Its a bit rainy here today. So Morganne and I just kind of hung out inside most the time. We were also both a bit worn out too. Lastnight was quite the adventure. We werent even in Barcelona for a full hour before we found ourselves thrown right into the night scene of Barcelona. We arrived at about 10:30 at night and we got a taxi to the Hostel we are staying at. After paying and talking to a few people we get invited with everyone else out to this bar. So, i dont know what it was, after a full day of traveling and waiting for trains since 8 in the morning, we some how thought we were able to do this. We got ready and we headed out to the bar.
The Hostel we are at is called Sant Jordis Argo and there are about 5 of these hostels all over Barcelona. So this bar that we went to, it was all of these hostels and everyone staying at these hostels. It was cool seeing and meeting all the people from all around the world. We met these guys from Argentina and one of them stuck with Morganne and i through out the whole night and he even helped us find our way back to our hostel. His name, Guido (Gheedo) Dero.
So at the bar everyone was drinking and talking and everything. I was drinking water. After a few hours at the bar we all headed to this club.
Now, this is my first OFFICIAL club expiriance. I mean, iv been to shows where everyone was dancing (Girl Talk) and that was awesome. This expiriance was crazy. It was two levels, both levels packed with people, shoulder to shoulder, the dancing was very minimal amongst everyone but everyone was dancing, i think even if they didnt want to, people were forced to because they were stuck between everyone else who was dancing.
So we were there, time flew by and we ended up leaving around 4 in the morning. So Guido, Morganne, and I were walking around Barcelona at 4 in the morning. And suprisingly it felt safe. No one bothered us and the people who did talk to us were nice. So, it was a good time. It was a fun, long night out on the town.
Tonight is Halloween here in Barcelona, and i guess the party started lastnight and continues tonight. And then tomarrow night we are going to go see Russian Circles and These Arms Are Snakes. So, so far...Barcelona is amazing.
We did walk around a bit today during a break in the rain and we got directions to a natural foods store so we went there and got some things, hygene products and food products. One food product that i got was....Vegan YOGURT! YESSS!!!! Awesome! So that puts it in stone. Barcelona, i can see myself living here...or something like that. They got good vegan food and fun people.
So, the other night in Nice i was awaky pretty late, not as late as last night but pretty late. I decided that when Morganne and I split that i should map out the rest of my journey, so i did. After Barcelona I am no longer "Winging" it here in Europe. I found one benefit of this so far and thats the couchsurfing network. Since i know where im going to be on pretty specific dates i have been working that net work like no other. I have places to stay in Lisbon and Brussels now. Im still looking for Vienna, Berlin, and Amsterdam. Im trying to get the rest of November covered so im not having to pay for Hostels. Cause these things really put a damper on the funds, i tell you what. If i can go all of november without having to pay for them, that would be GREAT.
So the Itinarary is this:
Barcelona untill the 4th
Valencia till the 7th.
Madrid to the 10th,
Lisbon to the 15th.
From the 15th to the 16th i need to make a trek to Vienna which will take me a couple days. i will be staying on night trains for these nights.
Vienna untill the 20th
Berlin Untill the 25th
Prague untill the 27th
Amsterdam untill the 1st
Brussles untill the 5th
On the 5th, or 6th, havent decided yet i will take a day trip back to Paris to get my bike and then up to London from there.
Untill the 10th....
On the 10th i fly out of London into Chicago.
So, there it is. Thats the rest of my time in Europe. Tomarrow will be my one month point. It seems like just last week i was in Paris....but...iv been to soo many places and through so many adventures and its only been a month. So like i was saying before its like when im thinking about it, time goes by so slow, but when im actually in it, its flying by. And to think Im barely half way done...
Friday, October 31, 2008
Pictures and stuff, pretty self explanitory...
I think you can guess what this is...
A picture taken as we were using the flash to get down the volcano. Inti was saying that alot of people die from walking down these paths at night because they will just walk off of a cliff. So, as this picture was be taken my life was in great danger!
The path we took on our way up the volcano.
The village of Stromboli. This picture is a picture of the MAIN ROAD on Stromboli. As you can see, its not big...
Rocks rising out of the sea on our way to Stromboli
Rocks while we were going to Stromboli
Stromboli
Stromboli: This is the side that the lava flows down. The village is on the other side.
Stromboli
Stromboli
Stromboli
View of the sea.
Stromboli eruption!
Nice, France.
Nice, France
Nice, France.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Nice, France.
After a LONG confusing day of jumping on and off trains yesterday we made it to Nice, France.
