Shephers and Bus Drivers

When my sisters and I were very young my Mom asked the three of us what we would like to be when we grew up. My oldest sister Jill decided she would like to be a Shepherd (which I say is just all too much Sunday School for one Kid!), and my middle sister Emily said she would love to be a school bus driver. High hopes.... we wont even touch on what I wanted (as it is an inanimate object...), but never the less. Our family often laughs about this and wonders how our parents had any faith in us at all with these as our aspirations! I would say we have done pretty well considering, and hey, I am still a human..... so there is that. What do they expect out of us?!?

In Greece also but especially in Turkey there are still Shepherds everywhere! Just roaming the hills calmly with their herds, sheep dogs close by. Personally I thought this was something of the past... from biblical times say..... how wrong I am. And in Jill's defense looks quite nice! I think it is a very honorable career choice, seems relaxing and also very useful. Quite appropriate too, as we are passing these herds on our way to Ephessus which is straight out of the bible!

Once again mostly in Turkey (as Greece consisted of Ferries and "moto quads" only), the main transport system up and down the coast and around town is by bus. They are HUGE and extremely efficient. I love the huge steering wheels that lay flat (as they do in the states...) but here buses are like airplanes. How? you ask. There are little stuard boys (20 some odd years old) who walk up and down the isle and offer you drinks (the likes of coffee, tea, "orange juice", water). They bring lemon cleansing oil around for your hands which is quite enjoyable and they stop once on long rides for snacks.
The Down side?.....
You have to be patient enough to make a few pit-stops for the occasional drug deal (which is dropping off anywhere from 3-7 various sized boxes and bags in the middle of the highway..... someone will pick them up?) and some occasional off-roading as well for the same purposes..... we're down for that.

So in conclusion, I find both of my sisters dream jobs very respectable and will no longer laugh.... as much. After all, I have seen many beautiful TREES along my travels but I have since come under the impression that I cannot become one, nor do I any longer desire to :)

Quick Pics, Grecian ones

Beautiful Satorini! Not my best but in a crunch- more to come.


Happy Birthday!


Our "Moto Quad" in Santorini. In action, I tried to tell Miranda not to look, but she did anyways. Close call on edge of cliff, but here to tell about it! Just kidding Mom. M. is a very responsible driver!!!- (she is watching me write this...)-


"November Sunsets" this Em.... :)Ha, just kidding! I am always just so jealous of my sisters beautiful blog and pictures!

hummm.......

These were on the inside of a bus in Zurich, Switzerland.... So is that DO or DONT? because there is no slash through the pictures.....


So Don't play your guitar, or put your feet up on the seats, fine.


And DEFFINITELY DO NOT BRING YOUR OWN HAND SAW ON THE BUS AND SAW AT THE SEATS!!

I think that last word under the picture is something about "consequences"- so they mean business on this issue people. Real problem here in Zurich, Real problem!

Pictures...

Just some pictures, since I have let myself get a bit out dated....



Some Ligurian Sea (part of Mediterranean) water.



The Cinque Terre- Crazy Beautiful!










The bottom picture is the little town where I stayed for two nights- Manorola, IT.

When In Rome....!

It is fun to actually use the saying in the place it is meant for! It has become my whole philosophy of attitude in Rome. I eat what I want and as much of it as I want! Pretty much all I did yesterday was shop! I will have gelati twice a day if I see fit... When in Rome!

It is warm here. Like tank top, skirt, flip-flop warm! So much more fun to travel in the warmth without the killer heat of Summer (lets be honest, I live in Seattle, not an "overwhelmingly hot" fan). Rome is awesome. I had some pretty bad dreams last night and think it was because I was told that the Vatican is closed on Mondays. It is closed on Sundays for obvious purposes but some guys told me that it is closed on Mon. too and I leave Tuesday. They said I would just have to go on Tues. Morning with them because you don't come to Rome and not see the Vatican! And they are right. Then as I was falling asleep I remembered that I have a 10:15 train reservation that morning. I thought I would have to lie to you all and just say I forgot my camera! And don't put it past me, I would have! But the man at the front desk assured me that it was open today, so off I go to find out.....

If I have no pictures of it when I return then "I forgot my camera" but hopefully thats not the case. Also I am not taking pics with me in it because as a little gift from my Florence Hostel, I have 11 (THATS ELEVEN) mosquito bites on my FACE alone. The last night I even wore bug spray and got about 3 new ones still! I didn't even think 11 would fit on my face, but they do! Gross. It is probably because on the 2nd night, thinking I was being smart, slept fully covered in longsleeves that I pulled over my hands, a hood, long pants and a socks.....
Well I guess if you only leave them your FACE to chew on then it will just be concentrated there! lesson learned. Off I go, scratching my way to the Vatican. Visit with the Pope...

When in Rome!

Holy Bat out of Hell!

Today in Italy it is "All Saints Day" therefore a holiday. Some things are closed but luckily and unknowingly my friend Andrea and I planned to go to San Gimignano (near Sienna, out in the country side of Tuscany). Lovely day, we climb the tallest tower and take our scenic pictures. We wind up and down, in and out of little cobblestone alleyways and shops. We stuff our faces with salami, pizza, chocolate, gelati (yumm)(there was an orange in there somewhere Mom! I can see you cringing now)- and are perfectly timed to catch our bus home. Good Day!- But wait we are on a holiday so that bus doesn't actually come, and the next one isnt for another 2.5 hours!

What have I learned in Europe? When in doubt hitch-hike.... We know that if we can get to Poggibonsi by 4:25 we can then catch a bus to Florence instead of waiting in San Gimignano until 5:45.

Finally out of "tourist everywhere" zone, we are on a narrow country road where the psycho Italian drivers fly past you on thin curves at speeds you don't mess around with! There are no "shoulders" here. We have walked about 1.5 Km and this car comes Screaming past us! I think maybe only one of us even had the thumb out because we were both just trying not to get hit. We looked at eachother wide eyed and said "holy S#i@!", and just started walking again. As we faced back forward we see that this bat out of hell is going to be our ride:). SHE comes to a screaching halt about 100meters forward, slams it into reverse and starts backing up towards us at about the same speed which she just past, while cars are approaching from behind... :)This is about to = Paige Sandwich!

When hitch-hiking you aren't choosy.., so we hop in, say "Poggibonsi", she nods, says "solo italien" (she only speaks Italian) and then cranks up the stereo full blast and off we go! My head is plastered to the head-rest. I am not kidding you, my heart was in my throat a few times. She would hover about 2feet (realistically) behind the car infront and when there was maybe a chance she could pass, she would whip it out, fly forward and screach jerkingly back in between the next car. There were a few times when she (we) were on the middle deviding line between both lanes of trafic,not in a lane with cars on both sides.... I couldn't even look at Andrea because I knew I would bust out laughing and that was not going to get us where we needed to go! Needless to say we got there in PLENTY of time and when we got out of the car we looked at eachother and just busted out in histerical laughter. Mostly out of fear- nervous laughs- but we knew we were now okay. She seemed like such and unlikely sole to pick us up, and we decided she wasn't in a hurry, that is just how she drives. She took us directly to the bus station which couldn't have been in her original plan of route, didn't say a word when we said "gratsi" and "caio". Just a slight smile and off she flew! Sweet, thank you. We still had 20 minutes to spare!