5/21 - 5/27 - Greece

Hello everyone! Because Greece involved going to so many different places and seeing different things, I figured doing one post for the country would suffice. I expect it'll be a long one, though.

ATHENS

The flight from Rome to Athens involved us getting up at 330 AM,  getting ready in the hostel,  and hoofing it over to the bus station. Steve and myself,  along with close to 50 other travelers, stood outside Roma Termini (central station) for nearly half an hour until the 430AM bus to Ciaopino airport showed up.

We arrived in Athens at about 930 in the morning, and one thing was immediately clear - Greek made absolutely no sense to us.  I had rushed a fraternity, sure, so I could piece together how words SOUNDED, but their meaning was beyond me. We hopped a bus to the city center and started to take in the landscape. Athens, at least the outskirts, reminded me a lot of Arizona, or maybe Texas. Very few trees, an intense dry heat, and massive Hills off in the distance accompanied our ride. After having been in Italy for a week, we felt pretty comfortable navigating foreign cities, but we had no freaking idea where we were when we got off of the bus. The city center was surrounded by light blue, white, and tan buildings that,  to me, all seemed very 'greek'. We managed to find our way through the train system and ultimately came upon our hostel: Hotel Zorbas. It was a decent place with clean bunks and,  for the first time in our trip,  WiFi in our bedrooms! Steve and I met our new roommates for the evening, Andrew and Sean,  and then proceeded to crash for two hours. We got up around 1, showered,  and headed for the acropolis.

(I feel it's important to interject and mention that, on a whole, our experiences with Greek locals were much more positive and welcoming than were our interactions with Italians.)

When we got into the Metro in an attempt to find the acropolis, we realized that the directions given to us made exactly zero sense. Lucky for us, a friendly Greek woman was standing near us waiting for the train. She ended up missing three (yes,  THREE) of her trains in an attempt to get us headed in the right direction. We exited the metro and we're greeted with a massive Plaza,  with people selling all sorts of tourist related souvenirs, as well as food and fresh produce. A turn to the right left us in sight of the acropolis, which truly towered over every other part of the city. We hoofed it through alleyways, up staircases, and down narrow streets, all the while flanked by those stereotypical white washed Greek buildings. Ultimately we found the staircase,  which set us up the path to the top. I guess we had taken the back route, because when we hit the Midway point we were greater by a flood of tourists from all corners of the world. We followed the current to the top of the path. A set of massive marble pillars, as well as a decaying marble gateway, marked our arrival at the top of the Acropolis. Having walked through, we were both immediately surprised by the number of ruined temples present at the site. To our right stood the Parthenon, a massive marble structure which I'm sure you're all familiar with. In addition,  there were at least three other,  small temples I'm more advanced states of disrepair. Steve and I spent nearly half an hour waking around,  snapping photos and marveling at how these structures had been able to withstand time for nearlg 2500 years. The only thing that was able to pull our attention from the temples was the breathtaking,  360° view of Athens. I've never seen a city 'shine' like Athens did; I hope the photos do it justice.

We had a quick bite to eat that night in a local neighborhood,  and the next morning were up at 5AM to catch a ferry to the isles.

MYKONOS

We rode the metro for about 45 minutes to Piraeus, the port in Athens,  and boarded the 5 hour ferry to mykonos. We found seats on the upper deck, next to two college girls from UC-Boulder, and spent the majority of the ride exchanging tips, stories, photos, and downing a couple beers (hey, we're on vacation,  and it was 5 o clock somewhere..).

We arrived in the port of Mykonos and were presented with an island packed with white walled,  blue roofed homes from the sea to the Crest of the hills. We bid farewell to our new friends and took a jam packed van to our Hostel,  the Paradise Beach Resort. Our room was a little bungalow that was little more than 2 beds and a door that locked, sort of. The resort, however, was home to two all day beach clubs, a bar/lounge, and the number 17 club in the world (the grand opening of which was that night, as fate would have it). After decompressing for a bit, we hopped the public bus downtown. My expert negotiating skills landed us with two ATVs, probably the two worst ATVs on the island, for about 15 dollars American per night.

The next two days were a flurry of partying, lounging on the beach, mosquito bites, and exploring the whole island on our ATVs. The views were incredible, the people incredibly friendly, and the parties beyond all expectation.