We got on the train in Rome at 11:46 and we didnt get into Nice untill a little after midnight. Want to know the time of Midnight here?
0...zero.
we got into Nice at 0:15. We were afraid the Hostel wasnt going to be open either but it was. So...it worked out. Havent gone out to explore Nice yet but we have two days here and then we are off to Barcelona for a few days...including Halloween!!!
Last night we had a rather bizarre resteraunt expiriance. In order to get from Genova, Italy to Nice France we had to take a train that was just kind of a normal subway train that went to Ventimiglia which is just on the boarder between Italy and France and it is a very small city. We get there and find out that the train from there to Nice doesnt leave untill 11:31 at night so we had a 3 hour lay over in this small city. Well we were hungry, we hadnt eatn since Rome, thats almost 12 hours of no food. So we walked around looking for somewhere to eat. Everything was closed, even the bars were closing, it was about 8:30. We walked around a bit and we finally found this resteraunt that was open but completetly empty, no one was there, at all. We looked at the menu, pretty good prices...we walk in, and it is a SUPER nice resteraunt, it was crazy. The seats and tables were all covered in this shiney red faric with red flowers and vines printed on them. The decor of the palce was really extravagant too, gold, statues, pillars. The music that was playing was like Spanish fiesta music. It really felt like we were in a David Lynch movie. it was really Bizarre. And then the man waiting on us was the owner of the place and the lady cooking our food was his wife. and they were both incredibly nice! They were really friendly.
We were the only ones in the entire resteraunt. Yeah, it was wierd. We were able to stay there untill 11 too, the owners had no problem with us just hanging out there after we were done eating. So that was cool.
But after almost 13 hours of Traveling we finally get into Nice and it wasnt hard finding our hostel and we got in and just went right to sleep.
So im in France now.
We got on the train in Rome at 11:46 and we didnt get into Nice untill a little after midnight. Want to know the time of Midnight here?
0...zero.
we got into Nice at 0:15. We were afraid the Hostel wasnt going to be open either but it was. So...it worked out. Havent gone out to explore Nice yet but we have two days here and then we are off to Barcelona for a few days...including Halloween!!!
Last night we had a rather bizarre resteraunt expiriance. In order to get from Genova, Italy to Nice France we had to take a train that was just kind of a normal subway train that went to Ventimiglia which is just on the boarder between Italy and France and it is a very small city. We get there and find out that the train from there to Nice doesnt leave untill 11:31 at night so we had a 3 hour lay over in this small city. Well we were hungry, we hadnt eatn since Rome, thats almost 12 hours of no food. So we walked around looking for somewhere to eat. Everything was closed, even the bars were closing, it was about 8:30. We walked around a bit and we finally found this resteraunt that was open but completetly empty, no one was there, at all. We looked at the menu, pretty good prices...we walk in, and it is a SUPER nice resteraunt, it was crazy. The seats and tables were all covered in this shiney red faric with red flowers and vines printed on them. The decor of the palce was really extravagant too, gold, statues, pillars. The music that was playing was like Spanish fiesta music. It really felt like we were in a David Lynch movie. it was really Bizarre. And then the man waiting on us was the owner of the place and the lady cooking our food was his wife. and they were both incredibly nice! They were really friendly.
We were the only ones in the entire resteraunt. Yeah, it was wierd. We were able to stay there untill 11 too, the owners had no problem with us just hanging out there after we were done eating. So that was cool.
But after almost 13 hours of Traveling we finally get into Nice and it wasnt hard finding our hostel and we got in and just went right to sleep.
So im in France now.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Back in Rome And leaving Italy
So I spent yesterday back in Rome, at Inti's place and just walking around. It was nice being able to relax a bit, especially after that last night on the Island...
Now we are getting ready to go to Nice, France. Im not too sure how its going to be going back into France for me, considering my last visit, even though it was Paris, it was a bit under par than what i expected. Well after almost 3 weeks here in Italy im definatly ready for a new country, new language, new food...
We will be in Nice for a couple nights and then we will head to Barcelona, for Dia De Los Muertos and HALLOWEEN! We will be there for a little bit and then we will head south. Inti told us about some places that i think we are going to, i forget what they are now, but we have them written down somewhere.
On November 1st in Barcelona, Russian Circles is playing with These Arms are Snakes. We are going. I booked Russian Circles a few times and went to alot of their shows when they were first starting out and now im wondering if they will remember me. That would be a bit of a surprise if they do remember me and they see me at their show in Barcelona.
