Country Re-Cap

Ireland: An incredibly green place! So much beauty here. Will never forget that I was the driver. Something that wasn't on my bucket list, but was all at the same time somehow, never thought I would ever actually do it. We drove the whole island, with added confusion of things changing once we were in Northern Ireland. We definitely feel we saw Ireland, but would go back.

England: Well we only hit London, a big, big city. We enjoyed the big city feel. Would love to see more of this country and venture away from London. But we saw the bigs, and checked that off. London is a place that I would want to go exploring more and see more neighbourhoods and things. It is so big that this would be a place that you spend a lot of time in wandering and getting lost.

Spain: A beautiful country. Feel we saw most of it, excluding the western and southern part. Love the familiarity with the language. Even though due to the many dialects, things weren't able to completely understood, there was still a comfort about it. But the country as a whole has such a uniqueness to it. Maybe it's the Bulls, but even the people. It is different then other countries in Europe, with its history as well, but a place I would keep going back to. Also going the smaller cities and towns along the way.

France: We really didn't do France. But loved being in Nice. A place that could very easily be used as a hub to see other places around. But a great city as well, much bigger then I ever thought. Then Paris, well, I love Paris. A little disappointed about all the rain, but you still got the vibe of the city through it all. I could keep going back, time and time again. I would love to go and walk the streets of Paris more. Through the neighbourhoods and see a different side of Paris. France in general seems to be a neat place. I am not particularly fond of not knowing the language, especially that there is more of an uncomfortable feeling because it is assumed that we should know French being Canadians, even though they are different. 

Netherlands: Biased opinion also because we weren't alone through the Netherlands which made it better as well. Especially with the language. We really feel we saw the Netherlands. Would definitely go back, as it has so much to see. Everyone was very friendly and you never felt like you were inconveniencing anyone. But feel we saw the country. Driving through it was nice and a change as well, looking out at the fields and watching the small towns pass by. Beautiful country.

Germany: Didn't know what to expect with Germany. They are very cautious about their history and how the present everything. You sense that in a lot of different things. Even just walking around you pick up on a different vibe. Berlin would be a place I would go back to and explore more. Germany as a whole I don't know what else I would see there. I really enjoyed what we did and the things we saw, but I wouldn't know where to go back to. But I appreciate the history and how they choose to present it. 

Czech Republic: Well for starters, the price is right. Awesome gluten free beer. I was so captivated by Prague. I would love to see what else the country has to offer. They have a history that is so recent and correlates so much with the war, but still so much happened in recent years. The prices are cheap! You get so much for what you pay for it because of it being a different currency and just cheap. Didn't think the Eastern countries would be places that I would have enjoyed as much as I did. Would love to see more of Czech.

Austria: A sort of mixture of Germany and Switzerland. Definitely not by the landscape for Switzerland, but more for the feel of the place. And well they are a German speaking and eating place so there is that to them. Vienna specifically I wish we were for longer, to see so much more of the city. They main attractions are so close that I would have loved to venture out and see the neighbourhoods, and see what else the city has to offer. And the country. Seeing small town Salzburg I feel authentic Austria is seen in the smaller places. But there is probably truth to that to some extent in every country.

Switzerland: Wow, a slice of home. I would have loved to spend weeks in Switzerland. It was absolutely beautiful. The best trains because even if it isn't much it is really breathtaking looking around. The people are so nice and friendly, and they are willing to help always. It is an incredible place. Pictures can't do it justice. Even the mental images will never compare to how the country is. This is a place that you do have to be doing much to be doing something. The surroundings are amazing. The Rockies are home so I prefer our mountains, but i still enjoyed the Alps.

Italy: Well we certainly saw Italy. I loved Italy. The people, the language, the atmosphere. Everything about it. Would enjoy going further south and to the opposite coast. Plus the food was great! The Italians definitely has celiac down pat. Consistently throughout all of Europe it was usually the Italian places that were gluten free. We had to really search to find places that were country based that were gluten free. Definitely enjoy southern Italy more then north. Mostly just because they are more business in the north. Beautiful country, kindest people, and such a. Romantic language. 

Greece: I would be interested in going to more mainland Greece, to see what it has to offer. The islands were great! Santorini wins for sure. But they are all very similar in feel, and landscape. Greece as a whole I am kind of meh about don't really feel the need to go back. But would definitely go back to the islands. For more then a few nights. If you were actually going to balance seeing them and relaxing and enjoying the sun, a week or 5 days at each island would be necessary. 

Still can't believe we made it to all these places. Looking forward to reading my blog and re living it all, and going through the the trillions of pictures.

European Adventure Ends

Well it is official, our European adventure has come to an end. This brings with it a mix of emotions. We can't believe how fast it went, and that a short time ago we were at these amazing places. Even to think back to when it first began it is hard to remember that was in the same trip. We are excited to go home. Back to our families and our friends. To establish a routine, sleep in our own bed, eat home cooked meals, and be able to drive where we want to go. Even though we walked 20 kilometres a day, we prefer this method of transportation. We also are excited to have more clothes. We did well with what we brought, but we are looking forward to wearing not sun bleached everything, and to change it up. SWEATS!!! I can't wait to put my fuzzy socks, my sweats, slippers and get all cozy. We also are very excited to meet our new nieces, and to see everyone! We really do miss all of our family and friends. I know that's something that people just say, but I'm not. We genuinely miss our family and friends. We look forward to Sunday's being packed with going to church and seeing our friends and then going to for soup and all hanging out and talking and playing then doing the same for spaghetti dinner.

We certainly have a new appreciation for the smaller things that we have at home. We have grown a lot, and learned a lot. So many things that won't be able to written. We very quickly got used to living from place to place, and out of backpacks. Our marriage has definitely grown, I expected this but not in this way. Having four straight months of such genuine conversation, about literally everything, and being able to whole hearted talk without the distractions that life brings with school and work. Trust me we have whole hearted conversation at home as well, I am not explaining well but there is definitely something different about how our conversations were guided. Anyways, I know what I am getting at, hopefully you kind of do. We have also learned a lot about ourselves being on this trip. In regards to our marriage as well but certainly as individuals as well. 

