We are back at the internet cafe!!!! okay so after I last wrote we ended up going back to the Promenade and walking around again, we then kind of made friends with these two guys that spoke only greek. All in all it was really funny and somehow they got across that there was an Ouzo party around the bend. It turns out that they were lying and they just wanted us to hangaround the bar place that they worked at. So we ended up leaving them and proceeded to walk along the promenade. After passing a couple restaurants I stop and hear a familiar song. its the YMCA!!!!! haha but not the american YMCA it was like a cover of the real one, but with this lady singing it all sexual and seductive at like this hip bar, where i'm pretty sure all the locals had no idea what they were listening to. ahhh it was so funny me and chelsea were hysterically laughing in the middle of all these people and i'm pretty sure everyone was staring at us.
After that we found this fast food greek place that was really good. I had a gyro thing that was delicioussss and we ended up befriending the girl behind the counter her name was Fifi and she actually spoke pretty good english. The rest of our dinner was slightly unconcomfortable with four guys sitting next to us, mesmerized by the blonde of chelseas hair. Haha it attracts a lot of attention but helps us out, so I don't complain.
The next day was only slightly grueling at the Sunshine House and we managed to escape to the beach near Azuls. WE walked around the beach and went to a convenience store were i proceeded to buy a HUGE candy bar (because all they feed us here is some organic leaves with oil basically and the occasional bread and eggs). We sat in front of Azuls on the brink of the water and watched the sunset over the mountains it was soooooo BEAUTIFUL~!!! and i took some really good pictures!!! so I was very excited.
yesterday we learned how to make real flour! WE basically had to put wheat through this electronic grinder and then had to sift out all the bad stuff and Wala pure ORGANIC flour. Haha everything here is organic, and its all a little to natural for my little american sugarcraving body. Fortunately the flour making was actually kind of fun and made for an interesting day. Unfortunately tim left yesterday too so that was a little sad. After that we went to a local hangout joint across the street where we made friends with some guys who speak a little english and are going to take us to Azuls tonight!!!!! yaya!!!! we finally have friends on this little island! oooo and this place across the street has gelato!!!!!! so now my life here is pretty much set. O we also did some Yoga which was kind of weird and kind of weirded me out. We like did these weird chants, and channeled our inner selves and some other stuff that i didn't really understand. Takis kept telling us to close our mind to the outside world which i found impossible to do haha o well. Anyways everyone was really into it and we did this thing called fire breathing which i found near impossible. It was still a good workout none the less. alrighty well thats all for now, i keep forgetting to bring that thing to download pictures with but when i remember i willllll!!!!! but ONly some haha. okay well LOVE YOU
o and did i mention that the area where we live if only slightly mispronounced actually means penis in greek? haha ahhh it would, this means that we have to be extra careful when talking to the taxi drivers. yup interesting tidbit for you
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
HELLOOOOO, okay so we managed to find another internet place today!
Haha so after I wrote yesterday we rode our bikes back to the Sunshine House through the little town of Basilico and ended up befriending two boys around the age of fourteen who were also on their bikes. I forget their names but they were very friendly and we ended up kind of being creepers and following them around haha because we didn't want to go back to the Sunshine House. Anyways we bike around with them and end up meeting their friends who looked pretty confused by the fact that they had picked up some stray americans. Anyways we end up outside of a very scenic little church a couple of blocks away from the Sunshine House and befriend an old women whose name is Olga and who happens to speak English. She helps us communicate with our new friends and acts as a very decent translator. After that we ventured back and learned some life lessons from our friend Tim.
