Santorini

A wonky liver has forced me to leave Ios so Wallace and I have now set up camp on the island of Santorini....a pleasant change after such decadence...by the 5th night my body simply refused to acknowledge the tequila shots...my tolerance was somewhere near BJ levels in his prime...all in all it was quite the experience...

Sanorini has quite the history to it....around 2000 BC the volcano at the centre of the island erupted (we're talking giant eruption....250 metre tidal wave that devastated Israel) and actually caused half of the island to sink into the ocean...subsequent eruptions have caused parts to re-emerge etc...so the geology is pretty fascinating...word on the street is that the volc is due for another money-shot so we're keeping our heads low and our ear to the ground...

Rented a car yesterday to tour the island (Me, Wallace, Coldy and Darcy...ehsan was sick in bed with some sort of Ios flavoured breathing problems...)...had a hell of time ripping our litle Daewoo topless 4-cylinder around these island roads listening to Neal Young on greek radio....Got a whole bunch of pictures to impress with including a magnificent sunset

Only drawback to this place is our hostel...the location is cool but we've been staying in the basement room where the doors must be closed at night for the air conditioner to work.... this means you stew in the detritus/stench of about 20 humans for the evening....we've requested and received a room change...

well....have lots more to write but the internet here is expensive....

starting to miss home....at least my warm bed and chilling with Nikita in the backyard....send word if any of you have the time...

oh...and if anybody wants a postcard send me your address....i've accumulated quite the collection but have now realized i don't know anybody's digits

ryan

Ios

Internet is expensive on this island so i'll have to make it quick....which is unfortunate because Ios has already provided countless stories...

First off.....wallace and i were wandering around shitfaced in the "bar square" the first night we were here when out of nowhere i hear a muffled "webb!!" from somewhere near my feet.....look down to see coldy half passed out with a cigarette.....the bastards had arrived in Ios the same day and conveniantly not mentioned to us...as far as i knew they were supposed to be in Italy chasing spaghetti women.... so after one raucus reunion (darcy carried me around the barin a bear hug) we've proceeded to turn Ios on its head.....the crew is now fairly large (and all canadian...wierd...) still hanging around with those hairy white rock dudes and the french girls...

anyway, this island is a blast....spend the days scoping chicks on the beach, the evenings scoping chicks in the bars, and the early mornings dealing with the days harvest....stir, rinse, repeat.....

oh...and canadian club is cheaper here than at home....nothing like a prolonged long rye binge on a mediterranean island....

regarding the bomb and zoe's comments....my plan is to be nowhere near istanbul during the summit....i need a photo-op with bush as much as axel rose needs a crack habit...(though the idea of launching ripe fruit at the pres is soooo tantalizing)....i figure i'll let the long-haired freaks do the protesting (wait a second....)

Speaking of which....who'\s bright fucking idea was it to have a Nato summit in istanbul right now.....are this people completely oblivious....you might as well hold the thing in jerusalem.....unbelievable...it's like cheering for tampa bay in a london bar full of candians...you're just asking for a beer bottle up the keester....

beach is beckoning...

ryan

Moby Dick

Well...we met a copuple Quebec girls on the ferry to Samos so our mission of finding some travelling companions has been accomplished... After a brief stop in Samos (i love greek food) we made our way to Mykonos and the beach because it was the only ferry available to us. Now, the guide book says that Mykonos is the "gay" island but i'll be damned if i've sen one gay dude the whole time here....more like the "expensive island filled with 30-somethings and naked overweight 40-somethings"....apparantly the beach next to the one we're staying at is more the "young person" beach but we've been to lazy to find out.... however we were lucky enough to meet three dudes from whiterock on the ferry as well and they have provided us with some much needed entertainment...they've been travelling over here for 4 months so the facial hair is a wonder to behold...one dude is a straight up copy of James Hetfield with a chinstrap....