IOS

On the morning of my 22nd birthday we packed up all of our gear and headed for the island of Ios. Our hostel, called Francesco's, was less than a block from nearly every club on the island.  Sweet. The only thing that put a damper on our excitement for the night of birthday partying in one of the most famous party places in Europe was what we thought were mosquito bites. When we walked into the hostel, the owner,  Francesco, immediately asked us if we had stayed at Paradise Beach. When we confirmed,  he asked to see our bites,  and after some examination had the pleasure of informing us that we were both infested with bed bugs. We were given a room significantly farther away than anyone else's,  and together Steve and I had to spend the next hour or so removing everything from our bags,  spraying it down,  and then bundling anything that could be washed in airtight bags. Great start to a 22nd birthday. With all that unpleasantness behind us, though, we were able to grab some dinner,  have a nap, and then head down for a hostel hosted pub crawl. We met a ton of characters, including Jake,  the 19 year old Australian bartender and Alex,  the bus driver from New Zealand who could party harder than anyone I've met. Long story short, the evening saw us club hopping until nearly 5AM, before struggling to find our way home.

Day 2 began with the discovery Porkis, home of the best freaking Gyro I've had in my entire life. If manna from heaven was greasy and deep fried, I'm fairly certain it would taste something like this. For the next 24 hours we proceeded to live off of nothing but Porkis and alcohol (if you think
I'm kidding, I can assure you that I am not). When we left It's the following day, we both agreed that we could have spent a week there and still not been satisfied, the place is incredible.

SANTORINI

We booked ourselves one night on the island of Santorini, as it was the closest place to Ios with an airport, and because it was supposed to be beautiful. Sailing into the port revealed that Santorini proper is shaped like a crescent moon.  Within the Crest, in the 'bay' are the remains of a massive volcano that I surmise helped to create the island. Sporadic,  5 minute downpours, as well as massive rainbows, accompanied our 45 minute switchback-centric ride up the Cliffside and across the island to Perissa, home to our hostel and the world famous black sand beach. That evening involved the two of us relaxing,  with Steve ultimately making a solo trip to the north side to photograph one of the sunsets that Santorini is so famous for.  (pictures of the sunset will be included in the next post - still need to get them from Steve). We had to get up early the next morning for our flight from Santorini to Munich,  Germany. All in all, our time in Greece was a whirl of great food, awesome parties, strong drinks, and some of the friendliest most fun-loving people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. If you ever have an opportunity, go to Greece. You will not be disappointed.

More to come,  love you all!

P. S.  Next post involves beer, sausage, saurkraut, Bavarian sunshine, and food poisoning!

5/17 - 5/20 - Cinque Terre & Roma (Rome)

Hello everyone!

This is the first time I'm doing this from my tablet versus a dedicated PC,  so forgive any errors. The last week or so has been a whirlwind and I haven't had much time to post with all the commotion,  so I'll probably do the next two in one sitting,  starting with Cinque Terre and Rome. 

Cinque Terre is the name used for a collection of five towns - Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore - spread out a few kilometers from one another just south of Genoa. Initially founded in the 11th century,  these five towns were carved into the sides of the rocky cliffs and mountainsides that make up the western coast of Italy. We arrived in Cinque Terre not really knowing what to expect other than what fellow backpackers and the ever-popular Internet had told us.  Neither did this place justice. If you could close your eyes and imagine it while reading this I would have you try, but my photos and explanation will have to suffice. We got off the train and were immediately funneled with over a hundred other tourists into a little subterranean tunnel. We came out into a narrow courtyard at the bottom of a winding staircase up into the hills with houses on either side. The pack of tourists, ourselves included, moved through another tunnel bordering the train tracks. After a good 300 meters we arrived into the southernmost town of Riomaggiore.

To our left was a wide and winding road surrounded by tall Italian style buildings. The road quickly curved out of sight, but on either side you could see the buildings raise higher and higher up the sides of the two bordering mountains that helped to make the valley Riomaggiore is in. To the right was an absolutely phenomenal view of the medditerranean.  It was about two hundred feet below us, and from our vantage point Steve, our friend Sylvie, (who decided to tag along from Pisa) and I could see everything: the cobblestone path leading straight to the water, the locals preparing their dingys to go out fishing, the narrow hiking paths the flanked the cliffs to either side, the massive water taxis shuttling people between the towns, and the Mediterranean all the way to the horizon. I'm hard pressed to think of a more breathtakingly beautiful place that I have encountered.

Our hostel was quite a hike up some claustrophobia-inducing staircases, though we ended up with a villa complete with a kitchen,  private bathroom, and a big bunk room at the top of the stairs that slept six. We were paired up with a young couple from Hong Kong and three dudes from Florida State who, much to everyone else's chagrin, insisted on talking college football with me into the early hours of the morning.

