TravelStream™ news feed for member mightbekatrina on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/mightbekatrina en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 29 May 2008 14:18:17 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1207920420/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1207920420/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1207920420/tpod.html Thu, 29 May 2008 14:18:17 -0400 Greek Crash Course! - 2 weeks in Athens and the Ionians

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Seattle, Washington, United States

After a busy evening of final packing, shopping and searching for all the essentials, I drove Patrick to my place to crash at around 1:30am.  A refreshing 2 hours of sleep later, I got up and caffeinated and picked up Nathan and Valerie so we could hop a taxi-van to SeaTac at 5am.  The American Airline cancellations didn't effect us, so we had an ample 2 hours to relax in the terminal with a coffee, muffin, and Wendy's hamburgers.  To each his own.  I avoided the coffee in an attempt to encourage sleeping on the plane.  It was soon time to hop on our 5 hour Continental flight to charming Newark, where we'd fortunately only have to layover 1.5 hours.  The flight was fairly uneventful, if not terribly roomy.  The most memorable thing was our 2 stewardesses up in the front - huge rollered hair, bright coral lipstick and fingernails.  Wasn't sure what look they were sporting until they mentioned being from Houston.  Ahhhh.
The quick layover gave us just enough time to grab crappy airport pizza and lug our luggage (we all just had carry ons...for 2 weeks...not my idea) onto our next, much more comfy airplane to Athens; a quiet 2-seater section near the back with TV screens in the seats.  Some knitting, iPod, House on TV, and a tiny bit of sleep (so much for avoiding the coffee) got me through the 9 hours as we traveled faster than time overnight....
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1208814480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1208814480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1208814480/tpod.html Thu, 29 May 2008 13:58:42 -0400 Greek Crash Course! - 2 weeks in Athens and the Ionians

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Zakynthos Town, Ionian Islands, Greece

Onto the island of Zakynthos, we started the day off right with our crazy captain taking a detour to see a shipwreck! Known as "Shipwreck Cove" it's a tiny white sand beach, accessible only by boat, that an old cargo ship washed up on. Not a pirate ship, but about a close as one can get outside of a Disneyland ride. It would have taken a day of bussing, boating, planning, etc to see this site, but our tiny cruise ship pulled almost up to the beach so we could have a look. Awesome.
Once in Zakythos Town proper, we stopped for lunch at the Village Inn, a crazy ramshackle pirate bavarian bar/restaurant. It definitely had that neglected Disneyland feel, and was well worth stopping in. And they even have live music later in the summer! Of what sort, I can only imagine (fingers crossed for Greek Pirate Rock).
Sufficiently fed (and amused), we made the long trek up the hill to the town's major attraction: an old fort! They've got lots of those in Greece. We arrived at the stately gates only to find them all locked up with a "closed Mondays" sign. A group of out fellow cruisers was there too, and together we all pondered what to do next. Of course, Nate and Patrick immediately tried to scale 4 meter high walls, but to no avail. However, since this was a nice, square, wall-encircled compound, we decided the only logical course of action was to search around the perimeter for a place the wall was low enough to sneak in. Duh. And wouldn't ya know it, after a good hike up an adjacent dirt road, a scramble through the dirt and bushes up a hill (in sandals...eww), around an old fence and up a small chunk of wall...we were in! We stormed the fort! Arrrrrg! Six of us in all were valiant enough to persevere and had a lovely time running around the place, which was mostly like an open park - pine trees, fields, and some crumbly walls and buildings of various age. Many different troops had occupied the space over the years, resulting in some interesting architectural overlaps, the coolest being a dilapidated 12 century chapel next to a WWI British soccer field.
After our highly successful fort invasion, we trekked back to town for some well earned frappes, hot tub, sauna and a shower. Then it was back out to the same cafe, lured by the promise of free wine, for a scrumptious dinner of my favorite - yogurt with fruit and honey. Mmmm. *Fun Greek Factoid: In greece, they pretty much only have Greek food. Other than the occasional Italian pasta joint, you're eating greek 3 times a day. And all the restaurants have pretty much the same stuff on the menu. And yummy as that is, after a while ya do just need a yogurt for dinner. Oh man I want a burger...or some Indian...or Thai...we are SO spoiled in Seattle.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1208726640/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1208726640/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1208726640/tpod.html Wed, 28 May 2008 17:47:36 -0400 Greek Crash Course! - 2 weeks in Athens and the Ionians

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Cephalonia, Ionian Islands, Greece

