Day 16 - Patra and Athens

We arrived in Patra at 12:30 and the train to Athens isnt until 5pm so we had lunch and walked around town a bit. Not much to see here. The first half of the 4.5 hour train ride was in a rickity old beater of a train with no a/c but it went along the coast so the view was amazing. The second half was on a much nicer train. Once in Athens we took the metro to our hotel, which was nice even though it was in a dodgy part of down. Had dinner and a shower and went to bed.

Day 15 - Napoli and Pompeii

Why go to Napoli if it is such a dump? Because Pompeii is right down the road. I've always wanted to see the ancient city that was destroyed by a volcano. After a bit of train confusion (surprised?) we made it to Pompeii with not much time before we had to catch another train over to Bari. Pompeii was amazing to see. Many of the paintings on the walls have survived, as have a few fountains which were decorated with stones and sea shells. We were also able to see several human bodies and a dog that are now solidified in ash. Wish I had more time for a proper tour but we had to head back to Napoli to catch another train to Bari, which is where we will catch a ferry to Greece.
...hours and hours on a train...

We made it to Bari and were able to get strait on a ferry to Patra, Greece. I got the cheapest ticket, which was for the deck, which means not only do I not get a bed, I dont even get a seat. So I set up camp on the deck of the boat and slept very little.

Day 14 - Tuscany-Rome-Napoli

We missed our first train in the moring back to Rome, so we had to scramble over to the next village to catch another one. From there we hopped another train down to Napoli. The train ride was neat, great scenery, but Napoli is a garbage dump. Literally. There is garbage everywhere. We got in a bit late, checked in to our hotel which was lovely, and went looking for a bar with some music or something but no luck.

Day 13 - Tuscan Villa

What an unexpected bonus this is. I woke up in the morning and went outside to find the girls picking basil leaves from the garden so we could make homemade pesto that evening. I had a swim in the infinity pool to wake me up a bit. The pool overlooks grape and olive vineyards as far as the eye can see. It looks like you could swim right over the edge of the pool and down the hill. We all loaded up and headed to the nearest village to get the rest of the pesto ingredients. When we got back we had a quick pasta lunch and I was back in the pool with a few Coronas. We all spent the whole afternoon in the pool, it was perfect. Once evening hit we spent about 4 hours making enough pesto to feed a football team. We had a feast outside that night and I never want to eat pesto again.

Day 12 - Rome

Woke up VERY EARLY to go in to town with Flaminia. Started off at Vatican City. We walked through the museums and the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica for a few hours. I had seen the Basilica before but didnt make it to the museums or Sistine Chapel last time I was in Rome. They have countless statues, paintings, tapestries, maps, etc and all of it was very intriguing and priceless. From Vatican City we walked past Castle St. Angelo and over to the Pantheon, another thing I had not seen before. It was the first church in Rome and has an amazingly huge dome with a hole in the center. From there we walked past Trevi Fountain, always amazing, and made our way over the the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. I will always be amazed by the Colosseum no matter how many times I see it. After that we met Flaminia for lunch and headed home. I have now seen everything on my list in Rome, though there is plenty more for me to research and come back to visit.

That evening, Flaminia mentioned her mother's house in the hills of Tuscany and that we could hang out there for a few days if we wanted. The train leaves in 40 minutes, so three minutes later we were out the door and in a cab to the train station. 2 hours later we were there. The house is amazing! It is basically a mansion that is rented out to the super rich for weeks at a time. The last guests before us were uber rich Saudi princes or something (seriously). We got there a bit late so we just chatted with Flaminia's mother and her 12 dogs for a bit and went to bed.

Day 11 - Rome

We took the bus to town and walked over to Villa Borghese and through the parks there. From there we went down to Piazza Venezia which is where Vittoriano ("the wedding cake") is located, at the end of the Roman Forum and just down the road from the Colosseum. It was about here that Jeff's camera battery went dead, plus everthing was closed since it was Sunday, so we just headed home. By this time Flaminia was back so we just hung out and chatted with her, cooked dinner, and went to bed.

Day 10 - Ferry and Rome

The ferry doesnt arrive until 430pm and the pool was full of screaming kids, so I spent most of the day watching the Olympics in the lounge. Once we got to the port, there was no clear direction of what to do so we just got on a free shuttle bus that took us about 50 feet... From there we walked to the train station to take us on to Rome. Jeff and Steph have a friend who lives in Rome and offered us free accomodation, Thanks Flaminia! Once we got to her house, we walked to the market and then cooked dinner. It was a quit night and I got to sleep in a real bed!

