I've been staring at a picture of Santorini that I have on my wall for the past hour because I can't sleep. The stone white walls against the deep, clear blue water. If I close my eyes and try hard enough, I can still feel myself riding our donkey's up the steps to reach Oia. The warm sun against my back and the smell of clean air and water. I can remember walking through the little alley ways filled with boutiques and cafes. I remember sitting at Cafe Kastro, and wishing that that day would never end. That I wouldn't have to go home at some point. I felt so safe and so serene, like nothing else was relevant. It's times like these, when I have a quiet moment to think, whether it's right before bed or right when I wake up and I can't quite distinguish dream from reality yet, that I miss Greece the most. It's not even the island life or the adventures or the traveling. It's the little things. I miss walking into my apartment and seeing the warm afternoon sun shining in from the balcony onto my bed or just chatting with my roommates as we lay in our beds. I even miss sitting on my balcony desperately trying to steal internet while the elementary school kids from across to street try to play juvenile tricks on me. I can still remember all these things vividly, from walking into Arcadia and seeing Petros, Maria, Jenny, Joanna, and Jan to everyone's apartment and the distinct smell each place has. I feel like these memories are more vivid now than they were when I first came back. I feel a pang of sadness and a knot tightens in my stomach every time I remember. Maybe it's because I've had time to digest and reflect. But I'm afraid that one day I'll forget. I feel like I'm desperately trying to grasp onto something that I know is slipping away, no matter how hard I try. Greek words that used to roll right off my tongue are now lost somewhere in my unconsciousness.
I feel like there's a void that's been in me since I left Greece and I still don't quite know how to completely fill it.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Home after an amazing 4 months
It was weird coming home, I didn't realize how much I had missed it until I pulled up into my drive way, went into my house and laid down on my bed in my own room. To be honest, I had been dreading going home for the past 3 weeks because coming home would mean leaving Greece and the life and all the friends I had made in the past 4 months. I realized just how short 16 weeks were and how close we had all become amidst being in a foreign country, traveling, living together and growing together. Some of the friends I made this past semester are some of the closest people I know now. It was just so heartbreaking seeing all of that come to an end. Being back at home now, it almost feels as if Greece never happened. We're not all living in apartments a few blocks away from eachother. I don't just walk over when I'm bored or go to the fruit market on Tuesdays and Fridays. No more traveling on the weekends or going out to Psyrri. No more bakerys or gyro stands. Leaving Greece and saying bye to everyone was one of the hardest things I've had to do I think. Looking back now, I have no idea what I was so scared about about going abroad. It opened my eyes to so many things and gave me an experience I wouldn't trade for anything.
I've been back at home for about 3 weeks now, and it's still hard to think about Greece and the memories because it makes me smile and yet sad because it's over. On the plane ride back, thinking about everyone and knowing that we wouldn't all be together again, or at least for a very long time made me nauseous and just want to disappear. Even now, I wish we could all just be back in Greece and have a little more time together. But then I realized, that I shouldn't be moping or sulking. What I experienced was amazing and once in a life time. If i hadn't gone abroad I never would have met these wonderful people and wouldn't have had the adventures I went on. One of the hardest things that I had to deal with was growing apart with my friends. It's as if one second we were in our own little world, and the next we're back in reality and in our homes spread out across the country. But I know that regardless of where we are or how much time passes, we'll always share those 4 months of experiences that no amount of distance or time can erase. That's what makes me smile. Barcelona, Spring Break, the islands, I'll never forget Greece. Making sangria on Sangria Friday's, and cooking family din before going out for a night of fun in Psyrri and going home at an ungodly hour as the sun was rising. It's always going to be a part of me and I'll always miss it on some level. What we had was special because never again will we be able to experience what we had at that time. Who knows what's still in store for me in the future. This is just the beginning of a lifetime of adventures. I'll take these experiences with me and grow from them.
I've been back at home for about 3 weeks now, and it's still hard to think about Greece and the memories because it makes me smile and yet sad because it's over. On the plane ride back, thinking about everyone and knowing that we wouldn't all be together again, or at least for a very long time made me nauseous and just want to disappear. Even now, I wish we could all just be back in Greece and have a little more time together. But then I realized, that I shouldn't be moping or sulking. What I experienced was amazing and once in a life time. If i hadn't gone abroad I never would have met these wonderful people and wouldn't have had the adventures I went on. One of the hardest things that I had to deal with was growing apart with my friends. It's as if one second we were in our own little world, and the next we're back in reality and in our homes spread out across the country. But I know that regardless of where we are or how much time passes, we'll always share those 4 months of experiences that no amount of distance or time can erase. That's what makes me smile. Barcelona, Spring Break, the islands, I'll never forget Greece. Making sangria on Sangria Friday's, and cooking family din before going out for a night of fun in Psyrri and going home at an ungodly hour as the sun was rising. It's always going to be a part of me and I'll always miss it on some level. What we had was special because never again will we be able to experience what we had at that time. Who knows what's still in store for me in the future. This is just the beginning of a lifetime of adventures. I'll take these experiences with me and grow from them.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Spring Break and other thoughts
Spring Break was a WHIRLWIND. It was completely just unreal and beautiful and amazing. We spent 9 days on 3 different islands and soaked up a lot of sun.
MILOS
We went there first for 4 days and this place was just gorgeous. I didn't have any expectations for Milos because it was small and not as popular as some of the other Cyclades. All the hotels were white with blue shutters and we had our own little suite with a balcony. They SAID their hotel was 90m from the port and the water...they lied. We later find out that all of our hotels lied haha ESPECIALLY the one in santorini. So we rented a little car and drove around the island exploring different beaches and caves. The island was tiny and you could go from coast to coast in 15 minutes. The water was incredible! It was so clear and blue and you could go swimming because the water was pretty calm and you could still see your toes eve when you were waist deep in the water. We went to this one beach and the water was literally turquoise. I feel so lucky to have been to these places. The weather was great, the sand was fine, and there was no one else on the beach except us 4. The last night Jess and I went to Plaka and climbed to the church on the highest hilltop to watch the sunset. It was soo windy but so beautiful. The view was breathtaking.
Paros
Paros was a bit of a disappointment. I mean, we didn't do much because the weather wasn't too good the first da we were there. We took a bus through the island and ended up in Golden Beach. One of the beachside restaurants reoepened for the first day for the season and their patio area was right on the sand and we relaxed in the evening sun eating a Greek Salad with some Giant Beans.
Santorini
Santorini was beautiful. Of course. Our ferry there got delayed so we didn't get in until late Friday afternoon. First impression: wow there are alot of cliffs and windy roads you have to drive to get to the top of that cliff. We made it to our hotel, which was on Perissa beach (the opposite side of the island from where the port was). Right outside our hotel was the black sand of the beach with little umbrella huts. We signed up for a boat tour for the next day. I also had the best dinner that night! We made friends with the restaurant owners (a couple by the name of Liza and Kosta). We practiced our Greek with them and they were all very impressed haha. Liza is actually an American who met Kosta and they dated and did the long distance relationship over the phone while she learned Greek over audio cassettes. Eventually she moved to Grece I guess and they opened up their restaurant NTOMATINI. We had the best zucchini rissoles (fried zucchini deliciousness) and pasta.
The next day we got up to take our boat tour. We rode a traditional sailboat to the volcano and we hiked up that. It was pretty cool seeing as how this volcano sand half of the island when it erupted thousands of years ago. This is also the place that the lost city of Atlantis is said to be. We spend about an hour on the volcano, got back on the boat and went to the hot springs by the volcano! They were NOT hot. The boat couldn't get too close to the hot springs because there were too many rocks in the shallow water by the shore so we had to jump off the boat and swim to the springs. It was a COLD jump and the water wasn't too warm (who knows why) but it's supposed to get pretty hot in the summer. The water was orange from all the sulfur from the volcano. The swim back to the boat was pretty bad because the water felt so cold in contrast to the warm water from the springs. We climbed back aboard and sailed to Fira, this old little town with traditional houses. We climbed up a huge cliff of just switchback roads and enjoyed a light lunch at a cafe built right at the edge of the cliff overlooking the water. On our way day me Jess and Bella almost got trampled to death by donkeys. They have donkeys that you can ride up and they were coming back down and their owners couldn't control them and we could hear them running down the path getting faster and closer so we ran down that path in about 5 minutes. The same path that took us about 20 minutes to climb up. After Fira we sailed to Oia to watch the sunset. This time we took donkeys up and dear god I thought I was going to die. After I got on my donkey, he just decided to take off and not wait for the others. It was so scary at first because I thought I was going to fall off as he made his way up the stairs of the cliff. The only image in my head was of Lena falling off her donkey in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I could feel tears forming in my eyes from sheer terror. He was walking so close to the edge too I thought he was suicidal. Then bella's donkey walked along side me and my donkey was a little guy and bella's was bigger and mine just kept trying to race with bella's up the hill. It was scary at first but pretty cool. the beginning was harder because it was a lot steeper so the donkeys had to work harder. I feel really bad for them because they get treated so badly and I would hate to have to carry people up and down the same cliff everyday for the rest of my life. We found a nice little restaurant that overlooked the water to ready ourselves for the sunset. Oia was simply breathtaking. It's everything I ever imagined it to be. The stark white houses contrasted against the blue shudders and domes and blue blue water. I thought I was dreaming. The sunset was gorgeous. The orange and pink that the sun reflected into the sky and off the white houses. It is something I will never forget.
We made it home Sunday night after 7 hours on a ferry. And now I'm sitting back at school typing this. There are only 3 weeks left in this program and it felt like just yesterday that I was panicking about coming here and leaving home for so long. I've grown to love Athens and Greece and just the Greek culture, but I think when the time comes I will be ready to come home to the good ole US of A. It's hard because I want to go home to see my parents and friends but I don't want to leave Athens because I don't know when I will come back again and even if I do it won't be the same. I feel like another chapter in my life is closing. I've had the great chance to meet a group of wonderful people that are now some really close friends, that I otherwise probably would not have met.
I'm ready to go home, but I am definitely going to enjoy and make the most of my last 3 weeks here. Appreciate the city and stay in Athens for the weekend and not travel anywhere.
MILOS
We went there first for 4 days and this place was just gorgeous. I didn't have any expectations for Milos because it was small and not as popular as some of the other Cyclades. All the hotels were white with blue shutters and we had our own little suite with a balcony. They SAID their hotel was 90m from the port and the water...they lied. We later find out that all of our hotels lied haha ESPECIALLY the one in santorini. So we rented a little car and drove around the island exploring different beaches and caves. The island was tiny and you could go from coast to coast in 15 minutes. The water was incredible! It was so clear and blue and you could go swimming because the water was pretty calm and you could still see your toes eve when you were waist deep in the water. We went to this one beach and the water was literally turquoise. I feel so lucky to have been to these places. The weather was great, the sand was fine, and there was no one else on the beach except us 4. The last night Jess and I went to Plaka and climbed to the church on the highest hilltop to watch the sunset. It was soo windy but so beautiful. The view was breathtaking.
