Sunday 29-06 - Mucha, Movies

I woke up at 9, not getting much sleep. The plan was to go back to the Old town, Stare Mesto. We were there yesterday but were too tired to take anything in. We showered and took a last look at our room. We had a cool loft with a ladder and a fourth bed. The roof was slanted near the beds so as to cause one to hit their heads as they woke up.





Our hostel has a party reputation, so breakfast is from 9 to 1 (most are from 7 to 10 or so). I enjoyed spreadable cheese on toast, plus cereal. I was never much of a cereal person, but on this trip I´ve eaten it alot. The same goes for cheeses and olives.

We took the metro to Charles Bridge (Karluv Most in Czech). There were guys with French accents in sailor suits selling boats rides down the river. We walked through crowded Karlova street, with all its tourist shops. We came onto Staromestske Nam, the main square.

Now with sleep behind us, the place looked very different. In front of us was the old town hall. It has clocks all around it. Best is the astromonical clock that keeps time with the stars and planets.



Beyond were buildings with cafes and restaurants. Beyond them lay the spires of the Tyn church. They were beautiful shadows full of form, gothic watchmen over all Prague. We could also see the top of St Nicholas Church.





We spotted a Mucha museum across the square, so we went to Czech him out. Alfons Mucha was a large part of the Art Nouveau movement and I guess graphic design movements. He did a lot of menus and postcards on top of his paintings and grander works. I didn't know much about art nouveau but thought it would be interesting.

I was inspired by his work. It was so intricate and full of movement but with these amazing bold lines seperating sections of work. I could see his influence in so many artists I know. I loved standing and staring at his line work until I was completely immersed in each piece. This was a huge discovery for me. I felt an inspiration to create when I saw his creations.

In the same building and on the same ticket we went to a Salvidor dali exhibit. It had a lot of his smaller works and sketches and plates and statues. It had something I didn't even know existed. Dali did A4ish sized pieces representing every Canto (chapter) of Dante´s Divine Comedy. Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise. This exhibit had almost every original piece in the set. I didn't count them to check and they were out of order, but I think they were all there. They were wonderful, to discover this new side of an artist I thought I knew so well.

They had a plate created by Dali with the name ¨Infraterrestrials adored by Dalí at the age of six when he thought himself an insect¨. It was good.



They also had ¨Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening¨.

We were hungry and with sore feet after the museum so we found some baguettes. We sat in the shade, on the steps of an old church to each. I watched all the people pass by as I ate.



Near the bridge was a museum of medieval torture instruments. We didn't have anything else we really wanted to do at that point but didn't feel up to going home. Also I was in a macabre mood and felt like a good cringe. There were all sorts of torture devices inside. The lesser tools included old cuffs, chains and whips. There was an old iron maiden and a rack. There were saws for cutting people in half, starting with the genitals. I cringed most at a large stone pyramid onto which naked women were weighted. Apparently there was often permanent genital damage. Back then they had a good imagination for ways to inflict pain and terror in people. Almost as much as people today. They had old school water torture devices and spikes. Good fun.

We came out of the museum and headed down a less crowded back street. Our feet were all in great amounts of pain. We found a café to sit at outside for a while. We rested our feet while drinking coffee/tea and listening to the Lord of the Rings, which was playing inside the cafe.

We started talking about about movies that we loved. We talked about all that was great about them. We came apon the idea of seeing a movie. Quick reference to the map revealed a cinema quite near by. we made our way to the cinema. The only english movie on that we wanted to see was Wanted. I hadn't planned on seeing it in the cinema but it didn't look aweful. I thought it might be a fun, brainless action flick with a comic book twist (which is always good).

It was a welcome relief. Traveling has been incredible and indescribable, don't get me wrong. But we have been living in the foreign and unknown. We have been living in cryptic languages and cultures, constantly being lost. This was a break. A chance to relax and let the familiar flow over us. It was refreshing. I think I needed it.

