The Rob and Jerry Show

Spam?

2009-06-18T16:59:00.003-04:00

Well, it seems as though I accidentally left my MAIL2BLOG setting activated and new posts showing up here were in fact spam emails being sent to my MAIL2BLOG function.

For those of you who don't know what MAIL2BLOG is, it is an email address that I can simply send an email to and it creates a post on the blog as if I were to have posted it myself.

Anyway, spam posts cleaned up. MAIL2WEB disabled. Sigh.. people suck.

Lag time

2007-05-30T16:24:00.000-04:00

I know, I know.... I haven't provided any closure to the masses that read this blog. Well, I will. Shortly. I just need to find an hour or so to dedicate myself to the task. Its coming though.

Barcelona and the F1 GP

2007-05-14T16:47:00.000-04:00

Well, no time for big entries... photos were uploaded, see for yourself..

CLICK HERE

Got the shits from Morocco so BCN was a little uncomfortable for me.
The GP was loud. BCN is otherwise amazing.

The High Atlas Mountains and the Sahara

2007-05-11T14:57:00.000-04:00

We head out early in search of a suitable vehicle to go into the Sahara on, and find out that on short notice, most places don't have a 4x4 on hand. Trusty old Hertz did have a Toyota Land Cuiser Prado Diesel on hand for us to tool around in and so we jump on it.

Having been in countless cabs throughout Morocco, I had some reservations about driving, but my urge to explore overcame any of these feelings and I seemlessly integrated into the Moroccan flow of traffic. Getting out of town wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. We found a supermarket (rare) and loaded up on cheese, juice, bread, pitas and chips for the journey. We had to cross Marrakech to take the Ouarzazate road (pronounces war-za-zat) through the High Altas Mountains and with the exception of some minor close calls with petit cabs, we get out unscathed. Driving into the mountains was nothing short of spectacular and reminded me of Greece except there were more cars and trucks on the road. In a quick geography lesson, we had to cross the High Atlas to get to Ouarzazate, then on to Zagora, the Draa Valley and into the Sahara at the end of the road at M'Hamid. The views were spectacular.

As we were driving through a particularly lonely stretch of road, we come across an older gentleman with car trouble, and after doing a quick assessment of the situation, we deem him safe and give him a lift into the next town (70 km away) so he can get help. Of course, he's thankful and asks us in for tea when we get to his place. Tradition dictates (according to Lonely Planet anyway) that you CANNOT turn down an offer of tea without insulting the person. So we take him up on the offer and have saffron tea with him. One of his cousins was staying with him at the time, who happens to be a Berber/Touareg caravan leader who still makes caravan treks to Mauretania, Mali and Niger on a regular basis. We were dressed in some Berber outfits for a photo op and went merrily on our way.

The drive from Marrakech to M'Hamid at the end of the road is some 450km, and I rather underestimated this due to the long stretches of twisty mountain roads where you rarely go over 50 km/h. We make it in to M'Hamid around 7:30 about when it starts to get dark and fortunately find a guide/desert thingy operator that was still open to do a desert overnight. We hammer out a deal and get an overnight in the desert, a camel ride, and a guide for a 4x4 trek into the Sahara for what works out to $75 each, dinner, breakfast and lunch included.

The night in the desert (no dunes here, but far enough away from civilization to see the stars in twilight) was very quiet. It did seem to be a general area where other operators took tourists because you did see similar camps out in the distance. A French couple got lost stargazing some time around 11pm and stumbled into our little neck of the woods by accident. I of course, firmly believing in karma, help them out by grabbing a flashlight and escorting them toward one of the lit camps. Anyhow, peaceful.

The next day started out with camel racing... self explanatory... Camels can be cranky and make the most unsettling noises.

The best part of the day was the 4x4 expedition about 70km into the actual Sahara via bumpy and sand logged trails. Before you tree huggers get at me for being environmentally unfriendly, there are countless little settlements along the edge of the Sahara that rely on 4x4 access for supplies and whatnot, so it wasn't just us destroying nature.

The little Toyota didn't get stuck once, although I did have to kick it in to 4x4 low range to get out of the many sand pits that had to be crossed. It was a bumpy ride that saw lunch at an outpost some 70km from town at the Erg Chigaga dunes.

In general, seatbelt use in Morocco is almost non existent and nowhere do people use them. We were always securely belted in the whole time on the road and on the trail, except for the guide that went off road with us. There was one point where I was getting a little more confident in my capabilities and the Toyota was bouncing around a bit on the uneven trail. I think I scared the guide a bit at one point when he started to tug at his seat belt in a futile attempt to put it on. Of course, when the road is rough the seatbelt tends to lock and he couldn't actually pull it out. Ahem... hehe..

Anyway, we get back to civilization (relatively) and asphalt roads and make our way back to Marrakech. We do stop at in the Draa Valley to look at the oasis in the desert. The Draa Valley is known to the locals as the Valley of 3 million palms. And they're probably right. It stretches several hundred km along the Draa River.

I was hoping to outrun the oncoming darkness and was actually making good time. I really didn't want to drive the narrow twisty roads of the Atlas Mountains in the dark, but the sun set just before we hit the highest pass and the way down had to be done at night. This especially when the roadside safety standards for Moroccan roads are slightly lower than those of Ontario's. There were plenty of locations where there was a barrier between the road and a 2,000 foot drop, and there were more locations where there was NO barrier between the road and a 4,000 foot drop. I can proudly say now that I survived driving a Moroccan mountain road at night. We got in to Marrakech at 11pm.