The memories will stay with us forever. But be prepared for stories upon stories, as it has been our life for the last four months it is all we have to talk about right now. Which that in itself is a weird thought to think. It is sad that our long awaited adventure has come to an end. It really did fly by. 

Well moving on I shall tell you about our morning. I tend to talk in circles,  so I shall stop while I am ahead.

Neither of us had a great sleep last night. We both tossed and turned, and were up and 530 for a while, before getting sleep again. Sleep was also very half awake and half sleeping, so quite restless. An unfortunate thing, especially because we have an incredibly long day ahead. 

We went to the front des and got a cab to take us to the airport. The Air Canada system in Athens is quite different. We were there 2 hours early and there were tons of people. We checked in online but we needed to short check our luggage, to make sure we would get them in Montreal, even though we thought because of customs we would have to get them anyway. So we were standing in the line and a worker asked where we were headed. When we said to him Montreal he pushed us right to the front of the line. They kept doing this. We aren't entirely sure as to why, because they had a ton of people standing in line waiting and who knows for how long. Maybe they were way early for their flight. We don't know. Luckily we flew through, and there was hardly a line to get stamped out of the EU. A sad thing. And we walked through security, it was great. We had amples of time to walk around before we boarded.

When we did get to the gate it was packed. We didn't have to wait long before they started boarding us. Because we are at the back of the plane we were one of the first people on. Much to our dismay, as we walked to the plane we realized we were on a Rouge flight.

Now I had never been on one till now, and I don't particularly enjoy it. Firstly, it's small. A 2-3-2 seating across, but still small. There are not TV's. I don't know if you remember me rambling about how awesome the air canada system on the way over was, yea this has nothing. You have to download the app. Which I decided is a real stupid way of doing this. Firstly, you don't tell me this before and now I can't do it, secondly I don't want to be looking down at my iPad I want to be looking up so that my neck doesn't hurt. The seats are also small, and not very comfortable. And it is extremely cold, even completely wrapped in blankets. We were really looking forward to watching movies.

Luckily we remembered to phone to get me a gluten free meal. We were real hungry and glad when it was the first thing they did when we were at our gliding altitude. This is a 10 hour flight. Which is brutal. But it is also weird because we are always in the day as we fly. The general consensus, purely based on what people are doing, is so sleep solidly for at least the first 4 hours. Because it has been 4 hours of the flights and people are all crashed around us. 10 hours is a real long time. It is brutal. Wouldn't be so bad if I had movies to watch. Even on the app, Luke got it on his phone and they don't have new releases, if you want those you gotta rent an iPad from them, but at least you have movies. We left at noon o'clock Athens time, and we land in Montreal at half past 3. Then we go through customs, pick up our bags, and go out of the secure area to re-check our bags and catch our flight to Ottawa. I am hoping we can maybe just treat it like a connection and not have to do all that, but I am not sure. 

Then we sleep, hopefully a good solid sleep. Then we start our Ottawa adventure. We are looking forward to coming home. And we are so close to being Canada bound. 

Also it is a scary thing when the captain puts the seat belt sign on, and then tells the flight attendants to be seated. That isn't an encouraging thing I decided. Luckily though nothing came of it. Another reason why I will not fly with rouge, they have no gluten free snacks. They only carry veggies and dip on other flights, no peanuts, and everything else is glutenous. It's the small things, not to mention they started out with a bad taste in our mouths so everything just makes it worse. There are supposed to be a snack, and then a warm snack before we land. Hopefully the warm snack is more meal like because that means they should have something for me. I bought a chocolate bar before the flight. It is a big one cause they literally had nothing smaller, and I didn't plan on having it all. But between the 2 of us it is half gone already. Ugh! My little tiny lunch doesn't last long. I'm hungry mother, I'm hungry, I really am!

One of the greatest things about requesting to have a gluten free meal, is that you get it before everyone else. With lunch I lucked out, by the time my hot snack came around I was real real hungry and I got it at least a half hour sooner then Luke. For lunch and snack. My warm snack was a hot(temperture) omelette loaf. Black olives, red onion, potatoe, cheese, mmmmm it was tasty, just hot. I was more then ready for something. With an hour and a half before we land hopefully I get an actual meal when we land. 

But we made it through, we must have been one of maybe 5 planes that landed at the same time in Montreal because customs was packed! The bearded you through a que where you got observe the madness before entering it. When you did you walked through multiple very long switch backs. At the end there were machines where you scanned your passports put in your customs card, and it spit out a photocopied card. Then you proceeded into another queuing heard, but much shorter where you spoke to a customs guy. He handed everything back and you made the journey to retrieve your bags. To be honest I was expecting s few more questions purely because of the length we were gone for but nope flew through it. At baggage claim things were delayed because of the mass amount of people landing. 

When we got our packs the people at the connection desk were able to help us out which was great. She was confused as to why we were there but helped us anyway even if she didn't understand. We ate then headed back through security and found a Tim Hortons. We were both very stoked about that! 

The tiny plane to Ottawa was late. This was unfortunate because we left at the time we were supposed to be in Ottawa. Not to mention they had us boarded and we sat at the gate longer then we were actually in the air. We got in the air the ran through with water, ran through with garbage, and then we landed. Pretty sure it is the shortest plane we ever been on. Pretty fun though 22 minute.  

When we arrived in Ottawa we were greeted by Joc and Abby waiting for us! It was a great reunion, we missed them a lot. We grabbed our bags and headed for home. When we arrived Steve and Shawn were the next excited people we got to greet! It was great. We talked for a while Steve made us a delicious sandwich then he gave me a gift. PILLOWS!!! Haha too funny but they are magical! For our adventuring out east I get my own pillow to sleep on as per what I said hehehe to kind!!! 

Our jet leg was very odd, as it kind of wasn't there. By the time we got to the house it was 3 AM to us but we were feeling fine. To us it some how felt like 819PM Ottawa time. When we went to bed it was 1045 and we were ready to sleep. And on our new pillows at that! A solid sleep waking up earlier then we expected but feeling good. Now a full day ahead of getting ready for the weekend and anxiously awaiting the arrival of mom and dad!

No matter what when we are together we are always adventuring. Look forward to what comes next and our eastern Ontario adventure this week! 

And so a new adventure begins...

