ITALY & GREECE JOURNAL Map

Thursday, October 10, 2002 – Virmacate, Italy

Friday, October 11, 2002 – Venice, Italy

I woke up early, made some tea, and spent a half hour reading my email on Pam’s computer. Gaby & Allie went to school and my luggage finally arrived around 10:30 AM. Pam and I went to a local outdoor market and bought some groceries for lunch.

Allie got home at 12:30 PM and we all had lunch together. Pam took me to the train station so I could go to Milan and get the train to Venice. It took about 4 hours to get to Venice and I arrived about 6:00 PM. The tourist office directed me to The Hotel La Forcola, one block from the Grand Canal where I checked-in for three nights.

Saturday, October 12, 2002 – Venice, Italy

I woke up very early and caught up on my exercises in my room. Breakfast opened at 7:45 AM and afterwards I set out to explore Venice. It was raining lightly but I walked over to Rialto where I wandered through the fish market and the vegetable market.	I continued on to Piazza San Marco where I fought my way through the pigeons and booked a tour of The Basilica of San Marco at the American Express tour office for later in the afternoon. I took a vaporetto boat tour of the Grand Canal  and was able to get a seat in the prow of the boat where I had great views of the 200 palaces that line the Grand Canal.
I spent some time on-line, and then took a nap before heading back out in the afternoon. My tour at The Piazza San Marco included the Basilica, The Palazzo Ducate and several museums in the plaza. I took a vaporetto back to the area of my hotel, and then spent another hour further exploring the little streets. There are no cars in Venice – only boats and foot traffic. I bought some fruit at a street stand and returned to my hotel. It had started to rain heavily so I decided to spend the night indoors.

Sunday, October 13, 2002 – Venice, Italy

After breakfast, I walked over to the Jewish Ghetto to see when the tours of the Temples in the famous Jewish enclave were offered. The first tour was at 10:30 AM, so I went back and worked on my journal for an hour until it was time to go back for the tour.

Jews in Venice were confined to a small island which became known as the Ghetto, for over 200 years until Napoleon broke open the gates. There are only 500 Jews left in Venice with 5 Temples, all within a stones throw of each other, with two still in use. We toured the three that are no longer in use, small one room temples built inside existing buildings.

I walked around some of the other areas of Venice which I had not seen. The weather was beautiful. I had hoped to get some pictures developed, but the shops were closed on Sunday. I stopped at the train station and booked my reservation for tomorrow’s trip to Florence. On the way back to the hotel, I bought some fruit for dinner.

Monday, October 14, 2002 – Florence, Italy

	Today after breakfast I dropped off my film to be developed and took a water taxi to Morano, an island off Venice famous for its glass factories. There was another couple on the boat with me and they were from Malaysia. The husband, Hj. Mohd Tuah Jais, was Manager of Corporate Affairs of the Sarawak Tourism Board and concurrently Chairman of the Organizing Committee for the Rain Forest World Music Festival. He had just learned of the bombing of the nightclub in Bali earlier this morning.
The glass factory was interesting. Although Morano is full of glass factories, we saw just one. The glass is made by master glass crafters and is quite expensive.	The name of the factory we toured was Nuova Venier. Throughout Venice, most of the stores sell either Murano glass or costumes for Carnival. We took another water taxi back to Venice, stopping in Lido first to drop off some other tourists. I said goodbye to the couple from Borneo and went back to the hotel to check-out. I picked-up my pictures and spent some time on-line before having lunch and walking to the train station to catch the 2:33 PM train to Florence.

The ride to Florence (Firenza) took about 3 ˝ hours, but was very comfortable. We arrived about 6:00 PM and I found a 3-star hotel several blocks from the train station, close to the Cathedral. After checking-in to the Hotel Delle Tele, I ventured out for an hour to explore the neighborhood. The streets were very crowded as I walked over to the Cathedral, a huge impressive structure with an exterior of green, white and pink marble. I’m sure I will tour the interior tomorrow. Back at the hotel, I found I had no English speaking channels on my television and my telephone will not permit me to make telephone calls using my phone card. Tuesday, October 15, 2002 - Florence, Italy I woke up at 3:00 AM and found that from 3:00 AM to 6:00 AM I could receive CNN in English. Unfortunately all of the news was about the sniper in Washington DC and the bombing in Bali.

