One Nutella crepe will cost you 4 hours.

After getting in pretty late the night before, I slept until 10am then Shea and I went out to shop for our last day in Athens! We walked from the port to the train station (which is pretty far). Most students take taxis but it’s not worth it. Plus, it’s exercise and fun to walk past shops and people! After getting off at the right stop, we walked up into the square where alleys shoot off in every direction full of shops and cafes. We picked one of many to walk down and just browsed. We wanted to look around and get a good idea of what we were going to be getting and then come back after we thought about everything. Towards the end of one alley, we found a cute, breezy café where we could sit in the shade and watch everyone go by. I got a pizza and Shea got a Greek salad. I have eaten so many Greek salads, I’m going to miss the real thing when I go home!

After hanging out and talking about what we want to look for in particular, we started our daily walk down all of the packed streets full of music, people, and wonderful shopping! I know I said Barcelona had good shopping, then I said Italy’s was better, but I must say… Athens shopping beats them all. There were sandal stores full of leather shoes, jewelry stores, kitchen supply stores (random, but they were everywhere), pottery, snacks, painting shops, clothes, and everything in between. I bought some tourist-y shirts that have the Greece flag on the front with some cool Greek prints. I also bought a few bracelets that have the Greek eye for friends, and a really nice gold ring that has an Alexander the Great coin on top. There were so many music stores throughout Athens and they all had beautiful, very expensive traditional instruments. Since we have a music room at home full of worldly instruments, I had to buy a bouzouki/baglama, a traditional Greek instrument that comes in many sizes and is in all of their music. I played a bigger one in my music class for fun and my teacher showed me some chords and structures. He studied with one of the greatest performers on the bouzouki so it was really cool learning from him! When I went in all of the music store, I would bargain around and try and find the best price for the best size and model. I finally found the perfect one for a great price in the 4th store that we went to. I even got a few picks that have the Acropolis on it and a case for free to go along with my new instrument! It’s a small version and is all black with white knobs. It is really pretty and I can’t wait to learn how to play it! I will bring it to class next time and maybe Dr. K can perform something on it or teach me more about this traditional Greek instrument! After shopping, we had about 2 hours to get back to Piraeus. We stopped and got gelato (you should’ve known this was coming) and I decided to get something really random for my last day- pistachio and watermelon. It sounds strange, but I think it’s my new favorite combination!

We hoped back on the train and it felt like forever to get back to Piraeus! This was probably because we were so tired and we knew it was the last time we’d be on public transportation stressing that we got to the right place. When we arrived, we saw a crepe shop and HAD to get one last Nutella crepe. I was talking about getting one all day long! We had about 30 minutes to walk a really far walk but we couldn’t resist this opportunity. Sadly, the lady making them took her sweet time and answered her phone and chatted while we waited for her to make our delicious crepe. It would have been alright if we weren’t in such a hurry! We walked pretty fast (probably looking ridiculous for all of Piraeus to see), while eating crepes with Nutella all over our faces. Once we got close to the ship, we had 5 minutes so we ran! We waited in a long line but got counted late by 4 MINUTES. This results in “dock time”, meaning we have to come back to the ship 3 HOURS early on the last day in Turkey. I think it’s a harsh punishment for 4 minutes but I can’t do anything about it. It was worth the Nutella crepe :)

Mykonos is 'croikie amazin'

This is going to be a longggg blog post…. About 3 days worth!

We had a ferry ride around 7am on the 15th so we left the ship around 615am… It was so early!! When we got onto the ferry, there were assigned seats. It basically looked like a huge cruise ship from the outside, and a huge airplane from the inside. There were assigned seats but Shea and I quickly found a table by the café (yes, it was so big it had several cafes and a shop) and we sat there with Jerome. The entire ferry ride (3 hours) we played cards and mainly Indian poker, where you stick a card on your forehead and bet who you think has the higher card. People walking by would stare for a few seconds each time they walked by, haha. I won a few coffee drinks/gum and Shea won some food too. Poor Jerome kept losing his bets and kept buying us snacks! It was pretty amusing and we finally made it to Mykonos!

When we got off, it was chaos. I had to find the sign of the hotel I was staying in and Shea was put in a different one. My hotel was pretty far, about 30 minutes on the bus, in the middle of nowhere! It was a beautiful drive along the coast and on the opposite side were white square houses with blue shutters and doors, very picturesque. We pulled up to our 5 star scenic hotel. When I think ‘hotel’, I think of the high rise ones in cities in America. Here, it’s 1 story, with more behind it going up the mountain, overlooking the incredible pool and the coast of Mykonos! You could see the golden sand that everyone always talks about, and the water was a shade of blue that I don’t think I’ve ever seen anywhere. The roommate selection was random, but luckily I was paired with a girl I already knew! You had to put the key into a slot in the wall to start the electricity, and you couldn’t leave the air on while you were gone to keep it cool. We had a huge room with two big beds, a nice shower/bath incredibly, 2 couches, and AIR CONDITIONING!! Sad news is… I didn’t stay at this hotel! It was so far from the town and it was dead, like a ghost town. On the other hand, Shea’s hotel was right up the hill from town and everyone was staying there. Her roommate left to stay with friends so I made my journey to the other side to go stay with Shea for the night. I took a taxi with some girls to where I thought would be the right destination…. I ended up getting dropped off at the wrong place (driver spoke no English at all, and I had no address, just the name), paid way too much, and I was feeling a little nervous and lost! We waited for another taxi on the side of the rode. At least we got a great view of the ocean for 45 minutes! There are only about 35 taxis on the island so it can be hard to find one, and if you do- they have a minimum amount of miles they drive, so we walked EVERYWHERE. I finally made my way to town, 3 hours later, and then began trying to ask around for where Shea’s hotel was. 2 hours later, I kid you not, I made it to her hotel!! I was on a corner with a map and I was trying to figure out where to go, when the owner of the restaurant came out and gave me perfect directions. When I got situated in the tiny room with 2 miniature beds, I put on my swimsuit, walked out to the pool, and just fell in. I had to relieve stress from getting 20 miles in 4 hours and getting ripped off and lost!! I was a little shaken up but now looking back, it was quite the journey and I actually think it was a mini-growing experience.

