Spring Break in Greece

So I just came back from an amazing ten days in Greece!!

Although we had some pretty bad travel conditions, it was so worth it for the trip.
We left last Friday morning at 6:00 AM for the airport to head out.  And by "we left" I mean "I left" because the rest of my group overslept.  I tried calling them and BBMing them for about 45 minutes before they finally woke up and miraculously made it on the plane at the last minute.  I have to say that it was one of the most stressful 45 minutes ever not knowing how to get them up but not wanting to miss the flight myself!  But we finally flew out of Barcelona and made it to Prague where we had a TWELVE hour layover until we left for Athens!  It was quite an experience in the Prague airport.  We all got a little bit crazy by the end when our flight was delayed for an hour and a half, which made it actually a 13 1/2 hour layover.  So finally we made it to Athens and got to our hostel at about 4 AM.  We slept for just a few hours and woke up early to explore Athens.  We were able to see the Acropolis, the Parthenon, and the Olympic stadium, which was all cool to see because I had heard so much about them in the past.

Although that was all cool to see, I have to admit that Athens was not my favorite city.  It was actually pretty run down.  A lot of the people, the buildings, and the streets were all dirty.  In our first hour of being out of the hostel, we stopped to get a bite to eat at an outdoor restaurant and a Gypsy came up begging us for money and food (this happens about 20 times a day in every city in Europe) but this girl took it a step too far.  After we shook our heads no and turned away, she reached down and grabbed Julia's sandwich and ate it in front of us!   We didn't really know how to react- I think we all just stared with our jaws wide open until she left and we realized what happened.  At that point we just started laughing until our sides hurt.  It was so bizarre.  

After exploring a little bit, we went to a sandal store called "The Poet".  The Poet is actually pretty famous.  He hand makes Greek leather sandals.  John Lennon has a pair, Jackie O, Barbara Striesand ... just to name a few... The shoes are so cool and his store is too.  The walls are filled with leather shoes, bags, and small things like bracelets.

We all got a pair and have been wearing them nonstop since we bought them.  The store was so busy but "The Poet" was the nicest man and gave everyone individual attention.  It was such a great experience. 

We tried to call it an early night because we had people picking us up at 6:00 AM the next day to catch our Ferry to Mykonos, but there was a Discoteca down the street and the music was so loud that it sounded like we were in the club ourselves.  So night 3 of no sleep for us!  But nothing was going to stop us from going to Mykanos the next morning.

Like I said we left at 6:00 and headed to the port to get on the ferry.  The ferry wasn't what I was expecting.  It was like airplane seating inside but a little bit bigger seats and more comfortable, and you could walk around a lot more easily.  There were restaurants and you could sit at tables and eat if you wanted.  This was a 4 hour ride, so it wasn't too bad, but we finally made it to Mykanos!

We had vans from our hotel waiting for us to take us to check in.  The people at Hotel Aeolos were so nice!  If anyone ever plans to go to Mykanos I would definitely recommend this hotel.  We were so blown away by the people here.  We got all settled in our rooms and went out to check out the city.  Unfortunately the weather was rainy, cold, and windy.  One of the reasons we wanted to go to Greece was for the weather and we were hoping to spend a lot of time on the beaches, but as 73,097,422 people told us, we came the one week that there was bad weather.  Just our luck!  But we made the best of it and still enjoyed every minute.  Mykanos was a pretty little town.  All of the buildings were bright white with blue doors and windows.  We practically walked in peoples' houses walking down to the city center.

There were several nice stores and restaurants in the city and since we were unable to go out on the beaches, we spent a lot of time in both!
I always thought I loved Greek food from eating at CHOPS (Camden House of Pizza and Subs)... which now that I typed it out doesn't sound Greek at all but besides the pizza and subs they have gyros, greek salads, and all the typical Americanized Greek food... haha... but REAL Greek food is something else!  I fell in love with tzatziki, which is like a greek yogurt and cucumber dip, which we had with pita every meal.  We ate lots of gyros, suvlaki,  greek salads, and I can't even begin to tell what else.  It was all so good and I think our days revolved around eating.

Oh yeah, the best part- one day we rented a car!  It was only 8 euros per person to rent the Hyundai i10, an itsy bitsy car with red accented interior.  It was hilarious to try to fit all 5 of us in it, and to try to drive it.  I had my drivers license stolen so I wasn't eligible (thank goodness- I haven't driven in four months so Lord knows how that would have gone!) but Julia and Ellen both took turns driving us around the island to the beaches.

It was quite the experience but so worth it.  We drove to some of the beaches on Mykanos, but like I said the weather wasn't good enough to lay out or anything so we really just drove to see them.

The next day we headed out to Santorini.  It was another 4 hour ferry ride, but again we slept most of the way.
We had a bus pick us up from the port and take us to our hotel in Fira.  They put us in what seemed like a dungeon, but our rooms were right next to each other unlike in Mykanos and they were huge! Our room had three beds so we pushed them all together to make one megabed and all 5 of us piled in from time to time to hang out, but clearly we all like our space when we sleep because everyone always ended up back in separate beds when it was time to actually sleep.  Anyway, that made it sound like we stayed in bed all week- which we didn't do!