Breakfast opened at 8:00 AM and afterwards I walked around for awhile until it was time for my morning tour of Florence to begin. The tour included a visit to the Palazza Pitti, a palace containing the Palatine Gallery - home to a collection of paintings by Raphael, Titan, Rubens and others. We drove up to the Piazzale Michelangelo and got a birds eye view of Florence, and then returned to see the Cathedral, Giotto’s Bell Tower and the Baptistery with it’s famous doors ‘The Gates of Paradise’.

I spend an hour on-line and had lunch before returning for my afternoon tour. The later tour included a trip to Fiesole, an ancient town in the hills above Florence, a visit to the Franciscan Church of Santa Croce which contains the tombs of Michelangelo, Machiavelli & Galileo, and the highlight of the tour, the Gallery of the Academy to see Michelangelo’s original statue of David.

I wandered the streets for awhile after my tour window shopping all the leather goods for sale. I stopped and had dinner at a little sandwich shop and then went back to the hotel for the night.

Wednesday, October 16, 2002 - Florence, Italy

I woke again at 3:00 AM to watch CNN and write captions for the photographs I had just gotten back. At 6:30 AM I went for a walk and checked out The Sofitel Firenze, which although more expensive, would be a good place to stay if I come back to Florence as they have a good location, a beautiful lobby and CNN in English.

I had breakfast at 8:00 AM and then went over to the travel agency to book two tours of Florence for today. Both were walking tours with interesting itineraries, but unfortunately, both tours were cancelled for today. I decided to take the tours on my own following the prescribed routes. I visited Palazzo Vecchio, Palazzo Strozzi and Piazza della Signoria before crossing the Ponte Vecchio and window shopping in the jewelry shops on the bridge. I found a beautiful chess set which I almost bought, but decided to wait until next week and buy it on-line if I still thought I needed it. Late in the afternoon, I had some dinner and went back to the hotel for the night.

Thursday, October 17, 2002 - Pisa, then Rome, Italy

Today I checked out of my hotel after breakfast and took a 9:00 AM train to Pisa. There were no luggage lockers at the Pisa train station and although it was raining slightly, I walked across town with my large backpack to the Cathedral compound where I visited the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The tower leans at such an angle that it is amazing that it doesn’t just fall over. There was a large crane in place doing some work on the tower, but I was able to get some pictures with the tower obstructing the crane. I had to wait about an hour to climb to the top but the wait was worthwhile as the 300 step ascent and view from the top was very exciting. I walked back to the train station and caught a 1:00 PM train on to Rome. The trip took about 3 hours. At the tourist office in Rome, I found a hotel named the Hotel Grolli at Via Nazionale, No 69 where I checked in for a couple days.

I took a short walk around the neighborhood and could see many huge ancient buildings so I decided I was in a good location. A found a small store and bought some food which I took back to the hotel for dinner.

Friday, October 18, 2002 - Rome, Italy

Breakfast was at 7:30 AM and I was on my way by 8:15 AM, en route to the Piazza Barberini where I hoped I could take a bus tour of the major sights in Rome. It turned out there was an 8 hour bus strike today so that particular tour was cancelled, but I was able to arrange a different tour, which, since I had not seen anything in Rome yet, was acceptable.

The morning tour was to the Vatican where, after waiting in line for 45 minutes to get in, we visited the Vatican Museums including the Candelabra Gallery, the Tapestry Gallery and the Gallery of Maps. After that, we walked through the rooms of Raphael and ended up in the Sistine Chapel. As we exited the Vatican, I could see that the square outside was set up for a large outdoor mass on Sunday so I plan to come back and see if I can attend the service with the Pope.

We ate lunch as a group. I hadn’t really spoken too much to anyone in the morning, but was amazed at how much of a center of attention I became when I told people about my traveling. In the afternoon, we went to The Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls which is a magnificent church where Saint Paul is actually buried. We passed the park which used to be the Circus Maximus, the ruins of the Palatino and walked around the outside of the Coliseum. Rome is full of ruins and it would take weeks to see everything. Tomorrow I will return to the Coliseum and the Palantino to take more in-depth tours.

Saturday, October, 19, 2002 - Rome, Italy

I extended my original 2-day stay by a couple more days, then set off to explore more of Rome by foot. I went to the Coliseum first and spend an hour with an audio guide walking around the inside. Next, I walked next door to the Palatino, now a large open air museum built on a hill overlooking the Circus Maximus. Almost all of Rome’s ancient buildings have bee stripped of their marble facades leaving enormous brick structures with walls usually over five feet in width.