Home

Another beautifully written piece by my daddy. Looking forward to coming home!

Home

 

The backpacks are weathered and the feet are now sore,  The dirty laundry lay piled on the floor

 

The card  in the camera is filled with their treasure,  Memories for a lifetime to many to measure

 

The passport stamps from Dublin to Rome,  The final page reserved for the last stamp, HOME

 

The last few days for the last few sights,  Greek beds and pillows for the last few nights

 

The wine and the foods of the nations are fine,  But crepes and perogies are back on their mind

 

Spaghetti sauce of awesomeness oh so good,  And soup on their Sunday's the way that they should

 

They left as two persons committed and strong,  Three and a half months has not been too long

 

The strands of their lives have endured the weather,  And now are so tightly are woven together

 

The families they left, they love so much, Though their efforts were many to keep in touch

 

Text and blogs are wonderful you see, But there has been growth in their family tree

 

This uncle and aunt, new additions must meet,  They'll be bundled and waiting for this special treat

 

The rest will remain as they were in their places,  Eagerly awaiting their smiling faces

 

Some things have been lost, others have been gained,  But one thing for certain and clearly remains

 

The void that was left when they departed so thrilled,  By these two world travellers it can only be filled

 

A tug and a pull and soon more and more hands,  To pull on that chord of those two woven strands

 

We have sat and waited and watched and read,  And travelled the world with their blog in our head

 

The voice in the teddy bear  "I love you " it states,  For one little Abigail whose first birthday awaits

 

Patience more patience the day oh so soon, But it still feels as far away as the moon

 

In our prayers we have held them and missed them so much,  The time is so close that our lives again touch

 

The prayer of your sending we read once again,  To recount our blessings as it reaches it's end

 

The voice of your mother all strong and proud, But tears fell on her cheeks as she read it out loud

 

We prayed for your safety each day and each night,  The Angels we beckoned would hold you so tight

 

The wind at your back and the sun in your face,  Truly brought joy in place after place

 

Roscoe, the promise of our care he would see,  Barking at the door not buried under the tree

 

Our prayers have been answered, we thank you God,  And yes Roscoe is on the green side of the sod

 

So together we pull on that chord now so strong,  To Home you are beckoned  at home you belong

 

The Mothers, in front the Fathers behind,  The brothers the sisters the children in line

 

The grammas  the grandpas the family and friends, uncles and aunties and cousins attend

 

Each one that loves you puts in a hand, As Together we're pulling you back to this land

 

The soles of your shoes more worn than before, Soon will be walking through the door

 

A casual walk then a jog then a run, The Parents, The family, A daughter A son

 

The expressions of love had exchanged through the air, Over all of those miles the warmth had been there

 

The final promise when the travellers set out,  A beacon at home that would never go out

 

A beacon of love and of hope and of being,  So you knew where to come when you were done sight seeing

 

An evening arrival hand in hand  on the lawn,   And there it was The Porch Light was On!

 

A glimmer a sparkle , a hug and a kiss, This was home which they truly did miss

 

Mothers, Fathers, Family and Friends

Joined in with this chorus  :                                  

 

"And so the adventure ends"

Athens

Our final day of adventuring for this chapter. Can't believe it's come to an end. But we ended the trip off right.

We had a very relaxing morning, slept in payed around and eventually ended up checking in for our flight online. After we got ready and headed out into the world. We were walking to find a place to eat and a y from a restaurant stopped us and started talking to us about his menu. What really got us was the free drink each. Sold! We enjoyed for a few hour the well rounded meal. 

From there we headed in the Acropolis museum. It was very interesting. The Acropolis is the hill that the Parthenon is on. It was information overload, but not at the same time. It was really enjoyable. They even had a short little movie you could watch about its history. That was very interesting. 

From there we walked around the Acropolis. Through some more markets streets and eventually made it to the famous gyros place the waiter was absolutely hilarious. He was joking with everyone, trying to get people into the restaurant, it was very entertaining. Then eventually we made our way back to the hotel. 

It was a simple yet wonderful day. Ending back ath the hotel we relaxed for a bit before we went back to the jacuzzis and relaxed in the tub. Our final night of relaxation abroad. Great conversation while watching at the Parthenon was illuminated.

So crazy to us that our trip has flown by. We are excited to see everyone, get back into routine, and see what's next in life for us, but it's all mystery and in Gods hands. We are so thankful for the time together, the memories we made, and being able to fulfill our dreams of exploring Europe. 

We look forward to returning home, but our time in Europe will never be forgotten, cherish and remembered forever.

And so the European adventure ends...

Final Ferry & Second Last Night

In my personal opinion we had an amazing day. Even though it was sad as we boarded a ferry this morning and headed to Athens. It was a four ferry ride. We had pre bought apples and an an ice tea and chips to make it through, but when we boarded we found some sea side window seats, and got a Freddy cappacino. We have a great four hours talking  the whole way through and watching the beautifully blue coloured sea go by. The sea actually stayed a rather light blue til we got within a half hour of the port where it got much darker.  

It was a really great time, and very enjoyable. When we were on the metro heading to our hotel from the port we witnessed a girl trying to steal someone's bag. It was very weird. We were on the train and she got off. All we saw was this old guy aggressively holding this ladies arm spewing what we think was Italian. Luke saw a bag she was holding in her hand he grabbed from her. So the conclusion was she tried to take it from him. Oddly, another random older guy got off the train and got involved and somehow distracted or something the guy holding her and she came back on the train. And the old guy that was holding her was yelling at them both. He was very angry. It was all very weird and definitely worried us both, and put us on edge. When she was on the train she also was saying something to a few people in Greek. 

But we made it to our hotel with no problems. A shwanky place. We relaxed for a bit then headed up to check out the roof top garden. The garden was in the restaurant and we got a voucher for 2 free glasses of wine, so we made a reservation enjoyed a cold drink before our reservation, then had a lovely meal. Our hotel looks over the back side of the Parthenon. Which is pretty cool, but a little over rated.

 

This is Luke's third time Athens and my second. Neither of us are particularly taken by it, which is nice. It is nice because we are a little city shocked. For starters because we have been on islands, which means small towns for 2 weeks, but there are so much more to big cities, people, and really just atmosphere. Even though our waitress said Athens is dead in August, we will see if she is right. 

After our dinner we got on our robes and slippers and headed to the jacuzzi. A not overly warm place, but we had a great view of the Parthenon, and had a relaxing day.

 

We had a great day. Our final day tomorrow consists of a few repeats. For Luke going to the Acropolis museum, which wasn't finished when we were here in high school. When we were here in high school we went to the old market and we found an awesome place for gyros, back then I enjoyed this. When Luke was here last time he went back to the same place we were, and so we must again, that makes it tradition. 

Not that you care, but I shall do a reflection post that I will write on the plane, then take a hiatus till the following week where I shall recap the weekend and wrote about the week. But that is for later on. For now we enjoy our sleep, and final day on our European adventure. 

And so the adventure continues..,

Paros

Sad to say we had our last day laying in the sun. We went to a pretty sweet beach. They had a restaurant, lounge chairs, waiters walking around, umbrellas, and lots of sun. We spent majority of our day here, basking in the heat of the sun. We had lunch and then some beds opened up that we were lucky enough to snatch. It was a beautiful day. Drinks, water, cold cappacino, and ice! Which is a marvellous thing in this heat, but also not seen very often. 

We flip flopped around, went in the ocean, and all in all just enjoyed conversation periodically filled with silence as we lay in peace. Side note, it is hilarious watching people when I order a Greek salad without tomatoes. The reactions are priceless, and never gets old.

 

We long ago dubbed me Canameropean. We of course made this word up but it means I am Canadian, American, and European. Reasons for this have been mentioned all throughout the blogging but here are a few. I certainly have a Canadian accent, this comes out in a few words. Canada being one of them, and then randomly weird sounds happen in how I say something that catches us both off guard. Not to mention I actually am Canadian so there is that. American, well I spell and say things the way Americans do, most often it is the American way. Definitely you must remember the European. My car, our house, Roscoe, just to name a few. It is definitely an accurate way to describe. Canameropean!!!

Moving on. When we were baked, cooked and hydrated enough we headed back to the hotel. Cleaned up, and got ready for dinner. When it came time to choosing a place to eat we decided it was close enough to sunset that we would eat along the shore and watch as the sun went down. Even though the main event was while we were having the last few sips of wine, it was a very lovely meal.

Well sort of. Luke had a very not so lovely looking meal, that was actually rather disgusting. There really isn't much more to say about it other then that. It was stuffed with cheese and tomatoes. For those not catching from the picture below, stuffed calamari. With the tentacles and all. Excuse me while I run to the toilet. I enjoyed a sort of Greek shepards pie. Lamb on the bottom, peas, potatoes and delicious melted cheese baked on top. It was fantastic. 

 

And here is the fire ball setting behind the tip of the island. The pictures go from end to beginning because I was much to tired to switch them all around, so if you want to look at it how we saw it start in the bottom right corner, work to the left, then the next row go back to the right and so on. Oops, but it's late and I'm sleepy. 

 

The real kick in the pants at dinner is to funny not mention in this, but really actually not funny at all. Let me attempt to paint a picture for you. We were sitting at our cute two person table facing the ocean, enjoying the beautiful sunset, sipping on our glasses of wine, looking lovingly into each other's eyes, then back at the sunset. Sounds magical right?

A waitress came up to us and asked me if she could ask me a question and said she may be wrong or right. Thinking to myself, is she gonna ask where I'm from, or my heritage, kind of a weird lead into a question... Nope WRONG! Are you pregnant? . . . My face promptly dropped, responding no. She quickly tried to back track saying I just looked beautifully curly, and placed her hand over her stomach. She apologized then walked away. She came again and apologized.

Still in shock, Luke pissed his pants laughing, grabbing my hand and very quickly following up with something smart and loving. Unfortunately, this wasn't helpful in any way to make me feel better. First of all, no I am certainly not pregnant. Secondly, what does beautifully curly even mean?! Thirdly, is this some messed up compliment on my some how beautifully curly apparent fat stomach? Evidently, I look like a pregnant person, so I guess I gained a lot of weight on this trip. Thanks random Greek waitress lady, really know how to make a person feel special. This was a first.

Even reading this to Luke now, he still thinks it's hilarious, and I still am unimpressed.

After our meal, we left and I got to spend a few minutes complaining about what had just happened. Not entirely sure if I should feel offended, or sad, or what we found a different place to sit for a little bit. We were walking into more city centre where we spent a little time wondering before heading back. This was at our second stop, my camera likes to take blurry pictures that look good on the camera screen and not when downloaded. Also this gem of a shirt for your entertainment. 

 

Now off to bed, early to rise for the long journey to Athens tomorrow. Wow, where did the time go. 

And so the adventure continues...

It's All Greek To Me

We made it to Paros. Our morning consisted of an early check out heading to the port. Where we had breakfast looking at the boats coming in. Man the turn over on these islands are crazy. SOOO many people being herded off the boats and scrambling to find the ride to their hotels. It's nuts, but fun to watch. 

We got on our boat and we glad to see we had seats together and right at the front of the boat. That was pretty cool, but short lived. We watched from letter E or F of the opening ceremonies of the olympics till somewhere in the late M. Man there are a lot of places we never heard of before.

We arrived at our hotel and our towels were in hat shaped but much to our dismay not folded in 3D form, so the the hat quickly fell apart. But it was still fun to try.

 

Then we headed out for a snack. We found a place overlooking the ocean. We enjoyed a Greek salad and a half litre bottle of wine. The wine was called retinas or something. It was very interesting. Had a sappy tree taste to it that was shocking at first but oddly delicious. 

 

After our snack we headed to the beach for a little bit. The sand is sticky, and sticks to you, his is really not my favourite thing. But we enjoyed the warmth of the sun. Luke took my camera and started taking pictures, so I post what he takes.

The best part was as we were enjoying the sun and the beach our clothes were being washed. Since Santorini we wanted to wash our clothes but haven't seen a laundromat, just places that would do it for you. Because we were mostly in our bathing suits it didn't really matter to much to push our clothes a few extra days. But getting to Paros we think this is just the way it is. So while we relaxed our clothes were being cleaned. It was wonderful. 

