Greece and Italy and Canyon jumping

My next entry… it’s been a while

I am finding the longer I wait to write a blog posting the harder is to write it.


Since my last posting I have been to Greece and Italy. We arrived in Thessalonia, Greece after a 30 hour train ride. It was quite the ride, Simon and I got to see a bit of Europe’s poorer countries such as Serbia, Slovania, and Macedonia. It was incredible to see some of the conditions within these countries in contrast to countries we just came from. Growing up in Canada, you can’t imagine seeing such a change within such a small distance. I am not going to go into much detail here, but in the end I found these countries incredible and hard to describe. We only spent 14 hours browsing these countries from a train, but I seemed to find these places a lot more interesting to see then any giant cathedrals or major piece of architecture. I really wish I spent more time here.

Anyway, once we arrived in Thesselonia at around midnight, we found a nearby hotel to get some well needed sleep and then headed out again in the morning. I know, it seemed like all we did at this point was ride trains, but we really wanted to get to place in Greece called Skiathos (besides, we both really enjoy travelling on the train). Skiathos is a very small island just off the east coast of Greece. There are got about 1800 people that live there and it reminds me a lot like Pender Island, British Columbia. We spent a few days here, where we were able to camp near the beach, and even cook and have a few camp fires right on the beach. We found rest here. I climbed on the cliffs around the shore line, and eventually found a bit of hidden cove. Unfortunately, the beaches around where we camped weren’t very clean or well kept, but the cove that I managed to climb to wasn’t touched too much and was pretty clean. It was beautiful.

We rented a car to get around on the island with, and I managed to get the car stuck in the sand at one point. It wasn’t my proudest moment, but what can I say I am a Bromley. I didn’t realize how much driving my VW Jetta without a reverse gear affected my decision making until this point. Instead of thinking to reverse and go around the sand obstacle, I subconsciously thought that with enough speed I could just plough through it….. Nope, didn’t work. But we eventually managed to dig it out, and things turned out fine. Simon was good a forgiving me for this one.

After we returned the vehicle we boarded on a plane to Athens: Our last destination in Greece. We stayed in a nice hostel there and met some great people. You might have heard about the Volcano erupting in Iceland that caused all the European airports to shutdown for a while. Well, we were in Athens during this time and, although it didn’t affect us, it affected most of the people we met. It made for meeting some pretty cool people.
Simon and I spent a couple days in Athens and we saw many of the tourist attractions there, like the Acropolis and the Parthenon. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t as great I thought. I guess I’m not that big into architecture. As I browsing the sites, I remember my mind wondering thinking of other things like the previous conversations I had the night before with different people I had met. I seemed more intrigued by the conversation I had with the Engineer that works for Schlumberger (the Company I used to work for). Or the guy that I met (also an Engineer) that volunteers for the Compassion Christian organization and who is on his way to Brazil to visit the child he sponsored.
One of the sites that I really did enjoy though was view of Acropolis at night when it was all lit up…. It was spectacular. Seeing this really gave you the sense that you were in Athens. Besides this, Simon and I really enjoyed the hot weather here and the good food (we ate Gyros pitas where ever we could).

Next, we hopped on a 16 hour ferry to Italy (which seemed more like a cruise ship). On the ship, we were hounded by a group of Italian school kids who liked the fact we were Canadian. They were all 14 years old, which is the same age as the kids that I coach, and most of them grew up playing soccer. I figured I’d try to convince some of them to come play soccer in Canada for my club, and actually I managed get one kid really interested in the idea, lol.
Our first destination in Italy was Rome… famous Rome. The tourist attractions here were awesome. I knew a bit of Roman history from studying it in University so I appreciated it more than Athens. Taking a tour of the Colosseum and of Ancient Rome were the best attractions. It was less about the architecture and more about stories that made it neat. Rome was definitely a sweet place to visit, but the roomers seemed true here… people try and rip you off. It’s pretty annoying. I ordered a meal for $9.50 and couple of drinks for $3, and apparently that equals $14. I didn’t pay it but it took me a while to get the man to “realize” that it should be only $12.50. lol, oh man.

After Rome, we hit up Venice: a pretty small place where cars are not used and canals are everywhere. The place is crowded with tourist, and no doubt, it is a place of beauty. We just wondered for hours, soaking up the scenery and the atmosphere. I did find there was not that much to see here, but instead it felt like a place to just sit and rest. Venice was the last place Simon and I travelled together. After one night there, Simon departed back home to Canada and I started my solo travels. Although I do like the solo part of this Journey, travelling with Simon was awesome and I miss him already. He’s an amazing guy, and an incredible friend.

The first place I went to on my own was this place called Cinque Terre. I spent 4 nights there, basically because I really couldn’t get away from it. It’s the best place I’ve been since Switzerland. A friend told me about this place and I had to check it out. It is five small villages situated along the sea. It’s tough to describe, but basically all the houses are built on very steep incline, and it allows for some of the most incredible views I have ever seen. It was so hot there. There were many places to hike, many swimming holes, and many cliffs. At one point, I spent almost the whole day just swimming around a rock face and then just sitting in this little rock hammock on the side of cliff. It was awesome. God's grace was incredible here. A spot where I could just sit and sit and sit… for hours and enjoy the moment of rest. For these moments, you have not a worry or a fear. It is such a peaceful gift.

Besides the hiking and the swimming, I also did some mountain biking there, which actually turned out to be pretty insane, and a little frustrating. But it seemed to spark something in me in me to seek an even greater adventure. So I decided to go back to Switzerland to try and hike the famous Matterhorn, and perhaps find a place to do some paragliding.

When I got to Zermatt (which is the place where Matterhorn sits), I was truly disappointed. When you have an image in your mind that makes something out to be miraculous before you even see it, it can be hard to enjoy anything less. That was definitely the Matterhorn for me. I got there and I could barely see anything because of the fog. Many hiking trails were closed, everything was absurdly expensive, and there was no paragliding going on because of the weather. There was one highlight about the trip though, and that was getting stuck in this one town in Switzerland for the night. I missed one of my trains on the way to Zermatt and ended in a town called Monteux. I arrived there late and while I was looking around for a cheap place to stay, I ran into this man named Demitri: A Russian expeditioner who used to work for green peace. He was in the same situation as me with trying to find a place to stay and so we decided to look together. We looked around for a bit, and, long story short, we ended up camping in this backyard of a hotel by the beach. We slept in the tent there and enjoyed some wine and caviar that he had picked up during his last expedition somewhere in Russia, lol. It was quite the spontaneity.


When I left Zermatt without much hiking or paragliding, I still carried the desire for extreme adventure (especially after hearing Dimitri’s stories). And I was led to a place called Interlaken, Switzerland (which is where I sit now). The place is known as the extreme adventure capital of the world. I knew, when I arrived, this was the place I was going to blow some the little money that I had, lol. So, so far, I have been repelling off of 12m high waterfalls and jumping off 85m high Canyons. Adventures I will surely never forget.

Besides the adventures, Switzerland is still the best place I have been so far. I think because it gives me a familiar sense of home here. I still wish I had a horse though to ride some these trails with.

Anyway that it’s for now, there is definitely so much more that I haven’t mentioned. Especially about what I have experienced and what I am being shown. It’s not just about what I saw, that’s just for you to read. I find it tough enough to explain what I saw, let alone what I experience.

Ok I’m tired of writing; I'm going to the ropes course.