Salty Salzburg

The ride from Munich to Salzburg was quick and soon we were in Salzburg trying to figure out where to stay. We headed to the tourist information office, but it looked more like a place to get info on tours and stuff and a sign said that 2.50 would be charged for booking accomodations. So we grabbed some info on Sound of Music tours and went to a pay phone. We figured we'd phone a couple places in the Lonley Planet first. The first place we phoned had a room, so we took it. By the description it looked to be the best and it had breakfast all for about 30 euro a night. After we hung up the phone we realised we didn't really know where it was. So we asked and were told to get on the S2 train. We looked at the board and saw it was leaving in 2 minutes, so we ran over and hopped on. We got off on the first stop and I booted up my GPS, only to find that it isn't working for some reason. It turns on and connects to bluetooth, but no satellite reception... crappy. So we still used the GPS maps and navigated the old fashioned way. It wasn't too far actually, but it was up a pretty steep hill. Once there we found that nobody was home, which was really strange, because I had talked to the lady not 10 minutes ago. Within a few minutes they pulled up in a car though; I guess they went to grab some groceries. After we settled in and grabbed a shower, we hit the short 5 minute train ride back to Salzburg to do some sight seeing in the sweltering heat. Neither of us was expecting Austria to be this humid and hot and in May too.

Salzburg literally means salt castle and with good reason. The area is very rich with salt, which made Salzburg virtually impenetrable. During a seige, back before canons were invented, all the cards lay with the defenders; the attackers would waste many times more men to take a castle, so the most effective way to take a well fortified castle was to camp out and set up an embargo to starve them out. Salzburg was rich with salt, which was a preservative, so starving them out would take years. So nobody really bothered trying and anyone who did lost. The only time Salzburg was taken was during Napolean's reign and the people of Salzburg just surrendered, not being interested in opposing Napolean's hordes. Other than having a very cool fortress, Salzburg is a very beautiful city with lots of gardens, has great shopping and has a brewery run by monks.

We needed to do some laundry today so we dropped our clothes off in a locker at the train station (2 euro is much better than the 5 in Paris). Then we headed off to the old town, where Cara got to scratch her shopping itch again. H&M, Zara, and a few more local shops. Then we went and checked out a couple of the churches, squares and fountains. Then we headed to the Catacombs, where we were surprised by the amazing 1 euro entry fee. After a few mintes we realized why though, they were tiny and not even any bones (the poster had bones). It was getting to be supper time and so we headed to the Monk brewery for a little barley dinner.

The brewery was huge and there was no less than 4 beer halls, all with 100-200 person capacities. It was a little less than half full this day (Tuesday) and most people where in the court yard hall. We sat out there too after grabbing a couple half litre steins. You could get half litre, full litre or boxes of beer. You pay, grab the appropriate glass,

rinse it out in the fountain and pass it to a guy who pours you a beer out of a wooden keg. I'm sure the wooden kegs are for show, but it looks good. After we sat around taking it all in for a few minutes we went and grabbed some beer hall food, 2 Salzburgers and a weird cooked bologna thing. I saw a bunch of Austrian guys lining up for the bologna thing, so we gave it a whirl, not too bad. After another couple of beers we headed

back towards the newer part of town, which took us through the Schloss Mirabell gardens. Built in the 1600s by an archbishop, they are very well kept. After picking up our clothes at the train station we went to a laundromat and dumped our clothes in a machine, where we used soap from Barcelona (thanks Mom). Then we went to kill a half hour on the internet where I posted the Brussels blog and we looked at getting to Croatia. It started looking like we might have a stop over on the way. Slovenia looks nice. So we picked up our wet laundry and hopped a train back to the B&B where we hung it out and went to bed.

Thursday morning we got up early and had the breakfast. I was a little disappointed, only a couple of buns and some jam, meat and cheese. Oh well we decided to hit a supermarket sometime during the day to get some fruit and veggies. Then we headed out on the...... Sound of Music Tour. Cara was extremely excited, but I was finding it hard to get excited since I've never seen the movie. Fortunately Cara's excitement was infectious. This is definately something bigger budget travels do, 33 euro each, but they picked us up at the B&B, so that was alright. Once on the bus, my suspisions were confirmed; it was filled with Japanese tourists, seniors and Americans. We met a cool older couple from New Zeland though and had a good talk about pine beatle and termites. The tour started up and our guide was pretty funny. She definately had a British sense of humor, but we both like British humor. After seeing a few of the houses and scenery used in the movie we headed to the lake district to see the church used in the marriage scene. After an hour of wandering around in the small town on the lake we headed back to Salzburg. The tour was pretty good, but I felt a bit rushed and most of the four hours were spent on a bus. But we got some good behind the scenes info, and Cara enjoyed it, which is what counts. The tour ended at the gardens, so we checked those out again and saw another couple props from the movie. Then we headed off to the fortress. Now I was in my element, cool castles and medieval warfare antiques. After the castle, we hit one more shopping stop. C&A where Cara's short search came to an end and I got a Swiss soccer jersey (I really like Switzerland). Then we rushed back towards the train station. We only had a half hour before our train left so we split up. Cara went to get groceries and I went to get internet to find out about trains and buses in Croatia. When we met up we decided that, because of the connections, we're going to stop in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Then, with only a few minutes left, we rushed to catch the train. On the train we realised we forgot to get money out and our B&B didn't do visa, so we had to get off and wait an hour for the next train. We got cash and ate some crackers and pudding, brooding about forgetting to stop at a bank. Stuff happens though and you can't really get down, because who wants to be down on vacation. When we finally got to the B&B we made dinner and then packed up a bit, anticipating an early departure the next morning.

Thursday morning we got up and had the skimpy breakfast again. This time we packed up and checked out to catch a train to the station. Once at the station we found our platform for our train to Ljubljana and waited. After about 20 minutes the train arrived and we got on. We were sitting in the Austrian part of the train and when we asked the conductor, we found that the train was going to split somewhere near the border and we needed to move to the rear of the train. We moved and found the Slovenian part of the train quite a bit less swanky. After Slovenia we plan to go all the way to Split then catch a bus to Plitvice and then another bus and a couple of trains to Munich, but that's not for a whole 5 days from now. Amazing how much you can get done in such a short time armed with a Eurail Pass. We are definately liking Germany and Austria (hardly ever are reservation fees required). So here we sit wondering what Slovenia will have in store for us.