We made the most of our first day in Cinque Terre, visiting Manarola, Vernazza, and Monterosso. We got a little buzzed on the beach in Monterosso and proceeded to cliff jump for nearly two hours. Sylvie managed to slice her hand up pretty good, so we called it quits and started on what we thought would be a quick hike to Vernazza. Turns out the hike is 3.5 kilometers of vertical over three mountains. Naturally, Steve led the way, followed by me and Sylvie (who's cut was still bleeding pretty badly). We pushed ourselves hard through the whole thing, after two hours were rewarded with some truly spectacular views of Vernazza. We took the train back to Riomaggiore where we were able to clean up, get some medical help, and have a killer dinner. We crashed that night, hard.

The next day, after more exploration, Sylvie said her goodbyes and headed for Munich, while Steve and I border the train to Rome.

We didn't arrive in Rome until nearly midnight, and after hearing from plenty of people about the pickpockets and theives in the Station, Roma Termini, we were on high alert. Have g gotten better and navigating foreign cities,  Steve and I quickly found our hostel - Alessandro Palace and Bar. The place was massive, and was full of English speaking people from the US,  Canada,  the UK,  and Australia. Our bunk mates were two girls - Shania and Rachel -  who, as it turns out, were from Metro Detroit as well! We chatted for a while about detroitey things before turning in for the night.

The next day we did laundry for the first time on the trip, fun, and signed up for a tour of the Vatican. We arrived in the nick of time, and were able to skip the entire Vatican line with our group to get right in. The architecture of the different buildings was incredible. As we made our way through the museum, Steve mentioned that he doesn't think he's ever been around that much wealth in his entire life. I couldn't have put it any better myself,  the place was insane! Priceless art littered literally every available surface in the place,  and what wasn't a painting or a sculpture was gold. Everything was covered in solid freaking gold. I wish I could describe all of what we saw, but I truly couldn't do any of it justice. I will mention, however, that Michaelangelo's work in the Sistine Chapel was beyond comprehension. It took him four years,  working alone, to do the ceiling of the Chapel,  and it was like every brush stroke held some hidden meaning or symbolism. The central piece of the entire ceiling, the creation of Adam, is even cooler in person. Armed guards prevented me from snapping photos,  but I'm certain you've all seen exactly what I'm talking about. That evening we highlighted by a pub crawl in Rome that included two bars and a pretty awesome club. Steve and I met a ton of people from all over the world and had an absolute blast letting loose. I ended up losing Steve for like three hours,  though we both managed to stumble our way back home intact.

Day 2 in Rome featured sleeping in until nearly 1PM, or 1300 if you're cool, and me getting a haircut from an old Italian man (turned out great!). We went to the Colosseum and Roman Forum that afternoon. I had heard that the Colosseum in particular was smaller than people than people expected, I thought it was massive. It was really something to walk around in a space where, thousands of years earlier, people fought and died for the entertainment of others. I'll be honest I regards to the Roman forum, I didn't even know it was there prior to taking this trip. For those who might be in the same boat as me,  it is essentially a collection of ruined villas, fountains, meeting areas, lookouts, basilica, and temples directly next to the Colosseum. Steve and I agreed that the forum actually outshone the Colosseum for us. Mainly because it was a glimpse into what ancient Rome might have looked like. We turned in early that night in preparation for our 5:45AM flight to Athens.

More to come,  love you all!

P. S.  Thank you all for the wonderful emails! It's great to hear from everyone back home and keep up with what you're all up to. :)

5/15 - 5/17 Firenze (Florence) & Pisa

and I thought Milan was cool...

If Italian cities were cars, Milan would be a Fiat 500, and Florence: a Ferrari. The city is stunning. Stucco walls and narrow streets accompanied by vendors from all over the world selling leather, shoes, belts, watches, purses, headphones, cameras, art, fine china, silverware, jewelry, etc. Aside from the smell of delicious food, the intoxicating aroma of leather seeps out of every other storefront. If it can be made out of leather, a vendor in Florence has it. Steve and I arrived and were immediately overwhelmed by the difference in style from Milan. The narrow streets and hundreds upon hundreds of people in the streets had us lost for nearly an hour. When we finally DID manage to find our hostel, we discovered it was less than a 5 minute walk from the train station (clearly we're not phenomenal navigators).

In our dorm we met Toine (pronounced Twan), Brad, Patrick, and Brian. Toine was an Australian DJ taking 3 months off work (two of which were fully paid, lucky duck) to explore the world. Brad and Patrick were two brothers from New Hampshire taking the first part of the summer to do exactly what Steve and I are - meet new people and try new things halfway around the world. Brian was a college student from New Mexico backpacking solo across the southern coast, though the opposite direction as us. The six of us hit it off immediately, and together we set out to explore Florence. We ate Panino from little corner shops, and saw Bars, Pubs, and Ristorantes in nearly every other window. Directly outside our hostel window, less that 35 feet away, was the Bacille di San Lorenzo (google it, it's super cool!), and just over the buildings to the left we could see the Duomo - one of, if not the most gorgeous chapel I have ever seen. Our afternoon was highlighted by a hike to the Piazza di Michaelangelo, which gave us a breathtaking view of all of Florence. 

