Octoberfest, Munich

After dropping my parents at the airport, we were off to Munich for the weekend.  Since we didn't leave till after 10 pm, we didn't arrive until around 3 am.  Despite my attempt to sleep in the back seat, we were all very tired upon arrival and went directly to bed in our split level hotel room.

The next day after a little bit of confusion and a slight delay we met John (our friend from HI) and Eric (another friend from HI who is now stationed in Italy) and Fred (a new friend).  Together we made our way to the fair grounds.  We were looking for a beer tent to enter.  After seeing 3 or 4 with lines of over 100 people each we were excited when we found a line with only about 30 people.  We still waited nearly an hour, had to use some trickery, some begging to get John and Eric in since they had left us to fend in the line, and some bribing to get inside the tent but we experienced Octoberfest.

I even managed to get Phil back to the hotel, by myself, on the train. We slowly rose the next day, Paul & I enjoyed a nice German lunch (Phil napped in the car) and then we headed home.  It was a turn and burn trip - but it was great fun with great friends.

I am not sure I knew what to expect, but it was amazing. I just wrote three different explanations, but none of them seem to do it justice, so I am just going to leave you with some pictures.

Phil and I have to thank Paul, our travelling companion,

for loaning us great outfits for the festival,

for using his car and for driving up Friday night.





 

The Crowd

 

One of the festivals novelties:

heart shaped cookie necklaces with messages on them

 

We were so excited to be inside and have beer!

 

After walking around, we found a good spot to

hang out and enjoy the party

 

 

The tent/party

 

 

 

 

Some of our new friends

 

The picture says it all!

 

The HI boys.

 

 

Our whole group inside, we even managed to get a table!

 

 

This was one of the last pictures of the night.

 

Cruise Part III

The final two stops of our journey were Santorini and Katakolo in Greece and they were night and day.

Our next stop was Santorini - I usually just provide a link for history etc, but I thought this was such an interesting place that I decided to provide my own commentary on the islands.  Santorini is actually a group of islands.  The largest of which is called Santorini.  Santorini the island is what people (at least people like me) think of when they think of the Greek islands ... white buildings on steep cliffs with blue accents sitting on beautiful blue water.  The other islands of the Santorini archipelago are nothing like what you picture when you think of Greece because they are mainly volcanic.   It is also interesting to note that Santorini the island is moon shaped but was at one time a circular island.  A volcanic eruption ages ago caused much of the island to sink leaving only a crescent.  For those dreamers out there, the sunken pieces are thought by some to be the lost island of Atlantis.

In Santorini, Greece we decided to take an excursion. I am glad that we did because we were able to see the island from a different vantage point.  We were picked up from the cruise ship in an wooden sail boat (like a small pirate ship if you will) and taken to  Nea Kameni (new volcano island).  Here we walked to the top which gives a great view of the geography of the Santorini Islands you can see the entire crescent shape of Santorini Island as well as the other small islands.  This volcano is still active with the last eruption in 1950 it still has active sulfur vents (though they are much smalled and you can get much closer to the vents here than you can can to the vents on Hawaii). 

Phil on top of new volacano

Then we went to Palea Kameni 'Old Burnt' (old volcano island).  Here we swam in "hot" springs.  In reality they were luke warm.  They are warm due to the vents from the volcanoes, the mud on the bottom of the springs is said to make you look 10 years younger if you put it on your face. My mom tried and though she has always looked young I am not sure it worked. 

 

Me swimming back to the boat from old volcano spring swim/mud bath

After this swim we made our way back to Fira which is the capital city of Santorini.  In Fira there are three options on how to get to the city.  The first is you can walk (I was told if I wanted to walk I would be on my own - maybe next time). The second was to take a donkey, which I also think would have been cool, but a little stinky. 

Third there is a cable car that goes up the side of the cliff in just over two minutes.  We opted for the third option. 

At the top, we had one of the best lunches of the trip then walked the streets of the town. 

View from the restaurant

 

The town is mainly filled with small shops selling trinkets, olive wood, original art, and wine.  Phil and I walked to the top of the hill and every corner is as beautiful as the last.   

 

 

We searched high and low to get a good picture of a blue dome roof

 

The trip ended with a cable car back to the port for the porter back to the ship.  We were able to get a small view of the sunset, though they say it is best from the other side of the island, it was beautiful. 

I would love to spend a few more days in Santorini, see the cities of Oia and Imerovigli as well as the red sand beaches (since we have seen green, black and white in Hawaii). 

Our final stop was Katakolo, Greece. Here we rented a car and drove out to Olympia, the site of the first Olympic Games.  In some ways this was a nicer place to view ruins, because although there were fewer than in Ephesus, there were also far fewer people so it was easier to enjoy.  We spent a few hours there, Phil then tried to get us to the Temple of Apollo and despite having looked at a map earlier and his assertions that once he sees a map he memorizes it he could not succeed without a map.  So we headed back to Katakolo, stopped at a SMALL beach for an EXPENSIVE beer, then made our way back to the ship.

 

 

 

The final day of the cruise brought us back to Venice; Phil and I made our way home with the luggage while Mom & Frank explored for the day.

Sunday the four of us went to a market in Vicenza.  We made a picnic out of fresh food (cheese, bread, olives, artichokes, salami) from the different stands. While Phil and Mom had Peroni, Frank and I also shared three bottles of wine (made Monday morning a little rough). 

 

End of the third bottle

(and yes we drank out of plastic Dixie cups)

Monday Mom & Frank headed to Pisa, then Rome and came back to Vicenza on Wednesday afternoon.  Thursday they headed to Verona and Friday they spent the day in Vicenza.  Friday we ended their visit with dinner at a local pizza place before bringing them to the airport. 

