Mykonos!

What a crazy, beach filled weekend.

This weekend 6 of us went to an island called Mykonos. It's an island that is filled with discos, fun bars and people ready to let loose and have a good time. It's relatively filled with young people and mainly tourists.

June 18th-

We arrived into Mykonos around 1pm where we met our hostel transportation. The port is crazy with people from car rentals and hotels/resorts that try to get people to stay at their place. It's filled with waving signs in your face and people yelling Greek at you to try and get your attention. We by-passed all that and hopped on our bus to Paradise Beach and Resort (our hostel we stayed at for the weekend). After check-in and quickly put our luggage in our "beach cabins" and headed for the beach. It was literally about 100 feet from our cabins. We laid on the beach until about 5pm when things started to get more fun. There's many different beach bars all along the coast. There's this bar called Tropicana Beach Bar that's supposed to be one of the most famous beach bars in Europe. The music was turned up loud and everyone was dancing and having a great time. After we danced our sun-bronzed bodies away, we took a shower and get ready for dinner and the evening. There's a nightclub in our hotel area and there was an event going on that night called Ministry of Sound that had famous DJ's come in for the evening. We ate dinner at this cute restaurant across there street where I ordered a vegetarian gyro and relaxed from the afternoon. Around 1:30am we headed to the nightclub for the evening to see what this Ministry of Sound was all about. I don't know if I mentioned but because Greek's take a siesta during the day from 2-5pm, they don't go out until after 1am, something I don't think I could ever get used to. When the clock hit about 4:3oam and my feet couldn't take anymore dancing and my fist anymore fist pumping (kidding) it was time for us to hit the hay.

June 19th-

A day dedicated to soaking up the sun and relaxation. I will never get sick of laying on the coast of the Mediterranean, iPod plopped in, and blocking out everything else around me. Dom and I got up around 9:30am (surprisingly) and ate our free continental breakfast and hit the beach for the day. We didn't go to the Tropicana Beach Bar today because we were heading into Mykonos Town for dinner and exploration. We took the public bus at 8pm and went to go see where more of the crazy action occurred. The town is too cute for words. Some of the best shopping I've seen yet. I purchased a handmade ring that means eternal and long last life for a great price. After dinner and walking through out the streets, it was time to see how the nightlife differed from Paradise Beach to Mykonos Town. As we were heading to this one bar called "Down Under", I couldn't help but notice two males sitting at a restaurant right across from the bar looked strangely familiar. The movie "King of Mykonos" that I went to go see last week had these two actors in it that were Scandanavian tourists. Sure enough, there they were sitting at this restaurant just having dinner with friends. Being the tourists that we are, Dom, Max, Cansu and I couldn't help but stare because we felt as if it were like the Brad Pitt and Vince Vaughn of Mykonos. Pictures were definitely taken from afar so we didn't look TOO creepy. After our celebrity siting, we went on our own little bar crawl to experience the different nightclub. Each bar is so different than the last and that's why it's so much fun. Each a different theme and different music. The day was starting to catch up to us because around 1am we were starting to fade and decided it was time to go back and rest before we had to journey back to Athens in the morning.

June 20th-

Our ferry departed Mykonos at 2:15pm and was set for a voyage of 5 1/2 hours to Athens. We managed to keep ourselves awake and busy by playing cards and "The Name Game" (as played in Inglorious Bastards in the bar scene). We got home around 8pm, made dinner and now here I am with the updates. It was a perfect weekend to end a perfect trip. A paradise vacation within a vacation.

This week is finals week with 1 quiz, 1 test, 1 paper and 2 projects ahead of me, I told you guys I was actually going to school here!

Peloponenese Coast

June 10th-

Today was a low key/relaxing day. I was on my own for most of the afternoon until I went to go see a Greek movie called, "King of Mykonos" with Dom, Max and one of my roommates Cansu. We thought it would be a fun/interesting experience to see how Greece cinemas work. They have outdoor theaters and indoor ones as well. It's different from the U.S. in terms of seating though. We purchased our tickets and found out that they do assigned seating here. The cinema is very classy, you don't have to dress up or anything but it's more elegant than some of the theaters I've been to at home. "King of Mykonos" is an Australian made film so the movie was in English with Greek subtitles (that's how the Greeks learn English). The movie was supposed to be the Greek version of our "Hangover." Some parts were funny and some parts were even more funny because we didn't understand some of the movie. It was a great experience all around though especially since we saw a movie that's filmed at an island we're going to next weekend and because it's a film that's only showed in Greece!

June 11th-

Today the group left for the Peloponenese Coast. This was our first over night excursion through the school. Our first destination was a town called Mystras. We explored a fortress that warriors used for battle thousands of years ago. It was literally on the highest point of this cliff and the steps to get up to the top were all jagged and uneven, quite dangerous. After the hike and sweat dripping down our faces (it was about 95 degrees) we finally reached the top. The view was amazing. I felt like I was in Sweden or Ireland though, it had that country feel to it. We took pictures and pretended we were Spartans from 300 and then it was time for lunch in Sparti. It's a cute, small town with alot of beautiful landscaping. After lunch we headed to our final destination, Monemvassia. We checked into our hotel called The Flower of Monemvassia and headed to the beach. The beaches in Greece aren't as sandy as I'm used to but the rockier the beaches, the clearer the water. I prefer the clear water or sandy beaches because when you use goggles it's BEAUTIFUL! One of my roommates brought a pair of goggles from home and she let us use them to see around us. Fish circling below us, coral reefs, sea urchins (be careful) and just the wonders of the sea. Around 6:30pm it was time for us to go back and freshen up for dinner. Our dinner reservations were at 8:30 where we headed to this vineyard. The restaurant is an original winery and olive oil plant. They make everything right there from scratch. Before we sat down for dinner we were taken into this room where the barrels of wine are kept. We did a wine tasting with the wines they make from their own vineyards. It was my first official wine tasting! The wine was delicious and to compliment the taste, they brought out gouda, feta cheese, tomatoes and cucumbers. So good. After the wine tasting it was time for dinner. We had our own private table on the balcony. The meal was one of my favorites since I've been in Greece. It was a 5 course meal and the waiters kept bringing out food! We purchased some wine at the end and it was time to head back to our hotel for the evening.

June 12th-

This morning we woke up and had breakfast at our hotel before we had to board the bus at 9am. We headed to this castle in Monemvassia that had almost 1,000 steps to get to the top (talk about a hike). Monemvassia is a small town just like Sparti, but the scenery is out of this world. After the castle hike we went to this canal that huge boats and ships use to get to the sea easier/faster. The canal is famous for bungee jumping. Even for a canal, the water is still clear as can be (I can't get over the water). Before we knew it, it was time to head back to Athens. The bus ride about 2 hours after the canal and we arrived home around 3:30pm. We were exhausted from the 2 days that we stayed in Saturday night to catch up on rest. This week is going to be busy with school and everything so we all need all the sleep we can get. This weekend we're going to the island of Mykonos which is supposed to be the "Vegas of Greece." There were bound to be great stories upon my return. Until then!

Free Food and Free Champaign, Can't Complain

June 9th-

This week has been a little low key because I think we were all still tired from the weekend before. This morning Dom and I took the tram to the Olympic Stadium because classes were cancelled due to commencement. I had this thought in my mind of what it was going to be like, needless to say I was quite disappointed. Don't get me wrong, it's awesome to see an olympic stadium for the first time, but it was so run down with graffiti everywhere. I forgot to mention in the first blog that Athens has SO much graffiti. There were fences blocking us from getting into some of the buildings and most of the signs were in Greek (go figure) so we had a hard time figuring out what building was for what. We got to go into the stadium where track events were held, it was huge. I wanted to go out on the actual track but security guards were keeping a close eye on us. The other building we went into had fencing courts and a really big basketball court. I didn't even know fencing was an olympic sport until yesterday. I wanted to see the pool but all the doors were locked to get inside. Apparently you can walk underneath the pool which would have been cool. After the stadium we were going to go to the beach with everyone, but clouds starting rolling in and it started to rain. I came home and Elizabeth and I decided to go shoe shopping. There's this hidden street that has all these shoe shops with shoes for super cheap! I was loving every minute of it. Of course after we're done shopping, around 3:00 the sun decided to come out with not a cloud in the sky. That evening we were all invited to go to the commencement ceremony since one of my roommates was graduating. We got free food and champaign and the atmosphere was awesome. It was at this really fancy hotel, like the Ritz Carlton of Greece. The reception was on the roof with a great set up. We all cleaned up pretty nice with our dresses and heels on. After the reception we went out to this dance club that was literally on the beach. You could walk down these stairs and you were pretty much in the sea. I felt like VIP though because there were door guys with a list and you were only allowed in the club if you were on the list. So we checked in, went to our RESERVED table and danced the night away.

This weekend we're going on another excursion, this one being overnight. We're going to Sparti, Monemvasia and another stop along the coast. We get back to Athens Saturday night so I'll have more when I return!

Greek Islands-Aegina, Hydra, Poros and Santorini!

Where to even begin. How about with the most amazing, eventful weekend EVER!?

June 4th-

Today the whole group left for a 1 day, 3 island cruise to the Greek Islands of Aegina, Hydra and Poros. It was an early morning starting at 6:30am where we had to travel to the port to catch our boat. It was a big boat that had a dining room on the lower level and 2 decks with tables and areas to lay out and catch the Grecian sun rays. The first island we went to was Poros. It was a very small island but so cute. We had time to walk around and explore a little but before we knew it, it was time to board the boat again. Our next island destination was Hydra. On this island there are no cars or motor vehicles allowed at all. It was so peaceful. This was my favorite island because it was my imagination of what Greece really was like. The white houses on cliffs overlooking the turquoise, blue water and churches everywhere. We walked up the cliffs and we found this awesome life-size chess board. Reminded me of Harry Potter! We actually stopped to rest a little and Max and I decided to play a game. After galavanting around Hydra, boarded the boat on last time for our final stop to the island of Aegina. This island is the closest to Athens, and it's the most population among the three. This was actually my least favorite island because it was too much of a city for me. I liked the smaller, more relaxed islands. Don't get me wrong, it was beautiful just not quite what I was expecting. It was very populated. We were so worn out from the day that we found a nice beach to just lay down, catch some sun and swim in the sea. We got back into Athens around 7pm and headed back to our apartments. The sun soaked out all of our energy that we were all in bed probably around 10pm. We had to go to bed early anyway because the next day we were leaving for the island of Santorini!

June 5th-

Woke up around 5:45am today to catch the metro to the port for our Blue Star Ferry to Santorini! Our ferry was 8 hours, but time went by quite fast. I slept for most of the way because I had to get up so early, not so much of an early morning person. Eight hours later, we arrive at the most BEAUTIFUL island of Greece: Santorini. Our first hostel was about 30 minutes outside of the main town. We had 2 separate rooms with 5 in one and 4 in the other. It was a cute location, only about 10 minutes from the black sand beaches and about a foot away from this delicious gyro place. The hostel had a great pool with a pool bar where we met these three guys from Australia. They stayed in Santorini a couple nights before and decided they would show us a great dance club at night. We sat around the pool talking about all of our travels and before we knew it, it was time to hit the dance floor! We went to this club called The Beach Bar (real original) and we walked up to American music filling the streets. It's funny because I've only heard American music since I've been in Greece. Apparently they're huge fans of our pop culture. We danced our booty's off until about 3am just having a great time with new friends and celebrating being in Santorini. After we couldn't feel our feet anymore, we headed back to our hostel because Dom, Elizabeth, 2 other girls and I were heading to Fira (the main town) the next day. Max and the 3 others decided they wanted to go on this excursion so they stayed at the hostel Sunday night.

June 6th-

We left our hostel around 10:30am and took a bus to the Blue Sky Hotel where we planned on staying the night. Elizabeth was playing mom (love when she does that) and was taking care of all the settling in when the receptionist said she had a change of plans for us. We boarded another private bus that took us to this town about 10 minutes outside of Fira. We got off the bus and the brother took us down to where we were re-located for the night. OH-MY-GOD, you would not believe where we got to stay. OUR OWN PRIVATE VILLAS ON THE SIDE OF A CLIFF!!! It's originally $250/night to stay in these villas but we are super special and stayed in them for only $14, talk about a hook up. I can't even describe the view. This was all I wanted to see. The white and blue houses on the mountains, surrounded by water, and sure enough I'm staying in my dream of Greece. We stayed at Irini's Villas which is all family owned. Irini told us that in the morning all we had to do was dial 0 and breakfast was served to us on our balconies. Don't tell me how we deserved all this star treatment, but I was not complaining at all. We rented ATV's to cruise around the island and we road over to the town called Oia which is famous for their beautiful sunsets. The journey to Oia was quite nerve-wrecking. We are riding on the side of these cliffs which all these winding roads, hair pin turns and no guard rails. Talk about your life at stake. TOTALLY worth it though. The view was incredible. We had time to spare before dinner and the sunset so we cruised through these wine roads where all these vineyards are. They have world famous wine and acres upon acres of grapes. I seriously can't believe how we lucked out on all the benefits of the weekend. It was the most amazing weekend of my life. Nothing could have gone better. I'm planning on moving to Santorini, just a little heads up.

The Acropolis

June 2nd-

This morning we woke up around 8:30 to make the hike up to the Acropolis. I knew it was going to be a brutal walk because at 9am it was already around 80 degrees. The walk wasn't that far from my apartment to the base but what was ahead of us was the worst. It's kind of a dangerous walk because it's an uneven walkway with no guard rails and rocks everywhere, but it was TOTALLY worth what we were about to experience. The first thing we saw was the Auditorium (looks like the Coliseum in Rome). They have music events and plays that they put on their and we were going to see if we could see a concert there before we left. Could you imagine sitting in the Auditorium of the Greek Gods and just relaxing and listening to music!? A dream come true. As we continued walking the entrance to the Acropolis was Athena's palace, and right between those columns stands the Parthenon. I was in disbelief that there it was right in front of me, the one thing I have wanted to see my whole life. The whole Acropolis itself is amazing. It all looks like a movie backdrop. The entire view of the city is unreal. You can see far out to the Mediteranean Sea and there were a lot of cruise ships moving along the coast. After we all had to be pinched because we still couldn't believe where we were, we walked down (so much easier than on the way up) we walked over to see Zeus' Temple. It's not part of the Acropolis but it's right in the middle of the city. We experienced so much in the morning that we went home to rest up before classes and for the night. Around 7pm me and a couple girls took the tram to the beach. It was perfect timing because the sun was just getting ready to set and the temperature was just right. The water is crystal blue, but I'm not a big fan of salt water. When we got back from walking along the coast, we came home to grab some food and Dom, Max and I headed out with some of Max's friend. One of his best friends just got into Athen's yesterday so we've been combining both of our groups which has been really fun. We went to this bar called 7 Jokers which is right down the street from Dom and Max's apartment. The mood feels like Moulin Rouge which is one of my favorite movies so I loved the atmosphere.

June 3rd-

Today has been more of a low-key day because there has been a 24 hour transportation strike so we can't use the tram, bus or metro to get anywhere. It's been alright though because we're catching up on school work and what not before we leave for the Greek Islands this weekend! Friday (tomorrow) we're going to three islands, Hydra, Poros and Aegina. Saturday we're going to the island of Santorini until Monday. Santorini is supposed to be the most beautiful island, with the blue/turquoise water and the water houses right on the water. It's where the movie Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was filmed. I'm so excited to go "island hopping" because the white houses and blue water was my image of Greece before we even came here. So until then, I must pack for the weekend and catch up on my T.V. shows I've missed!

The Beginning-May 29th-June 1st

Sorry this is my first post and I've already been here for 3 days, but that means I'm busy exploring in GREECE!

May 29th-

Dom and I headed to the airport to begin our travels. We had a layover in Philadelphia which just happened to be the day of the first Stanley Cup game and of course Dom was wearing his Blackhawks jersey. There were some evil eyes for sure. Our layover was very quick, and before we knew it we were on our 9 hour plane ride to Athens. We tried to sleep but airplane seat make it impossible. Our plane landed in Athens 9am Sunday (their time) and we had no time for rest. Dom's roommate was on our plane as well so we met up together when we landed and met the lady who was going to take us to our apartments. I live in this big apartment with 7 other girls and we all get along great. The most amazing part is the view from my roof. You walk up this spiral staircase and sure enough right in front of me is the Acropolis, it's amazing. After we got settled into our apartments, the whole group went out for lunch and explored the town of Plaka which is like a suburb of Athens. When we got back from walking around, we came back and unpacked our suitcases and rested up before we went out for the night. Later that night we went to this rooftop bar where you can see the Acropolis all lit up. The special of the night was if you order a beer you get a free shot (Dad, the shots were Ouzo haha) After the bar we got gelatto and headed back to our apartments to rest up for our classes the next day!

May 30th-

The day started off with an interesting trip to the grocery store. The store we went to is known as the "Wal-Mart" of Athens. We had to take the Metro there because it was 2 towns over. I went with my roommate and another girl in our group and we totally stuck out like 3 tourists with our maps and backpacks trying to find this grocery store in the middle of Athens. After we got some groceries I had to head to class. I had one at 12 and another at 2. I'm taking an Urban and Community Sociology class and Business and Professional Communications class. It's just me and this girl from Cairo, Egypt in my sociology class and two girls from India and kids from Greece in my Comm. class. I'm the only American....yikes. Both classes seem like they're going to be very fun so I'm looking forward to them. After class I came back to take a little napski because the jet-lag has been brutal. Athens is 8 hours ahead of Chicago so it's been a big change. In between Dom's classes we went to this cute restaurant called Noodle Bar where they make all these different stir-fry's and you can pick what you want in it, kind of like Noodles & Company but of course, so much better AND cheaper which was a plus. Later on in the night Dom, Max (his roommate) and Elizabeth (one of my roommates) went walking throughout Plaka and found this AMAZING roof top restaurant that had one of the best views of the Acropolis I've seen yet. We order a glass of wine, saganaki and this sauce called Thelonski (too hard to spell) but it's the sauce you dip in gyros which is made with cucumbers, dill, little onion and this creamy white sauce. So delicious. It happened a couple times where we would be in conversation and we would stop and catch ourselves looking up at the Acropolis. I can't even describe in words how breathtaking this place is. Roof top restaurants and bars are very popular here. They give you a great view of Athens.

June 1st-

Today Dom and I woke up early to do a few errands. He needed to go grocery shopping and exchange more money and we ended up stopping at Parliament. I'm not quite sure what the Parliament is for but I'm assuming it's involved with the Greek government and what not. They have these guards outside (they remind me of the guards in London) where you can take pictures with them. So of course I wanted a picture with them and people were making funny faces so I thought it would be a funny picture to pose like I was giving him a kiss on the cheek. I was about 2 feet away from him because these guards can be intimidating and not even 5 seconds after I'm posing, the guard slams his gun down (which had a knife at the top of it) and everyone looks at me. I heard some people laughing but my heart literally stopped and Dom and I left VERY fast after that happened. We ate lunch at this cute outdoor restaurant where we ordered this delicious pizza. It had bacon, ham, mushrooms and green peppers. It's not like Chicago pizza that's for sure, but it's pretty high up there. After class I went shopping on what could be called the Michigan Avenue of Athens. Great shops and tons of people. I can't leave shopping empty handed so I bought this adorable sun dress and my roomie walked away with a few more bags than I did. We have many more shopping dates planned. Now here I am updating everyone on my adventures in Greece and waiting for the evenings festivities to begin. I have a feeling that after this month, I'm not going to want to leave. I love the relaxed atmosphere and not worrying about times or anything. This month is going to be more than I could ever imagine. Until next time! Αντίο! (that's goodbye in Greek)