rlineurope's TravelStream™ — Recent TravelPod.com entries TravelStream™ news feed for member rlineurope on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/rlineurope en-us Copyright ©2012 TravelPod.com Sun, 29 Jul 2007 16:51:19 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com Ryan and Laurie's Sabbatical 2007 summary — Seattle, WA http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1184749200/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1184749200/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1184749200/tpod.html Sun, 29 Jul 2007 20:51:19 +0000 Ryan and Laurie's European Sabbatical - 2007
Seattle, WA

Hi everyone: Our flight from Miami, FL to Seattle was uneventful, and we arrived on time at 10:27am. We grabbed a bite to eat before we took our separate flights to Phoenix and Portland. It would be the first time we had not been together in over 60 days - wow! It was a very strange feeling to say good bye to each other after being connected 24x7 after such an incredible time together! The only time we spent alone was, seriously, in the bathroom, but that time did not add up to much! It was an uncomfortable experience to walk away, alone for the first time in a long time, down the terminal, going to different directions - very weird and not nice at all! Not many people can travel together for such a long time, let alone HAVE FUN and laugh so much, every day! We did and would do it all over again together! We would like to thank all of you who remained dedicated to reading and responding to our blogs and posting comments daily! We really appreciated it and looked forward to hearing from you as we spent lots of time taking the time to take special pictures and write our adventures in real time for you all. We truly feel that we had you all traveling along with us in every city which was so awesome! We took some extra time to summarize our journey, which was not an easy task! We have done so much in what seems like such a short time but here is our best attempt at pulling together for you the best, the worst, important side notes and just plain fun stuff: Countries: We entered 11 countries in 60 days, some countries more than once depending upon where the train tracks took us. Our journey: Great Britain, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, Monaco (yes, they are an independent country), Croatia and Greece, covering 4% of the world! Cities: We visited 77 cities, villages and towns in 62 months. Trains: We traveled on over 80 trains, not including too many painful platform transfers up and down 6 flights of stairs (Question of the century: why don't they build more escalators or elevators in these train stations? This stair climb in between platforms is the single cause of stress and exhaustion with travelers and we are not alone on this topic- everyone commiserates on this!). Ryan was a real gem and gentleman and was always happy to help Laurie with her luggage every time we had to run to a different platform. Ryan would see the stairs, grab one handle with Laurie on the other end of the bag, grab his own bag and together we would make the nasty climb or descent on those wicked stairs - and he never batted an eye. Laurie thinks she was able to thank Ryan properly for all his muscle work! Stairs: Oh my goodness! We stopped counting but we averaged 3 flights UP and 3 flights DOWN in each railway station until we hit Croatia and then all the stairs in between - we know we walked several thousand steps during our journey (we counted in St. Michel and it was over 600 and that was just one outing!) Miles walked: 305 miles! WOW, we are not too surprised at this number because we did not have any transportation except our 4-wheeler in Greece and one day in a rental car in Avignon. We made our way UP some serious goat trails and DOWN some extremely technical trails and valleys and our legs are that much stronger as a result! Longest walk: 13 miles, the wonderful trek from Juan Les Pins to Antibes and back, enjoying all the lovely yachts in the harbor along the way. Ferries/boat rides: Boat travel is definitely the wave of the future because we had the luxury of dragging our sorry-ass luggage up and down RAMPS with ease and hardly broke a sweat! On a couple of occasions we actually had the boat "porters" help us with our bags where Laurie was ready for a nice tip and appreciative of the help, Ryan too! We LOVED the boat rides and on several occasions took a bus in one direction and switched gears after the horrific bus experience and hopped on board the boat for our journey home. We sat comfortably on 22 different boat rides and out of those we had 3 out-of-the-ordinary, hair-raising, absolutely horrible and exhausting gut-rolling-chanting-in-the-bunk-prayin g-not-to-puke experiences that most people would hug the white porcelain over! We happily survived it all and welcome another boat/ferry ride! Pictures: "What's up there?" was a common phrase when we went exploring as our intent throughout the trip was to try to capture the best pictures but also the ones that most people would never find. We hope that we entertained you with our snapshots! We ended up with 10,414 pictures shot in 2 months using 67 gigabytes of space on our laptop. We were very concerned before we left the US that we might hit the 10k mark and wondered what the right equipment would be. We were happy with what we took and that was a HP laptop that Ryan's neighbor let us have and it turned out to be an essential item for our journey. Ryan lugged it around and while it was heavy at 8 lbs, it was well worth the weight as we were able to download our pictures every night and back them up. We took 2 external portable hard drives which were small and light weight, each holding 120 GB, plus our laptop so we had 3 fully backed up copies in case anything got lost or stolen. We would definitely do the laptop again as it made it easy to download our pictures every night and allowed us to email when we wanted to. Blogging: We loved blogging throughout our trip as it was an excellent way to track our journey but also a way to REMEMBER it all, especially since we were going to so many countries in such a short time, AND doing so darn much at each stop! We posted 365 pictures in 62 entries, traveled 4% of the world and received 2553 visitors with 170 comments entered by family and friends! We did not have much trouble getting internet connections and having our laptop made it super easy to blog. Culture: We loved the cultures of Poland, Switzerland, Croatia and Greece, and all for different reasons. The Poles like Americans and are grateful that we come to visit. The Swiss are proud of their Alps and they take such special care of their environment and show you how much they care; The Croatians just love people and work so darn hard (24x7 for 7 months of the year, wearing a big smile!). They always greet you with a warm smile and are helpful and accommodating; Croatia is immaculate and we did not see a spec of litter anywhere. The Greeks are very friendly and talk with lots of emotion and flare and seemed to like Americans. The islands are much different from the mainland as the mainland is quite dirty and crowded where the islands are not as noisy and right on the Aegean Sea. Food: The best food was the Pierogie's in Poland, Croatia has a great mix of