Just so you all know, this will more than likely be my last blog entry. Seeing as how today was the last full day in Greece and I don't there will be too much to say about my time flying back to the States, I'm just going to see if I'm able to leave it. Maybe comment on here to let you all know that I made back alive or something...
But yesterday was a fairly usual day. I think I did pretty well on my project presentation and spent most of the afternoon hanging out at the hotel and things like that. After getting dinner, I felt like going to the flea market to get more music only to find out that it was closed after about 7:30. Before going to bed, I also found out that the Acropolis would be closed the next day due to the strikes that are/were occurring in the city. Fortunately I had already gone but it would've cool to go out there again. Maybe next time?
Today was a little more eventful as I took an exam for another one of my classes, went out and found another awesome record stores (One of the things that I'll miss most about this country), hung out in the hotel and took a little siesta, went out on a group dinner for one last time, and have been hanging out on the rooftop garden since then. THought it'd be good to make a good entry before I was too gone...
Sorry to cut this a little short. Looking forward to being back in the States though I will definitely be missing this place for quite some time! I can't believe it's already time to go. I'll be feeling it tonight...
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
I Am The Truth And I Walk Alone
The first part of the day largely dealt with the last day of mandatory sightseeing (Still taking that one in, really) as the group left Nauphlion and saw the sites of Corinth and Eleusis before making our way back to Athens for the third and final time. The second half of the day has revolved around getting used to being back in Athens though the adjustments have always been fairly easy in my opinion. I've mostly spent the afternoon/evening enjoying the use of reliable internet while chatting with Heather for the first time in a few days, grabbing dinner at the McDonald's (Last time, I promise!), attempting to find a fruit stand though finding them all to be closed, and going between working on my project and the usual procrastination...
I am currently on the hotel's rooftop garden going between surfing the net and continuing to work on this project. At this current time, I have about 5 1/2 pages written and am a little over halfway through my work. Seeing as how it's due for both classes tomorrow morning, I'll be sure to finish everything before I go to bed.
I am currently on the hotel's rooftop garden going between surfing the net and continuing to work on this project. At this current time, I have about 5 1/2 pages written and am a little over halfway through my work. Seeing as how it's due for both classes tomorrow morning, I'll be sure to finish everything before I go to bed.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
When You Leave, I Go Insane
Almost forgot to make an update. Probably would be a good idea to do that while I'm still thinking about it. Especially since this is our last night at Nauphlion...
Well today was a pretty eventful day with it beginning with breakfast followed by a few presentations in my Ancient City class (I'll be going on Monday, though I still need to work on it. Damn introductory paragraphs...). After that, we had another afternoon of expeditions as we went to check out various ruins at Argos and Mycenae about 45 minutes or so away. All in all, another great round of sights with Mycenae in particular being interesting for the tombs that I managed to look at while we were there. Granted they were completely empty but you gotta love the feelings associated with them...
After that, I spent some time hanging out at the hotel before deciding to go take another one of my walks along the shore. I managed to bring my camera along this time and took some interesting shots of the path down to the beach (Some of the graffiti was rather amusing...). I also randomly got dinner with a few group members at one of the pizzerias and ended up scaling the fortress that stands on the hill above the city. Needless to say, it was a pretty straining climb though the sights were pretty awesome.
Following my return to the hotel and a quick shower, I decided that it would be good to check my email and possibly work on this project. Of course, I still haven't gotten much work done though I have everything in my head and have gotten the green lights to use the same project for both classes. I wonder if I will ever learn...
Well today was a pretty eventful day with it beginning with breakfast followed by a few presentations in my Ancient City class (I'll be going on Monday, though I still need to work on it. Damn introductory paragraphs...). After that, we had another afternoon of expeditions as we went to check out various ruins at Argos and Mycenae about 45 minutes or so away. All in all, another great round of sights with Mycenae in particular being interesting for the tombs that I managed to look at while we were there. Granted they were completely empty but you gotta love the feelings associated with them...
After that, I spent some time hanging out at the hotel before deciding to go take another one of my walks along the shore. I managed to bring my camera along this time and took some interesting shots of the path down to the beach (Some of the graffiti was rather amusing...). I also randomly got dinner with a few group members at one of the pizzerias and ended up scaling the fortress that stands on the hill above the city. Needless to say, it was a pretty straining climb though the sights were pretty awesome.
Following my return to the hotel and a quick shower, I decided that it would be good to check my email and possibly work on this project. Of course, I still haven't gotten much work done though I have everything in my head and have gotten the green lights to use the same project for both classes. I wonder if I will ever learn...
Friday, June 25, 2010
Anyone Wanna Learn Elvish?
On the day after I comment on Facebook about how there hasn't been any violent activity since we've been in this country, I learn about an assassination attempt on one of the Ministers of Security that ended up killing an advisor by mistake. I only learned a few details about the matter this morning, but I can assure anyone that has heard about this that our group is still doing fine. With us still being in Nauphlion and the attack occurring in Athens, we missed that and shouldn't be in any danger when we return to the capital in 2 days. Just wanted to throw that out there and let you know that we're still alive...
So today was another typical sort of day as we had a few classes, a few bus rides, ventured to another archaeological site (Complete with some singing on the local theater to test out the acoustics. Yours truly did a rousing rendition of Bruce Dickinson's "Tears Of The Dragon"), and got off for a late lunch around 3. After that, we've had another clear day so I ended up hanging around the hotel, wandering along the shoreline again (I'll probably bring my camera next time I go check out. It is a nice little path), and just got back from a late dinner at a nearby cafe. I gotta tell you, pear juice is some interesting stuff. Actually, all the juices that I've had here have been pretty interesting and go beyond the standard orange/apple/grape that we see on the other side of the Atlantic. The peach and strawberry juices are particularly interesting...
Also worth interesting is that there are only about 5 more days left of the trip. While the trip has had some slow pacing at times, there are still some feelings of it going by quickly. Of course, I'm still anxious to make my way back to the States to see everyone that I've missed here and to plot where my next cross-country adventure should be. I do have a slight yearning leftover from the Ireland incident...
So today was another typical sort of day as we had a few classes, a few bus rides, ventured to another archaeological site (Complete with some singing on the local theater to test out the acoustics. Yours truly did a rousing rendition of Bruce Dickinson's "Tears Of The Dragon"), and got off for a late lunch around 3. After that, we've had another clear day so I ended up hanging around the hotel, wandering along the shoreline again (I'll probably bring my camera next time I go check out. It is a nice little path), and just got back from a late dinner at a nearby cafe. I gotta tell you, pear juice is some interesting stuff. Actually, all the juices that I've had here have been pretty interesting and go beyond the standard orange/apple/grape that we see on the other side of the Atlantic. The peach and strawberry juices are particularly interesting...
Also worth interesting is that there are only about 5 more days left of the trip. While the trip has had some slow pacing at times, there are still some feelings of it going by quickly. Of course, I'm still anxious to make my way back to the States to see everyone that I've missed here and to plot where my next cross-country adventure should be. I do have a slight yearning leftover from the Ireland incident...
Thursday, June 24, 2010
It's the Dopemine
After another fit of getting up and going back to bed (Makes me wonder if I'll be having these strange fits in the States...), I got up around 9:15 in order to make it to breakfast on time. The breakfast here is actually pretty decent and probably the best I've had next to Athens. After that and taking some time to check my email, I had my two classes and found out a little more about the projects we have to work on before the journey ends. I have a good idea of what I'll be doing though I still need to get the green light from Dr. Shea for the City class. I also found out how I did on the midterms and actually did a lot better than I had anticipated. Yay for having such merciful graders...
Following a trip to a small museum that apparently built from a barracks, I spent the afternoon with a smaller version of the usual group getting lunch and checking out a few more stores. In addition to some sausage and gelato, I got a little something more to add on to previous gift ideas. Hopefully you all like what I got you.
Aside from the usual relaxing, the big highlight of the evening was going out and exploring more of the area with my iPod in tow. I took the opposite path of what I had yesterday and decided to follow the shoreline in hopes of seeing a beach to walk along. While I didn't really find the standard beach, it was a pretty incredible sight to walk along and I got some exercise in while the areas closest to the ocean. For some reason, doom metal makes for good rock climbing music...
And now I'm back in the hotel working with the computer and contemplating the final project once more. It's still as slow as before though it isn't as tedious when I distract myself with other things. Might be a good time to grab a bowl and spoon for more cereal...
Following a trip to a small museum that apparently built from a barracks, I spent the afternoon with a smaller version of the usual group getting lunch and checking out a few more stores. In addition to some sausage and gelato, I got a little something more to add on to previous gift ideas. Hopefully you all like what I got you.
Aside from the usual relaxing, the big highlight of the evening was going out and exploring more of the area with my iPod in tow. I took the opposite path of what I had yesterday and decided to follow the shoreline in hopes of seeing a beach to walk along. While I didn't really find the standard beach, it was a pretty incredible sight to walk along and I got some exercise in while the areas closest to the ocean. For some reason, doom metal makes for good rock climbing music...
And now I'm back in the hotel working with the computer and contemplating the final project once more. It's still as slow as before though it isn't as tedious when I distract myself with other things. Might be a good time to grab a bowl and spoon for more cereal...
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
It Knows I'm Addicted...
