Sitting in the Athens airport again (this time with a full laptop battery). Thought we'd get into our hostel around 11:00 last night and catch a little sleep before coming to the airport. Turns out since the ferry took 8:15 instead of the 7 we were told, AND the metro here stops at 12:00 we didn't actually get to our hostel until 1:00am and had to be up at 4:00 to catch the bus back to the airport.
Our hostel was about a block from the Acropolis and would have been a great location to spend a day at. As it turns out I only got to snap a quick picture of it on the way to the bus. I gladly would have tried to get another shot or 2 but we managed to wake up a homeless guy on a nearby bench who started rambling some stuff and shuffling around in front of his bench/bed. There was a chance he was a zombie/zmobie so we bolted. I want my brains left inside my head!
There was actually a lot of security for our 4:00am walk to the bus station. I saw at least 4 police officers, 1 private security looking guy and 2 military guys, then again I've also been warned about a fake police scam in Athens, but I think the police cars would be a bit elaborate for common scammers.
Apparently people who fly Alitalia have never heard of weight restrictions on their checked bags. At least 3 people in front of us checking in had full size suitcases loaded up with nothing but books. Looked like something from a conference maybe. They were loading stacks of them onto a trolley to ship as cargo back to Rome. Some of these ladies should have been tipped off when they couldn't lift their bag onto the scale alone!
Should be boarding our flight to Rome/Venice in a few minutes. We'll see how far I stay awake into this flight on the 3 hours of sleep I got.
-RF
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Congrats Yang & Tony and happy birthday Melanie!
Yang and Tony's wedding was yesterday and things seemed to turn out great. That is, at least from the parade master's perspective (me). I only had one person fall down some stone steps on the way to the ceremony and I don't think too many tourists/shopkeepers were creeped out by 12 guys handing out candy while wearing lais.
The ceremony was very nice and the meal after was great. I'm not sure if the locals have seen many western weddings or if they do things differently here, but at one point I had a waiter lean over and ask me, "So...is it 2 boys and 3 girls getting married?" In his defense, Yang and her 2 attendants were all dressed up, as were Tony and his 2 attendants, but Tony didn't have a lai on so I guess the waiter thought he wasn't part of the wedding.
Unfortunately there was a fire burning on the cliff right by the restaurant. The waiters said they are usually started by people throwing cigarette butts over the stairs. But every cloud has a silver lining (and this literally was a cloud so I'm glad to use that expression). You see, the steps from which the cigarette was likely thrown is filled all day long with donkeys and mules. They don't smell very good, and neither does their crap. But the smoke from the fire totally blocked that out!
Today we leave Santorini by slow ferry to Athens (about a 7 hour boat ride). We were told the slow ferry lets people go outside an see the area, where as the fast one (about 4 hours) is enclosed and 1/2 the people get sea sick on it. We should get to Athens around 10pm then fly to Venice tomorrow at 7am via Rome. We're traveling with Alitalia so we'll see if I get to add them to my growing list of terrible airlines.
Today is also Mel's birthday I'm sure she'd appreciated some birthday wishes from home.
The ceremony was very nice and the meal after was great. I'm not sure if the locals have seen many western weddings or if they do things differently here, but at one point I had a waiter lean over and ask me, "So...is it 2 boys and 3 girls getting married?" In his defense, Yang and her 2 attendants were all dressed up, as were Tony and his 2 attendants, but Tony didn't have a lai on so I guess the waiter thought he wasn't part of the wedding.
Unfortunately there was a fire burning on the cliff right by the restaurant. The waiters said they are usually started by people throwing cigarette butts over the stairs. But every cloud has a silver lining (and this literally was a cloud so I'm glad to use that expression). You see, the steps from which the cigarette was likely thrown is filled all day long with donkeys and mules. They don't smell very good, and neither does their crap. But the smoke from the fire totally blocked that out!