Santorini was where the movie Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was filmed- so it was really cool to see the places where the scenes were shot.
Here are some pretty pictures of Santorini:

It was incredible!

One day we rode donkeys.  You may not believe me, but it was one of the most frightening things I have ever done.  We all got on donkeys attached by a rope and we had a man leading us.  We rode the donkeys down the hill, but looking back we think we would have been better off to ride them up!  They were "fighty" as Julia said and clearly didn't like us riding on them.  They would try to get off track but couldn't because they were all hooked together.  They would kick the donkey behind it and when we would go around curves, they would get so close to the edge that I was convinced I would go flying off and end up at the bottom of the mountain.  Even though we were scared out of our minds we couldn't stop laughing the whole way down.  When the man asked us if we wanted to take a ride back up, we didn't hesitate before saying "NO!".  Although it was pretty frightening, I am so glad we did it!  I will never forget riding donkeys in Santorini.

Looking a little rough in this one, but we just had a traumatic experience and it was windy!

Anyway again in Santorini we ate twice our weight in Greek food and gelato and loved every bite.

Our trip back to Barcelona took a total of 24 hours from the time we left the hotel in Santorini to the time we landed in Barcelona.  That's a lot of traveling!  We had a bus ride, an 8 hour ferry ride back to Athens, a 6 hour wait in the Athens airport, a 2 1/2 hour flight to Prague, a 4 hour layover in Prague, and a 2 1/2 hour flight back to Barcelona.  That was exhausting but one cool part was that we were in the taxi on the way to the Athens airport as it turned midnight and we were able to see several churches setting off fireworks to celebrate Easter Sunday.  Our day was so consumed with traveling that it was hard to recognize that it was Easter, but this was a cool way to recognize the holiday.

I feel like I left out so much, but my brain is so full right now that I can't really remember anything else.
I have a week left in Barcelona- actually in exactly one week to the minute I will be landing in Columbia! Ahh that is so weird- such a strange feeling!  I am so so so excited to get back and see my family and friends, but honestly I don't want to leave Barcelona!  This is the least stressed I have ever been in college exam-wise: I have 3 take home exams (what?!?) and only one difficult exam to take as opposed to 5 difficult exams at Wofford.  Needless to say, I think I'll be all right my last week.  I am really trying to take advantage of all that I can do here in my last days- taking walks around the city between classes and enjoying the Spanish culture.  Barcelona really is an amazing city and it is so weird not knowing when I will come back to the city that has given me so much in the past four months.  I hope it will be soon, but who knows? Maybe I'll be sending my own children to study abroad in Barcelona before I can visit again.  I'm hoping it won't be that long though!

I'll try and do one more blog before I leave next week to wrap it all up, but I can't make any promises- but I guess it will be so soon that I will be seeing all of y'all that I can tell you in person!

Until then,
Adios!

Beach Weekend

I had a very relaxing weekend in Barcelona.  Friday afternoon after class (we only have Spanish on Fridays!) Amy and I walked down to the beach and laid out for a little bit.  It was very relaxing and so nice!  The weather has been amazing here recently and perfect for going to the beach.  We came back as the sun was starting to fade and showered and got cleaned up before a long dinner with the family.  Jordi is very into music and technology, and we spent a lot of our dinner watching music videos on his iPhone.  He showed us some Spanish songs as well as his favorite American songs (he knows a lot of American singers and songs... actually everyone here does.  At the gym the only songs they play are American songs for the most part).  He really likes country music which is awesome because I absolutely looooveee country.  He showed us a Catalan song that sounded a lot like country which I really liked.  The kids wanted to listen to some of their favorites (also American) and even though they said that they didn't like Justin Bieber, they sang along the whole time when I convinced Jordi to play "Baby".

After dinner, Amy and I went to our favorite bar, Kennedys, which I've talked about before, for some live music.  Again, the band only played American songs which was just fine with me, but it seems like that's all they listen to over here!  Everyone in the bar was singing along and they were all Spanish people.  I guess American music is just really big everywhere.  I really do wish that I could have learned some Spanish songs while I've been here but I haven't found anyone who listens to Spanish singers.  Maybe that will be my last goal- to get my hands on some real Spanish music.

The next day we went to Sitges for the day which is a short train ride from Barcelona, and it is a really pretty gay beach.  Obviously not only gay people go there, but we enjoyed walking around the town and laying out on the beach for a few hours.  We packed lunches to eat on the beach and couldn't resist when we found a frozen yogurt shop on the way to the beach!  They are just starting to become popular over here and the man working there said they love when Americans come in because we know a lot more about the concept of frozen yogurt and they like to learn about our stores in America.
Anyway, here are some pictures of Sitges

It was a nice weekend and I really enjoyed all the beach time I had!

This week is again crazy hectic with school work.  I actually got one of my finals today!  It's a take home exam... really???  But hey, I'm not complaining!  I'll take easy where I can get it.   So after a week of presentations and papers I will head to Greece on Friday!
We are flying into Athens to spend two nights and then we will go by ferry to Mykonos for three nights, then by ferry to Santorini for three nights, then back to Athens to catch our flight back to Barcelona on Easter Sunday!  And then I really cannot believe it but that is our last week here before I fly home on May 4th!!! Ahh where did the semester go????  I don't know if I'm ready to leave yet! I feel like I still have so many things I need to see and do but there's just not time.

I hope everyone had a great Monday and that the rest of your weeks will be great too!
Adios!!

Birthday, Seville, and Justin Bieber!!!

So sorry- I have to get better at this

Anyway I left y'all last time as a young 20 year old but now you're looking at a grown up 21 year old!!
We went out for a nice fondue dinner- sooo delicious- we got two cheeses and a meat entree (I had ostrich for the first time- pretty delicious!) and for desert we had the most delicious chocolate and white chocolate fondues!  Then Amy, Brittany, and I went to George Payne's and rang in the big 2-1 with some Guinnesses.

Last weekend we went to Seville and I think it may have been my favorite trip!  It was a smaller city than all of the big cities I have visited so far, so it was really nice to be in a smaller place.  The people were all so friendly and so attractive-  All of the children were so stinkin' cute and so well dressed.  I wanted to take one home with me in my suitcase.  Our first night we met up with Ellen and her family who were visiting and they treated us to some Sangria at a cute little restaurant by the Cathedral with tables outside and underneath orange trees.  It was a great area with several restaurants similar to this and so many people just walking through the streets laughing and enjoying their evening.

Saturday we got up relatively early to explore the town.  We walked back to the area where we ate the night before and saw the Cathedral during the day.  It is the largest Cathedral in Spain and (I think) the third largest in Europe, and it was soo beautiful!

As you can see in the picture, there were horses and carriages everywhere!  Since it was the Cup weekend and I can't remember a Cup that I haven't been to, it was nice to see horses.... it kinda made up for the fact that I was missing Camden's big holiday!  

Fun fact about this cathedral, though-  Christopher Columbus' body is in there!!  Crazy.  

We then went to this beautiful park and rode a pedal cart through it.  I haven't ridden on a pedal cart since I was about 10 and let's say my legs were more used to pedaling back then... 11 years later, we were all sweating by the end, but it was definitely a fun experience

Here are some pictures of the beautiful park we drove through...

It was so nice to see all of the greenery... I feel like it's so rare to find parks like this in the big cities we have visited.  I could breathe without breathing in either cigarettes or car fumes!

This is Plaza de España... SOO pretty!!  After the pedal cart ride we went back to the hotel for a little bit and took some siestas and got ready for the night.  We headed back out and took a horse and carriage ride.  It was so nice outside and we got a great nighttime tour of the city.

We were meeting one of McCauley's friends for dinner at 10:30 so we went to a bar and waited until we were going to meet them.  They are studying in Seville so they knew a great restaurant.  We all just got a few tapas and wine and it was all delicious of course.  After dinner we went down by the river where people usually pregame before they go to the clubs.  We hung out there for a while and ended up not going to a club that night.

When we woke up the next morning to go to the airport it was rainy and cold- a big disappointment after the absolutely beautiful weather we had the day before, but it was perfect leaving weather.  We made it back to Barcelona Sunday evening and got ready for another week of school.

School has been pretty hectic recently.  We have class next week Monday-Thursday and then Friday begins our Spring Break.  After Spring Break we have Monday off, and then our first exams are on Friday.  So we have not even two whole weeks left for classes so all of our teachers are packing on the work- papers, presentations, projects.... all that fun stuff!  So school is kind of taking over my life during the week.... But not last night!!!

Last night was one of the best nights of my life.  I went to THE JUSTIN BIEBER CONCERT!!!!  If you know me at all, you know that Justin Bieber is my second favorite singer, only behind Taylor Swift.  And it's a close race.  When I found out in November that Justin Bieber was going to be here in Barcelona, I cried a little bit from excitemen.  I know, I know... but I'm a 13 year old girl at heart despite my real age.  So yesterday I skipped my last class (sorry parents but it was the first time I missed that one!!.... maybe 2nd but I have 3 absences...) and we went to George Paynes for some Nachos and Sangria... great combination, right??  And then we were on the way to the Olympic Stadium for the concert!!! We all bought t-shirts and posters and had the most amazing time

We had General Admission tickets thinking that they wouldn't be that good... but they were like floor tickets and even though we weren't front row or anything we were closer to Justin than most people who paid more were!!  I guess the concept of general admission is different in Spain than it is in America... So yeah all in all it was an amazing night!!  I'll definitely always remember it when I wear my tacky t-shirt or look at the poster that will be hanging on my wall.

This weekend Amy and I are staying here in Barcelona.  It's supposed to be around 80 degrees so you can find me on the beach... NOT leaving all weekend!!  Gotta find some sunscreen though because I burn so quickly, especially since I haven't gotten much sun since I've been here.  I'm really excited about a relaxing weekend.  And then next Friday we're leaving for GREECE!!!  So excited about that!!

See all of yall Americans in less than a month--- ahh where has the time gone???

Adios!!