So last night, andrew and I are pretty sure we saw the Justin Timberlake/Beatles/Ricky Martin of Greece.
We headed up the street from our new crackin' hostel to the main square in athens.
A large croud had already gathered, we's seen a few comericals on tv for it, so we knew it was gona be big.
After putting up with an hour and a half of bad pole gymnastics (aka acrobatics 12 feet in the air on poles) and a badly produced fake virtical soccer game, the main act finally came on stage. Girls were crying, screeming, men were clapping, wistling, compleate madness. Song after song, people got more and more pumped up, singing along. To finish up the hour or so set, fire works were set off, a big finish to a big show. Kinda random friday night to say the least.
Slept in pretty late this morning, and after a run to our new favorate duner spot, and the grocerry store for essentials (chips and beer), we headed for the beach.
Nice sunny day in Athens, mildly hot and nice and breezy. The beach was the only place i wanted to be today, and since the mesumes are all closed on sundays, looks like that is where i will end up again tomorrow.
tonight is still up in the air, prob just grab some more cheap and delioush duner and walk the town.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Friday, April 27, 2007
April 27th, Athens
SO Greece has been very good to me.
The plane in was 30 min late, but after that the rest is golden.
The first hostel we stayed in was clean, and we chared a room with two post-60 year old me, couple of chill guys, but they did goto bed at like 9, kinda killing our timing. The hostel was also a good 30 min walk from anything, but the residental location offered up 3 different supermarkets with in 2 blocks: good for cheap beer and cheaper pita.
Wensday we hiked up the fat mountian in athens, up to the acroplous aka the place with all the cool 2500 year old greek ruins. Again the massiveness of it all was crazy (pics to come soon).
yesturday we took a three hour bus ride to Delphi. It was just a small little tourist town with a massive greek mesume and huge archelogical site. The best part though was our 21 euro HOTEL room, yes hotel. Private bathroom, mini fridge, balcony looking out onto the busy street, extra blankets and sheets and bomb breakfast in the morning. We spend that majority of the night sitting on said balcony and sipping beers, enjoying the fresh mountain air.
Back in Athens today, fresh off a Pita Duner. Apparently there is a famous Greek singer playing a fat corperate sponsered concert in the park about 3 blocks from our current, cheap, clean, and more centrally located hostel. So that should sum up my friday night in athens.
sunday is hopefully soccer day again, and tomorrow is still up in the air.
home in 5 days, kinda wierd to think about, i miss it, but i know im going to miss europe also.
The plane in was 30 min late, but after that the rest is golden.
The first hostel we stayed in was clean, and we chared a room with two post-60 year old me, couple of chill guys, but they did goto bed at like 9, kinda killing our timing. The hostel was also a good 30 min walk from anything, but the residental location offered up 3 different supermarkets with in 2 blocks: good for cheap beer and cheaper pita.
Wensday we hiked up the fat mountian in athens, up to the acroplous aka the place with all the cool 2500 year old greek ruins. Again the massiveness of it all was crazy (pics to come soon).
yesturday we took a three hour bus ride to Delphi. It was just a small little tourist town with a massive greek mesume and huge archelogical site. The best part though was our 21 euro HOTEL room, yes hotel. Private bathroom, mini fridge, balcony looking out onto the busy street, extra blankets and sheets and bomb breakfast in the morning. We spend that majority of the night sitting on said balcony and sipping beers, enjoying the fresh mountain air.
Back in Athens today, fresh off a Pita Duner. Apparently there is a famous Greek singer playing a fat corperate sponsered concert in the park about 3 blocks from our current, cheap, clean, and more centrally located hostel. So that should sum up my friday night in athens.
sunday is hopefully soccer day again, and tomorrow is still up in the air.
home in 5 days, kinda wierd to think about, i miss it, but i know im going to miss europe also.
Monday, April 23, 2007
April 23, Rome
The last couple days have been really amazing
true red blooded italian professional soccer game yesturday, then the vatican mesume today.
the soccer game was an experence unlike anyother. a high school game atmpshpere with 40,000 screaming drunken, cig smoking adults in a huge stadium.
then today was crazy, after 2 hours in line, we got into the vatican mesume. basically the British mesume, roman, greek and egyptian artafacts, stolen in the name of God instead of the name of the Queen.
the sitheenth chappen was awe-inspiring to say the least. towering over 100 feet in the air, i cannot start to comprehend how Michalengo suspended himself up that high, painting all that for over 7 years.
tonight was another chill night in the hostel, reading, me on my 2nd book of the trip, andrew finishing his 4th (he really needs to slow down, haha), a few beers, free pasta and we watched Tommy Boy in the rec room, an american classic to say the least.
off to greece tomorrow. the weather is looking so-so, hopefully it will warm up enough to i can get a few more beach days in before i head back to the states.
