When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie that’s… Oh forget it! Lets go see the volcano!!!

Artemis in Pompeii? No surprise there :)

Pompeii is the most fascinating of the ancient ruins I’ve seen in Italy. It is so well preserved and so massive that we almost died of sun, and heat, out among the temples and ancient shops. The guide took us through what used to be a luxurious merchant city. There were three main temples and all worshipped the Olympian pantheon. My favourite of these was the temple of Artemis and Apollo. The guide seemed convinced that it was a temple to Apollo but when I asked him what evidence he had of this he simply said that women were not held in high esteem during the early period in Pompeii so the temple must have been primarily for a male god. I am not as convinced since the evidence places both gods on opposite sides of the entrance aiming an arrow at each other… it seems to be a playful challenge between siblings… have to look into it when I get back.


We then went to a famous brothel where we saw many original mosaic decorations of several sexual escapades, and a variety of sexual positions displayed on the walls of the building. There are many penises in Pompeii… that’s right I said penises, LOL! Apparently it was good luck to have penises on your house/building or in your entrance, or veranda. There are also many penises that point the way to the brothels. Because this was a merchant town on the sea shore, there were many weary naval men who were looking for a good time LOL. In fact, some of them even wrote the name of their favourite women on the walls of brothels or other buildings.


The sad, and creepy part about the ruins, was the bodies. There are several bodies that have been mummified in some way (cant remember the explanation) which are placed in the main square. A few of men, a woman and a dog. Because they were all suffocated by volcanic gas, most of the position of the bodies are in the trauma of dying while asphyxiated. The fact that they were placed around the square like that was really creepy… the guide tells us that there are still bones and organic matter within the corpses and that really creeped me out. I don’t know if I want to see these people in their agony… I thought maybe they should take a photo and then bury the bodies instead of displaying them. But Italians have a thing for organic relics… did I tell you in one of the churches we visited they had the blood of some saint?? Its in a big cauldron and apparently they have a ritual every year where they test whether or not it will coagulate fast enough. If it coagulates fast, it will be a good year, if not then, not such a good year - kind of like our Groundhog Day, but not, LOL. Really creepy.

Volcano Solfatara….Walking on a crater is kind of like walking on the moon…

Those of you who know me know that I’m not much of a tour bus kinda girl, LOL, so when our guide asked who wants to see an active volcano I almost hugged him… almost :) Of course the night before we had been partying in Sorrento (we’ve been doing a lot of this, as some of you have heard) and none of us were quite ready for the early morning and the smell of rotten eggs and urine (sulphuric gases).

Volcano Solfatara was apparently where the ancients believed the war between the Giants and the Olympians took place… and I don’t blame them. Walking on the surface of this monster is like entering another world. A really stinking, hot, humid and poisonous world.

Our guide was about 100 yrs old which made the adventure even more interesting :) To his credit, the old man scared the shit out of us when he dropped a large rock at our feet and we heard it echo down below (video of this will be posted on FB). Some of my tour mates actually left! - they were terrified. We pushed on though and he took us to the vents of the crater which stank so bad some of our mates almost threw up all the wine and limoncello they had last night. He then lit this newspaper torch thing he had on fire, and the smoke around us started to rise VIOLENTLY. You have to see this to believed it. It was as though the volcano could sense the smoke and fumed even more… sooo cool!


We then walked around a boiling lake, temperature 150 degree Celsius and finally came to the pit of despair. They called it the gates of Hades and so we all had to pose for pictures and see if we can hear Cerberus howl from the depth of the Netherlands.

All in all a great time in the south of Italy. With home only a couple of days away it seems we are getting rowdier every night. Last night, on our way home after dinner and drinking we sang and danced in the laneway of the bus despite the nasty looks we got from some of the more sober Brits who had the misfortune of coming out with us for a night on the island. And what kind of music unites Canadians, Aussies and Americans on the way home after too much sun and wine?? ABBA!! Ok, and the Beatles LOL.

Tonight we dine in the Tivoli gardens where I am told 100 fountains flow among trees and blossoming flowers. I’m also told theres an open bar, so wine will flow freely (again) and hopefully no one will feel like a late night bath.

Oh Romeo, where art thou... your Juliet has been turned into Verona's whore

I have always loved Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet... I think I've seen every version of the play, including the one with Leo Decaprio (which wasnt very good LOL). But I was not prepared for the fondling and whoring that Juliet endures every day in front of her balcony in Verona.

Verona

We arrived in Verona and were rewarded with classic Renaissance homes full of frescoes and sculpted balconies. In its day, Verona must have been one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Every house was lavishly decorated with images of love, flowers and history. Today, you can see the frescoes only if some of the stucco has been scraped off the walls. It seems that during the Black Plague, the Veronese thought that the houses and buildings were too optimistic for such dark times, so they covered them with plain stucco (in a variety of colours). Walking through the city we were able to see many of the nobility tombs - some of them with the bodies embronzed on a bed. The nobility of Verona called themselves 'Cane' which means dogs… they saw themselves as the big dogs of Venice, and on their tombs they even fashioned self portraits with heads of large dogs… reminds me of Snoop Dog but that’s probably just because I cant get his new song ‘Oh Sookie' out of my head.

We then passed by Romeo’s house, which is still inhabited but the descendants of the Montacherri family. Our guide says that the Montacherri family and the Capuletti family were feuding during the time that Shakespeare wrote his play, but she didn’t think that their children were tragic lovers (that part must have been Shakespeare’s own genius).


The creepiest part about Verona was the house of Juliet. Entering this courtyard you are assaulted by all the ‘love’ graffiti on the walls. There are also many love notes taped with gum on the walls of the courtyard. People have taken to writing prayers to Juliet for love and praying to her for a good marriage… huh? Do these people know she’s a fictional character? It seems in Italy anything and anyone can be made into saint. The most disturbing of all though is the new tradition of groping Juliet’s statue. I don’t know if you can see in the picture but Juliet’s right breast is shinier then the rest of her bronze statue. People climb up behind her and take a picture holding her breast. I was further creeped out by our guide who, upon entering the garden, let us know that Juliet “is very busy”. EWWW…. I could barely snap a pic because all these people were lined up to grope poor Juliet who looks away as though the humiliation is too much to bear. I don’t know if I’m too sensitive but I had no inclination to molest Juliet, even if its supposed to bring me good luck :)



Capri - where emperors forget their empires, and light comes through the ocean waves
The island of Capri should really get its own blog but I just haven’t had the time to really write that much ;)

It is really an island paradise. With a nightly rate of $800 euros, and its numerous designer shops you would think its only a playground for the rich… but it is soo much more.

We were lucky enough to book an island tour that took us up to Anacapri which is where the famed author, and genius doctor, Axel Munte built his villa over the remains of Tiberius’ villa to Jupiter. It took him 30 yrs to build it, and his effort is evident everywhere you turn.

After getting lost on his property we went on a chair lift to the highest peak of the island. The cliffs below us were stunning and I have to say that I have never seen anything this spectacular before. Once we came down and had lunch we were invited to visit Augustus’ gardens which were on the opposite side of the island and left us breathless. Augustus spent many summers in Capri naming it the garden of Eden of the Roman Empire. His collection of flowers and sculptures did not disappoint.


Once we came back down we were able to take a boat tour around the island in order to look at all the grottos and their reflection of light. Capri is famed for its colourful grottos - they have a whiter, red, green and (its most famous) blue grotto. For a small fee ($10 euros) you can have a row boat take you into the grotto and watch the light come from within the water and reflect on the walls. Amazing!

The island was fascinating and really the only place I have seen so far that I would think is worth visiting twice - other than Venice :)

Tomorrow we head to Pompeii and Sorrento. I’m looking forward to more ruins and then more shopping. Did I tell you that we have done so much shopping in Italy that we had to buy 2 extra suitcases? OMG the shopping is amazing! Leather, jewellery, shoes… the list could go on and on... 4 more days until home YAYYY - no matter how pretty and interesting Europe is, nothing beats home…

Torture chambers, medival towns and Casanova?... and you thought Italy was all about pasta LMAO

Did you notice the skulls stuck on the walls of this torture museum? Neither did I! Until I got closer...oh, and to answer your question, yes, those are real human skulls... creepy huh?

These two small hill top towns seemed to be trapped in time... medieval time that is. Surrounded by fortress towers and made of 500 yr old stone, the city felt like we were entering another world. And the creepy and beautiful aspect of this place was the smell... ancient linden trees lined the small streets and gardens. I don’t know if you’ve ever smelled linden before but it has a really strong, floral scent. At home, when I don’t feel well I usually have linden tea, and the smell of the tea alone makes me feel better :)

This small medieval town housed a gelato shop that has won the award for best gelato in the world in 2006 and 2008 - so of course we had tubs and tubs of gelato!


Sienna and San Gianino
Each town had a cathedral, and of course all cathedrals and churches in Italy are amazingly decorated, usually dedicated to the Virgin and contain some kind of a relic. The odd thing is that most of these relics are body parts from saints... I’m finding this tradition a bit creepy. For example, the church in Sienna is famous for housing the mummified head of St. Catherine, the patron saint of Italy. Her body is entombed in Vatican city... creepy to split a person in two, and people go and pray near the head or the body... there are plenty of churches who have pieces of famous people and saints - livers, kidneys, hearts, heads etc. In Florence, parts of Dante’s body are buried the Church of the Cross, and other parts are buried in different parts of the country... strange huh?

Florence


Florence was a bit of a disappointment. If it wasn’t for the visit to the Uffizi Museum to see the original Botticelli, Rafael, Michelangelo and Caravaggio, I would have written the whole day out of this blog. However, my opinion may have had something to do with our heavy partying the night before (I have been assured that video clips of this night of debauchery will be posted on youtube) and the lack of sleep we all suffered from by being forced to wake up at 6:30 in the morning. But it also probably had something to do with all the construction going on at the main sites, and the fact that the Florentians are ‘economizing’ their water supply by not turning on their famous fountains.

Sometimes, the central mood of a tour is dictated by the people on it. I am privileged to share this tour with a bunch of rowdy Aussies that have been on the road about as long as I have. Consequently, we were sooo ready to let our hair down (no significant reference to Spartan custom) and have a good time. I’m not going to share tales of bar hopping in Italy, but I will mention that it has been refreshing to finally hang out with women who share my enthusiasm for late nights and good looking men (though I cannot keep up with their enthusiasm for wine, but they’re ok with that).

*** I should note that since I’m more into the tall, dark and dangerous type, Italy really hasn’t had much temptations for me - but Italian men have earned their reputation for being forward and charming, and that’s still really sexy in a man :)


Overall, Florence was really crowded and polluted. Cars and vespas everywhere and the buildings, although built during the Renaissance, were fairly run down - they are slowly being rebuilt so I think Florence will one day be as beautiful as it once was. That being said, there is nothing like standing in front of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and Michelangelo’s, The Holy Family. I stood in the galleria dumbfounded by the realization that art I've been looking at since I was a child stood all around me in its original form… it was almost a spiritual experience… no, it was better then religious… it was beautiful…

So far Italy has been everything it promised to be. With the exception of crowds of tourists, and long lines for towers and churches, Tuscany has given us breathtaking vistas and great food. This morning we’ve divided the bus between the ‘oldies’ (poor Brits) and the ’troublemakers’ (not my term, this is what the tour guide is taking to calling us). The so called troublemakers are sitting at the back of the bus LOL where I am right now, and the others at the front - the thing that makes me happy is that Mom has taken a seat at the back of the bus along with me - but those of you who know Mom already know she’s a troublemaker supreme, so its not really a surprise is it??? The honeymooners have chosen to hang with us though they’re not rowdy or causing too much trouble hahaha, of course, they’re in love and have no time for our antics hahaha….

Next, we are spending the weekend in Venice, and I hope it will be all that Shakespeare has promised it would be ;)

Under the Tuscan sun, or rain... Italy does not disappoint…

The moment I arrived in Italy I felt like I was home. The people are friendly and welcoming - the food is delicious and most dinners so far have had 6 courses LOL, I feel like I’m at an Italian wedding everyday. The language is familiar and I can finally understand the signs on streets and stores… everywhere you turn there is some fabulous sculpture or some beautiful fountain… our first night in Roma has left me breathless.

