I must admit each time it becomes harder and harder to decide who I spend this time with and when. I think I’ve got it mostly figured out.

Always hate the few days before hand when I’m rushing around trying to get last minute things sorted before my vacation.

I’ve decided that I will start blogging again more regularly…since my opinions are cherished by so many of you. Plus what better way to keep you all entertained with my wit!

Anyways…be sure to add me to your RSS feed and see the latest about the ‘Exciting Life of me’.

TJ

Thursday,  18 March 2010

Got off work an hour or so earlier than usual and that was a mission and a half just to do that…but that’s a whole other painful story that I won’t bore you with.

Got to Heathrow in good time. In fact, it took only 40 minutes from the time the driver picked me from the Office till we arrived at the airport. British Airways the airline that I was flying with had their cabin crew going on strike during the period that I was to be away. As a result my flight was moved forward by one or two hours, the reason for leaving work earlier than planned. It’s always a joy leaving from Terminal 5, it seriously takes only 8 minutes from curb to be on the other side of security.

Flying from London to Athens takes just a little over three hours and with the time zone difference I arrived just a little after 9pm. Sat next to an American girl from Minnesota on the plane, she was nice enough and was good for a laugh. I asked her what country she would be least interested in going to. Her answer (after looking out the window as we were landing and seeing a Lufthansa (German Airline) plane taxiing down the runway), was: “I never want to go to Lufthansa”…trying not to laugh I queried: “Lufthansa isn’t a country do you mean Lithuania?”…her attempted recovery was even more amusing. “If Lufthansa was a country I wouldn’t want to go there anyway”. Hahahaha How mental is she.

Picked my bag with little delay and caught the x95 Express Bus directly to Santagma Square, then got a taxi to the Intercontinental Hotel where I was staying while in Athens. I had a view over to the Acropolis and it was pretty both at night and during the day.

MAP OF ATHENS

INERCONTINENTAL HOTEL ATHENS

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Friday, 19 March 2010

Woke up to stunning sunshine and clear blue sky. Always a treat when you are on holiday.

Headed out on foot after getting a map and directions from the hotel concierge. Found my way through the back streets to a street market where they sold fruit and veg. I loved the Orange Trees that line the streets loaded with ripe oranges. Stopped at a Bakery and got bottled water and something to eat while I was out and about. Made my way up to the Monument of Filipappos which has a superb view of the Acropolis and back down towards the port as well. (see my Photosynth below)

Teamed up with Rolf (who lives in London), he was really helpful in taking pictures. We had a good laugh too while doing it. I think he made me do more pictures of myself than I would normally. Was we wondered around the Acropolis and took probably more photos between us than your average Japanese tourist on holiday.

I then spent about three hours at the Acropolis Museum which is at the base of the Acropolis. Really interesting learning about ancient history. I didn’t realise that Drama and Theatre first began as a religious act as part of worshiping Greek gods. The floor of the museum is really neat as portions of it are made of thickened glass that you walk on and can see the ruins below that the museum is built over.

As I was walking back to my hotel I stumbled across a live music video being recorded so I stopped for about 30 minutes and watched and listened as the two women played their instruments. They were really good and it was fascinating just listening to them. (watch the video below)

By the time I got back to the hotel the sun was starting to go down. So I ordered room service and had a nice long soak in my 6ft soak tub before climbing into my king bed and falling asleep.

VIEW FROM FILOPAPPOS HILL

THE ACROPOLIS

GREEK MUSIC LIVE AT THE ACROPOLIS

 MY PHOTOSYNTH OF THE ACROPOLIS 

FILOPAPPOS & ACROPOLIS (ATHENS, GREECE)

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Saturday, 20 March 2010

Slept in till a little just after 8am. Dressed and wondered down to breakfast. It was a wonder buffet breakfast, with the whole ensemble including chocolate gateau (not exactly sure who would eat that for breakfast but I was good and refrained from giving in to my chocolate desires).

Took the hotel Shuttle bus to Santagma Square where I wondered through the National Gardens, then took a slow walk up Lycabettus Hill. While I was admiring the view, I struck up a conversation with Robert who asked for directions. We sat and chatted and admired the view for a couple of hours. Interestingly enough he also lives in London so hopefully we will catch up again. It was great being able to just enjoy the sunshine while watching the world go by from the top of the hill.

