The Little Things

“If you read a lot, nothing is as great as you’ve imagined.  Venice is—Venice is better.”

--Fran Lebowitz

Venice is unreal!  It is like nothing I have ever experienced before.  Everything is reached by boats, because there is no way to reach some of the areas by walking.  I have seen a few Venetian fortresses in Greece, but Venice does not really compare.  Venice is built on a different site, so they have to take into account all of the water.  It is still marvelous to see how the Venetians built around all of the water.  The buildings were all so large and grand and beautiful, and the canals and bridges are literally everywhere.  The church was ginormous and absolutely beautiful by night.  Brianna and I enjoyed some awful pizza from our hostel and split a bottle of wine while we sat along the river and walked through the town.  But we did officially uncork the bottle of wine on our own!  The night was pretty spectacular.

This morning, we woke up to do some minor exploring of Venice before we had to return to the train station to catch our train to Milan.  The town is just as magnificent by day, although it does look different.  The gondolas don’t have quite as much magic during the day, although I thought that the number of gondolas was lacking.  While the only significant part of our morning involved walking around and taking the vaporetto (water bus), we did stop in a church right next to the train station.  It was so peaceful right and was right next to the water, although it was strange to see others taking plenty of pictures with flashes and making noises with cameras and phones.  Only a little distracting while I was praying.

I took a nap for most of our train to Milan, but I did have to move and squeeze into a smaller space when more people got on the train and needed seats.  Sad day.

We made it to Milan with plenty of time, and so we took a break from the trains to grab some food and go exploring.  We decided that we wanted gelato from a place that also has a store in Rome.  On our way to gelato, we came across a magnificent church.  It was so tall and the ceilings were absolutely amazing.  There were so many little details that it I kept noticing little things everywhere, like the crucifix that was hanging over the altar, after being in the church for twenty minutes.  It was crazy! 

We walked around Milan and got our gelato before making our way back to the train station.  For a four hour “layover,” it was pretty successful.  Currently, we are somewhere between Milan and Barcelona—either in Italy, France, or Spain.  But that is part of the adventure.

Coincidences

“No one’s laughing at God when there’s a famine or fire or flood.  But God could be funny.”

--Regina Spektor Laughing With

I have mixed feelings about Rome.  Rome is the Eternal City, and it has so much to do and see.  Especially for a Catholic, Rome is a wonderful place.  The Vatican is amazing and full of so much history.  I do wish I would have had a few more hours in Rome to explore a little more of the Catholic heritage there.  It’s something that I didn’t realize how much in Rome I wanted to see until last night after everything closed and today on the train as I left Rome.  But Rome is still and probably will always be the city that took me away from Athens.

I started out Sunday with mass at St. Peter’s Basilica.  St. Peter’s is enormous!  I really wish that I could see St. Peter’s without all of the tourists and constant flashes of cameras.  If I could see everyone praying and reverent in the basilica at one time, filling the basilica completely, it would be beautiful, treasured, sacred, and blessed.  There would be enough people in the world willing to do it, but I don’t think it will ever happen; there are just too many tourists.  It was strange to go to mass at a church where the majority of the people in the church were not celebrating mass.  Guards did block an area off for those of us who were celebrating mass, but there were still people taking pictures of the area near the altar, which included us.  Of course, the church is so big and my sense of numbers is so skewed that there may have been many more people at mass than I thought.  The mass and building itself were beautiful and magnificent! 

I stayed with Brianna and her parents for the rest of the day.  That means my visits to some of the iconic sites in Rome include three to the Trevi Fountain, at least three to the Pantheon, three to the Spanish Steps, and four to the Colosseum.  I also found the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Italian guards there during my first night of adventuring, and it put a smile on my face.  They reminded me of my beloved Evzones guarding our Tomb, although I couldn’t get close to them and they did not have the same gravity about them.  The guards were not as rigid in their movements nor as choreographed.  At the time, I was feeling incredibly homesick for Athens, so the reminder that first night made me way too happy. 

The Capuchin Crypt was so cool!  The crypt had been decorated with human bones.  I was utterly fascinated and had a strong desire to study the bones.  I also quizzed myself as I walked through to try to name all of the bones that I saw.  I could identify at least a general location for almost every bone if not the exact name and location.  For someone who wants to study human skeletal remains, the crypt was among the most fascinating things I have seen while in Europe.  It honestly was probably my favorite thing I saw in Rome (and around the same level as the Vatican).  There was a child’s skeleton that had been decorated as a reaper and attached to the ceiling, which I felt was a little disrespectful and irreverent to the child and his or her family.  I just wanted to protect him or her and take the child down to a more protected position.  I understand that this is something that I will have to deal with if I pursue studying human skeletal remains, but for some reason that was the only skeleton that really upset me.  I understand that cultures are different.  I just feel bad for the souls and the loved ones that belong to the bones. 

I had my first Kosher meal (that I know of) for dinner in the Jewish Ghetto.  I learned a little about the rules associated with Kosher eating and can say that I definitely respect those who keep Kosher.  It must be a challenge, especially when traveling, to ensure that everything you eat is Kosher.  The food was delicious, and I am very curious how my dessert, which was Grandfather’s Cake and had a chocolate filling, was made without any dairy.  Then again, my high school Chemistry teacher had been apple pie out of tofu using some magical chemistry properties, so I shouldn’t be too surprised.

Yesterday was dedicated to the Vatican.  After waiting in a decently long line-1 ½ hours (because I kept putting off buying tickets online until it was too late), I made it into the Vatican Museum.  The line was totally worth it, because while I meet a group of older people from Greece.  I recognized the language and wanted to cry just because I was near Greek people and was hearing such a comforting language.  I tried to talk a little bit with them, but ended up listening to them talk while waiting near them more than anything.