The beach here is nice...small pebble beach so you don't have to deal with sand in every crevace of your body...and the water....wow....turqouise blue and warm....spanish banks will never be the same....

oh god....having a flashback....you see the beaches here are nude, which is not that shocking for those of us that spend time on wreck (actually...check that...there is something shocking about scanning the beach for ladies and instead seeing some dude spread-eagled 20 feet away...mmm...choad...) , but two days ago myself and two of the white rock dudes were chilling in the water, minding our own business, when this monstrosity of a woman (i think it was a woman) waddled down to the water with some sort of black mumu strapped onto her body....now she must have been as wide as she was tall...no joke....every decent bone in my body figured that she wouldn't remove said mumu,if only top spare us the sight, but you know that feeling you have in the back of your mind when you know the impossible is going to happen?

so.....off comes the mumu....now i'm sure all of you are familiar with that fat-chick email porn that gets sent around by friends (like Orchie) who just want to gross you out when you check your morning email..well...i've found the model...i've never seen so many body parts hanging off of one body (no joking....each roll had to be classified as a limb)...and that's not all.....she proceeds to turn around (ass facing us) and bend over (i'm positive it was to check that she still had her feet.....god knows she hasn't seen them in ages)......that ass must have been 5 feet wide....Daisy then proceeds to graze here way down to the water where, after washing each saddle bag, floats herself about 100 feet out...(this wasn't swimming...it was some sort of self-propelled floating)...[insert whale-sighting joke here]..... unreal...

On a more serious note....i've finished Noam Chomsky's recent book about power in society...what an intelligent read...though it did put me in a bit of a bad mood....it's quite hard to enjoy your vacation when you're reading about the utter futility of the society you're living in...before reading this book i was always confused as to why i resented government, institutions, corporations so much...now it's clear....because they aren't intended to serve the interests of people like me/us...power in the middle class be damned..it's really quite frustrating, especially when confonted with the subject in so plain a light ...if i had any balls i'd actually do something about it, but that's a topic for another day.....i really recommend the book for anyone whio wants to dip their toes in reality for a bit.....it's called "Understanding Power"...I've moved on to reading Hunter S. Thompson's latest publication....so the attack on mainstream media/politics is continuing...though on a more lighter note...

Well....we're off to Ios today (the so-called party island where everybody is in their 20's and act like their 16).....sinking to such a depraved level should do me wonders....

ryan

To the ıslands...

Well...the keyboards here are fucked so youll all have to bear wıth my punctuatıon and ı wıth mıssıng dot...

Sınce my last post we met up wıth Jeffs famıly ın Istanbul...very nıce people and great hospıtalıty....Jeffs dad ıs hılarıous...ıve never met somebody whos broken englısh was so entertaınıng

Strangely enough we also met up wıth Onur who ıs ın Istanbul vısıtıng hıs famıly...thıs man drıves lıke a manıac....now there are no real road rules/lanes ın turkey...everybody kınd of drıves where there ıs space and leans on the horn but Onur takes ıt to another level....thıs guy makes Luke look lıke an old geezer..and thıs ıs on Istanbuls versıon of Robson street..ı have vıdeo to prove ıt...

We decıded to head straıght for the coast after ıstanbul to a town called Selçuk.....to get there we had to take a 10 hour bus from ıstanbul.....now for those that arent aware, purchasıng anyhtıng ın turkey requıres a good deal of bargaınıng....purchasıng a bus tıcket ın a termınal full of turkısh dudes yellıng shıt and tryıng to pull you ınto theır 'ınfıormatıon offıce' has to be the pınnacle of thıs experıence....but as long as youre wıllıng to walk out of a couple places you can get a pretty good deal...turks are masters of the pressure sell so all ıt takes ıs a couple steps out the door to make them drop theır prıce....ıt gets even more ınterestıng when they start yellıng at each other over who should get the sale.... Apart from sprayıng lemon-scented cologne everywhere to mask everybodys b.o., they also have a bus attendant that serves drınks and otherwıse creeps the hell out of you wıth hıs broken englısh and buggy eyes...oh...and my seat was busted and couldnt fully reclıne so ı dıdnt sleep at all on the trıp...thank god for my ıpod...trıp was made worse by the fact that ı havent had a solıd poo ın three days (the sultans revenge they call ıt)

Selçuk ıs a nıce lıttle town...ıts buılt ın a valley rıght near the Roman ruıns at Ephesus (15 bucks to get ın so we made a pass on ıt) .....the town ıs quıet and cheap compared to everywhere else weve been...ıt would be a good place to come ın august to get away from the crowds but ı thınk wallace and ı are feelıng the urge to get to a place that has a good party scene (ıe some sıngle broken-englısh-speakıng ladıes, theyve been few and far between sınce amsterdam)...so far ıve notıced that everybody travellıng ın ınland turkey ıs eıther a couple or old.....come to thınk of ıt there havent even been any other guys....thıs should be a sıgn....rıght now were ın Kuşadışı waıtıng for the ferry to take us to the Greek ısland of Samos, then on to Ios whıch ım sure wıll fulfıll our needs

Heard that the Pıstons won the champıonshıp....fuckın awesome...good to see a good bball team fınally wın for once...

