Continued from "Part II of III - Mykonos - Party Island: Beach by Day, Town by Night"
http://www.epinions.com/trvl-review-4C10-F759EB9-3A00BC84-prod2
Santorini was my favorite part of the trip. I actually wish that my girlfriend and I had planned more time in Santorini, rather than Mykonos. I really just wish my whole vacation was longer.
Time means nothing to these Greeks. After all they eat lunch at 6:00pm! So first thing in the morning really means at least 10:30am, and that’s when we got started for the charming, mountainous town of Arachova. We drove out of the northern part of Athens by way of Kaffissia to the National Toll Road. We had some interesting experiences asking people for directions. They look like characters, some of them, but are more than friendly and helpful in giving, or trying to give, directions.
The temperatures were already climbing in mid-June, but Barcelona, being next to the sea, felt less stifling and Sunny rather than Hot. (I couldn’t bear to imagine Spain in late July-August, when the temperatures reach famous highs and the streets are emptied of travellers.) My friends and I were excited to be there; it was the first Spanish city we were hitting. Lugging our stuffs to the dubious youth hostel through La Rambla in the cool of the night however, all we wanted was a warm bed. At first glance, Barcelona can pass off for any other city in the night, with its McDonald’s, citylights, big department stores (El Corte Ingles) and numerous metro stations. My friends and I even thought it might have been Singapore we were in, so busy still were the streets and bright the place.
We were part of a larger group - 28 folks to be exact! The ski area we went to is in the Italian Alps in the midst of the Dolomites, a kind of rock/mountain formations that are really striking and beautiful. The rock is soft sedimentary and coral rock that was an ancient seabed 200 millions years ago and was thrust upward with the rest of the Alps range, sculpted by glaciers and eroded by wind, water and freezing cracking. Because it is relatively soft (compared to marble or granite and other igneous and metamorphic rock) and its layering characteristics, it breaks off in a vertical manner and provides sheer walls and very steep peaks. They are spectacular, to say the least. They also have a unique coloration that, when combined with the spectacular sunset rays of the sun, give off the brightest and most beautifully brilliant red/orange glow, almost like flame much like the rocks in Sedona, AZ. The tops of all the Alps peaks are about 11,000 - 12,000 ft. elevation.
As London”s most famous and most widely-visited store is Harrod”s, this opinions majors on that store. I have also tried to mention some other, similar stores for comparison purposes, and the whole thing is designed to be read by visitors as opposed to residents. If you live here, you know this stuff already.
In truth, the large department stores are not really the greatest places to go. If you want to do some real shopping, you want specialist arcades like Piccadilly & Knightsbridge, or more out of the way stores like Patrick Cox or Ghost. But, most visitors don”t want to spend all day getting to one shop for one pair of socks, so I”ll concentrate on the larger stores, and start with London”s most famous store - Harrod”s.
My boyfriend and I spent 3 weeks in Crete from 6th May 2003 and had a fantastic holiday. The wild flowers at this time of year are truly beautiful, but even by the end of our holiday they were beginning to fade. The temperature was much better than we expected, probably around 25 degrees centigrade, although a little cool at night. We only had three days of bad weather (rain) in the 3 weeks we were there.
This charming small town in the Italian Riviera is definitely worth a visit. Unfortunately, my husband and I traveled to Santa Margherita Ligure in early April, the fine line between the end of the low season and the beginning of the high season. We had a fair amount of rainy days and I would advise travelers to go later in the Spring or even in the Summer, though you may have to battle other tourists at that time. That said, we had several beautiful sunny days which gave us the flavor of this summer resort area.
I was visiting my friend who lived in Tbilisi, Georgia and stayed there for a week. Georgia is a very ancient country and relatively well-preserved. While there are a few Western chain restaurants in Tbilisi, majority of the restaurants serve Georgian food, which in my opinion, is one of the best there are - not too heavy, not too spicy, not overcooked. Grilled meat, many vegetable dishes and great local red and white wine make every meal a special occasion. I haven’t been to a restaurant there that I din’t like. In Tbilisi there are several orthodox churches dating from 5-6th century and a large fortress on top of the hill. Old town still has traditional buildings with terraces and narrow streets. I went to sulfur baths that are built on natural springs - they have sauna and turkish baths across the street. Mother Georgia monument holding a sword and glass(?) of wine looks over the city - according to the locals, it welcomes friends with wine, but meets enemies with a sword.
Georgian people are very hospitable - even if they know you as a friend of a friend they feel that they have to make you feel at home in Georgia, throw a dinner in your honor and try to entertain you as much as they can. Police is rather corrupt - I heard numerous stories of policemen stopping cars for no reason. Of course, there are hardly any traffic signs at all in Tbilisi, so a reason can always be made up. I didn’t see that much police on the streets. Tbilisi seemed to be safe, although some streets are so bad that I would not risk walking at night and falling into a hole.
Weather is much warmer than in Russia, not too hot though. It makes walks around the city and hiking very pleasant. Some of the scenery reminds of Tuscany, very picturesque and so few tourists. Which is a plus, if you ask me.
Most of people speak Russian, very few speak English. Georgian alphabet is unique, neither latin nor cyrillic. Many people at that time (summer of 1999) were unemployed, but I saw no street people. Georgians are a proud nation. Georgia has a few nice museums - I went to fine arts museum, crafts museum on a hill and ethnography museum - which was a collection of traditional Georgian houses from different parts of the country. Despite its small size, Georgia has quite a few distinct nations/cultures.
Tbilisi’s market is amazing… lots of spices and fresh fruit. Occasionally they have problems with decease outbreaks - I would definitely wash everything and check whether there are any alerts. Overall, it’s a great country to visit. A lot to discover and to remember… very different and surprising, in a good sense.
With one’s spare time in Athens, it is fun to just observe people and surroundings. We really didn’t see any poorly dressed people, but did see one man, totally nuts, gesturing and shouting as he stomped down the street.
The air is dirty, polluted, and a lot of construction-type work seems to be done by hand, thus the results are more crude. People don’t take pride in keeping up their property, or can’t afford to, so you see crumbling of walls and foundations, sidewalks in need of repair, people smoking everywhere, lots of traffic noises, especially motorcycles, which lots of people ride because they can squeeze between cars and buses and get places faster. Parking is difficult to find - no lots, just street and sidewalk parking.
Are you tired of staying in well-appointed– but BORING– hotel rooms? Can’t tell which city you’re in because your hotel room always looks the same?
If you’re visiting Paris, consider renting a furnished apartment. An apartment rental affords you more privacy and space and an opportunity to live like a Parisian, often at a lower cost than a hotel room that has fewer amenities. There are many, many short-term rental apartments available in Paris (more so than any other city I’ve browsed) to suit all tastes and price ranges.