On the move again, new countries.
Now we are getting ready to go to Nice, France. Im not too sure how its going to be going back into France for me, considering my last visit, even though it was Paris, it was a bit under par than what i expected. Well after almost 3 weeks here in Italy im definatly ready for a new country, new language, new food...
We will be in Nice for a couple nights and then we will head to Barcelona, for Dia De Los Muertos and HALLOWEEN! We will be there for a little bit and then we will head south. Inti told us about some places that i think we are going to, i forget what they are now, but we have them written down somewhere.
On November 1st in Barcelona, Russian Circles is playing with These Arms are Snakes. We are going. I booked Russian Circles a few times and went to alot of their shows when they were first starting out and now im wondering if they will remember me. That would be a bit of a surprise if they do remember me and they see me at their show in Barcelona.
On the move again, new countries.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Lipari: Last day...story time.
Have I got quite the story for you.
Morganne and I were scheduled to go to another island today, well two of them. We were going on another volcano excursion. This time to Stromboli, I've already given you some stats on it. Its a volcano rising out of the sea and it is highly active as in it erupts, basically, once everyday. But since it erupts so much they aren't very strong explosions, so its safe.
The time to depart was supposed to be 2:00 p.m.. But when we got there 10 minutes early the guy told us that it wasn't going to be until 3:00 now. So we went back to our hotel to just lounge around. As the time came again for us to leave to meet everyone i asked Morganne "Are you sure you don't want me to bring anymore money" because i knew she didn't have much and she wasn't going to bring her credit card or anything. And I was wearing shorts with no pockets. Very rarely do i wear these shorts because of this. The last time i did it was when we did laundry in Rome. Morganne answered "Well everything is paid for except for our food, so i guess if you want than bring 20 euro just in case." Okay, so i did. She then asks "Do you think i should bring my italian phrase book?" clearly because neither of us know italian. I said "I don't know thats up to you, really." She decided not to bring it. We've ordered food before without it, easy stuff. So all this stuff, we do not bring, we do not see the need for them.
So we get to the boat. Everyone is there, old people, middle aged people, and a class of kids that looked like they were juniors in high school. The boat starts, we are cruising around. The guide is the captain of the ship, he speaks no english. So we just kind of have to guess what he is saying, we aren't too good at that. He took us near a rock that was rising out of sea quite a bit and he was saying something about it and people were pretty interested in it, they were even pointing at specific parts of it, but Morganne and I had no idea what was so special about it. We cruise around the island Panarea, the captain says some things, pretty cool i guess. Then at 5:00 we arrive to Stromboli, the captain is talking, but of coarse, we have no idea what he is saying. So we just follow everyone off the boat. Some groups go this way, others that way, the class had their own tour guide, and some people had luggage as if they were staying on the island. All we know is that we head home at 9:00, that is what the program said.
The village on this island is very small, VERY small. The population of this village is about 400. There are two roads, two VERY small roads, they don't have any full size cars here, and thats full size european style, not american style. These cars are all three wheeled little scooters with car like bodies. They don't even have steering wheels. They have handlebars like scooters. So, thats how small this place is, we thought Lipari was small, this place is SMALL.
So we wander around a bit, kinda following this couple that got off the same boat we did. We get a bit up the volcano and just kind of sit and chill for a bit. We notice we are on one of the paths leading up to the top and to the side that the sun is setting on. So we figured thats what this excursion is, it is to watch the sun set from the volcano. So we walk a bit further and we stop at a helicopter landing pad and we sat and watched. The sun went down and it was pretty good. Then the volcano started erupting, with lava coming out and everything and it was awesome. We were not in harms way, it was safe still, even though we were on a currently exploding volcano. It gets dark after a bit and we start heading back. Wow, its dark, no lights at all and we are walking down a dirt winding path using Morganne's flash on her camera to light our way. We get back into town, or at least to paved roads, and there are still no lights. This village is so small that they cant even afford to have street lights. So the entire walk back was pretty ominous, no lights in the street and we thought that we would start seeing or hearing kids from the class that was with us on the boat. Nothing. We keep walking through the town, a couple locals here and there also wandering around in the dark. Its about a 45 minute walk back to the port, and everywhere that we passed looked pretty closed or empty. And it wasn't even 8 o'clock yet, so we though we were early, if anything.