different flavors in their food which we found appealing, the Mozzarella cheese in Italy and apple strudel in Switzerland, Austria and Germany falling closely behind, and the Gelato in Dubrovnik was the BEST! Everyone says got to Italy for gelato but Croatia was amazing! Of course the Greek salads were great but we only found one that was the best, and it was right in our back yard on the island. Luggage: Oy! We had 2 extra large roller bags from Columbia Sportswear. They did not meet our expectations and will be returned for product review with two brand new bags issued to us both. It was unfortunate that these bags did not hold up better, especially since they only saw the insides of 7 airplanes so the planes can't be put to blame this time! They were tested, no doubt, as we pulled them up and down stairs and over miles of some pretty amazing cobblestones across 11 countries where very little pavement exists. The wheels ended up in fairly good shape while the rest of the bags are pretty much blown out and sadly, they can't even stand up on their own! Camera gear: We LOVED our Think Tank backpacks which held all our camera gear for the trip. http://www.thinktankphoto.com/ We commonly wore them upwards of 8 hrs, taking it off only for short rests as 15 pounds on the back requires a break! The comfort level of these bags is amazing and made our trip complete! We agree that we could have left the Macro lens at home as we did not see too many opportunities for macro where our other lenses were sufficient but other than that, we took everything we needed and used it all! We had several people comment on how cool our bags were and we even gave the web site to a couple of folks who asked! Packing light: This is the hardest element of our journey and one that we may never perfect and we are okay with that! We read all the books about packing light and threw them all out the train window! This arbitrary weight limit the airlines have is absurd and will only get worse. Ryan left Phoenix after weighing his bags at his Aunt Karen's and registered 51 pounds - perfect! When he got to the airport, weight of 54 so he had to pay overweight charges on the very first leg! London to Krakow, Poland on Ryanair cost us an ugly few pounds because while Ryanair has super cheap flights, they nail you on the luggage by dropping the maximum weight to be about 15 pounds under what the US requires - bend over! We fought the weight the entire trip with these bags and by the end of the trip we have a buffed upper body but it cost us in the end as much as we off loaded and divided up our bags, each packing an extra carry on - Ryan got nailed with a 12 pound over weight charge in Miami! Geez, it bit us a little but we learned and will adjust next time! Incidents: We were fortunate and were not victimized by theft or bad injury. Ryan suffered through a bad cold and sea urchin wounds but Nurse Laurie brought him back to life quickly. Laurie had some diarrhea that followed her intermittently from Krakow to Italy but nothing slowed us down. Instead, these little pauses confirmed to us that we were due for a much needed day off! We consider ourselves very lucky to have traveled so long with no situations which required medical or police attention! Theft: Laurie had her whitening toothpaste taken from the bathroom in Paris - go figure but goes without saying, dental hygiene is not a priority in Europe! Smoking: Be prepared to inhale a few packs of cigarette smoke when traveling abroad because it seems like EVERYONE smokes and not just casual smoking but heavy smokers! There were times after dinner that we had just inhaled a pack during our meal because these people smoke IN BETWEEN bites of food! Several countries passed a law as of July 1st smoking is banned in public places (restaurants, trains, etc). They are up in arms about it but such a wonderful thing for people visiting. Smoking is the most grotesque habit on earth and these Europeans practice it every minute and it is not cheap ($5-6/pack). We swore we would look up the health statistics of lung cancer but that will be another project. Weather: We experienced 4 big rain showers in 62 days of travel (Bath, Krakow, Hallstatt and Murren) but it was just that - a rain shower that moved through with sunshine behind it. The rain jacket and socks were safely tucked in the suitcase for the rest of the trip as we knew the heat was waiting for us in Italy and beyond. We survived (barely) the extreme heat and high humidity in Sorrento, Italy but we made it manageable by sitting at the beach. Attitudes: in general, the French and Italians showed some serious attitude and not sure if it was due to the heat or just the way it is but it was not pleasant. Unfortunately, the Italians followed us to Greece but they appeared to be a little better behaved in the islands - duh! "Dolly" moments: Ryan lovingly remarked one day that he "wants his Dolly happy", which stuck with us throughout the entire trip! By definition it meant that "Dolly" was lacking the essentials of food, water, needed bathroom break, simple rest, along with intense heat followed by the feeling of heat stroke, or unknown steep territory - all requiring a pause in the action for refueling, generally about 1-2 hrs after the stop was actually needed. The Dolly events occurred in the following places: 1) Switzerland: Gimmelwald while hiking DOWN the most incredibly technical trail but early in the hike not really knowing where we were going and Laurie really not sure that Ryan knew where to go but her trusting head just let it go; 2) France: Antibes was our longest walk of 13 miles and toward the end we were both thirsty, starvation, full bladder and hot temperatures and a slight blister; 3) Croatia: Kolocep hike along the beautiful Adriatic Sea and we were following a lovely path until it kind of disappeared and we were on our own trying to find the way out to the main village but it did not seem it would ever come and finally 4) Greece: Oia where we were the only ones shopping, with our 15 pound back packs on and we wondered where everyone was! It was so bloody hot that everyone was either in the swimming pool or sitting inside in the air conditioning but not us - we were walking up and down the steep steps with the white reflections off the stones pounding us with intense heat - all in all not too bad and all with definite reasons for a "Dolly" moment! Laurie learned early on to simply open her mouth and tell Ryan when Dolly needed a break - seems too easy doesn't it? LOL! The BEST and the WORST: Best Breakfast: Wolf Dietrich Hotel - Salzburg, Austria Worst Breakfast: Wieners in Krakow, Poland (Laurie) Best Lunch: Hallstatt, Austria Worst Lunch: Trummelbach Falls - Switzerland Best Dessert: Hotel Romance Pushkin - Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic Best Dinner: Hotel Romance Pushkin - Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic Worst Dinner: Pizza and Wiener Schnitzel - Salzburg, Austria Best local food: Pierogies - Krakow, Poland Best train ride: Salzburg to Switzerland Worst train ride: Overnight train from Krakow, Poland to Prague, Czech Republic (train stopped every hour for NOTHING with screeching brakes which woke us up hourly). Best taxi: Salzburg Mercedes Worst taxi: Extremely stinky man in Pilzen, Czech Republic (We could barely breathe in the