God can you believe it! Its been 5 months since i've been at home. Its so like my not to have finished this journal. I really wanted to so i'm going to try now. Unfortunately i don't have the day to daymovements of what we did in my memory but i will try my best.
So once we left barcelona Sara and I head off by pthis waslane to the west coast of Spain. We were thinking we would arrive in a nice coastal town named Santiago de compostela however this place was in a valley and was bloody freezing. It was also a bit of a whole. However, it had a lot of history to the place. Known for the end location of a great pilgrimage from fance across the top of spain to Santiago. so lots of pilgrims were hanging around looking at the cathedrals and stuff. It took a while to find our hostels walking past it a few times before finding it. the taxi driver didn't know wherre it was so he just decided to dump us on the side of the road. that was very nice of him i thought. The next few das we explored outside he box going to coastal towns near by. One place was Vigo near the border of Portugal Pretty place.  However, we went meant to actually go to this place its just that we caught the wrong bus and ended up being the last people on the bus and managing to get to the end of the bus route. So we went to Vigo by train instead. This was the location of Sara and I's first resturant walkout. The waiters were so rude that they never brought us our food and i'm sure they didn't even want to serve us in the first place. We got our drink and ended up walking out before they serve us our food. But the next resturant we went to they served us so well that they even asked us out. So we went from one extreme to the other.

The next day was our last day in Santiago de Compostela. We went down to a local cafe to have some brunch which ( from what i remember) was quite nice. However it was also a very dry meal so i asked for a glass of water. The waiter looked slightly confused but he seemed to have understood what i said and went off to get my
 

So at 4am the next morning we had to get up and head off to the Bus station to catch a bus to Barcelona. By the time we reached the bus station i knew that there was something wrong. I was not feeling well at all. Before we got onto the bus i was running to the toilet every few minutes. I knew that things were going to get nasty and i was just hoping that it would be over with before i got on the bus. Unfortunately, i was out of luck. 20 minutes after getting on the bus things went pear shape with me rushing to get a bag and discovering there was a whole in it after i had started to be sick. Sara was franticlly getting me another bag while i was yelling at her to hurry up. Looking back on it now it was quite comical. But it didn't feel that way at the time. I was not a well camper. I was sick half way to Barcelona and the rest of the time i was trying not to be sick. But by the time i got there 8 hours later, i feeling quite fine and ready to eat again. We took it easy the first night. Had a look around the area we were staying in and just caught up on paper work and emails and stuff. We were staying in a big hostel called Kabul. It was situated in the centre of Barcelona in a big beautiful plaza. The plaza had a great big fountain in the middle and surrounding the walls was a wide variety of fancy restaurants. It was beautiful. 

The next day we thought we should explore the town a bit. We headed straight to the aquarium because we were told it was the best Aquarium in the northern hemisphere. I mean it was good but it had nothing on the Sydney Aquarium. There was only one big tank and it didn't even have a touch pool. But it was nice. Afterwards we went off to find somewhere to have lunch but we ended up finding the town hall and an amazing cathedral which was only a 10 minute walk away from our hostel. This Cathedral was stunning. You were even able to go up onto the roof which had an amazing view of the whole of Barcelona. That night they were going to have a concert on so we thought we might go back and check it out. However before that we really needed to have something to eating seeing that we missed lunch. So we found a restaurant and Sara had a Palla and i had croquetes and something else. I don't remember. It was yummy though. Afterwards we headed back to the hostel to get ready to go to our concert at the Cathedral. Ther performance was by the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra. They were really good. The acoustics in the Cathedral made it sound amazing. Sara was really impressed being her first symphony experience, Even better than that the show was for free so it fit in well with our budget.

When the show finished we promised some of our roommates that we would go and have the real barcelona experience with them. So we hit the clubs. Well one club. We went to a R'n'B club. Sara loved it. I didn't know one song. But i danced anyway. It was funny because people were dancing like they do in American movies. Real R'nB style. Sara and I weren't quite up to there standards. But we did our best. Sara got to dance with a black french man and i danced with an American. We have become very mutlicultural. Anyway, we had a fun time hanging out with our roommates : Steven, Ron, and Conner. Just so you know know we were staying in a mixed dorm.

The next day we all got up late and we also had some people leave in the early morning followed by new arrivals. One french man who arrived started yelling at us to all be quite but the thing was everybody in the room was asleep and no one was making noise. He kept talking to Sara which was freaking her out a bit seeing that he was in her face the whole time but i just ignored him and kept sleeping. Adventurely we all got up and headed out to spend another day exploring the city. The first thing on our mind was to get food into our belly's. So we headed off to some restaurant and had burgers and grilled vegies. And we then Made our way to the famous unfinished Gaudi Cathedral: La Sagrada Familia. Gaudi was an architect from the 1800s who would builded the most elamborate buildings whoever this Cathedral took so long to build that he died before he could finish it. Therefore over a century after it was begun they are still working on it and trying to complete it. However, you are still able to go inside and see what has been done and yo are also able to go up to the top and see the amazing statues on the front of the buliding upclose with a stunning view of barcelona. This place was amazing. As was nearly everything else in this city. 

That night Sara and I decided to just have a quiet one seeing that we had to get up really early the next morning to catch a plane to our next destination. So we found somewhere to have dinner and wondered the streets walking through all the little alleyways and big plazas and just soaked in the atmosphere of my most favourite city that i have ever been too. I loved Bacerlona. It had the same vibes as Sydney on the go and alive but at the same time surrounded by the most amazing and old buildings, with little alleyways and beautiful plazas. I definately could live there. Oh did i mention how great the shopping is there as well. Ahhhh the shopping haha!

We headed off to bed early as we had to get up at 4am to go to the airport. However everybody except the weird french man went out that night. Well actually two brazillian chick got up and left at about 11.30pm amd moved rooms. I don't blame them for leaving after what we experienced that night. Once they left we were left in the room with just the french man. He didn't speak much english but he kept saying he couldn't sleep and this time it was my turn for him to keep coming up to to talk to. I didn't know what the matter was. I thought he was saying he was cold so i told him he could turn off the air conditioner but that obviously wasn't the problem. He kept telling me he couldn't sleep until i snapped and told him " Well i can't sleep either because you keep telling me that you can't sleep!!!!!!!" So he finally got up and left and we both thought finally we can sleep. However, we spoke to soon. He came back in to the room only after 20 minutes. This time i was trying to pretend i was asleep and couldn't hear him but i had to see what he was doing. I could hear him wondering around the room trying to open what i thought was the door to the balcony. But was i wrong! I looked up out of my blankets and saw him standing on top of someones locker only in his underwear, pushing up on the ceiling as if he was trying to open it. I had to say something. " What the hell are you doing????????!!!!!!!" to this he states that he wasn't crazy. My nursing experience just kicked in and thought the best thing to do now was just to agree with everything he said. Don't get on the wrong side of this mad man. He then started to ask me if i knew about love and that he could hear people on the fourth floor ( which to that can i say that you couldn't hear anything!) He then proceeded to tell me about some women who was having an argument with reception and was being kicked by them ( he was acting this whole thing about by the way) and telling me that she ended up with two black eyes. I just kept saying " O.K!!!!" ( Stay calm Colette! I kept telling myself) So eventually he told me that he was going to go to sleep and he asked me not to tell anyone about that night. O.K i said very politely. Maybe i shouldn't of written this in my journal but i guess he can't kill me when i'm on the other side of the world. Plus i've told nearly every person that i have come across. He doesn't know my name either so i guess that helps. I stayed awake from then on until we had to leave because i was scared that he would get up and kill one of us. So i thought i should be awake so we could protect both of us. 

Barcelona was my favourite place but i have to say we were both very happy to leave.

The next morning we tied up the loose ends and packed our stuff and left London behind not sure if or when we will return. London was our second home and it was always great to return there after our weeks of travelling through unfamiliar lands. Therefore there was a sadness in the air leaving our second town behind. It served us well.

Our flight to Madrid, Spain ended up being delayed by 2 hours so we had a long wait in front of us. We finally got on the plane and watched our baggage being put on. Even Barbie was sad to say goodbye. Once we got settled Sara turns to me and quietly says "I think thats Matt Shervington! you know the Australian Runner!" but we were not to be sure until we landed in Madrid and she was right. So there you go our claim to fame was that we saw a 'd' class star on the plane who had to sit 3 rows from the back of the plane. Matt Shervington wasn't the only person we met on the flight. We also met a really nice American girl named Heather. She was actually on her way from New Zealand to Madrid. So yeh, she had been in the air for a very long time. But we all got along quite well so we decided to met up for dinner once we arrived. Her hostel happened not to be too far away which was very convenient. She took us to our first tapas bar where we had our first jug of Sangaria and real tapas of croquetes (small potato, cheese and ham balls), stuffed capsicum, and meatballs. Heather interrupted the menu for us which helped.

The next day after having a well deserved sleep in til 12 noon we meet up with Heather again and she showed us the sites of Madrid seeing that she had lived in Madrid a few years prior. However, this site seeing trip ended in shopping of course. I really don't know whats wrong with us sometimes. But i guess Madrid was just setting the tone of the reat of our trip in Spain. We kinda had lost our drive. i'm not sure if it had anything to do with kay leaving but Sara and I both just couldn't be bothered anymore. We were happy just to relax and take it slow. Madrid was great in that sense espeically having Heather with us we just didn't  have to think anymore. That night we had dinner with Heather and then met up with one of her friends from her Hostel, Camilla to hit the town. Heather took us to an underground Sangria bar to see what its like in a real spanish bar. I guess we saw the good and the bad of Madrid that night. The bar was nice and cosy with low rooves and a smoky feel. We sat in the corner and soaked up the atmosphere. It was all good until i went to the toliet. When i got up there i passed four spanish guys who all said something to me as i went passed. i just ignored them and went into the toliet however they followed me and started to try and bash my door down. I could see there reflection in the tiles on the wall and i just had to watch and wait for them to get bored and leave, hoping that the door held up. I was becoming very concerned but trying to stay calm at the same time. They all thought it was very funny, however i did not. The minute i thought it was safe to leave i ran back to the table and told Sara that we were leaving NOW! We tried to convince Heather to come as well but she said she would be ok. So we left Heather and Camilla there and basically ran home holding onto each other very tightly. I found out once we left that one of the guys with that horrible group had harrassed Sara as well but not quite as bad, so we were both very happy to make it back to our Hostel alive. I knew there was something i couldn't trust about Madrid and i think I discovered what that was that night.

We arrived in London around midday planing to just drop our stuff off at Mariam's and then

go and see Buckingham palace and Harrods. However, by the time we rested we realised how

exhausted we really were and just went to sleep instead. When we woke a few hours later,we

got ready to celebrate Kay's last dinner in London before she had to head off back home. We

went to a steakhouse being able to have real veggies (which we had missed) Carrots!!! Do you

realise how great carrots are when you haven't had them for ages. So it was a great night

reminising on happy memories and realising how much we were going to miss having Kay

travelling with us.

The next morning we awoke early and seemed really weird to us all that kay was leaving us

today. Seeing that we feel asleep the day beofre we went off to Buckingham Palace and

Harrods because something just have to be seen in london. Harrods was our first stop. It

was amazing. Trust us to arrive on the first day of a major sale. Yippeee!!!!!! We took

advantage of the sale buying presents for people and Sara and i upgraded our travel pillows

too massaging pillows.

After realising what the time was we had to quickly make our way to Buckingham Palce so we

could get back in time for the train to Airport. So ofcourse we got lost in Hyde Park but we

got to see more sites like Kensington Palace, where Princess Diana Lived (sara: that was

fantastic, amazing Stunning, incredible) I agree with her. It was amazing and we went there

the day after her birthday and saw some cards that were left for her. We also saw Albert

Hall and a grand gold statue of King George ( the Queens father). Running out of time we

jumped into a a Black Cab for the first time on our trip. How exciting! Off to Buckingham

Palace we went. It was amazing. There was so many people and we all got our happy snaps

before having to head off to Piccidilly Circus to buy another suitcase from Lilywhites to

send all of Sara and I's stuff back home with Kay. Jumping on the tube, stuffing our faces

with our lunch, and racing back to the house we through everything into the suitcase and 47kgs

later we headed off to the airport. Due to our slight amount of excessive baggage we were informed that we had to get rid of some of the stuff otherwise we would have to pay 180 Pounds. However from our travels in Thailand and Turkey and also getting Kay to where a few extra layers we manage to get our bill down to 20 pounds. Aren't we good at Bargaining.

So the next thing we knew it was just the two of us. Kay had gone. It was weird waving goodbye to her. We then went home and Sara helped make dinner which turned out to be fantastic. The next morning i woke up expecting to see Kay on the floor asleep and all i saw was a pair of thongs that she had left behind :(

30/06/2007

So after we arrived at the campsite and discovered our terrible living situation we had to escape and see if we could make back to the Vatican in time before it closed. The doors closed at 1530hrs and we arrived at 1525hr. We were so lucky. Im sure we were the last ones into the place with the doors closing behind us as we entered. Therefore there was hardly anyone inside the museum. Usually the lines go for 4 or 5 blocks just to get in the place and when we got there there wasnt a line at all. It was Great! What a way to improve our day. The Vatican Museum was amazing but the Sistine Chapel was absolutely stunning. It was Beautiful! Fantastic! Stunning! Spectacular! Loved it!!!!!!! I have no idea how people could miss the picture of the two guys pointing there fingers ( im sure one of the men was God) but people had told us they had. But this picture was smack in the middle and the first thing i saw when we went into the room. Just Amazing! We were slightly or very naughty taking a sneaky video footage of the ceiling so you can all see it at home, but oh well, When in Rome!
We caught the last bus back to our campsite after Kay and I had to run for a few blocks back to the bus stop because of extremely bad service by a pizza man. Long story worth forgetting and got back to the campsite at 7pm. Annmarie was actually staying at the campsite too and we met up with her when we got back. When she saw where we were staying in those jorrible tents she offered a bed in her private cabin that she got which made things much more comfy. 
Well all had a shower and then while Annmarie and I were waiting for the others we got ourselves a bottle of Vino (wine) and then had tos earch the campsite for someone who had a bottle opener. So by the time Sara and KAy got back to us i had met half the campsite. I was a little social butterfly that night. 
We had one night left in Rome before heading back to London town and Kay only had two days left beofre she had to return to Australia, so we decided to have a big girls night dancing the night away. Our flight the next day was at 0600hrs and we had to catch a taxi at 0430hrs to get there on time so we thought whats the point in going to sleep so I stayed up the whole night had dinner, got to dance with a Brazillian guy until Annmarie dragged me away to dance with the girls again. But it was a great night. We met lots of people a brazillian guy in a wheelchair who we happened to run into in Barcelona, and one of Annmaries friends Amy from America.
Sara and Kay both had an hour sleep beofre me waking them to go on our trek to London. Couldnt sleep on the plane because it was soooo uncomfortable but finally we arrived back in London. It was like going to our home away from home.