Paros
Paros was a bit of a disappointment. I mean, we didn't do much because the weather wasn't too good the first da we were there. We took a bus through the island and ended up in Golden Beach. One of the beachside restaurants reoepened for the first day for the season and their patio area was right on the sand and we relaxed in the evening sun eating a Greek Salad with some Giant Beans.
Santorini
Santorini was beautiful. Of course. Our ferry there got delayed so we didn't get in until late Friday afternoon. First impression: wow there are alot of cliffs and windy roads you have to drive to get to the top of that cliff. We made it to our hotel, which was on Perissa beach (the opposite side of the island from where the port was). Right outside our hotel was the black sand of the beach with little umbrella huts. We signed up for a boat tour for the next day. I also had the best dinner that night! We made friends with the restaurant owners (a couple by the name of Liza and Kosta). We practiced our Greek with them and they were all very impressed haha. Liza is actually an American who met Kosta and they dated and did the long distance relationship over the phone while she learned Greek over audio cassettes. Eventually she moved to Grece I guess and they opened up their restaurant NTOMATINI. We had the best zucchini rissoles (fried zucchini deliciousness) and pasta.
The next day we got up to take our boat tour. We rode a traditional sailboat to the volcano and we hiked up that. It was pretty cool seeing as how this volcano sand half of the island when it erupted thousands of years ago. This is also the place that the lost city of Atlantis is said to be. We spend about an hour on the volcano, got back on the boat and went to the hot springs by the volcano! They were NOT hot. The boat couldn't get too close to the hot springs because there were too many rocks in the shallow water by the shore so we had to jump off the boat and swim to the springs. It was a COLD jump and the water wasn't too warm (who knows why) but it's supposed to get pretty hot in the summer. The water was orange from all the sulfur from the volcano. The swim back to the boat was pretty bad because the water felt so cold in contrast to the warm water from the springs. We climbed back aboard and sailed to Fira, this old little town with traditional houses. We climbed up a huge cliff of just switchback roads and enjoyed a light lunch at a cafe built right at the edge of the cliff overlooking the water. On our way day me Jess and Bella almost got trampled to death by donkeys. They have donkeys that you can ride up and they were coming back down and their owners couldn't control them and we could hear them running down the path getting faster and closer so we ran down that path in about 5 minutes. The same path that took us about 20 minutes to climb up. After Fira we sailed to Oia to watch the sunset. This time we took donkeys up and dear god I thought I was going to die. After I got on my donkey, he just decided to take off and not wait for the others. It was so scary at first because I thought I was going to fall off as he made his way up the stairs of the cliff. The only image in my head was of Lena falling off her donkey in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I could feel tears forming in my eyes from sheer terror. He was walking so close to the edge too I thought he was suicidal. Then bella's donkey walked along side me and my donkey was a little guy and bella's was bigger and mine just kept trying to race with bella's up the hill. It was scary at first but pretty cool. the beginning was harder because it was a lot steeper so the donkeys had to work harder. I feel really bad for them because they get treated so badly and I would hate to have to carry people up and down the same cliff everyday for the rest of my life. We found a nice little restaurant that overlooked the water to ready ourselves for the sunset. Oia was simply breathtaking. It's everything I ever imagined it to be. The stark white houses contrasted against the blue shudders and domes and blue blue water. I thought I was dreaming. The sunset was gorgeous. The orange and pink that the sun reflected into the sky and off the white houses. It is something I will never forget.
We made it home Sunday night after 7 hours on a ferry. And now I'm sitting back at school typing this. There are only 3 weeks left in this program and it felt like just yesterday that I was panicking about coming here and leaving home for so long. I've grown to love Athens and Greece and just the Greek culture, but I think when the time comes I will be ready to come home to the good ole US of A. It's hard because I want to go home to see my parents and friends but I don't want to leave Athens because I don't know when I will come back again and even if I do it won't be the same. I feel like another chapter in my life is closing. I've had the great chance to meet a group of wonderful people that are now some really close friends, that I otherwise probably would not have met.
I'm ready to go home, but I am definitely going to enjoy and make the most of my last 3 weeks here. Appreciate the city and stay in Athens for the weekend and not travel anywhere.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Fuimos a Espana
Wednesday
Our flight leaves Athens at 3am and we arrive in Barcelona at 6:30am. We get there as the sun is rising and the city is just beautiful. We take the bus and get off at Placa de Catalunya. The city isn't awake yet so the streets are pretty empty and the air is fresh. And guess what? THE STREETS ARE BIG! and there's actually sidewalks made for people to walk on! So we roam around the streets until we find our hostel Sant Jordi Alberg. We buzz the hostel, but no one answers, so we find this little breakfast place and sit down, dump all of our luggage in this tiny cafe and get us some coffee and breakfast EMPANADAS! :) they're were delicious. So at 8am we try the hostel again and this time someone buzzes us in. So we check in, but our room isn't ready yet, so we store our luggage and then we all just fall asleep on the couches. It was perfect because we took a 4 hour nap and when we woke up it was only noon and our rooms were ready :) We got an 8 bed mixed room so we dominated the room basically. We put down our stuff, put our sheets on our beds and headed out to explore the city! This time, when we walk out, the city is hustling and bustling with people, buses, cars, and mopeds. So we take our map and head out to Passig de Garcia, where we got dropped off by the bus from the airport. This is a main street on Barcelona so we headed back there and started walking toward La Rumbla, which is also a central city with lots of cafes and restaurants. Along the way we found this really good sandwich place called El Mo's and they had the best tuna sandwiches. The spanish are a fan of tuna let me tell ya. So we grab food there and continue on our way toward La Rumbla. When we get there we spot a fruit market! Our favorite! So we go in and this place is just massive. They have the best fresh fruit juice too for only a euro. So we buy a cup of that and we just explore. It's a fruit, meat, and seafood market with random little restaurants in the middle. Our group gets split up while we're in the fresh fruit market, so me, jess, and liz go our own way. We continue down La Rumbla and there's is just so much stuff. There's a block of fresh flowers, then random people selling rabbits, ferrets, chicken, etc. There were also lots of people dressed up as leprachuans..gargoyles, vampires, taking pictures with people.