On a sort of sad note, we came across a spot on the road where several vehicles had stopped and people were out standing at the side of the dropoff looking down. As we drove by, I saw that there was a crumpled truck that had apparently gone off the side and was resting on a ledge some 100ft below. We didn't stick around, there were plenty of people there and I can only hope it wasn't tragic.

Anyhow, tomorrow we relax, see a bit of Marrakech and get ready to return to Spain for the last week of our expedition.

Marrakech

2007-05-11T14:33:00.000-04:00

Thankfully, all of the laundry dried enough to stick it into the packs, but not 100%. What lie ahead was a 3 hour train ride into Marrakechm up against the High Atlas mountains.

Up until now, we were quite content with the train service and the AC that was provided on it. Up until now. The day started out fine in Casablanca, not too cold but mildly cool and without need of AC. The train of course had the AC on when it pulled in to Casa Voyageurs station. The problem occured some 1.5 hours into the train ride where the AC decided to fail. That wouldn't have been a problem if Marrakech didn't hit some 35C that day, and a train full of people can generate some fierce heat. When we pulled into Marrakech, sweaty and dehydrated, we hoped that finding a place to crash wouldn't be hard as was the precedent in Morocco. Nope. No rooms to be had at 5 places, and we walked away from one vacant place but they wanted 1,200 Dirhams for a triple for the night (about 120 Euros). My cheapness gene kicked in and we kept walking until we found a relatively good deal for less than half that almost in the middle of the tourist area. Clean and comfortable with a nice bathroom.

Nothing else of note, except we picked up Chucky at the airport and the cab drivers seem to not want to turn on the meter but rather to negotiate a price beforehand. Having not paid more than 12 Dirhams for ANY cab ride before in Morocco, one guy wanted 30 Dh before I asked him to turn on the meter. Future Moroccan travellers beware.. always ask the cabbie to "mettez le compteur" or turn on the meter.

Anyway, after bringing Chuck back and settling him in, we head off for a walk to the souks and the medina of town to see some action. It was dark by the time we went and you would be surprised at how nocturnal Moroccans really are. But come midnight, they all scurry off back home and desert the streets.

The souks were very active with all kinds of snake charmers and musicians and food stalls. Unfortunately there are no photos to show because if you take a photo of anybody performing, some guy will come up to demand payment for it. So you'll just have to take my word for it.

After wandering around the souk, remember that its dark out by this time, we head into the twisty walkways of the medina and, as expected, we got lost. Not to miss an opportunity, some young kid notices us and starts to offer his services for guiding us out. Being close to 11pm, we figured a couple of Dirhams would be a good investment in our safety so we passively follow this kid. Then all of a sudden, the kid gets anxious and asks for the money right away. He's got this look of fear in his eyes when someone who looks like his big brother grabs him, starts screaming at him in arabic and smacks him around a bit. Well, we umm... slip away into the darkness and fortunately we were close to the outside so at least it worked out for us.

One shot from the medina and the souks of Marrakech. Tomorrow, we head into the Sahara.

Laundry Day in Casablanca

2007-05-07T17:19:00.000-04:00

Well, this sorta blew up in my face. I was expecting to find a self service laundry place or a wash n fold place or even have the hotel do my laundry for me, but we arrived at around noon and nobody was able to guarantee finishing the job before our train to Marrakech left the next day. So, I thought I was up shit's creek but I got a bright idea. Buy a packet of Tide and do the laundry in the bathroom sink at the Hotel! Bingo!

The only thing I can hope for now is whether it will all be dry enough tomorrow when they kick us out.

Nothing else spectacular today, we did see the Hassan II Mosque, but he cab driver couldn't understand my half assed french so he dropped us off in front of the Hyatt Regency in downtown Casa. We had to walk through a really sketchy part of town to get to it, but he thing is massive. Literaly MASSIVE. Its supposed to be the 3rd largest Mosque in the world, and for all I know, it is.

For those of you who will no doubtedly ask why we didn't go see Rick's Cafe Americain (from the movie Casablanca)...... IT DOESN'T EXIST! The whole movie was shot in a studio in Hollywood, none of it was shot here. So there.

Anyway, random photos from the day's events:

Tomorrow, Marrakech and Chucky!

1976 Mercedes 240D Grand Taxis

2007-05-06T15:17:00.000-04:00

Sallam al lekoum!

To anyone who didnt understand that, its arabic for Yo Yo Yo Homeboys. I want to start off this message with a direct request for Chuck when he comes down to Marrakech on Tuesday: Bring a bottle of something that mixes well with coke. Morocco is dry and trying to get some hooch is very difficult. Our 1L of Absolut which we bought in Gibraltar for £5 is done and we need more.

On to more important matters, the day started out with the plan of going to Meknès and on to Volubilis to see the ancient Roman ruins there. Well, in comparison to what I remember from Knossos in Crete, Volubilis looks like it wasnt messed with, whereas Knossos was very messed with. That in itself is well worth the trip to witness. Intricate tile mosaics, massive columns and other Roman goodies.

The historic site aside, the ride up from Meknès was the real thriller. We managed to snag a Grand Taxi for the return trip to the site from the hotel and boy were we in for a surprise. Normally, Grand Taxis in Morocco are like small buses that take people from town to town and city to city on predetermined routes. The driver is legally allowed to take 6 other people in the car with him. Lucky for me, with my stupendous negotiating skills, I nabbed one for the two of us alone. Being big boys, I couldnt imagine having to share a ride with 4 others - 4 in the back, 2 in the front passenger bucket seat. The car looked nice on the outside, but on the inside there were no seatbelts, there was a leopard print decal over the doors, cut fan belts were screwed on to act as door handles, the speedo didnt work, and there was one window crank handle that had to be used for all windows.

We got there and back in one piece, but some moments were kinda scary, especially when the driver cut a corner rather quickly and angular momentum pressed me against the barely closeable door. On the way back, the driver blew through a stop sign and was ticketed. Lost some time there, but it didnt really matter anyway since the car couldnt get past 3rd gear and the old diesel engine was struggling at every inch.

Back in Meknès, we went for a walk in the Medina and thats it.

Tomorrow will be very uneventful. We have plans on pulling into Casablanca in the morning, seeing the big Hassan II Mosque and doing laundry. Until then, photos.

The Grand Taxi

Some random shots of Meknès

Fes - The sights sounds and smells

2007-05-05T15:02:00.000-04:00

Greetings and salutations from the world travellers. Morocco has definitely been a handful for us with very very helpful people at every turn. The day was not without its excitements, including us hiring a faux guide for a few dirhams and finding out that Lonely Planet was completely right about the whole experience. It wasn't bad, it was just exactly like they described it.

Mind you, Fes is an incredible step back in time when you look out over the medina, except now you see a satellite dish on top of every single roof. It is straight from another world.

We were simply intending on visiting the huge medina on our own, but after about 10 offers of help, we settled on the guy who was the nicest to us and didn't give us a convoluted story about a member of his family working at the CN Tower (one actually said that his sister worked in the rotating restaurant which I kinda find hard to believe). So anyway, we agree on a rate which works out to about $8 canadian for a few hours and he starts taking us around. I'm sure none of the official guides would have brought us into someone's house but the places he took us were just out of this world. Among them a bakery, brass works, wood carver's, tilemaker's, etc... Of course the end of the tour involved some convenient stops at various carpet, leather, misc shops which we were "not obligated to buy anything." Well, we didn't so poor Mohammed didn't earn any commission from us today. The tour took the better part of the afternoon so anyway, some photos attached.

The Tannery (smells like shit here, really)

Tomorrow, we head off for Meknes and Volubilis

SpainGibMaroc

2007-05-04T14:15:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was indeed an exciting day. It started off with an early morning rise to catch a train to La Linea, which is the border town between Spain and Gibraltar. I always thought that the rock was a continuous ridge that went all the way down to the end of Gib, but no, its not. It really is just a rock on a peninsula.

The trip up was scenic, and thats when we realized that it was Polish day or something like that in GBZ. We heard Polish the whole day and walked around with a couple from Warsaw. We hung around the top, teased the apes and mlarvelled at the fact that you can walk around the whole top of the rock with sheer 400m cliffs at your feet. As we explored, we came across the Mediterranean steps on the south side and started going down. Well, we kept going down until we realized that going back up would be imossible. I contemplated killing Jerry for putting m through this, but later thought it was a great calorie-burning experience. 426m of vertical descent on a loose rocky path is definitely a memory to share with the grandkids one day.

I was kinda hoping for some stamps in my passport from the side trip to GBZ but we were just waved through with no delay. What followed really pissed me off though. The bus from the border to the port at Algeciras is supposed to run every 30 min, but this time it was over an hour late and we wound up missing the fast ferry to Tangier because of that. Instead, we had to take an ageing Moroccan registered truck ferry at 9pm, arriving in Tangier well after midnight. And let me tell you that arriving in Tangier at midnight in the dark is not a pleasant experience. It kinda reminds me of shopping at Future Shop, where a mob of salespeople descends on you and tries to sell you everything. It didnt help that we were the only non Moroccans on the ferry, among maybe 10 or so walk on passengers. There were more umm.... helpful people waiting at the gates than passengers. The entire walk to the hotel we were followed and hounded for offers of cab rides and cheaper hotels and the like. Future Moroccan travelers beware... get there in daylight on a fast ferry.

The live runway you have to cross to get into Gibraltar

The Alhambra

2007-05-04T13:54:00.000-04:00

As far as a recap between the last entry and this one, here goes, but first off I am writing this in a 1000 year old building in the medina of Fès in Morocco amidst all sorts of vendors and hawkers. Kinda weird actually. New photos here. The card reader situation was rectified in Gibraltar.

The fun to be found in Granada fizzled somewhat as the woman running the pensione didnt know where anything was going on. We walked around and downed some pints at an Irish bar.

The Alhambra was amazing and we spent the whole day wandering the grounds and taking photos. We are almost through 3GB of memory cards. Despite the rain, it was still memorable. Getting up at 6am to line up was the bad part and despite that, there was a good length of people already there.

Bollocks from Spain

2007-05-01T15:15:00.000-04:00

First off, I want to say that I left my little USB reader back in London at Chuck´s place. That or I lost it somewhere. What this means is no photos for a while. Which worked out well for this place right now because the computers don´t have USB ports.

