La Programma parte due

From now until the end of July I will be living in Rome. The program that I am participating in is not only something that will improve my language skills, but it will also expand my mind in terms of politics, culture and religion with both Italy and America. I am now an official bi-cultural ambassador. Pretty sweet right? Well, with that title comes a lot of responsibility and a lot of work that is well worth the experience. We are staying at a residenza that offers living and three meals a day- vegetarian friendly and all!

The meals are consistently delicious and that seems to be one (just one) of the most important things for me- of course. Everyone in the program is fantastic and we have already established a bond among all of us. It feels so great to be with people who are just as passionate about the Italian culture and language. Each of them is very different and we are all learning so much from just talking and hanging out with one another.

The work load is light and though there are papers and readings to do, there is tons of free time that we take advantage of by either napping, going on Skype, working out, or just perusing the Web. I can't help but love this feeling of being in college again and it's got me a bit upset because this is the last time that I will have this sort of experience. Never fear though- I have one month of it, which is plenty of time for me to take advantage of it and hopefully not miss it that much by the end.

These days are going to be filled with classes, food and here and there we'll also be visiting sites in and around Rome, as well as in Italy in general. Our schedule is fantastic and we have so many meetings with government officials and even journalists and professional historians. This is such a great bridge for me bringing me from college life to reality. I guess you can say that I'm bridging the Italian-America cultures on the outside, but then bridging my life on the inside.

For holiday, we went to Lake Bracciano for a day on the sand and in the sun. It was great because I got to build on my already existing tan, as well as get time to relax and chill with my new friends. It was so fun until I lost my favorite heart ring in the lake. I was in shock and everyone was looking around in the water for it, but no luck. It was sad to lose it because I had been wearing it for so long and it was my favorite ring. A part of me is missing now, but my saying now is...I left my heart in Italia.

Very nice right? Well, I literally did.

I probably won't write as often now that I am in class and getting work done, but I will keep you updated on where I go and what I eat. :)

La Programma

We woke up at 6:30am and headed out to Rome to drop Kaitlyn off at the airport, however she lost her passport and she couldn't leave on the plane home for today. She had to stay in Italy for a few more days, which really isn't a bad thing but it surely is when you don't have any of your ID's or your credit card or your passport to get you home. So she has to do a run around and get those things before heading home to America.

I on the other hand have to go to my program that I came to Italy for, which is centered in Rome. I arrived bright and early and was greeted by the other members of the program who arrived yesterday and Friday from the states to participate in the program as well. I received a scholarship to study in Rome for a month and learn about the Italian culture, language, politics and more. It is going to be one heck of a month. I am anxious to get started and can't wait to spend more time with the people here in Italy. There is a lot more that I need to learn about my culture and this is the perfect opportunity and the perfect time in my life to do so.

The first thing I did when I got into the residence hall was put away all of my clothes and organize my belongings and then of course it was time for a nice, long nap. I napped until it was lunch time and we ate together in the cafeteria. Alongside us were other students from around Europe who come to the institute to study as well. We ate a classic Italian meal with spaghetti and salad and ended with fruit, but we still managed to take a walk together to il mercato to buy things for our rooms and the essential items to live in the hall. It was like being back in college again except now I wasn't in North Philadelphia, but rather a beautiful, historic city in Europe- what a difference!

Since the World Cup is still going on and USA lost yesterday, we managed to watch the England vs. Germany game together in the TV lounge and spent some quality time together before hitting the books and preparing for our first lesson domani (tomorrow). Each of the students I'm studying with has a great personality and we are all very different, but have so much in common. I think because the group is so small we'll be able to learn more about each other and really form a strong bond. Our instructor is a great guy from the South in America and he is so enthusiastic about having us in Rome. He is so ready to take us around and show us all that Rome has to offer, as well as other places in and around the city.

I spent the rest of the night settling in and watching soccer with some residents of the university. The work started after my hour workout in the crazy cool gym in the basement. That's about all we did for the first day of the programam- Buona notte.

Una bella famiglia, una bella vita

This weekend was spent visiting my relatives in Italy. I am from a small town about two hours southeast of Rome and it's a town with massive mountains and a beautiful landscape. It is truly a hidden gem in Italy that has yet to be discovered by tourists and such- but I have some plans on how to do this...

I don't think I went more then three hours without eating something- my diet consisted of potatoes, zucchini, bread, pasta, certain dolci and just anything my family fed me and forced me to consume. I wasn't complaining much because I still managed to get my runs in up and down the mountains and burn off a few calories here and there.

