Rome With Kelly

The following takes place on Days 214-217, June 29-30, 2011.

Rome. The Eternal City. A city filled with such majesty and history that it’s hard to comprehend at times. It’s a city that sparks any multitude of emotions and thoughts when you first enter it. And it means something different to different people, especially with the heart of the Catholic Church in centre of the city. And although Kelly and I had two full days in Rome, much more than Venice and Florence, for a city this big we’d still be rushing through it all.

Brief Affairs

The following takes place on Days 211-213, June 26-28, 2011

After a surprisingly deep sleep on the deck of the ferry, we awoke to the sounds of the overly cheerful British lady on the loudspeaker telling the passengers “Ladies and Gentlemen. We would like to kindly tell you that the a la carte and the self service restaurant are now open. Enjoy your breakfast.” It was early in the morning, probably around 6am. Within an hour we were slowing down as we entered the waters of Venice, Italy.

I didn’t realize just how small the city was. From the ship, we could see to the other side of the islands that made up the city of Venice. When I think of cities in Europe and Italy, I always imagine large swaths of urban landscaping. Now so with Venice. It is a very condensed city. It is connected to the mainland by a long bridge. Mind you, there are a number of communities right on the mainland that one could consider a part of Venice, but that would be the same as saying Oshawa is a part of Toronto.

“I would walk 500 miles . . . “

The following takes place on Days 207-210, June 22-25, 2011

I’m going to prologue this with a reminder: Kelly was on a tight schedule. She had her return flight to Saskatoon leaving Rome on July 1st. And with us wanting to see more of Italy than just the Eternal City, it meant having to do a lot of fast, expensive traveling. The start of all this was to get ourselves back up to Athens from Santorini. The cheapest option would be a 9 hour ferry ride. There is an airport on the island but the prices are a bit insane, especially for my budget.

Our end goal for the next few days: Venice, Italy.

Without leaving the surface of the Earth.

Ok, We get it. You’re Pretty.

The following takes place on Days 204-206, June 19-21, 2011

I don’t think I’m really jumping off the deep end here by declaring that I think most people, when thinking of Greek Islands, think of Santorini. The island of Santorini is kind of like that pretty girl in high school. She knows she’s pretty and doesn’t need to do much to convince anyone of that fact. People will flock to her regardless. That is most definitely Santorini. The island is dotted with apartments for rent, hostels, hotels, and resorts. It is like it is built for tourists.

The One Where Kelly Falls off a Wall

The following takes place on Days 201-203, June 16-18, 2011

With the riots officially finished(for now) in Athens, Kelly and I left the hostel early in the morning to catch the metro to the port to grab our first ferry ride of the trip. The closest metro station was in Syntagma Square, where all the problems from the day before were concentrated. As we were walking through the deserted, early morning streets I began to feel a strange tickling in my throat. And then my eyes began to burn. When I looked over at Kelly her eyes were a bright red. The tear gas that had been shot off the day before was still lingering in the air.

Broken glass littered sections of the sidewalk and there was garbage strewn everywhere. At one point I noticed pieces of a wall had been broken off of a building in the square. And considering how much I was being affected by the tear gas this long after it had been released I was quite glad I wasn’t right in the midst of the action. Though, imagine the pictures I would have had!

As hell broke loose . . .

The following takes place on Days 199-200, June 14-15, 2011

The plan had always been for Kelly and I to spend a few days in Athens before heading off on the ferries for some time island hopping. There was no doubt about that part. What islands we would go to was a bit of a toss up. We knew for sure that we would go to Santorini as that island had the famous blue and white buildings everyone associates with the Greek islands. But beyond that, we were pretty open.

As it would turn out, our plan to leave on the 16th was going to be the best decision we made.

HAIL CAESAR!

The following takes place on Day 198, June 13, 2011

After a pretty easy sleep on the bus from Dahab to Cairo, involving a backup in traffic that lasted an hour at the same drug/bus search we reached on the trip to Dahab three nights before, I was being zipped through early morning traffic to the Cairo International Airport to catch my flight to Athens. I felt sad to be leaving Egypt so soon but felt excited because of who would be waiting for me in the Athens Airport – my friend Kelly.

This had been planned for months already. As soon as I put in my temporary dates for the flights, Kelly worked to get time off to come travel with me for a few weeks. She worked it so she got just under three weeks to meet me while I went to Greece. She would end up landing just as I was taking off.

And she would have Clamato.