Leslie Live in Lille

The unofficial title of this blog is "Feisty in France" as per Cara's suggestion, but Feist's first name is apparently Leslie and we stayed in Lille. Anyway, we hopped off the train in Lille and then went about figuring out the metro in Lille and that was pretty simple, only 2 lines. This time we had made reservations well in advance since we knew we would be in Lille on the 25th of May. We got to our hotel and checked in. There was definately some confusion here as there was another guest named Carre and he/she was not getting the same rate on the room as us. We eventually straightened it out and got our 18 euro discount. The room was ok, nothing special, but it was a bit of a walk to the metro (800 meters). Once at the hotel I read while Cara gussied up for the concert, then we made for the concert. Once at the concert we were separated in the line (guys and girls needed different friskers) and they made me check my camera, as photos are not allowed in the concert. He might have told that to the other few hundred people taking pictures. Anyway, because of the coat check and Cara taking a washroom break, we got separated. After about 10 minutes of running around we finally found each other. By now a few hundred more poeple had come in and all the good spots were taken. Eventually we plopped down on a set of stairs. There were more people on the stairs already, but there was room for people to walk up. The opening act was pretty good, an English group, I think, called "Lawrence of Arabia". During the half hour intermission 4 people decided it was about time to clog up the stairs completely. This caused some major problems and everyone coming up or going down the stairs was not impressed. It amazed me that these 4 people could just sit there and ignore the obvious problem they were causing. The idiot next to us was especially rude, he wouldn't even move when people tried to get by and so me and Cara did most of the moving. He wouldn't even keep the aisle clear during intermission. I eventually started tapping him on the shoulder anytime someone wanted by, and I think he wanted to take me outside by the end of the show. There was also a pillar that was obstucting his girlfriends view, so he continually moved closer to us and blocked the passage even more. He obviously wasn't even enjoying the show and why he didn't change spots with his girlfriend, I have no idea. Me, Cara and most of the people around us agreed this guy was the most moronic person in existence. We didn't let it get us down and we enjoyed the show nonetheless. Cara especially was excited and can't stop giving Feist enough compliments. Things that stuck out about the show: A group of Canadians (Quebequois) brought a flag which Fiest held up for a brief time. The light/projector show was all done live with a couple of girls and a projector and various paints, leaves, flashlights and glitter and was quite good. She tried to speak french, which the crowd liked, but wasn't fooling anyone. And finally she did 2 encores which was great and about a third of the poeple left before the 2nd encore, including the rude people, so it was awesome and we had some of the best seats in the house.

After the show we tried our luck at a nicer looking kebab place. Cara picked it, so apparently her frugal sense is stronger than her common sense, hehe. But she ordered the vegetarian plate, so all was well. After a short wander around Lille we headed back on the metro to our hotel.

Monday morning we got up and checked out of the hotel. Then after a metro ride to the train station we found that all the spots for Eurail passengers were taken on the next few TGV's to Paris, so we had to wait for the noon train. That wasn't so bad though, because it gave us a chance to go to a supermaket (biggest one yet) and get some breakfast and other supplies. It also gave us plenty of time to arrange tickets on the night train to Munich from Paris. We did miss having lunch with Cara's friend Manon in Paris though. We were a bit concerned when we were telling the agent how expensive and horrible the Elipsos train was and he responded by saying from what he understands it's a very nice train. Oh well I figured we'd be able to judge ourselves after this trip. We ate some pastries and yogurt at the station for breakfast while waiting for our train. After the quick jaunt to Paris we made the short yet confusing walk to the other station, where our train to Munich was leaving from. We checked our bags at this station (most expensive yet at 5 euro per bag) and then went about deciding what to do with our day in Paris. Our guide book said that the catacombs were closed as well as the museum Cara wanted to visit. We double checked this info and it was correct. So despite the rain forecast we decided to check out the Montmarte area. After determining that our map was really crappy and getting lost, we made our way (through some really interesting areas filled with discount shops and guys selling smokes out of their pockets) to Montmatre and the church of the Sacre Coeur. The church is quite impressive and has some modern art stained glass, but it was just build in 1870, so it's not really too historic. The view from the steps out front is quite good though. After the church it started raining in earnest and we decided that our 5 euro umbrella, that we bought on the way to the Eiffel tower the last time we were in Paris, wasn't going to make it through the trip and we should probably look for something else. We wandered around Montmatre, checked out some cool art galleries, awed at the amazingly expensive menus, and got soaking wet. We weren't into getting any more drenched so we hit the metro and went to basically the other side of town. The Lonely Planet listed a pretty good sounding Vietnamese restaurant called Paris Hanoi, so we went there. It wasn't open for a few more minutes to we wandered around and found another Monoprix (Walmart to the French) and bought a decent umbrella. Then we made it back to the restaurant, which was now almost packed (popular place). We sat down at a 6 person table with 2 other groups of 2 at it. The restaurant might be tiny with no room to move, but the food was great and the prices pretty agreeable. After dinner we still had a bit of time to kill so we made our way slowly to the station. At the station we found a bunch of machine guns (complete with army guys) and a bunch of flagging tape. We eventually asked someone what was going on and he pointed to a piece of baggage next to a cafe and said "someone forgot their baggage." Shortly after, a bomb squad guy (with no armour) rifled through the bag and declared it safe. It was about time to board our train by now and so we got on. It's true that the Elipsos train was nicer, but not by much. The Elipsos had already made beds, a tiny sink, and, when the beds weren't down, seats. But this train was 23 euro for our reservation and Elipsos was just over 143, so I think I'll take this one thanks. We had a nice chat with a German lady that spoke French, but little English. So that was good to practice with someone who didn't really care at our butchery of the language. I slept pretty well, but Cara said she didn't get much sleep again. Once in Munich we transfered to a train for Budapest...... that stops in Salzburg (had you going didn't I?). Nothing online looked great so we're going to try and find accommodations once we get there. So here we sit in first class on a pretty posh train headed for Salzburg.

Bumpin' Beats in Brussels

After a quick ride, we arrived in Brussels around 5 o'clock and as everything was booked online we used the tourist info booth to find a room. Brussels isn't cheap, but we found a hotel with free breakfast for 65 euro. On our way to the hotel we saw the reason for the low amount of accomodations: the Brussels Blues Marathon. In all the major squares musicians play on stage and at most bars around town more amateur acts play. It was great and thinking back we might have wanted to come earlier and stay two days. Especially after reading the cool map by the same company, we found that 24 hours simply won't be enough. So hopefully time allowing we'll make it back at the end of our trip. Everyone at our last hostel said Brussels sucks, and I guess it does if you don't like boring stuff like visiting the EU headquarters and visiting the excellent free war museum, or the old car museum. We want to do most of those and so we'll need another day or two here. Anyway, since most of the sights were closed by now we headed out to the see the Manneken Pis (cheeky fountain of a little kid peeing), a great view of the city from the top of a parkade (free) and check out some of the blues acts. We hit two squares and saw two acts. The first was ok and the second was awesome. We grabbed some wraps (durems) and watched the Mongoose group from Belgium. The lead singer had a great voice. We didn't get a cd, but hopefully we'll get one online when we get home. After the show we went back to the hotel and after an exhausting day, we went to bed.