When we arrived in Roma we slept for about 6 hrs. Our blazing sun-hike, the day before in Braurona, had taken the last bit of energy we had left. I wont bore you with the details of this hike, but I have to mention that Mom accompanied me for the whole trip, save the last 2 km to the museum, when she could not stand in the heat any longer.
She took a seat by the ruins and waited for my return. For me, the walk to Braurona, and the extra hike to the museum, was more than worth the effort. The ruins are of one of the rarest, and most famous, of the temple of Artemis within Greece. The museum contained pieces that, up until recently, no one had either viewed or been allowed to photograph. When I walked into the museum the hosts were so surprised they nearly fell out of their chairs. They said no one ever really comes up there. They must have been even more surprised by my taking pictures of every single artefact and inscription.

That night, we had to get up at 3:30am to catch the flight to Roma and I can barley remember the flight or how we got to our hotel. Once we were up, and actually conscious, we took a tour of Roma and its famous fountains, as well as the Spanish steps. Although each site was packed with people I felt more alive and happy than I have in a few weeks.
Music played everywhere, food smelled delicious, and everyone was relaxed and having a great time. The only downside to all this was all the couples - yes, Roma seems to be the honeymoon capital of the freaking world this week!!! I don’t know if its me (I’ve been away from love for so long) or if I just happen to notice all the lovers making out, or holding hands, or doing annoyingly romantic things in public.

Lovers aside, the atmosphere in Rome is intoxicating… and with the soccer game on every TV (Italy vs. New Zealand) the energy was borderline giddy.

Dinner was in a restaurant that was built inside the catacombs of the old city. The food and music was lively with everyone enjoying their free drinks and entertainment. I think it was one of the first times when I laughed and sang at dinner since I boarded the plane in Toronto.

Overall, a great first night. Tomorrow we head for Tuscany, where I hope, despite the darkening clouds, that I will awake under the Tuscan sun.

To my loved ones, I miss u and think of you often… Italy reminds me of Woodbridge, like nowhere else (no surprise right). To my man… I am already planning our escape when I return ;).

XOXO

Meteora - where I climbed violent rocks and found salvation

I had never heard of either the monasteries of Meteora, or the gianormous rocks that puzzle geologists even today. But the most compelling aspect of this treacherous and pious hike was how the monks and nuns built this place on the rooftops of these expanding monoliths.

The monasteries were built about 800 yrs ago by monks who wanted to escape their ‘modern’ conditions. You could still see the early scaffolding in some of the caves within the rocks, and this morning, there were rock climbers taking on the challenge of the frightening rock walls. In the beginning, there were 20 working monasteries with nuns and monks living on site - today, only 6 remain. We went to see the monastery of St. Stefan. The climb was rocky and hot. We climbed about 125 stairs and then reached the courtyard… from which we climbed some more LOL.


It was the night before this excursion that I found out I lost my best companion, Kaney dog. Thus, I was in no mood for viewing anything, even less for climbing. I kept crying under my sunglasses and tried to stay away from people as much as possible. But there was something about the exertion of climbing that helped me stay focused, and in the moment. When we reached the top, I headed for the monastery.

In the Greek orthodox tradition (in which I was raised until about 10 yrs old) there are altars outside the church area where one can light candles for the dead, or for the living. We had seen a few other monasteries on this trip and, at first, I didn’t want to light anything because I didn’t really feel connected to either the religion, or the site. But there was something about Meteora that allowed me to feel spiritual enough to light a candle - one for the living, and one for the very recently passed away. Maybe it was the height and enormity of the work and sacrifice it took these people to build this monastery… maybe it was the quite gardens or the friendly priests… or maybe I just really needed to light a candle. Whatever it was, I felt… reassured… about the care and peace of my loving companion. I was glad for both the sunglasses, and the space that my tour mates allowed me, to stand in front of the altar with a candle in my hand and remember…

Feeling a little better, we left Meteora and headed back for Athens… this will be our last night with some of our tour friends and then we head out on a cruise to Turkey.

Last night with new friends :)


My last night with Ken and Silvia was great! For 3 people from different corners of the world, we got on fabulously well. We met at the hotel and jumped on the Metro (subway) to make our way downtown Athens where we could visit another ancient site (The Agora) and have some dinner and drinks.

