Recovering in Oia

It's been quite a while since I've updated with a post about my travels and I regret it but I haven't had many places inspire me to write until I got to Oia, Greece.

As soon as I got to Oia, I became very ill and couldn't keep any food or water in my system. I had a terrible fever and got used to only being able to eat a slice or so of bread a day and a few bites of real food. I'm not sure what it was but I decided to fight through it and not let it ruin my time on this beautiful island.

I thought my first few days would be uneventful, spent at a beach close by and enjoying the sun. Boy was I wrong. I met a guy during breakfast that used to work at the hostel I was staying in and got invited to go to a local beach with him. About an hour later, he asked if I'd rather go out on a friend's boat with him. Of course!!!



We were driven to the other side of Santorini and picked up the boat. To say I had a blast in an understatement. We rode around and saw the different beaches on the island, black sand beach, red sand beach, white sand beach. All of them were gorgeous but also crowded, making me glad I had skipped out on going to the tourist places. After speeding around in the boat for a bit, we pulled up to this small, beautiful beach on Aspronisi. Aspronisi is a small private island that makes up Santorini and we had the beach to ourselves except for a small family. The cool water felt absolutely amazing after sitting in the heat of the sun.





After a bit of swimming, we were back on the boat and headed to get our lunch for the day. Our wonderful host took us to a village at the top of Therasia, another island nearby. The restaurant we went to was nothing short of amazing and had panoramic views of the bay area of the island. The owners are kind hearted and welcoming and the food is home made. They served each of us a use a huge serving of moussaka, a plate of fresh tomatoes, feta cheese, sausage and another typical greek food I can't remember the name of. By the end of the meal, I was positively stuffed and incredibly satisfied.







Soon after, we headed back to the boat and made our way back to Oia. My traditional Greek day wasn't over yet. Once back at the hostel, we got dressed and ready, watched the beautiful sunset from the private terrace of the hostel and made our way to a restaurant right outside the main road in Oia, Santorini-Mou. I got to listen to and enjoy a traditional greek band and dancing, the typical breaking of plates and yells of "OPA!" In celebration of a couple's marriage, free shots were handed out and everyone, including me had a great time.



My first day on this island was more than I ever expected and tops my list of favorite days during my whole trip.





While on the island, I stayed at Youth Hostel Oia. The prices are decent considering you're in the more expensive part of the island. You also get free breakfast, a private terrace to view the sunset (which after you see the amount of tourists that pile in to Oia, you'll be thankful for) and are just a short walk to the most picturesque part of the island.

The restaurant we went to in Thirasia was called Panorama Restaurant in Manolas. You can get there by taking a boat to the bay area and then a donkey up the road to the village. You can also walk up to it but the road is very steep and zig zags. It's worth it though.

I didn't get paid to talk about these places, just want to share my wonderful experience and hope that other people will enjoy these experiences as well :).

Rolling Hills of Tuscany

After the Amalfi Coast, Tuscany would be my next favorite part of Italy. The rolling green hills with the tall cypress trees and vineyards that go on for miles hold a certain charm that makes me think of Letters to Juliet and Under the Tuscan Sun.

I booked a tour with a great company in Florence, called Walkabout Florence. They're a relatively new company and offer some other good tours I would have enjoyed taking if we would have had the time. The price for the tour was awesome considering all that we did.

The day started off early and with a drive to our first stop, Siena. The city is beautifully medieval and the building tops were covered in flying bats, giving it the feel of an old city. To talk about this city would take a whole post so I'll give an overview.

We began with a walking tour with a local guide. Siena is broken up into 17 different neighborhoods and has an old medieval tradition of horse racing. The horse race is known as the Palio Horse Race and 10 of the neighborhoods race. When we arrived, the city was setting up for the race, as it was only a week away, set on July 2. The small square we were in quickly fills up with 40,000 people during the race and it only lasts about 75 seconds.



I loved when we got visit the Duomo there. It's smaller than the one in Florence but way more impressive on the inside. The city origionally planned to build a much bigger Duomo than the one in Florence but lacked the money. If you visit, you have to go into the Piccolomini Library. The library is full of frescoes and illuminated choir books by Umbrian Bernardino di Betto. The frescoes are all origional and none of them have been restored. It's stunning to see how vibrant the colors still are after so many centuries.