Every time I visit the town I fall in love with it all over again. I don't know if it's the mountain air or what, but the pull that the town has on me is quite strong. Kait and I went for the usual Saturday morning market run after getting a great night's sleep and we shopped for coffee and chocolate and she stopped for a quick cappuccino. The day was still young and we headed back to the house to clean up a bit and prepare for departure tomorrow. There's not really much to do in the town during the day, so it was perfect for us to lay back and not have to be somewhere at a certain time. I took advantage of the time by writing and catching up on some reading. We went for a long hour run and workout through the mountains and farm land and checked out some new dirt roads. It was great and I felt amazing after! All those carbs have me going strong!

Once we settled a bit and showered especially, we got ready to visit more family members and head out for a bit, but mother nature had a different plan for us. It poured and hailed for two hours straight and everything was flooding. We watched the water pour down the cobblestone hills and and down to the bottom of the town. The temperature dropped about 30 degrees and we were forced to wear our jackets! It goes from being 80 degrees to 30 degrees phew. Well, we enjoyed a cool (for lack of a better word) night out on the town, but managed to make it back in time to head out for Rome.

Home is where the food is...

Good morning- went for another run early to get my body going and to digest the late night pizza. I felt even better because I went even farther and got to the top of Piazzele Michelangelo and looked down at the city below. I remembered how much I truly love the city and what I had missed since last year. Just looking down at the sites and the beauty of the city itself without the poverty, the rude people and the sometimes dirty streets- from above all of that doesn’t matter and you get to appreciate all that was in the early centuries.

We had to leave today and I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around leaving Florence again. Ugh. We went to the train station and got some breakfast and waited for the train to Rome. Once we went to Rome, we got off and waited for the train to Isernia. The city where my grandfather was waiting for us. J I couldn’t wait to go and meet him there. It was so exciting! I wanted to go and relax with him and the rest of the family and do what I usually do- walk up big hills, eat about every 2 hours, visit family and get forced food into my mouth, walk up some more hills and go shopping! It couldn’t get any better. OH yea and I forgot- SLEEP. The town of Longano- la citta del vento (the city of wind).A place where all your dreams come true- good food, good views, great bars, fun people and the perfect sleeping weather.

When we arrived it was time to go to the market and stock up on food to eat for the weekend. I definitely bought more than I could eat in a day and a half, but I couldn’t control myself! I cooked up a great dinner of potatoes, zucchini, rice pasta, tuna sauce, fresh bread, and salad and olives. What a great dinner- we stuffed our faces! It was great catching up with my grandpop and we decided to go into town and visit more family and hang out outside, but it was cold! We went from hot hot hot weather to cold cold chilly weather.

and looked down at the city below. I remembered how much I truly love the city and what I had missed since last year. Just looking down at the sites and the beauty of the city itself without the poverty, the rude people and the sometimes dirty streets- from above all of that doesn’t matter and you get to appreciate all that was in the early centuries.

We had to leave today and I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around leaving Florence again. Ugh. We went to the train station and got some breakfast and waited for the train to Rome. Once we went to Rome, we got off and waited for the train to Isernia. The city where my grandfather was waiting for us. J I couldn’t wait to go and meet him there. It was so exciting! I wanted to go and relax with him and the rest of the family and do what I usually do- walk up big hills, eat about every 2 hours, visit family and get forced food into my mouth, walk up some more hills and go shopping! It couldn’t get any better. OH yea and I forgot- SLEEP. The town of Longano- la citta del vento (the city of wind).A place where all your dreams come true- good food, good views, great bars, fun people and the perfect sleeping weather.

When we arrived it was time to go to the market and stock up on food to eat for the weekend. I definitely bought more than I could eat in a day and a half, but I couldn’t control myself! I cooked up a great dinner of potatoes, zucchini, rice pasta, tuna sauce, fresh bread, and salad and olives. What a great dinner- we stuffed our faces! It was great catching up with my grandpop and we decided to go into town and visit more family and hang out outside, but it was cold! We went from hot hot hot weather to cold cold chilly weather.

and looked down at the city below. I remembered how much I truly love the city and what I had missed since last year. Just looking down at the sites and the beauty of the city itself without the poverty, the rude people and the sometimes dirty streets- from above all of that doesn’t matter and you get to appreciate all that was in the early centuries.

We had to leave today and I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around leaving Florence again. Ugh. We went to the train station and got some breakfast and waited for the train to Rome. Once we went to Rome, we got off and waited for the train to Isernia. The city where my grandfather was waiting for us. I couldn’t wait to go and meet him there. It was so exciting! I wanted to go and relax with him and the rest of the family and do what I usually do- walk up big hills, eat about every 2 hours, visit family and get forced food into my mouth, walk up some more hills and go shopping! It couldn’t get any better. OH yea and I forgot- SLEEP. The town of Longano- la citta del vento (the city of wind).A place where all your dreams come true- good food, good views, great bars, fun people and the perfect sleeping weather.

