Turkish Bath- gotta love it!

July 23/24

Today (25th) we are passing Iraq. That blows my mind and puts it into perspective just how far I am from home and how big this world is. Everyday I look at the giant world map on our wall and just think about everything. I want to travel so many more places after this!

I noticed my tan has faded from Croatia and Mykonos :( but my hair is still super blonde! I need a trim but I don’t know if the salon hair cutters are any good…

Today we went back to the Grand Bazaar one last time. We took some girls that hadn’t been before, so we wanted to help them out! It made such a difference having Torros help us, so we did the same for others. It saves you time and money when you go with someone who has been, and you wont get lost (even though that can be fun!). After shopping, we took them to the same coffee place that we went to on the first day. I was glad to go back because it was delicious and a fun place to sit for a while and watch everyone walk past you in the Bazaar. After that, we kept walking around and some of the girls bought belly dancer outfits for Halloween, which were kind of expensive and not my taste, haha!

We went down a passage way on the edge that was full of little restaurants that were quick stops. We sat down at one and I had a chicken and cheese crepe, with amazing spices on top! It tasted so fresh and was so yummy I wish I had one right now! We stayed at the Bazaar for half of the day, and then we headed just outside the corner to try out a must-do, a Turkish bath!! The one we went to was called Cemberlitas (with strange accents that I can’t type in), The Historical Turkish Bath. When we walked down some steps and inside, it was so much more quiet than the loud street above. It was also a giant sauna, we instantly started dripping with sweat while we purchased our Luxury Style treatment, which was not expensive at all. We got these two little dominoes that were red and yellow, and a new bar of soap. One domino was for the bath, the other was for the massage! We were lead into the women’s side and up some windy stairs to the dressing room. We were given small red checkered dish towels, white slippers (like Crocs) and a locker. They told us that throughout this entire process, you can stay as long as you’d like. Once you were inside, you didn’t have to leave, ever! One by one a large Turkish woman would come and get us and lead us into the bathing part. They give you undergarments to wear that are brand new, thankfully. Picture a huge dome with a giant marble slab in the middle, about 3 feet high, that is a perfect circle. On the ceiling of the dome were cut outs that were in the shape of stars that let in the sunlight. It was pretty dark but since there was fog and steam, the beams of light were visible and it was so cool to be in. You lay down on the edge of the circle and we were all lined up on the edge. The Turkish lady that bathes you gets your soap bar, fills up buckets of hot water, and uses a pillow case thing to make bubbled that she pours all over you! It was not awkward or uncomfortable at all because this is their way of life, it is so normal for them, so I just sat and enjoyed this crazy experience! After getting a massage, they pour cold water over you which is so refreshing because it’s super hot in there! I was sweating so much, but it was so cleansing! Then, she led me to a fountain (which lines the outer ring of the dome) and she washed my hair and scrubbed my face with some exfoliating stuff. It’s not like a nice spa where there are candles and music, it’s the real deal. After that, she led me to the hot tub and cold tub. First you get into the hot one for however long you want, then you get into the cold one before you leave. We all just hung out and talked while we relaxed! Then, we left that part and went into another part where the massages take place. They give you hot towels and you sit and wait for your turn (because a lot of us went at once). The massage was so great and was worth it! All of our bodies were in pain from traveling and not getting much sleep! After that, we sat in the sauna some more, got dressed and went up to the café on the terrace. This was still inside the bath house courtyard and it was a beautiful hidden terrace. I had a grilled feta cheese sandwich, MMM. We then got some tea and headed home on the tram! What an incredible experience I will never forget!

For our last night out in Istanbul, we went to Riddim, a very nice club! It was Friday so we knew everyone would be out, so no matter where we went, we would have a good time. We all met at Bambi on a busy corner in Taksim square, hung out outside of Quba at a little store, then headed to Riddim! There weren’t TOO many people inside, but enough to mingle and meet people! There were a lot of SASers there which is always so fun! I was on the outside patio most of the night meeting Turkish people (this is where the locals went) and I was talking with some Turkish college students the whole time. I requested Steroe Love, but the DJ said he only played hip hop, oh well. It was so much fun, and a great way to end my Istanbul night experiences. Then, when it was time to leave, we went to Bambi one last time!!

