Haven't you ever seen the squeakuel?!?!?!

Our last day in Bulgaria was probably one of my favorites. My friends and I all had a Semester at Sea trip to a local orphanage. We got breakfast and headed out to the buses pretty early. We could choose between a handicapped orphanage, an infant orphanage, and a 3-7 year old orphanage. We decided on the 3-7 year old orphanage because the toys we brought were for this age group, and we really wanted to be able to play with the kids. We took a bus there, and it wasn’t too far from our port. We learned about how the orphanage worked and met the lady who started it all. She didn’t speak any English, but we had a translator with us. The translator looked exactly like Stanford from Sex and the City, but Candice thought he looked like someone in Alvin and the Chipmunks. She was really upset that I hadn't see the squeakuel (hence the title of this blog).

The orphanage is a tool to help parents learn how to take care of their kids that can’t. A lot of the kids get dropped off on Mondays and get picked back up by their parents on Fridays because the parents cannot afford to take care of the kids during the whole week. Some of the kids are there all the time if they come from homes of domestic violence or something like that, but the main goal of the orphanage is to help the households to be able to take care of the kids full time. For the other children, foster parents are usually the answer. There has been an increase in the number of foster parents volunteers because of people being out of work, so a lot of the kids have gotten foster parents. Yet, a new problem that has come up is the state is decreasing the funding for these kinds of places. A bunch of orphanages in the area have been shut down by the state in the past 5 years, and the woman running the one we visited is trying to fight that.

Another aspect of the orphanage we visited is that they have a “family home”. It is out in the back of the orphanage, but it is supposed to be a step closer to a real family home. Since most of these kids don’t know what it is like to live in a stable home, they are taught to do chores, share a room, have dinner as a family, and other things. It helps them to know what an appropriate home setting is. We got to see the inside of the actual orphanage and the family home. The family home is just like any other home, but the orphanage is adorable. The bathroom has short little sinks, miniature bathroom stalls, and little kid robes! There are two rooms for sleeping. The orphanage can house 60 kids, but they only have 30 right now because they want to make sure they can give proper care to the kids that are there. 60 kids would just be too many to handle.
And these kids were a hand full! After our tour, we were allowed to play outback with them. It was amazing how they interacted. We brought toys and other fun stuff for them to have, and some of the kids were real bullies. A few of the kids horded all the stuff to themselves and some of them were taking stuff from other kids. You could definitely see who the bullies were. But most of the kids were really great. There was this one adorable little girl named Sevi, and she was dressed in all yellow. She had the cutest little cheeks, and I had a lot of fun playing with her. But, my all-time favorite was this scrawny, quiet little boy. I don’t know his name, but he had this cute little baseball cap on and a little girl tank top. All of the kids were fascinated with our cameras and some play-doh that someone brought, but this little boy LOVED my camera. He kept putting the lens of the camera in his eye and taking a picture! I have a ton of pictures of him, and he was sitting in my lap like a little angel. Some of the bully kids kept coming over and trying to steal the camera, but I always defended him. He was the best. So was Sevi though. One of the bullies, who tended to be the older kids obviously, ripped this little clapper which was the only toy she had, out of her hands. She started to cry, so I wrestled it out of the older boy’s hands and gave it back. It is hard to understand what life they have lived, but a lot of these kids have had no discipline whatsoever.

We got to play with them for a while, and the translator had brought cookies too. Watching these kids eat cookies was probably the funniest thing ever. There was a kid there that my friends and I called Augustus Gloop because that is exactly who he looked like. He was SHOVING cookies in his mouth. He wasn’t the only one though. It was so funny. I mean they clearly don’t get a lot of cookies, but it was really entertaining to watch. There was also this really bratty girl that was attached to Megan’s hip. She was still pretty cute though. I have a video of her whining into the camera. It is amazing that no matter where you go, kids are kids.

After about two hours, we left. It was a really good experience to see the orphanage and how these kids live. I will honestly never forget that little boy. After that, we had lunch on the ship and went to McDonalds to use the internet. I got to upload my pictures from Italy but didn’t have time to do much else! So, onward to Turkey which I am super excited for. We are currently sitting in the Black Sea because it only takes a couple hours to get to Istanbul, and we have to stick to the schedule! Lame sauce! It is Candice’s birthday today though, so we ordered a cake! Yah!

Chilling in Varna!

Today we decided to have a chill day so we got up for breakfast and walked to the post office to get stamps. We walked around the city a little bit to shop and explore. We found this really cute old lady who was selling table clothes, and she was just the cutest. Katie and Rachel ended up buying stuff from her. She couldn’t speak any English, but her granddaughter was there to help translate. She was so nice. After that, we went to visit the aquarium. That was really interesting. It cost 4 leva to get in which is really cheap, and it was really small. I felt really bad for all the animals that were there. The tanks were all really dirty, and it was just not a good environment for animals. There was a tank for turtles, and I almost cried when I saw it. There were like 30 turtles in a tank that probably would have been good for about two of them. It was awful.

After that, we continued shopping and I found this REALLY cute pair of sandals that I am in love with! Yah! They are green and blue and so cute! After that, we went back and took a short nap and got ready to go out. We went to this restaurant that our friend from TLC recommended called Alba. The whole menu was in Bulgarian, so we had some problems when we were ordering. Luckily, we found one waiter who spoke a little bit of English, and he translated a few things for us. I ended up getting this Bulgarian dish that is cooked in this little pot. It had broccoli, cheese, chicken, and mushrooms. It was really good. Candice, Nicole, and I also split a bottle of wine which was called No Man’s Land and was really good. I tried everyone else’s food too, and it was delicious. Just as we were leaving the restaurant, this guy came up to our table and was clearly American. He introduced himself, but I forget his name. He has been living in Bulgaria for the past two years and teaches English. I think he wanted to talk for us longer, but we had plans, so we talked for a little, and left.

We went back to the really eclectic bar called Bapb. It was a little weirder this time because no one was there, but it was way later. There was just a small group of locals watching a soccer game, but we still got drinks and talked for a while. We were with Amanda, Nicole, and Rachel tonight, so we had a bigger group which was really fun. We talked about snow while we were at the bar which Megan isn’t used to because she is from California. She is thinking about moving to Boston, and we were warning her that her love for snow will probably disappear if she moves back east!

We left that bar and headed down to the beach. At this point, Candice and I were definitely in the mood to drink some more, so we stopped at a convenience store and bought a bottle of wine for the road. As we were walking, we walked past this bar playing live Latin music which I was really excited about. Amanda wanted to go down to the beach, so we didn’t end up stopping, but we walked along the beach for a little instead. It seemed like we were kind of heading back to the ship which I didn’t want to do since it was our last night in Bulgaria, so I said I wanted to go back to the Latin bar. The majority agreed, and Maggie and Amanda wanted to head back, so they did, and we headed to the bar.

It was AWESOME. It was actually a restaurant, and there wasn’t much of a dance floor, but it was really fun. There were a ton of older locals there, so we grabbed a table and sat down. I sat there for probably about two minutes and decided it was time to dance. So, I was dancing with these old people by myself for a few minutes before everyone joined in. They were playing some music that we knew and some we didn’t, but Candice made a serious connection with this old man that we were dancing with. I am pretty sure he was drunk, and his wife definitely hated us, but it was still really fun. We also danced with these two little old ladies, and even did a traditional Bulgarian line dance! Well, I think that is what it was. Nicole and I did it with the other people at the restaurant. She caught on a lot better than me, but at least I tried! It was a really fun night though. After dancing the night away we went back to the ship to go to sleep!

Ray Ray is about to go CRA CRA!

I slept in a little today, so I missed breakfast. So did Candice, but Megan and Katie were nice enough to steal us some food. We ate in Katie’s room, and then left to catch a bus to Nessebar which is this ancient city on the rocky coast of the Black Sea. When we left, there were a whole bunch of cab drivers sitting outside trying to get people to take cabs. This one guy was pretty pushy about it, so we stopped and negotiated with him for a few minutes. He said he would only charge us 40 leva a person to drive us all the way to Nessebar, wait for us for a couple hours, and drive us back. The bus was going to cost us 20 leva for one way, so we jumped at the opportunity. Especially because there were 6 of us, so we fit in the same cab. We jumped in and settled in for the hour and a half ride. We eventually arrived at this really adorable beach town. There were a ton of old ruins and churches, but the architecture was really amazing.

All of the houses were made of wood and the top floors of the buildings jutted out over the first floor which was pretty cool. We explored the town for a little and decided to look for somewhere to eat. As we were looking, we stumbled upon this amazing church overlooking the ocean, so we decided to go inside. It was in ruins, but still really cool. There was this adorable old man inside playing this small banjo, and this British guy was sitting next to him playing a miniature version of his instrument. We stood and watched for a little, and he started playing all these awesome songs like Yellow Submarine and such. So, we sang along for a little and took pictures with him. A few of us also bought his little banjos because his picture was on the back of it! It was so cute.
After that, we continued our search for authentic Bulgarian food. We ended up going to a restaurant overlooking the ocean. The waiter was pretty annoying, but the food was good. I think he was just excited that we were from the U.S. because Americans don’t really come to Bulgaria. Maggie and I split an order of mussels, and I had a beer. The seafood here is really, really good. After lunch we continued to walk around. People loved the idea that we were from the U.S. This one guy even started singing American Woman to us which was pretty funny. Another thing about Bulgaria is that there are a TON of kids. And they are so cute! So, I may have been a little creepy and taken pictures of a few of them. Their clothes are even adorable!