Well....thats all for now

ryan

More from Istanbul

We've spent the last two days chilling around the Sultanahmet area and enjoying the atmosphere......went and saw the Aya Sofia and Blue Mosque yesterday.....beautiful buildings....the Aya Sofia was built about 1000 years ago by Emperor Justinian...the architecture is incredible....a huge domed building with no column support inside....it origianlly was a church, then a mosque and now a museum....the blue mosque is newer (1600's if memory serves) and still used for prayer today....have good pictures of both for you guys....

Speaking of prayer......5 times a day at the same time all of the mosques turn up the loudspeaker and some dude gets on the mic and sings some crazy shit....i asked some turkish dudes and they said they can't make out what they're saying, but man can these guys sing....sometimes they do this warble thing with their voices and then drop down to some incredibly low notes i didn't know existed....it's actually quite nice to listen to....

The people here are friendly, but for a reason....they all know that there are USD burning up holes in your pockets and aren't afraid to offer their services for a "special price" including restaurants and, of course, the carpet shops....usually i chat with them, or make them walk with me wherever i'm going....i don't want to tell them to fuck off, plus it's fun playing them along a bit...i figure if they're going to try and waste my money i'll try and waste theit time....plus if you bargain hard you can actually get some good deals, but i think things will be cheaper in the south...

Looking forward to getting down to the south and the beaches, getting a little sick of the city thing since that's all we've been doing....chances are we'll leave today, though we still have to decide where to...

ryan

Comments again....

If you want to post comments, click "post anonymously", that way you don't have to sign up for an account etc....

hope that helps all who are finding it difficult...

ryan

Istanbul

After travelling for 24 hours straight we've made it to Istanbul from Amsterdam(highlights include sleeping on the floor in heathrow...everybody HAS to do that at least once or it's not officialy a Europe trip)

Istanbul is quite the sight.... you sure don't see 1000 year old buildings when you're cruising around kitsilano.... we're staying in sultanahmet which is the downtown toursit core, though it doesn't seem very busy right now which is nice....rooms are cheap (12$ US each) and pints cost 3$ CDN.....we hear that the rest of turkey is much cheaper so loooking forward to getting to the south and the beaches....

last night we hooked up with jeff's buddy Gokhan who took us to this exclusive istanbul club right on the bosphorus (imagine skybar, but with less pretentious turks and RIGHT on the water)...the kind of place where nobody pays the bartender becuase all the drinks go on your tab....very cool....and the turkish ladies are beautiful, they look middle-eastern, asian, and white at the same time....quite exotic...though again the language barrier is preventing me from actually talking to any of them....

going to try and see some of the tourist sites today like Topkapi Palace and the Blue Mosque etc...

it looks like getting pictures sent back may prove a bit difficult but i'm going to try and find a way....

L8r,

ryan

Sick of techno....

This city has quite the vibe to it......everybody seems to go about their lives in some laid back/confident sort of manner...like they're actualy enjoying themselves...such a difference then london/prague/canada/everywhere else.....these people make vancouver look like toronto...

and the cooperation...after a couple of days you notice how much respect people seem to have for others....it's really quite refreshing....even over-the-counter conversations with clerks aren't the usual "please-5 dollars-change-thankyou" crap you get back home...but at the same time things are efficient....people count out their change in advance of paying (because taxes are included in the price....why not at home!?!?!...duh...)....transportation is intricately planned....everything seems to run smoothly and everybody knows (and obeys) the rules....

We've spent most of our time just chilling in the parks etc.... things are expensive here (museums and such) and the parks are amazing....full of people.....always kids playing...the schools don't have set playgrounds...the kids just go and play in the park with the rest of the population...who would have guessed that the greater population is capable of providing a safe place for kids to play....almost as if there ISNT a rapist lurking around every corner (dripping with sarcasm....................)

Met a couple American dudes from upstate New York that we've been hanging out with the whole time....very chill dudes...fit right in back in van...