Today we leave Santorini by slow ferry to Athens (about a 7 hour boat ride). We were told the slow ferry lets people go outside an see the area, where as the fast one (about 4 hours) is enclosed and 1/2 the people get sea sick on it. We should get to Athens around 10pm then fly to Venice tomorrow at 7am via Rome. We're traveling with Alitalia so we'll see if I get to add them to my growing list of terrible airlines.
Today is also Mel's birthday I'm sure she'd appreciated some birthday wishes from home.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
In the Greek Isles...but not without adventure!
So on top of my advice to never fly United, I'd like to add never fly Aegean Air...or Olympic Air...and maybe steer clear of all Greek airlines just to be safe.
As of my last post we were waiting to get on our plane from Athens to the Island of Santorini. What we didn't know was that we'd be waiting another 26 hours before our luggage would meet us in Santorini. The Aegean service desk never really did tell us the full story about our bags. They were either left in Munich, lost in London Heathrow, left in Athens, or maybe they ended up in Gatwick. When our bags were finally located it seemed like they waited for US to call THEM to confirm they were our bags. The conversation went a bit like this:
Agent - Sir, we have found 2 bags in Gatwick that have a 60% match to yours.
Me - Hmm, ok, can you tell me about them?
Agent - Yes, there is one larger blue one and a smaller red one.
Me - O...k...
Agent - They contain clothing, electronic devices, food, and religious artifacts. Does that sound like your bags?
Me - Well, I'm sure we didn't have any food, and the only thing I can think of for religious artifacts are some Hawaiian flower necklaces for a party. Though I'm sure at least one of our bags has an ID tag on it that should have our information.
Agent - Yes, the message I have about the bags says there is a tag reading "Ryan Fauchoux, 622...<insert the rest of my information here>" Is that you?
Me - Yes! Wait, how does a bag with my actual contact information, which YOU have only score a 60% match and requires my confirmation before you ship it?! What constitutes a 100% match? Would you have to open the bag and actually find ME in it to be sure?!
Ok, so that last part wasn't actually spoken, I was just happy our bags were located and they did arrive at our hotel the next day despite the agent saying it could take another day or 2 to get to us.
We were fairly well prepared with spare clothes and toiletries in our carry on bags, but we neglected to pack shorts and the weather in Santorini is fantastic, which brings me to all the happier, less stressful parts of being here.
As of now all 26 1/2 people (I'm only counting the 5 month old baby as 1/2) have arrived. We have all found each other's hotels (with the exception of the bride and groom staying at a secret location for fear of pranks on their wedding night) and have been having a great time. The town of Thira is a busy little tourist place on the cliffs overlooking a volcano. There is a lot of activity here. Shopping, bars, restaurants, tours, etc. Other areas of the island are much quieter and laid back. There are some excellent white sand, red sand, and black sand beaches around and the water is very clear and comfortably warm.
As I assume is normal in parts of the world that don't get snow or icy roads the drivers here seem insane. One of the guys in our group watched a guy ride a moped down a steep coblestone road while talking on his cell phone AND holding a lit cigarette. Despite the drivers I haven't seen any squished tourists on the roads. Mel and I even decided to join ranks with the motorists and rented a car for a day here. We were glad we did and got to see some areas we otherwise wouldn't have.
I'll include a couple pictures of the island and hopefully post more to a Shutterfly account as time permits:
Town of Thira (aka Fira depending on what map you read)
Beachside restaurant by a black sand beach:
Looking down to the old port in Thira from the wedding reception site:
Also, props to Casio for making a camera that fits into a 1L beer stein in Munich and can then be washed off in the Agean sea days later!
Goodbye for now,
Ryan
As of my last post we were waiting to get on our plane from Athens to the Island of Santorini. What we didn't know was that we'd be waiting another 26 hours before our luggage would meet us in Santorini. The Aegean service desk never really did tell us the full story about our bags. They were either left in Munich, lost in London Heathrow, left in Athens, or maybe they ended up in Gatwick. When our bags were finally located it seemed like they waited for US to call THEM to confirm they were our bags. The conversation went a bit like this:
Agent - Sir, we have found 2 bags in Gatwick that have a 60% match to yours.
Me - Hmm, ok, can you tell me about them?