 

The day was done before we knew it and we were off to find a dinner place. We found a great place to enjoy a nice long meal. It is in the garden of afamilies home, but it was quite large. Here we enjoyed stuffed vine leaves. Essentially they are Greek cabbage roll, rice and dill and other spices all stuffed into a vine leaf, with tzatziki on top. Was real yummy. 

 

After dinner we walked the Main Street that wraps around past the port on either side. The main life on these islands is the night life. That has been made very evident to us. They are alive really starting at 10 when most of them start to have dinner. The shops are open till 1 am and the streets are bustling, music is playing, and the atmosphere changes. 

We didn't walk for long before heading in the direction of the hotel. With one more day in Paros we shall do a mix of things. Before we know it we will be heading to Athens.

And so the adventure continues...

Pool Lazin in Ios

Ahhhh relaxation mode in full swing. We are fearing Athens as we are so enjoying the pool and relaxing that going to a big city again we are not going to know what to do with ourselves. We decided that today we would stay by the pool for the whole day, instead of going into the village. We don't have a pool in Paros so we figured we might as well take advantage of it when we have it. 

We slept in this morning, as we do every morning, and then had a relaxing time at the room before starting the long process of getting ready for the pool. Man it is such an ordeal. Sun screening, making sure we have everything, bringing the sunscreen, towels, blah blah blah, and then finally leaving for the actually pool. But it is worth it is others is definitely that. 

When we got to the pool we were surprised at how many people were there. No open chairs to be found. This was sad, but we wanted to have our lunch and coffee before anyways. Luckily while we were eating overlooking the pool, two people left, and they were even under an unmbrella, so we quickly jumped on the chairs. There are only 3 umbrellas so getting one was actually a surprise. 

We enjoyed and relaxed by the pool all day long. Periodically ordering sodas and waters, and drinks. Plus we got to swim which was lovely. Make sure you stay on Luke's good side though, if you get out of line he will push you in the pool. People watching by the pool is much less entertaining but sometimes has its up sides. For starters we give people nicknames, if they are worthy of it and watch as they do a quick dip then head back to tan, or whatever. It's quite fun.

The water here is really weird. We think that it is actually a fresh water swimming pool, because it is the same as the water in the shower. Very, very mineraly. At first you get in the pool and think that it is super chloriney, but realize it actually isn't chlorine at all. We realized because Luke opened his eyes under water and they didn't burn. Then showering is weird because at first it feels you are rinsing a lot of chlorine off and then it doesn't go away. It's odd. 

We enjoyed a long relaxing day in and out of the pool. With the heat of the sun beating down on us. It was an awesome day. When we were done we came back to the room and quickly headed out again as we decided to do a little haircut on Luke. Freshen him up and because I am me and he let me do it and I needed to use the scissors one more time. Nailed it for sure this time. Looking forward to my actual scissors when I get home. Certainly have a new appreciation for them. We cut his hair looking over the ocean it was beautiful. 

Afterwards we got ready and headed for dinner. We went to a local little place just outside the hotel. An interesting family run restaurant. They make everything fresh daily, but once a day, a noon. So your food I fresh, just not straight outta the oven fresh. They also take you inside to look at everything before you order. It was definitely a unique meal. 

We got red peppers to start that had chunks of garlic on the top. Sliced garlic right from the clove. MMM! It was delicious! The tzatziki was also fabulous as the garlic was very potent in that as well. Then the Greek salad gave me my onion fix. Mm mm good! 

Few random thoughts. First, we had a very long conversation on how you actually say tzatziki. It went on for quite sometime, as we first had to figure out how to spell it, then how we say without thinking about it, and then how we actually think it is said. 

Now onto Greek salads. My favourite one so far has had dill on it. This was the best addition ever! It was the perfect amount and it almost seemed like everything had some dill coating on it. Mm it was the perfect addition. But I like my salads a certain way, mostly because I am weird and particular and just really enjoy how I make my salads so I don't order them usually. Tonight my Greek salad had capers, and jalapeños, so that was weird. Also looking forward to csear salad when going home, good old Rene's dressing, csear salad done right.

All in all we had a great day. Tomorrow we head to the island of Paros. Hard to believe our trip is coming to an end, rather quickly might I had. We try not to think about it, and just enjoy the time we have left. 

And so the adventure continues...

 

Travelling in Greece

The Greek way is naturally slow and on their own time. This can be seen at restaurants especially but also in almost everything you do. It really is their way or the highway. And being a tourist you are completely forced into this being alright as you are a guest in their country. This doesn't mean that you always enjoy it but you make the best of whatever the situation may be. 

This morning we were up and at it to do the big drive 2 doors down to return the quad for 11 am. Our usual lunch place wasn't open quite yet, this was a shame as we don't usually plan and this time we actually planned our morning and it ended up falling through due to that fact. But oh well we decided to have extra time to lay in the room before heading to the bus stop to go to the port. 

The buses on Santorini are all coach buses. The bus we were waiting to catch was scheduled to arrive at noon. Exactly an hour before our ferry was supposed to leave. But as we are in Greece and schedules don't matter the bus did not arrive when it was supposed to. Waited15 minutes and it still didn't arrive. This was concerning and not a part of travelling I enjoy. I like to be early to ensure I will make it and have time to relax. 

Out of the blue a car pulls up and asks us if we were going to the port. We looked at eachother and said yes. He said get in. We asked if he was a taxi as he didn't have a taxi sign and he said yes. Then seeing a private services sign in his window of some kind we asked how much. He said 15 we said no to much and said 10, which was already double what we would have paid to go on the bus. He said 12 we said no he said okay 10 get in. Being in a rush and the bus being now 20 minutes late we made a quick decision.

So we did. A kind of unusual thing for us to do but we did. He was a very angry Greek man, driving the windy roads very quickly, taking shortcuts we didn't knew existed but popping out at roads we knew due to driving them yesterday. He continued to try and convince Luke that 12 was a reasonable price to get to the port. Then blared his horn at some cars and passed them and the quads continuing to blare his horn as he turned a corner down a two way street. At this point I was trying to look out his window as I was cozy in the back seat with our packs, and trying to figure out what the thing on the window said without getting sick. Helicopter and airplane private service.  Then he got a phone call, yelled, sweared, hung up, and continued to swear for a few minutes, yelling and beeping at more cars speeding past them and then turning off to go down the incredibly windy cliff at high speeds.

