Fira, Santorini, Greece - May 6-10 2010

From Athens we took the ferry to the island of Thira, one of the islands in the islands of Santorini.  The Ferries were way too big and organized...we were hoping for some cute, tiny, easy-going boat rides! We had hoped to do a lot of things by the seats of our pants on this trip, but the organization of the ferries forced us to do some pre-planning.  In any case, we made it to the islands!!! :)

 

Bye bye, Athens!  Here is the back of the boat as we pull away from the port of Piraeus!

The view of Fira on the island of Thira from the ferry!

The view from the window of our first 'hotel' in Fira.  We were inland, looking east over the low land part of the island with the sea in the background. The town of Fira (which you see in the previous photo) is behind us.

Our feet in the Mediterranean Sea on a black sand beach!

Stefan was dying for that cliff-side view on a Greek island so we sprung a little extra money on our last two nights. This hotel was located on the highest point in Firostefani, which is right next to Fira. This was the view from the balcony at breakfast time! Even at breakfast time it was beautifully hot!

The top of a church.

Beautiful!

This little boat was sitting on the rooftop of a shop. The pathway where we were standing to take this shot was level with the rooftop.

WHAAAT!

A view of Fira from Firostefani.

Another beautiful view of the cliffside of Fira!

Stupid lady ruined this shot!! But still an amazing view!

Donkeys!! We did not ride but we certainly had to smell...

Another top of a church, another amazing view...

Cute little cafe in Firostefani with a little windmill!

Just &#%^ing amazing! See that giant sailboat? One day, that'll be us! :)

Athens, Greece! - May 1-6 2010

Our first stop in Greece: Athens! Although it's a huge city (population 5 million), having just been in Istanbul it felt relatively quaint. Contrary to what we've been told about the city not being very enjoyable we actually really liked it and had a great time. For how big the city is, all the white buildings gave Athens a rather clean and "pretty" aesthetic.

       

Here is a view from high up in Athens. You can see a hill with a tiny, tiny church at the top (the church of St. George). We hiked up to the top of that hill on our second day and had a great view of Athens!

The Temple of Apollo.

Check out how these guards at the parliament building are rockin' those skirts and pom-pom shoes! A few days later this was where the rioting, burning of cars and random stuff, and gas-bombing occurred...

Stefan at a theatre on the Acropolis. The play sucked... Stefan stuck around while everyone else left...centuries ago!

Another theatre on the Acropolis, grander than the one in the previous photo. During the main Summer season, full-blown plays and operas are still performed here!

Obligatory couple photo in front of our new house!

Another shot of the Parthenon.

Awwwww, Yummy Yummy Greek food!!!! Forget crumbled feta: in Greece the cheese is served as a big-ass slab on top of the veggies. Also in the photo: sauteed wild greens, and potatoes fried in olive oil! Cliff thought they were one of the best fries he's ever had...but we both thought "OH MY GODDAMN GOOD!" Also we were introduced to a Greek aperitif called "tsipouro"which is basically like ouzo without the nasty aniseed (licorice) flavour. It's made from grapes and has a mildly sweet flavour, and has hints of the flavours of white tequila. Stefan has found yet another kick-ass Greek thing and a new  booze to go along with his favourites!

Some great graffiti we found walking the streets. Not just pretty pictures but also thought-provoking :) We'll leave it up to you to form your own opinions...

        A random street in Athens.

And now, ladies and gentlemen...Just in case you're driving along and need to hop out to take a poo, there's a port-a-potty ready for you!

Stefan trying to scare the lion in the National Archeological Museum!

Doing the high jump at the stadium of the first modern Olympics (1896)!

Greece has marble everywhere, including this bathroom in the Olympic Stadium, where pretty much everything is solid marble!

Cliff acting like an old man sitting on a bench in the Greek National Gardens.

Us with our Couchsurfing host Dimitri in a winding stairway on a hillside community. The original settlers of the community were from the islands and so they built their homes in Athens like they did in the islands! They resemble no other community in the city of Athens.

Stefan turning 30...our host Dimitri made him a cake! Originally we wanted to celebrate his birthday on Mykonos but because of the riots we couldn't get out of Athens. We made up for it with a wonderful birthday celebration in Santorini instead!

Istanbul, Turkey - April 26-May 1 2010

Istanbul was a great mash between feeling Mediterranean and Middle Eastern. We were blown away by how massive the city is in both size and population. The buildings seemed to go on for as far as the eye could see! It was noisy, busy, a bit dirty, but all in a good way. The chaos and sheer number of people gave the city a lot of life. The drivers are psycho! We really enjoyed how different the city and its culture was but we nonetheless felt very comfortable there.

A giant, yummy tower of Turkish delight!

Inside the Hagia Sophia Mosque

Even in Istanbul we can find Canadiana!

Check out this shit hole! This wasn't a back-alley washroom or anything...it was actually the single unisex toilet in a very busy bar!

Inside the Grand Bazaar -- the very tidy jewellery section. Unfortunately we didn't take any photos of the more chaotic sections of the bazaar. It's a giant maze where finding your way around and making sense of its layout is next to impossible!

The Sultanahmet Mosque (also known as the Blue Mosque)

Inside the Blue Mosque. The little section of the floor (that you can barely see here) is only allowed to be used by people who are actually there to pray.

The Blue Mosque was so fantasmagorical that Stefan's face almost fell off!

Ancient Turkish temple entrance? Or cool painting in a metro station?

The entrance to Topkapi Palace. Inside their jewellery collection were two huge diamonds, one of which was 86 karats! And the other one was just a bit smaller. We were gonna buy them for each other but our backpacks were too heavy :P

Inside the Spice Bazaar: There's no spice they don't have... it's so bizarre! (Ha! courtesy of Deano)

        

There's a green guy doing "The Running Man" in the pedestrian crossing light! Say WHAAAAT! He was no help in crossing the street though because Turkish drivers are nuts!

Here are two photos of our first Couchsurfing hosts, Evren and Elçin. We didn't get to spend too much time with them but they were very sweet and welcoming!

Here's our second host in Istanbul, Tuncay. He was a lot of fun to hang out with, very energetic and social! We stayed with Evren and Elçin on the European side and with Tuncay on the Asian side... what a great way to see Istanbul!