Corfu and Athens

Over the first half of my Spring Break, myself and four others decided to travel to Greece. This was really exciting for me as I have wanted to go to Greece for as long as I can remember. I had high expectations for this trip, and they were not disappointed. We landed in Corfu (a Greek island) on the 29th, and right away we saw mountains and palm trees and the Mediterranean. I was in heaven. We got picked up from the airport by this bright pink bus to take us to what we thought was called Corfu Backpackers, but just turned out to be the Pink Palace (the weirdest hostel I have ever stayed in, but I will get back to that). For like half an hour we drove around Corfu Town with no apparent destination in mind. I felt a little bit like I had gotten on a bus that was taking me to some human trafficking ring, but thankfully that ended up not being the case. We went back to the airport to pick up two old ladies (I'm assuming the destination-less driving was just a way to kill time) and then we were off to the Pink Palace.

The Pink Palace. Where to begin... The first two things that happened at the Pink Palace were: they gave us shots of Ouzo (this nasty Greek drink that tastes like black licorice *shudder*) and then they took our passports to be locked up in their safes. That was my only form of ID, so I wasn't super cool with that, but there wasn't much I could do about it. The Pink Palace itself was really nice though. It was clean, had a nice bar, a (not very warm) Jacuzzi, a private beach, and activities galore. It felt more like a hotel than a hostel. Plus the food they served us was AMAZING. We got large, three course, delicious meals for dinner every night. That was definitely a highlight.

On our first full day in Corfu we took a four-wheeling trip around the island. I had lost my driver's license (and the rest of my wallet) a few weeks beforehand, so I had to ride with a guide instead of driving my own car. After a girl drove off the side of a cliff (she was fine) I decided I was cool with this. Plus he went really fast. That trip was so much fun. We saw beaches, had lunch on top of a mountain, and got to see some amazing views. At one point another girls bike broke and I had to sit on her lap behind the driver. That was an experience fo sho. Three people on one four-wheeler. I'm sure we looked real cool. The whole thing took us about six hours, and was an experience I was glad to have. And hey, if only one person drove off a cliff I think we can all call that a success. 

The next day was a lazy beach day. Of course it was a little too cold and windy to lay on the beach for long, so we got lunch and jumped in the (once again, not very warm) Jacuzzi. After that strenuous morning, the girls all decided to take a nap in preparation for another delicious dinner. We got up early the next day to catch a bus back to the airport, where a very nice airport lady changed mine and Luke's flight to the earlier one that Andrea and Maggie were taking, for free. And Luke didn't think it would happen. Guess he underestimated my (meaning Andrea's) charm. So we all got to Athens that Sunday and had the whole afternoon to find our hostel and walk around. 

I wasn't quite sure what to think of Athens at first. It had extremely beautiful parts, and then it also had some run down, iffy parts. That is to be expected in these times though, and I couldn't be happier that I went. The first night we were there we got lost in the Plaka, which is like a shopping district right by the Acropolis. I thought for sure we were all going to die, but that didn't really happen. The next day was full of sightseeing goodness. We started at the Temple of Zeus, where we got in for free (yay college students!). Once upon a time it was the largest temple in Greece. Now a days it is a beautiful set of ruins with a view to the Acropolis. After that we took a nice long walk past parliament and the Olympic stadium to Lykavittos Hill, which is the tallest point in Athens with the greatest view on the planet. Of course we had to walk up like 1000 steps just to get to the tram that would take us to the top, but it was totally worth it. I may have been out of breath, but the view would have taken it away anyhow. We had a 360 degree view of Athens from at least a mile up. It was incredible. I don't think I can really do the view justice, and our pictures don't even come close to showing how amazing it was. We sat there for about an hour gazing over Athens and sipping wine. I'm really cultured and worldly and stuff now guys.

After that we went and saw the Acropolis, which once again was amazing. I love being around all that history.While Lykavittos Hill was probably my favorite thing we did, I have wanted to see the Parthenon for so long, it was hard to believe I was really there. We stayed up there for awhile just taking it in, until we got a whistle blown at us for sitting on a wall. We got outta there after that.

The next day we took a tram to the beach. While on this tram, accordion playing children got on and begged for money. Apparently this is a really common thing, because it happened two more times while I was there. These accordion playing children were also very rude apparently, because they got shoved off the tram and almost started a fist fight. This time I was sure I was going to die. I didn't. At the beach we layed out for a few hours and took a very brief dip in the Mediterranean, which was very cold. I was also asked about 17 times if I wanted a massage or if I would like to buy a snazzy new pair of sunglasses. It was like skymall for the beach. That night we went to the Acropolis museum, and got to see the Caryatids and their restoration process. That was also a highlight for me, and something I have always wanted to see.

The next day Andrea and Luke left early while Maggie and I hung around a little longer because our flight back to England was later. We shopped some more, and I snagged 5 euro Ray Bans and a 14 euro Louis Vouitton that I'm totally absolutely sure are 100% real. Not knock offs at all. I am so glad I got to see Greece, and will always remember this as being an amazing trip. 

Amsterdam

Over the last week of winter break, myself and three other people went to Amsterdam for four days as a send off to our vacation. Of all of the amazing places I have gotten to see, I think that Amsterdam has by far been my favorite. You could tell just by being in the airport that Holland is still doing alright by itself, and that fact was reinforced by the beautiful city that I got to stay in. Our hostel was situated in what I can only assume must have been little Italy. I think I counted upwards of 20 Italian restaurants in the area surrounding it. Our hostel was an interesting place. While no one was supposed to light up inside of it, the entire place smelled like weed (as did much of the city) and there were like entire murals of dudes smoking joints on the walls. And we got to see all of these murals because our room was on the very top floor, which meant walking up four sets of the most treacherous stairways I have ever seen in my life. It is a miracle that none of us died. Especially me.

Amsterdam has canals running through it all, which meant that every block or so you got a view. It was definitely one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life. On our first full day there, we toured throughout the city and went to the Anne Frank house. I was surprised by this experience. While I cannot imagine going through what she did, I also cannot image how they hid that entire place for so long. The annex was much much larger than I had ever assumed it could be, which I'm sure just made the whole process that much harder when they were trying to hide them. It was kind of incredible to be walking through the annex of a story I had to read so many times in middle school. Now that I think about it, it was probably a lot cooler of a thing to do than it seemed like at the time. We also walked through one of the main squares and saw the national monument and Madame Toussoud's wax museum. I really really love those and was super bummed that we didn't get to go in. I was also super bummed that I lost my wallet and had like no cash though, so my options were limited to say the least. I did get to sit in a giant "wooden" shoe though, so it was all good.

The next day we went and saw the I AM STERDAM statue thing. I don't know why I wanted to see it so bad, but I had been saying that nonstop for like days before we went there so I was really excited. We really had no idea what to do at that point, so we took a gamble and went to see the Heineken building. The gamble payed off. We went on the Heineken experience (it really was an experience) and it forever changed the way I will look at museums. And beer. And Dutch people. Amongst other things, some of the entertainment in the Heineken experience included foosball, napping, making your own music videos, putting your heads on other peoples bodies, making labels with your names on them, and at one point I believe they even made the four of us into beers on a 4D "ride." It was... one the most interesting and entertaining places I have ever been. I highly recommend it.

Unfortunately we did have to leave at some point, so on Friday morning we took what I'm sure is the shortest flight I have ever been on back to England. I was sad to go. While I may not totally understand how everyone in that city doesn't have a faint buzz all the time just from the smell, it was one of the most beautiful and interesting places I have ever been. I can only hope I get to go back some day.

On an unrelated note, it snowed in Worcester today! At one point at least half of the Americans on my trip with me all came outside and had a giant snowball fight in the courtyard. It was one of the best days I have had since being here. When it gets to snowing, the Minnesotans get to throwing. It was soooo much fun.

Home for the Holidays

Instead of marauding across Europe as was the original plan for winter break, I decided I needed some time back home in Duluth. In an attempt to keep this a secret so I could surprise my friends, I swore those who knew I was coming home to secrecy, and then... I talked about it on facebook. Oops. But lets be honest, I was never going to be able to keep that one a secret. Or keep any secret for that matter. So with a group full of informed people waiting for me at home, I pulled an all nighter on the 22nd of December and embarked on a 12 hour trip home.

I decided that it would be a really good idea not to sleep the night before because I had a taxi coming at five A.M. and... that was it. There was really no logic to that decision. But that's what I did, and luckily I had a very nice ride to Birmingham with an extremely talkative, friendly cab driver to keep me awake. The first leg of my journey home went smoothly, with no issues other than the fact that I can't sit still for an hour, let alone nine. I did, however, hit a few snags on my two hour layover in Newark Airport. First of all, customs took wayyyyy to long, and I knew that I still needed to get my bag, re-check it, go through security, and find my gate. To my immense surprise, re-checking my bag turned out to be really easy. It was the next part that sucked. One of the super helpful airport people sent me to terminal C, where I finally decided I should check a board, and saw that, oops, my flight was actually leaving from terminal A! This little mistake meant that I had to go through security to get back onto a tram, get to terminal A, and then go through security again in order to get to my gate in the 30 minutes I had before my flight was scheduled to leave. I only just made that flight home. Fun fact for readers: I got asked three times if I was old enough to travel alone. Three.

As soon as I was actually back in Minnesota I knew I had made the right choice by going home for break. I just felt like I was home. For Christmas I ended up staying in the cities with my mom, and had a really great Christmas Eve party with family, where I got to see people who were not at all surprised by my presence. It was nice. My time in the cities was limited, however, and soon after Christmas I headed back to Duluth for time with friends, family, crappy Chinese food (YUM), and about 27 Starbucks runs. It was almost like I had never left.

I ended my trip home by going to see The Pines play at the Grace, which was awesome, and having a lovely night of dinner with family and several cutthroat games of Clue, all of which my sister won (bitch). I have to admit that in some ways it was harder to leave people the second time around. I don't know why, it just was not as easy to leave as it was the first time around. This time, however, I knew what to expect in going back to England: another awesome semester.  

Wales

Of all of the places that I have been so far, Wales has, in my opinion, been the most beautiful. I may have missed some countryside on the way there, because as per usual I was napping, but when I woke up I saw a huge castle nestled into the rolling hills of Conwy. It was pretty cool. It was also pretty terrifying to drive through as out bus was literally the size of some of the streets we were on. Our bus driver, however, is a pro and only bottomed out like twice. If I had been driving, the bus would no longer have a floor.

We arrived on Friday and took a tour of the oldest standing, non-castle building in Conwy, called the Aberconwy House. It was pretty awesome to be in a building with so much history, but we were also in a very small building stuffed full of Americans. It was hard to breath without getting some American hair in your mouth. After that we were all free for the night, so we walked around some charity shops (I FINALLY got a jacket), and ate dinner at a really really tasty fish and chips shop. I have never before understood the appeal of fish and chips, but let me tell you, freshly caught fish with some chips is highly appealing.

The next day we drove to the biggest coastal town in Wales, Llandudno. I honestly thought I was in a retirement community in Florida or something. It was a very cool town, but you could tell it was the off season. So we walked around amongst the elderly, went shell picking, and some people even explored some little caves off the beach. Plus I found my elephant.    :)

Now for the most part Wales was awesome. There was one small problem with the trip, however. The teachers who go on these trips with us, and know for a fact how much time on the weekends we have to work on homework, assigned me so much stuff due for Monday that I had basically no free time at night to walk around and explore Conwy. So while some people sat on castle walls and watched fireworks, I sat on my butt and read Henry IV Part 1. Both nights. So fun.

The last day we were there we took a bus tour of Snowdonia, a mountain range in the north of Wales. Now, don't get me wrong, I saw a lot of it and it was all gorgeous, but our tour guide had such a lulling voice that I... fell asleep. Total shocker, I know. But I still saw most of it, and got to eat some of the most delicious ice cream I have ever tasted. Plus, we all watched a slate cutting presentation, and how cool is that? Now towards the end of this tour we started to here whispers from the front. Bad whispers. Apparently when we bottomed out, we broke something with the belt on the bus which was screwing with the ventilation or some crap. This meant that we either had to wait for another bus to come take us home, or get the part replaced. Now, I am a good student. I always get my work done, and I had assumed that I would have all of Sunday night to write two papers. Umm no. We were supposed to get home at 6, we did not even leave Llandudno until 10 p.m. I did not even start writing my papers until 12:30. So so fun.

Of course while we were stuck in Llandudno, we made the most of it (with a lot of grumbling, naturally). We started out by playing Hide and Seek in the Dark (hide and seek where you have to get to a certain spot to be safe) and then moved on to Sardines. Now in this game one person hides and everyone else looks for them. When you find them you hide with them, and the last person to find the group becomes it. It was the second round of the game and we were all just sort of walking around when all of a sudden someone took off towards the bus. We all knew what this meant, so naturally we all took off running too. Some of you may not know this, but I come from a long line of giant klutzes. I took like ten steps, tripped over my own feet, and took what I have been assured was an absolutely magnificent face plant. Now I had some momentum going from all the running, and I literally skidded on the asphalt. I looked SO cool. Rest assured family, I am carrying on our traditions in England.