Sunday, October 11, 2009

What happens in Greece stays in Greece???

10-4 GREECE!!

"We left for Greece Thursday morning at 5am and it is Sunday night when the first opportunity arose to journal. That is HOW INCREDIBLE everything has been. I will try and briefly backtrack and hit all the high points.

Thursday was a wash, with an 11hr bus ride, not enough bathroom stops, and seats that could have been more comfortable. We drove along the coast of Italy and it was weird to take stops and see Italian everywhere!

At 6pm we finally made it to our cruise takeoff point, Ancona to board our cruise ship, the Superfast. My first time on a ship overnight J It was only one night, literally less than 24hrs… boarded at 6pm, arrived the next day at 4pm. It was a blast! The four of us had a room together, probably the size of, well let me try and do it in feet, 12x8???? MAYBE. Two beds folded out from the walls and when we got there I just started laughing… it’s all about the experience, yeah? Haha.

The girls and I did our best to shower and look half way decent before going up on deck to the discoteca, but a full day of traveling can wear a girl out. Regardlesss, we rallied and danced the night away, it was soooo much fun J I swear cabin fever hit when the drinking started…

We got off the ship and all of the craziness that went with it and headed for Olympia. We only spent one night in this (tiny!) town, and that night in the hotel is where we had our “Welcome to Greece” dinner. This little Greek lady served us the biggest feast I’ve ever had, meats and cheeses, spagetti, pork & potatoes, greek salad, we literally rolled out of there.

We didn’t stay in Olympia for long, we walked around the Ruins the next day and toured a really interesting sculpture museum. We were on our way to see where they held the Olympic races when it started pouring. It was sprinkling all day so people had jackets but I don’t mean “raining” I mean, there was our group standing in an open field full of ruins and there was a waterfall directly above us about ready to TAKE US OUT. It was a Monsoon (and I feel entitled to this word since I live in Washington, not Southern California, and have actually seen rain before.) In less than ten minutes we were all soaked. Drenched. To the point where when our bus driver saw us he wouldn’t let us back on so we had to get all of our luggage back out from under the bus and change. I was wearing leggings and they went from “kinda tight and comfy” to “skin tight, I need help pulling these off me.” If going abroad isn’t for stories like these I don’t know what is…

Next stop was Nafplion, where I am now. This is the beachy town we’re visiting, and its reputation has definitely not disappointed! Oh my. Last night was our first night here, (first of three) and it was C R A Z Y. That night we were hanging out in the hotel before going out, waiting patiently by our phones to find out we took into our sisterhood this semester…

11 NEW BEAUTIFUL AMAZING BABIES!!!!!! To say we were excited… ahhhhh we were bouncing off walls so happy and freaking out and trying to call people. Any of our sisters reading this… we miss you from thousands of miles away and are thinking of you always

♥ and to my big, who I am so proud of. I only wish I was there to watch you absolutely glow. I love you.

After our celebration we hit the bar scene. Literally. We danced and sang and declared our love for Greece… and it was then that I realized how much you can miss if you anything but blink. Keeping my eyes open, breathing deep, and enjoying it; no one can ask me to do more."


10-5 Third night in Nafplion

"We definitely left a mark on this city. Last night we took to conquering not only land but sea, and went skinny dipping!!!! The water was amazing, I would usually be skeptical of swimming in the dark water past midnight but we were feeling good (ha) so not a problem.

Today we went and saw the Greek Amphitheatre. So peaceful, serene, and humbling. Just like Eva said, it was very theraputic and reflective. You could just sit and hear nothing but the nature around you. In this chaotic world we live in, I think we forget to realize how powerful silence is. It does something that no other feeling can. We toured some ruins after that and then bused up to the amazing fortress on the hill for a view that is unlike anything I’d ever seen & took way too many pictures!

