shorts and t-shirts, but stepping out into Canada it was obvious it was winter. My aunt picked us up in a car with antlers and a rodolf nose and we knew we were home. The next morning the city was covered with snow. We prepared for a lot of circumstances on this trip, but snow was not one of them. When deciding what to pack I checked the average temperatures for all the places we would hit. Everywhere but Montreal that is. The snow and cold was a good excuse for us to laze around yesterday. That, and the fact that even after a full 24 hours of being awake, I still woke up at 3:30am unable to sleep. The time change is getting to me. On our way to Europe we flew Halifax to Germany, suffering a 5 hour time change. This time it was from Athens to Montreal, making it a 7 hour time change. I'm slowly getting used to it though, this morning I slept until 4:30.

It doesn't matter though, because we are back in Canada, which means we are back at home. We can plug things in without adapters and everything in stores are already converted into Canadian dollars. There aren't people yelling at us in different languages and we can walk into a store, or passed a resturant without being followed around by the owners. Tomorrow we fly to Halifax! So excited to be done travelling. Saturday I will sleep in and do nothing all day but watch movies. As for now, I think I will continue to lay on the couch and watch the Gilmore Girls.

Love Sarah

Canada-bound!

Dave and I are about an hour from leaving to go to the airport! We are giving ourselves boatloads of time, due to our previous experiences with getting around Athens. It still seems a little surreal that we're leaving. Last night we emptied our packs and threw out whatever we didn't need anymore. There were so many old tickets, receipts, even our original boarding pass to get into Germany. We reminisced on all our favorite memories in Europe and thought about how different things were when we first arrived. We had our last Greek meal (delicious) and took our final shots of Ouzo before going to bed. We both woke up early this morning, finding it difficult to sleep thinking about the day ahead. It still seems to hard to believe we'll be on Canadian soil by the end of the day. We spent the last of our euros, and still have a 5 dollar Canadian bill, which we will immediately use at Tim's upon entering the airport. I'm not particularly fond of Tim Hortons' coffee, but it will be a nice taste of home. Anyway, Dave has just informed me that he is entirely packed and I should be too.

Will talk more from Canada!

Love Sarah

Santorini

Hi all!

Dave and I are now out of Athens. A couple of days ago we took another ferry from the coast of Athens to Santorini. We are staying here until tomorrow when we take the ferry back. We are then only in Athens for 2 nights before flying back to Canada!

Getting to Santorini wasn't easy. Our ferry left at 7:30am and we had to leave our hostel around 5:30. It was still really dark and Dave and I spent half an hour getting lost looking for the metro station. Luckily the scenery was beautiful. (see picture below) When we finally found the station, we were starting to run a little late, it was then we found out our subway wasn't running. (see picture below). I suppose we should feel lucky that the metro in Athens is even in business, but public transit so far has been far from smooth. We were running out of time and patience and almost took what would have been a pretty expensive cab ride, when we found a sign. A tiny little sign posted on the door of the security office two floors up. It said to get where we needed to go, we had to take the subway in the opposite direction, which would eventually turn around and take us to the ferry port. (of course). Maybe there were signs like this on the subway platform, but who can tell when everything is written is triangles and squares? We still weren't sure if we were going to make it but we got on the ferry shortly before it set sail. It was a new boat and the ride was about 8 hours. We spent the first half catching up on sleep missed that morning, and the other half eating hamburgers and playing cards.

When we got here we were picked up at the ferry port by the George who owns the hostel we're staying in. He and his wife Stella have been super nice and will even be taking us back to the ferry port at 6:00am tomorrow. So far Santorini has been great. We each rented a scooter for the time we're here at a whopping 10 euros a day, and they have been so much fun. We're able to tour around the entire island and see the picturesque scenery we've always heard about. It's beautiful here. There are just little boxes on the hillside, little boxes made of ticky tacky, little boxes on the hillside, little boxes all the same.They are almost all white with blue shutters, as if to send a message to all outsiders, that these islands are Greek. Last night we rode across to the other side of the island to watch the sunset. It was pretty cloudy, but beautiful. (See picture below) Tonight should be clearer so we will try again. The weather here has been surprisingly cold. It's been really windy and we've had to dress like we're back in Canada. I don't even know how many layers I wore last night but it was a lot, including two sweaters and leggings under my jeans. We've also had to buy gloves for scooting purposes. Today was a lot nicer though. Still windy, but we could see the sun and it warmed us up.

Anyway, tomorrow we're back to Athens, where we will be spending our last days in Europe. It's hard to believe this trip is coming to an end. We've both gotten so used to being homeless travelers that being back to having a home will be an adjustment. We're so excited though. Our original plan for this trip was 3 months, and neither of us can imagine spending another month on the road. It's break time. We're exhausted and getting sick. Anyway, it's siesta here. Time for a nap.


Love Sarah

Ciao Italia!