Just to let you in on a fun little inside joke, Megan is always writing in her journal. It is definitely a good thing so we can remember everything, but I tease her about it and call her The Scribe. Pretty hilarious. I just wanted to document that in some way. Haha. We got some gelato and continued people watching and shopping for a while. After a few hours of relaxing in the town, we call Rumen which was our taxi driver’s name, and he picked us up. On the way back to Varna, we asked Rumen if he would mind stopping at one of the many sunflower fields along the drive back. Luckily, he said yes, so we stopped along the highway and ran over to all the sunflowers. They were gorgeous! We were taking pictures and laughing about the possibility of snakes while Rumen peed on the other side of the highway behind the taxi. Pretty hilarious. Candice made a little butterfly friend that landed on her finger. It was pretty crazy how friendly it was. After a couple minutes, Rumen crossed the street with a knife. Haha. Megan said later that she was afraid he was going to kill us in this field, but he ended up cutting us down a bunch of sunflowers! What a gem! They were huge though! About the size of my face! It was really fun stopping in the field though. As we drove back, I fell asleep in the back. Rumen felt like a dad driving us all back from soccer practice or something. Haha.

When we got back, we showered and went to dinner. We picked a place really close to the beach. I had seafood paella that had this HUGE squid leg in it that everyone else was grossed out by. It was awesome though. We saw a bunch of SASers walking back from the beach, but we never visited the beach because our friends Amanda and Gabriel said it was contaminated with some really gross things from the factories in the area. EW. After dinner, we walked into town because we were in Varna during their annual music festival! The event we were going to was held in this old Roman bath which is exactly like a spa back in the day for men. We got there super early with a bunch of people from SAS. We were just hanging out there, and it started to get really crowded. They eventually opened the doors, and Bulgarian people were literally PUSHING us to get into this show. They must really love their classical music! So, we didn’t get good seats. We had to sit on this small collection of rocks in the middle of the seating area, so by the end of the show, my butt was completely numb. I sat right behind one of my professors and his kids, which was funny.

The show started, and it was really good. They had a small group of classical musicians in the back. The lead musicians were this guy who was playing something that looked like a clarinet but was different, and a guy with an oboe. Then, the main guy who was clearly in charge had like 4 different kinds of Bulgarian banjo/guitar things. There was also a drummer, bassist, and singer too. The music they played wasn’t straight classical, so it was actually really fun. The guy who spoke only spoke Bulgarian, so I didn’t really know what was going on, but near the end, I am pretty sure a famous singer sang with the group. It was really interesting. And it was really cool that the event was held in the ruins of an old roman bath. AWESOME.

After the show, we went down to a bar on the beach to get a drink and dessert. They didn’t have the largest selection of desserts, so Katie and I split a piece of lemon pie, and I had a mojito (my fav!). My friend Rachel really wanted this double chocolate cake that was on the menu, but they were out of it. This is about the time that her nickname of Ray Ray was created because without chocolate, Ray Ray goes CRA CRA. Haha. The pie was SUPER lemony, but the mojito was really good. It was really late after that, so we headed back, checked our email, and headed to bed!

Why can I not escape butt sweat? AKA swass

We have arrived in Bulgaria! The first day we got up early because we had to be in the union to listen to the U.S. ambassador to Bulgaria. He was a little skeevy, but he was alright. He talked a little about how their economy isn't doing as badly as Greece and such, and how they are switching to the euro by 2014 hopefully. I think their money is actually really pretty though. Anyways, he also talked about human trafficking and what they are doing to stop it, and the prejudice towards Turkish people in the area. It was pretty interesting. After that, we had to go get our passports because they want to check each person individually which was annoying. Our first stop when we finally got off the ship was BUNGEE JUMPING! It took us about an hour to walk to Asparuhov bridge which is known for its bungee jumping enthusiasts. We stopped at an ATM to get out money but were really skeptical about which ATM to use because apparently some of the machines around town are fraudulent. We could only use ATMs connected to banks or an ATM that a local used right before us. Luckily, we all were fine and didn’t get our cards stolen which was good. We did see one local go up to a machine, look at it, and walk away. Needless to say, we never used that ATM.

We were pretty sweaty by the time we arrived at the bridge, but as soon as we got on the bridge, I got really nervous. The bridge is about 50 m high or 150 ft. We couldn't find the group that does the bungee jumping, so we just kept walking down the bridge. We finally run into this sketchy yellow tent, and there is this old motor thing  attached to the side of the bridge along with bungee cords. Right when we got there, this girl was about to jump, so we watched her. It was INSANE. Basically, how it works is they harness you in to body harnesses and then hook you up to the main rope. From there, they help you sit on the side of this SUPER HIGH bridge, spin you around, and help you stand on the side of it. Then, they pull you away from the handrail, and you jump. crazy.

So, we walked over to the tent to find about 5 people ahead of us. Megan was starting to freak out by this point because she just wanted to do it, and we had to wait for all these people. So, she went first, then me, Maggie, Isabelle, Amanda, and Juliette jumped, in that order. We had to sign our lives away on a form which he originally handed to us in Bulgarian. Luckily, he had an English version, but none of the guys spoke fluent English. Only very, very broken English which definitely made us feel safe! So, Megan and I get strapped in to our body harnesses, and I am just super excited at this point. We paid our 50 leva which is actually only about 35 bucks. Crazy huh? We also filled out the form which asked some random questions like what our favorite hobbies were, so I wrote down chess because I am a smart ass of course. The guys read it and laughed at it, so I thought it was pretty funny. So, the guys that work there are pretty interesting. The main guy has these crazy dreadlocks and smelled like poop. We had to watch a few more people jump, and one guy hit the water! We were all hoping that would not happen to us. So, after all those people jumped, Megan was up first! She walked over to the bridge with me following behind. They strapped her on to the main bungee cord and helped her to sit up on the side of the bridge. She was freaking out by this point. She stood up on the edge of the bridge, and almost started to cry. Oh, I forgot to mention that it was really windy because we were over the ocean, so that made it even worse. But after about three seconds, she screamed TRUSTFALL (so did I just for Brown) and jumped! It was insane. After watching her jump, I was super nervous since she was the first person I knew that had jumped. Nothing went wrong though, and they threw down the cord that you have to hook on to yourself to get hoisted back up. She got back up and was really excited about it.

So, this is when I started to freak out. Like I literally couldn't talk, I said a prayer, I was super nervous. But of course, before I knew it, the main cord was hooked on, my shoes were off, and I was sitting on the side of this ridiculous bridge. The guys helped me stand up and made me take a step away from the hand hold, but the guy was holding on to my harness. So, I was like "Can you just hold my hand for a second?" and stood on the edge of the bridge holding this grease, disgusting man's hand. Luckily, I didn't look down, I yelled trust fall, and I jumped. The free fall was by far the most intense adrenalin rush of my life. The next thing I knew I was popping out of the ocean into the first catch of the bungee cord. YUP! THATS RIGHT! I hit the ocean! I was the only one of my friends that did! I didn't realize what was going on until the first catch of the cord, and then I started screaming bloody murder. All the blood was rushing to my head, and I couldn't get a grasp on where I was facing because the wind was blowing me in circles. After I stopped moving up and down, the guys threw the cord down to me that I was supposed to hook on. Yet, because it was so windy, I could NOT grab it for the life of me. It kept blowing away. Don't forget that at this point, I am upside-down. My feet were starting to hurt because that is what I was hanging from. It took me about 5 minutes to grab the cord which was a really long time in comparison to everyone that grabbed it in like 10 seconds.

So, they motored me back up, and I watched the rest of my friend's jump. It was really exciting to see everyone do it, but I was pissed I was the only one who hit the water. So, after we were all done jumping, I went up to the dreadlocks man and asked why I hit the water. He asked me if I knew Russian which of course I didn't, so I played charades to show him my question. And you know what the response was? JOKE! He said Joke! They decided they wanted me to hit the water, probably because I put chess on my paper and played a joke on me. So. Not. Funny. But it was fine, and definitely a fun experience.

We went to get something to eat after that because I was seriously exhausted. We all were! All we did was jump off a bridge but for some reason that really takes it out of you. So, I got lamb skewers, rice, and a nice, cold beer. I really like the beer here. Even the cheapest kind. The beer made me feel better. Just all that adrenalin made me really sluggish. We struggled with the waiter at this restaurant because he didn’t speak English that well. He really didn’t like us, but what did he want us to do? He brought an extra cup of soup that we didn’t order, and he got pretty mad about it. They were also playing old 90’s music like the Macarena and Torn by Natalie Imbruglia. We were pretty excited about it because the tv screens were playing the videos too, so we got to see a bunch of old videos.

After lunch, we walked back to the ship to take a nap because we were all still really tired. On the walk back, we ran into this really cute outdoor flea market that was selling touristy stuff and some authentic Bulgarian things. It was really cool, so we decided to come back when we weren’t so exhausted. We got back to the ship, slept for about two hours, and ate dinner on the ship to save a little bit of money. I was still so tired when I woke up from my nap, but I felt better. I was honestly sore from bungee jumping for the next few days. I just don’t think I felt it when I jumped because of how afraid I was. The food on the ship is always better in port anyways because it is fresh. After dinner, we decided to go to this bar that was recommended in Maggie’s tourist book called Bapb. Good luck saying that because I still can’t. We got there, and it was the second floor of this old building. They had these cute little footsteps leading to the stairwell that led upstairs, and as soon as we walked in, I was in love. The door was squishy and stuffed like a couch, and the inside was all different colored walls with really eclectic furniture. The lights above the bar were teapots, shoes, and other weird objects. The place was just really cool looking. So, we sat down in these fancy dining room chairs and ordered some drinks. Mandice and I got mojitos with no ice because we were told not to drink the tap water here, and they were delicious. We were the only ones there except for two other people sitting at the bar because we Americans go out way too early for European standards.

We were relaxing, talking, and drinking our drinks when the guy sitting at the bar came over to talk to us. We quickly discovered he was American and from Texas! He and his girlfriend had been living in Bulgaria for the past two months. They had originally planned to travel around until they had to be in New Zealand in October which is where they were moving to for his new job. Yet, they had both gotten sick in Bulgaria, so they had to stay here until they were healthy again. They were actually headed to Croatia around the time we were leaving Bulgaria. The really interesting thing was that their names were Amanda and Gabriel Painter, and he had his own show on TLC! He is a carpenter and has a show called The Repair Man and some other show I can’t remember. But he was moving to New Zealand for his new show! How cool is that?

