Greece: Athens, Mykonos, and Santorini!

Wednesday, June 23: I had to wake up early to catch the bus to Gatwick airport. My alarm woke me up around 4:30, but I apparently fell asleep again. When Peter yelled my name at about 4:50, I got up and got ready real quick. I got to the tube station at about 5:30, but my bus was leaving at 6:10 from West Brompton. It was just a couple of stops away, but I needed to change on the district line towards Wimbledon. I got to the stop on time and took the EasyBus to the airport. There, I bought some a muffin, a coffee, and “How to kill a mockingbird” by Harper Lee. It’s such a good book. I boarded my flight and went to sleep for most of it. When I got to the airport, the customs people didn’t even look at my passport. They just stamped it and I moved along. I was quite surprised by this. I met up with Simo, Thaigo, Laurent, J-H, and Juan. We took the bus into Athens. It took over an hour and a half. Plus, it was really cramped and humid inside. We definitely should have taken the metro or train there, but there was a strike occurring when we got there, so the bus was our only choice. On the way to Athens, we found out that our hostel messed up our reservation, but we got placed into a better hostel for the same price. That was real nice. The hostel was nicer, but the area wasn’t great. Even the people from Athens say that we shouldn’t walk back at night. I roomed with Thiago and Juan. That night, we met up with Anna and Jan, who came on a later flight. We had dinner at some Greek restaurant. We all had souvlaki. Apparently, it’s a traditional dish and it was very good. After, we went up to the Acropolis and bought some beer. We drank it on this rock facing out towards Athens. It was a great view of the city. John, a friend of Laurent’s, joined us. He’s from Athens and he gave us a lot of tips for the next day.

One really thing did occur that night. We were sitting around in a circle and talking. My friend, Simo, had his bag to the side of him. Then, all of a sudden, it was gone. After worrying for a bit, two guys came up to us and told us that they saw two other guys take his bag. Now, why didn’t the two guys tell us when the other two were taking the bag? Then, about 15 minutes later, two different guys came and gave us the bag back, saying that they found it on the side of the road. Thankfully, Simo only had a water bottle and a sweater in there. I really think the two guys who told us and the two guys who gave us the bag back were working together. After, all four of them were talking to each other. Weird story, but Simo got his bag back with nothing stolen, so it’s all good.

Thursday: We started the day all doing our own things. I wanted to see if I could make a reservation for my night train from Rome to Vienna. I couldn’t. We met up around noon and we went up to see the Acropolis. It was real cool to see all the ruins and the buildings that have been there for thousands of years, but there really weren’t any signs with information on them. I would love to know about what I’m looking at. We visited the acropolis, the Parthenon, the Olympic stadium, the Table de Zeus, and Parliament. That night, the others decided to go out, but I didn’t, because I had to take the metro at 6am the next morning. I had a ferry that left for Mykonos at 7:30am.

Friday: I must have turned off my alarm while sleeping, because I didn’t wake up at 6am. Luckily, the others were coming back from their night out just after 6am, so I woke up. Thank god that occurred. I rushed to the port, had to wait in line to pick up my ticket, boarded the ferry, and seated myself on the second floor deck. It wasn’t very comfortable and the ferry took about 6 hours, but I dealt with it. I did get great views of the passing islands and the sea. When I got to Mykonos, I thought I would have to find a way into the city, but there was someone from my hostel at the port to pick me up. Real nice. Mykonos is just so pretty. All the buildings are white. The doors and roofs are all blue, red, or green. The people from the hostel told me that there is a law which each house has to be painted every year. The roads are real narrow and small. I can’t believe how people are able to drive through them. Everything is pristine white. The sea is always a 5 minute walk away. It doesn’t get too hot because of the sea breezes. After I got myself situated, I headed off to Paradise Beach. When I was heading out there, I was thinking it would be a nice secluded beach, but there were a lot of bars and restaurants on the shore. Some of the bars had loud music playing. It wasn’t what I would call a Paradise Beach. It was still a really nice beach.