The last night in London was quite the walk with the D-man showing up after his conference. Good times, thats all I´m going to say. Well, at around 2am, Derek fell asleep on the couch, we dragged him off. We decided that there was no point in waking up at 4am again to grab a cab, so we stayed up watching Monkey Dust on BBC3. We should have that back home.

Anyway, the Ryanair flight from London to Seville rivalled that of last year´s Air Transat flights to and from London. Dinky seats and no service. Never before have I seen advertising on the overhead compartment doors of a flight than here. Made me feel like I was on the subway. What I liked best about the Ryanair flight was the free-for-all to get on the plane and grab a seat. General admission flying at its best. No complaints though, I´m beyond that. I also couldn´t help noticing the cab driver flirting with 100 mph on the drive from London to Stansted at 5am.

Seville is nice. No troubles getting around and we found a relatively cheap place overlooking the main tourist drag right across the street from the main cathedral. The one lonely planet described the original builders as nutballs for building such a big friggen church. Well, big is an understatement. I can´t say that we went partying it up in Seville last night, but on zero hours of sleep in the last 30 hours (sleep is impossible on a Ryanair flight) we just crashed and burned after walking around town for the whole afternoon and evening.

This morning in Seville consisted of a walk through the Alcazar, which is probably a taste of what´s to come in Morocco. Spectacular tilework and muslim influenced architecture. Influenced? I mean muslim architecture. Not to be missed was the Plaza d´España, where Jerry got his fortune told a prayer recited to him by a gypsy . After she demanded 10€, he started running. After that, bus to Granada, which for some reason seemed roomier than the Ryanair flight, AND we had reserved seats.

Coming in to Granada we start seeing the spectacular hilly landscapes of Southern Spain. Snowcaps and all. The town looks like it can have some fun, and we will try to find this fun later tonight. In the meantime, this cozy little 25€/night pensione right under the Alhambra will just have to do.

Its too bad there are no photos to share.... pity...

The Weekend in London

2007-04-29T18:24:00.000-04:00

Aside from getting hosed out of a flight on the new Air Canada Boeing 777 with the seatback screens, the flight was about an hour late leaving the airport. No big deal, a little annoying and we only arrived about 20 minutes beyond the scheduled landing at Heathrow.

Our very first experience with people in London (aside from the customs agent) was a Polish girl that got on the Piccadilly tube line, sat in front of us and talked on the phone the whole time to her boyfriend in Polish, reassuring him that she loved him. Of course she kept reminding him that he was useless and should get a job. We tried not to break out laughing whenever she swore at him.

The walk across town was nice especially since the weather was great and the crowds weren't there. Starting at the London Eye, we made our way east along the south bank of the Thames, up over the millenium bridge toward St. Paul's, through the financial district by the gherkin and down the tower bridge.

We're flying to Spain first thing in the morning, and I do mean first thing (7:10 am from Stansted) so I'm cutting this short right now to revise later.

Some Polish building in Balham close to where Chuck lives.

Anyway, here are some photos and the 2007 Current photo link has some photos in it now.

Cool citroen

Drinkin' in the park

Oh, and we had some reaaly good muffins that Chuck´s roommate made.

One week from now....

2007-04-21T20:34:00.000-04:00

One week from now, I fully expect to be either asleep on the floor at Chuck's place or bent over his toilet (loo... he is in London after all) following a night of moderate drinking up with Chuck, his friends and couz. I'm not one to usually get wasted out of my skull drinking heavily, but you have to make up for it when you see an old friend maybe once a year, don't you? I'm sure someone will make a comment on this... ahem ahem

Last year, I happened upon a birthday party when i was coming back home. This year, I'm happening upon that same birthday party, +1 year. This is completely unintentional, but hey.. a party's a party, right? I don't remember the girl's name, and I think she may be married or engaged but I won't hold it against her.

A friend from work will be in London that weekend for some conference, and I managed to talk him into extending his stay by a day so that we could screw around in the UK and cause some trouble ourselves. This guy's a fellow RyEnger and co-Dodgeball player and knows how to down a pint. Its just too bad there won't be someone else to sing us their rendition of Any Man of Mine by Shania Twain.

Down to the wire... less than a week to go. I pulled out my travel pack to air it out and bought a very thin sleeping bag at MEC the other day just in case the Morrocans get stingy with the bed linens. I know Chuck will be, so I'll likely have a sore back and a crick in my neck after spending two nights in his hallway or bathroom, but I won't complain directly to him as it wouldn't be very nice.

Its Official - We're on for May 2007

2007-04-09T16:58:00.000-04:00

Well, its all set. I strong-armed the boss into letting me take 3 weeks in May and I got it. I'll be taking cousin Jerry (imagine that said in a Balki voice) with me to tour the Moorish spendours of Spain and Morocco and possibly to party it up in London while we're at it.

No official itinerary exists, but in order not to pay billions upon billions of Dhirams on flights between locales, we decided to book some of them in advance.

Highlights of the trip will include:

1. London (with the requisite drinking)
2. Seville (Lonely Planet doesn't say much about this place)
3. Granada (Some guy at Europe Bound highly recommended the Alhambra)
4. Gibraltar (What would a trip be without seeing a big rock)
5. Tangier (Dashing through the souks)
6. Fez (No, not the hispanic kid on That 70's Show)
7. Casablanca (Play it again Frank)
8. Marrakesh (The land of hash and rugs)
9. Barcelona (Cheering on sausage boy at the Spanish GP)
10. Madrid (Olé!)
11. Toledo (Not in Ohio)
12. Segovia (To quench my thirst for engineering antiquity)
13. London (not enough time to get drunk this time round)
14. Home (so as not to end on an unlucky number)

For now, this is all you get. Stay tuned!

