Paradise Beach Resort?

 After we said our goodbyes to our new friends: Nikos, his friend, and the ants, Jessie and I were looking forward to arriving in Mykonos at the great resort that we booked! As we get off the ferry, we find the van labeled “Paradise” and quickly load our bags and get on. This van was much less personal than the Villa Rena one in Santorini. We recounted the experience, saying we were herded as if we were being taken as slaves or to a concentration camp. We arrived at the resort and were told to line up outside of the lobby; apparently there is limited space in that scarcely furnished, large area referred to as reception. After we were checked in, we had to wait on benches outside of the lobby so that everyone could be informed of the rules at the same time. Then we were led to our rooms. We passed shared bathrooms and an area for camping. Then we came to the beach bungalows, what Jessie and I had rented.

            I was picturing something along the lines of a room with sliding glass doors and linen curtains blowing in the calm, refreshing breeze of the ocean 50 feet from the room. I mean, it isn’t necessarily a bad image when “Paradise Beach Resort’s Beach Bungalow” is stuck in your mind. My mental image was crushed, no, smothered, when the Paradise Nazi pointed to our 6 ½ by 12 ft white box complete with two white beds, a white nightstand, and a mirror.  Our door facing outside was blue, so that is a plus. I think if I were 7 again and this box was up in a tree, I would have thought it was great, ochie… awesome, but I like to think that because I have such a great imagination I was disappointed to say the least. There was a breeze, but it was actually just the constant, heavy, wind that blows through the island all the time. Our curtains were made of chicken wire and mini wooden door.

            After the initial disappointment wore off, our box was quite cozy. Plus because of it’s forgiving dimensions, it kept us outside and that was nice because we were basically on the beach, which made topless tanning very accessible. (Just kidding! There were some nudists but neither Jessie nor I could have been listed under that title. I was unaware of the “nakey” section of the beach until our last day.) Because of the breeze, we tried to stay on the beach as long as possible. I was freezing and tried wrapping myself in this long skirt/dress I had worn for over 48 hours, but it didn’t keep out the wind. The second day was great because the sun was strong and the wind died down a little so we were able to keep warm and get our tan on. The third day was a bit too much for me to handle, the sun wasn’t out and the wind was fierce. We ended up going into town for the day and it was perfect! We got lost on windy cobblestone roads and I had found my picture perfect, blue and white Greece I had been searching for!

            We had a good time in Mykonos. We made some friends who were in our neighboring boxes and we all took the bus in for a night on the town. I am not sure if I have mentioned this before, but people in Greece and especially in Mykonos don’t go out the bars until about eleven or midnight. If you are hardcore, you go out at one in the morning and dance to raging techno until six. Not us! Jess and I took the last bus in at 9:15. We followed everyone to see where the bars were and then we went to eat dinner. After dinner, we found our new hostel friends and danced with them until about 2 and then took a cab back to our “home sweet box”.

            Dinner was at a fancy little restaurant that served both Italian and Greek meals. We opted for pasta because we had been consuming large amounts fried Greek food. The food came fast and we devoured it… well, most of it. I had about 6 pesto covered bow-tie noodles left on my plate when our waiter (who looked like a troll sans the neon orange hair… not sure about the gemmed belly button) came by to clear our table. He looked at me and asked if I had finished and told him that I had. Then he questioningly looked at me and then my plate and again, back at me. Then, he basically told me I was wrong and stood there staring at me. I stared back, laughed, said “okay DAD” and then stabbed the rest of my noodles and put them in my mouth. He laughed and then took our plates. We waited for about 30 minuets for our bill but instead of the bill, we get some type of pine tasting liquor with shot glasses shaped like mini beer steins. Our waiter walked toward his friend, another coworker, puts his hand on his friends back and while rubbing his friends back says, “What is wrong baby?” To which his friend answers, “nothing”. And our waiter almost mocks him and sings back “nothing” to his friend all while shaking his butt.

            I turned my attention back to Jessie and our mini beer steins. Jessie informed me that I made the strangest face. I explained the odd interaction I had just witnessed.  A little while later, our waiter came back and asked if we were ready for the bill. Then he looked at me, “I am not gay. I saw the way you looked at me when I call my friend baby. But I am not gay.” At this point Jessie and I were laughing and I was BEAT red… BUSTED. Another 20 minuets for the bill and then we went out dancing.

            The third day, when we went into town. I am so glad that we did because I feel like I found the Greece I was looking for with winding streets and blue and white everywhere.  We found the cutest café with cushions in shades of pink and purple lining the steps on either side of the entry way with red tables in front of those. (Putchy, this would have been your heaven! I have a few pictures of it for you.) The owner came from Switzerland to Greece on a vacation, met her husband, and the rest is history. Later that night, we drank a bit with our hostel friends, danced to techno on some tables at the beach. 