When we arrived it was time to go to the market and stock up on food to eat for the weekend. I definitely bought more than I could eat in a day and a half, but I couldn’t control myself! I cooked up a great dinner of potatoes, zucchini, rice pasta, tuna sauce, fresh bread, and salad and olives. What a great dinner- we stuffed our faces! It was great catching up with my grandpop and we decided to go into town and visit more family and hang out outside, but it was cold! We went from hot hot hot weather to cold cold chilly weather. What a great night's sleep up in the mountain air!

A Day of Rest-in Firenze

Up, up and away to start the day early with a refreshing ride through Florence just like old times along the Arno river and through the streets. When I got back there was just enough time to catch a train out to Lucca, another small Tuscan town close by. There we wandered the streets without a map or any direction of what to see or what to do. It felt so good without the pressure though and we didn’t feel like tourists and there weren’t many around anyway. We intermingled with the locals and got to see some beautiful churches and the famous wall that encloses the city.

After a little bit of shopping, our stomachs were growling for some lunch so we stopped at this restaurant that happened to have a garden in the back were you can sit outside and eat a peaceful meal. I ordered the rigatoni with zucchini flowers and white fish. It was absolutely delicious because it wasn’t in a chunky tomato sauce- rather it was in a light oil sauce with a touch of sauce. The portions weren’t so big, but in the end it was just enough to hold me over for dessert. The bread they served was homemade and nice and crispy. We savored every last bit of our slightly expensive meal.

We found our way back to the train station and I was anxious to get to Florence to watch the game! Italia played Slovakia and ended up losing but it was the experience that made it a great game for me at least. We sat in a bar in Florence surrounded by hardcore fans for both Italy and Slovakia. Because Italy didn’t play so great, there were a lot of screaming and yelling and disappointed people. Ridiculous. I still can’t get over the fact that they played so bad, but that’s life. I was excited to be in Italy for the World Cup but it seems like the place to be is the US!

The night was just beginning and we were off to grab gelato at the famous gelateria place in town before running to the bridge to snag a spot for fireworks. The show didn’t start until after 10 but then it lasted until almost 11! It was incredible and didn’t seem to want to end. We were mesmerized by the different colors and continuous flow of fireworks. The people went nuts and I think the whole city gathered around the river to watch- and to get eaten alive by the mosquitoes that seem to be ready to attack no matter what time of year, whatever temperature and wherever you are.

Of course we couldn’t leave Florence without having a pizza, so we stopped at a pizzeria at 11 o’clock at night and ate personal pies. I got a nice, thin, crispy pie with tomato sauce, capers and anchovies- Pizza Napoletana. I have to say it’s one of my favorites. The restaurant was crowded for 11 o’clock and people were still coming at 12. People are hungry at all hours of the night here- beautiful.

Italia! Finalmente.

Today was the day that my body hated me. I put it through so much hell and so many hours of carrying 60 pound luggage on and off and on train cars, wheeling it through streets, throwing it around the airport and lugging it up seven flights of stairs to get to the hotel room we chose to stay at.
Honestly, I didn't even get to enjoy being in Florence until day two. But day one consisted of a fantastic meal that can not be forgotten. After getting poured on walking to find food, we stopped in a little Mexican bar and restaurant for some food and Sangria. I ordered the vegetarian platter with spicy rice. It came with tomato and cucumber salad, mushrooms, zucchini and beautiful sides of guacamole and salsa with chips. The perfect meal to satisfy an empty stomach. Next on the list was a walk around Florence to familiarize myself with the city and to stomach here and there to take pictures, but the best part was revisiting the gelaterias in the city and watching all the people walk with their cones piled high with multicolored gelato.

The next day was everything that I expected and more. Well, maybe everything that I wished it would be, especially after a day of 10 hours of traveling. A bus left from the train station in Florence to take us on a one day tour of Tuscany. We drove to Siena first, which was about an hour or more outside of Florence. There wasn't really much to see there, but there were a lot of beautiful buildings and piazzas to hang out in. The Church in the city was absolutely gorgeous!
After a few hours or roaming around the city, we hopped back on the bus to drive through the hills and vineyards of Tuscany. Everywhere I looked I would see the lush green pastures filled with grapes and olive trees. Everything I saw was postcard worthy. We got to an organic farm where we were having lunch. This place was unbelievable! There were acres and acres of vineyards, olive trees and farm land for the cattle. For lunch we had Tuscan bread with freshly made olive oil and homemade pasta with tomato sauce. A refreshing salad of lettuce and tomatoes came next made again with local olive oil. The others were served beef with a cream sauce for the pasta, but that wasn't going to go off too well for me. The meal was absolutely delicious and the scenery made it that much better, of course the red and white wines served with lunch helped as well. For dessert we had local dessert wine with almond biscotti. I was extremely impressed and couldn't wait to see what was next on the tour.

San Gimignano, known as the "manhattan" of historical times was quite the little hot spot of Tuscany. It had a skyline of towers and cute streets that had hidden shops and eateries along the way. Everywhere you looked there were perfect panoramic spots to take pictures of the valleys below. The town is home to the award winning best gelateria and the line wrapped all the way down the piazza. It looked delicious!

Our next ride took us through more Tuscan streets and we ended up in Pisa. I was there last year, but another visit couldn't hurt. I got to take more pictures and maneuver through the crowded streets. A great way to end a 12 hour tour of Tuscany. Vegetarian-friendly and breathtaking.

The Athenian Way

Breakfast came a bit too soon for us Monday morning, especially after a day on board the ferry from hell. We enjoyed the usual toast and jam and tea and honey at the hotel and were off to see the one city we came to see- Athens.

Our stay in the city thus far hasn't been so pleasant and honestly the city hasn't lived up to what we've heard it would be, but on our journey through the ancient sites today we hoped that it could change our minds.

Kaitlyn and I traveled to the Acropolis where we started our 5 1/2 hour walk through the city. We climbed up to the top and managed to get to the site by opening (8am). We beat the crowds and toured the ruins without having to wait for people to move out of our pictures. It was fantastic! The ruins were definitely ruins though the Parthenon was neat and a few temples around it were beautiful to look at, especially because they were perched on top of the highest point in Athens. At one point I looked out and felt like an ancient Athenian politician looking out at his city and all his people below him. It was a pretty sick feeling.

The sun started to get hot at about 9am and we were feeling it as we climbed up on the rock of the Acropolis. Here we could look up at the Parthenon. It was a great view and we could see the crowds of people flocking to the site, so we decided to move on through to Agora. In the Agora, which is adjacent to the Acropolis, we saw more ruins and some churches and beautifully preserved Temples. We walked for hours and ended up hitting a little part of the residential neighborhoods that happened to have ruins scattered about as well.

My stomach started growling and it was time for some lunch, so we stopped after finishing the sites of Agora and the Acropolis and went to this restaurant on the way to the Temple of Zeus. The food was delicious and had the usual meats, but also rice and potatoes and vegetable skewers. I was full and ready to take on the rest of the sites.

We ventured through the small streets and made it to the Plaka, the oldest neighborhood in Athens. It was beautiful and the small alley ways gave it a special character. We shopped around and followed the other tourists' paths through the city and ended up in an outdoor mall-like scene with stores everywhere. Temptation lurked in every store entrance, but we breezed on by and made our way to the hotel to rest up with a nice siesta and to head back out for dinner.

Now dinner was very cool. We stopped at a Quikk Pita place in Plaka and ate vegetable pitas with a special sauce on the side. The menu had so many cheap items on it and a lot of it was vegetarian friendly. What a great light dinner! Off to the outdoor musical festival down the road and a quick stop at a bar to try some of the classic Grecian ouzo. It was definitely stronger than I expected. The licorice flavor was so potent and I could barely take more than three sips before having to drink some water to cool down my mouth. It sure went down warm and smooth, but not to the effect that it made it enjoyable for me :/.

The night came to a close with after more music and celebrations- just because. Off to Italia tomorrow!

Do we really have to leave?

It was our last day in Santorini and there was no reason for us to leave except there was a ferry leaving at 4pm and tickets that had our names on them. Looking back we probably should have spent more time touring the islands, but overall we are happy to have stopped in Santorini for the time we did. It was back to the big city...but first we took in every last ounce of the island beauty and fun that surrounded us, especially in the town center of Fira.

I had a vegetarian gyro for lunch and enjoyed the lightness of the pita bread and the tzatziki sauce. I got it from the place we ate at the first place because I knew I couldn't go wrong. When my stomach was full, we took a few hours to walk around the shops and cobblestone roads up and down hills and along the coast to see the water below. It was a great morning to just relax and enjoy the sites, but to watch out for the donkey poo that was left behind on some roads. The city has such a life to it though it is so small and compact.

The day was unfortunately ending for us and the time had come for us to board the ferry. Let's just sum up the whole eight hours on the ferry as being so bad that now exactly 25 hours after being on the boat, I am still rocking back and forth and my brain hasn't gone back to normal. I thought my sea bands would help, but apparently the force of the water was too strong. I should thank the god Poseidon for that one...yea I'm corny. Anyway, they don't like to serve vegetarian friendly food on the ship, so I basically starved the whole way but saved my stomach a little by eating greasing chips- yum.

We docked at midnight in Athens and couldn't think of anything better to do than pass out.

The good thing about the ferry ride was that we always manage to meet new people so we met a family from Ohio and chatted with them for awhile. There were a lot of people on the ship though and things got a bit rowdy. Drunken people came on board and whipped out cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese, beer and olives and just started playing cards and eating. that was precisely the time we decided to move our seats, but what I should have done was sat right on next to them and mooched off of their food- it looked so fresh and delicious! They just didn't like so fresh and delicious- hence the reason why I stayed away. ;)

Burn Baby Burn

Day Two in Santorini consisted of a very relaxed morning and it felt so good to not have to rush off to anywhere. We ate a personal breakfast served by the Villa owner and her two kids. They were so cute and watched us eat most of the time, but we didn't mind all that much because I'm sure we acted a bit weird to them.

Today was beach day, so we hopped on a bus and headed out to Kamari Beach, which was a 20 minute drive from the main town center. The sand was unbelievable! It was black and wasn't even sand- the coast was filled with pebbles and rocks and the water was crystal clear to the point where if you swam out, you could still see straight down. Of course I didn't find that out because I didn't go far into the water, but that's what I was told. Swimming, as some of you know from last summer's experience in Cinque Terre, doesn't work out for me all that much so I stayed away from it and hung by the coast with the little kids. We spent a good three hours on the beach just laying out and enjoying the beautiful scenery, except for of course the topless old women who were completely disgusting. I could not believe my eyes. The courage these women must have to just walk around topless while sitting right next to their husbands and their kids! What is the deal with that? I think it's completely unnecessary and should be prohibited. Who wants to go to the beach and watch a half naked woman wandering about just letting it all hang out. Nope, definitely not me. So once my eyes stopped feeling sick from all the polluted sites, I concentrated on getting some lunch.

The lunch I conjured up and went on a long journey to find ended up being so delicious and so unique. I ordered a Sunshine Salad from the Sunshine Bar and Restaurant. It had oranges, bananas, lettuce and avocado on it. I mixed in oil and they gave me orange dressing on the side that complimented the fruit so well and gave it a tangy flavor. Once I brought it back on the beach I added my own almond and cashew mix to get my protein and ate it with fresh fried potatoes to be my starch. It was a perfectly balanced meal to enjoy while sitting back on the beach.

Once I finished eating, I went back into the sun full force and had no idea that it would be my biggest regret of the day. I sat too long in the midday Santorini sun and ended up frying up my body. I got so burnt up on my stomach and my thighs that I saw it instantly. I was feeling sick and so sun exhausted that I drank two bottles of water in less than 10 minutes and avoided touching any part of my body. I have never gotten this much sunburn in my life, so I didn't expect my skin to start burning today. Well it did and now I have to deal with the consequences.

Once my skin cooled off and I got a jacket to wear to quell the chills I got from the sunburn, we headed back out to OIA to see the sunset yet again. It was attempt two and this time I had good feelings. We arrived at the coast and sat on the edge of a cliff to peer over and watch the sunset. It took about an hour to set and I took a picture of it setting every 10 minutes. It was absolutely breathtaking and so incredible to see. The night was just beginning and this was the perfect way to start it off.

Dinner was next on the agenda and we ate at some tropical place with trees and outdoor wooden seating. It had a simple menu and the option I went for was the spaghetti primavera. It had eggplant, zucchini, and capers in a light tomato sauce. It was a good choice, but the flavor wasn't really there. I ate most of it but have decided to leave the spaghettis and pastas to the Italians :)For dessert though- Santorini topped the list. We each ordered our own crepes and mine was filled with dark chocolate, bananas and strawberries- the gooey chocolate dripped all over the fruit to make a great combo and a great after dinner treat! I wanted more!

The nightlife in Santorini was fantastic and there was a big young crowd walking along all the shops and eateries that were still open until after 12. Clubs were packed and music was heard all throughout the city center. It was definitely something to experience.

OFF to Paradise...

After an early morning wake up call and an 8 hour ferry ride, we landed on the island of Santorini.

The ferry ride was extremely long and sitting on the outside deck was definitely worth getting windblown and frizzy hair! The water was absolutely gorgeous and the bluest blue. The variety of people on the ferry was great as well. There were people from all over the world and most of them were traveling with us to Santorini while some were getting off at other island stops that we made along the way. We managed to sleep a bit on the table that we sat at outside, but then the noise from the people and the smell of cigarette smoke woke us up after an hour and a half.

It felt good to get some rest, but the trip felt longer now. Off we sailed to paradise and when we finally made it to shore and had survived the ride, we were talking to a family from Sweden about politics and vegetarianism and the oil spill that was going on. It was one of the most intelligent conversations I’ve had this whole vacation! They helped get us through the final two hours and we couldn’t have been more grateful.

When we got to port, we had to run down and get our luggage from the luggage room and because the escalators weren’t working, I was forced to carry a 50 + pound bag down the steps along with another 35+ pound bag. Very difficult and I must say that I didn’t care about the line of people that I was holding up trying to manage carrying two heavy bags down. It was ridiculous how NOONE offered to help. NOONE- are you serious? Are people really that selfish?