Days 13 and 14 - Heading Home

2006-04-30T17:52:00.000-04:00

In order to squeeze out as much as possible from Crete, Chz and I decide to book a flight on Aegean Airlines back to the mainland and our flight back to London. Getting to the airport in Heraklio and onto the plane was not a problem. The first indication of a problem was the mass groan from other passengers on the plane following an announcement in Greek. I figured we were going to have to get off the plane and wait some more. An hour and change later, back on the plane and in Athens shortly thereafter. On the plus side, I now have a voucher for one free Aegean Airlines domestic Greek flight, valid for one year except in June, July, August, the weeks of and following Easter and Christmas. I wonder if its transferrable.

The flights on Day 13 were otherwise uneventful and we managed to squeeze in a birthday party after we get back into London.

Day 14 was basically a bacon sandwich and the cattle-class flight back to Toronto on Air Transat.

Anyways, I'm home!

Days 10, 11 and 12 - More Crete

2006-04-28T11:14:00.000-04:00

We headed out in search of beach and some down time on Day 10. We drive toward Chania and the western coast of Crete where the Lonely Planet says are some really beautiful beaches. Well, the beaches were beautiful but friggen cold. The bus load of German tourists in speedos didn't seem very happy about it either. A little sloshing around in the Med and a sandcastle later we got back into the trusty little french car and explore the countryside.

Not too far away we come across the ancient ruins of Falasarna. Well, there weren't too many ruins. The ticket booth looked like it was abandoned years ago so we walked right in and kicked at the stones. Lots of goats in Falasarna. Lots of goats in Greece for that matter.

The drive down the western coast was... well.. spectacular.

Day 11, we head out some more and see Knossos, Phaestos and more countryside. Goddamn driving is fun in Crete.

Anyway, Knossos was a little disappointing since most of it was reconstructed by Arthur Evans some 120 years ago. But interesting nonetheless. The fascinating thing was the sewer systems and water pipes that were built into this place. The Engineering marvel that it was completely fascinated me. The umm... "reconstruction" could have been completely done away with in my humble opinion. They really didn't have to paint the woodgrain on the concrete slabs that were supposed to immitate wooden beams and such.

The followup drive took us south toward Phaestos (Festos) and past the ancient city of Gortyna. We saw Gortyna from the road since its on a hilltop, but access to Gortyna is via a bumpy dirt path that seems to go through some guy's farm, but is signed as the entrance to Gortyna. It was a rental car, so I risked it and drove down the bumpy dirt path where this huge friggen dog jumps out and starts chasing the car. I swear it looked like it could have bitten the tires off the car. So, I think... screw that, turned back and on we went to Phaestos.

Phaesotos was much more interesting as it was in its original (relatively) condition and didn't look like it was messed-with (much). Similar cultural goodies to Knossos but less the woodgrain painted concrete slabs.

The drive back across Crete was awesome (duh) and the little Citroen didn't dissapoint. Along one lonely stretch of road, I was busy watching the tach so I don't go over redline as I power through a corner, and I slam right into a pothole the size of a bathtub. I didn't see the right-front hub cap fly off, but Chz did. We double back and find it resting against a curb. Cracked but all there.

Day 12 involved packing up and returning the car (hoping the rental agent doesn't notice the messed hub cap). The rental agent (cougarish looking woman that I wouldn't have minded getting stuck in an elevator with) didn't seem to care about looking at the car when I dropped it off.

We finished our day in Rethymno with a visit to the Venetian Fortress before heading back to Heraklio. Again, not messed with much and very cultural. At one particular corner of the fortress, each and every step we took sounded like we were walking on eggshells. Well, they were shells anyway. Snails. There were millions of them in the grass, and on the walls, and everywhere. I kinda felt bad for the first 5 or 6 steps, but then I stopped feeling bad when I realized that I couldn't do much about the situation so... crunch crunch crunch I went.

At the bus station in Rethymno, we run into ***** and @@@@@ coming back from Plakias, where they spent the whole 3 days. We exchanged nods.

There really is nothing to do or see in Heraklio. Really. And it smells funny outside our hotel. One night to kill before flying back to Athens, then London. Raki all around. Its free and it gets you drunk.

Looking forward to a birthday party that Chz is bringing me to back in London.

I think this will be the last entry before I get back. It was all amazing, but whats going to suck rocks is that I go back to work on Monday.

Over and out.

By the way, no pictures this time. The hotel internet computer is a POS and doesn't have a USB port for the photos.

Day 9 - Crete

2006-04-26T05:25:00.000-04:00

The overnight ferry was interesting. The overwhelming smell of diesel fuel and fumes made staying out on deck hard to bear. The sleeping berths were really really hard and made sleeping almost impossible for me. The gentle rocking motion wasn't bad at all.

Once we got there (one hour late at 6am instead of 5am), I decided that I felt too old to keep staying in Hostels and really wanted to rent a car to drive around the island. ***** felt otherwise and since we were going to meet up with someone else, I figured I'd let him slum it and not try talking him out of it. Enjoy the rest of your stay and I'll see you back at the office.