After calming down from the stressfulness of getting lost (worst feeling ever), we headed to Paradise Beach. We walked to town and hoped on a bus that goes to Paradise Beach every 30 minutes for 1,40 Euro (they use commas instead of decimals for cents). This is like the main beach of Mykonos where all of the students go. There are bars and tables lined up along the coast and then palm tree-ish umbrellas and chairs covering every inch. You would think that it would be annoying and crowded, but that’s what made it so fun, the atmosphere. Music is blaring in front of every bar and people are dancing everywhere, just hanging out. We got there around 4 and our friends were leaving because they had been there all day. If we hadn’t have gotten lost, we would’ve been there way earlier. Since they left, we hung out with some other SAS kids that were still there. As soon as the sun started setting, the entire night’s ambiance changed. More ‘night time’ music was playing, people were becoming more social, everyone started dancing a little, and it just became really fun! We met so many people from all over the world. One thing to note- Mykonos is FULL of Australians. There are more Aussies there than Americans or Greeks.

Once we hung out there and had one of the best nights ever, we headed back to town on the bus to get ready for the night- to head back to Paradise for the club scene! When we got back to town, Shea and I went to a little gyro place called Unity. It was the best chicken gyro I’ve ever had, and we had it for lunch and dinner the ENTIRE time we were in Mykonos, for 3 days. I still want one right now. It was huge, fresh, and 2 Euros! Then, the most amazing discovery ever- a giant bottle of water, like the massive ones, for 1 Euro!! Everywhere else we have been, water is about 3 Euro, and 5 for a big one. This is probably why we went to Unity every chance we were hungry. We went back to the room and got ready, walked to town again (2 miles each time), and then hoped on the crazy, fun, loud packed bus to Paradise.

We got there, waited in line for a club (forgot the name, the only one on Paradise Beach), and paid 25 Euro just to get in. I think for what everyone talked it up to be, it was way over-priced and I didn’t have that great of a time. It was full of people, but they were creepy. We left after a while, bought a crepe, hoped on the bus back and slept the whole way, then had to walk up hill (2 miles..) to Petinaros, the hotel. The beds in that place were so uncomfortable but it didn’t matter, my feet were so worn out. Regardless, the hotel was lovely and so cute!!

We had no plans the next day except to sit on Paradise Beach, so we wanted to take this opportunity to sleep in. Little did we forget, check out time was 11am.. The front desk lady wasn’t the nicest and was banging on our door to wake us up. It was a great alarm… We sat on the patio outside the lobby with all of our stuff and kept trying to call taxis to pick us up and take us to the second hotel where we were staying, called Voutinious Pension. In the lobby, they had these delicious lemon and orange gummy candies. I ate about 20. The lobby people didn’t know where this hotel was, the taxis never came, and one lady pointed us in the direction she thought it was. Shea and I had no choice but to walk… I think it was 3 miles. I’m telling you- we walked endless amounts of miles this weekend in Mykonos, and I’m amazed that we did what we did. We had our luggage (which was not on wheels, big mistake), a backpack, and we had hardcore sleepyness that didn’t help the journey. Luckily, the directions were right and we ended up at Voutinious Pension!! Jackie, Rachel, Serene, and Megan were staying there so we walked in and chilled for a while because we were so exhausted from the 90 degree weather walk we had just accomplished; yes, it was an accomplishment. The owner came over and was so nice! He said there wasn’t room here and that our room was up the hill. Is this a joke? We have to walk MORE? Yep. We walked for another 10 minutes to our place. It was so cute and small, about 8 rooms. It was more like a mini-apartment than it was a ‘hotel’. There were cats with kittens, a fish pond, flowers and bird cages, and several small dogs that were the owners. The room was really nice, very colorful, and it was beautiful. It was quiet, and the view was amazing! I can’t describe it very well, but it was a really nice place- Thank you mom!! We got ready for the beach, walked to town, got on the bus to Paradise, and met our friends and stayed until about 8. When we bused back to town then walked again (see how much walking we did?), we napped. Shea and I got ready for the night, and walked (of course) to the other girl’s villa and met some Australians that were staying there too. Can I just tell you that I love Australians? Every single one that we have met have been so nice and talkative, and I wish I had their awesome accent. We all hung out there for a few hours then went to town. First, we went to a bar called Scandinavian Bar. There were narrow streets filled with people and bars/music everywhere. The entire atmosphere was so fun! After that place, we went to another one down the alley called Skybar. It was in an area called ‘Little Venice’, because it looked like… little Venice… I guess. It was dark so I couldn’t really see the way it all looked, but I could see the beach with the moon reflecting off the ocean! It was so much fun hanging out with everyone and just having a great time! In the future, we are going to visit our new Australian friends! It was an easy and quick decision for a place to have a SAS reunion! On the walk back, I got a Nutella crepe. This was AMAZING and it was my first one on this whole trip! It was so good and I was still hungry, so I got a Greek crepe. Again, it was amazing. Everyone else saw mine and decided to get one! Ouzo is disgusting by the way- it tastes like licorice mixed with nail polish remover.

