Per usual, let me start from the beginning. We started planning our Spring Break a couple of months ago, so our excitement for this trip had been building for quite a while. Everything was set: we would start in Athens, then go to Santorini (an island off of Greece), followed by Rome, Florence, and Venice. An epic plan.
Athens
Our flight to Greece was relatively uneventful, aside from the fact that Hanna (the slowest human on Earth) was so late to the airport that we almost missed our flight. Not really, but it was a close call.
When we arrived in Athens, we went straight to our hostel to drop off our stuff before dinner. It was relatively easy to find our way, plus Lamia has a friend studying abroad there who helped guide us. I would say the only downside to our hostel was that our desk receptionist was super creepy. He was a man of few words, which was fine, but then we caught him later on staring at us through our window from the patio outside. It was very Hannibal Lecter (okay, no, it wasn't that extreme, but you get the idea). So we closed our curtains and spent as little time in our room as possible. Ain't no thang, we're big girls.
We went to dinner at a place called Plakiotissa, and it was the most precious restaurant ever. We were practically the only ones there, and we enjoyed a live performance of traditional Greek music by two guitarists on the terrace. Our waiter was super nice (and easy on the eyes), and he taught us how to do a traditional Greek dance. It was a wonderful evening spent with wonderful people, a great start to our trip.
I hadn't really had high expectations for Athens, as I had heard that it wasn't very clean and that people weren't exceptionally friendly towards Americans. How misinformed I was! Honestly, the city was so cool, and we had nothing but friendly encounters with the locals. And the food was a m a z i n g. There is a traditional Greek dip called tzatziki that's made with Greek yogurt, cucumbers... and some other things that I can't remember. It was soSOso delicious - my mouth is watering just thinking about it. On the flipside, thinking about Ouzo makes me want to gag. For those of you who don't know, Ouzo is a type of liquor that is native to Greece. Fun fact: It tastes like black licorice (...and I mean that in a bad way). Fun fact #2: It is the most caloric type of alcohol on Earth. Never, never, never again.
While in Athens, we saw the Akropolis, the Parthenon, the Temple of Zeus, lots of graffiti, lots of dreamy Athenian boys, and this old market which sold garage-saleish treasures. I loved it all.
Our flight to Greece was relatively uneventful, aside from the fact that Hanna (the slowest human on Earth) was so late to the airport that we almost missed our flight. Not really, but it was a close call.
When we arrived in Athens, we went straight to our hostel to drop off our stuff before dinner. It was relatively easy to find our way, plus Lamia has a friend studying abroad there who helped guide us. I would say the only downside to our hostel was that our desk receptionist was super creepy. He was a man of few words, which was fine, but then we caught him later on staring at us through our window from the patio outside. It was very Hannibal Lecter (okay, no, it wasn't that extreme, but you get the idea). So we closed our curtains and spent as little time in our room as possible. Ain't no thang, we're big girls.
We went to dinner at a place called Plakiotissa, and it was the most precious restaurant ever. We were practically the only ones there, and we enjoyed a live performance of traditional Greek music by two guitarists on the terrace. Our waiter was super nice (and easy on the eyes), and he taught us how to do a traditional Greek dance. It was a wonderful evening spent with wonderful people, a great start to our trip.
I hadn't really had high expectations for Athens, as I had heard that it wasn't very clean and that people weren't exceptionally friendly towards Americans. How misinformed I was! Honestly, the city was so cool, and we had nothing but friendly encounters with the locals. And the food was a m a z i n g. There is a traditional Greek dip called tzatziki that's made with Greek yogurt, cucumbers... and some other things that I can't remember. It was soSOso delicious - my mouth is watering just thinking about it. On the flipside, thinking about Ouzo makes me want to gag. For those of you who don't know, Ouzo is a type of liquor that is native to Greece. Fun fact: It tastes like black licorice (...and I mean that in a bad way). Fun fact #2: It is the most caloric type of alcohol on Earth. Never, never, never again.
While in Athens, we saw the Akropolis, the Parthenon, the Temple of Zeus, lots of graffiti, lots of dreamy Athenian boys, and this old market which sold garage-saleish treasures. I loved it all.
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| Akropolis |
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| Makes me think. |
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| Llama |
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| Ashes, ashes, we all fall down. |
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| Me and Carolyn |
Santorini
Getting to Santorini was a special experience. We took an eight hour ferry across the sea. Eight hours. On a Ferry. Trying not to vomit. Surrounded by loud, Greek teenagers. Like I said, it was special. Once on the island, though, my heart nearly floated right out of my chest. Santorini is easily the most wonderful, beautiful place I have ever been.