Onto the island of Kefallonia, we were encouraged by our guidebooks to rent a car and explore. A quick stop for crepes and gas, and the 4 of us were on our way in a tiny red...something. Whatever it was, it was surprisingly spacious and got great gas millage and I would buy one if it was available in the states. Heck, I would by ALL the tiny wonderful cars they have here. But I digress...
Off we zoomed around winding, cliffside roads, up hills, passing big trucks, trying to read greek signs, and generally having a good time aside from the occasional terrifying corner (the guys were both excited to get behind the wheel again...Val and I were less excited about their excitement).
Our first stop was down a switchbacking, guardrail-less road down to the "most photographed beach in Greece". The sun was out, the white pebbles were just about glowing, and the turquoise waters were living up to their reputation. Again, the enthusiastic Nate and Patrick jumped in the chilly Med while Val and I relaxed on the beach and successfully stopped them from pulling us in.
Back up the road, we took a turn off for a tiny (tiny!) town with a 1500's fortress overlooking the water. We got to the base of the dirt road leading to the fortress, determined that it looked like somewhere you could drive (no signs against it), and switchbacked our way up the hill, very thankful for our diminutive vehicle. About halfway up, it became pretty clear that this was not a major tourist stop, if even a legal road, but with no room to turn around we had to press onward....all the way up to a dead end at the fortress gate! From the wheelbarrows and pickaxes lying around, we could tell this site was still "under construction" (whoops), but with no body there to kick us out (horray for off season!) we were free to explore and check out the stunning views.
Back down the dirt road (even scarier), we stopped for snacks, were given a glowing restaurant recommendation for back in town, and continued our scenic circle of the island. We stopped at a cave, but wussed out a few meters in since it got very dark very quickly and we'd left our spelunking headlamps in our other pants.
We arrived back in Argostoli (the port town) just in time for the all important afternoon chill-out, followed by an outstanding dinner at Cafe Grek (chicken a la creme, steaks, huge salads, great wine, salmon, etc..) Thanks for the tip, random Assos town guy!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1208617380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1208617380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1208617380/tpod.html Tue, 06 May 2008 14:27:31 -0400 Greek Crash Course! - 2 weeks in Athens and the Ionians

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Preveza, Greece

This morning was a "mystery stop" in Preveza, a costal town on the mainland. My book didn't have ANY info about it, so we figured we'd just hope for the best. And the best was right! It's a slightly bigger town, just enough to have some young folks, hip clubs, and quite a few shops and restaurants to choose from. It also seems like there's more money moving through here - everything's just a bit spiffier and there's some fancy hotels by the waterfront. Good stuff!
Our historical site for the day was the Nikopolis (NOT necropolis, as everyone kept calling it) Niko = victory. Octavian built it here after defeating Anthony and Cleopatra. Neeto! I just saw that movie! And apparently, the big sea battle was RIGHT by where our boat is parked. Also nearby is Cleopatra's palace where she hung out during said battles (we saw it from the boat when we were sailing in). The Nikopolis itself was a short taxi ride away (we skipped the public transportation since it can be a bit unreliable in off season, we've discovered. What else is new?) It was a pleasant, mostly empty field with rather peaceful ruins of old buildings, including some very well preserved mosaic floors. We got to hang out in the area in the sun while we waited for our taxi back. A very nice stop indeed.
Back to town for some fishy lunch (since this is a serious fish town). I had a big plate of whole anchovies - not really my thing, since I don't like dismantling my food before eating it, but tasty nonetheless. Then Patrick and I settled in for 2 hours at an internet cafe, which flew by before we knew it. Then it was time for afternoon ice cream, hot tub, and relaxing until dinner. A hard life, I know. As soon as the sun went down, we discovered the lights of a carnival at the far end of the waterfront! So of course we headed that way for some air hockey and ride (we were only brave enough to go one one of the 6 there). Though, this ride was about all we needed: it was your standard open-air circular motif with couch-style seating along the edge. You sit, and it spins around. But this one also had the option of lifting up at a 45 degree angle while spinning, bouncing, jiggling, and stopping randomly (in any combination, at the discretion of the conductor). It also had NO harnesses or restraints of any kind, save some bars behind you that you clutched onto for dear life...especially when it stopped you at the top and bounced you off your seat and losing your grip would have meant falling about 12 yards onto the other side of the ride. Simultaneously fun and terrifying! Which is, in fact, the European Ride Standard ;) Good times.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1208545440/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1208545440/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1208545440/tpod.html Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:03:54 -0400 Greek Crash Course! - 2 weeks in Athens and the Ionians