The museum was filled with so many different rooms and artifacts.  Everything was amazing.  There were so many rooms and twists and turns.  A number of the rooms were closed to the public, which included a couple exhibits on ancient Greek and Roman sculpture.  The artwork all over the museum is so gorgeous and elaborate.  I think I probably took a full 200 pictures in the museum alone.  The frescoes in Sistene Chapel were incredibly elaborate and complex.  The first time I walked through the museum, I stood in Sistene Chapel for a good 20 minutes.  I left and started really looking at the exhibits.  I returned to the chapel again right before I left from the museum after looking at some boards about the chapel, and I was able to understand and see so many more parts of the fresco.  It really is among the most complex and ornate designs I have ever seen.  I was ushered into the Chapel by a guard who kept reminding you not to stop and to keep moving down the stairs.  They would come around and yell at you if you sat on steps that you weren’t supposed to or if you had your camera out.  Every minute or two a guard would shush everyone in the chapel and remind us that it was a place of worship that needed silence.  It would quiet down for a few seconds, but within a minute the noise level was back to before.  It wasn’t horrifically loud or anything, though.  Both the chapel and the museum were crowded with people.  The tour groups really clustered up the museum, especially when there was only one route through the museum and a tour group would occupy the entire way.  I was shocked by the usage of flash photography in the museum.  The light will severely damage the art, but there were no signs or reminders to turn off the flash.  Some of the art is among the most prestigious in the world, so it should be more protected than it is.  The Sistene Chapel isn’t the only important sight in the museum.  I was also surprised by the number of people posing with sculptures or other pieces of art.  In Greece, you would be flayed if you used flash or posed with anything.  The intent of the rule is to be respectful and to ensure that huge crowds don’t form waiting to pose with a piece of art.  After seeing the Vatican Museum, the rules make complete sense.

I also climbed the steps of St. Peter's to reach the cupola.  550 steps total on the way up and 499 steps down.  There were a few times when I realized just how high I was and how dangerous it coud be at the top of the dome or on the outside of the cupola.  I can't imagine how Michelangelo lived through the massive heights.  The scariest part of my entire climb was some of the stairs.  The stairs got really narrow at parts and were not always straight.  We were on a dome after all.  I was also wearing a skirt, so I was trying to ensure that I didn't flash anyone and protect my purse.  Amidst all of those distractions, it would be so easy to fall down a set of steep spiral stairs and take out part of the crowd behind me.  I just prayed that I wouldn’t lose my balance.  The stairs and the cupola were cramped but well worth it.  At the top of the dome, I ended up asking a random guy from New York if he could take a picture of me.  He was really sweet about it and even yelled at people who tried to walk in the picture.  His friend then took pictures of the two of us together.  Maybe I will get them through my e-mail, but we never exchanged names…  It was a really strange interaction but really sweet halfway across the world.

I suddenly realized how long I had been on my feet (6 hours with only a short, less than 10 minute break) but decided to walk to my hostel from the night before to pick up a bag and then move to my new hostel.  Big mistake.  I recognized that my two hostels were on opposite sides of the map but figured I had been walking everywhere anyways.  I had to take multiple breaks to sit and let my feet recover before I made it to our hostel.  When I finally showed up, Brianna was talking to a random guy, J-F from Canadia.  (I know it’s really called Canada, but I like to be stupid and call it Canadia.)  He’s traveling through Europe on his own, which I am still amazed by.  He joined us in this wonderful little pizza place for dinner.  Italian pizza Is wonderful, although I took about twice as long to eat my pizza than Brianna and J-F.  But, hey.  It was a full pizza.  And I was savoring.  We finished up dinner with a chocolate shot.  The shot glass was edible and made of chocolate.  It was delicious, although I still hold that my mouth isn’t that big and that was the main reason I failed (and made a bit of a mess) of my shot.

Later, Bri and I walked along the river and talked about our lives back in Indiana and for the summer.  She realized how much she would miss Rome, and I completely understand.  I definitely miss Athens.  Anytime I think I hear Greek, I get really excited.

This morning, we went to the train station to catch our train to Venice.  We tried to get on an earlier train, but it was full.  After waiting in the station for a solid 45 minutes, 10 minutes before our train was set to depart, a sign on the board said something in Italian.  One of the train personnel told us that meant we needed to get to a different station in Rome, so we raced onto a train.  We made it to the train a few minutes before it left.  While the train went to the next station, we found out one of the women (who spoke some pretty decent English) was supposed to be on our same train.  We left the train at our stop and raced to a board, only to see absolutely NO information.  Our helpful guide started asking anyone and everyone, including passers-by, and no one knew anything.  We just continued following her around the station like lost puppy dogs.  Eventually we found ourselves with a group of people all waiting for the same train.

About half an hour later, we found a conductor who said he had our train.  We continued following the group until we made it to the train.  We grabbed a seat and collapsed, although I am pretty sure (later confirmed) that Brianna was still terrified it was the wrong train.  She was worried about making it to Milan in time for our Barcelona train in the worst case scenario, even though we had a full 24 hours for that.

Suddenly, we see a kid with an “I’m backpacking through Europe” bag and a Ravens football cap.  Who else would it be but our good friend from Canadia, J-F.  We got the chance to hang out with our hostel buddy for a few more hours.  However, we found out that he probably was not on the right train.  He was trying to make it to the port to catch a cruise to Croatia that he had missed the day earlier.  Hopefully the trains took him to his cruise on time without any more difficulties.  He left us in Florence to try to catch a faster train.  Until then, we chilled and played cards for a little while.  I figured it was a sign that we were supposed to get to know each other for a little longer.  It was such a strange coincidence, but then again, I also saw kids from Athens by chance at the Colosseum.  It was a coincidence that we couldn’t get seats on the earlier train, it was a coincidence that we ended up on that train, and it was a coincidence that J-F was told to go to the train at Platform 7.

Basically, our day was filled by the train.  We went to the station super early, waited for a train, rushed to a different stop, waited again, and sat on a train for quite some time.  Our train was 140 minutes late!  Over two hours!  There had been a fire at one of the big Rome stations two mornings before we left, so it makes sense that the trains are a little bit of a mess.  We literally spent today sitting on a train, although my feet did enjoy it.  We only have two more days that could be like this.  The rest will involve night trains, which will probably result in less time lost to travel, although a break every once in a while is nice.

The day involved a lot of instances of God laughing at us and our attempts to plan things, but it was nice to spend a day relaxing and doing nothing.

Goodbye My Lover

“So take the photographs and still frames in your mind.  Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time.  Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial.  For what it’s worth, it was worth all the while.”

--Green Day, Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)

To set the stage for this post, I am sitting in the Athens airport waiting for my flight to Rome.  I barely even remember flying into this airport last time.  The few memories that I have include watching one guy from my flight because I was curious about what he was doing in Athens.  And getting in a cab.  There was a line that I waited in and a bus somewhere in there, but those are vague memories.  Logically, I knew that I should be a little worried about going to my hotel, since it was in the “bad” area of a city that I didn’t know.  Somehow, I didn’t feel worried about the cab or my hotel.  It must have been a sign that my time in Athens was going to be wonderful.

I am typing the next part from a piece of computer paper with scribbles all over it.

Currently, I am sitting on a bus to the airport at Syntagma.  I literally just hopped on the bus, so I am hot and sweaty from my 15 minute walk from my apartment.  Apparently, taxis have been on strike all week, and I just haven’t noticed.  It is kind of embarrassing that I haven’t noticed anything was different.  Once it was pointed out to me, the lack of yellow cars on the street seemed obvious.  The only time I really use taxis is late at night to go out and to get to the airport (or in this case, I would have used one to go to Syntagma to catch the bus.  Taxis to the airport are something like 35 euros during the day or 50 at night, the rough equivalent of $50 or $75.)  As I said, I walked to Syntagma weighed down with all of my stuff.  It was strange because I had a posse walk me to Syntagma, and they all commented that I hadn’t brought much.  It is true that one of my bags is filled with things that I accumulated while in Greece.  While I agree that I don’t have an abundance of things, by the end of my walk I was feeling everything that I had brought.  Luckily, I will be sending some of my unnecessary bags and other luggage home in Rome—I love Brianna’s parents so much right now.  I carried all of my stuff, with the exception of one grocery bag, the entire way to Syntagma!  I am a beast, thank you very much.

Going backwards, we had a farewell lunch with almost everyone today.  Three people flew out this morning, so 17 students came.  Add to that our professor, Aleko, and everyone’s favorite bus driver Christos made a guest appearance!  It was like reliving some parts of the trip all over again.  We ate so much good food (although we all agreed that Christos and his family was the highlight of the trip).  We went to the same taverna at the start and the end of my first class, so it was as if we were finishing the same way that we started.  This particular meal was slightly strange in that no one had their cameras out.  It was different from most of our meals, but it felt like we belonged in this country.

And then came good-byes.  I hate good-byes.  I was fine.  I swear I was.  Until I actually had to start hugging people.  All of this past week I have been in denial that I am actually leaving.  That the end is coming.  I still don’t think I realize that I am leaving.  That I am on my way to the airport.

It’s not ok.

It’s a lie.

Except, right now—this seems like real life.

I got up to leave the table a little early because I still didn’t have everything packed completely and was starting to freak out a little.  I just had a few extra things to squeeze into my bag.  Then came hug time.  I just started going around the table and hugging everyone while they were sitting in their seats.  It meant that I hit everyone at the table, and it made sense.  The first few hugs meant the realization that I’m leaving.  So I got a little choked up.  But then hugs became normal.  So I was good.  Until I came to Caitie and Anna, who requested to be skipped.  After my awkward hug fest around the table, I came to two of the girls I had lived with for the past eight weeks in Athens.  (Stephanie, the other girl I had lived with for eight weeks, had already lightened the mood by calling me albino as we parted.) 

And suddenly, as I am saying goodbye to these two girls, little wet drops started accumulating in my eyes.  I think those are typically called tears.  Next thing I know, I am crying with a whole table looking at me, not to mention the adults who were probably thinking I am crazy and the Greek waiter who I am sure thought the water works in front of him were very unnecessary.  And I start laughing at myself for crying.  So much for trying to be strong and detached for goodbyes.  I think that a part of it was that I was the only one saying goodbye to everyone, so all of the attention was on me.  It wasn’t a group hug party.    

I went back to the apartment, grabbed my stuff, and stopped by the taverna again before heading to Syntagma.  This time, I was able to say goodbye in a more composed manner, which made me feel better.  And then I picked up my parade from the taverna for Syntagma.  Of course I trekked past the guards one last time!

Packing was an adventure.  I literally don’t think I could squeeze anything more in.  I stuffed my suitcase completely full, tried to close it, and then had to rearrange everything three times before I could zip it shut.  I bought a new, larger bag while I was here to carry on, and it is currently also stuffed.  I am also carrying a purse and a grocery bag, which I know won’t fly for the airline (Haha, I’m so punny!)  I know I will do some major rearranging.  --Side note: Budget airlines only let you carry on one bag.  I ended up throwing away a little bit of food I was hoping to bring and stuffing everything into my bag without zipping it shut so that I could carry it onto the plane in one bag.  It’s so stupid, because the second I walked onto the plane, I split my bags into two separate bags.  –Either way, I consider my packing a success.  I am so excited to take out my unnecessary items and send them home, so my load will be a bit less full soon!

I finished my final paper a little before 6 this morning.  It felt so good to finally have it done.  It also seemed more normal to stay up late and finish work, something I haven’t done since I had been here.  I took a quick little nap until 9:30 or so and then got up to start my final part of a Greek day.

I revisited the Temple of Olympian Zeus as my historical site for today.  Two days ago, I climbed Mount Lycabettus and realized just how big the Temple to Zeus was.  I saw this massive space of open land dedicated to Zeus in the middle of the city.  I had to stop by and revisit the majestic site.  The size is so impressive.  You can’t fully realize how monstrous this area is from the ground.  The mountain also helped me realize how much I had learned about Athens in my time here.  My first few days in Athens, I climbed Philopappos Hill.  I had no clue what anything was, and even when my professor was trying to point out significant landmarks, I often couldn’t find them.  At the top of this hill, I was able to figure out where my apartment was.  I have come a long way in just eight short weeks.

My last few days in Athens were bittersweet.  While I was in denial that I was leaving, I still had lots of things I wanted to do.  So many things, and most of them weren’t accomplished.  In all fairness, my list was a bit unreasonable.  I did finish all of the important things.

I was obsessed with the fact that I was leaving.  I was trying to make it real.  At the same time, I wanted to be fully present and experience my last few days in Athens.  It’s like the end of a weekend.  All weekend, you know Sunday night is coming, and you will have to finish your homework and prepare for the next week.  But you are in denial.  And you hope that if you ignore it hard enough, it will go away.  But Sunday night always comes, and you always (if you are me at least) have to do all of your homework from the weekend.  I started missing Athens before I even left it.

As a second part to this post, I have now been in Rome for a little over one day.  That day has been hectic and chaotic and I know I have made more mistakes than I can count on all of my fingers and toes.  If I can say anything, I will at least say that it has been an adventure.

Firstly, I flew into the airport and found out that my bag made it to Rome!  Hurray!  I didn’t have to repeat the beginning of my trip.  However, the next step involved transportation from the airport.  I decided that I didn’t want to pay between 40 or 60 euro for a taxi, so I opted for the train.  I had been told that the train was around 9 euro, but it actually cost me 14.  In my mad dash for the train, I didn’t see a validation machine, so my ticket wasn’t validated—the punishment for this can be steep.  I was standing right near stairs on the train, and my balance isn’t so great.  I felt like I was being thrown around the entire ride into the city.  When we showed up at the central station, a guard walks on the train and requests my ticket before I can disembark.  Of course, I had put my ticket in my wallet which was in my purse.  So I started to dig it out.  By the time I had my ticket out, he was far enough away that I just walked out.  I had paid for the ticket, so it isn’t like I did anything wrong.  The only thing I could do is reuse the ticket, which I won’t have any reason to.

I then walked what felt like a mile with ALL of my stuff to the metro area.  I just kept telling myself that if I could make it from my apartment to Syntagma, surely I could make it to the start of the metro-wherever that was.  I came just to find out that the metro station (at least where I was) was closed.  It either closed at 9 (I showed up at 9) or it had been closed all night.  So I ended up taking a taxi from the station to the hotel, which wasn’t too bad.  It just meant a little extra walking for me.

Then came the hotel.  When I showed up, I tried to check in.  Apparently, the front desk didn’t have my name or anything.  I was able to access an e-mail that said I could stay there, but the person at the desk said she needed verbal permission.  I looked up the phone number I had for Brianna, but she didn’t answer.  The front desk person said that she did have single rooms available, but they cost more than I was willing to pay for one night.  I literally sat in the hotel lobby for close to an hour.  She finally called another receptionist, who apparently informed her that I had permission to get into the room.  I had already started trying to come up with a contingency plan, but hadn’t really finalized any solid plan.  By this point in time, my night involved getting off a plane, spending an hour getting to the hotel, and then waiting another hour until I could finally get into the room.  By the time I finally made it to my room, I was grumpy.  I wasn’t in Athens anymore.  I had been through enough challenges.  And I am sure it didn’t help that I hadn’t had dinner yet, although I wasn’t really hungry.

I decided that I could give myself a night to dislike Rome.  I knew that it had taken me away from my love Athens.  So it was okay to dislike it a little bit at least.  There were so many people out, so I went around for a little nighttime walk.  I managed to get myself to the Pantheon without realizing it, which was really strange.  I didn’t realize that it was the Pantheon until sometime today.  When I returned to the room, I was exhausted.  I managed to watch the only English channel: CNN.  I actually stayed up for a little while and organized myself before bed.

I let myself sleep in today.  I then just started walking around.  Just walking around, I think I ran into any number of important sites.  It is a different type of city from Athens.  While there are ruins here, many of the old buildings have been restored more.  In that sense, the city looks more put together, but technically isn’t as old. 

I tried to find my hostel from the hotel a couple times.  The first I actually made it a part of the way here, but then I gave up because I couldn’t figure out what street I was on or where I was.  I tried to direct myself back to the hotel and actually ended up two blocks from the hotel.  Surprisingly, I was able to find my way back.  After a short break, I decided to try to get to the hostel again.  This time was a success, but I think that I walked twice the distance necessary.  I seemed to miss most of the streets that google maps told me to turn down.  I would go too far.  A few minutes later, I would see an area I recognized.  I would be a block away from where I turned around, down the street that I knew was in the right general direction of where I needed to go.  It was a little frustrating, but I now could probably find my way from my hostel to the hotel fairly easily. 

I continued walking around.  Eventually, I found myself at the Colosseum.  On a Saturday, the Colosseum becomes bride central.  I am pretty sure I saw no less than six wedding dresses at the Colosseum in a very short span of time.  As I was walking around the Colosseum, I started thinking about Greece.  Various parts of my trip were running around in my head when suddenly Derek was right in front of me.  Derek was in my last class in Greece, and I knew that he was coming to Rome along with Mark and Mary.  The timing of my thoughts with Derek’s arrival was uncanny.  Considering how big Rome is, I find it very impressive and strange that I did happen to see the students from CYA sometime during the day, even though I was in a heavy tourist area.

