3 nights in the Swiss Alps

Mel and I made a quick trip to Switzerland via bus from Nice. After Cinque Terre we stayed the night in Nice, France before making our way to Lauterbrunnen in the south west of Switzerland.

We arrived late on a Thursday night and fell asleep after playing a few rounds of cards with our Kiwi roommates. The next morning we woke up to a beautiful view of the Swiss Alps. Our campsite was in a valley, between two mountains and adjacent a waterfall.

It was a great change from the hot weather and at times eccentric Italians; we found the Swiss to be much more polite and conservative! Mel and I got the chance to go hiking, paragliding, to visit a waterfall (Trummelbach Falls) and of course buy Swiss Army Knifes!

The Mcdonald's Eurosaver Menu

What I've been surviving on



It's really a Godsend. Mel and I have spent many an evening dining on a €1 meal.

Ciao

Mel and I just finished up 2 weeks in Italy with visits to Venice, Rome, Florence, Milan and Lake Como, however there is one place in the north of Italy I cant speak highly enough of; the Cinque Terre region.

Cinque Terre is a rugged portion of coast on the Italian Riviera. It´s in the Liguria region of Italy, to the west of La Spezia city where our bus dropped us off. The region is composed of five villages; Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. Mel and I had accomidation in Riomaggiore with an amazing view of the town and port. We stayed with another couple from Australia; Ali and Alex, who became good friends of ours.

Riomaggiore 

We spent the next few days swimming and jumping off rocks by the port, drinking beers on our balcony while watching the sunset and and hiking our way through the 5 towns along the coast with Ali and Alex.















Above is a  map of the region which shows the 5 towns we hiked through (Riomaggiore to Monterosso)

This hike ended up taking about 10 hours and covered some very rough terrain but the beach at the last town; Monterosso made it all worthwhile.

After spending time in Italy I've come up with some pros and cons for the country shaped like a boot.

PROS

• The Coffee! In most places you can get coffee for only €1 when you drink at the bar (if you sit down they charge about €4!), and this coffee is amazing. There is no water, just coffee and milk. There is certainly a 'coffee culture' in Italy and its evident when you walk into a cafe and its packed with Italian men lining up to get their fix.
• Free pouring of alcohol; they don't measure they just pour until they feel there is enough alcohol in the glass, and often its more than enough.
• Street drinking is legal, or at least I think so.
• Of course the pizza and pasta. There is an abundance of side markets selling slices of pizza big enough to feed a family; all for only €2.
• Late dinners; often Mel and I would go for a meal after 11pm.
• Beautiful piazzas (squares) in every city.

CONS

• Bad driving; Italian drivers are terrible! They certainly don't know how to park either.. many times I witnessed people double parking, parking people in or parking on a curb, this just wouldn't fly in Australia!
• Stairs. Italy is the land of stairs, you cant go anywhere without having to walk up about ten flights of stairs; the train station, hostels, and having a huge backpack on doesn't make it any easier!
• The main cities are packed with tourists, but I suppose you cant escape them in any major city in Europe. 
• Italy is expensive 

The view from Michelangelo's Piazza

A cafe in Orvieto

Gondola's on Grand Canal

We arrived in Athens dazed and confused after a two day commute from Dublin. Our first impression of Athens wasn’t great, there had been a taxi strike leaving us stranded at the airport. We eventually managed to jump on a bus headed for the Port, and our ferry to Santorini.














We arrived in Santorini on a Monday night where we were greeted by Stavros, who owned the hostel we were staying at; Stavros Villas. This place was great, we had a spacious room by the pool.

The next day we hired a quad bike, this would be our transport for the next few days. I really found it hard driving on the right side of the road! We then made our way into Fira, the centre of Santorini, and found a bar with a view of the coastline.

Later that day we drove up to Oia (north of Santorini centre) to get a good view of the sunset, unfortunately about 1000 other people had the same idea!

We spent our time in Santrorini visiting beaches and wandering around the Fira town centre admiring the coastline and the beautiful white buildings. Before leaving Mel described Santorini as 'one of the most beautiful places on earth', I'd have to agree.
































On Thursday morning we made our way to Ios, a.k.a Party Island. We checked into our hostel and had a few drinks by the pool. Again we hired out a quad bike and visited a few more beaches. In the afternoon we swung by Ios's main beach; Mytopolas, before having our first of many Souvlakis. If ever in Greece I highly recommend one!

We headed out later that night into the town centre where we drunk with hundreds of other people in Ios's main square. Unfortunately I peaked a little early that night.

The next day we relaxed at the beach before heading out once again. After plenty of shots and 3 souvlakis we made it home at 6am.

We had an early rise the next morning to catch our ferry back to Athens, where we spent that night. That was our Greek experience.