Lies, Damn Lies, Statistics and Cheesecake

Fun in the Sun

2010-07-16T20:04:00.003+10:00

Monday was a pretty relaxed day for Andrew and I. We decided to head to Dwejra to relax with a good view and book while we waited for my parents to arrive. The idea was sit in beautiful surroundings and relax.

Unfortunately we soon worked out that this was not going to be possible. We'd bought some drinks and were sitting at the cafe trying to relax, but the whinging tourists (take a guess which nationality) wouldn't shut up so it was far from peaceful.

Then the wasps arrived. They were apparently attracted to the residue on our empty drink cans and wouldn't leave us alone. So in the end we decided to leave them alone and go for a drive to Marsalforn.

So we started driving and I followed the signs to Marsalforn, however since we were at Dwejra, which is at the other end of the island, we weren't going the usual way. Instead the signs lead us through the town of Zebbug. Under normal circumstances this would not be a problem as there is a road through and it's a pretty drive past the natural salt pans. On this occasion however we discovered after driving all the way through Zebbug that the road was closed for maintenance and that we had to go back to Rabbat and go the way we normally go.

Heading back to Rabbat we gave up on Marsalforn and pulled into a shopping centre so Andrew could use the internet. Eventually my mother called and we collected them from the port, as well as saying hello to Steve and Ross who had also arrived.

The following day Andrew and I decided to stay away from the unpacking chaos at home and headed to Sliema on the main island. Sliema is known as the Toorak of Malta (to Melbournians at least) and is rather similar to the Gold Coast. Lots of high rise holiday apartments, shops, swimming areas. We spent a good part of the day wandering around and shopping. Then we grabbed an ice cream and headed home.

As mum and dad needed the car, Andrew and I had decided to catch the bus. The bus we caught was an original 1950's bus that had been personalised by the driver/owner and even included a niche above the drivers area with some religious statues.

That evening we met with my Steve, Ross, my aunt Maria, Alexandra and my great aunt Antoinette at Marsalforn where they'd had dinner, and then diverted to Ramla bay for icecream and drinks.

On Wednesday Andrew and I returned to Ramla for some fun in the sun. We swam, we relaxed on the beach, we ran into my second cousin and her kids. All in all a lovely morning. Then in the afternoon we went with Steve and Ross to the swimming area at Mgarr Ix Xini. Not impressed with the water, Andrew and I didn't swim, but Steve and Ross did. After that we went to Xlendi and swam there.

Whilst at Xlendi we were joined by my aunt Maria and Alexandra, followed shortly after by my second cousin Simon. Simon showed us an area at Xlendi where apparently the nuns used to go swimming. It was a rock cave with clear water and rock pools.

After that mum, dad and great aunt Angolina joined us and we all had dinner. It was a nice night.

The next day we were up early for our tour of Malta with Steve and Ross. We caught the ferry over to Malta and then proceeded to Mosta to see the church. This church is similar in style to the Pantheon in Rome (minus the hole in the roof) and is famous because during the war a bomb was dropped on the church while a service was taking place. Despite the fact that there were around 300 people in the church at the time, no one was injured as the bomb did not detonate, nor did it hit anyone on the way in through the roof.

From Mosta we proceeded to get lost on our way to Paola, home of the Hypogeum and Tarxien (tar-shee-en)temples. A few months ago we had booked in to see the Hypogeum. The Hypogeum is an underground burial ground and temple from the stone age (pre-Pyramids and Stonehenge). In order to preserve it they only let groups of 10 in at a time and only a set number of groups a day. Therefore booking was essential.

The place was pretty amazing. To think that they carved it all out using only horn and stone is pretty awesome. They had even sculpted the rocks to look like the above ground temples that these people also built in many places.

After the Hypogeum we went to see the Tarxien temples. These are temples that were created by the people living on the Maltese islands during the stone age. These people worshipped a Mother Goddess and often built stone temples in her honour. These temples contained stone altars and statues sculpted of the Mother Goddess which look like a rather large lady, sometimes naked, sometimes in a skirt.

Looking at the Tarxien Temples made me quite sad. Back in the 50's when these temples were excavated and "restored" the archaeologists didn't really have their techniques down pat. So back then they used to use concrete to fix broken sections or try to recreate certain areas. The result is disastrous. It looks terrible.

Next we attempted to head towards the coast to see some more temples but between Steve's driving and my attempting to give directions from a map that did not have all the roads, we ended up getting lost. At one stage we were being followed closely by another car and had no idea where we were going so we pulled over to let them pass. Instead the other guy pulled up beside us and asked where we were trying to go. We told him and he said "No worries, follow me. I'm heading that way". So off we went and sure enough he took us directly where we needed to go.

Our next stop for the day was Wied iz-Zurqieq (wee-ed i zoor-ieh), home of the Blue Grotto. Here we hopped on a boat and went for a tour of the caves and rock formations in the surrounding coastline. One of these is an archway over some crystal blue water that is called the "Blue Grotto". It's a lovely spot.

After our boat ride we trekked back up the hill to the car. By this stage it was extremely hot (estimated 38 degrees celcius) and we were all sweltering. So we were really grateful to see our next stop, just 5 minutes down the road, had air conditioning.

This next stop was to see the Hagar Qim (huh -jar Eem)and Mnajdra (Im-Nigh-dra)temples. The last time I had visited these temples, 14 years ago, it was pretty disgraceful. These ancient temples were just sitting in a field with a ticket booth at the front and a rocky dirt track between them. In fact, back then the Mnajdra temples had been vandalised and were so unstable that you couldn't even enter them. What a difference today!

Thanks to funding from the EU the entire complex has been redone. Firstly the area has been properly fenced off. Then at the start there is a building containing the ticketing area and an exhibition that walks you through the history of the temples and has on display some artifacts from them. Then you are taken into a small theatre to watch a short video about the temples. Next you get to go outside to see the temples themselves. All the paths have been properly paved and there are signs to keep you heading in the right direction. The temples themselves have had massive tent like structures placed over them to protect them (and the visitors) from the elements. The temples themselves had also been partially restored and had boardwalks created so that you can now access most areas of the temples and really see these amazing structures.

By this stage we were all very tired so we headed to St Julians where Steve and Ross would be staying for the next few days. After a few issues locating the hotel (namely not having the address) we arrived at the hotel and went for a dip in the pool. Then Andrew and I left Steve and Ross, went down the road for some dinner and caught the bus back to the Gozo Ferry.

After dinner and a shower, we caught up with my uncle Michael, aunt Rose, cousins Vanessa and Jessica, and Jessica's partner Daniel for some ice-cream at Marsalforn. All in all a full on, but lovely day.

Yesterday, Andrew and I took it fairly easy. In the afternoon we took my father to San Blas beach, his childhood hang out. My father grew up as part of a farming family in part of the town of Nadur known as San Blas. So he and his siblings would often spend time at the beach after a hot day in the fields.

San Blas is one of the few remaining undeveloped beaches on the island. This is mainly because of it's location. In order to access the beach one must walk down a very steep path that is sorely in need of repair (or some steps!). But once you reach the bay it is beautiful. Warm soft red sand. Clear blue water which was lovely and warm yesterday. Well worth the effort. We swam, relaxed on the beach and then returned home for dinner and a visit to my mum's cousin.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and a few other stories

2010-07-12T16:57:00.002+10:00

This country is fairly notorious for bad rental cars, and the one we've hired is no exception. From the start the car has had several issues such as a bad wheel alignment (steering wheel was turned 85 degrees from where it should be), power steering that doesn't work (I'm guessing there is no power steering fluid), unevenly worn brakes, etc.

All this we've managed to get by with fairly safely and still do what we wanted to do. This all went awry on Saturday.

Our day started off well. We went into Rabbat and did some shopping, then went back to the Citadel to visit the gun battery and silos which had been closed on our previous visit. This was actually quite interesting as we were taken through some tunnels into the Silos and told about their history. The people that do these tours are a volunteer group called Wirt Ghawdex. They are in charge of running the tours on behalf of the Ministry of Gozo but rely soley on donations to do any work to the place or staff it.

After that we had some lunch and went home for a rest. Later in the afternoon we decided to retry finding the Ta Cenc cliffs (our last visit had been unsuccessful and we ended up in Mgarr Ix-Xeni instead after taking a wrong turn). So we get most of the way there when I notice that braking is not as effective as it had been previously. At first I thought I was imagining it, but the further we got, the harder it was to brake. Not wanting to drive off the cliff, Andrew and I decided to abandon our attempt, head home and contact the hire company. Barely a couple of kilometers down the road the brakes gave up completely and we managed to pull over with the aid of the hand brake. Thankfully I was taking it very slowly!