The next day (24th) Shea and I had dock time so I just went to an internet café across the street for the remaining 3 hours.
I’m going to miss Istanbul!!!!!
Tomorrow I have a music test (should be easy) then… EGYPT!
I’ll try to write postcards to everyone when I’m there. It is so hard to find stamps (the ship doesn’t have them) and then you have to find a post office, which is hard to find too, even if you have the time!

Anyways, thanks for reading and if you get the chance, visit Istanbul! :)

Rice Pudding and Precious Gems!

July 22
We woke up a little late because we were out pretty late last night! Do you know what I found out that shocked me? People have never heard of Whataburger! Some girls from Virginia have no idea what it is, I had no idea it wasn’t all over America! Istanbul is so humid, basically like Houston! Anyways, the other day I ate way too much baklava and I didn’t eat any the rest of the time in Istanbul! We headed out and met Torros at the baklava place by the edge of the port (next to Hotel Odessa) and Torros was asking if I wanted more baklava for breakfast, making fun of the fact that I ate way too much of it! Then, we took the tram to the Hagia Sofia (Ayasofia), it was a far ride. We stood in a long line to get in and once we made it in, the crowd spread out. The outside of the Hagia Sofia was very historic looking and there were beautiful yellow flowers everywhere. We stood behind a tour group for a little bit listening to some facts about everything! Rachel had taken a tour here the other day so she shared her knowledge too, and Torros would tell us more! The inside was huge, and it almost reminded me of the Vatican, but with a Turkish twist. There were domes, pillars, and gold Arabic writings everywhere. There were 3 archways to enter the main dome, one for God, one for Jesus, and one for Mary. We got to see a big throne inside where the emperor would sit and it was covered in gold and decorations! Inside, there were 4 angels in each corner of this massive structure and they all had gold leaves over their faces. They used to not have faces so people wouldn’t worship icons, only fictional things. Then, once the gold leaves were placed over the angle’s blank faces, many years later someone said that one of the angels had a face underneath the gold leaf. The government didn’t want to risk losing money in removing the gold leaf and having no face there, ruining the sculpture, but the man insisted that they take it off. Somehow he convinced them, and when the gold leave was removed, there was a face! After hearing this cool story then seeing the angels in the corners just made the experience fascinating. We went up a steep rocky ramp/tunnel to get to the next floor. It was dark and cool, and pretty tough to walk up. We passed the “sweating stone” on the second floor and it was a huge column that leaked water. People were in line to touch the water and make a wish. There was a small hole on the column for you to put your thumb in. You put it in, turn your hand all the way around without bending your arm (if you can), and if you succeed, you make a wish! It looked a little unsanitary because everyone was touching it and the line was long, so I took pictures and watched these old men do it perfectly; I think they had rubber wrists!

After, we went down the street to a buffet café thing and got rice pudding! We sat on the second floor that overlooked a park and the busy street. The rice pudding was delicious and it tasted like caramel and crème, mmm! Nest, we headed to the palace that was closed the other day, we couldn’t go to Istanbul and not go to the palace! When we were getting tickets after a long walk through big trees leading to the palace entrance, there were many women covered in head to toe in black. They would all have veils over their faces and you couldn’t even see their hands. It was actually kind of scary looking because it looks like a black figure walking around, and they were everywhere. The men they were with would look normal, normal clothes, no extra features, and the children would be dressed normal with their faces showing; a very different sight to see. Once we entered the palace, there were guards everywhere. It was so beautiful inside the courtyards. There were many plants, grass sections with flowers, sidewalks through everything, a breeze, and it was shady from all of the massive trees. It’s all outdoors except for the museum parts where you walk into a stone room which is super hot, then you walk back out to the courtyards when you’re done.