Today was yet another exciting day!!! WE had a day OFF which meant we could do whatever we wanted. We started the day off by taking a bus into Halkida where we then kind of ventured around and checked everything out. On our way to the bus ride a very attractive Greek teen shouted out of his car GIRLS!! GOODMORNING GIRLS!!The bus ride was free courtesy of the bus driver and it was exciting because we couldn't wait to explore. Anyways we walk around for a little and I eat a delicous hot chocolate crossiant. Chelsea buys a pin for her bag that says " I have AIDS, do you want some?" all in GREEK of course. haha We then walk along the Promenade which basically is like this boardwalk area that runs along the aegean sea. It is so beautiful and lined with trees and little cafe shops. We stop at one and decide to enjoy a drink. It is very classy place, and we sit in the outside shaded area. We saw a couple of characters while we were there including, what looked to be a couple of middle-aged men from the Greek mafia, some attractive young guys who were totally creepin!!!, and then this very serious-looking old man. We didn't know what to order so we asked the waiter for a menu, only to find out that it was completely in Greek (they don't get very many foreigners). Anways we manage to point out what we want by spastically waving at the drink that the girl has next to us, which ended up being soooo good, it was kind of like a chocolate cappuchinoish milkshake! After that we decided to walk over the Old Bridge and go to a Turkish Fortress. GEtting there consisted of following some shady directions from our guidebook and walking up thousands of steps. At the top it was beautiful and we had an amazing view of Halkida. It was really hot so we were all sweaty and gross at this point but none the less guys kept creepin. We went back down and got our picture taken by this older guy who insisted that we should later meet him for coffee. O we also saw some crazies jump off of the old bridge into the bay below. And this group of three other guys approached us and we had an interesting conversation that got the point across that we were American and going on holiday in Halkida. After we walk back over the main bridge we go back to the restaurant that we had our drinks in and I somehow manage to lock myself into the bathroom with no visible way out. I am rattling the door so hard that a woman hears me on the other side and begins to yell in Greek. I don't know what she is saying and begin to shout back in english. Finally she begins to say "Wait! wait" and I do, I then found out that she grabbed one of the guys that worked there and made him let me out. It all caused quite the scene, and was sooo embarassing, haha but he got me out so all was well. Then we proceeded to go see a church only to find that it was closed for siesta time (basically there is a four hour time period in the afternoon where all the stores close). from there we decide to hop in a cab with yet another friendly cab driver who takes us to the bus station so we can catch a bus to Eretria, a beautiful beach oasis. when we got to the ticket booth in the bus station we befriend a woman at the desk, her name is Dmetria and she speaks very good english. She helps us figure out where to wait for our bus, and tells us that she will hook us up with some Greek guys. haha She also gives us some good advice about where to go, and tells us to come visit her anytime YAYYYY we have made friends in Halkida! haha.
The bus ride to Eretria is fun, and we manage to practice some phrases from Chelsea's greek translator book. We arrive in Eretria which is a small place and not full of any foreign tourists (it is more a place for Greek tourists to go). Anyways we arrive and meet the friendly owner of one of the local touristy shops who generously gives us free magnets. After that we head to the beach and the view is SOOOOO AMAZING!!!!!! We walk around and swam in the perfectly clear water. WE managed to find like this floating peace of plastic that was the size of the mattress so we float around on that, in honestly one of the most beautiful beaches ever. It was warm and sunny and beautiful out, eventually we get tired and after about an hour and a half we journey back to the bus station to come into Halkida. On the way back some very old greek men stop us and try to get us to drink coffee with them in their shack thing by the beach (SKETCH, and we say no thanks and kind of giggle awkwardly and then keep walking). Then we walk by some outdoor tavernas where a whole group of men begin to talk to us. WE keep walking but then one of them comes up to us, clearly pleased that we are American and begins to say, "COME IN!!! For the beatiful americans we will give you desert or a drink.": Haha after hearing the word dessert we are enticed and go to sit down. The man seats us at a special seat with a beach view and proceeds to give us some bottled water. He chats away friendly and his friends join in occasionally, they are clearly all excited that the Americans took their bait and sat down. IT was SAFE so once again parents don't freak haha we were in public no where scary. They then serve us the icecream specials, and one of the old men grabs two little flower pot things from the other tables and puts them on ours haha. And then another guy comes and pours us shots and insist that we drink. WE take that as our sign to leave and we turn down the shots and instead distract them by taking a few pictures with them and then leave. It was really funny and the icecream was delicious. After that we waited for the bus into Halkida and here we are. I absolutely love Halkida and find the city so cute and very quaint. I can't wait to see the rest of the places we will explore later in our trip.
OOOO I almost forgot, our cab driver on the way to the internet cafe, was once again extremely attractive, and he gave us his number haha, i forget his name but he wore aviators so it doesn't matter. So thats about it!!!!!!!! O and everyone here can't believe that we are american (I think that is why we are getting so much attention. Not many western tourists venture here, so we feel like we are seeing the real GREECE. It is so wonderful to mix touring with traveling.
I must go my time is about to run out. LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!
Haha so after I wrote yesterday we rode our bikes back to the Sunshine House through the little town of Basilico and ended up befriending two boys around the age of fourteen who were also on their bikes. I forget their names but they were very friendly and we ended up kind of being creepers and following them around haha because we didn't want to go back to the Sunshine House. Anyways we bike around with them and end up meeting their friends who looked pretty confused by the fact that they had picked up some stray americans. Anyways we end up outside of a very scenic little church a couple of blocks away from the Sunshine House and befriend an old women whose name is Olga and who happens to speak English. She helps us communicate with our new friends and acts as a very decent translator. After that we ventured back and learned some life lessons from our friend Tim.
Today was yet another exciting day!!! WE had a day OFF which meant we could do whatever we wanted. We started the day off by taking a bus into Halkida where we then kind of ventured around and checked everything out. On our way to the bus ride a very attractive Greek teen shouted out of his car GIRLS!! GOODMORNING GIRLS!!The bus ride was free courtesy of the bus driver and it was exciting because we couldn't wait to explore. Anyways we walk around for a little and I eat a delicous hot chocolate crossiant. Chelsea buys a pin for her bag that says " I have AIDS, do you want some?" all in GREEK of course. haha We then walk along the Promenade which basically is like this boardwalk area that runs along the aegean sea. It is so beautiful and lined with trees and little cafe shops. We stop at one and decide to enjoy a drink. It is very classy place, and we sit in the outside shaded area. We saw a couple of characters while we were there including, what looked to be a couple of middle-aged men from the Greek mafia, some attractive young guys who were totally creepin!!!, and then this very serious-looking old man. We didn't know what to order so we asked the waiter for a menu, only to find out that it was completely in Greek (they don't get very many foreigners). Anways we manage to point out what we want by spastically waving at the drink that the girl has next to us, which ended up being soooo good, it was kind of like a chocolate cappuchinoish milkshake! After that we decided to walk over the Old Bridge and go to a Turkish Fortress. GEtting there consisted of following some shady directions from our guidebook and walking up thousands of steps. At the top it was beautiful and we had an amazing view of Halkida. It was really hot so we were all sweaty and gross at this point but none the less guys kept creepin. We went back down and got our picture taken by this older guy who insisted that we should later meet him for coffee. O we also saw some crazies jump off of the old bridge into the bay below. And this group of three other guys approached us and we had an interesting conversation that got the point across that we were American and going on holiday in Halkida. After we walk back over the main bridge we go back to the restaurant that we had our drinks in and I somehow manage to lock myself into the bathroom with no visible way out. I am rattling the door so hard that a woman hears me on the other side and begins to yell in Greek. I don't know what she is saying and begin to shout back in english. Finally she begins to say "Wait! wait" and I do, I then found out that she grabbed one of the guys that worked there and made him let me out. It all caused quite the scene, and was sooo embarassing, haha but he got me out so all was well. Then we proceeded to go see a church only to find that it was closed for siesta time (basically there is a four hour time period in the afternoon where all the stores close). from there we decide to hop in a cab with yet another friendly cab driver who takes us to the bus station so we can catch a bus to Eretria, a beautiful beach oasis. when we got to the ticket booth in the bus station we befriend a woman at the desk, her name is Dmetria and she speaks very good english. She helps us figure out where to wait for our bus, and tells us that she will hook us up with some Greek guys. haha She also gives us some good advice about where to go, and tells us to come visit her anytime YAYYYY we have made friends in Halkida! haha.
The bus ride to Eretria is fun, and we manage to practice some phrases from Chelsea's greek translator book. We arrive in Eretria which is a small place and not full of any foreign tourists (it is more a place for Greek tourists to go). Anyways we arrive and meet the friendly owner of one of the local touristy shops who generously gives us free magnets. After that we head to the beach and the view is SOOOOO AMAZING!!!!!! We walk around and swam in the perfectly clear water. WE managed to find like this floating peace of plastic that was the size of the mattress so we float around on that, in honestly one of the most beautiful beaches ever. It was warm and sunny and beautiful out, eventually we get tired and after about an hour and a half we journey back to the bus station to come into Halkida. On the way back some very old greek men stop us and try to get us to drink coffee with them in their shack thing by the beach (SKETCH, and we say no thanks and kind of giggle awkwardly and then keep walking). Then we walk by some outdoor tavernas where a whole group of men begin to talk to us. WE keep walking but then one of them comes up to us, clearly pleased that we are American and begins to say, "COME IN!!! For the beatiful americans we will give you desert or a drink.": Haha after hearing the word dessert we are enticed and go to sit down. The man seats us at a special seat with a beach view and proceeds to give us some bottled water. He chats away friendly and his friends join in occasionally, they are clearly all excited that the Americans took their bait and sat down. IT was SAFE so once again parents don't freak haha we were in public no where scary. They then serve us the icecream specials, and one of the old men grabs two little flower pot things from the other tables and puts them on ours haha. And then another guy comes and pours us shots and insist that we drink. WE take that as our sign to leave and we turn down the shots and instead distract them by taking a few pictures with them and then leave. It was really funny and the icecream was delicious. After that we waited for the bus into Halkida and here we are. I absolutely love Halkida and find the city so cute and very quaint. I can't wait to see the rest of the places we will explore later in our trip.