Day 9 - Barcelona and the ferry

missed my bike tour again! I suck! But I had a great time out and met some cool people so no worried. I will be back to Barcelona so next time I suppose. So we checked out of the hostel, left our bags there since the ferry wasnt until that evening, and headed to the beach to nurse our wounds. We were there about 4 hours, perfect conditions, the perfect cure. From there we got on the 19 hour ferry to Civitavecchia, Italy, which is just outside Rome. We had dinner on board and what was supposed to be a short nap turned into bedtime and I slept through the night. For this ferry we had a cabin with beds and a bathroom. This was a luxury I would never see again...

Day 8 - Barcelona

I slept throught the freaking bike tour again! Damn it! In my defense, I had a terrible nights sleep due to a snoring Englishman in the bunk below mine. Once we got around we went to an internet cafe to check the ferry options to Italy. Once we figured that out we set off to the ticket office to book the tickets. The ferry company has a new name but never bothered to update the website or tell anyone, so what should have taken 15 minutes took an hour and a half just to find the right office, then they told us we couldnt buy the tickets until after 5pm. Once that debacle was finished I was slightly peaved. We hopped on the metro to Guell Park, which is on top of a hill overlooking the city and has some Gaudi architecture inside. After a pleasant stroll through the park we headed back across town to actually buy the tickets for the ferry. It felt like a major accomplishment to actually have these tickets in our hands. It was a long and hot day and I was a little cranky so we headed back to the hostel. There was a market nearby so we got some cheap food and cooked it at the hostel. I got a bottle of wine for less than 2 euros and that made me feel a bit better. Once some people had gathered at the hostel we fired up a drinking game, got everyone loose, and went out to a nightclub. Somewhere along the way I lost Jeff and Steph. The nightclub was called Razmataz, I recommend it if you are ever in town. Good music and then halfway through a live band came out and jammed for a bit. Next thing I know its 6am and I can see the sun. Got little to no sleep and...

Day 7 - Barcelona

Today I had every intention of going on an organized bicycle tour of Barcelona but I slept too late. No worries, I can catch it tomorrow. We walked down the main street of Las Ramblas and we were early enough that we saw most of the street performers putting on their makeup and costumes. This place had more street performers than I have every seen and most of them were very clever. They also have one million souvenir shops and quite a few pet shops on the street selling everything from turtles to chipmunks. We made it to the plaza at the end and found a place to rent bikes. It was the best decision I ever made. It was so fun to just cruise around town, it made me feel like a little kid in Coldwater again. I had a big clunky cruiser. We didnt really know where to go but stumbled across some Gaudi architecture and Sagrada Familia. Sagrada Familia might be the coolest looking building I have ever seen but I didnt want to pay a tenner to get in. Google it. After a lunch we came back to the hostel and Steph and I went to the beach while Jeff hung out at the hostel. The beach here is great. Nice sand, great water, and tons of people. I spent the whole afternoon/evening at the beach and then had a quit night at the hostel before bed.

Day 6 - Madrid and Barcelona

First thing on the agenda was to go to the train station to get tickets to Barcelona. It took much longer than we expected but we finally got them and then went for lunch, which also took forever. By then we didnt have much time til the train left so we went to a huge park nearby called Parque del Retiro and wandered around. They had several cool fountains and monuments there. After that we got on the train to Barcelona. We plan on staying there a few days and I cant wait to be settled somewhere for more than one night. Once we got checked in the to the Abaredo Youth Hostel in we went for a walk. Right away I could tell this was a very cool city. We went to the seaside and saw the many vendors and performers there. I walked all the way to the beach and had a look, though by now most people were leaving. The seaside/boardwalk area was very interesting. That evening we did our own little tapas tour through the pedestrian streets along Las Ramblas. Here they have tons of cool bars and restaurants. Came home a bit tispy to find several fun people hanging out in the common area of our hostel.

Day 5 - Madrid

Arrived at 840am after a long, hot, not too comfy overnight train. Had a quick bite and a coffee at the train station and then got on the metro. Our hostel was supposedly "very close" to a metro stop. What they didnt mention was that metro stop is under construction and you cant get there. So we got off where we could, got on a bus going whoknowswhere. At random we decided to get off. We walked a mile and found our hostel, Mad Hostel. After we checked in we went for a stroll and came across Reina Sofia museum. It had many works by Picasso including the famous "Guernica" of which I have always been a fan. It is HUGE. I also like art by Angeles Santos (Un Mundo) and Juan Gris (La Ventana Abierta and La Mesa Del Musico.) After about 3 hours in the museum we went back to the hostel to rest a minute before a tapas tour that the hostel offered. It was meant to go to 4 different tapas bars but #3 was so good we just stayed there. We met come cool people and I accidentally fed meat to a vegeterian and she puked, always a lifelong goal. Later that evening we went walking after dark. Madrid is neat at night, I got some neat pics.

a little ketchup

I am in Bari, Italy and my ferry to Croatia doesnt leave for 12 more hours so I am going to see how far I can get on the blog. Enjoy.