Sunday morning we woke up to some bad news; Cara is sick again. She was feeling really ill and we're not sure, but it might have been the wrap. I went out in search of some ginger ale and a pharmacy. Found the ginger ale, but most things on Sunday are closed. I did find a list of pharmacies that were open extra hours though, but it was too far to walk and I knew Cara would be fretting. So I went back to the hotel and delivered the ginger ale. After a little bit she was feeling well enough to try and eat some breakfast. I had a hearty breakfast and Cara nibbled a bit. Then we checked out and, with packs on, walked to the pharmacy. There we got some kind of pill, not exactly sure, but the guy understood our description and assured us it's what we wanted. I read the box as well and it seems to be right, but it's not doing much for her. We had planned on doing a museum and the EU before heading to Lille, but because Cara wasn't feeling so well we decided to go straight to Lille. Outside the station there was an awesome Sunday market, so we strolled through that. Cheap clothes, flowers, vegetables and anything else you can think of. Really great market, we're going to try and come back and we'll see if we can't work it out so that we're there on a Sunday. After the market we caught a train to Lille. We managed to get an InterCity train so we don't pay reservations, but it takes an extra 40 minutes, but it gives me time to write some blog. So here we are, and I hope Cara is feeling better for the concert later tonight.

Bruges' Bubbling Brooks

We got to Brussels with no problems and after a bit of trouble we found an information desk and found the time and platform for our train to Bruges. Within a few minutes we were on a short train to Bruges. Bruges is a very cool city. In olden days farmers would ship wool, amoung other goods, up the various rivers and streams to Bruges, where the many textile workers would then turn it into lace, clothing and tapestries. Then the items would make it down the canals to the sea and find homes all over the world. Back in the 1400's wool was big business and Bruges was as big as London. Then the canals silted up and Bruges became 'mothballed.' This meant that the town suddenly became very poor and no new construction happened there and so it is almost like walking into a 1400's town. Of course it is now completely overrun with tourists. Anyway we got into Bruges early in the afternoon with no problems and started walking towards the city core. At this point we were on our 3rd e-mail to a hostel in Bruges and still weren't sure if we had a room yet. The first response said there were no private rooms available (but I had indicated we would take anything), the second e-mail told us we could have a room on the first day, but did not mention anything about the second day. We decided to head there anyway. On the way we passed a couple of cheap hotels, so we checked them out, unfortunately Cara had already given the poor e-mailing hostel her credit card number and so we weren't about to pay for 2 rooms. Eventually I found some internet and found that we did have a room reserved finally. So we made the 20 minute walk across town and found our hostel. The place seemed pretty good and had a cheap bar/common room/breakfast area downstairs which had wi-fi and they also ran a free walking tour every couple of days. All the rooms were upstairs and the stairs were spiralled around a thick pole in essentially an elevator shaft. Needless to say Cara didn't like them.

After we checked in we were handed a very cool city map. It's the first we've heard of this company called 'Use-It' and they have the same maps for lots of European cities like Amsterdam, Munich, Prague and Berlin. We're definately going to pick some of them up. They've got all the tourist stuff and lots of other local tips and cheap places to eat and it's all really current info too. Can't say enough about these maps. So we read the Lonely Planet write up again, and then ditched it in favor of the map. We walked to the main square and grabbed some fries from a stand. The fries aren't all that special, I mean they're good, probably some of the best I've had. Not really sure why I was expecting something spectacular, I mean fries are fries. But they did have about 20 different sauces which was different. I had the regular mayonnaise and Cara had the samurai upon the insisting of some creepy 15 year old kid who kept making references to the aphrodesiac qualities of the sauce. Not ordering from that stall again. There are two stalls and the proximity of them keep the prices reasonable and the stalls are sold at auction every 3 years. I don't want to know how much that piece of land is worth. Anyway after the fries we made our way down to a monestary that was dubbed a UNESCO site. I didn't think it was that great, just a bunch of unmarried or widowed nuns who sing a couple times a day. After that we hit the canals and saw A LOT of geese and swans. Then we walked to the traitor's gate. The walls were huge back in the day (5 or 6 meters thick and they also had sand walls to catch canon balls. So the city wasn't defeated very often and so it was said that no army could take Bruges unless someone let you in, which someone did and then had his head chopped off for it. A bronze replica of his skull still hangs on the gate now. After that we walked the perimeter of the old wall and moat, went through one of the other 3 gates and came back to the hostel for the free tour. We had a bit of time before the tour so we did some stuff on the internet and had our first Belgium beer. Good stuff and cheap too.

The walking tour was great but it was a new employee of the hostel and his first time and you could tell he was nervous. It was actually kinda funny cause he would say something about the spot and then just as you were expecting more explanation he would stop and say we were moving on. We saw canals, windmills, canon, bridges, cranes, and heard an unbelievable story. Appearantly back when Bruges was big a local taxman on behalf of some Duke named Longneck raised taxes. The people rebelled and captured them both and chopped off Longneck's head. Eventually the taxman was released and as punishment/tribute it was declared that swans needed to fill the canals for the wrongly beheaded Longneck. There were lots of water rats and the canals were also the sewer, so the swans didn't last long and they had to settle for wooden swans everywhere. After the revival of Bruges the canals were once again clean, the people decided to get rid of the stupid wooden swans. The water rats still were a problem though and so someone decided to put an alligator in the canal to kill the water rats. Apparently it's some special/trained alligator and it doesn't eat the swans (yeah right). It also has a radio collar that keeps it in the city (yeah right) and it only goes in in summer and a new alligator gets the job every 3 years. Like I said, pretty unbelievable. The tour was great nonetheless and we met a few Canadians and some Australians as well. The tour ended just in time for happy hour at the hostel and on the way there we grabbed some Belgian Waffles. I had fruit and Cara had caramel, they were great. Not the healthiest of days I think we had crackers, an apple, fries and waffles, thank God for the apple. At the hostel we sat down with our Aussie friends and sampled 5 more Belgium beers. Some interesting flavors and some of them were quite strong. The rest of our group were interested in going out so we hit a Bruges club.

"Pretty standard really." - quote by Dr. Evil, also from Bruges

So after a drink we headed back and left some to dance the night away.