Early the next morning we got up, trying not to wake Caitlin, and caught a ferry to Capri, which is an Island just off the coast of Itlay. Now that was an ordeal being sent to the wrong place and then not being able to find the ticket office. But we then ended up getting on the boat with 5 minutes to spare. We all went and found a seat and fell asleep straight away. When we woke we found ourselves with a stunning view of the Isle of Capri.

Capri is a place for the rich people. We just couldn´t be bothered though. There were masses of people lining up to either get the tram or bus up to the vilage at the top of the mountain or you could hop in a ridiculously expensive stretch, converitble taxi. Im not joking.

So we did neither of them. We had something to eat and then just wondered around the port for a while. Not soon later a man came up to us and offered to tack around the island by boat to see the coast line and some of the sea caves. It was not too expensive with the three of us and it ended up turning out to be a great idea. Sailing around in the sun just the three of us and our Captain seranading us with songs like Amore and other traditional Italian songs. KAtherine even got to steer the boat for a while which was slightly scary but we are still alive. It was a perfect way to spend our time in Capri. We then caught the ferry back to Naples.

When we got back Caitlin had already come back from Pompeii and she had met one of the girls staying in our hostel, Annmarie. That night Annmarie and Caitlin invited us to go out for dinner with them. Annmarie took us to this amzing little pizza place where you could order Huge pizzas for only €4. So we all ordered one each with some bottles of wine and had a great girls night out. We tried to find somewhere to go out too like a club or bar with music but that apperntly is non exsistent in Naples so we just went back to the hostel. It was great getting to know the girls though.

When we got back we all ended up on the net for a while. Everyone went to bed around 1am but i ended up staying up til 2.30am talking to this really cool American guy named Pete We had a discussion about which was better reading the Harry Potter books or watching the movies. We both had fair points but i think i won with the point that reading the books makes the experience last for longer. It was ashame we did getting to hang out with this guy for longer. Oh well!

The next morning we headed off to Rome catching an early train. Getting to Rome was not much hassle but trying to get to the campsite which we were staying at made me hate Rome. It was a 40 degree day and we had to carry our extremely heavy backpacks while people sent us in the wrong direction a few times and gave us mixed information. Then we found this really nice old American man who basically took us straight to the Campsite. He was so nice. So in the end it only took us three our of wondering around Rome to find our Campsite. I was not in a happy mood thats putting it nicely.

So we arrive and what do i discover, we are staying in Tents! TENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT HAPPY, JAN!!!! I also didnt get to stay with the girls and had to share with someone else. The room wasnt a room it was two beds in a really small tent and my bed had dirt all over it and my linen had been thrown at the top of the bed. In extreme annoyance, i dumped my bag and left. I was not impressed.

We left Belgium on the 27th June and headed off to Naples by plane.
Naples....how can i put it nicely! It doesn´t have much to offer. Well at least we didn´t find it, if there was. We just used it as a Base camp to everything else which is around it. The hostel was good. We shared the room with some guy called jeff the first night, but we hardley saw him or heard him so that was cool. The first night we did nothing much because i was in pain from these horrible stomach cramps (Turkey)AND i broke out in hives. FRIGGIN HELL!!!!! So i popped some pills 8 legal ones) and fell asleep. The next day the hives were gone and i felt better. No more stomach cramps. We headed off for my dream location, POMPEII!!!
It was so amazing being there. Kay was suprised at how big it was. She really thought it would only take and hour and a half to see it all. Well lets just say we left after 6 hoursa and still didn´t see it all. That day at different times we were all tired and cranky which put a dampner on the day but i guess you have to have a bad day once in a while. It was just a shame it happen at Pompeii. It sort of made pompeii loose its spark. but i´m so glad i went there. Such an unbelievable and amazing place with a n incredible story which it holds. I´ve known about this place and have wanted to go there since i was 14 years old and 10 years down the track i was standing in the place my geography teacher, Mr Fox, had taught us about. I am so honoured to have done that.
That night we took a train into Sorrento and this time kay had the stomach upset (Turkey). She handled it well. we had dinner at a nice restraunt. We are so bad at being backpackers. The food was yummy. After dinner i went to the bathroom and my stomach felt slightly itchy. i lifted up my top and i was covered from underarms to the top of my legs covered in Hives. I CAN`T BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING TO ME!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now i was panicking. I must be allergic to something. but what?? i´ve never been allergic to anything in my life. I went to the Pharamcist and got more drugs and oitment which seemed to work. but all i wanted to do was call my mum but i din´t have her number. So we just went back to the hostel.
We had a new roomie when we arrived Caitlin from america. She seemed nice. She had had a pretty rough night herself but it probably didn´t help with me breaking her ring which was made out of Vencian Glass. God i felt bad! She was ok about it. Well at least thats what she said. But maybe with me nearly bursting into tears had her sympathising with me.
I think it was time to go to sleep and hope the next day wouldn´t be so bad.

Hey its Sara here. Just thought i should write an entry about Kay and I's trip to

belgium. So here it is.

After a few hours sleep Kay and I were up very early to catch the train to Amsterdam to get

our bus to Belgium. Colette, on the other hand, got to have a bit of a sleep in. She must

have been tired as she said her goodbyes to Kay and I from the comfort of her bed, with a

wave. At least her Dad made an effort to give Kay and I a proper farewell, making sure we

got up on time, had breakfast and got the taxi to the station. Thanks heaps Barry!!. So after that we arrived at the station to find out that we missed the train. We asked the staff at the station and after a essay long explanation of the 10 million ways to get there (cause we had to change trains), Kay and I figured the best way out ourselves and we there even faster then station staff told us. Great team we make hey! If missing the train wasn't enough, we arrived at the bus station to find out that the email i got sent about the time the bus leaves was wrong and that we had actually missed our bus aswell. What luck hey. But the guy behind the counter was nice and put us on the next bus with no extra charge, and it was even cheaper than before. How great was that. So off to Beligum we finally went with Kay like usual sleeping the whole way there.

We arrived in Brussels at about 12.30pm, and we meet at the station by Anna and Micheal (my

aunty and uncle). It was great to see them, i haven't seen them for some time, Anna was a

few years, but Michael was close to 8yrs. Anna quickly showed us around the centre of

brussels before heading back to work for an hour for a meeting. She made the mistake of

showing us the main shopping area. It was amazing, this whole long street of every shop u

can imagine. Kay and I kept say'n where's Colette!! We met up back with Anna, and off we

went to have our very first Belgium waffle. Oh my God! It was huge. We made such a mess,

especially Anna, who got it all in her hair and all over her face. It was covered in cream

and chocolate and would have to be one of the best things we had ever tasted in our live's. After a quick bite we went to the old part of town, and saw the 'Mannekin Pis', this little statue of a boy pissing. I couldn't believe how famous it was. It's so funny' as they dress it up in all these outfits, it has a different outfit every week. There obsessed with it. 

