Gallivanting the Greek Islands

So i am sitting in the communal area of my hostel during my last hours in Santorini. I will then be heading to the large island of Crete.
These smaller islands I have visited, Mykonos and Santorini, and just two of a number of islands that make up the Cyclades. They are certainly well known, especially as some of the other islands in the group are Ios and Paros.
My first thought about the two I visited was overrated. People love these islands, but as a traveller, I don't understand why.
Take Mykonos for example. It is known for paradise beach, a place for beach parties. The old town has a slight charm to it with its right alleyways, and all the buildings based on a similar shape and all the same colour. But ultimately it is about the parties. Culturally, there was nothing. Locals don't hang at these beaches or go to these parties, and why would they when the door charge is €40 a night, so the only ones you can talk to are those working, and often they weren't even from the island.
Although I am sure families go, it isn't a family place, and not really a place for solo travellers. The hostels don't tend to provide opportunities for people to mix and mingle. It is also full of your groups, like bus about.
The beaches are nice, but crawling with umbrellas and loungers that you have to pay for or go to the end of the beach. I did relax during the day which was nice, and swam, but if you didn't go out in the evening, the nights were disturbed by literally hundreds of drunks.
I did go to Martin solveig one night and that was great as decent djs are always good. But based on this experience, unless you are much more outgoing then I am, don't bother going to mykonos as a solo.
Santorini was a much quieter place. Yes there are lots of tourists around, but they are much easier to avoid. I walked from Fira to Oia and only encountered four people. The buildings and donkeys are pretty well known here, so those are the areas that are busy. Sunset is also one of the must famous attractions, but even then you can find a nice quiet spot.
I liked Santorini as although I was fluey throughout, I was able to relax and find nice quiet spots for contemplation. But of it is the beauty you are coming for, then I would recommend going elsewhere. It is a nice island, and if in the region, then yes, come, otherwise it is just a sun baked landscape set on volcanic rocks with lovely sunsets, tidy looking towns and interesting topography. But then again, I have been spoilt having been raised in the scenically must beautiful country in the world (based on where I have been) and currently live in the prettiest city in Europe in my opinion.
So as you can see, the islands haven't lived up to expectations, I my time in Mykonos made me realise that travelling to party only places really isn't my scene (so Ibiza, and Las Vegas are two places I probably won't bother with). Instead I prefer going out with friends or groups from smaller hostels to bars and clubs which have a more local feel in places that have some culture about it (like my Eastern European travels earlier on this trip), and as most friends know, places that are cheap are also great too since I usually wouldn't spend more the 30 pounds for a night out.
8 days left.
Joshua

The Greek mainland

To come to the place of the ancient Greeks has been an important goal of mine ever since I studied a couple of classical studies papers at university. The myths were epic to read and the art was interesting. It was also the origin of the Olympic games, which is something I am passionate about. A shame I've been a little too lazy to get there as a competitor and not just a volunteer.
Delaying this trip to Greece has also been a contributing factor to staying in Europe. New factors have come about to keep me in Europe, so still not coming home in hurry for those that are curious.
So with some excitement I jumped on a bus out of Albania and headed for the city of Trikala in central Greece. It was a place I hadn't even heard of a week before starting my trip, however I got told by a friend that if in Greece I should go to Meteora. So I did. And am glad I did. Meteora is an area where what looks like giant boulders stick out of the ground. Some of these rocks ate close to 700m high. What makes this more remarkable is that the are a number of monestries and nunnaries located on top of or within the rock face. In the modern error there are roads catering for tour coaches and electronic cable cars to carry building materials. But if you think about when they first existed, these access routes would not have existed, meaning there existence is quite remarkable. Also it left monks and nuns isolated to worship and to leave and return, at some places they had to be manually whenced up in a net. A Greece must see. But be prepared to walk about six hours, although one you see one monestry you have seen them all. Unfortunately both nunnaries were closed so can not comment on similarity.
The next day I headed to Athens, but made an important detour on the way, that of Delphi. This is an exceptionally important place in Greek times. Here was where the Oracle of Delphi could be found who would babble nonsense which would be translated by prophets. This was apparently one of the signs for the attack of Troy. The area also conveyed significance as you can find the Temple of Apollo and Athena, with somecolumns still standing. There is also a well preserved amphitheatre and stadium. Wasn't so excited about getting on a bus, but would mean I would finally get to Athens.
I arrived into Athens late in the evening and stayed in athenstyle, a highly recommended hostel that had no character and was a let down, but will talk about hostels at a later stage. First day in Athens I went on an interesting walking tour with a classics major. Was very informative and provided some good explanations of some of the archaeological sites. As well as some not ancient Greek sites. Afterwards the fun began, starting with the new acropolis museum. This was great, displaying many of the real monuments and remains of the acropolis site. The best part being the top floor where they have used the remains of the metopes, friezes and pediments, and casts of the ruins that were stolen in the 1800s and are in other museums to recreate what this part of the parthenon would look like. However, having been here it made the national archaeological museum look lame, especially because the area I wanted to see due to my studies (the vases) was shut due to bad economic times and was only open a few hours a day.
Obviously, for me the acropolis was amazing, although I would prefer they didn't rebuild, as I think the sites look much more genuine in ruined state. Within Athens there is also the best preserved Temple, which was dedicated to the God of fire, the ugly God whos name I forget. The 16 columns of the Temple of Zeus is also really cool as it gives an idea of how big his Temple would have been.
But the place I loved most was the panatheneic stadium, an ancient stadium with phenomenal design that was reconstructed to host the first Olympic games of 1896. It is amazing, made of marble and looks nicer then all other Olympic stadiums. It is also sized by the old measurement of stadia. It was also used for another Olympic sanctioned games in 1906. Did anyone know about this? I didn't. I had a little run on the track and spent ages just soaking up the majesty.
Oh, when in Athens, don't watch the changing of the guard. Rubbish, slow, and the match is based on a horse stomping. Haha.
Now in Mykonos checking out the Islands.

