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

I climbed 999 steps and then had to come back down LOL

Palamidi Fortress

A couple of days ago we stayed in a town named Nafpoli, which I was told was a very romantic place full of cafes and ice cream parlours. But since my romantic heart is in Toronto, I was in the mood for some adventure. At the top of a mountain (did I tell u the mountains are devastatingly beautiful here?) there is a Venetian fortress from about the 1400s. When Greece gained its independence in 1830, one of their war heroes was captured and kept in the fortress in a tiny room with no windows for 2 yrs. Apparently some of the ruling powers didn’t want him to take control and become president as the people really loved him.. When they let him out, he was blind and soon died of an pneumonia. He’s a great hero in this town and myself, Silvia and Ken wanted to climb up to the fortress and see the place where he was kept.

So up we went… and up… and up… until I thought I was gonna die up there LOL. When we reached the top we had to pay 4 euros and we got to see the prison and a garden that were part of a much larger fortress that required much more climbing LOL.


So worth it! I was sooo restless and this really took the wind out of me :)

How Agamemnon won me over

Greece has been unbelievable - the mountains and islands alone have been breathtaking. There are so many picturesque places to see, and everywhere you turn you want to take pictures LOL. On our first day of touring we went on a cruise to visit three islands - Poros, Hydra and Aegea. The islands were amazing, though Greek cuisine and services, leaves something to be desired... on the islands, Mom and I walked, shopped, and sat in a café to have some Greek coffee and people watch. It was everything you see in pictures and more. Although the Greeks say times are hard and tourism is their main source of income, there were a lot of wealthy Greek people on the islands with a ton of ships and boats in every port. The prices for souvenirs, coffee and food is reasonable though despite the conversion from dollars to euros.

Archeologically, we’ve been to the Acropolis/Parthenon and Zeus’s temple. The Acropolis was magnificent, though not as large as I expected from pictures. Our group got there early and I went on ahead and had the opportunity to sit beside the large temple and imagine the Greeks coming and going through this site more than 2000 yrs ago. There was a lot of construction happening around the temples and the hosts of the sites are very aggressive about not touching or stepping anywhere near the sites. I appreciate their concerns but some of them took their jobs a bit too seriously and startled some of the older tourists LOL - after about 20 minutes of being alone, waves and waves of tourists began approaching and I decided it was time to bolt :)

Zeus’ temple was everything I saw in pictures LOL - knowing what it looked like in antiquity made it really interesting for me - as you can see from the pics it isn’t much to look at, but if you Google what it used to look like you’ll see why I love it.

In the afternoon we went to see Asclepius’ Sanctuary - he is the god of healing and the place where his temple and sanctuary is has an energy that is evident even if your not sensitive to such things. And in this sanctuary, I found A SMALL TEMPLE TO ARTEMIS! A temple to Artemis in Epidaurus, Corinth - I found it by fluke and couldn’t believe it :) there isn’t much left but as many of you know, Artemis is my obsession, so seeing one of her places in this sanctuary was really significant.

Every night Mom and I go for a walk with some people from our group, and either get some coffee or ice cream... the group is great - there is one Canadian woman with us from B.C., Silvia, a young guy from Malaysia, Ken and a really nice couple from California, Romeo and Juliet (for real LOL) - there are lots of Brits, which have been great and a few other Americans.

Today we are in Mycenae where we’ve visited Agamemnon tomb (hypothetically, its very likely he wasn’t buried here, but, as Barrie says, “If not here, then somewhere nearby” LOL). What was it about this site that made me feel like I was really here? I don’t know... I don’t even like Agamemnon and couldn’t be happier that Clytemnestra killed him, LOL. Maybe it was actually seeing all those goddess statues and figurines... maybe it was walking among the tombs, alone, in silence... maybe it was finally standing in the places I’ve seen in documentaries and books for so many years... whatever it was, I felt ‘here and now’ and I haven’t felt that way in a long time... maybe since Costa Rica...

Mom has been really great about leaving me alone to walk among ruins and into museums. I cant thank her enough both for the trip and for her continuous attention to my needs. Since I’ve been here I have been told 6 times that I look like Drew Barrymore LOL - and today, in a fabulous ceramic shop a ‘beautiful Greek’ as the ladies called him, asked for my room number at the hotel LMAO - so, aside from ruins, there are other things to see and do in Greece, hahaha hahaha.

Tonight we are staying in Sparta, and I am told that the Artemis temple is close to our hotel, so myself and a couple of our group members are going to hike over to the ruins and I will stand where the Spartans worshipped before every battle...