After realising the time and having colette on her way by train, we made our way back to Anna and Micheal's apartment on foot, seeing the sites on the way thanks to Anna's great sense of direction. But it was great cause we got to see a lot of the historic sites of the city. After arriving i gave them the presents i bought for them and we went through some photo's of our trip so far. I also showed them some photo's of family back home. It was great catching up while waiting for Colette to arrive.

Colette finally arrived at about 6.30pm, and off we went to have beligum flavoured beer and a great chinese meal. Poor Colette didn't even have time to put her bags down when she arrived we left that quick. Oh well!!The beer was great, and it was great to have a real meal and something different besides kebab's. It was a great night, that ended with me getting Anna's famous head massage, it was great. We all got one, Me, Kay and Colette.

The next day, we had a bit of a sleep in, before heading off to the centre of Brussels by

trian to show Colette the sites. We got there and had just enough time to show Colette the

shopping street before meeting Anna for lunch. Me and Anna had our olive and tuna sandwhiches,

they were great, its a family thing we do. Colette wasn't to well (turkey), she had been

feeling a bit sick, as was Katherine who the day before wasn't that well either, but some

shop'n after lunch quickly helped distract them. We went nuts with the shop'n and almost lost track of time.

We met up with Anna after she finished work and due to our shop'n me and Kay didn't do a

good job of showing colette around, so off we went to see the old part of town and show

colette the famous 'Mannekin Pis' and have the famous Beliguim waffles for Colette to try.

We then went chocolate shopping in the thousands of chocolate boutique stores that we

everywhere. It was amazing and the chocolate was to die for. Lets just say we didn't leave

empty handed, thats for sure. It was now bout 7.30pm, and poor Micheal was waiting for us

at the apartment to go to dinner. We ended up meeting him at the resturant, and we had a

great Italian meal of course, trust us to have Italian and Pizza. It was great though.

After another early start, we said farewell to Beliguim and i said a sad farewell to Anna and Micheal, and back to Itlay, this time Naples, to continue our adventure we headed. 
 
Well thats our time in Belgium. Hope u enjoy.

Til Next time.

Sara

Hey i´m not sure what kay wrote in her entry about Istanbul so this might over lap a bit but i´ll try my best. So after the Sultans Palace we picked up our stuff from the hostel being pretty happy to leave that place and headed off to the airport. However, half way there Sara so calmly sataes she has lost, yet again, another ring. This one was quite a nice and expensive ting so she was kinda peeved about it, to put it nicely. Also that whole day i´d been getting massive stomach crapms which didn´t help when we were about to jump onto a plane. So that left kay being the only one in a good mood until we reached the restuarant at the airport which didn´t have much to desire. It was a total rip off. 4 Lira for a bloody Milkyway. A MilkyWay for christ sakes.
So we really did like what we saw in Turkey but we were definately happy to leave. However, Turkey wasn´t quite ready to leave us. Kay and I were both left with an unpleasant reminder of Turkey through the unkindly media of a stomach bug. LOVELY!!!

25/06/2007
Flying into Amsterdam would of had to been the most exxiting part of my trip because my Dada was meeting us at the airport. It was so wonderful to see him again. Juli ( a family friend) was there as well. It was great to see both of them. Juli was standing back taking photos while dad and i reunited and a few seconds later Sara and Kay came out with all the luggage. My person bell boys (Jk JK). We then headed off via train to Leiden (20 minutes out of Amsterdam). That night we stayed at the same hotel as Dad and Juli sharing the same room as Juli. We all sat down and talked until 2am but we did arrive at 12am. We were meant to be leaving for Brussels the next morning but i thought it sucked for me to only see my dad for 2 hurs and then leave. So i decided to go to brussels later with the girls heading off at 6am in the morning by bus. i just waved goodbye form my bed and then turned over and went back to sleep. Now i think i made the right decision. I had breakfast with Dad and Juli and then we headed off to see the sites of Leiden. Juli came along and played photographer for the day. We went to an old fortress which overlooked the whole town and we went to this amazing church which apparently is where the Pligamge left which founded America. So that was pretty cool. it was also the area of where Rembrant was born a grew up.
We then had lunch at a Bagal shop and had the yummiest bagal i´ve ever had but it didn´t top the hot chocolate i had with it. Now that was unbelievable. It cam with hot milk and a Belgium chocolate on a stick, and a plate of cream with belgium chocolate sprinkled on top. What you had to do was dip the choclate into the hot milk until you melted the right consistence of chocolate that you desired. You then scooped the cream on top of the hot chocolate. How perfect does that sound. oh i still can remember the taste. just perfect. YUMMY!!!!
After Lunch, Juli went back to the hotel and dad and I continued to explore the town. It was then time to leave so i got my stuff and said good bye to Juli and we went off to the train station. it was really sad having to leave Dad. it felt really weird to know that i was only getting a small snippet of home. Its a bit of a tease really. But i had to rejoin my fellow travellers in belgium to continue our grand adventure. As the train pulled away I shed a tear as i waved goodbye. I knew i would miss him terribly but I also knew how lucky i was to be able to meet up with him in the first place.

Of course we enter the only country in the whole of Europe that has English speaking movies with subtiles the minute Harry Potter is release. Who couldn't resist!!!!!! "OH MY GOD",  is what escaped my lips. WE HAVE TO SEE THAT MOVIE!!!!!!!! 
So off we went to find a cinema in Porto, Portugal. And of course we found one. We got a our popcorn portugese style ( caramelised) sat down with the local teenages and watch the best harry potter movie ever made. What a movie!!!!! The whole audience clapped and cheered at the best parts. It was really funny. They even had an intermission. I wasnt that happy about that though. i just wanted to keep watching the movie. So i waited patiently until it started again. 
 Ok so im now officially the happiest girl alive. You would think meeting the man of my dreams would do it but No Harry Potter He´s my Man!!!!
 

Hi, kat here.  Just thought I would add some photos to our previous entries.  Groove on down to June 23rd and 27th the Istanbul and Santorini entries to view them.

Hi People,

Kat here!  Colette has appointed me with the responsibility of finishing off some entries.  Since I'm back in Sydney and am depressed and hating being here - I figured I might as well take on the challenge and reminise on the way.  I've finished off the Istanbul entry.  So head down to 27th June and have a read...

Just a quick hi to Colette and Sara because i'm sure they'll be reading this!  I miss you guys heaps.  I just wanted to let everyone know that these two girls were amazing on this trip and it would be a pleasure to travel with them again.  They say that people you travel with can either make or break your trip and I must say that they both made it that much more of a fantastic experience.  I think "travelling" is such a different way of going compared to taking a "holiday" because travelling isn't a holiday - it's damn hard work!!  Having Colette and Sara to have my back just made it easier.  

Thanks for your back massages Colette - they eased the huge amounts of pain and back spasms from those crappy 16kg backpacks.  And Sara you are an amazing organiser - I would want to be on your team if we ever got on Amazing Race!  Colette was saying that we are that "mushy cushy couple everyone wants to be, but even better because there are three of us."  Ahh just too sweet.  Ok that's enough mushiness.  

Well have fun, drink lots, snog a few hotties for me and don't forget about this awesome live journal.  Don't get lazy on us Colette!!!

Miss you lots and love you guys effinity times effinity plus one.

Nice doing business with you, Katherine ("Kay")


Colette and Sara saying farewell to Harrod and I at Heathrow Airport

Hey guys its Sara here finally. i've just written one of many entries. So head down to the 23rd June to see my Santorini Entry. Hope you enjoy! Love you all.

Just want to say sorry for not keeping this up to date. We have been having way to much fun that we can´t keep up with the journal but i promise it will be done.

On another note i would like to bid a sad farewell to our fellow traveller Kay. We love you very much and miss you thissssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss muchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! 
It was so great travelling with you it. Speaking on my behalf i feel privledge to have become extremely close to you turkish baths for example. I hope the journal is written as well as we did it. Just so everybody knows it wasn´t just me writing Kay helped me too and so does sara. We miss you lots and its not quite the same with out you. However i do get to type whenever i want haha. We feel you presence is missing but both sara and i know that we will see you again soon.  

We are safe in Barcelona at the moment well as safe as you can be when your surrounded by people partying. We are in a mixed dorm which is interesting. Boys are stupid.... throw rocks at them! We leave tomorrow to Santiago de Compostele which is on the west coast of Spain a 18 hour bus trip away. Now that will be interesting. I hope its a bit better than our bus trip to Barcelona.  Love you all

From somewhere in the world

Colette

The next day we woke up and had a turkish breakfast of fresh bread, eggs, tomatoes and cucumbers downed with a fresh glass of OJ.  This vitalised us for the day.  We quickly organised our transport to the airport and then headed off to the beautiful blue mosque.  By this stage we were so sick of the turkish men and their arrogance so as we did with the "pink people" in greece, we started to count how many times we were harrassed.  Yelling out the number as we walked by....

Example: 
turkish man - "hey laaaadddiiessss"
us - "NINE!!!!!!!!!!!"

Surprisingly we only reached 9, but our theory was that we spent majority of the day in a touristic mosque and palace.

Blue Mosque
Entering the blue mosque was a feat.  We were inappropriately dressed, although it was 36 degrees outside.  So we were given scarves and sarongs to cover up the bottom half of our legs and shoulders, while our shoes were put into plastic bags.  It was really hot inside, however, the beauty of the place and the fact that we were actually IN the blue mosque distracted us from the heat.  It would have been amazing to be there during prayer time.  It was a large room surrounded by amazing and decorative tiles on the wall surfaces.  From floor to ceiling, it would have been roughly 60metres or more.  The whole flooring was covered in carpets and the lighting seemed to be low and dim.

The Sultan's Palace
After the blue mosque we decided to hit the Sultan's Palace.  The minute we entered the grounds we were all reminded of the movie Aladdin and started naming out characters from the movie.  We could just imagine Princess Jasmine frolicking around the grounds with her pet tiger Rahjah.  I know... we're dorks!  The palace itself was amazing with numerous rooms having their own characteristics or meaning.  There was the courtyards for the sultan's concubines, the queen mother's baths or this grand room that was only specifically for men (particularily the sultan himself).  We all felt a little naughty and rebellious for stepping into a room that was only meant for the opposite sex.  The palace overlooked the sea and the view was spectacular.  

Courtyard for the concubines	The grand room for men only
On the Balcony	Overlooking the sea

When exploring the grounds we came upon another building that held the sultan's jewels.  Let's just say a gal could have a field day in there.  The jewels were tremendously massive!  There was one jewel in particular that reminds fixated in my mind.  A diamond that must have been as big as the palm of my hand and as the story goes, it was found in a rubbish dump by a merchant who was then forced to give it up for the sultan.  He had discovered of it's existance and wanted it so it could be made as a ring for him to wear.  Ahh - to be rich and powerful...

Leaving Turkey
We all had to rush back to the hostel and catch a private taxi to the airport so we could jet out of Turkey and begin our travels elsewhere.  Driving past the scenic views of Turkey and their numerous outstanding mosques, it was discussed that although this place was gorgeous, we were all ready to leave.  The persistence of turkish men and their constant hassling left much to be desired.  Either way, the experience left us on a high for things to come and we were much grateful for it.

Katherine and I figured that this was our last night in Turkey so we should actually go out and mingle with the locals, but we couldn't be bothered leaving the hostel due to such a "relaxing" massage that we just experienced.  We could hear a ruckus upstairs from the rooftop restaurant/bar so we decided to go and explore.....

Rooftop Restaurant
We had to steal 20 euros from Sara because I just spent all our money getting tortured.  Besides we thought it would be enough just for a few drinks because we didn't really want to have a big night.  It didn't end up that way.  It's amazing what girls can get away with.  Don't worry we didn't sell ourselves.  
Opening the door to the rooftop, we discovered that it was packed with backpackers out to have a good time.  We found the last table with only two seats overlooking the ocean and it had our names written all over it.  So we sat ourselves down and the bartender came straight over to take our order.  Great service!!  But the best thing about Europe is the fact that you don't have to wait at the bar for your drinks - they come to you!  We bought one drink each.  There must have been a glow about us that night because within 15 minutes we were surrounded by beautiful dutch men wanting our attention.  Apparently there was some sort of university architect excursion happening in Istanbul, which led these men to our hostel for a good time.  
Their attempt for our attention was soon interrupted by the boss sweeping in cool, calm and collected to offer us free drinks and a smoke on the "big smoking pipe" (to be corrected later).  I didn't smoke it though because i'm a good girl unlike SOME people. (Hi this is Katherine - just for my defense - these "pipes" were only flavour and water being heated by coals!  It had no tobacco in it!  It felt like i was smoking candy flavoured steam! Just to let you know....)

Cha Cha the bartender	"Smoking" out of the hukah
What's so funny?	I think the hat looks better on Colette

It was a harmless fun night being pampered by the "boss" and his coworkers.  The night ended with us learning to play backgammon and whipping their asses at 2 in the morning and us heading off to bed by 3.  So much for an early night.

Note to self:  Turkish men are very persistent....

The Road to Istanbul (on the road again.....)
We had to go to Istanbul from Cappadocia on an overnight bus due to an 11 hour bus trip ahead of us.  We weren't looking forward to it, especially since we had experienced it two nights earlier.  As normal, the minute we got together we didn't shut up and started talking about girlie things like boys and most likely were giggling like school girls to the annoyance of the man in front of us who as a result proceeded to scream at me in turkish.  This quickly silenced us all.  So we thought we should really go to sleep, however, we were so uncomfortable that we pumped ourselves with a drug called phenergen to knock us out! 

Katherine as usually passed out like a light.  Whereas Sara and I took awhile to get comfortable.  The phenergen helped, but it would have been nice to have something stronger.  Let's just say the bus ride was kinda average.  We had sore backs, asses and for some reason "teeth," according to Katherine who's  lip was also bleeding in the morning.  Maybe she's a vampire or something, maybe we should start wearing garlic around our necks, or make friends with buffy the vampire slayer, but we have no idea what she does in her sleep.  It's a mystery!!

On the buses in Istanbul there are bus attendents who come around and give you drinks and snacks.  But in the morning we were violently awoken with him shaking our arms and shoving hand disinfectent in our faces.  This was our wake up call at 7am and to discover that we had arrived in Istanbul.

Istanbul
Istanbul didn't have the views like Cappadocia and I was slightly weary of it, however, I was still half asleep and was not ready to function.  So we hopped off the bus and got herded on the mini bus where Katherine and I passed out again.  Putting complete trust into a non-english speaking turk man as we have seemed to do alot lately.  Sara had informed us later how we missed a free tour of Istanbul and how beautiful and amazing it really is.  OH WELL!  I was wayyy too tired at the time.  We may see it on our way to the airport.  Surprising we got dropped off at the right hostel this time and we were able to settle in without too much hassle.  We then decided to get right out into the city and see what we had to discover.  We felt like shopping.  

