Located in the center of Greece, Meteora is an area full of strange rock formations that monks have built monasteries on top of. If you are in Greece, and have the extra time, I would recommend checking it out as it's unique features and monasteries make it a very interesting place to visit. I have also been told that it is a great place for mountain climbers to improve their skills.

Labels: Travel, World Tour

I took a day trip to see Ancient Corinth - The City Paul wrote to in his letter to the Corinthians. The ruins were worth the visit and had a beautiful Mediterranean backdrop as well. It was amazing to see all the history that the place had with traces of early Christians, Ancient Greeks, and of course the Romans.

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If you ever get to go to Greece, I highly recommend a visit to Santorini. More Specifically Perrisa beach. Santorini is one of the most beautiful places I have been in my live and I was able to spend 5 relaxing days there during the easter holiday. I found the people amazingly friendly, the scenery breathtaking and the atmosphere laid back and relaxing. Santorini was formed by an apparently massive volcanic eruption as the island is actually the remains of the middle and some of the sides of what used to be there. Because of this the geography is one of a kind and there are black beaches, white beaches and even a red beach on the island. Santorini is also famous for it's sunset's and of course, it's traditional white and blue Greece Island houses and churches. When the time came to leave the island I was not ready to go, but felt as if I wasn't the only one who was less then willing to leave such a beautiful place.

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I enjoyed seeing the famous sights in Athens a lot (The highlight of course was the Parthenon, which unfortunately is sorounded by scaffolding for repair work wich isn't supposed to be finished for at least three more years!) but overall found the city to be dirty, noisy and busy(kind of like Rome) and after touring around for a day and a half felt like I had seen what I wanted to and was ready to move on.

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A seeming boring port town, Thessaloníki can actually be quite interesting once you dig a little bit bellow the surface. The locals are friendly, the nightlife is lively and there are some interesting ruins and churches scattered throughout. I enjoyed my time here and was lucky enough to get taken out by some locals which was really fun.

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After getting swindled out of a substantial amount of money for a cab ride as a welcome, I was glad to find most of the Romanian people very friendly and helpful. Me and some friends even got escorted by a friendly cop to one of his favorite traditional Romanian places to eat and he came back halfway through the meal to check and see if everything was alright! While in Bucharest, I visited the Palace of Parliament, formerly known as the People's Palace (which is the second largest building in the world, second only to the Pentagon) built during the Communist rule using the people's money while over 70,000 people lost their homes and many more starved in the streets just so it could be built as a house for the dictator. It was an amazingly lavish building and a perfect example of how bad greed mixed with power can be for those being ruled. I hope to visit Romania again, but instead head to Transylvania to see Dracula's castle.

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Charm and Beauty. Prague is by far one of the most beautiful and charming cities I have ever visited and wouldn't be surprised if I never see as beautiful a city again in my life. The entire time I was in Prague and walking through the streets it looked an felt like being in a fairy tale with well preserved beautiful beautiful building, old bridges, a castle and of course a nice church or two. I really enjoyed the seemingly laid back atmosphere and joining of the past and the present. I was lucky enough to be there during a festival of sorts and got to try some really good traditional food from the stands as well as see some of the traditional crafts or souvenirs such as intricately hand painted hollowed out eggs. I was sad to move on when the time came, and hope I will be able to visit this beautiful and relaxing city again in the future.

Labels: Travel, World Tour

Full of beautiful architecture, beautiful women, and a bike friendly atmosphere, Copenhagen seems like it would a nice city to live minus the cold weather and high prices. I enjoyed just one full day here and was able to walk around the downtown area as well as visit Christiana - A "freetown" within Copenhagen run by hippies, the formerly homeless, pot heads and the like. It was interesting to see the different systems used to replace those normally run by the city, such as garbage collection, upkeep(or lack there of) and public facilities. I have recently learned that the police are trying once again to shut Christiana down, as they have attempted to do many times in the past. After visiting Copenhagen and feeling the cold and realizing the cost to travel through Scandinavia, I decided to catch a night train to Prague.

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Berlin is a city full of tense history and filled with a culture that does a great job of learning from the past while looking to the future. It was surreal and amazing to walk around the city and see so many places that had such an impact on the world. I really enjoyed learning about the history of the war here, as well as the more recent Berlin wall and how it eventually came down. I had planned to spend only two days here, but found Berlin to be a city with so many layers and secrets that after leaving four days later, I still felt as if I hadn't even scratched the surface on the city's history, secrets and more recently, vibrant culture. Berlin is definitely on my list of favorite cities in Europe!

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Although famous for it's openness of ideas, and general lack of morality, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this city is filled with not only unique history and reputation, but also beautiful architecture, an amazing pedestrian bicycle system, great museums, and even two Christian Youth Hostels! I really enjoyed meeting up with some friends from home and seeing the sights together. It was such a great experience to visit the Van Gogh Museum and see the masterpieces this artist is famous for in person, as well as to discover why he painted, lived and died so uniquely. We also went on a tour of the city learning more about the culture, history, architecture and engineering that allowed this city to be reclaimed from the sea. Overall, I really enjoyed Amsterdam, and was glad to find that it has much more to offer than it's more famous attractions(to some) of just legal marijuana and prostitution.

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Unfortunately, I didn't get to spend more than a night here, but from what I did see this seemed to be a very beautiful, pedestrian friendly city and it was also a common recommendation among the Germans I spoke with.

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Home to the Dom Cathedral and to the bones of the three wise men. It is quite a sight coming out from the main railway station and seeing the massive cathedral towering above all the other buildings. It was also interesting to see the definite difference between the old town area, where the bomb damage in WWII was repairable, and the the new town area, where rebuilding was necessary. It is so strange to see the effects of war on humanity and civilization.

Labels: Travel, World Tour

When I think of Budapest in my mind's eye I see Buda, some Indian people, Communism, war torn streets, poverty and crime. I guess this is because I had no idea what Budapest was like before I went there and just assumed it was related to Buda the Indian god. I couldn't have been more wrong on all accounts. My first surprise upon getting into the city was that it was not very different from the central and western European cities I had visited. I went out to a club in the subway with some friends the first night, and got a real appreciation for the energy of the city. I was also surprised to find out how safe Budapest was. I felt safer walking the streets at night here than I had ever felt doing in Italy. The next day I went for a walk around this beautiful city and enjoyed the laid back atmosphere that can be found in many places even while the hustle and bustle of city life continues around you. We went for a night walk to see all the important buildings lit up along the Danube, and it felt like the entire city was all sleeping; it was so peaceful. We walked along a main road, but the street was pretty much deserted on 9PM on Sunday. The next day we went to a Turkish bath house which was one of the coolest things I have done in my travels and one of my favorite things I can remember in my life. It was great to just relax and play in the water jets, air bubles, and warm pools. It was a great final thing to do in one of my favorite cities in Europe. I then said goodbye to my friends and headed for Koln, Germany.

Labels: Travel, World Tour

I really like the feel of Vienna. It is a very nice city with a great public bike system that allows you to rent a city bike for free for the first hour and just one euro an hour after that. I really liked how well the bike lanes were laid out all around the city as well as the pedestrian walkways which seemed to be plentiful and full of nice places to shop. I also enjoyed going to the Sunday flea market toward the center of the city with all kind of antiques, toys, and garage sale junk for sale. I was even able to find an automatic(no battery required) Swatch watch for about ten US Dollars. After touring around the city for a day and half I decided to join some new friend on their trip to Budapest as I found out my rail pass included it.

Labels: Travel, World Tour