| we ended up buying a flashlight here because the one we brought is too small. After Naxos, we'll be going to Paros, Satorini and Crete - then take an overnight (cabin) from Hania, Crete to Athens. We are hoping that AirFrance won't be on strike when we go back to Paris... 9/12 - I am now in town called "Filoti". Bus took 45 minutes from Naxos town. We hiked Mt. Zeus, took us about 2 hours! I was even wearing the beach sandal. (I was just going to visit the cave, but ended up hiking this gorgeous mountain.) Now next bus back to Naxos is 5pm and we have to wait 2 hours in this small town...glad that I found internet cafe! 9/14 - I am now in Santorini Island. Boat from Naxos to Santorini took about 5 hrs. We had a deck ticket but managed to sneak into economy section...this is very different island from any others that I have visited so far. It's a volcano, similar to Big Island (Hawaii). There are also so many tourists as well. Land formation is very beautiful. The clouds have so many colors and move so fast. We had a complimentary Ouzo (Greek's traditional alcohol) in Naxos. It smelled the same as Sambuca (an Italian Liquor), has a distinctive scent of anis. Time you enjoyed wasting, was not wasted! 9/17&18 - I am now in Chania. The boat from Santorini to Iraklio I got so sea sick. Then I got a car sick from Chuck's driving (manual transmission), but somehow we managed to visit Knossos, Matala beach, etc... then arrived to Chania (Hania). The next day we drove through some Gorge to get to Frangokestello (a Medieval fort). Crete is a very big island that I need more than a week to explore. 9/19 - I am now in Athens. arrived here at 6am. We took an over night boat (10hrs). Our cheapest cabin had a bunk bed, a toilet/shower (hot water), much nicer than I was expected. We are waiting for our laundry now. I guess that I have visited every grocery store in every town - more than visiting museums. [Onlty 1 museum so far...] Chuck will soon be sick of me visiting grocery stores. I can soon escape from the Greek Alphabet. I feel like I'm looking at math formulas. Leaving to Paris tonight. 9/20 - we are in Paris. got into town almost midnight yesterday. The place we stayed last night was junk! Our room was on the 6th floor (it's really the 7th fl.) And they did not have an elevator. woke up at 5am and went to train st. to reserve the sleeper for the train tonight. All of the crochets & sleepers were fully booked for tonight so end up leaving tomorrow night with 2nd class crochet. (Paris to Salzburg en route Munich - leaving 11pm and arrive 12 noon next day.) I had a crepe (Spinach and Cheese) for a lunch today. A waiter suggeted to get a cider so we got it, but were not sure what was for since he did not bring us the glass. It turned out to be homemade apple cider which tasted like between wine and beer. I had a creme brulee d'antan for dessert after a dinner. I strongly suggest to get a creme brulee catalan instead! I again visited the locoal grocery stores...weather during the day is very nice but the night gets a bit cooler. My next deestination will be Salzburg, Austira. (If nothing happens.) 9/23 - 2nd day in Salzburg. Over night train was not so bad. We had to share the compartment with a couple of guys from SF, USA (2 guys from SF, hmm?). One of them snored so loud. Also, he was quite obese and not too coordinated. Everytime he stepped into/out of his bunk I had to duck out of the way or get stepped on or crushed. Once I got kicked!I am ready to leave Salz after 1st day. Everything is so expensive. You have to deposit 1 euro for using the shopping cart at the grocery store. And you have to bring your own plastic bags to carry home your groceries. We spend a half day to figure out the most cost saving and time effective to travel for the next few destinations. It turns out that we will go from Salzberg to Munich tomorrow to hit the Oktoberfest for the whole day. Then take the overnight train from Munich to Budapest. Then we will go to Vienna. (After that probably Venice.) I had some pastries, they were good. But I don't like Kaiser rolls! We only peaked into the house Mozart lived in as a child; we were too cheap to pay the entrance fee! 9/24- We are in Munich. It was pouring rain all day. And freezing, too. We are here without hotel accommodations. We are just staying until our midnight train to Budapest. After arriving, we headed straight to the Oktoberfest. We were not sure what to order, the menu was in German. Chuck figured out how to order a beer; after ordering he noticed he picked an alcohol free (??) beer. That was ok, he somehow got drunk from it anyway. A girl came by with a basket full of pretzels, so I got one. It was huge! We then went to (and actually paid the entrance fee to) our first museum since we arrived in Europe. It was the Deutches Museum. We ended up learning the $6 worth that we paid to get in. We stayed until we got kicked out because of closing time. We still had 6 hours until our train, so I guess I had no choice but to hang out with the homeless people in the Munich train station. I am not to thrilled about going to Budapest. Chuck wanted to go. We found out later that it was snowing, which supposedly never happens for Oktoberfest. 9/26 - We are now in Budapest (to be exact we're in Pest side.) Yesterday was overcast/rained a bit, but today is a nice day. We had passport control twice on the train: one was from Austrian officer and the other was from a Hungarian Officer. (The Hungarian officer was man-like lady officer...) Some metro stations have ticket police task forces and we were always picked to show our tickets. We met an old Hungarian man from NYC on the overnight train. When departing Munich, he was missing his pillow - all Chuck did was to suggest that he ask the conductor. For that he was grateful, and tried to help us a lot when we first arrived in Budapest. He treated us like his helpless grandkids. His help was only marginally "go here, come here, quick, let's go...." but we had no choice but to accept it. He is scheduled to go to Venice the same night we are. I wonder if we'll run into him again. Hungary does not use Euro so we needed to get Forint. Everything seem so cheap after staying in expensive Austria! 2 cups of tea and 2 pieces of cake cost about US$3. Using that as an excuse, we are eating cakes at least twice a day. An escalator in the metro is a very scary ride -- I can't believe how steep it is and how fast it moves! Many people whom we met on along the way before getting to Budapest gave me a bad review/impression about this city, but I like it here. That's is why we extended our stay. Tommorrow we are going back to expensive Austria. 9/28 - We are in Wien (Vienna). It was a nice day yesterday, but it's rainning now. Freezing! I finally had a "Sachertorte" yesterday. We just got back from the flea market. That is all for Vienna. Only thing funny occured on the train from Budapest to Wien. This train required seat reservations, but for many people their seat did not exist. We were lucky that our seats existed (but were at the other end of the car)...someone said that this is typical for Hungary. 9/30 - We are in Venice, Italy. I am so glad that it is not raining. It' been a beautiful day here! The overnight train from Vienna to Venice was a rough ride. It stopped a couple of times in a middle of nowhere. And as expected, it arrived in Venice late...We went to nearby cities (Verona and Vicenza) yesterday. Today, took boats/gondola to explore Venice. The foliage, sunlight and the color of buildings are all mixed - this is exactly what I expected in Venice. Only thing I need to do is to eat the famous dessert "Tiramisu" in this region. We are leaving for Bologna tomorrow. 10/3- We are in Firenze (Florence). We were basically kicked out from Bologna. All of the accommodations were fully booked in Bologna, Modena, and Parma. We then ended up staying at the town called Poretta. We also had a difficult time to find a place to stay in Florence as well. Now I know why everybody in internet cafes are always frantically searching for accommodations... we are now doing the same thing. We spent the first 2 days in Florence in internet cafes, looking for places to stay at our next destinations...planning ahead a bit. NEXT |