Backpackingmatt

paris. pictures.

Below you’ll find pictures from my whirlwind tour of Paris … I enjoyed Paris, but I don’t think I’ll rush back to the city. If you need a refresher on my time there, here is a link to my quick post about Paris.

the eiffel tower, illuminated in blue. according to a man who spoke little english, it was lit up this way in anticipation for the us presidential elections. but, i’ve since heard, it had something to do with an EU event going on in town. either way, the eiffel tower, illuminated in blue.

Technorati Tags: eurorail pass, paris

Continue reading...

Amsterdam Pictures

Perhaps a little bit late, but below you’ll find pictures from my three days spent in Amsterdam. The city was filled with canals and is dubbed the, ‘Venice of the North.’ After traveling the continent for a month, I’d quite easily say that Amsterdam is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve seen.

Technorati Tags: Amsterdam

Continue reading...

Chios, Greece

17/11/2008

Brian, Peter, and I are on a ferry, en route to Cesme, Turkey. Peter is an American traveler I met while on the train from Patras to Athens. A recent graduate from Washington state, Peter decided to travel for six months before facing reality – not a bad idea. Brian ended up meeting up with us on Chios, where I’ve spent the last three nights.

Chios was described to me as an island that the unsuspecting tourist finds, falls in love with, and never leaves; after spending three nights there, I can see clearly how this is the case.

A dry, arid, and mountainous island, Chios is best known for the production of mastic. A dried, resin-like sap which comes from Mestic Trees – indigenous to the south of Chios. Villages on the south of the island form a co-operative and produce and distribute the product in a number of different forms – from gum, to cosmetic products, to foods. The three of us hired a car and spent one day exploring the island. It was fascinating to explore the Mastic villages – many of these medieval, enclosed towns of less than 1000 people.

As we wandered the streets of these villages, we saw a number of old women sitting outside of their homes, harvesting the raw mastic.

The highlight of my time in Chios oddly took place the morning I arrived from Athens. Peter and I arrived on the ferry at the ungodly hour of 4am. With no plans of where we were staying, we ended up killing time by drinking Greek coffees in the local bus station. As we were waiting for the town of Chios to wake up, I watched a beautiful sunrise over Turkey.

For now, Turkey and Turkish customs await.

Technorati Tags: Backpacking, Beaches, greece

Continue reading...

Obama Supporter

It has been great to be in Europe in the week following the US elections. There is no question that Senator Obama was supported by the Europeans. The election was monumental, as I’m sure nobody would deny – Democrat, Republican, Green, or Independent. It is, in my mind, a very big step in the right direction for the US. Unfortunately for the Illinois Senator, he is stepping into The White House to find a troubled economy at home, two dead end wars in the Middle East, a struggling healthcare system, and the list could go on.

Additionally, he will become the US President at a time when the US has lost the respect of the world. In Bari, I was speaking with a Dutch backpacker about the election. He – just as literally everyone I’ve spoken with – was excited Obama won the election. “It is exciting,” I told him, “because now we can begin to regain our reputation in the world.” His response, I felt, was quite blunt and oh so true. “Yes,” he said, “but it is a lot easier to loose your reputation than it is to regain it.”

I’m afraid he is right; at least Obama is a step in the right direction.

I was walking around the Plaka neighborhood here in Athens yesterday and came across an old lady sitting outside of her shop. The owners of the many stores in this neighborhood bring chairs outside their shops, sit in the sun, drink iced coffees, and smoke cigarettes. I noticed something peculiar about this specific shopkeeper …

Continue reading...

I’m going to Turkey.

As I sit down to write this post, I’m seated outside of an Athens cafe, soaking up the sun, drinking an iced coffee, and looking at the imposing Acropolis.

Just minutes ago, I booked my ferry tickets to Turkey – I’m unbelievably excited. When I left Edinburgh just under four weeks ago, my plan was to make it to Turkey. I’m now only days away from meeting this goal. I’ll leave Athens tonight on a ferry heading to the Greek island of Chios – located only 10 or 15 miles away from the Turkish coast. I’ll spend a couple days on Chios before taking the quick, one hour journey to the port south of Izmir, Turkey.

I didn’t arrive in Athens expecting to be impressed with the city. I had heard, for the most part, negative things about Greece’s capital city – crowded, filled with traffic, and full of garbage. Athens is a massive, sprawling city of nearly four million people. This being said, as a traveler, it is very manageable with all of the main sights located in a central area. From my experience, it is also very safe and no more polluted than any other city of its size.

One thing Athens isn’t short of is stray dogs; they are everywhere. After my first night roaming the city, I determined that most of the dogs are harmless – some will bark and growl, but with a calming hello, they’ll quickly be your best friend and follow you as you wander about their city. Living their lives on the streets of Athens, you’d probably guess they’re not the cleanest animals – and you’d be right. This being said, I’ve learned that they are not really homeless – rather, they’re the proud pets of all Athenians. Nearly all of the dogs have tags which register them to a specific ‘owner’ who looks after them ensuring they are fed and watered. Additionally, volunteer vets in the city ensure the dogs are vaccinated and healthy.

