Glad to see the back of Athens and trying to grasp some of the Turkish language

About time for my bi-monthly post I think!

Well as you may tell from the title, when it got down to it, I didn't particularly enjoy Athens.

There were a few reasons for this. The main complaints were that it was probably the most touristey city I've been to, usually yeah, it's escapable and you can find somewhere away from the crowds. With Athens though, you'd lose the crowds, and there'd be absolutely nothing of interest to reward the wanderer. I did manage to get a haircut though, despite the language barrier, for a mere 5€ - luckily I had an appropriate picture on the wall to point at. Have to say I'm not quite worked up enough to get it all shaved off!

Anyway another reason I didn't quite enjoy Athens was that the place didn't feel Greek once you'd looked past the tourism. Yeah there was the Akropolis and the other associated relics, and the new museum wasn't bad, but aside from that it didn't feel genuine anymore. Maybe I was missing something, but 4 days was definitely too long for Athens!

Anyway, moving on from that downer...

From Athens I worked out a little bit of island hopping. First to Santorini, then to Paros. From Paros I would then hop to Samos, and to Turkey again. 

Both islands were beautiful, and I wish I'd allowed more than a day on each one, and they certainly did feel Greek. There was more of a relaxed attitude and lifestyle on the islands, and outside of the port areas, not much in the way of a police presence. 

Santorini was a picturesque, postcard island, with the typical white, stonewashed houses, beautiful beaches and perhaps an over excessive amount of quad bikes and scooters whizzing around. I decided I was going to eat out that evening and wanted to sample some Greek cuisine outside of the brilliant, but samey Pork Souflakis (think of a kebab, but with Tzatziki and fries).

I ended up going with a recommendation for 'The Volcano' restaurant. It was the most packed place and I had to wait for 15 minutes or so, but in the end it was worth it.

On my way I'd be browsing all the other overpriced menus and shrugging off the 'specials' some of the waiters would try and decide for you. A good way of being left alone was to say I had already eaten, and was looking for tomorrow.

It was a round 10€ I paid for a moreish Moussaka (think Lasagne, but Greek) and a side of stuffed vine leaves, with some Amstel. It felt like money well spent.

I was staying in the only hostel on the island, which turned out to be okay, and participated in daft drinking games until the wee hours.

Which brings me back to the lawless nature of the islands.. 

It got to something like 3am and some people were lining their stomaches with some indulgent crepes (not sure why Greece have adopted these, not that I'm complaining) to finish a night of drinking.

Out of the blue a guy parks next to the Creperie and, barely being able to walk or stand upright, with a huge grin drawn on his face, orders a crepe. The guy was obviously trousered and the locals barely battered an eyelid as he poured himself back into his car and drove off. Obviously we gave him a wide berth before walking back to the hostel!

The next day, after retracing last night's steps to the Creperie and getting something to set me up for the day, I went for a bit of a wander before my ferry at 3 o'clock that afternoon. I wasn't able to go too far, but I did find a church that looked like it was carved into one of the hills and so in the meditteranean? heat I clambered up the crumbling steps to get a closer look.

It was worth the buckets of sweat and the views up there were something else. I sat in the tiny bit of shade there was left (unfortunately the church was locked) and caught my breath while enjoying the landscape laid out before me.

Paros had the similar white houses and shops but had a slightly different feel to it. There were thankfully a lot less bikes to drown your brain. I stuck pretty much to the small town my hostel was in and wandered through the narrow market streets and took in the fresh sea air. Later on, the sunset was incredible aswell. This felt like an island I could spend weeks on, away from the madness of city life and free to go at my own pace.

Then it was back toward Turkey again.

This was after the hideous overnight ferry from 1105. I was allocated an open-deck seat, but I wasn't up to that so I upgraded for 6€ to get something a little more respectable, but not quite sleep-friendly. I managed a few uncomfortable fragments of sleep, before arriving in Samos at 5.30am.

So after a very cheap bus ride from the port town in Turkey and readjusting to the Turkish Lira, I was in Izmir for 4 days. 

I enjoyed this city. It's home to the huge Kemeralti market area (covering maybe 3km?) where I bought myself a kilo of Turkish Delight for 3TYL / 1,5€, which I probably shouldn't do too often. It was great to get lost in the endless streets, knowing full well that if you carried on straight, you'd eventually make it out, back into the real world again.