Jessie and I got up early the next morning to take the 9 am bus to the port for our ferry at 12. Turned out our ferry was at 2... but we figured that out before we got on the bus, which was nice. So we sat on the beach chairs and just hung out on the windy beach until the noon bus went down to the port. 

The Ants Go Marching One by One! HOORA! HOORA!

Where to even start with this one?!

To get from Santorini to Mykonos, I found an island that served as a connection: Syros. It is the capital of the Cyclades so I figured it would be fine. And it was… eventually. Jessie and I had been on a ferry for about 7 hours before we were called for disembarkation. Because of the sea of soccer players in royal Blue Devils t-shirts with drums and mega-phones and since we both were highly engaged into different episodes of The O.C. we didn’t hear the announcement. However we followed the lead of the Blue Devils, packed up and went to retrieve our luggage. While we watched the big ramp (for lack of the correct term) go down, I was questioning our departure but made it anyway. The fact that this island had no signs in English didn’t help persuade me that I was in the right place. Good thing a man with a brochure about a hotel was there to offer us a place to say. We kindly refuted his offer but I did peek at the corner of his brochure: Syros. “Eeets o-k.”

            One thing was for sure, we were in the right place. Now, to get to our hotel… Jessie and I stood in the middle of the street as the passengers flooded around us. We had no idea what we were doing or better yet how to get to the bus station. After standing in awe of the anti-English signs, Jessie asked a police officer how to get to the bus station. He told us and we went. Our directions were clear yet vague. We were supposed to get on any bus available and depending on the route of the bus, we would somehow end up 50 meters from the hotel. It was interesting because the stop we were looking for was not on any of the bus schedules. Wonderful! A man kindly spoke to us in Greek, pointed at the correct time, and helped us look up the street for the bus that wasn’t coming. He kept pointing and looking at his watch. The bus never came and he eventually grew tired of trying to telepathically summon a bus for us. By this time, we are the only people with luggage standing at the port/ bus station.

            Lucky for us, another man wanted to help us out. He looked at the directions we had and informed us, in broken English, that he knew where the hotel was. Then he walked away to make a phone call. Jessie and I looked at each other and started to seriously contemplate a cab. The knowledgeable Greek man came back and said that he would take us to the place we were staying. That, “eets o-k. He is my friend”.

Sorry buddy, eets not o-k, we were just going to take a cab. We lug our bags to the curb and start looking for a vacant cab to hail. The man comes back and this time he hands his cell phone over to Jessie, still claiming some mans friendship. Apparently the man on the other line agreed to this friendship, and told us that if we didn’t want to go with the man at the port, that he would personally come to get us in 7 minutes. So now we had exactly 7 minutes to hail a cab, get in and go!

            We told the cabbie where we were headed and gave him the directions that I had printed out. He looked confused and then said the inevitable: “yes, eets o-k”. After the ferry ride, my high stress level, and the way the driver was taking the turns, I was getting motion sick. I had to put my head down but the only thing that was running through my mind was the impossibility of finding my way back if the cabbie tried to “take” us. Mid-way through the drive, Jessie had said something about the bus stop that we were supposed to get off at and it was then that I think the driver knew where he was supposed to take us. He stopped his cab equidistant from the bus station and the hotel.

            With luggage in tow, we get to the hotel/ hostel/ apartment’s front gates when a man shouts from inside to wait where we are. He explains that we just have to go in at the other gates, grabs my bag and leads the way. He asked about our taxi and then asked why we didn’t go with his friend at the port. Hmmmm… was this a trick question? I like to think that we made the right choice by spending the 12-euro instead of getting a free ride from a man that claims to have a friend.

            Nikos (I am 99.99% sure his name was) showed us to our apartment styled room. We walked into a kitchen/ living room. Just off to the left was a bedroom with a king bed and between the two rooms, our bathroom. We asked about paying and dining. There was some confusion about sleeping arrangements because Nikos told us that we were the only three at this establishment. At the end of the conversation Jessie and I learned that Nikos had just gotten in from Athens because his brother had been in a bad accident, he had opened his hotel just for us, and he would be staying on the other side of the estate by reception. Before I go any farther, I want to describe this man. He was probably 5’9”, dark curly hair, a bit stout, probably in his mid-to-late 30s, and an excessive perspire-er - that caused him to wipe his brow close to every minuet. Nikos told us that he would go get us a bottle of water, something he probably needed more than we did, but he went anyway.

            Jessie and I went into the bedroom to put our stuff down and maybe put ourselves down as well. I look at the bed and notice an ant on the pillow, I inform Jessie of the discovery, pick up the ant and throw it on the floor. When I look back, its like de-ja-vu, there is another ant on the same pillow. I repeat the previous steps for that ant, and the next and the 3 others. Then I notice the trail of ants across the cylinder-like headboard. If it was a red-and-white-checkered picnic cloth, the situation would have been ideal, however, this was our sleeping arrangement. Jessie watched as I peeled the pillows from the bed and revealed more friends. She looks at me while she states the obvious, “I am not sleeping there”. I think I blacked out for a couple seconds… how was this happening? Where were we going to sleep? Are there extra sheets for the two futons in the kitchen?