back seat - yuck!) Best city for taxi's: Krakow, Poland Worst city for taxi's: Sorrento, Italy and Naples, Italy (they drive without meters and make up the fare as they go. The more luggage you have, the more it will cost you!) Best bus ride: Student coach from Karlovy Vary, CZ to Pilzen - it served us coffee and a movie! Worst bus ride: Amalfi coast - Amalfi, Italy Best tour: Auschwitz-Birkenau - Krakow, Poland Worst tour: Trummelbach Falls- Switzerland; Mt. St. Michel (way too crowded) - Normandy, France Worst Tourist trap and big hype for nothing: Capri, Italy Best walk: Karlovy Vary hike - Karlovy Vary, CZ; Murren walk up around the back of the town where we saw the cute old man! Worst walk: Rhine River walk to St. Goar (Boring!) Most crowded tour: Mt. St. Michel - Normandy, France Best people (friendliest): Anna, receptionist in our hotel - Krakow, Poland; Lettie in Bacharach, Germany; Artemis and Anna - Santorini, Greece Worst people: Bath, UK and France Best weather: Karlovy Vary, CZ, Murren, Switzerland, Croatia and Santorini, Greece Worst weather: Salzburg, Austria Best city to navigate in: Krakow, Poland; Prague, Czech Republic; Croatia and Greece Best train station: Salzburg, Austria Worst train station: Krakow, Poland; Prague, Czech Republic and Saarbrucken (no water closet!) Best coffee: Wolf Dietrich - Salzburg, Austria Worst coffee: on the train from Salzburg to Zurich; Greece Best city to meet our expectations: Krakow, Poland; Prague, Czech Republic; Hallstatt, Austria; Bernese Oberland, Switzerland, Croatia and Greece Worst city to meet our expectations: Bath, UK; Salzburg, Austria; Bacharach, Germany Best bed: Royal Garden Hotel, near Paddington Station - London, UK Worst bed: Overnight train sleeper from Krakow, Poland to Prague, CZ; Esther's B&B - Gimmelwald, Switzerland Best Shower/bathroom: Royal Garden Hotel - London, UK Worst Shower/bathroom: Overnight train sleeper from Krakow, Poland to Prague, CZ Best room view: Hotel Ontario Garni - Karlovy Vary, CZ and The Alpenruh - Murren, Switzerland Worst room view: Dom Casimi - Krakow, Poland; Hotel U Kocku - Prague, CZ Best place to stay: We can't tell you because we don't want this place to get spoiled by tourists! Worst place to stay: Wolf Dietrich - Salzburg, Austria (had to climb 4 flights of very steep stairs to get to the room!) Most expensive meal: Best Western Lounge - Stansted, UK Least expensive meal: Pierogi's - Krakow, Poland Best Rick Steve's travel tip: Touring Auschwitz Concentration Camps - Krakow, Poland; Prague sight seeing before 9am to beat the crowds and we were the ONLY ones on the streets for photos without thousands of people - Prague, CZ; 200 meter climb to the Pont du Gard view point - Avignon, France Worst Rick Steve's travel tip: Touring the Rhine River near Bacharach, Germany - we found it boring and just another busy river with boat traffic Best items to leave behind: Rick Steve's travel books upon departing France (they are too darn heavy to take any further!) Best transportation: Student coach - Karlovy Vary, CZ; Trains and gondolas - Murren, Switzerland Worst transportation: London subways - London, UK; Overnight train from Krakow, Poland to Prague, Czech Republic (no food car, water - plan on not sleeping for 8 hrs) Best photo opportunities: Schilthorn - Murren, Switzerland; Old town - Dubrovnik, Croatia; Santorini, Greece (particularly Fira and Oia) Worst photo opportunities: Dedicated travel days; Rhine River - Bacharach, Germany Best Internet access: Villa Kolocep - Kolocep, Croatia; 24x7 Internet cafe in Fira, Greece Worst Internet access: Hotel Garni - Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic (we took the internet connection down in the entire hotel with our laptop - whoops!) Best authentic food: Pierogi - Krakow, Poland; Roesti - Murren, Switzerland; Apple Strudel - Prague, Czech Republic; Goulash and dumplings - Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic Worst authentic food: Wiener schnitzel - Salzburg, Austria Best snack: Pumpkin strudel - Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic Best cultures: Poland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Croatia and Greece Worst cultures: UK, France, Italy Best toilets: London, UK Worst toilets: France (filthy squatters without toilet paper and two small spots to straddle the hole in the ground!), Greece where ALL toilet paper goes into the waste basket Best and LONGEST street names: Poland and Czech Republic (i.e.Zwierzyniecka, Dunajewskiego, Konopnickiej, and Szczepanski) Best place where language was not an issue: Poland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Croatia and Greece Worst place where language was an issue: France, Germany Best things to bring from home: Kleenex wipies to mop up the sweat and for those many toilets without toilet paper (too many to count!) Best purchases: Poland, Croatia and Greece Biggest rip off: Italian taxi drivers Best bang for our US buck: Poland, Czech Republic, Croatia Worst hit on our US cash: UK where you can expect to pay 2x the price you do in the US. If we would do it again, we would skip the UK except to fly in and fly out and not exchange any money to the pound. Most common phrases: "Where does that path lead to?", "Can you believe how blue that water is?", "What day of the week is it?", "What platform do we have to run to and how much time do we have?", "How many more stairs?", "What does the pedometer read?" and finally, "How many pictures did we take today?" TOP picks in no particular order: Switzerland, Croatia and Greece, and all for different reasons: Switzerland: The clean fresh mountain air, clean white snow adorning the Alps, crystal blue skies, birds chirping outside our room at dawn and dusk, the quiet view of the Monch, Eiger and Jungfrau Alps outside our room and appeared close enough to touch, amazing views and virtually smoke-free environment, yummy Roesti. Croatia: Upon arrival we immediately said "we are in paradise", as Webster's defines it by a place or state of bliss, felicity, or delight and we truly felt like we were in this place of paradise every day in Croatia! The hotel was perfect, quiet, friendly people, terrific food, immaculate environment and surrounded by the picturesque turquoise of the Adriatic Sea! Greece: The remoteness of the Island of Santorini, 4 hours south of the bustling city of Athens, brought us warmth, cool Aegean Sea breezes, fun adventure on our only transportation of the trip (4-wheeler), giving us independence to go anywhere on a whim, delicious food, helpful people, world-famous sunsets and thousands of tough steep stairs to climb! We are still amazed at where our fantastic journey took us and the simple fact that most people don't ever get to spend this much dedicated and quality time together and who love and appreciate each other even more after spending every hour together, 24x7, for 62 days, and looked forward to each new sunrise with excitement to the unknown adventure, exploration, fun and memories to hold onto forever. We are thrilled to Intel Corporation for providing us with this super cool sabbatical benefit, providing us a 2 month paid "rest" every 7 years as a reward for our extremely hard work! Since we pushed our sabbatical out 3 yrs and are now both celebrating 10 yrs at Intel, we only have a short 4 years left to figure out where to go next...and we welcome that challenge! We'll be sure to dial you all into our next big adventure and thanks again for tagging along and living vicariously through our travel blog. Until next time... Love, Ryan and Laurie