Side note- So my feet are the target for injury and everyone makes fun of me for it- I got some blisters in Spain, they got infected, and they are still healing. Then, I opened the cabin door on my toe, my toenail came off (first time in my life), and my skin was missing on the end.. (sorry if this is too much detail, I have to share for the memories). Next… while cliff jumping, I smashed my heel on a rock and had to pull out some pebbles from the wound. This was in Croatia and my heel is still pretty sore. So we were walking along the alley in Mykonos the other night, and what happens? I accidentally kick a broken glass bottle and get a pretty big chunk of glass stuck in my toe. I pulled it out and it started bleeding everywhere, so a girl came up and gave me a Piglette band aid. I started talking to her and she is from Dallas, Highland Park, and we have a lot of mutual friends! Funny how things work out. AND THEN… yesterday, on the ferry back to Piraeus, Jackie set her roller bag ON MY FOOT and it is badly bruised. My feet were swollen from so much walking this weekend, so Shea came up with the lovely idea of calling them Shrek feet, haha. I can’t believe I just wrote this much about my foot, but I cant wait to see what injury happens next in Turkey!! It’s almost like a game, I’m starting to guess where on my foot the next injury will take place.

Ok back to my night- I hobbled back to the villa with everyone and we went to sleep around 7am, after watching the sunrise and listening to really cool Aussie accents! We woke up around 12 and headed to the ferry to go back to Piraeus.

Mykonos was so much fun, one of the best times, and I would definitely go back!! A popular thing to do in Mykonos was to yell, “MYKONOSSS” when you are in a large crowd. It was entertaining and funny every time! I will never forget this weekend and all of the fun stories we have! It wasn’t the culture shock that you look for when you travel, but it was definitely all that it is talked up to be- the whole party social scene.
On the ferry back, we sat on the deck outside and it was 5 hours since it was the slow ferry. We wanted to stay another night in Mykonos but we didn’t know if the ferry people would go on strike or not and then we would get stuck there and miss the ship. This has happened to SAS students several times so we didn’t want to risk anything!

We got back to Piraeus around 6pm and got ready to go out for our first ‘real night out’ in Athens. We took the train to Athens and went to really fun outdoor restaurant. When you walk by places, waiters or owners stand out in front trying to get you in. They will hand you menus, bribe you, and keep talking to you even when you shake your head and walk away. We walked up to one that looked busy and cute, and the waiter from the restaurant from across the walkway snuck up and said, “Girls, you come here and get free wine, free Ouzo, and free dessert.” This made our decision much easier all of the sudden! :) I ordered chicken kabob skewers with pita and a Greek salad. I could sit and eat their feta cheese all day long with a fork, same with the olives. Everywhere we have been has been incredible, I just cant get over that! We have yet to be dissatisfied with a meal- this applies to the whole trip in general! The waiter lived up to the ‘free’ stuff he promised us, and we didn’t pay any extra! I was going to order yogurt with honey for dessert, but they brought it to us for free! It worked out pretty well :). The yogurt was a different texture, thicker and tart, and the honey mixed in made it so good! There were pieces of peaches in mine, other fruits in others’! YUM. After that, a few girls caught the last train back to Piraeus around midnight and a few of us headed out to find something fun to do for our last full night in Greece. We found some bars and clubs (all for free, unlike Mykonos). The first bar we went to was on the roof of a pretty tall building. We had a clear view of the Acropolis that was brightly lit! It was such a fun place- meeting people and hanging out, looking straight at the Acropolis! It was beautiful. In all of the places in Athens and Mykonos, they play that song ‘hotel motel holiday inn’ and Memories by Kid Cudi- EVERYWHERE. In Croatia we heard a song being played everywhere called Stereo Love by Edward Maya. Then, it was played everywhere in Greece! I found out that this is a popular song for the summer in all of Europe. When I hear it, I instantly think of nights in Croatia- a great memory! It just makes me dance in place and think of all the fun that I’ve been having. At every place we went last night, we would request this song and go crazy when it was played. It defines this summer!

We headed back to Piraeus in a Prius, haha. Since the train stopped at midnight, and we weren’t sure which bus to take back, we caught a cab. You have to negotiate with them and get a price before you get in the taxi or they will charge a lot. We got our deal down to 5 Euros a piece for a ride from Athens to Piraeus! What a great price! Since we had been taking the train every time, it was nice riding in a car back because we got to see a totally different part of Athens than what you see on the train. It was a really fun, jam-packed day and it felt like it had been 2 days, because of the ferry ride- made my sense of time a little off.

Anyways, that was Mykonos and a night in Athens- in a blog-nutshell.

I’m eating hazelnut cookies that I bought from the farm in Tarquinia, Italy right now while writing this. Mmm, delicious!!

Piraeus and Athens, Greece: In 1 Day!

