Nice

Nice is pretty self explanatory. We stayed at a hostel that has been repeatedly named France's best hostel, and is also on the top 10 best hostel worldwide list every year. Besides the comfortable beds, lush gardens, outdoor patio, incredibly gracious and knowledgeable staff, accommodating arrangements, 1Euro beers, on-site chef, very cheap home made dinner, free shuttle service, free internet, laundry service, coffee 24hrs-a-day, book exchange, etc. the hostel could have been better.

Going skiing in the French Alps is incredibly easy to do, even from Nice, because there is a shuttle service for only 1Euro to the Alpine village of Auron, where we had access to discounted rentals (also thanks to the hostel) and fairly cheap lift tickets. We only skied half a day, but had a blast.

We also made tons of friends, i'm glad we met all of you. Facebook us?

Highlights:

Italy - Roma, Napoli, Genova

Lucky you, this one is a triple post. We spent a lot of time in Italy but only a few nights in each city. This meant we did not experience one city in particular to it's fullest but in return we we're able to see more cities in Italy.

Roma.
It would be hard to visit Italy without seeing Rome. The first night upon arrival we decided to buy beers and walk around the town. What do you know that we end up at the Colosseum (how about them open container laws?) Only two nights in Rome meant one full day of sightseeing, so we returned to the Colosseum for the official tour. With our admission ticket, however, we we're also granted access to the Roman forum. Very cool.


Napoli.
The largest attraction to Naples, for us, was Pompei and Mt. Vesuvius. Upon arriving in Pompei, we bought bus tickets to see the crater of Mt. Vesuvius only to learn that the wind was too strong to be allowed to ascend to the very top. I guess they we're afraid someone would fall into the lava.. because that's a bigger risk than rebuilding an entire town next to an active Volcano known to erupt. Pompei, on the other hand, was incredible. We we're able to walk through an entire town preserved by feet upon feet of volcanic rock. If you are in the area, pay a visit it's well worth your time. Oh and Naples is the birthplace of pizza.

Genova.
Plain and simple, we had a great time in Genova. On the train to Genova, we made friends with a Ukrainian whom was off to meet her friends and colleagues from Egypt. She invited us to tag along and we we're able to experience Genova as the locals do. We also made a day trip to Sestri Levante to see the birthplace of one Andrew Foster.

Spotlight on Josh

In an earlier post I spoofed everyone (but mainly intended for my parents) on getting a tattoo. I feel that while the prank was a successful one, it took away from the fact that a friend of mine GOT A TATTOO and I was there to witness it. And it's cool too. The 't' in Greek is 'Tau' and has personal significance for Josh. If you want to find out more, ask him, i'll put you in touch.

Without further ado:

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: