Busing About the Balkans!

Busabout and bus tours are great. I can’t believe that I’ve never done a bus tour before! And Busabout is an inexpensive and fun tour company that delivers a lot of value for your dollar…or Euro…or lev. First of all, the bus is large and very comfortable. Since there is only 12 people (including the driver and tour guide) on a 48 passenger bus, we have tons of room to spread out. Note: I don’t think this always happens. Sometimes there are way more people. There’s good music playing all the time, and Anjellko our driver even flashes the interior bus lights and makes the bus dance to the music. Our tour guide Jen delivers just the right amount of information and historical details to make it interesting and relevant without boring us. Plus there are fun activities on the bus too! Yesterday English L and I won the trivia contest which earns us free cocktails in Split when we arrive. And each of us had to make a playlist to play on the bus: first song about us, second song describing our guilty pleasure, third song about love, fourth song a party song, and a wildcard for the fifth song.

Here’s my playlist:

About Me: Canadian Girls by Dean Brody. I would have used Small Town by John Mellencamp but it wasn’t downloaded to my iPhone.
Guilty Pleasure: Drink in My Hand by Eric Church
Love Song: Dancing in My Head by Eric Turner/Avicii
Party Song: Party Like Charlie Sheen by Scuzz Twittly (Mom, Chantal, Brin, and Britta….Vegas memories!!)
Wildcard: Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show

I also find riding on the bus really relaxing. We visit, read our books, eat snacks, sleep, and look at the amazing scenery. My tour is called the Balkan Trek, and here is where we’ve been so far.

First Stop: Parga, Greece

We arrived in Parga around 3 pm on our first day. It’s in northern Greece and this beautiful beach town attracts mainly Greeks with a handful of Brits and Italians. It has a lovely little beach, clear warm water, and some interesting rock formations along the harbour. We checked into our hotel, Hotel Gallini, and I shared a room with Canadian A and International A (she’s lived in too many places to assign her a country—born in Nepal, lived in New Zealand, and now from London). We grabbed gyros and beer and spent the afternoon on the beach, then Canadian A and I visited the little shops and picked up wine and A got some great fake Ray Bans. At 6:30 pm, the entire group met and Jen led us up a steep trail to an old fortress. We had drinks (Canadian A and I drank some fantastic Greek wine I’d had in Athens) and watched the sun go down. 

Waterfront in Parga with lots of cute shops and restaurants

Beautiful views of Parga from the old fortress

Drinks on the wall with the Busabout crew

Another amazing sunset

Next up was dinner at Baccho’s along the waterfront. This traditional Greek taverna had great food (I had moussaka), yummy red wine, and ouzo. But the most exciting part was the entertainment. The staff got everyone up dancing to traditional Greek music. And before I knew it, my waiter pulled out my chair and insisted I dance on my chair along with the other girls at my table. Well little did he know that this Kenton girl had tons of coffee table dancing experience. I busted out my chutney soca moves from Trinidad (thanks Danielle and Kimberly) and twisted that light bulb like nobody’s business (thank you red wine and ouzo). This earned me a round of applause from a large table of Brits!

Our tour guide Jen and Aussie S get into it! Opa!

Next we moved on to Spice Bar. Its claim to fame is 5 euro cocktails all night, every night. I decided to order a whisky sour. They didn’t have actual bourbon so they made it with Jack Daniels and free poured about 5 ounces into a cocktail shaker along with the lemon and simple syrup. It tasted great, but I just knew that if I drank 5 ounces of Jack on top of red wine and ouzo I would be one sick girl. In a surprising display of good judgment, I pushed the drink to the side and switched to water. I know, everyone is probably wondering if this is actually Devon writing this blog post, but I assure you it is. They say travel changes you! Point made. However, Canadian J has a real thing for shots and I felt it would be rude to refuse to participate in the three rounds of shots that came my way. So not completely reformed yet….

Canadian girls on tour!

 

We were up early to get on the bus for 8 am. I stocked up on fruit at a nearby fruit stand (good snacks for the bus) and grabbed a latte and we were off. It was an exciting morning as we said goodbye to Greece and crossed into Albania. I was very apprehensive about entering Albania as I’ve heard so many negative things and it’s been depicted really badly in movies and the media. With cries of “white slavery” and “kidnapping” echoing in my ears, we crossed the border with no problems and soon we were rolling along nicely paved roads enjoying beautiful mountain scenery.

