And the party's over.... Sunday 24th June

After a 3.5 hour ferry ride that turned into a 5.5 hr ferry ride due to Greek "ish" time, we arrived back in Athens yesterday to a balmy temperature of 43 degrees and enjoyed our farewell dinner with our wonderful Contiki crew.

We've now had 2 'farewell' dinners.. One in Ios and one in Athens as it seems we're all quite reluctant to let the party finish! Let me tell you, it's been absolutely awesome and we were extremely fortunate to have a group of amazing, like-minded people who turn into party animals at the drop of a hat (or is that at a 'drop of ouzo'!!). Dunc has rarely seen bed before 4am every morning - and even then, Greek people ask why he's going to bed 'so early' !!! Even our fabulous tour leader, Ellen, has been out partying the whole time with the group - when does that ever happen?? (If you book a Contiki, make sure you request to be on Ellen's tour - she's an absolute treasure - the best of the best!!) There's been 'lay-backs', 'body-shots', dancing, karaoke, pool tournaments, janga (sp?) and anything else you can imagine till the wee hours of the morning - EVERY morning, without fail !!! And we've made some extra great friendships that are sure to last the long distance catch-ups.

It's such a different way of life over here... and one that we could VERY easily get used to! Shops rarely open before 11 and stay open until 2 and 3 in the morning - and there's a 4 hr siesta somewhere in the middle of that! Family life takes priority, and work just seems to work its way around everyone's social & family activities!! Food is fresh, healthy and delicious! From Gyros to nutella and banana filled crepes, life over here is just about perfect!

Today we're going to be on-line for awhile (so email us if you're still up) then enjoy the last of this magnificent sunshine as we work on our tans, one last time, by the hotel pool.

Our flight is due to leave Athens at 2pm tomorrow (11pm Brissy time) and we're expected back in Brisbane by 7.30pm Tuesday night, so I guess - unless something extraordinary occurs, this may well be our final blog entry.

Dunc doesn't know I'm writing this yet.. (hehehe) but I simply MUST say a massive THANK-YOU to him for being my hero throughout the whole 2 months we've been away. If it wasn't for Dunc, I'd surely still be back in Rome - totally unable to navigate my way around and struggling to lift my heavy luggage up and down flights of stairs!! He has been such a gentleman the whole time. Not only helping me, but all the girlies on our trip with their luggage, and escorting us all into taxi's or safely back to our rooms. I'm most certain that if he wasn't already married, he'd have had a few proposals over the last 2 weeks!! Dunc, you're the best sweetheart! xox

Thanks everyone for your comments - we've really felt like they've helped us stay connected with Aus... Just as we hope this blog has helped you all take a european adventure with us!

Enjoy the pics!! Over and out!!

Photo Blog - Greek Island Hopping 2007

Party Princesses - CJ with new friends Yvette and Kyrsten

Party at Mykonos

"Who's the bomb" comp

My score (I won..)

Girl that pashed Kenny (on right) on the bus on the way home from the beach party

Oh my god, she kissed Kenny!?!

Street in Mykonos town

One of the views

Petros the Pelican (s)

CJ with some now very good friends - Jen (Florida) and Doc (Mel, from Melbourne)

Me and James (Jimmy K) taking our beer seriously.

The church in Oia that is in all the postcards

Most of the crew at the Oia sunset

The best tour manager in the world, Ellen

The most beautiful wife in the world!

Pool by night - Hotel in Santorini

I hired me an ATV

Aussie flag at the hotel on Ios

Ios - 20th, 21st, 22nd June

This is our first day in Ios and let me just tell you - it's love at first sight!

Our tour group were lucky enough to get upgraded to the "Far Out" hotel (named after the suburb of the same name by hippies in the 60's !!) and Dunc and I scored the penthouse!

Dunc hired an ATV to drive us around on.. I was very hesitant at first (you all know I'm a scardy cat!) but it's heaps of fun and Dunc's driving it very safely!! (he only does wheelies on the straight bits - and only when there's one bus coming our way - never two!)

There's not too much to do on Ios other than relax on the beach under a thatched umbrella, swim in our divine resort's pool, take a quick ride around on the ATV, then repeat! In other words - we're in heaven!

44 degrees again today.... PERFECT!!!

Tomorrow we're taking a day cruise on what looks like a pirate boat (eek) to beaches that can only be accessed from the water. We're planning a romantic picnic for, well... 27 !!! Lucky they're all such great people!