The Grand Bazaar here we come
We managed to find the Grand Bazaar, which is a massive indoor market full of amazing jewellery store selling a range of expensive to relatively cheap items and carpets stores, stalls selling hukahs (smoking pipes), shalls, scarves, leather goods, and so on and so on.  It's extremely easy to get lost in this place.  Boy, we learnt to spend our money today.  With the knowledge that I was going to meet up with my dad in a few days time in Amsterdam, I thought "SCORE!!  OPPORTUNITY!"  So I bought an extra bag and filled it!  But don't worry, it's not all for me.  Although I would love to keep the 12 pairs of earrings I bought today. Haha.  



Our Thailand experience with haggling came into play, however, in Istanbul it seemed to me that the whole process was more of a quiet deal rather than a loud show as it is in Thailand.  Katherine had it down pat and was even told that she was a "difficult customer," but the main thing was that she got what she wanted.  Whereas I felt bad for the shop owners and didn't want to rip them off and most likely accepted what they offered.  Deals which were most likely not in my favour.  Sara started out hard but died down after spending too much money.  Katherine and I seemed to not know how to stop and made many trips to the ATM. (Pictures to be posted later)

After our amazing shopping spree we went back to the hostel and passed out on the bed for 3 hours and slowly waking up to have dinner on the rooftop restaurant.  The meals were delicious!  As you may of not known, we are making a menu of the world which you will see later on.  After dinner, Katherine and I decided to go and experience a real turkish bath.  I was petrified.

Turkish Bath
We arrived at the place at 9pm, walking in to be greeted by non-english speaking turks, being whisked off to a separate room to change into a towel and then both dragged by a sweet little old turkish woman to "literally" bathe us.  We walked into this hot sauna like marble room, told to sit next to a marbled bowl filling with warm running water.  She then asked us to pour water on ourselves and she then washed our hair and our bodies.  The whole time I was just thinking, "I could get used to this!" ......Until she said, "Stand up!  Take off clothes!  No bikini!" ..... So off it came.  Katherine's remark to me was, "I'm so proud of you Colette!!" as she knew how I was a little unsure of getting naked in front of strangers... and my friend that I happen to work with.



Turkish Massage
Soaking wet we get taken back outside... with a towel on... into the cool air to go off and have our turkish massage.  The sweet little old turkish woman took Kat off into a separate room leaving me alone where I turned around and saw a large turkish woman with big strong looking hands.  I was petrified.  She led me off to a room upstairs with me looking back at Katherine as I was led off into the unknown following in the shadows of my masseus.  

Katherine described her massage to be a calming, peaceful, relaxing, heavenly, full body massage.  Whereas I looked at her in disbelief saying, "Once the pain diminshed, it didn't feel too bad - that is, once she actually stopped massaging me." Every touch seemed to send stabbing pains throughout my body.  I could just imagine that the noises from Katherine's room were "hmmm ahhhhh."  Where my room was more a long the lines of "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!  SHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIITTTTTTT!  ohhhhhh that stings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"   Surprising though, afterwards, I did feel quite good and should have a good sleep tonight.



Katherine and I didn't actually think it through properly because we were then left with no underwear to wear home.  I got away with it due to wearing a black top, however, Katherine had to put on her wet bikini top leaving triangle wet marks on her "white" top.  Let's just say we walked home with our arms crossed the whole way.

As we were leaving we took a photo of the front of the bath and the people inside started yelling out to us.  We thought we were getting in trouble for taking a photo but obviously we were wrong when they came running out to pose for us.


Owners of the Turkish Bath

We got back to the hostel and found Sara tucked up in bed.

Turkey (Turkey Here we Come)

 

 

Hey, its Sara here again, just thought I would write about the first half of our trip to Turkey. Here it is, enjoy.

 

Now our trip to turkey was interesting. After spending the day homeless and bumming around on the beach and at a local beach restaurant, that served these enormous club sandwiches, we finally caught the midnight ferry to turkey. As we boarded the ferry, Kay said "so do we just sit anywhere since we have no seat numbers?” We all just then looked at each other and said "it seems that way", since all the people just seemed to be sleeping everywhere and I mean everywhere. They were on the floor, on chairs in the aisle, every place u could imagine. They even came prepared with blankets and sleeping bags. You could tell they had done this before. So what else could we do but join them. Kay and Colette got out there sleeping bags and placed themselves between the chair rows and with a little help of some sleeping pills got some sleep, while I stuck to chairs and managed to get hardly any sleep.

 

We first had to go to the island of Samos and from there we quickly had to make our way to the travel agent to quickly book our connecting boat ride to Kusadais, Turkey, another hour and a bit boat trip. We were all so tired and all we wanted to do was sleep for a few hours. However, We got prime seats on deck at the front, so we took advantage and spent the first half of the boat trip sunbaking on top. Boy was it hot!! After cooking up there we felt more sleep deprived so we headed inside the boat to escape the sun and get some much needed sleep.

 

Now let’s just say that if a lack of sleep especially on my part wasn’t exhausting enough, our walk up to our hostel sure was. We arrived to find our hostel basically on the side of this cliff. We had to climb very many and very steep stairs the whole way up and when we thought we finally made it another corner with more stairs. Now that was an effort, especially with our 20kg backpacks on our back.

 

By this time it was just past lunch so after checking in, dumping our stuff we tackled the stairs yet again to go and eat. We were starving, having had nothing to eat since the club sandwiches the nite before in Mykonos. After much debate we decided that we would go and get a few hours sleep before heading out to Esphues, an ancient ruin. I was very reluctant as I knew that if I went to sleep I would not be able to wake up. Kay and Colette didn't believe me, so off we went to sleep. I woke briefly at one point to hear Colette and Kay talking, and Kay saying to Colette that "Yeah, I’ll meet you up stairs on the internet" as Colette was leaving the room. Next thing I know I’m getting yelled at while sleeping in the bed by Colette to get up. I didn't do anything!!!!! You see, Kay fell back a sleep and didn't make it up stairs. So Colette was left by herself to book the bus trip for the next day in between coming down the stairs to our room and apparently bagging on the door for us to let her in. I was dead to the world, like I said I would be and heard nothing. After a few attempts at the door, Kay finally woke and let Colette into the room who by this point wasn't a happy camper. By this time it was too late to go Ephesus, so instead we walked around the local town centre and explored the Bazaar while enjoying some real Turkish delight. I also had to buy a new pair of sunny's, as yet again I broke mine. That’s number 4 for me.

 

 

20th June

 

We had an early start today and a long bus journey ahead. We first headed by bus to a place called, Denizli and from there we caught a connecting bus to Pamukkale, a small town an hour or so outside of Denizli. This place is known for the natural hot springs which are situated out in the hills above the town. They are big white pools which cover the facade of the hills and when filled with warm water creates a beautiful blue colour which becomes very inviting. Wow...Wasn't it great. We got there with a pre-conceited idea that these natural hot springs had been uncared for by the local people and tourists making the milky waters brown and dirty and causing more than half of the hot springs to become dry due its water supply being diverted to the local town. However we were pleasantly surprised and even though more than half of the hot springs were dried up, the remaining hot springs had been restored to there natural self. We spent the whole day soaking up the warm waters of the hot springs, soaking in the sun and exploring the ancient ruins, Heirapolis, that surround the hot springs, Kay even managed to get in her nanna nap. What a place to spend your day. We can't complain how we yet again spent another homeless day. God We Do This Well!!!!!