Our first stop was an Albanian bunker. These were built by a paranoid Albanian dictator during the Cold War era. There are thousands of these concrete igloos all over Albania, and they can withstand tank fire. I’d read about them in my guide book and I was really eager to see one. We hiked up a hill to one where we learned about the history. In my excitement, I ran over to pose for a picture standing in the door way…then whack! Those door ways are MUCH MUCH lower than they look, and next thing I knew I’d cracked my head against the concrete and metal top of the door arch, knocking my sunglasses off. My immediate concern was for my Prada sunglasses, but they survived with some minor scratches to one of the legs. I did not fare as well—although I shook it off and said I was fine, I now have a bruised temple and seriously wounded dignity. Albanian bunker=1, Devon=0

I see why these bunkers withstand tank fire. Thank goodness my Pradas were okay.

I recovered on the bus (I really needed some ice for that temple, but thank goodness I had bangs to hide the worst of the damage) as we made our way to Gjirokastra. This is a medieval Albanian village that is designated a Unesco world heritage sight. This charming town has white buildings and cobbled streets. We visited a money exchange as they don’t accept euros in Albania, and Jen advised us to exchange no more than 20 euros into Albanian lev. 20 euros netted me almost 3000 lev and the experience was like a scene from the movie Eurotrip. 3000 lev (worth approximately $30 Canadian) paid for the following:
-entrance fee to historical fortress and house in Gjirokastra
-pastry for lunch
-dinner in a nice restaurant (yummy pizza that would have fed two and glass of red)
-two big bottles of water, two Milka chocolate bars, a little bottle of wine, and a can of Albanian beer (to try later)
-taxi fare split four ways from downtown Tirana to our hotel
-a glass of wine in the hotel lounge
-a caramel latte
-a generous tip to the barista as I threw my lev around like a millionaire. They ran out and bought a new house with it…kidding!

Main street in Gjirokastra

And wait for it... the yoga pose I'm compelled to do everywhere. Stunning scenic view from the old fortress though!

Ottoman house from the 1700s

I have never visited anywhere as cheap as Albania. Gjirokastra was absolutely charming, and Tirana (capital city) is really modern and working hard to catch up with the rest of Europe. A few interesting facts about Albania:
-Albania’s communist dictator, Hoxha, closed the borders of Albania for 40 years. No one could leave or enter the country. The benefit to this was that Albania developed a really strong infrastructure and became self-sufficient. The down side? They fell completely behind the rest of the world and are now trying to play catch up.
-Albania had one of the most brutal communist regimes in history. The Albanian secret police interrogated 1/3 Albanians citizens, offering a reward of $1.50 Canadian to anyone who informed on those not following the strict communist rules. Since people were so desperately poor, friends and family members turned on each other to earn the money. Many people were transported to labour camps and interred for long periods of time. Some simply vanished.
-the Communist dictator banned religion. When the dictator died, his replacement still did not allow religion. 5000 students staged a huge protest, and the new leader had no choice but to allow Albanians freedom of religion. This was in the early 90s.
-Albanians were occupied by the Ottomans for hundreds of years. As a result there is a strong Muslim influence and many mosques.
-Albanian red wine is delicious and cheap! Excited to try my can of beer later!

 

-most people still grow their own vegetables and exchange them with their friends and family members. Farming methods are still really basic (we saw cards being pulled by donkeys), contrasting sharply with Hummers and Mercedes speeding down modern highways.
-Albanian gas/service stations are the nicest I have ever seen. They are bright and new, with lounges and bars in them! There’s nice furniture (couches, love seats, cool chairs) and some even have trampolines out back to jump on. I found it hilarious that they have bars in them when people are just there to fill up with gas…drinking and driving anyone?? Also you can get really good coffee at these service stations. They have proper espresso and milk frothing machines and I got a great latte for 200 lev.

 This is a service station. Can you believe it? Take note Canada!