Agent - Yes, there is one larger blue one and a smaller red one.
Me - O...k...
Agent - They contain clothing, electronic devices, food, and religious artifacts. Does that sound like your bags?
Me - Well, I'm sure we didn't have any food, and the only thing I can think of for religious artifacts are some Hawaiian flower necklaces for a party. Though I'm sure at least one of our bags has an ID tag on it that should have our information.
Agent - Yes, the message I have about the bags says there is a tag reading "Ryan Fauchoux, 622...<insert the rest of my information here>" Is that you?
Me - Yes! Wait, how does a bag with my actual contact information, which YOU have only score a 60% match and requires my confirmation before you ship it?! What constitutes a 100% match? Would you have to open the bag and actually find ME in it to be sure?!
Ok, so that last part wasn't actually spoken, I was just happy our bags were located and they did arrive at our hotel the next day despite the agent saying it could take another day or 2 to get to us.
We were fairly well prepared with spare clothes and toiletries in our carry on bags, but we neglected to pack shorts and the weather in Santorini is fantastic, which brings me to all the happier, less stressful parts of being here.
As of now all 26 1/2 people (I'm only counting the 5 month old baby as 1/2) have arrived. We have all found each other's hotels (with the exception of the bride and groom staying at a secret location for fear of pranks on their wedding night) and have been having a great time. The town of Thira is a busy little tourist place on the cliffs overlooking a volcano. There is a lot of activity here. Shopping, bars, restaurants, tours, etc. Other areas of the island are much quieter and laid back. There are some excellent white sand, red sand, and black sand beaches around and the water is very clear and comfortably warm.
As I assume is normal in parts of the world that don't get snow or icy roads the drivers here seem insane. One of the guys in our group watched a guy ride a moped down a steep coblestone road while talking on his cell phone AND holding a lit cigarette. Despite the drivers I haven't seen any squished tourists on the roads. Mel and I even decided to join ranks with the motorists and rented a car for a day here. We were glad we did and got to see some areas we otherwise wouldn't have.
I'll include a couple pictures of the island and hopefully post more to a Shutterfly account as time permits:
Town of Thira (aka Fira depending on what map you read)
Goodbye for now,
Ryan
Saturday, September 25, 2010
15 minute post
I only have a bit of battery power left, so I'm keeping this post short and to the point.
Sitting in the Athens airport / campground right now. 3:30am. Looks like the Chicago airport with the number of travelers laying around. Seems like a lot of flights leave here early in the morning so people just spend in the night on the comfy marble floors.
We managed to make it to Munich without any issues with Air Canada. No problems getting around or finding our hotel. The town we were in didn't seem very big but offered more than enough for the short amount of time we spent there.
Made it to Oktoberfest yesterday. Mel seems to think she should write this part since she's sure I've got some gaps in my memory, and really, with a party that starts before 10am, the beer are 1L, and each tasted better than the last, who could blame me. We did have a great time there. Didn't get to see all the beer tents, but hit the highlights that we wanted to see.
Weather in Germany turned to garbage yesterday / today (we're running on catnaps while traveling so I'm not sure what day it actually might be). Couldn't tell you what the weather in London was like since we only saw the inside of the airport. Seems like has rained a lot recently here. I think the forecast looks good though.
Off to Santorini in about an hour and half.Getting there at 6:15am with no hotel might not have been the best idea, but we'll see how it goes.
-Ryan
Sitting in the Athens airport / campground right now. 3:30am. Looks like the Chicago airport with the number of travelers laying around. Seems like a lot of flights leave here early in the morning so people just spend in the night on the comfy marble floors.
We managed to make it to Munich without any issues with Air Canada. No problems getting around or finding our hotel. The town we were in didn't seem very big but offered more than enough for the short amount of time we spent there.
Made it to Oktoberfest yesterday. Mel seems to think she should write this part since she's sure I've got some gaps in my memory, and really, with a party that starts before 10am, the beer are 1L, and each tasted better than the last, who could blame me. We did have a great time there. Didn't get to see all the beer tents, but hit the highlights that we wanted to see.