	I continued through the most ancient ruins including Caesar’s Forum, Capitoline Hill (presently Rome’s City Hall), a huge marble building built as a monument in the 20th century which is next to the plaza where Moussilini used to orate in the early 20th century, and the Trojans Column. I had a late lunch at a Chinese restaurant, spent some time on-line, and then went back to the hotel.

Sunday, October 20, 2002 - Rome, Italy

Today the morning tour I had hoped to take was full so I decided to head out on my own. I walked over to the Pantheon and spent twenty minutes listening to other tour guides explain it’s history to their customers. Then I walked on to the Vatican where I thought the Pope might appear from his apartment as is his custom on Sunday mornings. As it turned out, the Pope was actually conducting an outdoor service in St. Peter’s Square where he beatified six people for possible sainthood. I stayed for most of the service and took away a nice program of the service as a souvenir.

I went to Castel Sant’Angelo, the old fortress that guarded the Vatican which was built as a mausoleum for the emperor Hadrian. After taking the audio tour, I crossed the Tiber at the Ponte Sant’Angelo then walked up to Spanish Square to see the Spanish Steps. I passed the beautiful Fountain of Trevi, then stopped for lunch and spent an hour on-line at the Internet café next door. Later in the afternoon, I walked over to the train station and decided to go to Naples tomorrow morning. Then I purchased some food and went back to my hotel for the evening. Monday, October 21, 2002 - Isle of Capri, Italy Today was a very busy day of travel and sightseeing. After breakfast, I checked out of the Hotel Grolla and walked to the train station. I took an 8:45 AM train to Naples where I had originally planned to take a ferry out to the Isle of Capri for a few days.

The weather was very good so before heading out to Capri, I took a local train 10 minutes down to Ercolano where I boarded a bus up Mt. Vesuvius and hiked the final half hour up to the top where I had spectacular views of Naples and it’s Bay as well as the collapsed cauldron of the volcano. The bus took us back to the train station in Ercolano and I decided to walk one kilometer down to the sea and visit the ruins of Herculaneum which was destroyed, along with Pompei, in 79 AD when Vesuvius erupted and covered the town with 20 meters of ash, pumice and mud. The entire town, including furniture, wooden beams, foodstuffs and some written scrolls was preserved under the mud and has been dug out and restored. Although most of the towns 5000 inhabitants escaped the volcano, hundreds of skeletons have been found in the last two decades.

I took the train back to Naples and picked up my luggage which I had left at the Naples train station. It was 6:00 PM so I decided to take a taxi over to the port where I boarded a high speed ferry for the 45 minute ride out to the Isle of Capri. It was dark when I arrived on Capri but I found my way to the Funicular which takes people from the sea up to the town high on the cliffs, and then walked through the narrow streets to my hotel, the La Floridiana. The hotel is very elegant and my large room overlooks the Mediterranean. I went to the hotel’s restaurant for dinner and had an excellent meal with outstanding service. I went back to my room at 10:00 PM so I could get up early and start to enjoy the island.

Tuesday, October 22, 2002 - Isle of Capri, Italy

After catching up on my exercises, I had breakfast at 8:00 AM and then located an Internet café at the base of the funicular. I spent an hour on-line and then took a boat tour around the island. The boat was crowded with college students and although it was probably 50 feet long, it bobbed up and down in the 5 foot waves like a cork with the girls screaming for much of the trip. We had great views of the 100 meter cliffs that drop straight into the sea, as well as a large natural arch and some of the settlements around the 7 km island. A highlight of the trip was a stop at The Blue Grotto, a natural cave with a 5 foot opening (that contracts to 2 feet when a wave enters), where the reflection of the sun turns the water inside bright blue. I took some underwater photos and hope they come out well.

Back in Capri, forty other tourists and I took a 20 person bus and went 4 km to Anna Capri, the other town on the island. I walked around for about an hour, declined to ride the chair lift to the top of the mountain because it was shrouded with clouds, and then took the bus back to Capri. The road from Capri to Anna Capri is very narrow and carved out of the mountainside. I was pleased that our bus driver had the sense to stop and back up occasionally to let other vehicles pass.

I went back to my hotel to rest for a while passing by all the tourist shops on the way. At 4:30 PM, I went out again to drop off some film to be developed and to check out the islands five star hotel, the Hotel Quisisana which is next door to my hotel. It was nice, but they were not offering any discounts on their rooms so I decided to stay where I was for another night. I did make a reservation for dinner at their gourmet restaurant which turned-out to be excellent.

Wednesday, October 23, 2002 - Isle of Capri, Italy

I made a couple trips down to the Internet cafe today working on my journal and looking at 4 rolls of new pictures I picked-up. I had lunch at the Hotel Syrene but bought a couple slices of pizza for dinner.

Thursday, October 24, 2002 - Naples, Italy

I checked-out of the La Floridiana Hotel and went down to the sea where I bought a boat ticket to Sorrento. I spent an hour on-line waiting for the boat, which was a half hour late for the 20 minute ride. Many of the passengers getting off the boat were sick so I assumed that the sea was rough, but it turned out to be not so bad.

I didn’t spend any time in Sorrento but it seemed very nice and would be a good place to stay in the future. I took a train to Pompeii where I toured the ruins for several hours. Then I went back to Naples, found a hotel, and bought a train ticket to Sicily for tomorrow night.

The hotel is not too good, but it is made worst by the terrible neighbourhood. I spent quite a bit of time looking for an Internet cafe, then spent a couple hours on-line. I walked back to the hotel around 9:00 PM, picking up some food at a grocery store on the way.

Friday, October 25, 2002 - Naples, Italy

I skipped the hotel breakfast but had a couple of breakfast rolls on my way up to the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. The museum has an outstanding collection of artifacts from Herculaneum and Pompeii including statues, frescos and household goods such as pottery, silverware and furniture. I spent a couple hours wandering through the various exhibits, and then walked back to my hotel to check out.

Naples seems to be a gigantic slum. I thought the area where my hotel was bad, but it really extends to all of the neighbourhoods I walked through in about 4 hours today. One of the problems with Naples is that there is a lot of construction going on which makes the traffic very congested. As a result, the people riding motorbikes drive on the sidewalk. Unfortunately, the street vendors take up most of the sidewalk already so there is no room for the pedestrians to walk. So pedestrians walk on the street, in between the cars.

I had a late lunch, and then went back to the Internet cafe and spend two more hours on-line. I walked around the city again in the late afternoon and did find some brighter areas, but not many. There appears to be a large project to dig some subway tunnel under the main road which has apparently come to a standstill because the excavation has discovered ancient ruins and now archaeologists have replaced the construction workers. Since my train was not until midnight, I had a late supper and then went back to the train station. There were a couple of taxi drivers who tried to tell me that my train had been cancelled (before they knew which train I was on) and I should hire them to drive me to the next station, 30 km away. After 20 minutes of badgering they finally went away.

I shared a compartment with five other people on the way to Sicily. Four of the five were already on the train when it arrived in Naples and the two of us who boarded in Naples went to sleep immediately.

Saturday, October 26, 2002 - Siracusa, Sicily, Italy

Most of the people on the train got off at Catania and I was left alone in my compartment. I plan to return to Catania in a couple days after visiting Siracusa. As we passed the city I could see some smoke rising from Mt. Etna, which dominates the landscape beyond the city limits.

The train arrived in Siracusa at 9:00 AM and it took me awhile to locate the tourist information office. I located a hotel named ‘The Jolly Hotel’ which turned out to be a pretty good chain, and checked-in.

I went back to my hotel at 2:00 PM stopping for some pizza on the way. I did some laundry, watched CNN and took a nap for a couple hours. At 4:00 PM I headed back out to Ortigia, the other major historical section of Siracusa and the original site of the town. I walked about 4 km around the island taking in great views of the Mediterranean Sea. Then I explored the interior of the island including the Duomo and the Temple of Apollo.

At 8:00 PM I walked back to my hotel and turned in for the evening.

Sunday, October 27, 2002 - Catania, Sicily, Italy

I got a late start this morning after breakfast at the hotel. I walked over to the train station after checking-out and boarded a train for Catania. The train was an hour late, which I thought was unusual, but then realized that clocks had changed overnight and the train was on schedule.

The ride to Catania was only 90 minutes and although the weather was excellent, the sky turned dark as we approached my destination. I was disappointed with the change until I realized that the source of the clouds was coming from Mt. Etna and it appeared as if the volcano was actually erupting! I confirmed this when I arrived at the tourist information office and found that tours of Mt. Etna were cancelled due to the activity.

I checked into the La Ville Hotel, a nice hotel in a poor neighbourhood and booked a tour of Mt. Etna for tomorrow. Hopefully, the tour will not be cancelled.