OOOO I almost forgot, our cab driver on the way to the internet cafe, was once again extremely attractive, and he gave us his number haha, i forget his name but he wore aviators so it doesn't matter. So thats about it!!!!!!!! O and everyone here can't believe that we are american (I think that is why we are getting so much attention. Not many western tourists venture here, so we feel like we are seeing the real GREECE. It is so wonderful to mix touring with traveling.
I must go my time is about to run out. LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
AHHH I'm finally back!!! Okay say let me tell you about the last few days. So after my last post we actually ended up being exhausted so we decided to pack and then grab a quick bite to eat at the corner market. We then checked out of the hostel around 8ish at night and then proceeded on what we thought would be a simple journey to Halkida. Haha, that was our first very wrong assumption. After calling the Sunshine House they told us that all we would have to do to get to their place would be take the train out of Larissa Train Station into Halkida and then catch a cab, sound simple? Haha, ummm not quite. First we had to take the metro from the acropolis station two stations over to the train station. That was actually really exciting because we were so happy to be on the move again and traveling! We arrive at the train station which is completely deserted and find all of the ticket booths are closed. We kind of stand there awkwardly while we try to figure things out when a policemen and his cohorts approach seeing if we need any help. We ask him where to find tickets, he then proceeds to tell us that the train station is on strike today and we will have to find another way. Me and Chelsea look at eachother and laugh because we see the hilarity in the fact that the train would go on strike the one day that we need to use it. Luckily the policemen in Greece are really friendly and end up being really helpful. In fact they kind of argue amongst themselves deciding what our best option is. Did I mention that a lot of the Greek policemen are young and reallllly attractive? So they finally decide that we should probably take a taxi to the bus station and one of them writes the address for our cab driver. Once we get in the cab we find that our driver once again speaks practically no ENGLISH. haha this results in another hilarious cab ride where our conversation covers the following topics: the fact that we only know one Greek person in America, the fact that Obama is good with a thumbs up sign, and that we aren't from Philadelphia. We arrive at the bus station and go up to the ticket window where yet another confusing conversation arrises in a mixture of english in greek. This conversation starts when the ticket man realizes that we are from america and begins to say DANGER DANGER. Not knowing what he's talking about, we look at eachother confused. Some how the message gets across that he's talking about the swine flu, o the stigma that comes with being an American. After waiting for about ten minutes at the bus station we board the bus, and ride for about an hour until we reach the city of Halkida.
After looking for yet another taxi we realize that it is going to be a little more difficult then it was in Athens seeing that not many greek people in these parts know very much english. We have the Sunshine house address written down, and after showing it to several drivers, one finally takes us in. After getting in the cab we are then joined by another girl, and a guy. The ride to the Sunshine House then takes another confusing turn. Hardly anyone speaks any English and at this point Chelsea and I know a total of three or four greek words. This results in our taxi driver becoming more aggravated by the minute after he realizes that he has no idea where the Sunshine House is. Chelsea and I giggle everytime he asks us a question because we don't know what else to do, he keeps trying to talk to us as though eventually we will just magically know what he is saying, and the girl next to us keeps rereading the address. Finally we end up on the correct dark scary alleyway but can't find the House for the life of us. AT this point it is about 11 at night and the driver is about ready to just kick us out of his cab and leave. Finally we decide to just call the Sunshine House (the obvious answer to our problem) and put Takis(the man that we are staying with) on the phone. Finally we find the right area and the taxi driver drops us off.