The day after that, I've booked in for a facial while Dunc's going to zip around the island on the quad bike and then we're just generally going to repeat the above!!!

Kalispera (means good afternoon) ! xox

Piccy's:

Highest: One of the reasons we didn't want to leave. A secluded beach accessible only by pirate boat.

Middlest: The whitest captain in Greece drivin' the boat

Lowestest: Another reason; the view from the penthouse.

Santorini - 17th, 18th, 19th June

Yasou from Santorini!

Words really cannot describe the beauty that is the Greek Island, Santorini. It really is the most romantic and picturesque place - and it's the only place in the world that we know of where the sunsets are SO stunning they receive an applause no matter where you are on the island. (we were fortunate enough to watch one from a Venetian castle ruin in a village called Oia (pronounced 'ee-ah') - and another on a hot date at a gorgeous cliff-side restaurant overlooking the Caldera (where the crater of the volcano used to be, but is now 400 metre deep water) where we felt like movie stars.

When you see pictures of your typical Greek town with white washed walls and blue dome churches - 9/10 times you're looking at Santorini (Oia) - and the reality is every bit as good as the postcards - in fact, it's better!
With weather in the low to mid 40's (it hit 44 degrees yesterday - makes you want to climb out of your jumpers just thinking about it doesn't it??) but without Brissy's humidity - it's simply the perfect place for swimming, sand, shopping and romantic dinners! To top that all off we also took a ride down a cliff face in a cable car - and took a traditional 'Santorini style' donkey ride back up to the top!!!

Santorini used to be a round island until a volcanic eruption made most of the island submerge. A little bit later after some more action, 2 islands rose up in the middle... It still has an active volcano that is expected to erupt sometine in the next 690 years - still plenty of time for you guys to come and enjoy! It's also the area that the myth of Atlantis, the lost city, is based upon due to discoveries of 4000 year old ruins and artifacts from the last time the volcano erupted.

In typical Greek style, they've only excavated 3% of this archeological find since they discovered it around 30 years ago... I guess they'll get there 'some time'.. That' s the way things are done here!!!

Photo's:

Top: Kenny met some other travellers in Megalohora (of all places). It was siesta time, but they got out of bed for a photo.

Next one just down from the top: Postcard perfect, Santorini at sunset

Next: Smack that @ss! Dangerous Dunc's Donkey cam

Last from the top: First sunset in Santorini.

Mykonos - 15th, 16th, 17th June

Opa!!! Opa!!! Opa!!! (Party!!! Party!!! Party!!!)

This is how our last 3 days can best be summed up!

This Contiki tour has blown our expectations out of the water. In a very stark contrast to our last dismal Contiki experience, this tour is full of fanstastic people who we've become close to only a few days - and many parties - into our trip! Our tour leader, Ellen, is one party animal who keeps the whole group charged up at every occasion! The bus trips are very entertaining with a fellow Aussie, James, (a straight flight attendant all the girls are after) giving us mock flight attendent 'safety demos', and Dunc entertaining us with some "Dunc-style" rock-karaoke on the bus mike!

The Contiki Mykonos resort is like a 24 hr party with cool music pumping throughout the complex all day and night, friendly staff, bars, a pool, tennis court, gym, pool tables, clubs and of course it own private beach! Our room was awesome as it overlooked the main bar & pool area so we didn't need to set up the iPod's speakers to get any music in our room! It also has its very own "Mafia-type" boss who owns it, and half the island.. He wanders around all day long ensuring everything's to his satisfaction and is making huge $$'s out of the exorbitant bar and bus fees!!! But that's another story - (Think horse head in the bed and you're getting close!!!)

In the last 3 days we've lazed on the beach, swam in the freezing but refreshing ocean, shopped around Mykonos town, lazed on the beach, eaten, lazed on the beach, and - just for something different - attended various beach parties (that START at midnight and finish at 4am!!) where people dance around in g-strings.. and less.. and within the first hour we were all dancing on tables, chairs and whatever we could get our feet up onto for hours on end!! Dunc had some 'difficulties' ordering drinks as they had to be ordered through the legs and butt-cheeks of g-string adorned gals dancing on the bar... Gee, life is hard here in Mykonos!! Kenny even got his first pash.. but that's also another story!!!

