Hydra, April 6-8: "The best/worst hike of my life"

We woke early Friday morning on the ferry in Piraeus and immediately walked to the other side of the port and jumped on our catamaran to Hydra-a small, car-less island right of the Peloponnesian Peninsula. It was Good Friday so I was fasting and that is probably the most difficult thing to do in Greece because everyone is always eating....always. But I stuck with it for the most part so I think God will appreciate the effort :) We got to the island and were immediately greeted by donkeys (the mode of transportation-yes, just like the movies). Unfortunately, we walked :( to our hotel but it wasn't far. Hotel Erofili was our home for the weekend and was really quaint. I roomed with Jacquelyn and Kylie with a beautiful road-view form our shuttered windows. We met up with the group for lunch and then split off again to shop around the harbor. Then, most of us returned to the hotel to relax, write the paper for class, and nap. Can you guess which one I did? Yea...so we woke up, watched "My Life in Ruins", and just relaxed around the hotel and chatted. Some people did go out around the town, but it is pretty small (around 3,000 on the entire island).

Irony at its best: I couldn't get them to look at me without drawing their owner's attention over-who offered me an expensive ride

     Saturday morning we woke up, had an excellent breakfast, and decided to venture out to a beach across the island. Originally, it was supposed to be a 2 hour hike to the beach, maybe spend 2 hours there, and 2 hours back. Our trip took 7 hours and we never made it to the beach....

Boden, Jake, Zoe, Rosy, Kylie, Jacquelyn, and I hiked to the Ag. Nik. monastery on the hill and split off from there; Boden, Jake, and Zoe returned to the harbor and the rest of us decided to keep going. Well, now I have realized why paths are made and why tourists-yes, we were demoted to American Tourist again-should stay on the paths. Let's just say that hike made for one heck of a story and it should probably remain to be spoken and not written :) On our return from the hike, we decided to sneak into a little resort/beach to at least claim that we made it to a beach. It was cold, but with the sunburn and sweat we were all covered in-it didn't even matter. It was a lot of fun-another few memorable moments. We walked back to town, grabbed some lunch, showered, and got hung out with the other peeps. They loved our stories, especially since they actually found another beach and enjoyed themselves-sans a 7 hour venture. We went to dinner, enjoyed the nightlife a bit, and headed to bed.

The hiking group at the Ag. Nik. monastery

Kylie and I in the Aegean Sea

     Happy (Catholic) Easter! Sunday, I dressed-to-impress, packed up, and worked on some of my paper while we waited for the catamaran. A few of us went to a small restaurant for lunch, did some shopping, and walked around. It is hard to not wander around in Greece because it is incredibly beautiful. Early in the afternoon, we had a bumpy ride back to Piraeus (Jacquelyn and I loved it, but I cannot say the rest of the group loved us acting like we were on a roller coaster). We rode the metro back to Plaka, grabbed some quick dinner, and returned home to the quaint Dioskouros. This was probably the hardest day for me because I was pretty homesick. It was my first Easter that I did not spend with my family. I was glad to Skype with them-but it isn't the same. I am forever grateful that I am on this trip and having this experience, but it makes me appreciate my family at home even more. I love you, guys, and miss you a lot.

Eileen, Nessa, and I at lunch in the harbor

Such gorgeous flowers on Hydra

Agios Nikolaus, Crete; April 3-5: "The yia-yias always win"

     Tuesday morning we checked out of the hotel in Iraklion, jumped on a bus, and made our way east on Crete to the city of Agios Nikolaus. First, we stopped at a really small Minoan villa called Nirou Chani. Then we went to the palace of Malia and encountered a ridiculous amount of snails. Of course, "Mamma Snail-Slayer" (me) was harassed by my classmates for repeatedly killing snails on accident. After we left that site, we headed to the Dictean Cave-one of the most intense but worthwhile of a hike up a mountain. This cave has the myth attached to it that Zeus was hid here as a child to avoid being killed by his father, Kronos. Anyway, this cave is really incredible-it has stalactite rocks and just a really pretty setup (weird, I know). After the hike down, we ate lunch at the site, and then headed to Agios Nikolaus. Once there, we setup our ferry tickets to return to Piraeus, showered, and went to a restaurant for dinner that, unfortunately, was my first disappointing meal in Greece (thanks, Al Dente). Oh, I forgot to mention that I  destroyed Jacquelyn's converter with my hair straightener (the second time I used it on this trip). Oops....so the night ended with a little "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" action and we went to sleep.

