In case you are wondering, the current plan is to become a shut-in when I return to Canada to write up all this stuff that's happened to me. I'd also love to fix up the past entries as well, so it makes a lovely readable story for everyone to leaf through easily!
I have been taking pictures to help remember.
I have a crap keyboard here right now, so typing a long time can be quite tedious. It will be much better when I get a nice biiiig screen and such to look at ergonomically (hopefully) with either my German keyboard or a new Canadian one.
I realize this site needs major work, and I will also be attempting to make a site for my work. Ideally I would like something that combines my blog, a photo-collection or something of stuff I've created (plus links to craft/art type stuff), my massage work, a link page to things I've modeled in if I can't post the photos myself, and things I've taken photos of too. Something to organize all the stuff I can do so that if someone wants to do an art installation/ needs a massage/ wants to buy something etc, they know exactly how I could help.
I'd might try and take a course in web design while I am back in school in Canada, so I have more options for things I can do while on the road :) I am already married to my computer, so I might as well learn how to use it properly.
SOOOOOOOOOO if nothing much happens here in the next month, don't worry there will be things happening when I get home (Feb 3rd! WTF WTF WTF)
I have to do two million things next month involving my business (ie taxes, de-registering my business license and residence, closing a bank account entirely in German, dealing with insurance, canceling other insurance, selling things I cannot pack, etc etc etc.)
I will be very busy. And sleepy.
On the plus side, I found 50mg of 5HTP here in the uk so I will at least be happy and sleeping well. I couldn't find anything under 200mg in Germany and they were pricey too!
My birthday is also in a week or so.
Electronic gift cards for online shopping are very welcome :D
Okay I am off for now!!
Love you all
xoxo
Leanne
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Flickr
mmmmm ok so I was supposed to renew my Flickr subscription, but I haven't really gotten around to it. Without pictures, I have not been feeling like blogging. This has caused another non-blogging spell. I also have been too tired to edit photos.
If anyone wants to give me the gift of Flickr (god knows they ask me about doing that for other people all the time) then my username is Lyrafox. Feel free to be generous. I will be away from Canada for Christmas for the first time ever, so this is a nice way to give a virtual gift to a friend far away.
:D
xoxo
Leanne
If anyone wants to give me the gift of Flickr (god knows they ask me about doing that for other people all the time) then my username is Lyrafox. Feel free to be generous. I will be away from Canada for Christmas for the first time ever, so this is a nice way to give a virtual gift to a friend far away.
:D
xoxo
Leanne
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Return to Greece!
The flight was extremely early, so I was asleep for the plane and most of the taxi there. Upon leaving the plane I was feeling much better though! The weather was still nice and sunny, and it wasn't much colder at all! Things had improved weather wise!!
Jon was tired, but I wanted to take the metro into town not a taxi. The metro was more than the bus, so it was a compromise in a way. The metro into the city took about 40 minutes, then it was time to get Jon's photos off his camera. I was eager to meet my host and the absolute last place I wanted to be was another hotel, but I stayed in the lobby putting photos on my sc card while Jon freshened up in his room.
My hosts were going to be working at a bar in the center of the city, so I was going to leave my backpack in the bar and go walk around the city. The bar was really easy to find; I left the hotel lobby with Jon and passed this:
One of my hosts was working at the bar, and turns out Dimitris, my previous host, was also working there! We sat down for a coffee, and I put my pack down. Jon was able to get a hold of Josh, and he was on his way when Alexia showed up as well! It was great to be back around lots of people! Alexia had to take off though, but they left just as Josh showed up so we sat outside in the sun and caught up with Josh's adventures in Athens!
Josh had brought along this British guy from the Hostel he was staying at, and we all sat outside. The combination of these three yielded tequila though, and then they started buying tequila for my host Chris and Dimitris! They seemed happy, but then we needed food. I was not partaking in the tequila, I was drinking water. Josh was also hungry, so we all went on a food hunt... Here is the main shopping street in Athens:
There are little old churches dotting the squares where they built new stuff around them!