On the way back I wondered down the other side of the hill and found myself outside the Academy of Athens which has amazing architecture!

Walked back down as far as Hadrian’s Arch and was heading back to Santagmar Square to catch the Hotel Shuttle back to the hotel when my wallet got pick pocketed. I felt it pretty much gone straight away, but since I was in a crowd of people I had no idea which way to look to see who might have taken it. With help from the Assistant Manager and concierge I then spent the next four hours back at the hotel calling my banks/credit card companies to cancel my cards and reissue. I also had to arrange emergency cash as I had absolutely nothing in terms or money. HSBC and Mastercard were great they wired me funds immediately via Western Union. Unfortunately by the time I got to a Western Union just on 8:30pm they were closed. So had to wait until 10am Sunday morning till they opened. Meanwhile, I was supposed to be catching the 7:30am ferry to Santorini. I went and completed a police report and that was challenging considering English was not the officers first language. They made me walk 4 floors of stairs because their crappy elevator was out of service. This was just so I could fill out a report.

I then started wondering if I should just end my holiday early and head home, cutting my losses. Then my better judgement kicked in and I thought no I’ll wait till the morning and figure a way of completing my trip on a high note.

Got back to the hotel and opted for room service since I had no money which to buy any food anyway so it was the perfect excuse. I must say the meals were amazing. I then turned in for the night.

ATHENS FROM LYCABETTUS HILL

MY PHOTOSYNTH OF THE ACADEMY OF ATHENS

NATIONAL GARDENS & LYCABETTUS HILL

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Sunday, 21 March 2010

Woke up to another brilliant day. Packed my bags and showered and headed down for breakfast and to store my luggage with the Bell Service. Got the hotel shuttle bus back into the town centre got my 900 euro’s went to the travel agent which was about 3 minutes away, purchased return tickets by plane to Santorini. As it worked out my flight even though it was leaving Athens in the afternoon would get to the island about the same time had I caught the ferry.

So with pretty much a good four/five hours to kill I decided to head back to the hotel and settle my bill which needed to be done before noon anyway. I also took advantage of their safety deposit box, which is just like they have at the bank where you get buzzed into a secure room, get passed a locked box through a slot in the wall, you put whatever you want inside and hand it back to the person on the other side. You watch why they use their master key and another key to dual lock the box in the vault, then they give you the key and you are allowed to exit the locked room.  I decided to leave all my emergency cash along with passport since I’m now paranoid about loosing things.

I then took the hotel shuttle once more back to Santagmar Square where I went and explored, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Plaka (the old town), and then climbed the South slopes of the Acropolis.

After picking my bags from the Hotel I got a taxi out to Athens Airport – which is a good 40 minutes from the city centre. My taxi driver was really friendly and pretty much gave me the low down on the Greek islands as we drove.

It was a beautiful day for flying and the clear sky gave me so great views of the islands as we flew towards Santorini. The flight only took 35 minutes so it was one of those up then down ones.

I then got a shared mini bus that was doing a few hotels in Fira and then on the way to Oia where I was staying. Oia (pronounced Eee-a), is right at the western tip of the island so you get to experience amazing sunsets. The place I was staying was Alexander’s Boutique Hotel and it was built into the cliffs in the traditional cave style dwellings. Oia is the most expensive part of the island but I think it was worth it for the experience. Alex (the owner) is a lovely man and kindly invited me to join him and his friend Martina (owns the hotel next door) for dinner at their favourite Greek Restaurant in Fira (a place called Simos Tavern).

After checking-in I headed towards to the end of the island to take photos of the sunset. I wasn’t disappointed. Unfortunately, camera’s don’t tend to capture the true fullness of the experience so even though the pictures look incredible – there is nothing quite like it in reality.

Got back about 8pm to my ‘cave room’, quickly showered and changed clothes and then waited for Alex and Martina. Simos has a really nice atmosphere and Angela and the rest of the staff are so nice and welcoming. Alex is a regular so has his table always reserved in from of the open log fireplace. Which is perfect, because the nights are cooler than the day. For starters we had a selection of various vegetarian Greek dishes for my benefit then for mains Martina had Stake and Alex had Lobster. I had a nice Aubergine and tomato dish with rice. Thomas and Maria (a Spanish couple on their honeymoon) joined us for the last part of dinner and for dessert. Thomas and Maria wer in the room next to mine at the hotel. I learned much about Greek culture and things about Santorini. Heard about places to go in Spain for a future trip. We eventually left and got back to the hotel after 1am. So much for an early night! But it was such a nice evening who could complain.

MY PHOTOSYNTH OF THE TEMPLE OF OLYMPIAN ZEUS

TEMPLE OF OLYMPIAN ZEUS, PLAKA, SOUTH SLOPE OF THE ACROPOLIS

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GREEK ISLANDS AND SUNSET – OIA SANTORINI

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Monday, 22 March 2010

Slept in till about 8:30am then had breakfast about 9ish on the Terrace outside my room. The view is absolutely stunning. If I hadn’t been needing to get into Fira by 10am I would have probably sat there for hours in awe of the panoramic views.

Took a Taxi from Oia to Fira, purchased my ticket for the boat trip to the Volcano and Hot Springs then walked the 700+ steps down to the Port of Fira at the bottom of the cliffs. I tell you it was hard going on the knees bracing yourself from going to fast. Waited round for about 30 minutes at the Port waiting for the 11am departure. Found a good perch on the topside of the old schooner that we were on.

Probably only took about 15 minutes for us to cross to the harbour on the volcano. We were then given 1:30hrs to roam the Volcano. Get to the summit and down again before the boats departure. Everyone kind of headed up the hill quite quickly like a swarm of ants furiously looking for food. I decided to go with a quick pace but stop and take photos as I wanted. Found lots of interesting subjects and scenes to capture.

Being volcanic the ground was extremely rocky and strewn with loose scoria and chip. So you had to take care not to slip and slide too much. My favourite part was about two thirds of the way up where we had to hike a ridge that was only about 2 metres wide. Words cannot explain how exhilarating it was to stand at the edge with no rail and for it to just fall away below with an incredible vista of the blue of the ocean stretching out at your feet.

At the top there was the tell tale smell of sulphur lingering in the air with wisps of water vapour in the form of steam coming forth from yellow stained openings in the rock face. Pretty much the only sign that this was still an active volcano. Not sure if I was expecting the whole red molten lava bubbling away – but that certainly didn’t happen.

A plateau above the main creator provided wonderful photo opportunities which weren’t wasted by anyone. Took some pictures of Shoshana and Penny using Penny’s digital SLR and Penny took some of me.

While everyone were making there way down to the boats, Penny, Shoshana and I decided since we had 25 minutes left we would go climb a peak just above the bay where the boats were moored. It was a good decision, as we got some brilliant photo that wouldn’t have been possible anywhere else. I took a neat picture of the girls jumping in the air. I can’t wait to see how it turned out.

We made it back to the boat with 5 minutes to spare. It was then off to an island on the other side of the volcano to where the Hot Springs were. We anchored in as close to land as possible then those that wanted to swim had to jump off the boat, swim through the cold water to the warmer water were the hot springs were. I think only 12 people ended up going. The rest of us stayed and watched from the boat. Juan, Penny and Shoshana all took the plunge…I didn’t like the idea of having to swim back through cold water to get to the boat (yes I’m a wimp). The guy next to me was busy saying that someone had told him that its only 5 degrees warmer at the hot springs so that didn’t help to change my mind about going in.

It was then back to the port of Fira. By the time we got to the port we had completely circumnavigated the volcano! To get from the port back up to Fira at the cliff top, we had three options: walk back up the 700+ steps, take a donkey up those same steps, or take the cable car. With only 1 euro difference in price between the Donkey option and cable car coupled with the fact that they told us we had to wait 30 minutes for the cable car. A group decision was quickly made that we would do the donkey’s. Juan asked if the girls or I if we were doing anything which we weren’t, so we decided that we would do lunch together.

Riding a donkey up a steep hill was hilarious, and great fun…provided you were not the donkey. With no rhyme nor reason they gave me one of the smallest donkeys of the lot. So the poor beast had to lug me in the hot afternoon sun up to the top. He was a little goer and would over take the other bigger donkeys like he had something to prove. They would head from one side of the path to the other and bump into each other in their quest to get their load to the top. With bells around their necks and pretty colourful saddle blankets it was a slight to behold. My thighs were clinging to the side of the donkey and I was holding onto the saddle with one hand so I could take photos and video with the other. At times the donkey would come to a sudden halt and I would almost fly off. He did this mainly to rest and graze.

