I'd Rather Be in Santorini

Last week, we had our longest break of the quarter; we got a whole two days off, making our break from Wednesday to Sunday. Even though my program does not give me much time off, I was determined to make the most of my break.  For some reason, I wanted to go to Greece. I had visions of the Greece I had seen in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants- quaint and beautiful on cliffs facing the sea.  So I booked my flight (with a friend as crazy as me), ignoring the warnings about riots in Athens.

We left for Athens on Tuesday (skipping class).  We were going to take a train to Milan and then fly out of the Milan airport. What we hadn't factored in was that to get from the Milan train station to the Milan airport we would have to take another train. For an hour. We were able to make both trains and we got to the Milan airport. We walked through a giant room with no apparent purpose and a fog machine and looked for "Terminal 2." We finally realized that "Terminal 2" was basically a separate airport that we had to take another bus to. We raced to catch our plane, and thankfully the plane was on Italian time and we made our flight! Running to catch a plane is not a pleasant feeling.

In Athens, we stayed at the self-dubbed "best two-star hotel in Athens." The hotel actually was clean and nice. The location was not. I have never felt so scared in a city. Of course two girls walking around attracted attention. The reviews of our hotel had said that it "was not in the best location." What an understatement! I will not write down what I saw because I want to forget. Just do me a favor- if you go to Athens stay in the touristy places. Staying in Athens really made me appreciate Firenze and how safe I feel in this city every day.

But on to the good parts of my stay in Athens! We went to the Akropolis first!

It was so amazing to see these ancient temples! If you look closely at the columns you can see that they are not one solid block but rather pieces stacked together. It is amazing that these temples are still standing! Now they are fortified so that they will not fall over. I'm a Greek myth nerd so it was so cool to see where the ancient Greeks worshiped their gods and goddesses. My grandma used to tell me the myths when I was little.

View of Athens from the Akropolis

Do you know the myth about how Athens got its name? The ancient Greeks were deciding which god or goddess to devote their city to, and the candidates were Poseidon and Athena. Poseidon gave the ancient Greeks a well. Poseidon was the god of the sea, and so the problem with the well was that it was filled with salt water! Athena gave them an olive tree. Her gift was the winner and hence, the city is named Athens.

After seeing the Akropolis, we walked around in the touristy areas of Athens.

In My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the main character works in a restaurant called "The Dancing Zorbas." So when I saw this restaurant I had to take a picture.

The Akropolis is on the hill in the background of this picture. I took this from a touristy Frozen Greek Yogurt place. No true Greek would eat here, but for me, it was the best frozen yogurt that I've ever had. For lunch I tried the souvlaki and it was delicious. It was four kebabs of beef on a warm pita with tomatoes and onions. And for dinner the previous night I'd had lamb chops with potatoes. The Greek food was good.

I bought lovely leather, hand-made sandals at a very touristy place. It's touristy because this guy's father, Stavros Melissinos, is a famous poet who did not stop making sandals even after his fame. His reasoning: "A writer who does nothing but write is like the moon, which gives off some light, but borrowed from the sun. A writer needs first-hand experience, which only working in another field can give him. Otherwise he is rewriting what he has read in other books." You can see why I wanted to meet this guy. Nevertheless, his son was very nice and he spoke English well. So few people in Athens spoke English, and so we ended up coming back here to ask for directions.

This is the bathroom door of a McDonald's. I have never seen such an intense bathroom door. The keypad to the left is where you type in the bathroom code that is on your receipt. Or, you just can wait for someone to come out.

We climbed Mount Lycabettus. It was very pleasant, actually, to walk and watch the dangers of Athens shrink the higher we got.

Mom, I found Rocky! Sneaky turtle! 

We were rewarded with this gorgeous view when we reached to top!

And there was this cute Greek Orthodox church on top of the mountain! I wonder who climbs a mountain to go to church every week...

There was also a beautiful cafe on top of the mountain, but it was pricey. Even the sink in the bathroom was fancy.

And that was my Halloween. :) We didn't go out that night because of the aforementioned reasons.

The next morning we caught a ferry to Santorini. I don't think I've ever been so excited for an 8-hour ferry ride. 

We happily said goodbye to Athens!!

This was the pool at our hostel at Santorini. Lol. 

We saw a donkey chillin' in the grass when we walked around Santorini.

