Thessalonica, Greece

Well, I haven't written as much as I hoped I would. It's been very hard for me to find an internet cafe that I can blog from, or maybe I've just been putting off writing because sooo much has happened in the last couple of days. Let's see. After Florence, Italy I went on to Naples, Italy where I went to Herculaneum and took a bunch of photos. It was really interesting. I liked Naples much more than I like Rome. The people were nicer. Yeah it was a little more dirty but I didn't mind that. Everyone told me that Naples was a dangerous place too but I found it very nice. It was on the beach. The hostel I was staying at was really really nice and my roomates that night were really cool. I really enjoyed it. From Naples I was supposed to go to Bari and take a ferri on Blue Star Ferris to Patronus, Greece and take a train to Athens, Greece.

Well, the train that was supposed to take me to Bari for the ferry was full so I had to wait another day. So I took a day trip to the island Capri off the coast of Naples. It was absolutely beautiful. The water was blue like I've never seen before and the water was sooo warm. So I spent the day their, I collected rocks for Betty. The beach their had some very unusual rocks. Blue, clear, pink, green, red, all sorts of colors. I even found some marble shards and pottery pieces. I can't wait to give them to her. I've been collecting rocks throughout my trip through Europe to give to her when I get back. Carrying all these rocks around though can get a little annoying! Hehe. It'll mean a lot though.

Well, I got to Bari the next day and the Ferry was full and they wouldn't let me or anyone else that was there, and there were a lot of people there, book a ticket for the next day. You had to be there on the day of the boats departure. There I met four Australians. Ben, Leesha, Marcus, and Roxanne. I'll post a picture as soon as I can but they were really cool. They were all a little older and were traveling everywhere. Ben, Leesha, and Marcus are all school teachers for 5th graders. Roxanne, whom they had just met that day, was a police officer in Australia. She didn't strike me at all as a police officer. It was really wierd. She was very sweet, feminine, and pretty. Yet she was a hardcore, drug busting copper. Well, we all got together and decided to stay in Bari for the night and then try again tomorrow. We all hung out walked around the bustling town of Bari until we got bored and then went to bed. The next day, bright and early in the morning while waiting in line they sold out on the last tickets for the night boat, the morning boat had already left. So we got angry complained a little bit and then decided to find another city with another port. So we did some research and found another town, Brindisi. So we took the train to Brindisi found the ferri and got a ticket. We got the night boat on the ferri. This was one of the highlights of my trip. To sleep indoors it was 65 Euros. To sleep on the deck was 45 Euros. In my state of stupidity and thriftiness I picked to sleep on the deck. Not thinking that I didn't have a sleeping bag and that when they ment the deck they ment outside on the d-e-c-k, like under the stars with the ocean breeze blowing on you all night. We also found out that the reason we couldn't get a ferri was because the country of Italy just went on vacation for the month. That's what I like about Europe. Each country designates a month of vacation and everyone that can leaves. So I slept outside on the deck of a boat with my 4 newfound friends. We had a goodtime. The next morning we pulled into Patronus, Greece. Ben, the 24 year old 5th grade teacher thought it would be fun to jump off the side of the ferri once it docked. So he did. I got it on video. It's probably one of the craziest things I've ever seen. He just walked up to the side of the boat and said, (paraphrased of course and with an Australian accent) "Man it would be cool to jump off the side of this ferri." So I said, "Yeah right, but if you did it'd be cool. If you do let me get my camera." He told me I should do it too but I decided to go get my camera instead. With memory stick rolling sure enough he did it. You shoulda saw the face of the Italians and Greek people both on and off the boats reaction. I was just waiting for the boat sirens to go off and Man Overboard to be anounced on the intercom but funny enough nobody really noticed. After that we got on the train, almost lost our luggage cause we put it on the train, jumped the tracks and ate at a resturaunt and the train started up. That was exciting.

The train ride was fun, some Greek girls were flirting with me and about 5 greek guys were asking me how life was in America I told him the truth. Everyone's fat and it's expensive to live there. Rap music is dumb and the streets aren't paved with gold. Hollywood is fake and movie stars or more famous here than there. I pretty much bursted their bubble. Especially when I told him that European girls were much more pretty. The train rode along the coast of Greece towards Athens. One of the neatest things I saw were sunken ships half exposed above the ocean's surface. I wished I had enough time to get my camera out.

I got to Athens and got a hotel and went to bed. Ben, Marcus, and I shared a room. We were ambushed that night by the girls next door and their plastic BB guns. That's what we get for forgetting to lock the door. The next day I decided not to go with the Aussies island hopping but to see Athens for a day and then go up to Thessolinica and then to Budapest. I saw the Parthenon and all the tourist junk. That night was the funnest though. At about 11:00pm, when all the tourists go to bed all the greeks come out to play. I sat at a resturaunt with a guy that I was rooming with whom I just met that day from Quebec and we talked and listened to a greek band which consisted of two guys singing and playing a guitar and a bouzouki. It was really good. I forget the guys name from Quebec but he was a sailor that worked on an icebreaker ship. So that was pretty cool.

The next day, which is today, I booked my train to Thessolonika and then walked through the national gardens where a bird pooped on my head. That really sucked but all the old Greek people feeding the ducks and birds were happy for me becuase it's a sign of good luck. I didn't think so. It was embarrasing, I ran to the nearest spa and washed my hair and took off my shirt and cleaned it off. Funny, when I first entered the park I saw a guy doing the same thing but I just thought he was doing it because it was hot. So I got out of there as quick as possible. I then boarded my train, road 6 hours. I met a family from Austria and talked to them for a little bit. Now I have to get on a train to Budapest, Hungary. The trip will take 30-36 hours. I was bored out of my mind on my way HERE! My iPod is critically low on battery, I've run out of books and I'm not tired. At least I got a bed car so I can sleep horizontally.

Well, don't want to miss my train.