The first place we walked into was full of emperors’ coats and royal attire. The outfits were huge and ornate, covered in rubies, diamonds, pearls, and emeralds and the patterns on the fabric was incredible. Through all of this palace experience, you can’t take any pictures except when you are outside, so I couldn’t take pictures of the amazing outfits and precious jewels. Next, we went into a jewelry part. There were royal boxes covered in diamonds, sapphires, turquoise and everything else! What was interesting about all of these natural stones was that they looked fake in a way. They were not cut by jewelers like you see in stores. They were chunks of diamonds and emeralds that were just jagged. It was beautiful in its own way because it was presented so naturally, and the colors were a little different since they weren’t cut a certain way. We saw many other swords, crowns, armor, and everything else you can think of, covered in jewels. It was amazing! Then, we went over to one edge and walked up some steps to a little tower that overlooked the water! We stood there for a while just soaking up the amazing views, then headed back down and out. Once we started walking back down a main street to go to the bazaar, we saw these dressed up men with a put of taffy-like stuff. It looked like a kettle drum, filled with colorful candy! Rachel got one, and I regret not getting one after I tried hers! They stake a little wooden stick and wrap different flavors on it, making a rainbow swirl! It was pretty cool.

Then Torros took us to another local restaurant where we sat and had meatballs and bread with olive oil! It was to dies for. The meatballs were rectangular in shape (meat rectangles) haha and they were spicy! Two of the girls got salads and got sick because it was washed with water that their bodies weren’t used to. I stick to the rules and only eat things that are cooked in hot temperatures or that are bottled and sealed. After that, Torros had to leave so he led us back to the Bazaar. It was so weird not having him there again with us to show us and explain everything. We got treated differently, not better or worse, just differently since we weren’t walking with a Turkish guy. Funny how that works! When we were with Torros, we wouldn’t get talked to as much by store front workers and people didn’t make many comments to us. When we were alone, we were definitely treated like tourists and called Barbie, Baywatch girls, Spice Girls (more than 5 times) and many other hilarious things. They were all so nice and complimentary, without being creepy or bugging us. One man said to us, “Excuse me ladies! You dropped something!... My heart!” haha it was funny and he knew it would make us laugh.

We spotted some jewelry the other day at this one place so we went back to bargain and get our prize! We ended up talking to the 3 workers for a long time and the owner closed it and ordered us some tea! He ordered someone to go to this little phone on the wall, where I guess they order tea, and then it came right up on a pretty silver tray! We sat and chatted in this little closet of a store for a while and the owner was telling us about all of his travels around the world and he was showing us pictures on his iPhone of him in many countries. He told us we looked “fresh” meaning young and pretty. He said he wasn’t ‘fresh’ anymore haha. It was such a great experience and we got pretty good deals on the jewelry we picked out, along with delicious Turkish tea and a good story! Then, I asked where’s the best place to find something (I can’t mention it, it’s a gift for my dad!) and he led me to his friends store and I got a sweet deal on a pretty cool gift! I stopped by some music stores to see what I might be interested in, and you get a feel right away from the owners if you want to purchase from them or bargain, or if you want to leave and find another more inviting place. I went into a really nice and quiet one and I was looking around but the owner didn’t help me at all. I don’t know if he didn’t take me seriously (because I was looking at nice instruments and he probably thought I was clueless), but he wasn’t helpful/talkative so I left. That’s the whole fun of the bazaar- talking, joking, bargaining! After several music stores I went back to one where the worker was really nice and I bargained and got something for a great price compared to the other stores (another gift, so I can’t tell you what it is!). We went into one place and we were looking at these beautiful tiles and chatting with the owner. He was the sound technician for The Cranberries who were performing that night! He showed us his tickets and everything, you always find out cool stuff when you start talking, even if they aren’t good at English!