I then chased down some locals to work out where exactly we were and called the hire company. Leli, the owner of the company, arrived after about 15mins to investigate the problem. His solution, let's all hop in the car and head back to the depot at full speed. Needless to say Andrew and I were holding on for dear life, expecting the brakes to fail at any moment. Naturally they didn't (GRRR), but he still kept the car and gave us the one he'd set aside for my brother's arrival.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE! The car he'd kept for my brother actually worked properly (mostly). The only issue it seems to have is that it's a little rough in the idling. So why couldn't we get a car like that? We've had the car for the rest of the weekend but have to swap back to the crap one today as my brother is arriving and my parents are returning from the cruise.

Yesterday was clean up day. We caught up on some washing and tidied the house a little. The in the afternoon we caught up with some of my cousins who we hadn't seen yet. We drove to my cousin Sammy's place (a very nice apartment in Rabbat) and met his wife and their little baby Glen. What a little cutie!

Then my cousin Phillip (Sammy's brother), his wife and their two kids arrived and we spent a few hours chatting, nibbling on the delicious spread of fingerfood and catching up. We then topped off the evening by having dinner with my Australian cousins and watching the World Cup final. (on that, what a crap game!)

A day in the sun

2010-07-10T16:57:00.003+10:00

Yesterday Andrew and I decided to have a relaxing day at the beach rather than running around sightseeing. So we put on our togs and headed for Ramla bay, the best beach on this island.

Ramla bay is a beach with fine red sand and clear blue shallow water. The bay sits between two hills. On one hill is the town of Nadur, on the other, the town of Xaghra. Therefore the locals refer to the sides of the beach as the Nadur side and the Xaghra side. The Nadur side provides a much better swimming experience as the Xaghra side has a lot of stones and seaweed. Naturally this is the side we selected for our beach day.

We hired an umbrella and selected a spot, then spread out our towels and lay on the sand relaxing, watching the world go by and listening to the sound of the waves hitting the shore.

After a while Andrew turned to me and said "Hey isn't that Jennifer and Darren". I looked up and sure enough there was my cousin and her husband walking accross the beach looking for a spot to set themselves up. We waved them over and spent the next hour or so chatting with them.

Jennifer, Darren and I went for a swim. The water was lovely, warm but still refreshing and so clear! Being in the mediterranean Malta's beaches don't get surf like the Australian ones so they are great for swimming or relaxing in.

All in all we had a lovely relaxing day, just what you want when on holiday!

Malta

2010-07-09T17:49:00.002+10:00

Well Andrew and I have now been in Malta for the last two weeks. I think this place has been quite an eye opening experience for Andrew and has taught him a lot about why my family is the way it is.

Our visit started of with L'Imnarja, which is a festival celebrated in the town where my parents come from called Nadur. During this festival the town celebrates the feast day of the patron saints of the town church, St Peter and St Paul. There are several brass band marches, often parading around a statue of the two saints, lots of fireworks, food, and most importantly, catching up with family. And boy is there a lot of it!

I have a few uncles who still live in Malta, so not only did Andrew get to meet them, but also my great aunts, second cousins, third cousins, and even fourth cousin. Heck I even met a relative I didn't know I had :-)

With the festa over we were finally able to start doing some sightseeing. I have now taken Andrew to see most of the main sights of Gozo (the Maltese island where we are staying), including Dwejra (Dway - ra) and the Azure Window, the inland sea, the General's rock, ramla bay, the Citadel with it's Cathedral and various museums, as well as a spectacular view of the island, Ggantija (Jigantiya) temples, Ta Kola windmill, Mgarr Ixeni (Im jar Isheen ie), Hondoq, top of the Nadur Church, San Blas, Marsalforn, Dahlet Qorrot, Xlendi Bay, etc.

Mary Ann, Romeo and their daughter Maria also took us on a tour of some of the sights on mainland Malta. The took us to Valetta (the Capital City of Malta), Mdina (the old Capital City of Malta), and the Mosta church. They did an excellent job of showing us around, explaining the significance of certain sights and pointing out things of note.

We also caught up with my cousins Lee Ann and Jolene the other day and went to the Blue Lagoon, which is a beautiful natural lagoon that exists between the islands of Camino and Caminotto and is an excellent swimming spot.

For the last week or so my parents have been away on a cruise so Andrew and I have had the house (and car) to ourselves. This has meant that we've been able to do lots of exploring and get ourselves lost on purpose for the fun of it. I'm looking forward to mum and dad coming back though, as some plans have had to be put on hold until their return.

Today we are going to spend another gorgeous afternoon at the beach. We are hoping to go to Ramla bay again as this is one of the best swimming spots on the island with gorgeous red sand and shallow water. However this beach can be prone to jellyfish due to it's warm water. The local Authorities have a flag system to let people know when jellyfish are around so it's easy to know if it is safe to swim.

All is not lost if there are jelly fish though. My cousin Michelline showed us, on a previous beach day we spent together, that if Ramla bay has jellyfish, generally Hondoq Ir-rumein will not as it is on the other side of the island and has colder (but still swimable) water. The only issue with Hondoq is that it is a stone beach rather than a sand beach so it is a little harder when just relaxing on the shore.

Anyway, off to the beach!

Yes Andrew VOLUNTARILY ate artichoke!

2010-07-09T17:10:00.002+10:00

The last day of our tour was also one of our earliest starts with a 6:30am departure. From Ankara we drove the five and a half hours back to Istanbul for an afternoon of culinary delights.

The driver dropped us off in Taksim Square, and we said farewell to good old Willy as this is where he and the bus were leaving us for good. From Taksim Sq we walked down Istiklal St to our restaurant for lunch. Lunch itself was farely average.

After lunch we were met by a woman named Gamze Ineceli who is one of the owners of a restaurant in Istanbul called Leb-i derya. Gamze took us on a walk through the fresh food market in the area, selecting produce for our dinner that evening at her restaurant. She bought artichokes, a herb she called "sand fire", lamb backstrap from lambs that had only been fed mulberries, strawberries, and a type of black chillie that smelled like liquorice. She spent a bit of time showing us other items in the market stalls and explaining techniques that could be used to prepare the items for consumption.

We then went to her restaurant and sat down for a glass of apple tea and a chat about life in Istanbul in general. The restaurant itself was located on one of the upper floors of the Richmond hotel and had a fabulous view of the Bosphorus.

We were then given some free time to wander the area while our dinner was prepared. We walked down the road to see a clock tower we'd been told about and to do some last minute souvenier shopping.

Finally we returned to the restaurant and sat down for our gourmet dinner. The entree consisted of sliced artichoke topped with the sandfire herb and a type of bean I can't remember the name of. Beside this was also a puree made from the same type of bean topped with an orange chutney. The combination of the flavours was delicious, and yes Andrew ate the lot!!!

For main course we had the lamb backstrap which had been marinated in pomegranite juice. This was served with an eggplant, wallnut and mint pesto; and another type of puree whose ingredients currently elude me. This was all quite delicious, though I found the flavours in the pesto a little strong for me.

Last but most certainly not least came dessert. For this course we were served a sour cherry sorbet on a bed of sliced apricots, together with pannacotta covered in caremalised strawberries. It was divine!

After dinner we were driven back to our hotel, checked in and went to bed.

Our final full day in Istanbul arrived. We said farewell to our remaining tour group members at breakfast as they were all flying out that day. Then we headed back to the Grand Bazaar to stock up on some gifts for people back home. Once we had finished shopping we headed back for the hotel to dump our wares via a Doner Kebab place we found on the way for lunch.

After a short rest in the hotel we again headed out for a walk in the Gardens. These were immaculate, but there was a storm threatening to break so we didn't want to spend too long there.

We then headed to Mado, for some Turkish ice cream and sat there watching the world go by (and get drenched in the storm). Andrew had a pretty bad cold so we tried not to do too much.

That evening, after a quick dinner, Andrew and I headed out to get some night shots of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia. After struggling with his tripod, which was not locking in properly, Andrew handed the camera to me and I managed to get several nice shots. Later on, Andrew was so frustrated with the tripod that he took it apart to see if he could see what the problem was, but to no avail. So he put it back together, and of course the darn thing started working didn't it.

Next morning we were up bright and early for our 7am pick up. Our journey through Turkey was finally over and we were headed for the airport to catch our flight to Malta.

It was a little sad that we were leaving, but I believe we'd made the most of our trip, and will have many special memories from our visit.

Soaring to the heavens

2010-07-02T16:32:00.003+10:00

Our next stop on the tour was the region of Cappadocia (pronounce Cap- ah- dock- ya). As this was 620km from Antalya we spent the majority of the next day driving on the bus.

We did stop at Konya on the way to Cappadocia to have a look at the Mevlana Museum. Konya is know as the home of the Whirling Dervishes (though we didn't see any :-() which are a particular type of conservative Islamic followers that perform a trance like dance to connect with Allah. The museum was in an intricately decorated mosque and contained sarcophagi of various important Islamic figures, as well as hand written and decorated copies of the Koran. They were quite beautiful to look at but don't really mean much to me as I am not Islamic, and nor can I read arabic.