When we finished up, it was time for some much needed lunch. I knew we were going to head to a farm and try some wines, but I didn't know it would be so great! Upon arriving, we doned our whispers and took a short tour of this organic farm, Poggio Alloro. The farm makes their own organic pasta, sauce, wines, breads and olive oils. It was so tempting to pluck a grape from the vines in the vineyard, but I managed to show some restraint and wait until we got to try the fermented ones ;P.



I thought our wine samples would be just a swallow of wine to swish around in our mouths, but no. We got bottles of the stuff and I probably had six glasses of it until I cut myself off. My favorite wine was the Vernaccia Si San Gimignano. For the meal, we had bread, pasta, salad and cookies for dessert. The servers gave us an extremely strong dessert wine to dip the cookies in and I couldn't even finish it because the strength of the alcohol burned my tongue.



Once we finished our meal, we had about 10 more minutes at the farm and went to look at the beautiful vineyard views. From our terrace, you could see the farm's mile long vineyards and San Gimignano. I took a minute to collect my tipsy thoughts and layed down at a lounger near their pool. I got to admire the view and catch a few rays before leaving.

Since San Gimignano was so close, it took only 10 minutes to get there. After drinking so much, it's a bit daunting to hear that we can climb one of the few towers in the town or walk around to see the many scenic spots around it. Jeff and I were perfectly content with getting some of the "best gelato in the world" and relaxing in the cool shade of an alley way. If you visit San Gimignano and craving gelato, try Gelateria Dondoli. The gelateria offers many different and unique flavors of gelato along with the usual favorites. I got blackberry lavendar, raspberry rosemary and berry flavored and it was delicious. Lucky for us, the owner was there greeting everyone with such enthusiasm and kindness and took goofy pictures with us.



Finally, (what I origionally thought was going to be my favorite part of the day) we made our way to Pisa. It was great getting to see one of the major icons of the world and something everyone knows about. Jeff and I took our cheesy touristy photos and walked around to find a nice spot to sit down. After our busy day, we didn't feel like walking up Pisa or inside the cathedral or baptistry there. Instead, we layed in the shadows of the Cathedral and basked in the fact that we were sitting at one of the most popular destinations in Italy. Shortly after, it was time to leave and head back to Florence.





Jeff and I enjoyed our time so much on this tour and glad we did it. We certainly got to do way more than we would have on our own and learned so much. My favorite part of the day? Our meal at the gorgeous farm. Not only was the food and wine spectacular, but the scenery was the epitome of what you would imagine Tuscany to look like.

Addicted to the Amalfi Coast

I know I'm bouncing around about my trip but I have been having difficulty with wifi in a lot of areas and I want to share the best parts of my trip as soon as I am able to. But don't worry, I'll update about everything else as well once I get the down time and better internet connection.

Jeff (the boyfriend) met me in Italy, and we spent two weeks traveling through Tuscany, Rome and the Coast. Italy tops my charts at one of my favorite countries because of the vast amounts of history and beauty it offers. While each region of Italy had its advantages and disadvantages, my favorite part was the Amalfi Coast and the way there.



We decided on taking a tour that left from Naples and went to Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. Pompeii was amazing, but we'll save that for another day. The guides came and picked us up from our hotel in Naples and we were off. After Pompeii, we began our journey and started off with beautiful views of the Sorrento Peninsula. It was stunning and was only going to get better from there. We passed beautiful beaches covered with people enjoying their weekend. Come prepared to pay, though, if you want to use the actual beaches here, as they cost about 20 to 25 euro to spend the day there.



The ride to the coastline after leaving the peninsula, is not for the faint of heart. While it's well worth the visit, you ride along windy roads on the edge of the cliffs, with steep slopes careening off into the water. The roads through the small towns along the way are so skinny, only one car can fit through at a time. If you're on a bus, I'm sure you'll love that. We saw two buses scrape by each other, causing a minor wreck and a little bit of waiting. Our driver was a bit nuts and took the turns at gut wrenching speeds. We finally had to let him know we weren't feeling well and he took it a little easier on us. Even then, if you're terrified of heights and get motion sickness, be prepared and take some motion sickness medicine before going through with this. The only way to get here is by car, bus or ferry in the high season.



I stumbled out of the van and wanted to kiss the ground for making it to our first stop, Positano. This village is one of the main stops along the coast and it's easy to see why. Positano sits among the cliffs with views of the sparkling blue waters of the sea. The purple flowers of bougainvillea hanging from the windows on the colorful buildings make for the perfect picturesque stop. People in this area tend to live very long lives. Their secret? It's wonderfully quite, has great food and to get where you want to go, you have to climb up or down stairs and steep hills.



There's a great quote that describes how amazing Positano is by John Steinbeck, "Positano bites deep. It is a dream place that isn't quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone. Its houses climb a hill so steep it would be a cliff except that stairs are cut in it...The small curving bay of unbelievably blue and green water lips gently on a beach of small pebbles. There is only one narrow street and it does not come down to the water. Everything else is stairs, some of them as steep as ladders. You do not walk to visit a friend, you either climb or slide. Nearly always when you find a place as beautiful as Positano, your impulse is to conceal it."



After grudgingly leaving behind the beautiful village in front of me, we headed to our lunch destination to a gorgeous restaurant located on the other side of Praiano called Calajanara Restaurant. The food was magnificent. We were served bread with organically made olive oil from the olives of the coast, a salad and a pasta with eggplant and tomato sauce. My mouth is just watering from remembering the taste of the food. We were served on a gorgeous terrace with views of the sea, Praiano and an old tower that used to be a lookout point to spot pirates. It's quite a romantic spot and the service there is one of the best I've received since being in Italy.





We left the restaurant and made our way to our final destination, Amalfi. Amalfi is very small and impossible to get lost in. Jeff and I spent our time admiring the view from the pier. I could have stayed there all day sun bathing on the rocks near the water and admiring the scene before me. Our visit was all to short and we were soon ushered back into our van to head back to Naples through the Milk Mountains (which was just as motion sick inducing, if not more, than the ride there).





I won't say the name of the tour company I used because I did not like them, but to give you an idea of how much it was, the tour cost €85 per person. It was combined with Pompeii and we also had to pay €11 separately to get into the ruins. There is a sight seeing bus tour that leaves from Sorrento, which only costs €18 per person. It begins in Sorrento and stops at Positano and Amalfi. For me, it would have been a better deal and I probably would have enjoyed it more because we would have had time to enjoy the stops. I usually enjoy tours because they're well organized, allow you to do and see a lot, learn a lot and take the stress away from you from having to do all of the planning. But with this, I would have preferred something different.

At least I know I have something to come back to Italy for!



This is part of the #sundaytravlerseries with Chasing the Donkey and don't forget to support all of the other participants! :)

Month 1 Summary

So it is officially one month since I began traveling!! I've been on the move so much and going so quickly, it's hard to imagine that I have been gone for 30 days. It's been a whirlwind of excitement and new experiences and I'm loving almost every minute of my journey. Though, my savings account is going away alarmingly quick and I don't know how long my one year journey will last, I know I will at least get all the way through my Euro Adventure. So without further ado, here is a summary of my first month on the road.



Countries visited

Iceland, Norway, Holland, Belgium, France

Cities visited

Reykjavik, Skogar, Vik, Hofn, Djupivogur, Breiddalsvik, Stodvarfjordur, Egilsstadir, Husavik, Akureyri, Skagafjordur, Holar, Borgarnes, Stykkisholmur, Hellnar, Arnastapi, Budir, Bergen, Askoy, Oslo, Amsterdam, Volendam, Zaanse Schans, Marken, Brussels, Ghent, Bruges, Lueven, Paris, Montmatre



Money Spent

Ballpark $2500 (this is also so high because I am still paying bills, I'm in Western Europe and I've had to deal with a few issues the required me to spend above and beyond the normal amount).

Pictures Taken

2702

Transportation

5 planes
6 Trains

Miles Traveled

About 8500 miles

High

As you can see, I've been moving extremely fast through Europe and getting more exhausted by the day. My absolute high was getting to spend one week in Paris, getting to spend a couple of days laying in bed until noon and sitting outside enjoying the beautiful weather. I also enjoyed my sprint through Iceland. I dread cities and being out in nature was good for my soul.



Low

My low time would have to be when I was in Belgium. I really enjoyed Ghent, but the rest of my time spent there was not that great. I'd been on the move a lot, alone and lack of preparation had me scrabbling around frantically looking for a place to stay.



I've been enjoying my time so much, but I am missing home quite a bit. The next month to come, I'll be spending with the boyfriend in Italy and my dad and cousin in Germany. The thought of slowing down even more excites me and I hope my need to travel is revived because right now it's at an all time low and the euro is KILLIN' me. I hope you're enjoying following me around Europe and can't wait to update you all on what else I've been up to :)!

