Canadiana

I'm in Victoria!

My trip was long. It was a 15 hour plane ride all together, with two stopovers. The guy sitting next to me on my flight from Amsterdam to Calgary was hot, and I found it really distracting. At moments, I found myself talking way too much, which is what I tend to do when I'm really nervous. It was also really unfortunate to be sitting next to a hot guy on a plane, because I always feel really gross when I fly. Something about the recycled air for several hours. In Calgary I thought they lost my luggage and almost missed my next plane as I tried to find it. Turns out they put it in oversized luggage, but never told me. Luckily the long security line moved quickly, because I -just- caught the plane to Vancouver. I was really tired by the time I got to Vancouver, and I fell asleep waiting for the ferry to Victoria. I also slept through half the ferry ride, which is too bad because that route is really beautiful. I caught some of it though! The girls were waiting for me at the terminal in Victoria, but I was pretty beat by then!

The biggest thing that hit me right away about Canada is how incredibly friendly people are! Everyone says how nice Canadians are and it's really true. I didn't notice it when I lived here, but after living in Berlin, which has that big city brutality (like most other big cities), it's really obvious and welcome. A guy offered to help me with my bags when I was getting off the bus, and when you bump into people, they apologize, even if it's totally your fault. On the downside, Victoria is INCREDIBLY expensive. Like one of the most expensive places I've ever been actually.

I've had a great time so far though! Saturday I shopped a bit with Jen, then she made this awesome basalmic barbeque chicken, and we went to the Mint for drinks. Sunday I was pretty dead, but we went to see Jen dance and I met Matt for dinner. I passed out at 8 pm though. I woke up this morning just before 7 am, and went for a walk around James Bay, then met Corrine at Ogden's Point, which I haven't really been to since I was a kid, and it was really cool (but INSANELY windy...I felt like I was going to blow away!) The cafe there was nice too...it overlooks the water.

Pics to follow!

Lazy Days

After my exams, and a week of being completely productive, I'm finding myself very lazy this week. Which is maybe not the best time, because I have a lot to do. House cleaning, getting stuff ready for Canada, editing and writing.....

You remind me of the babe...

...the babe with the power. The power of voodoo, who do, you do?"

The Labyrinth is just as entertaining now as it was back in the day. David Bowie in a codpiece and a killer mullet? Jim Henson puppets? What's not to like? I guess being a kid in the 80's and early 90's, those movies all hold a certain nostalgia value for me. Especially the fantasy films from the 80's that I grew up watching on VHS, like the Princess Bride, Willow, the Never Ending Story. Even SciFi and adventure movies like Star Wars, Ewoks (apparently the first movie I ever watched all the way through), and Indiana Jones. Love them.

Getting Better....Sort Of

Lately, I've been haunted by the Beatles song "Getting Better." Which isn't a bad song to be haunted by; it's positive and upbeat. I hear it in my sleep, it gets stuck in my head, and everywhere I go I seem to see the words "Getting Better" written everywhere (books, magazines, ads, etc.) It's kind of true too. Things are looking up. I maybe have a bit of income coming in (hopefully...cross our fingers. I'm crazy superstitious and don't want to jinx it.)
But I keep feeling like every time things look up, something drags me back. In this case, it's a 1,000 Euro electric bill from my old apartment (which turns out, I didn't properly register due to my crappy German and lack of help at the time.) Also, my floors need to be redone, which I want to DIY but my dad is being really pushy about getting done professionally, which I appraised and will cost around 5,500 Euro. I feel, that I want to at least attempt to DIY it, as I can't even afford to do these floors in increments. If I saved a thousand Euros a year (which is impossible for me at this point) it would take me FIVE years to pay for them. That's how crazy that idea is.
I'm trying not to let this get me down though. I know that I have to just keep trying to get my income up, and then hopefully I can be able to save a bit so I can handle stuff like this in the future. It's hard. My first instinct when stuff like this happens is to shoot myself down and regret all the choices I've made in my life, and just feel down on myself. But I'm determined to not do that now. I can only work toward the future, because the future is the only part of my life I can change.

Ahhhhhhhhhh

Didn't catch the bus...seems I really suck at flagging them down. So no Sounio today :(. I will have to save that for my next trip...I've already established that, as well as going to the islands, my next trip to greece will involve renting a car and driving into the mountains, and along the coast.
On a positive note, I met a girl from Berlin in the sitting room of the hostel. Small world!

Waiting

I made it to Delphi just fine after all. I took a taxi to the bus station, as I am always running a little late and I didn't want to chance missing the bus. The guy at the hostel told me it would cost about six euro, but since Athenian cab drivers are horribly corrupt, it cost nine. The bus ride was exceptionally beautiful. It started off looking just like any highway anywhere in the world, but then we drove into the mountains. I'd really like to rent a car some day and drive through there again. That's the thing about travelling...you always find places you'd like to see again in more detail.
I'm actually glad I went to Delphi alone. I could take my time at the site and experience it in my own way. Sitting by the temple of Apollo was almost a religious experience for me; I had an epiphany that everything is alright in my life. I finished the site and museum just in time for closing, with an hour to spare before taking the bus back to Athens. I spent it in a little cafe with a very friendly owner drinking Greek coffee and checking facebook.
I got back to Athens and took the city bus back with some Dutch girls that are on an exchange here. I didn't know that you couldn't buy a ticket on the bus, so I rode schwartz, as we say in Germany, but luckily they check tickets on buses and trams about as much as in Berlin (almost never.)

Today I checked out the Monastiraki flea market, which was one of the best flea markets I've been to in the world. Even though it's in every guidebook on Athens in the world, i saw surprisingly few tourists and didn't hear any English. I bought a small hand mirror. If I lived in Athens or had any way of transporting things back home, I could have furnished my entire apartment with things I found there. Top things that I longed to bring home with me but couldn't included a BEAUTIFUL carved wood screen, and a side table with inlaid wood. Next I headed to the shop of the "poet sandal maker," which I'd read about. This guy is a famous Greek poet, but he also makes sandals, and has sold sandals to Sophia Loren, Paul McCartney and Jackie O. He's also been written up in pretty much every fashion magazine in the world. I had to have a pair, and at 27 euro the didn't make me broke.
I plan to head over to Sounio this afternoon. I somehow managed to miss my last bus, even though I was there, so I'm waiting to take the next one (the stop is just outside the hostel.). It's only an hour and a half to get there and the last bus is at 6, so I should be ok.

Athens, baby!

I'm in Athens! I've been here a couple of days already and I'm having a blast! The first couple of days were rainy but now it's very sunny, and the air smells like ocean and orange blossoms. My first day I checked into the hostel and wandered around the plaka a bit, then I went back and met the three French girls that were staying in my room. On Wednesday we walked through the acropolis together then spent the rest of the day shopping in tourist-trap plaka, which was awesome because I bought some funky sandals and a Greek peasant blouse. That night we went to a greasy spoon that really reminds me of Dancing Zorbas in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It's run by a family and the woman is a typical Greek mom. It doesn't look like much inside, but they are so friendly and the food is amazing. So far, I've eaten there every night since then.
Yesterday, I was going to go on a tour to nafplio that was organized by the hostel, but it was canceled. There were also transit strikes, so I couldn't get there myself. Instead, I went with the French girls up this hill that has a chapel, and you can see the whole city. I walked down alone because it was so beautiful, and I loved to see the olive trees, aloe plants, sage and Rosemary growing wild. We met up for dinner again and then went for drinks in keramikos, which is super trendy. There was a duo playing covers of Greek pop songs, which was followed by a drag show. Wonderfully bizarre! I swear too, I've learned more French than Greek this trip! I'm motivated to try to totally relearn back in Berlin. It was a new years resolution anyway.
Today, I went to the agora with another French guy. My camera died early on...I think it's broken...but he kindly offered to send me photos. After we walked quite a distance to the archaeological museum, and it was totally worth it. It houses all the artifacts that come from the sites you visit in Athens as well as the rest of Greece..,at least, all the artifacts that weren't plundered over the years.
My tour to Delphi tomorrow has been cancelled, so I'm going to try to go on my own...,wish me luck!