We left the film satisfied and started blogging when we got back to hotel. We lay on our bunk beds to type. Suddenly waves of fatigue hit me. I couldn't keep my eyes open. The past few days were catching up with me. I hadn't even made the beds with the hostel clean linen. I had just enough energy to grab my bed liner and pull myself into it. I was still in my clothes as I let myself drift into sleep

Saturday 28-06 - Prague where the castles are.

The flight to Prague 5-30am. We hadn't slept all of Friday night. All packed up, we waited or 2-30 to arrive to we could move to the airport. We said farewell to Hostel ARS. A great place to stay. Board included breakfast. Since we were going to miss breakfast, the manager had made up breakfast bags for us. How awesome. They had juice box, danish thing, youghat, snickers and a big bag of pretzels. I felt that was beyond their duties.

We were early at the air port and there was no where open to check in. So we occupied ourselves with books and musics, Eventually I spied a man setting up brochures and address labels behind a nearby counter. In a daze, we passed through and boarded a shuttle bus. It was cold. For the first time in so long, I had goose bumps. Which would have been refreshing if I wasn´t so tired. We boarded a very small plane and set off. About an hour later we landed and got onto an identical shuttle bus. It all looked the same. We could have circled the airport for an hour and I wouldn't have known.

We were still asleep but excited. Peter (who had booked our travels at STA) had offered us to stay in an old castle. At first we said no. It seemed expensive and was sure to be out of the way of anything we wanted to see. Plus we had already stayed in a castle like place when we went to Italy with the folks a few years ago. He spent quite some time convincing us to stay there, as when would we get another chance like this. So we agreed. It would be a cool place to stay and worth the trek to the city.

We found ourselves on the bus to the metro. Then on a tram. For a long time. We got off where told and looking around, realised we had to travel further. We had to travel to the end of the line. A very long trek indeed. Josh and I agreed that the castle would have to be amazing for this effort. Turrets and all.

What we found was a small, dated building shoved into some apartment blocks. And on top of a restaurant. Not a castle. Not a castle and in the middle of absolutely nowhere. If it were London, this place would be outside zone 6.

We were pissed. We were tired and sore from dragging our backpacks all this way and not in a good mood. We grabbed the keys and went upstairs. We went straight to sleep to clear our heads. We got 4 or 5 hours sleep,until till 3pm.

Then we packed up and checked out. We explained the situation and asked what refund we could get for the other 4 nights but were told we´d have to talk to STA. We weren´t going to let this just pass, we were completely misled by STA. He said IN a castle, not NEAR a castle. Damn straight we were going to get our money back. Now we´d have to find somewhere else to stay. Somewhere closer to civilisation.

We walked for 20 minutes to find a ticket to get back onto the tram. By now it was sunny and hot. We gave up our search at the first sighting of a free taxi. He dropped us by Charles bridge on the east side of the river. There were people everywhere and tightly packed old buildings and tourist places. Civilisation. When it rains it pours. We had a tiny map to guide through the crowds and winding streets to the main square of the place. By a big tower with a clock was the tourist info centre. We picked up a list up hostels. We sat outside the clock tower, leaning in our backpacks. We leaved through the list and checked our Lonely Planet guide of Prague. In the LP we found a place that looked nice called the Clown and Bard. We booked a private room for the first night and beds in a 5 room dorm for the rest. They gave us directions there.

This is kind of how I pictured backpacking. Wondering around, finding places as we went. Not practical nor a good idea really, but more of a romantic image of the carefree traveller.

We took the metro again, but only a few stops. The hostel was in an area just outside of the city, with lots of bars, pubs, mini-markets and other hostels. We took the long way from the metro, using conflicting directions given to us by different people.



The hostel was nice. Blue walls and orange furniture. All keys had giant wooden blocks on them. All the rooms have names and not numbers. On the first night we stayed in Alice.



Once settled we walked down the street to a cheap Chinese place. There are many in the area and they are all cheap. I had chicken rice with mushroom and bamboo. Plus red bull.



We looked up some places to go out that night. There was an indie dance clubs called Studio 54. It needed a few stops on the metro to get there. We walked down until we found it, but the doors were locked. A sign on the door said it was open 4am to 1pm. A bit early yet. So we decided to walk back to hostel, as now the distance didn't seem undo-able.



We got to the Clown and Bard´s street. On inspection of the map, there was another club quite close. A ´guilty pleasures´ club called Termix. I thought, what the hell, lets keep walking and see if we get there. We walked on.

At about 12 we reached the club and went in. It was full and loud and great. We danced away the stresses of the day. I let all my pressures melt away. I forgot my almost 2 days without sleep.



We met a nice group of people and all danced together. The drinks were much cheaper than Greece for a nice club. Nearer to cheaper Perth prices. At 4am we all decided to go somewhere else. At first I wanted to go to Studio 54, but thought I could do it another night. Instead we followed the group of new friends to and another near by dance club.

We stayed for the short while, but by then the red bulls had worn off and I was exhausted. We walked home at 4-30. The sky was already light.

Friday 27-06 - The castle.

Our last day in Poland. Thank god. We had really been looking forward to getting to Prague. Poland was a quick pit stop finally over. Today we slept in. We woke and washed and appeared in the common room for the breakfast that had been set out for everyone.

This hostel is quite amazing, I would come here again. The bathroom and kitchen are clean and well equipped and the people are friendly. The owner is lovely and goes out of his way to make your stay enjoyable.

There was a full breakfast selection on the high table, with all sorts of cheeses and jams and breads and coffees and cereals. On the coffee table was a plate and mug laid out for every guest. Josh and I melted some cheese on toast and I went back for the tiny triangle cheeses. There were so many types of tiny cheeses to chose from.

We walked to the castle at Wawel Hill, a block the new hostel. It was pretty impressive from the outside, except surrounded by walls. I could see a few tower pearing over the top and the back of a building. We walked into the grounds through a green covered gate which suited the old feel of the castle.





There was a part of the grounds with a view of the river and a place called the dragons den. We thought it might be a cave under the castle or something, but we didn't end up going in. We found the main cathedral and entrance to the royal apartments. The domes and decorations of the cathedral were really beautiful. I couldn't stop taking photos of them.





We stayed for a short while but decided not to go inside. Italy and France would offer enough churches and I was already churched out. We walked around the back to the statue of the man riding a horse and some other decorated towers. Then downstairs and out to the old town and markets, Rynek Główny. It was a large open area with tourist restaurants on its edges. In the centre was an old building with a clock. It was nice and impressive, but nothing to miss a breathe about. Like most squares, it filled with pigeons, children chasing pigeons and people taking photos.



We walked around and then through the old building. There is a small souvenir market. They seem to sell a lot of puppets and amber jewellery. Oh and dragons, since their history is based on dragons. Josh bought a Krakow shot glass and we sat on a bench. It was a tad boring there, despite being one of the tourism draws of the town. We watched the square for a few minutes, then turned back for the hostel

On the way we ducked into a fast food place for lunch. They did kebabs. In Greece kebab means grilled lamb (with or without the pita). Here its used as an all inclusive term for pita with gyros of any meat. And served not in a wrap, but in a thin toasted faccacia. Not untasty, but nowhere near Greece standard.

Instead of the hostel, we headed for Plac Nowy. Plac Nowy was the funky café and bar area in the old Jewish quarter. We stopped in across the street from Alchemia,to the place named Baraka. The seats and furnishings were red. The floors,walls and roof were decorated with the same bright blue circular design. They had wifi and good coffee.



A few minutes after we got there, it started to rain. Just a few drops at first. Very quickly the clouds opened themselves up and poured out onto the street. Loud, heavy rain and hail fell around us. I was glad we didn't end up touring inside Wawel Hill castle, we would have been caught in the middle of the down pour.



We booked our hostels for Vienna and for Naples. I sipped coffee and watched the people in the square. I sat in a space filled with bright blues and reds, while outside the rain torrented down and everything was grey. I put my face to the window as hail hit the ground and the streets flooded.





The rain stopped as suddenly as it had started. We finished our drinks and returned to the hostel. In the common area we saw a poster for a pub crawl off beer houses. It seemed interesting so I thought I might give it a try.