I ended up walking around with Derek, Mark, and Mary for a couple hours tonight.  I ended up meeting up with Brianna after her train got back and finally met her parents before grabbing some dinner, gelato, and a cab back to my hostel.

Apparently, one of the times I returned to the hotel, the original front desk person thought it was suspicious that I flew by her on my way up to the room.  It was later in the afternoon, and I still had a key to access the room, but she thought that I should have checked in with her or something.  So she decided to unauthorized all of the keys.  In essence, this meant that later, Brianna and her parents all had to get new keys that would work to unlock their door.  I don’t think that this particular hotel likes me very much.

I still miss Athens.  I know that Rome will be a cool adventure, but it is hard to love something that has torn you away from your home.  I just have to keep giving it a chance.  I don’t know Italian as well as I do Greek, so it may be in part that I can’t communicate very well here.  Even though I have been excited about returning to areas where they flush toilet paper, I have had to stop myself from throwing away my toilet paper every time I go to the bathroom.  I have literally opened the trash can and stopped myself just short of tossing it in the trash.  But, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

In Which Draco Malfoy Cries Like a Baby

“Entropy is a natural force that pulls everything apart at a subatomic level.  Everything changes.”

--Dr. Temperance Brennan, Bones

Athens has changed in my time away.  I have spent the past five days and six nights away from Athens.  Crete was beautiful and different from Athens, which was interesting.  It was nice to be outside a city and to stroll around smaller towns.  There were still times when I felt like I wanted more to do or more space to explore. 

Returning to Athens this morning was wonderful.  I literally laid down on my bed to sit for a few seconds and the next thing I knew, I was waking up two hours later only to get under the covers and sleep for another few hours. 

Things in Athens are sort of back to normal.  However, Kallimarmaro Stadium across from CYA no longer has any of the Special Olympic barricades up.  I don’t think that I have seen the stadium empty of all of its construction material since I moved in almost two months ago.  It is strange to be able to walk up to the entrance.  I can really comprehend how big the stadium is now.  The spotlights from the stadium are no longer running at night, so the color of the night sky looks very different.  The sky almost doesn’t seem like it is the same one from a few weeks ago.

We walked by Syntagma tonight, and there were no metal barricades.  For a while, the barricades seemed like an immovable fixture in Syntagma at night.  Due to the intense protests, the police had set up barricades to protect themselves and Parliament.  There wasn’t even the usual line of police in front of Syntagma at night.  I walked by Syntagma earlier today, and there was a line of police, but the few protestors I saw on the street were nowhere close to the line of police officers.  I couldn’t see any metal barricades anywhere.

A few weeks ago, we went to the open air theatre in Athens.  Protests in Syntagma were so loud, we could hear them in the theatre.  You could tell that there was a lot of excitement just a few blocks away.  Tonight, we saw the final Harry Potter (OH. MY. GOSH.) and there was nothing to be heard outside of the movie.  It was such a strange contrast from a few weeks ago.

It is weird to see Athens change.  I think Athens is returning to its usual state of things, although I still find it hard to think that Athens isn’t always the city that I first saw.

Harry Potter in the open air theatre was absolutely amazing!  The open air theatre is a walled off patio with directors chairs in rows.  I would guess there are probably around 500 or so seats in the theatre.  The movie is projected onto a wall of the garden.  It is a really cool environment to watch a movie outside and to be able to hear all of the cicadas and other bugs chirping.  During the movie, I didn’t really notice the noises of nature.  We were almost entirely surrounded by other American students who were studying with Semester at Sea.  There are 675 of them if I remember correctly.  It made me appreciate our small class so much more; I know each and every one of my classmates.  While there were a few more distractions than I would have liked during the movie, the movie was utterly engrossing.  People were lighting cigarettes in the middle of the movie, a few were talking, and some lights turned on.  One of the girls behind me started bawling towards the end of the movie.  Overall, the distractions weren’t bad at all.  The theatre has an intermission, and hearing the students behind me freak out was hilarious.  They sounded terrified that the movie had ended. 

I don’t even think there are words to describe the movie.  There were a few details that I remembered from the book that were portrayed differently in the movie, but overall it seemed fairly accurate.  The last five minutes of the movie were so frustrating, though.  Completely unnecessary.  I would have been much happier without watching teens (I know that most are technically in their twenties) play dress up.  It all seemed awkward and strange and unnecessary.  There were a few other moments where I found myself laughing at a detail that didn’t seem to fit right, which distracted me from the gravity of the movie.  But I liked keeping things a little lighter.

After the movie, I realized that something that has been a part of me for half my life has just ended.  It is sad but also sweet.  The story has reached a conclusion, and the characters are able to be at peace.  I did wonder during the movie if I would ever show my children the movies or read them the books.  I wonder what the future generations will think of the series.  If the series will last or if it will be a fad.

At the same time, I wonder what will become of Athens.  How the future will change the city.   

I Hate Everyone

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

--Benjamin Franklin

Today was basically a fail plan.  We began the day by taking on some difficult sites in terms of athletic ability and balance required.  I, for one, did not have the appropriate attributes.  At the first site, which was not the most difficult by the way, I managed to fall.  On a piece of flat land.  I have no idea how it happened, but the next thing I knew, I was sprawled on all fours right in front of my professor.  Impressive, right?  In the end, my right palm was scraped up a little, my left knee had a few scrapes, and the left knee of my pants had a big “T” shaped rip in them.  They were new as of the beginning of the trip, but couldn’t withstand my first fall.

Our next site involved a difficult climb, where I was very cautious after my performance at the first site.  We were told to wear pants for this site due to the undergrowth, but I haven’t decided if I am glad that I listened or not.  By this point in time, the knee of my pants was ripped, so I was cut by a thorn through the hole.  However, I only see a handful of other scrapes at the moment, whereas some of the girls who wore shorts looked as if they had been mauled by the bushes.  It was probably a little more comfortable with pants, but there were still times when it didn’t seem like my pants did much to stop the thorns (at least based on how much I felt them). 