Vlad’s Palace in the City

There isn’t much left of Vlad’s city place. Some people say the communists destroyed it all after they took the city, others say it was all kinds of fires and earthquakes (there are many earthquakes in Romania). The ruins we walked through were enough to inform us about the way he lived - like royalty... most of what survived was underground where the servants lived and worked. After about 20 minutes of walking around and taking pictures we were left with nothing else to see LOL


My baby cousin (though not a baby at 21yrs - or so she thinks LOL) thought we should go see a museum. As I’m game for any museum, anywhere, off we went. Thus, my aunt, cousin, Ma and me ended up in the Museum of Rural Homes (Museu Satului) - I don’t know if the translation works but anyway, it was a large open area outside where the government brought homes from all over the country from about the 1400s to the late 1800’s (pics coming soon or on FB). It was really interesting - especially at one point when we walked into one of the homes which looked exactly like my grandfather’s house (on my father’s side). Even the smell came back to me... and the memories of that summer on the farm came back like a hurricane. I had to take a minute in there to remember sleeping in my grandfathers’ bed (after he passed away in it - creepy, I know, but not when I was a kid). They even had a pillow in there with a cover that looked exactly like the one I have at home! After my grandfather died I slept on his pillow - I loved it so much that his wife (his second, not my grandmother) gave it to me :) I still sleep on it today - even now I’ve taken it on the trip with me! The cover, being hand made, started falling apart after so many washes over the years - I have packed it away and keep it in my room :) I loved that last summer in Romania, with my brother and my relatives on the farm...


After my cousin and aunt dropped us off at home it was time to head out to one of my mother’s best friend’s house for dinner (how grammatical errors in that sentence? LOL). We walked over as they live close to our hosts. I remember Tututa and her family from when I was a kid - my brother and her three boys grew up together. I love this family as though I never left them :) Tututa as welcoming and generous and hilarious as ever... the little kids (her grandkids) sweet and polite and so much fun! And the boys' wives were welcoming and easy to like right away... before the men got home it was just us women, and I instantly felt like home LOL. I was both really happy and sad... Cristina hugging Luisa reminded me of me and Bay, Carmen yelling at Addi to settle down reminded me of yelling at Nes LOL - dogs kids, women... it was fabulous. When the men came home (Razvan and Raul, cause Robert is away) we started looking through old photographs. OMG! Unbeknownst to me, my mother had sent pictures over the years! OMG and there were pictures of me as a kid, as a teen, as an adult - it was sooo embarrassing LMAO - mostly because my mother decided to send all kinds of pics, in the house, in the pool, everything! I almost killed her while at the same time we almost all died laughing. At least Tututa had a heart and also brought out pictures of the boys which were less embarrassing cause they were babies, but still fun to look at and crack jokes at their expense. We had such a great time we lost track of time, and Tututa and her granddaughter walked us home. Technically the neighbourhood is not supposed to be dangerous, but there are so many packs of hungry dogs everywhere that they come out and attack people at night. Every night you can hear them fighting and attacking each other - last night I think they bit someone cause I could hear a woman screamming and man came out and was yelling something at them - I couldn’t hear over all the barking and roaring…

Overall a great time spent with family and friends… tomorrow we go to Vlad’s tomb…

Blog u later
XOXO

Elevation 2200 feet! Dracula and Old Ladies on the Mountain

Climbing the Carpathians is an adventure that sometimes leaves you breathless. Here I drank milk from the cow (not literally, but almost LOL) I watched farmers mow their lawns with their sickle, St. Bernard’s laid at out feet at dinner, and I stood on a geologically preserved rock formation called Babele (Old Ladies) on the plateau of the mountain :) - it was an amazing two days.

Although we did most of the climbing in a car, the serpentines which you need to drive on to get to the top were insanely dangerous and abrupt. Most of the time I was holding on for dear life LOL. The way up the mountain was truly beautiful - I don’t think the pics I took do them justice. Along the way we had to watch out for sheep and cows which would cross in order to find a new place to graze. Every now and then a horse and buggy would appear, but we were driving so fast I couldn't take very good pics.


We arrived on the mountain to a place called Fundata. It has a little Inn where we spent the night. We had lunch (amazing food) and headed out to Drac’s Castle in Bran (further up the mountain).