The Metro in Athens is very clean and fast. It wasn’t difficult for us to make our way downtown, to the heart of the old city, The Plaka. Ken had originally planned to use his ticket for the both of us to get into the archeological site, however, when we got there we found out only one of us could go in. Ken insisted that I have the ticket as he had already visited the site, and I got to walk around the ruins of the Agora with my camera and the sun setting :) Thanks Ken, again :)

Once I came out of the ruins we began our hunt for a good place to eat. Greek food is terribly bland and we were bored to death of Mousaka and Souvlaki LOL Ken was looking for curry, Silvia was looking for something fresh and different, and I was looking for something vegetarian LOL - So we hiked up and down the streets of Athens with waiters and restaurants hosts enticing us (fairly aggressively) on every corner, to come into their restaurants and taste their ‘good’ food. And then, there came a light at the end of our tunnel - JAPANESE!! It was perfect :) everyone ate what they wanted and we all shared a pot of green tea, and a pitcher of Saki LOL. All in all a great night, spent with new friends who will now wait for pics and emails upon our return to our own homes and loved ones. Thanks Silvia and Ken for a great night in a fabulous and very ancient city :)

Now, on to Turkey! Hopefully, the men will be better looking, the food will be better tasting, and the wait staff will have some clue as to how to split a cheque LMAO

Olympia and Delphi: The stadium of naked warriors, and the god of light

Olympia

We spent the morning in Olympia learning about the games in antiquity. Here are some of the things I found interesting, or I didn’t know before coming here:

- Greek men competed naked - Greek women competed with little clothing on. They never met since the men competed in July and women in early spring.
- The temple of Zeus housed this massive statue, and a smaller and earlier temple to Hera stood within the stadium.
- Priestesses of Hera sparked the Olympic flame as they still do today (although they are actresses now, not priestesses)
- Plato won 3 times at the Olympic games
- Participants were warriors not athletes. If they won, they had the honour of standing on the front lines in battle, and probably died an honourable and quick death LOL
- One of the events was a mix of boxing and wrestling which reminded me of MMA
- All wars stopped during the Olympics, including the war with the Persians - the Greeks took a month off to prepare for the 5 day religious and honourable event.
- 100 oxen were sacrificed for Zeus and the meat was shared amoung the approx 40,000 pilgrims, nobles, royalty and warriors.
- Greeks ate only sacrificed meat at religious festivals so they actually ate much less meat then we eat today... the idea that we must eat meat everyday because we are carnivores certainly doesn’t come from antiquity.
- Although women could not compete or watch men, the wealthy ones would send their chariots and horses to compete, and their names would be honoured if their horses or chariots won a race.


Delphi

I had been looking forward to Delphi since we first started to plan this trip. However, I must say that Delphi was a bit of a disappointment... the site itself was great, and the temple of Apollo as impressive as I imagined. But there seemed to be something missing... I guess I was expecting the oracle center of the Mediterranean world to feel more... I don’t know... magical? I cant say that I felt anything other then hot, LOL. Our guide was fairly good, although she seemed rushed, and later we found out that she had another group right after us. There seemed to be a bit of a herding feeling in Delphi... like they were putting us through an assembly line and then sending us off to the museum.

One of the things that was missed which I was hoping to see was the place where the Pythia (priestess/oracle) sat and gave her prophecies. Apparently, the location was somewhere in the basement of the temple and we could not walk there as no one is allowed on ancient ruins. We were told that at one point, right under the temple of Apollo, there were two tectonic plates - not much of geologist so bare with me, LOL - this split in the earth’s core would send up Methane gases. If the priestess stayed near the gases under the temple then she became intoxicated with the god (Apollo) and went into a frenzy of hallucinations (a side effect of methane gas) and spoke, or mumbled, or cried, which a male priest then translated into a prophecy. Around 4th century A.D. a great earthquake moved the plates into a locked position and the god was no more...

Overall both Olympia and Delphi have been interesting. The best part about Olympia was pretending to race Ken on the ancient track, LOL, and Delphi... maybe drinking from the sacred fountain where the ancients were said to wash themselves and drink before they went to see the oracle.