This was to be our last night in Poland. We would fly to Prague at night 5-30 in the morning. I decided it would be better if I didn't sleep before 2-30am, when we would set off for the airport. We turned up to the reception for the beer night. They told us there weren´t enough people so it wasn´t happening. Instead they pointed out the bars they would have gone to, so we could try them ourselves.

The bars were on a semi-main street just off old town square. They didn't look like the type of bars we would enjoy. They were also full of people wanting to watch Euro 2008. Europe is football mad right now. Its all you ever see or hear about.

I was tired and not feeling great so we headed back and kept ourselves awake until 2-30. We finally found the internet there, which helped.

Thursday 26-06 - The camps.

There are no photos for this post. Other people took photos, but it felt to me as bad as phone texting, so I didn't.

Today was the day I had not been looking forward to. Todays activities were not something I wanted to do, but I felt I had to do. Today we went to Auschwitz and Birkenau. We started on the hour and a half bus to Oswiecim, Polish for Auschwitz. We could have spent less time on the train, but taking a train to a concentration camp would have been even more uncomfortable. Waiting to arrive and not knowing what to expect. Each old house and brick factory we passed on the way made my heart skip a little. We arrived at 11 sharp, just in time to catch the 11 oclock group tour.

The tour started with a 30 minute video about the liberation of the camp. It had footage by the Russian soldiers who were there and at the hospitals after. The film narrated the footage of skeletal survivors with details about who they were. Writers, scientists, Jews. Everyone really. I was already in ´holocaust head space´, with each detail adding to the feeling.

We received headphones to hear our guide as we walked between the other groups. We approached the main gates. slogan here. Works gives freedom. The first of many many lies they were told to smooth the procession of people. God, so many lies they were told. Bring your suitcases for relocation. Buy a train ticket to the cattle car. Use these clothes pegs getting undressed for the giant shower. So many fucking lies. So many fucking deaths. After a while you just have to take a step back from it all. You cant stay on that emotional level the whole time, its too much.

The barbed fences were one of the things that got me the most. Now surrounded by green grass, but still ominous. The barracks themselves have been converted into mini museums. Each handles a different aspect.

One had an entire room full of hair. 2 tonnes of human hair, of 7 tonnes found at the camp. 7 tonnes of hair, shaved off the bodies of men, women and children. Pulled one by one out the gas chambers and stripped of final dignity. To be used to make linen.

Everything was going to be reused. Stock piles of clothes. Piles of underwear. Of children´s clothes. Of baby clothes. Who were they going to give it to? Which boy or girl was going to wear the spoils of a murdered child?

We went to barrack 11, home to the torture cells and firing squads. Starvation rooms, suffocations rooms, rooms so small you couldn't sit. Rooms for medical experiments on children.

We finished Auschwitz at the gas chambers and crematorium. There was a sign outside asking for quiet in respect for those who died there. I don't think it was needed. It would be hard not to feel the presence of that room. I felt the weight of the room, it was heavy. I stood at the same point in space as all those who perished, in pain, in fear and without hope. We were only separated by time, which seemed so thin and fragile. I walked the same route they had traveled, from the sunlight into the darkened room and finally to the furnaces next door. Then we parted ways as I silently returned to the sunlight.

We made our way to the shuttle bus to Birkenau. The bus was crammed with people. Someone awkwardly made a joke about it being like the cattle carts. It was an emotional breath of fresh air as the mood lightened during the journey. It felt ok to have a conversation as we traveled the 3km to the next camp.

We stepped into the camp. Most was open field with the ruins of barracks. Ahead of us ran the rail road and the unloading area, up to the remains of the far crematorium. On either side were more fences separating the left and right sides of the camp, the mens and womens camps. Near the gates on each side were the few remaining barracks. They were deadly still and silent. The sky was overcast by then, threatening to rain and share its sadness with us.

The first thing to hit me was the scale of the place. It was so huge and unfathomable. The outside fences, sprinkled with barbed wire, stretched out into the distance. They stretched out so far I could hardly see the end, appearing as specks on the horizon. I could never have imagined a place like this. A place this big filled, crammed, with people. Almost a town in itself, if one could ever call it a town.