In Fira we decided that Red Beach would be interesting to go to. Still don’t know who came up with that idea, I suspect it was probably Juan. We checked the timetable for the buses to see what time they leave for that part of the island. We discovered that most buses would leave about 3:30pm from Fira. Armed with that information we found a little pizzeria to have lunch. I had a lovely pizza with aubergine, tomatoes and something else that they grow locally. After eating quickly we headed back to the bus station only to discover that somehow we had missed the 3:30pm bus. Still don’t know how this was possible since the bus would have had to pass us as we were walking to the bus station. But they seemed quite irregular services.

The solution – we went and hired a scooter and a quad bike and shared the cost. Juan wanted to get a Scooter and Penny was more comfortable with a quad bike. So I doubled with Penny and Shoshana with Juan. This worked out well as I doubt I would have been able to take photos so well from the back of the scooter. After taking a few wrong turns we found Red Beach which is at the eastern tip of the island. We left the bikes at the car park and walked around the cliffs to the beach. Got some great shots with the afternoon sun turning the earthy red cliff face a bright contrast to the deep blue of the sky.

With the use of Juan’s tripod, and a little fiddling to get the timer feature working on my camera we took a group picture and then attempted to do a jumping picture which clearly was never gonna be successful. I don’t think Shoshana made it off the ground once in the picture – she was laughing too much.

Juan headed back to the shops down the road to get drinks and snacks while the girls and I headed down to the beach. We then nattered while watching the sun go down. Since it starts getting cooler once the sun goes down, Juan disappeared off and got some paper and lighter. We then gathered wood and got a nice little fire going. It was great sitting looking up at the stars, hearing the gentle lap of the waves on the beach and with the warm of the fire. I was right in my element being able to keep the wood burning evenly.

Don’t know what time we left the beach but we went to where the girls were staying which was a town on the way back to Fira. The plan was that Juan was going to drop me back in Fira and then head back to do a pub crawl with the girls. It was a lot further back to Fira than either of us thought and poor Juan was cold since he was driving the scooter. It wasn’t so bad for me since he was protecting me from the wind. The roads a really windy and being dark we missed our turn at one point because we were going to fast. We couldn’t stop laughing.

After dropping me in the centre of Fira, I caught a taxi back to Oia and was at my hotel by 9:30/10pm. Showered, uploaded some pictures to Facebook then climbed into bed after a tiring but successful day in the sun.

HIKING THE SANTORINI VOLCANO – PART 1

HIKING THE SANTORINI VOLCANO – PART 2

DONKEY ADVENTURE IN SANTORINI

SANTORINI VOLCANO ADVENTURE

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DONKEY RIDING FROM PORT OF FIRA

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SCOOTING THE ISLAND

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RED BEACH SUNSET & BEACH BON FIRE

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~ TJ

Saturday, 29th August 2009

Had a lazy start to the day. Got up later and read for a bit had my morning devotion then had a chat with my Mum and Dad.

Finished off on of my 1 litre bottles of water even before leaving the hotel. Made sure I had a nice cold shower before heading out since I knew it would be warm.

Wow…was it hot outside. Just moving slightly had me sweating away and my bag wasn’t helping matters and my back was completely drenched just thinking about moving my legs. As the wall winds its way from above the port side of the city up around and down the other side that leads back down to White Tower, I approached from the port side. People have built their houses up against parts of the wall. It is a great walk…but probably best not done in the heat of the day.

The good thing is that there was no one to get in the way of me taking pictures .

Met up with Florian at the top part of the Old Wall. We sat and reflected on our journey’s around Bulgaria awhile under the shade of a tree out of the scorching afternoon sun. The view from up there is spectacular and you can see right out over Thessalonica and out into the Aegean Sea. One of the things we found amusing about being in Bulgaria is that people nod there head for NO and shake their head side to side for YES…the exact opposite from how everyone else does it. I took lots of pictures along the wall as I always do. I got Florian to take some of me with my camera and then we did one of those turn the camera on ourselves…it kind of worked.

