Europe 2007
Greece, June 12
Long-haired, free-spirited Harvey is 30 years old and has been living out of a backpack since he was 16. Fourteen years of travel and I could still see the boyish excitement in his eyes as we rode the rickety, almost third-world train along the Greek coast, past beaches, palm trees, and fruit trees so close to the windows that we could almost reach out and steal a snack. "I love travel!' Harvey kept repeating. We met him at a ferry port in Italy and he travelled with us to Athens, Greece. So much of this trip is the people we've been meeting along the way. Aussie Dave was our Italy friend. We met him in Pisa, he shared a hostel with us in Florence, and then we met up again in Rome. Backpacking, we've discovered, is almost its own culture. Everyone has a story, whether it's escape, a last fling before a full-time career, fulfilling a dream, or just...adventure.
Rome was one of our favourite places. It's like every history book come to life. What are you supposed to feel when you're standing at the base of the Colosseum? - the COLOSSEUM!!! - this massive piece of architecture that, even in its deteriorating state is still a marvel. When you run your hands along its cold stone and close your eyes, you can almost see it - 80,000 seats filled with crowds shouting, people jeering...and in the middle, some poor soul armed with a joke - a spear and a shield, maybe a helmet. Those walls could tell some gruesome tales.
Or how about St. Peter's Basilica?...walking past a glassed-off room where THE apostle's bones are buried! Then sitting in on an Italian mass where the cardinals with their red hats sit proudly beneath the incredibly ornate gold and bronze altar features.
But one of the most exciting moments of Rome was discovering that the Pope would be coming down the street of our hostel. We expected maybe a small entourage of cars, but he was preceded by thousands of people in various costumes, raising banners and crosses and pictures of Jesus and Mary. All the while Italian hymns rang out from the convent across the way and the streets filled with singing. We joined in in English for the one hymn we recognized. Finally, the Pope rode in front of us. His 'pope-mobile' was nothing but a fancy-covered seat on the back of a pick-up truck. He looked very solemn and stiff and we had to wonder how much a man like that must have to pray for humility - this man that millions look to as God's voice on earth. Behind the truck we looked and saw a sea of flickering candles - at least 10,000 people. It was incredible, and beautiful. We ran up the street and slipped through a barricade to join the procession. We felt a bit like the North American impostors, but we linked arms in an attempt to blend, then tried to contain our excitement of the moment as Italian voices envelopped us and crowds of nuns whispered prayers.
After Rome, we hit Pompeii. Now that's a story. Let's just say, for reasons we won't get into now, it was NOT a good day. After a series of disappointments, we were determined to get to Mt. Vesuvius - at least then we could maybe salvage something from the day. But when the bus stopped on its way up the volcano for an advertising gimmick, we started calculating the time we had left - even if we left now, there was no way we could do the estimated hour and twenty minute round-trip hike to the crater and still make it back in time to catch the bus we needed. And the rest of our trip depended on that bus. To top it all off, Nichole was sick. But she was also determined. When we got to the base of the hike, she grabbed a walking stick, intent on cutting that hour and twenty minute time in half.
"We have to turn back!" Erin and I yelled after a gruelling 15 minutes up the hill
"You guys go!" she yelled back. "I'm going to run the rest of the way!"
"You should NOT be running up a mountain in your condition," Erin said and whispered to me, "I'm going to go with her but don't worry - we'll be back in a couple of minutes. We'll never make it."
The two sisters took off up the hill, so intent on their goal that they hardly noticed the incredible view beneath us. And...they made it. They reached the top, breathless and hot, but still standing. Erin ran back to get me then we all stood there in awe, staring down into this giant, smokey crater that so many years ago buried an entire city. Then we turned around. The whole city - or what looked like the whole country - was beneath us. We pulled out our cameras and took some quick shots as we ran back down the mountain. We were some of the first to arrive at the bus. HA! In your face you "hour and twenty minute estimated time"! ...we conquered Mt. Vesuvius in 32 minutes flat. We celebrated with over-priced ice cream (yes, I have addicted Erin and Nichole to Magnum bars) and marveled at how all the frustrations of the day seemed lost up there in that crater.
A night train (sans couchette) and a 16-hour ferry "cruise" (as we were calling it) later, and we were in Greece! Erin and Nichole have been trying to brush the dust off the remnants of university Greek classes, buried deep in the crevaces of their brains.
And now, another train and another ferry later and we're in Mykonos, one of the many Greek islands. The place fits perfectly into every stereotypical picture of Greece I've ever imagined. I don't think coloured paint exists here other than in blue. White-washed with blue trim seems to be strata code for the entire island. Narrow stone streets, rolling hills dotted with crumbling buildings, gyros stands every 10 feet...yep...this is definitely Greece. Today we layed on "Paradise Beach" all day on fold-out beach chairs. Guess what colour they were...blue. Rows of blue chairs interspersed between little straw hut tables. And the beach turned out to be educational - a human anatomy lesson, that is. We've never seen so many boobies, and...uh...other parts, in my life. Apparently the Grecian people (or is it the tourists?) are a lot more liberal. After some intense sunbathing (life is rough), Erin and Nichole decided to test the waters of the Mediterranean and swim out to some rocks. Nichole wiped her hand across her face and there were little worm-like things that fell off. Suddenly her lips were turning numb and the whole left side was swelling up. We found out that it was a sting from a sea anenome and luckily her lips returned to their normal size after just a few hours. But we had to laugh...count on Nichole to get stung by a random sea anenome in the lips.
After Mykonos, we ferried back to Athens in style (boo-yah business class!) and quickly saw the Parthenon, the agoras, the theatres and the temples. And then it was time to part ways as I flew home while Erin and Nichole flew back to Paris and then trained to Thonon to continue their journey.
So here I am typing away at my desk while I should be packing for summer camp...guess I'd better get some laundry done! Adios, amigos!