Joshua

A trip back in time to Albania

So I am Albania. It seems like a place from perhaps the 1800s (except for things such as electricity, cars etc.). It is extremely rural. In the large towns I have been in there have been goats, cows, chickens and mules walking the streets. Due to the communist history, the roads are in poor condition, although improvements are being made. The biggest reason for the roads is during the communist reign, only about 150 people owned cars, mainly political people. So why would they invest in roads. In the times of democracy the roading infrastructure had been slow due to the government pocketing money dedicated to roading projects.
Another strange sight is hundreds of concrete shells of apartments, malls, houses. Some falling apart, some in rubble. At this stage they look like they will never be finished. Such a blight on the landscape. This is a massive problem in the sea side resort of Saranda. There are three reasons for this. One, no money left. Two, a law change required building permits, so many of the shells did not have this so were blown up by the government or left untouched. Thirdly, land is still a bit of a free for all, so they were build to claim the land.
Berat was the first place I went to. Amongst the mountains, only one road in and out. Another UNESCO town like Ohrid. Was a pretty old town with a castle up a massively steep hill. Great views, although the castle itself was forgettable. Plus it was forty degrees. It is only a small town so only one night was spent here. But I did get my first cut throat shave.
Next day I moved to the Saranda. Not really a great town, but it is on the Adriatic. Sadly, due to the poor rubbish policies of Albania, there is a little trash littered around the place. The hostel was great though and provided views of the sea.
First day I went on a day trip to Butrint.An old settlement from thousands of years ago. Its attraction is all the ancient ruins, which were really great. An amphitheatre, a baptistery with a beautifully preserved mosaic and a Castle (from a much more modern time). Definitely worth a view and an excellent warm up for Greece.
Evenings were quiet. Involving eating and relaxing as things were pretty hectic before Albania and with Greek Islands coming, things will get hectic again.
Today i went to the blue eyed spring. A natural fresh water steam, with the eye being where the water was coming from deep down, so far divers have only managed to get fifty metres down, and is thought to be much deeper. The great thing about this is it is a great spot to jump into!!! This was done on a number of occasions, and the water was beautifully cool. Probably ten degrees. A stunning spot and a must see in Albania. One of the trip highlights so far.
Up at six tomorrow, headed for Greece! For stop, Meteora. Check it out, I'm excited.
Joshua