]]> Kolocep Island exploration — Kolocep, Croatia http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1183035600/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1183035600/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1183035600/tpod.html Thu, 26 Jul 2007 16:07:56 +0000 Ryan and Laurie's European Sabbatical - 2007
Kolocep, Croatia

Zdravo! (Hello in Croatian!) We are not learning a new language in Croatia as it is not needed. We have not encountered anyone who does not speak English, making it extra pleasant! Today we slept in and must have needed it - still catching up on our lack of sleep on the long ferry journey from Bari, Italy, with a small room and very little air circulating. Laurie has stopped "moving" today (she was still feeling the boat yesterday) and all is good - nothing a little Croatian sunshine cannot fix!! This island we are on is amazing - have we said that yet? We are still saying to eachother, several times a day, "wow, can you believe the color of that water?" or "it really cannot get any better than this, can it?". Today we feasted on a terrific Croatian buffet breakfast and think this will go down as the BEST breakfast of the trip. Everything was super fresh and the cold was cold and the hot very hot (the dinner was the same!). This Croatian culture is one of very hard working people who go out of their way to help and are extremely friendly, and love Americans! Since we slept in a little later than normal we decided to explore our island. We headed out of our village of Donje Celo and off to Gornje Celo. There are only 2 villages on the island of Kolocep, which by the way, receive over 250 days of sunshine annually with a small population of only 100 people, no cars and only walking paths - yes, we mean it when we say PARADISE! We began our journey heading north, with a slight detour to find the nudist beach which was on the map and one of two on the island. We found the beach but no one was there and it was just a bunch of horribly uncomfortable rocks to rest on and extremely secluded. After wiping the tears from Ryans face of not finding any naked people, Laurie reassured him that we would find the other nudist beach before we left our island, bringing a huge smile to Ryans face! We continued along the beautifully manicured path, which was lightly covered with pine needles and we felt as if we were wandering through Central Oregon with the strong scent of pine in our noses! It was wonderful! The path was on the very edge, with little room to spare, but we followed the Adriatic Sea off our right shoulder all the way to our destination of Gornje Celo. We stopped for a quick bite to eat at the only place in this village, known for great seafood. Upon our arrival Laurie was beyond thirst and hunger as we had been walking for several hours and it was time for a "Dolly" break. So to make sure we were on the right path (because it seemed like it was taking soooooooooo long to get to this darn village and not that Laurie did not trust her fearless leader because she always knows that Ryan would never steer her down the wrong path, she was simply tired and thirsty and questioning if we would really get there!), Laurie stopped to ask 2 elderly sunbathing gentlemen how to get to "town". Thankfully these men were NOT wearing Speedo swimming suits, unlike the guys at our hotel - YUCKO! One of the men said "town? there is not a town here!", which worried Laurie a bit, thinking that they would have to walk a really long way back to our village. After a little bit more descriptors, the man said "oh yes, the VILLAGE is just ahead". When Laurie asked about food he said "there is no food here". Laurie probed some more and found out there was a restaurant AND the boat dock that we had seen on our map. All was good and "Dolly" (Laurie) was ready to roll with liquids and lunch on board. We continued to wander and bumped into one of the gals who works at the hotel. We enjoyed a little chat with her and found out that she walks to this other village every day and never gets tired of this amazing azzure blue Adriatic Sea! We walked back to Donje Celo with another gal who met up with us on the path and we showed her the way back as she was only visiting Kolocep for the day. This is the beauty of Croatia - the islands are close to one another so you can just hop on a boat and within 30 min to an hour you are on another spectacular island with more views and sites to explore, then return to your base island for the evening. It is a beautiful thing! We were very ready for the beach and spent a few hours sun bathing and dipping in the Adriatic Sea....and soaking up one of the 250 days of sunshine. Pure relaxation! We snapped some sunset shots before another Croatian buffet dinner and the day was done. Tomorrow we head to Dubrovnik for the day. We are loving it so much on Kolocep island that we just extended (again) and will stay here through July 3rd, taking day trips to several other islands close by, and then off to another island for a few days before heading to Greece. Today's walk: 7.6 miles Total for the journey (225 miles, 42 days) Love, Laurie and Ryan
]]> We're headed back to the USA! — Miami, FL http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1184706420/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1184706420/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1184706420/tpod.html Mon, 23 Jul 2007 23:52:08 +0000 Ryan and Laurie's European Sabbatical - 2007
Miami, FL

(Miami hotels)


Hi everyone: We had a nice evening in London and pretty much hunkered down in our room so we would not have to take out any British Pounds for anything! So bloody expensive in this country! We had an early wake up call so that we could take the shuttle to the airport (instead of paying $40 US for a 5 min ride to the airport)! The journey was short and since we had our tickets we just had to check our luggage and go through the security. The recent bombings definitely had heightened the security check but we had plenty of time. Next up was our VAT/Customs check point. Now that was an interesting chain of events! We both stood in line for the VAT and both got to the counter at the same time, different people attending to us. Ryan was done fast as they told him his watch had to be processed upstairs, beyond security. Laurie was done fast and got all her money back. The strange part was that for similarly priced items, his watch had to be processed upstairs! Very odd. We went through security and promptly found the VAT counter where there was no one in line and once up there they now told him he had to mail it in, which meant that we had to go BUY British stamps! Oh boy, spending more pounds (2x!). This whole process is screwy but we complied and bought the ridiculously expensive stamps and mailed away his form. All of this could have been done downstairs but who are we to suggest an improvement to their process? We were able to grab a STARBUCKS and muffin and sit a bit. We also exchanged all of our British pounds and extra Euro for USD - we were so tired of carrying around these super heavy coins! They