Anyway, Chz and I found a cheap beachfront hotel in Rethymon overlooking the beach for only 20 euros each a night and rented a small car (Citroen Saxo) for three days for a total of 80 euros.

With keys in hand, we head off for a drive. The first thing that comes to mind is to try to meet up with ***** in Plakias and rub it in a bit, but we couldn't find him there. The drive was amazing with twisty narrow roads and steep drop offs making it a blast.

Plakias was a nice little town but it was windy as hell and we stayed off the beach for that very reason.

We continued driving towards Sfakion and then back up to Rethymon on some more wicked roads, many without guiderails and many with guiderails in seemingly pointless locations.

In my opinion, the car was a great idea. Anyway, more Crete tomorrow.

Day 8 - Athens

2006-04-26T05:19:00.000-04:00

At the airport the other night, we meet up with Chz and the three of us head into town to find the hostel. The cab driver turns on the meter and it comes out to like 20 Euros for the drive from the airport, according to the meter anyway. But he wants 25 Euros because its the airport rate. Huh? You'd think that when the meter goes on thats what you're going to pay, right? I guess not.

After a little walking around the neighbourhood at.. oh... a quarter past midnight, we find the Hostel and the Aussies running it greet us with open arms. We're shown to our beds and decide to head out to find some booze.

The thing you immediately notice about Athens are the stray dogs and cats EVERYWHERE. I mean EVERYWHERE. They follow you, they look at you funny, they're just creepy and a little sad. Tons of orange trees strewn about the city as well, which I think is kinda charming.

Anyway, its 1am and we're looking for a bar. What we didn't realize is that its Easter weekend in the Orthodox calendar and most places are closed. Except for this one dance club type thing that seemed bumpin' enough to get our patronage. Well, the doorman tells us we have to pay a cover. We huddle, discuss things and decide to thank him for his time and leave. He stops us, I think realizing that we're not there to dance, but to drink, and waves the cover charge and lets us in. He was right, we were there to drink, but we danced too! The crowd was a little young, which made me feel old, but it didn't stop me from gettin jiggy wit it. The strange thing happened right after they played YMCA. Of course Chz and I got right down to it, arm motions and everything. ***** watched, Heineken in hand. No one else knew the arm motions there. No one! Damn Greek kids. Anyway, the strange thing was that the place just cleared out right after the song. I really hope it had nothing to do with our dancing.

When we got back to the hostel, boozed out of our minds, Chz having walked over a few cars and kicked various things. Actually, I don't think ***** was drunk at all. Anyway, we got back in at about 5am, but impressed the hostelful of Australians that stayed there with our partying prowess.

A week straight of pure culture and history was starting to get to me, but you can't miss the Acropolis in Athens. Had to do it.

An overview of the city from the Acropolis

Couldn't help but take a picture of an Ontario plated Chrysler minivan parked in Athens. Also looks like it was bought at Brampton Chrysler... Woo hoo GO BRAMPTON!

Tonight, a ferry to Crete.

Day 7 - Rome to Greece

2006-04-26T05:14:00.000-04:00

The last day in Rome was fairly easy going. The walk was down to under 10km and we managed to see a few things such as the Circus Maximus (grass), part of the Aqueducts and the Appia Antica park.

The aqueducts and city walls

Narrow streets in the Appia Antica park

Rome was great, and I have a feeling I'll be back.

Next... Greece

Day 6 - Rome to Pisa and Back

2006-04-26T05:09:00.000-04:00

For the hell of it we decide to use the last available day on our rail passes to do a day trip to Pisa to see the tower before it keels over. Anyway, a 4 hour train ride in 2nd class with accordion playing vagrants was interesting but we got there.

We ran into this girl (Simona) on her way home to Pisa for the long weekend. After rocking back and forth in our seats for a few km, ***** grew some balls and started to talk to her. Unfortunately, she didn't speak any English or Spanish so I had to make do with my crappy French and lay my own charms on her. For most of the trip, we made fun of ***** and laughed at him without him even knowing it.

The tower

And thats it. Nothing else in Pisa.

The return was better, 3.5 hours in 1st class.

Tomorrow, last day in Rome and on to Greece.

Day 5 - Rome and the Vatican

2006-04-22T17:13:00.000-04:00

We start early and hit the Vatican at 8am before any tourists show up. Fortunately for us, there were only maybe4 or 5 people ahead of us to get into St. Peter's and it was a breeze getting in. Had to go through the usual metal detector... beep beep.

No self respecting Pollack would be in Rome and NOT visit the tomb of Pope John Paul II. I'm not usually one to get emotional, but just being there had an effect on me.

The walk up to the top of St. Peter's Cupola was an experience unto itself. I took the elevator and ***** took the stairs, but little did I know, the elevator would only take me as far as the roof terrace under the dome. But the walk up the angled staircase that winds itself around the dome is just out of this world. Spectacular views of the whole city from the top.

Being early to the Vatican will guarantee you at least one of the lineups being short. The Vatican Museums, including the Sistine Chapel are an absolute must for the Roman traveller, so we had to wait it out and stand in line for the second part of our Vatican excursion.