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Corfu Town, Ionian Islands, Greece

Today we made port in Corfu Town, Corfu: rumored "party central" of the Ionians. And, despite it being the off season, it was quite large and bustling compared to our previous stops. We all woke up feeling great and ready to hit the town, but Patrick and I were a but slower getting up so we set off on our own. It was about a half-mile walk into town (Old Town, not the crappy new part) from the docks, so we stopped for a coffee along the way and consulted my guide book, which was chock-full of recommendations for this happenin' city - food, sites, map, the works. Our first stop was the New Fortress, built by the occupying Venetians in the late 1500s. Once you conquer a city, you don't want anyone else taking it away, right?? I must give Patrick points on this one; I was ready to skip it in favor of the Old Fortress across town, based on what my guide book had to say, but Patrick insisted we check it out first. And man was he right! For 3 euro each, we got to run around our own giant deserted castle!! It was huge, full of winding passages, dim drippy caverns, crenelated ramparts (best phrase ever), rickety iron ladders, and sweeping views of the city. Wowwie. We took tons of great pictures and could have explored for hours, and almost got lost a few times, especially since there was NO supervision or blocked off areas to speak of. Fun fun fun! But we had to tear ourselves away to see the rest of the city.
Off we headed to the Old Fortress, and conveniently ran into Nate, Val and fellow cruiser/adopted grampa Joel to schedule a lunch meet up. Sadly, the Old Fortress paled in comparison to the New one, being mostly a big, deteriorated hunk of stone buildings that you could climb to the top of (it was first started in the 600s). But it still had some great views, and was worth going up for comparison.
After all that walking, we were ready to meet up with the other kids for lunch on the waterfront, which was quite tasty and included more than a couple beers. *Fun Greek Factoid: The only beers you can get here are Amstel, Heineken and the "local verison" Mythos. They all taste exactly the same, and aren't much to write home about (well, other than to make fun of them like I'm doing now). However, the more Mythos I drank during the trip, the tastier it seemed to get..but that was probably just because I forgot what delicious NW microbrews tasted like. (Confirmed after the trip: that's exactly what happened)
After lunch, we all headed to the old town shopping district, bustling even in the off season. Blocks and blocks of little shops selling olive soap, cheesy souvenirs, olive wood products, lemonchello, jewelry, aaaaand repeat over and over every 3 shops. It was fun though, since we hadn't been in a town big enough to do the tourist shopping thing yet. Soon enough it was time to trek the mile back to the boat for afternoon siesta (well deserved after all the walking we did).
When evening fell, we headed out on a mission to a recommended Italian restaurant from my guidebook. The zigzagging Old Town streets soon got me disoriented, and the hard-to-find/read street signs didn't help. We wandered around quite a while, stumbled on a hip store opening street party w/ snacks and DJ, and were about to give up when a couple locals pointed us in the right direction (read: down the right tiny alley we'd never have thought to look down). And man, this restaurant was the place to be! The waiter took our name and said a spot should open up after 11 (ah, greece), so we headed to a little bar, grabbed a beverage and waited for about 45 minutes. Back to the restaurant, we had delightful pasta dinners all around, wandering home full and exhausted at 12:30. Go Corfu! If you ever happen to be in Greece or Italy (Maribel, I'm looking at you), definitely hop a ferry to Corfu Town for a weekend of beaches, partying and moped-ing around the island!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1209223680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1209223680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1209223680/tpod.html Sat, 26 Apr 2008 11:33:08 -0400 Greek Crash Course! - 2 weeks in Athens and the Ionians

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Athens, Attica, Greece

Hello hello! Just spending a little time on the internet, since we seem to have done all the damage we can do here in Greece; walked the walks, shopped the shops and saw the sights. It's been an amazing, and even a bit surreal two weeks, but we're all excited to be heading home in the morning. I'll keep updating this in chronological order when I get back, so you guys can just pretend I'm still gone :) I can't wait to show you all the pictures, and should be able to update the blog with them soon too, so stay tuned!