We decide to head towards the Picasso Museum. It was really cool. It didn't contain a lot of his famous work because this museum was special because it was created when he was still alive. CRAZY! His friend created it for him and he donated a lot of his works to it. That's why there are a bunch of sketches that he made of people and just random doodlings that he did. that was pretty cool because you never really get to see that stuff from artists. We weren't allowed to take pictures though :(
Then we got lost on the process of getting back and we ended up at the arch (i forgot the name of it :(). But it was pretty cool. We basically just explored the city that first day, getting lost and just appreciating the beautiful architecture EVERYWHERE.
Then we finally got back to our hostel and just crashed for another 4 hours.
Thursday
Today we headed to Park Guel, which also had the Gaudi Museum. It was a huge hike. The hill we had to climb to get up was super steep, but it was cool because there were escalators built into 2 sections of the street to transport people up. It was beautiful. This man was a genius. This entire park was composed of mosaics just everywhere. You have to see it to fully appreciate and understand it. It felt like Disneyland, but in a Dr. Seuss world. It was awesome. His house was also there and was changed into a museum. It didn't have much, just showed the different rooms of his house. He was also the first person to customize furniture to a person. Made chairs to fit individual people. Genius.
Then when we left the park, we went to this little figurine museum that people at our hostel said they had gone to. It's basically run by a Spanish war veteran in his garage. It was a little mysterious going into it, but he just had THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS but little figurines. Toy soldiers to pretty much all the disney characters, the simpsons, pirates, indians, cars. He told us a story and was really interactive. There was a firecracker that scared the living daylights out of us too. At the end of the story we each went through an initiation with a flag. It was...pretttyy interesting.
After that museum, we just wandered our way home seeing the city and just where we'd end up.
Friday
WE WENT TO THE BEACH! It was sunny and warm, but really windy so it was actually pretty cold. I started getting sick so I didn't feel too well. I took a nice little nap on the beach :) It felt good. It was also weird though because people would walk around offering people massages. Literally every 5 minutes someone would walk by offering a massage. There were also people selling henna tattoos, beer, etc. It was kind of annoying really. NO, I DONT want a massage. Just leave me alone. But it was a pretty day :) Very relaxing. Jess and I ended up playing some volleyball with these Portugese guys.
Saturday
I think Saturday was my favorite day. We went to the La Sagrada Familia, which is this enormous church designed by none other than Gaudi himself :) I don't have pictures of that right now because I forgot my camera that day..I know retarded but I will be getting them from a friend soon :) It was really cool because there was an exhibit talking about Gaudi and the designs he used to build the church and everything was pretty much modeled after nature from the shapes of the columns used and the intricate designs on the outside of the church. It had a very gothic feel to it. I loved it :) Then we proceeded to get lost some more, had an unsuccessful shopping evening, but it was fun nonetheless :)
Sunday
I pretty much was really sick Saturday night to Sunday. So we checked out of our hostel, got breakfast...then Jess and I went back to the hostel and just vegetated on the couch for the rest of the day. We talked to the Prague kids that were going back to Prague. Then we watched Black Hawk Down (forgot how good that movie was) and made friends with some Aussies. We left the hostel at around 830pm for the airport and didn't get back into Athens until about 4am :( It was pretty tiring.
I was surprised because as much as I liked Barcelona, I started to miss Athens. I liked the beauty and the open space, but I missed the crowded streets of Athens. I missed hearing Greek everywhere and having people be so friendly. I didn't think I was going to miss Athens. I was afraid I was going to miss Barcelona when I got back to Athens, but surprisingly I don't.
But the trip was really fun overall. I also loved the hostel we stayed out. The people were really nice and hospitable and the hostel was very clean overall. They were very accommodating especially the day we got there and the day we were supposed to leave when we didn't have anywhere else to go. First time at a hostel and a very successful one at that :)
Our flight leaves Athens at 3am and we arrive in Barcelona at 6:30am. We get there as the sun is rising and the city is just beautiful. We take the bus and get off at Placa de Catalunya. The city isn't awake yet so the streets are pretty empty and the air is fresh. And guess what? THE STREETS ARE BIG! and there's actually sidewalks made for people to walk on! So we roam around the streets until we find our hostel Sant Jordi Alberg. We buzz the hostel, but no one answers, so we find this little breakfast place and sit down, dump all of our luggage in this tiny cafe and get us some coffee and breakfast EMPANADAS! :) they're were delicious. So at 8am we try the hostel again and this time someone buzzes us in. So we check in, but our room isn't ready yet, so we store our luggage and then we all just fall asleep on the couches. It was perfect because we took a 4 hour nap and when we woke up it was only noon and our rooms were ready :) We got an 8 bed mixed room so we dominated the room basically. We put down our stuff, put our sheets on our beds and headed out to explore the city! This time, when we walk out, the city is hustling and bustling with people, buses, cars, and mopeds. So we take our map and head out to Passig de Garcia, where we got dropped off by the bus from the airport. This is a main street on Barcelona so we headed back there and started walking toward La Rumbla, which is also a central city with lots of cafes and restaurants. Along the way we found this really good sandwich place called El Mo's and they had the best tuna sandwiches. The spanish are a fan of tuna let me tell ya. So we grab food there and continue on our way toward La Rumbla. When we get there we spot a fruit market! Our favorite! So we go in and this place is just massive. They have the best fresh fruit juice too for only a euro. So we buy a cup of that and we just explore. It's a fruit, meat, and seafood market with random little restaurants in the middle. Our group gets split up while we're in the fresh fruit market, so me, jess, and liz go our own way. We continue down La Rumbla and there's is just so much stuff. There's a block of fresh flowers, then random people selling rabbits, ferrets, chicken, etc. There were also lots of people dressed up as leprachuans..gargoyles, vampires, taking pictures with people.