added an extra few pounds for sure! We went to our gate and found that we would be delayed so hung around for awhile and read our books. The flight departed about an hour late for Miami but we did not care with our extra leg room bulk-head seats and cards waiting to be played! Remember that Laurie was up $8.73 after leaving Santorini but she began to feel very sorry for that poor Ryan, in the hole so far! That moment of "feel sorry for Ryan" was her doom and she rapidly gave back so much money to Ryan that now she was only up $1.48! She was not getting any wild cards, jokers or cards to do anything with and honestly, Ryan was loving it! Time is good for us all as it will force Laurie to pause and drum up a new strategy to use against Ryan - no more nice girl and forget the feeling sorry bit - what was she thinking? We arrived into Miami a little late but no issues our luggage arrived (looking a bit under the weather and could barely stand on its own), and we got a cab to the La Quinta hotel, about 1/2 mile from the airport.La Quinta Hotel, Miami at 3501 N.W. Le Jeune Road3501 N.W. Le Jeune Road http://www.lq.com/lq/proxySearchRes.do? searchState=FL&searchType=GEO&m apProvider=MapQuest&iata=99000736&a mp;sitrackingid=240614&searchCity=m iami&WT.srch=1&map.reset=search City%3Dmiami%26searchState%3DFL%26mapPr ovider%3DMapQuest%26searchType%3DGEO%26 iata%3D99000736%26WT.srch%3D1%26sitrack ingid%3D240614&map.lat=25.883988527 5&map.lng=-80.23651921625&map.z oomLevel=6 The humidity in Miami felt as though it was 100% because we stood and waited for a taxi and the sweat poured off of us. We noticed that all the people in the airport, the locals, were dry as a bone - good for them! This drippy heat confirmed for us why we don't live in Miami! We checked into the hotel and it was nice and cool! After a good giggle at the luggage and how tattered it was looking, was walked across the parking lot to grab some dinner and then headed back to answer some email and relax for our 2nd to the last leg to Seattle in the morning. We were trying to stay up as late as possible to ward off any potential for jet lag and our eyes could not stay open past 9:30pm! Tomorrow we board the plane for Seattle, WA and then sadly, separate for the first time in 62 days, to return to our homes in Portland, OR and Phoenix, AZ! Today's walk: 2.3 miles Total for the journey (303 miles, 61 days) Love, Ryan and Laurie
]]> Goodbye Greece, Hello London! — London, United Kingdom http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1184500800/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1184500800/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1184500800/tpod.html Mon, 23 Jul 2007 23:41:57 +0000 Ryan and Laurie's European Sabbatical - 2007
London, United Kingdom

Where I stayed
Jury's Bristol
(Bristol hotels)


Hi all - Today we spent the morning in Greece our final day in Greece as we head back across the pond over the next couple of days to the US. We got up early (no more sleeping in for us for the next couple of days, darn it!) and checked in with Anna on our shuttle van to the port for our ferry. Anna informed us that the ferry might not be running due the high winds as it has not run for the last 2 days! OH MY GOSH - we about pooped ourselves, especially Ryan! Ryan was beside himself thinking that for the first time in 2 months we did not have a back up plan, no options whatsoever! We knew after the last couple of days of calling American Airlines that there were no flights out of London for at least another week. We would have been thrilled to stay on Santorini another week but there were not flights out so it would mean we might have to MOVE to Greece! Anna told us to "not worry" and that we should go get breakfast and she would have an update when we return as we were not leaving for the port until 10am! We went to Fira to get money to pay our hotel bill and stopped for a quick breaky and sadly, returning our 4-wheeler! We loved that 4-wheeler and had a blast riding around the island! A must for anyone coming to Santorini! Rent from Sunrise in Kartaredos from Dimitri - $17 Euro a day including tax was a cheap form of transportation for 9 days! Sunrise Bike Rental returned us to Artemis Village where Anna greeted us with the GOOD news that the High Speed 5 ferry WAS running and we were good to go. Honestly, the only way off the island would have been by airplane to Athens and that would not have been a good choice on such a windy day! We were both relieved with this news. Ryan's color returned to his cheeks and his smile was huge knowing that we would be able to continue our adventure with no travel glitches - no ferry would have been a show stopper for sure! Sadly, we left for the Santorini Port in the Artemis Village shuttle van which dropped us directly in front of where the ferry would be boarding. We had some extra time so we did some fun people watching and then found a couple of gals in the waiting area and we found out that they had just finished a tour of 75 girls (35 high school girls and their mothers!) touring all over Italy! One was the principal of the school and the other a teacher and they do these trips almost every year - what a great time for these gals! They swore that next year the mothers would not be invited as they were bigger whiners than the kids! We had a great chat and then boarded the High Speed 5 ferry to Piraeus. Once on board in our 1st class seats we realized that the ferry was almost empty! No trouble for us as we had our own seats and did not have to share with anyone. After we backed out of the dock we were pretty sure why the ferry was empty - the seas were EXTREMELY rough and rocking and ROLLING! The ferry rocked and ROLLED for 4.5 hours! Thankfully neither of us got sick but remember, this was our 6th boat ride and we were now batting 50% for nasty crossings! Ahhh, just another test for us! No chanting from Laurie... but the card game was an excellent distraction (she wonders if being up so much $$ helped?) Before we started our card game we were chatting with a couple of people who had been stranded on the shores of Ios (prounounced Theos) for 5 days due to the high winds. Their boat was not able to sail into the Aegean Sea and the Coast Guard was also docked. They told us about a yacht that capsized just off the shores of Ios due to the extremely high winds, which is also why the other ferries that run with the High Speed 5 were all grounded for the last 2 days! We have seen so many yachts during our travels and we were shocked to learn that one of those beauties had flipped over! We learned that no one was hurt but certain they were shaken up a bit! WOW! We searched the internet for a story on this overturned yacht but it was kept under wraps! Darn it! We know how hard those winds were blowing where we were so it was not too surprising to hear of a capsize! We concentrated on our card game because Ryan had SO much catching up to do! Once settled in our seats, and basically strapped down, Laurie enjoyed the wonderful lead of being up $5.82 and increased her lead to a whopping $8.73 upon leaving the ferry! There were many folks looking green but our Canadian Gin game kept us both occupied, laughing and happy (well Laurie anyways)! Due to the rough seas and very strong winds, we docked in Piraeus 35 minutes late! This was not