| July 31st, 2010 | 4507No Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2010/07/31/how-to-discover-dublins-top-sights-for-free/How+to+Discover+Dublin%27s+Top+Sights+for+FREE%212010-07-31+06%3A00%3A30Ryan | Ireland, Travel, Travel Tips

When I first read about the free walking tours that SANDEMANs NewEurope offers, I was a little apprehensive.

My first thought was “How good could a FREE tour actually be?”. It was just one of those offers that simply sounded too good to be true. To our surprise, the SANDEMANs New Dublin tour was worth every minute of the almost four hours that we spent scouring through some of Dublin’s most famous sights.

Where it Starts:

Between Dublin Castle and City Hall on Dame Street [Map]. Just be sure to look out for the tour guides in the RED shirts.

Meeting Times:

11AM and 1PM

What you’ll see:

Dublin Castle, Dubh Linn, Dublin’s Medieval Walls, Viking Remains, Norman Dublin, Georgian Dublin, Christ Church Cathedral, Adam and Eve Church, The National Library, Famous Writers, Temple Bar, U2- Origins of the rock legend, Ha’Penny Bridge, Spire of Dublin, City Hall, Trinity College, Leinster House, Chester Beatty Library, St. Stephen’s Green, 1916 Easter Rising and more!

Cost:

FREE! Although, if you truly enjoyed this tour (which I guarantee you will), then be sure to tip your guide what ever you can afford to. These guides rely on their tips. In our personal experience, our guide was excellent and we loved the fact that he intertwined humor into the tour which made the history a bit more interesting.

The SANDEMANs New Dublin Tour is described as “A FREE 3 hour tour we wind down the quiet streets and bound through bustling boulevards, uncovering the hidden sites as well as the famous ones.” and in my opinion, it was that and more!

| July 27th, 2010 | 45372 Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2010/07/27/7-great-things-to-see-and-do-while-in-dublin/7+Great+Things+to+See+and+Do+While+in+Dublin2010-07-27+06%3A00%3A39Ryan | Ireland, Travel, Travel Tips

| July 24th, 2010 | 45107 Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2010/07/24/the-top-15-photos-from-our-travels-to-greece/The+Top+15+Photos+from+our+Travels+to+Greece%212010-07-24+06%3A00%3A27Ryan | Greece, Photography, Travel

1. The Incredible Sunsets of Santorini, Greece.

2. Liz & I sitting on the white volcanic cliffs of Sarakiniko Beach on the island of Milos.

3. Taking a pitstop along the southern coast of Santorini.

4. “The Pigeon Girl” out front of the Parliament Building in Athens. (more…)

| July 20th, 2010 | 447111 Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2010/07/20/15-tips-for-a-successful-trip-to-egypt/15+Tips+for+a+Successful+trip+to+Egypt2010-07-20+21%3A26%3A12Ryan | Egypt, Travel, Travel Tips

1. Always ask for the bill after your finished eating at a sit down restaurant. If you don’t ask, you’ll never get it and you’ll waste your day waiting to pay for your meal.

2. Learn how to haggle. Egypt is all about haggling, whether it’s for a water at the corner store, a souvenir at the market, or a non-metered taxi fare. We even haggled for the price of our hotel room in Dahab. Seriously, everything is negotiable!

3. BYOTP! (Bring Your Own Toilet Paper). You’ll be hard pressed to find toilet paper in most restrooms in Egypt. The toilets here have a built in bidet spray nozzle so if you don’t have toilet paper with you, prepare to walk out of the bathroom with a wet or dirty behind.

4. Accept that you’re a foreigner an you will be stared at all day, every day. Literally.

5. Be careful who you trust. You should be able to figure out who is genuine and whose not after the first two minutes of conversation. If the person starts mentioning “baksheesh”, tell them “shukran” (thank you) and simply walk away. (more…)

| July 16th, 2010 | 439415 Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2010/07/16/the-top-15-photos-from-our-travels-to-egypt/The+Top+15+Photos+from+our+Travels+to+Egypt%212010-07-16+11%3A30%3A26Ryan | Egypt, Photography, Travel

1. Waves crashing on my friend Crumb in Alexandria, Egypt.

2. The Alexandria Library (Bibliotheca Alexandrina)

3. Just another day on Egyptian Public Transportation.

4. Mmm, Egyptian Tea! (more…)

| July 14th, 2010 | 43742 Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2010/07/14/milos-an-island-with-more-than-70-beaches/Milos%2C+an+island+with+more+than+70+Beaches%212010-07-14+21%3A40%3A07Ryan | Greece, Travel

Believe it or not, the island of Milos has more than 70 beaches! Yes, 70! It’s hard to believe considering the island measures only 14 miles from East to West and 8 miles from North to South.

The four of us decided to rent a car or the day and split the cost which made it very affordable at 35 Euro/day. Minutes after Nick signed his life away, we were on our way to see only three of the seventy plus beaches that saturate the quiet island of Milos.

Our first stop was one of Milos’ most famous beaches, Sarakiniko. When we arrived we realized exactly why it was one of the best beaches on the island.

Sarakiniko

Sarakiniko beach is the most photographed landscape in the Aegean Sea. This isn’t your typical beach back at home. Sarakiniko is made up of bright white volcanic rock that takes its form from being cut, and carved by the wind and the waves of the sea. There are many caves that line the edge of the sea and there is even a small natural bridge that can be crossed.