With today being another one of our free days, it's safe to say that it was pretty laid back and relatively lazy. After waking up and going back to bed several times, I started my day around 9:30 and ended up missing breakfast by a few minutes. Thus my first adventure of the day began as I walked around the port and into the town looking for a supermarket. One of the group members suggested getting cereal and milk from a market a few weeks ago and I thought it'd be a good idea to try out now that we're in a place for more than a full day. With my iPod in hand, I ended up wandering about the town before finding a market and also bought some stuff at a bakery and two record stores along the way. I definitely didn't expect the latter places to pop up here. How did they find me? Whatever the case, I ended up getting 4 more CD's for about 48 euro...
The rest of the day was pretty much hanging out online (Continuing to deal with the less-than-favorable connection), listening to music, seeing what other people are up to, doing some writing/drawing, and random things along the way. I also grabbed dinner at another pizzeria that was probably about as good as the one I went to. Not too much else to add other than that. Got classes to think about for tomorrow morning. Thankfully there's nothing too early to worry about...
The rest of the day was pretty much hanging out online (Continuing to deal with the less-than-favorable connection), listening to music, seeing what other people are up to, doing some writing/drawing, and random things along the way. I also grabbed dinner at another pizzeria that was probably about as good as the one I went to. Not too much else to add other than that. Got classes to think about for tomorrow morning. Thankfully there's nothing too early to worry about...
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
You Have To Learn The Hard Way
Our group started off the day with another trip to an archaeological site before going out on another long round of driving, this time to the site at Olympia as promised the day before. It was a pretty nifty site though I can only imagine how much more impressive it was when the statue of Olympian Zeus was still there. Unfortunately, the day before probably would've been a better day to go for the site was packed with tourists. It may sound hypocritical of me to cite that as a criticism, but at least our group isn't getting in the way of other people's photos and posing on top of the stones. When taking my faith into consideration, it's borderline desecration! How would you like it if I took a picture of me with my arm around a statue of Christ? Not exactly respectful...
But the drive was another 3-4 hour trek as we journeyed from Olympia to Naflion (Another one of those regions that gets me with the spelling. Like Siphnos before it, Spell Check doesn't recognize it...). Highlights include the usual iPod listening, stopping to briefly grab lunch, brief lectures after the stops, and stopping by another set of ruins at Tiryns. While these were not as elaborate as some on past sites, it was still pretty cool to check out.
We arrived at Naflion around the same time we arrived at the last few destinations and have largely had a free day since then. Thus my evening has been spent working with the internet (The signal is terrible...), wandering about the streets, grabbing dinner at a pizzeria after learning that one that I was thinking of checking out was closed, doing some reading for a class, writing an entry for my personal journal, and listening to some music all the while. I kinda feel like going out to get a snack at some point soon. Maybe I'll look for a decent internet cafe while I'm out...
But the drive was another 3-4 hour trek as we journeyed from Olympia to Naflion (Another one of those regions that gets me with the spelling. Like Siphnos before it, Spell Check doesn't recognize it...). Highlights include the usual iPod listening, stopping to briefly grab lunch, brief lectures after the stops, and stopping by another set of ruins at Tiryns. While these were not as elaborate as some on past sites, it was still pretty cool to check out.
We arrived at Naflion around the same time we arrived at the last few destinations and have largely had a free day since then. Thus my evening has been spent working with the internet (The signal is terrible...), wandering about the streets, grabbing dinner at a pizzeria after learning that one that I was thinking of checking out was closed, doing some reading for a class, writing an entry for my personal journal, and listening to some music all the while. I kinda feel like going out to get a snack at some point soon. Maybe I'll look for a decent internet cafe while I'm out...
Monday, June 21, 2010
Wherever I May Roam
As evidenced by the title, today was another traveling day and I think tomorrow will more than likely be more of the same. We went on a four hour drive from Delphi to Olympia with a brief stop at a nearby beach/port area for a few hours. While it did seem rather early to have lunch (ABout 11 am-12 pm), it was still go to have that stop and we also walked around the port for the rest of the time. Other than that, it was pretty much all iPod listening and periodic dozing off. I know just solely listening to one's iPod does seem like it'd be a dull trip but I honestly never get enough of it. I suppose we'll see how I do on the 11 hour flight back to the States in about 8 days...
We got to Olympia in the mid-afternoon and took a few minutes to settle into another hotel (Another fancy hotel, specifically...) before we went to a museum close to the local archaeological site. The museum was a lot like the others but also contained a few statues that should look pretty familiar when all of my pictures get uploaded online (They'll more than likely be on my Facebook page to warn you in advance...). Unfortunately, the group elected to go to the site itself tomorrow morning when everyone is more rested.
Since then, I've pretty been shopping (Got stuff for Mom and Dad; my conscience is clear), hanging out at the hotel, and grabbing dinner with Eric. I find it humorous that I got spaghetti today; and knowing me, I'll probably want some when I'm back in Georgia. I should probably go see if I can do some writing or reading before bed. I've been putting it off and there are some ideas that I should try to finish...
We got to Olympia in the mid-afternoon and took a few minutes to settle into another hotel (Another fancy hotel, specifically...) before we went to a museum close to the local archaeological site. The museum was a lot like the others but also contained a few statues that should look pretty familiar when all of my pictures get uploaded online (They'll more than likely be on my Facebook page to warn you in advance...). Unfortunately, the group elected to go to the site itself tomorrow morning when everyone is more rested.
Since then, I've pretty been shopping (Got stuff for Mom and Dad; my conscience is clear), hanging out at the hotel, and grabbing dinner with Eric. I find it humorous that I got spaghetti today; and knowing me, I'll probably want some when I'm back in Georgia. I should probably go see if I can do some writing or reading before bed. I've been putting it off and there are some ideas that I should try to finish...
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Benny Hill Makes Everything Funny
It's been another travel day for a good portion of the day as we've gone from Athens to the region of Delphi. Thus, a good portion of the day was spent listening to the iPod and getting fragments of writing done on the various stops. Along the way, we stopped by a monastery as well as a nearby village to grab some lunch. In the last few weeks, I seem to have gotten more of a taste for ham. How this happened, I'll never know...
Following our arrival and check-in at another hotel (Our room has four beds for some reason...), we went a short distance in order to check out the world famous site at Delphi that includes the Temple of Apollo, a theater, a small museum, and even a little stadium at the top of the mountain. Unfortunately, the infamous aether that was the source of many prophecies has since vanished so thus no tripping balls for me. Fortunately I did get a high number of photos taken and have a little over 700 pictures taken. Yeah, this is going to be fun to upload when I get back to the States...
Since then, I've spent a good portion of time having dinner with some group members and checking my email at a local internet cafe. Seeing as how I've been here for quite some time, I should make my way back to the hotel sometime soon. Or at least get some gelato...
But before I finish this, I would like to wish all the dads out there a happy father's day. I don't know how many are necessarily reading this, but I would like you to know that you are greatly appreciated. I do wish that my phone worked; I'd certainly have called mine by now...
Following our arrival and check-in at another hotel (Our room has four beds for some reason...), we went a short distance in order to check out the world famous site at Delphi that includes the Temple of Apollo, a theater, a small museum, and even a little stadium at the top of the mountain. Unfortunately, the infamous aether that was the source of many prophecies has since vanished so thus no tripping balls for me. Fortunately I did get a high number of photos taken and have a little over 700 pictures taken. Yeah, this is going to be fun to upload when I get back to the States...
Since then, I've spent a good portion of time having dinner with some group members and checking my email at a local internet cafe. Seeing as how I've been here for quite some time, I should make my way back to the hotel sometime soon. Or at least get some gelato...
But before I finish this, I would like to wish all the dads out there a happy father's day. I don't know how many are necessarily reading this, but I would like you to know that you are greatly appreciated. I do wish that my phone worked; I'd certainly have called mine by now...
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Be Sure To Drink Your Ovaltine
Sorry I didn't make an update last night; I was rather lazy and didn't feel motivated to make another one of my little summaries. Fortunately I've done enough posts to get away with that sort of thing. Of course, it does make me wonder how many people are really following this. Hopefully it's a fairly decent number...
But for the most part, the last couple days have been more laid back and easygoing. I've done the usual mix of going to my classes, hanging out in the hotel room, walking around the city, reading, and seeing who has been on the rooftop garden. We've also gotten a little more information about final projects though I still need to figure out what to do for them. It'd be nice to get a group together though I'm debating if I could get away with a single paper/presentation. Fortunately there have been a few other things that have managed to stand out.
Yesterday afternoon, a lot of the group went down to a nearby cemetery that dates back to the 4-5th centuries and was greatly extensively used by the ancient Greeks. The site that we went to was only a small portion of the actual graveyard due to a large portion of the city being built over it, but the site was still pretty impressive. The small museum has some interesting things and the cemetery itself was interesting to look through. I definitely felt something when I was going through it though I'm not sure if I'd call a ghostly or divine presence. Just the classic hallow ground feeling, really...
Tonight was made particularly memorable by nearly everyone in the group going to the "Norma" opera that was being performed at one of the Acropolis theaters. Ultimately, I thought it was pretty interesting though about half of us ended up going back to the hotel during the intermission. The performances were great and the feeling of looking over and seeing the Parthenon above you was pretty awesome, but the seats were a little uncomfortable and the lack of libretto only added on to my distraction. I ended up spending a good portion of the time randomly thinking about things and pondering novel/writing ideas. Always makes me wonder if I have ADD or if I'm just too scratter-brained for my own good...
