Skiathos in the off season

Last summer in an Uber on the way home from Bart's company picnic I had a conversation with the driver that sparked the beginning of this amazing trip. He had recently graduated from college and was making his way from San Diego to New York driving Uber. From New York he would leave to start his 1 year long trip in Europe. Fascinated with the idea, I began asking him all the questions that I was asked as soon as I decided to take this trip myself. I started with asking how; he began to tell me about these websites that would link people who were traveling with people who needed help, but had limited funds to pay for it. In exchange for a place to stay and meals, you work part time for them. Loving the concept and the idea that maybe I could possibly afford to do that one day, our conversation continued as follows: 

Me: "I would love to do that one day!" 

Driver: "You should do it now!" 

Me: "Yeah I should." 

As I thought about it I realized I was about to graduate school (so that would no longer be an obligation to me), the lease that we had would be up and on a month to month soon (so Bart could move if he wanted to). I had grown more and more tired of living in the city and was getting quite restless because of it. Finally, traveling Europe had been a dream of mine and it was getting to the point of being physically painful for me to have never been. So that settled it! I would go to Europe with or without anyone! Luckily, I was fortunate enough to have a friend in a position that she could come with. We started planning the route we wanted to take, and I figured out the soonest that I could save the money to be able to go, and finally we started sending out emails on these websites to find host or "workaway". 

We decided that while everywhere we would be going are amazing places, there were some that we wanted to spend more time than others. These were the places that we decided to do workaways, others we decided to just stay in hostels. Our fist workaway was on the beautiful island of Skiathos, a northern Greek island. 

As I prepared for this I was a little nervous about the concept, but after experiencing it I don't think there is a better way to really get to know such an amazing place. Our work was simple and it only added to the experience. We shopped for groceries (very difficult when everything is written in Greek), cooked meals, played with children, and walked the dog. One of my favorite moments was the second day we were there when I took Sophie (the dog) for a walk and got lost. As I walked around the island trying to find something that looked familiar I couldn't help but think how lucky I was to be lost in Greece. I wandered for about 30 minute before I found my way back. Being by myself and lost was a pretty unforgettable experience and I really enjoyed it. 

To say that Skiathos was all work and no play would be a lie. We went on walks, one long beautiful hike, spent late nights on the beach and long days to match. It is a beautiful place! It is very much a small town and so people start to recognize you after the second day and start to wave at you by the third. To say that we never encountered people who weren't fond of us would be a lie, but when this did happen I would give a smile and say good morning or hello in Greek and their entire demeanor towards me would change. By the end I became pretty well acclimated. Most people started to assume that I spoke Greek and people would start speaking to me more in Greek than in English, even though I am as white as they come, and look anything but Greek. I took this as a huge compliment and it made the time there all that more enjoyable. 

My favorite part of this leg of our journey was Zoe. Zoe was another volunteer with us and she is from France. It was so nice to have made a new friend with whom to have all of those great experiences. We practiced the very minimal French that we know and had the pleasure of learning much more. I knew when I started this trip that I would meet new people, but it is a great feeling knowing that I am not only leaving this place with a new acquaintance but also a new friend. 

Skiathos is the most beautiful place I have ever had the opportunity to spend time. The water is crystal clear blue and you can see all the way to the bottom. Even though it was freezing cold to go swimming in 60 degree weather it was irresistible to go in. The greatest thing about being there in the winter is that the beaches are empty. We were told that in the summer you can't find a place to sit on the beaches but every time we went we had the entire beach to ourselves. It was awesome!

My time spent in Skiathos was a great start to our trip and I enjoyed every moment that we had there. Now we are moving on to Athens for a few days. 

Yassou! 

Also, as a side note, I will be doing 1 blog post per place we are staying so they will be a little sporadic and will range from 2 days to 2 weeks so please just be patient with me. They will come, but only when I have the time. 

 

Efharisto 

Istanbul, Turkey 2015

 If you have ever considered going to Istanbul or Turkey in general do it. It is a beautiful place with a mix of European, Asian and middle eastern cultures you can see the best of all of these worlds in everyday life here. The people although very pushy with sales at times are none the less warm and inviting. You will meet them on the street and they will invite you in for tea just simply to practice speaking English. They love to share their culture and teach you the language, the atmosphere is so welcoming you fall in love with the city before you even have a chance to take a look around.

Once you do have a chance to look around your affection can only grow, aside from the steep hill to climb around every corner getting around it pretty easy. The streets are relatively easily to navigate so we walked everywhere but I was told the public transportation is easy enough, although don't rely on Google maps to get you anywhere just ask people they are happy with to help. While you are in Turkey if you happen to be missing any pets at home just reach down and pet the 6 cats that are inevitably within arms length. They are everywhere, and while they may technically be stays I think they are better cared for than most domesticated pets in the US. 