            Nikos’ arm arrives with our water. He is standing outside the apartment with his arm extended in to show us that he was there in case we weren’t decent. I summon him in and show him the current situation. Nikos tells us to relax, that eets okay, and that he will change the sheets for us. We sit down on two chairs in the room. He gingerly places the pillows in the closet. Then takes the top sheet and blanket, folds it a bit and puts that in the closet revealing more ants. Then the clincher: he takes off the bottom sheet and all three of our jaws drop as we all gasp, wide eyed, staring at the mattress. It was so filled with ants that the bed looked like it was moving (not good for my motion sickness).

            Nikos is frantically rubbing the sweat from his forehead as his brain works to find a solution. He announces that he has a friend and that he was going to make a phone call. Nikos appears to be a popular guy with great connections. He comes back in apologizing profusely and tells us that we can stay at his friend’s hotel on another part of the island and that he would take us there. While Jessie rides shotgun, I sit in the back seat with our two suitcases with my head down thinking that now more than ever there would be no way I would find my way back to the port. We arrive in a little town and Nikos gives us the tour: the bar, the beach, the restaurant, and the hotel. We climb out of the car and Nikos calls to his friend. They exchange some words in Greek and haul our suitcases up the stairs. The hotel is legit; we were finally in a place where we could stay for the night.

            The stand in our room and speak in Greek for a while, then announce that they will take us to the port in the morning around 10:00am. Aside from a bad cheeseburger I ordered as comfort food and later the mosquitoes I quietly chased around the room while Jessie was sleeping,  I was able to relax just enough to get some rest. We woke up early and I went to try and check out. Nikos’ friend wasn’t in the meeting spot that we had declared, but someone’s breakfast was so good that I stood at the top of the stairs taking in the morning and the aroma. Friend appeared just as Jessie did and told us that we were waiting for Nikos to go to the port then offered us some coffee or tea.

            We accepted and went into his bachelor pad for some coffee and tea. Good thing too, that aroma I was envious of was our breakfast that he had made for us. During breakfast, the friend explained how people on most of the smaller islands, Syros included, are trustworthy. The hotels that they work at are the places they own. They want to take care of their property as well as their guests. We ate and waited for Nikos. After Jessie and I decided on the price for our stay, we all went to the port together. They told us that next time we came to Syros, it had to be for a longer period of time because we wouldn’t be able to enjoy the island’s beauty from just the area we were in.

            I am glad our not so great experience turned out the way that it did.

Cheers!

-Vinny 

Santorini By STORM!!!

Jess and I are on our second ferry of the trip. We are on our way to Syros for the night so that we can get to Mykonos… the party island!

But before I get into that, I’ll write about our experiences in Santorini.

 

Day 1: We got to Santorini around 4 or so on Thursday the 14^th. When we got off the ferry, there were masses of people holding up signs trying to get us to rent a car, go to their hotel, or get in their taxi. They would ask thinks like “you need room?”. I was getting nervous because 1) there were so many people with signs and 2) none of the signs said VILLA RENA, our hotel. Finally, a man chased us down and asked if we needed a room, when we told him that we already had one, he asked where and then motioned for us to follow him. He yelled something in Greek and the driver for our hotel’s van introduced himself. After Jess and I got in the van, we realized how creepy this could potentially be.  “Come into my white van, I will take you someplace nice.” sounds extremely pedophile. Yes, we are in our 20s but we are young and easily persuadable. “Ne, ne, young, attractive, Greek, van-driver… will you assist me with my luggage so I can get into your unmarked van?”

We leave the port and we joke with the Australian women (maybe mid to late 40s) in the seat in front of us. Jessie tells them that we have been saying that this is our honeymoon because Santorini is supposed to be so romantic. The blonde one was quick and responded with “This is our 25th anniversary.” We questioned that comment every time we saw them and concluded that their relationship was strictly platonic.

By the time we got to our hotel it was about 5 but seemed like it was only 3. So, we lay out by the pool for a while before getting ready for dinner. When we arrived at the hotel, the man who always wore a polo in a pink shade gave us some information about the island and told us some places he recommended for dinner. We followed his advice and went to a Taverna. Once there, we began talking to a couple there. They must have taken a liking to us because the offered to buy us a half liter of the house wine. THANKS! We got our meal and our free wine. Then we learned that if you sit long enough, they bring you out more free stuff, I think it’s because they like to say “eets on de house” but that’s just a guess. So in all, we ended up getting 2 free half liters of house wine and a free dessert. Two things that I would like to note about this dinner: we saw over 50 donkeys pass the restaurant on the way back to the stables; and that Greece must not believe in high-chairs because the (maybe 15 month old) baby behind us fell flat on her face. (She was okay, the dad calmed her down and then checked her nose bridge, “eets o-k”) By the end of our dinner and our liter of wine, we were ready to be rolled out of the taverna.

 

Day 2: We woke up early so that we could catch the boat tour of the Volcano and Hot-spring. Sounds exciting, right? Yea. Ok so, we have to go to the center of town and then walk down a whole bunch of steps. (look at the picture of the port with Fira lurking on top to get an idea of how far we had to go) The walk down was fine but I was so nervous about missing the boat that every time the steps would switch back a couple times, I would tell Jessie the time. She finally got sick of that and the next time after I told her the time, she looks at me and goes, “Hey Laur, what time is it?”. Alright, I got the point. We get on our boat and continue to wait 15 minuets for other people.

The Volcano was pretty cool. The views were awesome but I was expecting to see an ideal volcano, similar to the pictures I used to draw as a child. I was also expecting that when we got to the top, we would see a hole or something. Disappointment. We hiked up to the top and then around it to see the different views. I think the closest we were to seeing the volcano’s hole (no, that’s not what he said) was when we smelt the sulfur.

We had an hour at the volcano and then we got back onto our boat and went to the hot springs. The tell us to go down to the first level of the boat. I am expecting something like a large hot tub in a cave that we would have to take a mini boat to get to. Wrong. When we came down the steps, a man that worked on the boat looked at me, “ready to jump?” he asked with a smirk. Wait… really? We are jumping. Jess and I head back up the steps because we are still fully clothed. We strip down to our suits and I give my camera to two girls who aren’t going in. As we are doing so, we see a German (maybe?) man jump in and give a yell in a way that lets everyone know that the water is freezing. At this point, there was nothing left to do but jump. So we did! and the man was right, it  was freezing! Now we have to swim to the hot spring. I’m struggling because its cold and I wasn’t a swimmer for my entire childhood and by the time I get less than half way there, Jess is already there. The water warmed up as we went along and we got to the hot spring, however, I would have liked to have named it a “luke warm spring”.

There were a few couples making out… and by a few I mean one. So two people among maybe close to 40 people in this area about as big as a standard swimming pool. The spring wasn’t romantic, or as Jessie put it, “not particularly enjoyable”. The water was just luke-warm and there were little red things floating in the water. It was like a red moss or something. I don’t know, it was just weird. By the time we get to the hot spring, analyze it, it was time to swim back. Jessie is already on the boat and I am switching between backstroking, doggy paddling and what ever that one thing is called when you swim like a frog would. I get a few feet away from the boat and the blow the horn… I get it, I’m coming. There were probably three people behind me and the boat had to back up for two of them. I was really just going for a leisurely swim?

The boat goes back to the volcano to pick up the stragglers there and then back to the port. We find the gang of old Greek men gathered by the steps and when the make the gesture of riding a donkey, Jessie and I start screaming “NE NE NE NE NE NE NE NE NE!” and clapping. We look like two idiots but at this point the sun has been beating down on us for about 5 hours and we don’t care. We pay the 5 euro and get on our donkeys! NE NE NE NE!!! I give my first attempt to get on the donkey but my strap of my tank top get stuck on the saddle and rips a little. I tried to explain it to the old man, but when I went for my second attempt he pushes my butt so I get up all the way. Keep in mind, my pants are soaking and look like I peed them because my swimsuit was wet when I put them on. So the man gives a look like “eww” and wipes his hand off on his pants. He slaps the donkey’s butt and we are on our way up to town.

Our donkeys were kind of like us. Mine was a very slow and Jessie’s was always 15 steps in front of me. One couple got donkeys and theirs passed mine although I didn’t even see them at the bottom. The man’s donkey stopped a couple times and I would pass him and slap his donkey’s butt to keep going. Mine kept stopping to eat and at one point decided that the bushes tasted better a little farther down… I yelled at it saying I wanted to go up and then yelled OPA! and gave it a kick. We eventually made it to the top and the donkeys instinctively “parked” by the rest of the other donkeys.

We did some shopping in town and then went to our hotel to shower before we walked to go rent scooters. The man wouldn’t let Jessie rent one because she didn’t have her license and then he wouldn’t let us take a scooter because I didn’t have experience on one. So we got a bright yellow ATV instead. The sign to rent them was extremely deceiving as we didn’t pay 8 euro as the neon orange number indicated, we payed 15. There was a 5 euro fee so we could come back with an empty tank, im not really sure what the other fee was but he didn’t speak English very well and kept asking if we wanted insurance then said something like 3,000 euro. What?  O-well we didn’t get the insurance. I got a mini tutorial about how to drive it and then we were off to watch the sunset in Oia!! WEE!!!  I go to make a U-turn, but the ATV sucks at turning and has no reverse, so we look at the guy and he comes, picks up the back and turns us so we are facing straight. Ok, now we were off!!

