I didn't really speak of any of the trips at the end of 2007 like my solo trip to The Algarve in Portugal, or the last "summer" long weekend in August to Rome, or even the big trip home. So after getting a little nostalgic after reading our archives, I've been inspired. So here it us. The summed up version!
The Algarve - home of grottoes and bed bugsOnce again, I got a bit bored doing the 'unemployed' thing at home, so seeing the sun wasn't coming to me in London, I followed it to Portugal. Again I must remark, how fantastic is it to be able to fly to some exotic location for £100 return! (In the
retrospective voice "Ah, I miss it dearly!")
I flew to Faro, the capital of the Algarve where I did a quick lap of the city before heading off to the sanctity of the beach. Without my trusty navigator (Lee usually does all the guiding), and the train departure drawing dangerously nigh, I resorted to sign language in getting help from several of the locals to get directions. I finally found my way and took the train to Lagos, a couple of hours away. I stayed in a guest house where I met an Italian guy from Bologna called Matteo. With my little bit of Italian and his broken English, we were able to converse in a very garbled, but amusing way. He even cooked me an authentic tomato pasta dish, fresh tomatoes, basil, garlic, onion, salt and pepper - the way it's meant to be, simple but rich in flavour. Squisito!
The next couple of days were of course spent exploring the beaches on the toy train that runs from the port to the end in the sun, on gorgeous white sandy beaches where I must shamelessly admit, found it too hot. So the drill was a little time in the sun, a quick dip in the ocean, and I mean quick as the Atlantic was freezing, and then back in the sun to dry off. I also took a tour to see the magnificent cliffs and grottoes with a whole boat load of Portugese speaking tourists.
The tour guide had to repeat everything in English for me, and I wondered why the English version didn't have me erupting in laughter like the Portugese version. I couldn't help but think I was getting the sans-humour rendition.
On a smaller boat, we travelled out in groups weaving in and out of crazy rock formations where 'an elephant', 'King Kong', the 'Titanic' and other strange shapes were pointed out. As I was the only one on the tour alone, I had many of the other tourists feeling I shouldn't miss out so would insist on taking my photo for me. There was this inexplicable compulsion to take a photo of every single rock formation from every angle, just like the Stonehenge thing. (What is it about rocks?) Oh, and we snorkeled too, but did I mention it was freezing?!?! So my time in Lagos was quite relaxing, but I left there with a bit more than I bargained for. I was covered in bed bug bites. Hundreds of them. I was a monster!
Always trust a gypsy to throw a baby at you in RomeRome, the second time round. I was looking forward to speaking the language, marvelling at the ruins, drinking good coffee. Maybe they'd cleaned up the city since my last visit 8 years ago. So, there were noticably less stray cats, less grime, and less gypsies. Though we did almost get accosted by a gypsy wielding a baby and a piece of cardboard on our way to the colloseum. Luckily Lee stepped in, or more accurately backed into them with his 15kg backpack to fend them off. And yes, the cardboard is indeed a grossly underestimated effective weapon!
It was indeed a different experience this time. It was all about Rome this time, (it wasn't part of a 3 week epic journey), and though often just about sightseeing, sightseeing wasn't our main agenda. We like to get a sense of the culture and try and live how the locals live
(so to speak). (For a complete rundown on Rome, see Lee's previous post "AT THE END OF ALL ROADS.")
Italy, Turkey & Japan - The round-about way homeWhen you're faced with countless choices on where you can visit, how do you make the decision? For weeks we were perplexed as to where we should go on our last trip. Russia, Dubrovnik, Monte Carlo, Amalfi Coast, hmmmmm. We had 3 weeks to fit it
all in. Due to time & money restraints, it was decided. Venice, Cinque Terre, Nice, Goreme, Istanbul, Kyoto & Tokyo would just have to do. Poor us!
Venezia - Magnifico!This was my second trip to Venice, but as clichéd as it sounds, it's better when you have someone to experience it with. (The pinnacle of my '98 visit were the desperate attempts of joining any nearby English conversations in cafés.) Due to a job Lee had just completed for an Italian hotelier, we were spending two of the three nights in Venice in a 5 star hotel, compliments of Signor Boscolo. Slippers, bathrobes, Murano glass chandelier hanging from the high ceiling in our room, and a beautiful and spacious garden leading to our quarters (a rare treat in Venice), we were in the lap of luxury. Our first hotel wasn't too shabby either. We had an amusing manager who asked the Americans at breakfast whether he was allowed to put any coffee in their coffees.