I forgot to mention a funny thing a Croatian said…
Shea and I were sitting on a bench, deciding our options and plans for the day. We asked a local guy next to us what would be the best selection, and he spoke no English at all. The only response he had when we asked was, “debatable.” He knew it was funny and we kept laughing so he kept just saying it over and over every time we tried to ask something. He said it with a heavy accent and that’s all he knew in English! It was so amusing and now when instances come up, Shea and I say, “debatable!”
6/14
We arrived in Piraeus, Greece at about 1am last night, but we had to wait until 10:30am to get off when customs cleared us! They stamped our passports at this stop which is cool because we were told no countries would stamp passports being such a large cruise. We started heading out into Piraeus, and for some reason it reminds me of Naples. Internet cafes, taxis everywhere, little side-street shops, muggy, hot (100 degrees), homeless people, dirty, and just as port-ish as a port city can be! There are way more dogs here though. We went and picked up our ferry tickets for Mykonos tomorrow, then caught a train for 1 Euro to Athens! It was really cheap and really fast. Once we got off (reading Greek is unfeasible), we started wandering around streets filled with shops. There were leather stores, clothing stores, musical instruments, fabrics, carpets, art, fruits, boutiques, hand-made leather shoes, and so much more than we’ve seen this entire summer! We didn’t have much time to shop but we looked and made mental notes. We will have Saturday and Sunday to shop away! Our plan was to go to all of the famous sights around Athens, including the Parthenon. We looked across the street at a place called Quick Pitta. We instantly ran in and started trying to figure out this menu that was in all Greek. Greek is impossible to read and pronounce. This little pita stop was delicious and cozy. I got a chicken pita with fresh red onions, tomatoes, parsley, Greek mayo, and very flavorful rotisserie chicken! We sat outside and then started walking around while eating our scrumptious pita pockets! While we were trying to find our way around and probably looking like lost tourists, a bus tour man walked up to us and started telling us about a hop-on, hop-off bus tour. It was 15 Euro a person to get on this double-decker, get off wherever and whenever you want, and get on whenever and wherever for 24 hours. This was a good deal and we were stoked that we found out about it! Right as we were about to pay and get on, a lady with the same bus tour concept, just a different company, ran up and said she’d give it to us for half of the price! We paid 7 Euro to ride a bus around wherever we wanted and we got off when we felt like touring around! It was nice sitting on the top deck (my first time on a double-decker), feeling the breeze and listening to the headphones tell you about everything you are passing. The first stop we decided to get off on was the Parthenon of course! It was SO hot when we got off and we hiked up slick marble steps to get to the entrance of the even steeper steps to the top of Athens! On the way to the top, there were dogs everywhere (most all have collars, surprisingly), Indian men selling umbrellas, and a massive group of Asian tourists with massive umbrellas. It was a sight to see! When we bought our ticket (6 Euros, student discount) we started walking to the top! On the way up, we looked down over a ledge at the Herodion Theatre. I think they have music concerts there and it looked like something was being set up for an upcoming one. It was really cool to see the old, historic marble columns and know that it’s still used for entertainment today! When we got to the top, the Parthenon was beautifully resting on top of the huge city of Athens. It was still very hot, we were drenched in sweat, and the crowd was minimal. It was so amazing to finally see this structure!! You can image how many pictures we all took in front of this and more pictures with the amazing aerial view of Athens in the background. We hung out up there for a good 45 minutes or hour, it was insanely hot. Some of the people we were with were from up north and they just about died from the heat! I’m thankful that it didn’t feel THAT bad, but was still pretty hot. By the way- there are a ton of Australians in Athens, I don’t know why, but there just are! On the way back down, at the end, we all got these delightful lemon icees and I got mine mixed with the strawberry icee flavor. It was well deserved after hiking around in the gorgeous weather viewing breathtaking scenes :)

We hoped back on the fun double-decker and got off at Zeus’ Temple (Temple of Zeus). It was interesting… I mean it was about 5-6 columns standing in a field with no grass or anything, one bench, and a column that fell over, with a lot of dogs. We were there a grand total of 10 minutes! I took some cool pictures but other than that, it was ok. We then walked to the National Garden and saw the changing of the guards in front of the Prime Minister’s house! There were even more dogs everywhere once we were inside the gardens. One in particular, named Bruno (yes, we named him that), followed us everywhere throughout the gardens and led the way a few times. When we would stop to take pictures, he would roll around and try to play with our feet! We played fetch with a pine cone, that’s all I could find… I took some cute videos and then we said, “stay,” and he didn’t leave that gardens and watched us get back on the bus. It was so precious! We also saw the Olympic Stadium from across the street and took some pictures, then we kept walking around and made our way to the National Archeological Museum. For some reason, when we got to the museum, I just didn’t feel like paying and going in, even though air-conditioning would’ve been nice. I sat on a marble bench outside and just watched all sorts of people walk by while everyone was inside. It was nice sitting by myself and just thinking about everything that I’ve done on the trip so far. A few minutes after sitting there, a man walked up and sat near me, then about 4 more people walked up. They all sat alone and quiet, and sometimes would speak Greek to each other, but they would never look at one another.

Side note- In my global music class, one day Dr. K dressed up like a ‘wandering minstrel’ and acted out their traditional behaviors and informed us about their way of life. He said that these men (and sometimes women) were loners who traveled from place to place, reciting poems or just sitting and sulking. The walk around with one hand in their pocket, one hand holding a coat over their shoulder (used for defense when they would get into underground fights), head down, and usually wear a fedora hat. They make clicking noises with their mouths and usually talk to few people. They are all members of an underground Greek society in speakeasy bars which is illegal. They carry around a string of beads called “worry beads” and they do tricks with them in their hands. Each bead represents a personality trait or a fear the individual has. Dr. K would spin them around and show us the neat tricks they typically do in their hands.