I think I’m doing better on getting a handle on this whole homesick thing. The idea more so that anything is what gets me all worked up. It’s October, one month officially under our belts. The month feels like a year with how much we’ve already done, seen, learned. One month here and we’ve already visited four countries, been on a cruise, and can slightly get by with our ever expanding German vocabulary. Alyssa told me the most important thing anyone ever told her while abroad was not to miss home too much, because when you’re home you’ll miss Salzburg. I understand and appreciate that but it is easier said than done.

Last night LJ, Holly, and I had an amazing dinner date right on the water. It was seriously out of a movie. We were close to the only people in the restaurant and loved it. It is so nice to be able to order wine at dinner, something I will definitely miss when I get home and have four months to wait till my 21st. We order 2 ½ liters of wine and ate delicious salads and chicken and had the BEST time. It was so relaxing, the three of us had the such a fun time, talked about boys, moms, missed ones, school, delta. (I’m getting more and more excited about the idea of taking a little in the spring… I’m such a mommy with no baby L)"

10-8 ATHENS

"Well Athens was an adventure, and unlike Nafplion, two nights and three days was plenty!! I didn’t know if I would love Athens because it is a huge city and further inland than the gorgeous beach town we just left days ago. But I really, really liked it! We stayed at a very nice hotel, went to restaurant for dinner where we got wine and dessert on the house (pays to be cute American girls, yeah??) haha… and we did enough sightseeing to write a book about. The tour of the Acropolis was unlike anything I’ve ever done. Its literally a city in the center of Athens, raised hundreds of meters high so you can see it even if you’re a mile outside the city. The tours are long, yes, but when I catch myself thinking about how I would rather have slept an extra hour, I try and remember why we are all here. There is so much to learn here, and of course I might rather be souvenir shopping around the streets than listen to Jim babble about Socrates, but I wouldn’t want to do Greece any other way.


Since the city is SO intense, when it comes to night life, 30 college students + a dirty, unfamiliar city, + too many people = hard to plan/get anything done. But I guess this equation just adds to the priceless stories that make a trip all the more worth it...♥"

10-10 Superfast Round 2 (utoh…)

"On the Superfast headed back to Italy where our charter bus is waiting to take us back home. I miss Salzburg!!!! Our cute, clean, little town that we have been away from for too long. Delphi was really fun, very small similar to our first stop in Olympia.

We ended up getting the majority of our group rallied and to a nearby discoteca. It was literally like 100 meters from our hotel. We were all SO exhausted (this being our 8th on the road) and I was tempted to call it a night and boycott going out all together but you cant really sit in a hotel room IN GREECE while your friends are at a discotec. So we all danced the night away… once again. When in Greece, right???

We rallied on the Superfast too, you have to go out hard when its your last night in Greece. It was more mellow then Superfast Round 1 but still a little crazy."

~~~~~~~~

"Greece was way crazier than I ever could imagine. Too many funny stories, inside jokes, hilarious “I can’t believe this is happening” moments. I am so happy to be heading back but at the same time Greece was just too amazing to let go of. Our group got tons closer, I consider even some of the beta’s and theta’s friends now.

♥We drank too much, always forgot our maps, indulged in the food, and let loose.

♥We forgot our hotel room numbers, ate meals that consisted of pecans, gummy bears, and Sour Cream and Onion Pringles out of our backpacks, and every morning woke up with a new bruise we couldn’t explain.

♥We went sovenir shopping crazy, were 9 times out of 10 hung over on every morning tour, and got countless noise complaints from other hotels guests.

♥We saw so much, took pictures I will look at forever, and without a doubt had the time of our lives."

~Cheers to Greece… I couldn’t have asked for more.

1 comment:

Anna Min said...

That is soo funny! I took the superfast ferry too from Greece to Italy :) BUT unlike you, we didnt know we had to get a cabin so u try sleeping on there without an actual bed. Its LOVELY. lol But its wierd to see you doing all this stuff i did haha we can def have tons to talk about once u get home! :) I miss you!!