While we were on our way there, Jessie said we should name our ATV and asked if I had any suggestions. I screamed Pegasus with excitement and threw my left fist in front of me like a super hero. (Again, we have been in the sun all day.) Pegasus maxed out at 42 kilometers per hour and between 18 and 20 when going up any sized hill. We make it just in time for sunset in Oia. Beautiful!

We had eaten gyro for lunch at 3ish so dinner for me was a piece of extremely chocolate cake and for Jessie it was a two flavored ice cream cone. Perfect. We walked around and then went into a bar for drinks. We found two bar stools and I go to grab one to sit down on and this man pulls it away and then gives it to his boyfriend. Ah well, you win some you loose some. We got our drinks and then walked to the back of the bar. We started talking to this guy from Australia because he had just come from Mykonos… where we are going to. Then his friend comes over and we are all talking. When Jess and I leave, we decide that we are the only people our age in this town. It is a blue and white utopia for people in their 30s or late 60s.

 

Day 3: Saturday morning we sleep in for a little while. We have planned a day at the beaches and I am pumped until I notice that I got sunburt the day before so bad that I have blisters on the tops of my shoulders. Sad.  We still went. I just wore the tunic shirt I bought in Rome and leggings over my suimsuit. We went to the black sand beach first. The sand was so hot if your skin touched it. I tried to read a magazine for as long as possible to let my friend get her tan on because I know she would do the same for me.

Around 3, I get hungry and we get back onto Pegasus and fly to get some gyro up the road. I ask for no tomato or onion on mine, but he doesn’t speak English that well and I get both. I start to pick them off and the two men are saying stuff in Greek and the one who made it starts to take it away. (side note: if I haven’t already said this, the people I have encountered who don’t speak English usually know “eets o-k” and “eets no problem”) So as he started taking it away I pull a Mary Kay and say “it’s okay, it’s not a problem” except I say it just the way they do… “eets o-k, eeets no problem, eeets o-k”.  He responds with the same phrasing and I get my gyro back.

When we finish lunch, Jessie goes to the bathroom and the guy who made our gyro tries to ask me a question. I have to idea what he is asking so I just say “um I don’t really know?” but he keeps asking me so I just smile politely and shrug my shoulders with a confused look on my face. He says something and then comes back with three shot glasses. OH! He was asking if we wanted a shot of Ouzo, their liquor that tastes like black licorice. Its all Greek to me. Jessie comes back and he says “Yamás” and we all clink shot glasses and take them like champs. (more free stuff!)

We hopped back on Pegasus and went to the Red Beach. It was so gorgeous my words wouldn’t do it justice. I was really happy to be there. We found a little porch type thing, so I got shade and Jessie continued to get her tan on. PERFECT. I sat in my shade and rubbed aloe on my shoulder about every 10 min. We stayed there until 6 because we had to return Pegasus by 7:30.

Driving back to Fira was really funny. There were so many other people on ATVs on the road, that it became a club almost. We were still in our goofy mood, so we would honk and wave at the other ATV people. The best response we got was with this one couple. The girl in back was so happy; she waved with her whole arm and the guy in front honked his horn and stood up and waved. NICE WORK!

We returned Pegasus and went back to the hotel. We went for another ridiculous meal at the first place we passed that was selling food at a reasonable price. I got a waffle with strawberries, apples, bananas, kiwi and whip cream and Jessie got an extremely delicious looking tuna salad. After dinner we went back to re pack our suitcases for Syros and Mykonos!

 

Well that’s all for now!

Yamás!

-Vinny

 

p.s. Jessie came up with the title because while we were in Santorini we have taken so many different modes of transportation: ferry, van, boat, donkey, ATV, taxi, walking, hiking, and swimming.

Santorini Pictures!!!

The Red Beach.

Look how crystal clear the water is! 

Sunset in Oia. We made it there just on time.

Jessie and I on Pegasus, our bright yellow ATV that maxed out at 42 kilometers per-mile.

NE NE NE!!!

We have had a great time in Santorini so far! I don't have time to write about our days here yet, so I hope the pictures can hold you over! 

Laughing so hard!

Jessie obviously loving the ride!
Some boats in a little port.

The port is at the bottom, if you look closely the town Fira (Thira),where Jessie and I are staying, is at the top. 

Yamas!

-Vinny

Athens in less than a day.

Wednesday Jessie, Cameron, his friend Greggor and I all went to tour Athens. We saw the all the main sights there are to see in Athens: the Acropolis with the Parthenon, Agora, Temple of Athena Nike, Temple of Hephaistos; the Theatre of Dionysus; the Temple of Zeus, and Hadrian’s Arch.

It was really funny because after we put our bags in the apartment on Tuesday, it was already about 4 in the afternoon. Jessie and I wanted to go walk around and see the sights but Cameron said we could do it all Wednesday. We were skeptical about his proposal, so we got out our guide book and Jessie quizzed him. He was right though; we went on Wednesday around 2 to start our “Tour de Athens”. We finished the tour of the main sights before 5. I am sure if the Parthenon wasn’t such a steep climb, it would have taken less time.