8 Tips for Visiting Iceland

So, before you go barreling off to Iceland to see all this beautiful country has to offer, I have come up with a few tips you should follow. Iceland is great but it is still a small country, with an even smaller population. While in Reykjavik and Akureyri, you'll feel right at home, with restaurants galore and plenty of music stations; but outside of the cities, it's a desolate and undeveloped land. Make sure you're well prepared for your trip and you'll be loving Iceland in no time!

1. Bring an eye mask.
If you are visiting between May and September, you might want to bring an eye mask. It stays light well into the sleeping hours and the suns rises extremely early. In the time that I visited, the sun rose at 4:30 am and didn't set until 10:30 pm and even then it wasn't dark. Sometimes your blinds may not be enough to keep all of the light out.

2. Stop Frequently!
Once you begin your journey, stops are few and far between. It could be 50 to 100 miles until you see the next small town or village. So, stop and fill up when you can and make sure to empty your bladder! Otherwise, you will be sorry.



3. Don't fly in on a Sunday.
We flew in on a Sunday and EVERYTHING was closed and what wasn't closed didn't open until fairly late (about 9 or 10).

4. Bring Snacks.
If we didn't have a few snacks in the car, I'm not sure what would have happened. When visiting the small towns and villages, most of the cafes were closed and when they pointed out one that was open, we couldn't even eat there. My mom is allergic to eggs and those "cafes" that they told us to go to, served nothing but pastries or coffee. I'm not sure if it's easier to find places when it's "in season" for them or what. But we drove around hours a few days looking for a place to eat.



5. Don't Trust Your GPS!
I recommend getting a map for your trip and using it instead of a GPS. Our rental car company provided us a Garmin for our trip and it didn't really do anything except get us lost... A LOT. The only time we got to where we were going without confusion was when we used our map. So unless you have a really good GPS that is updated, then using a map will be more than enough. Our's had all of the major points of interest on it and more.

6. Bring Your Own Music.
Near Akureyri and Reykjavik, there are plenty of stations to listen to. But once you get out and around the ring road, you only get to listen to talk shows in Icelandic or static. Most of the time it was just static. And quite car rides are difficult to stay awake for. If it weren't for my iPod and the informative CD's Hertz gave us, we would have had rode in a lot of silence.



7. Don't worry about exchanging cash or withdrawing any.
Credit cards were excepted everywhere we went in Iceland, even the tiny little guesthouses we were staying at and for any amount. So avoid those ATM fees and rip exchange rates at the airport. Just use your card (and make sure your bank knows about it).

8. Last but not least: Take your time.
There's so much to see in Iceland. Don't try to cram so much of it in at once. Give yourself time to enjoy everything so you're not so exhausted the next day when you get up and start all over again. If you do like us and do the ring road, make sure you prepare well for the first couple of days because there's so much in the beginning and it slows down towards the end of it.





This is part of the #sundaytravlerseries with Chasing the Donkey and don't forget to support all of the other participants! :)

Ghent: The City That Saved Me

Ok, so I know this is way out of order of my traveling but I think it's time for me to update everyone on how things are going.

I have been traveling now for about 3 weeks and everything is pretty awesome for the most part. I love discovering the cities I visit, trying some new foods, meeting new people and exploring the famous sites.



I've experienced couchsurfing and hosteling, tried Belgium waffles and almost bought a cannibus lolli pop in Amsterdam and nearly cried my way to the top of climbing a tower in Ghent because of how small the width and steep the stairway was.



But, I'm still adjusting to being on my own since it's only been about 2 weeks officially on my own. Every time I've gotten to a new city and place, I've hated it. Cities make me feel claustrophobic and it was even worse because I was unfamiliar with the place. After I would get to the new city, I'd get to my hostel or host's house, take a nap, freshen up and grab some food. And POOF! Just like that, I'd start enjoying the city and make my way around.



With Ghent, it was completely different. The second I stepped off of the train and out into the street, I fell in love with the city.

I began walking to the historic center which was probably only a mile or two away from the station and couldn't stop looking around me. The buildings looked ancient, the streets were so clean, I felt super safe (more so than I have anywhere else I've been to on my own so far) and it wasn't so over-whelming that I felt like I'd loose myself.



As I was walking, I saw a hotel and decided to book it because I wanted the feeling I had to last a bit longer. My original plan was to go back to Brussels and stay with someone through couchsurfing who kindly answered my plea for help (since I failed to acknowledge the weekend was coming up and didn't book a hostel, so I had no where to stay, silly me and lesson learned!) but I just didn't think I'd be ready to leave this place. And I was right (even if it did cost me a little over $100.)