Something awesome- I love learning languages and speaking new ones, so I would constantly be saying Hi how are you, thank you, and bye in Turkish. The Turkish people would smile so big when I would use just a few of their words, and in some cases it would get me free things (like baklava for saying hi how are you!) When I’d say ‘no thanks’ in Turkish, they would all be like “Oh my gosh she knows Turkish!” and they would smile and be really nice. It was cool to show them that I was trying to learn their language and fit in, in a way, and it made a few grumpy people smile. I loved it and I think that it makes a huge difference when they see that you make an effort to be like them instead of expecting them to know English. There was man being overwhelmed and mad because we were all crowding his store and being loud. When I bought some gum, I got free cookies (delicious ones, like Oreos) because I said thank you have a good day in Turkish! Something so small like that means a lot to them, I could definitely tell. They appreciate it so much and it makes you stand out as a nice tourists who loves cultural experiences. I know us SASers learned a few Turkish words, but I never heard anyone try to say anything, which made me sad because it’s so fun!

We finished up shopping and headed on the tram (I accidentally took us the wrong way, but we made it back) and got ready for another night out!
 We met Torros and Everan and all went downtown for a nice dinner. We went to a completely different part of Istanbul than the area by the port and Bazaars. We passed through Ataturk’s palace, where he dies, and it was full of huge oak trees that lined the streets. It looked like any major city, with many lanes in the highways, huge buildings, many nice international shops, malls, restaurants, a big stadium, and anything else you’d find in a city of 15 million people! It was crazy seeing this part of Istanbul, I had no idea this is what it was like. It was so… normal. Yes, we were in Turkey, but it was so normal! I can’t get over that. The only difference was the crowd, cars, and more chaotic driving. We passed by one of the first/oldest (but modern looking) malls in Turkey, which was beautiful and covered in waterfalls made out of Christmas lights! We went to a place called Midpoint, which was in the richer part of Istanbul. The houses and condos around were for rich people, but the café we went to wasn’t super expensive, just really, really nice and a good change from places by the port. On one side of the street was the place where we ate, on a nice outdoor patio, and on the other side was a park on the edge of the Bosporus where you could see the Bosporus Bridge! After seafood pasta and steaks, we walked along the piers and boardwalk, passing by huge yachts and looked across the water at Asia! It was so close and full of bright lights and a giant Turkish flag. The Bosporus Bridge was fully lit (reminded me of the Golden Gate Bridge) and it would change colors every 5 minutes. We walked up and down the waters edge and then stopped for a Nutella waffle folded in half, filled with kiwis, strawberries, and rainbow sprinkles! Mmmm.

We headed back to the part where everyone (SASers) usually stay around, and went to Taksim Square again to the same little 5 story bar before we figured out what club to go to! We decided to go to the nicer clubs that were further away, but the taxi drivers don’t charge you much at all here! We all piled in into 3 taxis and went to a place called Crystal, a very nice club under the Bosporus Bridge. The guys had to dress nicer than normal (us girls always looked nice, so we didn’t have to go change). When we went in, it was beautiful and all white with dim colored lights. You could tell why celebrities came here. The only problem was that if you wanted a table to stand by or sit at, it would cost you about $200… just to sit down!! we left after about 5 songs because there’s no where to sit unless you pay. We walked across the street to Reina, which was closing because it was 4 am (so early for a club to close here!) so we went back across the street and down a little ways to 8th Hill, a 4 story club. We went to the very top and the owner let us sit at a table for free, shocking! We hung out there for a while then all headed home because the night was late and no one was really out.

Another wonderful day in Istanbul!!

Little Rock Texas

July 21
We started the day off by walking down the port’s edge and going to Karakoy Gulluoglu, one of the well known baklava places in all of Istanbul (and there are a TON). I tried several different pieces- round ones that had walnuts on top, a traditional one, a pistachio one, and a chocolate one! Delicious. One of the workers asked me and Shea if we were from TV, Baywatch specifically… Haha. The ship has constantly been telling us to carry our passport copy around with us for hotel and banks. They said all hotels and hostels will need to see it and when you get money or exchange it, they will check your passport. This hasn’t happened once this entire summer. Rachel stopped in a cell phone store to get an international sim card and they asked for her passport! This was the first time this entire trip we’ve heard someone ask for it, ironic. We met Torros here and all headed to the Grand Bazaar! Torros is from Istanbul and we met him and his friends in Spain! I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this yet or not. We have been so lucky to have him in this huge city! We walked through the port area to get to the tram. It is full of hardware stores like guns, knives, walking canes, antiques, camo clothing stores (so random), vacuums; basically mini ace hardwares everywhere! We passed by a café called Odessa Restaurant and Hotel Odessa! After walking through the sketch part of the port, we got on the tram and headed to the bazaar. It was YTL1.50 and about a 10 minute tram ride.

