Travel Days

I forgot to mention that yesterday my shoe lace broke on my shoe. I was prepared with new shoe laces to put in today which I did. That's pretty exciting I know. I spent the morning getting ready and packing and then hanging out by the harbor in Chania (picture 1). I went to the grocery store to get some snacks for the day and for the ferry ride tonight. Guess who I ran into in the store? Ben. Haha. He said, "Stop stalking me." I replied, "Likewise." I can't believe I ran into him again. I walked back to the harbor and watched some fish eat bread. People walked by and watched them as well (picture 2). Catherine and I met up and walked around. We sat and snacked and talked. We sat by a fountain and we sat by the harbor and we walked out to the lighthouse. Lots of sitting and waiting going on. Time goes by much faster when you have someone to talk to though, that's for sure. We talked about our families and friends. We discussed what traveling is like (likes and dislikes about it). She said something about how pictures are cool but don't capture the whole experience. Like while we were sitting by the lighthouse, there was a slight breeze, the sun was shining, some accordian music drifted over the harbor. All that stuff is not in that picture of the guy who was fishing right by us (picture 3). Anyway, it was fun to talk with her because we had even things in common to connect but enough things different to make it interesting.

Now we are at an internet cafe. I don't think I will have access again until later tomorrow so I figured I would do my post now. This morning I was woken up to the sound of jack hammers, that was nice. Later tonight, at nine, we are getting on an overnight ferry to Pireaus, the port of Athens. From there, I am going to go to the bus station and ride a bus to Nafplion which is a small town on the Peloponnese Peninsula. I am staying there for two or three nights. So there you go.

Sorry I don't have a more interesting day to speak of but this is one of those "travel days" where I am just sitting and waiting to get to the next phase of my trip. I realized today that I am exactly half way done with my trip (my trip being when I left London for Istanbul). That's insane. It seems like it has been shorter than that and longer at the same time. I can't believe I still have 18 more days left. Crazy.

Bye!

Three's Company

Today I woke up, ate a croissant for breakfast and went to the bus station. I waited for a while and the bus finally came (most things in Greece are a little late it seems, except stupid buses on Santorini, haha). While I waited I ran into a guy named Ben (he's that speck in the middle of picture 4). He's from Chicago and we actually met while waiting for a ferry from Mykonos to Santorini. He's 22 and a physical therapist. He has been all around the world and is touring Greece right now before going to wedding in Cyprus. We have run into each other on Mykonos, Santorini (twice), Heraklion, yesterday in Chania, and then today to go to the Gorge. I think God wanted the two of us to hang out, haha. He was traveling with a girl he met on the ferry from Santorini to Heraklion. Her name is Catherine and she's from Quebec. Super cute and really nice (that's her in the bottom left of picture 3 which was right by where we ate lunch). She has a sort of French accented English. The three of us rode the bus together up to the top of the Gorge. We had to pass through some extremely twisty roads that were one lane wide for two lanes of traffic. Insane. The mountains and little towns were beautiful.

We arrived at the top of the Gorge and proceeded on our way down. The whole hike was downhill. Samaria Gorge is the longest gorge in Europe. Don't ask me what the difference between a gorge and a canyon is because I have no clue. The scenery was wonderful and I love hiking. It was a very pleasant hike. I would rate it as moderately difficult. Like I said, the whole thing was downhill and it was only (only being relative here) about 14 or 15 km long or 9 miles. That might sound like a lot to some people but after hiking Half Dome with my mom last summer, this hike was a walk in the park. Ever since that hike I think I have had a different attitude about life. I feel like I can do just about anything I put my mind to (with some help from friends and family). I guess I felt that way before that hike as well but after it, I really adopted that mentality. It has been very successful. For those that don't know, that hike was 17 miles long had over 5000 feet elevation gain. It is probably the hardest day hike in the US, if not the world so accomplishing that was awesome. I am getting WAYYYYY off subject so I will hope back on that subject now, sorry. I just wanted to make sure I said that stuff.

Yeah, so the hike was all downhill and pretty easy but still super beautiful. The wind was blowing lightly most of the hike, the temperature was not too bad, there was a lot of shade from the walls of the gorge and from trees along the path. There weren't too many people hiking it either. Just the bus load that got dropped off at the top basically. Catherine and I talked most of the hike. About family, traveling, school, a bunch of stuff. Ben and I talked about national parks and traveling as well. There was one point where the gorge came to be only about 6 feet wide and about 900 feet high on each side. Super awesome. It reminded me of the Narrows at Zion but we never walked in the water (it was pretty dry) and the gorge for the most part was pretty wide apart. The hike ended at a town called Agia Roumeli which is on the coast of the southern part of Crete. We hung out at the beach for a couple hours waiting for the ferry (picture 6). Ben and Catherine went swimming but I did not. The beach was very pretty. We got on the ferry which stopped in Loutro (picture 7). That's the place that that Canadian family in Florence told me about. The ferry continued on to Hora Sfakion and we took the bus back from there. The sun was setting and all the towns in the mountains were great. The roads were soooo twisty and turny and skinny. Some were under construction as well. The countryside reminded me of California but I can't totally place way. When we got back to Chania, the three of us went to a pasty shop and Catherine and I got this honey wafer thing. It was fantastic. Ben got bakalava which he devoured.

All in all, one of the best days of my time abroad, partly due to the hike (absolutely wonderful) and partly due to the company (really awesome). Tomorrow, Catherine and I are meeting up to hang out during the day while we wait for our ferry to Athens. We happened to be on the same overnight ferry. The coincidences never stop.