Weather in Germany turned to garbage yesterday / today (we're running on catnaps while traveling so I'm not sure what day it actually might be). Couldn't tell you what the weather in London was like since we only saw the inside of the airport. Seems like has rained a lot recently here. I think the forecast looks good though.
Off to Santorini in about an hour and half.Getting there at 6:15am with no hotel might not have been the best idea, but we'll see how it goes.
-Ryan
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Never Fly United
Hello World. I'd like you all to take a minute right now and stop what you're doing, but only if what you're doing is trying to book a flight with United Airlines, anything else is fine.
Ok, now that we have that out of the way I can write a bit about the start of our trip. We were scheduled to fly from Saskatoon this morning at 7:00, then to Chicago, then Newark, and finally Munich. That being said, here is a picture of Mel in the Toronto airport:
Now, you might be wondering, "But Ryan, Toronto wasn't one of the locations you said you were flying through. Why are you there?!"
The answer to that question is the title of this entry: Never fly United. You see, the flight we were supposed to take from Saskatoon to Chicago was canceled. We weren't told why, but I can only imagine they weren't making their quota of angry passengers this month so they just pulled one flight for good measure. More likely was that their plane was grounded since their hub is in one of the worst places in North America for a major airport. Whatever the reason, they didn't bother telling people about this in advance, instead they let everyone find out at the airport.
The best the 3 slack jawed individuals behind the ticket counter could do was get us to Munich a full day later, meaning we'd likely miss out on our chance at Oktoberfest, or at best would only get a couple hours there.
Luckily, the designated competent employee showed up, and after suggesting we were willing to drive to Regina or Edmonton she managed to get us on a flight from Regina to Munich via Toronto, departing in less time than it should legally take to drive to Regina. We took our chances. As a bonus, it was an Air Canada flight who for some reason decided we had earned a free meal on board the flight. Maybe we set the day's best time down highway 11, maybe they just thought we looked hungry.
Anyways, here we are, sitting with a beer and a netbook in Pearson International. It has been an interesting start to the trip so far, but odds are looking good that we'll make Oktoberfest.
Big thanks to Rachelle and Don for driving us to and FROM the Saskatoon airport and to Moira for getting my truck out of long term parking in Regina!
Talk to you soon, and remember, never fly United.
-RF
Ok, now that we have that out of the way I can write a bit about the start of our trip. We were scheduled to fly from Saskatoon this morning at 7:00, then to Chicago, then Newark, and finally Munich. That being said, here is a picture of Mel in the Toronto airport:
Now, you might be wondering, "But Ryan, Toronto wasn't one of the locations you said you were flying through. Why are you there?!"
The answer to that question is the title of this entry: Never fly United. You see, the flight we were supposed to take from Saskatoon to Chicago was canceled. We weren't told why, but I can only imagine they weren't making their quota of angry passengers this month so they just pulled one flight for good measure. More likely was that their plane was grounded since their hub is in one of the worst places in North America for a major airport. Whatever the reason, they didn't bother telling people about this in advance, instead they let everyone find out at the airport.
The best the 3 slack jawed individuals behind the ticket counter could do was get us to Munich a full day later, meaning we'd likely miss out on our chance at Oktoberfest, or at best would only get a couple hours there.
Luckily, the designated competent employee showed up, and after suggesting we were willing to drive to Regina or Edmonton she managed to get us on a flight from Regina to Munich via Toronto, departing in less time than it should legally take to drive to Regina. We took our chances. As a bonus, it was an Air Canada flight who for some reason decided we had earned a free meal on board the flight. Maybe we set the day's best time down highway 11, maybe they just thought we looked hungry.
Anyways, here we are, sitting with a beer and a netbook in Pearson International. It has been an interesting start to the trip so far, but odds are looking good that we'll make Oktoberfest.
Big thanks to Rachelle and Don for driving us to and FROM the Saskatoon airport and to Moira for getting my truck out of long term parking in Regina!
Talk to you soon, and remember, never fly United.
-RF
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