good and had us both in a worried state because our plane for London was taking off at 7:05pm and we had precisely planned how much time we needed to get from the port to the airport - our only hope was that the train would zip through the streets and get us there in record time! As usual, we were the first on the ferry and the first off. We really had this routine down and knew exactly when to gather up our gear to get be first in line - excellent coordination skills! Once on land we seriously HOOFED it to the metro station which we had only been "pointed" out to us 9 days earlier so we were only hoping that we would be in the right place soon. Laurie stopped to ask if the building we were about to head into was the right one and yes, it was the metro to take us to the airport. We ran into the brand new metro station which had only opened 2 wks prior, showed our Eurail passes for the last time and boarded our final train of the journey. Then we waited....and waited. Here we were, sweat pouring off of us as it was oh SO muggy in Piraeus, and dirty! GROSS! The streets were so darn filthy and we just dodged all the garbage on the way to the metro. After all that rushing we sat on the air-conditioned "express" train to take us to the airport. We found out that this train would make a stop so on our 6th stop we were to get off and change trains and that final one would drop us at the airport departure gate. We sat on this train for 20 minutes before it finally took off and wow, was it ever SLOW! It moved slower than a snail and we were just wondering if it would get us to the airport in time. By the time we got to the 6th stop to change trains, it was already after 6:00pm and we still had to check our luggage and go through security! YIKES! This was truly the only time in our 2 months of traveling together that we did not think we would make our flight home, and we did not have any other options for at least 10 days out! We really are amazing together and we just pushed our way through the lines and through security (which was a joke) and arrived at the gate, 5 minutes before the plane was boarding - no joke! WOW - quite the heart stopper but we made it on board and had great seats that we had smartly confirmed the night before! Once on board the journey to London was very fast and we arrived in London about 9:00pm, where we caught a black taxi to take us to the Jury's Inn, London-Heathrow, UK: http://www.all-hotels.com/xbook/servlet /hotel-details?hotl_id=348005# The hotel was nice but that darn cab ride cost us almost $40 US dollars for 1/2 mile! Once you circle around the airport it takes a while to circle BACK in to all the hotels! Ridiculous but grateful for only one night here and we knew that whatever we touched would be 2 times the price as in the US. We were hungry to we dropped into the bar for a small bite to eat, careful not to order much as it was kind of late. It really did not matter as whatever we would order would set us back $40 USD, with a Coke at $6.00! Tomorrow we head over the pond from London to Miami, Florida, back in the USA! Today's walk: 3.3 miles Total for the journey (300 miles, 60 days) p.s. we can't believe our mileage but we actually hit the 300 mile mark! WOW! Love, Laurie and Ryan
]]> Last day in Greece — Karterádhos, Greece http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1184500801/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1184500801/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1184500801/tpod.html Mon, 23 Jul 2007 22:49:25 +0000 Ryan and Laurie's European Sabbatical - 2007
Karterádhos, Greece

Hi all - Today is a sad day as it marks our last day in Greece! We have had such a wonderful stay in Greece, filled with relaxing sun-soaked days, wind in our faces as we cruised around the island on our 4-wheeler, thinking of nothing but relaxation with clear minds, bodies and souls! The reality of our trip coming to an end must have hit us when we actually purchased that duffel bag last night in Fira! This means that we HAVE to think about going home and our wonderful adventure coming to a close. However, we pushed those thoughts from our minds for awhile so we could enjoy our last full day on Santorini! We slept in...again! We agreed that neither one of us has slept in so much since we were 12 yrs old! We loved it! Our last day began with a trip into town to Jerry's for breakfast and then on to Fira, stopping at the Internet cafe where we confirmed our flights and seats for our upcoming journey across the pond. A quick stop at the super market for lunch supplies and home to change into the swim attire! We were still in denial about packing so rather than pack we soaked in our last of the Greek sun and enjoyed the swift breeze that encircled us. This was the 3rd full day of strong winds, making it difficult to travel the 45 minutes south to the famous Red Beach - next time! We washed off the dust and sun oil at 7pm and headed into Fira for our final sunset. We walked up and down the stairs to find our special spot, next to Franco's Restaurant. I think we were becoming "locals" as the same restaurant greeter saw us for the 5th time and was worried that something was wrong. We assured him that we were here for another sunset and he was relieved (we were almost on a first name basis with this man as he was quite interested in hearing all about our photography and 2 month journey when we were here a few nights ago). We took over our special sunset spot, set up the mini-tripod and got ready to shoot the descending sun which, to our luck, was an orange fireball tonight! We were thrilled that our last night ended with such a masterpiece! After shooting the sunset until it dropped away in the horizon, we went to find a final resting spot for dinner. We found the other place that Artemis recommended, (from Artemis Village where we were staying in Karterados), Noussas, and we had a nice dinner. The place was packed so we knew we were in the right spot! We did a little more shopping after dinner and found ourselves on the donkey stairs...for one final climb! Laurie was lonely for a stair stroll (!) and at the same time we were looking for a particular shop with a nice baseball cap. It was amazing how turned around we got in this little maze of a village, but we found ourselves WAY down on the donkey stairs, which meant that we had to walk UP! As we made our way up the steep stairs, we heard the familiar bells of the donkeys! We were flattened to the side of the open stairwell, along with some other folks caught in the donkey traffic, and the 20 donkeys made is up the stairs. Oh my, they move at a VERY fast clip when they don't have any passengers on board! It was late and they were making their last walk up to their sleeping quarters. We were able to snap a few photos until all of a sudden an older man, on top of his donkey, began screaming at us and shaking his fist. We think that the flash from the camera blinded him and then we thought if he was blinded so were his donkey's - lovely! The donkey's kept clipping up the stairs but all of a sudden got dangerously close to us, and we were absolutely pinned to the wall. The other folks beside us were fidgeting as the hoofs of these animals, along with their butts, were oh so close. At one point Ryan held out his arm for the donkey's to see that we were there