If you ever visit Santorini, which you should most certainly try to do at some point in your life, you must stay at Stavros Villas. This hotel was the absolute greatest place we have stayed. Stavros, the owner, was the nicest man - he was so helpful and kind, and by the end of the trip we had really grown to like him. This place was located about twenty minutes away from Fira, the capitol of the island, so we were close enough to go shopping but far enough away that we were bathed in peace and quiet. It was a dream.
We spent our first full day at a deserted black sand beach. When I say deserted, I really mean it. We were the only ones there - I can't even begin to describe how beautiful and serene the experience was.
That evening we went up to Fira for Carolyn's birthday, and had a delicious dinner followed by a great night of dancing. I was cutting a serious rug. But by the end of the night we were exhausted and still had to trek all the way back to our villa. That's when things got really awesome. On the way home, we passed a stray dog, to whom Hanna politely asked, "Do you want to join our wolfpack?" He reluctantly agreed, and thus became our new friend Nacho. (sidebar: Even though I dubbed him Nacho, Hanna named him something else, something vulgar. For the purpose of keeping this blog appropriate for all audiences, I'll just refer to him as Nacho.) So Nacho followed us all the way out of Fira and would have died a number of times had we not been there to protect him from speeding cars and vultures. I'm sure we were quite a sight to see. Especially when we came across and befriended a donkey. He was tethered to a tree not too far from our villa, and we couldn't resist stopping to take a picture with him.
The next day, we rented ATVs and drove them all over, navigating the island.
It
was
so
much
fun.
Seriously. I think maybe the most fun I have ever had. Me and Lamia were together and took turns driving. The whole time I was thinking of myself as superimposed into a real life round of Mario Kart. We drove until we stumbled upon a grassy area that was straight out of a movie. We drove to the south of the island to the Red Sand Beach. We drove to Oia to see what is said to be the most beautiful sunset in the world (it was a little hazy outside, but was still quite breathtaking). We drove the wrong way on a one way street, and almost got run over by a semi-truck. Literally. Me and Lams were screaming/laughing/almost peeing our pants as we held up a pointer finger to indicate to the truck driver, who was laughing at us, that we needed him to "hold on just a second."
Getting to Santorini was a special experience. We took an eight hour ferry across the sea. Eight hours. On a Ferry. Trying not to vomit. Surrounded by loud, Greek teenagers. Like I said, it was special. Once on the island, though, my heart nearly floated right out of my chest. Santorini is easily the most wonderful, beautiful place I have ever been.
If you ever visit Santorini, which you should most certainly try to do at some point in your life, you must stay at Stavros Villas. This hotel was the absolute greatest place we have stayed. Stavros, the owner, was the nicest man - he was so helpful and kind, and by the end of the trip we had really grown to like him. This place was located about twenty minutes away from Fira, the capitol of the island, so we were close enough to go shopping but far enough away that we were bathed in peace and quiet. It was a dream.
We spent our first full day at a deserted black sand beach. When I say deserted, I really mean it. We were the only ones there - I can't even begin to describe how beautiful and serene the experience was.
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| Black |
 |
| Lazy |
That evening we went up to Fira for Carolyn's birthday, and had a delicious dinner followed by a great night of dancing. I was cutting a serious rug. But by the end of the night we were exhausted and still had to trek all the way back to our villa. That's when things got really awesome. On the way home, we passed a stray dog, to whom Hanna politely asked, "Do you want to join our wolfpack?" He reluctantly agreed, and thus became our new friend Nacho. (sidebar: Even though I dubbed him Nacho, Hanna named him something else, something vulgar. For the purpose of keeping this blog appropriate for all audiences, I'll just refer to him as Nacho.) So Nacho followed us all the way out of Fira and would have died a number of times had we not been there to protect him from speeding cars and vultures. I'm sure we were quite a sight to see. Especially when we came across and befriended a donkey. He was tethered to a tree not too far from our villa, and we couldn't resist stopping to take a picture with him.
 |
| Hannah . Donkey . Hanna . Carolyn . Nacho |
The next day, we rented ATVs and drove them all over, navigating the island.
It
was
so
much
fun.