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Made my way down to the waterfront following the wall and sat myself on a park bench in the quiet shade and read more of my book Messages to Young People. One of the things I’ve noticed is the number of stray cats and dogs who seem to amuse themselves by sleeping quietly by themselves in the park. They aren’t scungy looking either but in really good condition like domesticated animals usually are.

Have a look at this neat fountain that had some coordinated water spouts.

Waited till the sun was sinking low in the sky before heading back to the hotel, to have another cold shower.

Once dark I ventured out again to walk the streets and found a dessert cafe along Aristotelous which is the main boulevard so people watched while eating peach and mango sorbet. I then felt hungry so I walked back through the park on Egnatia and saw a family preparing to sleep the night under the stars on cardboard boxes. There were what looked like three generations, it was quite sad to see. Little children, the parents and grandparents. Got take out Pizza to go back to my hotel room with. So I stuffed my face and finished uploading my photos.

Have to be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow to get the bus back to Sofia, Bulgaria.

~ TJ

Friday, 28th August 2009

After having gone to sleep well after midnight I slept in a little till 8:30am. Got up and showered then taking photos of the Ancient Forum which is literally 30 secs or less from my hotel and from my balcony I can look out onto it (how convenient!).

Here is a map of the local area so hopefully you can follow the below narrative:

To have a good look click on the map and change to Birds Eye View

I then walked straight down the hill which leads to one of the main shopping/eating areas along Aristotelous and Nikis Ave. Found an awesome bustling market which I had read Greece was famous for. Got myself a cheap unhealthy breakfast of a extra large sugar donut a bargain I thought for €.90. There are also lots of lovely cake shops which are being a big temptation for me not to go in and buy up a load so I can gorge on sweets…mmm…yummy!! Made my way through the market which has a bunch of various things, everything from fruit and vege, fish, meat and odds and sods along with occasional souvenir shop. Everyone yelling and quite a bustle…see for yourself in the following video.

After picking up a rotunda of dried figs (love figs fresh and dried), along with some nectarines I headed onwards to the waterfront. Walked along Nikis Ave which takes you along a stretch of road where you have the sea on the right and restaurant/cafes on the right. The harbour had a few large ships out on the blue waters. Walked the 1.5 kms to White Tower which is one of the famous sites here in Selonica. Watched a horse and carriage. There are lots of pine trees that are quite stunted in their growth that line the pavements close to some of the tourist sites, as you can imagine these trees drop sap onto the pavement and with the warm temperatures here in Greece it always remains sticky…so you end up walking along making a shlick shlick shlick sound as your footwear pulls itself from the pavement. Everyone’s shoes makes the same noise so when you have a bunch of people walking in close succession there is quite a little ruckus created by the multiple shlick shlick shlick.

There are lots of Hawkers that hang around the tourist traps and try and palm off their wares…everything from consumer electronics, cologne/perfume, bags/sunglasses…as well as some maimed child they show you a picture of and then want you to sponsor. I just did the same trick I did when I was in China – pretend that I don’t understand English (hehehe)…unfortunately I had a harder time convincing this lot…course it didn’t help that I had my New Zealand T-Shirt on.

After White Tower I headed back up the the hill where I took some pictures around the Rotonda both inside and out. It was under renovation which is a strange time to do it since this is when everyone goes on holidays. Made my way back to the hotel for a short siesta from the midday heat. Got the chance the chat online with a few colleagues who I worked with when I was in New Zealand. It was great being in touch again.

About fourish I went back on the trot in search of the elusive Post Office (apparently in Greece they don’t believe in selling them anywhere but the Post Office). You wouldn’t believe the number of people who didn’t know where the Post Office was. I did come across a helpful lady who explained exactly where it was and headed me down the right path. The good thing about over here is that lots of places don’t shut until 8pm so even though by this stage it was after 5pm the post office was still open and I was able to get my stamps for my postcards. I also looked for some nice postcards to send. I’ve made it a bit of a tradition that when I travel I send a postcard from each city/destination I go to back to the Office. Of course an obligatory one gets sent back home to Mum and Dad (I’m such a good boy). With that errand over and done it was off to the seaside where I parked myself in a spot overlooking the water at a cafe and had afternoon tea (bran muffin and iced lemonade) and read my book for a couple of hours.