Au revoir!

PS I forgot my camera cord so I will try to post some pictures sometime soon. I don't know when but some of my pictures were spectacular. Not too many flowers but loads of pine trees and exposed rock.

Money, Money, Money

That snoring guy was back last night. This time he rolled over to his side at 6 am instead of around 2 am the night before, thus making the snoring longer. It wasn't so bad. I finished Portrait of the Artist at a Young Age by James Joyce last night before going to bed. It was pretty good. Kind of a tough read. I had to work at it but that was good for me. I started a book called The Narrows by Micheal Connelly. It is a crime thriller. It is soooooo good. It is 400 pages and I am already almost done with it. Anyway, I woke up and ate fried eggs, bread, oj, and tea on the roof garden again. Yum yum. Then I got packed and left. I don't know if I mentioned this before but I stayed at a place called Rent A Room Hellas. It was ok. Not that good but also not that bad. I met two couples in my dorm room while I was there who were nice. One was from Canada and the other from Australia but living in London (like all Australians it seems). So I left the hostel and walked over to the bus station. I bought my ticket and waited to leave. There were two guys from Montreal (they were talking to some other people) and they had the most veiny, muscular calves I had ever seen. The bus ride was nice. The sea on the right and some beautiful mountains on the left. I will admit I barely looked out the window because I was reading that crime book, The Narrows, so much. I love books that make you forget how much has passed while you read them. There was probably the biggest guy I had ever seen sitting in front and to the right of me. He was traveling with his mom who was one of the smallest women I had ever seen. They made a funny couple. The guy snored but I hardly noticed.

Chania was ruled by Turks and Venetians for a long time. The town looks a lot like Venice. There is an old harbor that is surrounded by touristy restaurants (picture 1). The Old Town is quiet and peaceful. The place really reminds me of Venice and Turkey combined (like the old mosque at one end of the harbor picture 2). The streets and houses look like Venice but the INSANE number of tourist shops remind me of Turkey. I got to my hotel/pension place and checked in. It is run by an older Greek guy. He was nice. I originally thought I was going to only stay one night, hike Samaria Gorge tomorrow and then take a ferry to Athens tomorrow night. After getting settled, I walked around and saw some of the sights. It was fun to just walk around and look at the stores. I had a pastry with bacon, ham, cheese, and cream cheese in it. Superb. I bought some supplies for tomorrow, snacks and stuff to eat. I sat by the harbor and read my book for a while. I was getting cold so I started to head back to my hotel when James and Jessica, the two people I met waiting for the ferry to Santorini called me over to their table! What a coincidence to run into them again!! We ran into each other in Heraklion as well on Friday night. For those that don't remember (or maybe I never said), Jessica is from Buffalo, NY and James is from Wales. They have been traveling around Greece for the last week or so. We met waiting for the ferry from Santorini (the one that got delayed, we started talking while we waited for it). Anyway, today we talked for an hour or two and just sort of hung out at a cafe. It was really nice to just sit and chat. I made sure to get my picture taken with them this time though (picture 5). We parted ways for what, for sure, will be the last time, at least for a while. They are headed to Athens tonight and then back home tomorrow. They were awesome people and I was really glad I met them.

I changed my mind about my plan so I paid for another night of accommodation. The ferry to Athens is at 9 pm from a town 20 minutes away and the bus back from the Gorge doesn't get back until around 8:30 pm so I wouldn't be able to make the ferry and hike the Gorge. I had to change my ferry ticket and I bought the bus ticket to the Gorge for tomorrow. The bus is at 8:30 am. I will take the bus to the top, hike down, take a ferry over a couple towns, and then take a bus back to Chania. It will be a long day but I am really looking forward to it!

I remembered seeing a really small place in the Old Town while I was walking so I went there for dinner. Quite possibly my best dining experience of the trip so far (except Kusadasi maybe). It is run by a family and the restaurant is really just a few tables with an open kitchen that you can see into (picture 6). It is run by a mom, dad, and their two daughters who are in their twenties. I had tzatziki (cucumber and other stuff with bread) as an appetizer. It was really delicious. I had meatballs for the main course (after eating most of them picture 7). They were spicier than the normal meatballs I have had before. There were also tomatoes and a lemon slice. The meatballs were hot from being warmed and spicy, the tomatoes were cool and fresh, and the lemon juice was sweet and sour. The combination was awesome. The kitchen was open to see in and it was fun watching the family work to make the meals. The kitchen was your basic family kitchen as well. One of the daughters hummed or sang sometimes. It was perfectly quiet out in the street. An extremely memorable experience. All of it (and water) was only 7 euros. I walked over to a cafe and got a crepe with walnuts and nutella. MMMM mmm good. Then I came on this computer. When I left, the harbor was all lit up (picture 8).

I titled the post that way because I bought a bunch of stuff today in preperation for the next couple days. I spent kind of a lot of money but it will all pay off tomorrow while I am hiking and for the ferry on Tuesday night. I wrote a lot for this post because the keyboard I am using is actually good, not a piece of crap like the ones in Heraklion. Also, I feel like I haven't done a good, long post for a while so here ya go. Tomorrow the Gorge. Woo!

One other thing, Happy Mother's Day to all the moms who read this! If this blog kept going over Father's Day, I would say the same so don't feel left out dads!! Moms are very special people and I hope all you moms had a great day.

Bye!!