Once we got off, we went under a tunnel below the busy streets! It was full of cell phone stores and other electronics. It was also a sauna... Once we popped out from underground, the Spice Bazaar was right in front of us! It had a huge archway with one long path that split into many different ones once you got past the beginning. People were selling grilled corn, roasted chestnuts, ice cream, fruit, bread, etc. There was a big plaque in front that said some things in Turkish and Arabic and “Spice Bazaar’’. When we first walked in, it was so crowded... I mean PACKED. There were spice stores after spice stores! There would be piles of spices, men handing out pinches for you to smell and try, lots of teas, nuts, dried fruit, and of course Turkish delights! I tried some pepper that was sprinkled in my hand, it was spicy but delicious. They also hand out samples of things, and I try em all! One spice guy said something to us in Turkish and Torros translated it to, “I want to roll a red carpet out in front of you when you walk by.” Haha what an interesting thing to say! After walking around for a good while and just visually shopping without buying, we made our way out of the other end of the Spice Bazaar. I knew we’d come back so I just looked and checked prices and tried to figure out what I wanted, plus I didn’t want to carry stuff around all day. We came across another mosque and decided to check it out and get out of the hot sun for a little bit. We went up some steep rocky steps into the entrance of the mosque. It was covered in blue and white tiles, just like every mosque here! It was beautifully designed and smaller than most. We had to cover our heads for this one (unlike the Blue Mosque) and take off our shoes on a fancy carpet. Inside it was pretty with a very soft red carpet with candle chandeliers and more mosaics and painted tiles! It was so quiet and we couldn’t really talk. There was one man praying so we had to stay towards the back and whisper. I took a few pictures (it’s allowed) but it felt awkward because everyone is so quiet and it’s noticeable. After that, Torros lead us up another busy street (filled with random supply stores) that led to the Grand Bazaar. It was a steep walk up hill and through rough sidewalks. We were definitely the only white people. Men would be passing with carts full of vegetables and other fruits, and always oranges.

We made it to a side entrance of the Grand Bazaar finally! It was basically like an indoor shopping mall, but with no doors and a nice breeze throughout the entire place! It was massive and was shop after shop! You could easily get lost in the crowd and we quickly learned not to wander to store fronts alone because when you turn around, everyone is gone! Some girls would walk into stores and when you look for them, they aren’t there! There were many colored glass lamps, bowls, mugs, dishes, hookah, t-shirts, jewelry, belly dancing outfits, clothes, tea sets, rugs, fabrics, scarves, music stores, I mean the list goes on! It is overwhelming thinking about how to describe the Grand Bazaar! We did a good amount of bargaining (which is SO FUN) and then Torros showed us a really modern Turkish coffee café. It was in the middle of the hustle and bustle of everything, but it was quiet and cool inside! We all got Turkish coffee. It comes in a tiny tea cup on a saucer and it is so strong! I put 2 sugar cubes in mine and a small piece of Turkish delight comes with it on the side, yum. The coffee was so hot and almost thick. Torros showed us how to drink it- lift up your lip and sip it from your teeth so it is hot enough to enjoy, preventing your lips from burning. It was fun and delicious! You leave the “mud” in the bottom of the cup and put that saucer on top. Then, you flip it all upside down with the cup upside down on the saucer. You feel the top and make sure it isn’t hot anymore (took about 10 minutes), and then you take the cup off and look at the design in the “mud”! It’s supposed to tell a fortune, so we just made funny things up from what we saw! After that, we went back out shopping! Once we were ready to head back, we went down the hill and through the spice market again. Torros took us on a walk through another busy part of town around the bazaars. We saw buckets of leeches everywhere for sale that people use for medicinal things, it was creepy! Then, we went to Ozturkler Bufe! It’s like a walk-up restaurant where they have grills and about 5 tables, no doors or windows, just a lot of restaurants jammed into the sides of buildings! We sat down and Torros ordered some food for us, we just said anything with chicken. First, we were brought a plate of oregano with lemons. Also, we had plates of these delicious grilled peppers! Then, we had crepe bread things filled with spicy grilled chicken and tomatoes and stuff (made me think of pico de gallo) all wrapped up inside! It was delicious!! Torros got a drink that I think is considered buttermilk, haha. I didn’t really want to try but I think that’s what they all drink here! It comes in a container that looks like yogurt and you peel the top off… I stuck to coke and water! If it weren’t for Torros, we would’ve picked some close, touristy, expensive gross food place. But, instead, we were taken to where locals go and where the owners and customers are all best friends! We decided to walk from the bazaar to the ship, which was a while, but the sunset was beautiful and we got to cross a big bridge full of fishers (Sea of Marmarar)! It was a great day and we were tired, so we headed back to the ship to get rested and ready for the night out.