Whatever the case, I am now back at the hotel and contemplating my plans for the night. We will leaving for Athens again tomorrow and will be traveling to Delphi, Olympia, and Naflion. Of course, we will be spending the last few days of the trip back here in the capital. Which means I will have to raid those record stores one last time sometime before we go back to the States...
But for the most part, the last couple days have been more laid back and easygoing. I've done the usual mix of going to my classes, hanging out in the hotel room, walking around the city, reading, and seeing who has been on the rooftop garden. We've also gotten a little more information about final projects though I still need to figure out what to do for them. It'd be nice to get a group together though I'm debating if I could get away with a single paper/presentation. Fortunately there have been a few other things that have managed to stand out.
Yesterday afternoon, a lot of the group went down to a nearby cemetery that dates back to the 4-5th centuries and was greatly extensively used by the ancient Greeks. The site that we went to was only a small portion of the actual graveyard due to a large portion of the city being built over it, but the site was still pretty impressive. The small museum has some interesting things and the cemetery itself was interesting to look through. I definitely felt something when I was going through it though I'm not sure if I'd call a ghostly or divine presence. Just the classic hallow ground feeling, really...
Tonight was made particularly memorable by nearly everyone in the group going to the "Norma" opera that was being performed at one of the Acropolis theaters. Ultimately, I thought it was pretty interesting though about half of us ended up going back to the hotel during the intermission. The performances were great and the feeling of looking over and seeing the Parthenon above you was pretty awesome, but the seats were a little uncomfortable and the lack of libretto only added on to my distraction. I ended up spending a good portion of the time randomly thinking about things and pondering novel/writing ideas. Always makes me wonder if I have ADD or if I'm just too scratter-brained for my own good...
Whatever the case, I am now back at the hotel and contemplating my plans for the night. We will leaving for Athens again tomorrow and will be traveling to Delphi, Olympia, and Naflion. Of course, we will be spending the last few days of the trip back here in the capital. Which means I will have to raid those record stores one last time sometime before we go back to the States...
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Just Like a Child In The Dark
We were originally going to have a free day but we ended up having a few classes in the morning. Thankfully the class I had went by fairly quickly and we had the rest of the day to ourselves. So it was a free day after all? It's probably best not to over-think it...
Whatever the case, my afternoon was one of the best that I've had on the trip thus far. After grabbing a lamb gyro for lunch (I really missed the lamb meat. They didn't have any on the islands...) and planning a few things out, I managed to find a good series of record stores along one of the flea markets at a nearby square. I found two stores that were particularly awesome and managed to get 7 solid CD"s for 53 euros. Definitely one of the best deals I've gotten in quite some time and a great energizer. Seems like nothing gets me pumped up more so than checking out new music. And to think these stores were only a 5 minute walk from the hotel. Where the hell was I last time we were here?
Following my brief adventure, I spent the afternoon uploading and listening to everything on my laptop, doing some homework, and then having another gyro for dinner with another good-sized group. I'm starting to miss all the pasta that we had on the islands. Hopefully I'll manage to find somewhere solid while we're here...
The evening was then spent hanging out in the hotel room some more and playing a few card games with my roommates and Dr. Shea. I managed to win at least one game though I still have more work to do. Not too much else to report on for now. I know tomorrow could be an interesting day.
Whatever the case, my afternoon was one of the best that I've had on the trip thus far. After grabbing a lamb gyro for lunch (I really missed the lamb meat. They didn't have any on the islands...) and planning a few things out, I managed to find a good series of record stores along one of the flea markets at a nearby square. I found two stores that were particularly awesome and managed to get 7 solid CD"s for 53 euros. Definitely one of the best deals I've gotten in quite some time and a great energizer. Seems like nothing gets me pumped up more so than checking out new music. And to think these stores were only a 5 minute walk from the hotel. Where the hell was I last time we were here?
Following my brief adventure, I spent the afternoon uploading and listening to everything on my laptop, doing some homework, and then having another gyro for dinner with another good-sized group. I'm starting to miss all the pasta that we had on the islands. Hopefully I'll manage to find somewhere solid while we're here...
The evening was then spent hanging out in the hotel room some more and playing a few card games with my roommates and Dr. Shea. I managed to win at least one game though I still have more work to do. Not too much else to report on for now. I know tomorrow could be an interesting day.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Time + Tragedy = History
No, not all of my titles are going to be equations from now on. I just keep hearing strange things that scream for me to make titles out of them. Maybe if I hear more of them, we'll see what happens...
So today was another traveling day following an Ancient City class and a skipped breakfast (Fortunately I was able to grab a quick snack when we got to the port). Around 12:30, the group left Siphnos in order to get on a ferry back to dear old Piraeus. Like before, it was a 5 hour trip but I managed to occupy myself by music listening, writing a personal journal entry (I always seem to do it on the ferry trips. I suppose it's kind to have something resembling a pattern...), and revising a few poems/short stories after failing at expanding on some projects. No matter where you go, writer's block can always follow...
After landing on Piraeus around 7, we took a brief train ride to the hotel that we had previously stayed at when we were last in Athens. Yep, we're staying in the same hotel as before with the same rooms, same roommates, and even the same beds as before (Though the latter was probably out of habit rather than a genuine assignment. Whatever the case, I do like being the closest to the door...)! But since we got to Athens, I've mostly been checking in with things online, walking down to one of the markets to grab various foods for dinner (You know, I've eaten a ton of peaches on this trip...), and hanging around the hotel's rooftop bar garden. It's funny how it almost feels like I'm back home in a way...
I did just realize that I only have 2 weeks left of this trip when taking the plane ride into consideration. It reminds me of a sleep I had last night where I was suddenly back in the States and it was only the 19th of June. It also reminds me of how no one has said a thing about the final projects since the first day of classes. Maybe the professors forgot about them...
So today was another traveling day following an Ancient City class and a skipped breakfast (Fortunately I was able to grab a quick snack when we got to the port). Around 12:30, the group left Siphnos in order to get on a ferry back to dear old Piraeus. Like before, it was a 5 hour trip but I managed to occupy myself by music listening, writing a personal journal entry (I always seem to do it on the ferry trips. I suppose it's kind to have something resembling a pattern...), and revising a few poems/short stories after failing at expanding on some projects. No matter where you go, writer's block can always follow...
After landing on Piraeus around 7, we took a brief train ride to the hotel that we had previously stayed at when we were last in Athens. Yep, we're staying in the same hotel as before with the same rooms, same roommates, and even the same beds as before (Though the latter was probably out of habit rather than a genuine assignment. Whatever the case, I do like being the closest to the door...)! But since we got to Athens, I've mostly been checking in with things online, walking down to one of the markets to grab various foods for dinner (You know, I've eaten a ton of peaches on this trip...), and hanging around the hotel's rooftop bar garden. It's funny how it almost feels like I'm back home in a way...
I did just realize that I only have 2 weeks left of this trip when taking the plane ride into consideration. It reminds me of a sleep I had last night where I was suddenly back in the States and it was only the 19th of June. It also reminds me of how no one has said a thing about the final projects since the first day of classes. Maybe the professors forgot about them...
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Fencing+Kickboxing=Knife Fighting?
For a second there, I was worried that I wouldn't have an update for you all tonight. The internet had a serious crap-out in the last hour or so and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do anything about it by the night's end. Hopefully this means that I'll get some Skyping with Heather in tonight...
My day started around 9:30 though I was a little too late in getting breakfast. So after I took my first midterm, I ended up going down to one of the port's cafes to grab a brunch of sorts (Basically had bacon and eggs at 12:45 PM. Haven't had bacon and eggs this good in quite a while...). After that, I took my second midterm. All in all, they were both a lot harder than I expected though I'm still hoping that I did well on them. I suppose I'll be finding out within a few days. Hopefully...
The next few hours were a bit of a blur as I mostly did stuff online, tried unsuccessfully to get a siesta in, and a few other random things here and there. I also grabbed dinner with a big group at the pizzeria for the last time (If it makes you feel any better, I've at least gotten different meals every time. Tonight was tortellini) and walked around the beach for a little while. Currently out in the hotel garden checking out the returned internet and listening to some people nearby playing cards. All in a day's work...
My day started around 9:30 though I was a little too late in getting breakfast. So after I took my first midterm, I ended up going down to one of the port's cafes to grab a brunch of sorts (Basically had bacon and eggs at 12:45 PM. Haven't had bacon and eggs this good in quite a while...). After that, I took my second midterm. All in all, they were both a lot harder than I expected though I'm still hoping that I did well on them. I suppose I'll be finding out within a few days. Hopefully...
The next few hours were a bit of a blur as I mostly did stuff online, tried unsuccessfully to get a siesta in, and a few other random things here and there. I also grabbed dinner with a big group at the pizzeria for the last time (If it makes you feel any better, I've at least gotten different meals every time. Tonight was tortellini) and walked around the beach for a little while. Currently out in the hotel garden checking out the returned internet and listening to some people nearby playing cards. All in a day's work...
Monday, June 14, 2010
Go Tell That Long-Tongued Liar
As expected, there was only one class today and it let out early due to it mostly being a preparation for the midterm exam. After that, a decent number of people went on a trip to the island of Milos for the day (Yes, the place where they found the Venus de Milo). I thought about going and was curious about it, but ultimately figured that 50 euros was a little expensive for another side trip. That and I remember hearing that the Venus isn't even there anymore...