Found a little restaurant near by the White Tower and sat outside and ate pizza and mozzerella sticks while watching the sun get lower and lower in the sky over the Aegean Sea. After dinner headed back along Mitropoleos which is the main shopping road…all the high street brands can be found there. Stopped and picked up a couple of bottles of water for tomorrow along with some fruit for my picnic lunch. Back at the Hotel just after 8pm.

Me thinks I shall do a walk along the old wall tomorrow and apparently there is a park at one end which mind find itself lent as a resting place for moi to have a bite to eat and a little grandpa nap….we’ll have to see.

Before I forget, here are the pictures from today’s outing.

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Ciao for now!

~ TJ

Thursday, 27th August 2009

Today was my last day in Plovdiv…the old town is not that big or as impressive as I had thought it might be. It is let down by the fact that many of the ancient sites are not cared for as they should. They are often marred with tagging and clearly have become litter repositories especially broken down parts of the wall, etc. Never the less it was not as far walking as I thought from the tourist map I was given of the old town. Which was good since it was stinking hot weather and I didn’t want to break a sweat since I was doing a 8hr bus journey down to Thessaloniki, Greece.

So here are the pictures around the Old Town most of them have signs which you will be able to read what they are so I don’t have to explain it to you

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I stopped and fed myself at a nice little place near the town centre. The food was good and I wanted to make sure I ate something traditional. So I ate a Bulgarian Salad and vegetable risotto (probably more Italian than anything else) along with freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. That wasn’t expensive at all only 12 leva which is like £6. Definitely a low cost holiday destination for anyone considering something different, interesting and cheap.

Found my way back to the hotel to pick up my luggage and then headed the mile or so up the road to the bus station. Along the way I met a lady who was walking towards me with a bag and a plant hoofed up under her other arm. As she neared she started beaming a big smile and then started rattling off to me in what I can only guess was Bulgarian. So naturally I stopped and said “English?”, she then goes…”you are soooo beautiful! From where you come?” It was just too complicated to explain so I went with the simple one and said New Zealand. At this she gets even more excited and asked if I lived in Bulgaria, I told her I was here on holiday and she then wished me well and practically skipped down the road. Winning hearts around the world…represent!!

Got to the bus station around 2:20pm which was plenty of time since we were leaving at 3pm. But I always make sure I’m on time when in a city which I’m not too familiar. There were only 3 of us on a large coach which I thought was strange. It all made sense 2 hours later when I found that we had travelled via Sofia to pick up additional passengers. We stopped off 30 minutes, so I used it as an opportunity to take a toilet break, stretch my legs and find something to nibble.

We only picked up 9 other people before we headed on our way towards Thessaloniki, Greece. The country side heading this side of Bulgaria is very different. It is more mountainous with lovely rolling valleys as opposed to table lands with fields of sunflowers. I imagine this is where most of the Skiing is done in the winter months.

We wound our way next to a gorge as we headed towards the Bulgarian/Greek border. Land borders here are different from what I remember in other countries we stopped at the Bulgarian border crossing had our passports/identity cards checked and stamped by the Bulgarian authorities…then drove about 100 metres where we then had the Greek border crossing check point to contend with. Here we got held up longer than anyone really wanted. It was mainly because of myself and a woman who also was not a EU citizen. There was nothing wrong with us being let through, someone had not brought a particular stamp to this border so someone had to go get it from somewhere else so we had to wait while this happened. Well that was the explanation that was given to us.

Back on our way to Thessaloniki we arrived into the main station just after 11pm so wasn’t too bad considering the delays. I caught a taxi to my hotel and that cost me €6 and saved me walking the streets in the middle of the night without a map searching for my hotel.

Here’s a map for where I have come from and where I am now:

Very excited about exploring Thessaloniki!

~ TJ

Wednesday, 26th August 2009

Was another beautiful day in Bulgaria. Got up early and packed my bags and got myself off to the Bus Station to get my ticket for Plovdiv. Good news was that there was a direct bus meaning I didn’t have to go to Burgas then transfer again. The unfortunate thing was that I couldn’t get on the 8:20am because it was sold out. I had to wait for the 11am bus.

  

When we did finally start on our way there were several things about the Bulgarian countryside that fascinated me. They have fields that have hectares upon hectares of sunflowers growing. I’m assuming that this is to harvest the seeds and for the production of Sunflower Oil. Until now I had never really thought about how they produce Sunflower Oil. Saw the harvesting machine in action too. Its just like a wheat harvester.