Back to my story- As I was noticing the man that sat near me, I saw that he had a bright orange string with beads on it! He was old, dressed very nice (like Dr. K did in class that one day), and was doing tricks with his beads in his hand! I got so excited that I had just seen what Dr. K had been telling us about in class! It’s a cool feeling when you relate what you learned to the actual country that it was being taught about. I got the courage to ask, “Milate Anglika?” meaning ‘do you speak English’. He had NO idea how to speak English and just stared at me, spoke in Greek, and it was a little scary. I started thinking about him sitting in a bar underground gambling and being illegal with his fellow wandering minstrels, haha. I asked him in hand signals if I could take a picture of the beads. He was so confused and I finally made sense somehow, but nothing was ever really clear. A woman walked up and started speaking Greek to me (it’s all Greek to me…) and she was talking so fast. Then the other 4 people that sat around started talking to each other and me all at once and it really freaked me out! I was sitting alone, surrounded by Greeks, and a few wandering minstrels. Who knows what kind of trouble they get in! I didn’t feel threatened, and they were all smiling. Once the talking settled down, no common words at ALL, one of the ladies pulled out her worry beads and they were stunning. I took pictures of them all and even got my picture taken with the old man while holding up more bright worry beads! When my friends walked out of the museum, they were surprised to see me sitting there, Greek words coming from all directions, taking pictures, and laughing with old creepy people! I started explaining to them the awesome situation that I had just experienced! The minstrels thought I was Russian but I kept saying American, and they would respond with, “Superman!” I guess that helps them relate USA to me? Anyways, it was awesome and I can’t wait to share it to Dr. K! I plan on buying some beads if I see some because it definitely made a special memory :)

After that, we caught the train back to Piraeus, bought some snacks, used free WiFi at the port (which didn’t really work at all), then got back on the ship! Our trip to Mykonos is in the morning (6:15am…) so I need to pack and get well rested! Today was another wonderful day in another wonderful country!

Bye Croatia, I'll See You Again!

Sunday, July 11

Funny things I forgot to add:
-Today on the ship (13th) I was warming up before class when all of the sudden, the crew ran out and started yelling, “Man over board! Man over board!” I kind of freaked out and went to the edge to see who fell off! It ended up being a drill and I didn’t hear the announcement that was said to everyone telling them a drill was about to happen… haha. The ship took a sharp turn and headed towards the bright orange dummy floating far away. The turn was so sharp that the pool on the deck above started flowing over to the lower deck where I was standing so I ran inside and watched the waterfall over the deck haha. It was an interesting experience.
-Another thing, when we told this one guy that we were from Texas, he said he would never go there and he acted a little freaked out. I asked him why and he said because he saw the movie Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He doesn’t want to go there because he thinks the man is still alive and that Texas is scary because of that, hahaha we laughed so hard!
-We lost an hour last night, and I forgot. So, Shea and I woke up at 730 and somehow made it to our 8am class right on time! Impressive.

On the last day, we just wanted to relax with no plans and just see what happened. We walked around the Old City, shopped, looked at paintings on the streets, listened to musicians, and found a small patio café overlooking the Old Port. I had Fanta; everyone here drinks this stuff. I love orange juice and I love carbonated drinks, so Fanta is like Heaven. I had asparagus soup, which I have never had before, and it was great! Then I ordered a tuna salad; fresh tuna over fresh green lettuce leaves with capers and tomatoes, with olive oil on top… YUM! Shea and I sat there for a while just chatting and enjoying the moment we were in! Overlooking the port was beautiful, and I’m sure that it’s where the people stand to take pictures for postcards. When we were eating, I could hear kittens meowing. Underneath us, under the wooden deck, there was a cat and her little kittens! They were so young, they might have been born while we were sitting there because they all wouldn’t stop meowing and the mom cat was meowing loudly too! Haha ok maybe they were a few days old.. they were tiny!

After that, we went to the front of the Old City to buy a ticket to walk the walls. I forgot to explain what the Old City was. It is a small, cute village part with huge stone walls surrounding it. You can pay about 30 Kuna to walk around the edges of the walls on the top and see the best views of the Old Town and of Dubrovnik. the steps to get to the top were so steep and took forever to get to the top. Once we got to the top and stopped to catch our breath, the view took it away again! It was incredible. You could see everything. People walking all in the Old City, towers, Lokrum, houses, and everything in the water and everything surrounding the city. It took about an hour to walk all the way around, because we would stop every so often and take pictures and just soak up the view. It was definitely a must-do thing if you ever come to Dubrovnik! I don’t think a lot of SAS kids did this walk but they sure did miss out on the most amazing views that are straight from the postcards. I usually see postcards of places and think, “Hmm, that might be the view from a helicopter or an enhanced photo, there’s no way it’s that pretty.” But no, it’s that pretty. It is JUST like the postcards, but even better!! When we walked down the steep steps (which is harder going down that up), I saw a man in a Texas Tech shirt. I had to yell, “Go Tech!” Haha we started talking to them and they were an older couple on vacation and decided to come to Croatia for the summer! It was the first Tech shirt I’ve seen that was someone who was not on Semester at Sea.

After hanging out all day, just relaxing and wandering around in the Old City, it was time to head back to the ship to board. We went to the supermarket next to the ship in the port to spend the last of our Kuna on snacks. I bought a lot of gum, Fanta, and those amazing cookies Banks found! We were eating dinner on the deck as the ship was sailing away, and it was such a sad feeling! Everyone LOVED Croatia and it has been the best place for me by far. I miss it so much and I honestly want to come back or find another cool place to visit in Croatia. Seriously, I’m obsessed. I’m so glad this trip picked Dubrovnik, Croatia to stop in! Everyone was just standing by the rails, watching Croatia fade away, with the striking sunset on the Adriatic Sea. Like I said, it was really sad, but it was one of the most remarkable experiences ever and Dubrovnik is incredible.