Other than the disappointment of a pool, the hostel that I stayed at was amazing! It was only 8.80 euros a night, and the owner was super nice. He definitely favored us. Here is the pancake breakfast that he made for my friend and me. I put honey on my pancakes and it was really, really good. (The name of the hostel is Santorini Breeze, if you're interested!) :)

This is the cat from my hostel. The owner calls her "Charlie Chaplin." Charlie doesn't like most people but she really bonded with my friend.

After making us a pancake breakfast, the owner drove us to where we needed to go. So nice!

We went to the supposed ruins of Atlantis. These ruins are BC-era. Later, in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, I would see the frescoes and pottery that the archaeologists found here. I wish that they hadn't moved everything- this would have been so much more epic if they'd left it as they found it.

After, we went to Red Rock.

It was very beautiful. After, I spotted a sign that said "homemade wine", so we stopped to eat.

Best calimari of my life

We were literally the only people eating at the restaurant that we went to. Did I mention that Santorini is a bit deserted during off-season? I'm not complaining- it was nice to share the island with only a few people. We tried the honeyed wine and found it to be too sweet. I ordered fried calimari, and that was a very wise decision. It was so fresh- they had caught the squid the day before.

After that we made another wise decision and went to the town of Oia.

It was so beautiful. We ran into some other study-abroaders and watched the sun set.

It was so, so beautiful. 

The next day, we just layed out at the black sand beach by our hostel. There were only a few other people on the beach. I felt like it was my own Mediterranean paradise. With a 24-hour bakery. Era perfetto.

We were very sad to leave.

At least we got to watch the sun set from the ferry.

We had to return to Athens for our flight back. Before we left, we went to the National Archaelogical Museum. It was free that Sunday.

This wreath was cool to see because when Italians graduate from university they wear a wreath on their head that is similar to this one.

There really was a mummy in there. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

I didn't like this horse until my friend said that it looked like one of the horses that takes the students to Hogwarts. It went up in my esteem after that.

This was found in the ruins of Santorini that I visited earlier. It is in the Guinness World Records as the oldest depiction of boxing.

Nestor's Cup

This is Nestor's Cup, which is mentioned in the Iliad. 

And then, we returned to Firenze. I am glad to be back in my warm bed in my safe environment, with easy access to espresso. But I miss that black sand beach out in the Mediterranean.

"love builds up the broken wall / and straightens the crooked path. / love keeps the stars in firmament / and imposes rhythm on the ocean tides / each of us is created of it / and I suspect / each of us was created for it" ~ Maya Angelou

The hardest part of studying abroad

...is saying goodbye.

[Photo Credit: Gabriele] 

[Photo Credit: Virginia]

For me, deciding to study abroad for three and a half months was not such a difficult choice in terms of missing people.  Of course I would miss my friends.  But I would see them in three and a half months.  So I was not saying "Goodbye." I was saying "See you later!"  There is a big difference to me.

I was so fortunate to meet my friend who is from Italy.  She is truly one of the most loving people I have ever met.  I was amazed that though we grew up on different sides of the world, speaking different languages, we have so much in common!  It does not matter that we cannot say the word "crepe" in a way that the other can understand.

But alas, she graduated her university.  This is quite an accomplishment and it is a wonderful thing.  The problem, for me, is that she is now going to Africa for a few months.  She will not be back in Italy before I leave beautiful Firenze.

I don't like saying "Goodbye."

Allora.  Virginia, I'm really going to miss you.  Have an amazing time in Africa and we will definitely skype.  I want to hear about all of your adventures!  And Europe really does have a hold on me (and you may yet wind up in America) so maybe we will see each other again.  Until then, goodbye friend!  I love you and I will miss you! <3

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~ Jeremiah 29:11

Quando a Roma...

Sono andata a Roma! Era bellissima!!

Prima, siamo andate al Colosseo!

Il Colosseo!

See how the Colosseum looks like it's been torn apart? Well, that is because it was. Don't worry- I will tell you what the guidebooks won't tell ya.  See, the Colosseum used to be where the ancient Romans kept the dragons.  The problem was that the dragons grew too big and strong, and so naturally, the dragons wreaked havoc within the Colosseum.  

Un giorno, two dragons were fighting and one crashed into the Colosseum.  It still has the crack to this day.

This was the landing pad for when the Romans flew their dragons.  The landing pad is conveniently close to the dragon pen (aka the Colosseum). 

There used to be more to this building, but the dragons knocked it over.

They made a bit of a mess here as well.

This is called Il Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II.  Up the stairs there is the grave of an unknown soldier with two soldiers guarding it.

Of course, we went to La Fontana di Trevi.  It was impressive and very crowded.  Roma is very fond of fountains. 