It is then that we hear the heavily accented voice of a man through a iron gate. He confirms that we are the people staying at his house and greets us around the side. The man that greets us is the owner. He is basically a thai massage yoga master who is famous in Thailand. He has a regal quality about him and when he greets us he gives us a kiss on each cheek he then leads us into his abode. This is Takis. He is a very nice man and shows us our room. The place that we are staying at is as hippie as it can get. There are om signs everywhere books on spirituality fill the library, and hammocks are hanging in the trees. We are also introduced to another volunteer named Tim. Tim is my favorite! He is a 26 year old from Germany and he has dreadlocks down to his hips. He is so funny and so nice, and when we first started getting to know him he told us that we are very giggly happy girls. haha pretty much describes us. We have now spent about 2 full days there and have worked HARD!!! Our first day of work we awoke to Tim who woke us up by whisteling and saying good morning repeatedly in his german accent(he's kind of like our personal alarm clock). He then made us organic oatmeal which was delicious!! We ate that outside and then got to work weeding the garden. After weeding for a couple of hours we had a breaktime where we ate another organic meal prepared by Takis. It was then that we got to know Tim, and proceeded to friendly joke with him throughout the day. After that we had a break where we ended up walking in the opposite direction of the internet cafe and ended up in some random town where we stumbled upon gelato AGAIN! haha it was a really LOOONG walk so we took a taxi back. We got back, sweeped a little, met two new volunteers and made spaghettie for dinner. The next day was super busy because we had to prepare for a group of Japanese people who were coming (they came from the peaceboat its basically a boat that sails around the world learning about peace and meditation etc). We also met two german lesbians who also live in the Sunshine House and met Takis' wife and kids (who are adorable). Anyways then the Japanese people came and took cooking classes and did meditation and we just kind of helped out. O and I made friends with Takis' little girl, she is three and her name is Jaia and currently I am wearing the braclet that she kindly gave to me. After the long day we went into the STEAM BATH which felt sooo goood and then we headed to a beach bar called Azuls.
AZULS!!! Ahhh its like the oasis of all life in this small town. Ahh so we have access to bikes at the Sunshine House, so that is what we took to Azuls. The bike ride was nice and everyone assured us that it would be safe. Of course we ended up taking one wrong turn going in the opposite direction of Azuls haha. Still it was fun because we were biking alongside the beach. Anyways we stop at some type of restaurant and ask for help they lead us in the direction and we take off on our bikes. Like two minutes later one of the guys from the place that we had just stopped at sped ahead of us and told us he would show us Azuls. (He was our age, so no worries and we were on bikes so don't worry about the whole stranger danger situation parents). Haha so he escorted us to Azuls which is this really really pretty beach hang out bar. We met up with a guy and girl who had been giving massages at the Sunshine House and hung out with them and two other volunteers, it was soo fun! We ordered a couple of beers (because we can do that here in Greece!) and stayed until about 1ish and then headed back. That pretty much sums up whats been going on! haha so far its been wonderful and has been going as planned. Unfortunately internet is kind of hard to come by here, so I probably wont be on as often to write. Anyways I am having an amazing time, and can't wait for the next adventure, ISLAND HOPPING!!! Hope all is well.
Jess
After looking for yet another taxi we realize that it is going to be a little more difficult then it was in Athens seeing that not many greek people in these parts know very much english. We have the Sunshine house address written down, and after showing it to several drivers, one finally takes us in. After getting in the cab we are then joined by another girl, and a guy. The ride to the Sunshine House then takes another confusing turn. Hardly anyone speaks any English and at this point Chelsea and I know a total of three or four greek words. This results in our taxi driver becoming more aggravated by the minute after he realizes that he has no idea where the Sunshine House is. Chelsea and I giggle everytime he asks us a question because we don't know what else to do, he keeps trying to talk to us as though eventually we will just magically know what he is saying, and the girl next to us keeps rereading the address. Finally we end up on the correct dark scary alleyway but can't find the House for the life of us. AT this point it is about 11 at night and the driver is about ready to just kick us out of his cab and leave. Finally we decide to just call the Sunshine House (the obvious answer to our problem) and put Takis(the man that we are staying with) on the phone. Finally we find the right area and the taxi driver drops us off.