So I ended up spending a good portion of the day hanging out in the hotel room, grabbing food for lunch at one of the nearby supermarkets, taking a walk around the port, and grabbing dinner with the group once more at the same Pizzeria that we went to yesterday.
The later afternoon/evening was first made interesting when four other students and I decided to climb up one of the island's mountain in order to get a view of a few caves towards the top of the mountain. Unfortunately, it was a rather rigorous climb and Emily and I opted out of it. After that, I went to the beach again and ended up having a nice chat with one of the guys have I've been rooming with throughout the trip. Since then, I've been hanging out in the hotel room and garden. I'll probably head out to the garden here soon to see what's going on...
So I ended up spending a good portion of the day hanging out in the hotel room, grabbing food for lunch at one of the nearby supermarkets, taking a walk around the port, and grabbing dinner with the group once more at the same Pizzeria that we went to yesterday.
The later afternoon/evening was first made interesting when four other students and I decided to climb up one of the island's mountain in order to get a view of a few caves towards the top of the mountain. Unfortunately, it was a rather rigorous climb and Emily and I opted out of it. After that, I went to the beach again and ended up having a nice chat with one of the guys have I've been rooming with throughout the trip. Since then, I've been hanging out in the hotel room and garden. I'll probably head out to the garden here soon to see what's going on...
Sunday, June 13, 2010
I Made Friends With A Lot Of People In The Danger Zone
After a shaky's night sleep, I got up around 9:45 and went through my two classes after a bit of breakfast. I turned in the link to this site for my first collection of journal assignments so hopefully these will be more than adequate. The classes will also be having their midterm exams this week but I'm sure I'll get through those without too many problems. Funny how we're more than halfway through the trip. I still feel like we've been for longer than 19 days...
The afternoon was largely spent afterwards spending time in the hotel room, grabbing lunch at another Pizzeria, hanging out with the hotel's resident cats some more (And Skyping Heather at the same time so that she could hear the orange/brown one meowing at me lol), chatting with a few people in the hotel lobby, going with a big group for dinner at the Pizzeria again (If it makes you feel any better, I got different things each time. It's just so good...), swimming and skipping stones at the beach, and am currently back in the room listening to some tunes and doing some writing.
Yeah, it's been another laid back sort of day. I get the feeling that tomorrow will be something similar with there being only one class taking place. I'll have to see if I find myself a nice little adventure. Or at least get a good siesta in. Whatever works...
The afternoon was largely spent afterwards spending time in the hotel room, grabbing lunch at another Pizzeria, hanging out with the hotel's resident cats some more (And Skyping Heather at the same time so that she could hear the orange/brown one meowing at me lol), chatting with a few people in the hotel lobby, going with a big group for dinner at the Pizzeria again (If it makes you feel any better, I got different things each time. It's just so good...), swimming and skipping stones at the beach, and am currently back in the room listening to some tunes and doing some writing.
Yeah, it's been another laid back sort of day. I get the feeling that tomorrow will be something similar with there being only one class taking place. I'll have to see if I find myself a nice little adventure. Or at least get a good siesta in. Whatever works...
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Infinity Is Hard To Comprehend
I woke up this morning around 7:45 again for today's round of activities. Following a shower and breakfast (With some pretty big cereal bowls. I may have to buy some Cheerios or something at the market to take advantage of this...), the group went about the island on another bus tour. While this tour may not as in depth as the one for Naxos, we did see a decent amount of stuff and managed to walk through a village or two in between drives. I must say the landscapes on these islands has never failed to impress me, especially since I am a guy that is from places with little to offer in terms of land variety. The mountains are incredible and the beaches offer a decent amount of variety.
With the bus ride ending around 11:30, we were left to our own devices for the day. The first things I ended up doing were taking a 2-3 hour siesta and finishing the last 50 pages of The World According to Garp. All in all, I found it to be an incredibly massive work that I'd recommend to any readers out there. It's definitely a gritty work but the multiple emotions that it evokes never fail to inspire. Of course, I didn't bring anything else to read so I'm either going to have to borrow someone else's books or buy something from a bookstore. I checked one of the local bookstores out today but didn't see much of interest aside from Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. I'm still contemplating it but always it find amusing as to how many of my friends seem to hate her with a fiery passion...
The rest of the evening has mostly consisted of walking along the beach again by the hotel, listening to more music, seeing what's along the port, and eventually grabbing dinner at an Italian restaurant that hypes about having a head cook from Italy (It's like he's trying to one-up Olive Garden or something. You consulted with Italian chefs? Well we got an ACTUAL Italian chef!). It was pretty good food as always and I managed to find an ATM in the midst of everything that's going on. Since then, I've been hanging out in the hotel and relaxing. Thinking of doing some writing or something...
I've also come to the conclusion that this hotel may be my new favorite. I say this due to a combination of the atmosphere, location, and the fact that three friendly cats live here. I've gotten plenty of pictures taken of them today in addition to the monuments, and I just realized that I never took any pictures of Miguel while we were there. So to those family members that are curious as to what Miguel looked like: Picture a much skinnier version of Peyton. I think that sums it up...
With the bus ride ending around 11:30, we were left to our own devices for the day. The first things I ended up doing were taking a 2-3 hour siesta and finishing the last 50 pages of The World According to Garp. All in all, I found it to be an incredibly massive work that I'd recommend to any readers out there. It's definitely a gritty work but the multiple emotions that it evokes never fail to inspire. Of course, I didn't bring anything else to read so I'm either going to have to borrow someone else's books or buy something from a bookstore. I checked one of the local bookstores out today but didn't see much of interest aside from Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. I'm still contemplating it but always it find amusing as to how many of my friends seem to hate her with a fiery passion...
The rest of the evening has mostly consisted of walking along the beach again by the hotel, listening to more music, seeing what's along the port, and eventually grabbing dinner at an Italian restaurant that hypes about having a head cook from Italy (It's like he's trying to one-up Olive Garden or something. You consulted with Italian chefs? Well we got an ACTUAL Italian chef!). It was pretty good food as always and I managed to find an ATM in the midst of everything that's going on. Since then, I've been hanging out in the hotel and relaxing. Thinking of doing some writing or something...
I've also come to the conclusion that this hotel may be my new favorite. I say this due to a combination of the atmosphere, location, and the fact that three friendly cats live here. I've gotten plenty of pictures taken of them today in addition to the monuments, and I just realized that I never took any pictures of Miguel while we were there. So to those family members that are curious as to what Miguel looked like: Picture a much skinnier version of Peyton. I think that sums it up...
Friday, June 11, 2010
She Married a Bear!
I'm happy to say that I managed to sleep in a good deal today and got out of bed around 10:30. After taking a shower and eating one of the peaches that I bought the day before, I went to go check out the music store that had been closed. It looked like a nice, snug place though they had metal CD's from Metallica and Iron Maiden. Of course, their cassette collection was pretty sweet and I ended up seeing some neat stuff from artists such as Deep Purple and Motorhead. Makes me wish that the Bonneville had a tape deck and that tapes could actually be converted to iPods. You know vinyls aren't the only old school music medium...
After hanging out at the hotel a while longer, the group left for the port around 2:00 and I believe the ferry left a little before 3:00. The ride was about five hours long but was mostly spent listening to music, wandering about the ship, and getting tons of reading done. I've discovered that I'm not that affected by motion sickness on the sea and am able to read on a ship that I am not able to in a car or an airplane. Kinda makes me wish I lived in an area that allowed for more aquatic travel. Maybe I should get a houseboat when I'm older...
So we arrived at the hotel on the island of Sifnos/Siphnos (I'm not 100% sure how it's spelled quite yet...) in the early evening and spent the last few hours checking into our rooms, walking down the beach that's right next to the hotel (I get the feeling that it may be the spot for some of my solitary hours), grabbed food at one of the nearby cafes, and are currently hanging out in the garden outside. The internet is a little slower but this hotel is another nice one that has an atmosphere similar to that of Naxos. I suppose we'll see how the rest of the island is, since we'll be getting early for another bus tour...
After hanging out at the hotel a while longer, the group left for the port around 2:00 and I believe the ferry left a little before 3:00. The ride was about five hours long but was mostly spent listening to music, wandering about the ship, and getting tons of reading done. I've discovered that I'm not that affected by motion sickness on the sea and am able to read on a ship that I am not able to in a car or an airplane. Kinda makes me wish I lived in an area that allowed for more aquatic travel. Maybe I should get a houseboat when I'm older...
So we arrived at the hotel on the island of Sifnos/Siphnos (I'm not 100% sure how it's spelled quite yet...) in the early evening and spent the last few hours checking into our rooms, walking down the beach that's right next to the hotel (I get the feeling that it may be the spot for some of my solitary hours), grabbed food at one of the nearby cafes, and are currently hanging out in the garden outside. The internet is a little slower but this hotel is another nice one that has an atmosphere similar to that of Naxos. I suppose we'll see how the rest of the island is, since we'll be getting early for another bus tour...