Looking down side streets you could see the Acropolis. This was like a whole new city in the sunshine compared to the fog and rain!
We continued walking:
We reached Monasteriki - where we were heading for! There is a "flea market" which is not a flea market at all... it's stores and restaurants but whatever.
We found one but it was a little expensive for Josh and I, so we went and got street food while Jon and the British guy stayed there and ordered. We wolfed our food down and came up for the cheap beer.
Josh took pictures of us on this balcony, so I am waiting on pictures from him I guess. He had a nice camera!
After food and hanging out listening to the nice traditional music they were playing on the rooftop restaurant, we went walking again. Josh took us towards where people were selling homemade stuff on the side of the street
I was still distracted by the Acropolis:
This church was along the way as well:
The view was really nice along this walk
I was back in my element, looking at dilapidated houses and nice scenery!
There was a rooftop bar at Josh's hostel, where you could see a huge part of Athens and a nice view of the Acropolis. There was happy hour there too with beer for 1 euro, so that was an extra plus. We walked there to check it out and I saw this weird shopping cart. I have no idea why, but it was chained to the fence. Someone wanted this thing to stay there. I don't know what to say...
The view from the Hostel was actually really nice! The weather was great too, so it was extra nice to be outside :)
The lighting was getting good for photos:
This one is kinda blurry sorry
I liked how these looked:
As it got darker, the lights began to turn on! It looked so nice!
I ended up talking to a bunch of people at the bar there, and met some nice travelers. I was supposed to meet my host at their bar at 9pm, so I had to leave to make it there in time. I ended up taking a posse with me though, since Jon and Josh came with plus some other people from the hostel! I arrived and Chris was there and off work. We stuck around for one small beer and then took off towards the Metro! It was Jon and Josh's last night out so they were going to stay there and drink it up, so I said my goodbyes and went back to my host's house.
Some people were still up! The house was quite pleasant and warm, so I sat on the couch and had one last beer talking to my new hosts (there were three girls and one of the bf's was over) for a while. They were really nice! They fed me I believe before everyone got tired and hit the hay.
Jon was tired, but I wanted to take the metro into town not a taxi. The metro was more than the bus, so it was a compromise in a way. The metro into the city took about 40 minutes, then it was time to get Jon's photos off his camera. I was eager to meet my host and the absolute last place I wanted to be was another hotel, but I stayed in the lobby putting photos on my sc card while Jon freshened up in his room.
My hosts were going to be working at a bar in the center of the city, so I was going to leave my backpack in the bar and go walk around the city. The bar was really easy to find; I left the hotel lobby with Jon and passed this:
One of my hosts was working at the bar, and turns out Dimitris, my previous host, was also working there! We sat down for a coffee, and I put my pack down. Jon was able to get a hold of Josh, and he was on his way when Alexia showed up as well! It was great to be back around lots of people! Alexia had to take off though, but they left just as Josh showed up so we sat outside in the sun and caught up with Josh's adventures in Athens!
Josh had brought along this British guy from the Hostel he was staying at, and we all sat outside. The combination of these three yielded tequila though, and then they started buying tequila for my host Chris and Dimitris! They seemed happy, but then we needed food. I was not partaking in the tequila, I was drinking water. Josh was also hungry, so we all went on a food hunt... Here is the main shopping street in Athens:
There are little old churches dotting the squares where they built new stuff around them!
Looking down side streets you could see the Acropolis. This was like a whole new city in the sunshine compared to the fog and rain!
We continued walking:
We reached Monasteriki - where we were heading for! There is a "flea market" which is not a flea market at all... it's stores and restaurants but whatever.
We found one but it was a little expensive for Josh and I, so we went and got street food while Jon and the British guy stayed there and ordered. We wolfed our food down and came up for the cheap beer.
Josh took pictures of us on this balcony, so I am waiting on pictures from him I guess. He had a nice camera!
