Bulgaria, Belgrade

September 12 - 27th, 2007

A late train from Greece dumped me off in the wet, barren city of Sofia, Bulgaria at about 2am. Not wanting to go through the pains of finding a room for a few hours, I chose to catch up on some emails at the expense of some much needed sleep. I divided my time between a 24 hour internet cafe and wandering the silent streets until I could catch the early morning bus. The damp cold must have crept back into my lungs as the Ios cough squeezed even harder.

Arriving in Belgrade I was completely exhausted and almost immediately fell into a motionless 16 hour sleep. My cold worsened and I literally retired myself to bed for several days. Since I had met a bunch of people in Belgrade before, I already had a social circle, and decided to put my camera away for most of my stay. I managed to catch part of a Serbian soccer match, watched Serbia win the Davis Cup doubles tennis tournament, made nickel bets on the horse races, enjoyed movies and popcorn, visited a local small town, taught a 'golf lesson', enjoyed the weather in the parks, and received an informal education in music.


Belgrade, Serbia. Sava church, national library (where nobody is allowed to wear shorts for fear it would distract the studies), and a community park in front (where people are allowed to wear shorts, unless of course they intend to enter the library).

Athens/Thessoloniki, Greece

September 4th - 11th, 2007

As the Ios-cough began to tighten its grip around my throat and lungs, I was barely able to survive roaming the markets and boutiques as well as the ruins that were scattered around the city. Luckily I had seen the Acropolis before heading down to the islands, and all I could manage vertically was a short hike to a vantage point overlooking the city. Although Athens is not touted as a great destination due to the dirtiness of the city, it does have some hidden cafe districts that were pretty cool.

Two very calm nights led me to believe a recovery was on its way, so I boarded a 6 hour train up to Thessoloniki without a seat reservation. When I arrived, my couchsurfing hostess Myrto picked me up at the train station and took me to a trendy cafe to meet some of her friends. It was immediately apparent that Thessoloniki was a much more attractive city than Athens, with much more attractive people in it! Since it was the weekend, Myrto was keen for an adventure, so we decided to drive down to an area in the Piliou Mountains. The drive took us past Mount Olympus and up into the hills of Piliou where the mythical centaurs roamed in ages past. We drove through small villages nestled in the hills, orchards and beehives on desolate dirt roads, and along beachside resorts which were now quiet from the summertime hordes.

Darkness had set upon us, and we needed a place to stay... but not before a bite to eat. We stopped in a small village and heard music playing down in the hills. Following our ears, we discovered an outdoor wedding in full swing in an absolutely magical place amongst an old church, one of the largest trees I had ever seen in my life, and plenty of stonework. Urged by the smell of the roasting wedding dinner, our stomachs directed us a few short steps away to a quaint restaurant/hotel called The Lost Unicorn. Not only had the centaurs vanished from these hills, but it appeared that some irresponsible soul had also lost their unicorn. Sometime after midnight, we found a hotel room with an ocean view, but had to wait until morning before checking out the amazing beach and rock formations.

Sunday evening we left Piliou and drove back up north for a self-administered therapeutic massage from the thermal waterfalls. Back in Thessoloniki, I kept drinking mountain tea to help rid myself of my cold. I also accompanied Myrto to her English teaching class as her advisor and evaluator from Canada... I think the children were a little scared!

Athens, Greece. View from beneath the Acropolis and out onto the city.


Athens, Greece. View of the Acropolis and the Parthenon.


Athens, Greece. Acroplis.


Athens, Greece. Random ruins in the city.


Athens, Greece. Besides the mythical centaurs and unicorns, I hadn't realized they also had to fear Romania's vampires as well. At least this guy and his dog are armed with loads of garlic. I didn't dare talk to this guy for fear he might say HHHHHello...

Piliou Mountains, Greece. Myrto looking out onto the beaches.


Piliou Mountains, Greece. Massive tree where wedding was held the night before.

Piliou Mountains, Greece. Octopus hanging about.

Somewhere Outside Thessoloniki, Greece. Natural thermal waterfalls.

Greek Islands - Santorini, Ios, Naxos

SANTORINI (August 25 - 30, 2007)

The postcard-perfect blue and white buildings of Santorini are built on the sides of sheer cliffs dropping into the blue ocean hundreds of feet below. The nightlife of Fira, the sunsets of Ia, and the black sand beaches of Perissa are the major attractions for this island created from past volcanic activity. The hostel in Perissa was quite lively, and I met a good bunch of people to explore the island with.

IOS (August 31 - Sept 2, 2007)

After a fairly quiet and relaxing time in Santorini, the hedonistic island of Ios tempted us with its infamous stories of good DJs and a decent dose of craziness. Unfortunately, Ios lacked more than just good DJs... it also lacked style. We managed to find great food (Thai and Mexican) and also scored an amazing room to stay. Ten euro a night per person afforded us air-conditioning, large beds, private bath and shower, free internet, a friendly bartender, a swimming pool, and freedom from snoring hostel-roommates!

One afternoon while lounging by the pool, Andrea was captivated (held captive??) by the half-greek/half-thai child that belonged to one of the hotel bartenders. Looking for reprieve from her unofficial baby-sitting agreement, I was summoned to help out. We ended up borrowing this super-cute kid (Marousha(?)) from her parents and took her into town for ice cream. We got several curious looks from people that included 1) those people that thought we were a couple and thought we had a cute child, 2) those that actually knew Marousha and wondered why two strange people were carrying her around, and 3) shocked and unexpected looks from our friends when they saw us with some random child!

NAXOS (Sept 3 - 4, 2007)

Years ago, a short story named Naxos Nights left an impression on my yet untraveled-mind... Written by a young Canadian traveler and author (Laurie Gough from Guelph) her adventures lured me to the same site that her story took place years ago. With a desire to escape the tiring atmosphere of Ios, Naxos offered a laid-back alternative. Dan, Andrea, and I enjoyed more Thai and Greek food, scootered across the mountainous landscape, and chilled out on the beaches.

Leaving Naxos, we had to endure a painful 9 hour ferry ride up to Athens. Thankfully, the devastating forest fires and falling ash in mainland Greece had ceased, however, the dreaded "Ios-Cough" had started to devastate my own system... and I wasn't even kissing anyone to make it worthwhile!


Santorini - Perissa black sand beach



Santorini - Part of The Santorini Crew - Karim (Canada), Colette (US) , Myself, Carolyn (US), Dan (Canada), Andrea (Australia)


Santorini - Myself, Brooke, Andrea, and Dan


Santorini - The girls doing shooters.


Santorini - Ummm... I'll leave this up to your imagination.


Santorini - Umm... leave this one to your imagination too!



Santorini - Relaxing watching volleyball at Perissa Beach.


Santorini - doors and plants.


Santorini - plants and shadows.


Santorini - stairs, shadows, and door.


Santorini - plant and shadow in the setting sun.



Santorini - Houses, stairs, on cliffside.



Santorini - white walls.



Santorini - windmills.

Santorini - Volcano tour, viewing port at base of Fira.

Santorini - Tour boats at the volcano, white-washed cities on the clifftops in the background.

Santorini - Fresh seafood on barbecue.

Santorini - white, white, white.

Santorini - Blue church, white walls, and shadow.

Santorini - Dan posing.

Santorini - Flowery entrance to cliffside restaurant.

Santorini - view from above.

Santorini - view of very cool blue pool, from above.

Ios - Our private 'resort'.

Ios - My temporary family for an afternoon...

Ios - just lounging by the pool!