After settling in at the hotel, I grabbed a map and started exploring. I did a little bit of research before coming here but I did it months ago and couldn't remember anything that I had looked up. I just let the stoned streets lead me around.

I came across the Gravensteen Castle first and spent the €6 to walk around the castle. I enjoyed the views of the city from some of the higher parts and reading about the torturing methods was pretty... uhhh... interesting.



Then I made my way to Belfry, a huge tower from where you can get panoramic views of the city. While I enjoyed the views, I was quite terrified. I am scared of heights and small spaces and that is what all this place was about!





I also enjoyed getting to explore St. Nicholas and St. Michael's churches. And then I just wondered around and got intentionally lost. The city isn't too terribly big and it seemed easy enough to get back to where I needed to go. I'm starting to get used to asking for help when I can't find my way :p. This is when I ended up loosing my credit card though, and I freaked out momentarily. But quickly called the company and cancelled the card.



I am so glad I ended up coming to Ghent. Even though I barely found a place to stay for the weekend and lost my main source of money, I was in a wonderful place where I didn't feel smothered and over-whelmed by everything around me. It gives me hope to continue my trip and the amazing support that I'm receiving from my friends and family are helping more than they know. I'm so thankful to them all and can't wait to share my journey with everyone.

Photo Essay: Skogafoss

Skogafoss can be seen from the main road on the way to Vik. It's stunning and one of the biggest waterfalls in Iceland at a width of 82 feet with a 200 foot drop. There is a sleep path with stairs up along side of the falls and on a nice sunny day, the spray from the falls brings out beautiful rainbows.

Skogafoss is located in the small village of Skogar with about 25 people. This village is home to a folk museum that is opened daily, Hotel Skogar with beautiful views of the falls and a restaurant as well.

Famous Blue Lagoon in Iceland

No matter how long you're visiting or why you're visiting Iceland, the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa is a must. At least this is what everyone told me when they found out I was going to Iceland. I wasn't too keen on going to this place though, because I don't really care about spas.

But, mom said we needed to do it and I signed us up. I'm super glad we ended up doing this! Once we ate our ridiculously good and expensive breakfast in Reykjavick, we made our way to the lagoon. As soon as we came up over a hill, we could spot the steam from the geothermal pools.



We made our way into the spa and checked in. I knew that it was required for us to wash off before we got into the pools, but it is required to bathe fully naked and wash with the provided shampoo and conditioner and stuff. Thank goodness there were some covered showers because most of the women were just using the uncovered ones, which was a shock for me. I'm not a prude or anything, but old lady parts are not something I enjoy seeing in the morning.



After bathing and changing, we made our way to the beautiful blue, 98 degree waters of the lagoon. The water from the lagoon is rich in silica, sulfur and other minerals, which are said to have healing properties for certain skin problems. The lagoon is man made and the water comes from Svartsengi, a nearby geothermal power plant that was built in 1976.



The water was such a comfortable temperature and never too hot. There's also a bar you can swim up to and grab a couple of cocktails and relax for a few ours. On the sides of the lagoon, there are buckets full of a mineral mud mixture. I put this all over my face and shoulders and just let it exfoliate my skin and relaxed.

Afterwards, I felt so refreshed. Jet lag didn't seem to be a problem any more and we were ready to begin our trip.

Lovely Village of Vik, Iceland

Mom and I spent our night in a beautiful guesthouse in between Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss. On our way to our new destination for the day, we passed through Vik. A charming little village that is located at the southern most point in Iceland and also known as the wettest.



This quite little village is home to about 500 people and sits on the coast with views of tall cliffs, filled with sea birds, black sand beaches and the Atlantic Ocean. Vik also sits below the Myrdalsjokull glacier and this glacier is located right on top of the Katla volcano.



If the volcano were to ever erupt (the last eruption being in 1918), the city would be flooded and washed away from the melted waters of the glacier. The village's church is located high up on a hill in the village and is believed to be the only area that could survive a flood should it happen. Periodic drills go on in the town, so if ever an eruption happens, people will be able to run to the hills!



The cliffs nearby are home to many types of seabirds, including the well-known puffin. Unfortunately, for us, the cliffs were closed due to puffin breeding season and we were unable to visit or see a cute little.



Out of all of the towns and villages we passed through, Vik was my favorite. Even though there are not many people, it has everything you could need and beautiful views that stretch on for miles.