In the morning we took our free breakfast. Pretty standard really, with toast and cereal, then we headed off on another day of sight seeing. This time we hit some more famous stuff. We saw the Michelangello statue of the Madonna and child. Impressive and it's said that this is the only statue to leave Italy in his lifetime and it's definately one of the few outside Italy now. Free admission and lots of other stuff to see too. From here we headed to the ugliest building in Bruges. 2002 named Bruges the cultural center of Europe, and so they built a massive, red, 20 million euro, concert hall. Everyone hates it and the bricks that make the facade actually fall off from time to time. But the view from the top is great, and we were in the area so for a euro each we walked around and then checked out a local art display. Correction: local amateur art display. We saw one especially hilarious photo. After the big red building we headed out in search of some traditional lace makers, who were apparently taking a vacation and some traditional candy makers, who were also on vacation. Ok, so then we headed to the Bruges brewery. They claim a brewery has stood here since the 12th century and that this building has stood since the 16th and that this familly has owned it since the 19th. A pretty old brewery and they still prepare the beer on-site, but it's fermented and bottled elsewhere. It's a popular beer in Bruges and is called the 'Idiot from Bruges' , but in Flemish. Originally our Australian friends were supposed to meet up with us but they missed the tour by a couple minutes. They stuck around though and after the half hour tour we had our included beer with them outside. Then we headed back past the hostel and grabbed some groceries (soup, salad and cherry beer) and then made them in the kitchen, the Aussies had heaping bowls of pasta. It felt good to good to have some veggies and the cherry beer was definately something different. After dinner we did some trip planning. We knew our next two stops were Brussels and then Lille but then what. We wanted to get back and do Croatia and neither of us wanted to drop it. So we decided to take an overnight train to Salzburg and do a couple days there before moving into Croatia, then we would be back on track except we can skip Venice and Salzburg. With that out of the way and some piece of mind, we got back to sampling the 500 some different Belgium beers. I tried a few more and got my total up to 15, there were some interesting ones for sure, and one that I tried had so many flavors I wasn't sure what it tasted like. Each beer has it's own crazy glass too and you can tell a monk beer by the chalice shaped glass. After a night of sampling with friends at the hostel bar we went for an nightime stroll and called it a night.

Saturday morning we woke up and did the usual breakfast and shower routine. The showers at the hostel were quite unique. Mixed showers, and in order to keep the water comming you need to pull on a chain. Kinda felt like prison (not that I have been to prison). After we checked out we headed down to the Bruges museum. The museum was pretty small, but with only a 6 euro entry fee and free audioguides, it wasn't bad. The Flemish primitive paintings were astouding. The detail is crazy and the closer you get the better they look, most had glass sneeze guards. Unfortunately no pictures again. We hope to hit the Louvre again though, and I'm sure they have a primitive or two there. After the museum we hit a lunch place on the excellent map. The map was right too the place was great and cheap. For about 7.50 euro I got 3 kinds of white fish in sauce with potatoes and salad. Can't beat that. Next we whipped by the hostel and picked up our bags and then we went to the square again where we wanted to see the guy play the bells in the bell tower. Equipped with some hundred bells a specialist plays them by hitting piano like sticks with his fists which pulls cables and rings the bells. Unfortunately it was some African festival day and the music from the square made the bell almost inaudiable. Oh well, the African dances were cool and we soon were dashing off to the train station on our way to Brussels. We now sit on a train hoping that the Brussels Blues Marathon hasn't booked the city solid. All the online hostels are taken, so we hope we can find a cheap hostel.

Bountiful Buddies in Barcelona

Finding B words can be tough, I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't give up this whole aliteration business, expecially with stops like Bruge and Brussels coming up. Anyway, we arrived on time in Barcelona, or five minutes early as our eager to please pilot pointed out. From the out of town airport taking a 12 euro bus into town seemed to be the best option. I believe Ryan Air is getting a cut of that action though, so all in all considering the time, effort and money involved, our cheap flight wasn't such a bargain, but it did get us there in decent time and our experience with overnight trains hasn't been great so far. After a train into town, we hopped on the metro and made for the apartment that my parents rented for the next 4 days. We found it with no problems thanks to wayfinder and my GPS, but I guess my family had thought we would be there sooner and were anxiously awaiting our arrival and a search party had already been sent out. Once the search party returned we all sat around and caught up and it was a good time. After we were done catching up we all made for our beds. Me and Cara were a bit disappointed to find our old friend the twin beds pushed together but we slept well nonetheless.

Sunday morning we woke up and got our bearings. We took advantage of the washing machine in the apartment and did some much needed laundry. We had some breakfast and after only 2.5 hours our one load was done washing. We hung them out to dry and then took the troop out for a day of sight seeing. We heard the Gaudi 'Park Guell' was a must so we headed there by metro and then took a good km walk to the park. It was pretty cool and lots of the ideas for the architecture was very inventive. After a few hours and many photos later we headed out in search of some more Gaudi sights. We found a famous apartment building of Gaudi's and then stopped at a cafe for some drinks and a bite to eat. Unfortunately there was no drink menu (a disturbingly recurring theme in Barcelona) and we found the meal quite pricey on the drink end of things when we went to pay. Oh well you really have to shrug off the bad and just remember the good. After the cafe we made our way to the famous cathedral of the Sagrada Familia. This cathedral is a mammoth undertaking by Gaudi and was started in 1882. They believe it might be done by 2030. We paid for the lift up one of the tower and enjoyed a good view from a precarious tower. It is quite crazy when you consider that the majority of the building is stone. I probably wouldn't think much of a structure like this if it was concrete or steel, but to see such a building of stone is a sight indeed. Some our our group took the lift back down, but me and my dad were adventurous and took the incredibly windy stairs down. We spent a few hours wondering around before realizing that there was a museum underneath. We toured the museum and learned even more. I was particularily interested in a design method Gaudi was using where he would use string and little sand bags to make complicated designs overtop a mirror so that when you looked into the mirror you could see a structure that when built with stone (high compression strength) would be very sturdy. Ingenious. After all those stairs and learning we were a bit hungry and there was an all you can eat buffee near so we took part. We and Cara were thankful for the veggies and loaded up on those. It's amazing how much meat, cheese and bread we've eaten since being here. After dinner we all headed home and after some social time we took some time of the bed variety.

Monday morning we woke up and after the Gaudi packed previous day, decided to have a little less busy day. We headed down to La Rambla for some people watching and eventually found some good shopping areas where Caleigh and Cara were more than happy to do some shopping. And Cara finally found some scarves and I was happy for her and also myself, because that meant that we wouldn't have to pester every scarf dealer from here to Scandinavia, hehe. After the clothing stores, we hit the food market just off La Rambla. We picked up some fresh shrimp and some other things to make dinner with, then we headed back to the apartment where we had a delicious dinner. Cara helped cook dinner and was happy to get some cooking in, because cutting up cheese doesn't really constitute cooking and so we haven't done any cooking all trip really. Dinner was great thanks to a group effort and shortly after we all headed to bed.

