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Since the last update we have stayed in: |
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As we were writing this from an Internet cafe in the back of a
great Lebanese restaurant, we were reminiscing about all of the
different places that we have found our Internet connections: |
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Italy After spending 2 nights in Venice wandering the back alleys, we set out toward Florence. The first two days were dead flat allowing us to cover 180 km. As we left Bologna on the third day, the road started climbing as we entered the mountains. We ended that day after a 20 km. climb. On the final day, we began a series of climbs that included grades over 13%. We were midway through our last hill before our descent into Florence when Jim discovered a traveler's nightmare, the hotel had not returned our passports on checkout. We pulled into a small cafe and phoned the hotel, but they said that they were unable to bring it to us. Since there were no taxis or busses, Jim started unloading his panniers to make the long ride back. A guy sitting in the cafe drinking coffee heard of our plight and offered to give Jim a lift. When they returned an hour later, Guisseppi would not even let us buy him a cup of coffee! Popiglio
We had rented a 6 bedroom 3 bath 2 terrace house for 10 days. Built in 1547, it sits on a steep hill side overlooking a beautiful valley. It was the perfect setting for Maria's birthday on 9/9/99. We alternated our time there between enjoying the small town ambiance and taking day trips to Florence, the Chianti region, and hiking the Cinque Terre. In Florence we got our fill of the Renaissance paintings and sculpture, but not enough of Vivoldi's gelato, the best in town. We toured the beautiful hill town of Sienna on a Sunday morning. Because all of the shops were closed, we saw very few locals
among the thousands of tourists, making it feel like a Hollywood
set. In contrast, that same day we happened to hit the annual
Chianti Classico Festival in Greve where we jostled elbow to elbow
with locals to reach the various wine tasting booths where they
were pouring liberal quantities of the latest vintages.
Lucca turned out to be an unexpected gem, so we returned for
a second day to walk the medieval walls and enjoy a wonderful
meal at Trattoria Leo, well worth the hour wait. Because all of
the shops were closed, we saw very few locals among the thousands
of tourists, making it feel like a Hollywood set. In contrast,
that same day we happened to hit the annual Chianti Classico Festival
in Greve where we jostled elbow to elbow with locals to reach
the various wine tasting booths where they were pouring liberal
quantities of the latest vintages. The Cinque Terre is a series of five fishing villages on the Mediterrean sea connected by either train or a narrow footpath. Each village rises dramatically above its harbor surrounded by steeply terraced vineyards and occasional olive groves. We ended our hike at the fourth village of Vernazza with the obligatory gelato before training back to Le Spezia to retrieve our car.
Sarteano
Of course, all of the dishes were prepared with copious amounts
of extra virgin olive oil and washed down with full bodied Chiantis
and Cabernets, and topped off with shots of Grappa. It was a treat
to buy fresh porcini mushrooms without having to take out a second
mortgage on the house. Rome
We skirted the urban sprawl of Rome by train, and spent 4 days getting to know the city. After doing the usual tourist circuit of the Vatican, the Coliseum, the Forum, etc. , we spent most of our time wandering through the antique shops and restaurants in the old city. We had a great meal located at Via Governo Veccio #18, the nameless, menuless, phone numberless, signless restaurant. In wandering the back alleys, we happened upon gorgeous piazza after piazza that would be the central highlight of most Italian cities. The major drawback was the unrelenting noisy traffic which was particularly challenging on the bicycles. Neverless, we left Rome by riding the 40 km to the airport to catch our flight to Athens.
Athens We returned to Athen's ferry port Pireaus just long enough to meet up with our friends Jim and Laurie, Jim's twin sister Jill and her husband Alan. From there we caught the all night ferry to Crete. The passengers on the deck laughed hysterically as we set up our tent in the empty swimming pool and crawled in for the night. Crete
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It was a spectacular 18 km hike that finished at the beach. After a cold beer and a swim in the clear blue water, we caught a ferry back to the bus. We were exhausted but managed to stay up till 3:00 AM playing cards. Next, we took a bus east to the Iraklio, a run down city with two things going for it; the nearby ruins of Knossos and ferries to the Cyclade Islands. Knossos is a well preserved Minoan city that was destroyed in 1450 BC. Some of the frescos were incredibly well preserved as were the distintive tapered columns and huge storage urns.
Cyclade Islands The next day, we took the 1 hour ferry to Paros, where we again were able to find a great beach front hotel with rooms under $20. We were able to convince a closed dive shop to open up for us. Jill and Alan, certified divers, convinced Jim, Maria, and Laurie to try a discovery dive. After Jill and Alan went on a standard dive, they joined us and the instructors in a shallow dive near some off shore rock outcroppings. Although there is not much sea life here due to over fishing, it was still great to experience the underwater world.
After 3 days and some more windsurfing, we moved on to Mykonos, our last island. We were unable to find any diving, windsurfing, nor bike rentals, so we spent our time exploring the town and roaming the island on mopeds. From all the great things that we had heard about Mykonos, we were disappointed to see so much garbage on the beaches. From here, we took a quick boat trip to the ruins on Delos island, the mythical birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. From the top of the mountain, it was easy to envision what the town must have looked like as a flourishing center of power and trade in the 8th century BC. Many of the intricate mosaics still retain their vivid brilliance. That night, we enjoyed our first Asian meal in many months. When it was time for Jim, Laurie, Jill and Alan to
leave Mykonos for their flight to Athens, we were sorry that our
time with them was over so soon. Now we are spending our last few
days in Greece back on Paros, before taking the ferry back to Athens
for the flight to Cairo, Egypt.
Trip Facts |
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