As soon as we turned off he asked where we were from. Then promptly handed Luke a brochure and said now we are in business. He mumbled a bunch of things to Luke and kept saying good money, now we are in business. Not knowing what he was saying Luke politely took the brochure and took a look through it. Said would pass the information on if he knew anyone coming to Santorini. We are in business, if you are heading to Santorini and need a plane or helicopters, we know a guy. 

By the end of the mumbling and chatting and trying to all the sudden be nice to us we were reaching the port. A hodge podge of cars trying to get down, and a policeman directing the way. He was getting angry at the cars stopping and then saw the policeman and told we needed to get out. As we were exiting he kept saying quickly, quickly, and practically left before Luke gave him anything. But Luke only gave him 10. And he sped away. 

Looking at each other we began to laugh. What an experience. We are fairly certain that he was on his way to the port to pick someone up, saw us on the side of the road and decided he could make a few extra bucks. Drove us to the port as promised, and saw the cop and kicked us out because he isn't a taxi and wasn't allowed to taxi us. All in all a hilarious story. At least we thought so.

We walked the short distance into the main part of the port laughing and joking about it the whole time. Getting to the main ticket office to pick up our tickets that we booked online the guy said to Luke it would be 13 minutes late... Alright no big deal but ha Greek time as usual. We decided to grab a quick bite to eat as we had a half hour at this point and at least we were at the port. 

We shared and shovelled a Greek salad and fries down and got to the gate with ten minutes to spare. A boat came and went and still no announcements for our boat, but the terminal was full. Well like I said we are in Greek time. We waited an hour and then finally the boat showed up. Glad it did. On the ferry we were watching some national geographic show about Yellowstone in the winter time and how the animals live. Itwas a long 50 minute ferry ride and we pulled into Ios.

Our hotel had sent a shuttle upon our request so we found the guy and hopped in. Getting to the hotel he helped us with our bags so we tossed him a few dollars. Inside the hotel was a Greek guy from Toronto we started talking with. He was also talking / more or less translating with the he shuttle guy. He said Canadians are the only ones who tip. He said cause we we are the nicest. He took us to our room and we ventured around to take a look at our place. 

 

 

It's got a nice pool. With a pool bar. And a nice view to look at and to watch the sunset. So we won't complain a bit. We ended up going back to the room and getting our bathing suits on. We sat by the pool for a few hours taking it all in and enjoying the heat. I will also say. Luke said he loves the heat when he was talking to the shuttle guy. So that's a win for me.

We had a relaxing afternoon and stayed by the pool till sunset. Then headed for an evening meal together. Was a great way to end another day. As always enjoy every moment.

 

And so the adventure continues..,

There & Back Again...An ATV Tour

Alrighty!! Well I must say this will not be a short entry, so be warned. Also be prepared to see many pictures of our faces... We took extra today cause we know you miss our faces. 

We had an amazing day today! We got up and rented a quad. It was awesome! We really saw the whole island, and I must say I love it, much more then the other time we saw it. Not only because I wasn't nauseous, but also because we made it our own. We saw typical Santorini, and many other great things along the way. 

Don't worry moms! We wore helmets...

 

SOOO...they didn't last long, but the thought was there. We made our way along and stumbled upon a neighbourhood of cave houses. We really went our own way many times and this was certainly a great choice. It was pretty crazy they legitimately have their houses in caves in the hillside. Garages are this way as well. You really have to second look to see the houses even. You just see the front or a car out front until you really look.

We also found a few donkeys in the neighbourhood as well. They rather randomly appeared and looked a little out of place at times. This was a super neat find. The residences I don't think were used to seeing tourists driving by and looking so interestedly. At least that's what I gather from the looks on a few faces I saw. Super cool place.

 

We also found the best place to have a coffee, and the view was amazing. This was the first viewpoint of the day. Spending the little extra for coffee just to sit and look out was a great choice. It was also our first peak at the Santorini you see in pictures. This was just up from one of the two main towns on Santorini. Fira, this is also the main destination for the cruise ships as well.

 

The mailer ways the cruise shippers have to get up to Fira are cable car, donkey, or walking. You definitely could smell the donkeys, and the line for the cable car was huge so you certainly knew where that was also. But seeing the cable car in action was kind of neat as the one side going down was very full, it drooped. Fira was a pretty neat place, but with the mass amounts of people was annoying cause the streets are so tiny and so full you are shoulder to shoulder, people going both ways, and people behind you trying to get in front of you which is just annoying because there is no where for anyone to go.

 

From Fira we headed south. We stopped at a viewpoint along the way that you could see a ton from. Here we decided to take some pictures of our super sweet ride. Luckily we got one with enough power so I didn't have to push it up the hill. We saw this happen girl pushing guy driving, so it was a real possibility. 

The one thing we noticed was that the rentals got crappier the closer we got to a manner place. Or maybe more well loved, and older is a nicer way to put it. We rented ours in Messaria two doors down from our hotel, that was super nice and convenient for us as well.

 

We made our way to the southern most tip of the island, where there was a lighthouse. This was another stumble upon thing, that really worked out for us. We got a great view of the ocean and the whole island. But you can't really see it from the pictures here. But trust there are hundreds of pictures from the day, so unless you wanna see em all, take my word for it. Was also cool to se this as we could see the lighthouse going as we were having dinner.

 

Well, I know I say it a lot, probably cause I love this guy but we have lots of fun together. No matter what is going on, we always enjoy everything we do. Living life with my best friend is truly the best. Also, his good side is one that sometimes only I see, so when it gets documented sometimes it deserves a share. I like to think I bring this side out in him.

 

Continuing on the coast we made our way to a number of different beaches and walked along them. We also got a stone from each. I feel I have been to a red sand beach before but am not entirely certain. Well this one I won't forget. 

Black sand beach.

 

Red sand beach. There was a random path past a little market that you walk through to get to the beach. Well a mini hike is a more accurate description, purely due to the terrain. At the beginning in point and as you enter the beach there is a sign telling you that there is a danger of landslides and to not enter. Clearly there are numerous amounts of people who don't listen to this. We didn't either.glad we didn't use it was certainly worth the risk.