Drac’s Castle:

Drac’s Castle was kind of small... but I am told that he didn’t spend too much time here, and it was used by him as a retreat of sorts. There was some furniture in the bedrooms and the dining rooms, but most of the rooms were empty, with little information as to what the rooms were used for, and by whom... one room did hold some of his outfits and some of his weapons... the courtyard was really pretty and in the middle of it was a wishing well... Ma gave some young girls some change to make a wish and then talked me into making a wish as well LOL - my favourite part was a secret cave way, where you could climb up to a different floor - when we started the climb I immediately felt constricted and creeped out by the small space and the stony interior - it was a lot of fun though :) I’m guessing Vlad and his people must have been really short because all the doorways are about 5 feet tall, and I had to bend to enter every room... no one seemed to be able to answer this question but then, there really wasn’t anyone around to ask. We wondered around the rooms, and the garden, and then started the climb back down to the front gates. Although Romanians aren’t really into Vampires, when it comes to Vlad you can see that tourism is starting to change that as everywhere you turn there are shops for Dracula souvenirs (not very good ones so I didn’t buy anything) and haunted houses LOL - I didn’t go in them but thought of Bay who would have loved them LOL. Overall, it was great - and although all the small stairs were a lot to climb up and down it was well worth it :)

From there we went back to Fundata and had an enormous dinner. I’m sure I’ve gained at least 5 pounds but Ma says I must be crazy LOL. I spent the night watching Shrek Forever on my laptop and Ma read her book. In the morning we had another enormous breakfast and started our climb to the top of the mountain.


Babele:

On top of one of the Carpathians (Mountain Bucegi) is a geological conservation. Here you will find several rock formations which are supposed to look like old ladies sitting around talking... you can see the pics and let me know what you think... Ma says I came here when I was a kid and although I remember coming here, I don’t quite remember what the rocks looked like. She says back then they were not as worn by weather and people, and they actually looked like old ladies. Nevertheless, the view from on top of the mountain was breathtaking. With the cloud hovering near the top you felt as though you entered another realm. I took a video of the trip down so you can see what it felt like - awesome! Ma tells me there are ways to actually walk up the mountain but it takes a whole day and we just didn’t have the time or the equipment necessary for this adventure. But as we got into the teleferic (cant remember the English name for this thing that took us up the mountain) there were people with tents and sleeping bags getting in. Once you reach the top of the mountain you could pretty much walk from one mountain to another over the plateaus... it’s really a fascinating experience. There’s an enormous cross on top of one of the mountains built there in memory of military heroes - it was about a 2 hrs hike to get to it, but because it would have taken us 4 hrs to get there and back, we would miss the last teleferic heading down the mountain... maybe next time :)


Once we came back down the mountain we headed out towards our last stop... The King’s castle. But that’s a story for another blog ;)

Burying the Dead

Today we finally laid my grandmother to rest. It has taken us a year to get her here, but since this was her last request, it was well worth the trip and the enormous amount of stress that was required...

My grandmother was a pioneer during her time. Not 'pioneer' as in coming to America LOL but pioneer as in the only one of her kind, in her community. She was born in 1916 during WWI to a wealthy family, the second sibling of 5 children. Although extremly well off she felt as though she was often ignored and forgotten. This may have contributed to the development of a bitter personality that rarely warmed up to people or even her own family.

At a young age she fell in love with an Italian boy and he asked her to marry him... her mother denied this request as tradition dictated that the oldest sister be married before the others (my great aunt was not yet even engaged). My grandmother was devastated... Bruno (her fiance) was forced to leave Romania because the communists were decending upon our country and it would not go well for foreigners caught on our soil. I dont think my grandmother ever recovered from this heart break... Bruno would continue to visit her for 10yrs or so, staying for short periods of time. It was from one of his last visits that my mother was conceived. Having a child 'in flori' as we say or out of wedlock was unheard of during this period. But my grandmother could care less. She was working as an engineer (again unheard of yet), had her own house and thought that maybe my mother's birth would make Bruno stay for good. Needless to day this did not happen - whether for political reasons, or personal, Bruno never asked my grandmother to marry him again.

There is much to say about my mother's childhood (some good, many bad) but it is not my story to tell... yet :) Needless to say, my grandmother was a single mother in a hard world - the communists took everything from my greatgrandparents, including my greatgrandfather's life. My greatgrandmother died later from cancer.

As for me, I was my grandmother's everything (along with my brother of course LOL) She adored me and I was fascinated by her. She gambled, smoked and often had late parties at her home. When I was a kid I often fell asleep under her Remi table. I thought she was brilliant even if she had a mean streak and a vicious tongue. To me she was (almost) always sweet and generous.

When we were leaving for Canada we spent our last months living in her house. It is one of the few memories of my childhood that I have... I have gone to visit that house today and I was so glad that its still standing and almost exactly the same as it was 25 yrs ago. Once we settled in Canada, we sent for her to come and be with us. She spent the last 20 yrs in our house except for the yearly summer vacations back to her home.