We all met at the gangway again to head out to Taksim square, where you are always guaranteed to have fun! On the tramway, I let Richard take a picture of us and he dropped my camera.. the lens broke… Luckily, Shea has 2 cameras… so now I use hers with caution! We all took the tram to Taksim and met up with more SASers (everyone says “sasers”) at the corner by the big war memorial (meeting place for us every night). We started walking down the busy street (no cars, just people) and turned down one that looked inviting to find a place to hang out before the club. We found a place that had a nice deck with good music! We all sat down and just hung out. The inside of this place was 5 stories tall! Sad news, the bathroom was on the 5th floor. We had to hike up steep, windy, uneven stairs to get there! It was really cool though once you get to the top, there was a balcony that overlooked a busy street in Taksim! Shea and I just stood on the balcony for a bit soaking up the fact that we were in Istanbul hanging out and having the time of our lives. It was so fun! We stayed there for a while and met some fun French people and we all decided to walk to Quba again to dance the night away. It was a little more full than the night before so that was good. Shea and I hang out with these two SAS guys from Arkansas, Richard and Dylan, and they are from Little Rock. The DJ at Quba had on a t-shirt that said Little Rock and Texas! It was too ironic!! We went up to him and tried to ask him about it and all he said was, “I no know what you say! I bought for 9 Euro! Don’t blame me!” and he put his hands in the air like he was innocent, thinking we didn’t like his shirt haha. It was funny and then he figured out that we liked his shirt. We snapped a few pics. Then we met some really cool Germans in Quba but they were leaving the next day so we couldn’t all hang out again! After staying there for the majority of the night, we went to Bambi again (of course) and then caught a taxi home. Thanks to Torros and Everan’s Turkishness, they got all of our taxis down to YTL6! We said bye to our local friends and headed back to the ship in a crazy cab ride (should be expected every time); successful day yet again!

Mere Habba!

July 20
Happy Birthday Papaw!!!!!

Fun Facts about Istanbul and Turkey:
Istanbul is considered the “center of the world” and has 15 million people. The entire country of Greece only had 12 million!
Turkey is the cultural capital of the world right now in 2010 so it’s a great time to visit the country because many efforts have been made to beautify the city of Istanbul even more and most all constructions has been taken down and stopped for this year! How perfect is that?
Turkey is the world headquarters of Media (which is awesome for me being in Istanbul because I absolutely love media).
Istanbul is the business center of Turkey and around the 16th best economy in the world.
Turkey is the #1 yacht-maker!
Ataturk’s picture is in every restaurant, school, store, etc. He is seen as the father of Turkey and I’m sure we will be seeing a lot of him these next few days!
A few years ago, someone put up a bad video about Ataturk and so Turkey banned YouTube. Crazy!
Currently, $1.00 US is equal to YTL 1.54 (New Turkish Lira)