After food and hanging out listening to the nice traditional music they were playing on the rooftop restaurant, we went walking again. Josh took us towards where people were selling homemade stuff on the side of the street
I was still distracted by the Acropolis:
This church was along the way as well:
The view was really nice along this walk
I was back in my element, looking at dilapidated houses and nice scenery!
There was a rooftop bar at Josh's hostel, where you could see a huge part of Athens and a nice view of the Acropolis. There was happy hour there too with beer for 1 euro, so that was an extra plus. We walked there to check it out and I saw this weird shopping cart. I have no idea why, but it was chained to the fence. Someone wanted this thing to stay there. I don't know what to say...
The view from the Hostel was actually really nice! The weather was great too, so it was extra nice to be outside :)
The lighting was getting good for photos:
This one is kinda blurry sorry
I liked how these looked:
As it got darker, the lights began to turn on! It looked so nice!
I ended up talking to a bunch of people at the bar there, and met some nice travelers. I was supposed to meet my host at their bar at 9pm, so I had to leave to make it there in time. I ended up taking a posse with me though, since Jon and Josh came with plus some other people from the hostel! I arrived and Chris was there and off work. We stuck around for one small beer and then took off towards the Metro! It was Jon and Josh's last night out so they were going to stay there and drink it up, so I said my goodbyes and went back to my host's house.
Some people were still up! The house was quite pleasant and warm, so I sat on the couch and had one last beer talking to my new hosts (there were three girls and one of the bf's was over) for a while. They were really nice! They fed me I believe before everyone got tired and hit the hay.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Cyprus, Greek Side, Take Four:
So this was the last day for fun in the sun, so FOX came out for his photoshoot around the pool! After eating, I convinced Jon to go see some of the city after baking in the sun a bit. It was the last day, and I hadn't really been out of the hotel really. I don't usually travel like that at all, so I felt compelled to do some exploring and see what it's really like there!!
After I enjoyed the pool again though, of course :)
FOX stole some of Jon's drink:
I tried to get a shot of me and FOX, but it was tough. We lay there and enjoyed the sun!
FOX went to the beach as well!!
After some relaxing we went into the city. There was a running race happening, so some of the roads were closed. It was also Sunday, so most shops were shut as well! Some parts of the town looked like a ghost town:
Some parts had signs of life:
Other parts had a lot of character, which I liked. I was happy to be wandering again!
They had a very nice old mosque, and the lighting was good so everything was lit up in a pretty yellow way for my pictures :)
I found some stupid cheesy postcards there, which I was tempted to buy but they were covered in dust and I didn't want to take them out of their plastic. They were gloriously cheesy though:
There were cats all over the city too!! There were just hanging out. Most looked well fed, many were friendly. I think they were treated quite well here, which is always a good sign to me. How a city treats it's animals says a lot I think. Plus it's so warm all year round it makes needing a shelter unnecessary for these kitties, so they are happy and frolicking around on the rocks. Try to see how many you can spot chilling out here:
There was a pier on the water where people were fishing. The sun was starting to go down, so I stayed to take some photos!
It was still going to be a little light for a while, so we continued walking around. There was a wedding at some church so there were cars driving around honking horns and being crazy. It was extra confusing since it was also on the left side of the road. I was still getting used to that!
The city was small but pleasant enough. I could never live there but it was nice to visit:
Here is the church from the side:
The next morning we were going to have to take a plane back to Athens so we had to try and fall asleep early. I had a hard time for some reason, and fell asleep at 2am after packing all my stuff, but I could sleep on the plane so it was okay!!
After I enjoyed the pool again though, of course :)
FOX stole some of Jon's drink:
I tried to get a shot of me and FOX, but it was tough. We lay there and enjoyed the sun!
FOX went to the beach as well!!
After some relaxing we went into the city. There was a running race happening, so some of the roads were closed. It was also Sunday, so most shops were shut as well! Some parts of the town looked like a ghost town:
Some parts had signs of life:
Other parts had a lot of character, which I liked. I was happy to be wandering again!