The Theatre of Dionysus was close to the top of my favorites mainly because I just spent all last semester studying Greek myth which ended in studying three different plays that were put on in the Theatre of Dionysus. It was for the most part exactly how the books described it. The cool part was that they still hold plays in the theatre! They were putting together a set while we were there. (something with dragons..)

Another thing on my list of favorites was the Temple of Zeus. We toured the inside first and it was really nothing… just some pillers and old stones. But the reality of how huge it was came when we were up on the Acropolis by the Parthenon. The view from there was amazing and it just made the Temple look awesome!

The Parthenon was cool and I am sure the Temple of Athena would have been too, but they were both being renovated which hindered the experience a bit.

It was nice to be able to have Cameron and Greggor take us around. They had just spent their semesters on site at these places and were able to tell us some really interesting stuff like how the Parthenon was built so that it didn’t have vanishing points. Meaning it was built with the tiniest bit of an arch on the ground and the pillars slant a bit inward. They told up that some guy discovered it in the 20s because he put his top hat down and when he went to the other side, he couldn’t see his hat anymore. Pretty cool, I thought.

After we took our tour, we went shopping in the Plaka, which is basically where all the touristy stuff is. We got a few things and then returned to the apartment. Cameron wrote a paper (they are just finishing their finals week) and Jessie and I went to look for our hostel for the return trip (from Mykonos to Athens to Rome to Home). After that Jessie and I got some treats! She got a really nice looking chocolate something and I got a Crepe filled with nutella and bananas (Mike, I think you might have liked it! Haha! Probably not though…)

That night, we went back to the same Taverna because it was so good and these were their last nights in Athens. This time though we had a bigger group, like 9 people. Mmm that food was so good. I guess though that Jessie isn’t used to all the greasy food considering she has been enjoying the delectable Italian cuisine. So we might be staying away from that fried cheese and pork.

Dinner pretty much wrapped up my and Jessie’s night. We went back to the apartment and packed up our stuff. Apparently we missed an eventful night. They all went to a different apartment to play beer pong and flip cup and the like. At one point someone did a keg stand on one of those mini-kegs? I’m not sure. Anyways, they got the police called on them after their neighbor (a little old lady) knocked on their door asking “why” in Greek. When the police got there one of the guys kept saying “Singnomi, singnomi, singnomi…” which means sorry in Greek. The police kept speaking in Greek to them but then realized they didn’t understand. Finally after the guy tried to make amends and hold out his hand still saying “Sinngnomi” the police was like, “NO SINGNOMI! NO HAND!” and threatened to take him to jail. I guess it was better that Jessie and I weren’t there…

We left Athens at about 5:45 this morning (Thursday) and got to our ferry around 6:30 or so. Our ferry is really nice. We don’t have seats per se, so we are sitting in a café thing with out luggage. But so are most people. We are supposed to get into Santorini at 3 or so… so, we have about 2 hours left on the ferry. We stopped at two different islands already and they are beautiful. They have the buildings with white washed walls and blue windows.

While I have the time, there are some other things about Athens that need to be thrown out there... 

1. The nose picking (I know I covered this already, but really? And I just saw someone do it about an hour ago.)

    2. There are stray dogs everywhere. And they are big. They aren’t just like that little blind black dog that lives down Lafayette… they are like legit sized dogs. They go into buildings and restaurants and no one really cares. I saw two sleeping in the metro station and one in a bar.

     3. Cats too...

     4. The Athenian Septic System… you cannot flush ANYthing down the toilet. This is gross for a couple reasons: first, the bathrooms smell pretty bad, second, you have to throw your toilet paper in a tiny garbage can with a lid… which means you are having close encounters with other peoples’ used toilet paper. No thanks. I’ll flush mine.

    5. A bunch of establishments have pet birds. The crepe place we went to had a bird and it would literally scream. The first time I heard it I jumped. But then it started speaking in Greek, which was cool, so I guess I can let it go.

    6. OOO!!! While the four of us were walking up to the Acropolis, Cameron was trying to brainstorm about souvenirs. When we got up there by the Parthenon, I saw a man in the tightest, smallest, cut-off jean shorts. I told him he should invest in a pair of those. 

     7. Apparently the Greeks love Prison Break. 

     8. They aren’t used to people shot-gunning beers in the middle of the street. This is an assumption based off the looks that were given by them. 

     9. They have the same centipede things that I (and I’m sure other people) have in mine and Hill’s apartment.  Jessie and I slept on an extra twin mattress on the floor. I saw one the last night we were there… and I got it! 

     10. Greek people like to repeat their yes-es. So they say “Ne, ne, ne, ne, ne, ne” all the time.

I really liked Athens but I am sure it is because of the people that took us under their wings. I am also glad that we didn’t stay longer than we did. It was the perfect amount of time and time well spent! 