 

AWWWWW!

 

White sand beach.

 

A few other ransoms throughout the day. Please note the 6 or so donkeys that are being herded up the street, we were asking by this and I am actually surprised I even got a picture, but it was pretty funny and just randomly happened to drive by it. We assume that meant the cruise ships were all done for the day and the donkeys were going to eat and sleep. Also our rock collection.

 

We made the windy drive up to the northern most coast to Oia. This is your typical Santorini picturesque place. Luke loved the drive up there as it was twisty and turny and fun to drive. I just minded my own business and tried not to get sick, which was a success. We were headed up to Oia for sunset, which is where EVERYONE goes for sunset. 

When we got there we found some windmills which were pretty neat as they were very old. We decided very quickly though that the Dutch do windmills much better. 

 

We watched the sun go down and then continued on walking through Oia and found a place to have some dinner. A great way to end a great day travelling around Santorini and ending up in typical Santorini.

 

I leave this picture big so you may see the SWARMS of people that gathered in this one spot to see the sunset. This. Was not where we decided to watch it. Well in the centre, we were closer to the very top, away from the people. But look at the all!! Way to take a very tiny street and all the sudden make it tinier and more annoying. But very funny to see I must say.

 

I love lights, and I love stars, onto of me loving sunsets. Maybe this is a word I use to much but oops. We watched and overlooked Oia as the night sky fell and the stars began to shine. Then came the next fun part. Driving home. Luke also really loved this part. As I said, going to Oia at this time was not an original idea. Even though it was late we were in the middle of a long line of people heading back to our various locations further south on the island. Even got to see some of the night life as we drove through Fira. 

Looking up at the stars was beautiful. Talking or rather yelling back and forth to be heard over the quad and orther various methods of transportation, arms around Luke watching the lights of the towns appear and disappear, and then looking up at the sky to see it filled with beautiful stars. A day and night that I will treasure and certainly never forget. Along with many others from the trip, but this day as a whole had it all.

Fun fact that I didn't know about Santorini, it used to be a volcano. The islands are all were the rim of the volcano once was. It collapsed and then got filled with ocean, and so today there are many islands that make up Santorini. The inside islands was where the lava lived. This was very interesting to me. Especially when looking at how incredibly large it is, it is hard to imagine it being anything other then what it is today. 

Well we are disgustingly sunscreeny, sweaty, salt watery, and extremely dusty after our adventurous day. It was an amazing day, really seeing all of Santorini and enjoying every bit of it. Tomorrow we head to Ios. Many more memories to be made.

And so the adventure continues...

Messaria Sun

Today we stayed close to home and had a day layin at the pool. It was beautiful. We had snacks, drinks, sunshine, pool, what more could you ask for? Especially when your husband flirts with you, it's always a fun time. Your never to old to be thrown into a pool. It may hurt you more, both of you for that matter, but your never to old. Luckily this wasn't a thing for us, this time anyway.

We had a great day. Went to the two places that decided to frequent for lunch and dinner, and they remembered us at both. A fun thing I decided, especially as you feel local-er somehow that way. Which is something I enjoy. At the lunch place I am the girl who orders a Greek salad with no tomatoes. Yes that's me. But he said I am the second person, so I guess that a good thing? ,  better then being the first maybe? Also fries and tzatziki, which is delicious! For dinner again I got lamb chops and they were better then last night. Tasted great! 

All in all a successful day. Naps in the sunshine are by far the best naps. Of course you need to ensure you won't fry but they are magical things. You are so completely wrapped in warmth and you slowly fade into dream land. It's great. 

We are glad we are getting the pool time we were hoping for. But tomorrow will be a different day as we venture into the Santorini that exists in our minds. There was a red sand and black sand beach that people were dropped off near the other day on our island tour hotel drop off. We have interest in them but want to see tourist Santorini first. But we are looking forward to tomorrow, as we do everyday. 

And so the adventure continues...

Santorini

An early start today with sights set on the island of Santorini. We walked to the ferry waited in line for our ticket, then proceeded onto the boat. Where we had to leave our bags where the cars are. Trusting the people working, we started to walk the stairs to find our seats. We very quickly realized that our seats were on complete opposite sides of the boat. This was frustrating as this wasn't the first time this has happened to us. Apparently the online systems for booking trains and and boats isn't great. Luckily we got coffee and found seats that no one was in and decided to risk it if someone came we would cross the bridge then.

Let's take a moment to talk about Greek coffee, bleh. They don't filter it so it is very grainy. That bottom little bit you just don't drink because of this either. It takes a lot of getting used to it, Anne I'm not sure if I'm willing. Luke very easily fell into his old role and enjoyed it. I prefer just normal coffee and espresso.

 

Well when we made it to Santorini we were greater with an overwhelming feeling. Starting win getting bearded off the boat. They give you pretty much 2 minutes get off. They announce they are arriving and then everyone directing you says quickly quickly. It is quite annoying. You stand in the loading dock with the cars and wait for the ramp to lower. At which time you are bearded like cows to get off. As you are walking on land you have people yelling and whistling at you to go a certain way. Then you are bombarded by a multiple people trying to get you to use their car service. Walking past that are restaurants again trying to get you in the door.

It was quite overwhelming especially when you don't know where you are, where you are going, or the best way of getting there. The only way up is via car. Taxi, bus, shuttle whatever it may be. At this point we were a little frustrated as we had emailed the hotel asking about getting to the, and they never got back to us. 

We walked past all this talked and re grouped. Looked at the cliff we were looking up at then decided a plan of action. From there we walked back into the mass amount of people asking if they can help us, and took someone up on it. A shuttle bus that would take us to our hotels front door.

 

Little didn't we know when the guy said 25-45 minutes he actually meant 1.5 hours, driving in a van packed with 25 people on a windy turny road. The way we are looking at it is hpthat we got to drive around and see pretty much the whole island for a low cost. And island tour before even getting to our hotel. We were the second last stop so it was a while. But neat to see the island.