true red blooded italian professional soccer game yesturday, then the vatican mesume today.
the soccer game was an experence unlike anyother. a high school game atmpshpere with 40,000 screaming drunken, cig smoking adults in a huge stadium.
then today was crazy, after 2 hours in line, we got into the vatican mesume. basically the British mesume, roman, greek and egyptian artafacts, stolen in the name of God instead of the name of the Queen.
the sitheenth chappen was awe-inspiring to say the least. towering over 100 feet in the air, i cannot start to comprehend how Michalengo suspended himself up that high, painting all that for over 7 years.
tonight was another chill night in the hostel, reading, me on my 2nd book of the trip, andrew finishing his 4th (he really needs to slow down, haha), a few beers, free pasta and we watched Tommy Boy in the rec room, an american classic to say the least.
off to greece tomorrow. the weather is looking so-so, hopefully it will warm up enough to i can get a few more beach days in before i head back to the states.
Friday, April 20, 2007
April 20th, Rome
Another kick ass day in rome.
after chatting it up witha nice couple from Wales, andrew and i ventured out to Vatican City.
On the way out there we ran across the Treve fountain, a kick ass piece of out door art work.
After going though metal detectors and waiting in line for about an hour, we finally made it past the gates and headed up St Peters catherdiral.
first we took 312 stairs, i didnt count the number was posted, to the base of the huge rotunda. this massive structure is about 300 ft across, and was hand painted by Micalengo him self.
then another 233 stairs to the top of the rotunda, which gave an awe inspiring 360 degree view of rome.
we deseneded the 555 totall stairs and headed in to St Peters. the second we got in there it was no suprize that at capasity that thing holds up to 60,000 people. i really really wish i could up load my pics, becuase i dont think i can do that place justice in words.
o! big news! we got tickes to the soccer game on sunday, a home game for romes biggest and most popular team.
big news part 2! my borhter and his wife are going to\are in the process of\have had thier first child, a girl, Lila. congrats! even though you are prob both at the hostpital right now...
thanks for all your comments and feedback, miss you all, will write again soon.
after chatting it up witha nice couple from Wales, andrew and i ventured out to Vatican City.
On the way out there we ran across the Treve fountain, a kick ass piece of out door art work.
After going though metal detectors and waiting in line for about an hour, we finally made it past the gates and headed up St Peters catherdiral.
first we took 312 stairs, i didnt count the number was posted, to the base of the huge rotunda. this massive structure is about 300 ft across, and was hand painted by Micalengo him self.
then another 233 stairs to the top of the rotunda, which gave an awe inspiring 360 degree view of rome.
we deseneded the 555 totall stairs and headed in to St Peters. the second we got in there it was no suprize that at capasity that thing holds up to 60,000 people. i really really wish i could up load my pics, becuase i dont think i can do that place justice in words.
o! big news! we got tickes to the soccer game on sunday, a home game for romes biggest and most popular team.
big news part 2! my borhter and his wife are going to\are in the process of\have had thier first child, a girl, Lila. congrats! even though you are prob both at the hostpital right now...
thanks for all your comments and feedback, miss you all, will write again soon.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
April 19, Rome
After a interesting day at the airport, ill elaboreate later, i made it to rome
hotile is ubber chill, free breakfast or dinner, clean room, cleaner bathrooms.
today we went to some massive churches, the feakin coloseaum, one of the most awesome things ive ever seen, and some kick ass roman runes.
sunday were going to a real live european soccer (football) game, the big local team verses some one.
tomorrow we hit the vatican and the spanish steps.
its all sureal, that is the best way to state it.
again, no way to upload pics, i took about 80 today, sorry. miss you all who are reading this, and those who are not reading this, to bad, i write kick ass blogs.
hotile is ubber chill, free breakfast or dinner, clean room, cleaner bathrooms.
today we went to some massive churches, the feakin coloseaum, one of the most awesome things ive ever seen, and some kick ass roman runes.
sunday were going to a real live european soccer (football) game, the big local team verses some one.
tomorrow we hit the vatican and the spanish steps.
its all sureal, that is the best way to state it.
again, no way to upload pics, i took about 80 today, sorry. miss you all who are reading this, and those who are not reading this, to bad, i write kick ass blogs.
Monday, April 16, 2007
April 16th, Barcelona
Last night was fun, picked up a few 2.4.1. (two for one) beers in the hostile, then set out in look for a bar to watch the soccer game at.
Stubled upon prob the oly Irish Pub in the city, aply named My Bar. Managed to get a couple rounds of Heniken before FC Barca scored in the last min of the match to win 1-0.
Today we did the Gruel Two Step. First up was the massive Gruell designed Catherderal. Towering 100s of feet in the air, this massive structure incorperates classic, modern and even futuristic designs, that mange not to clash but to merge.