There are lots of little tea (chai) houses everywhere, aswell as men with kettles and glasses walking around the grassy areas, serving tea to anyone with a few coins.

The clock tower and the Konak pier are also apparently quite famous, the clock featuring on Izmir posters around town. It also, like everywhere in Turkey, has its fair share of mosques, with four or so prayer songs that are broadcast on the loudspeakers. 

There were no hostels in Izmir, but I did find a cosy little budget hostel that worked out at maybe £13 a night for a single room, with TV, air conditioning and some affectionate mosquitoes. 

I was happy to spend hours walking and getting lost and trying new and incredibly cheap foods. It's also easy to see why Turks drink buckets of tea, which is drunk black, in a little glass so you can see the blood red colour of it. It has to be said though, that I'm really missing having a kitchen at my disposal... at this point I'm crying out for something not containing pastry, meat, cheese or all the above. There's also a huge array of spices just waiting to be sampled.

Now, once again, I am back in Istanbul.

I arrived yesterday evening from a comfortable bus and ferry combination, and chilled at the hostel.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I've been saving up my facial hair in order to go for a real Turkish shave, cut throat razor and all. I'll see if I can stumble into somewhere that's reasonable.

Anyway, time to run, I'll see if I can find some vegetables to chew on.

Hamburg, Dresden, Prague

Hamburg was nice enough, though with the saving of money I wasn't upto much other than the usual wandering around. I ventured into the town and watched a bit of the Polizei(sp?) band playing some jumpy numbers before they packed it in when the rain started to sprinkle.

Dresden was beautiful. I enjoyed the Altstadt (old town) side of the bridge more than the Neustadt side, though the new town did have the golden horserider. Bet that's worth a pretty penny. Twas t-shirt-clingingly-hot again.

Following that I was out of Germany and into Prague to give it a proper once over this time, and it didn't disappoint.

Though obviously suffocated with tourists during most of the day, there is too much in Prague to pass on. Yesterday I spent a good 6 hours walking around the Old Town attractions including the Cathedral, the Old Town Hall, the Astronomnical Clock and of course Charles bridge (which was sadly half covered in scaffolding). The main square had a nice array of various food stands, from Jewish cuisine to chicken kebabs on a skewer... and of course pints of draught beer for less than a quid. Didn't take me too long to figure out the currency (1€ = 25Kc), can't wait until the denominations get ridiculous...

I've been gradually getting into meeting people in hostels again, though I was perhaps slightly indifferent at first (the conversations can tend to be a bit samey). Today a very talkative and upbeat chap introduced himself when I was sat alone like a plum, eating breakfast I'd bought, when unknown to me, it was provided free in the hostel. 

Anthony was another Couch Surfer and he spent a good amount of time showing me the ins and outs of the system. All I need to do now is pluck up some courage to give it a try, apparently at least 2 weeks in advance is a good time if you're looking for a couch to sleep on. 

Before rushing off to catch his plane back to London, Anthony showed an interest in meeting me in Turkey inbetween September 20th and October 20th, which would be cool.

After he he disappeared I got myself lost on the way into town. Might have had something to do with getting the tram in the wrong direction! This time amongst the beer drinking I caught the Jubilee Synagogue and Prazsky Hrad (Prague Castle) and more pavement pounding. 

Tomorrow is going to contain at least 15 hours of trains, aswell as a disgusting 840 start from Nadrazi Holesovice train station so I treated myself to a nice meal this evening, totalling about 200Kc / 8€ / £7someting. I had a good old beef goulash with a side of grilled veg and a pint of cold Gambrinus lager.

I've come to understand that its only reading books that keeps me awake on long train journeys. Music, computer and view gazing all do little to prevent the inevitable slip into daydreaming some 20 or 30 minutes after departure. Little bit irritating to be fair.

Anyway I can't believe tomorrow it will be a week already since I left home... time flies. Going to short my clobber out then try and get a good night's sleep.

Venice

Despite the crowds, and there were a lot of crowds, this was a worthy stop. I stayed on the outskirts of Venice in a funky campsite, in a kind of lightweight cabin, for 1 night. 

It turned out one day walking around the centre was plenty of time. It is a fun place to get lost (and you will get lost) but you never stay lost for too long. 

Luckily it was pretty easy to escape the crowds and the expensive restaurants / stalls simply by walking around a couple of corners. 

