off-season

For many years Santorini, Greece has been at the tip top of my list on places where I want to go. The number of those many years may or may not directly correlate to the number of years since The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie came out.
Istanbul gave us memories to dwell on, but Santorini was what we had been dreaming of. Within 2 minutes of our complementary ride from the airport to our hostel at San Giorgio Villas, provided by Giorgio himself, I knew that Santorini would not disappoint me. The only disappointment was that Giorgio was a quiet, middle-aged man rather than the ancient Greek grandpa we had been expecting. The other only disappointment was that a snow flurry arrived on the island right after we did.

That night after dinner at a restaurant Giorgio had recommended us and a few carafes of free wine (one of which was snagged from an abandoned table because we don't support wasting), we laid out our priorities for the short time we had in Santorini. What else do you need but a plan like this?

Our best decision of the trip was to rent a car. You don't have to be 25, you don't have to know how to drive stick, and you don't have to be rich. We christened her Athena and piled her high with snacks and maps. For the next 2 days she shuttled us around and around the island that is much smaller than one would think. We watched the sunset two nights in a row from two opposite tips of the island.


Oia is the part of the island that everyone envisions when they think of Santorini. Yes, we saw the Sisterhood house, even if we didn't realize it until later. It is just one blue door on a cliff of color saturated, picturesque homes and shops.


We basically had the town to ourselves considering mid-March is still considered the off-season on the island. This meant that an open cafe was hard to come by and questions about cliff-jumping were met by statements of "you can't swim, it's too cold." This also meant that we got free dessert at every restaurant and were free to roam the streets that would be wall-to-wall with people in a matter of weeks.

On our last day in Santorini we were gifted with weather than San Diego would be jealous of. We made our way down the 600 steps to the Old Port in Fira for a swim that we had promised ourselves we would complete before we left. After half an hour after sitting on the dock trying to convince ourselves to get in and a seven year old Greek girl trying to convince us not to, Melissa and I jumped in. It wasn't a cliff, but it was a 6 foot dock and it wasn't warm water but it was the Mediterranean. And it was Melissa and I screaming at Lauren and lying, saying it wasn't cold at all until she finally joined us. After 20 minutes of salty splashing, we rejoined our little Greek friend on the dock and decided to wait for the cable car rather than hike back up the 600 steps. After advising us that the cable car only comes every 30 minutes, the little girl's older brother Antonis invited us inside his shop for some Greek coffee (aka Greek mud) and conversation that lasted 5 minutes too long and caused us to miss the cable car a second time. So the steps we took.

By the end of my trip I found myself planning on when I could possibly come back. Santorini is still at the top of my list.

two sugars and a dream

Melissa, Lauren and I bought our tickets for Spring Break a week and a half ahead of time. The most money efficient way to travel? No. Adventurous? Yes. I think we spent the remainder of that time waiting for our trip by jumping on beds and telling everyone we knew where we were going. We paid for the bragging rights, after all.
Going along with the adventure theme, there were a lot of unexpected occurrences throughout our trip. We didn't expect the snow. We didn't expect the Spice Girls references. We didn't expect the sink to be in the shower. One of the better surprises of the trip was a nighttime layover in Rome where Kat Vochoska gave us a professional tour of the city we basically had to ourselves. We tossed out coins in the Trevi Fountain, ate a pricey crepe and spent the better part of four early morning hours walking the cobblestones of Rome. Rome one night, Istanbul the next.


I measure Turkey by what we drank. Obviously it would be obnoxious and tedious to read an account of every ounce of liquid consumed over our 5 day stay. But here is a list of some of the highlights and what they meant to us.

Day 1
-Free tequila shots at Siva where we ate dinner to the sounds of a Turkish girl with a horrendous voice upstairs singing every Madonna song in the history of Madonna songs. "That Hakan Guy" coerced us into taking her place, because obviously we have way more talent. The shots came after we promised to dance. One the song list for the night-Dog Days Are Over, Tik Tok, Wannabe, Party in the USA, and Don't Stop Believing during which we swayed in a circle. With one arm around the bartender (Ash) and the other around our new friend Iliana (studying in Athens), Turkey gave me it's first taste of the hospitality it should be famous for.


Day 2
-Turkish tea with our free breakfast at the hotel, complete with a view of the Hagia Sofia outside the terrace window.

-Fresh squeezed pomegranate juice from a stand outside the Grand Bazaar where we browsed for hours and bought Pashmina scarves to wear into the mosques. We made the decision to purchase our own after we visited the New Mosque and had to wear scarves that the women coming out of the Mosque had just taken off, which made Lauren a bit uneasy.

-Sahlep for the first time. This is the thing I miss most about Turkey. It is a hot, creamy drink made with milk and honey and cinnamon. Starbucks, take note.

-Apple tea with Ugur, whoc lured us into his carpet shope by impressing us with more trivial facts about America (where he has never been) than I even know, and asking to show us his state quarter collection. Only Pennsylvania, Hawaii and North Carolina missing. We talked to him for about an hour about Turking and American culture. He told us that Turkish people are very hospitable and that "one cup of tea earns forty years of friendship." Ugur is stuck with us for awhile then.

-Rakhi which was the cheapest mixed drink on the menu at WeekendPlus in Taksim (Turkish Times Square) where we managed to get in for free (from 35 lire!) after talking to the PR guy outside. It was quite a surprise considering we had left our new friends Iliana and Jordan when the first 2 clubs wanted to rob us of 25 lire each. Anyway, rakhi turned out to be a foul black licorice tasting drink which the bartender warned us we wouldn't like. Oh, he was right. We chased it with handfuls of popcorn and cocktail nuts. Lauren couldn't even finish it and had to hold her nose while taking sips of her water. Does that make sense? No! It's the rakhi.


Day 3
-Turkish tea after we signed up to go to a traditional Whirling Dervish show that night at Alemdar restaurant. The man working out front (he likes to be referred to as Antonia Banderas) said he would buy us tea if we sat outside for awhile because :having three pretty girls enjoying tea at our restaurant will increase business." Done, Antonio.

-Turkish tea for a third time that day at Siva where we sat and talked with Ash about the life he has built for himself in Istanbul, where he moved after finishing his mandatory term in the Army. Maybe about Katy Perry too.
-Free Turkish and apple tea thanks to Antonia Banderas after the show and his attempts to get us to dance. He made us laugh and could dance on wine glasses, even if he was slightly inappropriate.


Day 4
-Apple tea when we went back to visit Ugur in his carpet shop. He is still a friend for 40+ years, but this time he whipped out his salesman skills and tried to sell us a carpet. Sure, I like the green silk one but that doesn't mean I have room for it in m carry-on.
-An awful, orange "veet-a-meen" drink from a man dressed as a wannabe Sultan who so generously "allowed" us to take a photo with him before he poured us a drink we didn't ask for and demanded 4 lire. We gave him 2.50 and took off.

-Tubes, yes tubes, of Chokocrem, the Turkish version of Nutella. Shhhhhh.

Day 5
-Turkish tea with 2 sugars, please.
-The best Sahlep of the trip from outside the Spice Market to accompany all the Turkish delight--rose and lemon and cinnamon and mint.
-This was the only day in Turkey that we didn't get tea for free. But we won't hold it against the country. Istanbul was good to us.


Final counts
Spice Girls: 11
Charlie's Amgerls: 6 (and everyone wants to be Charlie)

winning London

Getting to London was quite an ordeal. After an incorrect bus schedule, a missed flight, an emotional breakdown, and a middle seat on the plane, I was almost convinced that London didn't want me. But one giant hug from Ericka Christensen was enough to make me feel welcome. We tubed it and tea-ed it like real Londonders and went to bed to rest up for a full Friday.

Hanging out in London with one of my close friends from home was enough to make my heart overcome the clouds and rain that London is famous for. And it only got better when we met up with my roommate, and so much more, Emily Jantz. The number of times we looked at each other with an exclamation of "we're hanging out in Europe together!" is probably equal to the number of shops on Oxford Street.

One weekend is hardly enough to get to know a city as lively and lovely as London, but with a local like Ericka as tour guide, we accomplished all of our touristy tasks. Westminster Abbey? Red phone booth? Big Ben? Globe Theater? London Bridge? Magner's Pear Cider? Abbey Road? Check, check, check, check, check, check, check. And so much more. Oh, and a Jack the Ripper tour just in case we were feeling too safe and happy.

Although it was hard to say goodbye to the endless warm water in Ericka's shower and the even warmer company of my friends, I was anxious to get back home to Ortigia. After a morning service at Hillsong London, Ericka saw me off with a cappuccino, Carmel Digestives to bring back to Italy (where, for some reason I can't understand, we only have the Original Milk Chocolate varieties), and another of those hugs she is famous for.


TOGETHER IN LONDON!






Buckingham Palace with one hundred strangers. Luckily we could use a few of them to "make us a photo."




It took us about 45 minutes of searching the muchbiggerthanoriginallythought British Museum before we actually found the Rosetta Stone, but it was worth it because we saw the Rosetta Stone.


London in a snapshot.






Critical Mass London

Me dispiace

This is fairly embarrassing. I could sit here and come up with a few excuses of why I have been neglecting this blog. But instead I am going to promise a reform. I want to share parts of my life here with those of you who care enough to read this, all of about 2 people I would guess.

To kick off this new beginning, here are a few things that have happened since I last updated this thing:
-we were hit by eggs thrown from a moving vehicle filled with screaming Italian teenagers.
-I received a cuddly new best friend in the mail.
-seven of us completed task #1.
-we attempted karaoke and were embarrassed to find out it was actually Italian Idol.
-I visited 3 new countries.
-my mom booked a trip to come visit me in April!!
-the U.S. started bombing Libya and there are missiles in the Mediterranean?!
-I attempted the Rome marathon.
-I ate way too much Nutella.


I can't continue with this blog without revisiting the time I spent in London, Istanbul, and Santornini. One a day, starting tomorrow. Pinky promise.

spepeteristico

Here is a taste of what we have been doing in Italian class, namely learning to rap like Fabri Fibra. Cornflakes anyone?



Unfortunately the Internet that we have “borrowing” is no longer available so I haven’t been able to go online much in the last few days. Last Friday we took a field-trip to Catania which is one of the larger cities on the island of Sicily. We should have known the trip was doomed from the start considering most of us were running on about 2.5 hours of sleep after celebrating Abby’s 21st the night before. I wish I could tell you what we learned, or even the places we toured but I absorbed virtually nothing on the 5 hour tour. We passed the time dropping water bottles on the ground and discussing creative ways to end the pain. I also had my first hostel experience complete with a roaring train directly outside our window and a very suspicious stain that made Brooke and I move our bunk away from the wall. Catania made Ortigia seem like home in a whole new way.

More news to report: I was peer pressured into registering to run the Rome Marathon in May. Note: run is a very loose term. Before you start to tell me how crazy I am you have to know that we get a medal with our name engraved on it. Yeah, I know.

Happy 21st Abby!

Melissa, Kyle, Me and Rob

Lauren, Me and Melissa in front of Teatro Romano in Catania

Teatro Romano

sleepwalkers

puffy jackets and proscuitto

My suitcase finally came yesterday and I welcomed it with a hug and an empty set of drawers. Thank you to all the people gave me clothes to borrow before I even knew you. But let me tell you, I felt like I had a whole new wardrobe this morning. So many clothes to choose from! Luckily (what??) it is layer weather outside. Not to mention in our apartment.

One of my favorite memories about visiting Paris a few years ago was that it lived up to the hype and my hyped expectations. Sicily is the same way. It is everything I needed it to be.

Some observations:

• Shop owners on the island love to give American students free food--cheese, vino, bread, lemons. This morning at the open air market we were invited into our favorite cheese shop for "breakfast" consisting of sandwiches made from all the freshest ingredients and tiny cups of red wine.
• The ground is terribly uneven yet Italian women manage to look comfortable strolling around in shiny black stilettos.
• Siesta time is from 1-4 and I don't hate it.
• A warm shower has become a celebration.
  
• American music has definitely made it's way over as evidenced by the 6 year old boy I heard playing on the street one day singing "baby, baby, baby OH!" and Norah Jones serenading us from the radio at the restaurant where we ate the first night.
• Italian's clap but don't cheer. My housemate Melissa and I learned this the hard way at the festival for St. Sebastian when the fireworks stopped and our yells were the only ones to be heard above the clapping.
• It is perfectly acceptable to stare. A lot.

So feel free to stare at these snapshots of the first week...

View of mainland Sicily from Ortigia

Temple of Apollo in the center of town

Ladies of Mario Minitti (street, not man)

Ortigia and the Mediterranean

Fresh produce everyday

He said "cheese"

View from our apartment's terrace

Festival for St. Sebastian

Fireworks for St. Sebastian

A few of us students with our fearless leader Ramzi