So we are back at the port, nothing. Not boat. So we think "Okay, well, the boat left while everyone else was on the island so it could transport more people, right?" We weren't really sure. So we sat on the port and waited for people to start showing up. Locals again would walk up and down the port, but no one that looked familiar to us. We keep sitting and we start playing cards, we say "Well if no one shows up by 8:45 than we should think about going to get something to eat". On the way down we passed one restaurant that looked open, but it was completely empty. So we sit and continue to wait. I ask what time it is and Morganne replies "8:45". I start think that we might want to prioritize our money and maybe start thinking about bartering with locals to see if they can take us back to the island, even though it is pitch black now. 15 minutes pass, its 9:00. No boat, no body, and we aren't even close to getting back to Lipari island. We lose hope. We come to the realization that we are not getting back Lipari island, where all of our stuff is. Where everything is that we questioned to bring on this adventure before we came. Well, we just found a purpose for all of that stuff. We forget about eating, we only have 30 euros and there are only two hotels on this island. And we still have to get back to Lipari Island, and we figure thats going to cost something but we might be able to work something out. So we decide to tell the hotels we only have 20 euro. We go to the first one, the sign at least. We follow the sidewalk up to where we think the hotel is and we cant find it. We cant find anything, we were looking in windows for a front desk but I'm pretty sure we were just looking in the windows of peoples houses. So, we head over to the other hotel, its pretty nice inside. The minute we walk in i was sure it was going to be too expensive, but i still wanted to try. We ask the front desk how much it is, well no, we ask what is the cheapest room they have, actually no, we ask what is the cheapest BED that they have we can sleep on. We are desperate as you can guess. Well the cheapest they can do is $39...for each of us. Well we only have $30 total.
So here we are, pretty much worst case scenario. Stranded on a desolate island. The population: 400.
No, tonight it is 402. Two of those people only have 30 euro to get back home. Two of those people don't have an Italian phrase book. Two of those people don't have a place to sleep. One of those people, doesn't have pants.
So here it is: Tonight was supposed to be our last night at the hotel and the ladies running it have already been waking us up at 9 in the morning every morning thinking that we weren't there when we were still trying to sleep.
We were going to leave early in the morning to catch the first ferry off the island to Messina at 7 and then the first train to Rome so we could get there early and walk around a bit and do whatever, back in Rome.
We still had to pay for all the nights in the hotel.
So, we decide the most logical place to sleep is on the beach, of coarse. If your stranded on a desolate volcano island in a pretty warm climate, you sleep on the beach. We wanted to also stay close to the port so that if a boat comes, we can catch it before it leaves and try getting us back to Lipari with our 30 euro.
So, we are sleeping on a beach, on what though? Well at the first "hotel" that we tried finding we found a patio that had pillows on it. So we went back to that, i jumped into the patio to grab the pillows, well i also see two sets of 3 cushions. Perfect, basically we both have a bed with a pillow, stolen. We run down the beach, pretty far. There were a lot of docked boats that we even considered sleeping in, but we didn't want to be there when the owners came out to use that boat. So keeping that in mind, that people may be out and about around these boats we run further down the beach away from all the boats. This beach is rocky, big rocks every where, this isn't your normal sandy beach. We pick a spot, clear it of rocks, and lay everything out. It is about 10:00.
Here we are , sleeping on the beach of a small island in the middle of the Mediterranean sea. Behind us the clouds are red, lit up by the lava flowing out of the volcano (to the other side of the island). We can here the waves hitting the shore, the crickets in the bushes and sometimes even the roar of the volcano. Sounds great, well, in a controlled setting it is. This was pretty...uncontrolled. In reality we are two stranded americans on a very small italian island, we stole cushions to sleep on, and we are trying to fall asleep on a rocky beach.
We are sitting and talking and laughing about our situation, thats all we could do. When i see, where all the boats are, someone walking, with a flashlight...towards us. Well, quickly we run back up a tiny hill into the bushes behind us. While running up i fell and i must have put my hand in dog poo cause when we were hiding from this guy it smelt pretty darn bad and i couldn't see what exactly it was on my hand but i feel the smell told me enough. So of coarse, just one more problem gets added, After its safe and the guy goes away we walk back down and go to the water to clean my hand. Its salt water so i felt it was going to do a pretty good job of cleaning my hand of what was on it and the smell. And it did too, but now my shoes are wet! So, I got poop on my hand, I'm wearing short shorts, and the dead rats are a bit damp, it just keeps getting worst for me. All we brought that is relatively close to a blanket was this tiny tiny towel, basically a wash cloth. Morganne just gave it to me to cover my legs. And i just put my arms into my sweatshirt. I even remember saying right before we fell asleep (or something like that...) I hope it doesn't get any colder. Well, shortly after that, i open my eyes...not to sure what from, but my sense of time is totally lost at this moment and i am shivering cold. In the same position, with the towel still on my legs. I ask Morganne if she is still awake, she is. So i say we go back to that patio we got all the cushions from and try to find something we can use as a blanket. We go back there and i find a beach towel. Well it is only big enough for one person. Again, Morganne tells me to take it and she will take the wash cloth. I wrap my legs in the beach towel and it felt pretty good. Now i am able to fall asleep. I have a couple real short dreams, so thats how i know i got some sleep. I don't know how much though, i was in and out a lot through out the night, basically closing my eyes just to pass the time.