Upon our arrival at our hotel in Nevşehir (pronounced Nev - sheh- ear) in Cappadocia we were shown to our rooms. Our room was quite similar to other rooms we'd stayed in around the country, except for one very important factor... it REEKED!!!!!

The room literally smelt like sewerage had spilled on the carpet. Thankfully our tour guide helped us to organise a new room that did not have that putrid smell. I don't know what was wrong with that room. There were no visible signs of where the smell could be coming from.

Our trip to date has contained many early starts, but none so early as our first morning in Cappadocia. Our wake up call came at 4:30am and we quickly dressed and went to the hotel foyer for our 5am pick up.

We were collected and driven to our take off point. Yes I did just say take off point. Our first activity for the day was to be a balloon ride.

Cappadocia is a region that is reknowned for it's unique landscape. Mainly consisting of Pumice rock that has been worn over the centuries into concical shapes. The people of the area carved out homes into these conical structures so the are all dotted with windows and door openings to these homes.

Our balloon flight took us over and around this landscape. It was quite an amazing sight. Our pilot even flew us between two of the conical mounds that were so close together the balloon only just fit through.

Ballooning appears to be quite popular in this area. There were approximately 50 other balloons in the sky with us. But each had their desginated area to fly in so there were no issues with crowding.

After breakfast we visited an underground city that had been carved in a similar manner to what I described above. There were many tunnels leading deeper underground, but there were so many people that we decided not to go all the way down. It is said that the city could house 3-10,000 people. As pumus stone is porous, there was no issue with air quality. You could always breathe quite easily.

Next we visited the churches and chapels at Goreme (pronounce Gore- reh- meh). These were again carved into the stone, but intricately painted with scenes from the bible. Some had survived better than others. Unfortunately a lot of the faces of the paintings had been damaged as treasure hunters had been led to believe that there were treasures stored behind the painted faces. In fact the faces themselves were the treasures and are now lost forever.

After lunch we went to a precious stone shop where some of the women in the group purchased some very nice jewellry. Then our final stop of the day was a pottery centre. Here we were given a demonstration of how they made their pottery and we saw their staff members hard at work painting intricate designs onto the pottery.

The next day we were lucky enough to get a sleep in (well 9am departure anyway). The morning was spent driving to Ankara. Upon arriving in Ankara we visited the archaelogical museum which contained various interesting artifacts. Unfortunately both Andrew and I are a bit museumed out, so we didn't really enjoy it that much. We were given free time in the afternoon, but were so tired from our adventures that we just rested. We joined the rest of the group for Happy Hour in the Tour Guide's room and then had dinner.

A day of leisure

2010-06-24T00:25:00.002+10:00

My darling husband was not a very happy chappy this morning. At around 4:30am he discovered that our hotel room was right outside a mosque minaret and that the loudspeaker was pointed right at our hotel window. How did he discover this? 4:30am happened to be the first call to prayer of the day. Andrew described it as an alarm clock with no snooze button. Thankfully I must have been in a deeper sleep than him as I did not hear a sound :-)

Knowing that Antalya (pronounced Ahn-ta-lee-ya)was going to be very hot, our tour guide had suggested that we make our visit to Aspendos earlier than the scheduled time and that we forego our outdoor lunch. Already sweltering in the heat, we were all happy to agree.

So at 8am we all piled into the bus and drove to the ruins of another ancient city, Aspendos. What made the ruins of this city extra special was the fact that the amphitheatre is almost completely intact and is even still in use for plays and operas. This is one of the few remaining amphitheatres in the world that are still in such good condition.

Climbing the stairs to the top of the amphitheatre was vertigo inducing as the angles are steep and there are no hand rails. The theatre was designed in a specific way to ensure excellent acoustics.

Next we headed back to Antalya to visit the archaeological museum. This museum contained some excellent sculptures and sarcophagi retreived from the ruins of Aspendos and another nearby ancient city Perge (pronounced Purr-gay).

The rest of the day was left to us to do as we pleased. The first thing on the list for all the women of the tour was washing! As this was the first time in a while where we were staying at the same place for two nights, we had the ability to wash our clothes and ensure they dried.

After doing the washing, Andrew and I went for a stroll through the old section of Antalya. There are still a few items remaining from the old fortified city including a clock tower and some of the fortification walls. We also went for a stroll down to the seashore via the markets.

Market vendors hassled us all the way down and back up again such that even though I had wanted to buy something from the markets, I felt so annoyed that I refused to do so. Feeling hot and bothered we decided to take a dip in the pool at the hotel. Very refreshing!

Rivers of Marble

2010-06-23T23:59:00.002+10:00

Pamukkale (pronounced pah-moo-kah-le) is a town overlooked by a series of cliffs. These cliffs are not the standard cliffs you picture, jagged rocks with tufts of grass and thistles growing on them. These cliffs are made from a type of rock called Travertine marble. Travertine marble is a very white marble that is used in many European cities to decorate buildings, make stair cases and various other building related items.

Sitting on the balcony of our hotel in Pamukkale Andrew and I can look up to see the snow white cliffs just a few kilometers from where we are standing. If it wasn't for the fact that it is around 36 degrees Celcius, you'd believe the cliffs were covered in snow.

Our first stop today was to go to the top of the cliffs and look over the "terraces" of travertine marble. At the top of the cliffs there are also the remnants of the city Hieropolis, but aside from one of the bath houses and an amphitheatre, there is not much left of the city to see.

There is actually a hot spring that flows over the cliffs and it is the minerals in the water of the spring that actually settle and form the marble surface. The hot spring pool at our hotel actually used the same spring as this one that flows over the cliffs. They are quite beautiful to look at, and the view from the top of the cliffs is spectacular. I, and a couple of other women from our tour, actually dipped our feet in the hot spring water. It was lovely.

After exploring for an hour or so we all piled back into the bus and headed for Aphrodisias, our second stop of the day. Aphrodisias was a large rich city in essentially the middle of nowhere that was named after the goddess Aphrodite. The reason the area was so rich was because the surrounding hills were full of marble and granite that could be sold all over Europe for sculptures and buildings. The remains of the city show that it contained at least a stadium, 2 baths, a temple and an amphitheatre. Being in the middle of nowhere had its benefits. The isolation made it less attractive to invaders. As such much of the remains are in very good condition.

The rest of our day was spent on a long drive to Antalya.

And then there were seven

2010-06-23T05:05:00.004+10:00

Our tour guide had informed us that there were seven cruise ships arriving in the area for our day around Ephesus so we needed to get an early start. At 7:30am we were all in the bus and ready to roll. We could already see that three of the cruise ships (Including Navigator of the Seas) had arrived at Pammukale so we knew it was going to be a busy day.

We arrived at the Ephesus archaeological site shortly after 8am and the crowds were already horrendous. However our tour guide did his best to show us as much of the ruins as possible including the temples, library, toilet block, 30000 seat amphitheatre and much more.

As we were doing several things in the area that day we passed the road leading up to Ephesus many times. Later in the day the queue of buses was 7km long. Glad we got there at 8am!

The next part of our day deviated from our original itinerary. Our next stop was to a rug weaving school where we were shown the process used to make Turkish rugs and learned about the different knots and materials used. That was actually quite interesting and I think we all learned something from it. The did try to sell us rugs shortly after but I wasn't phased because I'd appreciated the rug making lesson.

By this stage it was around 11:30am and our tour guide gave us an option of what to do next. He knew that the priest in our group wanted to see the remains St John's Basilica, but that the rest of us would appreciate the Archaeological museum more. His suggestions was to drop most of us at the museum and then take the priest to St Johns and collect us when they were done.

We disagreed. We knew St John's was not going to be a long stop so we suggested an alternative, we all go to St John's before lunch, go to lunch, and then visit the Archaeological museum after lunch. Surprisingly we managed to get the tour guide to agree so off we went.

As described by our Tour Guide, there wasn't much left to the ruins of St John's basilica. However, despite the site being completely off our itinerary he still guided us around the site pointing out important sections and describing the history of the building.

After another tourist hall lunch we went to the Archaeological museum. This had some interesting items that had been discovered at the Ephesus dig and various other archaeological sites in the area.

The next stop for the day was one I was not impressed with. We had been led to believe that we were to stop at a leather market where we could pick up a few leather items for good prices. I was looking forward to seeing if I could find some sandals, and Andrew a new wallet. Instead we were led to a room at the back of this Leather "complex" where we were given a private fashion show of various designer leather jackets. We were then taken to the store section of the complex where we could try on the jackets and buy them. It was a very expensive place and not at all what we were led to believe we were going to see. It also took ages to get out of there!

It was after the visit to the leather place that the 3 couples who were travelling together left our little group to return to Istanbul. It was sad to see them go but it was time for them to end their travels and head back home. The remaining 7 in our group piled back on the bus and we headed to Pammukale.