There was actually very little opportunity for taking pictures inside the Museums, but whenever I got a chance to sneak one in without hearing "NO FOTO!" from a guard, I did. One particular masterpiece that really blew me away, including the ridiculous detail on the scuplted fabrics.

The whole day was spent walking, with the exception of the early morning metro ride out to the Vatican, but at this point having walked clear across Paris earlier, I was completely accustomed to walking, and at a brisk pace too. One of the stops after visiting His Holiness was the Spanish Steps. There was a very patriotic display of music and such and included some Italian youth in the midst of song right next to us.

The Pantheon wasn't something that struck me as a "must see" attraction of Rome, but having seen it up close and in person, I don't regret it one bit. The thing is amazing and really highlights the engineering skill the Romans posessed in their time.

Many a movie was filmed in the Piazza Navona, and it was a really breathtaking experience walking around all of the fountains and sculptures that can be found in the square. I can say one thing.. the Brazillians sure know how to pick a spot for their Embassy.

What last vestiges of adventure that can be salvaged from this trip will have to happen tomorrow. Not sure about how to spend the last day in Roma yet, but it would be nice to see the Aqueducts...

More tomorrow.

Day 4 - Venice to Rome

2006-04-20T14:45:00.000-04:00

On the 4th day, we traded in our 1500h departing tickets for 1030h departing tickets because Venice turned out to be fairly well covered the previous day and to me, the smells of Venice overwhelmed the sights of venice. Not to sound like a total complainer, but to quote some guy... I came, I saw, I conquered. We hop on a Eurostar Italia train to Rome and arrive just after 3pm.

Before I show Rome, here's a shot of the courtyard from our room in Venice.

After a little bit of wandering around, we find our resting place for the night - the Hostel Roma 2000 which was in a great location within about 5 minutes walking distance of the Roma Termini station. Right after we check in at a Hostel in Rome, just 50m down the street, we hit the Santa Maria Majorre church a delight in its majestic wonder.

And a short walk later, the Colloseum. I had always envisioned this thing differently. I can't really put my finger on it, but the thing is bigger than I expected. A shiny white roof that retracts and we got ourselves a football stadium.

I would hate to think that one of these days, some idiot is going to consider putting up a Costco here would be a good financial move and bulldoze all of this priceless antiquity to the ground.

At the time of the visit, I had absolutely no idea what this thing was. The Wiki later told me that this is the monument to the late great Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of a united Italy. I think he was an important figure because the monument is absolutley huge.

By this time of day, hunger is serisouly starting to set in and even a McDonalds would have been good (someone slap me for saying that). But what better place in the world to get hungry in than Rome. So we set out on a quest to find something Roman to eat, and not looking like it catered to tourists. And then, completely by accident, I mean COMPLETELY by accident, we come across the Trevi Fountain. Just taking some back streets and gazing into trattorias, we find this gem. The Trevi Fountain was always meant to be a stop, but to just walk into the Piazza Trevi and see the thing in a completely unexpected manner is just a stroke of luck. I wish they sold Lotto 6/49 in Italy. Needless to say, I tossed in a coin. Ms. Hepburn would have been proud.

So this makes three major European capitals in four days. The ambitious itinerary is still on track, although the feet are starting to hurt in a kinda chronic way.

By the way, I've seen lots of hits being added to the hit counter, but no one is making themselves known. Leave a comment!!

Day 5 - The Vatican

Day 3 - Venice

2006-04-19T11:44:00.000-04:00

After overnighting in a bar in Milan due to unforseen train reservation issues, we head for Venice at 6am and arrive just after 9am. Milan was nice in the dark and the cab drivers seemed unusually honest.

Wasting no time, we head straight for the Piazza San Marco and the Basilica. I can see why Venice has its charms. The architecture, the narrow winding alleys, the smells, the history. Some photos of various interesting sights along our walk. Did I mention the smells?

There is one thing that just keeps hitting me in Venice. It appears as though they have a wee bit of a pigeon infestation problem. Those flying rats are just everywhere and all of the buildings have attached landing "deterrents" on everywhich part could potentially be a roost. But of course, Piazza San Marco wouldn't be Piazza San Marco without the horde of pigeons.

We wound up staying at a place called the Dimora Serenissima which seemed like a great place, except they told us that our room is actually in a different building a short walk away. Well, short walk turned into about 20 minutes, but the place was very quiet and clean. I think the attendant mentioned that we were staying in the dormitory of the Accademia Di San marco. She didn't say it was right beside a working prison though.

Tomorrow, Rome.

Days 1 and 2 - Paris

2006-04-18T08:06:00.000-04:00

The train arrived in Paris around 4 in the afternoon so we quickly head out to look for the Hotel that ***** booked. Turns out that for the low low price of around $113, you get a fairly decent room with a private bath but no shower. So here's this big bathtub, and me without my rubber ducky. Decent view of the street.

I think its implied that you nudge your way out of a parking spot in paris...

There definitely is something romantic about Paris, or gay Pareee. We didn't come across the masses of smooching couples, but romantic nonetheless. I could definitely see myself escorting that special someone around the streets of Paris one day.

I read in some travel book that the Louvre is open in the evening for one day out of the week and it said that day of the week was Monday. Well that book is stupid. I found out that The Louvre is open Wednesday evenings and NOT MONDAY EVENINGS. GRRRR.

Anyway, the Louvre-less evening becomes a walk around town starting with the:

Notre Dame Cathedral

The Louvre (Damn travel book!)

