Athens, Greece - A golden oldie

Despite the endless experiences that have qualified us to become well acquainted with tedious airport routines, one airport run in particular was greatly anticipated and also welcomed with a sigh of relief. There’s a specific feeling of liberation that comes once you have managed to get through customs, without a rigorous pat down, and get to your plane seat without being jostled by the impatient fellow travellers. When that little light illuminates on the dashboards and the familiar “ting” sounds to inform you to tighten your seatbelt, you know you’ve made it and the lead up was all worth it. The excitement kicks in and you realise in a few short, or sometimes horribly long, hours you will be exploring the soil of a new, rich and exciting culture. This exact feeling was what overwhelmed me once seated on our flight destined for Athens on the 26^th August 2013.

Just over one month before this date, I was finishing up my time at the school I was working at, and although I absolutely loved the job there was a hurricane of tasks and checklists to get through over the coming months.  I knew I had to put on my hard capped boots and safety helmet and trudge my way through the extremely busy weeks ahead. For starters, I had to confirm a summer job and quick smart. We also had to coordinate the moving out of our apartment with the departure for our trip. Which then leads to the organising of the ‘Big Epic Adventure.” Needless to say, it all happened in a swift, windswept moment and our last 2 months in London were over too soon. I ended up getting a reception job for exactly one month and the plans for our trip all fell miraculously and perfectly into place. The one last, and most exciting thing to mention, the arrival of our travelling companions and much missed family, Tim’s folks, Maree and Dave!

They flew into London on the 20^th August, giving them hardly enough time to adjust themselves into the opposite time zone and explore the enormous city of London. We tried our best to give them a little taste of our local and lovable London life. A delicious dinner at our local pub, The Green Man, charmed them as well as added to the epitomising picture of an “English dinner”. Of course, we took them to Borough Markets and rolled out a culinary journey for them to excitedly embark on, starting with good coffee, omelettes, paella, Italian panini, fresh fruit juice, almond croissants, goats milk ice-cream, duck and rocket rolls...

After somehow managing to fit in all of this, we celebrated being together with a special night out to see the theatre production of Billy Elliot. I feel that I have been spoilt with the array of theatre productions that I have seen, and honestly, I have never really been disappointed; the standard of each show I have seen has been amazing! Yet, Billy managed to pirouette his way to the top, and absolutely stunned us all with the excellent entertainment it provided. This was a night that I absolutely adored, and I am thankful to have shared it with special people.

Amongst the cramming in of London adventures, Tim, Terri, Mark and I also had to move out of the flat before we each left the country. Somehow, we managed to do it, handing the keys for the apartment over whilst trailing our suitcases behind us on our way to the airport! It really was a whirlwind of a week and so I bring you back to the moment we are sitting in our seats on the plane, with our most wonderful travel buddies next to us, on our way to Athens!

We were forewarned that Athens wouldn’t be much to see and would be quite dirty. For us, Athens was mostly acting as a stop over point to get us to our next destination – Santorini. So, with low expectations in mind, we arrived in Athens and found our Air BnB apartment. It could not have been located in a more perfect spot and it was air-conditioned, fighting the thick humidity that greeted us at the airport. We enjoyed a surprisingly delicious dinner and followed it up with what would become a tradition of gelato for dessert.

The next day was our only day to explore Athens, so we did it in style and jumped on an open-top bus. It was incredibly informative and confirmed that we didn’t need a whole lot of time to see the city. We jumped out of the bus to then climb up to the Acropolis, perching on the top of the mountain, quite close to the city centre. It was a shock how close it all was; it was almost like these ancient buildings and ruins were randomly dropped in amongst the busy city, and the locals had forgotten their attraction and would just stroll right on past. Well, we certainly didn’t “stroll” on… oh no! The four of us crammed into a cart, carried by a horse and rode our way up to the mountain. It was hilariously squishy, as our knees knocked with each stone we travelled over and our driver spoke not a word of English.

Once we reached the Acropolis, even though we’d seen photos and had been told about it, the enormity and ancientness of the site still had me in wonder. It was a bit of a shame, as the Parthenon was tainted with large scaffolding work. But never the less, we were there, seeing all the history and taking in the views of the vast and heavily populated city that was Athens!