Anyway I managed with help from my traveling buddy and we rushed out of the boat and got a ride to our hotel form a mini charter bus. When we rode along the high mountain range, my ears of course popped but we got a beautiful view of the water and the volcano island that was across from Santorini. It felt so great to finally make land fall! We were so excited to be somewhere other than Athens and in the big city environment.

We got to the hotel and lugged our luggage to our first floor room over and through coble stone streets. The hotel owner was immensely helpful and she couldn’t have been sweeter. She got us glasses of water and she pulled out a map to help us figure out what we want to do this weekend. We already knew that we would take it easy and travel the man town square of Fira, which was steps away, first and foremost. So we got ready and headed into town to get food.

What was horrible about the ship is that it didn’t have any food for me to eat! Even the pizza had pieces of ham and bacon on top and there were only burgers and chicken sandwiches. I was disappointed, but the falafel I had in town made up for it. W ate beautiful pita sandwiches stuffed with falafel, cucumber, onion, tomato and the famous tzatziki sauce. I got a large falafel because I was just that hungry. I savoured every bite of the warm pita and there were fries placed inside so I dipped them in the tzatziki sauce as I bit into the falafel patties that were delicious. I very much enjoyed it!

Now that our stomachs were full, we headed toward the bus station and got the bus to OIA (pronounced ee-ya). We did some major shopping in this small town on the island of Santorini. The stores lined the small, narrow cobblestone alleyways and people flooded them nonstop. Everywhere you walked into town there was a beautiful view of the sun and that’s exactly what 99% of the people go to Oia to see- the sunset. We walked along the coastline until we found our own special spot to sit and watch the sun as it set, however the sky was very foggy and the sunset was not so pretty. Oh well, there’s always tomorrow night. We made our way back to the bus station and waited a good half hour for the bus to come to take us back to Fira.

One thing I will say about traveling is that it can be very frustrating in terms of dealing with people and the transportation lines. So far we haven’t had much trouble with it, but people make it so difficult to enjoy traveling and getting from place to place because they will push and shove and push some more without any remorse to get their spots on a bus, train, plane, etc. There’s no end to it and ultimately you end up doing it yourself. So when I feel a push and a shove coming on from the old, European ladies behind and on the sides of me while getting on the bus, I put up my arms and create a blockade with my body. I almost get into the full stance that I would if I was boxing out in basketball. It’s pretty funny and Kait loves to make fun of me for it, but honestly, it’s what gets seats on every bus ride. No standing for me! I work for my sitting privilege and those old ladies will not push their way through me!

Today’s word:

Learning to say OIA and making sure not to pronounce it oy-ya. Though everyone says it in his or her own special way.

C.H.A.T Tours

It's the way to go. Let me tell you. Three day tours are pretty incredible when you are on a tight schedule for seeing another country. The past three days have been filled with a lot of walking, basking in the heat waved country and eating a lot of delicious food! Greece is one of the top countries on my list for vegetarians. I have been eating so many vegetables like eggplant, brussel sprouts, potatoes, zucchini and more, as well as rice dishes and for pescetarians there is plenty of flavorful fish dishes. A vegetarian dream. I haven't gone hungry yet!

Now for the day by day extravaganza...

Day ONE:

A fairly early morning start with a prompt pick up from our hotel and a drive around the city to pick up people here and there. Then we were off with our new tour guide to drive along the Peloponnese coast. We made many stops to beautiful small towns and villages and drove up thousands of feet alongside mountains. My ears were popping continuously but it didn't matter because once you looked out of the window to see the spectacular views below, popped ears were not a problem anymore. We drove and stopped, drove and stopped and our tour guide explained everything about all that we saw. She was incredible and so knowledgeable it was almost scary. There were only 10 of us on the tour so it was personalized a lot of the time.

Speaking about the people on the tour with us: there were the honeymooners who were really cute and nice people to chat with, there was the family with young teens and experience with Greece and the language and such and there was the single traveler who came all the way from Australia and had plans to travel from Greece to the middle east and back home. Then there was us- me and my friend Kaitlyn who were the young American girls who did their own thing and played it cool throughout the trip- at least we thought we did. I'm sure I was known as the girl who was always hungry as I always wanted to cut out early and break for lunch, but hey I'm a small girl who needs to refuel at least every hour- totally kidding...at least every two hours ;)

So we made our way along the Peloponnese coast and got lunch. I was able to order a beautiful vegetable dish including potatoes, eggplant and stuffed tomatoes. The stuffed tomatoes here are like a delicacy! They are filled with rice, olive oil and sometimes even pine nuts. SO tasty! After lunch, we drove on down to Olympia that was a long three hours after our lunch stop and I got to sleep off the lunch and listen to my mp3 player along the way. Colbie Caillat and Taylor Swift along with Jason Mraz got me through that ride...