Monday, October 28, 2002 - Catania, Sicily, Italy

The lead storey on BBC World News during the night was the eruption of Mt. Etna. The report included graphic pictures of the lava fountains and ash cloud. This is the first major eruption of the volcano in over a year. Several tourist hotels have been evacuated and there is a lava flow, which may soon threaten some small towns on the mountainside. Catania airport has been closed due to the ash cloud.

At dawn I was out the door to see what was happening. The entire city is covered with 1/8 inch of soot, which isn’t much but it covers everything. I cannot see it falling, but I must constantly blink my eyes as I can feel it entering my eyes. Aside from this, the people of the city seem to be taking the eruption is stride. My tour started at 9:30 AM when two guys picked me up in their car and we started up the south side of Mt. Etna. The driver, Pietro, was a geologist and his associate seemed to be a friend who was studying volcano logy at the local university. They had tried to drive up the volcano yesterday and were turned back by the police, but today they were going to try some more obscure route. I got the feeling that the guides were more anxious to get as close to the action as I was. I was the only customer.

We spent a couple hours in the lava fields of previous eruptions watching and listening to the mountain erupt. The plume was reaching miles up into the sky and extended out over the Mediterranean as far as I could see. After awhile we headed back to town, but made several other stops at various geological sites from the other times the mountain has erupted..

I spent an hour on-line and then resting in my hotel before being picked-up by the same two guys who were going back up the mountain’s northern slope at night to see the lava fountains. We stopped at another hotel to pick-up a woman and her 8-year old son from England. He had wanted to come here for his birthday to see the volcano and was extremely excited that the mountain was erupting during his visit. We spent an hour driving around to the north side of the mountain and could see seven of the ten lava fountains spewing molten rock. Although we were 15 km away from the nearest activity, I guessed that some of the fountains were 100 meters high.

After another half hour of driving down dark, sometimes unpaved roads, we came to a place, which was the forward operations center for the emergency vehicles and international press. There were about 20 fire trucks, several large tents and a couple TV antenna trucks including BBC and CNN. There was also a place set aside where journalists were interviewing someone under bright lights with a lava fountain about 3 km away. The road ahead was blocked, but we were able to detour down another road and finally got to within about 2 km of the fountain where we pulled over and spent an hour watching and listening to the eruption. I took many photos but without a telephoto lens, I’m not sure if they will record how close we actually were.

Tuesday, October 29, 2002 - Palmero, Sicily, Italy

Today I slept in, and then had breakfast, packed and checked-out of my hotel. I had decided to take the bus to Palmero on the western shore of Sicily instead of the train because it was faster and the bus left in the morning and the train did not leave until afternoon.

As the 11:00 AM bus left Catania, I could not see much ash coming from the mountain, but I think that was due to the overall cloud cover. The news had reported that Etna was still erupting.

The ride to Palermo took about 2 ˝ hours. The tourist information office at the bus station was not too helpful so I arranged my own lodging at a Jolly Hotel, which is the same chain where I had stayed in Siracusa.

Thursday, October 31, 2002 - Overnight train to Brindisi, Italy

Today was pretty much wasted. I wanted to leave Palermo and go to either Malta or Greece. I woke early and ate breakfast, and then because there was no answer at the ferry terminal, I decided to walk across town to find out when the ferries were leaving. There were no ferries to Malta and the only ferry to Naples, where I could get a train to Brindisi to catch another ferry to Greece was not until 7:00 PM. To make matters worse, there were no cabins available…only open seating. I decided to go back to my hotel check-out and go to the train station where there would surely be a train to Brindisi. When I go to the station though, I found the next train was not until 6:00 PM and it took 14 hours. I decided that this was my only option and so I took it.

I spent the day wandering around Palermo, eating lunch and working on my journal. The train left at 6:00 PM and by 10:00 PM we were rolling onto the ferry to cross back onto the Italian mainland at Massena. By 8:00 AM tomorrow morning we should be in Brindisi on Italy’s eastern shore where I’ll catch a ferry to Greece.

Friday, November 1, 2002 - Overnight ferry to Patra, Greece

Today is the beginning of my sixth month travelling. I had the whole compartment (and possibly the whole car) of the train to myself as we crossed from the toe to the heel of Italy. At 6:00 AM we stopped at Taranto, a large industrial city on the Mediterranean, about 90 minutes from Brindisi.