In walking through the streets to and from our homely apartment, we were overwhelmed by the amount of shoe shops that were strung together along the roads. So many shoes!!! With a little bit of time for meandering, we did a touch of window-shopping without forgetting to end the day with a good meal! With recommendations from our host, we sought out a local and traditional restaurant, serving up home-cooked moussaka, grilled meat, fresh seafood and Greek salads… the beginning of our food affair in Europe. The accommodating waiter gave us suggestions as to what to try, and when we looked around at the locals enjoying their enormous plates of food, we knew we had found a treasure.

A stellar start to our trip, and we had no idea that it was only going to get better. We thoroughly did enjoy Athens, and whilst it’s not a destination we would think of doing again, it was one of those things that I had to do – a big, satisfying and well worth tick on the checklist!!

Prague, Czech Republic - Part 2 of 3 in the winter bonanza

In the long, devastating absence of a riveting blog post, we are happy to report that there has been a buzzing busyness that has overcome us in good ol’ London town. And, although there really is no valid excuse for keeping you all in the dark shadows of anticipation, it means that this post comes with a hearty update to completely satisfy your appetite, until you are rolling away, full of good stories, a few chuckles here and there, and a virtual visit to the ever beautiful Prague. The wait was worth it. I promise.

 

Our last post left you under the enchanting snowflakes of the Austrian Alps, where we celebrated our first white Christmas. I realise that it is already 7 months into the New Year, so we have a lot to catch up on. In the New Year I started at a new school, where I took on the role of an English intervention teacher. In comparison to the high stress levels, long hours and challenging behaviour I encountered at my previous school, this was such a dream. The staff I worked with have become my close friends and the workload was welcomed with a sigh of relief. I undoubtedly have become a better teacher since being over here and working in diverse situations. However, I realised that I hadn’t come over to London to spin myself into a frenzy. Hence, my delight that came with this new position meant a more balanced lifestyle. After working there for six months, and falling in love with the culture and people, it has come to and end with the conclusion of the academic year. What an emotional whirlwind, to have to say goodbye to people I have come to love and an ideal workplace, knowing that my ‘goodbye’ might truly be for good. Yes, that’s right… our time in London is rapidly coming to an end as we make plans to head back home before Christmas. Like I said, what an emotional whirlwind!! There’s so much to look forward to, yet still reluctant to end this love affair with London.

 

Tim has been winning the hearts of many, as he has had a rush of enquiries with his photography and has the opportunity to shoot some stunning weddings, including one in Bath! Of course, his trust second photographer/wife accompanied him on this one. As well as that, his weekly work schedule photographing interiors has kept him on his toes, as the summer weather means longer work hours. He has worked tirelessly the entire time we have been here, and I know for him the end of this work season will bring him much relief and joy.

 

You may have noticed that I sneakily popped the words ‘summer weather’ into the previous paragraph. Your response might have been to laugh, and considered it wishful thinking. But no, London has indeed defeated all odds and for over two glorious weeks, we have enjoyed the head of 25-30 degree weather. I have a tan! It’s a miracle!! The hilarious thing is (a thing that I refuse to take part in, no matter how many giant beads of sweat from my hands lubricate the handrails on the tube) that everyone complains that it is never hot in London and then, whenever the sun makes an appearance the unending groans of the people can be heard upon the arrival of dawn. There are no air conditioned rooms to escape the “heat wave”, however, when the sun is out London really is one of the most beautiful places to be, with the luscious parks on every corner and the inviting streets for the adventurous wanderers.

 

As you can imagine, leaving London at this time has made it difficult. Yet, we do so very much look forward to arriving in Sydney and catching up on all the birthdays, celebrations, births and much needed family time. Not to mention the travel that we are embarking on before hand… just a bit of Athens, Santorini, Amalfi Coast, Florence, Cinque Terre, Verona, Venice, Rovinj, Nice, Bordeaux, Lisbon, New York, and the finale… a US road trip down Route 66 with Mark and Tez!!! Shivers… imagine all the blogging we will be doing!

 