The hotel at Pammukale was actually quite nice. It had a large pool and a hot spring pool which Andrew and I promptly made use of upon our arrival. It was the first time on the tour so far that we'd arrived early enough to use the pool, and after such a long hot day it was lovely to have a swim. Although the hotel is inland, sitting in the pool, looking back at the buidings, it was hard not to imagine the sea being just on the other side. The hotel just had that beachside feel to it.

The wheels on the bus go round and round

2010-06-23T04:44:00.003+10:00

The next morning after our visit to Gallipoli it was time to leave Çannakale and head south to Kuşadasi (pronounced Koo-sha-da-see) via the ancient ruins of Pergamon (known as Bergama to the Turks).

We started our day early, piling on to the bus at 8am and were running to schedule, until about an hour into our journey disaster struck. The driver of the bus had noticed smoke coming from the rear of the bus and decided we should pull over to determine what was causing the issue. Further investigation discovered that there was an issue with the intercool system and the driver did not have the tools with him to fix the issue. So they called for a mechanic, however the nearest mechanic was back in Çannakale, over an hours drive away.

Luckily, the place where the driver had pulled over the bus was next to a set of roadside stalls selling a variety of foods including cherries, olive oil, nuts and honey. There were also a set of picnic tables under some umbrellas where we set ourselves up for the long wait. The owners of the roadside stalls were quite accommodating bringing us tea and serving us at the tables. Some of the group bought some cherries and we shared them around after rinsing them with bottled water.

The driver and tour guide made many calls to see what was keeping the mechanic. Around two hours later he finally arrived, fitted a new clamp to a hose in the intercool system and the bus was fixed in under 10 minutes. Unfortunately we had lost 2.5 hours of our day and were running very late for lunch.

So we all piled back on the bus and continued on our way to our lunch stop. Lunch wasn't that special, just a buffet in a tourist hall.

After lunch we headed towards Pergamon to visit the ruins of te Acropolis that had been built there. Our tour guide showed us around the site and described the history of the area. We saw Roman columns, ruins of an aquaduct, a well and various other bits and pieces. By the end we were all exhausted, but not because it was a large site. The weather was extremely hot. When we piled back into the bus, the thermometer was reading 43 degrees Celcius. Trust me when I say we felt every one of those degrees.

After Pergamon we continued to our hotel in Kuşadasi. As we passed through the city of Izmir (pronounced Izz-meer), one of the largest cities in Turkey, we saw a strange sight on the side of the highway. A gaggle of geese had decided to wander down the road to the next waterhole. It was just a really bizarre sight to see in the middle of a city.

Thanks to our breakdown delay we did not reach the hotel until 8:30pm and had to rush to dinner before the restaurant closed at 9:30.

Lest We Forget

2010-06-21T01:07:00.002+10:00

As Andrew and I are on an Australian organised tour of Turkey, a visit to Gallipoli was a must.

However, as our guide knew that the following day was going to be quite long and hot he suggested that we visit the remains of Troy a day earlier. So we piled on to the bus early in the morning and made our way down the road to the Troy (Troia or Truva) archaeological site.

Unfortunately I think you really need to have a solid background in archaeology to be able to appreciate the city remains. The site actually contains the remains of 9 different cities that were all built on the same site at different stages of history. Most of what remains are walls, and a lot of that has been reconstructed rather than found in tact. All in all the site was rather disappointing to the average person, however our guide did an excellent job of teaching us about the history of the area and trying to show us where the 9 city wall remains were, and how they differed.

Once we were done at Troy we drove back through Cannakale and caught the ferry accross to the Gallipoli Peninsula. Not having ancestors that were part of the ANZACS I wasn't really sure how I felt about this place. As someone who is totally anti-war it really saddened me to learn about how the people on both sides fought and died. On the other hand I felt somewhat detatched too as I walked past the graves of people I did not know.

The area itself is quite beautiful, but also quite treacherous for the poor ANZACS. Climbing would not have been an easy task. It was quite hot while we were there so just walking around the area was difficult. I don't know what the temperature would have been like when the ANZACs landed, but I'm guessing it would have been very hard and hot work trying to scale the cliff/mountainside.

We also visited the ANZAC museum which contained photos, letters and various artifacts from both the Turkish and ANZAC soldiers. I don't feel that the museum was well done though as it really didn't set the scene or tell the story of what happened. Thankfully our guide had taken us to this outdoor model of the peninsula, walked us around and set the scene before we visited the museum and ANZAC cove.

The road to Gallıpolı

2010-06-18T23:23:00.002+10:00

Day two of our tour started wıth a vısıt to one of the most famous buıldıngs ın Istanbul, Hagıa Sofya (pronounced Eye-a Sof-ya). Thıs magnıfıcent buıldıng was once a Chrıstıan Church (Saınt Sophıa), whıch was then converted to a Mosque, and ıs now a Museum.

In my opınıon, the outsıde of Hagıa Sofya ıs not much to look at. To me ıt's very patchy and not really pretty, especıally when compared to the Blue Mosque whıch ıs just accross the way.

The ınsıde of Hagıa Sofya, however, ıs a completely dıfferent story. The ınterıor ıs ıntrıcately covered ın beautıful artwork, wıth the maın colours beıng gold and black. Surprısıngly, despıte beıng a Mosque for a good part of ıt's hıstory, ıt stıll contaıns many Chrıstıan ımages. For example, ın the cupola over the area where the altar would have been ıs a very beautıful paıntıng of the Vırgın Mary wıth Baby Jesus, and just to the sıde of the same cupola ıs a paıntıng of the Angel Gabrıel.

I thınk most of our group would have loved to spend more tıme ın there, but unfortunately as we are on a tour and had other stops scheduled, our tıme was lımıted.

We have an ınterestıng group wıth us on our tour. The dıfferent characters that make up our group sometımes make me feel a lıttle lıke I am ın a Poırot story. There ıs an Anglıcan Prıest and hıs wıfe, a couple from the better end of Sydney who obvıously have money, but are not showy. Then there's a group of sıx travellıng together consıstıng of a maltese woman and her husband, another couple who are very rıch, but very obvıously "New Money", and a lovely down to earth couple. Last but not least ıs a woman travellıng on her own who joıned our group late. The whole group are from Australıa, whıch does make thıngs a lıttle easıer. That last woman I mentıoned, however, would be the one ın the Poırot movıe to be murdered. She does nothıng but complaın and talk down to both the tour guıde and the poor drıver (who doesn't speak Englısh). If thıs was a Poırot movıe, Andrew and I would probably be the ones to take her out :-)

Asıde from her, the rest of the group are pretty good. We all seem to get along well. The group of sıx wıll only be wıth us for part of the journey as they are only doıng a part tour.

After Hagıa Sofya we were whısked away for a cruıse down the Bosphorus straıt, followed by lunch. The cruıse was nıce. We were able to see all sorts of palaces and fortresses from the boat. Lunch was palatable, but nothıng specıal.

Once lunch had been consumed, we all pıled ınto the bus for the long drıve to Çannakale (pronounced Cha - na - ka - le). Thıs ıs a town very close to Gelıbolu (otherwıse known as Gallıpolı) where we would be spendıng the evenıng. Our drıve started down what seemed an endless freeway. The road qualıty was faırly good, but we certaınly saw how the 13 mıllıon populatıon of Istanbul lıve. The freeway was surrounded by endless rows of multıstory apartments. These apartment blocks (or concrete jungle as our tour guıde calls them) are everywhere. Even once we swıtched to the country roads (whıch are of a much lesser qualıty) we would see these apartment blocks appear ın the mıddle of nowhere. It was actually quıte rare to see just a standalone house lıke we have ın Australıa.

The drıve to Çannakale also ıncluded a ferry crossıng to get to the town, as ıt ıs accross the Dardanelles Straıt from the Gallıpolı penınsula. Fınally we arrıved at our hotel for a late Happy Hour at the tour guıdes room (he ınsısts on havıng one each nıght) before a late dınner and bed.

Our tour guıde ıs actually quıte a unıque person. He has an extensıve knowledge of the hıstory of practıcally everythıng here ın Turkey, and never hesıtates to provıde us wıth extensıve lectures on the hıstory of varıous sıtes. He also has a great sense of humour and makes the trıp enjoyable. He does love to torture us wıth early starts though!

Istanbul not Constantinople

2010-06-13T02:08:00.004+10:00

Well this blog was short lived for our last trip, but i'm hoping to keep it more up to date for this one.

Yesterday we flew to Istanbul. It was quite a long journey. Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur to Dubai, and then finally Dubai to Istanbul. All in all that was about 20 hours air time, plus stop overs, plus time to get to the airport and needing to be there 3 hours before. Let's just say we were absolutely wrecked by the time we reached our hotel room.

The drive to the hotel was interesting. I don't think there are many road rules here in Turkey other than the bigger the vehicle, the more right of way you have. Lanes don't seem to exist and drivers are not afraid to butt up against cars in front, or behind for that matter.

Today we started our 12 day tour of Turkey with a walking tour of Istanbul. This is quite an amazing city, very beautiful in parts, a bit run down in others. But it definitely has the European charm of other cities I've visited.