We ended up at this hotel about five minutes from Olympia's center and were served fresh grapefruit, cherry and orange juices upon arrival. It was a first class hotel that had been included in the tour cost and a hotel that was top of the line in service, cleanliness, location and food! We were amazing at the marble in the rooms and the buffet dinner they served...

This was exactly what I needed: brussel sprouts, potatoes, rice, whole wheat bread and the classic Greek salad with cucumbers and tomatoes. I stuffed up on dinner and fit in some watermelon for dessert :)

The night ended and it was an early morning start once again tomorrow.

Day TWO:

....side note- I just let two French people use my computer and they xed out of my writing so now I must write day two all over again. oy geez...that's what happens when you are nice.

OK- so let's try this again. Briefly.

We started out ubber early to beat the heat on day too because it was going up to 38 degrees- which in Fahrenheit is about 100+...we got out to the site of Olympia and saw a bunch of ruins and temples and training houses where Greek men spent most of their time training for the Olympic tournaments. We visited the famous Olympic stadium and got to stand on the very starting line ancient Greeks did before they took off on their races. It was a great site to visit but the bugs kept attacking everyone in the group and we were swatting them away every few minutes. The tour guide explained every little ruin that we passed and she was so drained by the end that she let us have some free time and went for an espresso with the bus drive- this was a normal thing. Kait and I wandered some more and took a bunch of pictures, but made our final stop the WC, which stands for Wash Closet. We didn't know this up until now because we were ashamed to ask but what the heck! It didn't make sense to us but you know the Greeks (just kidding).

The archeological museum for Olympia was huge and the tour guide managed to take us into each and every room in an hour. She yet again explained everything and competed with the loud tours that were taking place all over. It was insane!

(p.s. I think another French couple is cursing me off from being on the computer- if they only knew what I just did to help their people!!!)

Back to Olympia...we got through the museum- better yet- survived the museum because not only was a hungry, but I was also very tired and bored with the stuff after the first 20 minutes. We walked down a cute path and over a foot bridge to see frogs hopping along in the stream below and to stop at a restaurant that was strategically placed right outside of the site. I ordered "briam," which is a dish of zucchini and potatoes. It was like a ratatouille! It was delicious and the vegetables melted in your mouth along with the tomato sauce they were stewed in. YUM!
After the lunch, we headed to a shop next door and then off to Delphi.

I thought the drive around the mountains to get to Olympia were rough, but this was even worse! My ears were popping like popcorn and we rode through old towns and villages that were along the sea coast. We got to touch sand and water! Super cool...when we made our way up to the mountain at which Delphi stood, we passed through the oldest olive tree grove that is now actually protected by UNESCO. The trees were between 300 and some even 700 years old!

We rode up, up, up and made it to our hotel that was the sister hotel to the one we stayed at last night. What was even more incredible was that this hotel was even nicer- is that even possible?? It sure was.

We got dinner which consisted of potatoes, rice dishes, traditional Greek dishes and the buffet went on and on. The potatoes had just the right amount of salt and oil on them to keep you going back for me. It was all delicious! We ate up and got stuffed, so we decided to walk around outside to get a great look at the mountainous view. It was as if we were looking down on a painting. Breathtaking.

The night ended with yet another football match of the World Cup and a restless night of trying to fall asleep....

Day THREE:

We woke, fairly early and were off to a quick breakfast. We were still tired and didn't get much sleep so we were looking forward to a long bus ride, but that didn't happen. The site was about five minutes away and we walked and walked in the heat. The sites of Delphi were scattered, so we visited the first part and then walked up to a higher point on the mountain to reach the Temple of Apollo and some other stadiums and activity sites that were used by priests and people who honored the gods. It was HOT- yea like ridiculous. We roasted on the way up and roasted on the way down...the sites were gorgeous but the stories of the Oracle and the way the people visited the site for answers from the gods were even better! I was soooo enveloped in all the tour guide had to say- and yes, it was a lot.

We visited the museum, but thank goodness it wasn't as big as yesterday's so we got out in about 40 minutes. She got into some arguments with the other Greek tour guides and it was pretty funny to watch three Greek tour guides arguing in Greek about who was going to show their group the ancient Greek hymns first...priceless.

Lunch was next! We went to this "taverna" down the road and ate up some food. I got the classic stuffed tomato dish that was made with the usual rice, oil and pine nuts. They were incredible and I cleaned up the plate. We headed back on the bus and were on our way back to Athens.