The visit seemed so quick and we miss them already; but we are ready for our next guests.

Cruise Part II

So day three of the cruise we ported in Kusadasi, Turkey - my favorite port of them all.

We arrived very early in the morning. 

 

Pigeon Island lit up.

We got off the boat and again found a private tour company to take us on a tour for half the price of what the cruise was charging.  Our first stop was the House of the Virgin Mary - I am sad to report we didn't go in.  Mainly because we were led astray when we booked the tour.  We were told that we would be able to see the house from the outside and that there wasn't much to see inside. Well the first part was definitely not true and the second part I dont' know for sure, but I think we probably should have gone in because who knows when we will have the opportunity again. But oh well... on to our next stop: Ephesus. 

It was amazing.  It is about a mile long from one end to the other and just ruin after ruin that is about 1500 years old - like many things in Europe older than anything in the United States.  It is also sort of shocking and sad, but there seems to be very litter conservation going on.  We were allowed to walk all over everything.  Phil says that when Turkey joins the EU this will stop, I hope it stops soon so that future generations might also enjoy it. 

 

Frank & I at the bottom of the small amphitheater

 

The main walk-way and all the people!

 

The Library of Celsus

 

It blends into the hill, but the large amphitheater

 

The third historical stop was the Temple of Artemis; it wasn't much to look at but still cool to say that we have seen it.

 

The pillar on the right is the Temple of Artemis (what is left)

 

After the historical stops we saw a fashion show at a leather store, although it was obviously a sales pitch it was kind of fun to watch and some of their pieces were truly beautiful. 

 

Then we made our way to a rug shop - Turkey is known for their rugs.  The rug store gave us a little demonstration on how the rugs are made and told us how long they take (years).  So of course we had to buy one, it is beautiful and something we will have forever.  I didn't take a picture of it, because you have to see it to appreciate it. 

 

After that we headed to town - the town was a little touristy like Corfu - but everyone was more friendly as opposed to pushy.  We found a nice place to have lunch then walked up the street a ways looking for a "genuine fake Rolex" for Frank.  We ended up sitting down for a few drinks and our hosts provided everything we could have wanted. They escorted Frank to a store and had chi and baklava delivered for Phil.  It was a great afternoon. 

 

 

 

The bustling market area

 

 

A mosque hidden in the middle of the city

 

 

See the next post for all about Santorini & Katakolon

 

 

 

 

Cruise Part I (Bari & Corfu)

Mom and Frank got in on Friday and we took them out downtown, had a fewer appetizers at various restaurants the by dinner time all we could eat was appetizers because we were a lady so full. But Phil and I will be returning to the last restaurant sometime soon I hope as the food was great and it is right around the corner.

Saturday we got up, had breakfast and headed to Venice to board the ship. Saturday was mainly spent on the boat. We spent most of the time at the pool/hot tub ad of course we consumed a few beverages. The ship left Venice around 5pm headed south.

 

Mom & Frank on thier Balcony

 

Phil & I as we pass St. Mark's Square

 

On of the many Venice water-alleys

We ended the night with a nice dinner, a show, and a little bit of gambling.

In general, we didn't make a whole lot or really lets be honest any plans before stepping foot on the boat, we also didn't do any research for what we wanted to do or should do in each spot, so everyday was a free-for-all for the most part.  This was also influenced by the fact that the ship sponsored excursions were ridiculously expensive, so we steer cleared on those except for on Santorini, and even then we learned we could have done the same thing for about half the price. 

Sunday we woke up went to the hot tub, ate some breakfast and around noon we were in Bari, Italy.
We decided to head to a small beach away from the port, we stayed there for a few hours taking in the sun, napping, and relaxing.  We had a few beers at a cute shack place on the beach and then we walked back to town. The walk wasn't bad (probably about 2 miles but flat) and it was neat to see the different buildings and the neighborhoods along the way.  Then we walked around the town which was not very big or busy. But it was quaint, after realizing that it was 2:30 and most restaurants close around that time till dinner, we quickly started scrambling.  Luckily we did find a place, which was quite good. We had some pizza, salad, and caprese plus of course some Italian wine. We walked around the town a little more, saw the church and the fort, had a few more drinks and them headed back to the boat. Back on the boat we went to the pool again, and then of course more drinks, dinner and a show. It was an early night because Monday we arrived in Corfu around 7 am.

 

I try to take pictures of clocks everywhere we go

 

 

I love Italian alley ways

 

 

 

Phil stuck on the outside

wishing he could keep walking on the old wall

 

  

Bari Cathedral  

 

 

Basilica di San Nicola

 

 

Castello Normanno-Svevo

 

Arriving at Corfu, Greece, we again had no idea what to expect or what we should do.  We ended up taking a private taxi/tour ride around the northern part of the island.  The tour guide was rather nice and informative.  We saw some beautiful views, had some fantastic home-made wine and olive oil and then headed into the town.  Corfu town was much more touristy than Bari had been. It was full of little trinket shops and bustling with tourists. Since that really isn't our style we didn't spend much time there. We saw the castle, walked down a couple streets, and then headed to the boat once again.

 

Bay of Saint George

 

Angelokastro

 

 

Olive Groves

 

Paleokastritsa

 

 

 

Kastropolis - Corfu Town

 

Though I liked the city of Bari better, I could spend a few more days on the island of Corfu; even I would have liked to explore the castles.


See the next post for my favorite of all the ports...