Tuesday we all got up and after breakfast headed down to the extremely well priced internet cafe (50 cents for 40min beats the hell out of 5 euro for 1 hour {Venice}). My mom hadn't printed off her flight info for her flight to Rome (leaving next day). After some frantic searching for an e-mail that possibly never got sent, 1 phone call to Visa and a few phone calls to an airline, we managed to get it somewhat sorted out. Meanwhile I updated the blog again and we looked ahead for accommodations in Belgium. After an action packed morning we headed back to the apartment and then headed out for some more sight seeing. We basically just made our way down to the water with a mind to see the aquarium (Europe's largest). At 16 euro it was pretty pricey, but we needed the air conditioning and we thought it would be a good time. It was an ok time and not worth 16 euro. We now see why Europe's Largest aquarium only ranks in the top 4 sights down by the water front and doesn't even grace the top 10 in Barcelona. It wasn't all bad though and at least we escaped the heat. After the aquarium we hit La Rambla again in a search for Kelly and Conan (Cara's friends from Saskatoon), who had said they might be on La Rambla around 4pm. After a failed search we headed back to the apartment and had some drinks and tried to decide where to go for dinner. We picked a place out of the top 10 book and headed out. After a good hike we got there and sat down for a meal. We had another pretty decent tapas experience and a pretty good host as well, and the meal was reasonably priced too. After dinner we took the long walk back to the apartment where everyone except us prepared for early mornings to catch flights.

Wenesday morning we woke up and my parents were gone already (really early flight). Caleigh and Tom where around for a bit though. After everyone headed out we tidied up the place and did a last sweep for forgotten items. We found a few trinkets belonging to Caleigh, but that was about it. We got away at around 10 and headed for Kelly, Conan and Sydney's accomodations. Cara had been looking forward to seeing her friend for a while now and we were excited to spend the day with them. After some searching and some confusing street signs and a confusing buzzer with 3 'number 1's' on it we found them. We had decided to take the overnight train to Paris (cheaper than a cheap flight and less hassle) so we had until 9 pm to catch up. After spending a bit of time at a different apartment (owned by Kelly's sister Laura), we headed out to see one of Barcelona's parks. On the way we grabbed some lunch at a sandwich joint and the lady gave Sydney a free popsicle. The park was pretty good and we got to see some great vistas and the Olympic (1992) buildings as well. At the end of our Park outing we visited the naval fort on top of the hill, it was littered with cool canons and heavy guns and had some great vistas of its own. After the fort we took a gondola down and went back to their apartment, where again we tried to pick a good dinner place. We settled on one in the Lonely Planet and headed out. Unfortunately the place didn't open until 8, but it did look awesome from the outside. Unfortunately we were trying for an 'early' dinner, so we wandered around some more and after not finding too much that looked promising, we hit a spot in Placa Real. Generally it is not a good idea to eat in a Plazza (Placa in Catelonian), you usually pay a premium for the people watching. This place didn't look bad though. We orderd some Paella and some drinks (again no drink menu and this time I was completely put off by the words 'around' when asking about prices). The meal was decent and when we got the bill it wasn't too damaging although the drinks were a bit pricey. Cara wasn't done with her meal and asked to get it packed up. The guy looked at her like she was crazy and after talking to a few people, we finally got a ball of food in tin foil. We headed back to the apartment to get our bags and then we all made our way to the train station (Kelly and Conan were good enough to see us off). We had been looking for a train office or station all through our stay at Barcelona and were a bit anxious because we hadn't seen one and thus had no reservations yet. This time our anxiety was not unfounded and all the seats were full on the train so we had to pay 70 euro for a bed in a couchette (dorm). Pricey, and we had to sleep in seperate compartments (not mixed). Afterwads we decided to drown our sorrows in some ice cream across the street. We talked and then parted ways as we made our way onto our train. I tried to convince the conductor lady to let me stay in Cara's dorm as she appeared to be the only one staying in there, seems like she gets all the breaks, haha. My dorm on the other hand was completely full with 4 guys and it was really cramped. She wouldn't have any of it though. A few minutes before depature I found out an excellent little tidbit of information for a fellow passenger in my dorm: there might be a train strike in France tomorrow. The conducter lady confirmed this for us, so we may not be able to leave Paris once we get there. We decided to try and not worry about it too much though and so after we left the station and we were sure no one else was in Cara's dorm, we hung out in there until it was time for bed. I returned to my packed cabin and put up with a couple of snoring men for the night. In the morning I returned to Cara's dorm. She said the rocking of the train kept her up most of the night.

So we arrived in Paris tired and very concerned about the train strike. It appeared to me that other private lines were running so we decided to make our way to the other station any way and evaluate our options there. We took the metro to Gare du Nord and once there waited in a very long line to get tickets. Looking around it didn't look good, with not alot of trains up on the board and people camped out around the station. Once at the ticket window though, we managed to get onto a train leaving for Brussels in 20 minutes time. Can't really be disappointed with that, although there was a reservation fee. I think my assumption was correct though, because we are now on a Thalys train and I haven't seen any SNCF trains around (France's national rail). Things seem to be looking up though and hurtle towards Brussels, Begium at 300 kph and are due to arrive after only an hour and half after departure. It might take us a while now though to work up the courage to take another overnight train.

Buildings in Bacharach

We arrived at the Bacharach Station on time at 10:21 pm. There was only one more train leaving Bacharach that night so we had to be quick. I managed to find an open Wi-Fi connection right outside the station and check my mail. There was an e-mail indicating that there would be no problems and we did indeed have a room. That was a relief, because Bacharach was a really small town and it might have been tough finding other accommodations at that time of night. Again we are still adjusting to the new hours of operation in Northern/Not-Southern Europe. Our hostel was in fact a castle and we found a trail that lead along the wall of the castle and eventually to the castle itself. It was a bit of a hike, but it was less of a hike than taking the road. The trail was dark so we used my headlamp to see the way. After wandering around the outside for a while trying to decipher how to penetrate this fortress we eventually rang the buzzer. Apparently that's what we're supposed to do because someone answered and let us in. We got our key and found our room and after making our bunk beds we went to sleep.