After an intense search for a cold bottled water, Barcelona doesnt like fridges, we headed up the hill to Gruel Park, or Fairy Tale Town on acid and steriods.
This 15 archer park covers this hill that over looks all of Barca. Words simply cannot describe this place, so I hope to post pics later to do the place some justice.
Tonights plans are still up in the air, but tomorrow (last full day in barca) we hope to get to the Picaso Mesueme, ad if the weather keeps up (its about 80 outside) the beach.
Stubled upon prob the oly Irish Pub in the city, aply named My Bar. Managed to get a couple rounds of Heniken before FC Barca scored in the last min of the match to win 1-0.
Today we did the Gruel Two Step. First up was the massive Gruell designed Catherderal. Towering 100s of feet in the air, this massive structure incorperates classic, modern and even futuristic designs, that mange not to clash but to merge.
After an intense search for a cold bottled water, Barcelona doesnt like fridges, we headed up the hill to Gruel Park, or Fairy Tale Town on acid and steriods.
This 15 archer park covers this hill that over looks all of Barca. Words simply cannot describe this place, so I hope to post pics later to do the place some justice.
Tonights plans are still up in the air, but tomorrow (last full day in barca) we hope to get to the Picaso Mesueme, ad if the weather keeps up (its about 80 outside) the beach.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
April 15, Barçelona, Spain
Spent the day walking Barca, water front, churches, Olymicpic village.
The big time soccer team in town is playing tonight, so me and drew are going to check that out at a local bar.
I took a major amount of pics, but there is no hook up for my camera here in the hostel.
The big time soccer team in town is playing tonight, so me and drew are going to check that out at a local bar.
I took a major amount of pics, but there is no hook up for my camera here in the hostel.
Friday, April 13, 2007
London Day 2
After a night's sleep in bed that was just about 4 inches too short, I met up with Andrew as his"flat".
We walked to Hyde Park, similar to Central Park but about 3 times as big.
It had these pretty cool sunken gardens peppered thought out, and the weather has been exceptionally nice here, so everything was in full bloom.
We walked past the Princess Diana memorial in the middle of the park. It is a stone circle waterway. It is elegant, but morbid at the same time.
Hyde back's up into Buckingham Palace. My first impression of it was a little underwhelmed. It was cool to see something up close and personal that I have only seen in movies and on TV.
Right in front of the palace is the British World War I Memorial. A huge stone arch with a classic man riding Pegasus'. It was massive.
A little walk down from there is the Department of War and accompanied by the Dept of the Army and the Navy, similar to the Pentagon. More Greek-like massive buildings.
On our way out to the other side, we stumble upon a Royal Guard standing at attention, his job is to stand there and keep a straight face while dumb tourists like me take cheesy pictures with him. After the photo-op, I realized that the guard was at most my age, a humbling realization.
Next up was the British National Gallery. This place was amazing. I came with in arms reach of Picaso's, Monney's, Da Vinci's and Rafelels. A very, very surreal experience.
With in a spitting distance from the steps of the Gallery was the famous Big Ben. Again, que cheesy tourist photo-op.
Our next stop was the British Museum, don't let the name fool you. On the way there we past the Cathedral, the church where Royalty are baptized, married and buried.
From the out side the British Museum does not look like much. A larger Greek styled building. But looks can be deceiving.
You walk in and the whole thing opens up into this huge atrium, massive, large. Natural light floods this room the size of 2 plane hangers.
Andrew motioned me over to the Egypt room... And there it was. The Rosetta Stone. I was totally getting my Indiana Jones on.
Everything I saw out did anything before it: Egyptian tombs, 20 foot statues, Greek stone carvings,Spartan war gear, and a replica of Parthenon.
I'll upload more pics later.
Seeing this examples of human creativity and ingenuity was awe striking. It also made me have a better aprecation of the concept of time. I saw things that were literally 2500 years old. Things I have only seen and read about in history books.
Pretty kick as day in Golly Ol' London. Next up Barcelona.
We walked to Hyde Park, similar to Central Park but about 3 times as big.
It had these pretty cool sunken gardens peppered thought out, and the weather has been exceptionally nice here, so everything was in full bloom.
We walked past the Princess Diana memorial in the middle of the park. It is a stone circle waterway. It is elegant, but morbid at the same time.
Hyde back's up into Buckingham Palace. My first impression of it was a little underwhelmed. It was cool to see something up close and personal that I have only seen in movies and on TV.
Right in front of the palace is the British World War I Memorial. A huge stone arch with a classic man riding Pegasus'. It was massive.
A little walk down from there is the Department of War and accompanied by the Dept of the Army and the Navy, similar to the Pentagon. More Greek-like massive buildings.
On our way out to the other side, we stumble upon a Royal Guard standing at attention, his job is to stand there and keep a straight face while dumb tourists like me take cheesy pictures with him. After the photo-op, I realized that the guard was at most my age, a humbling realization.