Well off to Santorini.

Ya-más!

-Vinny

p.s. mom, tell Bubs that I never got the scarves and not to be mad because they were overpriced and I didn’t find any good ones that were worth it… even for me.  

Athens!

I passed out on our plane ride to Greece. I even missed what Jessie said was really good dessert. We took a bus from the airport to a square where Jessie’s friend Cameron met up with us. The ride took about an hour and the bus us so warm but with just enough breeze that it put Jess to sleep a couple of times.

Within the first few hours of being in Athens, I realized that there were certain things that are acceptable here that wouldn’t be in the states. One of them is picking your nose. I saw about 4 people do this in a matter of 2 hours. Another thing is smoking. I guess since the states cut back on where they let people smoke, it was shocking to me to see people smoking in restaurants, cafes, stores. 

Anyways, Cameron was letting us crash in his apartment for the time that we are in Athens. Last night (Tuesday) we had dinner at a “Taverna” I think is what they are called. It is a family style meal where they just bring out a bunch of dishes and everyone shares it. It was so good. I think the best was the fried cheese, it sounds weird, but it was really good! After dinner, we drank and went to an Irish pub and then a dance club. A couple things to note… the beer of choice by the people studying abroad in Athens is called Vergina. So things like “There’s so much Vergina in here” were stated throughout the night. Let me just tell you, it was hard for me to hold back my ‘that’s what (s)he said’ comments. The other thing is that because it was a Tuesday, no one was at the night club, which was fine. The funny thing about the dance club is the way they labeled their bathrooms. …I’ll just show you. (when my internet works...)

Strange, huh? The women's bathroom one was a little different, but I think you get the idea!

Well I am off o Santorini in the morning which is really in about 5 hours. We have an 8 hour ferry ride but I have an idea that its going to be worth it!

Cheers!

-Vinny

Rome Part II

Monday was very nice. Jessie, Molly, and I walked from our hostel toward the gardens and did some shopping along the way. We stopped mostly at boutique-y stores but we did stop in at H&M. Molly went to go meet up with some of her friends that were visiting from their study abroad program in Ireland. Jess and I found our way to the gardens where. I was impressed with the amount of grass they had in these gardens considering Rome doesn’t really have any. We went up on a hill and lay down. I fell asleep almost immediately and Jessie read our travel book on Greece and eventually fell asleep.

I woke up with bird poo on my shoulder and grass marks all over my legs, but very well rested… so that’s a plus. After that we walked to go get gelato and since Jessie knew the man working there, he gave us HUGE scoops. MMM I am going to miss that. We then went to a grocery store to buy Fragolina, which is strawberry wine/champagne.

Dinner was at a place that translated to “The Mustache” or something with mustache in it. It is considered one of the best pizza places in the area. When we asked for a table, the owner- a cute old man with a mustache- pointed to each of us saying “one, two, three” in Italian and then added himself as our fourth dinner guest.

After pizza we found a cute café to sit in and then walked down to Piazza Navona. We walked around and drank our Fragolina and looked at the vendors’ paintings. Our night finished when our wine did. We went back to our International House of Women Hostel and packed up so we were ready to go to Greece! 

The Parthenon at the Acropolis in Greece!
Jessie and I in Piazza Navona! (Rome)

When in Rome... buy your bus tickets.

Welcome to Rome!

Besides the minor mishaps and lack of sleep, I am so happy to be back in Rome. The plane rides were fine. I sat next to a young John Lennon look-a-like on the way to Rome. He was on his way for a 3 week long wine tasting class for credits at Georgia University… tell me again why WSU doesn’t offer that!

I arrived at the airport in Rome and said good-bye to John Lennon, got my luggage and went to find the train station. Once there, someone asked me how to buy the tickets… I guess I looked like I knew what I was doing, so I pointed to the ticket guy so as not to reveal my American roots. (HAHA! Tricked you!)

Jessie told me that the train was supposed to run every half hour…so I tried to make it to the train before 10:00 so I could get on that one. Well that never showed up, neither did the 10:30, or the 11:00. Finally, I got on the 11:30 train. I booked it toward the Nike store to look for Jessie. J I found her!!! She helped me with my luggage and we got on a bus to get closer to our hostel.

 “Jessie, should we buy tickets?”  Her response: No, no one checks for them, it’s fine.

Sweet! Free bus ride, right?  WRONG. We got busted and 50 euro later we get off the bus. WELCOME TO ROME!

So at this point I have been awake for a really long time. I got into Rome at the train station at 10 in the morning on Sunday, but it was really 2 in the morning on Sunday at home. I didn’t really sleep on the plane (so like 2 hours of sleep on sat/sun) and Friday night I slept for five hours. So on Sunday in Rome I was running on 7 hours of sleep for 3 days.