and to prevent us from getting walked on! We finished the climb up behind the donkey's and drove home in the high winds! When one says "wind in your face", we felt every bit of that wind and poor Ryan got the brunt of it. Laurie had the ability to duck behind Ryan but still both of us got blasted with some pretty good gusts before landing back at our room. Even though it was late by the time we got back to Artemis Village, we made an attempt to pack, the "dry run". Ryan was done first (of course) and had everything packed with bags standing upright within an hour or so. Laurie moved a little slower as she had to make some decisions about what to leave behind in Greece as she did not want over weight baggage charges! Ryan sorted through our last photos and began the final photo back up on our external drives as Laurie continued to pack and toss. We are thankful that Ryan bought his extra duffel bag as there is NO WAY he would be able to carry all this stuff without an over weight charge. We think we are under the maximum so should be flying home with no extra charges! We are crossing fingers and toes during our sleep tonight! We finished around 1:30am and were pretty much ready to get our last few errands run in the morning before heading to the ferry from Santorini to Piraeus. The next 2 days are travel days on boats, trains and planes taking us from Santorini to Piraeus to Athens to London to Miami to Seattle and finally home to Portland for Laurie and Phoenix for Ryan. We'll post when we can as our email access will be limited between modes of transportation. Please watch for our final summary in the next couple of days as we will post our 2007 sabbatical trip highlights and top 10 (not an easy task but a necessary one!). Today's walk: 2.5 miles Total for the journey (297 miles, 59 days) Love, Laurie and Ryan
]]> Day off by the pool — Karterados, Greece http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1184414400/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1184414400/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1184414400/tpod.html Mon, 23 Jul 2007 22:49:00 +0000 Ryan and Laurie's European Sabbatical - 2007
Karterados, Greece

Hi Everyone: We are sad to say we only have a two more days in Santorini so decided to hit the shops of Fira and then soak up some of our last sun rays at the pool. The meltami winds were quite strong today but while typical for Greece in July and August, they don't usually last as long as they have as this was the 2nd full day of gusty winds! We drove along the blustery road on our 4-wheeler to town for breakfast, a quick check to our email, and spent a few hours shopping in Fira. The swift breeze kept us cool but were not as strong in Fira as they were in Karterados. We spun into the local super market, grabbed some lunch and then hunkered down with our books by the pool. Our Canadian gin game has been put on hold until the wind dies down a bit but we were able to nap and make a dent on our books: Ryan is just about finished with book #3 and Laurie with #2. The wind howled all day but kept us nice and cool next to the pool. We were relaxed and felt refreshed. It was when we re-applied our sun tan oil that we realized how much dust had been blowing around and when we put the oil on and started to rub it around we were rubbing in dust granules and it felt like a body salt scrub at the spa! We endured a while longer until the wind picked up its force in the late afternoon and finally blew us into our room at around 6pm and we were literally covered with dust! After scrubbing off the suntan oil and dirt we drove back into Fira for a little more shopping and dinner, and one more sunset view! We ate dinner at a very busy and highly recommended local restaurant called "Nikolas" and it was packed! We tried some traditional dishes: Ryan had a yummy lamb dish and Laurie had Mousakka, followed by gelato on the way out of Fira. We found a very inexpensive 2nd piece of luggage for Ryan as we needed to offload our big bags into a secondary bag to avoid any overweight charges! We were now set to do our dry run packing and see what else we had to eliminate before our big travel day! Tomorrow is our last full day in Santorini so must begin to seriously pack and consolidate (double ugh) and confirm our next few days of travel by boat, train and plane! Today's walk: 3 miles Total for the journey (295 miles, 58 days) Love, Laurie and Ryan
]]> We arrived in London! — London, United Kingdom http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1179630600/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1179630600/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1179630600/tpod.html Mon, 23 Jul 2007 15:30:02 +0000 Ryan and Laurie's European Sabbatical - 2007
London, United Kingdom

(London hotels)


We arrived in London, England at 8:00pm local time. The flight over the pond was uneventful and we caught up on some much needed sleep. We figured out the train system immediately and hopped onto the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station, taxi to the Royal Garden Hotel, checked in by 10pm. The hotel was booked through Cheaprooms.com and while not cheap, it is beautiful, equipped with nice toiletries and a bidet :), along with a great view of Kensington High Street and the BEST part...... yes.... you will all appreciate this - the Starbucks is across the road!!! Here are a few fast photos after a long day. Enjoy! Sunday will be a relaxing day as we head to Bath.... Love, Ryan and Laurie
]]> On our way to London — Newark, NJ http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1179592500/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1179592500/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1179592500/tpod.html Sun, 22 Jul 2007 14:33:50 +0000 Ryan and Laurie's European Sabbatical - 2007
Newark, NJ

On our way to London!!! R and L
]]> Day in Karterados, Greece — Karterádhos, Greece http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1184322180/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1184322180/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1184322180/tpod.html Sat, 14 Jul 2007 10:37:25 +0000 Ryan and Laurie's European Sabbatical - 2007
Karterádhos, Greece

Hi everyone: Today we awoke at 5:00am with the wind howling outside at what we thought was a typhoon heading for us! Ryan had done a load of laundry in the sink last night and it was all hanging outside to dry! The sound of the whipping wind awoke us both, Ryan bolted out of bed to save his laundry from flying all over the countryside and spent the next 30 minutes gathering and rescuing his undies from the yard! The winds were quite strong and continued to howl throughout the day, making a day of sight seeing difficult. We decided to hunker down by the pool even though the winds were strong, it was nice and cool and no need to dip into the pool to cool off as the wind took care of that. We ate lunch out beside the pool as we had done the day before and tried to nap a little but the wind got quite blustery, we think it gusted several times beyond 50 mph and after watching the dust swirl around us and on us, we called it quits for sunbathing. The wind continued all night so we took the 4-wheeler down the road to our favorite Taverna and enjoyed a blustery dinner - we were the only ones in the restaurant! We