The landscape is very dry and desolate due to the island only receiving 60 days of rain/year - on a good year!! (Kinda like Brisbane at the moment) The desert hills are interspersed with typical white washed concrete houses with blue, green, red or yellow doors and window frames which represent the different elements of the earth - water, sky, trees, dirt, sun etc.. and the township is also filled with these little buildings that meander around tiny cobbled streets brimming with jewellery and souvenir stores - Just stunning! The maze of streets were built to confuse pirates if they entered the town - which makes exploring fabulously confusing!! Every building here - even the local "BP servo" is a little white washed concrete house!!

Beaches here are covered in pebbles, however the deck chairs and thatched umbrellas more than make up for this and, in a word, it looks STUNNING against the crystal clear blue waters! The food is simply superb with Gyros, Greek salads that are like nothing found in Oz and the best taziki dip we've EVER eaten!! To top off this paradise, Greek people are SO friendly towards tourists... the first time we've come across this on our trip (with an exception of London!).

Today we're heading to the exquisite island of Santorini... apparently the most picturesque island in the world... - we'll let you know!!

Images:

Top: Paradise Beach Party
Middle: The beach - 20 seconds walk from our room
Bottom: The Contiki resort on Mykonos

Athens - 14th June

Hello internet surfers

We made it into Athens at 5am due to a few minor complications with the transfer dude not turning up. Luckily there was a bus we were able to catch, but it was all a bit overwhelming after a night of air travel and no sleep.

We are currently on the ferry on the way to the island of manly love, Mykonos. (yep, apparently it's the gay capital of the Greek Islands!!) Dunc broke out into a cold sweat of panic when he heard this - I'll have to 'protect' him for once! We have photo's of Athens but no USB connection, so you'll have to wait for some more of our awesome photography skills - ha ha.

Athens is really nice, although there is a lot of closed or half constructed buildings due to over-stretching themselves financially for the Olympics in 2004. Apparently the economy over here took a bad hit as there wasn't as much revenue raised as anticipated, so building projects are still not completed, and new businesses set up for the event couldn't be sustained. (CJ says it's dirty and looks like a slum).

The suburb we stayed in (Glyfada) is on the beach and actually feels like Australia, but with lots of Greek writing on the signs. Aristotle Onasis (sp?) lived there with Jackie O - to give you some idea of the wealth there.

Greece has been quite an experience as everyone works on "ish" time over here.. As in, we'll get to it soon (ish)... Ish can mean anytime up to 2 hrs later than planned.. Guess this is what happened to our transfer guy!

The Parthenon and surrounding area were unfortunately under 'reconstruction' - but the views from the Acropolis Hill were amazing (well, what you could see through the heavy cloud of pollution!).

p.s Pete, no b@stard has killed Kenny, although he didn't want to leave Amsterdam. He felt right at home there with his pants off! He came out with us yesterday and posed for a pic in front of the Parthenon which we'll hopefully have up soon.

Now back to work, thanks for the comments from old and new commenters!

Prague III - 8th June

Ahh Prague, where a litre of beer (50Kc) is cheaper than a bottle of Coke (60Kc)!

Since arriving in Praha (Prague) on Tuesday, we have checked out EVERY store in town trying to find my Mum a souvenir and I am glad to announce that today we had SUCCESS !!!! (Our feet are also rejoicing!!)

So, now that this has been sorted, we've spent the afternoon generally milling about by wandering the streets of Prague and absorbing the beauty that surround us whilst trying to keep out of the sweltering 30+ degree heat as much as possible!

Tonight we're going 'out on the town' to a bar called "The Harley Davidson Bar"... (Should I be scared?!) and then tomorrow we're going to take a day off and just sloth around our room, sleeping and reading.

Sunday night (at midnight!!) we're heading off for Athens and are due to arrive in the wee hours of the morning at 3.30am !!!

Here are some more Prague pics for you to enjoy... Please feel free to leave a comment on the blog as we love reading what you're up to also !!! Special note to PRG & Laidsey for keeping us so entertained with all your comments - thanks guys!! :)

фотоий:

верхняя часть: Charles Bridge (at night) (from another angle).

средне: Trying the full strength Absinthe (just a little one)

треть от верхней части: Getting a tour of the old town in the old car.

Prague II - 7th June

Today has been one huge day of walking as we walked over the Charles Bridge, up to Hradčany Castle and back again, then up to Pragues very own miniature version of the Eiffel Tower! This together with walking into what felt like every single jewellery store in town, and you start to get an understanding for how our legs and feet are feeling about now! A far cry from our tour in a Vintage car from 1927 yesterday that we hired to chauffer us around Pragues cobbled streets!