Also my day began my favourite way with yoga! I taught a yoga class in the conference room of our Albanian hotel to some of the Busabout girls. They were really receptive to everything, and we did breathing exercises, joint mobility exercises, standing series, and some of the ab series, ending with savasana and mantra. And they cranked out wheel in their first class! 

Our hotel was really nice!

We’re now sitting at the Albania-Montenegro border, and the most pressing question is will they put stamps in our passports? When everyone on the bus is travel-obsessed, filling your passport with cool stamps is a real badge of honour and documents your journey. Sometimes if you ask nicely they’ll stamp your passport for you, but so often they don’t. Today’s adventures include beaching it at Budva, exploring the medieval town there, then Bay of Kotor!

Small Town Girl in the Big World...All By Herself

After the regimented schedule and constant company of my yoga girls at yoga teacher training, solo travel has been quite a change. Since I said goodbye to L, A, and J on Sunday, what I do each day is only up to one person—me! I really love that I get to do what I want all the time, but it can be a bit lonely too. My life as a backpacker has officially begun and here are my thoughts on a few topics.

Backpacking

I have a love/hate relationship with my Deuter backpack. I love it because it allows me to independently move around, and when I watch people struggling with their suitcases on stairs, hills, and cobblestones, I am very grateful for my backpack. I hate it when I’m struggling to hoist my backpack on my back and when it feels so heavy that I just want to fall over backwards. I would highly recommend Deuter backpacks—they’re German-made, extremely durable, and smartly designed. However, my feelings towards Deuter are beginning to take a turn for the worse. Deuter is on Instagram, and encourages you to tag your photographs to be featured on their Instagram account. Well, Leah and I posted the most stunning pictures ever hiking from Fira to Ioa in Santorini, with the Deuter logo prominently displayed, and did we get featured? No. But some random guy with his dog in a totally unremarkable location does. Not. Fair. I guess I was complaining about this a bit much because my friend L told me it was time to just move on.

Basically I just feel like a big fake with my backpack. I’m so NOT a real backpacker. I don’t like roughing it and I don’t like getting dirty. I totally have to adjust how I dress so that I fit in with other backpackers. I was planning my outfit for today for my first day of my bus tour, and my German roommate C (Ph.D. student in geography or geology, can’t remember which one) pointed out that high heeled wedges with my sundress were probably not the look I was going for. With her advice I switched to flip flops and didn’t wear my jewellery!

Hostels

So I stayed in my first hostel ever for the last two nights. I was in a four person dorm, all female. For the first night, I was by myself till about 7 pm, until C from Germany joined me. She was a lovely girl and we hit it off right away, going out for dinner together and drinks at the hostel’s rooftop bar. The hostel, AthenStyle, was a bit bleak. We were on the fourth floor of the second building, and the stairway was kind of dirty and scary and the lights didn’t work in some sections. The room itself was basically clean, with two sets of bunk beds, and a toilet and shower right in the room. I was anticipating that I’d have to walk down a hallway to dorm-style bathrooms, so having them right in the room was a bonus. The only downside was a strong sewer smell from the drain and a burnt-out light in the bathroom that they never fixed. I actually had to do my makeup in the morning by the light of my iPhone! Ridiculous. And although the sheets are clean, you only get one little pillow and no blankets. Just a top sheet. I also do not recommend taking off the pillow case to see if the pillow looks clean.

Late last night when we were sleeping, two other girls checked into our room. I didn’t even meet them as they were still asleep when I got up early for my bus tour. However, one girl was on the top bunk above me, and every time she rolled over the bed creaked so loudly that I woke up. I’m sure that I annoyed them equally when I was trying to get ready in the dark and zip up my backpack at 6 am this morning!

And pretty much the worst part of it all is NO WIFI in the rooms and sporadic wifi only in the common area. As a result I’ve spent a lot of time at Starbucks lately. C said that AthenStyle was the worst hostel she’s stayed in, so I’m optimistic that my other hostels will be better. I also had to strip the bed this morning and deliver the sheets to the front desk. I would actually give myself an A+ for how well I handled this hostel experience. As my grandma would say, it’s been character-building.

Take a look at how I spent my alone time in Athens…

Rooftop morning coffee with grandmaster yogi Marita!