It is then that we hear the heavily accented voice of a man through a iron gate. He confirms that we are the people staying at his house and greets us around the side. The man that greets us is the owner. He is basically a thai massage yoga master who is famous in Thailand. He has a regal quality about him and when he greets us he gives us a kiss on each cheek he then leads us into his abode. This is Takis. He is a very nice man and shows us our room. The place that we are staying at is as hippie as it can get. There are om signs everywhere books on spirituality fill the library, and hammocks are hanging in the trees. We are also introduced to another volunteer named Tim. Tim is my favorite! He is a 26 year old from Germany and he has dreadlocks down to his hips. He is so funny and so nice, and when we first started getting to know him he told us that we are very giggly happy girls. haha pretty much describes us. We have now spent about 2 full days there and have worked HARD!!! Our first day of work we awoke to Tim who woke us up by whisteling and saying good morning repeatedly in his german accent(he's kind of like our personal alarm clock). He then made us organic oatmeal which was delicious!! We ate that outside and then got to work weeding the garden. After weeding for a couple of hours we had a breaktime where we ate another organic meal prepared by Takis. It was then that we got to know Tim, and proceeded to friendly joke with him throughout the day. After that we had a break where we ended up walking in the opposite direction of the internet cafe and ended up in some random town where we stumbled upon gelato AGAIN! haha it was a really LOOONG walk so we took a taxi back. We got back, sweeped a little, met two new volunteers and made spaghettie for dinner. The next day was super busy because we had to prepare for a group of Japanese people who were coming (they came from the peaceboat its basically a boat that sails around the world learning about peace and meditation etc). We also met two german lesbians who also live in the Sunshine House and met Takis' wife and kids (who are adorable). Anyways then the Japanese people came and took cooking classes and did meditation and we just kind of helped out. O and I made friends with Takis' little girl, she is three and her name is Jaia and currently I am wearing the braclet that she kindly gave to me. After the long day we went into the STEAM BATH which felt sooo goood and then we headed to a beach bar called Azuls.
AZULS!!! Ahhh its like the oasis of all life in this small town. Ahh so we have access to bikes at the Sunshine House, so that is what we took to Azuls. The bike ride was nice and everyone assured us that it would be safe. Of course we ended up taking one wrong turn going in the opposite direction of Azuls haha. Still it was fun because we were biking alongside the beach. Anyways we stop at some type of restaurant and ask for help they lead us in the direction and we take off on our bikes. Like two minutes later one of the guys from the place that we had just stopped at sped ahead of us and told us he would show us Azuls. (He was our age, so no worries and we were on bikes so don't worry about the whole stranger danger situation parents). Haha so he escorted us to Azuls which is this really really pretty beach hang out bar. We met up with a guy and girl who had been giving massages at the Sunshine House and hung out with them and two other volunteers, it was soo fun! We ordered a couple of beers (because we can do that here in Greece!) and stayed until about 1ish and then headed back. That pretty much sums up whats been going on! haha so far its been wonderful and has been going as planned. Unfortunately internet is kind of hard to come by here, so I probably wont be on as often to write. Anyways I am having an amazing time, and can't wait for the next adventure, ISLAND HOPPING!!! Hope all is well.
Jess
Thursday, May 21, 2009
I'm backkkkk. Okay so today was yet another amazing day in the beautiful city of Athens. for some reason I couldn't sleep this morning thus I slept a total of four hours again! Although I do think it is catching up to me, because we have managed to do so many things in such a short period of time it is taking a slight toll on my energy. Today we met up with our Canadian friends, and our other Romanian friend and decided to eat a picnic lunch directly in front of the Acropolis. The initial picnic operation began when we went to a small grocery store, hidden on one of the streets and all chipped in to buy bread, a HUGE cucumber, tomatoes, mystery meat, and mayonnaise....that fortunately was the easy part. We then proceeded to make our sandwiches in an assembly line at our friends studio apartment, all was good and fun until Chelsea knocked over all of the sandwiches that had been made resulting in a loss of several tomatoes cucumbers and peices of bread. After this epic sandwich making disaster we salvaged what we could and proceeded to head to the Acropolis!!!
The Acropolis was so exciting!!! It was truly amazing to be staring up at these ancient structures, knowing that they have been in existence for thousands of years. All of us just kind of wandered around taking in the sites and taking pictures that simply can't capture what its like to actually be here. In fact they don't do any justice in showing the time invested in the ancient parthenon, or the unreal views of athens and the ocean seen from the Acropolis. After shuffling around and seeing all we could we left the ancient cites and proceeded to walk to the market. I did pass a large group of policemen and I looked for my beloved Antonio (the policeman who saved my life yesterday) but he was no where to be found.
Being a shopaholic the market was very very dangerous...everything looked so beautiful and exotic I wanted to buy it all!!! seeing as how I came with very limited expenses it was almost torturous having to pass all these things that Icouldn'tbuy. Of course I did manage to get some purchases in haha including a necklace and a scarf and a painting. After walking around for like five hours straight we made our way back to the hostel, and some how found ourselves sitting back at the gelato place (I have nooo idea how that happened, honestly gelato is addicting!!)
