6/3/10
-First day
My parents drove me to the airport, and the irrational fear of being the last one in the group to arrive made it the longest hour and a half of the entire trip. I did my best to pack lightly, but didn’t realize what a good job I did of it until I got there and noticed that my suitcase was half the size of everybody else’s. The first plane ride seemed to take forever, as I was just anxious to step foot in Europe for the first time. We “soon” arrived in Frankfurt; I don’t know if it was the fact that I didn’t sleep at all on the plane and was overly tired, or just pure culture shock, but everything in Germany made me burst out in laughter. The next plane ride went way faster, and before I knew it we had arrived at our hotel in Rome. The first thing I noticed was the star quality and abundance of graffiti throughout the city. The originality and attention to detail caught my attention, and distracted me from any traveler’s anxiety I might’ve had.
6/4/10
-Today we visited the Vatican, and I already used up an entire memory card’s worth of pictures. My camera died halfway through, so I was unable to capture anything past the Sistine Chapel, including the quaint, local, outdoor, Italian restaurant where a few of us ate lunch. Although the Vatican’s art and architecture blew me away, I was ready to collapse from exhaustion and depletion by the end of my self-guided tour. We then visited St. Peter’s Basilica, and Michelangelo’s Pieta. The architecture blew my mind, so much that I found myself donating a euro to the collection box to show my support.
Then we had a tour of the Roman Colosseum, which was a site I will never forget. If any history class had taken me to this site in high school, I would have payed a lot more attention and definitely would have cared enough to study more. Also, we visited the Pantheon, Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers, and the Trevi fountain. I couldn’t help snapping pictures at every available opportunity.
6/5/10
-Florence
Today was incredible. We hit up a train into the city of Florence, and from the second I saw even more graffiti painted on the other trains, I knew I made the right decision to take this optional excursion. The Piazza della Signoria, an L-shaped square in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, proved to be a great landmark for our primary meeting spot throughout the day. The Ponte Vecchio, a medieval bridge over the Arno river, was a perfect place to photograph, stand, or be photographed standing at. The leather demonstration was a valuable learning experience as well. I now know how to spot fake leather, and I bought a genuine leather belt for my girlfriend. After grabbing some ‘pattate frites’ at McDonalds, I slept the entire train ride back to Rome.
6/6/10
-Mt. Vesuvius/Sorrento
I had read about this volcano as early as the fourth grade, and was finally able to see it from the perspective it was meant to be seen; the summit. I think the combination of breathtaking photo opportunities and hilariously cheesy tour guides made the hike to the top well worth it. We hiked back down, and sure enough, I slept the entire way to Sorrento. Sorrento was without a doubt, my favorite spot in Italy. The view from our hotel room (well, not ours; the girls’ room) was incredible. To the left were mountains, to the right was a well-lit, classy city, and right in front was the Mediterranean Sea. I felt most comfortable walking around these cobblestone streets, which were decorated in lemon trees and shops selling Limoncello in more oddly shaped bottles than i could wrap my head around.
6/7/10
Today, James and I missed our wake up call, and almost missed the bus to Pompeii. I’m glad we didn’t because not only would we have been totally screwed, but we would have missed what such stories as “The Dog of Pompeii” were written about. Dogs are really held sacred there, and I didn’t realize the extent of it until I saw some random dog casually walk onto a “sacred area” not permitted by any humans. The Roman ruins were even sweeter, since it was all the charm of the ruins, with an amazing landscape surrounding it. After that we went to Brindisi and boarded an overnight ferri to Patras.
6/8/10
Today we got off the ferri at Patras, where we hit up a beach for the afternoon. I had my first sea urchin scare, and got to jump off some rocks and collect some rocks. After getting my tan on, we took a bus to Delphi, a small mountain town with an amazing view. James and I met some lady from NYC in one of the local shops. That night we went out and mingled with Greek kids for the first time.
6/9/10
Today we had a guided tour through the Delphi Museum, then proceeded to Athens. My first impression of Athens was not very flattering, as our hotel was not exactly in the most cherished area of the city. Since we were not recommended to go wandering around the city, we called it an early night.
6/10/10
Today was busy. In the morning, we had a guided tour of Athens, visiting the Omomia, and the Syntagma squares. After that, we saw the Plaka district, Hadrian’s Arch, and the Temple of Olympian Zeus. The view from the Acropolis allowed you to see just how big Athens really is. We took a group pic there, and chilled for a while. Then we went to the National Archaeological Museum, where we saw ancient art from the Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, and Minoan periods.
P.S. The Graffiti in Athens was even cooler than in Rome.
6/11/10
Today was the day of days. We embarked on our cruise out of Pireas and got settled in after a long check-in process. I must have walked around the outside of the ship three times just to take it all in. After a safety drill, I relaxed in the sun until we arrived in Mykonos at about 6 pm. Mykonos was probably my favorite place of the entire trip. We Walked around for a while taking pictures, while attempting to soak in all the beauty of the area. I described the aesthetics of the Island to be intoxicating, yet sobering at the same time. Eating a delicious gyro while watching the sunset was really something. One thing I will not miss, however, is getting harassed by wild, freeloading cats while I’m trying to eat.
6/12/10
Today was the only day I slept in. I woke up at 10:30 am, and rushed off the boat to see as much of Kusadasi, Turkey as I could in twenty minutes. It seemed like I didn’t miss much, since it was all shops and a starbucks and a burger king. However, I do regret not getting some Turkish BK, as I may never get another chance. I guess I’ll wake up ten minutes earlier next time I’m in Kusadasi. We got back on the boat, and I chilled out in the sun for another afternoon. At around 4 pm, we arrived in Patmos. After searching high and low for a gyro, we finally gave up and went swimming in the crystal clear waters of the beach. Sea urchin fears aside, it was really fun. Thomas rented a moped and we were all really jealous. After that, we got back on the boat and watched the World Cup.
6/13/10
We woke up early, and landed in Herklion, Crete. After visiting the Archaeological Museum there, I went to a cafe and ate the best crepe of my life. On the way back to the boat, I was harassed by a gypsy who was chanting some nonsense. Directly following this, I came down with a really bad stomach ache. Coincidence? Gypsy curse? I guess I’ll never know...
We chilled on the boat for another relaxing afternoon, then arrived in Santorini. We took a ferry from the ship to the Island, where I payed 5 euro to ride a donkey up the cliffside. This was an experience like no other. Kevin, my donkey that I named, safely brought me to the top. We took another group photo with the view of the entire City cliffside in the background, then walked around until we found a place that sold gyros. I ate my delicious gyro, and took a cable car down the cliff. I got back to the ship, and we all hung out for our last night together.
6/14/10
James, Lee and I totally got the bum’s rush from one of the ship’s employees, who rudely barged in our room like four times before 7 am. I dragged myself out of bed, and waited to get off the ship in Piraeus. After that we transferred to the airport in Athens and flew home. Luckily, I sat by my friends Leigh and Tina on the plane, so I didn’t get a minute of sleep. When we arrived in Newark, NJ, we said our goodbyes and peaced out. My Father and Brother picked me up from the airport, and although I had the time of my life, I’m glad to be home in America, where everybody speaks English.
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