They had a very nice old mosque, and the lighting was good so everything was lit up in a pretty yellow way for my pictures :)
I found some stupid cheesy postcards there, which I was tempted to buy but they were covered in dust and I didn't want to take them out of their plastic. They were gloriously cheesy though:
There were cats all over the city too!! There were just hanging out. Most looked well fed, many were friendly. I think they were treated quite well here, which is always a good sign to me. How a city treats it's animals says a lot I think. Plus it's so warm all year round it makes needing a shelter unnecessary for these kitties, so they are happy and frolicking around on the rocks. Try to see how many you can spot chilling out here:
There was a pier on the water where people were fishing. The sun was starting to go down, so I stayed to take some photos!
It was still going to be a little light for a while, so we continued walking around. There was a wedding at some church so there were cars driving around honking horns and being crazy. It was extra confusing since it was also on the left side of the road. I was still getting used to that!
The city was small but pleasant enough. I could never live there but it was nice to visit:
Here is the church from the side:
The next morning we were going to have to take a plane back to Athens so we had to try and fall asleep early. I had a hard time for some reason, and fell asleep at 2am after packing all my stuff, but I could sleep on the plane so it was okay!!
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Cyprus, Greek Side, Take Three:
I woke up pretty rough from the wine, but it was moving day. Jon wanted to check out another part of the island, so we were going to a different, bigger town called Limmasol. This was still on the Greek side, just west of the airport town instead of east. Jon was also not feeling so hot during breakfast, so he talked me into taking a cab there instead of buses. 30 degree weather on a bus hung over was not sounding so appealing, so it was easy to convince me.
We arrived at another hotel, but this one was way nicer! The decor, and the atmosphere, everything was even more pleasant than the last place. For starters, there was wifi for free, plus they didn't charge a deposit for towels, and they were a lot friendlier. The room was just being cleaned, so we went for a walk to explore the place:
This place was also on the ocean:
There was a beautiful outdoor restaurant with coyfish and it's own pond thing!
The fish were so big!
There were several pools to swim in, but we found the no-children pool so we hung out there a while. This is the children allowed pool:
There were a million umbrella things lined up a little too well along the ocean:
There were a lot of plants in the hotel too, so it felt really tropical. It was tough to get a proper shot though since I was shooting into the sun and there was too much contrast:
Walking around the pool I saw there were little windows so you could see underwater! I thought it was an interesting idea:
Back at the adults-only pool. This was the nicest one I think:
Here at the no-child pool there was a hammock, and a bar. We talked to some old British Navy guy with awful teeth that was hanging out at the bar until we thought the room might be ready!
We went back and it was. Someone brought up our bags, and he was entertained by all the patches on my backpack. I guess they don't get many backpackers at the four seasons in Cyprus haha. I had to take a picture of the bathroom here since it was so nice!
I was surprised how much more pleasant this place was compared to the last one! The last hotel felt fancy already, but this blew it out of the water. It was more relaxing for sure :) I changed into my bathing suit and Jon and I hunted out a good place to fry. Here is Jon as we walked towards the beach:
It was a nice beach, but I wasn't feeling it there. I think it had to do with the children:
Jon tested the water out with his obligatory tequila
It was apparently quite warm, so after taking this photo I went in up to my thighs to test it out:
and here I am:
I was taking a break from alcohol now that I was really relaxed and no longer feeling hung over. I don't like to feel overly dehydrated when I am sunbathing, so I was happy to be sober. I picked out a spot by the main pool and found some chairs. I mostly read and listened to a German lesson while Jon went to the bar so he could drink and smoke. I was cooking away:
Eventually he came back and wanted to go to the no-children pool. I had barely noticed the kids since they were busy playing in the pool while I was with the parents that wanted them to leave them alone. I didn't really care where I was though so I went to the other pool to continue my fry/pool/fry.
This pool was a lot less busy, so it was easy to find some chairs. They gave us little samples of stuff, and some free water which was nice! This is what a lot of the people looked like:
Here's where I sat my ass:
Eventually there was not enough sun to sit in, and I was starting to get really hungry. It was still kinda early for dinner, but it was normal for Canadian time I guess (like 5 something... that's very early for me now) so we went to get food. We splurged on desert though, look at this thing!!!