 

Back to Deinzli, to catch our overnight bus to Cappadocia. We forgotten how the local people react to women wearing shorts after spending the day surrounded by tourists. We were quickly reminded by the many people staring at us which made us quickly become uncomfortable. eventually a very nice police officer came and suggested to us to move done to the police station, where he knew we would be safe. He was the nicest Turkish man we met. The Staring wasn't just located in Deinzli, the staring continued on the bus and at the bus stops on our way to Cappadocia. Our patience was wearing thin by 1:30am.

 

 

Cappadocia.

 

Well what can we say!! From our first sight we were in love... We were woken on the bus by the bus attendant to the sight of a fairy wonderland waiting for us outside. We were so captivated and delirious from our lack of sleep that it took us a few minutes before we realised that there was a man trying to get us to our hostel. We eventually splurtted out the name of our hostel and within a few minutes a driver come and off to The Flintstones we went. The Flintstones...what can I say. Well it certainly has a lot of memories for us all. Firstly we got to stay in a cave and it was jammed packed with memorable events, that’s for sure.

After arriving we were given the choice of a few caves to stay, then after a quick run down by the Hostel Manager about everything on offer in hostel, we quickly found ourself, scoffing down our first traditional Turkish Breakfast with apple tea, YUM Apple tea... Despite being tired and having spent the night on a bus with not much sleep, we signed up for a day tour of Cappadocia exploring the fairy chimneys, ancient underground caves, all 8 levels, before enjoying a fantastic late lunch at the end of the tour. Our guide was great, he sure knows his stuff and how to entertain, that’s for sure.

 

If that wasn't enough for the day, we had also signed ourselves up for a Traditional Turkish night that morning. After a quick shower, we were off to see a Traditional Turkish Dance and enjoy many Traditional Turkish meals. It cost only 30 Australian dollars, and included all food and all drinks, even alcohol. Boy they weren't wrong when they said all alcohol included. After asking for vodka and orange/coke, we got presented with not only a whole bottle of coke and orange juice but a whole bottle of Vodka, just for the 3 of us. Now that’s what you call all included... It was a great night, that included Kay and Colette belly dancing on stage, being taken to dance outside, Turkish style around a bon fire, and Kay marrying our hostel manager, who came along for the night. It didn't end there for Kay either, she had a TOP GUN experience (Take my breath away....), with you know who that night... It was a perfect end to a day that began with such captivation.

 

The next day, we enjoyed once again our apple tea and took in the sights of the surrounding small town. We indulged in the local bakery and went back for supplies for our overnight bus trip to Istanbul that night. After exploring the town, we headed back to the Hostel to bum around until later that night. while I and Colette constructively worked on this journal, Kay enjoyed the comfort of her dreams once again. Soon a bus load of tourists arrived and as quick as they arrived, the no sooner a Hostel worker was coming in to were the computer was putting up a signing say how much it cost for the internet. You see up until then the internet was free, so I and Colette quickly jumped off of course. Now that’s what you call making money.....

 

Well there it is the first part of our trip to turkey. Hope u enjoyed.

 

Til next time, Sara

 

Hey people its Sara here.....finally!! Sorry about the delay but here is the story of the best week of our trip so far. Not too mention the BEST birthday ever!!!!

Santorini 13/06/2007

After another early start, as mentioned previously, we got off at the port of Santorini and it was crazy! It was so beautiful coming into the port  however the beauty was lost for a bit as we were swamped by at least fifty men if not more yelling at us "Need a place to stay?" There hundreds either selling accomodation and transport as well as the people waiting for their ferries in what called 'Cattle Pens'.  After ignoring most of the men yelling out accomodation we heard one man yelling out transport to the town of Perisus which is where were staying so we took up on the offer trusting he would take us to our hotel. 
Well weren't we in for a shock.....
After seeing such an amazing view of Santorini we were dropped off at the wrong hotel in the middle of Nowhere, with him driving off before we could find out where we were. This left us with €5 each short in our pockets and having to get directions from a little old greek lady to our hotel. 2 km, a ring short, heat stroke, back spasms from our 16kg weights and 40mins later we ended up at our hotel...... wait our private studio apartment.

Side view of Studio Zannes apartment	Front view of apartment
Relaxing inside	Balcony

( A Quick Note: i lost my most favourite ring that i bought from Portabello Markets whilst applying more sunscreen on our hike... I remember the importance of SLIP SLOP and SLAP!)
So we quickly dumped our stuff and headed off to see if we could find my ring with no luck so we just bought our selves some groceries and then hit the beach. That night we got to make our first homemade dinner away from home. It was great!!!!! We had Salad just the way with like it minus olives and cucumber for Colette but thats better for me and Kay cause we got more...SCORE!!) and minute pasta which was great. Off to bed that night after an exhausting day.

Beach 2 minutes away

Homemade dinner

14/06/2007

No early start this morning finally getting to sleep in. But these days a sleep in isn't past 9am. We decided to explore the island the best way ever.....on QUAD BIKES!!!! or as Kay says MOPEDS!!!!!!!! "Now this is hows you travel around SANTORINI" as quoted by Colette. After hitting the town of Fira we stopped for a pre packed lunch next to a run down building and a pretty good view. Little did we know there was a friggin good view only two minutes away but Kay and I were still recovering from driving down a one way street the wrong the way. Now that was interesting especially with the police sounding there alarms at us. But all was good.  We explored and bought new sunnies because i trod on mine. I seem to like loosing and accidently breaking my things on this trip.Feeling daring we thenwent and got a tattoo each... that is a henna tattoo, ofcourse! I got two because i'oim speciiial! LOL It was suppose to last three months but yeh that didn't happen. Had drink pver looking a Fantastic view and then headed back to our studio. HAd another late home cooked meal and then out for Midnight drinks to celebrate the first minute of my birthday. Must celebrate every minute that i had espeically being in Santorini on the other side of the world. How many times can you say that! After listening to Bob Marley and a few drinks we headed off to bed.

Don't forget to wear your helment	Filling up at the petrol station

15/06/2007 My Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! HAPPY BIRHTDAY TO MEEEEEEEEEE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!
Hmmmmmmmm.............. What shall i do today?...........................................................................................................................
Let me think about this carefully! I feel like conquering a volcano, sailing the greek islands, visiting a mud bath, riding a donkey, seeing the best sunset in the world and eating the best cuisine ever made. Can this be done? That is the question!
With a click of my fingers i was on a boat sailing the greek islands, heading to conquer my volcano, swimming through thermal waters to my mud bath, and headed up to Oia for the best dinner ever via a donkey, watching the most beautiful sunset in the world!!!
The donkey is a stand out and would have to be one of the funniest things of my life. Quick description: 270 steep steps up the side of a cliff, with a great fall to the bottom, and free reighed donkeys with only thing steering them a man yelling from behind at them. We all thought  we were going to die which doesn't explain why we were pissing ourselves laughing. They kept banging us against the wall and nearly wiping poor pedstrians off the side of the cliff.