If you’re an adrenaline seeker, there are many cliff jumping opportunities here! As usual, make sure you swim out to the spot first to find out what the depth is before jumping!

Pahena

Pahena is a less known beach on the north side of the island located just down the street from the town of Pollonia. We originally had planned on visiting Papafragas but we ended up parking ourselves at Pahena for a few hours after we saw how nice of a beach it was. Plus, the waves were crashing and I couldn’t wait to go for a swim!

Pahena was a sandy beach with some big waves. Nick and I must have spent an hour or two riding the waves, and just enjoying swimming at this beautiful secluded beach as the girls laid out in the sun. There were only seven people on the beach at the time when we were there, including us four!

Paleochori

This cliff side beach was much different than any other beach that we had visited that morning. This beach seemed as if it was more suited for families. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t as secluded and private as the other beaches we had visited. I like to visit beaches that don’t offer sun chairs, and beaches that aren’t so commercialized. I’d rather find a gem of a beach hidden behind some cliffs. For families and tourists, Paleochori beach might be your best bet. There were umbrellas and sun chairs to rent here, and even cliff side cafes that offered full menus.

No matter where you go in Milos, you’ll surely run into a beach. I would highly recommend this island if you’re looking for a lesser known Greek island with an assortment of beaches. Since the island isn’t so “popular”, it doesn’t get half the tourism that Santorini, Ios, Mykonos, or any other famous Greek island gets which is good in my book.

—

FYI: Renting scooters can be an issue here if you do not hold a motorcycle license in your respective home country. In Santorini, it’s no problem. No motorcycle license necessary. In Milos, the police have a problem with it and the rental agencies won’t rent to you unless you have a MC license because if you get pulled over it’s not only you that has to pay a fine, the rental agency does too!

If you have 2-4 people and you’d rather enjoy your day in a rental car, you can do so for around 35-45 Euro. Shop around, there are many places to rent from and the prices vary. The first shop we went to offered us a car for 45 Euro/day. The second shop which was 100 yards down the road offered us a car for 35 Euro/day. Deal!

| July 11th, 2010 | 43499 Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2010/07/11/how-to-visit-the-greek-islands-on-the-cheap/How+to+visit+the+Greek+Islands+on+the+Cheap2010-07-11+12%3A10%3A34Ryan | Greece, Travel, Travel Tips

Everyone wants to visit the Greek Islands at some point in their lives, right? I mean, how could you resist the famous sunsets of Santorini, the beautiful beaches of the somewhat undiscovered island of Milos, or the all night parties on Ios, and more.

Getting to Greece

As far as getting to Greece itself, I cannot give you too much advice other than to keep an eye out on Kayak.com in order to try to find a decent flight from your country to Greece. They’re generally pretty expensive if you’re traveling from outside of Europe. For us, we flew from Cairo to Athens for a mere $145 USD including all taxes and fees. You can actually find cheaper flights to Athens from Cairo from time to time.

Another idea would be to find a cheap flight to somewhere in Europe or Northern Africa (Egypt) like we did and then find a budget airline from that flies from there to Greece. If you have the time to layover for a few hours in between switching flights it can definitely save you a lot of money rather than going direct to your destination. As for finding budget airline carriers, check out this website called WhichBudget.

Getting to the Islands

It’s very easy to travel to the Greek islands from Athens. The main port in Athens is called Piraeus and is easily accessed by Metro/Train from almost anywhere in the city. The metro and trains are very efficient in Athens and they run from 6AM to 12AM which is pretty convenient if you ask me!

You can book your tickets for the island of your choice by going down to one of the many ticket offices at the port of Piraeus. The most popular lines are Megajet, Blue Star, Anek, and a few others. Figure out where you want to go and what the ferry timetables are by going to (Greekferries.gr).

Once you figure out where you want to go and which ferry company you will need to take then either head down to the the port of Piraeus to purchase your tickets, or make it easier on yourself and purchase them online at your ferries official website. If you purchase online, you will receive a booking reservation number which you will have to provide at the ticket office before boarding your ferry. You’ll also receive your hard copy tickets at the ticket office on check-in.

FYI: Ferry Prices from Piraeus (Athens) to Santorini: 34 Euro. Prices vary when you travel from island to island. For example we paid 16.50 Euro for our ferry from Santorini to Milos. (more…)

| July 10th, 2010 | 43236 Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2010/07/10/wheeling-and-dealing-in-santorini/Wheeling+and+Dealing+in+Santorini2010-07-10+06%3A20%3A19Ryan | Greece, Travel

We pull up to the port of Santorini with no reservations. We’re hoping that we’ll find a better deal on accommodations by simply just showing up at the port and haggling a little bit with the hundreds of hotel and apartment owners. As we step off of the ferry we’re bombarded by these hotel hawkers yelling at us asking “Where do you want to stay?”. “Fira, Oia, Perissa”, they call out excitedly.

I step up to talk to a guy trying to advertise his hotel in the capital of Fira. He explains that his hotel is just two streets back from the famous “caldera” view. “Only 40 Euro per person” he says. I tell him to take a hike and all of a sudden a man steps into our circle and says “Why not try Perissa?”. I take a quick look at his brochure and after talking with him for a few minutes I feel that he’s somewhat trustworthy so we decide to spend the night at his place which is supposedly a two minute walk from the black volcanic sand beach known as “Perissa Beach”. I’m also thinking that we’ll check out the rooms first and get the free ride from the port to Perissa. If we don’t like the rooms, we walk down the road and find something else! (more…)