Today's tour started with the Topkapi Palace. In there we saw exhibitions of jewellery, medallions, armour, thrones and other items belonging to the Ottoman sultans. All of these items were very ornate, with intricate jewel decorations.

After the Topkapi Palace we went to the Blue Mosque. This is the first mosque I have ever been in. It is quite beautiful and very different to the many churches I have seen. The patterned walls are very intricate.

After the Blue Mosque, we went to a restaurant for lunch. The food was exquisite. The starters included couscous, potatoe salad, pasta salad, and a feta spring roll. The main course was lamb (like the sort you get in a kebab) with mash, something which I think was a different style of couscous, and salad. Then dessert was baclava. Needless to say my stomach was very satisfied when I walked out of the restaurant.

From lunch we then went to our final stop of the day with the tour, The Grand Bazaar. This is a very chaotic marketplace that sells quite a variety of items. We wandered through the markets for a while and then headed back to the hotel for a bit of a break.

Not wanting to spend the rest of the day in the hotel, we then flicked through our trusty Lonely Planet guide (Thanks Phil and Kim :-) ) and discovered that the Basilica Cistern was nearby and open till late afternoon. The Cistern is a large underground cavern where water is collected. It contains many columns with various styled capitols. There are also two large Heads of Medusa at the bottom of two of the columns. No one seems to know the origin of these Medusa heads. Strangely one of the heads is upside down, and the other is on it's side.

After the cistern, Andrew and I wandered the streets of Istanbul, just taking in the atmosphere (and an ice-cream :-) ), and then came back to the hotel to prepare for dinner.

Speaking of the hotel, the place we are staying in whilst in Istanbul is quite nice. The beds are a dream, there is free wifi (hence the blog) and the breakfast plentiful and delicious.

Update: We have just arrived back at the hotel from dinner. Not very hungry as our stomachs are still adjusting to the timezone, we decided to try the little snack place just down the road from our hotel. We went up to the menu board and decided we were happy to try something there. Realising that we were going to stay, one of the shopkeepers waved us to a table...accross the road...in the middle of an intersection... next to a traffic island.

It was the most bizarre experience, sitting in the middle of the road eating our dinner. There were a few times when a mini bus was reversing next to us that I thought we were goners for sure. Thankfully we were able to eat our dinner without being hit.

Tomorrow, Hagia Sofia and Cannakale.

The Silver Bullet of Indecision

2008-06-01T17:32:00.008+10:00

We made the bold decision to drive around England, to explore the county at our whim. Before departing Australia we ordered a small, four door, automatic, hatch-backish, chick car to support our adventure. Something economical and manouverable for the narrow winding roads. By a chance of dates, we collected the car on the Tuesday after a long weekend. As a result, the car dealer had run out of what we ordered, and gave us the next best thing. A silver, Mercedes C Class!

While not considering myself God's gift to the roads, I would like to think that I am an accomplished driver, with the ability to work out how to operate most machines. It took the two of us 10 minutes to work out how to use the car at the car yard, and a further 10 minutes at our destination to determine how to engage the hand break. We thought it prudent to spend another 20 minutes before departing for Stratford-Upon-Avon going over the ins and outs of the vehicle.

The car is very pleasant to drive. It is smooth, responsive, quiet and comfortable. There are however a few quirks that are rather irksome. The indicator for one. As if being on the left hand side of the steering column isn't bad enough, it is concealed behind one of the steering wheel outer rim to center shaft supports. This is further exacerbated by the "faux indicator" stick that has been place where you would expect a left hand indicator to be. We are not entirely sure what the faux indicator does, but it can't be important as we have employed it on many occasions to no effect. (It might be the "snooze control"). Further more, once having located the indicator (by now already half way through the emergency lane change) we discover that it has a hair trigger. When trying to cancel a signal, we often engage the opposite signal. Trying to cancel this accident in turn re-engages the now redundant signal. Repeat. It has happened to both of us.

Despite the car's quirks, we are finding the driving better than we expected. Our friend Tom (aka the TomTom) has limited the navigational disagreements, allowing us to focus more on the beautiful country side. I would certainly recommend traveling England in a car (so long as you have the GPS).

The Bard's Birds

2008-05-30T04:44:00.000+10:00

The geese here in Stratford-Upon-Avon are confused. They moo!

The Electric Shower

2008-05-26T19:08:00.003+10:00

Having stayed in many hotels throughout my life, and even more in the past few weeks, I think I have seen a fair variety of bathroom amenities. Up until this morning, I thought I had seen it all, but nothing could prepare me for what I woke up to in York.

For the first time in my life, I found an electric shower. From my limited scientific knowledge, I know that one should really not mix water and electricity, especially if one intends to remain un-charred, and continue living. So there I was, gingerly stepping into the small glass box, faced with all manner of dials and knobs. I looked around for scorch marks in the shape of human feet, had others done this and survived? Had I stepped onto the set of the movie "Hostel"?

After closer inspection it became apparent that there were two main dials, temperature and water pressure. The granularity of these knobs appeared to be rather high, allowing one of four settings for the pressure, and 8 for the temperature. Images of me doing the scorched white man dance of Santorini came flooding back as I tried to determine how best to proceed. But there was one thing missing. Nowhere was there a valve or tap to actually commence the water flow. After some frantic grappling of the white wall mounted control box, I felt a plastic mound, with faded lettering, "S T A R T". My heart sank, my throat went dry. I tried to scream but nothing came out. Was this a...a...a...a....a Microsoft shower!! Thoughts of the shower hanging on me, or me hanging in the shower, the shower blue screen of deathing on me filled my mind.

After taking a few moments to regain my composure, and assure myself that others had done this and survived, I bit the bullet and pressed "START". The dials and knobs gave me too many options, so like most over featured devices, I ignored them, and plowed ahead.

Just for the record, once the water started flowing, it was a delightful shower. The temperature was perfect, no adjustment required. It did not 'lose' hot water, nor was there the scorched white man dance. If they could facade this with some old fashioned taps, I would install it in my house without a doubt.

The Quest for Vivoli

2008-05-16T02:15:00.004+10:00

When I was 14 my parents took me on a European trip, which included a week in Florence where we stayed with my brother who was living there at the time. One evening during my trip my brother took me to this fantastic gelati shop which had lots of unique flavours. The name of the place has always stuck in my head, Vivoli.

So prior to my recent return to Florence I attempted to get the location of Vivoli so that I could once again taste its ice cream delights. Unfortunately my brother could not remember the exact location so I was left to attempt to find it myself.

Well having been here only one and a half days in Florence I can proudly state that I found it! All I had to go on was a vague recollection of the shape of the intersection near Vivoli and that it was near Santa Crocè. After a few false tries based on similar looking intersections on the map, I was about to give up in disgust. I turned to Andrew with a look of despair on my face and said "I don't know where it is." Then I looked up and my face began to glow with joy. There, right in front of where we were standing, was the glowing neon sign "Vivoli".

Needless to say, Andrew and I treated ourselves to some delicious gelati :-) Andrew had chocolate an strawberry (made from real strawberries), and I had melon, banana(with real rockmelon and banana) and chocolate. Yummmy!!!

Amalfi, My Head, and the town of Owww

2008-05-14T19:12:00.002+10:00

So here we are, Amalfi. Some of the most spectacular coast line in the world. Wandering around the streets of this quaint seaside town, Rebecca and I were absorbing the ambience.

Having reached the end of the main drag, we decided to return via a "side path", that led through a series of arched caveways. As we ambled back, my eyes were distracted by something, a staircase. I would like to say that there was something special, or noteworthy of these stairs, original or different, just something that would make me blog about them in their own right. Alas, this is not the case. They are the standard, humdrum, one step two step variety we have back home. So having finished looking at these mundane stairs, I returned my head back to the forward facing, upright position, just in time for my forehead to smack with full force into an unforseen obstacle. For some strange reason, just after they had built a set of distracting stairs, they decided to lower the arched ceiling, by about 2 feet, just the height of Andrew's scone.

The force of the impact was so great, a spine tingling "CRACK" could be heard. My head was pushed back, my jaw snapped shut (yes, I bit my teeth), and my neck manouvered in to a strange contorted position. Writhing in agony, holding my beloved, once normal shaped head in my hands, Rebecca swings around, only to ask the obvious "What did you do?". As I tried to utter the occurances that had taken place, a huge grin grew accross her face. This rapidly progressed to outright laughter, and was shortly followed by, "may I take a picture?".

My memories of the most beautiful coast line in the world are not all they should be. Not only have they been erased by blunt force trauma, but now, whenever I hear or think about Amalfi, my forehead begins to throb. It really really hurt!

Two nuns and a leprechaun

2008-05-10T05:45:00.000+10:00

In the city of Rome it is not uncommon to see nuns in various places all over the city, but the last place I ever thought I would see them was serving dinner at a restaurant.

Tonight Andrew and I had a latish dinner (for various reasons) and decided to try one of the restaurants near our hotel.