One of the times i open them it is actually starting to get light out, finally. I poke Morganne, pretty easy to wake her up and i tell her the sun is coming up. So here we are, safely made it through the night, now we are watching the sun come up. Now we are pretty relieved.
It is 6:00 in the morning. We get up and start walking around town, a few of the locals are already out. We find the place where you buy tickets for the ferries to the other islands. We look at the schedule and see that there is a ferry coming to the island at 7:15. Unfortunately the place is not open yet, so we cant buy a ticket or even see how much they are.
So we wait on the port for people to start showing up for the ferry. We figured that to get to Lipari island from the main land it was 15 euro each, total was 30 euro. That is from the mainland to the island, we are just traveling from one island to the other, so we figured that would be cheaper and we were pretty much in the clear and we could afford the two tickets. Its just that place still isn't open. People start arriving and eventually we can see the ferry off in the distance, we turn to one guy to ask if this ferry was going to Lipari and he said yes, then we asked if we were just buying tickets on the ferry. He seemed shocked, the ferry is now docking, scheduled to depart in 5 minutes and we don't have tickets. He told us the office is open now and that we needed to run to get a ticket quick, i was pretty much half way there already before he finished that sentence, with 30 euro in my hand. I run up to the counter and ask for two tickets to Lipari, the guy takes his time and prints them out. Total is 33 euros...we were short 3 euros....and this guy is stiff, he wants his three euros.
So now I'm running back to Morganne to see is she has any coins at all. She has one more euro, and the man that we were talking to, after Morganne explained our story to him, Frank, helps us out and gives us what we need. Im running back, with a balled up wad of 35 euros. I throw it down and the guy gives me the tickets and he takes his time...printing out the receipt....i am panting, not having to run this hard and this fast in a WHILE. Im running back to the ferry and i see the only people left standing there are Morganne and Frank, fortunately Frank convinced the Captain to wait just a couple more minutes for us. We run on, literally throw the ticket down for the captain and take the nearest seat we can find. We are on our way back, to our hotel, where everything of ours is at. It is such a relief.
In the first couple days of being on Lipari island i was saying that it was going to be hard for us to leave this island, just like how it was to leave Rome. On that ferry ride back, for the first time on this entire journey, i was ready to leave, to the next country. Im done with Italy. After a quick stop in Rome though of coarse!
Its hard to believe that it was just last night when i was shivering cold trying to sleep on a beach of a small small island in the middle of the Mediterranean. That was definitely an adventure i was not prepared for.
Morganne and I were scheduled to go to another island today, well two of them. We were going on another volcano excursion. This time to Stromboli, I've already given you some stats on it. Its a volcano rising out of the sea and it is highly active as in it erupts, basically, once everyday. But since it erupts so much they aren't very strong explosions, so its safe.
The time to depart was supposed to be 2:00 p.m.. But when we got there 10 minutes early the guy told us that it wasn't going to be until 3:00 now. So we went back to our hotel to just lounge around. As the time came again for us to leave to meet everyone i asked Morganne "Are you sure you don't want me to bring anymore money" because i knew she didn't have much and she wasn't going to bring her credit card or anything. And I was wearing shorts with no pockets. Very rarely do i wear these shorts because of this. The last time i did it was when we did laundry in Rome. Morganne answered "Well everything is paid for except for our food, so i guess if you want than bring 20 euro just in case." Okay, so i did. She then asks "Do you think i should bring my italian phrase book?" clearly because neither of us know italian. I said "I don't know thats up to you, really." She decided not to bring it. We've ordered food before without it, easy stuff. So all this stuff, we do not bring, we do not see the need for them.
