Paris

Paris is far too large to visit entirely in only 4 days and that speaks something of the city. And with luck, we we're privileged to see the city as both a tourist and as a local.

The first two days we spent in a part hostel part scenester music venue. Within five minutes of arriving we're watching a punk rock band and a crowd of loyal fans in the basement venue of the hostel. Later in Paris we spent two nights with awesome Parisians we made friends with in Prague and friends they knew in the town of Maison Fort just outside of the city. One friend, Lucy, in particular showed us true Parisian living. We sampled the traditional Parisian fare of Escargot, Grenouille and Foie Gras.

Of course we also had time to visit the essentials (unfortunately thats's often the situation when staying only 4 nights in a city). We toured the tour Eiffel, the Louvre, the catacombs, Père Lachaise (resting place of Chopin, Jim Morrison and many others), Notre Dame, the latin quarter, and the list goes on. We would like to thank Lucy, Antho, Lisa and everyone else who put us up and put up with us in Paris.

Highlights:

Santorini

As per recommendation from my father, we visited the Greek island of Santorini. We happened to be there during the 3 weeks of "winter" so there was no laying on the beach, but that did not stop us from having a good time.

The island is not a big one, but is large enough that you cannot get around by foot. Besides cars (and only small ones are found on this island) the official means of transportation on this island is either moped, ATV or mule. And since I left my mule at home (it wouldn't fit in my bag) Corey and I rented an ATV for 10 euro a day. This allowed us to see all of Santorini and was well worth it.

Highlights:

Athens

Seemingly unfazed or rather unbothered by the riots only days before we arrived, Athens was by far the most wild city we have been to so far. Our hostel was located only a few miles, sorry kilos as they say in Europe, from the Acropolis and other ancient temples. In fact, the rooftop bar provided a perfect lit-up view of the Pantheon at night.

Walking down the streets of Athens was a game in itself, the objective to stay on your toes at all times or get swallowed by the city. The bustle of cars, taxis, trucks, mopeds, ferrel animals, domestic animals, street vendors, beggars, street performers zoomed along just outside the heavily graffitied exterior walls of buildings where expensive and inexpensive shops, boutiques and restaurants alike waited just on the other side of a door.

Rewinding a little, Corey and I met two Canadiens on the ferry from Bari, Italy to Patras, Greece named John and Josh. We quickly became friends, despite having mistaken them for Americans. The following three days we explored the city and joked about football, maple syrup and boots. We also made friends with some Americans teaching English in France, an Australian who works in a hostel in Nice (whom we will see again when we visit Nice), a Brazilian, a Georgian (the state) heading to Turkey, an Army guy from Idaho and his travel buddy, a model from N.Y., an American tutoring Math in Qatar, two English guys that we soon lost at a club, all of us brought together by the CrazyEuropaFunkCool front desk/bartender from Lithuania. Boom goes the dynamite.

Oh and someone got a tattoo.
Highlights:

Praha

The very first impression of Prague was not good. We showed up late in the late evening and the temperature was approaching freezing. While walking to the hostel, we discovered just how difficult of a language Czech is. Hungry, thirsty, tired we made it there and left straight for dinner.

Prague is awesome. A meal of friend cheese, goulash and Czech pilsner changed our opinions on Prague very quickly. For the next two days we toured the city, experienced the nightlife and ate the food. Prague is a modern city with a medieval charm.

We also tried Absinth. It's crazy.

Highlights: