Spring Break Adventures

During spring break I stayed on the island and explored many things.  It started last weekend when Jon, Graham, and I walked along the beach looking for a museum.  We walked for hours along the beach taking pictures, cracking jokes, and posing in holes.  When we finally came to what we thought was the museum we were looking for, we found small, closed buildings that was arguably a museum because of what was inside. It was all locked up so we just continued down the coast until we got tired of walking.
The next day, Jon, Melyssa, Graham, and I wanted to go to the site beach for our architecture project and get our tan on.  While trying to find a place to layout, we saw rocks that wrapped around this archaeological site.  So we continued on around the rocks until we were basically hopping from boulder to boulder in the water.  There were times were we had to get wet to continue around.  We did this because we thought there was an area of benches and stuff, but that was false.  It got to a point were Jon and I decided to head back and walk around to a beach we knew had some space while Melyssa and Graham continued around.  We met them around the other side and tanned for a good thirty minutes.  That night we went to an upstairs bar we were told was nice and a little cheaper.  It was really nice but when we got there, there were tons and tons of what looked like middle school kids celebrating a birthday and dressing up. We asked the owner of the place how old he kids were and he said about 14 to 15.  This was shocking considering they were all walking up to the bar with slips of paper and going back into the crowd with just about any drink they could have wanted.  Apparently there is a deal with their school and the bar to split the profits, but what was crazy was how young they all were.
Perhaps the biggest adventure we went on was the hike to the top of Mt. Oros, the tallest mountain with the highest point on the island.  Melyssa, Graham, and I started our hike to the top at 9:30 in the morning.  We knew where the mountain was and a rough way to get there.  After walking over an hour along the coast nearly to another city, we cut off the road and onto paths we believed led to the base.  Ever since we left, I could see the mountain in the distance and thought to myself, "This is going to take a looooong time."  And of course it did.  After taking a path off the main road and following it for almost another hour, we came to its end.  We could see the mountain but had to road or path to follow, so we just headed straight for the base.  There were other hills and valleys before the mountain so we had to somehow make it through all of these without a road.  One could argue that we were lost but we were in fact not lost, because being lost means that we did not know where we were.  We knew exactly were we were just not how to get to our destination even though we could see it.  This was probably the worst a part of our journey because there was no road, we were trekking through huge boulders and an abundance of thistles and thorns, and we all only wore shorts because we were told it was a one to two hour hike to the top.  After 3 hours in the thorns, rocks, and climbing from boulder to boulder, we saw a sign, a sign that was on a road.  We were so relieved and knew that we could get to the top from here.  Five hours from the time we left in the morning, we made it to the top.  The view was so amazing because you could literally see everything on the island except for a few things.  We could even see Athens in the distance and were at time above clouds.  When we decided to leave  we simply followed the road back down that led to another road that went right back into town.  Not only did we feel really dumb but it took less time.  We argued that the way we took was much better at this point because besides all the scrapes we got, we had a great story to tell.  Looking back on it, I am glad we made our own path to the top because it was more adventurous.  After that agonizing  eight hour walk and hike though every terrain, we treated ourselves to a massive pizza from "Pizza Venus" that was delicious.
After our long day of hiking we had to take an entire day of rest to recover from the day before.  But on Friday the three of us and Zach went to find ancient olive trees.  We were told they were just off the main road down he coast.  While walking down the road and seeing Mt. Oros in the distance, we were constantly reminded of our previous experience   This experience was different of course although we did take the same path off the main road as we did before.  After taking the path and remembering that the olive trees were just a few minutes on this path, we decided that we did not know where the trees were.  So Graham, Zach, and I cut off the path and started mountain climbing up the hill/mountain beside us in hopes of finding the ancient olive trees.  Before we made it off the main road, we found a little chihuahua that began to follow us.  He followed us up the path and even followed the three of us up the steep rocks to the top of the hill.  Melyssa stayed down and watched us go up, although we soon could not see her.  Once again I wore shorts thinking that we would only be on roads and we would easily find the olive trees, but of course we did not and instead found ourselves climbing on boulders and swimming through thorns once again.  I actually got more scarped up on the hill than I did all day hiking up the mountain.  We did eventually make it to the top of this hill and found no olive trees.  It was too far to turn back the way we came, so we headed to the road to make our way down.  When we got to where the road met the hill, there was a ninety degree drop off a cliff, so we had to turn around and find another way down.  At this point, it was beginning to get dark and we had to hurry down so we were not stuck on this hill after dark.  We managed to make our way down and found Melyssa.  She told us that had we continued on the path off the road, then we would have found the olive trees because she saw them.  We were too tired to go back and look and it was almost dark, so we headed home.  The walk home seemed so long because there was easily 30 to 40 mile per hour winds blowing in on us the whole way.  The wind was crazy.  We made it back to town and were once again exhausted after hours of walking.
That was my spring break, a lot of walking and sight-seeing with some homework and sleeping sprinkled in.  I took a billion pictures and most of it was very exciting, even some of the dangerous things we did.  Next week will be a long one, we will be in Istanbul walking around all week, so I am resting up for that.  Even though I stayed on the island, it was a spring break that I will never forget.

There's Mt. Oros

after tanning

from Mt. Oros

epic thorns

from Mt. Oros

from the hill/mountain while looking for olive trees

the chihuahua that followed us everywhere

A Week in Deutschland

Last week I was in Berlin visiting Niki.  I arrived at the airport and had a few hours to kill before she flew in from a trip, so I wondered around the city myself.  From the airport I got on a bus then rode a train around for a while until I felt like getting off.  I found malls and plenty of places to go.  I also soon found all the food.  I spent most of the afternoon, and the entire week I was there for that matter, following my nose.  My nose tends to lead me to good places.  My first meal in Germany consisted was a Döner, which I associated to be like the gyros I have had in Greece but on steroids.  The Döner had a load of veal, lettuce, tomatoes  onions, carrots, cucumber, garlic sauce, and chili sauce.  It was sooo delicious and nothing short of heaven for a growing boy.  I also had a box of china I like to call it from "China Box" which was Asian noodles with veggies and chicken.  These were the first things I ate in Berlin and they both mad me very happy.  

That evening Niki arrived and I was there waiting in the airport.  Those moments are the best, were after a long period of time you are reunited.  It had been two months since we had seen each other and I was so happy I was able to get to see her on our anniversary.  Since she knew I was able to visit, she was coming up with places we had to go and things we had to do while I was there.  We went all over and to sooo many places.  It seemed like I knew the city and how to get around by myself in just a couple of days.  I became accustomed to the trains and how they work and came to really like the city and how everything else worked.  Unlike Greece, there was more structure and logic to everything rather than chaos or confusion.  And everything seemed cheaper and more reasonable because it is a large city and their economy is not in the toilet.  After meeting Niki at the airport, we headed to her host parent's house, where I would be staying for the week.  I was surprised that her host family let me stay with them and even fed me.  They are very nice people and they make the best food.  It was so nice to come home at night and have dinner made for us.  

As far as all the places we went, they were all very cool and I will have to make a long list of them.  Hopefully I remember everything we did, here is everything we saw: the place where the Berlin wall ran through the city in Potsdamer Platz, Checkpoint Charlie, Templehof Airport, the hotel Michael Jackson dangled a baby out a window, the Brandenburger Tor, Berliner Dom, the Jewish Museum, the Jewish Memorial, King Fredrick's Palace, East Side  Gallery, and many more.  We actually meant to go up in the TV tower which was too expensive and the Reichstag Dome which was closed.  We decided that later when we have more money we will come back experience the rest of Berlin.

All of those places were really cool and I got so many pictures of everything and of us.  There were many other things that I came to like about Berlin.  For example, Germans like their privacy and I thought it was nice that every house in the neighborhood had their own fenced in yard, although the fences were not too tall.  There was enough mixture of privacy and public to make everything seem comfortable.  What also made the neighborhood setting feel comfortable was how quiet everything was and how cozy it felt.  Even walking back in the cold there was a nice cozy feeling to everything, then inside there was always a nice smell of dinner in the warm house.

All in all it was an amazing week and I had a wonderful time.  The last night I was there we went to somewhere nice to celebrate our anniversary dinner, Hard Rock Cafe...I mean McFreakinDonald's.  This McDonald's was the fanciest we have seen and we even ate in a little library they had.  So even though we had our anniversary dinner at McDonald's there was still a nice touch of romance.  Plus we managed to have a great time and save a bunch of money on car insurance by switching to Geico. We were both very sad that I had to leave but we will see each other again soon.  And I am of course very grateful and thankful for those who helped me get to Berlin.  There is no way I could have paid for it all myself and I appreciate everything that was done to get me there.  Now that I am back I plan to make the most out of the time I have left in Greece.  And before I know it, Niki will be here to experience it all with me!

OMG a Döner

Berliner Dom

Berliner Dom on the river Spree

King Fredrick's Palace

a mural on the East Side Gallery

The Week of the North

As I said in my last post, we left for northern Greece on Sunday and spent basically all day traveling. The bus first took us through the mountain monasteries at Meteora, where I lost weight and my pants gained weight. Later that night we arrived in Thessaloniki and had a nice hotel. We expired a little but got to bed because we knew Monday would be rough. Monday consisted of walking. We walked for over 9 hours around Thessaloniki, and I'm usually fine walking for a long time but it was the drastic elevation changes and terrine shoes I mistakenly packed. I paid for it because days later they still hurt. We went to the upper city where the ancient walls of the city still stand. It was definitely upper! The rest of Monday included a couple of Byzantine museums and walking around markets. A few of us went out Monday night to see how expensive everything, specifically drinks were, and they are expensive. Keeping myself on a tight budget, I only had one drink all week which was an overpriced beer. Nonetheless Monday night was still fun checking out what Thessaloniki did for fun.

Tuesday was again a lot of walking and there was two museums. The modern art museum was incredibly interesting. The art and "art" I saw in there was quite cool. We didn't do as much Tuesday night because we knew we would want to check out Volos the next night. We woke up early Wednesday and left for Volos, first stopping at the King Philip II/Alexander the Great museum on the way. What made this museum cool was that it is underground and housed many tombs of the great leaders, their armor and weapons, and graves stones and other things that honored the dead. From there we went to Volos, which is another city on the coast. From the base of the mountain that is Volos, we could see houses and buildings built all the way up. Little did I know the bus would be headed there next, so for over an hour it worked its way up and back down the slopes. I was shocked how high it was and how long it took. And of course I was a little basket case filled with terror. Although I was nervous, once we got to the top it was an incredible view and a great experience despite the cold. After working our way back down and getting into our hotel Graham and I got dinner. It was after we had our regular gyro that Zach walked in and told us he had just had a foot long gyro.

The four of us and Misha went out that night to a place Misha was told was a good and cheap place. It was a hookah bar and was relatively cheap. Although I hardly care for hookah it was fun. Then Misha did what he does best and asked a group of people what kind of places there are to go at this hour and what there is to do. We left with them and we were all going to a restaurant but they were already closed. Instead they had us follow them to "old town" or some other part of town. They were hoping to get us into a restaurant with live Greek music but they were packed. At this point all hopes seemed lost for anything until the group yelled at us that there was room inside. So we piled into the small room that was over loaded with Greek locals, and I know I stuck out like a white boy in Texas. Everyone in the place knew what was going on because they were singing and clapping and having a ball. We were generally confused but we soon were able to at least clap along. Later when I thought to myself, "surely it has to be over by now" it just went on and people began to dance. The music literally never stopped and even a couple of us got up to dance with them. I had to sit out "dancing" to document this most embarrassing moment for some. We were there much longer than I had expected we would but it was a great experience of the Greek culture, whether I understand it or not.

Thursday morning we got up and began to head back to Athens. On the way we stopped at Thermopylae, the area where the 300 Spartans fought the Persians. We were not able to actually go into the narrow passage because it is more difficult to do in an hour. We just stopped at the modern day monument of the site. From there we could see the ridges that made up the passage. In the pictures I took of it, I was standing were the sea used to be, which made more sense as to why the passage was one of the only ways through the area. We were all dying to go into the passage and reenact the movie but there just wasn't time.

From Thermopylae we made it to Athens, and I ventured off alone to a cheap hostel to prepare for my flight to Berlin the following morning. The hostel was extremely cold all night. The bottle of water I bought for dinner warmed and when I woke up it was nice and cold again. I was shivering for hours after. I basically spent all of Friday traveling myself. From the hostel I walked to the bus that would take me to the airport then flew to Berlin. I had to wait for Niki to get back from a trip so I had the rest of the day to myself there. I went out on limb, got on a bus and train, and stopped at many stops to see what all they had to offer. The little food I had was very good and quite different from Greece. After carrying my heavy backpack all around two cities all day I am very worn out and as I write this I am still waiting for Niki to arrive. In a few hours I'll see her again, and it just happens to be our one year anniversary. 

Thessaloniki

Modern art museum

King Philip II's armor

Volos

Thermopylae

Thermopylae monument