So we get to the boat. Everyone is there, old people, middle aged people, and a class of kids that looked like they were juniors in high school. The boat starts, we are cruising around. The guide is the captain of the ship, he speaks no english. So we just kind of have to guess what he is saying, we aren't too good at that. He took us near a rock that was rising out of sea quite a bit and he was saying something about it and people were pretty interested in it, they were even pointing at specific parts of it, but Morganne and I had no idea what was so special about it. We cruise around the island Panarea, the captain says some things, pretty cool i guess. Then at 5:00 we arrive to Stromboli, the captain is talking, but of coarse, we have no idea what he is saying. So we just follow everyone off the boat. Some groups go this way, others that way, the class had their own tour guide, and some people had luggage as if they were staying on the island. All we know is that we head home at 9:00, that is what the program said.
The village on this island is very small, VERY small. The population of this village is about 400. There are two roads, two VERY small roads, they don't have any full size cars here, and thats full size european style, not american style. These cars are all three wheeled little scooters with car like bodies. They don't even have steering wheels. They have handlebars like scooters. So, thats how small this place is, we thought Lipari was small, this place is SMALL.
So we wander around a bit, kinda following this couple that got off the same boat we did. We get a bit up the volcano and just kind of sit and chill for a bit. We notice we are on one of the paths leading up to the top and to the side that the sun is setting on. So we figured thats what this excursion is, it is to watch the sun set from the volcano. So we walk a bit further and we stop at a helicopter landing pad and we sat and watched. The sun went down and it was pretty good. Then the volcano started erupting, with lava coming out and everything and it was awesome. We were not in harms way, it was safe still, even though we were on a currently exploding volcano. It gets dark after a bit and we start heading back. Wow, its dark, no lights at all and we are walking down a dirt winding path using Morganne's flash on her camera to light our way. We get back into town, or at least to paved roads, and there are still no lights. This village is so small that they cant even afford to have street lights. So the entire walk back was pretty ominous, no lights in the street and we thought that we would start seeing or hearing kids from the class that was with us on the boat. Nothing. We keep walking through the town, a couple locals here and there also wandering around in the dark. Its about a 45 minute walk back to the port, and everywhere that we passed looked pretty closed or empty. And it wasn't even 8 o'clock yet, so we though we were early, if anything.
So we are back at the port, nothing. Not boat. So we think "Okay, well, the boat left while everyone else was on the island so it could transport more people, right?" We weren't really sure. So we sat on the port and waited for people to start showing up. Locals again would walk up and down the port, but no one that looked familiar to us. We keep sitting and we start playing cards, we say "Well if no one shows up by 8:45 than we should think about going to get something to eat". On the way down we passed one restaurant that looked open, but it was completely empty. So we sit and continue to wait. I ask what time it is and Morganne replies "8:45". I start think that we might want to prioritize our money and maybe start thinking about bartering with locals to see if they can take us back to the island, even though it is pitch black now. 15 minutes pass, its 9:00. No boat, no body, and we aren't even close to getting back to Lipari island. We lose hope. We come to the realization that we are not getting back Lipari island, where all of our stuff is. Where everything is that we questioned to bring on this adventure before we came. Well, we just found a purpose for all of that stuff. We forget about eating, we only have 30 euros and there are only two hotels on this island. And we still have to get back to Lipari Island, and we figure thats going to cost something but we might be able to work something out. So we decide to tell the hotels we only have 20 euro. We go to the first one, the sign at least. We follow the sidewalk up to where we think the hotel is and we cant find it. We cant find anything, we were looking in windows for a front desk but I'm pretty sure we were just looking in the windows of peoples houses. So, we head over to the other hotel, its pretty nice inside. The minute we walk in i was sure it was going to be too expensive, but i still wanted to try. We ask the front desk how much it is, well no, we ask what is the cheapest room they have, actually no, we ask what is the cheapest BED that they have we can sleep on. We are desperate as you can guess. Well the cheapest they can do is $39...for each of us. Well we only have $30 total.
So here we are, pretty much worst case scenario. Stranded on a desolate island. The population: 400.
No, tonight it is 402. Two of those people only have 30 euro to get back home. Two of those people don't have an Italian phrase book. Two of those people don't have a place to sleep. One of those people, doesn't have pants.
So here it is: Tonight was supposed to be our last night at the hotel and the ladies running it have already been waking us up at 9 in the morning every morning thinking that we weren't there when we were still trying to sleep.
We were going to leave early in the morning to catch the first ferry off the island to Messina at 7 and then the first train to Rome so we could get there early and walk around a bit and do whatever, back in Rome.
We still had to pay for all the nights in the hotel.