They ended up coming over and sitting with us and gave us a bunch of helpful tips about Bulgaria. Firstly, the reason they got sick was from drinking the tap water. Apparently, it is really chlorinated here which our bodies clearly aren’t used to, so they got sick. Also, they told us about the people here and how most people are really reserved and will not approach you because of the influences of Communism that are still present. We had noticed that, but I didn’t know it affect just about everyone in the city. Also, there is a really large imbalance of wealth because when Communism fell, older people joined the mob. So, the mob controls a lot of the clubs and businesses in the area. There is almost no crime around because of how reserved the people are and because if you rob the wrong person, the mob will come after you. For example, if some guy robbed me, and another Bulgarian witnessed it, they would tell the mob, and the mob would go after that person because I am tourist money. They want me to feel safe and comfortable here which would not be the case if I got robbed. Pretty interesting huh? You can tell where the mob bars and clubs are though because there are really expensive cars like BMWs and Range Rovers sitting outside of them.

They told us all these stories, and we told them all about Semester at Sea for a while. They said they had seen some other people from our voyage that were all in neon and wasted at like 4 in the afternoon. Pretty typical, but they told us that if they were disruptive in anyway, they might get handled by the mob which is not a good thing. Jail here is pretty much just getting the shit kicked out of you, so I hope no one got arrested.

We finished our drinks, said goodbye to our new friends, and headed down towards the beach. Maggie, Candice, and I decided we wanted to go to the beach bars, and everyone else went back to the ship to go to sleep. We walked down to this one really nice looking bar and ordered some drinks. There were couches that faced the ocean that we sat on which was nice, but the drinks were expensive, so we decided to walk back to the ship. On our way back though, we walked past this really cool looking tented beach bar and decided to check it out. They weren’t playing techno which was a relief, so we ordered a drink and were chilling over to the side. We saw two fellow SASers going at it while sitting at the bar which was pretty disgusting. It was funny though. After a few minutes, these two guys walked up to us and struck up a conversation. One was a local from Bulgaria, but he was fluent in English because his sister apparently lives in Chicago. The other guy was from Canada and a little creepy. Candice and I talked to the guy from Bulgaria for a while, and he told us more about the area which was interesting. He told us that the bar we were in was getting more and more popular with locals, and three days before we had arrived, the mob ad shut it down. We couldn’t believe it, but he said it was because they were mad they were stealing business away from their bars. It is just crazy to me that they have that kind of power. Candice and I were drinking beer that had like these weird pop tabs. I also had to go to the bathroom, so I walked in and realized it was a squatting bathroom. As in, there is a hole and footmarks, and you squat. That is it. I couldn’t do it because it was too disgusting, so I just held it until we got back to the ship. It was pretty late so we headed back to the ship after two drinks at the cool bar. All in all, it was a really good night and a nice introduction to Bulgaria.

We are sitting...in the ocean...outside of Bulgaria..UGH!

So, some fun stuff has happened the past two days at sea that I thought I would write about. Last night we passed through the Bosphorus Strait Strait which was really cool. It is the strait that divides Istanbul in half between the two continents it occupies which are Europe and Asia. The strait was really cool though. A lot of the buildings on the shoreline were lit up, and most of the bridges were lit up too. There were also some fireworks that we saw! It was pretty exciting.

Also, there is a couple on board named Karen and Jeff who are life long learners. This means that they aren't professors, and they aren't students. They are older people that love to learn I guess and pay to come along on the ship. Jeff is retired now, but he used to work for a big advertising agency, and Karen designs cruises and vacation packages for some company. Pretty cool huh? They have a condo on some other cruise ship that sails around the world for 10 months out of each year, so they are obviously pretty successful. They travel a ton, don't have kids, and only live in their home in California for two months out of the year. Well, I think Jeff has a son, but I think he was from another marriage. Anyways, kind of a crazy lifestyle, huh? They are really nice though and a great resource for travel information since they have been just about everywhere. Anyways, part of their job as lifelong learners is to give presentations on their careers and what they have done. My friend Katie is an advertising major, so she went to Jeff's presentation last night. And guess what she found out? He came up with the taco bell slogan "Think outside the bun". HOW COOL IS THAT!? haha. He said they were in a meeting with taco bell, and taco bell had shot down all of the plans they had originally come up with, and he just threw that idea out there. He came up with it 3 months before he retired, and they are still using it today. So, that's pretty cool. They are really nice people though, and they have some pretty crazy stories. I can't really imagine living that life though. They spend Easter in Antarctica, and Christmas somewhere in South America. Crazy.

On a side note, my classes are going pretty well. Spanish is still really hard, but I am pushing through it. My negotiation class is still really interesting. We did an exercise today which pretty much made the whole class hate each other, but it was interesting to see that when people are labeled or put in a certain group, they tend to take on that role. The exercise is kind of complicated, but it ended with my group, who were the lowly workers, rioting and ransacking all the money and food from the other two groups. Pretty funny.

We also ordered a cake for Candice's 23rd birthday which is the day in between Bulgaria and Turkey. Yah! I am actually pretty annoyed with the ship right now though because we got to Bulgaria a day early, and we are now sitting just outside the port because we can't dock until 7 A.M. tomorrow. How annoying is that? UGH. Also, we are planning on going bungee jumping tomorrow in Bulgaria, so everyone say a prayer for me!

FINALLY! I found my shoe size! It is behemoth!

Day 4

So, today is our last day in Santorini :-( and we are really sad about it. Candice was freaking out pretty much all day because she is terrified of flying, and we were flying back to Athens from Santorini. We ate breakfast at the same crepe place because that is just how good it was. I got a crepe with peaches, honey, and whipped cream. SO GOOD. We then decided to go to Oia which is a difference town within the island of Santorini. We stayed in Fira, or Thira, as they spell it. So, we went there because we heard it had the best views, and the typical Santorini look. We hopped on a bus and drove, yet again, on a cliff side ledge. It wasn’t as bad this time, but it was still scary. So, we arrived and walked around and shopped a bit. The problem was that it was SO HOT. Like, so, so hot. Not to mention all the stairs! I seriously don’t know how old people live there. There are way too many steps. It was pretty touristy too. I am glad we stayed where we did.

We were in this one little shop though that had a whole bunch of beads hanging from this jewelry stand, and this really cute, blonde headed kid was like hitting the beads as if he was playing the drums. The store owner clearly wanted to say something to him, but his parents were shopping around, so he didn’t. He was super entertaining for me though. We bussed back to Thira after hanging out for a while because we REALLY wanted to get gyros before we left. And it was definitely worth it. The gyros were so good. They served them not all wrapped up, but on a plate where you pretty much made it yourself. The lamb though…oh..the lamb was SO good. It was off one of those rotating spits and was seasoned to perfection. I loved it. I also had Greek beer for the first time which was pretty good too!

We got some gelato for the last time and then chilled at the hostel until our flight because it was so hot outside. We looked at pictures from our Greece trip which was pretty hilarious and from everywhere we have been so far. It is crazy how quickly this trip is going by. Sometimes it feels like it is dragging on which is most of the time spent on the ship, but I seriously can’t believe we only have three countries left. It is crazy because I was looking forward to this trip for SO long. I also wrote some postcards while we sat there. Eventually, it was time to leave for the airport, so the people from our hostel gave us a free ride to the airport which was so kind. We got our boarding passes and went through security which was pretty dinky and not very secure at all. They had these little printouts that said you could only bring 100ml of liquids, but I’m pretty sure you would have been fine bringing them. It was a super small baggage checker and two guards. It was VERY different from the U.S., but for obviously reasons of course.

We had a little time before our flight so we played asshole and spoons (card games) which was pretty fun and helped Candice with her nerves. The gate to board the flight was literally a door that leads to a shuttle that drove you straight to the airplane outside. You got off the bus and could board the plane from the front or back door which was a little weird. Yet again, low security. Candice was pretty much freaking out by this point, so I asked her if she wanted me to sit with her because the flight was pretty empty. She was near tears, so I just let her go. To make matters even better, the pilot was AWFUL. He was swerving around on the runway, and there was really bad turbulence. The flight was ridiculously short though. We were only in the air for a half hour, so I’m glad we did it because the ferry would have taken 6 hours!

So, the main thing I LOVED about Greece was the people. Literally, every single person I met was so kind and helpful. I didn’t meet a single mean or rude person. It was insane. For example, when we went to pay for our hostel, Nicole, Katie, and I were trying to figure out if he wanted us to pay with a credit card or with cash. We were trying to ask him, and he was just like “hey, hey, girls. Don’t worry, be happy. We will figure it out in due time.” Haha. Like how funny is that? Everyone we asked for directions was super helpful, and it honestly stuck out as a crazy thing. I loved everyone I met.

Our flight landed, and we found out we had to take an hour long bus ride to get back to the ship. So, we grabbed some food, hopped on the bus, and settled in. Candice was in SUCH a great mood from living through the flight, so that was pretty funny. There were also a lot of other SASers on the bus which was kind of annoying but whatever. We got back to the ship and hit a huge line of people going through security to get back on the ship. Usually, after a port like this where people travel on their own, getting back on the ship is a pain because everyone has a bigger bag, and the security people RIP it apart looking for alcohol. Super annoying. Also, they were drug testing about every other person that got on the ship. I didn’t get tested, but Megan, Nicole, and Candice did which was kind of funny. If your drug test is positive, they kick you off the ship. So, by the time we all got back on, it was super late, so we just went to sleep!

Day 5

The last day we were in port, we decided to explore Athens a bit! I was SO happy that we had been traveling around Greece because I guess there had been a bunch of strikes and riots in Athens which made getting around really hard. The taxi cab drivers had a strike on one of the days we were there by literally stopping all of their taxis in the middle of major streets within Athens. So, obviously, buses and other cars couldn’t get around either. A lot of people on the ship were pretty pissed, but we didn’t have to deal with it which was nice.
So, we decided to go to the flea market in Athens on our last day which is actually just a bunch of cool shops in one area. To get there, we had to take a bus and then transfer to the metro. The bus ride was fine, but we were confused about how to get on the metro. Yet again, some really nice Greek women let us follow them to the metro and showed us how to get a ticket. They had passes so they went ahead of us. We were confused about which train we were actually supposed to get on, but a man helped us and the driver of the metro held the door open for us longer because we were confused. People here are ridiculously nice.