On the way back down from the second site, Aleko reminded the girls of the pain associated with childbirth.  While his point is valid that what we were going through was nothing comparatively, he still doesn’t have to birth a child ever. 

The question was whether I wanted to be more miserable due to the scrapes or due to the heat.  While I chose the heat, it was pretty uncomfortable.  A large portion of the class brought a pair of shorts with them for after the first two sites, but I didn’t think about it.  I wouldn’t have had enough time to change, since I was at the back of the group.  The third site was still rather hot.  Luckily, the day ended after the third site at around 11:45, and we returned to Myrtos by 12:30. 

Adding to my misery of today was the fact that somehow, I kicked something in the ocean and ended up with a cut about a centimeter long on the side of my pinky toe.  A couple of minutes after I left the water, I looked down to find some blood around my foot.  While I was swimming, I remembered feeling my foot hurt but hadn’t paid any more attention to my toe.  I could feel the cut as I was walking.  I think part of my mindset was that I was miserable and hot and gross, so any little discomfort was magnified.  Still, the cut on my toe is not exactly insignificant in its depth.

After the sites and lunch, I returned to the hotel to try to rearrange my travel plans.  After Czech Connect Airlines cancelled my flight, I now have a bit of a quandary on my hands.  I have no way to get to Athens, so we are probably just skipping it.  We could still book another $250 ticket to Athens, but we would lose a good half a day in Athens.  The flight that I had booked from Athens to London through British Airways:  not refundable.  It also costs either 70 euro or 70 pounds per person to change the booking ($100 or $113).  The fact that the new flight would be less expensive: not important.  It is so frustrating that British Airways is not customer friendly.  In order to obtain all of my options, I asked my mom to call Expedia from the States.  After her conversation, I called both Expedia and British Airways to get a little more information.  I figured out a way through gmail to make calls to landlines for free (my favorite).  I was sitting in our hotel’s lobby (more or less just an entranceway) with the door open and a huge truck driving by.  Needless to say, I have no idea how I was able to hear or be heard during parts of my conversation.  I am still figuring out the details of what I want to do and am crunching numbers to decide if it is worthwhile to change the flight or to just book a new flight on a budget airline and lose my $250 worth of a flight.

In addition, last night I couldn’t get my internet to work.  The lack of internet made figuring out my flights that much more difficult.  I gave up after about an hour last night.  Someone performed magic on my computer for me today and somehow connected me to the internet.  I still wasted a little time trying to connect to the internet today.

Basically, in the past 24 hours, I have failed any number of times.  It is impressive in one sense, but awful in another.

On the bright side, we found a delicious Italian restaurant here, where we went for dinner last night and lunch and happy hour today.  It was almost more fun to watch one of the girl’s face as she ate than to eat my own food.  She was absolutely enamored with this place that made homemade pasta!  The drinks were also fabulous and so fresh.  Actually, everything at this restaurant was among my favorite—although I am excited to return to Greek food.

The water is also incredibly clear and beautiful.  It is a charming little town, although my time here was filled with a few struggles.

The Wheels on the Bus

“Using words to describe magic is like using a screwdriver to cut roast beef.”

--Tom Robbins

July 14, 2011

The bus.  Our home away from home while we are on the road.  I know I spend much more time sleeping than awake on the bus.  Even when I am completely awake when I get on the bus, it is this magical land that rocks me to sleep very quickly.  Most times, I can barely keep my eyes open.  My professor will start talking on the bus, and I will have every intention of listening or hearing the random announcements that he will make during our journey.  More often than not I sleep completely through it.  The traffic in Greece is insane.  Cars dart in and out of everything, and I have no idea how the bus is able to make its way through the streets.  Just today, the bus was literally inches from a building.  The driver just continued to inch its way down the street and did avoid hitting anything.  This trend is true in Crete, in Athens, and in the Peloponnese.  It really is remarkable, but I have no desire to drive at all in Greece.  All of our bus drivers have been amazing and incredible drivers.

On the other hand, I would be perfectly happy if Czech Connect Airlines didn’t exist.  My friend and I had all of our travel plans figured out for our three week trip through Europe.  That was until Czech Connect Airlines decided to cancel the flight I had booked for us to get to Athens.  Not only was the flight cancelled, but I have to fill out extra paperwork to get a refund for the tickets.  It’s absurd!  They cancel the flight that I had booked AND paid for, further inconveniencing me because I have to figure out a new flight or how to change my next flight.  And now fill out a form.  By the way Czech Connect Airlines, the link you gave me that should go to the form I need to fill out.  It doesn’t work.  So thanks so much!

It is frustrating, but it isn’t awful.  Based on the other options for flights, we would lose a solid afternoon and evening in Athens.  That means that it doesn’t really make sense to try to go to Athens anymore.  It is just too expensive for too little time.  I think that our current plan is just to take out Athens and spend a day more in London and a day more in Dublin if the airlines can make that happen.  It will make flights much less expensive, since Athens is expensive to fly into and out of.

Beyond my travel frustrations, let me just say that I am currently looking out of a bus window onto a bright blue ocean.  Jealous yet?  It is gorgeous, and these views are everywhere in Greece.  They honestly can’t be captured in a simple picture.  Even a panoramic, while better at capturing the scene, can’t do it justice.  And the coast goes on forever.  Normally I would miss these views because I am asleep, but these views are everywhere.

Now, because I feel like I should discuss my actual experiences in Greece, I suppose I will talk about Crete.  We were told by Aleko, our Dr. Feel Good and kind uncle on our trip, that Crete is the Texas of Greece.  Everything is bigger here, and the culture is much more Wild West/take things into your own hands.  (Side note from Aleko: No offense to anyone from Texas.)  All of us know that Texas is not all like that, but Crete has some very back country areas.