There was a friendly kitty that came up for love after desert! There were tons of kitties at this hotel, so I was happy petting loads of animals :)
After all this, I checked the internet for the first time in ages. It took a little while to get the wifi going, but it eventually it worked! It was nice to have the web again, mostly so I could find a host in Athens for when I got back.
The next day started with breakfast, where there was maple syrup!! I was so happy!
It's so hard to find in Europe and when you do it's outrageously expensive. Here it was at a buffet so I slathered some waffles Canadian style. It was awesome.
The no-children pool seemed to be Jon's favourite, so I cooked myself there for a while. I was doing the swim/cook/swim/cook routine again, and this time people came around and handed us free water and different little samples of drinks etc. It was great!
I was enjoying the bubbles in the pool, although I seemed to be the only one that was swimming in. The pool wasn't heated, so it was quite a bit cooler than outside. I thought that was nice, I don't know why more people weren't going in!!
I tried to do the same stuff I was doing in the Hungarian baths with the Aussie, which was a lot of fun. Trying to balance on your stomach under bubbles is challenging but entertaining:
Jon's underwater camera was put to more use here, since Jon didn't really swim much and was more inclined to stand in the pool to cool off than splash around:
I tried to sit on the bottom:
Doing cartwheels underwater (or at least looking like I was):
More bubbles!
I don't look like I was enjoying the waterfall, but I was making the face since some was in my nose that's all!
After the pool it was time for the beach since the umbrellas were blocking the sun too much! Here there was more of a wind so I almost fell asleep since it was cooler. There was the cutest kitty there!! It was so small!!
I had to pick it up! It actually let me, so I walked around a bit with it listening to the purrrrrrrrrrrrr
At seven thirty we had dinner at a Greek place in the hotel. It was my first time at a fancy restaurant as an adult, and it was interesting. The food was all different, and I felt a little weird but it was alright. To be totally honest, I can now say I would be a million times more happy going to some shitty place in Berlin for 1/10 of the price and not have to feel so self conscious. It was pretty food, constant service, and overall pleasant, but it was not so..... open? I can't find the right word. I have to admit that I like my communal, 2 euro, vegan brunches in cozy squatted apartment buildings more. I am actually relieved that I felt this way too! Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed myself.
After dinner was more internet and coffee!
This was great! I was able to sit outside and enjoy live music while I checked emails and drank my cappuccino. I had some energy afterward, so I went to have another session with my LED hoop! Again I have SOOOOOOO many pictures from this so it's best to just browse yourself... I'll put a few up here only!!!
I made a little video, but I have to put music with it, so I have to do some editing before posting it!! I will though!!
We arrived at another hotel, but this one was way nicer! The decor, and the atmosphere, everything was even more pleasant than the last place. For starters, there was wifi for free, plus they didn't charge a deposit for towels, and they were a lot friendlier. The room was just being cleaned, so we went for a walk to explore the place:
This place was also on the ocean:
There was a beautiful outdoor restaurant with coyfish and it's own pond thing!
The fish were so big!
There were several pools to swim in, but we found the no-children pool so we hung out there a while. This is the children allowed pool:
There were a million umbrella things lined up a little too well along the ocean:
There were a lot of plants in the hotel too, so it felt really tropical. It was tough to get a proper shot though since I was shooting into the sun and there was too much contrast:
Walking around the pool I saw there were little windows so you could see underwater! I thought it was an interesting idea:
Back at the adults-only pool. This was the nicest one I think:
Here at the no-child pool there was a hammock, and a bar. We talked to some old British Navy guy with awful teeth that was hanging out at the bar until we thought the room might be ready!
We went back and it was. Someone brought up our bags, and he was entertained by all the patches on my backpack. I guess they don't get many backpackers at the four seasons in Cyprus haha. I had to take a picture of the bathroom here since it was so nice!