Anyways, we were on the metro on the way to the flea market, and there were the CUTEST two little brothers on the metro with three older women. One boy was in a stroller, and the other was old enough to walk. The older one was quite the trouble maker and was dancing for us and spinning around on the metro. He kept getting in trouble, but he was so cute. His little brother kept sticking his tongue out at me and making funny faces, so I of course did it right back. They were a lot of fun. They got of two stops before us, and as the older boy was getting off, he blew us a kiss! Cutest thing ever. The women they were with were kind of mean though, and the boys had definitely not showered in a long time. It was really sad. They were so cute and were so full of life. Hopefully they stay that way even though they probably aren’t in the best situation.

So, we got off at the flea market, and our number one goal was to find this man that makes handmade Greek sandals. We were looking for him for a while, but we eventually came across a small door that led down off the main street into a small basement. The basement smelled strongly of leather and had shoes from ceiling to floor. At the bottom of the stairs there was this adorable old man sweeping the floor. He invited us all the way down the stairs, and the frenzy of trying on sandals began. Fun fact: I am a size 42 in European sizes. There sizes are a little bit confusing, but his sandals were really beautiful, so I got a pair. We walked down a little further and just killed some time, browsed, and people watched. It was really relaxing because most of the market was shady which helped with the heat. Our friend Amanda led us to this really great gelato place where we of course got gelato. It was delicious.

After that, we took the metro back to the city where the ship was, and we had lunch at a small little café. They served smaller gyros which were the perfect size for a small lunch, so we got those and I got a glass of wine. We relaxed there for a while and headed back to the boat, so we could use some of the free wi-fi that the port had. It was still really early at home though, but I got to talk to my dad which was really nice. I miss home way more than I thought I would. I guess this is the first time I have been away for longer than a week or two though. I mean I guess I haven’t lived at home when I am at school, but everyone is at least a phone call away. It is hard not being able to pick up the phone and check on things.

So, that was Greece. I would definitely come back in the future, but I would probably go to a more remote, non-populated island if I did. I actually would just come back because of how welcoming, kind, and helpful all the people here were for our entire stay. Especially the people at our hostel. If anyone ever goes to Santorini and wants a cheaper place to stay, please let me recommend you to these guys. They were so nice!

RED BEACH WHITE BEACH and Wizard Whitebeard Strikes AGAIN!

Our first full day in Santorini was a really busy day. We slept in a little and left for breakfast around 10 am. We went to this small, crepe restaurant close to our hotel that was amazing. I had a waffle with fresh strawberries, bananas, whipped cream, and milk chocolate. YUM. My mom is probably getting so mad that I am talking so much about food, but it honestly has been so good everywhere we go.  After breakfast, we decided to head to the beach. We hopped on one of the public busses which are actually really nice tour busses and settled in for the 30 minute ride. It was a great way to see the whole island. I sat with Candice, and there was this really awkward blonde girl sitting in front of us with her boyfriend who kept turning around and STARING at me. Like, not casually looking, but STARING. She was clearly listening to our whole conversation, but who could blame her? We are hilarious. So, I basically just gave her a mean look, but she wouldn’t quit staring. She was super creepy. The guy collecting the money for the bus tickets was also really dumb and couldn’t count money. Fun fact.

So, we got off at “the beach”, looked around, and quickly realized that we were not at the beach. The shore was super rocky, and there were a few restaurant s around along with two small docks. So, we decided to walk down a little to the right and all of a sudden we hear “WHITE BEACH, RED BEACH. WHITE BEACH, RED BEACH. WHITE BEACH, RED BEACH.” We couldn’t miss the short, bald man missing about 8 or 9 teeth. He was really cute though. We asked him how to get to the beach, and he said “boat. 5 euro, both way.” So, we got on the boat! It filled up pretty quickly. We took off pretty quickly and rounded the corner of the rocky shore to see the “RED BEACH”. It was actually red because of the rock surrounding it. It was pretty crowded, and the boat driver said the water was deeper at the other beach, so we waited for the “WHITE BEACH”.

We rounded the next corner, and we came across a beautiful stone beach. We were so excited to get off and sunbath until we realized that the boat would not be able to dock. We see this fat, super tan old Greek man wading out into the water. Guess what his job is? To help us off the boat in the middle of ocean! We all had our purses and our cameras, so we would start down the ladder, he would grab us around the waist and lower us into the water. We were laughing so hard. My dress was soaking wet, but luckily, none of my stuff got wet. We stumbled up on the rocks and picked some chairs to lie in. There was absolutely nothing on this small piece of land other than umbrellas and chairs. It was amazing. Of course there were other people there, but not too many.

I went into the ocean right away because it was hot, and Katie and I had to pee REALLY badly. After a while, we swam out to one of the rocks and sunbathed on it for a while. It was amazing. My legs were in the water and my body was getting more tan! Yah! It was super relaxing. We eventually swam back in and laid on our chairs .The old man who came to get us in the middle of the ocean came over to our chairs to talk to us. He brought a huge cucumber over and peeled the outer skin off and cut it up for us to share. It was delicious. Probably the best cucumber I have ever had. He didn’t speak English well, but he was so kind and welcoming. We talked a little through sign language. The boat that brought us there came back every hour, and we decided to leave after the cucumber. So, we headed back out into the ocean with our stuff above our heads, and our new friend helped us into the boat. He gave us each a little love tap on the butt as he hoisted us up which was a little odd but pretty funny.

We headed back to the bus stop and found out that we had to wait 30 minutes for the next bus. We were pretty hungry, so we decided to sit down and split a few appetizers at this little, oceanfront restaurant. The cutest little Greek woman came out to give us menus, so we definitely weren’t going to leave. She didn’t speak English, but every time she passed us, she would rub one of our shoulders in a grandmother sort of way. It was so adorable. So we split a few appetizers that included warm feta cheese, eggplant, zucchini pies, tomato pies, and hummus. It was delicious, but I ate a lot of bread. Once we were done, the bus was about to arrive, so we walked over to catch it. I took a little nap on the ride back, and we headed back t the hotel once we got there. We didn’t shower but just changed our clothes because we decided it was a good time to go ride donkeys! We walked down to the donkey station because we had found it the night before and there were a ton of old, Greek men sitting around with their donkeys. They were so cute. One of the younger ones came up to us and asked if we were interested in a donkey ride, and we obviously were. It cost 10 euro but was totally worth it. They brought up 3 donkeys at a time and they were all attached to each other. So, Nicole, Maggie, and I hopped on the first three, but I was at the back of the pack. Mounting them was a little funny. I screamed because I almost fell off which would also mean I would probably roll down the stairs, and the guy leading our donkey group who didn’t speak much English, yelled at me because I was going to scare the donkeys. Katie, Candice, and Megan got on a group of three donkeys behind us, and we set off. We stayed along a path right at the coastline, and it was beautiful. It was a really cool, traditional experience. The only problem was that my donkey was a real ass (haha). He was in a big hurry for some reason and kept running my knee into Maggie’s donkeys butt. What a jerk. And honestly, donkeys butts aren’t the cleanest things ever. It was still fun though. Going up and down the stairs was a little scary, but I figured they were experienced.

We rode them for about 25 minutes and then headed back to the hotel to shower for dinner. We hurried to get ready because we wanted to eat dinner during the sunset. We got to this restaurant that had upstairs seating and an AMAZING view of the sunset. The staff was really funny too. I had a traditional lamb dish for dinner which was really good, and some beer. YUMMY. We had a really nice dinner and got some good pictures of the sunset. After that, we walked around for a while and shopped. They had some really cute shops there. I ended up buy two dresses. :-) Everyone else wanted to keep shopping, but Maggie and I decided to have a few drinks at this happy hour. We got two drinks for 8 euro and a free shot. The free shot was basically liquefied sugar, but the drinks were really good. We met a couple from New York that was a little older than us who were traveling for a couple weeks around Europe together. It was the cutest thing ever. We also talked to the bartender who was from Bulgaria, and he gave us some good suggestions on what to do there. The rest of the group came to find us, and we all walked over to get gelato. It was getting pretty late, so we decided to head back. Candice and I searched for Waldo for a while in her Where’s Waldo book. We also discovered that he has a pal called Wizard Whitebeard which was pretty funny at the time. It was pretty hilarious. We were laughing really hard and made a bunch of jokes about sharting. Hahaha.

Wow..Santorini is really romantic..good thing we are here as a group of 6 girls!

I woke up in Mykonos the next morning in a delightful puddle of sweat and discovered that I had a slight headache from the previous night. I got about 4 hours of sleep, so I was dragging a little bit. We headed to where the ferry was that we had to catch to get to Santorini, and my friend Nicole had a really hard time with getting her ticket because she booked it through a travel agency that messed up. Apparently, her ticket was somehow in Athens, and they didn’t have enough time to get it to her in Mykonos. I mean…HELLO? 21st century anyone? But whatever. Luckily, she got another ticket and was on the same ferry as us. As soon as we all had our tickets, we sat down at a small restaurant right on the water and got brunch. I had this tradition Greek dish called muafala? (spelled wrong). It was DELICIOUS. It had cheese, eggplant, meat, eggs, pickles, zucchini, and some other stuff in it. It was cooked kind of like lasagna. I loved it. Obviously. Haha.

After lunch, we went out by where the ferries load to wait for it. This random guy came up and talked to us, and he ended up being from Minnesota. He was a few months in to a year-long backpacking trip around the world. He was doing it alone and had been all over the world. He had been all over Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. He had left the first of January and was getting back at the end of the year. He was really interesting to talk to. I really think that would be the coolest experience ever, but I just don’t know about doing it alone as a woman. He was 27, so maybe when I am older it might be a possibility.