Next, Meteora - monasteries from the 12th century built on rocks the size of mountains :)

Sparta - “The Lonely Planet” guide book says you wont miss anything if you don’t stop in Sparta… Really??

What can I say about the feared Spartan warriors famous for their tradition of throwing infants into mountain valleys? Whose women were renowned throughout Greece for their sexual prowess and aggressive training and education? For a tribe whose leader, Leonides, led a group of 300 soldiers who held back an entire Persian Army? I’d say, don’t follow guide books, Sparta is worth a day of exploring :)

When we arrived in Sparta the only thing I really wanted to see was Artemis’ temple. History tells us the Spartans worshipped Artemis, which is not surprising as she was the goddess of the hunt and of wilderness... But she was also the goddess of protection, birth and healing. Before every battle the Spartans would stop outside their city and sacrifice at least 50 goats in her honour. At first, none of our guides knew about this temple, which was odd. But I was lucky enough to ask one of our day guides at Agamemnon’s tomb, and she let me know that the temple was still in existence, and it was within walking distance from our hotel - HOORAY!!


After checking in, Silvia, Ken and I went on the hunt (hahaha). First we stopped at the statue of Leonides which stood at the edge of town in front of a stadium. Then we started our search for what the signs called ‘Ancient Sparta’. The amazingly interesting thing about this town is that it's built on top of ancient Sparta. Which means that many of the ruins show up in the middle of streets, between houses etc. We found a cobbled road aligned with olive trees and decided to follow it. Luckily it led us to our destination. Ancient Sparta is partially excavated with bits and pieces at the top of an Acropolis (hill). I can only describe it as eerie… the mountains are beautiful and fearsome… the olive trees grow in fields, and I could easily imagine how the Spartans became such stoic warriors just by being in this atmosphere. On the hill we found ruins of a theatre, and many towers and fortress walls.


The forest on the hill was made even creepier by the distinct sound of buzzing... Ken and I were sure that the trees were full of bees, or other large insects, but Silvia maintained that the sound was from the wind blowing through power lines which surrounded the bottom of the hill... we weren’t convinced, but the sound made the eerie atmosphere even stranger LOL.

Once we came down the hill I was determined to find the temple of Artemis Orthia. Ken needed to do laundry so he left us, and Silvia and I bumped into some young German guys who were on a road trip through Greece. Silvia speaks German, and they spoke a little English, so we managed to understand each other LOL. We asked them about the temple but they also had never heard of it, so after our ‘get to know you’ conversation, Silvia joined me on the hunt (LOL) for Artemis. I am lucky that Silvia is a seasoned traveller who speaks like 20 languages so she was easily able to approach strangers and ask for directions. Finally, we met a young Greek woman who knew where the sanctuary was and could direct us... her only caution was that the temple was in an olive grove and Greek gypsies were well known to live in groves such as this one. She told us we would be safe, but to make sure we didn’t indulge them is they came begging. Happy to have found directions, and a little weary about the warning, we manoeuvred around modern streets to find our destination.

We reached the temple with no sign of gypsies or any other people. It was enclosed by a high fence and a small kiosk where you could pay to get in. Unfortunately it was closed - Greeks close on Mon and Wed at 12pm, and on the other days usually by 3pm. But the fence was iron cast so I could see everything and stick my camera inside to take pics. Our search was so worth the trouble... to imagine the Spartans stopping here before battles and worship my favourite goddess... for me, it was definitely a reason to stop in Sparta.

Our driver is Spartan and he stopped in the valley which legend claims is the place where Spartans threw children that were not ‘healthy’ or passed their inspection. Antonis (our driver) says the valley has been excavated but no bodies of babies were found (bones, I mean). However, they have found many bones of males apparently with their hands tied behind their backs - these were the bodies of rebels, as Spartans did not tolerate any challenge to authority. Apparently the legend of throwing babies into the valley is just that, legend. He also told me that Spartan women were known for their sexuality, and were able to take a lover even when married... hmmm... LOL.

Oh, and apparently they liked to let others know they had intimate relations by wearing their long hair down after a night of passion LMAO.

A culture worth reading about, and a city definitely worth stopping in. Next, Olympia and Delphi :) - naked men and oracles oh my!

XOXO