Ahh I almost forgot, on our way back to the hostel from the market Chelsea's bra broke right down the front. I think her boobs are GROWING. This resulted in an awkward position where I had to hold chelseas bra together essentially groping her while she pinned it shut with a button from her bag (very resourceful I might add). Mind you this minor drama all occurred in front of the Euro exchange lady, I'm pretty sure she was atleast mildly entertained.
One more thing I must divulge.... WE are no longer staying at Natalies house haha. After months and months of planning to stay there and corresponding with her she canceled last minute and left us stranded. She wrote us an email that basically said she had a family emergency and could no longer take us in. This resulted in a freakout where me and chelsea just stared at eachother for like ten minutes unsure what to do. At this point we thought for sure that we were going to be homeless vagrants wandering the athenian streets for the next month, and had absolutely nooo idea how to tell our parents that we didn't know what we were going to do! Fortunately everything happens for a reason. Within the email that Natalie sent us, she also enclosed the numbers for a place called the Sunshine house. We had heard of the Sunshine House and had actually really wanted to work there so we were sooo excited of the possibility. WE sent them an email basically begging them to take us in, and even offered to sleep in our hammock for the next month if that was the only way we could stay there. Luckily they agreed and actually sound happy to have the extra help. This being said our plans have changed a little and instead of staying in Athens for one more night we are actually going to head to the Sunshine House.
Did I mention that the Sunshine house is a yoga Thai massage place where they encourage volunteers to talk to their plants? Yup, its pretty legit.
The Acropolis was so exciting!!! It was truly amazing to be staring up at these ancient structures, knowing that they have been in existence for thousands of years. All of us just kind of wandered around taking in the sites and taking pictures that simply can't capture what its like to actually be here. In fact they don't do any justice in showing the time invested in the ancient parthenon, or the unreal views of athens and the ocean seen from the Acropolis. After shuffling around and seeing all we could we left the ancient cites and proceeded to walk to the market. I did pass a large group of policemen and I looked for my beloved Antonio (the policeman who saved my life yesterday) but he was no where to be found.
Being a shopaholic the market was very very dangerous...everything looked so beautiful and exotic I wanted to buy it all!!! seeing as how I came with very limited expenses it was almost torturous having to pass all these things that Icouldn'tbuy. Of course I did manage to get some purchases in haha including a necklace and a scarf and a painting. After walking around for like five hours straight we made our way back to the hostel, and some how found ourselves sitting back at the gelato place (I have nooo idea how that happened, honestly gelato is addicting!!)
Ahh I almost forgot, on our way back to the hostel from the market Chelsea's bra broke right down the front. I think her boobs are GROWING. This resulted in an awkward position where I had to hold chelseas bra together essentially groping her while she pinned it shut with a button from her bag (very resourceful I might add). Mind you this minor drama all occurred in front of the Euro exchange lady, I'm pretty sure she was atleast mildly entertained.
One more thing I must divulge.... WE are no longer staying at Natalies house haha. After months and months of planning to stay there and corresponding with her she canceled last minute and left us stranded. She wrote us an email that basically said she had a family emergency and could no longer take us in. This resulted in a freakout where me and chelsea just stared at eachother for like ten minutes unsure what to do. At this point we thought for sure that we were going to be homeless vagrants wandering the athenian streets for the next month, and had absolutely nooo idea how to tell our parents that we didn't know what we were going to do! Fortunately everything happens for a reason. Within the email that Natalie sent us, she also enclosed the numbers for a place called the Sunshine house. We had heard of the Sunshine House and had actually really wanted to work there so we were sooo excited of the possibility. WE sent them an email basically begging them to take us in, and even offered to sleep in our hammock for the next month if that was the only way we could stay there. Luckily they agreed and actually sound happy to have the extra help. This being said our plans have changed a little and instead of staying in Athens for one more night we are actually going to head to the Sunshine House.
Did I mention that the Sunshine house is a yoga Thai massage place where they encourage volunteers to talk to their plants? Yup, its pretty legit.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
okay I'm back but I only have a little bit of time to finish! so after relaxing on the roof top bar, which is pretty much the most amazing place everrr we met a bunch of new people who had just arrived that day. After playing multiple drinking games we headed down to a karaoke bar. Chelsea and I and two canadian girls (who have become our good friends) hopped into a taxi with a slip of paper telling the driver how to get to this mysterious Mikes Karaoke bar. This resulted in all of us shouting the only two words that we know in Greek repeatedly to the bus driver, these words being kalimera and me lene (essentially goodmorning and my name is). A confusing mixture of english and greek ensued as we talked to our friendly cab driver Nicco(I think). The karaoke bar was an Irish pub, full of greeks singing famous american songs which resulted in an odd cultural melting pot of drunken fun (although I didn't drink because I was still recovering from my hangover). after that we went back to the hostel were I got four hours asleep and now Im back and kicking!!! Today we plan on doing an assortment of activites which I will write about later.......