We decide to head towards the Picasso Museum. It was really cool. It didn't contain a lot of his famous work because this museum was special because it was created when he was still alive. CRAZY! His friend created it for him and he donated a lot of his works to it. That's why there are a bunch of sketches that he made of people and just random doodlings that he did. that was pretty cool because you never really get to see that stuff from artists. We weren't allowed to take pictures though :(
Then we got lost on the process of getting back and we ended up at the arch (i forgot the name of it :(). But it was pretty cool. We basically just explored the city that first day, getting lost and just appreciating the beautiful architecture EVERYWHERE.
Then we finally got back to our hostel and just crashed for another 4 hours.
Thursday
Today we headed to Park Guel, which also had the Gaudi Museum. It was a huge hike. The hill we had to climb to get up was super steep, but it was cool because there were escalators built into 2 sections of the street to transport people up. It was beautiful. This man was a genius. This entire park was composed of mosaics just everywhere. You have to see it to fully appreciate and understand it. It felt like Disneyland, but in a Dr. Seuss world. It was awesome. His house was also there and was changed into a museum. It didn't have much, just showed the different rooms of his house. He was also the first person to customize furniture to a person. Made chairs to fit individual people. Genius.
Then when we left the park, we went to this little figurine museum that people at our hostel said they had gone to. It's basically run by a Spanish war veteran in his garage. It was a little mysterious going into it, but he just had THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS but little figurines. Toy soldiers to pretty much all the disney characters, the simpsons, pirates, indians, cars. He told us a story and was really interactive. There was a firecracker that scared the living daylights out of us too. At the end of the story we each went through an initiation with a flag. It was...pretttyy interesting.
After that museum, we just wandered our way home seeing the city and just where we'd end up.
Friday
WE WENT TO THE BEACH! It was sunny and warm, but really windy so it was actually pretty cold. I started getting sick so I didn't feel too well. I took a nice little nap on the beach :) It felt good. It was also weird though because people would walk around offering people massages. Literally every 5 minutes someone would walk by offering a massage. There were also people selling henna tattoos, beer, etc. It was kind of annoying really. NO, I DONT want a massage. Just leave me alone. But it was a pretty day :) Very relaxing. Jess and I ended up playing some volleyball with these Portugese guys.
Saturday
I think Saturday was my favorite day. We went to the La Sagrada Familia, which is this enormous church designed by none other than Gaudi himself :) I don't have pictures of that right now because I forgot my camera that day..I know retarded but I will be getting them from a friend soon :) It was really cool because there was an exhibit talking about Gaudi and the designs he used to build the church and everything was pretty much modeled after nature from the shapes of the columns used and the intricate designs on the outside of the church. It had a very gothic feel to it. I loved it :) Then we proceeded to get lost some more, had an unsuccessful shopping evening, but it was fun nonetheless :)
Sunday
I pretty much was really sick Saturday night to Sunday. So we checked out of our hostel, got breakfast...then Jess and I went back to the hostel and just vegetated on the couch for the rest of the day. We talked to the Prague kids that were going back to Prague. Then we watched Black Hawk Down (forgot how good that movie was) and made friends with some Aussies. We left the hostel at around 830pm for the airport and didn't get back into Athens until about 4am :( It was pretty tiring.
I was surprised because as much as I liked Barcelona, I started to miss Athens. I liked the beauty and the open space, but I missed the crowded streets of Athens. I missed hearing Greek everywhere and having people be so friendly. I didn't think I was going to miss Athens. I was afraid I was going to miss Barcelona when I got back to Athens, but surprisingly I don't.