Shea and I have an intercultural communications test tomorrow which should be pretty simple. Here on the ship, they don’t try and make you work really hard and stress about class, which is so nice. I’m learning useful information and enjoying it, while not having to stress so hard about deadlines and grades. In 2 days, we will be in Greece! I can’t wait!!!

Let Me Guess, Bruno?

Saturday, July 10

We accidentally slept past our alarm and didn’t wake up until about 10am, which was perfectly fine with me! About 8 of us headed to town to catch the ferry to Lokrum. Lokrum is a small island that is about a 10 minute ferry ride. It has cliffs, rocky beaches, a few bars, and is a giant forest wit hidden ponds that you can swim in. We got gelato while waiting to get on the ferry and sat and watched some kittens play, they were so cute and really young! Once we got to Lokrum, we started walking around and figuring out what we wanted to do. We ran into several guys from SAS and we all decided that we wanted to find cliffs to jump from. On the ferry ticket, there was a map of the island so it was pretty convenient to know where to go! We had head about the “Dead Sea”, a small pond with a rope swing and a big flat rock to hang out on. When we got there, not many people where there, but we saw a lot of peacocks and baby ones! They would walk up to us and just stare and come close to our feet, so cute. We put our stuff under some big, shady trees, laid our towels out on the rock, took pictures, then jumped in! It seemed even saltier than the ocean (which was already super salty) and it was so easy to float! It was so hot outside so it felt great to get in the cold water. The rope swing was kind of high and you had to pull yourself about 4 feet out of the water to get up to a small knot to sit on, so it was nearly impossible! We watched the guys jump off the cliffs into the pond but it was too shallow for me to try. Boys will be boys. After hanging out there for a few hours then hitting my heel on a huge rock and getting another foot injury… we started walking around trying to find some real cliffs.

We saw a few kids jumping off a 30 foot cliff and then a ladder coming out of the ocean onto the main parts of the island. Shea and I were the first ones to jump off the cliff! Everyone was a little scared, but 30 feet really isn’t high at all. It was so much fun and we jumped for hours. I have a few videos of everyone and a lot of pictures! It was a beautiful sight, and the water was that deep blue color with really pretty rocks covered in bright green plants, just like a painting! You could see the Croatia and all of the little houses with bright orange tiled roofs, along with sail boats, kayaks, and huge cruises. It was amazing and it definitely made our trip to Lokrum worth it! We were pretty warn out after a while because it got exhausting jumping, swimming against the waves, climbing up a huge ladder, and crawling back up the jagged rocks to the top to jump again… but worth it!! We took the last ferry back around 5pm and went to the ship to get ready again for our last full night out in Dubrovnik!

The other night we met a guy named Bruno (yes, another one) and his friend Tom told us how his dad owns the restaurant on the edge by the Old Harbor where we ate. When we were walking around, we saw Bruno working there. How fun is that to work at a beautiful restaurant on the edge of Croatia?! The restaurant was full so we ate at one just outside the city wall (everything is so close together here) called Dubrovka. At this restaurant, there was live music by an older man who was playing the harmonica, guitar, and singing with a back up guitarist. He had multicolored lights around him and a small white tent. This place was really nice and we sat outside on a deck that overlooked the water and the outside of the Old City lit up with big lights. He played songs such as Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Layla, House of the Rising Sun, and many more classics sung with a heavy accent, but fun to listen to! I ordered the seafood risotto again, of course, and it was even better this time. The bread was soft and fresh, along with the tomatoes and pesto sauce! Mmm I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.

Dubrovnik has a festival once a year and we happened to be there while it was going on! I’m not sure what it is for, and the locals we met didn’t really know either… While eating, we got to see a firework show that was inside the Old City. It was so relaxing to sit in the cool breeze with amazing views, while eating a delicious meal watching a firework show! Once we were finished, we walked into the Old City which was packed full of people, way more than yesterday. In the main square part, there was a huge stage with lights, it looked like a concert setting, and we thought we were heading a man sing really well with a great band playing along. When we shoved our way close enough to see, it was a woman! She was amazing and reminded us of Cher because of her deep voice. Everyone around us seemed to love her and they were all singing along. We finally found out that she is one of the most famous singers in Croatia, and here we are standing by her listening for free. It was so cool and we stood there and listened for an hour or two. After that, it was about 10pm and we wanted to go to a club called East West, which was a little past the other side of the Old City (again, about a 10 minute walk). I absolutely love how small and convenient Dubrovnik is. It has all the things necessary, doesn’t seem to crowded, and everything is in short walking distance, so you see you friends everywhere! When we got to East West, the bouncer said Americans weren’t allowed and that you had to be 21. I pretended to be 22 from Sweden and he said he’d let me in, but it was too expensive, haha. Then we all just sat on a bench that overlooked the beach that was lit up by the moon. It was perfect night weather and the stars were so bright! Next, we walked to Fuego, the only other place to go at night, and it was less crowded than the night before, thankfully. On the way there, we ran into Tom and Bruno again and they showed us how to get in for cheaper and how to get let in front of the line haha. It pays off to talk to the locals!

That’s another thing I love about this whole traveling idea- meeting locals. It helps you understand the city environment better and how they live their lives. I don’t want to act like a tourist here, I want to fit in and really see the change that I want to feel from traveling. In Spain we met locals and hung out with them at clubs and stuff and talked for a while about their country, beliefs, ways they live and do things, and anything you can imagine. In Italy we didn’t meet any locals because it was a little too scary and dirty to go out at night in Rome and Naples. I think that is why I liked Spain and Croatia so much more, I got to know locals who speak enough English and it made me feel like I got something out of being there (besides seeing great views and having the time of my life). That’s just a small thought that goes way deeper but is so hard to explain!