Saturday: I explored the city of Mykonos. It has a lot of little boutiques and food places. I sat out at a café right on the shore, drank a freddo (an ice coffee), and enjoyed the view of the sea. There, I met this American couple that was there for their honeymoon. They were so friendly and it was really nice to talk to them. I only had about a day on Mykonos. I only had the early part of the afternoon to explore as I was leaving during the day to take a ferry to Santorini. The ferry to Santorini was a lot quicker, because it was shorter in distance and I took a SUPERFAST ferry. I met an American astronomer, living in Chile, named Ryan, on the ferry. He had a conference in Mykonos and was just doing some traveling after it. He was nice company on my ferry ride. I got myself to Fira, Santorini from the port. I decided to explore the town and I met 5 girls. Two were from Mexico, but they didn’t know each other before, one from California, and two from Hong Kong traveling with each other. They were nice to meet and we explored the town together.

Sunday: I met up with the two girls from Mexico, Ana and Nancy, and Sundos, the one from California. They rented ATVs for the day and they picked me up. We headed out to Red Beach, Black Beach, and Oia. It was really cool to see the different colored rocks/sand at each of the beaches. It was really hot the day we went. The rocks/sand were too hot to stand on with your bare feet. Oia is the place on all the postcards of Greece. No lying. It is absolutely stunning there. The sunset there is best that I’ve ever seen. Driving an ATV was a bit odd at first, but it’s really easy to get use to driving. That night, I took a ferry from Santorini back to Athens. We left around 11pm and arrived in Athens at 8am. I booked a bed on the ferry and I ended up with my own room. It was so worth the 10 euros extra. A deck seat on an overnight ferry would not have been very fun. I saw people sleeping on the lobby floor and in those uncomfortable seats.

Mykonos vs. Santorini: Mykonos is touristier. It is closer to sea level. Mykonos is slightly more expensive than Santorini. Santorini is built on top of the hills, so you get wonderful views. The beaches on Santorini are better. It’s less expensive. Both have beautiful white buildings. Food prices are the same on both islands. I would say I prefer Santorini over Mykonos.

Monday: The alarm went off in the ferry, so I got myself ready to go. I took the train from the port to the airport in Athens. That took about an hour. It wasn’t too long. Then, I took a flight from Athens to Rome. The flight took about 2 hours. I got myself to my hostel, after getting lost a little bit, and had dinner with two other girls that were in the same room. We just went to get some pasta. I was extremely tired after all the traveling, so I didn’t get to see much of Rome that day.

Wednesday, June 9th to Thursday, June 17th

So, if you didn't know, I am not in France anymore. I left last week. The days leading up to the departure were not very pleasant. I just had a lot of things to do. I had to close my bank accounts, talk to the French administration about my departure, cancel my phone plan, tell my residence that I'm leaving, clean my room, and pack ALL my stuff. I definitely thought that I did not accumulate a lot during the year. I also sent home a couple of packages for the stuff that I knew that I accumulated during the year, since my suitcases were full when I came to France. SOMEHOW, I still ended up with way too much stuff, so I had to donate whatever I could and trash the stuff I couldn't. Advice for next time: definitely underpack. If you have too much stuff, you end up throwing or donating things. If you're underpacked, then it's not too much of a hassle to buy an extra t-shirt or a pair of jeans. I need to remember that for next time. :)

Wednesday, June 9: I had to leave for the train station at about 11:00am, since my train took off at noon. I spent the night at Liz's room, since I checked out the day before. I checked out on Tuesday because the secretary's office is not open Wednesdays. Liz and Anna were nice enough to help me to the tram stop. I knew it was going to be a HORRIBLE trip when I found it hard just getting to the tram stop with half of my stuff. I somehow got all my stuff onto the TGV to Paris and slept for the duration of the trip. I got off at the Gare de Lyon but had to get myself to Gare du Nord within 2 hours. The information people told me that it would take about 20 minutes to get there. In the end, it took me over an hour and I was absolutely disgusting. I had two suitcases (40 pounds each), a small handbag (10 pounds), and my backpack (20 pounds). My shoulders and forearms felt like they weren't there anymore. I finally got myself onto the Eurostar and slept once again on that. I finally got myself to St. Pancras International in London at the end. I never want to do that again. I was so exhausted at the end, that the floor even seemed extremely comfortable.