Speaking of jewellery stores, I have to share how weird the experience is in Prague to browse at wares within a shop. As soon as a shop is entered, sales staff surround the unsuspecting customer and start insisting, and occasionally demanding, that they must help you, and that this will only be achieved when pieces are tried on... Not sure if the idea of window shopping has been explained over here yet! Also, many shops sales staff actually stand out on the footpath and if you only so much as look at their external display window they start closing in and insisting you come and look inside. Very offputting at first, but with so much window shopping under our belts, we feel quite seasoned to it!

Babushka doll stores, and also Garnet and Amber jewellery stores make up the majority of shops around the tourist areas and you cant make it down a street without going past at least 5 of each!

The pollution here is really bad. A heavy haze hangs over the city, as you might have noticed from our pics... no our camera is not out of focus!! Apparently there are days in Winter when it is unsafe to venture outside and warnings are broadcast about high pollution levels.. Asthmatics would certainly struggle here.. from both the pollution AND the smoking EVERYWHERE! Locals have a very high incidence of respiratory ailments... Such a shame as this place is SO beautiful otherwise!

p.s We walked past Morgan Freemans room last night. The lights were on but we couldnt see him. We will keep you posted.

Prague - 6th June

Happy Birthday DadBill!

Also, Happy Birthday (Belated) to JD, Bernie & Marlene !!

Yesterday we got up at 5am because we had to be at Amsterdam Airport (Schiphol) by 6:50am. It wasn't very far to the metro station, but at 6:00am in Amsterdam there aren't many people around, and to get to the train you have to go underground. Needless to say CJ was packing it. Also sort of needless to say, I was sort of too. You know, sort of. Anyway it was all cool and we got to the airport intact and on time.

Around 10am we arrived in Prague which is a stunning city and in contrast to Amsterdam (at night) extremely bright and safe...

We walked all around the city getting oriented, but couldn't get into the Prague Castle because George Bush was here so it was closed off. Bl00dy yanks keep getting in our road everywhere! He left yesterday afternoon for Germany, so it's open today - we're off to check it out shortly.

We also did a boat cruise and saw stuff from the river like the smallest (narrowest) street in the world (I think), lots of historic and expensive properties like where Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie are staying while they are here filming a new movie called "Wanted" (again with the yanks!). p.s Girls - Brad is here too. He's babysitting the kids! Are they stalking us? They were in Bellagio when we were there too!

Prague is very cheap compared to everywhere else we have been, which is a nice change. Dinners are about 7 - 9 Euro instead of 14 - 16. The beers are all various local brews and cheap as well.

Photos:

Top: Roofs of the old town, from the Bell Tower in the Town Square
Middle: Dunc enjoying a medium sized beer, Prague style.
Bottom: Prague Castle at night.

Amsterdam III - Monday 4th June

Our apartment rocks!! It's like living in a mansion compared to the very average accommodation we've been used to on tours over the past few weeks. We even have free internet connection in our lounge room - something we haven't had since we left - which makes the church bells right next to our bedroom, that ring a merry tune hourly, almost tolerable!

Today we took a canal cruise around the old and new parts of Amsterdam. Let me explain the architecture for you.. Firstly, all the houses are built on pillars that have been sunk 20-30m down through the water & silt until they hit sand. Because of this, most houses have amazing tilts on them as they're not built on solid foundations. Dunc came up with the motto, 'Amsterdam: Where even the houses aren't straight!'

The houses here are predominantly built above shops. To make more living space, they've built staircases at about a 50 degree angle... almost straight up! Certainly made it 'fun' getting our luggage up to the apartment. One slip, and you'd be done for. We reckon you almost need to fit a safety harness on to go downstairs here!

Because of this, all houses have a pulley attached to the top of their roofline which allows furniture to be leavered up and into the houses when people move in or out.

We also saw the smallest house in Amsterdam. At only 1 m wide, we have no idea how they would go about fitting any furniture in there - let alone having space either side of furniture to walk around in!

Photo's:

Fourth from the bottom: The stairs up to our apartment. They are even steeper than they look.

Third from the bottom (and not much wider than the lamp post in front of it): The skinniest house in Amsterdam.

Third from the top: Look what I picked up! This photo is from the bottom of the Red Light District (in the early morning).

Fourth from the top: The "Dancing Houses" of Amsterdam. I don't know if there are any buildings here that don't "dance"... Everything's leaning!

Amsterdam II - Sunday 3rd June

This morning, Dunc and I have walked through the house of Anne Frank where she and her family/friends hid during World War II. It was a very moving experience and we can't imagine how 8 people could live in such confined quarters for 2 years without ever once leaving the house.