Seriously. I think maybe the most fun I have ever had. Me and Lamia were together and took turns driving. The whole time I was thinking of myself as superimposed into a real life round of Mario Kart. We drove until we stumbled upon a grassy area that was straight out of a movie. We drove to the south of the island to the Red Sand Beach. We drove to Oia to see what is said to be the most beautiful sunset in the world (it was a little hazy outside, but was still quite breathtaking). We drove the wrong way on a one way street, and almost got run over by a semi-truck. Literally. Me and Lams were screaming/laughing/almost peeing our pants as we held up a pointer finger to indicate to the truck driver, who was laughing at us, that we needed him to "hold on just a second."
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| Caballito |
 |
| ♥♥ |
 |
| Little boxes made of ticky-tacky. |
If you have ever seen the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, you would know that Lena (one of the main characters) spends time in Santorini. In Oia, we stumbled upon the restaurant that she eats at in the movie. There, we met a guy named Panos whose family owns the business. He was super nice but seemed like he was accustomed to sweet talking American girls into dining at his way-too-expensive-for-a-college-student's-budget restaurant. But it was a really quaint little place, muy romántica.
On the third day, we went on a volcanic excursion. Yes ladies and gentleman, I climbed a volcano. So Stavros dropped us off in Fira and pointed the way. Enter the undetermined number of donkeys. You see, in order to get down to the dock, we had to descend about 700 stairs - massive, stone stairs - and that just didn't quite seem appealing to us. So we each rented a donkey and rode them down to the dock. Not only was it beyond frightening... no, wait, that's exactly what it was. Beyond frightening. And smelly. Ick.
We got down to the dock and boarded this old fashioned boat which then took us out to the volcano. It's an active volcano but hasn't erupted since 1975 or something, so there were lots of little plants growing all over it. A couple of the girls I was with were super disappointed because they though we were going to see lava. As in liquid hot magma. I made fun of them because I wasn't expecting anything like that. What we saw was basically some steam escaping from the side of the volcano, more or less. In hindsight it would have been better if we had seen a big lava pool because then I could have pushed Hanna in and finished her once and for all.
Part of the excursion included a trip to a hot spring to go swimming. Now, I'm not the best swimmer in the world, but I can definitely keep my head above water for a while without getting tired. But let me tell you. Trying to go into this hot spring was a huge mistake. The boat stopped about 30 meters from where the water heated up, so we had to jump off the side into the freezing cold Mediterranean and swim (read: dog paddle) towards this little inlet with the warm water. Three of my friends were able to easily maneuver themselves through this water, but me and Hannah almost drowned. First of all, when I jumped into the water, I went down way too deep and started to freak out a little because I didn't think I could hold my breath long enough to reach the surface. When I finally popped out of the water (relieved), I looked over at Hannah who was desperately trying to explain to me that she couldn't breathe. Then I started to freak out more - what if I suddenly couldn't breathe either? A logical concern.
In a strange turn of events, Hannah then started to laugh because I "just looked like a floating head without a body," so then I start to laugh too. I didn't have the strength to laugh and not drown at the same time, so I demanded that she stop laughing in order to ward off my impending doom. We both managed to get a grip and swim to this big rock that was about halfway to the spring, and when I got there I was legitimately panting and sweating. Apparently I don't know how to dog paddle as well as I thought I did. Anyway, Hannah was telling me that she still felt like she couldn't breathe, like her lungs weren't working properly. So I was like GREAT... we're in the middle of the ocean, stuck on a slimy rock, and it's highly, highly likely that we're both going to die. Meanwhile Lamia, Hanna, and Carolyn were basking in the warm waters of the spring - the nerve! After pausing a minute to get our bearings, Hannah and I bravely ventured back out into the water to get towards the middle of the spring. Soon enough, the water started to feel less icy and we could see minerals floating all around us. Yes! We finally made it. Thoughts of success rang through my head, how proud, how happy!
How foolish we were.
Honestly this hot spring was like stagnant bath-water at best. And these minerals made it look like we were swimming in diarrhea. "What kind of hot spring is this?!" I thought to myself. Definitely not something I will ever do again. Ever.
 |
| Un olor horroroso. |
We got down to the dock and boarded this old fashioned boat which then took us out to the volcano. It's an active volcano but hasn't erupted since 1975 or something, so there were lots of little plants growing all over it. A couple of the girls I was with were super disappointed because they though we were going to see lava. As in liquid hot magma. I made fun of them because I wasn't expecting anything like that. What we saw was basically some steam escaping from the side of the volcano, more or less. In hindsight it would have been better if we had seen a big lava pool because then I could have pushed Hanna in and finished her once and for all.