I went on a quick walking tour with my hostel yesterday which touched on all the key sites in Athens. While not the most informative tour, I always appreciate the chance to hear about a city from a local. Case and point, learning about the ‘stray’ dogs of the city. The history of Athens is mind blowing. It is shocking to see temples, buildings, and ruins dating from the First Century BC. A person almost feels speechless walking amongst such history and beauty.

Since arriving in Athens, I haven’t eaten much besides Gyros – a Greek food consisting of roasted meat from a vertical spit (pork, beef, or chicken), onions, tomatoes, and tzatziki served in an oiled an fried pita. They’re delicious – and, more importantly, they’re cheap. I spent a good hour last night sitting outside of a great Gyro take-away/sitdown restaurant just taking the whole scene in. While clearly attracting a fair number of tourists, it was also apparent that Athenians eat gyros on the run. It was shocking to watch the lads behind the counter serving up the Greek specialty – anytime there weren’t customers, they’d quick light up a cigarette. They wouldn’t quite leave the kitchen to smoke it, but they’d at least try to lean over the counter away from the food. Health and Safety?! All the while, the old man who most likely owned the joint, sat at a cash register, smoking, waiting for customers, and watching his money roll in.

Earlier on in the evening, I was wandering the city and came to a small, rocky, hill which had stunning views of the city, its surrounding hills, and the illuminated Acropolis. It was a great place to relax, ponder, and take in the breathtaking city that is Athens. I was thinking about where I am now, where I’ve been, but more importantly where I’ll be one or two months time. I don’t know. Without a source of income, I’m afraid my days of traveling will all to abruptly come to an end. In a perfect world, I’ll find some sort of short term employment in Turkey – a hostel, a bar, a restaurant, who knows. I was thinking last night that I left home after graduation because the thought of immediately settling down to a career oriented job, working 40+ hours a week and 50 weeks a year was frightening. In traveling and seeing Europe, I had hoped to ready myself for the settling down. Last night, however, I realized that I’m more terrified now of that thought than I was a year and a half ago. I’m ready to go home to see my family, but I’m certainly not ready to stop traveling, meeting new people, and taking in all this world has to offer.

Technorati Tags: Backpacking, turkey

Continue reading...

night train

31/10/2008 – 8:55

Right, so, I’m on a night train heading to Venice. The train left Budapest at 5pm and will arrive in Venice at 7am tomorrow. Its my first real experience with train travel in Eastern Europe – I’d be lying if I said its anywhere as close to glamorous as Western Europe train travel. This being said, its cheap, its efficient, and its definitely an experience.

My ever so trustworthy Lonely Planet has provided me thus far with great advice for my travels in Scotland, Ireland, Spain, and Prague. For those trips I had specific books aimed at each previously mentioned country or city. The Lonely Planet book I’m traveling with now is the ‘Europe On a Shoestring’ edition. While not as useful as other editions, it does have the added advantage of covering all European countries and most towns or cites that deserve to make it on a map.

I digress. One of the sections in the Shoestring book talks about the potential dangers of train travel. Namely, trains in Eastern Europe. Similar to an over-protective parent, Lonely Planet makes sure to cover all potential hazards that a traveler could encounter while jumping across Europe. Currency exchange scams, pick pocketing, nightlife scams, and the dangers of train travel – specifically, overnight train travel in Eastern Europe. For the most part, I had disregarded most of these threats as being a bit over the top. That is, until I hopped on the Budapest – Venice overnight train.

Significantly older and dirtier, and smelling quite distinctively of old cigarette smoke this train is potentially the perfect venue for some of Shoestring’s ‘worst case scenarios.’ Baggage theft, druggings, and the situation which I find most far-fetched; the situation in which a potential thief opens your compartment door in the middle of the night and tosses in a canister, or pill, or something which releases gas and completely knocks out the passengers so said theft can steal all the traveler’s belongings. I don’t imagine it will happen – not with broken lock on our compartment door anyway… All part of the journey, right?

Budapest was for lack of a better word, amazing. Brian and I had only intended on staying for two nights but ended up sleeping in ‘Pest for one extra night. Budapest is a lovely place full of natural thermal spas, very interesting and recent history, and – most importantly – an extremely cheap place to spend a couple nights. Budapest is situated on top of a number of natural, hot springs. Above many of these, there are beautiful thermal spas. Budapestians (?) believe the waters from these springs bring you many natural health benefits. Many locals wake up, head to their local spa, and ‘soak’ for a couple hours before heading to the office. After spending a day at the Szechini Spa in Budapest City Park, I gather that many of the old, retired, locals spend most of their waking hours there as well. The Szechini Spa is the largest spa in Europe, and for 2600ft (£10), I was able to spend the day soaking in thermal baths, healing in medicinal pools, and lounging in saunas and steam rooms. Somehow, I was exhausted by the end of the day.

This is probably an epic point to finish this post. Just moments ago, the train stopped in seemingly the middle of nowhere. It turns out, we were at the Hungary – Croatia border. Soon after the train stopped, our compartment door jolted open and a uniformed officer appeared. “(mumbling in a language I didn’t understand), Passport.” This happened another two times before the train again started moving.

Venice, here I come. mk

Technorati Tags: train travel

Continue reading...