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Forget About Music and Love; Pointing at Things is the Universal Language
To start things off, I somehow woke up a half hour late (Yeah, I ended up getting only about 3 hours of sleep last night...) but thankfully managed to get everything together and met with the rest of the group on time. From the hotel, we got on another bus to the ferry ship to leave the island. The ferry ride was a bit of a doozy with it being around six hours long but I spent the time writing another entry in the personal journal (Seems to be the thing to do for ferries, I guess...), doing a bit of homework, and indulging in my iPod for all its worth. Don't worry, I haven't fully mutated back to my old ways (That's for the plane ride home and when I'm back in the States...) but there are things will always be a given. One of them being that Chris has severe music addiction...
We arrived to Piraeus around 3 PM and ended up walking from the port to the hotel with no bus serving as the middle man. I don't think that's ever happened on this trip. While Naxos may be my favorite hotel so far with its laid back atmosphere and extremely friendly yellow lab mascot, but this hotel is definitely the fanciest that we've been at so far. While most of the rooms consist of doubles and triples, my two roommates and I (Same guys as from Athens) ended up in a spot where one room has two beds and another has one bed. Singles room for the win!
So after I got unpacked, checked a few things out, and finally took the shower that my inner sloth told me to miss (Me and my laziness...), I pretty much have been wandering about the city, hanging out in the hotel, and grabbing food. I ended up seeing another DVD/record store by the hotel but it was closed when I went to take a closer look. I'll probably take a look sometime before we leave for Siphnos tomorrow afternoon. I also ended up hearing a drummer and guitarist jam together from the hotel balcony though I didn't see where it was coming from. Definitely made me nostalgic for Psychic Faith, that's for sure. Especially since they were playing a similar blend of sludge and psychedelia...
Unsurprisingly, Piraeus has a lot in common with Athens and seems to have the same setup without as much ancient influence. Buildings are everywhere, you've got the traffic and crowds, and Dr. Shea kept warning us about shady Algerians and Macedonian sailors. What I find rather interesting is how Athens seemed so small in comparison to American cities due to its lack of incredibly tall skyscrapers yet the Greek cities feel huge after you spend a little time on the islands. Definitely makes me curious to see what the rest of the places on this trip will look like.
We arrived to Piraeus around 3 PM and ended up walking from the port to the hotel with no bus serving as the middle man. I don't think that's ever happened on this trip. While Naxos may be my favorite hotel so far with its laid back atmosphere and extremely friendly yellow lab mascot, but this hotel is definitely the fanciest that we've been at so far. While most of the rooms consist of doubles and triples, my two roommates and I (Same guys as from Athens) ended up in a spot where one room has two beds and another has one bed. Singles room for the win!
So after I got unpacked, checked a few things out, and finally took the shower that my inner sloth told me to miss (Me and my laziness...), I pretty much have been wandering about the city, hanging out in the hotel, and grabbing food. I ended up seeing another DVD/record store by the hotel but it was closed when I went to take a closer look. I'll probably take a look sometime before we leave for Siphnos tomorrow afternoon. I also ended up hearing a drummer and guitarist jam together from the hotel balcony though I didn't see where it was coming from. Definitely made me nostalgic for Psychic Faith, that's for sure. Especially since they were playing a similar blend of sludge and psychedelia...
Unsurprisingly, Piraeus has a lot in common with Athens and seems to have the same setup without as much ancient influence. Buildings are everywhere, you've got the traffic and crowds, and Dr. Shea kept warning us about shady Algerians and Macedonian sailors. What I find rather interesting is how Athens seemed so small in comparison to American cities due to its lack of incredibly tall skyscrapers yet the Greek cities feel huge after you spend a little time on the islands. Definitely makes me curious to see what the rest of the places on this trip will look like.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
This Is Fifteen
For the most part, the last day here in Naxos was pretty decent though not too different than the last few. It thankfully started off an hour earlier due to my classes starting around 9 rather than 8. The classes themselves weren't too bad with The Ancient City spending a lot of time talking about the midterm exam at Siphnos. I haven't given much thought to it though it shouldn't be too much of a challenge. I also managed to do a portion of the reading and have been doing well on the journal entries with the help of the dear blog here. I knew this would be good for something...
After the classes, I elected to skip the siesta and instead decided to go down to the port to grab a pita for lunch (I wish they had lamb gyros here. The ones in Athens were pretty good), walk around, listen to some tunes, and churning out a music review for the first time since we were in Mykonos. Kinda makes me wonder how much time we'll have like this on some of the other destinations. I know Athens will have some decent amounts but I'm not quite sure about everywhere else.
Following the siesta hours, I finally got a chance to sit down by the pool and do some reading. I think I read about 50 pages from Garp today and have decided that it is pretty damn awesome so far. It's definitely made me think more about novel writing and I ended up getting a paragraph randomly written afterwards. You could say I'm one of those people that is trying to figure out what their strengths are as a writer and what they should be writing about. Hopefully I'll figure it out one of these days...
Dinner was also interesting in that we ended up going to a Mexican restaurant that was just off the port. I had heard about it but never got a chance to go until around 9 PM today. All in all, it was pretty decent and the tacos I ordered tasted pretty good though I'm not that big on assembling myself. Yes, I know I'm lazy...
Fortunately I'm somehow not lazy enough to make another lazy three paragraph entry. Must be all the personal writing that I was doing today. Whatever the case, maybe I should go into details more rather than just listing everything. I suppose we'll see how this works out...
After the classes, I elected to skip the siesta and instead decided to go down to the port to grab a pita for lunch (I wish they had lamb gyros here. The ones in Athens were pretty good), walk around, listen to some tunes, and churning out a music review for the first time since we were in Mykonos. Kinda makes me wonder how much time we'll have like this on some of the other destinations. I know Athens will have some decent amounts but I'm not quite sure about everywhere else.
Following the siesta hours, I finally got a chance to sit down by the pool and do some reading. I think I read about 50 pages from Garp today and have decided that it is pretty damn awesome so far. It's definitely made me think more about novel writing and I ended up getting a paragraph randomly written afterwards. You could say I'm one of those people that is trying to figure out what their strengths are as a writer and what they should be writing about. Hopefully I'll figure it out one of these days...
Dinner was also interesting in that we ended up going to a Mexican restaurant that was just off the port. I had heard about it but never got a chance to go until around 9 PM today. All in all, it was pretty decent and the tacos I ordered tasted pretty good though I'm not that big on assembling myself. Yes, I know I'm lazy...
Fortunately I'm somehow not lazy enough to make another lazy three paragraph entry. Must be all the personal writing that I was doing today. Whatever the case, maybe I should go into details more rather than just listing everything. I suppose we'll see how this works out...
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Replace Ronald McDonald with IT And They'll Never Want To Eat There Again
For the most part, today was another typical day. From what I can tell, tomorrow may be the last of them since we are leaving Naxos Thursday morning. We'll apparently be spending a good portion of Thursday afternoon/evening at Piraeus and then will be spending the next few days on the island of Siphnos. I'm not sure how those places will compare but it should be interesting enough. I still find it amusing that Dr. Shea managed to compare the port of Piraeus to that of Mos Eisley...
Most of today pretty much revolved around my two classes, walking around the port, going for a very brief swim, putting off eating, doing a healthy amount of reading, and grabbing dinner with the usual group. I am proud to say that my reading on The World According to Garp is progressing well and I managed to get about 80 pages read today, bringing me to around page 157. With its length and everything, I'm surprised as to how easy of a read it's been. I'll probably get a little more out there before I go to bed tonight.
Sorry the last few entries have been a little dull. It's definitely been a slow part of the trip though a nice chance to recharge. Hopefully things will pick up soon and I'll have more interesting things to report. I hear we're going to a museum after classes though I'm not entirely sure what'll be happening. Maybe I'll just find a way to embellish things more. Whatever works, I suppose...
Most of today pretty much revolved around my two classes, walking around the port, going for a very brief swim, putting off eating, doing a healthy amount of reading, and grabbing dinner with the usual group. I am proud to say that my reading on The World According to Garp is progressing well and I managed to get about 80 pages read today, bringing me to around page 157. With its length and everything, I'm surprised as to how easy of a read it's been. I'll probably get a little more out there before I go to bed tonight.
Sorry the last few entries have been a little dull. It's definitely been a slow part of the trip though a nice chance to recharge. Hopefully things will pick up soon and I'll have more interesting things to report. I hear we're going to a museum after classes though I'm not entirely sure what'll be happening. Maybe I'll just find a way to embellish things more. Whatever works, I suppose...
Monday, June 7, 2010
Dive In Me
I've recently come to the conclusion that Naxos seems to be a lot like Williamston, Michigan in a way. The particular part of the island that we're staying at may be the most populated, but it still has a very "small town" feel and it's one of those places that you just feel safe in. Fortunately it is also made interesting by a visually strong countryside and a fairly active port. On that note, yay for critiquing islands!
For the most part, today was another easygoing sort of day. Got up in the morning for my two classes, took a 5 hour long siesta (First one I've got to take in quite a while...), wondered down to the port for a late lunch (Probably the best tortellini I've had in a while. Gotta love when people don't go too heavy on the alfredo...), hanging around the hotel, playing crazy 8's with Addie and a few professors (Though I didn't win any games, it was still pretty amusing), and just got back from grabbing food at a couple grocery stores. I also tried going for the pool today but ended up getting recruited for card games before I could reallt get settled in. I suppose there's tomorrow...
Seeing as how there will be class around the same times tomorrow, I should probably get some reading done while I'm thinking about it. Right after I see what everyone else is doing...