The Dictean Cave

     Wednesday morning there was a bit of a time mix-up. So a few of us ate breakfast and then went for coffee. We returned to the hotel, walked to the bus station and saw some of the greatest scenarios here in Greece. One little yia-yia was crossing the street with her groceries and darling Kylie thought she would be a peach and help the lady out. Well, there was clearly a misunderstanding because we turned just in time to Kylie getting grumbled at and slapped. Apparently, she thought Kylie was trying to steal her groceries. Clearly this little old mama doesn't realize Kylie only eats Greek Salad, bread, nutella, and gelato. To top off the time spent at this bus station, we witnessed Jacquelyn get elbowed and pushed to the side by another old little yia-yia. Therefore, my post title, "the yia-yias always win".

     We took the bus to a Minoan villa site in Gournia, which was bittersweet (it was our last Bronze Age site [good] but our last class with our professor, Matthew [sad]). We returned to Ag. Nik. and Eileen, Jacquelyn, Kylie, and I went to lunch and had waffles!! It was really great. After that, we had a review session for our final test of the course, went to dinner with the whole group-at a pizza place-and headed to bed.

the group at Gournia, our last class :(

     Thursday was our last day in Ag. Nik. We woke up, took our exam (which went much better than the first for me), and bought some groceries for our weekend vacation in Hydra. We took a bus back to Iraklion that afternoon, hung out in a park for a few hours, and boarded our ferry to Piraeus. This trip I roomed with Jacquelyn, Kylie, and Jess. We had some fun girl-talk time and eventually passed out-knowing we had an early morning ahead of us.

Iraklion, Crete; March 30-April 2: "PHAISTOS DISK"

     Our ferry left the port at 9pm and we were on our way instantly. I have never been on an overnight ferry, but our rooms were similar to those on a cruise ship (just smaller and no windows). Either way, it was a place to lock our belongings up and sleep. Also, they had the best showers ever!! Kylie and I roomed together and we spent most of the night chatting about life and our dogs (common topic from here -on-out), and working on our class presentations. Mine was about the terracotta disk found at the palace of Phaistos and is undecipherable.  I have decided that I must purchase it because I am clearly the chosen one to decipher it (DAD-hint!). Anyway, we slept for a couple of hours, woke up, packed, and disembarked the ferry. Our bags were then driven to our hotel and we proceeded to walk to Hotel Olympus in Iraklion (the main port city of Crete). It was around 8 am at this point and we could not check into our hotel until noon, so the class went to the Iraklion Archaeological Museum and began our Minoan quest. We saw my Phaistos Disk, frescos, vases, wheel-made figurines, and my favorite: more pottery. After being interrogated by the security guard about my picture of the Phaistos Disk and whether or not Lo and Zoe were "posing" with it, I decided to sit outside for the sake of my professor's teaching license and my status in Greece. Then we all walked to a park where Jacquelyn and I gave our presentations, grabbed a quick lunch, and headed back to the hotel. We still weren't able to check in, so we all chilled in the lobby, reading or getting wifi. Eventually, Nessa, Cori and I were given our room; we napped, and then met up with most of the group for dinner later that evening. To top off the night, we all huddled in one room, ate snacks, drank wine, and watched "My Big Fat Greek Wedding".

The Phaistos Disk and apparent criminals "posing"....you decide :)

     Sunday morning we woke up early, bought food for later in the day, and jumped on a public bus to the palace at Knossos. This was our first Minoan site of the trip and it was okay....not my favorite. One might understand why if you saw it (it is very complex and the person who originally excavated it decided to reconstruct it incorrectly in concrete). Therefore, it is ridiculously difficult to try to imagine what the original palace looked like. This would be a good time to note that the professor posed the question as to whether or not these Minoan sites were really palaces or temples? I decided that if people with degrees in this stuff aren't sure, then I should probably not even begin to build an argument either way. After checking out the site we ate lunch right outside of the site with the peacocks. We returned to our hotel for the afternoon and made plans to go to dinner later in the evening. So until then, I decided to nap (my common routine-but today I had a killer headache so don't judge me). The place for dinner was pretty cool and we ordered some new items that we have yet to try here in Greece. This included shrimp saganaki, Cretan jet-fuel known as Rake (pronounced like rockeee), and snails. The snails were a bit disturbing to eat but they weren't bad. Afterwards, we met up with some more of the group and went gallavanting around town, had some cocktails, and called it a late but fun night.