 

Barcelona

This should probably be before the Baden-Baden post, but nevermind...

Barcelona was good. I was there for 3 nights - 2 in a god-awful, but nicely located Hostelling International Hostel (INOut Hostel) and for the other night; one close to Placa Catalunya, which was infinitely better (HostelOne Sants).

I wasted most of my first day pretty much, as I developed a bout of hayfever at some point on the journey there. It was something of a miracle that I found my way out of the train station at all, giving that every minute or 2 I was sneezing. I think maybe people thought I had Swine Flu (sorry pig farmers, H1n1 virus?) so they may well have cleared a path for me as I staggered toward them.

At the first hostel, I met the shortish Scottish guy, Nick, after getting off the tram, just I was wondering how the heck I was going to get to the other side of the gate.

He lived inbetween Edinburgh and Glasgow. He was well into his 'fitbah' and I could understand a total of 3 words he said. He was nice enough though, and showed me a decent shortcut upto the hostel, which is bang next to a National Park, cutting out half of the distance of the hill we had to climb.

After a healthy late afternoon kip my hayfever had pretty much cleared up. So after talking to a couple of Australian girls, who were in my dorm, and apologising for the eye-bleeding stench coming from my shoes and socks, I reared my head.

I had some of the food on offer from the restaurant, owned by the hostel. It tasted like microwaved swill, but it filled a hole. I had a pretend Paella followed by some soggy burgers, lacking any kind of flavour for a reasonable-but-not-that-reasonable 6,50.

It was pretty late by the time I'd finished and was pretty dark, so I read a little and went to sleep. That was until the larger of the 2 Australian girls began to shake the room with her snoring.


On my second day I took the plunge and went on one of those double-decker tourist buses (Barcelona Turistica). I got the 2-day pass (hop on and off as many times as you want) for 28Euro, when the 1-day pass was 21. I was up at 8ish, had a designated plate of food from the Hostel kitchen (a dried up croissant, some bread, jam and foul coffee) then headed to Placa Catalunya.

The bus-tour was pretty good, informative and interesting. The English voice sounded like someone familiar, a Keith Floyd-type or one of those famous TV historians. I was glad to have got on the bus once it got going, as the sights in Barcelona are quite sparsely spread out, so I would've done myself an injury if I attempted to walk all of the distance.

On the bus, I was once again beginning to wonder why people would take pictures of every single thing, seemingly without processing what they were seeing. I was happy to let the passing sights sink in on my first run, and paid attention to the history being pumped into my ear.

I was on the buses for most of the day. Even got a little bit of sunburn, as usually I am walking and hopping from shade to shade, but on the bus I was pretty exposed. I can just hear my Mother tutting.

If you have heard anything about the pickpocketing in Barcelona, it is absolutely true. I was fortunate in that I haven't lost anything.. yet, but I certainly noticed some dodginess. There were a couple of potential situtions (that sounds official) or maybe I was just being overly-paranoid.

Both times, I was in the Metro, so be sure to be alert when/if you head there. The first time, it was a group of kids (always kids, as far as i could tell), maybe 5, on bicycles. They started to circle me a bit as I was starting to look a little lost... again, probably nothing, probably just my mind playing tricks. I got out of that one by going down some stairs - imagine that!

The second time, it was more obvious. I was walking down one of those tight tunnels they have in the Metro and a group were walking towards me. Both my hands were full with shopping bags at this point. As I was walking towards them, the guy on my side casually lowers his hand to his side and tried to check my side pocket. I was quite aware of this as it happened, and wanted to smack the guy afterwards, but as I say... I wasn't 100% whether it happened or not!

HostelOne Sants, for my final night's stay in Barcelona was really good. It was also remarkably easy to find from the Metro stop. I wasn't there much on my 3rd day, as I was busy using my last day on the bus tour, but on check-out day I hung around until 3pm-ish.

The guy on reception was cool, as were the other guests floating around. I played a guy's guitar and he gave me ideas for improvising in alternate tunings. I'm also thinking of buying an acoustic guitar for when I head to Australia, come October, as I will be there for so long.

At first, I thought of going to Marseilles, but ended up going towards Cerbere. I arrived there at 8pm, then, looking at the Departures board, I decided to head to Paris d'Austerlitz, just because I couldn't be bothered looking for accommodation.

From Paris I headed to Baden-Baden.