The Arche de Triomphe

The Eiffel Tower

It was a really friggen long walk but we managed to see all of these.. from the outside anyway.

The food situation was satisfied with a visit to some snappy little Bistro just 50m away from the Eiffel Tower. Whoever said that French waiters were assholes has obviously never met Gaston, our waiter at said little Bistro. He was actually a nice guy and seemed helpful in suggesting ***** try the steak tartar. Once I told ***** what it was, he changed his mind. I think we missed the big strobe light show on the Eiffel Tower because in mid bite, I saw the flashes of light reflecting off the adjacent buildings but we didn't have a direct view of the tower... so poo!

Day 2 was a little lighter with a trip out to Montmartre to see the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur. No, I didn't run into Amelie while I was there but I neglected to take a photo of one of the last original "metropolitain" metro entrances still in existence in Paris. Oh well, here's some shots of the morning's highlights.

Along with a pleasant walk up the cramped stairs to the dome with the Eiffel Tower in the distance.

A short metro ride later, we went to see the Grande Arche de la Defence (an eyesore in my humble opinion)

Unfortunately, we did not see the insides of many of these places, but for 22 hours in Paris, it`s good enough.

I would have added more pictures and better descriptions, but this stupid french keyboard has the letters rearranged and the uploading takes too long.

Day 3 will take us to Venice with a trip on the fabled TGV.

Day 1 - London

2006-04-18T07:41:00.000-04:00

So I arrive in London early in the morning after sweating through 8 hours of Air Transat's narrow seats. The window didn't make up for it as I was angled slightly to the left so as not to have my head touch the glass. Also, since droppiing his seat into recline the second the seatbelt light went off, I was forced to sniff the hair of the guy in front of me the whole flight. Fortunately for me, he used Pantene Pro V with conditioner before getting on the plane so it wasn't completely unpleasant.

The arrival at the circa 1962 Gatwick Airport (LGW) wasn't bad. There were some nice vistas of English countryside to take in before touching down which I thoroughly enjoyed. I did say to ***** that I was going to meet him at a specific time at the Starbucks in Victoria Station so I had to hurry. Customs was routine, and I could have sworn that the agent even asked me if I already had my Gatwick Express tickets, and if not he could sell me one.

With a little more research, I could have figured out that Southwest Trains runs service into Victoria Station for half the price of the Gatwick Express but with the steep steep penalty of it taking all of 3 minutes longer. Oh well, lesson learned, but I hit the Starbucks with about a minute to spare.

London was on a tight schedule. It was supposed to consist of a walk from Victoria Station to Waterloo Station, so on that walk we saw these wonderful sights.

Buckingham Palace

Westminster Abbey

Road Construction (I'm a Transportation Engineer... BACK OFF!)

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament

and the London Eye among other things.

I have to admit that London buses are just so friggen cool.

In my panicked state of wanting to cram as much stuff as I could, I booked the Eurostar tunnel train to Paris for 1pm, which worked out to almost 6 hours in London for me. ***** arrived a day earlier and probably hooked up with some poor girl that never saw him coming.

The train was ridiculously fast, which was kind of a thrill for me. Technology just blows me away and trains (I am not a train geek) fascinate me. I had a train set when I was a kid, shoot me. We shared a booth type of seating arrangement with a couple from the Midlands heading to paris for a few days. I hope the girl wasn't too jealous since I fell asleep in the seat and my head somehow wound up on her boyfriend's shoulder. I am not gay. He wasn't my type anyway.

Day 2 - Paris... Stay Tuned

Wally's Sack

2006-04-08T15:17:00.000-04:00

I went to the Toronto Mountain Equipment Coop store on King St. West last week and picked up a MEC Walkabout travel pack for $135 plus taxes.

Its an awesome pack with lots of funky features.. like a zip off detachable day pack, a luggage-belt-friendly strap cover for the back, lots of handles and lots of compartments. The string across the pack isn't white, its the reflection from the flash.

Its a full 70L but hopefully I won't use the whole thing to capacity. Now all I need are some combo locks and a security cable for it and I'm set.

***** bought a pack too, but his isn't as nice as mine.

By the way, the Chicken Chimichangas at Bandido's across the street were really good... but friggen expensive.

Itinerary (Revised April 7th)

2006-03-13T17:34:00.000-05:00

***** will be in London a day early to do whatever the hell it is he needs to do, and will stick around in Greece for a few more days to try and pick up some local girls.

Fly April 16 from YYZ to LGW
Meet up with ***** in London
Eurostar Channel train April 17 and arrive in Paris
Spend 22 hours in Paris
Train to Milan on the 18th
Spend 6 hours in a bar in Milan
Morning train to Venice on the 19th
Spend a day in Venice
Train to Rome on the 20th
Spend a few days in Rome
Fly April 23 from FCO to ATH
Meet up with Chucky in Athens
Spend a day in Athens
Overnight ferry April 24 to Crete
Screw around on Crete
Ferry April 27 to Santorini
Fart around on Santorini
Late ferry April 28 back to Athens
Fly April 29 from ATH to LGW
Get drunk in London with Chucky
Fly back home April 30 from LGW to YYZ

Unfortunately, the night trains from Paris-Venice sold out really early and that screwed up the plans a bit. Florence and Pisa are gonna have to wait for another time.