Part of the excursion included a trip to a hot spring to go swimming. Now, I'm not the best swimmer in the world, but I can definitely keep my head above water for a while without getting tired. But let me tell you. Trying to go into this hot spring was a huge mistake. The boat stopped about 30 meters from where the water heated up, so we had to jump off the side into the freezing cold Mediterranean and swim (read: dog paddle) towards this little inlet with the warm water. Three of my friends were able to easily maneuver themselves through this water, but me and Hannah almost drowned. First of all, when I jumped into the water, I went down way too deep and started to freak out a little because I didn't think I could hold my breath long enough to reach the surface. When I finally popped out of the water (relieved), I looked over at Hannah who was desperately trying to explain to me that she couldn't breathe. Then I started to freak out more - what if I suddenly couldn't breathe either? A logical concern.
In a strange turn of events, Hannah then started to laugh because I "just looked like a floating head without a body," so then I start to laugh too. I didn't have the strength to laugh and not drown at the same time, so I demanded that she stop laughing in order to ward off my impending doom. We both managed to get a grip and swim to this big rock that was about halfway to the spring, and when I got there I was legitimately panting and sweating. Apparently I don't know how to dog paddle as well as I thought I did. Anyway, Hannah was telling me that she still felt like she couldn't breathe, like her lungs weren't working properly. So I was like GREAT... we're in the middle of the ocean, stuck on a slimy rock, and it's highly, highly likely that we're both going to die. Meanwhile Lamia, Hanna, and Carolyn were basking in the warm waters of the spring - the nerve! After pausing a minute to get our bearings, Hannah and I bravely ventured back out into the water to get towards the middle of the spring. Soon enough, the water started to feel less icy and we could see minerals floating all around us. Yes! We finally made it. Thoughts of success rang through my head, how proud, how happy!
How foolish we were.
Honestly this hot spring was like stagnant bath-water at best. And these minerals made it look like we were swimming in diarrhea. "What kind of hot spring is this?!" I thought to myself. Definitely not something I will ever do again. Ever.
 |
| Volcanic love. |
 |
| Should have stayed on the boat. |
So we got back to shore and realized that we had to either pay to ride a lift up to the top of the cliff, pay to rent a donkey again, or climb the 700-odd stairs. Me and Hanna walked up. That is all.
Santorini was a fairy tale. It was the most amazing place I have ever been, and I can only hope that one day I will be lucky enough to go back.
Roma
When I got to Rome, I separated from my friends to go find Blair's apartment because I was staying with her rather than in the hostel. Riddle me this: What do you think would happen if I were by myself in a foreign country whose language I don't speak? Obviously, I got lost. Well I don't know if you could call it lost because I never knew where I was to begin with. But no harm done, I found my way eventually.
When I did get to Blair's apartment, she was in class so I had to wait for hours for her to get home to entertain me. But as soon as she arrived, entertain she did. I got to meet Dom and Diane, her two best friends from her program, and they were super guay. We spent most of our time with them, but I did meet up with my friends a few times as well while in Rome.
Going to the Colosseum was amazing. It was almost overwhelming to be in a building with so much history, but I really, really enjoyed it. It was super weird because the whole place seemed to change depending where we were standing... "it looks so much different from this angle." I kid, I kid. Afterwards we went and walked through the Roman Forum... which has some cultural significance that I'm unaware of. It was mostly just a lot of pretty walkways with flowers and things. That's the thing about traveling throughout Europe. You are given the opportunity to see so many wonderful places, but it doesn't quite have the same effect if you don't do some research first about what you're going to see.
While walking around one evening we passed the place where Julius Caesar was murdered. The area was dotted with ruins and was fenced off, and is now known as "the cat sanctuary" because it provides a safe haven for strays.
Touring the Vatican and the Cistine Chapel was honestly the best. We decided to pay to take a guided tour and it was definitely worth it to be able to learn about everything rather than wander aimlessly. Looking at such a huge place filled with so many famous and beautiful works of art was absolutely wonderful. When in Rome, eh?
When we tried to go into St. Peter's Basilica we ran into a little bit of trouble. Apparently our dresses weren't up to code, as they showed our knees, so the guard told us we couldn't go inside. "Wha?!" we thought to ourselves. This guy who stopped us was super young and seemed like he was trying not to laugh at us. Our dresses were literally, for each of us, the longest dresses we owned. We weren't about to not go inside, so we made some adjustments per request from the guard, borrowed some sweatshirts from our male counterparts, and scooted our way around inside the Basilica. No pasa nada.