We walked into the wooden walled men´s barracks. 700 to 1000 people in each. We saw the 3 teared beds. Each tear of wooden slats holding up to a dozen people. I had seen photos of these beds (if you can call them that) when they were full of striped prisoners. It was hard to imagine those people in this empty room. Next, the toilet building. Now without smell, but one could imagine what it would be like.

The crematorium. Mostly burnt and in ruins as the Nazis tried to destroy the evidence at the end of the war. We filed past. Most of the people in Aushvitz and Birkenau had ended up in one of these four. I wondered if a part of them had never been able to leave. And maybe, if we listened closely, if we could hear them. Or feel them. Or know some part of all these people that didn't just disappear. Of hundreds of thousands, only 7,000 were liberated at the end of the war. There has to be something left in the hole in the world made by the rest.

The women´s barracks were made of bricks. They were only finished near the end of the camp´s life, so conditions were worse there for longer. You keep thinking, would I have been here? Would I have been lucky enough to survive selection and suffer in these barracks? So few did. Only 7,000 got out. Only a fraction.

First I felt angry. So angry at anyone who could do this. I hated anyone who had walked through these gates as part of this and let it happen. Then anger became defiance. Defiance, because I was alive. We were still here. I wanted to scream back into the past and yell:

You failed you bastards. Heres one more that you didn't get your hands on. I defy you by being here.

I felt fresh air as left the camp and got some lunch, then started the long journey home. I know it was a worthwhile experience which I hope I will never forget. Maybe it will have an effect on how I see the world and how I see myself. On the bus ride home, I thought about how easily we could have not been here at all. I felt a sense of responsibility to those who didn't make it. Like I owed it to them to do something spectacular. To make my life count. It is a miracle that I´m here at all and I cant waste it. I want to make my life amazing.

Wednesday 25-06 - Dance!

We awoke from a night on the comfiest ever beds. We had the plane´s chocolate bar plus tea/coffee for breakfast. Our view looked out over a busy street with trams and cars rushing around. In the distance we could see the decorated peaks of some old castle or church.



We decided to do Kazimiertz, the Jewish quarter today, the camps the day after and old town the next. We picked up a map and walked down the busy street. Our apartment wasn´t at any of these places,but was right in the middle of all of them, making walking everywhere very easy.

We found the first synagogue, called the old synagogue. It had been converted into a museum of jewish culture. The museum itsef was the large room that made up the shule. The shule was first made somewhere in the 1500s. It has beed altered and added to since by rennaissance and other styles of archetecture. I have never seen that it a shule (synagogue) before. I´ve seen many churches that are a mixture of old styles on top of each other. Most shules had long ago been destroyed or converted into churches. We often miss out on the old history, old relics. Not much tends to survive. It was a nice experience to see a siddur (prayer book) that was over 300 years old and still in good condition. The exhibit had so many old pieces of Jewish culture. Beautiful, intricate menorahs and candlesticks. Ornate scroll pointer. All these things.



There is a Krakow Jewish culture festival in July/August. So the old synagogue was full of workmen in blue overalls, doing work on speakers for some event to come. We picked up a brochure for the festival. Just our luck that it starts the day we leave. It would be cool to do a workshop on Yiddish,or Jewish paper cutting.



We walked along the remainder of the Jewish heritage trail. It was made up of other smaller shules. They were not as impressive as the first. They were just pretty temples really. You got a sort of sense of an old community being there, but it was faint. There was too much on the modern secular Polish culture grown on top of it.



We saw posters around the walls. One was for a 80s themed dance night called Lubu-Dubu. It looked interesting. It looked exactly like a club night I would enjoy. We decided to try it some time while we were here. I´d been missing the indie dance thing. All of Greece was a wave of bad R&B and trance. I really needed a good club night.



We wondred around the streets of Kazimiertz. We came apon Plac Nowy, a square with a small fruit market. There were 3 or 4 small fruit and veg smalls with small, sad looking produce. The shops around the square were funky cafes and trendy bars and clubs. This was one of Krakow´s night life hubs. I wanted to try them all out.