They also have lots of vineyards with a single rose planted at the end of each row of grape vine. Fruit orchards are also prolific and I was able to identify; peach, apple, apricot, plum, and nectarine. They also like the rest of the EU are starting to show their commitment to alternative energy sources and have wind farms and single wind turbines dotted over the landscape.

See for yourself:

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The sobering moment of the 5 hour bus journey was passing the fresh accident scene where a vehicle had smashed through the road edge barrier, flipped and caught on fire and started the field burning. Emergency services were there and a whole bunch of cars who stopped to help put out out the fire.

Managed to find my hotel fairly easily despite not having a map. Was checked in just after 4pm. Come have a quick tour.

  

Bunardzhika is not far from the hotel where I am staying so a 5 minute walk up the road and I made my way up the hill. The view from the top is spectacular and you get a good view of the city below.

  

Went back to the bus station on my way to the Old Town so that I could book my ticket for Thessaloniki (Salonica), Greece. Cost me 60 lavs (€30) and its going to be an 8 hour journey. Will leave at 3pm and get into Thessaloniki around 11pm. From Tsentralen Square I headed down Knlaz Alexander Ratemberg (which is the main street that runs down the side of the old town. Walked all the way down to the Maritsa River.

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I was trying to take a video of the square and this girl comes and stands in front of me while I’m videoing and then gives me the whole “are you videoing me” in Bulgarian.

  

Didn’t make it round the old town. I’ll be doing that tomorrow morning. It was my 28th Birthday Anniversary today, didn’t do anything special – I did however have Melon ice cream for dinner. With all the walking and sun, I was happy to head back to the hotel upon dusk, shower and ready myself for bed. I ended up having a video chat with my parents.

More tomorrow…

~ TJ

Tuesday, 25th August 2009

It started off with some light cloud cover when I was doing having breakfast at 9am, got me thinking that it would be a dull day.

In just the short time that I was upstairs getting my day pack ready to go exploring, the cloud melted away as the day progressed till it was just as good a day as any other day so far since I have been here in Bulgaria.

Took a walk along the Sunny Beach Mall to the beach then walked along the frontage till I got to Nessebar, which is about 1.5 hrs stroll away from where I am staying. the beach is about 8km long so it must have been a good 15kms. Took lots and lots of pictures. Will do a proper cull when I get back home.

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Walked around the Old Town and the whole island. Saw are live “merman” on some outlaying rocks and took a picture to prove it. It was quite funny in a disturbing sort of way. I wasn’t the only one to stop and take pictures. So there are other disturbed individuals just like me out there (comforting I know).

Got two lots of ice cream (its like Gelato but they call it something else). My favourite flavours are melon and pineapple. Stopped and got some fruit for my lunch: Plums, Nectarines and Peaches. One of the things that did fascinate me today was seeing: Grapes, Figs and Apples all growing next to each other outside a church.

Well I must be off to get dinner. I will be back to pack as I have an early start to make my way to Plovdiv. Don’t know how I’ll get there but I will be staying there tomorrow night. I figure it will be bus or train from Burgas which is about 40 kms from here.

~ TJ

Monday, 24th August 2009

Well today was just as beautiful as yesterday, with the exception of a few puffy clouds around that would help create temporal shade from the full strength of the sun.

Started the day on a good note by not getting up till 8ish. Dressed and wondered down to breakfast. I decided to stick with Fruit Preserve and 3 slices of wholemeal toast and a bottle of mineral water. I sat outside on the terrace and watched the street slowly come to life. People already making their way towards the beach. Its always a good sign when you are sitting eating breakfast wearing sunglasses (don’t you think?).

After breakfast I disappeared back upstairs to pack my beach back with essentials: MP3 Player, Beach Towel, Book, Bottle of Water, Sulu and some Money. I headed on over to the beach…found a nice area down the beach a little where I set up shop on a beach chair next to a shade umbrella.

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Watch the following Video’s to find out more…

After a quick shower and change of clothes I headed off with my Digital SLR to take some afternoon, twilight and night pictures along the beach.

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I just discovered this evening during my walk along the beach that I can probably walk along to the beach to Nessebar so might actually do that and save my moolah. As you may have already guessed I’m doing the trip to Nessebar tomorrow instead of today.