I was surprised how much more pleasant this place was compared to the last one! The last hotel felt fancy already, but this blew it out of the water. It was more relaxing for sure :) I changed into my bathing suit and Jon and I hunted out a good place to fry. Here is Jon as we walked towards the beach:
It was a nice beach, but I wasn't feeling it there. I think it had to do with the children:
Jon tested the water out with his obligatory tequila
It was apparently quite warm, so after taking this photo I went in up to my thighs to test it out:
and here I am:
I was taking a break from alcohol now that I was really relaxed and no longer feeling hung over. I don't like to feel overly dehydrated when I am sunbathing, so I was happy to be sober. I picked out a spot by the main pool and found some chairs. I mostly read and listened to a German lesson while Jon went to the bar so he could drink and smoke. I was cooking away:
Eventually he came back and wanted to go to the no-children pool. I had barely noticed the kids since they were busy playing in the pool while I was with the parents that wanted them to leave them alone. I didn't really care where I was though so I went to the other pool to continue my fry/pool/fry.
This pool was a lot less busy, so it was easy to find some chairs. They gave us little samples of stuff, and some free water which was nice! This is what a lot of the people looked like:
Here's where I sat my ass:
Eventually there was not enough sun to sit in, and I was starting to get really hungry. It was still kinda early for dinner, but it was normal for Canadian time I guess (like 5 something... that's very early for me now) so we went to get food. We splurged on desert though, look at this thing!!!
There was a friendly kitty that came up for love after desert! There were tons of kitties at this hotel, so I was happy petting loads of animals :)
After all this, I checked the internet for the first time in ages. It took a little while to get the wifi going, but it eventually it worked! It was nice to have the web again, mostly so I could find a host in Athens for when I got back.
The next day started with breakfast, where there was maple syrup!! I was so happy!
It's so hard to find in Europe and when you do it's outrageously expensive. Here it was at a buffet so I slathered some waffles Canadian style. It was awesome.
The no-children pool seemed to be Jon's favourite, so I cooked myself there for a while. I was doing the swim/cook/swim/cook routine again, and this time people came around and handed us free water and different little samples of drinks etc. It was great!
I was enjoying the bubbles in the pool, although I seemed to be the only one that was swimming in. The pool wasn't heated, so it was quite a bit cooler than outside. I thought that was nice, I don't know why more people weren't going in!!
I tried to do the same stuff I was doing in the Hungarian baths with the Aussie, which was a lot of fun. Trying to balance on your stomach under bubbles is challenging but entertaining:
Jon's underwater camera was put to more use here, since Jon didn't really swim much and was more inclined to stand in the pool to cool off than splash around:
I tried to sit on the bottom:
Doing cartwheels underwater (or at least looking like I was):
More bubbles!
I don't look like I was enjoying the waterfall, but I was making the face since some was in my nose that's all!
After the pool it was time for the beach since the umbrellas were blocking the sun too much! Here there was more of a wind so I almost fell asleep since it was cooler. There was the cutest kitty there!! It was so small!!
I had to pick it up! It actually let me, so I walked around a bit with it listening to the purrrrrrrrrrrrr
At seven thirty we had dinner at a Greek place in the hotel. It was my first time at a fancy restaurant as an adult, and it was interesting. The food was all different, and I felt a little weird but it was alright. To be totally honest, I can now say I would be a million times more happy going to some shitty place in Berlin for 1/10 of the price and not have to feel so self conscious. It was pretty food, constant service, and overall pleasant, but it was not so..... open? I can't find the right word. I have to admit that I like my communal, 2 euro, vegan brunches in cozy squatted apartment buildings more. I am actually relieved that I felt this way too! Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed myself.
After dinner was more internet and coffee!
This was great! I was able to sit outside and enjoy live music while I checked emails and drank my cappuccino. I had some energy afterward, so I went to have another session with my LED hoop! Again I have SOOOOOOO many pictures from this so it's best to just browse yourself... I'll put a few up here only!!!
I made a little video, but I have to put music with it, so I have to do some editing before posting it!! I will though!!
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