Most recently, I stopped by a kiosk and simply said “yiasas” (hello) to the cashier.  He immediately asked if I spoke Greek (in Greek), and I was able to respond (in Greek) that I spoke a little Greek.  Those language CDs have paid off a little.  But enough for my showing off.

We stopped by Knossos our first day on Crete and tried to beat the heavy tourism.  We were mostly successful, but by the time that we left the place was hopping with tourists.  While in Crete we have visited a number of archaeological sites, but generally only in the mornings.  It has been incredibly hot with very little shade, so I don’t mind the shorter days.  Afternoons have been spent at the pool, although we are going to have a beach at our next town.

The town we have been staying in was tiny.  At very least, we never saw anything huge.  Both in Zaros, where we were staying, and Archanes, where we just stopped for lunch, guys have driven by our group repeatedly.  As in, a car will drive by, turn around, and drive by again.  One of the motorcycles even popped a wheelie for us.  Honestly, I wasn’t too impressed.  We have been told by Aleko that if one of our guys looks at a girl for too long, her father may show up and try to force a marriage on the guy.  It is a very interesting culture where the guys appear intimidating.

A group of three of us went for a walk yesterday evening.  We reached the base of a path towards the beginning of the walk, and a sign said that a gorge was in 2.5 km.  We started following this path, but the next sign that we found said that the canyon was 4 km away.  We continued along this path for a while, which had a number of gates along the path, which we presumed was for animals.  We saw a church from the path and tried to find it.  None of us were dressed appropriately, but the church appeared fairly modern, and we just wanted to peek in through the door.  It took a lot of exploring to finally find the church, but it was completely closed off by fences.  Through the fence, I saw an old man and an old woman dressed in black.  It looked as if a house stood nearby, and these religious people lived there.  We were standing in the middle of a group of chickens, and at one point in time, someone whistled at us and motioned for us to leave.  It is possible that they wanted us to leave their chickens alone.  Religious people, I am sorry for invading on your space. 

Later on we saw plenty of goats on the side of mountains, eating the vegetation.  We also met a sheep with her lamb.  The noise this sheep was making was strange; I have never heard such a sound in my life.  The lamb was still drinking her mother’s milk, but the mother sounded like she was terrified.  It didn’t seem like she could find the rest of her group, and I felt so bad for the mom and her child.  They seemed to calm down eventually, but it was a really cool sight to see them climb part of the mountain.  We never made it to the end of the path, but we did walk quite a distance.  It was a really pretty path, although we slipped plenty of times. 

The magic of the bus is at work; I think that it is naptime for me now!

I'm On A Boat

“Church isn’t where you meet.  Church isn’t a building.  Church is what you do.  Church is who you are.”

--Bridget Willard

Being in Athens for a few days was wonderful!  It was nice to know where I was going and to have some sense of independence from the group, which was lacking at times during our week of travel.  I was able to have some space to myself if I needed it, which I had missed.

We had one glorious free day in Athens before returning to class.  We walked around and experienced some of the city life.  We also made it to the farmer’s market in our neighborhood.  It is sad that most of the students in this class won’t be able to experience Athens the same way that I did.  I feel like I have a slight understanding of the city, but I can’t imagine that they have enough time to even see parts of the city.  Not all of them like Athens, and I feel like more people dislike Athens now than in my first class.  I don’t know if this is related to the other sites we have seen, the people in the class, or the lack of time in Athens. 

The next two days we visited the National Archaeological Museum in the morning and the Agora in the afternoon.  The first day of the National Museum, we thought the museum opened earlier than it did.  I remember waiting on the steps for the museum to open last class, but forgot about that until we showed up at the museum the first day.  We wasted an hour and a half waiting for the museum to open, which turned out to be good, since one of the students was mistaken about where we were supposed to meet.

Our second day at the museum happened to be a Sunday.  I went to mass the earliest I have done in longer than I can remember.  I was at the church in time for 7:30 am mass, and I am very proud of myself.  I actually went to bed earlier than normal and woke up.  I was so impressed with myself.  Everyone else didn’t have to arrive at the museum until 9:30, so I felt like I was making a significant sacrifice for God.  Church has been a source of alone time in the past, so I enjoy going to church just to ensure that I can spend some time without being surrounded by 19 other students.  I did some hard core bathroom changing into and out of a skirt twice, so that I could see another church that I happened across later in the day.

After church, I stopped by Syntagma Square at 8:30.  When I first got there, there were only two people in front of Parliament looking at the guards, but they left shortly.  Parliament was really quiet for a solid five or ten minutes while I was eating my breakfast.  By the time I was done, a tour bus had shown up and Parliament was back to its busy self.  Watching the abrupt change from a peaceful morning to a tourist zoo made me appreciate how much the Athenians put up with us.

I was able to see my stele again; in the first class, I had to write two papers about this stele.  It was nice to see him again after so long.  The Archaeological Museum has literally room upon room of stele.  The Athenians did not allow any type of individual monument or sculpture with the exception of grave stele, so it makes sense that so many stele were constructed.  Seeing all of these monuments, which I know are only a miniscule sample of the grave stele that were preserved, made me think about everyone who has died.

Death is part of life.  People have been dying for thousands of years and will continue dying.  It is inevitable.  That doesn’t make the loss of a soul any easier.  Each and every soul is valuable.  Each of these souls was mourned in some way, and someone missed them.  Someone loved the deceased enough to build them a grave marker.  So every single one of these stele represent not only a life and a soul but also a period of mourning.  I know that I am projecting a little of our culture onto that of the Ancient Greeks in assuming that there was mourning associated with death, but I feel that it is only natural to miss anyone who has permanently left this world.