Thursday: I slept in that morning. I wanted to go check out the Queen's Club tennis tournament, but the weather was real shitty, so I decided not to go. My allergies were acting up for some odd reason. I think it's the pollen that I'm not use to. I had to go to the chemist to get some medicine, but I'm all good now. My Yung, Peter, and I went out to eat at a Vietnamese Place. I had phở. Delicious. My cousins paid for my meal, since it was my birthday the next day. I love my cousins. After dinner, we went to the Enterprise bar where my cousin's friend was having a gig. The first act was a young guy with his acoustic guitar. The second act, my favorite, was Old School Tie. They were damn good. The last act, was my cousin's friend's band. Once again, my cousins paid for my drinks. I love my cousins!

Friday: My Birthday! I met Laura at the Liverpool station in the morning. We went to Shakespeare's Globe. It was very informative and interesting. We had lunch at EAT. After, we went to Harrod's. We wondered around and ate a donut at Krispy Kreme. It was goood! We went to dinner in Chinatown. After all that, I went back to Laura's home for the weekend.

Saturday and Sunday: Spent the weekend in Colchester with Laura. It was nice. :)

Monday: Flight at 9:10 to Dublin. I was supposed to catch the bus to the airport at 6:00am, but got lost in London. Definitely not what I wanted to do at 5:00am in the morning. It was supposed to take me about half an hour to get to the bus stop, but it took me over an hour. I did catch the next bus at 6:30am and got there with enough to spare. The flight only took an hour, so I slept the way through it. I got to my hostel and met some Americans/Australians watching the soccer game. I stayed in an 8 person room. It kind of got annoying when people were getting up in the morning or people coming back late at night, but I got enough sleep. I went sightseeing with another American. We went to the Guiness Storehouse. It was quite expensive (11 euros for students), but it was definitely worth it. I even got to pour my own pint of Guiness. That night, I went out for drinks at Porterhouse with Louise and Steven. The beer selection at Porterhouse was quite impressive. I had a Sol, which is surprising to find, since it's from Mexico. Alcohol in Dublin is damn expensive.

Tuesday: Second day in Dublin. I met up with Louise and she was my tour guide for the day. It was soo nice to see Louise again. We went to the Dublin Castle, which is extremely ballin' inside. After, we had lunch at Munchies and we went to Trinity College where Louise goes to school. It's a really nice university. It looks like one of the Ivy Leagues. We saw the Book of Kells and the Old Library, which was free since Louise was a student at Trinity. It was nice. Then, we got lost trying to find St. Patrick's Cathedral. We did find St. John's along the way, thinking it was St. Patrick's. We finally found it, but it was 4 euros to enter St. Patrick's, so we didn't. Instead, we sat in the gardens. We were definitely in need of a rest. Then, we decided to go to Gourmet Burger Kitchen for their "5 euro, any burger" deal from 2pm to 5pm. I got an avacado bacon burger. It was so delicious. After, I said goodbye to Louise.

Wednesday: I woke up early and took the train, Enterprise, from Dublin to Belfast. It took about 2 hours. I left my things at the hostel and did some sightseeing. I visited Queen's University, the Botanic Gardens, and the National Museum. After, I went into town and saw the city hall. We got to sit in the seats where the Northern Irish parliament takes place. Real cool. Belfast isn't too big and there really isn't too much to do, so I had a short day and went back to the hostel to rest up.

Thursday: I did a black cab tour of Belfast. We entered the suburbs of the city to see all the divided parts of Belfast. It was kind of scary to see these huge murals of people in balaclavas with guns and text saying, "You are entering the Unionist/Nationalist part of Belfast". The divide is very concrete, since there are actual walls between the two areas. It was really interesting to see them though. We also saw the Peace Wall, dividing once again the Protestant/Catholic populations. It is very interesting to see it. The driver told us a very interesting fact. Only 5% of the kids in Belfast go to integrated schools. The other 95% go to their respective religion's schools. It's insane that there's still this huge divide between the people of Northern Ireland. After, we also saw the ship yards and where the Titanic was built. I only had the morning to do the tour, so after, I went to the airport to fly back to London.

