Well, it's been a while since I updated this - apologies to anyone who may actually be reading it! Since the last update we enjoyed our last ferry trip from Santorini to Athens - all 8 hours of it but luckily we made the wise decision to upgrade ourselves to the First Class lounge featuring purple tub chairs for the journey - not only did that wipe out the constant battle to maintain one's balance on the sliding plastic garden chairs, but our baggage stayed dry, we had a bar service and blissfully, we didn't suffer too much from smoke inhalation. However, we also didn't make it back to the Plaka until about 1am so the following 6am pickup was a bit horrific. Despite this, I have to say that the whole organised transfers thing makes life a bit easier, especially now that we are back on the DIY backpacker deluxe version (ie public buses, balancing with packs on while trying to read a map at the same time!)
So we left Athens and headed to Rome on Olympic Airlines. The flight was a bit ho hum and would have been enlivened no end if Rachel's dream of the flight attendents wearing classical Grecian dresses like togas had been realised. Alas it was not to be. We caught the airport train into Termini and had a bit of a wait for our room to be available so this was an excuse for a cheap coffee stop, followed by dumping the gear and having a bit of a chat with Flavio at Reception. Rachel thinks I had been exaggerating in my descriptions of how Italians deal with people, but that was only until we went to the Post Office and it all became clear!
We spent the rest of the afternoon walking until our feet steamed - broccoli pizza at Pizza Planet, the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, the Pincio, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Campo de' Fiori (hmmmm......apple and raspberry gelato!!!), across to the Trastevere, the Bocca della Verita`, Piazza Italia, and back to the hotel to crash for the night.
On Sunday we headed off by IC Plus to Naples for a Disorient Express tour of Pompeii. It was all a bit organised really with clear signposting - what is going on??? Rachel was happy since visiting the ruins was on her list of things to do (tick!) and we even got to see the dog body cast this time, along with the villa and fullery featured on my BBC dvd about the last day of Pompeii. After trekking around the ruins for several hours we headed back into Naples and went for a stroll down to the main square, but since not much was open we soon headed back to catch the train for Rome. Alas we did not realise that reservations were required so for the last hour we had to stand in the First Class aisle after being booted out of seats, plus we had to pay the reservation fee and a fine even though we couldn't sit beacuse it was packed. Typical!!!!
The next morning after a quick walk to the Colosseum, we boarded the Alta Velocita` Eurostar for Florence which was stylish. My only grumble was the passenger who decided that my backpack was not worthy of a spot on the luggage rack so they put their huge suitcase in its spot and abandoned my pack in the middle of the entrance bit at the start of the carriage. Bloody rude I thought! Our first stop in Florence after checking in at the beautiful Aprile was the laundromat - aghhhhhh......clean clothes!!!!! Cathryn was
very impressed with the hotel which was soon transformed into a Chinese laundry upon our return as the contents of our packs were laid decorously around the room for an airing - it still smelt of clean clothes hours later. But we did get complementary slippers and a little amenity bag each - and the shower was one of those 6 jet fandangled contraptions so you could be pummelled to within an inch of your life. Impressive!!!! In the afternoon we met up with Lisa, Justin and Olivia again for a gelato and coffee before a quick sprint around the markets and dinner at the nice restaurant just down from the hotel. That left only the following morning for a shopping splurge (after breakfast in the courtyard amongst the orange trees!) before our trek to the airport in Pisa. Note for future travels - take the direct train since the connection is a hike at Pisa Centrale.
Now begins my big gripe - don't fly Ryannair! Not only was check in a shambles but they make a killing on excess luggage. Luckily Rachel had sent 5 kilos that morning at the Post Office since my pack was 1 kilo over and I had to pay the exorbitant fine of 15 euros for it, even though on the pages Rachel had the amount was 8 per kilo. According to the woman, 'it had just gone up'. Hmmmmm.......but I couldn't get my boarding pass until I paid it. Sometimes budget airlines are not that fantastic! Since most of the passengers were Italian they had to be told to be quiet during the safety briefing and they applauded our bumpy landing, so that was amusing but otherwise it was an uneventful flight. In fact, the only surprising thing was that we managed to get a row together despite the usual boarding bunfight.
Arriving in Seville was document free again - no checks required. We caught the airport bus into the centre and then navigated our way onto the circular bus to get to our hotel, balancing with
packs on and reading maps at the same time, frantically trying to find street names in the dark as we whizzed by them. Still, the Hotel Regina is rather stylish too even if we were too tired to enjoy it the first night. Exploring Seville was fun - the Alcazar and the gardens were beautiful (you'll have to wait for the pics - it's the usual story), the Cathedral was completely over the top (and we got kicked out anyway. Plus the Giralda tower was closed for maintenance - it's the symbol of Seville and former minaret! You're supposed to get a great view of the city from up there. Drats!!!), and the winding little streets were cute, including the tapas bar stops for lunch. Again, we spent hours just walking soaking up the vibe of the city. It's nice there!
