Santorini

Since it has been about a week since the last post here is the update.

Sam got pick-pocketed on the 7 am train on his way home from the bars.

Therefore the past week has been Sam going crazy and bumming money off me. Besides that, we have been through Berlin, Athens, and now we are taking a vacation on Santorini.

Berlin, is an interesting city with so much history and since Cold war was one of my focus' in school I had a blast walking the Berlin wall, and seeing the fall of the Nazi Regime. The first day in Berlin we had to do laundry since it had been almost two weeks, after laundry was done we just relaxed for the next morning was the Berlin Wall. I had an idea on the train to literally walk the Berlin Wall, or at least what is left. Not that it is impossible but it is a long way and literally around what was West Berlin. So we began walking part of it and on a part of the wall that is left, they have all these murals painted all over the wall which is really cool, and the wall it self is at least 12 feet high. We were thinking that even if you get a clear run and jump, avoiding the gun fire from the "kill zone" there is no way you would make it over the wall. After a few hours we made it to check point Charlie which is a total tourist attraction and did not do justice to the significance of the site. After following the "berlin wall track" for a few hours it was time to head back to the hostel for the night.

The next day we didn't get up until about 11 and it was pouring rain. Sam looked out and was like no way, and I said well I have a jacket and tried to figure out what to do for the day. I found a concentration camp to go to, which seemed to be pretty easy to get to; train outside Berlin, signs and there you go. I get to the train stop and walk to Sachsenhausen part of town thinking Sachsenhausen Concentration camp would be in that part of town. False, after walking for about a half an hour I realize I am not in the right spot, and make my way to a car dealership to try to figure out where to go. At the dealership I didn't want to say concentration camp thinking maybe they take offense but finally we figured out in their broken english and my little piece of paper. So one of the sales guys literally dropped me off at the camp; note to self, when lost go to a car dealership. The camp itself was interesting, it was one where they would counterfeit money. It was an interesting experience for me because the close quarters where they would simply sleep on steel plates that you would see in road construction sites. After walking through it was time to head back to Berlin.

That night Sam lost his wallet, and the next day was filled with phone calls and trying to back track through Berlin. After helping Sam I went to the sites one last time and the next day we headed off to Athens.

Since Sam has family in Athens we have our own apartment 10 minutes away from the Acropolis and just a few blocks from the ancient Olympic Stadium. Athens is a cool place to see but not the most friendly of places. Cabs will gps the address we need to go to and then say they don't know where it is, and not even because of the riots. We haven't seen any of the riots, but there is a large group of people demonstrating in the town square. Having said all that; the acropolis is an awesome place would recommend it to any one that you have to see it. But after the acropolis yes some of the sites are good to see but a week in Athens is almost too much. After a few days Sam decided that we are going to head to one of the Islands and we chose Santorini.

Santorini is the shit. We rented ATVs for 30 Euro for 3 days and today spent most of the day driving around the island. After driving around we went to a black sand beach which is extremely hot, but the Mediterranean water made it all better.

So here we are taking a vacation within a vacation and couldn't have picked a better place to do it.

Until next time.
yassou
Mike/ Sotirios