For the most part, today was another easygoing sort of day. Got up in the morning for my two classes, took a 5 hour long siesta (First one I've got to take in quite a while...), wondered down to the port for a late lunch (Probably the best tortellini I've had in a while. Gotta love when people don't go too heavy on the alfredo...), hanging around the hotel, playing crazy 8's with Addie and a few professors (Though I didn't win any games, it was still pretty amusing), and just got back from grabbing food at a couple grocery stores. I also tried going for the pool today but ended up getting recruited for card games before I could reallt get settled in. I suppose there's tomorrow...
Seeing as how there will be class around the same times tomorrow, I should probably get some reading done while I'm thinking about it. Right after I see what everyone else is doing...
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Happy International Day of Slayer!
When we first got to this hotel, there was no Internet available in our rooms but plenty in the lobby. Now there is a ton in the rooms but no Internet in the lobby. Is this technically irony? Because it does sound fairly ironic...
As expected, today was a pretty slow day. The majority of people were still in Santorini for most of the day and none of my classes were scheduled to be attended to today. So I ended up sleeping in until 11, spending a lot of time online and chatting with people, going out to the port for lunch and random iPod time, walking around, and going out to dinner with a different group of people than usual. I also found a few random observations to muse on along the way. Like how watching television in Greek makes me realize how bombarded we all are with everything that appears...
Other than that, there's not too much going on here. I'm thinking of getting some reading done and seeing what everyone is doing in the lobby. I've been rather lazy with that lately...
One more thing that I forgot to mention; it rained for the first time on this trip today. Apparently it was also the first time that it has rained in Naxos in about 25 years. Just thought I'd throw that out there...
As expected, today was a pretty slow day. The majority of people were still in Santorini for most of the day and none of my classes were scheduled to be attended to today. So I ended up sleeping in until 11, spending a lot of time online and chatting with people, going out to the port for lunch and random iPod time, walking around, and going out to dinner with a different group of people than usual. I also found a few random observations to muse on along the way. Like how watching television in Greek makes me realize how bombarded we all are with everything that appears...
Other than that, there's not too much going on here. I'm thinking of getting some reading done and seeing what everyone is doing in the lobby. I've been rather lazy with that lately...
One more thing that I forgot to mention; it rained for the first time on this trip today. Apparently it was also the first time that it has rained in Naxos in about 25 years. Just thought I'd throw that out there...
Saturday, June 5, 2010
We Live In A Time of Revolution
Is this really my 11th post? It's hard to believe that it's been such a short time since it feels like it's been so much longer than that. I suppose all summers in recent years have felt that way, but you'd think that it'd go faster with so much traveling going on. At the same time, it's harder to believe that there are only 25 days left of the trip. Of course, that's not counting the drive back down to Georgia on the first on July. Seeing as how we don't get into the States until 11 PM, I'll literally be away from family and friends for the rest of the month.
Our remaining time in Santorini was spent hanging out at the hotel, wandering about the island, and dining before our 3:30 ferry left for Naxos. After another two hour ride over the Aegean Sea (God, it's cool to say), we pretty much went back to the hotel that we had been staying at since our last arrival and have pretty much settled back in. Since we got back, I managed to catch Heather on Facebook, listened to some music (Found the new Nevermore album on Youtube. I'll definitely be looking for it when we get back to the mainland...), and hung out with the usual crowd.
Another thing that I forgot to mention yesterday was how I finally got around to start reading The World According to Garp by John Irving. I originally bought the book around spring break and figured it'd be a good book to have over here with it being over 600 pages. And seeing how the next few days may be a little slow according to the schedule, here's hoping that I'll get more read than just the 11 pages that I've covered so far...
Our remaining time in Santorini was spent hanging out at the hotel, wandering about the island, and dining before our 3:30 ferry left for Naxos. After another two hour ride over the Aegean Sea (God, it's cool to say), we pretty much went back to the hotel that we had been staying at since our last arrival and have pretty much settled back in. Since we got back, I managed to catch Heather on Facebook, listened to some music (Found the new Nevermore album on Youtube. I'll definitely be looking for it when we get back to the mainland...), and hung out with the usual crowd.
Another thing that I forgot to mention yesterday was how I finally got around to start reading The World According to Garp by John Irving. I originally bought the book around spring break and figured it'd be a good book to have over here with it being over 600 pages. And seeing how the next few days may be a little slow according to the schedule, here's hoping that I'll get more read than just the 11 pages that I've covered so far...
Friday, June 4, 2010
Don't Let the Beard Fool You, He Is A Child!
For the most part, Santorini has been pretty decent in comparison to the last few places that we have been to. In a way, it's pretty much a combination of Mykonos and Naxos with it leaning more so on the former end. Nothing too different really, though I've heard that the nightlife is what people interested in this place.
While I'm not much of a nightlife person unless I'm with close friends, the day here on this island has been pretty nice. We had classes early in the morning, left for the two hour ferry around noon, checked into a pretty sweet hotel (Tyler and I actually have our own side), walked around the island, had dinner, and have been hanging around the hotel since then. Oddly enough, the ferry may have been my favorite part due to the combination of extended iPod time and getting around to making an entry in my personal diary for the first time since the day before I left the States. Maybe that's why this entry is a little lacking...
I'm thinking of getting off in a while and seeing how this pool compares to the others that I have seen. I'm not sure if I'll getting in but it'd be good to walk around and see what everyone is doing...
*End Transmission*
While I'm not much of a nightlife person unless I'm with close friends, the day here on this island has been pretty nice. We had classes early in the morning, left for the two hour ferry around noon, checked into a pretty sweet hotel (Tyler and I actually have our own side), walked around the island, had dinner, and have been hanging around the hotel since then. Oddly enough, the ferry may have been my favorite part due to the combination of extended iPod time and getting around to making an entry in my personal diary for the first time since the day before I left the States. Maybe that's why this entry is a little lacking...
I'm thinking of getting off in a while and seeing how this pool compares to the others that I have seen. I'm not sure if I'll getting in but it'd be good to walk around and see what everyone is doing...
*End Transmission*
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Wake Me Gently
To start things off, the music store wasn't quite what I was hoping for. It had a rather small selection that seemed to be limited to pop and traditional music, not quite the hidden metal haven that I was hoping for. I'll probably have better luck when we're back in Athens next week. I did look up a list of record stores online and may have a few places to look into when we're back at the dear old capital...
For the most part, most of today was spent on a tour of Naxos with 2 hours in the afternoon dedicated to checking out a beach along one of the coasts. We also managed to stop by a liquor plant (with little samples), a few marble quarries, a pleasant fruit garden, and a few random stops for scene photography. All in all, sitting on the bus for most of the day was a little tiring but the tour guide was pleasant and it was good to see a good portion of the island. Kept making me flash back to the idea of living here in the distant future...
Since then, I've spent my time hanging around the hotel and going down to the port to attend some errands that I had been putting off. I managed to get a few postcards sent (Hopefully, they'll be in their respective states within a week or so), withdrew some money from the ATM (I forgot to mention in earlier posts that there is apparently no transaction fee or sales tax here in Greece. Definitely makes things less of a pain, especially since no one in Greece seems to use credit cards here...), scoured the music shop, and grabbed food for dinner at one of the local supermarkets. Seeing as how I'm getting senselessly paranoid about my spending rates, I'll probably be doing that a few more times while I'm here...
From what I've gathered, tomorrow's plan revolve around a good portion of us students traveling to the island of Santorini as a spring break of sorts. While some people will be there until the 5th, a few students and I have arranged to only stay one night there. I suppose we'll see how this goes...
For the most part, most of today was spent on a tour of Naxos with 2 hours in the afternoon dedicated to checking out a beach along one of the coasts. We also managed to stop by a liquor plant (with little samples), a few marble quarries, a pleasant fruit garden, and a few random stops for scene photography. All in all, sitting on the bus for most of the day was a little tiring but the tour guide was pleasant and it was good to see a good portion of the island. Kept making me flash back to the idea of living here in the distant future...
Since then, I've spent my time hanging around the hotel and going down to the port to attend some errands that I had been putting off. I managed to get a few postcards sent (Hopefully, they'll be in their respective states within a week or so), withdrew some money from the ATM (I forgot to mention in earlier posts that there is apparently no transaction fee or sales tax here in Greece. Definitely makes things less of a pain, especially since no one in Greece seems to use credit cards here...), scoured the music shop, and grabbed food for dinner at one of the local supermarkets. Seeing as how I'm getting senselessly paranoid about my spending rates, I'll probably be doing that a few more times while I'm here...
From what I've gathered, tomorrow's plan revolve around a good portion of us students traveling to the island of Santorini as a spring break of sorts. While some people will be there until the 5th, a few students and I have arranged to only stay one night there. I suppose we'll see how this goes...
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Saucy Jack
With this post, it is official that I have been able to keep this blog for more than a week. I suppose it's a practice that I have an advantage with though it feels like something to be proud of at the same time. It has been a bit of work and hopefully I'll be able to keep this for about 28 more days!
The first half of today was a travel day due to our group going on ferries from Mykonos to Paros to Naxos over the span of about four hours or so. The boat rides weren't too bad and I got to listen to my iPod quite a bit today, which is something that I've really come to miss since I've been on this trip. I suppose it's all for the best and it's better to be getting to know everyone. Paros was a particularly memorable stop since we ended up stopping by a neat bakery and got a taste for what Naxos would be like...