Yesterday we spent the morning strolling around before our train in the afternoon to Granada. No doubt there will be another photo festival when we hit the Alhambra later tonight for our tour, but that will be an update for another day!
So we left Athens and headed to Rome on Olympic Airlines. The flight was a bit ho hum and would have been enlivened no end if Rachel's dream of the flight attendents wearing classical Grecian dresses like togas had been realised. Alas it was not to be. We caught the airport train into Termini and had a bit of a wait for our room to be available so this was an excuse for a cheap coffee stop, followed by dumping the gear and having a bit of a chat with Flavio at Reception. Rachel thinks I had been exaggerating in my descriptions of how Italians deal with people, but that was only until we went to the Post Office and it all became clear!
We spent the rest of the afternoon walking until our feet steamed - broccoli pizza at Pizza Planet, the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, the Pincio, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Campo de' Fiori (hmmmm......apple and raspberry gelato!!!), across to the Trastevere, the Bocca della Verita`, Piazza Italia, and back to the hotel to crash for the night.On Sunday we headed off by IC Plus to Naples for a Disorient Express tour of Pompeii. It was all a bit organised really with clear signposting - what is going on??? Rachel was happy since visiting the ruins was on her list of things to do (tick!) and we even got to see the dog body cast this time, along with the villa and fullery featured on my BBC dvd about the last day of Pompeii. After trekking around the ruins for several hours we headed back into Naples and went for a stroll down to the main square, but since not much was open we soon headed back to catch the train for Rome. Alas we did not realise that reservations were required so for the last hour we had to stand in the First Class aisle after being booted out of seats, plus we had to pay the reservation fee and a fine even though we couldn't sit beacuse it was packed. Typical!!!!
The next morning after a quick walk to the Colosseum, we boarded the Alta Velocita` Eurostar for Florence which was stylish. My only grumble was the passenger who decided that my backpack was not worthy of a spot on the luggage rack so they put their huge suitcase in its spot and abandoned my pack in the middle of the entrance bit at the start of the carriage. Bloody rude I thought! Our first stop in Florence after checking in at the beautiful Aprile was the laundromat - aghhhhhh......clean clothes!!!!! Cathryn was
very impressed with the hotel which was soon transformed into a Chinese laundry upon our return as the contents of our packs were laid decorously around the room for an airing - it still smelt of clean clothes hours later. But we did get complementary slippers and a little amenity bag each - and the shower was one of those 6 jet fandangled contraptions so you could be pummelled to within an inch of your life. Impressive!!!! In the afternoon we met up with Lisa, Justin and Olivia again for a gelato and coffee before a quick sprint around the markets and dinner at the nice restaurant just down from the hotel. That left only the following morning for a shopping splurge (after breakfast in the courtyard amongst the orange trees!) before our trek to the airport in Pisa. Note for future travels - take the direct train since the connection is a hike at Pisa Centrale.Now begins my big gripe - don't fly Ryannair! Not only was check in a shambles but they make a killing on excess luggage. Luckily Rachel had sent 5 kilos that morning at the Post Office since my pack was 1 kilo over and I had to pay the exorbitant fine of 15 euros for it, even though on the pages Rachel had the amount was 8 per kilo. According to the woman, 'it had just gone up'. Hmmmmm.......but I couldn't get my boarding pass until I paid it. Sometimes budget airlines are not that fantastic! Since most of the passengers were Italian they had to be told to be quiet during the safety briefing and they applauded our bumpy landing, so that was amusing but otherwise it was an uneventful flight. In fact, the only surprising thing was that we managed to get a row together despite the usual boarding bunfight.
Arriving in Seville was document free again - no checks required. We caught the airport bus into the centre and then navigated our way onto the circular bus to get to our hotel, balancing with
packs on and reading maps at the same time, frantically trying to find street names in the dark as we whizzed by them. Still, the Hotel Regina is rather stylish too even if we were too tired to enjoy it the first night. Exploring Seville was fun - the Alcazar and the gardens were beautiful (you'll have to wait for the pics - it's the usual story), the Cathedral was completely over the top (and we got kicked out anyway. Plus the Giralda tower was closed for maintenance - it's the symbol of Seville and former minaret! You're supposed to get a great view of the city from up there. Drats!!!), and the winding little streets were cute, including the tapas bar stops for lunch. Again, we spent hours just walking soaking up the vibe of the city. It's nice there!Yesterday we spent the morning strolling around before our train in the afternoon to Granada. No doubt there will be another photo festival when we hit the Alhambra later tonight for our tour, but that will be an update for another day!
1 comment:
Hey Rachel - Nice Sandles in the photo.
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