I never knew this before we got there but Istanbul is the place to shop! It is so cheap and they have really nice stuff, I mean it does make sense the Grand Bazaar is the largest and oldest shopping centers in the world. Although if you talk to any of the locals they will warn you about 2 things the first is; you will get lost, and unless you are walking In a perfectly straight line from beginning to end this is very true. This place is so huge and overwhelming with all the shop keepers standing outside trying to call you in and all the beautiful things to look at it is simply too much. If you plan to shop here take an entire day to do it, you will need it. Second although it is relatively cheap from the US dollar you can buy everything you see in there on the street somewhere else for significantly cheaper than you can there, so look around. We actually only went in here to see it for a moment because of the warnings we got and as soon as we got in we understood why. The next place you want to hit for shopping in Istanbul aside from just the street shops is the spice Bazaar. IT WAS AWESOME! Everyone lets you sample everything the spices are bought by weight and are so cheep. I bought saffron for $0.40, I of course can't use it for several months but it is vacuum sealed so hopefully it will hold up fine. Seriously though for a Chef this is a pretty bitchen place to see. 

After we fit in the little shopping that we could budget for we started sight seeing. Istanbul has beautiful mosques everywhere, but they are all closed during pray time which is 5 times a day for one hour starting 2 hours before dawn and going till dusk so you have to work around these times unless you are going to see Hagia Sofia which is technically no longer a mosque. It was originally a Christian church, then converted into a mosque and finally it has landed on a museum. We wanted to see the inside of this one but they charge you to go in, its crowded and expensive so we opted for just pictures of the outside, which was beautiful. In Istanbul you will her the call to prayer everywhere in the city, it echoes on speakers that run along all the major streets. The call to prayer is 2 mosques that are calling back to each other to mark the beginning of prayer time. It lasts for about 3-5 minutes but it is really awesome to hear. Going into the mosques we had to wear a head scarf and take off our shoes, to coordinate with the religions rules. The mosque that we went into is called the blue mosque it is called that for all the blue tiles that line the inside ceiling and walls, it is so beautiful and large it definitely lives up to all the hype. 

We also had the chance to go to the Topaki Palace which is huge, every time you go around a corner there is more to see. We spent almost 5 hours checking this place out, they have so much awesome stuff that is on display. The palace is on a hill top they have cafes you can sit and have a coffee while you enjoy one of the most spectacular views of the city. It was everything that you would expect from a palace from the kitchen exhibit (my personal favorite part) to jewels room and grounds. 

Finally I would be a shame to my profession if I did not mention the food, A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. The street food is so good I almost cried when I saw it was only 3TL (a little less than $1.50) they have a sandwich that I have no idea how to spell that is kind of like a Greek Gyro but it is made with Chicken and beef, they start out completely raw and cook them on a slow rotisserie and they start selling them before they are completely cooked so I would save this for a late afternoon meal so that you can make sure it is is fully cooked. If you walk around any corner you will see them and they should not be missed. While you are enjoying this amazing sandwich get a cup of salep it is a starchy milk drink that will rock your world. Our last meal that we ate in Turkey was a Turkish Kabob which not your traditional Kabob. It is cooked in a sealed clay vase brought to the table on a plate with ashes in it that are flaming and then they slightly hit the crease in the side till it pops open and it is poured into a bowl, they served ours with rice and fries not only was it really awesome to watch it was so tasty, it made a great last Dinner. 

Tesekkurler Turkiye!

Now for our adventures in Greece! 

Rolling out!!!

Traveling to Europe has been a long time goal of mine and I am happy to say that I am sitting at the gate getting ready to go. I will be traveling to 17 countries from January 18, 2015 (today) to June 9, 2015. I will be staying at hostels and working at people's homes through a website called workaway. Our route through Europe is; 

Istanbul, Turkey 

Athens, Greece 

Skiathos, Greece 

Sicily, Italy 

Rome, Italy 

Marche, Italy 

Venice Italy 

Santorini, Greece

Budapest, Hungary 

Prague, Czech Republic 

Vienna, Austria 

Nice, France 

Madrid, Spain 

Barcelona, Spain 

Paris, France 

Dublin, Ireland 

Londonderry, Northern Ireland 

London, U.K. 

Manchester, U.K.

Edinburgh, Scotland 

Amsterdam, Netherlands 

Frankfurt, Germany 

Berlin, Germany 

Copenhagen, Denmark

Stockholm, Sweden

Riga, Latvia 

Kraków, Poland  

We will be flying, taking busses, Ferries, and trains to get around. I found this awesome website called rome2rio that gives you all the travel options to get one place to another it gives you prices and duration for each route so you can choose the best one, it has seriously saved us hours of work and days on trains cause we found a ton of great flight deals from it. 

Our first hurdle came early once we arrived at the airport we found out that Turkey (our first stop) requires a visa to enter the country. Luckily you can get an evisa online that you get immediately and you can download on to your phone. It's the only place on our route that requires this so I guess it was good to get that out of the way. 

Planning this trip has been so much work, and I am so excited to finally be starting it. I will be keeping up on this blog so you can follow along with me. It's going to be very hard to be away from home but I can't wait to start on this adventure.