We woke up Friday to a bunch of kids running around in the cafeteria. This hostel is definately family oriented, and is practically full of families and seniors. I guess the 10pm curfew is having the desired effect on the clientel. Breakfast was good and very similar to the eats we had in Switzerland. For the first night we had a private room so as not to wake anyone, so after breakfast we had to change rooms to a dorm. After taking care of that we headed into town to get some info on the ferries that run up and down the Rhine. Turns out the ferry left in a few minutes so we made our way down and caught the ferry (making use of our rail pass). On the ferry we met a nice older couple from Wisconsin. The ferry was slow (about 10kph) so we relaxed had a beer (at noon) and watched the parade of castles march by. The Rhein is one of the most important inland shipping routes in Europe and as such before the unification of Germany there were literally hundreds of Dukes, Barons and Princes camped out along the Rhein. By doing so and building Castles they were able to enforce taxes on any goods comming through their territory. Imagine driving through 20 border crossings in 20 km. This is the reason for this area being so rich in Castles. The parade was great and soon we arrived in Koblenz. We walked to the point at which the Rhine and the Moselle meet, which is called Deutches Eck, a monument to Wilhem I. This is the guy who basically United Germany and put an end to all those little robber Barons. There is also some parts of the Wall here and it's basically a German unity symbol. After the monument we headed down the Moselle by train to see a cool castle we saw on a Rick Steves episode before we left. Information was scarce so we just arrived and started looking. Even here getting info was hard and eventually we found that we needed to walk 6km. We thought it strange, but after a brisk 5km walk we saw why walking was the only option, the last few kms were on a forest trail. I guess if you want a bus or taxi you go to a different town. We didn't mind though and the hike was great once you got off the asphalt. Anyway we made it in time for the last tour of the day, which was in German and not English today. Oh well, it turned out that it was just us and another couple, so the tour guide gave us a quick English version after the German. It was quite interesting. The castle is actually 3 seperate residences of 3 different Eltz family lines all joined together. A hundred years ago or so, one family failed to prodce a male heir, so they were down two and then just this century one family ran out of funds and sold their half. So it's just the one line now and they still live in it today, although 2/3rds of it is on the tour, the other bit is off limits and not all that interesting anyways as it's pretty modern I think. It's amazing that one family managed to avoid being taken over militarily or politically for nearly 1000 years. The tour was cool, but no pictures. This time I wasn't too disappointed because admission was cheap and it looked like the place could use the money (there were cracks forming in some of the rooms). They even told me they didn't want pictures taken because they would like to sell some stuff from the souvenir shop (finally some honesty) and they also said that the Eltz family that now owns it has regular jobs in the city. It was very cool and after the place closed down we stuck around to take some pictures. Then we made a dash for the train, we needed to catch the 7:43 in order to make it back to our Castle in time for curfew. Originally I had thought it took us only about 45 minutes to walk there, but as time started slipping away we needed to jog the last km or so. We made it with about a minute to spare, Cara was quick to remind me that she thought it would take longer and hence she was right and I was wrong.... Oops. Anyway we had a half hour lay over at Koblenz station, so we grabbed some dinner and then caught the train to Bacharach. Although this was the last train we could catch to make curfew, we had plenty of time. Everyone seemed to be either sleeping or getting ready for bed in our room, so we followed suit with an early night.

Saturday morning we got up early because of our early night and were among the first to the cafeteria. This time there were no kids, but a bunch of seniors were there already. We had breakfast and I grabbed a shower and then we checked out. We didn't have much on the agenda today. We thought maybe a wine tour and then a cruise up the river (last cruise was down the river). But wine tours didn't start till later and we needed to get going early as getting to Frankfurt Hahn airport isn't exactly easy. So we hung around town and bought a bottle of wine instead and then caught the first ferry upstream at 11am. Again the ride was accentuated with lots of Castle viewing. We got as far as Bingen and then dropped our bags at the train terminal and then did some shopping. I was surprised how much like North America German is commercially. It seems to me that Wal Mart could have a future here, whereas, and I'm not saying that's a good thing, I couldn't see it surviving in any of the other countries we've visited so far. Anyway, we looked around and bought some ice cream and I bought a shirt for 5 euro. Then we picked our bags up and caught a bus ouside the station. A transfer and an hour and a half later, we arrived at Frankfurt Hahn. 70 km outside of Frankfurt and a tiny airport, I don't see how they get away with calling this Franfurt Hahn. We definately didn't know, when we booked the tickets. Luckily it was on the right side of Frankfurt or else we would have been really choked. I think Ryan Air operates about 90% of the flights leaving Hahn. Anyway we arrived really early and waited in line for the ticket window to open and then waited for our flight to arrive. We also checked out the duty free, but there are already hardly any taxes on wine and beer so it wasn't even a deal and the wine we bought in Bacharach was much cheaper. We thought our tickets had seats numbers on them, so when everyone jumped up to line up way before the plane started boarding, we just sat and waited, no sense standing in line for half an hour. When we got on the plane we realised that we didn't have seats and that the plane is rush seating. We still managed to get a couple seats side by side, although by this time all the overhead was full (you pay extra for checked lugage, so everyone crams as much as possible into their carry on. Appearantly the 'Barcelona' airport is quite a ways out of town as well so we should have fun getting to the apartment that we are sharing with my parents and Caleigh and Tom.

Impromptu Interlaken

Interlaken wasn't planned but it turned out great. During the planning stages I didn't think the weather in Switzerland would be great early on (like April 20th) when I would have put it in, so I didn't. It worked out now and, although May is not much later than April, the weather was great. We watched the scenery change rapidly from Milan to Spiez. Then in Spiez we got off and got some Francs out (the Swiss are not on the Euro, that would ruin the whole Swiss bank account thing). Orignally Cara informed me that 1 Franc (CHF) = 1.5 EUR = 2.25 CAD so I was appalled when our 20 minute train ride cost 10 CHF each. I knew Switzerland was expensive, but not that expensive. We got off at Interlaken Ost where we thought our hostel was, but when we got off and looked at the map, it was actually on the station we just passed. We were tired and didn't feel like walking 20 minutes so we waited 15 minutes for a train that took 3. Once at the correct station we made our way to our hostel and were surprised to find it closed, but there was a note on the door for us with a key and instructions. When we got to our room, we found a hot kettle of water and some apple cider mix. It was awesome and we were starting to see why this hostel had such excellent reviews. It was strange after spending so much time in night owl cultures like Spain, Italy and Greece and then coming to a culture where shops are closed after 6 and hostels don't have 24 hour receptions. The cider was great though and we went straight to bed.
Wednesday morning we went down for breakfast. I was kinda expecting sausage and eggs and a huge breakfast, but it was actually similar to the camping one, plus yogurt and some fruit. It was still awesome and we ate our fill. Ursula came around (the super nice owner) and gave us our information. Information included pamphlets on anything you wanted and some Q and A, where she tried to help you get the most out of your stay. We wanted to go up to the Jungfrau, but after finding out it was about 130 dollars each, we decided to go for something cheaper. The Schiltorn is cheaper and you go right to the top, whereas the Jungfraujoch actually just goes to the saddle of the Jungfrau and the Monch. But at 70 dollars each, it was still pricey. We decided to rent mountain bikes and get up close and personal with the Gimmelwald valley. Also it was at this point we realised that 1.5 CHF = 1 EUR, so Francs are about equal to Canadian dollars, so the bus wasn't too bad. We got some bikes at a sports shop and started our voyage. The roads weren't too busy and the scenery was awesome. We eventually got onto a gravel bike path and for the first time in Europe we felt truly alone. After a bit of riding, 15km and about a 400 meter gain, we got to Lauterbrunnen. Here we took a gondola up to the top of a cliff and gained 800 meters for about 8 bucks (plus it was the only option besides climbing or hiking with the bikes up). Then we had some more uphill until we reached Murren. At Murren the views were amazing; the downhill also started here. We made quick time to Gimmelwald. Too quick in fact, I rounded a corner and was confronted with a tractor coming at me. I had a pretty good spill and got some nice road rash, especially on the back of my right bicep. Gimmelwald is an awesome little town and one we came to see, so I wasn't going to let anything spoil it. This is a picturesque town that was almost spoiled and turned into a resort, but luckily the townspeople came up with a plan and got it turned into an avalanche zone. It's tiny and beautiful. We ducked into a hostel where I cleaned my wounds and then we had to ask directions as the road wasn't clearly marked here. Cara ducked into a hostel and came out giggling like a school girl. When I asked her what was going on, she said she met the lady that was on the Rick Steves episode and asked to have her picture taken with her. We both thought it pretty funny. Now cara can say she's only 1 degree of seperation from the goofey guy on pbs. After a chuckle we were on our way again. Most of the rest of the journey was downhill except some uphill parts. One section needed walking down as the brakes didn't really work on the steep incline. We finally made it to the Trummelback falls. Not sure exactly how they formed, but some stream found a soft spot on the mountain and now the falls are literally inside the mountain. It was very cool. After that we had a long ride back to the city; we decided to take the road instead of the bike path, because it was more direct. On our way back to the hostel we stopped in for a bite at a 'cheap' place recommended by our hostel. If the food here was cheap, I don't want to know about the other places. Anyway, we had some great swiss cheese fondue and some much needed salads before heading back and going to bed.
Thursday morning we got up and did the breakfast thing again. This time we hit the internet after to try and find some accomodations on the Rhine in Germany. This proved more difficult than expected and I ended up just e-mailing a few, because I couldn't find a good booking service (like hostelbookers) for the Rhine. We went and returned the bikes and grabbed some groceries (among the items: Swiss Chocolate) and after we got back to the hostel, I had a reply from a great place in Bacharach, an actual medival castle converted to hostel. Since it was nearing on noon by now we decided to have a more relaxed day and go to the top of Harder Kulm, a small Island mountain 800 meters off the valley floor, it offers great views and is actually celebrating the 100 year anniversary of the funicular being built. We got to the fenicular and were surprised to find the fee only 4 CHF because of the festival. A bargain ride up and once at the top, the views were incredible. After looking around the restaurant and surrounding views, we headed off on a hike. About an hour later we were done and not too much out of breath. The we rewarded ourselves with a couple of beers and enjoyed the view. We headed down around 3 because we wanted to catch a train at 4. We picked up our bags at the hostel and I checked my mail for word from the hostel. Problem.. I guess they have a 10pm curfew and we are arriving at 10:30, so I emailed them back requesting a key be left outside or something. We caught our train and now sit headed for Basel and after 3 changes should arrive in Bacharach. Hopefully the hostel is able to work something out. If we can we'll try and snag some internet somewhere, but our connections are all about 15 minutes, so we're not sure if that'll happen.