On Good Friday we went to see the Pope say the Stages of the Cross at the Colosseum. For all you religious folk (Mom), I hope you're sufficiently jealous.
The only other things I have to say about Rome:
When I got to Rome, I separated from my friends to go find Blair's apartment because I was staying with her rather than in the hostel. Riddle me this: What do you think would happen if I were by myself in a foreign country whose language I don't speak? Obviously, I got lost. Well I don't know if you could call it lost because I never knew where I was to begin with. But no harm done, I found my way eventually.
When I did get to Blair's apartment, she was in class so I had to wait for hours for her to get home to entertain me. But as soon as she arrived, entertain she did. I got to meet Dom and Diane, her two best friends from her program, and they were super guay. We spent most of our time with them, but I did meet up with my friends a few times as well while in Rome.
Going to the Colosseum was amazing. It was almost overwhelming to be in a building with so much history, but I really, really enjoyed it. It was super weird because the whole place seemed to change depending where we were standing... "it looks so much different from this angle." I kid, I kid. Afterwards we went and walked through the Roman Forum... which has some cultural significance that I'm unaware of. It was mostly just a lot of pretty walkways with flowers and things. That's the thing about traveling throughout Europe. You are given the opportunity to see so many wonderful places, but it doesn't quite have the same effect if you don't do some research first about what you're going to see.
While walking around one evening we passed the place where Julius Caesar was murdered. The area was dotted with ruins and was fenced off, and is now known as "the cat sanctuary" because it provides a safe haven for strays.
Touring the Vatican and the Cistine Chapel was honestly the best. We decided to pay to take a guided tour and it was definitely worth it to be able to learn about everything rather than wander aimlessly. Looking at such a huge place filled with so many famous and beautiful works of art was absolutely wonderful. When in Rome, eh?
When we tried to go into St. Peter's Basilica we ran into a little bit of trouble. Apparently our dresses weren't up to code, as they showed our knees, so the guard told us we couldn't go inside. "Wha?!" we thought to ourselves. This guy who stopped us was super young and seemed like he was trying not to laugh at us. Our dresses were literally, for each of us, the longest dresses we owned. We weren't about to not go inside, so we made some adjustments per request from the guard, borrowed some sweatshirts from our male counterparts, and scooted our way around inside the Basilica. No pasa nada.
On Good Friday we went to see the Pope say the Stages of the Cross at the Colosseum. For all you religious folk (Mom), I hope you're sufficiently jealous.
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| Photo Credit: Lamia |
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| St. Peter's Square |
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| Il Vaticano |
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| "NO FOTO!"... Si, foto. |
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| Lamia . Me . Blair |
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| Some guy. |
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| Wedding Cake |
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| Stunning, no? And the fountain is okay. |
The only other things I have to say about Rome:
1. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Blair Selakovich is really good at cooking pasta.
2. I was unpleasantly unsurprised to learn that Blair Selakovich can't cook anything other than pasta.
3. Gelato.
2. I was unpleasantly unsurprised to learn that Blair Selakovich can't cook anything other than pasta.
3. Gelato.
Firenze
The morning that I was due to leave for Florence didn't quite go according to plan. To make a long story short, I missed my train. But luckily my ticket was flexible so all I had to do was be at the station on time for the next train. Ten points for the good guys.
The morning that I was due to leave for Florence didn't quite go according to plan. To make a long story short, I missed my train. But luckily my ticket was flexible so all I had to do was be at the station on time for the next train. Ten points for the good guys.
We spent our first day wandering around the city (shocking, I know). The main cathedral in Florence is called the Duomo. It was breathtaking - the outside of it was decorated in an extremely intricate and ornate way, and it was probably the most unique cathedral that I have seen yet in Europe.
We spent a huge chunk of time in Florence at the leather market. I bought myself a little wallet and a bracelet (or two) that I haggled for, but opted not to spend hundreds of euros on a nice leather jacket. I was sad, but I'm a realistic shopper. This girl needs to eat!
Why Florence gets brownie points: it had a carousal. Finding that spinning platform of fake, plastic horses was more exciting than Christmas morning.