Yours truely,
greek traveler
Yours truely,
greek traveler
Finally I have time to write! So as of now I have been in GREECE a total of two nights and its been amazing!!! After the plane landed it felt like finally all of our months of planning and hard work had finally paid off. The night that we arrived we met up with this girl named Oana who just completed her graduate degree at George Washington. We wandered around and found beautiful greek streets lined with restaurants and touristy shops. We managed to find a relatively cheap place (by Greek standards) and I enjoyed my first greek gyro and my first legal beer. After that we went back to our hostel (which is wonderful by the way) and went to the roof top bar. The roof top bar has this amazing view of the acropolis, and the weather was so wonderful. We hung out there for a little and met more people and then proceeded to go on the bar crawl. The bar crawl was so much fun, already a little tipsy I managed to dance the night away in various bars and clubs. I proceeded to drop a glass in one of the bars we went to, and drink several legallllll beers. We managed to get to bed around four and woke up at like 9:30 were we then proceeded to go on a two and a half walking tour around Greece. I can assure you that this was my first and last tour that I will ever go on hungover. The tour was fun none the less and we managed to see the market, a church, parliament, the Temple of Zeus and the acropolis. Fortunatley being hungover in Greece is just about as amazing as everything else is here. After my first public throw up (which was only slightly embarassing) two police men came over to see if I was okay. If I had been in the states I would have most certainly been interrogated and probably taken to detox to wait the day out. Greece however has a slightly different policy, here the policemen ask you if you are okay, and then proceed to call you lady over and over again, while assuring you that they will go and get you a water and orange juice to make you feel better. AHHHHH isn't that wonderful? I then took a long nap, slept off my hangover, ate some gelato, and went back to the rooftop bar... I'm almost out of time, but I will check in back later to write the rest!!!!
Monday, May 18, 2009
"No work or play or world is free. Be what you be Just BE!"
-The Soulsonic Force
Well currently I am sitting in the Dallas Fort Worth Airport about to embark on my adventure to GREECE!!! After months of planning it has finally come down to the beginning of my trip. I can not even begin to describe the amount of adrenaline and excitement pumping through my veins as of today! I have already met up with Chelsea and she is sitting besides me writing in her journal. This morning iI woke up at 5 to get ready, do some last minute stress packing, and take a shower before my trip. We arrived at the airport around 7:20 and managed to get through security successfully. I boarded my flight and it left around 8:50. At the Gate it took several minutes before my boarding group could be checked in because a group of ladies in front of me didn't understand the rule of taking two personal bags. This resulted in a confusing arguement that ended with several peices of luggage being left at the gate, to be checked in with all of the other baggage. I sat next to a guy with awkwardly spiked hair, who managed to wear his sunglasses for the duration of the two hour flight. I took a small nap, and awoke to discover my mouth open, something I didn't find very suprising. Now I am here in Dallas waiting until my flight to LONDON!!!!
-The Soulsonic Force
Well currently I am sitting in the Dallas Fort Worth Airport about to embark on my adventure to GREECE!!! After months of planning it has finally come down to the beginning of my trip. I can not even begin to describe the amount of adrenaline and excitement pumping through my veins as of today! I have already met up with Chelsea and she is sitting besides me writing in her journal. This morning iI woke up at 5 to get ready, do some last minute stress packing, and take a shower before my trip. We arrived at the airport around 7:20 and managed to get through security successfully. I boarded my flight and it left around 8:50. At the Gate it took several minutes before my boarding group could be checked in because a group of ladies in front of me didn't understand the rule of taking two personal bags. This resulted in a confusing arguement that ended with several peices of luggage being left at the gate, to be checked in with all of the other baggage. I sat next to a guy with awkwardly spiked hair, who managed to wear his sunglasses for the duration of the two hour flight. I took a small nap, and awoke to discover my mouth open, something I didn't find very suprising. Now I am here in Dallas waiting until my flight to LONDON!!!!
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