Knossos palace/temple/the unknown

     Monday was another early morning and long day of sites and traveling. It began at the palace of Phaistos-my favorite Minoan site. Then we bussed over to Agia Triada-a Minoan villa site (not a palace). It had a really interesting chapel that is still in use today on site. From there, we stopped at a site being currently excavated by the CIG at Komos. It has ruins from the Bronze and Classical Age, which is pretty rare. After that, we experienced our first beach. The professors let us run and swim and act like children (aka we all basically beached ourselves in the sand for 2 hours). A few brave souls-not I-went swimming in the bitter cold Aegean Sea. It was pretty cool, actually. On the side of the cliffs there are Roman tombs that hippies and gypsies live in currently. We met one woman who hand-makes jewelry using stones she finds on the beach and avocado pits. I bought a bracelet and have been wearing it since that trip. After we all got plenty of sun, we returned on our coach bus to the hotel where I packed up for our traveling in the morning, grabbed a crepe for dinner, and headed to bed.

The palace at Phaistos: me in the room where the Disk was found-I am just lacking proof at the moment

Komos Beach and the Roman Tombs in the cliff

Athens, March 29-30: "Okey, I do..."

     Thursday was our first full free day in Athens since we have been here. Even though we could have slept in, it was nice being able to get up early and not feel rushed. Kylie, Jacquelyn, and I ate breakfast at Dioskouros and then decided to head out and walk around Athens to explore on our own. There were actually some really tough but cool trails around the Acropolis so we walked for a couple of hours and then decided to sit and enjoy a Greek Salad at a cafe in Monasteraki. Let it be known that Kylie and Jacquelyn believe they could live on bread and Greek Salad, if need be, for the rest of their lives...well until we walk by a gelato stand (which exists on about every street corner in Athens). As we enjoyed our gelato and walked through the Monasteraki stores, we met up with Cori, Alaina, and Lo. A helpful tip in Greece: even when a store-keeper says "hi" to you it is better not to answer or just smile because any verbal response usually erupts some long offer to buy something. However, today I broke my own rule and responded to one show owner that we were from the States when he asked where we were from. Well, long story short, this guy lived in Glenview and areas around Chicago and just thought we were the greatest, pinching our cheeks, gurgling at us like babies-it was just so ridiculous that we had to laugh about it. Then he gave us all 1 cent leptas for good luck, asked Kylie to move to Santorini and marry his son; which was our cue to leave.

     We returned home, showered, and then Kylie and I headed out for the hospital again for my blood test (looks like this is going to be a weekly event-I am overjoyed as you can all imagine). We made it to the hospital and spent a solid half hour trying to explain to the receptionist why I was there (even though I gave her my receipt from last time to avoid this) and then another 20 minutes (after the fastest blood draw I have ever had) to request my results that day. She insisted I would get it in 2 days-but I think I annoyed her enough to say that I needed it now. I just love how many Greek people know enough English to ask a question but don't know any English responses (Greece Wins Again-GWA). It makes life interesting and it inspired me to just buy a phrase book and learn some more basic Greek for the sake of knowledge-and that I want to make it home to Indiana by Christmas.

     As a treat for spending more time in that hospital than I do sleeping, Kylie and I stopped at a local bakery and experienced some fantastic treats and candies. Greek food has yet to disappoint me and I hope it never does. We returned to the hotel, picked up our laundry, hauled it across town, enjoyed some cocktails while waiting, and came back and chilled around the hotel with the gang.

     Friday morning I woke up super early to study for my test (note: I never mention this in any previous posts because I hate studying). We also needed to pack up for Crete and be out of our rooms before we went to the CIG for our test. So after breakfast, we made our way on the metro to the CIG, took the test (not horrible...but who likes tests anyway?), and had the rest of the late morning/early afternoon to chill. So we walked around a bit-I bought my phrase book at this time-and came back to eat lunch at the hotel. Around 5pm we got on the metro to Piraeus (the port of Athens) and I met some pretty cute Navy guys on the metro. Apparently, the U.S.S. Enterprise was in Athens for a few days and over 5,000 Navy personnel were in town (we did notice a lot more American men during these few days in Athens). Anyway, one was from Illinois and went to U of I and the other was from Alabama-they were really sweet and it was nice to have a conversation with Americans that didn't act like tourists (because, clearly, we are European travelers, right Kylie?). So we got off at Piraeus, ate the best gyro I have yet (and ordered it in Greek!!), and boarded our ferry to Crete.

Our ferry to Crete (9 hour overnight trip)

Pylos, March 26-28: "I want ze yaiyai"

   Monday we spent the day packing and road-tripping it to Pylos.-which is on the other side of the Mainland from Napflion. Before we made it to Pylos, we stopped at the Methone Venetian Fortress which is where Jacquelyn has decided she wants to live (no big deal, of course). I swear the sites just keep getting more and more breathtaking. I probably could have just sat at this place for days if I were able. This fortress sits on the edge of the land and you can actually touch the Ionian Sea (which Kylie did immediately). This may have been the hardest place to choose one picture to post because I love all my pictures from here. We spent a couple hours here just wandering (again, like kids at recess), and then eventually made our way to Pylos. Although the pension in Napflion was exciting, it was pretty great to be in a hotel again, with our own bathrooms and showers. That pension definitely made me appreciate a lot of different amenities that I take advantage of in the States. We all ate together at a little seaside restaurant, tried a bunch of new Greek dishes, and eventually made our way to bed.

Venetian Fortress at Methone

   We woke up, again early Tuesday morning, and headed to the palace of Nestor, another Mycenean site. This palace was similar to Lerna's setup but had details more like Mycenae did. This site is known for its large hearth in the center of one of the rooms and basically how well it was preserved. I found it really interesting (see people, I am actually learning over here). We returned to the hotel, ate lunch, and had a review session for our first exam (to be taken on Friday). Afterwards, a few of us headed out, did some fruit shopping (very common for us because the fruit over here is AMAZING), and found this cute little place called "George's Cafe". Unfortunately, people in Greece don't eat dinner at 5 or 6 like we do in the States, therefore we are constantly trying to suppress our hunger until later around 8 or 9pm to attempt to fit in with the culture. So we went back to the hotel, told the rest of the group about this place, and returned with a few more people later that evening. By far the best decision we have made on this trip! 6 of us walked in and were asked to go into the kitchen where this little old lady, or a "yiayia" was standing beside all of this food she had made. So we picked out about 10 different dishes to split, sat back down, ordered some wine, and feasted on THE best dinner I have ever tasted in my life. I am embarrassed to say we finished that dinner in a record time of 8 minutes (all 10 dishes), but if you could have only tasted what we did, you would understand. The best part is that it was so cheap for SO much food! The 6 of us made sure that we boasted to the rest of the group about how amazing this dinner was and how they had missed out. Jacquelyn's one comment that night summed up the trip to Pylos easily; she doesn't want the recipes from the feast: "she wants ze yiayia".

Hearth and Megaron at the Palace of Nestor in Pylos

   Wednesday was our last day in Pylos and was spent most of the day traveling. However, we did stop in Kalambata at another museum (yay...)...once we were back in Athens we returned to our humble home at Dioskouros, grabbed dinner, and went to bed.

Napflion, March 22-25: 2,000 steps later and I broke Gulliver's Nose :(

   Thursday morning was yet again another early start where a few of us ventured out for some fruit for breakfast, loaded onto the bus, and set out for Lerna, another Mycenean site. This one was a little less exciting than Tiryns, but I guess was important in the Bronze Age. The rest of the day included a trip to see a museum filled with pottery (the less exciting lessons of class), tombs in Dedra (where I was knighted as the "Snail Slayer" after stepping on multiple snails), Hera's sanctuary, the beach in Napflion, yoga lead by Boden on our patio, and a family dinner at our new home.

Hera's Sanctuary

   Friday morning, I woke up with a sinus infection (well, it eventually became one at that point). Fortunately, getting medication here at the pharmacy is like picking out ice cream-that simple. After my quick stop there, we went to the museum in Napflion to look at more pottery (if you all only knew the amount of pottery that exists in Greece you would understand...), and took the bus to Mycenae. This citadel is one of the biggest and best Mycenean citadels on the mainland. I also really liked one the best so far as well. Today we only checked out the different tombs and small houses around the citadel, had a picnic lunch on site, and returned to Napflion. We all took quick naps, then went shopping for dinner and ate some seriously kick-ass donut/benet things. Kylie and I were in heaven and probably should have ate dinner before dessert, but hey...when in Greece, right? We returned to our home and attempted to boil water for our soup but pretty much failed due to the unexplainable soapy water that formed from the hot water heater. Anyway, we finished off the night playing cards on the patio until the darkness overcame the light.

One of (few) intriguing relics in the museum

A tholos tomb at Mycenae

   Saturday we spent most of the day at Mycenae inside the citadel frolicking through the ruins as our Professor tried to keep our attention spans on topic (we are literally like children at times). We were able to see the infamous Lion Gate, a dark-tunneled cistern, some amazing views of the surrounding countryside, and, of course, more pottery in the Museum of Mycenae. The day was fantastic until I did the unthinkable: I broke Boden's (my professor) little statue of his dog, Gulliver. Why my peers thought it would be a good idea to pose and put him on my shoulder on top of ROCKS I will never understand. What is worse is the fact that I did it. My pals helped me try to look for Gulliver's snout somewhere on the ground (which of course was like searching for a needle in a haystack once you see his picture below), and I eventually had to tell Boden what I did. He wasn't mad, but I could definitely tell he was disappointed. Luckily, he will be receiving a new statue of Gulliver in a month or so when Kevin comes to visit.

   The rest of the evening was spent walking through the bazaar in Napflion (set up for the Greek Independence Day on Sunday), dinner at a small restaurant, and some fun nightlife.

Mycenae

Statue of Gulliver, before he lost his face

The Lion Gate

   Sunday was Greek Independence Day and our first free day. Most of us slept in and Kylie and I ventured out for some breakfast and an opportunity to watch Napflion's Independence Day Parade. Most of those who were in the parade were children wearing traditional Greek clothing. It was pretty neat, except we couldn't understand the words to the music or anything spoken. The rest of the day we relaxed, went to lunch (and saw the CUTEST yellow lab puppy ever-besides Madagascar of course), and then climbed up to the fortress again. This time, we decided to walk up the steps. 999 of them to be exact. It was definitely intimidating but also thrilling to say we did it (and wasn't actually too bad). It was such a beautiful sight that Kylie and I continued exploring out to the pier in the city.

999 Stairs to Fortress

This was the last night in Napflion and I can easily sum up this leg of the trip in 3 phrases: breathtaking sights, cats, and steps.

Napflion, March 21: "Kylie put that cat down you are allergic!"

   Wednesday morning we woke up early and met in the square to get on our first coach bus of the trip. This little tugboat drove us all over the mainland (well, only to Napflion, but it felt much longer!). For some reason our group of 20 people have child-size bladders and literally need to eat every 2 hours. So you can imagine what our bus rides are like, with a few people getting car sick, a few complaining because they are hungry, another couple who are always needing a bathroom, and then occasionally a few who even do some daytime drinking (no mom, not me). We first stopped at the Corinth Canal that was man-made and some people actually bungee jump off this thing.

Corinth Canal

Then we made our way to our first on-site class at the Mycenean citadel in Tiryns. This was actually pretty cool because we were finally able to see the stuff we spent 2 months of class talking about; and even reminded me a bit of the ruins I saw in Peru. I took tons of pictures and can definitely say I made the best decision to study abroad.

At Tiryns

   We left Tiryns early afternoon and headed to the city of Napflion (like a Saugatuck, MI vacation spot?) where we grabbed lunch and then headed up to a Venetian fortress at the top of the city. Of course as I was getting out of the bus I fell and am now the proud owner of a bruise on my hip that's the size of a grapefruit. Even though I am in a completely different continent my luck hasn't changed much. Anyway we made our way into the fortress and were released like children at recess to explore. It was seriously breathtaking to look out over the city and just see rows and rows of houses and then the Aegean Sea stretched to the horizon.

   A couple hours later we descended the hill, chose our "pension" (similar to a hostel), had a little gelato (again, Carlisle, you were blown out of the water), and relaxed on our rooftop patio that overlooked the city. Sounds pretty incredible right? Well, I cannot forget to mention that our pension sat at the top of the hill (basically the next level below the fortress), and to come/go from it, we had to master about 140 steps every time. Other than the constant cardio, it was still pretty amazing. So most of us headed out that evening for dinner (Greek Salad, Greek Pizza, and Ouzo) and eventually a bit of night drinking. I learned two things that night: Kylie is deathly allergic to cats and climbing stairs sober and drunk are equally as hard :D

Our "pension" (ruins behind it, standing on our rooftop patio)