~Katrina
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1208443800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1208443800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1208443800/tpod.html Sat, 26 Apr 2008 11:27:20 -0400 Greek Crash Course! - 2 weeks in Athens and the Ionians

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Butrint, Butrint, Albania

Our next port was a bit of a mystery to everyone: Agioi Saranta, Albania, to visit the nearby Greek ruins at Butrint. In researching the other towns we'd visit, Saranta got a bit skipped since it's not in Greece, and hence not in my Greek travel books. So we show up in port and go, "oh yeah...Albania...they don't speak greek huh? Are they on the Euro yet?" No and no. This oughta be fun!
Since Patrick and I didn't sign up for the 40 euro bus trip to the ruins, we set out to carefully explore the town. Also of note: this is the first time Easy Cruise has ever stopped in this port, so it was a bit of an experiment for everyone (and they didn't have any info on the town...or Albania for that matter) Off we go up the road, which reminds me a bit of that time I went to Ensenada Mexico - dusty, run down, empty shells of concrete buildings, locals wondering why the hell you're there. So we decide to just quickly pop into a grocery for our usual picnic lunch, then get back to the boat. The first store we go into, I ask if they take Euros. The clerk rattles of something in Albanian, then asks if I speak Italian (in italian). Apparently, those are the two languages they speak in Albania. He asks around a bit, but no one in the store speaks English, so we head out to try our luck elsewhere. We find another grocery (they seem to be on every corner around here, as well as in Greece) where they do speak some english, and take Euros. I pick up my new favorite: an Amita juice box (pear), as well as some fresh made pseudo-Baklava that they give us for free!
Back down the road, we pass some adorable little boys practicing their english at us: "Hello! Do you speak english?" and "Where are you going?"...to which I shrug and reply "we don't know!" As we round the next corner and start heading down a hill, oh look! There's a small riot breaking out about a block ahead of us! We're just in time to see a cop pull a gun on one of the rioters before promptly turning around and swiftly walking back the way we came. Soon, we're safely on deck of the boat where we camp out for the duration of our stay in Saranta. Go Albania! As it turns out, the folks who went on the tour all had mysterious police escorts through town when they came back and went out to dinner. Though we never found out what the riot was about, at least the local law enforcement was looking out for us tourists; we are in fact the first cruise ship to ever dock here. And, no offense to the rest of Albania, probably the last.
But we all had some great laughs later, talking about the day's crazy experiences over a free wine tasting on the boat (and lots of wine), followed by a late night hot tub in the rain, happy to be setting sail back to Greece on the morrow.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1208356140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1208356140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1208356140/tpod.html Sat, 26 Apr 2008 10:48:28 -0400 Greek Crash Course! - 2 weeks in Athens and the Ionians

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Paxoí, Ionian Islands, Greece

Choppy seas on our way to Paxos, the tiniest of the tiny islands we'll visit, made us ALL feel bad, and brought us into port 2 hours late. Boo! However (as I find myself saying many times on this journey), once we had an hour to recuperate on board and then go explore this amazing little nugget of Ionian goodness, we knew it was definitely worth it. The town of Gaios was much like Vathy the day before, but even smaller, quainter and more beautiful. And our day here went down in a very similar fashion: frappe on the waterfront, picnic lunch from the market, walk to an isolated beach to hang out and stick our feet in the Med (cold this time of year!), back to the boat for relaxation/siesta time, then out to a great local restaurant. Patrick and I even stayed out after dinner for some shoot some pool and surf the web at a local bar/internet cafe until around 1am. It's great to visit a town thats small, but happenin' enough to feel perfectly safe wandering around at night; the locals are all up late walking, chatting, drinking and smoking in the open tavernas that line the streets. If you ever find yourself on a boat in the Ionian Sea (there's no airport), definitely check this place out.
http://www.paxos-greece.com/
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1208276340/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1208276340/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1208276340/tpod.html Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:45:01 -0400 Greek Crash Course! - 2 weeks in Athens and the Ionians

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Ithaca, Ionian Islands, Greece