On my way back from the National Archaeological Museum, I stopped into the Numismatic Museum.  I walk by it every time I go to mass or to the museum, so I have passed it countless times.  The decorations inside the building are phenomenal.  It is so grand and beautiful; the colors and the paintings inside look perfect and contain some very interesting scenes.  There are also more coins than I ever knew existed inside this museum, and the differences in the systems of money were striking.

Unrelatedly, I cooked dinner while we were in Athens a few times.  On one particular night, I showed off some of my mad skill by burning (very badly) a grilled cheese.  I think the heat was up too high and I wasn’t paying attention and the next thing I knew, there was some smoke in the kitchen.  It actually tasted pretty good but looked miserable.  I only wished I had cooked the other side a little more.  It only took about 24 hours to clear the burnt parts of the bread off of the pan.  No big deal.

We got to the ferry incredibly early today.  We were in our rooms almost 2 hours before the ferry departed, which meant that we had a LOT of time to kill.  Either way, I am much happier with this ferry than the last one.  When we returned from Santorini a month ago, the ferry ride was absolutely miserable.  It was cold, and I had nothing to cover myself with.  I woke up every couple hours thinking that I would never be comfortable again or fall asleep again.  I was exhausted when I got back to Athens.  Nothing really worked out very well for me during that trip, and I crawled into bed for a solid 3 hours of sleep when we entered our apartment.  This time, we have cabins and beds.  I am warm and dry and have plenty clothes to change into if need be.  I do feel bad for all of the people I see sleeping on the chairs; I know how uncomfortable it can be, and I hope that they are able to enjoy their night a little better than I did.

I just had an old man walk by and say something to me in Greek.  In response, I had to say “I don’t understand” (phonetically “then catalaveno.”)  He made a sort of pecking motion; I think he may have been complimenting my typing abilities.

I also found a little room off the reception area labeled the church.  It is this cute little room with a wall (and a sanctuary behind the wall) and the typical Greek decorations around.  It really reminds me of a small chapel, like one we might have at Kairos (although with some slightly different iconography).  This would be the place to really experience God’s time, since Kairos does come from the Greek language.

Hometown Glory

“When you’re safe at home you wish you were having an adventure; when you’re having an adventure you wish you were safe at home.”

--Thornton Wilder

I can feel myself planning packing and counting down the time until I go home.  I know that I am not as settled here as I once was, which is disappointing.  I want to be fully present during my time in Europe.  Being back in Athens has reminded me how it feels to not be on the road all of the time, which makes me want to return home (USA) more.  Living out of a suitcase and hotels for the past week really cemented how I feel about Athens.  Athens really is one of my homes now, and I can’t think of any other word for my apartment than home.  The constant reminders of the plans of others for after the class remind me of the fact that I am actually leaving Athens.  During the last class, I could discuss the end of the class without lamenting my departure from Athens.  Now it is a different story.  I love all of Athens, and there is still so much to do and see.  I want to experience everything before I leave.  I still have two more weeks to soak in Greece, but only a few more busy days in Athens.

A few things that I know I am going to miss about Athens:

·         The mix of the old with the new… everywhere.  The fact that you can be shopping and just happen upon an old building or archaeological remain

·         2 euro gyros      

·         Speaking of food, the amazing fruit, Greek salad, feta, Greek yogurt, spanakopita, baklava, bakeries, Motion (a delicious juice for grown-ups), Lacta bars, Nutella (so much better in Europe), etc.

·         The Greek language

·         Evzones

·         Getting lost while walking

·         Beaches

·         Greek hospitality and generosity

·         The beautiful churches on every street corner

·         Exploring new parts of the city

·         The random cat ladies that you see on the side of the street

·         Odd street vendors selling any assortment of goods

·         Side shops for knock off purses and sunglasses

·         Syntagma and the protests.  There is always something to do and see.  And it added a lot of excitement

·         Being able to drink.  I haven’t done anything crazy, but being allowed to have a glass of wine (and some really good wine at that) with my meals has been wonderful.  I definitely would love to have the Greek style of social drinking in the States.  Not worrying about being caught with alcohol has also been wonderful. 

·         Greek time.  Sitting and eating a meal for at least an hour while enjoying the night and the company.

·         Free gifts, like wine with meals

Things that I claim I won’t miss but in all actuality probably will a little:

·         Language barriers

·         Not flushing toilet paper

·         Greek men who walk by and stare.  Yes, I see what your eyes are doing.  Yes, I hear the creepy pick-up lines you say.  No, I don’t think you deserve to be acknowledged.

·         The restaurant owners who approach you and try to make you eat at their restaurant, even though they have seen you reject the three restaurants before and all you want to do is walk along the street

·         The strange hours of stores

·         Everything being closed on Sundays

·         Stray dogs and cats everywhere

·         Gypsies driving down the streets to collect people’s trash

·         Tourist groups crowding the streets and the museums

·         The children out at all hours of the night trying to collect money.  It is so heart-crushing to see children who should be sleeping begging or selling goods for money.

·         Having less control over my own schedule.  It makes planning things a little complicated

·         Early mornings

Writing the last few lists, there is so much more that I could add to both lists.  There is just so much here that is different from the States!

Related to my recent musings on returning home, I now have everything planned for the remainder of my time in Europe (I think) in terms of transportation and travel and hostels.  We are planning on returning to Athens for a few days, so I can postpone my final farewell to the city for just a little while longer.

That being said, my current travel plans are:

Friday, July 22: fly to Rome

Tuesday, July 26: train from Rome to Venice

Wednesday, July 27: train from Venice to Milan, night train from Milan to Barcelona

Saturday, July 30: night train from Barcelona to Paris

Monday, August 1: train from Paris to Frankfurt to Dresden to Prague

Thursday, August 4: flight from Prague to Athens

Saturday, August 6: flight from Athens to London

Tuesday, August 9: flight from London to Dublin

Thursday, August 11: flight from Dublin to USA

It will be a crazy three weeks filled with tons of travel, but I know that I am going to have a great time and see so much!