We left directly after class on Wednesday and stepping foot off the plane in Athens was a little intimidating. It was the first time in my life I've been in a place where I didn't speak the language, didn't know the customs, and couldn't decipher a single letter on the signs. However, we got to the hostel just fine and stepped into our personal studio apartment complete with a bathroom, kitchen, living room, and two balconies. After a long nights sleep we got up and set out to explore the city. Thursday, our first day in Athens, we walked up to the Acropolis and saw the Parthenon, Temple of Olympian Zeus, an old Theatre, and many other ancient ruins. It was unreal walking through all that history and the view of the city was unbelievable. That night we ate at an authentic Greek restaurant and had delicious chicken souvlaki and got free Ouzo, a traditional Greek drink, from the waiter. Friday the weather was gorgeous so we had a long brunch at a cafe outside and then spent the day shopping through Plaka and completed the night at a Greek restaurant with live music consisting of cute old men dressed up, playing instruments, and dancing.
Saturday morning we woke up at 5am to check out of our apartment and catch the 7.5 hour ferry to Santorini. The trip to the ferry was way too eventful for that time of the morning. We waited for 25 minutes at the bus stop pointed out to us by the receptionist only to have a bus stop and attempt to tell us we were at the wrong stop. The bus was empty, yet he told us to get on anyway. We held out our Euro coins helplessly, not knowing how to pay for the bus, but he waved us past and laughed. He drove a few blocks and let us off at a bus stop filled with people... the one we were apparently supposed to be at in the first place. Our bus to the port came literally 1 minute later and again we got on holding out our Euros, no one wanting to take them. Lindsey braved the Greek crowd and went to the front of the bus to ask the bus driver to alert us when we got to Pieras Port. We expected him to make an announcement over the PA system, but apparently their buses don't have one so 35 minutes later the entire bus was staring at us and yelling "this is your stop, get off the bus!" From the bus we asked a line of people who kept pointing us in the direction of the metro. If it weren't for a nice Greek lady, we would have stayed standing on the platform and missed the metro to the port. Again (it became a theme on this trip) we held out our Euros but couldn't figure out how to pay for the metro. An hour later we arrived at the port completely cheating the Greek Transit System out of money.
Soo, after that very long tangent, back to Santorini. The ferry was like a cruise ship and the view was gorgeous the entire time. Upon arrival on the island Papi and the grandfather were waiting to take us to their amazing family run Villa. Lucky for us, it wasn't tourist season so instead of paying the normal 50Euro/night we paid 8.5Euro/night. We grabbed dinner when we got there, complete with free desert, and called it a night. Sunday we walked into town and took millions of pictures of the postcard perfect Santorini houses on the hills along the Mediterranean Sea. We spent more time than we probably should have since we're pretty sure we were standing on the roof of someone's house. Later that night we had dinner (and more free desert - they really love blonde Americans) in a strip of restaurants along a black sand beach. On Monday, our last morning on the Island, we went back to the black sand beach before boarding another 7.5 hour ferry back to Athens.
Last night in Athens: cue the creepy, sketchy hostel (only 9Euro/night) and a 30 minute walk the next morning to the metro taking us to the airport to continue spring break in Rome. Overall, I really liked Athens but the graffiti and broken storefront windows ruined the beauty of the city a little. Santorini was one of the few places I've been to that actually looks like it does in the movies with colors that don't appear to be real; I absolutely loved it. And of course, I can't complain about the weather - I left Greece with sunburned cheeks and flip-flop tan lines... definitely beats rainy London.
Rome brought immediate comfort to me. The people spoke better English, the city felt a little more like London, and even though I could only understand random words I could at least read the letters that made up their signs. We got in Tuesday night and lucked out again with our hostel - it was completely legit, we had our own ensuite room, and the staff were awesome. Wednesday we walked around and sat at a cafe until our 4 hour walking tour at 2pm. Our tour guide ended up being a guy from Iowa who had been living in Rome for the past 4 years. He was awesome and put a spin on the entire history of Rome, inserting his favorite word "badass" every chance he got. We walked through all the main sights such as the Circo Massimo where chariot races took place, Pagan Temples, The Pantheon, The Roman Forum, The Mouth of Truth, The Colosseum, and more ruins than I could list. Unfortunately, for dinner that night we took the advice of our tour guide and got led to a complete tourist trap with pizza that was definitely not up to our expectations of Italian food. Thursday we went to the Vatican but since Lindsey and I are going back to Rome in May, we got gelato and sat at a cafe (where we got free pastries, a lot of "bella bella," and our hands kissed) while they toured St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. They said both buildings were gorgeous, so I still have something to look forward to on my second venture to Italy. After the Vatican it started raining which reminded me a little too much of London, but, we still needed to throw our coins in the Trevi Fountain. Despite the rain, the Fountain was still beautiful and jam packed with tourists... even a bride and groom taking pictures! I'm waiting for the magic of the fountain to work and for my wish to come true. Part of throwing the coin in means you'll come back to Rome one day, so at least that part will be coming true in two months time. For dinner that night we tried some Italian pasta, but I was a little disappointed with their pesto sauce. I guess I'll just have to find my pasta in May. Friday, our last day in Rome we ate the best pizza I've ever had and walked through Piazza Navona, a cute area filled with cafes, live music, fountains, and artists selling their paintings. Rome was phenomenal and truly gorgeous. I loved that you walk on cobblestone streets and everywhere you look there's some ancient and beautiful building - I'm so glad I'm going back in May because I didn't get my fill of it in 2 and 1/2 days.
This finally concludes spring break 2010... or at least a very generalized look at it, despite the long and babbling paragraphs. We were all exhausted and delirious after 10 days of travel and hearing the female British voice on the Tube was so comforting. It was awesome, but it made me appreciate London that much more and I've realized that it really has become home for me.
If you want to see pictures - look on Facebook!! :)
Geez! I'd better dye my hair blonde before I come, or I won't get anything free :)
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