asked the owner of the restaurant about the strong winds and she said they are called the meltemi, a cooling strong wind, blows, sometimes strongly enough to create rough water, which occur mostly in July and August in Santorini. The seas were VERY rough and we were happy that we were not on a ferry today as the white caps were huge and surf was pounding on the black sand! We would like to take a moment to mention the toilet paper situation in Greece. It is rather odd but one that we had read about and thought it was particular to one hotel and one tourist. This is NOT the case. The toilets in Greece must have really bad plumbing as the places we have gone and used the WC (water closet) the signs are clearly posted with "Do NOT put toilet paper in the toilet - please use the waste basket provided". Lovely. We follow directions and every time you have to use toilet paper, you have to consciously THINK about not putting it in the toilet - this is a difficult habit to break! Our first day in Artemis Village, where the sign is clearly posted as well, it was not easy to remember the toilet paper rule! It took us a couple of days to break our US habit, which is a nice habit to have! We don't exactly like to enter a public toilet, open the lid and put your paper on top of other paper - if you know what we mean! It is really gross and not exactly the most hygienic method but obviously it works for the Greek septic system. We continue to encounter interesting experiences with every country, why should Greece be any different? Tomorrow we will explore Fira, wind dependent! Today's walk: 0 miles (Day off) Total for the journey (286 miles, 56 days) Love, Laurie and Ryan
]]> Day in Oia for shopping and sunset — Oia, Greece http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1184158800/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1184158800/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rlineurope/europe_2007/1184158800/tpod.html Sat, 14 Jul 2007 10:23:24 +0000 Ryan and Laurie's European Sabbatical - 2007
Oia, Greece

Hi all: Today we took the 4-wheeler to Oia to get some shopping done and explore the town again as we did not spend enough time there earlier this week. Ryan was quite pleased with himself because he was able to easily keep up with the city bus and we arrived in Oia in only 20 minutes, 10 minutes less than last time because the wind was not as strong as the other day. We walked through the small boutiques and looked at all the pretty things they have to sell in Oia. The prices are a bit more expensive in this small town because of where it is situated in Santorini (on the tip of the island) and where the masses come for the spectacular sunset shots. We wove around the streets, up and down the steep stairs, and once again we asked ourselves why there were no other shoppers, and it was the same thing - the heat was intense! We found out from our new friend, Chris, from a local boutique, that the shops stay open until about midnight, giving tourists the chance to grab their sunset perch and then go eat and shop. After a few hours we drove back to Karterados to clean up for our return trip to Oia for the sunset. We headed back into Fira and parked the 4-wheeler and hopped on the over-crowded local bus for Oia. This bus ride cost $1.20 Euro per person but the ride was awful! This bus was FULL when we got on and the driver kept jamming people into the bus, there was not one inch to move. Ryan was crammed into the door well with 5 people surrounding him and Laurie was a step above him sandwiched in between others on the isle. Then, if you can believe this, a little man wove his way through the crowd to collect the money! We could not believe this was happening as it occurred as we drove up and around on the curvy roads and the man made his way to the back of the bus, all his money had been collected. THEN the little man made his way back to the front of the bus - really silly process! So, the bus was PACKED, and when we say packed we mean it! The only space was to throw people on top of one another. Then it happened - the bus stopped at a bus stop to let people ON to this bus. Yes, people squeezed a little more tightly together and a few more people gathered around Ryan and in around the front door - it was really amazing. Ryan was ready to get off the bus at this moment, especially after a little old woman began to shove Ryan for more room and Ryan gave her a look and asked her "where would you like me to go?" Thankfully she got off on the next stop, only to get off and let someone else on in her place. Did we mention no air conditioning? There was none and this bus ride reminded us of the Amalfi coast ride from hell. We got off on the first familiar stop and decided that the cab was the way back to town when we were done with the sunset. We walked to where we had decided to shoot the sunset from and to our surprise it was FILLED with people, scrambling for their spot! The entire town was teaming with people to watch the sunset from Oia! WOW, it was so packed and people had brought cheese, crackers, champagne, and were setting up for a little sunset party. It was pretty funny and then here we were, with our big back packs and tripods. People gave us quite the look and next time we travel we need to bring our press passes! Ryan perched himself on one ledge and Laurie was not satisfied with the angle she was getting so moved a little ways away. Before Laurie knew it, her spot was gobbled up with 20 tourists, surrounding Ryan, barely giving him room to move! Laurie spotted a small space nearby and grabbed it and as soon as she stepped up to it a man started to inch her out - Laurie just set up and took over her spot, ignoring the man's insistence that she was taking over his spot. It is a cut throat situation in Oia for sunset but we were able to stand our ground and get some pretty good sunset shots. After the sun sank below the horizon, the entire town applauded the end! Once the sun was down the people dispersed fast into the nearby restaurants and shops. We did the same and grabbed dinner and waited for the sky to go dark so that we could grab some night shots of Oia. Dinner prices are quite inflated - you definitely pay for the view in this town. The traditional Greek salad goes for $3.90 Euro in Karterados (our little village where we are staying) but in Oia it topped $10 Euro - for the SAME darn salad. We definitely pay for the view and were warned of that, so we scouted out a restaurant which was more reasonable and only ordered a small dinner. Coca cola is .73 Euro in the grocery store and in Oia, same size cost $3.90 Euro - OUCH! We opted for water. It is not that we are that cheap, just reasonable! We took our night shots and grabbed a taxi where we were joined by a nice couple from the UK who are currently living in Munich. We chatted with them on the way home and learned that the Germans with the multiple bathing suit thing was as bizarre to them as it was to us and they think it is a hygiene thing (as the Germans also don't wear their swim suits in the sauna - they go naked). We still don't get it, and either did our UK friends but at least we were not the only ones questioning this. Tomorrow we are planning a day off in the sun. Today's walk: 5 miles Total for the journey (286 miles, 55 days) Love, Laurie and Ryan
]]>