Upon arriving to Naxos, we spent the rest of the day attending classes, exploring the island, and settling in to what may the best hotel yet. It has a very authentic feel to it and is nicely decorated with some cool paint jobs and a few natural touches. That and there's a yellow lab named Miguel here that's owned by the hotel owner's family, so that's been for those of us that have missed our pets and have tempted for too long by the strays that make their home just about everywhere in the country...
For the most part, my first day here at Naxos have led me to believe that this may be the best place that we stayed on the trip so far. It's definitely not as tourist-oriented as the last two and has a more genuine feel to it with things being less expensive and all that. Of course, this is also balanced by the fact that the language barrier may be a little more challenging in comparison. Oddly enough, this is one of those places that I could see myself living in sometime in the near future though I can't imagine what I'd be doing on an occupational basis. I suppose we'll see how I like it after we go through tomorrow's tour and after I take a good look at the music store that I saw on the way to the port earlier today...
The first half of today was a travel day due to our group going on ferries from Mykonos to Paros to Naxos over the span of about four hours or so. The boat rides weren't too bad and I got to listen to my iPod quite a bit today, which is something that I've really come to miss since I've been on this trip. I suppose it's all for the best and it's better to be getting to know everyone. Paros was a particularly memorable stop since we ended up stopping by a neat bakery and got a taste for what Naxos would be like...
Upon arriving to Naxos, we spent the rest of the day attending classes, exploring the island, and settling in to what may the best hotel yet. It has a very authentic feel to it and is nicely decorated with some cool paint jobs and a few natural touches. That and there's a yellow lab named Miguel here that's owned by the hotel owner's family, so that's been for those of us that have missed our pets and have tempted for too long by the strays that make their home just about everywhere in the country...
For the most part, my first day here at Naxos have led me to believe that this may be the best place that we stayed on the trip so far. It's definitely not as tourist-oriented as the last two and has a more genuine feel to it with things being less expensive and all that. Of course, this is also balanced by the fact that the language barrier may be a little more challenging in comparison. Oddly enough, this is one of those places that I could see myself living in sometime in the near future though I can't imagine what I'd be doing on an occupational basis. I suppose we'll see how I like it after we go through tomorrow's tour and after I take a good look at the music store that I saw on the way to the port earlier today...
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Ghost In The Ruins
Today was really eventful I'd say. It started off decent enough as I had breakfast with a group of people (They pretty much have the same foods as the hotel in Athens, but one of the cereals literally tastes like horse feed...) and went down to the island's port in order to catch the ferry to Delos around 9:30.
All in all, Delos was a pretty impressive island and may become another one of my favorite destinations (I get the feeling that I may have a top 10 list by the time the trip nears its end...). Seeing a place with so little modern influence outside of tourism is absolutely awe inspiring and it was even crazier to imagine what life must've been like for the people that had lived there all those years ago. The natural aspects of the island were also interesting with there being a lot of land to roam around and even a nice little mountain to scale. We even saw a bunch of lizards roaming around the island as well, including a pair that were fighting and one that was massively sized. I also forget to mention this yesterday, but I've seen a ton of cats here in Mykonos and a few around the museum at Delos. Kinda makes me think of Heather and the cats at home a little more every time I see one...
Following the ferry back to Mykonos, I ended up getting lunch and shopping with the group (And got a nice surprise or two along the way...) before opting to hang around the room for a while. After a while, I decided to grab some food at an uphill kiosk (Strawberry juice is really friggin' cool...), go swimming in the hotel pool a few times, and ended the night with more deep conversations. The various conversations have continued to be my favorite parts of the trip and only make me wonder what else I'll be able to learn about everyone here.
Unfortunately, it's looking like we'll only be in Mykonos for 2 days since we're leaving for Naxos in the morning. Kinda makes me realize that I still have some reading to attend to before class tomorrow. Maybe I'll take care during tomorrow's ferries and layover. It's been nice not having classes for a couple days...
All in all, Delos was a pretty impressive island and may become another one of my favorite destinations (I get the feeling that I may have a top 10 list by the time the trip nears its end...). Seeing a place with so little modern influence outside of tourism is absolutely awe inspiring and it was even crazier to imagine what life must've been like for the people that had lived there all those years ago. The natural aspects of the island were also interesting with there being a lot of land to roam around and even a nice little mountain to scale. We even saw a bunch of lizards roaming around the island as well, including a pair that were fighting and one that was massively sized. I also forget to mention this yesterday, but I've seen a ton of cats here in Mykonos and a few around the museum at Delos. Kinda makes me think of Heather and the cats at home a little more every time I see one...
Following the ferry back to Mykonos, I ended up getting lunch and shopping with the group (And got a nice surprise or two along the way...) before opting to hang around the room for a while. After a while, I decided to grab some food at an uphill kiosk (Strawberry juice is really friggin' cool...), go swimming in the hotel pool a few times, and ended the night with more deep conversations. The various conversations have continued to be my favorite parts of the trip and only make me wonder what else I'll be able to learn about everyone here.
Unfortunately, it's looking like we'll only be in Mykonos for 2 days since we're leaving for Naxos in the morning. Kinda makes me realize that I still have some reading to attend to before class tomorrow. Maybe I'll take care during tomorrow's ferries and layover. It's been nice not having classes for a couple days...
Monday, May 31, 2010
The Island
Having gone through with the trip's first all-nighter and falling asleep through the rides, it's pretty safe to say that the bus ride to the airport and the flight to Mykonos went pretty swimmingly. Before the plane actually took off, I closed my eyes and eventually woke up wondering if we had left yet. When we had already landed...
More sleeping was to be had while we were waiting to be checked in at the hotel with it taking a number of hours to get everyone settled in and everything. I also went with a group to grab food at Everest (Pretty much the Greek equivalent of Subway from what I've come to understand. They had a bunch of them in Athens as well), hung out in the room and adjusted, swam/sunbathed at the hotel pool, and then went out with a few other people to a Thai/Chinese restaurant nearby. If I'm not mistaken, the plans for tomorrow include leaving here in the morning for the island of Delos and coming back in the evening. Definitely looking forward to seeing the Oracle if we get the chance.
So far, Mykonos has been a pretty cool place and makes for an interesting first island to visit on this trip. The weather has been warm and the ocean view is certainly awe inspiring. I do wish the hotel's Internet was better and that the rooms were closer together (The hotel is mostly a set of buildings with several rooms assigned to each building), but the bathrooms are bigger and the setup is certainly more unique. That and you can't deny the awesomeness of finally getting a chance to get in some water after dealing with the hot climate here.
And on a final note, Dennis Hopper has apparently joined the endless list of celebrities that are passing away this summer. I guess the "Super Mario Brothers" movie finally caught up with him...
More sleeping was to be had while we were waiting to be checked in at the hotel with it taking a number of hours to get everyone settled in and everything. I also went with a group to grab food at Everest (Pretty much the Greek equivalent of Subway from what I've come to understand. They had a bunch of them in Athens as well), hung out in the room and adjusted, swam/sunbathed at the hotel pool, and then went out with a few other people to a Thai/Chinese restaurant nearby. If I'm not mistaken, the plans for tomorrow include leaving here in the morning for the island of Delos and coming back in the evening. Definitely looking forward to seeing the Oracle if we get the chance.
So far, Mykonos has been a pretty cool place and makes for an interesting first island to visit on this trip. The weather has been warm and the ocean view is certainly awe inspiring. I do wish the hotel's Internet was better and that the rooms were closer together (The hotel is mostly a set of buildings with several rooms assigned to each building), but the bathrooms are bigger and the setup is certainly more unique. That and you can't deny the awesomeness of finally getting a chance to get in some water after dealing with the hot climate here.
And on a final note, Dennis Hopper has apparently joined the endless list of celebrities that are passing away this summer. I guess the "Super Mario Brothers" movie finally caught up with him...
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Feel The Thunder
One thing I found amusing today was how I managed to sleep in today but still managed to get up around 8:28 AM, about two minutes before my alarm clock was scheduled to go off. Fortunately, I did pretty well on the two quizzes today and the classes after them were pretty much around the usual lectures and such. After that, I spent some time in the room and went out to grab a gyro lunch with a few other students.
Around 2:30, we left to go on another monument sightseeing. This time, we ended up seeing the Agora as well as a temple of Hephaestus and a few other Greek/Roman structures. While the weather was as hot as ever, I think this may have been my favorite stop due to getting a lot of time to walk around and the general atmosphere of the site. It's definitely between and the Parthenon...
Following this, I spent a good portion of the day sitting on the rooftop garden having some engaging conversations with several other students. Since we are flying out to the island of Mykonos around 4:15 AM this morning (It being 3:41 AM at this current moment), a bunch of us elected to not sleep tonight and decided to just pull an all-nighter. Hopefully we'll get some rest on the plane and won't have too much going on after we get there...
Around 2:30, we left to go on another monument sightseeing. This time, we ended up seeing the Agora as well as a temple of Hephaestus and a few other Greek/Roman structures. While the weather was as hot as ever, I think this may have been my favorite stop due to getting a lot of time to walk around and the general atmosphere of the site. It's definitely between and the Parthenon...
Following this, I spent a good portion of the day sitting on the rooftop garden having some engaging conversations with several other students. Since we are flying out to the island of Mykonos around 4:15 AM this morning (It being 3:41 AM at this current moment), a bunch of us elected to not sleep tonight and decided to just pull an all-nighter. Hopefully we'll get some rest on the plane and won't have too much going on after we get there...