So, we decide the most logical place to sleep is on the beach, of coarse. If your stranded on a desolate volcano island in a pretty warm climate, you sleep on the beach. We wanted to also stay close to the port so that if a boat comes, we can catch it before it leaves and try getting us back to Lipari with our 30 euro.
So, we are sleeping on a beach, on what though? Well at the first "hotel" that we tried finding we found a patio that had pillows on it. So we went back to that, i jumped into the patio to grab the pillows, well i also see two sets of 3 cushions. Perfect, basically we both have a bed with a pillow, stolen. We run down the beach, pretty far. There were a lot of docked boats that we even considered sleeping in, but we didn't want to be there when the owners came out to use that boat. So keeping that in mind, that people may be out and about around these boats we run further down the beach away from all the boats. This beach is rocky, big rocks every where, this isn't your normal sandy beach. We pick a spot, clear it of rocks, and lay everything out. It is about 10:00.
Here we are , sleeping on the beach of a small island in the middle of the Mediterranean sea. Behind us the clouds are red, lit up by the lava flowing out of the volcano (to the other side of the island). We can here the waves hitting the shore, the crickets in the bushes and sometimes even the roar of the volcano. Sounds great, well, in a controlled setting it is. This was pretty...uncontrolled. In reality we are two stranded americans on a very small italian island, we stole cushions to sleep on, and we are trying to fall asleep on a rocky beach.
We are sitting and talking and laughing about our situation, thats all we could do. When i see, where all the boats are, someone walking, with a flashlight...towards us. Well, quickly we run back up a tiny hill into the bushes behind us. While running up i fell and i must have put my hand in dog poo cause when we were hiding from this guy it smelt pretty darn bad and i couldn't see what exactly it was on my hand but i feel the smell told me enough. So of coarse, just one more problem gets added, After its safe and the guy goes away we walk back down and go to the water to clean my hand. Its salt water so i felt it was going to do a pretty good job of cleaning my hand of what was on it and the smell. And it did too, but now my shoes are wet! So, I got poop on my hand, I'm wearing short shorts, and the dead rats are a bit damp, it just keeps getting worst for me. All we brought that is relatively close to a blanket was this tiny tiny towel, basically a wash cloth. Morganne just gave it to me to cover my legs. And i just put my arms into my sweatshirt. I even remember saying right before we fell asleep (or something like that...) I hope it doesn't get any colder. Well, shortly after that, i open my eyes...not to sure what from, but my sense of time is totally lost at this moment and i am shivering cold. In the same position, with the towel still on my legs. I ask Morganne if she is still awake, she is. So i say we go back to that patio we got all the cushions from and try to find something we can use as a blanket. We go back there and i find a beach towel. Well it is only big enough for one person. Again, Morganne tells me to take it and she will take the wash cloth. I wrap my legs in the beach towel and it felt pretty good. Now i am able to fall asleep. I have a couple real short dreams, so thats how i know i got some sleep. I don't know how much though, i was in and out a lot through out the night, basically closing my eyes just to pass the time.
One of the times i open them it is actually starting to get light out, finally. I poke Morganne, pretty easy to wake her up and i tell her the sun is coming up. So here we are, safely made it through the night, now we are watching the sun come up. Now we are pretty relieved.
It is 6:00 in the morning. We get up and start walking around town, a few of the locals are already out. We find the place where you buy tickets for the ferries to the other islands. We look at the schedule and see that there is a ferry coming to the island at 7:15. Unfortunately the place is not open yet, so we cant buy a ticket or even see how much they are.
So we wait on the port for people to start showing up for the ferry. We figured that to get to Lipari island from the main land it was 15 euro each, total was 30 euro. That is from the mainland to the island, we are just traveling from one island to the other, so we figured that would be cheaper and we were pretty much in the clear and we could afford the two tickets. Its just that place still isn't open. People start arriving and eventually we can see the ferry off in the distance, we turn to one guy to ask if this ferry was going to Lipari and he said yes, then we asked if we were just buying tickets on the ferry. He seemed shocked, the ferry is now docking, scheduled to depart in 5 minutes and we don't have tickets. He told us the office is open now and that we needed to run to get a ticket quick, i was pretty much half way there already before he finished that sentence, with 30 euro in my hand. I run up to the counter and ask for two tickets to Lipari, the guy takes his time and prints them out. Total is 33 euros...we were short 3 euros....and this guy is stiff, he wants his three euros.