We got to Brindisi about 8:45 AM and I found out that the only ferry to Patra in Greece where I could get a train to Athens was not until 7:00 PM. I had the whole day in Brindisi and it happens that today is a national holiday and most businesses are closed. I did find an Internet café that opened at 10:00 AM and spend a few hours there until they closed at 1:00 PM for siesta. Between 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM, I was the only person on the street. They even turned off the fountain in the centre of town.

My ship left on time for the overnight trip to Greece and I slept well in my single cabin.

Saturday, November 2, 2002 - Athens, Greece

The boat docked at Patra on Peloponnese at 8:15 AM. I found the train station and bought a first class ticket for the 4˝-hour trip for 7.9 euros. We had lost an hour crossing the Adriatic Sea so the 10:20 AM train was due to leave in only an hour. I had breakfast of cappuccino and baklava in a café next to the station as I waited for the train. The train must pass over the Corinth Canal as it enters the Greek mainland and I hope to get a picture as it crosses this very small canal.

The train arrived in Athens at 3:00 PM and after some difficulty I found a travel agent who was able to book me a hotel and a tour of Athens for tomorrow morning. He also suggested a three-day tour of the Greek countryside, which I’ll probably take Monday morning.

I located an Internet café and then bought some food, which I took back to my hotel for dinner.

I spent several hours on-line in the afternoon and then went back to my hotel for the evening.

Tuesday, November 5, 2002 - Delphi, Greece

I spent a half hour on the hotel’s computer before going to breakfast at 7:30 AM. Our group checked-out and we left on the bus at 8:15 AM. We were already in Olympia and the major event of the day was touring the archaeological ruins of the ancient site of the Olympic games as well as the museum containing the artifacts found at the site. In the late morning, we drove to Patra, which is where my ferry had docked when I arrived from Italy a few days ago, where we took a short ferry ride back to the Greek mainland, and then continued north to Delphi. We stopped at a restaurant along the way for calamari, and then continued on to Delphi where we checked-in to the Hotel Xenia at 5:00 PM.

There was no internet at the hotel so I walked down to the town of Delphi where I was able to find an internet point and also was able to get two rolls of film developed. Dinner at the hotel was at 8:00 PM.

Wednesday, November 6, 2002 - Meteora, Greece

After breakfast this morning, we checked-out and took the bus five minutes over to The Delphi Museum and archaeological site. The museum is small with only six statues but it does have a couple friezes, which have been preserved. Our tour guide is a wealth of classical Greek information and is able to reconstruct an entire era from a few blocks of marble. The ruins of Delphi include the Temple of Apollo, numerous Treasuries, a theatre and a stadium. I purchased a map of Mt. Olympus with the thought of travelling there after this bus trip and attempting to climb the mountain. It is a 2-day climb to about 2900 meters but the refuse where I need to spend the night has now closed for the season and the manager whom I spoke with said the mountain is completely covered with fog and there are no other places to stay so I guess I’ll abandon the idea for this trip.

We had lunch back at the Xenia Hotel and then met eight other tourists from another group who joined us for the four hour drive to Meteora where we had dinner and checked-in to the Orfeas Hotel for the night.

Thursday, November 7, 2002 - Athens, Greece

Today I ate breakfast early and then went out to look at the huge cliffs of Meteora with the Monasteries perched on the summits overlooking the town.

Our bus left at 8:20 AM and we started climbing up the road that leads to the Monasteries. We first visited the Monastary of Saint Stephen (which is actually a Nunnery) and then we went over to the Holy Monastery of the Grand Meteoron. There we climbed the 176 steps to the top of the cliff and had a great view of the town below. There were artisans working in the chapel of the Nunnery painting golden Icons on the walls, which will probably be there a thousand years from now.

At noon we started back to Athens, stopping for lunch along the way. The bus dropped me off at The Hotel Minos where I checked back in at a much-reduced rate than I was paying before I left.

Friday, November 8, 2002 - Athens, Greece

Today I had breakfast, and then headed over to the Internet Café to determine where I should go next. I investigated several hiking trips in New Zealand and emailed the company to check on availability. The one-way airfare from Italy (where I’ll have to return to get my gear from Pam’s house) to Auckland is very expensive, so I haven’t booked anything yet and will explore more options tomorrow. I’ll probably fly to Milan tomorrow and then make my final decision as to where I go sometime over the weekend.