After looking in the window and finally finding the "A La Carte" menu we decided to go in and get a table. -Side Note: The set "Tourist Menu" was displayed prominently in an attempt to convince you that it was all that was on offer-

Standing in the door like stuffed dummies for serveral minutes, we were finally addressed by the man behind the counter. This man was wearing a green suit jacket, was short in stature, and had very leprechaun like ears. For a moment there I had to look around to convince myself that yes I was still in Rome.

The man showed us to a table and handed us two menus (the set menus). Luckily we were able to grab the "A La Carte" menu from a nearby table.

Next we were waited on by the women of the establishment. Now, although I doubt that these women have actually taken their holy orders, they certainly looked like nuns. Their uniforms looked like a light blue version of a nun's habit, minus the head piece.

Their service style was rather interesting to say the least. After ordering a Spaghetti Arrabiata (spicy sauce) and a Ravioli al Pomodoro (tomato sauce) one of these women came over to lay the cutlery. She literally tossed two serviettes on to the table and dumped the cutlery on top.

We had also ordered 2 cokes to go with our meals. Instead this woman returns with a single 500mL can of coke (can't say I've seen that size in Australia) saying that this can would do us both.

Finally our dinners arrive. Andrew's spaghetti arrabiata was not arrabiata at all, just a basic tomato sauce. My ravioli has somehow turned into a tortellini which this nun woman insists is ravioli (despite having called it tortellini when she first set it on the table). At least it tasted alright.

Unfortunately that ends our time here in Rome, we are off to Sorrento tomorrow. However apparently I will be returning to Rome one day as I have tossed my coin into the Trevi Fountain. Ciao

A Bus Too Far

2008-04-30T23:40:00.001+10:00

One of my first impressions of Santorini was that transportation was well thought out, and would make our stay very simple. The bus escort from the air craft to the terminal door showed a level of consideration that I have never come across, and set high expectations for the remainder of our stay. As a largely tourist destination, making it easy for guests to get around and spend their money should be a top priority.

Having read all of the reviews on the internet of our accomodation, and researched how to get there, Rebecca and I felt confident we could navigate this small island. All we had to do, was walk outside the terminal, board the bus to Fira (the main town), and change to a bus for Oia (pronounced eeya). So that is what we attempted to do.

We waited for the bus, and we waited for the bus, and we waited still. I went back into the arrivals hall and checked the bus time table. At first it looked like we missed the bus by 2min, and the next one should be along in 30 min. Half an hour came and went. "Maybe it is a little late?" I thought. After nearly an hour of waiting for a bus, I decided to do the unthinkable, talk to the locals. By now, everything had closed with the exception of one hire car outlet. Much to my delight I learned that I had not missed the bus, nor would I, as none was coming. The time table on the window mentioned nothing of a bus strike, driver shortage due to the surge in driver demand at the airport, or any such exceptional circumstance. But alas, I had it all wrong, for the buses only venture to the airport in "high season", of which this is not. Fortunatly the man behind the counter organised a taxi to Fira for us, where we could catch the bus to Oia.

That would have been fine, were it the end of the story. As it was not high season, the buses required an extra siesta between each journey. During the heat, the crows, and relentless twang of the American accent of high season, these buses are able to soldier on like little diggers. In the sholder and "off" season, they need their nanna naps, or, at least the drivers do. A 30 min wait with American cruise ship tourists was enough to test the nerves of even the most seasoned traveller, but the best was yet to come.

We managed to board the bus, after all of the cruise ship folk had pushed to the front and secured themselves a window seat. We were thankful just to be on the bus, so standing wasn't an issue....yet. What I hadn't realised about the trip to Oia is that the roads are similar to those of the Great Ocean Road (GOR). They hug the mountain side, high above the sea, winding their way through otherwise impenitrable terrain. Soild rock face on one side of the road, sharp cliffs on the other. They do, however, have their differences. The path to Oia is about twice as high as the GOR, and the road half the width.

As I mentioned in previous posts, safety is not at the forefront of the Greek's mindset. I am not convinced there is a speed limit on any of the roads in Santorini, or, if there are, the drivers are unaware of it. Our big 50 seater coach was HOONING around the curves at a pace unseen back home. Standing in the aisle of the bus, seeing the sharp drop on one side and the not so soft rock on the other made my stomach churn. Then, out of the blue, as our bus hurtled around a blind corner, coming in the opposite direction was is another bus, of similar size, speed, and disregard for anything safe. Our two buses missed colliding head on by only milimeters!! The sudden jolt of the bus was matched by the equally sudden need for me to change my pants.

Were I not in such a state of shock at the time, I would have found the ensuing events even more comical. There was no way known that the two buses could continue to pass each other, one had to reverse to allow the other to pass. The jostling of each driver to get their vehicle through the tight squeeze still amazes me to this day. The events replay in my mind, and it is a miracle that the little Toyota Echos following either bus weren't bumped off the cliff in the process.

As much as I dislike taxis back home, I made myself a promise. "When we leave this island, it will be alive, so no more buses. When we leave, it will be by taxi!!".

Santorini - the other Greece

2008-04-30T22:33:00.001+10:00

Today we set forth to our relaxation destination, Santorini. Unconventional for the Greek Islands, we decided to fly. While a more expensive travel option, it does save a fair chunk of time, and Beck isn't great with boats. Flying, however, still managed to give us some fond memories.

Having landed from our sling-shot 30min flight, our air craft pulled up to the small island airport terminal. I mean right infront. Plum and centre. Were it a car parking space, one might 'take a moment' to admire the brilliance of its location. Due to the size of the airport, there was no air bridge, so a small 30m stroll would be required. As we disembarked, I saw that the passengers were being huddled onto buses, herded on like cattle off to market. 'Oh', I thought, 'maybe that's not the terminal. Maybe a more distant destination awaits'. My admiration of the pilot's 'spot' started to fade. The bus began to move, making a sharp left turn and travelling 30m in a u-turn up a ramp. It stopped right outside the front door to the terminal I had identifed from inside the plane. To the left of the now stationary bus was the end of a single flight of stairs that led to the tarmac, where the bus was originally parked. That was it. End of journey. Filling the bus took twice as long as the actual drive. Very odd.

Whilst waiting for my luggage, which wasn't quick, I began to wonder if it too was coming by bus. How such a small airport ended up with a fleet of brand new, low floor, standing room only buses, one can only guess. Maybe the air traffic controllers were trying to order some more pens from head office, and filled in the wrong product code. Expecting 2x50 packs of pilot blue pens, imagine their surprise when 2x50 passenger plus pilot buses were delivered. I guess they took the attitude 'oh well, can't send these back. Might as well use them.'

The City of Dogs, and a little Chicken

2008-04-30T14:11:00.002+10:00

Whilst wandering the ancient buildings of Athens, there appears to be a common aspect to them all. I'm not referrring to the marvellous architecture, the impressive stone work, or even the other tourists. No, I am referring to the dogs. Yes, dogs. Each place of interest has at least one, usually more, large, sleepy placid dogs laying in the shade catching 40. Having been here so long, I fear they have become complacent with the marvel that surrounds, and are truely missing out.

At one point I thought they may have been guard dogs. HA! You could let a fire cracker go off under these animals and they wouldn't twitch an ear! I guess they are just the equivent of the troublesome youths that 'hang around' outside our shopping centres in Australia, they just have nothing better to do.

Of particular concern with all of these dogs is the absence of cats. So far I have seen only 2, slender felines. I look forward to Rome, where I believe cats rule the roost so to speak.

The past 36 hours have been interesting as far as food is concerned. Eating soley plane food, one's options have been limited. That said, Emirates have provided us with some of the best in transit eats I've had the privellidge to enjoy (Sorry, top place does go to the "Turkey Burger" from our "Bistro Bags" in Dallas).

So picture this. The first night in a historic, ancient city. The weather is warm, and ripe for eating out. The resturants are buzzing, the laneways electric. But we're not very hungry. With all that we have eaten on route still sitting firmly within us, the urge to sample some delictable treats just pitted and wayned. Luckily we forced ourselves to venture out, and just see what snacks we could find. We ended up at what looks to be a very tourist oriented greek restuarant (most of them are in this area). The menu was in English, the staff pointed out the most tastey, and most expensive options. Unfortunatly, this is the same story all over this end of town. As we weren't overly hungry, we inspected the menu more closely. A hankering for a Lamb Souvlaki would set us back 8 euro, with little chance of being able to finish it. The Pitta bread Gyros were only 1.9 euro, and essentially a similar product, only smaller. (Just as an asside, I discovered that Gyros is the meat shaved/cut from a large rotissery, while a souvlaki has it's meat individually cooked on skewers on demand).