Once I showered and ate lunch in Rome, we headed to see the monuments and went to church at the Vatican. Although I didn’t know what they were saying, I did admire the way the speakers were painted in such a way that they matched the marble.

Jessie wanted to do a monument wine tour, but after 3 bottles of wine split between 7 girls, I wanted to go to bed. So instead we had gelato, and went to the Trevi fountain. I was up until 11 on Sunday night and was ready to crash.

Today we are planning to relax in Roman gardens and get more gelato and pizza is on the menu.

(I am sitting in a garden outside our hostel- the international house of women- right now to get internet and some man is taking away all the tables and chairs… mine are the last!)

Cheers!

-Vin

P.s. we slept with the window open last night, the birds at night sound like crying children. (or if you knew my cat back in the day when she used to whine, it was like that)

May 3, 2009

This is the week of departure! I leave on Saturday and I can't even concentrate on finals. Jessie and I are all booked up! In Rome we are staying in a convent with one of Jessie's current roommates. When we get to Athens before we island hop, one of Jessie's friend's from ND, who is studying abroad in Athens, is going to let us crash at his apartment.  We have a hotel in Santorini, in Syros we have a hostel, in Mykonos we have a resort and the second time around in Athens, we have a hostel. 

We decided that it would be easiest to sleep in the airport during the last leg of our trip: Athens to Rome to the U.S. (This will be next to nothing for me considering Mark and Steve made me sleep on the side of the road when we were road-tripping from Vegas to San Fran.)

Well, 6 more days and I am off on my great two week european adventure! :) 

See you in Rome!

Cheers!

-Vinny

April 22, 2009

There were some issues with ferry timing and just time in general. Rhodes is very far from Athens and would require a long ferry ride. Santorini and Mykonos don't have direct ferry connections. So we needed to make a couple changes.  Jessie looked at the ferries and made some adjustments to the itinerary.  Here it is:

May 9- 10: I fly into Rome and arrive at 8:50 am

May 10-12: ROME

May 12: Rome to Athens

May 12-14: ATHENS

May 14: Athens to Santorini

May 14-17: SANTORINI

May 17: Santorini to Syros (spending the night in Syros)

May: 18: Syros to Mykonos

May 18-21: MYKONOS

May 21: Mykonos to Athens

May 22: Athens to Rome

May 23: Rome to Chicago

16 days till departure!  Jessie and I are still in the process of  looking and booking hostel, hotels and resorts. It is crazy to think that in January we were making promises about going on this trip together and now, in April, we are almost done planning it and that it is really coming true!  :)  YAY!

Cheers!

-Vinny

April 16, 2009

OOOO!!!! Its coming together! Jessie and I bought our tickets to get from Rome to Athens this week! We found our hotels, hostels and ferries to get us to and from the islands. We are planning on going to Rhodes, Santorini, Syros (for a layover), and Mykonos. Right now, we are in the process of timing our stays according to the ferries. 

22 days and counting!  

Cheers!

-Vinny

April 13, 2009

Looks like part of the trip is being cut out. It would take too much time and money to go from Italy to Croatia back to Italy to get to Greece and then back to Italy AGAIN to fly home. I would prefer a leisurely vacation island hopping in Greece and traveling through Italy. Jessie and I only have 2 weeks for all of our sight-seeing and I really want to be able to take everything in... not to mention, get my tan on! I get to speak with Jessie tomorrow and we will be booking hostels, ferries, and plane tickets. Although I am extremely stressed with school and planning, I am so unbelievably excited to see my best friend and, of course, GREECE! The tentative plan right now, at least in my understanding, is to fly into Athens. From there, take ferries and hit up Santorini, Rhodes, and Mykonos. It would be awesome to go to Olympia and Sparta but, again, ferries take way too long... we shall see! 

25 days until I fly alone to ROME! (that will possibly be the longest and most boring plane ride EVER... I am just glad Jessie and I are flying back together!)

Cheers!

-Vinny

April 10, 2009

I can't wait! Since January, I have been looking forward to this summer, and now it seems as if summer is within reach. I have 28 days until what is bound to be the best trip of my life and 71 days until my second summer at SC summer camp.

So far, the itinerary for Europe looks something like this:

May 10- Arrive in Rome and see Jessie

May 12- train from Rome to Ancona and a ferry to Split, Croatia

May 13-14- Croatia island hopping

May 15- bus to Dubrovnik

May 16- Somehow make it to Greece

May 17- Island hopping in Greece... possibly Mykonos, Rhodes, and Santorini

May 22- Leave Greece for Rome. 

May 23- Home Sweet Home, Chicago

I spent most of today looking up how to get from Dubrovnik to Greece. Which proves more difficult than it sounds. Im hoping to find good ferry deals to take us around the islands, but again, that is hard considering I don't know anything about ferries in Greece. AND I hope to get everything squared away in the next couple weeks so that I can channel any and all stress toward my finals.

Cheers!

-Vinny