This trip makes me want to continue traveling and immerse myself into other cultures, meet people around the world, and stay in touch! Also, I realized that I have a talent for picking up languages and pronouncing them like they are supposed to be. In Spain, learning Spanish in the few days that I was there was such motivation to learn it more and to act on the fact that I could pick it up easily and that the locals would tell me how well I learned how to pronounce things. It’s not fun sitting in a classroom learning Spanish from an American, but when you are in a country speaking it, it can be the most fun experience of the whole trip! Opposite to what I just said, Croatian is SO hard to speak and I could barely count to ten. I kept practicing and asking our new friends and I finally got it down, but I forgot it already. They don’t use the same vocal movements and sounds made by English and Spanish words, so I was definitely not used to it. I can’t wait for other countries where I can try more languages! I didn’t realize I had such an interest in it, I guess because I’m not around it in America.

Anyways, after Fuego a big group of us walked out to the bus and we missed it (thinking it was the last one) but guess who appeared again to save us? Tom! He told us when the next bus was coming which was soon, and we were about to start the 45 minute walk back to the ship! The locals were so helpful the entire trip, basically our tour guides!

One Croatian guy was saying how he can’t wait to go to college in America because he is ready to get out of Croatia. I was telling him that to us, it’s paradise here and people would do anything to visit. He knew that we felt that way, but I guess growing up here and having it seem so normal made his country seem so casual. Then, it started making me think that way about myself. I was always wanting to go live in somewhere cooler, but America is amazing. I appreciate it so much more being away from it all and hearing foreign people all say how they want to go to America for either school, travel, or just to live there in general. This is such an amazing experience and I honestly wish all of my friends could understand it because it’s nearly impossible to explain the feelings/thoughts this trip provokes! Thanks again Mom and Dad for this opportunity, I don’t think I can every thank you enough. This is the best decision of my life and I know that it will have a positive impact on my forever. Simply unforgettable!

Kayaking in Croatia

Friday July 9th
We woke up a little later than planned and went out for the day around 1pm. When we got off of the bus, there were some guys in bright yellow shirts that said, “Ask Us About Kayaking”. We asked! Usually, they take big group of about 30 people kayaking, but we did a little talking and negotiating and got a group of 10 for less! I don’t know how that worked out so well! We walked down an alley and around some buildings and then saw this beautiful cove with a little umbrella stand and kayaks. Our guide was named Bruno and he was from Split. We asked him if Bruno was a common name and he said no, but we met 3 more! It was 2 people to a kayak and Shea and I were together. We started kayaking around the Old City walls and through rocks and cliffs. It was the most beautiful scene, just like a post card! We kayaked out to an island called Lokrum, and went all the way around it. It was about 5 miles of kayaking and I was definitely sore the next day! When we went by the island, we could see people hanging out, swimming, and jumping off cliffs. We went through some small passages around the edges of Lokrum and accidentally went by a nude beach that was full of old people, big mistake. Then we stopped at a little cove when we got back to Croatia and got out, walked around in a cave, and ate yummy bruschetta sandwiches! Some of the girls in the group went snorkeling but there were no fish so I just swam and sat on the rock staring at the amazing views! After that, we kayaked back to where we started, going along the coast and watching more people cliff jump and swim. What was fun about this was that we had a small group, the weather was perfect, it was relaxing, and we didn’t go back the way we came! I’m so glad that we did this and it was a dream come true. Kayaking around a Croatian island and swimming, how amazing does that sound?! It took about 4 hours (felt like forever, thankfully) and was well worth it! We got ice cream after, hoped on the bus, and went back to the ship to get ready for dinner and another night out!

There was a restaurant that everyone recommended (I forgot the name), so Shea, 2 girls from Baylor, and I went to go find it! It was on the Old City Port and the line was really long so we knew it was good. It didn’t take that long to get a table, to my surprise, and the service was great! There were tables everywhere and huge umbrellas covering the whole place, probably about the half the size of a football field. I noticed I compare everything in size to a football field. There was live music around the corner that we could hear, but couldn’t see. I ordered he seafood risotto, which everyone recommends, and it was extraordinary! It was kind of like rice that wasn’t fully cooked, chewy-ish (the way I love it) and a really yummy sauce with all kinds of sea creatures (cuddle fish, oysters, shrimp, scallops, squid). After hanging out and enjoying the views/people watching, we started to walk around and see what we were going to do tonight. As we were walking out of the restaurant, I was telling Shea how I wish we could find the people we met last night so we could all hang out again because it was so fun. As I was saying that and we were turning the corner, there was Tom and our new friends just standing there! It was the weirdest coincidence! Then, we saw these two guys from the ship who are really funny and goofy, Ben and Jerome, so that made the night even better. We all walked to an Irish Pub and were just listening to music and watching people walk by. We stayed there for about 2 hours and I talked to my mom for a while and caught up! After that, Payton and Banks (the two guys from Whitehouse) showed us the random villa that they found and rented. It was literally next door to this Irish Pub and in the middle of the Old City! It was about a 4 flight hike (steepest steps I’ve ever seen) to get to their villa. When we walked in, it was huge! It had all new furniture, a new kitchen, huge rooms, and a massive TV. All of the furniture was white with bright orange leather couches and the kitchen was all black. There were glass chandeliers hanging everywhere with really modern, colorful paintings. I don’t know how these guys found this amazing place! We all hung out there on the top patio that overlooked all of the Old City, it was beautiful and especially at night because all of the city lights were on and you could see the starts too!