Over and out.

~ TJ

Sunday, 23rd August 2009

Had to wake up early this morning as I had to catch the 7:30am bus from Sofia to Sunny Beach where I am staying for the next 3 days.

I had packed last night after returning from dinner so that it wouldn’t be much of a mission. I got up at 6am. Dressed, packed everything then quietly…well as quietly as I could let myself out while everyone slept. I managed to leave my map on my bed which annoyed me…this was after I had posted the key into the checkout box…so I couldn’t exactly fetch it.

Anyway…thankfully I had gone over my route the previous evening so I new the direct I needed to go. Thankfully after 30 minutes of walking I got to the Central Bus Station after passing through a very smelly underground pass…a mix of rotting vegetation, urine, human excrement and the humidity of the early morning. It was also quite dark down there so I’m glad no one was lurking.

Paid my 25 lev’s for my ticket and got to the bus with plenty time to spare. The trip down was approx 6 hours with one stop half way through to the trip for a toilet break, leg stretch and to grab something to eat and/or drink as needed.

I decided to just stick with bottled water and leg stretch in the sun.

Came through Burgas and dropped some people there. Last stop was Sunny Beach. Located my hotel relatively easily. It is on the main drag and it directly opposite the boardwalk to the beach which is about 400 metres or so away.

Went on a little expedition around the neighbourhood to get my bearings. This is like Vegas but by the sea…with a nice european twist. I compare it to Vegas because there are lots of flashy, tacky mammoth resorts that are build around multiple swimming pools.

I went down to the seaside and watched the activities happening before finding a nice restaurant about 5 minutes from my hotel. Its called DJanny’s and I must say the food is really nice, affordable and a nice atmosphere. It cost me 12 lav’s for lunch/dinner. I then purchased a beach town for 10 lev’s and headed down to the beach about 6pm as everyone was leaving. Spent a good 2 hours swimming…its been ages since I’ve done that over this side of the world. Last time was while I was on holiday in Larneca, Cyprus.

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Tomorrow I’ll probably go over to Nesebar – which is a UNESCO World Heritage listed site. You can see it from the beach. Can get there by boat or road. I kinda think that it would be cool to go by boat…we’ll see what the price differential is.

~ TJ

Saturday, 22nd August 2009

Since some of you may not know where Bulgaria is, here is a map below so you can see where it is exactly.

Map of Eastern Europe

Went for a walk to the Park today. Hung out in the Park behind the national stadium, hand a picnic lunch. Bought some pastries and fruit up the road from the hostel where I was staying Friday evening. Along with a big bottle of water.

On the way to the park I passed the Cathedral so did a circle of that and snapped a few dozen pictures so that I could photosynth it later (check out the synth at the top – didn’t turn out too bad at all). The Park was a run down version of New Yorks, Central Park. It had wooded areas, open grassy spaces and play areas too. I found a seat in the full sun near a fountain where I could watch the goings on around about and people watch. Read a fair few chapters of Messages to Young People.

After I had sat in the warm sun for a good 2 hours I thought it time to seek some shade of a wooded area and came across a quiet clearing that only had one other person at the far end. I spread out my picnic sulu, plonked myself down and had a little afternoon nap. I kept waking up every now and then for fair that I might fall asleep too long and get caught out in the woods in the dark. I packed myself up around 5ish and started heading in the direction I thought home was. I had a little tourist map with me which was a good help. Unfortunately, all the signs are not always written in the English equivalent but often in the Russian or Bulgarian script which is meaningless to me. So I managed to walk about 1 hour in the wrong direction before I realised on my map that I was headed in the complete opposite direction. On the upside I did learn one thing. Never be afraid to ask for directions sooner rather than later. Decided once I had started in the right direction that I would take a “short-cut” through the woods…mistake number two…it ended up being the long way round and was so quite I thought I might either get lost again or get mauled by a wild bear, or lynx (now I’m just being dramatic).

Finally made it back to Bulgaria Square where I sat and rested and watched the sunset while watching the people around about. Did a couple of videos, check them out below:

Found a lovely little Al Fresco place up the road where I had Cream of Zucchini Soup and Roast Vegetable Fettuccini and home made lemonade. It was a fantastic meal and was under 20 lev (less than 10 euros).

Then it was back to home base to shower and sleep.

~ TJ