One of the most famous bridges in Europe is called Il Ponte Vecchio. It's one of the main attractions in Florence, full of shops, tourists, and small Italian children. It was gorgeous. The walk leading up to the bridge had these big metal chains covered with heavy locks. I guess if you go to this spot and you are married or in a relationship with someone, you're supposed to write your names on the lock and clip it to this chain to symbolize your love for each other. Or something dumb like that. #HappySingleGirl
Easter Sunday? More like Easter Funday. Let me explain. We decided to go to the Duomo for Easter Mass because how many times are you going to be able to go to mass in a cathedral, right? So when we got there we noticed that there was this big structure that hadn't been there before sitting in between the actual church and this annex building that is used for baptisms. We thought maybe it was supposed to symbolize the tomb of Jesus or something, but thought it was a little odd that there were crowds of people standing all around it. But because so many people were outside waiting, we went inside to get what we thought were good seats. In the middle of the church there was this tall, wooden pole with a long string attaching it to the structure outside. 'That's odd,' I thought to myself. After talking to some people around us, we learned that there would be a wooden dove that would fly from the post inside to the structure outside before mass started. So we were getting antsy because it was going to be pretty much the most exciting thing to ever happen inside of a church. After about an hour long wait, we discovered why everyone had been crowded around outside of the church. The wooden dove on top of this post lit on fire and shot out of the church on the string like a rocket, which then set off hundreds of fireworks that had been attached to the tomb-like structure outside. So there we were, sitting inside of the church, listening to a firework show that we had no chance of seeing. What we did see was a thick wall of smoke through the entrance to the church. The mass that followed was spoken in about five different languages, which was really cool in itself. It was by far the most entertaining service that I have ever attended.
We spent a huge chunk of time in Florence at the leather market. I bought myself a little wallet and a bracelet (or two) that I haggled for, but opted not to spend hundreds of euros on a nice leather jacket. I was sad, but I'm a realistic shopper. This girl needs to eat!
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| Duomo |
Why Florence gets brownie points: it had a carousal. Finding that spinning platform of fake, plastic horses was more exciting than Christmas morning.
 |
| :) |
One of the most famous bridges in Europe is called Il Ponte Vecchio. It's one of the main attractions in Florence, full of shops, tourists, and small Italian children. It was gorgeous. The walk leading up to the bridge had these big metal chains covered with heavy locks. I guess if you go to this spot and you are married or in a relationship with someone, you're supposed to write your names on the lock and clip it to this chain to symbolize your love for each other. Or something dumb like that. #HappySingleGirl
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| Que bonito el puente. |
Easter Sunday? More like Easter Funday. Let me explain. We decided to go to the Duomo for Easter Mass because how many times are you going to be able to go to mass in a cathedral, right? So when we got there we noticed that there was this big structure that hadn't been there before sitting in between the actual church and this annex building that is used for baptisms. We thought maybe it was supposed to symbolize the tomb of Jesus or something, but thought it was a little odd that there were crowds of people standing all around it. But because so many people were outside waiting, we went inside to get what we thought were good seats. In the middle of the church there was this tall, wooden pole with a long string attaching it to the structure outside. 'That's odd,' I thought to myself. After talking to some people around us, we learned that there would be a wooden dove that would fly from the post inside to the structure outside before mass started. So we were getting antsy because it was going to be pretty much the most exciting thing to ever happen inside of a church. After about an hour long wait, we discovered why everyone had been crowded around outside of the church. The wooden dove on top of this post lit on fire and shot out of the church on the string like a rocket, which then set off hundreds of fireworks that had been attached to the tomb-like structure outside. So there we were, sitting inside of the church, listening to a firework show that we had no chance of seeing. What we did see was a thick wall of smoke through the entrance to the church. The mass that followed was spoken in about five different languages, which was really cool in itself. It was by far the most entertaining service that I have ever attended.
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| Rocket Power |
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| "F is for fire that burns down the whole town." - Hanna/Plankton |
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| Vista Piazzele Michelangelo |
Venizia
I was super excited to go to Venice because it's sinking, and I wanted to see the city before it went under. After going there, however, Venice could sink, and I wouldn't even bat an eye. Let me explain.
We had to take a train to get from Florence to Venice, which should have been a piece of cake. Without realizing it, we ended up staying on the train too long because we thought we were supposed to take this train to the very last stop. So we got dumped at the wrong station without speaking any Italian and without having any real idea where to go. This was Super Frustrating Situation #1. See if you can keep up.
So we went and tried to find an information booth, but to no avail. The signs pointing us to any kind of information only led us to some triangular signage... written in Italian. Super Frustrating Situation #2. After waiting in line to talk to the people working at the station, we found out that for only one euro, we could hop back on the train and get dropped off at the station that we were originally supposed to be at. Success! But not quite. We bought our tickets and boarded the next train with only about one minute to spare.