Our next stop was the lovely little town of Vathy on the famous island of Ithaca (or Ih-tha-kee, as we call it here), fabled home of Odysseus. I woke up still feeling a bit under the weather, so I relaxed and recuperated on deck while Patrick, Nathan and Val went to see about car and/or moped rentals. (Our boat sets sail each night around 2-5am, getting into our next port around 11 or noon.) They soon returned to report that the small town had nothing available for rent until - guess when! - the start of the "On" season, which begins after easter (Apr 27th....the day we come home). Though, once we headed into the idyllic town, which sits on a crescent of port too tiny for big cruise ships to come to, I realized the lack of museums and mopeds was far far worth the lack of tourists and 110 degree weather. Nathan and Val headed off to adventure around the island while Patrick and I grabbed a coffee, strolled the harbor and 2 streets of town, then headed a half mile up the road to a secluded beach. I knitted while Patrick searched the beach for interesting rocks (he found a big one with quartz crystals!) Ahhh. I felt so much better than the day before, I can't begin to tell you. Thus, our day drifted away in relaxation and sunshine, capped off with a hot tub on deck and a nice dinner out with the four of us and fellow cruisers Steve and Sandra, a great couple from Britain and Ireland, respectively. We had a lovely time feasting on local specialties after pointing to/approving them in the kitchen (little places will do that around here, if you want), drinking house wine, and chatting about the differences between our countries, which is always fun...and makes me want to move to England.
*Fun greek factoid: Dinner here starts at around 10pm, and we often found ourselves dining until after midnight. That bumps lunch up to 3 or 4pm, and breakfast to 11-noon. Though you don't really see the locals eating ever. Coffee shops and tavernas will be crammed full of folks smoking and drinking (mostly frappes) all day long, but rarely eating.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1208173920/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1208173920/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mightbekatrina/1/1208173920/tpod.html Thu, 24 Apr 2008 08:40:26 -0400 Greek Crash Course! - 2 weeks in Athens and the Ionians

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Delphi, Central Greece, Greece

Our first morning on the boat, I set the alarm early (6:45) to get up and watch us sail through the Corinth Canal. It's a very narrow channel, first started by emperor Nero and completed much, much later by folks with the necessary technology. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corinth_Canal
I wasn't feeling too hot when I first woke up, but perked up considerably on deck with the wind in my face and the excitement of passing through the canal. Back to bed for a few hours sleep and I woke up feeling pretty awful. I've always known I'm not much of a sailor, but I was hoping my acupressure bands help me out a bit more. As soon as the boat stopped at the wee port of Itea, I felt much better and got ready for our adventure to the famous Delphi Oracle (I'm sure wikipedia can tell you about that one too, if you never took greek lit) However, once on dry land, the nausea/dizziness overcame me again. Boo! What's a girl to do? I had to press on with my one chance to visit this famous site. The 4 of us (Patrick, Nathan and Valerie and I) headed out for a fairly stressed-out morning of figuring out what to get at the grocery store and finding the bus to Delphi (the next town up the mountain), sickly Trina staggering in tow. We were all still learning the ropes of this Greece thing ;)

After our bumpy start, the small mountain town of Delphi was beeeeutiful, and we picnicked on a wall overlooking the port and valley below (I lay on the wall, willing the world to stop rocking, and managed to consume a strawberry). Thus fortified, it was time to find the museum and oracle site. We wandered up the steep, staircased streets, found another beautiful view up the wrong hill, then made it the right way to the site in time for it to close in 30....wait, make that 10 minutes after we paid 6 euro a pop to get in, and only to the museum since the oracle site itself was already closed. *fun greek factoid: in "low/off season", everything closes at some random, early time - usually around 2 or 3pm - that's not listed in any of the guidebooks. Since our boat gets into each port around 11am-1pm, this made for some serious Speed Archeology.
After our slightly disappointing, but still impressive run through the museum, it was time to wander back down the hill to catch the bus home. A quick stop for coffee, and we were just in time to miss the 3:45 bus. The previous driver, as well as guidebook/tour sources said the next one would be at 5pm, but a check of the posted schedule said 8:10. Ugg. Definitely not enough to do in that tiny town until 8:10. So we waited around in hopes of some unlisted mystery bus (fairly likely)...and waited....and talked to a fun, semi-crazy greek sign painter who, in greek and pantomime, assured us that the bus would be coming soon and we should wait some more. So we sat, me still cursing the sea gods' abuse of my inner ear, crazy guy checking Valerie's watch from time to time and nodding assuringly, in the quaint little town of Delphi. After an hour or two of this (I was just happy to be sitting still), Patrick headed off to find us a taxi - the mode of transport now being employed by the rest of our small group of similarly-stranded fellow cruisers. One taxi would pull up, 4 people would jump in and zoom off down the road while we waited for Patrick and our ride to salvation. A few minutes later he returned triumphant! Unfortunately, the taxi he called had come and gone in the time it took him to walk from the place he called it from. Sitting, waiting, knowing a taxi would return any moment, watching a couple zoom by at light speed, Valerie's quick reflexes finally manage to hail one of our very own! Back to Itea, in time for a well earned siesta and chill-out on the boat. Whew!

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