The next day the six of us went to see Michaelangelo's David. Though all of the artwork in the galleria was immaculate, the David was something else. I'm not certain if it was being surrounded by all of the art, being in the heart of Florence, or just my general mood on this trip that did it, but seeing that massive marble statue was truly moving. The work is magnificent, and the attention to detail is insane! (You can see every vein running through his hands and arms). From the galleria we said farewell to our new friends and boarded the train to Pisa.

The outskirts, and especially the portion of the city south of the train tracks (where we happened to be staying), reminded me a bit of west or south Chicago. Our hostel was a scene reminiscent of Saw or Hostel (the horror movie). There were 20+ people crammed into a space the size of my apartment in chicago - about 600 sq.ft. The bathroom was filthy, unless of course you wanted to take a shower while you were sitting on the toilet, because you could do that here. The property manager was an absolutely hysterical flustered italian man who reeked of hard liquor every time I encountered him and spoke not a single word of english. Steve, Sylvie - our new friend from NYC - and I quickly escaped the £10 nightmare to explore the city. The farther north we got, the more picturesque and clean the city became. We happened upon the Torre di Pisa suddenly, and its size (or lack thereof) took me by surprise. It's in the middle of the entire city, and I couldn't believe how severe the sinking actually was. That being said, the architecture was gorgeous, and I find it hard to believe that the building is still standing.

I'm sitting at the train station in Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre, Italy, as I write this entry, undoubtedly the most beautiful place I have been to in my entire life. Unfortunately, youll have to wait until next entry to hear about it. Good news though - I figured out how to upload photos from my phone. Enjoy!

More to come soon, Love you all!

P.S. feel free to email me at lovejac93@gmail.com if you need me for any reason! 

5/13 - NYC/Milano (Milan)

Bonjourno! 

Sorry for the delay - it has been an intense couple of days.I should mention that im typing this thing on an Italian keyboard, so please forgive any errors/lack of punctuation/etc. (There is literally no apostrophe on this keyboard).

Culture shock is a very real thing. Youd expect with all of our exposure to other places that it would at least take the edge off, but that doesnt seem to be the case - at least for me. Its strange, even NYC felt like an entirely different country. Our layover there warranted a trip to manhattan, and a grueling one and a half hour bus ride through New York traffic put us at Port Authority. Times Square was entirely overwhelming, with what looked like thousands of tourists from just about everywhere snapping photos with their selfie sticks or posing with the fifteen dudes dressed as 5 foot 1 Iron Man. Between the photos,our lunch, and a $10 beer, we didnt have much time to do anything else but take the bus back to JFK. We did happen to see a group of four teenagers rob a sleeping homeless guy outside Port Authority (not a fun thing to watch).

The 8 hour flight to Milan had us seated in the very back row of the plane (we got about half on inch of recline), but the food was surprisingly good and the addition of free red wine led to a decent amount of sleep for the both of us. We landed at about 10:30AM, Milan time. Im pretty sure I can speak for both Steve and myself when I say the whole day had a sort of surreal feel to it. We took an hour long bus ride into the city, passing giant flatland fields as well as what looked like manufacturing plants. The bus dropped us off at Centrale F.s., a giant central station of sorts. The directions to the Hostel had us ten shades of confused (that ones for you Jon), but we ultimately found the metro line and ended up in the northern part of the city. The Hostel, called Music B&B, was surprisingly nice. We had a private room with two beds, a balcony, and a shared bathroom (very clean). We were itching to do something italian-y, so we went out and tried to order two panini from the corner shop. Being on the other side of the language barrier? Not fun. We ultimately had to point at things we wanted and flailed our arms around until we got what we wanted. Best panini of my life, hands down (Prosciutto, fresh tomatos, italian focaccia, and cheese. Yum). 

After a quick power nap we went down to Navigli - a canal district in the southern part of the city.  Picture the most Italian city-scene you can imagine coming to life. Small bridges over a canal that cut straight through the city. Restaraunts with umbrellas, chairs, couches, wine glasses at the ready. Gelato shops on every corner. The place was unreal (Ive got plenty of pictures, but the computer wont let me upload them for some reason. Ill find one soon, not to worry). We topped off the night with two massive pizzas and some italian beer. I honestly dont have words to describe how perfect that damn pizza was. If our first day in Italy is any indication of what this trip is going to be like, Im not sure ill ever want to leave. Next stop - Firenze (Florence).

More to follow. Love you all.

P.S. Im writing these after the fact, so if the dates seem off, its because im transferring them from one medium to another.