Again, picture the scene. Waiter, having lured two English speaking tourists into his restuarant, believes that he is going to make a tidy sum off us. When we order our two Chicken Pitta Gyros, and two cokes totalling 7.9 euro (less than a standard souvlaki), he was all of a sudden uninterested in serving us. The bread placed on the table dissappeared, and no follow-up service after we recieved our meals. Just for the record, the food was brilliant! I would certainly go there again. If I remember not to go silly with the eats upon leaving Santorini, I'm sure I'll go back to sample the full Souvlaki!

As I write this, there is TV running with no sound. While TV with no sound is usually rather odd, in this case I think I am blessed. We often bemoan the viewing back home, but this has gone to a new level of corny. I wonder if the TV will breed itself out of existance if this is the direction it is heading.

Off to the airport!!

Let the honeymoon begin

2008-04-30T02:18:00.004+10:00

Stage one of our epic voyage saw us fly from Melbourne to Dubai, 14 hours, then from Dubai to Athens, 5 hours. Whilst a long journey, both Rebecca and I found ourselves with plenty of energy to go exploring upon arriving in Athens. We wandered the beautiful lanes, with period buildings. We visited the Parthanon in all is glory. It is one of those places that must be experienced, as pictures just don't capture the enormity and brilliance.

Greece, so far, has really turned it on weather wise. Blue sky and around 22. Perfect spring day.

For a country so often described as chaotic and disorganised, getting to the hotel by train was rather simple. Everything was clealy marked in English, the trains were clean and ontime. If only our trains in Australia were so good.

One interesting feature of our hotel is its quaint lift. Essentially a household door that opens up to a broom cupboard sized lift shaft. There was barely enough room for Beck and I to enter with our packs. More odd still, is the absence of anything that remotely looks like safety equipment. Yes, you can open the cupboard style door on to an open shaft. Yes, when in the lift, there is no internal door. As I learnt, stand well away from the front if the lift whilst in operation!

The other interesting thing here is the price of bottled water. Even in the tourist spots, we were able to buy 1.5L for 1 euro, or about 1.5 aud. These are not supermarkets, just tourist shops. I know we're in drought back home, but it does make you wonder what we're paying for.

Tomorrow we head to Santorini, with the intention of relaxing by the pool.

It's the little things.....

2008-02-26T08:50:00.002+10:00

that can really make your day. Back in November I blogged about Stepping up the fitness regime, describing how I was taking aerobics classes to try to improve my fitness and lose some weight. I've been trying to take 3 classes a week when I can. Some weeks I manage to get to all 3, others I only get to 1 or 2. But still the weight remains. It is dropping off, but at a very slow pace, or so I thought.

Last night, after my aerobics class, I was approached by one of the other women in the class who told me that she thought that I was looking a lot better and that my efforts were paying off. Naturally I was flattered, particularly after having spent that aerobics class watching myself in the mirror and thinking it wasn't working. It's amazing how much a small compliment like that can improve your mood and boost your self confidence. I think we often forget that others see us very differently to how we see ourselves and that we can really be our harshest critics.

Where are you going?

2007-12-28T09:09:00.001+10:00

I've only seen 3% of the world! But I guess I shouldn't feel too bad. My brother, who is quite well travelled , has only seen 11%. The above linked site lets you plot all the places that you have been to, as well as all the places you want to see. Here is where I want to go:

Where are you going? Create your own travel map!

View rmifsud's TravBuddy Profile

Hmmm, I think we are going to need to save a lot more money to cover all this.

How "Geeky" are you?

2007-12-27T10:48:00.001+10:00

58% Geek Well it turns out that I'm not as Geeky as I thought. This site has some funny quizzes on it including "How likely are you to survive a Zombie apocalypse?" and "How addicted are you to Apple"

Stepping up the fitness regime

2007-11-01T08:07:00.000+10:00

Those of you who know me will know that I've always struggled with my weight. It's a tough battle, but I think I am currently winning...just. To try and lose weight, I've returned to aerobics classes, in particular BodyStep. I find these classes fun to do, and the instructors at the fitness centre are really motivating, making you feel that you want to be there.

One particular instructor, Sue, has set up a blog for our class to discuss our weight loss and fitness problems and successes. The idea is to create a forum where people feel comfortable discussing their weight loss issues and are able to provide tips to each other. Sue herself has put up the story of her weight problems, how she tackled them, and ultimately became a fitness instructor. It's pretty amazing to hear these sorts of achievements, and gives you hope of one day achieving your own weight/fitness goals.

Finding a Pack

2007-10-19T11:15:00.001+10:00

In our latest set of endeavours Andrew and I have been searching for backpacks (travel packs) to take with us on our honeymoon. We’ve decided against taking suitcases as our friends have convinced us that dragging them along cobble stoned streets is not fun. To be honest, dragging them on flat surfaces during our trip to the US was not fun either!

Thing is, I can’t find one that fits! We’ve been to several outdoorsy type stores, and I’ve tried on a variety of backpacks, but I can’t seem to find one that sits right. At each store, the shop assistant tried their best to adjust the pack so that they sat right on me, but to no avail.

I’ve ended up feeling like some strange shaped alien who can’t fit into standard backpacks for humans. The problem always seems to be that the shoulder straps sit too high off my shoulders. I’ve tried packs for women, and packs with short back lengths but I can’t seem to find a pack that adjusts to the right setting for me.

Do any of you (if anyone still reads this blog) have any suggestions as to brands of backpacks you found were good (and highly adjustable)? Also where you bought them from would be really helpful!

Wedding Preparations Part VI

2007-09-14T22:21:00.001+10:00

As chief project manager and matrimonial strategist for our wedding, I have ensured that preparations continue to tick along. Arrangements began early with the reception centre (W-18 Months), allowing us to secure our preferred wedding date. This was followed closely (W-17 Months 28 Days) by the confirmation of the church, nestled neatly in picturesque Australian bush. The photographer and bridal cars (W-13 Months) were arranged in quick succession, making our "To Do" list somewhat more manageable. While all of these have been enjoyable, and somewhat of a relief to tick off, none can compare to the next item on our list: The Wedding Cake!

For those who know me well, it is no great surprise that I like cake (for those of you who do not know me well, remove the look of shock and see the title of this blog). While most people like some form of indulgent cake type treat, I have an undying passion for the moist spongy tastebud delight. My passion for said cakes combined with being self-assured in my culinary choices (aka fussy), should have made the selecting a mere formality....or so I thought.

In the process of selecting a wedding cake, there were two things I learnt very early. First, there is far more to cakes than I had previously realised, and second, ordering a cake is the best way to receive freebies!! What could possible make this biped happier than free cake? I am not talking about any Coles Home Brand "just add water" cakes, rather the finest quality, melt in your mouth variety. At first it seemed logical, if you are going to spend that much, surely you would want to know what you are getting. But as conversations with shop assistants progressed it became apparent that the free cake was to serve an additional purpose. While the bride is captivated looking through photo albums of identical cakes, the groom has something positive to occupy his time. It caters to different needs. While the bride selects her dream design, with all of the intricate details, the groom is left to focus on aspects of the cake important to him.

Pacifying the Partner is a clever tactic, but is not isolated to patisseries; it is used by store owners everywhere, most notably in large home ware stores. While one party drags the other to the local Harvey Norman to investigate the finer points of a state of the art high powered anti-calcifying multi-jet rotating steam iron, thankfully there is a store-long wall, laid end to end with large screen TVs. Are these screens displaying “Yan Can Cook”, “Midday with Kerry-Anne” or highlights of “Better Homes and Gardens”? No, they are showing the cricket, motor racing or the football, which would normally be missed during iron hunting season. Home ware stores clearly cater to the different needs of their clientele. While one person reads all of the fine print and comparison charts, the other may keep one eye on the box at all times, remembering to grunt, and parrot phrases such as “it’s up to you”, “I like the blue one” at appropriate moments.

Having overcome the elation of free lunch dessert, it became apparent that I had grossly underestimated the complexity of a wedding cake. I also came to the stark realisation that chomping down on a sponge or two was not going to spare me from interrogation, and being required to have opinions. A typical conversation with the cake vendors went as follows.

Assistant: "What type of cake do you want? Fruit or mud."

Me: "Simple, no chance of fruit cake."

Assistant: "Right, which type of mud cake: chocolate, chocolate with peppermint, white chocolate, cherry chocolate, caramel, jaffer, jaffer caramel, butter scotch.....?"

Me: "Well I think that urrr...one of the chocolates."

Assistant: "Square or round cake?"

Me: "Umm...maybe square, you get more in a square cake right?"

Assistant: "How many tiers?"

Me: "How many do we need, were not building the Tower of Bable here? I’ve never needed more than one before."

Assistant: "How many people do you need to feed?"

Me: "All of them"

Assistant: "Approximate numbers?"

Me: "About xxx"

Assistant: "Coffee or dessert portions?"

Me: "Aren’t they the same thing?"

Assistant: "What sizes do you want the tiers?"

Me: "These things come in different sizes!?"

Assistant: "What type of icing?"

Me: "White"

Assistant: "What icing texture, smooth or rough?"