Virus in Venice

Saturday night as we rode the ferry, I realized that I was in fact definitely sick. Cara's throat was sore as well and my night did not include much sleep, but did include lots of time in a women's washroom. Maybe I should explain. We were in the dorms, the dorms were both men and women although at one point they must have been only women cause there was only a women's washroom. However there was a sign that read "For your convenience the Men's washroom is located and deck 9 and the showers on deck 10". Deck 9 was upstairs and deck 10 was the pool and the showers outside...... nice. We were the only people in the dorm besides another guy, so I just used the women's. I hope the other dude didn't find his shower too cold in the morning, haha.

We hopped off the boat at around 11:15 in the morning a full 45 minutes late and despite some running we missed the train we wanted by 10 minutes. This caused a ripple effect on our plans and we ended up having to shell out 30 euro for a faster train from Bologna to Firenze (Florence) in order to make our 4:30 reservation to see David, as Cara said it was an expensive statue. But I don't regret it, it was pretty amazing. The rest of the museum was not amazing though; pretty much a bunch of low class art with David and some of Michelangelo's unfinished works. In the museum as I was gearing up to take a picture of the David I got harassed by some attendant that there ware no pictures allowed. Good grief! I respect the Louvre more and more the more I go to other museums. They allow pictures everywhere and only ask that there be no flash. Fine by me, although I can't honestly see how a little flash is going to harm a marble statue especially one that stood outside in the elements for a few hundred years and is currently being exposed to indirect sunlight, but whatever. Also I've had to check my bag at a number of museums and most have tried to take my monopod away from me, but not the Louvre. Anyway, tons of people were snapping pictures anyways, many with the flash and so I took a few myself. As much as they like to pretend it's to preserve the art, really it's just to push more merchandise out of the gift shop. We looked at the rest of the museum, which didn't have much and then we headed out, and went through a good street market (tourist oriented of course). We're not sure if it was good because it was Sunday or it's good everyday. Anyways Cara was pleased to get in some shopping and Curtis and Blair picked up some cool gifts. After this we hopped a train to Venice connecting through Bologna again. In the end David cost us 4 hours and 50 euro, a hefty price, but it's the best sculpture I've seen to date and my favorite art is sculptures.

At around 10:30 we got into Mestre. Venice is way overpriced (at least 40 euro per person), and we found our cheapest digs on the trip so far in Mestre (about 20 min by bus from Venice), a campground for 10 euro a night. The campground wasn't too easy to find and we ended up walking just over 2 km because the bus they suggested taking doesn't run that late at night. But once there we found the accommodations pretty decent, by far not the most uncomfortable beds that we've had thus far, and I kind of liked sleeping in tent. Anyway, for 10 euro you get a good size tent, 2 cots and sheets and blankets. Everything is set up for you, but you have to make you're own bed (like anywhere else).

After a cold night we woke up and had some showers and paid 4 euro for a pretty decent buffet breakfast with some of the best jam yet (we nabbed a few for later). Then we hoped a city bus to Venice. Again we were confused by the city buses in Italy, once on the bus you don't seem to be able to buy tickets or we just aren't able to communicate that we want to buy tickets to the drivers, either or, we've rode a few times now with no ticket. Once in Venice we followed the signs all the way to the Piazza San Marco. This is a windy route that includes lots of bridges and, if you don't watch the signs carefully, lots of dead ends. In the Piazza stands the Basilica di San Marco, free entry, so of course we went in. Mosaic heaven if you like mosaics, which we do. Again no pictures, but I followed the crowd and took a couple crappy ones. Not having you're eye in the viewfinder doesn't make for good pictures. One thing that became very apparent to us while in the Basilica is the effect of sinking Venice on the architecture; there isn't a straight wall or arch in the building I don't think. After we walked around and were ready to leave we tried to decide whether to go to the gallery or not. On the outside above the entrance to the Basilica are 4 bronze horses that Constantine manage to 'save from the heathens' in the fourth crusade. The ones outside are fakes and you can see the real ones inside the gallery. I submitted and paid the 4 euro to go upstairs into the gallery, Cara abstained because she didn't think it worth it. It ended up being worth it I think. Not only are the horses up there, but you get to walk outside and stand next to the fakes and there are some mozaics and tapestries and books and more loot up there as well. I motored through it as fast as I could and went back to a patient Cara. After that we wandered around and among other things witnessed a pigeon feading frenzy, saw a kid ridding a toy electric Vespa, got some gelato and got lost some more. We headed back to the campsite early because we needed to make some crucial trip decisions, too bad we decided to do this in Venice where internet is 5 euro an hour. We caught a bus back (this time with tickets) and got some takeout pizza, which we ate back at the campsite. Then down to business.