So now I'm running back to Morganne to see is she has any coins at all. She has one more euro, and the man that we were talking to, after Morganne explained our story to him, Frank, helps us out and gives us what we need. Im running back, with a balled up wad of 35 euros. I throw it down and the guy gives me the tickets and he takes his time...printing out the receipt....i am panting, not having to run this hard and this fast in a WHILE. Im running back to the ferry and i see the only people left standing there are Morganne and Frank, fortunately Frank convinced the Captain to wait just a couple more minutes for us. We run on, literally throw the ticket down for the captain and take the nearest seat we can find. We are on our way back, to our hotel, where everything of ours is at. It is such a relief.
In the first couple days of being on Lipari island i was saying that it was going to be hard for us to leave this island, just like how it was to leave Rome. On that ferry ride back, for the first time on this entire journey, i was ready to leave, to the next country. Im done with Italy. After a quick stop in Rome though of coarse!
Its hard to believe that it was just last night when i was shivering cold trying to sleep on a beach of a small small island in the middle of the Mediterranean. That was definitely an adventure i was not prepared for.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Lipari: First Volcano day.
I went to a volcano today. On an island part of the Aeolian Islands, called Vulcano Island. It is the southern most island of the seven and it is the first from Sicily. Lipari, which is the island i am staying on, is the second, and then behind Lipari is Salina. The islands then split off in a Y direction, going east is Panarea and Stromboli and then going west is Filicudi and then Alicudi.
These pictures were all taken on the boat ride to the island
This is taken on the walk approaching the volcano.
Pretty good stuff right here...
Here is one side of the volcano. To get a perspective of the size of this thing, we are at the bottom now, while looking up you can barely see the people at the top. They look smaller than ants...they look like fleas.
This is while on the path going up the side of the volcano, alot of wash outs. From water....and LAVA!
Then i was on the moon...
Being on top of the volcano is seriously like being on another planet, it is so insane. This is the great crater in the center of the volcano. It is deep, really deep.
The gas that is coming out of the ground there is sulfer. At first arrival on top of the volcano you think "Wow, it smells like fireworks" and you know, it reminds you of the fourth of july and celebrations and fun times in the summer. Quickly after that you think "Wow, i think im going to be sick." There was a class of students on the top of the volcano when we got there, what this picture is of, is them walking through the gas.
Moon picture.
Yup, after they went through the gas, i got right in there! At the point of taking this picture i have my sweatshirt coving my mouth and nose and i am still coughing so hard and my eyes are watering. You cant breath this stuff in, your body just wont let you. Even with my mouth and nose covered up i would hold my breath but when i would lose that and try take a breath in, i wouldnt be able to.
The view from the top was awesome, at the begining of the day it was a bit cloudy, but in he middle of the day when it was sunny and clear you could see all of the Aeolian Islands except for Alicudi, which is the furthest of the islands.
Here i am again, getting right in there for that perfect picture.
Its like im working for National Geographic now, risking my body for a picture of some sulfer crystals.
It feels great.
Again, moon picture. By this time we have started our walk around the crater.
Now we are on the other side of the crater from where we started.
This picture, i am looking from Vulcano island, straight ahead is Lipari island and then to the left in the distance you see a mountain and that is the first mountain of the two that make up the island of Salina.
Here i am, my name is Lance and i am standing on top of an active volcano on an island that is part of Italy.
This is behind the volcano that i am on. It kind of looks like another volcano, it might be actually, im not exactly sure. But it is definatly a long extinct volcano that now has vegetation growing all around it.
Here you can definatly see Salina Island. It is the furthest mountain to the left.
View, we are now at the highest point of Vulcano island. You can BARELY see Panarea in this photo, unfortunatly it was still kind of cloudy at this time.
Here is the crater again. Almost straight across the crater is where the last picture of the crater was taken.
Soil.
Here we are again, walking through the gas again...
Looking down into the village while we start our decent.
You can kind of see a road down there. Thats how high we are.
So today was pretty succesful. For the first time with my own eyes i saw a volcano then I walked to the top and around the crater of that ACTIVE volcano. First of all, i never though i would ever see an active volcano in my life. Definatly not when i was 22 years old, and certainly didnt think my first volcano expiriance would be half way around the world. So, i did that today. Tomarrow we are going to Panarea and Stromboli, which is another volcano. It is basically a volcano rising out of the sea. Which is very active, as in, the last eruption was this past august and it erupts maybe once every week, and can have multiple small eruptions throughout the day. So tomarrow we are hiking up Stromboli and it will be my first time to see real, real hot magma....lava.
Pretty cool.
I added pictures to yesterdays bog from when i fell asleep at the beach.
Pretty cool.
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