We decided on a funky jazz cafe-bar-club called Alchemia. It was decorated with posters and paint on the outside. The atmosphere inside lovely. Old heavy furniture and old paintings of noble people filled the many small rooms. It dark but cosy. Around the rooms floated the recorded sounds of a woman doing chilled covers of the Buzzcocks and Blondie.



We sat in a small empty room with a window to the square. We drank pints of hard to pronounce Polish beer.





As we drank, I flipped through the Krakow section of the Lonely Planet book we have. Under ¨Drinking¨, I was surprised to see Alchemia and Lubu-Dubu, both of which got good reviews. We drank to having good taste. We found them on our own.

We left the café slightly tipsy and very hungry. In the centre of the square was a stall selling some Polish snack food called zapekanky. It was a foot long half baggeutte, grilled with cheese and mushrooms, with tomato sauce on top. It was the perfect food in our current state.



We made our way home. I fell asleep across the beds. Later we found the apartment´s wi-fi and did internet housekeeping. Then we found a supermarket. We picked up provisions for dinner and strawberry flavoured water for later. And haribo gummies, which they also have here.

I enjoyed dinner. We made use of our kitchen to self cater hot food. We cooked up 2 minute style noodles with a mushroom soup flavour (we assume as it had pictures of mushrooms on it, while the others had pictures of meat). Then we added tuna that had bean, corn and tomato salad in it. It was good.



We set out for Lubu-Dubu. We forgot our map, but had a general idea of where it was. It was raining and we had no umbrellas. We walked in the rain until we found the right street. Then walked straight past it for a while and had to turn back. We were just about to give up and declared another failed attempt at foreign clubbing, when I spied a colourfully lit alley across the street that said Lubu-Dubu on it. We ran to take shelter from the rain. Up the red stair case to the large wooden door.

Like most indie style clubs, it was dimly lit with crazy wall deco and neon lights. Like most indie clubs it looked dodgy, but was filled with hipster kids drinking and thrashing about on the dance floor. Dance floor!! We had found our dance club at last.

For the first time since London, we had
1- Known where to go, and
2-Actually found the place, that
3-was still around (not been shut down), and
4-was open, and
5-let us in, and
6-was full of good people and good music.

I was so excited. We grabbed pints of foreign and beers and sat in one of the small rooms. There were some guys smoking in there which was bad for Josh´s Asthma, so we went to dance floor area. Then we dance to great school disco classics and some newer stuff. It was such a release, dancing my own way to my own music. We danced and danced.

Tuesday 24-06 - A new start.

We woke up to a new day and hopefully, a better day than the last. The bags were left at the hostel as we walked to Syntagma square to use the post office. We sent back presents for people. They are too heavy and take up too much space to carry around. We had the same lady at the desk as last time. I don't think she liked us very much the first time and even less now. She was also rough when handling our parcels. It was only after we had sent our package into the Greek postal system that Josh remember to put his ipod in there. He was annoyed and now had to send it separately to unite with his Mac.

We had late brekkie at Everest (cheese pie and spinach-ricotta pie). Then to browse the giant virgin-esque mega store Public. We walked back to fetch our bags and then back again to the Syntagma metro. We seemed to be walking that path a lot that day.





We flew from Athens to Warsaw. There was a tasty snack on board with a chocolate bar and some cheeses and mystery meat which I didn't touch. Then there was an unfortunate 5 hour transit wait to get to Krakow. Damn. It seems like such a good idea to save money on flights, until you have to do the waiting. We got lost in the Warsaw airport trying to get checked in for our next flight. There was no decent signage so we walked back and forward with no luck. No one was helpful, not even VAS returns guy with eyes that floated off to the side as he spoke to us.



Eventually we found out we had to go backwards through security to get to the main check in gates and that we did. Then back through security. We browsed bookshops. Josh got Harry Potter : Half Blood prince and we picked up a sudoku mag as well. We sat and sat and sat.

When we passed through the gate we had to stand in a cold, open bus for 15 minutes before it would take us across tarmac to the plane. It was 10-30 at night in Poland and I was still dressed for the Greece sun. I shivered onto the plane. The flight itself was little over an hour. They gave us chocolate bars that became the next mornings breakfast.