After hanging out there for a while, we all decided to go to Fuego again because no Semester at Sea people would be overcrowding it since everyone was there the night before. When we went, it was less crowded, and actually more fun because there was room to walk around and see everyone (plus it was much cooler). After Fuego, we walked back to Bank’s villa and he discovered these delicious cookies at a supermarket called Petite Beurre, butter biscuits. The next day Shea and I bought some to put on the ship and eat on the way to Greece, haha. Around 5 am we went back to the ship (sounds late but we are all getting used to this! Everyone in Europe doesn’t go out until 12 so it makes sense).

Things about Dubrovnik:
You have to come here at least once :)
You have to ask where the trashcan is, it’s impossible to find one, which is surprising because the city is so clean.
Everyone wears blue and white stripped shirts, we saw ten in 5 minutes.
Not only are there cats everywhere, just like other countries, but there are kittens everywhere too!
Most everyone speaks good English and treat us well.
It is much nicer, cleaner, no homeless people, and SO easy to get around in.

Osojnik Village and Folk Show by day, Fuego by night

July 8: Dubrovnik, Croatia
I am obsessed with Dubrovnik. I want to vacation here for a whole summer or something. I can't explain how amazing this place is and how great the people are!

It’s been a few days since I have written! I’ve been so busy and having the best time ever in Croatia that I’ve put this off, but now I’m catching up!
On Thursday I had a trip to a village in the mountains of Croatia called Osojnik. I got to sleep in a little because the trip wasn’t until 1, and there was no time to do much before then! There were a few girls that I’ve become good friends with that were signed up for the same day trip to this village with me, which made it so much better! We got on the buses and headed up the mountain.

On the way up, we stopped on the main bridge. This bridge is massive and you can see some great views of the bay in Dubrovnik! You can also see little towns clustered together, waterways, and the ocean, of course! After sightseeing and taking a lot of pictures, we went up a windy mountainside to the village. This bus ride was just as steep and scary as the one in Anacapri, but the bus driver was slow and it made it less scary!! When we arrived, a little old man in a cute folk-ish uniform greeted us.

Our tour guide was telling us how the houses that used to be in this village were burned by the Soviets during the war, and that what we will see is fairly new, but not that nice, because it’s full of stonecutters and farmers (really nice ones!). In this village, there were fields of pumpkins, cherries, mulberry trees (to feed their silkworms), olives, and many more cool village vegetables! The houses were on top of barns, which were on top of cellars. The Osojnik people keep wine and olive oil in the cellars, and donkeys and chickens in the barns. Those are the only 2 types of animas that I saw, except for a little white friendly kitten! The village man walked us through their church and then down to where we were going to eat dinner and watch musicians perform traditional stuff. When we walked into the main place where we stayed all day, we were greeted with moonshine (which was disgusting) and yummy dried orange peels covered in sugar, I think. There were also a lot of fruits and nuts that they have from their farming. Oh my goodness, I forgot about the figs. They were to die for. I can’t explain how they were prepared because I don’t know what figs normally look like, but they were really soft and covered in a thin dough layer, with some powder stuff on it. I had so many, I should’ve bought some when I left but I was so full I didn’t think about it! We walked down to a patio where there were little grills with a fire. We were handed these long olive branches that were shaved and sharpened at the end. We had no idea what was going on! Then, they brought out small squares of bacon! It was raw and we weren’t sure if we were supposed to eat it or not, so naturally, the boys tried it. Then the village lady said some Croatian words really fast and then took the bacon from them while shaking her head and laughing. It was pretty funny. A village guy showed us how to cook the bacon over the fire using the sharpened branch (basically, he was a mime because he didn’t speak English). Once I cooked my piece of bacon, I put it on the fresh bread that was brought out, along with some kind of white cheese, it all melted together! I had so much bacon and cheese! The flavor of the bacon was unreal in how amazing it was! It was so flavorful and salty, and dripping with fat! Probably not the healthiest appetizer, but a good one!

Once we all played with the fire and took more pictures, we sat down at long wooden tables and starting drinking the wine that was made from the grapes that were hanging above us! It was really sweet, and an odd shade of green. For dinner we had pork pieces that were in a pot with a sauce that also flavored the potato slices. It was soooo good! The salad was delicious too, the tomatoes were picked right before we ate them; can’t get any fresher that that! For dessert, we has this bread thing with cinnamon butter spread on it. It was rolled up like a cinnamon roll, but it was much better and I could just tell that it was some home-made secret recipe, the good stuff.

After sitting and talking to everyone about everything possible, we all went up to the top porch where the old man (one that greeted us in the beginning) started playing some small string instrument with a bow. There were two village ladies in long blue dresses who danced around him, kind of slowly, with their arms in the air while snapping. It was pretty cool to watch and everyone started clapping along, and after about 5 minutes, everyone was dancing! It was really unique but so fun!

After that, we left and I was exhausted from eating so much and dancing. I went back, met up with Shea and all of the girls that live by us, and we went out! You have to take a bus (about 10 minutes, and 10 Kuna) to get to the main part of Dubrovnik because our ship is in the port part. We were just walking around the town and hanging out, and started talking to some locals. They told us the cool places to go so we went! It was a discotheque called Fuego, and was jam packed with Semester at Sea kids. We met one guy in general who is Croatian and plays basketball in America, and he told us a lot of fun things we should go do and see! We stayed there into the wee hours of the morning (I’m talking 5am) and then took the bus back, slept for a few hours, woke up, and went back out to see beautiful Dubrovnik!