Even though Venice is quite small, you can easily get lost with the little passageways which weave in and out and lead you to a dead end at the foot of a canal. But these are the sites that we loved stumbling across. Every turn was worth a picture. Who could have thought that washing hanging out to dry could look so picturesque!
Unfortunately, we didn't sample any of the exquisite culinary delights you would expect of Italy, but ate what we simply called "tourist food". We did however dine at this beautiful restaurant on a canal in the middle of a quaint piazza which we had to trek back to after seeing it earlier on the day. It took a while to find, as my response to Lee on where I wanted to eat was "remember that restaurant by the bridge on the canal?" As you can imagine, this described most of the restaurants in Venice.
There are a few ways to get around town, vaporetto (waterbus), walking, or gondolier. Of course the cost for the latter preyed on the hapless tourist who could still be humoured by those candy striped costumes and little ridiculous straw hats, but when in Rome right?!? Or in this case, Venice.
Cinque Terre - Five LandsThe train from Venice to Cinque Terre was the only time we actually missed one of our transits. Luckily all it set us back was an hour and a couple of extra Euros to issue another ticket (and perhaps a couple of ruffled spirits). Cinque Terre consists of five coastal villages with glimpses of the Mediterranean as you pass between the towns on the train.
We stayed in the fourth town, Vernazza. You can hike between towns, but with limited time, we only walked to the fifth town, Monterosso. On the way were vineyards, little wooded paths, gorgeous views of the town from above, then the next moment, sheer cliff face.
Vernazza was a pretty little town, with a central piazza with many restaurants, a church, and pastel coloured buildings dotting the cliffs (much like the other four towns). We had the most amazing (and the most expensive) dinner on the balcony of an old castle which overlooked the ocean. It was fish of the day - sea bass cooked in a mountain of rock salt (Lee's quite certain he'd seen the fisherman's haul earlier that day). I'm not usually a fan of fish, but this was incredible, and just melted in your mouth. It has become customary after all our meals in Italy to have a piece of tirimisu and a shot of limoncello. Not a bad custom to upkeep!
So it was a quick transit in Nice. To Lee's dismay, we didn't have time to stop off in Monaco and walk the Grand Prix track. Instead we had a quick dip in the Med, and chilled out in the hotel before flying back to London for our flight to Turkey. Incidentally, this was the night that France had beaten New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup, and you could actually hear the town erupt as a result, no need to turn the TV on to find out who was victorious.
Turkey - Istanbul not ConstantinopleI only feared for my life three times whilst in Turkey. One was the first night at the "Airport" hotel in Istanbul. We arrived at sundown, and the taxi driver had brought us to the middle of an industrial site. Before us stood a ramshackled building, not a hotel. There were no lights, and all we could see were broken windows, stacked up chairs, and an emptied pool full of debris. It was like we were on set for one of those B-grade horror movies. After some encouragement from a man working in an adjacent carpark, we rounded the corner to find a dimly lit room, known as the reception. There was a young, well groomed man behind a desk. I ventured forward and said quite apprehensively "We have a reservation". He spoke impeccable English and asked for our passports. As it was dinner time, we asked about getting food, and he replied "Our restaurant is under restoration" and pointed to the darkened unkept area to his right. Another man appeared shortly after to show us our room. I asked for our passports back but was told they weren't finished with and would be later brought to our room... okaaaay.
Admittedly, I am easily spooked and extremely paranoid, but I think Lee was also feeling a little uncertain about this place. The fact that we saw no sign of any other guests and all the corridors were dark. Our room only had one working light, the view from the window was an abandoned building, and all I could get on the TV was static. It was all a bit eery. I texted friends in the UK to say if they hadn't heard from us the next morning, to send out a search party.
Due to the "restorations" we were told we could have dinner at the hotel next door. It was the same story there. Darkness, no other guests. The man behind the reception desk motioned us to the restaurant area which was a huge room full of set tables in darkness. A light was turned on above one of the tables and we were told to sit. To cut a long story short, all was fine, it was just off season, and there weren't many guests in town. So yes, rather dramatic, for a not so dramatic ending. I'm telling you, it was eery though, really!