The red light district is unreal....when we first saw it i had no idea what to expect so was just wandering around thinking there would just be some theatres or some shit...walked by a window and thought i saw a naked mannequin......mannequin proceeds to shake her tits at me.....better than having them on the streets though....

All in all it been the coolest atmosphere so far,

ryan

What do you get when you cross a white widow, some shiva, and an AK 47 ???

Amsterdam is unreal...

Don't have much time....but suffice it to say my appetite is finally back to vancouver levels, i slept 8 hours for the first time on the trip and in one hell of a good mood... you might say my head has been sorted...

more details later,

ryan

comments

oh..and if anybody cares the comments now work so you can post shit if you want.....

ryan

Did somebody say absinthe...

Arrived in Prague a couple of days ago....very beautiful city....the eastern european vibe is very cool, much more relaxed than london....

We met up with coldy, ehsan and darcy and have been staying in an apartment block/inn just outside the downtown area.....prague is quite touristy downtown, which is a little disappointing because the nightlife involves a bunch of czech dudes handing out flyers for tourist bars....so far it's been difficult to find a cool club.....hordes of drunk british roam the streets here on stag parties...quite obnoxious really...you get the feeling this has left the locals with a sour view of tourists....and makes the ratio in the bars really bad.....we've had quite a tough time finding some ladies as a result...

but the local woman live up to their reputation....very beautiful

we did manage to find a bar that showed game six at 2am local time...almost everybody there was canadian...we're going back there tonight to catch game 7.....what a series though....at this point i don't care who wins as long as it goes into triple overtime...plus there's somthing cool about leaving the bar at 6:00 am after watching hockey...

the food here is cheap and awesome...and the beer...oh the beer....i'd heard stories but they can't do it justice...it's so light and tasty...you can drink a litre with lunch no problem....and it's so cheap....less than a buck a half litre... dad would be in heaven... (come to think of it ....everybody i know would be in heaven...)

we're leaving for amsterdam tomorrow on the overnight train....looking forward to that...need to sort my head out a bit...

L8r,

ryan

Some more on Prague (June 13/04):

If you're ever in Prague go see the communist museum. It documents the history of soviet rule in czechoslovakia and is one of those places that really makes you think... They show a movie with actual video footage of the 68 uprising and the 89 velvet revolution....emotional stuff....gives you a newfound respect for the czech population and what they had to endure in the name of freedom ("freedom" here refers to our old understanding of the word...not the new use of the word meaning "excuse to shove propoganda down the throats of the world")

seeing europe seems to be making me quite bitter of US foreign policy :)

so we're leaving london this morning...it's actually 4am right now but i'm still on a messed up sleep schedule...only can sleep 3 or 4 hours at a time...and have caught a cold....my body seems quite confused right now...

also have run out of money (just kidding)....this place is freakin expensive....went to watch the game last night at the Maple Leaf Pub...they replay the game at 6pm london time.....a lot of drunk canadians there....never heard the anthem so many times in my life....we were the only people cheering for tampa so i was a little relieved when calgary scored in ot..wasn't looking forward to escaping from hordes of english-football-riot-influenced-hammered-canadian-hockey fans on my tail....

off to prague to meet coldy and ehsan...everybody brace yourselves cause that's gonna be a shit show......


downtown london is surreal...manhatten meets ancient rome..

ryan

Day Two

So now we've seen the rest of the city....and i must say it has lived up to any preconceptions....

Went too Abbey Road studios...got the picture taken...went hardcore tourist...britsh museum...big ben ... etc...lots of pictures to be sent soon....

Also changed hostels...turns out camden was the "freaky" part of town.....hence the granville reference.....

Can't figure out why nobody listens to music on the subways here....everybody either stares blankly off into space or reads those horrid tabloids (horrid is a good british word)....it's really quite freaky......

internet time running out....

L8r,

ryan

London Calling

First impressions of london.....it's a lot like granville street except everybody drives faster...especially the police...

staying at a hostel in camden...only place we've seen so far except tunnels from heathrow... crazy place....we've already scene a gang of street youth chasing someone down the street with a broom....a chick walking her boyfriend on a leash...all the bums booze on the street in the open...

also went to see some live blues tonight and jammed with a couple guys...music scene here is cool.....

gotta go to bed....haven't slept since monday night....

ryan