Greeting from the sea! We are actually beginning our 15 hour journey to Greece now. We are about 3 hours in and so far it's been beautiful. We are staying in a cabin which is great. We have our own room, including a shower, and we're still able to walk around and enjoy this fantastic ferry. I only have 15 minutes of internet time, as we are sharing an hour we bought with some boys we met waiting for the ferry. Boys we are now sharing a 5 litre jug of wine we bought at the supermarket for 4 euros. The ferry is pretty sweet, it's got plenty of resturants and bars, a casino, and a disco. When we wake up we will be in Greece! There is a hazy plan in the mix to wake up at 5am to see the sun rise. Not sure if we will make it. Anyway, my 15 minutes is running out quick so I will end it here.

We will talk more in Greece!

Love Sarah

Roma

Tonight is our last night in Rome. It's pretty cool here. There is a lot to see, and most of it is really old. We got here a few days ago and took a walk to find the Colosseum. It was a pretty short walk from our hotel and we caught it just before sunset. We didn't want to explore too much as the next day was dedicated to Ancient Rome. We got up early and started the wait in line to get into the Colosseum. We took the tour around and learned about life back in the day. (Did you know that gladiators used to fight hippopotamus? I didn't.) We spent the rest of the day touring around the ruins of Ancient Rome. We bought a 'then-and-now' book which showed us what everything used to look like, otherwise it would just look like broken rocks and crumbling columns.

Today we walked around Vatican city. Literally. The entire thing is surrounded by high brick walls and we walked around the entire thing (which is actually a country) looking for the entrance, which is only available through the museum. We stood in a few long lineups and looked around St. Peter's church and square. We finished our day with the most expensive and delicious ice creams we've ever had before booting it home.

Tomorrow we train to Brindisi, where we will only stay one night in the worst rated hostel we've been in. There aren't many options in Brindisi and since we're only there one night we figure we'll tough it out. Even if we have to stay in separate boy and girl dorms. The next day, we board an overnight ferry to Patras. Greece is our final country and we actually started the countdown (9 days) until we are back in Canada. Anyway that's all for now. I will leave you some more pictures of our Roman times.

Mucho love,

Sarah

Italia

Finally down to Italy! Venice is probably the strangest city we've seen. There are no cars or bikes, just water. Lots of water, and boats. Things like taxis, buses, cars and ambulances, are all boats. And the food. The food is amazing. We went out for pizza and beer last night and it was amazing, even more so because they expect you to eat an entire pizza. And we do. Pizza again for lunch. Only this time rolled up and cut in half. Every restaurant is a pizzaria, and a pastaria. Venice is also the city we've been in that is the most blatantly tourist. The population of this place is something like 60 thousand, where they get 20 million tourists a year.

We are two of those tourists, and obviously so. We are just like everyone else with our maps outs asking 'Where the hell are we?' We never know where we are. Since the streets have no cars there is no order. It' just a maze filled with people and maps and rivers and boats.

Tonight we go out for pasta. We've probably each gained 5 pounds already. Any weight I lost in the summer has come back with a vengeance. I don't even care. I can always lose weight but how often can I eat an entire Italian pizza?

Tomorrow we head to Rome. Less than two weeks until we're back in Canada! We have recently downloaded the CBC radio app and listening to Halifax radio has been a taste of home. Time has been going really fast lately. We have been seeing so much and are always on the move. Also, it's hard to feel homesick when we have this kind of scenery around us. It will be nice to rest though, to stay more than 3 nights in the same place will feel like such a luxury. We have already started making lists of things we will do when we get home. Most of them include washing and sleeping. Anyway, it's siesta time. Here is a taste of Venice for you though.

Love Sarah

Holy Toledo!

So we have finally left the coast, and can no longer call ourselves in southern Spain. Yesterday we took a train for the first time since Switzerland, to Toledo, Spain. Which is about half an hour out from Madrid. We love it here. We arrived yesterday late afternoon, threw our bags down, then left to explore.

Toledo is a small city, and its map looks like spaghetti. The city center is encased by fortress walls and the streets are so teeny tiny that cars can hardly drive down them, so they rarely do. When we were out last night we saw maybe 5 cars, trying to make their way through the crowds. Not as much tapas here though, which is a little disappointing. We will still find it.

We have exactly three weeks until we return to Canada, with a short, three day stop over in Montreal before heading back to Halifax. We still have a lot of places to see before that time and have pretty much every day planned until then. There's not a whole lot more of that "we like it here so we'll stay another day" mentality, if so we would probably extend our stay in Toledo...and everywhere we go.

We are getting excited to be home though. I miss the simple pleasures of taking a hot shower, then wrapping up in a big fuzzy towel, instead of the wafer-thin travel towel we've been using. Or brushing my teeth with a toothbrush that doesn't fold up. Or best of all, traveling around without a 20 pound back on my back. It will be nice just hearing consistent English around me, instead of German, Dutch, French, Spanish, and soon to be Italian and Greek. Anyway, I don't want to sound like I'm complaining. Europe is amazing and the experiences we've had here are ones we won't forget.

Tomorrow we move on to Barcelona! We will actually be back on the coast again, but far more north than we were before. Probably won't be swimming weather but pretty all the same. Ok. That's enough for now. I've been writing on Dave's iPhone and my eyes and fingers are starting to hurt.

Much love,

Sarah