But the trip was really fun overall. I also loved the hostel we stayed out. The people were really nice and hospitable and the hostel was very clean overall. They were very accommodating especially the day we got there and the day we were supposed to leave when we didn't have anywhere else to go. First time at a hostel and a very successful one at that :)
Monday, March 23, 2009
Bazoukia, Soccer Game
So there's this very popular dish here called Gigantes and they're basically just really big lima beans. They're really yummy so I decided to COOK THEM! I found a recipe online and went to the supermarket and got all the ingredients. I was determined to cook them right and have them be soft. So I soaked the beans over night and alll day until they expanded and got really big. Then, I cooked them for an hour and made this yummy sauce with tomatoes and onions an garlic and then baked the sauce with the beans for an hour. I took them out and I was so excited/nervous because I had made them for Jess and Lizeth too. And they turned out semi hard :( I was so disappointed and sad that night haha. I so wanted them to be well cooked!! and soft and restaurant-like haha. But MY APRENTS COME IN A WEEKS SO I GET TO BE COOKED FOR AGAIN!! :)
Then on Friday, a group of us went to a bazoukia. A bazoukia is like..a sit down club kind of..Well a mini concert. Basically, there are singers who perform the entire time and the rest of the area is covered in tables where you sit down and watch with a drink. The charge is 25 euro per person, and that gives you a table. The closer the table to the stage, the more money it costs. And, these are like well known performers too. There are also girls who walk around with baskets of flower heads that men usually buy and throw at other girls they think are pretty. A basket of flowers will cost like 200 euros. At the end of the night, the girl will casually look to see who threw the flowers at them, and if she doesn't think he's good looking, she will just leave. Of course, these flowers are thrown on stage to the performers too, but how ridiculous is that?! 200 euros!!
Then on Sunday night, I went to my first football game! :) Olympiakos vs. Panionios. These are all club teams and Olympiakos is supposed to be really good. So we went, despite the FREEEZING COLD and ominous storm clouds. Surprisingly it did NOT rain. It drizzled for a bit and everyone huddled under their umbrellas, but the entire game was sOO COLD! we got there an hour and a half early to get seats, so we sat in the cold for an hour before the game even started. Then the teams finally came out and started warming up and fans just started throwing stuff onto the field! Like toilet papers, water bottles, cups, brochures, ANYTHING THEY COULD FIND basically and NO ONE STOPPED THEM! it was so normal to them! The toilet paper was just rolling around on the field as the wind blew. There were ball boys that would occassionally run onto the field during stops to pick up water bottles and stuff but it's so stupid! Why would you interfere with the game and do that?! it's ridiculous. They started chanting things in Greek, and people were holding flares, and flags. It was pretty cool :) The game finally began, it was kind of slow at first. but it picked up. We didn't stay for the entire game, but by the time we left it was 3-2, Olympiakos. By the end of the game, I couldn't feel my feet or hands. I didn't remember how it felt like to be warm! haha oh and I also bought an olympiakos jersey to wear, like later on my own time :) We weren't allowed to wear any colors that would show we supported any of the teams because the fans are very intense and sometimes there are riots after games.
Well that was my weekend, wasn't very productive. I studied on Friday and Saturday because I have 2 midterms tomorrow. Sunday was basically the soccer game. THEN WE'RE LEAVING FOR BARCELONA TUESDAY NIGHT/WEDNESDAY MORNING AT 3AM AND STAYING THERE UNTIL SUNDAY NIGHT!! I'M SOOOOO EXCITED :)
Then on Friday, a group of us went to a bazoukia. A bazoukia is like..a sit down club kind of..Well a mini concert. Basically, there are singers who perform the entire time and the rest of the area is covered in tables where you sit down and watch with a drink. The charge is 25 euro per person, and that gives you a table. The closer the table to the stage, the more money it costs. And, these are like well known performers too. There are also girls who walk around with baskets of flower heads that men usually buy and throw at other girls they think are pretty. A basket of flowers will cost like 200 euros. At the end of the night, the girl will casually look to see who threw the flowers at them, and if she doesn't think he's good looking, she will just leave. Of course, these flowers are thrown on stage to the performers too, but how ridiculous is that?! 200 euros!!
Then on Sunday night, I went to my first football game! :) Olympiakos vs. Panionios. These are all club teams and Olympiakos is supposed to be really good. So we went, despite the FREEEZING COLD and ominous storm clouds. Surprisingly it did NOT rain. It drizzled for a bit and everyone huddled under their umbrellas, but the entire game was sOO COLD! we got there an hour and a half early to get seats, so we sat in the cold for an hour before the game even started. Then the teams finally came out and started warming up and fans just started throwing stuff onto the field! Like toilet papers, water bottles, cups, brochures, ANYTHING THEY COULD FIND basically and NO ONE STOPPED THEM! it was so normal to them! The toilet paper was just rolling around on the field as the wind blew. There were ball boys that would occassionally run onto the field during stops to pick up water bottles and stuff but it's so stupid! Why would you interfere with the game and do that?! it's ridiculous. They started chanting things in Greek, and people were holding flares, and flags. It was pretty cool :) The game finally began, it was kind of slow at first. but it picked up. We didn't stay for the entire game, but by the time we left it was 3-2, Olympiakos. By the end of the game, I couldn't feel my feet or hands. I didn't remember how it felt like to be warm! haha oh and I also bought an olympiakos jersey to wear, like later on my own time :) We weren't allowed to wear any colors that would show we supported any of the teams because the fans are very intense and sometimes there are riots after games.
Well that was my weekend, wasn't very productive. I studied on Friday and Saturday because I have 2 midterms tomorrow. Sunday was basically the soccer game. THEN WE'RE LEAVING FOR BARCELONA TUESDAY NIGHT/WEDNESDAY MORNING AT 3AM AND STAYING THERE UNTIL SUNDAY NIGHT!! I'M SOOOOO EXCITED :)
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Thessaloniki
Alright, I think it's about time to update this thing again. Sorry I haven't been consistent, but things have just been so busy lately. We left for Thessaloniki last Wednesday as a program trip. We rode the train for about 6 hours and finally got to our hotel (Egnatia Hotel, which was actually pretty nice. AWESOME BREAKFAST BAR with the best toasted croissants ever). The next morning, we set out for day one of a tiring weekend that involved us covering the entire city of Thessaloniki on FOOT. We left the hotel at 9am and went to..I don't even know how many museums and churches. They all started blending in together. I couldn't tell you what we saw at what exhibit. I think on the first day we covered the Rotunda (church) and then visited a the house of a Turkish man named Kemal. A Jewish museums...All I know is, during our lunch break, we went to this game cafe where everyone was playing a board game of some time, so we sat and played UNO :) Then during our break time we found this cafe called the Playhouse where they had HUNDREDS of games to choose from. You sit down, order a drink, and you they give you a selection of games to play from. We couldn't play alot of the board games because all the instructions were in Greek :( That actually didn't occur to us at all, so we ended up playing a variation of UNO called SOLO. It was pretty found and we found a few pretty cool bars that played live jazz. Then we did some more walking...and ended up walking like literally 3 miles at 8pm at night to go see this church. We walked to cold temperatures and winds. Then, they just left us at the church and told us to find our own way home and said they'd see us tomorrow morning. So we're standing there...thinking Great we have no idea where we are. I don't think we're even in the city of Thessaloniki anymore..so we all just hailed cabs and rode home. The second day was pretty much the same thing, covering more museums and churches. But I was able to get about an hour nap in that second day :) That was super helpful. I actually can't recall what we did that second night to be honest... Everything is all jumbled together. One of the nights, we went to go eat dinner down this little street that was lined with tavernas. When we walked in, all the owners ran towards us and were pulling us into their restaurants and offering us free wine and dessert. We didn't get up going into any of those. We chose this other taverna that was filled with loud Greek people and looked very traditional. But the moment we walked in, everyone stopped talking, and just stared at us as we walking through the crowded restaurant, up the stairs, then everyone upstairs stared at it. It was awful. The table next to us were watching us like we were animals in a zoo as we ordered and ate our food. Greeks have no problem with staring because they were never taught to not stare or point when they were little like the rest of us are. So obviously you know when they're talking about you because they whisper and stare, but they think that you have no clue. anyway, that was an experience.
The last day, we finally took a BUS! to everywhere. It was an ancient day where we went down to Pella (capital of Macedon) where Alexander the Great was born and where the royal family lived. Then we went to Mieza where Alexander and Hephastion were instructed by Aristotle. This is were we started our presentations for my Alexander the Great class. My presentation took place at the next site at the Tombs of Vergina. My group did the skit of the assassination of Philip II at his daughters wedding. It went well! :) Then we went in and visited the Tomb of Philip the II/Philip the III depending on which historian says what. There was a museum within the tomb that exhibited everything that was found. That was probably the best museum ever because everything was so well preserved. Sad part is, we couldn't take pictures because the entire place was dark. There were only lights within each glass exhibit and pictures weren't allowed. Exhibited were also the entrances to the actual tombs. Then as if that weren't a long enough day, we proceeded to make another bajillion mile hike up to the top of old Thessaloniki to a site a overlooked the city. It was beautiful, but it was FREEZING because by the time we got up there, the sun had gone down and it was just blowing winds everywhere. The thing that got me through was the prospective of Mexican food for dinner :) We ended up taking a cab down from that horrendous mountain and ate MEXICAN FOOD!! we finally found a place. It was pretty good for Greece. Could have used a bit more flavor, but eh it was good enough for me! We had some nachos with guacamole, sour cream, black beans and cheese. Then a chicken quesadilla. AH i can't wait to go home and just eat a big fat chipotle burrito. Oh how I miss big American food portions.
We walked so much that weekend that I don't think I will be able to wear shoes for quiittee a while. It was a fun trip but just way too jam packed. They worked us like machines this weekend and that's apparently because this is the first time the program has planned a trip to Thessaloniki and didn't know how much to do. Well looking at the itinerary was OBVIOUS that it was WAY TOO MUCH! it just turned out unproductive because people were exhausted, didn't pay attention and nothing seemed of importance anymore and we didn't actually enjoy much.
Then I had my first midterm today, which I think it's safe to say that I did pretty well! :) Then I have 2 more next week and then it's MARCH BREAK!! BARCELONA HERE WE COME!! This Sunday we're going to a soccer game: Olympiakos vs...Panthiakos? I have no idea. But I'm going to go buy a soccer jersey so I can repp Olympiakos haha and pretend like I know what I'm doing. We may or may not go to Hdyra this weekend (island) and spend the night Saturday night. all i know is, I want a relaxed weekend, definitely a relaxed Friday after last weekend. I'm still not recovered from that exhausting trip.
But I have to say I did like the city very much. It was laid out very well with big streets and open areas like plazas to walk with trees and stuff. It is also by the water so it was beautiful. It is just lined with restaurants and cafes and bars. There was also a big student population so that was fun.
The last day, we finally took a BUS! to everywhere. It was an ancient day where we went down to Pella (capital of Macedon) where Alexander the Great was born and where the royal family lived. Then we went to Mieza where Alexander and Hephastion were instructed by Aristotle. This is were we started our presentations for my Alexander the Great class. My presentation took place at the next site at the Tombs of Vergina. My group did the skit of the assassination of Philip II at his daughters wedding. It went well! :) Then we went in and visited the Tomb of Philip the II/Philip the III depending on which historian says what. There was a museum within the tomb that exhibited everything that was found. That was probably the best museum ever because everything was so well preserved. Sad part is, we couldn't take pictures because the entire place was dark. There were only lights within each glass exhibit and pictures weren't allowed. Exhibited were also the entrances to the actual tombs. Then as if that weren't a long enough day, we proceeded to make another bajillion mile hike up to the top of old Thessaloniki to a site a overlooked the city. It was beautiful, but it was FREEZING because by the time we got up there, the sun had gone down and it was just blowing winds everywhere. The thing that got me through was the prospective of Mexican food for dinner :) We ended up taking a cab down from that horrendous mountain and ate MEXICAN FOOD!! we finally found a place. It was pretty good for Greece. Could have used a bit more flavor, but eh it was good enough for me! We had some nachos with guacamole, sour cream, black beans and cheese. Then a chicken quesadilla. AH i can't wait to go home and just eat a big fat chipotle burrito. Oh how I miss big American food portions.