On a lighter note, our Contiki experience is officially over today !!!! We're about to move to a private apartment for the next 2 nights and are very much looking forward to having some facilities previously taken for granted, like a washing machine. Yep, we smell like bums !!! ;(

I have also been meaning to mention how dangerous it is to cross a street in Amsterdam. Once you step off the designated footpath area, there are 6 checks to the left and right that need to be done before you reach the other side! 1 on each side of the road for bicycle lanes, 2 car lanes and 2 tramways !!! Gives a new emphasis to "look before you cross" !! The tram rides themselves are quite rough and jolting, but it's all part of the adventure!

Next on our "to do"list: A canal cruise, and a visit to the Heineken Brewery. Factual note: Did you know Heinekin Beer is the second most transported liquid across the Atlantic after oil?

Next update when we next find time to drag ourselves away from adventuring!!

Tot ziens!

Photo's:

Top: Heineken Factory Tour
Middle: Free **Bonus this week only super special** FREE HEINEKEN SCREENSAVER (Free)
Bottom: Our apartment in Niewmarkt (about 3 minutes walk from Dam Square & Red Light District.

The Dam so far... !! 2nd June

Well, Amsterdam is everything expected, and so much more !!!

We only arrived in Amsterdam yesterday afternoon and we've already been to a live $ex show, checked out various cafe's and wandered past the many 100's of windows filled with girls, guys and everything in between in the red light district! They're very liberal here about $ex etc, and there were plenty of families and elderley couples stolling through these parts with their kids and giving them an early education all all things "Amsterdam" !

We finish the Contiki part of our trip today (Everybody say "YAY" !!!) and will be rehousing ourselves in some far more glamorous surroudings in a private 3 storey apartment tomorrow..

Amsterdam is very pretty, and easy to get around with an amazing tram and bus network !

Today we stopped by Anne Frank's house, however the line up was insane, so we'll be popping back first thing tomorrow morning - then taking a bicycle tour around for the afternoon !

Caught on film: Kenny. He's not here for the windmills.

Paris! 29th - 31st May

"I love Paris in the springtime, I love Paris in the fall...." What can we say other than we agree with Ella !!! Paris is fabulous! The people, the icons, even the gypsies who try to scam tourists.. it's all so interesting and, like London, there's never a dull moment!!! The only thing we didn't like about Paris... the dodgy Contiki hotel in the seediest part of the city !!! But enough grumbling, back to the fabulous 'gaye Parie' !!

We survived many bus trips around, and around, and around the Arc de Triomphe... just! The roundabout circling this famous landmark has 12 roads leading into it and has only one rule... that you let other cars onto the roundabout.. This means it's almost impossible to get back OFF! (in fact, there were moments there where we wondered if this might be the only view we got of Paris!!)

What trip to Paris would be complete without a ride up the Eiffel Tower for a birds eye view of this beautiful city (originally only proposed to remain a momument for 20 years by which time it was too convenient as a broadcast antennae so it remained - even though the Parisians apparently hated it!)

We also visited The Louvre (originally separate palaces that Napolean joined together to make one MASSIVE palace). The Palace of Versailles, Notre Darme, Louis Vitton and all the TO-DIE-FOR shops along the Champs Elysee !!!

We also attended a performance at Moulin Rouge !! It was a 'spectacular, spectacular' (for those who have seen the movie!) and certainly a highlight of our trip.. It was kinda like a nudie "Kylie" concert on steroids.. so much to see !!! At one point a massive pool filled with live snakes arose from the floor for one of the girls to jump into !!! There was a strongman, an amazing balancing act and even a guy playing the drums by popping ping pong galls out of his mouth... all kinds of weird and wonderful stuff !! Dunc especially will treasure the mammories, erh, I mean, the "memories" forever !!!

p.s The French are so proud of their language remaining 'unadulterated' by English and other languages, they employ 40 people full time dedicated to making up French words to replace English words that may have crept into their language !!!

Photos:

Very top: Out the front of Moulin Rouge
One under that: Inside Notre Dame
Next one: One of the locals? On a bridge just next to Notre Dame
Then: The National Opera Theartre. This building, among many others in Paris, has features gilded in gold.

How could you miss him?: Kensington taking in a view of Paris (including the Arc de Triomphe) atop of the Eiffel Tower.

One up from the very bottom: Gardens at Versailles Palace

Very bottom: A huge antenna right in the middle of Paris!