Conquering the volcano	Resting after a long climb
Sara climbing up 270 steps on her donkey	What are you looking at?

Scrumptuous dinner in Oia	Sunset during dinner
What a view	At the restuarant

That night after almost missing the bus back too Perisus, we went down to a local beach bar for a few drinks. Kay and I were tired and were happy to sit and have a few drinks but Colette was falling alseep and thought this was no good and got and danced the night away all by herself ( well that is until some sexy lad sweeped her off her feet on the dancefloor) What a night! Kay lost her jellewery but Colette found it for her ( see it wasn't me this time). How lucky was she,seeing that it was tiny charm off her necklace and the floor was covered in napkins.  Pot luck!
A night of dancing, getting home late, crashing out, ready to leave the next day to party town Mykonos.

Mykonos

16th June

After a late nite we were up fairly early to catch our speed jet boat to Mykonos, the only

thing planned so far for this part of our trip. Exhausted and tired we all slept for the 4hr

trip. We were greeted again by cattle pens, and people shouting "u need a place to stay",

and this time we did. So we picked a lady in pink, and got the information about the place,

bargined the price and then off we were to our Apartment, right near the beach. What more

could we ask for. The place was fantastic and the beach great. We were told by this canadian

guy that the beaches at Mykonos were fanastic and so much better than santorini as they had

sand not pebbles. But being Australian's, it didn't compare to our beaches at home. Yeah

sure it was sand, but the sand was cruashed up pebbles that had been made into something

like sand, it wasn't the real thing. It still beautiful though.

After arriving at our apartment, we went and had a quick lunch on the beach, beforecolette

and I went for a swim in the pool while Kay who wasn't feeling to well and was a bit tired,

had a rest and her nanna nap. The pool was great, we met these 2 american girls who were

staying in the apartment next to us and spent the afternoon talking to them by the pool

before making a homemade dinner, a great salad and gyros (small Kebab with chips inside

them) from a the local restraunt. I was feeling tired and wasn't up for go'n out, so colette

and Kay went out on the town for a few hours.
( hey Colette here, Just writing a quick note about Kay and I's night out. We went into town

by bus after having a big fight with the ticket lady because i was trying to do the right

thing but thats a long story. We had no idea where or what we were going to do so we just

wandered the streets trying our darndest not to go into any of the shops to buy things. We

found a club and went in for a drink and a bit of a dance. We soon left after the music

changed to greek dance music which, no offence to the greek, isn't that good. It was great

to watch the locals do there thing though. So we went off again to wander the streets which

in the end seemed way more fun to us then actually dancing and drinking. We had such a great

night that night. We even found a random pelican walking around a square. We ended up coming

home by 3.30am deciding to leave the big night for the following night with Sara.)

17th June

We had another sleep in day, and then dedicated the day to the beach. It was great. We

slipped sloped and slapped, rented beach chairs and sunbaked the day away. In the afternoon,

we decided we couldn't just bake all day, so we went into town by taxis, the taxis here are

all Mercedeze benz, its great, and booked our ferry to Turkey. We then had a dillema, as our

Ferry didn't leave til 1:25am on the 19th, and we were excepting to leave on the 18th, so we

were going be homeless for a day. After that we headed back to our apartment for an early

dinner, before having a nap in preparation for our planned big night out on the town and

experience the 3am night life in Mykonos. So we set the alarm for 12:30am, and we got up and

got ready for a big night out. After a few, "Are we really going to do this?" "Nah we have

to, its the Mykonos experience", we finally left at about 3am to party the night away. Boy

were we in for a suprise!!!

The night started with us trying to find a taxis to take us to Paradise beach, this is

apparently the place that has the party's that start at 3am. We were unsuccessful for while

so instead we found this bakery and had a midnight dessert (bread and great biscuts). We

finally got a taxi, only to get in and after asking the driver to take us to Paradise Beach,

he kindly informed us that the night life there ends at this time of the morning and that we

are a bit early for the 3am party's as they don't start til the end of June and beginning of

july. Seeing that we were all dolled up and looking gorgeous, We decided to head into towm

to see if we could go and find somewhere to have a few drinks and party what was left of the

night away. Instead, we found alot of very drunken people hobbling along the streets and out

of the clubs and sleezy Greek man. It seemed that our big night out wasn't going to happen

so off to the payphones we went to call home, while enjoying a snack of coffee and the best

crepes ever. They were Fantastic!! We were back in bed by 6am that night.

18th June
 It was about 10 in the morning, when we were woken by the sound of banging at our door. It

was the owner who wasn't that happy with us. The day before we decided to do some washing

and used the washing machine that was right in front of our apartment door, but when we went

to get them out later that day we couldn't so we told one of the owners what had happened

and she said it was her sisters machine and that the guest ones are somewhere else. How were

we supposed to know that, this washing machine was at our door step. We said sorry and that

we didn't realise and she seemed fine about it. She sent her father up to try and open it

for us, and he came with this screw driver and tried to pry open the door with that. No

success. He managed to brake the door handle even more as colette slightly had some part in

breaking the handle. As we woke to the banging of the door that morning we saw that they had

managed to open the door however they we not very impressed and yelled at Kay and I, while

colette, the lazy thing stayed in bed. Kay and I tried to explain to them that the Father

had tried to open it for us the day before and that he had tried with a screw driver, but

they didnt understand what we were saying so we said a big sorry and took our clothes out.

What an event for me and Kay.


If that wasn't enough, shortly after that we had another knock at the door, this time with the lady saying that we should have already left. Kay and I, again tried to explain to her that we had already organised for us to leave later by 1pm with her daughter. We couldn't understand her as she only spoke greek, and then she said we had 30 mins to be out. So we quickly packed, making sure we had a day/nite bag as we were now homeless to live on the beach until our ferry to Turkey the next morning. How great is that!


 

The final thoughts

We left the port of Pirieus, Athens after another early start to set off by ferry to the Greek Island of Santorini. We had to be at the ferry at 0630hrs as the boat left at 0730hrs. We basically got on the ferry straight away to find a good seat where Katherine had already captured someones attention. A young american man called Robert. That would have to be a record! This was just a start of what the men in Greece had to offer. Some were very smooth. Too smooth the majority of the time. The day before this she had two men come up to her and tell her how beautiful she is. Just too funny! Katherine: " He was asking me to take a photo for him!! Just a Photo!!!" Uh huh, Right Katherine, Whatever! 

This is an entry from Katherine about What she had thought about Athens.

Colette's asked me to write an entry about Athens. I have to say the greek men have been wonderful - the older men that is! The young men as mentioned before have no charisma and aren't worth talking to. I thought it appropriate that i comment on that subject! haha! 
Just some memories:
1. Getting late night take out and getting hilarious drawings of us on a napkin by a 70 year old man. Apparently i have a moustache!
2. "Do Not Flush The Toliet Paper Down Toilet" - San Remo Hostel
3. Tearing Bananas off a display because i was craving fruit and being told off by the store owner " This is not a supermarket!"
4. Colette constantly tripping over her own feet and sara laughing her arse off.
5. Random dogs roaming the stretts.
6. Counting how many people wore the colour Pink. It seemed like a popular colour among the locals. Sara won for the day with a grand total of 23 people within 15 minutes!! ONLY  because she saw a whole row sitting at the train station. It was a close finish between Sara and Colette.

Well thats my imput for the day. I'm now signing off. Nice doing business with you! Katherine!