Beautiful wander down Adrianou Street... lots of restaurants and shops with a view of the Acropolis

 

Eating and drinking for cheap at the highly-rated Souvlaki Bar... less than 5 euros for a delicious chicken gyro and pint of Mythos

And a double decker bus tour is always a relaxing way to spend the afternoon

So hostels don't have cups. I bought a mug at Starbucks to match my Prague one, and drank some yummy Greek wine on my rickety hostel balcony.

Chicken rolls (an appetizer) at 360 Rooftop with a stunning view of the Acropolis

Not happy the next morning...7 am and Starbucks wasn't open yet. Fortunately I could use their WiFi perched on their window ledge.

So now I’m on my first bus tour ever, rolling down the highway in a big, comfortable tour bus. I don’t have wifi so I’m composing this post in Word to upload later. There are only ten of us on the tour—three Canadians, a couple of Brits, and of course the rest are from Australia. Our tour guide is named Jen and she’s Scottish, and our busdriver is Andjelko from Croatia.

Stay tuned for my adventures on Busabout's Balkan Trek!

Old Habits Die Hard and the Princess Stays at Her First Hostel

Friday night after our graduation was pretty mellow. Everyone was in bed early, and up early the next day to get ready to leave. J and L flew back to England in the wee hours of the morning and the rest of us decided to head into Athens at 10 am for some shopping and celebrating!

J, L, and I got a ride into Athens with Michelle then took the metro to the stop nearest the Air BNB apartment we'd rented for the night. It was in a fabulous location (a block and a half from Syntagma Square) and totally decent. J and I shopped while L got her hair done, and I bought a great pair of flowy purple "Michelle" pants from this great little store that J had found last weekend. We met A and her boyfriend M for lunch at our favourite vegetarian restaurant, then L and I headed out for some serious shopping to find her a new outfit to wear out that night. Our shopping mission was more than successful and we had a great afternoon. The highlight? Getting our brows done at Sephora's Benefit Brow Bar. Irene was a total brow artist and I now have the best brows of my life. I'm obsessed with them. She even coloured them darker which will last a month, then redid my makeup after. What a difference! I wish I could go to Irene every month!

Brows on fleek!

L and I decided it was wine time (it was after 5 o'clock after all) so we stopped at the little bar near our apartment. Our server was a sweetheart, A and M stopped in, and one glass of wine led to two. Two led to three when we discovered that the entrance way into our apartment building was locked with a big gate and J (who was already in the apartment) had the key. It was a test of our resourcefulness to get a hold of her as she wasn't checking her Facebook messages, but we finally made it back into the apartment! At this point, we had already exceeded L's silly rule that we were only having two glasses of wine on Saturday, making me think that old habits really do die hard. I think it takes six weeks to really change an ingrained behaviour, so I should get sent back to yoga teacher training if there's any chance of me following a two glass of wine rule on a Saturday.

What's better than one glass of wine? Two! And the size of the glass varied every time we ordered. First glass: medium Second glass: as big as our heads Third glass: tiny

Missing this Australian beauty already :(

So I would normally not post pictures like this on my blog. But the terrible quality and ridiculous poses (see above) indicate what a great night it was!

Really behind schedule after being locked out, we quickly got ready and took the subway to the Dafni stop where we were meeting Marita, Becca, and her boyfriend for drinks at a lounge called Spoiled. The red wine continued to taste great and the vegetarian diet went out the window with a late night stop at McDonald's! Back on it today though....

And now I'm all by myself in Athens. Yoga teacher training has come to an end for me, but L and A are staying until mid-October to complete their 500 hour certification and studying prenatal, children's, yin yoga, and a bit of ashtanga and vinyasa. Part of me wishes I was still back there and I miss my yoga friends already. L helped me get settled at my first-ever hostel, then after a vegetarian lunch at Avocado, I said goodbye to L, A, and A's boyfriend M. I'm so glad that it wasn't a final goodbye--I'll see them again after the Balkans and Croatia.

And here I am... checking into my first hostel ever. It's an okay experience so far, but I much prefer the Delta. Or Banff Springs.

 

So I hit the jackpot with my 4 person female dorm. I finally got a roommate and her name is Claudia from Germany. She's a Ph.D. student who is passing through Athens. I just returned from a nice meal out with her and a nightcap at the rooftop bar at the hostel. We're keeping our fingers crossed that no one joins us tomorrow night in our room!