The problem is that Croatia was next on the trip and I had planned on being much further along before we needed to be in Barcelona, a combination of being a few days behind schedule and needing to be in Barcelona earlier than expected. So as it stood, we could do our days in croatia but then we would have a huge travel day with crazy rail connections to make it to a place where we could fly to croatia for cheap (getting to barcelona by rail didn't seam possible in less than 24 hours). So we needed to decide to show up late or change the plan. We talked about many alternatives, but the best was to go to Switzerland (unplanned, but we both wanted to see it, more so than some of the other stops) and then hit the Rhein and end up in Frankfurt where we could get a cheap flight with Ryan Air. We booked flights and managed a few frantic minutes to do other things like the blog and e-mail. The Nokia internet tablet that I've been packing around has been great, especially for the blog. It has lots of maps and hooks to the bluetooth gps, but the best seems to be for writting the blog. I write the blog with the bluetooth keyboard and upload pictures to it while we're on a train or boat so that as long as the computer has usb, I can update the blog in a few minutes. It also can hook to unsecure wi-fi connections, but Europe seem to be much more secure than North American, you really have to do some legwork to find an open connection. Plus the blog website doesn't work well with the tablet and I can't arrange the pictures in the text with the tablet, so I've taken to waiting till we get to a computer to update. Anyway, after we were done planning and doing internet, we went to bed (round midnight).

Next morning we dug in to the cheap buffet and checked out of the campsite, then we took all our gear with us on the bus and dropped our bags off at the Venice train station. After this, we went and asked about trains to interlaken. Neither of us wanted to arrive really lake to Interlaken so we decided to catch to the 2:50 train that arrived, after 2 connections, at 9:30. We boarded the train and, after our change in Milan, we're quite interested in the rapidly changing scenery. So now we sit on a Swiss train pondering what this bus icon means on our schedule (we think we might need to take a bus).

Crazy Corfu

We arrived in Corfu at 7 am and to our relief there was a lady holding a sign for the Pink Palace at the ferry terminal. Turns out she's the daughter of the people who started the Pink Palace and it all started from a 2 room hostel and grew to what is now somewhat like a headonistic summer camp with more than 600 beds. We thought it would be a great time but even in low season with only 80 guests it was a bit too much for us, we both shutter to think how it would be with 600 rampaging backpackers packed in. That being said we met some awesome people and it was our cheapest stop yet considering it comes with both a hearty breakfast and a 3 course dinner, so for 25 euro it was an excellent value.
We got to the Pink Palace at 8 am and had some breakfast and then we moved into our room. We had met a New Zeland girl named Rebecca on the ride and so we eat breakfast with her. Me and Cara both went for a quick nap after breakfast since our overnight ferry didn't provide much sleep. Then we headed down to the beach. The place was pretty quiet and from what we were told by the other guest, last nights festivities were the cause. Also there was a Booze Cruz planned for 11am, but at 20 euro plus drinks we stayed away. A good portion of people did go out on the cruz though. The beach was good and we got to do some relaxing. After going for a walk and heading back up to the room to change, we headed down for the free dinner. There were some seriously rowdy people out and about now though and we were wondering if this place was such a good idea. We were sat at a table with a buch of other Canadians including a very nice stoner couple from Ottawa. The meal was a decent soup, salad and coleslaw, and mashed potatoes and roast. Dinner is served in the disco so that you can conviniently keep drinking and socializing well into the night. After an excellent choriographed dance to a Solja Boy song by the rowdy guys, they suddently dissappeared. At this point we found out that there was a US Naval boat in the area and those guys were on a five day leave. Good timming as the rest of our stay was a bit quieter. We hung out with the Ottawa couple and talked travel to around midnight where we called it a night.

The next morning we woke up and had breakfast. We couldn't decide whether we wanted to go for a kayak or quading. The decision was made for us by some poeple we met last night that invited us quading. We got ready in decent time, but the paper work and quad tutorial took way longer that we thought and by the time we were done the group had left, so we went with the next group, which was a bunch of girls from Edmonton and a couple guys from England and Scottland. It was pretty fun, although we did have a breakdown, but we spent the time waitting at the beach, so it was ok. After we returned our quads we went to the room and changed and went down to use the internet. The hostel had some crappy computers and no usb access and the price wasn't great either. So we walked a few minutes into the small town where we found a place that offered free internet (place served drinks, so we bought a couple).

Looking ahead to Croatia we encountered another ferry dilemma. Of all the days in May seems the ferries, for some reason, decided not to sail on the day we wanted. So we thought of a plan. We still wanted to see David so we decided to still sail to Italy as planned, but go for a day in Florence and then come back to catch a ferry to Croatia. It was either that or stay another night at the Pink Palace, and neither me nor Cara were really interested in that. But it all hinged on making a reservation for late Sunday afternoon at David's museum. After talking it over some more we decided to move Venice up in the itenerary and go there for 2 days and see David if we can on the way.

At dinner we were seated with a bunch of guys from Ontario and our 2 UK friends. We talked with the UK guys and one of the Alberta girls for a long time and even did some dancing much to my protesting (electronic music). After we were danced out, me and Cara and the Alberta girl headed back up to the reception where they have a more mellow and quiet bar. We finally got to bed around 2 am.

After an unsatisfying sleep, complete with worry about missing the alarm, we woke up at 8 am. Check out was at 9 am and conviniently that's when the museum opened to take reservations to see David. We checked out of our room and phoned Italy. Reservations were not a problem and we got a showing at 4:30. For the rest of the day we ate breakfast and hung out at the beach again, I think Cara might even be getting beached out by now. Around 1 we went into town and when to the cafe again where we did some internet stuff and booked ahead to Venice. Then we did some souvenir shopping until 3 when the bus came to take us to the port. We took a crowded, smokey ferry to Igoumenitsa. Once there we looked for a market and found one; we bought some supplies for the 14 hour ferry ride. Then we headed to the terminal to get tickets. A few days ago I was browsing through my eurail discount book and found that the sailings between Italy and Greece with Superfast ferries are supposed to come with free dorms if your eurail is first class. We got those free dorms (if only we had known when going from Bari to Patras, we would have been much more well rested). We boarded the ferry at 8. We were dissapointted when we found that the dorms are segregated (male/female), but there doesn't appear to be anyone staying in them, so we've got a 6 bed to ourselves. Now we sit in the lounge contemplating going to bed and wondering if we're both comming down with a flue that a few people have caught at the Pink Palace.