The Grand Tour - Summer 2001

From 1999 to the Spring of 2001, Christos worked at a Toronto based dotcom (ah the days) that built contest websites and accumulated personal information on entrants in order to generate bespoke advertising product targeting these people.

With a little more thought, it could have been facebook before facebook but alas the dotcom bust hit and by the Summer of 2001, Christos was unemployed but with a decent cash payout ... which we promptly used to finance a six week trip across Europe!

We landed in Paris and spent a few days in that fine city before heading to Florence to meet up with Julian and his mom and dad who were all staying at a lovely villa outside the city (complete with an amazing cook and a few other guests).

We spent three or four nights with Julian and his family and it was really quite wonderful. It is hard to compete with Tuscany in the summertime.

Days were spent wandering the city of Florence, visiting museums or just enjoying the city's many sights. It was Lisa's first time in wonderful Florence so of course Il Duomo was a must see as were the other churches tucked away in the historic centre of town.

Evenings were generally spent back at the villa enjoying the amazing food and socializing where a total of about a dozen people were staying; we all dined together but generally we tended to stay with Julian and his 'rents as we knew them best. There were many late night conversations over red wine with the sound of the cicadas filled the warm summer air.

We had a wild night out (June 27th/28th it seems), when we stayed in Florence itself instead of returning to the villa. That evening we partied at a tourist bar until it closed down and then went off with the (local) staff to another bar across the Tiber that stayed open another couple of hours before we stumbled back to our hotel and passed out.

Christos was too unwell to climb Il Duomo the next day (and had done it before in 1995) so it was just Julian and Lisa that made the climb.





After a few days in Florence, it was off to Milan for a night before taking the train to Barcelona to meet up with Alex and Sally.




Barcelona was, of course, a great time. Our days were filled with trips to Gaudi's works (Guell Park, Sagrada familia etc), sandwiches at "Champagne Charlie's", dinners at Los Caracoles and wanderings along the Ramblas!

Champagen Charlie's ( or so we called it) is a tiny hole in the wall "bocadillo" or sandwich shop. It is standing room only and booze is pink cava (only). The sandwiches and small plates are cheap and hearty;a popular and typical sandwich is chorizo with roquefort and braised pepper.

We had many a drunken lunch at Champagne Charlie's and have been back as recently as 2015 (14 years later) to find it still thriving with good food and good cheer.

After a few days we hoisted the anchor and sailed along the Spanish coast to a place called Empuria Brava, a new community on the water geared towards boaties (canals) that reminded us of a Spanish Daytona Beach.

After a few days of sailing the Spanish Coast, we undertook a night crossing from Spain to Marseilles, being underway for an entire day (and night) and arriving in Marseille for Bastille Day which also happened to be Christos' 30th birthday!

Night crossings, while amazing, can be a bit tiring on the crew! The fatigue is worth it for the beautiful sunsets and sunrises one gets at sea ... we also had an amazing experience of sailing beside migrating turtles that at one point surrounded Elifthria in the night.

Once we arrived in Marseille it was time to explore and enjoy! We ate seafood on the quay, bought olive oil soap in large quantities and enjoyed the festive attitude of the city as it prepared for the evening's celebrations. The night did not disappoint with a firework show in the harbour (we had a great view as we were on the boat) and once some of the other yachties discovered that Christos was born on Bastille Day (and spoke passable French) we were invited to an amazing yacht were we shared wine with the French owner.

The next day Lisa and Christos said goodbye to Alex and Sally, took the train to Paris (where Alex's guidance on oysters proved incorrect) and then took the overnight to Berlin. In Berlin we awoke to find Christos' dear friend Ferdinand on the train searching for us! As is his nature, he was of course impeccably dressed with a bow tie and jacket.

We stayed with Ferdinand and another of Christos' friends (Tosh) for about a week in Berlin and had a great time with visits to the museum, the beer garden, the Love Parade and general wanderings.

One night, after an evening at the beer garden, we stumbled about the park and Ferdinand tested the mushrooms. Clearly one had to be there, but at the time it was overwhelmingly hilarious!

After a week in Berlin, we headed off to Amsterdam for a few days. More museums (Van Gogh) as well as "coffee shops" and the Heineken Brewery were visited during our stay in Amsterdam. With more than six weeks having passed, we finally headed home on a flight from Amsterdam laden not only with trinkets and souvenirs but also with memories to last forever.