 

And what's up for tomorrow? I'm meeting one of my yoga teachers, Marita, tomorrow morning for coffee which I am really looking forward to. She's had a huge impact on all of us, both on and off the mat. Maybe a hop on hop off bus tour of Athens, or if it's hot I might take the metro to the beach. It's totally up to me because I am all by myself for the first time in my life. It's a bit scary, and I felt lonely today between the Aussie posse and my roommate Claudia. I filled my time with yoga, Starbucks, and browsing through lots of interesting little stores as I wandered around Athens.

Wine in a mug. Screwing up my courage to visit the rooftop bar by myself before Claudia arrived.

 

But I think it's going to be okay, and my bus tour of the Balkan countries leaves early Tuesday morning. Sad that I'm not in Lagonissi with my yoga girls, but excited for the next adventure... I'll keep you posted. 

A Waterproof Mascara Kind of Day

At times it seemed to crawl, but for the most part yoga teacher training flew by. I looked forward to graduation day for the last three weeks, but also half-dreaded it as I didn't want this amazing experience to end. I'm really proud of myself for taking a huge risk, stepping outside my comfort zone, and doing something totally different. Here's what I just posted to Instagram and it really sums up the experience for me.

I've doubted myself so many times. I've felt like a fake with genuine people who are so much more yogi-like than me. I'm not the most flexible and quieting my mind to meditate seems impossible sometimes. There have been a few days when my favourite words were "savasana" and "namaste" because it meant we were done. But I never gave up and I stretched myself not just physically but emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. I took risks and sometimes I failed, but I always learned something. I made myself vulnerable with people I didn't know three weeks ago. I discovered that when teaching is a huge part of who you are, you can teach anything. And although some days felt like two steps back for every step forward, I grew everyday. I strived to transform myself until I became so immersed in the experience that I quit thinking about it all the time and just did it. Proud, happy, and excited for this lifelong journey I've begun. Grateful for the amazing new people in my life and the ones who have supported me all along. I am a yoga teacher!

So what happened today?
It began as many days do around here, with a trot down the hill to Daily Coffee with L and A. L was teaching her 90 minute class this morning, so we thought an infusion of strong Greek coffee was a great idea. Although we've been very committed to our detox (I've gone three weeks without a glass of red wine, SHOCKING), the caffeine rule lasted until Michelle and Marita admitted that they drink coffee (which I think was the first week).

L did a fantastic job of teaching her class, and it was an emotional one for a few of us as lots of feelings came to the surface. She shared this during savasana and I thought it was perfect for our last day.



Just For Now
Just for now, without
asking how, let yourself
sink into stillness. Just
for now, lay down the
weight you so patiently
bear upon your shoulders.
Feel the earth receive
you, and the infinite
expanse of the sky grow even
wider as your awareness
reaches up to meet it.

Just for now, allow a wave
of breath to enliven your
experience. Breathe out
whatever blocks you from
the truth. Just for now, be
boundless, free, awakened
energy tingling in your
hands and feet. Drink in
the possibility of being
who and what you really are -
so fully alive that when you
open your eyes the world
looks different, newly born
and vibrant, just for now.
-- Danna Faulds

A brief theory lesson, another visit to Daily Coffee, gnocchi for lunch (my not so subtle hints paid off), and it was time to write our final exam. I hadn't written a final exam in years and I was a bit nervous. Michelle began with a guided meditation to relax and focus us, then handed out the papers. Everyone passed (like there was any doubt!) and we headed down to the studio for D's class. Teaching yoga is challenging enough without doing it in your second language and he threw in some Sanskrit too!

And then the moment we had all been waiting for... graduation! It was absolutely beautiful. Michelle set up a "Walk of Angels" that ran the length of the studio. She stood at one end, and all of us lined either side of the walkway. One by one, we closed our eyes and slowly made our way to Michelle. Everyone guided us on the path and whispered a special message as we walked by. Beautiful music played in the background, and it was very emotional as everyone received their diplomas and white roses. More tears!

Next were lots of pictures, followed by a beautiful meal on the rooftop terrace.

