Eurotrip 2006
In and around Europe
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Jen's Post-Travel Blog
Europe: May 3-June 10, 2006
People have been wanting to see pictures but instead of putting them in a boring online album, I thought I would put them up on this blog site with some commentary based on the emails I sent to friends/family while I was there.
I had previously been to Europe before on a quick 2 week trip with 2 old friends from Toronto and caught the travel/backpacking bug...I loved it. But I wanted to go longer and see more places. What an awesome surprise when my old friend from Grade 5, Steph, wanted to do a Eurotrip after she finished law school. Somehow I got this time off work and the planning began. We booked our flights, our cruise, bought our Eurail passes and some inter-Europe flights and off we went!
We decided to hostel it to save some money and meet some new people and to follow this route:
1. Athens
2. Greek Islands/Turkey Contiki cruise
3. Back to Athens
4. Rome
5. Florence
6. Cinque Terre
7. Nice
8. Barcelona
9. Madrid
10. Amsterdam
11. Brussels
12. London
Here we go...
(FYI: Steph's blog is located at www.travelpod.com/members/cauterize)
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler Jen24
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1
Alive and in Greece
We were barely alive but we made it here in one piece. The plane ride was very long and we were so tired because we essentially lost a day.
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2
Our Cruise Ship: The Perla
After our wandering aimlessly in Athens for the morning, we met our Contiki cruise tour group at 2pm to head over to the Pireaus port where we woul... Continue reading »
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3
Istanbul Pt.2: Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace
Bright and early the next morning, we rolled out of bed and continued on part 2 of the Istanbul tour. We brought along an extra pair of socks to we... Continue reading »
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4
Istanbul Pt.1: Grand Bazaar, Gyros and Shisha!
We sailed through the night to get to our 1st destination...Istanbul, Turkey! We floated through the Dardenelles to get here and it was just amazin... Continue reading »
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5
Mykonos the Maze of Gay Bars
The little town of Mykonos was amazing and so fun. I loved (and hated) that the streets were designed in a maze (to confuse pirates) cuz... Continue reading »
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6
Patmos: Ugh, Early Hike...Tally-Ho!
After shutting down the cruise ship for another late night, we had to get up way too early for our next stop, Patmos where TQ was way too excited a... Continue reading »
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7
Kusadasi: Ephesus is an Old-Ass City
After slightly recuperating from that early morning hike in Patmos, our next stop was Kusadasi, Turkey where we saw the ruins of Ephesus. It was re... Continue reading »
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8
Beach and "Boot Beer" in Rhodes
Our ship took us to Rhodes, another Greek island, for the day. Found an internet cafe that was really nice except there were about 10 pigeons... Continue reading »
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9
Santorini: The Favorite (Donkeys!)
EVERYONE NEEDS TO RIDE A DONKEY!!!
Apparently the Canadians in our cruise group were the most excited for donkey riding. The Aussies did... Continue reading »
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10
Crete Blamed for Pottery Hatred
The biggest island in Greece, Crete, was the next morning’s stop but we only had 2 hours to spend here. Strange. There was only enough time to visi... Continue reading »
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11
Back to Athens (Gyros, Gyros, Gyros)
The cruise ship dropped us off at the port in Patras and we took a bus into Athens with another Contiki group led by TQ’s girlfriend who we found o... Continue reading »
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12
When in Rome...Magee!
Steph and I got up waaaay too early to catch a flight off 2 hours sleep. It was brutal!! But we made it! Upon arrival we wandered around the t... Continue reading »
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13
Florence: In Love With David
Florence/Firenze was our next stop via Eurail or Trenitalia to be exact. Before I tell you about our crazy day, we have noted a few differences bet... Continue reading »
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14
Cinque Terre: Grueling Hike with Frizzante Wine
Off we went to the Italian Riviera, to Cinque Terre (“Chink-weh Tay-reh”) the place with beautiful greenery and water and cute little village... Continue reading »
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15
Nice: Où sont les toilettes?
The train ride from Cinque Terre to Nice is the most amazing train ride. For parts of it (and also probably when we were sleeping) you could look o... Continue reading »
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16
Lost and Poor in Monaco
After taking the short train ride from Nice to Monaco for the evening, we attempted to check out the palace. Too bad we only got to see it from afa... Continue reading »
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17
Partying in Barcelona!
Sangria, Siestas and Paella! The train ride from Nice to Barcelona was a nightmare. The French railworkers were on strike (as usual) so we ended up... Continue reading »
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18
A Very "Spanish" Time in Madrid
It was off to Madrid on the night train. Not a bad ride except for being scared of falling off the top bunks on a very rocky train with very crampe... Continue reading »
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19
Amsterdam: Death by Bike/Tram/Car/Scooter
So after partying all night in Madrid, we caught that early flight, slept for an hour an a half and woke up hung over with no hostel booked! BRUTAL... Continue reading »
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20
Mussels in Brussels!!
Belgium (they speak French, so we got to practice again) was a quick stop for us and we didn't have too much time since we gave a day away to Amste... Continue reading »
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21
C'mon England!
After our morning Eurostar fiasco, we arrived in London: the land of the football (soccer) crazed fans, C’mon England! I became an England fan in 2... Continue reading »
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