We landed and got onto another cold bus that took us to the tiny domestic arrivals area. Tired and just wanting bed, we taxied to the Blue Bells apartments. We crashed in some of the most comfortable beds of the whole trip. The pillows were huge and sift and the doona was amazing. I fell right asleep.

Monday 23-06 - The bad day. or We need a change of scenery.

The day started off well. We woke up after a night in the wonderful hotel. We made our way down to breakfast and it was great. There were hash browns! Also tasty eggs and good cereal. We said our final farewells to the couples and to some of the girls. I was sad to leave to group and the comfort of the tour. There is something to be said of having everything arranged for you.

But not always. We had organised with STA travel and topdeck for a night of post-accommodation at the Achilleas hotel. This is where we spent our first Greek topdeck night. Before we went to sleep we had Niki check with the hotel that our booking was ok. She said it as fine. This morning we arrive at the hotel, escaping from the long hot walk to get there. We are told by the lady out front that there is no reservation for us and no voucher. So according to the hotel, we have not paid. According to our STA travel receipt and our documents, we have paid for accommodation until the 24th. Something is not quite kosher here. She says she is waiting back for the head office to call back, so we leave our bags and go out shopping.

We plan to go back to the markets and buy gifts and the like. Somehow we couldn't find the street we passed every day for 3 days before we left for the island. Which always happens when you actually need a place. We ran into the girls in the market, they were buying very breakable gifts and plates. We bought some things and headed to the hotel to see what was happening.

The lady got the head office on the phone who told us they had not received payment for our stay, but that we may book a night here if we wished. Like hell. This hotel was expensive and we were not spending that much extra money when we have a receipt saying we paid for the night. Someone, somewhere, has slipped up and we were not prepared to pay for it. So we politely declined.

Josh called STA in Perth, who said they would look into it and let us know. It was annoying and frustrating, having to suddenly rearrange everything. I called a hostel I found in the lonely planet guide to book some beds in a dorm. We walked into the heat again to get there. The hostel was a nice little place a bit more south. We hadn't really seen much of this area of Athens yet. The rooms were plain but the bathrooms were nice and the court yard was lovely.





It was full of blue tables and chairs,with a veil of vines above. A large TV hung off the wall played CNN. A buzzing vending machine with soft drinks and beer. It also had wi-fi. We sat in the court yard and started to upload photos. I went upstairs to get change for the beer machine. When I came down Josh was white. He looked at me and then at his ipod. Something was very wrong and his ipod had been completely wiped.

Everything. Music. Photos. Photos. Photos. All of them.

The last back up we made was the end of Israel. Everything after that which wasn´t put on the net was gone. Plus he couldn't reload anything until he reformatted the ipod on his mac, which was in London.

Josh was completely shattered. He was silent, but looked distraught. He couldn't move or say anything. I didn't quite know what to say to him. I was really upset for him. I thought about how I would feel if it happened to me. I know, they are only photos. Not like an injury or death (baruch hashem). But it is upsetting.

Eventually I got him up and we walked around Athens for a bit. He slowly got some colour back in his face. He seemed more relaxed. We returned to the court yard where I got some Amstel from the beer machine.



Then had Chinese food for the first time since London. Very much needed after so much pita.



We had planned to go out dancing tonight, which was still on the table. The original plan was an indie club called Decadence. Now we had to actually get there it was really far away, North and East. We had walked a lot that day already and our feet were starting to ache. So we decided to go South to Gazi for the club area.

This walk turned out just as long. We eventually got there and searched for some clubs. Maybe Monday nights are just quieter. We couldn't find the places Josh had looked up. The other places were quiet. No busy dancing clubs packed with people. I was falling asleep at that point, probably from the beer and drinks we had. Josh noticed and suggested we just call it a night.

The day wasn´t what I would call a good day. There were annoying mix ups, devastating losses and frustrating anti-climaxes. We decided that we needed the change to scenery a new country would provide. Or perhaps a new day.