Cappadocia - GöremeNatural rock formations, Germans, Testi Kebapis, delicious food, wine bar, exploring abandoned labrynthine (Lee's choice of word) structures which had partially collapsed and which felt could collapse further as we precariously made our way through.
Caravansari, whirling dervishes, Derinkuyu - one of the amazing underground cities, ancient churches decorated with frescoes, cave houses. Lee had to duck to get through our bathroom door (and managed to hit his head a few times) but our accommodation was so quaint. We found this nice little wine bar which was lined with cushions and tiny tables and with shi-sha pipes and local musicians, and the owner's dog comfortably lounging with anyone who would give him a little attention.
Back to Istanbul again. The second time I feared for my life was in a taxi on the way to Istanbul city. The travel guide said to expect a €50 fare from the airport to the city. When we got into the taxi, there were no seat belts in the back. OK, no cause for alarm, until the taxi driver sped off and was doing speeds of 130km in a 30km zone. through a red light in slightly wet conditions. OK, now it was time to panic! He saved us €25. Good in retrospect.
We stayed right in the centre of Istanbul, in Sultanahmet. It was right next to Hagia Sophia. We found ourselves in awe of this near 2000 year old most remarkable building. First a basilica, later a mosque, now a museum. The central dome was huge and impressive, and due to the different religious holds over time, there were so many different styles to study. Many of them had been covered up, and are only now been uncovered and restored.
It was the festive period, Seker Bayrami (end of Ramadan) so there were thousands of locals to add to the tourist swarms. Our trip to the Grand Bazaar wasn't as grand as planned. It was going to be closed for the 3 day holiday so we only had about an hour before closing time to see what the fuss was about (luckily, as our bags were already brimming!). There were countless shops of lanterns, carpets, and all types of Turkish wares, the same stuff aisle after aisle. It was fascinating to see the shop owners and their families and friends (just men) gathered outside their stalls sharing a meal together. I think it was especially for the holidays, but I also had a sneaking suspicion that it was a daily excuse for the men to get away from their women!
We of course saw the Blue Mosque which resembles a spacecraft from another dimension, but the interior didn't really wow us like Hagia Sophia. Another place of mention was the underground cistern which had been lost for centuries and found again when some of the locals kept finding fish when they'd draw up their buckets of water. Rows upon rows of illuminated columns, rippled water as the thousands of carp swim by, classical music echoing through the expanse, creating an eerie, yet magical feel.
Japan - Beauty and DesignUnfortunately, we were a couple of weeks early in Kyoto, and the maple leaves were just shy of turning that vivid red you see in all the postcard pictures of Japan. It was a beautiful site nonetheless. We spent our 3rd year anniversary on a peaceful and idyllic walk through bamboo forests, temples, by lakes, and a visit to a quaint little restaurant to eat udon noodles... ooishii! I felt like I was having my "Alone in Kyoto" moment the whole time, and it's now one of my favourite anthems. We even relived some of those "Lost In Translation" moments just like Scarlett Johannson.
Tokyo was full of crazy fashion and picture menus. My three years of Japanese back in Uni let me down, and our first night we shamelessly had McDonalds due to our lack of understanding of menus at other restaurants. I found it hard to even tell an eatery from a clothing store from the outside. I was overwhelmed in Tokyo. Lee's uni mate Mike (known as Irish) who is living in Seoul met us in Tokyo. The both of them had to keep stopping to look back at me as we were wandering the streets to make sure I was OK. My mouth was agape most of the time, and I was just transfixed on all the outrageous fashion and the vibrancy of the city. Vending machines to order your food at restaurants, trolleys that work on escalators, revolving toilet seats, the Japanese have thought of everything!
On a smaller boat, we travelled out in groups weaving in and out of crazy rock formations where 'an elephant', 'King Kong', the 'Titanic' and other strange shapes were pointed out. As I was the only one on the tour alone, I had many of the other tourists feeling I shouldn't miss out so would insist on taking my photo for me. There was this inexplicable compulsion to take a photo of every single rock formation from every angle, just like the Stonehenge thing. (What is it about rocks?) Oh, and we snorkeled too, but did I mention it was freezing?!?! So my time in Lagos was quite relaxing, but I left there with a bit more than I bargained for. I was covered in bed bug bites. Hundreds of them. I was a monster!