Ohrid - O for awesome

So Lake Ohrid.... well the journey to get there was beautiful. Many valleys, mountains and gorges along the road. Safety barriers were seen that had had cars go through them (and obviously plummeted hundreds of metres down). We also had a thunder storm!
Eventually Eric (from last blog) and I arrive in Ohrid. Next step, find the famous sunny Lake hostel amongst the old town with no directions, just a street name. So we trek up a large hill and wander around trying to find a local to help us. Eventually, after taking thirty minutes to scale a five minute walk - success.
This place is quite different to the last few places. Tourism is much more obvious here. People everywhere! But the backdrop is amazing!!!! A large fresh water lake (the deepest in Europe) surrounded by mountains. And the town here is in good condition too.
Dinner was a unique experience. I was sitting in the courtyard of the restaurant, looking out onto the main square, when a large group of people turned up carrying flags and wearing traditional dress. They then did a number of folk dancing performances. A unique experience.
The nightlife seemed awful add everywhere we went out was quiet. I think we were at the wrong places.
The first full day consisted of a wander around some hills looking at monestrys. One of these is very important to the history of the Balkin people as it is where St Cyril  developed the cyrillic alphabet. Was nothing special to see, having seen many churches over the last four years, in terms of appearance, but interesting due to its importance. And the most interesting of the approximately 360 churches and monestries of the local area.
Then Eric, Ryan and i found a nice quiet beach where nobody was. The Lake is full of little fish that eat the dead skin of the feet, like the fish bath salons found throughout the fancier parts of cities. I found this a little uncomfortable and kept moving so they wouldn't attach to me.
The evening was a success this night. To start with, eight of is went on a boat trip to watch the sunset over the lake. Was a beautiful thing to see. The driver also played 80s love songs to really set the mood. Definitely a worthwhile experience. With pre drinking and then to a place called liquid. It was packed with locals and it was karaoke night. So lots of singing and dancing into the small hours of the morning.
The next day I went toTrpejca. A tiny village on the lake 20km South of Ohrid. This was a beautiful spot and a lovely few hours of doing nothing but swim and sunbathe. Was very clean due to the lack of tourists.  Afterwards Ryan and I hitch hiked back to town with a local who have is a lot of information about the area. Continued with my belief that the Macedonian people are the friendliest people I have come across on this trip. Due to how much I enjoyed the town, I even went for a run before dinner. Talk about extreme! But actually a nice way to see the lake.
The evening involved a foam party. But I went home before the foam as it was taking so long and wasn't a good club. Plus I had to travel the next day. I did swim on the way home. Swimming at 3am was a little exciting.
So today I left Macedonia after an unexpected seven days in the country and headed for Albania,  and already it is a massive contrast from the rest of Europe. Transport links are sporadic, roads are in poor shape. Thousands of pot holes, and extremely country. People selling water melon on the sides of the road under thatched roofs. It kind of reminds me of images of the rice fields in Asia. Should be an interesting experience. ...
Joshua

Spat in my face you're a big disgrace

Having researched some of the history of the city of Skopje, you can almost understand the desire to decorate the city in a lavish way (still socially wrong). In the 1960s there was an earthquake, between 6 and 7 on the richter scale depending on who you ask. This destroyed most of the city including parts of the fortress. After the earthquake, relief money was brought in and all the ugly Soviet style buildings were built, and hardly any of the beautiful buildings were left. So many of the projects are to rebuild the old buildings.
Mother Theresa was born here too.
Sunday I went with two others to the gorge and monestrys at Matka. This was a beautiful day out in the nature. We hired kayaks and paddled upstream to a Cave full of bats. It is one of four big caves in the area. Then paddled back while swimming in the cool water on the way back.
One of the highlights of the day was standing by a building discussing whoch way to the monestry, and then realising that we were standing by it. Dumb! But also can be interpreted as being unimpressive. But there is apparently a better one 6kms away.
The evening was spent on the old town where the earthquake did little damage eating food and having some drinks with hostel folk while listening to an amazing cover singer as sang a lot of the script covers acoustically.
Next morning i got up early and went to Pristine, Kosovo with Eric, a guy from the USA I'd been doing some sightseeing with. We left early so we could have a whole day and perhaps visit a second city. When driving there, you come over a hill and suddenly the city is right there and looks impressive. That was maybe the best part. I loathed the city. It was busy and smoggy. A (what we assume was a serb from Kosovo) person spat in my face as he walked past for no reason except that maybe he heard Eric speaking. Luckily I did not respond although I wanted too as he could probably kick my ass.
All in all the city was dull. Very little to do. Did not even have any obvious signs of war which would of been interesting. There was a Bill Clinton statue to honour is help in the fight for independence. After four hours we were on the bus back to Skopje.
Now I am at Lake ohrid!