The tour was over and to finish up we tipped our driver and the guide and were on our way on another bus to be stuck in traffic and with a crazy tour guide that told us just about every single thought that came into her head- and they weren't always intelligent ones. what a wifty guide- poor people that had to be with her the whole day...:) Anywho she did a fantastic job getting us home and updating us on the football game that GREECE eventually won! It was the first game in forever that they've won pretty much and it was time for everyone to celebrate!

Back to our first hotel we went and spent time munching on the organic snacks that I brought along...yummy...an early morning is staring us down as is the METRO strike. Our plans had to be switched around a bit, but we are ready to take on another trip and more days of eating this food WOW!

Words of the tour:

geia su- hello
neh- yes

Arrivederci Philadelphia!

Off I flew into the night sky with only one destination in mind: ATHENS. I boarded the flight first class with no idea how it would be...pretty sweet actually- what made the ride even better was the person I had sitting next to me...Bill AKA Vasilius. Such a sick name for an incredible man.

He and I hit it off from the start I guess you could say even if he was over 60. At first he spoke to Greek to me because he could've sworn I was Greek but when I told him Italian things were a bit different, but for the best. He told me stories about his children: daughter, who I apparently reminded him of time and time again and who was an ambassador in Austria and a son who worked in Paolo Alto, California. We told each other stories and he was impressed with me and my crazy quick college life and hopes and dreams. He serenaded me with a lot of Italian songs and made sure to remind me that I look like his daughter and acted just like her. Though the beginning of the flight I was wondering if what he was sayin was actually true, I started to believe it the more and more he told me and the more and more he taught me about what to do and what not to do in Greece. He was like an angel sent to me on this flight to a foreign country I had been so worried to visit. There was no way I would ever forget him and I'm sure he'll never forget me, especially because I was now his "little rascal" as he called me. I hope he made it home to Argos OK and is enjoying his two bottles of whisky he purchased in flight- one being a bottle of Bailey's to put in his coffee every once and awhile as he walked to the beach and enjoyed the summer life. Must be nice...oh Greece.

Arrivederci Philadelphia comes from good ol Bill who asked me what everyone says when you leave Rome and we said together: Arrivederci Roma! So when we took off we said Arrivederci Philadelphia...he got me through the take off because I would have flipped out otherwise haha! Oh airplanes...

Day One in Greece was interesting. Greekness all over: people, food, language,etc. Awesome. The people speak English almost better than I do! The hotel I'm staying in is quite nice- rooftop dining and mini pool to lounge in but with this 90 degree weather I don't really know if I'd want to go on the roof and have the sun beat down and burn me head to toe...at least not right now. I ate dolmades- stuffed grape leaves and ate a yummy tuna fish pizza as fast as possible to satisfy my grumbling stomach. The first class food didn't do the job and with applesauce and craisins for breakfast- it was expected. The waiter though I was either Greek or Spanish but definitely not Italian. I just spoke Italian to trick him and he believed I was from Italy the whole time- oh yea working the European flair :)

A walk around the neighborhood was a must so I scouted out internet cafes, coffee shops, calling card centers and the bancomat. I am in need of a major nap though, so enough walking in the heat and it's time to sleep already!

Italia vs Parguay today--- nap before game time!

Greek word of the day (and probably for the trip): KALIMERA= GOOD MORNING.

Starting a new chapter

One week before I leave for my trip and I've already started crying about how much I'll miss everything- or I guess in this case everyone. Every day that passes I get more anxious about leaving and more nervous as to what is to come. I don't know if spending time with my boyfriend made things hurt more or gave me reassurance that everything will be OK and we'll pick up where we left off once I return. All I know is that when we said goodbye at the train station there were tears in my eyes and a yearning to run after the train. It felt like I had just swallowed a golf ball and was left choking on it as the man I love sped away on a train in the opposite direction with no one around to help me. Sounds horrible right? Well it was horrible. I waited around for my train and mentally prepared myself for time at home with my family and time preparing for my trip.

Graduating from college was a huge step toward the next part of my life, but now this trip will take me even further. I am sad to be leaving, but honestly I couldn't ask for a better opportunity to do as I please for the next month and a half in Europe. I'll be able to travel, to see the places I've only dreamed of and to eat amazing foods! I am most excited about the latter two because I have been wanting to go to Greece ever since I learned about Ancient Greek history and culture in high school. I can't wait to be standing near the ancient ruins and laying on the beaches of Santorini! But that's only part one. Part two of the trip is going to encompass the ancient ruins of ROME! I will be returning to Italy once again and will travel from the north to the south to the middle and all around.

If I had three wishes for this trip they'd be:
1. I could bring my family and friends along with me to enjoy the vacation time, especially my family because they need a break more than I do.
2. I will meet incredible people and make connections that will help me succeed further in my life and future career.
3. I experience the things that I've always dreamed of plus more and that everything is filled with fun and safety and happy memories are made.

Let's see if the genie is on my side.