Tossing my coin in the Trevi Fountain

I tossed a coin in the Trevi Fountian, of course.  Not that I'm superstitious... but better to be safe than sorry.  All of the coins go to charity!  It was fun to sit and watch the other tourists.  One lady tossed a coin and her photographer missed the picture so she pretended to throw a coin for a picture.  Some people just kept chucking in coins with a more coins more luck philosophy.  As you can see, I did right hand over left shoulder.  I saw people do all sorts of variations.  (I hope I did it right.)

Trevi Fountain

The Spanish Steps

We went to the Spanish Steps, too.  I'll tell you their little-known history.  Rome was at war with Spain, and Rome was losing.  Spain invaded Rome and the soldiers climbed these very steps to storm the city and take over Rome.  However, the Romans had actually set a trap.  When the Spanish army was on the steps, the Roman soldiers let loose floodgates and the Spaniards were flooded and were literally washed out of the city.  Some of the soldiers drowned on the steps, and thus, the steps are forever dubbed "The Spanish Steps."

On my second day in Rome, we went to Il Vaticano! Fun Fact: The Vatican is the smallest country in both size and population, with only 832 inhabitants.

This golden ball is a remnant from the dragon days.  One of the dragons was playing with it and accidentally cracked it.

Gruppo del Laocoonte

This is a famous sculpture called Gruppo del Laocoonte.  The sculptor is unknown.  It depicts a Trojan War scene.  This guy knew that the Trojan Horse was a trap and he tried to convince the others of this.  Athena had snakes bite him to give him a violent end so that the Trojans would not believe him and would accept the Trojan Horse.  It worked and the Trojans let the horse into their city walls.  To their demise.

This was a dragon's water dish (obviously). 

This is an image of Jesus that was in a tapestry.  The eyes follow you no matter which way you look at him.  To me, he is saying, "Don't worry guys, I'm OK."

They're really strict about no photos in the Sistine Chapel.  So we were even more determined to take some.

The Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo [Photo Credit: Lauren]

Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel when he was an amateur at painting. From painting the ceiling, he   ended up with many health problems, including partial blindness and scoliosis.

The Sistine Chapel was huge and I could see why Michelangelo was not thrilled about painting it.  Some of the panels were just brilliant.  Of course pictures do not do it justice.  

We went to St. Peter's Basilica next. 

This is the Dome that Michelangelo designed.  The pope told him to make it larger than the one in the Pantheon and Michelangelo said that he would.  The sneaky sneaky man did not do so, however, because he loved the Pantheon.  And so, to this day the dome in the Pantheon is larger than the one in St. Peter's Basilica.

There were many pope graves in the Basilica.  I was fortunate enough to get to see two metallic dead popes!

I do not understand why their heads and hands are metal.  My friend thinks the popes took fashion advice from Santa Claus.

I'm in St. Peter's Basilica!

A Swiss Guard

Apparently it is very difficult to get the honor of being a Swiss Guard at the Vatican.  I wanted to see what would happen if I tried to walk past this guy, but the other Swiss Guard had a spear.

Il Vaticano!

After we left the Vatican, we saw a ton of street performers and human statues.  This guy was the coolest.

We went to this castle next. We climbed it for the view.

After this, we went to the Gelateria del Teatro. I was very impressed. I got one scoop of pumpkin gelato with dark chocolate and nuts in it and I got another scoop of white chocolate. It was amazing- it was like pumpkin pie but better.  Now I know that pumpkin pie needs dark chocolate bits.

This is another Roman fountain. There were oh so many.

The Pantheon!

The Pantheon used to be a place to worship all of the ancient Roman gods.  Today, it functions as a Catholic church!  (That cracks me up.)  It was surreal to go into this temple that was built in 126 AD! And it is unbroken!

The ceiling of the Pantheon

After this, we went to Dar Poeta off a recommendation by my wonderful sorority sisters who studied in Roma last year.  It took us a bit to find the place but it was well worth the walk. I enjoyed the best pizza that I've ever had in my life.  My friend and I split a pizza with sausage and mushrooms and a Sicilian pizza.  We were so, so, so happy.

It was a very, very good trip.  I had a wonderful time.  I think that part of my enjoyment came from eating very Italian the whole trip.  We would eat a croissant and a cappuccino for breakfast, pasta for lunch, and pizza for dinner.  Yum! :)  It's surreal to me that I get to see things that I've studied in high school.  Now I'm here!  And they are even better in reality!  Sono felice.

"Vivo ed amo nella peculiare luce di Dio." ~ Michelangelo (I live and love in God's peculiar light.)