Funniest moment of the day? I left my diploma laying on the kitchen table. My French roommate, who has been my roommate for THREE weeks, looked at it and pointed to my name.

D: Devon Caldwell. Is that your name?

Me: (thinking he meant my last name) Yes, it's a Scottish last name.

D: No....DEVON. That is your name?

Me: Yeah. That's my name. (Ouch)

I think I have a lot more to say about yoga teacher training, but right now I'm exhausted and everything is still processing in my little brain. Off to Athens tomorrow with the Aussie crew (joined by a kiwi now) and J for shopping and celebrations! 





Kiria Devon Goes to Greek Kindergarten

Today started in my favourite way--a beautiful sunrise and a walk to Daily Coffee with L. We took our books because we planned to study for our exam. Who were we kidding? Of course we didn't study!

Beautiful lightning-lit sunrise this morning. The rain stayed away though.

 

It was a pretty regular day in the yoga studio. L from England taught her first class which I really enjoyed. We all have to teach the same sequence, so I thought I'd be sick to death of it by the time everyone taught their classes. But everyone has put their own twist on it, so every class has had a completely different feel to it. Two more classes, an exam, and we graduate tomorrow evening! So excited!

 

I spent my afternoon break at Michelle and Leo's son's early learning centre. It's called New Generation and it's a private centre for children from birth to age 6. Children attend kindergarten here, then begin formal schooling when they are 6 in what we call Grade 1 in Canada. This was a beautiful facility, and the director was a lovely woman from South Africa named Alice. In Greek, she is called Kiria Aliki which means Mrs. Alice. I was "Kiria Devon" this afternoon. The 90 children who attend are separated by age and each have their own classrooms and play areas. Yearly fees are 4400 euros, and the centre closes from mid-July to the beginning of September each year. All staff are qualified early childhood educators, and the kindergarten teachers are certified teachers. Everything is beautiful, bright, and clean, with high quality books and toys. Kiria Aliki shared that they wash the children and put them in clean clothes before the children are sent home, as Greek parents don't like their children to get dirty. All children wear uniforms Monday-Thursday, and on Fridays they can wear what they like. 

Main hallway

A typical classroom

Conference area and professional resources for staff

Hallway to infant room with toy storage and playground entrance at the end

Lunch room

Infant play area  

Outdoor play area with fake grass (so the kids don't get dirty) and huge awning to protect them from the hot Greek sun

Every year, the school does two major productions. The costumes are out of this world (they have a costume designer and parents pay for these elaborate costumes) and a professional photographer who creates these gorgeous photo albums pictured above.

Kiria Aliki as pictured at the school Christmas concert. Amazing photographs and the most glam director I've ever seen! Wow!

Kiria Aliki and Kiria Devon

 

Tennis is part of the kindergarten program. That's normal, right??!!

 

After my fantastic afternoon at New Generation (amazing how at home I always feel in any school, anywhere), it was time for our last session with Marita. I am sure going to miss this yogi! We've learned so much from her in terms of alignment, cues, and hands on adjustments, and I love her sense of humour. The best Marita-ism of today was when we were talking about shoulder stand pose. She informed us, "I'm so in love with this position. Really. For asana study it's one of the glamorous ones." Unfortunately it's not a glamorous one for me. For some weird reason, I'm the only person in my training who can't gracefully roll herself up into shoulder stand. Everyone else just pushes off the floor with ease, and I have two legs wildly bicycling to get my bum off the ground. Today we focused on inversions, alignment cues, and how to do hands on adjustments. 

 

 

J drinking in the beautiful view and sunny weather

L being Marita's model and getting adjusted in halasana (plough pose)

 

My turn to be the model as Marita demonstrates how to adjust someone in headstand

 Sad that it's our last night in the studio with this exceptional yoga teacher... but L, A, J, and I have plans to meet her and Becca on Saturday night for cocktails to celebrate our graduation! Marita is beside me in this picture.

 

And it's off to bed for me. L and I both had massages tonight (three weeks of intensive yoga can do a number on your body) and we have a big day tomorrow--exam and graduation! Excited to be a certified yoga teacher, but so sad for this amazing experience to draw to a close.... One more great thing happened today though... Erin Motz, the "bad yogi", favourited my tweet about last night's blog post! Kind of a big deal!