It's a good Good Friday

We are in Athens again, and surprisingly I feel some relief being back in a big city. I love the islands and all, but there's something about a city that just feels like home to me now. Strangely, even though I feel extremely exhausted, I feel like I can breath again. I think being around lots of people gives me energy, and since we were in Santorini in the off season, a lot of places we went were kinda dead.

We took an overnight ferry from Santorini last night and got to Athens early this morning, and met a few other backpackers, so we all decided to commandeer a section of floor space underneath a large stairway so we could catch some z's. Well, at least try... I ended up cold and hungry half the trip, and not very rested.

Anyway, I'm guessing you're all wondering what Colton and I did while we were in Santorini! Well, on our second day we rented a scooter and went cruising around the whole island. The guy we rented from told us several things to keep in mind before he let us get on the scooter: 1. Wear Helmet. 2. Be Careful. 3. Drive on the right side of the road. 4. Watch out for "China people." The last one gave us a good laugh!

So we drove through Kamari, a cute little beach town that looked like it could be a fun place to hang in the summer months. We saw both the red and black beaches, and with the island being so small, we kept seeing the same people everywhere we went. For lunch, we stopped at a place that overlooks the caldera, and ate some of the freshest fried fish we've ever had, and I'm not usually a fish person, but it was really good :) Our waitress said her father had caught the fish that morning. Now that's fresh!

Down the road from the restaurant was the lighthouse that we walked out to, which had one of the best views of the islands and I'm guessing one of the best views for sunset. After that we drove up to the top of a monastery, named after the prophet Elijah, which is the highest point on Santorini. It was so beautiful, with views of the entire island all around. After that we drove all the way up to Oia for sunset. And back to Fira to our hotel. That was probably one of the best days we had in Santorini, just cruising around.

The next day we woke up and drove around a bit more before we had to return the scooter. We hung out in Fira at a cafe for a bit, looking for couch surfers and our next HelpX, which we found out today we got the one we wanted!! We will be working at a place in Tuscany for two weeks at the end of April, for a very interesting woman that is all about unconditional love and spirituality and creating a place for healing and creativity to be let loose. I'm excited to see what it's like, the reviews sound amazing! So after that we ate lunch at a cafe overlooking the caldera again. It was perfect sitting there because everywhere else was so windy.

Later we walked back to the hotel, stopping at a bakery along the way to get some fresh bread for breakfast and some Cretan sweets, yum yum. We chilled in the hotel the rest of the day cuz it was kinda crappy and we needed some rest. We watched The Fountain by Aronofsky, which I was really intrigued by. I like his style a lot, he's really great at telling a story in a unique way. We went to a little restaurant called Mama's House in Fira, and had some of the best food on the island, and the place was definitely Greek...servers yelling at the kitchen staff and running around taking orders... it was quite entertaining. We met "Mama" who happened to live in LA for a while we found out. She was full of spunk and energy.

Our last day was also gloomy and super windy, so we walked to Fira and waited for the bus to Oia where we sat a lot and just chilled. We ended up walking down to the beach and I took a nap. Then we headed back to Fira for a cold and windy sunset, but it was beautiful. We got dropped off at the port around 8:30 last night and hung out until the ferry got in.

After getting off the ferry this morning we went to Starbucks to get online and do some more planning. I slept a bit, which was great. It's really beautiful outside today, so we found a park and crashed there for the afternoon. Now we are waiting for our couchsurfing host to get off work so we can meet up with him. Tomorrow we will be heading to another port where we will be taking another over night ferry to Bari, Italy. I'm hoping this time I will be able to sleep, otherwise it's going to be a long Easter day, and we still don't know if we have a place to stay once we get there, so we may be checking into a hostle, who knows. I'll just be glad to be there :)

4/2/12 - Santorini

We arrived in Santorini yesterday afternoon, and even though I was a bit drowsy from our previous night of sleeping on a bench at the port, I was so excited to finally be in Santorini! Our shuttle from the hotel was late to the port so we asked another guy holding a sign where to go, and he happened to be the hotel owner's brother. Go figure. So he made a call, batta boom batta bing, and our shuttle met us along with a few other travelers and shuttled us to the hotel. 

It's not a super fancy hotel, but for 12 Euros a person per night and the incredible hospitality we have already received, I am more than satisfied. When brought into the reception/kitchen/lounge area, we were welcomed by a sweet woman named Poppy who quickly informed us of all the main things to do on the island. Soon after, her husband (also our shuttle driver) offered us each a bit of wine to toast to our arrival. It was perfect.

After settling in a bit, we went out to dinner with a woman we met on a shuttle. She happened to be from NY/LA and is now living in Rome, so we had lots to talk about over dinner. She gave us plenty of advice on what to do in Italy, especially Rome, and I am very excited to see what the Italia is like. 

We hit the sack early since we were so petered out from the last two days. This morning I woke up early and contacted a couch surfer in Oia, the most popular scenic place on the island. We ended up meeting him in Fira which is about a 15 minute walk from where we are staying.  He was an excellent host and welcomed us to Greece, showing us around his home in Oia and a bit in Fira. Ironically, he is from Serbia, but he lives in Greece and is a HUGE Ron Paul supporter. So funny. He and Colton had plenty to talk about. I feel like I need to brush up on my politics.... He introduced us to his wife (a Latvian. They met through CS) and his friend, also from Serbia. They were also super hospitable and offered us some tea and food. 

Later, Colton and I ventured down the cliffs to a place where we could jump in the water! It was sort of shockingly cold, but eventually I got used to it and it wasn't too bad :) Sadly I tried to hold my nose when jumping in and ended up getting a head full of water up my nose. Not fun. But we dried off in the wind and I felt fine after a few minutes of blowing my nose. 

We watched the sunset over Oia, so breathtakingly beautiful. Everything you see in pictures, except so much better in person. Then we went back to Fira for a light dinner at a super crowded restaurant where the food was delicious. From there we walked home. Again, Poppy gave us a tray full of food when we got back to the hotel. These people are so sweet, I could definitely get used to this way of life :)

Tomorrow we are renting a scooter for the day, who knows what new adventures will await us!

April 1, 2012 - Travel Blog

4/1/12

I promised a travel blog, so for those of you who have been waiting, here it is! Well, at least the first one. We'll see how far I get after this... :)

We left Ohio on March 13th to embark on our long awaited, yet not very planned journey. Ha. The only thing we knew is that we would be doing a HelpX in Monamvasia, Greece for two weeks, and then after that we would head to Italy, France, and Spain.

So we arrived in Athens where we stayed for several days, mostly just to see the touristy things since we didn't really know what else to do. For the most part, Athens is just another big city. Lots of buildings and cement. Most people speak some English, but where we decided to couch surf happened to be in a little more sketchy part of town (Not so much that we felt unsafe. Actually, after arriving in Athens, we found out how much the media in America has over dramatized the riots and strikes here. It's basically just a few stupid people that do something dumb enough to get on the news, not hundreds or thousands...) Actually, I was sort of surprised by how peaceful it felt to be in Athens. For such a large city, it felt so much more quiet than the usual hustle and bustle I've grown used to feeling in LA. But, another big city it is, so we decided not to spend much time there.

We saw the acropolis and walked around the city center where there were a bunch of cute cafes and restaurants on the street. It was fun imagining what it would be like for the ancient Greeks to go to the temple way up on top of the hill and see the historic architecture. In the city center we had our first souvlaki pita which was delicious! One afternoon that was particularly cold, we decided to sit for a couple hours in the square and just watch people... there were a lot of school groups there and other tourists, and you could tell the tourists from the locals a mile away; Colton and I would just shake our heads in embarrassment haha, "tacky Americans...."

The first day we took the subway, a guy got on with an accordion and started playing. It took everything in me not to laugh, but all the Greeks ignored him, and I didn't understand why. Well when we went to the center of Athens, I saw more people, mostly children, playing accordions for money. Then it made sense to me, and it soon became a nuisance when they would follow you around playing.  A lot of women and children would also come up to us and try to sell us tissues. I wonder if they actually make any money from that...

After Athens, we took a bus to Monamvasia in southern Greece where we did our first HelpX with Fokke and Maria. They hosted us for two weeks and we did all kinds of things for them; cutting and stacking wood, walking the dog, cracking nuts, a bit of gardening, cutting the grass (literally with scissors), and sanding a few tables. Fokke and Maria live on a mountain with one of the best views of the ocean and Monamvasia. Often we had free time to hike the trails or go to the beach if we wanted, and the weather was always perfect. I learned so much from Maria about the local plants that they have in their own backyard and the process of making olive oil. Maria is German and Fokke is Dutch, but they both spoke very good English and were able to fill us in on the local customs. In the small mountain villages, the Greeks are very honoring of each other. If a woman is home alone, a man will not visit her because he doesn't want to put her in a compromising situation. We also found out that a person's word is all you need in making a deal. Say if someone doesn't have enough money at the time to pay for something, the person the money is due will let them pay later. That was so amazing to me. I don't think I would ever want to be the person being owed...

We ate very heartily every day too, a nice reward for our work :) Maria makes the best cakes and bread and marmalade, and pretty much everything haha. Fokke cooked a couple times too, curry was always a main ingredient (even in eggs), and it was also delicious. We will definitely miss those meals.

Being in Monamvasia was like being on a retreat in a way, not many people around and beautiful nature all around, and I learned so much!

Now we are headed to Santorini! I am so so excited! Ever since I was a teenager and I saw The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants I have wanted to go to Santorini, so I am so excited to see what sort of adventure awaits us. FIrst, we will probably crash for a bit since we didn't sleep much last night. We took a bus to the port last night and got there around 11 and our ferry left at 7:30 the next morning, so we tried sleeping on the benches outside, but it was cold and Colton already wasn't feeling well that day. So we haven't really slept much. I think Santorini will be a nice way to relax and explore for a few days. Can't wait!