Today FLEW by. It was incredible. This is the cultural change I’ve been thinking of. (Spain and the other countries try to be like America in some of their ways, but definitely not here in Turkey!)
This morning we had a diplomat come on board and speak to us about relations between countries surrounding us, our country, and a lot of interesting information about the world around Turkey right now. This happens the morning of every arrival in every country and it’s so cool! We get filled in on all of the political and diplomatic effects. It makes it really cool that we have this before each port because it applies to what we are about to step out into!
For my FDP for intercultural communications, Ozlem Sandikci (professor of Marketing and Advertising at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey), came to speak to us about media in Turkey and marketing/advertising. It was really fascinating! She was pale with very dark , curly hair and ice blue eyes. It was cool seeing a real Turkish-looking woman because I never really knew what to picture in my mind. She was very nice and shared a lot of interesting information about Turkey, fashion, and ads/marketing.
We left the ship around noon and walked down the town to get to the tramway. Istanbul is so amazing! It’s hard to explain because it kind of looks like everywhere else we have been, but more modern and bigger, so maybe it doesn’t. The crowd is way different too! Everyone is dark with blue and green eyes, it’s so pretty and distinctive! There are palace steeples everywhere, modern stores, Burger Kings and Starbucks, and amazing baklava/tea and Turkish delight bakeries too. It was one Lira to get to Taksim Square on the underground tram and it was only one stop away! It was on the edge of the Bosporus and took about 10 minutes to get there, but we walked slowly and looked around so it took a bit longer! The tram ride was 5 minutes. A cat that looked like Abby greeted me as I got off. I took a picture of the stray and I swear it’s Abby’s twin! When we got off at the top of the hill, it began to sprinkle a little and was windy. There were men everywhere selling clear umbrellas for 5 Lira so everyone bought them. I had my big camera and leather purse so I felt the need to get an umbrella too! It was worth it because it rained for a few hours, but I still had a fabulous day!
When we started walking around, I noticed rugs stores, tea cafes, hookah bars, leather stores, jewelry, alleys with musicians at restaurants, and so much more! It was such an amazing sight. There were women with headscarves, but not nearly as many as I thought. People were dressed conservatively and we were too, but no one really stood out as looking very Islamic, which surprised me! Our tour guide showed us several restaurants and good places to find great tea. We stopped at one of the 3rd restaurants she showed us and it was tucked away in a little alley! When you walked in, it was huge, nice, and full of well dressed business men! We were the only girls in there but they didn’t really stare or act differently. It was interesting. Shea and I ordered this rice dish which had pistachio slices, pine nuts, pieces of pork we think, and other nuts. It was warm and made your lips greasy with a very distinctive, yet delicious, taste! It came with yellow bread that tasted exactly like cornbread. I took some yummy pictures :) After that, we were walking around when this loud humming came on, filling the entire street, making you almost want to cover your ears. Then we realized it was a call to prayer! I didn’t see anyone around ay down and start praying, maybe because of the wet ground from the rain, but it was definitely loud singing through speakers throughout the square. We made our way down to a Turkish delight place with many treats that our tour guide recommended. I got a lemon Turkish delight and Shea got a random one that tasted the same as mine but with a fancy name, haha. THEN we had the most amazing thing ever that I hope to bring back home- dried figs stuffed with roasted walnuts. TO DIE FOR. And all of this was about YTL2.75 = $1.86! How perfect! We will be going there countless times this week. We sat at a table next to the café and then saw the sign that had numbers on it, meaning we had to pay to sit... We decided to order tea since we already sat down, and it would go well with our treats! I asked the waiter (who was hovering over me), “Where can I find some tea?” He said, “Ok,” and disappeared! 