We boarded the ferry for our 3 hour ride to Santorini. The ferry was a little rocky, so when I got off, I was a little seasick. Yet, when we got off, a guy with a sign for our hotel was waiting for us with a long van yet again. There were other people in it with us but at least there were enough seats for everyone! We jumped in and headed up the side of the mountain to the top! It was back and forth and was a really beautiful view of the coastline. We arrived at the “hostel” and were taken to the nicest room we have stayed in so far. We had two three person rooms. Each room had its own bathroom, a kitchen, and a balcony. There was also free wifi, a pool, and maid service during the day. It was amazing. We only paid 50 euro each for two nights which works out to be about $75. AMAZING. We got showered and such since we were pretty stinky from not showering in Mykonos. We headed out to see the town and stopped at a place pretty close to our hotel which had this really cool, earthy outdoor seating. I had pork filet which was delicious. We then proceeded to just walk around, see the views, and shop. It was pretty crowded since it is the high season, but it was BEAUTIFUL. I was completely in love. Since we had such a crazy night the night before, we decided to turn in early and get a good night sleep!

Okay..jokes over! I'll take my real room now!

I am finally in Greece! Yah! This has been my number 1 destination for so long and I was SO excited to finally be here. We got off the ship super early the first day as usual. Haha. I have seriously turned into such an early riser. There is just too much to see to sleep through it! So, the port here is really, really nice. It has free wi-fi which everyone on the ship is super excited about. As we walked out, we were literally ATTACKED by men. Not just any men though. CAB driving men. The most aggressive kind. We had already decided to ride the bus, but no one would tell us where it was because they wanted our business. TYPICAL. So, we figured it out, bought our tickets, and got on the bus. The ride into Athens from the port was like 30 minutes, but it wasn’t too bad. We got to see a lot of the city. When we were at one of the stops, there was this woman running to get on the bus, and she seriously LAYED out. I felt so bad. She like dropped all of her stuff and didn’t get up for a minute. Some man outside helped her, but it was really scary. I thought she was actually injured.

We got off the bus near the Acropolis and shopped a little while we tried to figure out how to get in. They had these really cool carved wooden slingshots, but we weren’t allowed to bring them back on the ship. BOO. We found the entrance to the Acropolis and waited to get our student discount tickets. Somehow Maggie slipped by undetected and didn’t have to pay which was super lucky. It was also SO hot. I didn’t realize the Acropolis was on the top of a huge mountain, but we climbed it of course. Seeing ruins is kind of a hard thing to appreciate because they are ruined and all, but it was still cool. The Parthenon was probably the coolest thing since it was the most recognizable and intact still. There were also a TON of tourists around which always makes things not quite as special, but it was still a cool experience. The view was really great and showed the size of the city of Athens. Also, just like everywhere we go, the stones were super slippery, so it was like walking up a hill covered in ice in 100 degree weather. We all had our share of slips, but no falls! We lost Maggie and Nicole for a little bit, but we eventually found them at the bottom of the hill. We were all pretty hungry by that point, so we stopped at a small café and grabbed some sandwiches. I got the chicken and feta croissant sandwich which ended up being straight feta cheese. Still delicious though. I tend to not get what I actually order on this trip, but it always seems to work out! I also ordered a frappuccino because I needed caffeine and proceeded to get corrected because it is a “frappe” not a “frappacino”. He seemed a little offended, but it was whatever. Kind of funny actually.

So, we headed back to the port on a bus after that because we had to catch our ferry to Mykonos. We stood in the accordion of the bus which was PRETTY funny. Haha. Mandice and I played jello, and I totally crushed her. Literally. She’s just not that good at it. So, we got on the ferry which I was picturing to be a ferry with like metal benches and such, but it was SO nice. It had a really nice bar and restaurant inside, and the seats were super comfortable. People also drove their mopeds and cars on board which was pretty interesting. Another interesting thing is that security does not exist at all. They didn’t check bags what-so-ever which was so different from the U.S. We listened to our Ipods and took naps during the ferry ride. It wasn’t long before we had arrived! The arrival was crazy though. All of the passengers walked down to where we boarded and where they kept the cars. Then, as the ferry approached the dock, they started opening up the back before we had even stopped! People were starting their mopeds and cars even! It was crazy. Definitely a liability in the states. So, as soon as it stopped we hopped off. And then all hell broke loose.

We walked off the ferry, and there were a TON of people with signs for hotels and hostels. We found our hostel name and followed the guy to the van along with two other guys who were on our ferry. We loaded into the van which had 13 seats and threw our stuff in the back. We waited for a few minutes and then a BUNCH more people got in this long van. There were definitely more people than there were seats. Also, the guy driving the van was a CRAZY driver. He thought the best way to ask people to get out of the way of the van was to flash his headlights at them. He also was playing this music that sounded like farting music. It was hilarious. We arrived when it was dark out, so I didn’t really know where we were. So, we finally arrived at our hostel. It was half a campsite, half a hostel. The facilities were really nice. They had a market, café, bar, pool, and beach access. Yet, as we walked to our room, we saw the communal bathrooms to our left which did not believe in soap or toilet paper. Needless to say, no one showered during our stay there. Super clean!! We follow the girl farther down the dirt path…yes..dirt..to our bungalow which consists of six beds, one light bulb, and a mini fan. Really high class. I can’t even tell you how hard we were laughing. Not to mention the fact that the beds were super close to each other.

So, since Mykonos is known to be the party island, we headed to the market to get some liquor and start the party! We were getting ready and drinking and singing which was a lot of fun. Every time someone had to change something that shouldn’t be seen by the group, we just turned out the light! Aren’t we so resourceful? It was hilarious. After a while, a few girls from next door came over, and we became friends. They were really nice, and we had a good time pregaming and singing to some music. After a while, it was time to leave, so we headed in to town to see what was going on. We just wandered around a bit, got some stuff to eat, and scoped out the bars. One bar gave us some free shots when we walked in but then we walked right back out. Some people were feeling a little under the weather, so we decided to head back to the bungalow.

When we got back, I knew I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep, so Megan, Maggie, and I headed back out to Cava Paradiso which is a really popular nightclub near our place. We decided to walk, but we literally had to off road it to get there. We walked over this huge mountain and down along the beach where we ran into a group of people who said the cover was 30 euro to get in which is like $45. Crazy huh? But we decided to check it out for ourselves and kept walking. We then ran into a kid closer to the club that said the same thing, but also said he knew of another bar down the road and wouldn’t mind giving us a ride on his quad. So, since walking is all we ever do, we took him up on the offer. All 3 of us piled on with him and his friend, but the ride was only a few minutes long, so it was fine.

We arrived at this cute little beach bar with this CRAZY Greek waiter who was super welcoming. We realized that the guys who had given us a ride were a little creepy, so we started talking to these other guys who were from Australia. They were older than us, but they were really nice. One of them had the title of lord which was pretty hilarious. They were a fun group to hang out with, and they bought our drinks too which is never a bad thing. We hung out with them until about 5 a.m., and then decided to walk back. The walk was just as treacherous as the first time. We got back and Megan and I decided to walk down to the beach to see the sunrise. So, we start to walk down to the beach chairs, and guess what? We heard ROOSTERS crowing! ROOSTERS! Since it was dawn and all. It was seriously so funny. We waited until we saw the sun come up and then called it a night. It was a lot of fun!

Slip and Slide! Croatia Day 2,3, and 4

The second day in Croatia was pretty awesome. My friends and I were signed up to visit Montenegro through SAS. We left around 8 A.M., and the trip leaders were a little crazy because we had to have our passports on us. They are really controlling over our passports, but I guess that is because you can’t get back on the ship without one. So, we left on the bus and started the drive to Montenegro. We crossed the border without any trouble at all. It was 95 at 9:15 A.M. today. Pretty great on a bus. The air wouldn’t go up to high, so we were sweating a ton too.

So, we got to the Bay of Kotor after about two hours which is gorgeous. It is surrounded by these amazing mountains, and there are two small islands in the middle of the bay. We drove all the way around the bay which took a while since the roads are super small, and we were in a huge bus. We eventually got to the town of Kotor which is also enclosed by city walls just like Dubrovnik. We had a tour guide tell us a little about Montenegro and the town’s history. They speak Montenegrin which involves using TWO alphabets. Crazy huh? Also, they have the largest average height in the world. Megan fit in really well! Haha. Everyone was really tall, including people back in Dubrovnik. Anyways, we walked around the small town and looked inside of this really cool church. The church is one of the few Catholic churches in the area because most people in this area are Orthodox. The church has two towers side by side that don’t match because they ran out of money half way through building it. Pretty funny. The inside of the church is really beautiful. It is a like red/pink color because of the coral in the region. They also have these frames filled with silver pieces that were given to the church as thanks for bringing husbands, sons, and fathers safely home from sea since most of their jobs had to do with being at sea.

The city is also cool because it is naturally protected. On one side is a river, on two of the other sides is the ocean, and on the other side is a mountain range. I got some gelato there to cool me down, then we loaded back on the bus. I wish we had more time to wander around, but that is one of the downsides of SAS trips. RUSHED.
Once we were back on the bus, we began to head up the mountain because the next town we were going to see was on the other side. Going over this mountain, in a tour bus, was NO small feat. We definitely almost died like 15 times. The turns were super sharp, and the road going up was basically a one lane road. Anytime we came face to face with a car, they would have to go backwards up the mountain until there was room for us to squeeze by. One car that was going backwards almost shot off the back of the mountain! We almost went over the side a few times, and it was super scary. We eventually got to the top where we found a very small town. I have no idea how anyone could possibly live up there, but I guess they are self-sufficient. We stopped for a quick break there, and the town was called Hjeguse. I got a coke, and we took some pictures in front of the beautiful background of the mountains. One of the professors on the trip bought some cheese, and I had a bite. It was so delicious. Definitely made there. One kid on the trip was trying to split logs with this homemade ax. He failed, and it was hilarious.

We got back on the bus and headed to the actual city we were trying to see called Budva for lunch. Lunch was included in the trip, and we were served bread, soup that was really good, peas, potatoes, and this ham/steak dog thing. It was really good except for the peas. They were cooked in some weird sauce. We walked around the little town a little which was a beach town. Everyone was in a bathing suit. It was still super sweaty. We drove back to Croatia and along the way saw a ton of soccer fields. The funny thing was that they let sheep go loose on the field as lawn mowers! So cool!

We got back, showered, and headed to the Old Town for dinner. We were in Dubrovnik during their Summer Music Festival, so there were people everywhere doing traditional dances and playing traditional music. We saw a group of women doing a traditional dance which was really cool. We ate nearby, and I had seafood risotto. We also got free wine with dinner. After dinner, we walked around a bit, and I bought a beer from a newspaper stand. Their cheap beer is really good, and you can drink it on the street which is awesome. We went shopping a bit and ran into our friends Sircon and Eric. We got gelato with them and then people watched for a while which was interesting. After that, the guys took us to this rocky edge of the town with a great view of the moon, but it wasn’t so peaceful with a bunch of screaming natives and a creepy girl and guy doing some kind of drugs. So, we left and headed back to the boat to end the second day!

On the third day, we decided to relax. We went to the beach on the other side of the Old Town. There were a decent amount of people there, but the water felt great. It was SO hot. Yet again. The beach was also rocky instead of sandy, but it was nice. We relaxed for a while then decided to go parasailing! I ended up going alone because we could only go in groups of two but it was great! The view of the coast was amazing, and I had a great time. We went to lunch after that and I got shrimp risotto. They really like risotto here. We got gelato from a different place, and the people there were really cool. They were flipping the gelato upside down and one guy would throw scoops in the air and catch them in the cones. I also had my Pitt hat on, and the guy working there asked if it was Brad Pitt. Haha. Pretty funny.  After that, we headed back to the ship. The boat was anchored out in the middle of the ocean because a cruise ship had to dock where we had been, so we had to take the lifeboats out to the ship which was interesting. On our way out there, we met the onboard foreign student from Greece which is our next stop. She was really nice and is going to show us where to get handmade shoes in Athens!

We had dinner on the ship, and then went out for the night. We headed to this bar called Sky Bar. Candice and I split a bucket of Sex on the Beach which was delicious. We ran into a bunch of people from SAS too, but it was still fun. We then went to this club which had free cover for the night and danced. It was a really cool bar made of all the same white stone as the rest of the city. It was huge too and played some pretty good techno music. We stayed there for a bit and got back to the boat around 2 P.M. It was a really fun night.

Our last day in port was really fun. Megan and I went to this rocky cliff that was down a hidden staircase on the side of the main road leading to the Old Town. We went swimming in some pretty deep water and lay out for a bit. Okay, so funny story. The roads in Croatia are SUPER old. So, of course, they are worn down. When you look at them, they look like they have a slick glaze over them, and this is how it is everywhere in the city. So, as Megan and I are walking back to the ship, I slipped about 4 times. Literally almost wiped out. Oh course,Megan was laughing at me, but I didn't fall! So, I was pretty proud of myself. The problem was my Old Navy flip flops. Literally no traction.

On our way back to the ship, we stopped at this little hole in the wall place that smelled delicious, and we had heard good things about. It was AMAZING. The funny thing about it though was that I ordered a kabob, and Megan ordered a chicken sandwich, and we got the same exact thing! It was fresh lamb cut off one of those big rotisserie things. There was also lettuce, corn, and this amazing sauce in it too, and they were all shoved into a pita. It was so good. Definitely the best food I had in Croatia. After that, we headed back to the ship and used the internet for a while. Then, we were back on the ship and on the way to Athens! Yah! Sneak peek on our plans for the next few countries: Greece- riding donkeys! Bulgaria- bungee jumping! Morocco- camel riding and ziplining! WOOT WOOT

Hairy much? Croatia Day 1

Since I am writing these entries on the ship after being in Croatia, I will give you my general feelings of the place and then go into details. I LOVED IT. Okay, so I know I have said that for every country so far, but it was truly amazing. The city of Dubrovnik is where I spent most of my time, and the city is super old. The Old Town, or the main part of the city, is surrounded by these amazing city walls and is right on the ocean. The coast is rocky and gorgeous, and the mountains behind the city make it even more amazing. Now for the dirty details 

My friends and I woke up early on the first day and had to wait for the ship to be cleared. I don’t think I have gone into details on this, but every port we go into someone from that country has to get on the ship and check all of our paperwork. The students don’t have anything to do with this. We just have to wait for an announcement that says we can get off. I had to get my passport from the purser’s desk, who is the person in charge of everyone official, because I went to Montenegro the second day. So, I waited in line for that, than got off the ship. I am a little upset they don’t stamp our passports, but there are just too many people. I had an FDP (faculty directed practica) the first day at 1 P.M. so I had to be back at the ship around noon. So, we decided to go walk the city walls.

The city walls are the walls surrounding the Old Town, or the oldest and most adorable part of the city. We had to take a bus to get to the Old Town from where the ship was docked which was interesting to say the least. Okay. So it is 9:30 A.M. when we get on the bus. Guess how hot it was? 100 degrees which is about 40 degrees Celsius. I am getting used to people talking in terms of Celsius. Anyways, SO RIDICULOUSLY HOT. Not to mention the fact that the bus is completely packed. In the U.S., the bus driver will usually say, Okay! We are full! Not here! Here, the bus driver will wait until everyone standing outside somehow squeezes on to the bus. In 100 degree weather. Now, our first bus ride had a super fun twist. The second stop after our stop, once I was already sweating from every pore in my body, this lovely woman got on the bus and basically beelined to me! The thing about this woman is that it took me about 2 minutes to figure out she was a woman. She had a sleeveless dress on and had the hairiest armpits I had ever seen. Seriously. Hairy than most guys I know. It was DISGUSTING. Not to mention the fact that she had a decent amount of facial hair too. So, of course, she decides to stand right next to me and hold on to the hand rail right above my head. AKA…HAIRY ARMPIT IN MY FACE. Candice seemed to think this was pretty funny, and honestly, I was laughing pretty hard too. I mean, I know its culture and I was being rude, but I couldn’t help it. Especially with Candice also laughing in my face. Oh another fun fact. Europeans don’t believe in deodorant. Yah. Think about that one for a minute. Anyways, she eventually got off, and we had a good laugh about it. Ugh. So gross.

So, we eventually get to the Old Town. To get into it, you have to go through this main gate and cross over this old school draw bridge. It was so medieval and awesome. Then, right when you get in, you head to the right to climb up a TON of super steep steps to get to the top of the wall. We luckily got a student discount though and headed up.

Oh, small break from this story to discuss the exchange rate. So, it was 1 U.S. dollar = 5 kunas which is their currency. It was SO CONFUSING. Think about it. I would see something on like a menu that was 100 kunas, but it would only say 100 obviously. So, you think, HOLY SHIT! THAT’S SO MUCH MONEY! But really, it’s only $20! It was really hard to grasp it. Because then you were like, okay, so things are really cheap, don’t worry about it. Then, we went to a restaurant, and Katie wanted lobster. It was 700 kunas which is $140! So, it was really hard to get used to and figure out.

So, back to the walls. So, we head up to the top, and it is beautiful. Definitely the best view of the city. All of the rooftops in the city are these bright orange tiles and all of the buildings are this beautiful white stone. The rooftiles have an interesting history though. Back in the day, they were made over the thighs of women in the city because they didn’t have any automatic way of making them. But, after the Yugoslav War, a lot of those beautiful tiles were destroyed. So now, some of the houses are the same, old school tiles that have a ton of character because they aren’t the same size or the same shade of orange. The houses that were rebuilt are obviously all the same size and the same shade. So, it is still gorgeous, but it really does put the devastation that these people experience about 20 years ago that more real. The city is so picturesque. Not to mention the amazing mountains in the background and the ocean on the other side with a rocky coast. Amazing. Lucky for us, it was 100 degrees. So, by the time we had walked like half the wall, we were drenched in sweat. But it was still amazing. I really enjoyed walking the wall.

After that, we headed back to the ship because of the FDP I had. My friends didn’t have tickets for it, but three people ended up not showing up, so they were able to jump on! The trip was to a small, Croatian mountain village. The actual title of the trip was Osjinik village and folk show which is the actual name of the village. So, we head up there in these two huge tour buses because there were so many kids on the trip. It was a crazy drive up the mountain, but we stopped to take pictures at a look out place which was pretty cool. When we arrived, we were greeted by this man and woman, clearly married, in traditional dress. They were adorable. The woman had on a long, blue dress, and the man had these high socks and old school suspenders on. Hard to explain, but really cool. So, we follow them by foot down this dirt road, and I discovered that we were going to their home. So, these two cute, old Croatian people were about to welcome about 90 American college kids into their home. Wow.

When we got there, they greeted us with candied figs (gross), candied orange peels (delicious), and a shot of brandy (ummm yah). The brandy was so strong, and I guess we were supposed to sip on it, but we just shot it because it was gross, and we didn’t want to be rude. So, we were relaxing at their home which had this huge patio that overlooked the country side. There were grapes and vines growing above it and onions and garlic hanging out too. It was so quaint. They also had a room that had an open fire in it for cooking food obviously. No oven. Crazy huh? After mingling for a while with each other and looking around, the husband came out with a traditional Croatian instrument that looked like a weird shaped banjo. His wife then did a traditional dance while he played. Once we got to the house, all of their sons were there too so one of them was dancing with their mother. After dancing for a couple minutes, she made us all get up and dance with her. Haha. It was basically clapping and turning in circles. Picture 90 students all crammed on a porch in 100 degree weather clapping and turning in circles. Pretty hilar.

After the dance, they served a small snack before the actual dinner that we would be having there. She had a ton of homemade bread which was amazing, and she had plates and plates of bacon in small pieces, uncooked, on places. We were each given a spite made of some sort of plant, and we were supposed to cook the bacon over an open fire that her husband started up. It was SO GOOD. The bacon wasn’t like American bacon and was so fresh. I loved it. They also served water and homemade red wine which was delicious. So, we did some more socializing and relaxing as we ate and drank. Then, it was time for dinner.

Okay. So, keep in mind. There are 90 kids at this house. This couple has opened their home, danced, and cooked for us. As my friends and I sit down inside of this cave like dining room that has three large tables, two girls from SAS (Semester at Sea) STUMBLE into the room WASTED. Like, so drunk. Can’t walk they are so drunk. Like are you seriously? One of them sat down next to Candice and proceeded to apologize for being so drunk. Then, she tells us that she had PREGAMED the trip, as in took shots before we even got on the bus, and had like 5 shots of brandy because some people didn’t want to drink it. I was so annoyed. This girl and her friend were so rude and obnoxious when these people had been so nice to us. UGH. Anyways, they first served us salad with a really light dressing on it, bread, and pork and potatoes. The potatoes were SO GOOD. Like amazing. They had definitely been cooked over the open fire and were so delicious. So was the meat, but the potatoes were amazing. With dinner, we also had wine and water. Those two girls were basically chugging the wine and just being super loud and rude. After dinner, we left about two hours early because of these girls and headed down the mountain. When we were walking out to the buses though, we saw a donkey! I petted him. He was super cute and chill. I loved him. Haha. The experience was really great, but those girls really put a damper on it. Needless to say, one threw up all over herself on the bus, and one threw up behind the bus once we got to the boat. Super classy huh? I don’t know if they got in trouble, but I hope they did. Can’t you hold your boos?

We got back from the trip, and I took a short nap and showered. The sun really takes it out of you. We decided to have more of a chill night, so we went looking for this bar that Rick Steve’s, who is my favorite tour book writer, suggested. It was called Buza. There are apparently two of them, but we went to his favorite. It was literally a hole in the wall the surrounded the old city. The hole lead to this really steep, small staircase and opened up to the rocks on the outside of the walls. It was amazing! It was really dark, but the walkways were outlined with white rope lights. They also had red, green, and blue lights flashing all over the places. Not like how it is in the club, but more chill. There were little rock plateaus and each one had a table on it. So, everyone was on their own little rock plateau with the most beautiful view of the ocean and moon that I have ever seen. While we were there, it was a full moon. So, we sat down and ordered some drinks. It was pretty expensive which isn’t surprising because of the view, but they were playing jazz music, and it was really cool. Katie and Megan felt like they were getting eaten alive by bugs, so they left with Maggie kind of early. Candice and I stayed with another group of girls for a bit longer and then went into the Old Town to shop and get gelato. Yummy  It was a really chill night which was nice because we had to be up super early the next morning for Montenegro!

Thoughts from the Ocean

So, I am back on the ship on the way to Croatia, and there are just a few things I would like to write down so I remember. First, I really, really, really dislike being on this ship. Especially after being in Italy for a week. Not only am I taking classes, but I am perfectly content with only hanging out with a select few people on this ship. I heard from other voyages that everyone got along with everyone, but I don't really get that vibe from our voyage. Which is totally fine because I have a great group of friends that I really get along well with. Just a thought though. Being in port is WAY better than being on this ship. Also, another funny thing that happened to me. I have been using my cellphone as an alarm clock on the ship. When I got back to my room from Italy, my cellphone had DUST on it. DUST! Isn't that insane? Like it hadn't been touched in 7 days. Completely crazy and foreign to just about everyone who is reading this I am sure. Seriously though, how crazy is that? That definitely blew my mind. Okay that is it. Goodnight! Only one more day then CROATIA!

Check out that priest on a bike!!!!

I wanted to say some additional stuff from Rome and Venice that I forgot. When we were leaving our hostel in Rome to go to Venice, I walked out of the door, and there was the CUTEST little girl dancing in the entrance way. Her mom was outside smoking a cigarette and paying absolutely NO attention to her child which annoyed the hell out of me. They little girl had this super ghetto bandage on her leg, but she was just a bundle of joy. She was dancing in circles around me, so I joined in of course and danced with her for a few minutes. She obviously just learned how to walk so she kept falling, but she was a trooper and got right back up! So, we danced for a while, but we were going to be late for our train, so I had to leave. So, I waved goodbye and headed out the door past her shitty mother, and she ran after me down the street! I seriously almost started crying and haven’t stopped thinking about that little girl. If it hadn’t been illegal, crazy, and retarded to take her with me, I totally would have. It was so sad that all she wanted to do was dance, and her mom was too “preoccupied”. She really got to me when she ran after me though.

Also, an additional story in Venice is when we were hanging out in the square after seeing the main sites eating gelato, and we saw this SUPER cracked-out pigeon. He was pecking and jumping on top of this other pigeon, and I seriously think he was drunk or something because his eyes were like bulging and his feathers were all messed up. Since I hate pigeons to begin with, I didn’t feel bad, but people were acting crazy with the pigeons. There were people in the middle of the square letting them land on their arms and heads and feeding them. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? THOSE THINGS ARE RATS WITH WINGS. Clearly, those people were not from any kind of city because even Pittsburgh has those. Come on people. EW. Also, I have a new found obsession with 1) chocolate croissants and 2) cappuccino. I am sure neither would be nearly as delicious in the U.S. The cappuccino here is SO good. I love it so much. And the best chocolate croissant I had was in Naples which is a little surprising since it is the armpit of Italy. Don’t get me wrong though. I would go back to Naples in an instant for that pizza.

So, back to the present. The night we spent in Florence was really fun. We took Rick Steve’s recommendation for a place to have dinner, since he is THE MAN, and it was delicious. We had a cheese plate as an appetizer, wine, and I have a Florentine steak! It may or may not have been for two people, but I ate the whole thing and don’t regret it one bit! It was delicious. There was this couple sitting next to us though who were judging us hardcore for being American. I was trying to speak a little bit of Italian, and they were laughing which got on my nerves. Come on! I am trying! Megan (Big) was sick which sucked so she had to stay in, but I think taking a night off gave her some extra energy for the rest of the trip. We call her Big, and we call Katie Rob because they look exactly like Rob and Big from the show on MTV. Well, minus the overweight black man, but height-wise at least. It is a funny joke. We have a lot of those. I definitely got lucky finding these girls to travel with because we are ALWAYS laughing and joking and having a great time. So, after the steak, we walked around Florence a little bit.

We took embarrassing jumping pictures and such, but we were worn out so we went to sleep early. The next morning, we got up to go to Cinque Terre (Five towns and SO EXCITED). We stopped to get cappacino and some food. I of course went for the chocolate croissant because we were only in Italy for seven days. It’s whatever. But Maggie got granola and yogurt. Just as a warning, granola is apparently the same as cornflakes. Who knew? They also played Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve which was my high school class song while we were eating. That was a bit weird, but I liked it. Almost all of the music is American which is a little strange, but cool. We also had some pretty funny discussions at breakfast about Candice’s chastity belt, and the fact that I am like an insect attractor that fries the bugs but for men. I dunno. It doesn’t really make sense to write it on here, but it is hilarious when you are there. So, we hopped on the train to Cinque Terre which was a local train.  Just so you know, if you ever travel on a local train in Europe, you have to validate your ticket before you get on. We clearly did not know this, and they can fine you up to 50 euro for not validating your ticket. Luckily, the guy was nice and just told us to make sure we did it from now on. Dodged that bullet! I also got some pretty attractive pictures of Candice and Maggie sleeping which I will try to share in the future.

Cinque Terre is a little bit complicated. The biggest city near it is La Spezia which is where all the trains come in at from places like Rome, Florence, and Venice. Then, you have to take another small train to one of the five towns that make up Cinque Terre. We got to La Spezia when one of the trains was leaving for Riomaggiore (or as we called it Rigamortis) which is the first of the five towns and the one we stayed at. We tried to make a run for it but missed it. It was fun running for it though. I felt super European. So, we caught the next one because they come on a consistent basis. We met two kids who are military kids and are living in Italy for now. They were working to write a tour book for a certain company which sounded really cool. We finally got to our hostel which is AMAZING. We had an amazing porch and a beautiful view of the harbor. The place itself had a nice bathroom and a full kitchen too. It had cots in the other two rooms which were the living room and bedroom, but for a hostel, it was SUPER nice. And we only spent 50 euro a person for two nights! We went to grab lunch and I had seafood pizza which was delicious. Then, THE HIKE.

So the five towns of Cinque Terre are connected by small roads which fit the even smaller cars everyone drives. Yet, it is also connected by hiking trails. Since our town was the first town, we started our hike there and worked our way down. Also in that order, the hikes get more difficult. So, from the first town of Riomaggiore to the second town of Manarola was a nice 20 minutes hike along the ocean. It was a beautiful view and had a nice trail and everything. This path is called Via dell’Amore or Pathway of Love. It is called this because back in the 1920’s, it was the only connection between these first two towns, and boys and girls from each town would us the path to meet in the middle. Freaking adorable right? Well, when you walk the path, there is graffiti everywhere, but it is amazing. People’s names in hearts, love notes, confessions of love, you name it. All written on the rocks. We left our mark on one of the benches, but I am not going to reveal how ;-). Another tradition is for two lovers to attach a padlock to wires or on the fence somewhere along the path to “lock up” their love. So, there are all kind of padlocks everywhere with things written on them, and cloth in the shape of a heart in the fences. It was really, really cool.

So, the path from Manarola to the third town of Corniglia was closed. We took the train to Corniglia instead and somehow missed Manarola. Don’t worry. We went back later. We walked up about 400 steps to get to Corniglia, and we wandered around the town a little bit. It is definitely the sleepiest town of all of them, but it had a great panoramic view. I also bought lemonade off of the CUTEST little boy, even though it was really sour. We then left Corniglia and started the hike to the fourth town of Vernazza.

All I can say is HILARIOUS. Seriously, the hardest hike ever. I was totally not prepared. It was either uphill or downhill and super rocky. There also weren’t too many hand rails or safety fences, so falling off was a definite possibility. Poor Katie is so short, I really have no idea how she did it. Some of the steps were as big as here! But Rob is a trooper and pulled through! We sang songs and played some games while we hiked, but the view was breathtaking. You could see Corniglia up on the ridge, and it is seriously amazing that these places even exist. It is straight out of a fairytale. Rick Steve’s said it was “kind of” treacherous, but he was definitely sugar coating it. We were completely drenched in sweat by the time we were done. I was scared Katie was going to fall off, and Candice got attacked by a bee. There were also A LOT of Betty Boops around which is kind of an inside joke, but I must include it. They kept sneaking into our pictures with all of their huge umbrellas!!!

We got to Vernazza to see the sunset, and we climbed to the top where there is this castle that has a tower. It was probably my favorite town .It had the cutest harbor and a small beach, and an AMAZING view. We decided not to hike to the last town because we were going to go to the beach there tomorrow and the sun was setting. Doing a hike like that in the dark would definitely be the end of us. We ended up staying for dinner there because the train wasn’t going to come for another hour or so. We split a bottle of wine (which I probably drank most of) and caprese. I also had some pasta for dinner that was really good. We had a great view of the harbor, and it really made me fall in love with this place. I will definitely be coming back here in the near future. We then got on the train to go back to our hostel. We grabbed some gelato and were planning on getting ready and going out, but I kind of passed out on the bed from exhaustion. We have just been traveling so much and adding a hike to the mix didn’t really sit well with me. I was completely out.

Our second day in Cinque Terre started out a little rocky. Maggie wasn’t feeling well at all and got sick at like 6 in the morning. Candice and I walked to a pharmacy to try and get her something, but they weren’t opening until 10. So, she decided to wait it out, and she ended up being okay which was great. We slept in after that until about 10 which was glorious. We ate breakfast in Riomaggiore which for me, consisted of fruit crepes, a banana smoothie, and a cappuccino. YUMMY! The crepes were so good. We headed to the last town which is called Monterosso and went to lay on the beach. So, the beaches at the Cinque Terre are rocks which are a) not comfortable at all and b) SO HOT. I lasted about two hours laying out and then Candice and I went shopping a little bit. We grabbed some gelato (yes, I have it like twice a day. It is my medicine!) and walked through the town. This town is definitely the most touristy, but it was still cute. I ended up buying a long, white cotton dress that will be useful in Morocco. Two general observations. Speedos should be ILLEGAL for men over the age of like 15. And EVERYONE in Europe smokes. You can smoke everywhere, and it is super disgusting. Ugh. Hate it.

We then decided to head back to Manarola since we didn’t really get to see the town. The train wasn’t coming for about 40 minutes, so I got a mojito at this Americanized bar that is run by this guy who is definitely Italian, but loves the U.S. He was playing some serious country music, and I loved it. We got to Manarola and got lunch at a place recommended by Rick Steves (MY MAN). It was SO good. I got seafood pasta, and the pasta was homemade and drenched in olive oil. Ahh. Perfecto. We then decided to walk down to the water, and we saw this HUGE rock that a bunch of kids were jumping off of. I watched a few of them jump, and it looked cool. So, of course, I decided to do it. Megan and Maggie came with and the water was FREEZING. But we climbed up to the very top of the rock and jumped down into the water which was about a 30-35 foot fall. It was AWESOME! Super scary though. It took me a second to jump, and I really thought the jump should have been over when I was about half way through it. Such a rush. The first time it hurt the bottom of my feet a bit, but that was it. We did it twice, but the second time I forgot to hold my nose, so I got a BUNCH of salt water in my nose. And a huge wedgie. So, that was it for us!
We headed back, got showered, and took another of Rick Steve’s recommendations and ate at La Lanterna. It was right across from our hostel which was pretty nice. I got gnocchi with clam sauce, and they were definitely the best gnocchi I have ever had. They were homemade and had garlic and basil infused in them. SO GOOD. The guy who worked there was this grumpy old Italian man, and I loved him. A group of five came in after us, and he pretty much kicked them out because the restaurant was pretty small. He threw up his hands and said “This is not possible”! Haha. So cute. He had these little red glasses too, so Maggie told me how to say I like your glasses. I said that to him, and he started talking to me really quickly in Italian, and I was like “Uhhh Sorry! No comprendo!” So, he grabbed my face and gave me a big kiss on the cheek. Haha. He was the best.

We then went and got gelato, and Candice and I were drinking mojitos from the local bar. They were some of the best mojitos I have ever had. SO GOOD. We made friends with the old man bartender who looked somewhat like a biker version of Santa Claus. We also met some other travelers from Sweden and Australia. Two of the girls were from Sweden, and they were a little crazy. They were pretty drunk and just a bit ridiculous. The one apologized to me because she had always thought American girls were shallow, and we weren’t! Shocker right? We also met two girls from Australia who were nice and are going to be in Santorini the same time as us too! Also, we met three guys from Australia, and they were hilarious! They called their one friend Nugget, so I obviously joined in on that. They told us all about their travel plans too. They were going to Spain after Cinque Terre to do the running of the bulls which apparently is like suicidal? Nugget wasn’t doing it though, so they were ripping on him a little bit. We also fought a little about different words and how “weird” our accents were. They were fun to hang out with. After a while, Candice and I left them at the bar to go and sit down by the harbor. It was really nice when it was dark, and we sat and talked for a while. Candice then went to try and call her boyfriend while I made friends with a stray cat! He was super cute, and Candice checked first to see if he had rabies. What a great friend!

So, we woke up this morning and left Cinque Terre. I was super sad about it. I could have stayed there all week! We caught the train to Pisa and did the whole touristy pictures with the tower. It is much smaller in person that I always thought it was. It is only 8 stories high! It was a good thing to see though. It was super crowded but still entertaining. So, we headed back to the train station to go to Civitavecchia which is where the boat was going to meet us. We grabbed lunch there, and we are now headed to Croatia! Italy was amazing though, and I had a great time, even though it was a bit exhausting!

Italy is amaze-balls!

Just so everyone knows, the title of this blog is a quote of my good friend Megan MacLeod. She is a gem. Our last night in Rome was super fun. We ended up going to this Steeler bar that is in Rome and meeting the owner Giovanni. Apparently, he is really good friends with Vanessa Rendine, my BFF from high school, because she studied in Rome for a semester. Pretty small world if you ask me! We then walked to the Spanish Steps, picked up some gelato, and relaxed for a bit. Some Italian guys were singing what we thought was the Italian national anthem, so it was pretty entertaining.

The next morning we were up early and off to Venice. I really love Venice because really...who thinks to build a town on water? Clearly someone who wants it to sink which is exactly what is happening. We went to St. Mark's Cathedral which is my favorite church in Italy, and the front entrance was about two inches under water. So sad. Before you know it, the whole city is going to be like Atlantis which is so sad because it is gorgeous. Also, I read in my guide book that less and less people are living in Venice because of how expensive it is and such. So, basically it will probably just be a huge museum sometime in the near future without any real Italian influence. It really is a gorgeous place though. We saw the church and the Bridge of Sighs and got gelato. Yah, I've been eating a lot of that. We got a REALLY good dinner at this one place, god only knows how to say the name. We were trying really hard to be Italian and not try to rush, so we sat there for about 3 to 3 and a half hours. Not too bad huh?

We checked in to our hostel which was definitely the most interesting part of our Venice trip. The place was called the Venice Museum. So, finding it was a struggle. Apparently, it is really easy to get lost in Venice because they don't have cars, so basically roads are alleyways. So, finding our hostel is like finding a needle in a haystack. Luckily, we did it by the address number, not that finding the street was that easy. Keep in mind that while trying to find these places, we have HUGE bags with us. I am using Maggie's sister's hiking backpack, and it is packed to the brim. So, we finally find it and there is NO sign. It is literally the second floor of an apartment complex. Yet, it is gorgeous. They definitely weren't lying when calling it a museum. The floors were marble and intricate, and everything looked so cool, even the door. So, we check in, and they show us to our room which is this HUGE room with 5 dinky little beds in it. Also, we find out that the bathroom in that room isn't just ours, and the door to our room doesn't lock. So, we are all sitting on our beds relaxing as people walk in and out of our room. Basically hilarious. I mean, it was hilarious because it was so ridiculous and sketchy. But don't worry. It gets better. After about an half hour of us chilling, these two guys come in and start setting up MORE dinky beds! Yes. DING DING DING! WE HAVE ROOMMATES! I literally have never laughed so hard in my life. I have seen hostel, the scary movie, and this is how people die. So, this was happening around us without us being told. Candice and I were dying. Like the FUNNIEST thing ever. The girls who ended up staying with us were fine, but still. No lock? Come on now. On the ceiling of our room were these little naked angel babies carved into the wall. The guy working for the hostel was joking with us that there eyes move. None of us found that too funny, but one of the little angels did have a huge bellybutton. Just wanted to share that fun fact.

Katie, Candice, and I went out last night for like an hour because the kid working at the hostel who is from New Zealand was all about us "going out". We ended up meeting this 16 year old boy from England who was traveling by himself! 16!!?!?! Crazy huh? He is staying in Venice for 3 days then going to Nice, France to meet up with his dad. And he is staying in our SUPER classy hostel. Hilar.We then headed back and went to bed because we had to be up early.

So, we are now in Florence. We caught an early train here and walked around and shopped a bit. Florence is known for their leather, so Katie was dead set on getting a nice leather jacket which she did. It is super cute. We also went to this open market where they sell clothes, jewelry, shoes, and stuff like that. I got a pair of shoes which I love. Super funny that I am a size 41 in Europe. Things are so different. We also saw the only bridge in Florence that survived WWII. It was gorgeous. There are little shops built into it, and it looks so old. You can tell that the other bridges are newer. We checked into a hostel here and it is a lot better than last night. More like a dorm than anywhere else and luckily Mandice (aka Candice) and I are separated by a wall so that's good. Last night we just about pushed our beds together, but that was mostly because of the two strangers in the room with us. So, we are chilling in our hostel in Florence right now before dinner. Hopefully I can fill up on some Florentine steak tonight which is apparently like a SUPER rare steak they are famous for making. And a bit of wine too of course! ;-)