We walked so much that weekend that I don't think I will be able to wear shoes for quiittee a while. It was a fun trip but just way too jam packed. They worked us like machines this weekend and that's apparently because this is the first time the program has planned a trip to Thessaloniki and didn't know how much to do. Well looking at the itinerary was OBVIOUS that it was WAY TOO MUCH! it just turned out unproductive because people were exhausted, didn't pay attention and nothing seemed of importance anymore and we didn't actually enjoy much.
Then I had my first midterm today, which I think it's safe to say that I did pretty well! :) Then I have 2 more next week and then it's MARCH BREAK!! BARCELONA HERE WE COME!! This Sunday we're going to a soccer game: Olympiakos vs...Panthiakos? I have no idea. But I'm going to go buy a soccer jersey so I can repp Olympiakos haha and pretend like I know what I'm doing. We may or may not go to Hdyra this weekend (island) and spend the night Saturday night. all i know is, I want a relaxed weekend, definitely a relaxed Friday after last weekend. I'm still not recovered from that exhausting trip.
But I have to say I did like the city very much. It was laid out very well with big streets and open areas like plazas to walk with trees and stuff. It is also by the water so it was beautiful. It is just lined with restaurants and cafes and bars. There was also a big student population so that was fun.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Delphi
So this weekend we set off for Delphi! It was a 3 hour bus ride that passed by pretty quickly. It was 2 naps and a pit stop away :) When we got there it was midday but super foggy, rainy, and windy. Our hotel overlooked the rest of the other mountains and part of the sea but you couldn't see anything because the fog was so thick and low. We napped and explored the city later on that night for a taverna to eat at.
The next morning we walked down and went to the sanctuary where the Temple of Apollo is located. The famous temple that people traveled to consult the oracle for a prophecy. Where Alexander the Great went when they were closed and basically dragged the prophetess out and forced her to give him a prophecy and she finally told him "You're undestructable". We hiked up and around and it was a pretty good morning. It started out raining, but the clouds cleared up pretty soon revealing a clear blue sky. We went up to the stadium where people used to race and also saw an open air theater that people performed in. There was also a museum that exhibited much of what was discovered in the sanctuary. After that, we went to lunch and landed up at this taverna that is apparently one of the best places to eat in Delphi. It had a patio area that overlooked the mountains and sea so we sat there. They had the most delicious food. I had sphagetti bolognese and it was the best I've ever had hands down. It was just so flavorful and the entire restaurant just had a certain appeal and flavor to it. After that we went back to the hotel to catch a nap and then got up and go ready for dinner in a different city right outside of Delphi.
The next morning on our way back, we stopped off at a monastary and overlooked another valley. It was beautiful up there, just sitting on the wall and contemplating life. It's still so surreal sometimes that I'm actually here in Greece visiting all of these monumental sites and ruins. To imagine how people thousands of years ago used to live. To imagine what the sanctuary used to look like, just the grandeur and magnificent archaeological design is mind blowing. People would travel so far to consult the oracle at Delphi and to be able to see the few remnants that are still there is amazing in my mind.
Now I'm back at school and it's going to be a pretty busy couple of days, since we leave for Thessaloniki Wednesday afternoon and will be gone until Sunday evening. Lots of reading and writing to do! Work was going to have to come at some point right? :(
The next morning we walked down and went to the sanctuary where the Temple of Apollo is located. The famous temple that people traveled to consult the oracle for a prophecy. Where Alexander the Great went when they were closed and basically dragged the prophetess out and forced her to give him a prophecy and she finally told him "You're undestructable". We hiked up and around and it was a pretty good morning. It started out raining, but the clouds cleared up pretty soon revealing a clear blue sky. We went up to the stadium where people used to race and also saw an open air theater that people performed in. There was also a museum that exhibited much of what was discovered in the sanctuary. After that, we went to lunch and landed up at this taverna that is apparently one of the best places to eat in Delphi. It had a patio area that overlooked the mountains and sea so we sat there. They had the most delicious food. I had sphagetti bolognese and it was the best I've ever had hands down. It was just so flavorful and the entire restaurant just had a certain appeal and flavor to it. After that we went back to the hotel to catch a nap and then got up and go ready for dinner in a different city right outside of Delphi.
The next morning on our way back, we stopped off at a monastary and overlooked another valley. It was beautiful up there, just sitting on the wall and contemplating life. It's still so surreal sometimes that I'm actually here in Greece visiting all of these monumental sites and ruins. To imagine how people thousands of years ago used to live. To imagine what the sanctuary used to look like, just the grandeur and magnificent archaeological design is mind blowing. People would travel so far to consult the oracle at Delphi and to be able to see the few remnants that are still there is amazing in my mind.
Now I'm back at school and it's going to be a pretty busy couple of days, since we leave for Thessaloniki Wednesday afternoon and will be gone until Sunday evening. Lots of reading and writing to do! Work was going to have to come at some point right? :(
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