The day she died I wasnt there, I was working. She was 92 yrs old and I guess it was bound to happen at some point. But I have always felt terrible that I did not get to say goodbye (devastated is more like it) She was hard to live with and I wish I would have had more patience, more of the love I had for her when I was a little kid... this last request was an honour for me to complete. I hope that she is now at rest... I tried not to cry at the burial as most people there (other than Ma) would not have really understood why I miss someone who was so difficult. I guess its hard to explain... Now our duty and the main purpose for being here is complete. Tomorrow Ma is taking me to more childhood places, to see if I remember any of them... I'll keep you posted ;)

XOXO

I'm such a baby

Leaving has been the hardest part. The stress if getting good seats in the plane, making it through with all our baggage, and clearing customs with my protein shakes turned out to be more than I expected LOL

But the hardest part was saying goodbye to the kids and Collin - never have I've been away this long and I could barely stand it not to cry. My son's red eyes and tears almost sent me over the edge, but I really had to pull it together so that we dont ball our eyes out by the customs agents. Bay was really brave and didnt cry... she just held on to me for a really long tiem :) - I miss those hugs already :(

Plane ride sucked, as all plane rides tend to suck, especially if they are 8 hrs long. We arrived in Paris and switched planes, which went fairly smoothly, and I have to say that the French are much friendlier than I had been led to believe :)

We arrived in Bucharest greeted by happy faces of friends and relatives I barely remembered... I met my cousin Mihaela for the first time and instantly fell in love. She is a beautiful, generous and intelligent 21 yr old with a hot temper and a sharp tongue - I was hooked line and sinker LMAO - she freed me from my relatives and proceeded to take me out and show me all the great sites of this city in which I was boen (pics are coming). It has been such a surreal experience to be a tourist in the place where I come from - taking pictures constantly and barely speaking the language, makes me stand out as foreign... My baby cousin graciously showed me all the sited and manouvered her vehicle through what I very loosely call traffic... armageddon driving would be closer to the truth but I'm not sure even that truly describes the experience of being in a car in Bucharest during rush hour.

We took a boat ride through Parcu Herastrau, then walked around to feed the swans and finally grabbed some ice cream and some mineral water and headed out to see the second largest building in all of Europe, Casa Popurului.

Honestly, I had a really great night/day/night - I thought I would be exhausted after flying 12 hrs and meeting everyone I havent seen in 25 yrs, or ever LOL - but the feeling of being 'home' and 'away' was too creepy and made me really hyper and excited... most of my mother's friends spent most of their time reminiscing about my childhood, which to be honest, I hardly remember... it's almost as if I'm hearing stories of some other kid, in a foreign land, which I barely recognize...

Now, I gotta go - hot tea and a good night's rest should be enough preparation for the phenomenon of burying my granmothers in the morning... miss you all

XOXOXO

How to carry a body, a bikini and digging tools

As some of you know, I am heading out to Europe for the next five weeks. I leave on Thursday, May 27th and come back Sunday, July 4th (if I was American my return date might be more metaphorical LOL)

With only a couple of weeks left to get ready I am trying to figure out how I am going to do all the gazillion things I plan to do in such a short period of time.

So here are some of the things I will absolutely do on this trip:

1. I will take my grandmother's remains back to her home and bury them alongside her ancestors (and her husband) - more on my grandmother later.
2. I will go see Dracula's favorite haunts including his castle and his burial place.
3. I am definitely hitting some major places in Italy: the Vatican, Verona (where my mother's father comes from) Florence, Tuscany, Pompey... and many others
4. I am then heading out to Greece - here I will go to Athens, Sparta, Delphi Myconos etc.... I can't even imagine what it will be like to stand in the footsteps of the ancient Greeks - I've dreamt about it since I was 4 yrs old and my first real reading book was one of Greek myths
5. Finally, I will take a cruise ship to Turkey where I will visit what remains of the object of my doctoral thesis, Artemis' temple - from there I will go on and visit Mary's house as well as John's... don't know how to feel about this yet, seems far away as it is the last stop of my trip.


Along the way I will post as much as I can about what its like to travel in the footsteps of vampires, Greek gods and Romans. This is my first return home (after 22 yrs) but I think it will most likely be my last. There is really no one left there since my enormous family is scattered all over the world outside of our homeland. This is what happens when people try to escape the atrocities of a dictatorship.

I am also trying to figure out how to sync my Picassa album to this blog so you can see pics as I upload them... we shall see how that endeavour goes LOL...