Last couple of weeks in France...

Hi all! I leave Grenoble, France on June 9th for London, England. It should be an interesting trip with ALL MY STUFF. Haha. I have to change train stations in Paris, so that will be the most difficult part. The metro in Paris is really interesting. I am spending about 2 weeks in London with my family. I am unsure of what I will be doing, but will be making the most of it. I want to visit Laura for a couple of days. I want to go to Wimbledon. I want to see Oxford and Cambridge. I might even take a trip out to Dublin! I have 2 weeks and I've been to London twice already, so I'll be doing the less touristy things.

Anne and one of her friends are coming to London on the 19th! Exciting! I'll probably just hang out with them before I leave on the 23rd to Athens. There, I start my interrail trip. I will be spending about 4 days per city, so I'm in no-rush, can take it easy, and can fully explore every city. This is what I have planned so far:

Athens, Greece
Rome, Italy
Vienna, Austria
Budapest, Hungary
Prague, Czech Republic
Berlin, Germany
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Brussels, Belgium
Paris, France
London, England

I fly from London on the 3rd of August. I can't believe that I'm actually doing an interrail trip across Europe. I'm doing this whole trip by myself, except for in Athens, where I'm going with a couple of my French friends. It'll definitely be quite an experience. :)

Money, money, money.

I'm poor. We'll see how I survive this summer with all my travel plans... :(

Dear summer, you are too darn confusing.

I'm attempting to plan out my summer. First, I have to figure out when I am leaving France for England. Second, I have to see if my cousins can house me in London and if my aunt&uncle can house me in Bradford. Third, I need to figure out where I want to start my Europe adventure! (I'm thinking Athens, Greece.) Fourth, I need to plan out where I would like to go in a month of travel.

I also need to purchase the interrail pass. I am still deciding between 10 or 15 days of travel within 2 months. There's about an $180 difference.

While I am planning all this, I need to also...
Pack up my winter stuff and send it home.
Finish all my exams.

GOD DAMN IT. There's just so much to figure out.

August 3rd, I'm coming back to the US!

So, I finally booked my flight back to the US. On August 3rd, I'm flying from Heathrow airport in London, UK to Chicago. I have a layover for about 2 hours there, then from Chicago to Detroit. I can't believe that I am actually coming back to the US. At the moment, I kind of don't want to leave France. I don't want to leave Europe. They were quite expensive too! I booked the cheapest ticket I could find, which was about $900. I don't understand why it was so expensive! I bought my ticket from Detroit to Geneva last year during August for only $500.

It's just really odd to think that I'm actually returning. My year in France has been absolutely amazing, but time just flew by.

Sorry, it's been a while...

Hi! My life here hasn't been so exciting recently, but I'll give you a quick summary. I've went skiing for the last time, last weekend. It was a real nice day where I did several blue slopes and even a part of a black one. Sick. I'm quite pleased with the way I progressed this ski season for being a complete beginner. The weather has been extremely nice lately. Highs have been near 20°C (mid 60s °F) and lows have been around 12°C (mid 50s °F). I have been able to play tennis outdoors again. I'm quite excited for the summer. I want to start hiking and climbing. I started seeing an English girl. Her name is Laura, she's doing her study abroad in Grenoble, and she's quite amazing. :) I met her through one of her roommates, who I went skiing once a couple of times. It's always interesting when I talk to Laura, to see all the differences between British English and American English. There ARE a lot. There is a break in April from the 10th to 18th. I really haven't decided yet on what I want to do, but I really would like to go to Florence and Venice, Italy. I really don't want to travel the entire break, since I have to start studying for my exams at the end of April and early May.

The entire summer is still up in the air, but I'll probably be staying in Europe and traveling. I mean, I might as well take advantage of being in Europe already. I probably will not have another chance like this in my life. I know I should be looking for an internship, but I feel it's better if I stay and travel.