Joshua

Where for art thou statue

Last time I left you I was in Varna, on the Black Sea where you are told not to pee on the sand add you will get slapped around by Mafia, take no plastic (cards) into strip clubs if you go and told you can buy a night with a celebrity for two thousand euro. Sketchy!
The night train leaving Varna was so much nicer then they one i came in. Looked like it was from a time before my birth. After eight hours I arrive in Plovdiv. What a lovely surprise! Was the nicest city I had seen so far on the trip. Beautiful boulevards and exciting, exciting, exciting. ...I saw some ancient ruins ;) nice big amphitheatre and old stadium. So happy. It is also one of the oldest cities in Europe - being dated back 6000 years from the time of the Thracians. Also known as the town of the seven hills as there are (were seven hills in the city).
And the hostel, thecrib was excellent. The guy had travelled around the region to discovery the best place to run a hostel so was full of great advice. Sadly the girl that did the walking tour was a bit rubbish. And would refuse to say that Bulgaria was communist but kept saying socialist. I asked some other locals and they laughed as they said it was clearly communist.
Next up was a travel day. Plovdiv to sofia then sofia to Skopje. Hurray for getting to Macedonia.
I arrive in the evening - check in, and then straight out for dinner, and being a Friday night, put for a dance at the posh night club. Was so much fun, a real good atmosphere and nice people. The walk to the club was great too, as all the buildings on the river were lit up and just made the city look so great.
Today I have been sight seeing around the city. In other blogs, the city has a bad reputation as it is kind of tacky place. This is because all these new buildings that have been built. Absolutely massive in ancient style. Kind of pointless but also impressive and left me with a smile all day. And if the massive buildings aren't overwhelming, then the number of status will. There is probably one statue to every three people. Seriously, so many. And the one in the centre Square is gigantic!
None of it is genuine. All brand new. And in the greater scheme of things, not a great thing for the country in terms of the cost. The massive statue alone cost ten million. If you do your research you will see the country is not actually well off and the money would have been invested in better infrastructure and social care, or improving the standard of living for those outside the city (Massive romani ghetto, possibly the largest in Europe). But overall I like the place, and going to check out some caves tomorrow, followed by a day trip to Kosovo before heading to Lake Ohrid.
Great times! !!!
As Icona Pop says, I love it! !!!!

Joshua

Bringing down the government

The journey from Nis to Sofia passed by smoothly. The Serbian countryside was stunning, as we spent about an hour travelling through a gorge. And after an initial scare, got through boost control with ease. The scare being about five kilometres of trucks waiting to cross the border. Apparently for them out can take up to two days!!!! Or driver just drove around them all the way to the border.
Sofia train station was huge. But maybe the worst place I ever had to travel from. Buying a train ticket was such a mission. Can i get ticket to Varna? Down. Okay,  go downstairs. Up. I go back up. Finally it was established that I went down. At least there was free wifi.
So loathing the city already... thankfully Sofia is actually quite a pretty city and easy enough to navigate. With Trevor and Sam who I caught the bus with, we checked out all the sites we could find without a map. An amphitheatre preserved by being incorporated into a hotel, the large orthodox cathedral - Alexander Nevski and a government protest to point out the highlights.
That's right. A large government protest. They want the newly elected prime minister to resign after only a month for appointing as national security minister a business man linked to Bulgarian Mafia. The minister stepped down but the people want the prime minister to step down too due to links to corruption and organised crime. Fun times :) and relatively peaceful.
After this, I caught my night train to varna. Had a cabin to myself so managed to sleep well. And of course, another run down city, but with some massive exceptions. Being on the Black Sea The whole beach front area is highly developed like a 1970s English resort town. Kinda fun back tacky as well. And heaving  with tourists. There is a fake eiffel Tower,  carnival rides, umbrella and seat hire, beach bars and massage stands. But definitely a cheaper alternative to the other beach stead throughout Europe. And the Black Sea is warm, and totally enjoyable after a year without swimming in the sea.
In the evening we went to a night club where one of Bulgaria's biggest musical starts was performing from 2am. Was really interesting as it was the only place that was packed with only Bulgarian people as it was in the main centre and not in the resort part. Her name is Galena if you want to check her music. A really cool experience. Today was meant to be a boat party on the Black Sea, however after getting everyone excited the hostel forgot to book the tickets and it is sold out. Disappointed and a big black mark for them for that. Had planned to go to Belchik botanical gardens but had changed to do the boat trip and now ain't doing either.
Another night train tonight, this time to Plovdiv and the last stop of Bulgarian leg of the type. Next blog will be from FYROM (Macedonia)