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Once Is A Fluke, Twice Is A Coincidence, and Three Is A Pattern
After a few days of hanging out and exploring the city, we finally had our first day of classes. Mine, The Ancient City and Love In Ancient Greek Literature, seem like they won't be too challenging though there will be a lot of writing associated with them. Kinda makes me wonder if I could get away with using this here blog as my form of the journals...
Following the classes, I lingered in the room before we had another museum trip around 2:30. I think this museum may have been the best one we've seen yet and seemed to have a rather old school feel to it. I also managed to take a ton more pictures of several things there and will probably end up with too many photo albums by the time this whole thing is through.
After hanging around the hotel some more and grabbing dinner around town at one point, another highlight of the day came about when about ten of us went to a nightclub with the hotel's bartender. We ended up riding through the Athenian subways (Don't worry, they're nothing like New York...) and went through a lot of crowds for most of the trip there. Of course, not too many of us drank that much though I left early with about half of the group a little before midnight. I figured it probably wouldn't be too good of an idea to do it the night before we have two introductory quizzes. That and I didn't get around to taking a siesta today so that's made me a little tired as well.
So I should probably go to bed now. It's about 1:45 AM here...
Following the classes, I lingered in the room before we had another museum trip around 2:30. I think this museum may have been the best one we've seen yet and seemed to have a rather old school feel to it. I also managed to take a ton more pictures of several things there and will probably end up with too many photo albums by the time this whole thing is through.
After hanging around the hotel some more and grabbing dinner around town at one point, another highlight of the day came about when about ten of us went to a nightclub with the hotel's bartender. We ended up riding through the Athenian subways (Don't worry, they're nothing like New York...) and went through a lot of crowds for most of the trip there. Of course, not too many of us drank that much though I left early with about half of the group a little before midnight. I figured it probably wouldn't be too good of an idea to do it the night before we have two introductory quizzes. That and I didn't get around to taking a siesta today so that's made me a little tired as well.
So I should probably go to bed now. It's about 1:45 AM here...
Friday, May 28, 2010
Is Summer Just Celebrity Death Season?
Just read online that apparently Gary Coleman died today, and I suddenly can't help but wonder why an unusual amount of celebrities seem to be dying during the spring and summer months. With his two main competitors gone, I get the feeling that Arnold Schwartzenegger must be a tad nervous due to him being one of the great celebrity punchlines left in the business. The hard rock/metal community also seems to be getting hit harder than recent years with Peter Steele, Ronnie James Dio, and Paul Gray being taken away from us prematurely. Hell, I think I'm still in mourning over Dio...
While it hasn't been as eventful as last night, today was a pretty solid day and had a lot going on. I ended up getting up obscenely early again today though it was made up for by getting to talk to Heather for the first time in about 4 days or so. Of course, I'm still getting the Skype thing figured out and I've never been much of a webcam/phone person to begin with. After that and a decent breakfast, the group went out for the usual walking around the city. I think we saw more today than any other time so far and managed to spend some time at the Acropolis, Parthenon, a few select monuments, and a museum centered around Greece's overall history. All in all, it was great to see more historical artifacts and I've gotten hundreds of pictures out of it. I get the feeling that these might be a pain in the ass to upload when the time comes...
Since then, I spent my free time going with the same students from last night to look for a book/stationary store (And ate at a McDonald's along the way. Not too bad, actually...) and took a five hour nap earlier this evening. Considering how the first dream I remember consisted of another tour and seemed to be rather close to reality, it may be safe to say that this trip has officially drilled its way into my skull...
With that said, I think it might be a good idea to head back to bed sometime soon. We actually have our first classes tomorrow morning and I'm rather curious to see what they'll end up being like. Here's hoping I'll get up with the alarm as opposed to two hours before it...
While it hasn't been as eventful as last night, today was a pretty solid day and had a lot going on. I ended up getting up obscenely early again today though it was made up for by getting to talk to Heather for the first time in about 4 days or so. Of course, I'm still getting the Skype thing figured out and I've never been much of a webcam/phone person to begin with. After that and a decent breakfast, the group went out for the usual walking around the city. I think we saw more today than any other time so far and managed to spend some time at the Acropolis, Parthenon, a few select monuments, and a museum centered around Greece's overall history. All in all, it was great to see more historical artifacts and I've gotten hundreds of pictures out of it. I get the feeling that these might be a pain in the ass to upload when the time comes...
Since then, I spent my free time going with the same students from last night to look for a book/stationary store (And ate at a McDonald's along the way. Not too bad, actually...) and took a five hour nap earlier this evening. Considering how the first dream I remember consisted of another tour and seemed to be rather close to reality, it may be safe to say that this trip has officially drilled its way into my skull...
With that said, I think it might be a good idea to head back to bed sometime soon. We actually have our first classes tomorrow morning and I'm rather curious to see what they'll end up being like. Here's hoping I'll get up with the alarm as opposed to two hours before it...
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Getting a Little More Worldly
When compared to yesterday, I think today was even more eventful and felt a little more comfortable when looking at the rush of the last few days. Fortunately, I also remembered to bring my camera with me for the most of the day. It started off nicely enough with the mandatory trip of the day being at a particularly interesting museum that featured many different items from Greece's long history. We also went through the National Gardens and witnessed a Changing of the Guard as well as a demonstration along the way. Fortunately the latter event wasn't as chaotic as people in the States may think due to it being a peaceful assembly. Hell, more people looked bored than angry...
Following that and a four hour siesta, a large portion ended up grabbing a late dinner at a place called the Quick Pitta. So far, the food has been pretty decent here though there are some things that I definitely am starting to miss. Thankfully it hasn't been much of an issue and I'm trying to get into the habit of trying new things on a regular basis.
Of course, what really made this day interesting may be the gathering of people on the rooftop garden this evening. While it started off well with nearly all of the students present and celebrating a girl named Maggie's birthday, it really got fun when three other students and I ended up having a few drinks with a Canadian woman, an English couple, and the hotel's bartender. All in all, it was a ton of laughs and I enjoyed seeing peoples of different nationalities here as well as hearing about different things from their perspectives. Definitely reminds me of what this studying abroad thing is all about. You can take as many pictures as you like but what really matters are the people that you come across along the way...
I should probably get to bed now. It's about 2 AM here and we're meeting at 10 again for another round of sightseeing. Here's hoping for another interesting day!
Following that and a four hour siesta, a large portion ended up grabbing a late dinner at a place called the Quick Pitta. So far, the food has been pretty decent here though there are some things that I definitely am starting to miss. Thankfully it hasn't been much of an issue and I'm trying to get into the habit of trying new things on a regular basis.
Of course, what really made this day interesting may be the gathering of people on the rooftop garden this evening. While it started off well with nearly all of the students present and celebrating a girl named Maggie's birthday, it really got fun when three other students and I ended up having a few drinks with a Canadian woman, an English couple, and the hotel's bartender. All in all, it was a ton of laughs and I enjoyed seeing peoples of different nationalities here as well as hearing about different things from their perspectives. Definitely reminds me of what this studying abroad thing is all about. You can take as many pictures as you like but what really matters are the people that you come across along the way...
I should probably get to bed now. It's about 2 AM here and we're meeting at 10 again for another round of sightseeing. Here's hoping for another interesting day!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Giving In and My First Impressions
It's been a while since I've had a blog like this. I had several suggestions from people saying that I should get a blog going when I made it to Greece this summer and I wasn't sure if I would be personally up to the task. Of course, I kept getting things that I would say in a blog stuck in my mind and figured that it might be an interesting idea worth trying out. I suppose it's a good way to help everyone keep tabs on what I'm doing as well as helping me articulate the many thoughts that go through my mind. With that said, let's give this blog thing a shot again, shall we?
After a particularly long flight from Philadelphia to Athens and a rather quiet bus ride, we made it to the hotel in Athens around in the early afternoon (incredibly early morning in the States. Before leaving, I learned that Athens is about six hours ahead). After taking some time to settle in the hotel rooms and unpack, the group got together around 1 PM to take a quick tour of the city and explore a scenic route to the Acropolis. All in all, it was great to see the sights in spite of the heat though I had forgotten my camera. I'll have to be more careful about that sort of thing next time we go...
Following a three hour nap back at the hotel room (Siestas are a brilliant idea, especially you didn't get any sleep at all on a 10 hour plane ride...), I went out with another student named Emily to grab some food at a local eatery and enjoy the scenery a little more. I forget what the name of the place was but I ended up getting some calamari and Emily got some grilled meatballs if I remember right. Since then, I've pretty much been hanging out at the hotel and continuing to learn about the people that have come along for the ride.
So far, if I were to use one word to sum everything up in Athens, it would be "snug." For the most part, the streets and sidewalks are more narrow than those in the US and the hotel room is definitely smaller than I'm used to. Thankfully I don't require a lot of space to thrive and the city overall looks beautiful, especially due to the ancient architecture. Of course, a lot of the more open areas are filled with various peddlers, stray cats and dogs, and the like but there seems to be a charm to it if you look at it in the right light. I also find some of the language usage and integration to be interesting, especially since the warnings against going on the various sites are exclusively written in English. I suppose we'll see what other things I can find here to talk about and hopefully I'll get into the habit of taking more pictures...
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