But now, to catch up on Prague, Firstly, it must be told, the story of how we got to Prague. In researching trains, buses and flights to Prague from Austria, we worked out that it would be cheaper to hire a private car with a driver to take us over the border. It was a brilliant plan and all was going well with Timbo in the front seat talking the ear off the non-English speaking driver and the rest of us catching up on some shuteye, or trying. It started getting quite dark and the road turned into more of a dirt pathway through the forest-like trees. Tim was still all smiles, but glancing over to Tez, I saw the terror and fear in her eyes as she started seeing every horror movie replicate itself in the scenery around us. In her head, she was imagining this driver taking us all into the depth of a forest with no on around to hear us. Then all of the sudden, the driver spoke some of his very few English words, “so, this building on the left is where they filmed the horror movie ‘Hostel’.” Terri’s eyes instantly widened and then the clench of her hands tightened as her chest started filing up with a terrified inhale. I didn’t mean to laugh, but it couldn’t be helped, listening to Tim happily chat away to our unknown, mysterious driver, Johnny and Loz fast asleep in the back, Tez gripping onto Mark’s arm whilst we drive deeper into the darkness. The driver made his second, and last announcement, “We will be making a short stop at my boss’s house to change drivers.” I didn’t think it was possible for Terri’s eyes to widen any further. She actually started to laugh nervously, unknowing what else to do. There were no houses in sight, whatsoever.

 

However, there were no twists in the lot and we managed to change drivers and continue onwards to Prague. Our arrival to our stunning hotel was a joyous occasion, followed by a deliciously cheap meal – very joyous indeed! We quickly found out that we were going to eat like kind in this fine city, very inexpensively!

 

The next morning, our breakfast was thoroughly enjoyed in the hotel restaurant, which then equipped us for our day of exploring in the frosty streets of Prague. Oh my days! Prague is such a treasure. It was about a 30min walk to get us into the main square, but I didn’t even care for the puddles we had to avoid, whilst trekking in our big, puffy coats. It reminded me of a romantic love story; the flirtatious water boastfully reflecting the quaint and colourful buildings along the water, whilst the bridges gracefully dance their way over the glistening blanket, smiling cheekily, knowing quite well that everyone is looking on at them, charmed by the beauty of their perfectly matched companionship.

 

It was cold, but the sun made the colours warm and the tourists friendly. We strolled along the famous Charles Bridge, stopping for photos where there was a gap in the crowd, as well as hearing famous legends from the informed Mark and Tez, who had visited once before. By the time we crossed the bridge, we were keen for a hat chocolate, which was readily available from the stalls on the side of the streets. Men with big cauldrons were selling hot chocolate and mulled wine. The casual appearance of the shop fronts were deceptive to the unbelievably delicious goods they were providing. By far, it was one of the best hot chocs devoured yet!

 

Once we pulled out noses out of the cup and stopped licking the remains off the rim, we reached the main square; a complete picture of a magical European Christmas! There was a gigantic tree embellishing the square centre, and festive Christmas markets adorning the outskirts. Hot cinnamon scrolls were tasted along with chocolate covered fruit and milled wine.

 

After completing the winding wandering of the markets, we approached the legendary Astronomical Clock – a brilliant, masterful monument with intricate and stunning detail. The clock was first installed in 1410 and displays several astronomical features. It was the only one of its kind, and the third-oldest in the world; so, to avoid any copycats the Prague Councillors blinded the clockmaker so he could not repeat his work. However, it was unknown that the clockmaker had an apprentice who was then instructed to go and remove a tiny piece of the clock that would stop it from working. His revenge lasted for 100 years as the clock could not operate due to this spiteful act.

 

The tall tower beckoned us upon it, and we were up in the belly of the clock in no time, taking in the views of the old city. It was such a sight!! What a stunning city; a maze of terracotta rooftops and cobblestone streets enveloping the centre square filled with people and Christmas cheer.

 

The day could go on no longer without a hearty, wintery (and cheap) meal. Oh, the food! Soups, meat, stews, chips and beer were amongst the feast that was enjoyed. The pub, whilst positioned in a very touristy spot, still satisfied a ranging traveller with wooden beams to match the rustically characterised wooden chairs and tables. We stayed until our feet were warm once more and our tummies were too full.

 

With fear of overstaying my welcome in your homes, as a storyteller can often do, I will finish with the tale of our visit to the John Lennon wall. This wall, a monument of political statements, is colourfully decorated with graffiti and images that send the messages John Lennon’s songs often stood for… love and peace. When he died the people used this wall to spread Lennon’s heart; however, the police kept painting over the graffiti. Yet, again and again the graffiti kept appearing, in defiance towards those trying to cover up the wall, until eventually the police gave in. It is now one of the most visited sites in Prague and is famous for what it represents. It also makes for a brilliant background for photos.

 

I truly hope you enjoyed the catch up. We are indeed excited to be soon in the land of Oz, an cannot wait to see all our close friends and family. Until then, we will continue to update you on our travels with a comfy cushion under the toosh and a steaming cuppa (or a refreshing Pimms) in hand. Love and peace to you all… T&S x