We opted to stand up near the doors for the short 10 minute ride to avoid having to drag our luggage through the coach. Almost instantly after we got on, the conductor guy who checks tickets boarded our exact same car. After asking to see our tickets, I happily handed him mine and waited for him to stamp it and hand it back to me. Except instead of handing me my ticket, he furrowed his brow and started yelling at us, demanding to see the rest of our group's tickets. You see, the woman at the ticket counter failed to mention was that we needed to "validate" our tickets before boarding the train by stamping them in a little yellow machine on the platform. (Insert baby crying noise here.) So this man kept yelling at us in broken English, and me and Hannah were trying to explain to him that we really weren't trying to steal from the Italian government. But he wasn't having it, and made us fork over our passports while writing us each a ticket for 31 euros. And there you have Super Frustrating Situation #3.
We ended up only paying him 31 euros all together after we insisted that we didn't each have that amount of money on us in cash. He was really mean to us even though it was obvious that we were traveling students and had made an innocent mistake. What's more, some of the other passengers on the train car were watching this whole situation unfold and refused to help us reason with the man. Sad.
When we arrived at the station we were really feeling defeated. And on top of it, our hostel was essentially refusing to send for us the shuttle that they had advertised on their website. "Why can't you just take the bus?" Super Frustrating Situation #4. Realizing that we were going to have topay for get ripped off by a taxi in order to get to our hotel, we decided to sit down, gather our thoughts, take a deep breath, and buy a round of beers from McDonald's.
Our hotel seemed really great. Other than the fact that the lady at the front desk seemed a little grouchy, it definitely appeared to be one of the nicer places we have stayed this semester. We had our own little villa all to ourselves (there were seven of us), and we were excited to not have to worry about waking "the neighbors." The only thing that seemed strange was that our little villa had mysterious windows that wouldn't open and doors that were locked, but we didn't pay them too much attention. We should have.
On our very last night of vacation, we decided to stay in our hotel room and have ourselves a little party. Nothing crazy, but we were apparently making enough noise to be bothersome. The cranky front desk lady came knocking on our door after Aria had just finished what was probably the funniest impression of a southern Baptist minister the world has ever known. She informed us in spotty English that she lives above us and her four month old baby couldn't sleep. So we were like GREAT. We thought we were alone, we're not, and now we have to be quiet. Super Frustrating Situation #5. But we complied, and the rest of the night went swimmingly.
What I haven't yet mentioned is that we decided to save money by grocery shopping. Our room came equipped with a refrigerator so we had bought fruit and other things to eat for breakfast. Luckily for us, we had done enough shopping to last us both mornings. Unluckily for us, we had done enough shopping to attract a population of ants. Yes my friends, we woke up on the morning of our last day with hundreds upon hundreds of ants crawling all over the floor of our apartment. I had packed my things up the night before, so I was relieved to discover that no ants had worked their way into my luggage. Some of my other friends weren't so lucky, though, so we were all frantically trying to get the ants off of everybody's stuff while simultaneously stomping on them. The little buggers. There you have Super Frustrating Situation #6.
But wait.
There's more.
Brace yourselves. As I was in the mirror putting on my make-up, an ant crawled out of my hair onto my forehead. Like he belonged there. Can you imagine? Naturally, I freaked out: screams followed by frantic head shaking followed by... the grouchy desk lady opening up an interior door to our hotel room to yell at us for being loud?! Apparently, she lived not above us but below us, and had 100% access to our room via one of the mysterious locked doors. And the worst part is we knew that filing a complaint with the management would have been useless. There was absolutely no concept of good customer service in Italy, at least not towards thin-walleted American students.
Two really great things I have to say about Venice:
1. The shopping was the best I had seen in all of Europe. Honestly, we spent the majority of our time looking at masks or browsing the street venders' carts. Ryan, Aria, and Patricio couldn't stop thanking us for wanting to shop all day long. Muy bien.
2. We took a gondola ride through the side streets of the city. Me encantaba.
Spring Break was an epic journey. The only downfall (besides the series of Frustrating Situations) was that Whitey was in Madrid all by his lonesome for over two weeks. That's the longest we have ever been apart. It was a tough time for both of us, but he happily welcomed me home with open paws and a smile.
♥♥
I was super excited to go to Venice because it's sinking, and I wanted to see the city before it went under. After going there, however, Venice could sink, and I wouldn't even bat an eye. Let me explain.
We had to take a train to get from Florence to Venice, which should have been a piece of cake. Without realizing it, we ended up staying on the train too long because we thought we were supposed to take this train to the very last stop. So we got dumped at the wrong station without speaking any Italian and without having any real idea where to go. This was Super Frustrating Situation #1. See if you can keep up.
So we went and tried to find an information booth, but to no avail. The signs pointing us to any kind of information only led us to some triangular signage... written in Italian. Super Frustrating Situation #2. After waiting in line to talk to the people working at the station, we found out that for only one euro, we could hop back on the train and get dropped off at the station that we were originally supposed to be at. Success! But not quite. We bought our tickets and boarded the next train with only about one minute to spare.
We opted to stand up near the doors for the short 10 minute ride to avoid having to drag our luggage through the coach. Almost instantly after we got on, the conductor guy who checks tickets boarded our exact same car. After asking to see our tickets, I happily handed him mine and waited for him to stamp it and hand it back to me. Except instead of handing me my ticket, he furrowed his brow and started yelling at us, demanding to see the rest of our group's tickets. You see, the woman at the ticket counter failed to mention was that we needed to "validate" our tickets before boarding the train by stamping them in a little yellow machine on the platform. (Insert baby crying noise here.) So this man kept yelling at us in broken English, and me and Hannah were trying to explain to him that we really weren't trying to steal from the Italian government. But he wasn't having it, and made us fork over our passports while writing us each a ticket for 31 euros. And there you have Super Frustrating Situation #3.
We ended up only paying him 31 euros all together after we insisted that we didn't each have that amount of money on us in cash. He was really mean to us even though it was obvious that we were traveling students and had made an innocent mistake. What's more, some of the other passengers on the train car were watching this whole situation unfold and refused to help us reason with the man. Sad.
When we arrived at the station we were really feeling defeated. And on top of it, our hostel was essentially refusing to send for us the shuttle that they had advertised on their website. "Why can't you just take the bus?" Super Frustrating Situation #4. Realizing that we were going to have to
On our very last night of vacation, we decided to stay in our hotel room and have ourselves a little party. Nothing crazy, but we were apparently making enough noise to be bothersome. The cranky front desk lady came knocking on our door after Aria had just finished what was probably the funniest impression of a southern Baptist minister the world has ever known. She informed us in spotty English that she lives above us and her four month old baby couldn't sleep. So we were like GREAT. We thought we were alone, we're not, and now we have to be quiet. Super Frustrating Situation #5. But we complied, and the rest of the night went swimmingly.
What I haven't yet mentioned is that we decided to save money by grocery shopping. Our room came equipped with a refrigerator so we had bought fruit and other things to eat for breakfast. Luckily for us, we had done enough shopping to last us both mornings. Unluckily for us, we had done enough shopping to attract a population of ants. Yes my friends, we woke up on the morning of our last day with hundreds upon hundreds of ants crawling all over the floor of our apartment. I had packed my things up the night before, so I was relieved to discover that no ants had worked their way into my luggage. Some of my other friends weren't so lucky, though, so we were all frantically trying to get the ants off of everybody's stuff while simultaneously stomping on them. The little buggers. There you have Super Frustrating Situation #6.
But wait.
There's more.
Brace yourselves. As I was in the mirror putting on my make-up, an ant crawled out of my hair onto my forehead. Like he belonged there. Can you imagine? Naturally, I freaked out: screams followed by frantic head shaking followed by... the grouchy desk lady opening up an interior door to our hotel room to yell at us for being loud?! Apparently, she lived not above us but below us, and had 100% access to our room via one of the mysterious locked doors. And the worst part is we knew that filing a complaint with the management would have been useless. There was absolutely no concept of good customer service in Italy, at least not towards thin-walleted American students.
Two really great things I have to say about Venice:
1. The shopping was the best I had seen in all of Europe. Honestly, we spent the majority of our time looking at masks or browsing the street venders' carts. Ryan, Aria, and Patricio couldn't stop thanking us for wanting to shop all day long. Muy bien.
2. We took a gondola ride through the side streets of the city. Me encantaba.
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| Venetian Glass Workshop |
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| Blair is mad that I don't give her enough attention in my blog posts. So here goes. Blair, you should buy this mask to cover up your ugly face. |
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| Like pumpkins... but not. |
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| I'm on a boat. |
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| Adios, Italia. |
Spring Break was an epic journey. The only downfall (besides the series of Frustrating Situations) was that Whitey was in Madrid all by his lonesome for over two weeks. That's the longest we have ever been apart. It was a tough time for both of us, but he happily welcomed me home with open paws and a smile.
♥♥