I must say Santorini is definitely not what I imagined it to be. We will head into a town that we figure is the main city centre, and it is also where the cruise ships dock. We are staying in Messaria, z town just down from that manner one. The rest of the island is very remote, not very luscious, rocky and more of a desolate place. Messaria we think is for of a local village, as that what most people in the area seem like after a short exploration.

So our 2 hour boat ride turned into a 4 hour boat and island tour ending at our hotel. When we arrived checked in cleaned up and rather quickly went for lunch as we were overdue for a proper meal. We enjoyed a great lunch and it the price was certainly right. Then we stopped at the store to pick up some essentials for a pool day. Yes that is a water bottle full of wine. And it was delicious. We were certainly hphydrated, and had the necessary snacks to keep our heads in check. After a few hours of swimming and sun time we showered up and lazed around for an hour before dinner.

Can dress me up but can't take me out... My clumsy and just normal self shines through far to much. Especially when you try and have a nice meal. This is certainly not a new thing in case you are wondering. But I brought a sundress and a skirt that I was wanting to wear so the islands they will be worn often. Not only because currently they are the cleanest clothes I have but also because we aren't walking a ton here and are more relaxing so it's the perfect time to.

 

We had lamb chops for dinner. It was quite delicious. Lamb definitely has s different flavour and a little tougher of a meat. Everytime I have it I relearn this fact, it's good just different then normal. Was a lovely evening together spent on the island of Santorini. Hard to believe we are here. The rest of the evening was pure relaxation as we were tired from the day, crazy how quickly this happens. 

Tomorrow we plan to relax in the morning on the deck maybe, go for a long lunch, then head to pool for the greater part of the day. Looking forward to the R&R, we have planned most of our days to be like this. Swimming and chatting, and laying in the sun. With evenings being the time to explore. 

And so the adventure continues..,

Heraklion

Commonly known to us as Hercules was the destination today. Before getting on a bus and trying to not puke as we winded the roads back, we enjoyed a slow morning followed by a lunch overlooking the bay of Chania.

The bus ride back was a twisty one. Funny thing about their highway is that it's a two lane highway that they use very differently. There is an imaginary third lane right over the centre line. Everyone drives further to the right side of the road cause this is just a thing. Street signs and street lines don't seem to matter at all. Turning corners, going straight, bus, car, truck, scooter, doesn't matter this is just the way it is. It is pretty insane but seems to work for them. 

The journey was just under 3 hours. A lengthy one, on a not fun road to be on. Luke repeatedly said he would love to drive it, so if that tells you anything about it or not I'm not sure. The bus temperature at one point said 36 degrees. When we were on our way to a town and while we were stopped at a station for a number of minutes loading and unloading people, it said said 58 degrees. We are thinking this is wrong, except as we kept going it went down to 52, so not sure what that was about. 

 

When we got to Hercules, we went to the washroom as we hadn't for a while, and walked the relatively short distance to our hotel. When we arrived we relaxed in the air conditioned room before showering and eventually heading for dinner. A yummy meal, lucky Luke is getting to experience and indulge in all the Greek deliciousness that is there food. They seem to not be understanding my card or celiac to much. If they do they advertise it. So I have been a little more reserved in my food choices. 

After we walked around the small centre of Hercules for a bit, enjoyed a coffee and chatted before aimlessly walking and making our way back. We had our coffee at s Starbucks, as we could get coffee and ice cream type of thing in the same shot, she asked our names and this is what we got. A normal Starbucks spelling your name wrong for publicity or is this our Greek names?! I decided Greek names, cause when she called our names in English they were our names. I think it's awesome!

 

A relaxing and low key day. Tomorrow we have an earlier morning as we board a ferry and head to Santorini! Looking forward to more sun, staying in the same place for a few days, and sunsets.

And so the adventure continues...

Chania

Ahhh finally in he little place where Luke spent 5 weeks of his life. It is a neat little place. Although we decided not to head out to the university, which was where he spent most of his time, and their apartment were near by, it was still great to see where he spent a few of his weekends. Got to see of some of the places that he went to. 

The journey wasn't horrible but certainly could have been better. More windy roads but more closer to highway 93, which stil sucks but at least has more straighter roads then the day before. 

Not to mention on our way to our B&B we got samples of strongbow. She said may I give you a sample, we said absolutely. Cold and refreshing, was delicious. We got to our place and quickly left as we only had the rest of the day to explore. We certainly made the best of it. 

For lunch we went to a place that used to be a bath house. So there were tables down where the water would be and also where the people would be sitting. It was actually pretty neat.

 

We saw as much as we could. We went up to the hill and sat and chatted for an hour or so just overlooking the city of Chania. It was a really great day walking around and exploring what such a little place has to offer. 

 

I said to Luke a while ago I wanted to do the fish pedicure thing. I was a little grossed out about it, but they have you wash your feet before, and make sure it sanitary with little slippers. This guy had quite large fish, largest I have seen for it, also he said on the island possibly which I would believe. He had to get them that large, growing them in a sense, to get that big. 

We saw it and we did it, very cheap also. It tickles so much!!! I was a little nervous and scared, but it was so fun. Plus Luke, the guy who won't ever get a pedicure with me, participated in this event which was awesome. It was a great experience. 

 

People flocked to the streets when we were done with our fish adventure. All afternoon there small crowds and after there were tons and tons of people that took to the streets. I don't know if they were at the beach, or staying in because of the sun but the streets were full. So were the restaurants and store that we walked past earlier. We thought it odd they were setting up so many tables. They were full. They also seemed to be a lot of locals. Being Saturday night it sort of makes sense, but still.

We found a place to have dinner. Tried to go off the beaten path and ended up kind of at a dud restaurant. Oh well. Through the dinner we acquired a cat. I don't like cats. This one was young and wouldn't leave us alone even though we didn't feed it. We named it Oscar Portacolis. It was very comfortable for most of our dinner until we were waiting for the bill for ages, and continued to not feed it Oscar Portacolis decided to peace out. 

 

We had a great day exploring around Chania. Enjoying the scenery and experiences. Tomorrow we head back to Hercules, before catching our ferry to Santorini. Ahh we are so enjoying our adventures together and reflect often. Talk about our time together and are sad it is coming to end. Excited to head home and see all our family and friends. Till next time.

And so the adventure continues...