I brought some food back to my hotel and ate dinner as I watched the news on CNN of the passing of the new UN Resolution on Iraq.

Saturday, November, 9, 2002 - Milan, Italy

After breakfast today, I decided to leave Greece and go back to Milan to pick-up my gear at Pam’s house and be prepared to go somewhere else on a moment’s notice.

I confirmed there were seats available on a plane to Milan and took a taxi to the airport for the 2 hour flight. The plane arrived at 12:30 PM and I took a bus back to Central Station where I remembered there was a tourist information center. I checked into the Hotel Berna and then found an Internet Café where I checked my email. I also checked flight information and found it is much easier and cheaper to fly to either Beijing, Capetown or Auckland from London than it is from Milan, so I’ll probably take a one-way flight to London where I’ll decide where to go next.

I called Pam and made arrangements to go out to her house to pick up my stuff. I took the train to Vermacate where we visited for awhile, and then went out to dinner with her family before taking the subway back to the hotel.

Sunday, November 10, 2002 - Milan, Italy

The Hotel Berna had a great buffet breakfast. Afterward, I went back to the Internet point to check email and make arrangements to fly to London. It turns out that I can’t get on the plane today so I booked a flight for tomorrow.

I read for awhile in the afternoon and then took a walk around the center of Milan, stopping at a food store to buy some dinner which I took back to the hotel to eat. I repacked my gear into two very large bags and hope I won’t be charged for excess luggage as I fly to London.

Monday, November 11, 2002 - London, England

After breakfast, I went to the Post Office to mail the guidebooks I had borrowed from Pam back to her. Then I spent some time on-line before coming back to the hotel and checking-out. I took a bus to the airport for my 1:30 PM flight to London.

After intense negotiations, I had to pay an extra $100 for my excess baggage (more than the cost of the ticket). The flight left and arrived on time at Heathrow in London. I checked most of my gear at the left-luggage office at the airport and found a nice, very expensive hotel (The Grange City Hotel) overlooking the Tower of London and Tower Bridge where I checked-in for a couple days.

Tuesday, November 12, 2002 - London, England

It is raining heavily today and the forecast is for much of the same for the rest of the week. Welcome to London. I skipped breakfast and headed out to find an Internet point, where I could finalize my plans for the next month. I had to travel several stops on the underground to get to an Internet café, but eventually found one with several hundred workstations.

I decided to fly back to China and do some hiking with Cindy in some of the western provinces near Tibet. I’ll fly to Shanghai on Thursday and leave an open return to London where I’ll leave the climbing gear I’ll need for Kilimanjaro in February. Virgin Atlantic charges $60/pound for any luggage in excess of 44 pounds so after investigating my options, I found that I can check my heaviest bag at the hotel and plan to stay here for at least one night when I return from Shanghai en route to Capetown.

The weather cleared up in the afternoon and I walked around the financial district and across Tower Bridge. I ate dinner back at the hotel.

Wednesday, November 13, 2002 - London, England

I had to go out to the airport to pick-up the luggage I wanted to leave at The Grange City Hotel, and get my airline ticket. I decided it might be more interesting to take the London Underground even though it takes much longer than the high speed airport train.

I had to change trains once, and the trip took just over an hour. I got my ticket, and then went over to terminal 3 to pick up my bags. I decided to take them both and repack them back at the hotel. I mailed about 20 pounds of photos and books I didn’t need anymore back to California, rather than pay to keep transporting them around the world.

Later in the afternoon, I went for a walk finding an Internet café that was much closer than the large one I had been using. I got a haircut from someone who was from South Africa and spent a half-hour telling me how wonderful a place it was. I had take-out Chinese food for dinner back in the hotel.

Thursday, November 14, 2002 - Virgin Atlantic flight en route to Shanghai, China

This morning I walked back to the Internet Café I found yesterday, only to find it didn’t open for another two hours. I had some coffee and a roll at a café next door, but then decided to take the underground to the original internet point I had located. Some of the subways are not operating as this is the first day of a 2-day national fireman’s strike in England…the first such walkout in 50 years.

I spent an hour finding a hotel in Shanghai and investigating travel options to and in New Zealand in case I decide to go there after China. I went back and checked out of my hotel and then took the train out to Heathrow for my 4?) PM flight to Shanghai. After all my planning, the luggage I had for the plane was six kilograms less than the allowed weight.

The flight was not crowded and I had an empty seat next to me where I could stretch out. I watched three movies during the eleven-hour flight.

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