Next up was the British National Gallery. This place was amazing. I came with in arms reach of Picaso's, Monney's, Da Vinci's and Rafelels. A very, very surreal experience.
With in a spitting distance from the steps of the Gallery was the famous Big Ben. Again, que cheesy tourist photo-op.
Our next stop was the British Museum, don't let the name fool you. On the way there we past the Cathedral, the church where Royalty are baptized, married and buried.
From the out side the British Museum does not look like much. A larger Greek styled building. But looks can be deceiving.
You walk in and the whole thing opens up into this huge atrium, massive, large. Natural light floods this room the size of 2 plane hangers.
Andrew motioned me over to the Egypt room... And there it was. The Rosetta Stone. I was totally getting my Indiana Jones on.
Everything I saw out did anything before it: Egyptian tombs, 20 foot statues, Greek stone carvings,Spartan war gear, and a replica of Parthenon.
I'll upload more pics later.
Seeing this examples of human creativity and ingenuity was awe striking. It also made me have a better aprecation of the concept of time. I saw things that were literally 2500 years old. Things I have only seen and read about in history books.
Pretty kick as day in Golly Ol' London. Next up Barcelona.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
April 10th, T-minus 14 hours
Home stretch. 3 months of anticipation and planning, boiled down to 14 hours.
Got my pack offically packed. Shoes, socks, fresh from the package Kirkland brand boxiers (props to mom). Carry on packed. Ipod, Books, 3 to be exact.
My mom and I are leaving my house about 8:30 tomorrow morn, heading to south SF, to the international terminal of SFO.
Passport. Check.
Travelers Checks. Check.
Boarding Pass. Check.
I found my 2 gb SD card to put in the camera my sister is letting me barrow for the trip. I can hold up to 2400 pics, so I dont think I will be running out of room.
Next time I'll be posting it will be from the heart of the former English empire. Filled with sites I've only seen in movies and pictures. Where they drive on the other side of the road, and where the freakin Queen of England lives.
As I close, I turned on the Sirius 70's station, and ironically, or fittingly depending on how you look at it, "You Aint Seen Nothin' Yet"by Buchman-Turner Overdrive came on. I'll go with fitting over ironic.
Got my pack offically packed. Shoes, socks, fresh from the package Kirkland brand boxiers (props to mom). Carry on packed. Ipod, Books, 3 to be exact.
My mom and I are leaving my house about 8:30 tomorrow morn, heading to south SF, to the international terminal of SFO.
Passport. Check.
Travelers Checks. Check.
Boarding Pass. Check.
I found my 2 gb SD card to put in the camera my sister is letting me barrow for the trip. I can hold up to 2400 pics, so I dont think I will be running out of room.
Next time I'll be posting it will be from the heart of the former English empire. Filled with sites I've only seen in movies and pictures. Where they drive on the other side of the road, and where the freakin Queen of England lives.
As I close, I turned on the Sirius 70's station, and ironically, or fittingly depending on how you look at it, "You Aint Seen Nothin' Yet"by Buchman-Turner Overdrive came on. I'll go with fitting over ironic.
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Easter Sunday, April 8th, 2007
So right now I am sitting at Tupelo's Coffee House, outside on this beautiful Northern Cali Day. Turned to the London pages of the travel bok MTV's Europe. Planning out my relatively short stay in Jolly Ol', I want to do all the traditional tourist sites: the royal palace, Tower of London, Big Ben. But I also want to leave time to just explore. A balance I am going to have to work out.
I leave for London in three days. It's kind of surreal. Got my plane ticket a in late January, thinking this day was way far off. Now I am in the home stretch.
I have laid out all my clothes, 7 days of shirts, underwear, socks and pants. Thanks to Andrew O., I have a sufficient pack to hold all of my stuff as I navigate Europe. I've got my passport, plane tickets, hostel reservations, and all the other paperwork together, now all I have to do is walk on to that plane at SFO.
Three weeks. 4 countries. Like I said before, it's all kind of surreal. I honestly don't think it is going to hit me until I step off of the plane at London's Heathrow International Airport.
I am going to try to update this blog, with pictures, daily. But forgive me if I miss a day or two.
I leave for London in three days. It's kind of surreal. Got my plane ticket a in late January, thinking this day was way far off. Now I am in the home stretch.
I have laid out all my clothes, 7 days of shirts, underwear, socks and pants. Thanks to Andrew O., I have a sufficient pack to hold all of my stuff as I navigate Europe. I've got my passport, plane tickets, hostel reservations, and all the other paperwork together, now all I have to do is walk on to that plane at SFO.
Three weeks. 4 countries. Like I said before, it's all kind of surreal. I honestly don't think it is going to hit me until I step off of the plane at London's Heathrow International Airport.
I am going to try to update this blog, with pictures, daily. But forgive me if I miss a day or two.
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