Me: "Oh boy"

Assistant: "What type of decoration?"

Me: "I’m undecided about spots"

Assistant: "What color?"

Me: "ummmm"

Assistant: "Real or icing flowers"

Thankfully my darling fiancé was full of brilliant ideas, and together we’ve managed to select what we believe is the perfect wedding cake. All that is left to do now is work off all that was put on through rigorous cake selecting. Back to the gym.

2007-08-07T08:11:00.000+10:00

Rest In Peace 1944 - 2007

Our thoughts are with you and your family.

Life is what happens between our plans

2007-07-22T20:25:00.001+10:00

“Life is what happens between our plans.” This platitude and its variations is often drawn on when things do not run as we expect them to; as setbacks occur, challenges mount, or time simply doesn’t deliver the expected results. It is intended to bring hope and reassurance that what is being experienced is normal, and to persevere with what is important. But life does not always happen, and our plans do not always come to fruition.

I have recently learned that a dear friend of mine is faced with the prospect of loosing a loved one. A life cut short, a family at breaking point.

During times like this we often reflect upon the part people have played in our lives. We relive the memories, appreciate (sometimes for the first time) the significance of their role and influences, and cast our mind to the future. What will life be like without them? What will change? All too often there are milestones that will not be witnessed, once in a lifetime moments that will not be shared. Their tempered voice of reason will be silent, living only in our hearts. There will be the corner of the room that will remain unchanged, the papers that will never be finished, the work incomplete.

We all have plans, implicit and explicit. Some are flexible, other invaluable. Life does not happen between our plans. It does not happen around our plans. We are lucky that it happens at all. Each moment is a gift too precious to squander by pettiness.

Our thoughts are with you. You have my number.

Mini golf Woes

2007-07-17T09:06:00.000+10:00

I’m not the worlds best mini golf player, far from it. But I can usually get the ball into the hole using at, or just below Par strokes. So someone please explain why there is one hole that I just cannot do.

The hole itself looks fairly simple. Picture a flat green with a small hill at the end. The hole is at the top of the hill. Sounds fairly straight forward right? WRONG!

Over the past week, I have played this mini golf course several times and the hole I’ve described is the first. I think I managed to get the ball in on that annoying hole in 2 strokes (par for the hole) twice, tops!. Most times it took me 7 or 8 shots to get the darn thing in. It got to the stage where I would restart the hole over and over. Hit one, too hard. Hit two, too soft. Hit three, not far enough. It just went on!

To make matters worse, Andrew would generally get a hole in one on that hole. This meant that I’d be plus 6 or 7 on the score when we’d barely started.

At least I wasn’t the only one who struggled. I was watching another couple starting to play and one of them was having the same trouble as I did.

“I hate that hole” I said to him.

After a few more tries he looked at me and said “I’m starting to agree”.

Enjoyable Sales

2007-06-06T17:56:00.000+10:00

It is a well known fact in the professional sales industry that people enjoy being sold to....when it is done properly!

This weekend I experienced a perfect example of both good and bad techniques. Two of my bridesmaids and I had decided to go on a shopping spree in search of their dresses for the big day.

The first store we entered was full of potential gowns for the girls. We noticed a sign stating that bridesmaids need to make an appointment for dress trials, so that they could receive assistance with styles and colours. As it was our first shopping trip and we weren't really interested in that sort of service, we figured we could probably try on a dress or two since the store was empty.

The girls started to pull a few dresses off the rack that they were interested in trying and were quickly approached by the saleswoman.

"You can't try those on without an appointment" she said, barely making an effort to mask her annoyance.

As the store was still empty, I asked "Do you have any appointments today?"

The woman practically snapped at me, saying "Yes we have appointments all day". "But none available" she quickly added. "We are fully booked".

At this point we were all thoroughly annoyed at the woman, so one of my bridesmaids (go Brea!) said "Well all these dresses we like are from the 'Very Very' brand. Maybe we should go direct to their store". We quickly departed.

As we discussed the incident in the car, we all fully agreed that the woman could have handled the situation quite differently. If she had approached us and said "I'm afraid I can't let you try those on today because we are fully booked, but I can make you an appointment for another time" we would have been much more receptive.

In contrast, I must give high praise to the girl at Rikki Nathan in Richmond for an excellent sales manner.

Her first example of good sales technique was selecting the appropriate moment to offer her assistance. She didn’t approach us immediately. Having taken the time to observe the dresses that the girls had taken into the change rooms, she approached me with some useful information about another dress. The dress that she was suggesting was similar in style to those chosen by the girls, but different enough to have a more formal look.

She brought the dress over and demonstrated its versatility by using the sash in various ways to create different looks. She was very helpful and made some great suggestions.

The contrast between the two experiences is astounding. I’m always amazed at how shops with terrible sales staff manage to stay open. In the end I can assure you that I won’t be returning to the first store. However, if I end up selecting the dress suggested by the girl at Rikki Nathan, I wouldn't hesitate to return.

Really Safe Mail

2007-05-27T11:00:00.000+10:00

Travelling to the United States of America post September the 11th certainly does highlight some interesting insecurities of a nation. There are the obvious changes that have been made to ‘border security’. Revolutionary ideas of checking people’s boarding passes before a flight and metal detector screening of all passengers for concealed weapons have been implemented with gusto. While these procedures may have been standard for some time in other countries, we must not forget that terrorism began in 2001.

Once beyond the reasonable measures, there exists a layer ‘false security’ designed to increase the perception of safety. The most notable example is displayed at Washington Airport, where six NSA officers must view your passport whilst having your hand luggage inspected. Each inspector is only 60cm away from the next, and is watched by those inspectors still in line. This processions of inconvenience does not increase safety of the flight, rather raises two possible scenarios. Ether a) five out of six NSA inspectors are incompetent, and are unable to verify a passport against a person, or b) inconvenience equals security.

The push for national security has also manifested itself in some more bazaar ways. In a time where everything has become safer, and more rigidly enforced, the USA has instituted the “Postal Police”. Walking down 42nd Street near Lexington Ave in New York I snapped the picture above. Not only must the airports be secure. Not only does every building of note have 100 security guards to search people coming and going, but the general mail has it’s own police department. At this point I started to hope my post cards had not been misbehaving on their way to loved ones, or it could be 10 – 20 years in the cooler for them. Casting my mind back to the recent news articles I had been reading, I tried to remember if any detailed a parcel being held hostage, or a vicious assault resulting in a deep paper cut. On the other hand, maybe the Postal Police perform a missing persons type service for the mail. I can see the press interview with the victims now "...have you seen my cheque, it was put in the mail three weeks ago and it hasn’t been seen since. Please come home. We love you." The mind boggles. But at lest we are safe....aren’t we?

Preparing for Marriage

2007-05-14T14:24:00.000+10:00

Well this weekend Andrew and I went on our pre-marriage course at El Kanah guesthouse in Marysville. It took us 2 and a half hours to get to Marysville from my work, but we were driving in peak hour traffic and we did stop for dinner on the way.

As it was so dark at that time of day, we didn't get to enjoy much of the scenery on the way. However our attention was fully occupied as we drove on the extremely windy road between Healesville and Marysville, known as the Black Spur.

When we reached the road where the guest house was situated, we noticed a sign stating "Back Burning in progress". We thought nothing of it until a few metres down the road we saw this eerie orange glow coming from the scrub on the side of the road. It wasn't a raging fire, and we certainly weren't in any danger, but it definitely had a strange feeling about it.

The pre-marriage course itself was excellent and I highly recommend it to anyone who is getting married. Vera and Peter Gill are the lovely people who guide you through the course, helping you to discuss the various aspects of your relationship. They try to teach you techniques to help ensure that minor arguments don't turn into large blow outs that can be have devastating effects, both to the couple's relationship and to their children. They help you to understand how your backgrounds may have influenced you and your partner differently, so you might not always see things the same way as each other.

The setting was so peaceful and relaxing, sitting by the fire and just chatting. Never did I feel that anyone was trying to pry into my personal life or tell us how our relationship should work.

I have to send my compliments to the chef at El Kanah! Each meal was absolutely delicious, and very filling (making it hard to find room for the scrumptious fudge at the local fudge shop, but we still managed :-) ).

Saturday aftenoon we were able to have some free time to wander about Marysville and take some a break from the course. Andrew and I went up to see Steavensons falls, which was quite beautiful. In fact that was one of the amazing things about Marysville. It was as if the drought just didn't exist there. Most of the flora was a lush green, or autumnal coulours like oranges and reds, and the waterfall actually had water! Not just a trickle, but a proper flow.

In Marysville itself there are little shops and cafes to visit. Plenty of places to hire Ski gear for the winter months. The highlight for Andrew and I though would have to be the fudge shop and the lolly shop (Yum!!!). If you are ever in town, the vanilla chocolate swirl fudge is excellent (in moderation, it's rich).

All in all I think we both had an excellent weekend. We learnt a lot, both about each other and about our relationship.