10 minutes later he brought us out 2 little glass cups on little decorated saucers, a small metal plate on top covering the tea, and 2 sugar cubes with a tiny spoon. I have no clue what flavor the tea was, but it was amazing!! Typically, you put a sugar cube in your mouth and sip the tea, which we tried, and it’s by far the best way to drink it! It seemed like a small cup of tea, but it ended up being the perfect amount and we didn’t want more, even though it was so good. Maybe it’s secretly filling? I don’t know, but I’ll be getting tea very often here! After resting there for a little bit, we made our way to the Blue Mosque to meet up with some girls. It took about 30 minutes to get there because we had no clue what to do! We asked store workers and they helped us out by telling us where to get on the tram and where to get off. Once we made it over the bridge by the mosque, we all met out front. There was a beautiful park in front of the mosque (mosques are everywhere), and there were flowers and fountains, along with families and many tourists! We went into the courtyard of the mosque and stood in a line to go in. We noticed that the line was all Turkish people but we stood in it anyways. Once we got to the front, they said we had to use a different entrance. I think that line was the line to go pray inside. We walked around the courtyard and out the back, and there was a small line with men handing out scarves to cover your head and shoulders. We took off our shoes. When we went in, the carpet was nice and soft, with beautiful red designs. Everyone was whisperings, there were candle chandeliers everywhere, and everyone was taking pictures. It was pretty cool inside (compared to the hot humidity outside) so we sat down on the carpet and just looked around for a while. The ceilings were huge and domed, filled with blue and white patterned tiles. All of the mosque kind of look the same inside regarding tiles, colors, and the carpet.
After that, we walked down the busy walkways to get to some palace. We were walking along an old big brick wall, which was super tall, and then we found the entrance. On one side of this wall was the busy, loud street. Once we went into it, it was very quiet and it was a forest! There were huge walkways through many statues and big old trees. Couples were everywhere and dogs were too! We walked all around in this park. It was shady from the trees and there was a breeze. We then walked into a museum and saw a ton of marble sculptures and tombs. It was pretty cool! After that, we walked outside of the walls an sat at a little café. We ordered tea and I just ate sugar cubes the whole time! We hoped on the tram for YTL1 and headed back to the ship. We all decided to meet in front of the gangway (where you exit the ship) around 10:15 for the night’s activities. We took the tram to Taksim Square and decided we’d be staying there for the night. When we came up from underground, we were in the main square! There was a huge war memorial in the middle, cars everywhere, and people flowing. We walked across to the other side and went down the main drag. it was about 5 lanes wide, full of people and street performers. There were Christmas lights acting as a roof the whole way down, it was so pretty! There are people selling roasted chestnuts, oysters, grilled corn, and pretzel things. There was an old man who had a table with a big bunny and a little baby one on it! We walked over to see this precious bunny and it picks up paper that tells you your fortune! I didn’t do it but I think before I leave I’m going to get a bunny to pick my fortune, just for fun! After walking around, we found an Irish Pub, but it was empty. We kept walking down side streets that were full of bars and karaoke places. We stopped at a club called Quba, a bar with walls, but no ceiling and trees coming out of it! It played really good music that we’ve been hearing all throughout Europe so we stayed for a while. Then, we went down the street to another one that was basically the same idea, with more people! After dancing for a long time, we went to a sit down patio bar and had fruit kabobs and just hung out. We were heading home by taxi (tram stopped at midnight) so we started walking towards the taxi part of the square. Right before we were about to leave, we saw this brightly lit place called Bambi! It was Turkish fast food. Some locals told us that it's really good and that it’s not bad for you or gross. I ended up getting a Panini- bacon and cheese. It was SO good, and we’ll be back there again. Bambi is on every street corner and it always busy. When we went back out to get a cab, the locals (who we met in Spain) bargained with a few drivers and we ended up getting home for 7YTL (around $5) altogether! On the way home, the driver sang to us in some Turkish way and it was really entertaining! I took a video to remember how cool it sounded and to show everyone! Turkish is hard to speak but I’ve actually learned more than I thought and it’s only been a day or two.
Mere habba- hello
Nassal Sinnes- how are you
Chokuzel- great
Higher sal- no thanks
Shedehfe- cheers
Hehsum- check please
Iyi geceler (pronounced strangely)- goodnight
Oh I forgot- I went into a baklava place and they were closing so they gave me a lot of free baklava. After, I found out that it was one of the nicest and most expensive baklava places in Istanbul!
What a fun first night in Istanbul!
PS In Spain, a few of the people we met have only been to Miami in the USA. In Croatia, a few guys go to school in Miami. Here in Turkey, several people said they have been to Miami or want to go! Strange!

I’m slow on blogging because there’s hardly any time to catch up!

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!