I've got kettle corn by my side, the new Needtobreathe/Ingrid Michaelson/Eric Hutchinson albums on rotation, and I'm ready to blog. And by 'ready,' I primarily mean that I'm using this as another form of procrastination (the first of my six finals is a week from this coming Monday, but I digress).
One of my now-famous sidenotes: The title of this post comes from this lovely tune by The Wailin' Jennys.
As always, I'll try to be as succinct as possible. I make no promises, though. You might be in for the long haul. Maybe grab a snack just in case. I recommend some type of popcorn.
I now present to you a summary of 2+ weeks of traveling across Europe:
After leaving London too early for comfort on 1 April, I flew to Milan and met my travel companions at the city centre. For future reference, the names of these friends are Erin, Megan, Lauren, and Rachel (Hannah joined up with us in Greece); they all go to University College Cork in Ireland. We then took a 3.5-hour train ride to Vernazza, Italy, the second of the 5 villages that make up Cinque Terre (the other 4 being Monterosso al Mare, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore). We got settled into the flat at which we were staying before eating dinner at a restaurant right by the water and watching the sun set.
On our first full day in Italy, we hiked from Vernazza to the first village: Monterosso al Mare. This is going to sound a bit ridiculous, but I did not think that it would be as hike-y as it was; I thought it might just be a casual 1-2km walk. But I was wrong. There are more than a few stairs to climb at the beginning and steep hills to navigate at the end. Within about 20 minutes, though, you have the most incredible birds-eye view of Vernazza. The bright colours of the buildings pop more when you see them from afar. Before too long we were working up a sweat and wishing we could jump off the cliff into the water (we quickly decided against this brilliant idea). The hike itself took about 2.5-3 hours, primarily because we kept stopping to admire the view (and gather our breathe from the stairs). Monterosso was a little bit bigger than Vernazza in the sense that there was more than one main street and a beach area. We grabbed a well-deserved lunch and walked around for a bit before lying down in the sand for an hour or so and enjoying the sun that London and Cork both lack most of the time. We also realized later that there is another part to Monterosso that we missed because we stopped walking down the trail too soon. Despite this, Monterosso was probably my second favourite of the 5 villages, behind Vernazza of course. After freshening up back in Vernazza, we headed down to the rocks by the water for pizza, wine, and bonding. When in Italy!
On day 2, we took the train to Riomaggiore, the furthest village down the coast. Although each of the 5 villages is great, we soon came to realize that they are all very similar. Yes, some are larger than others, but they all have that 'everyone knows each other' feel. They also all have a mix of incredibly touristy shops and small local businesses. We thankfully got to visit all 5 of the towns, but they begin to run together a little bit—mainly Riomaggiore, Manarola, and Corniglia, though, since we visited them all in one day. After realizing that the coastal path was closed for some unexplained reason, we took the train to Manarola and began our second hike from there. The beginning of the hike was pretty bizarre because we were basically walking in people's backyards instead of on a more woodsy trail like the previous day. And then we hit them: the stairs. Satan's Staircase, as we later dubbed them. They seemed to never end. I seriously contemplated calling it quits and turning back. They were treacherous, but deceivingly beautiful at the same time. I was entirely convinced that the devil made these stairs to torture—both mentally and physically—those of us who dared to walk them. And yet, as it sometimes the case, the suffering endured by my legs and the blisters formed on my feet were worth it. The views from the mountain (technically speaking, it was probably just a very large hill. But it sure felt like a mountain) of both Manarola and Corniglia were astonishing (thanks for the synonym for 'stunning,' Merriam-Webster). The pictures below will not do it justice. I suggest you book the next flight to Italy and see it for yourself.
On day 3, we unfortunately had to take the train back to Milan in order to catch a flight to our next destination (after spending a long, uncomfortable night trying to sleep/download the HIMYM finale in the airport, that is. We are fairly certain we weren't supposed to be there since the only other people in sight were janitors. But they let us through security, so we had a good defense in case we got arrested).
I am not going to spend much time on Athens because honestly it was my least favourite of the cities we visited. I think it was mainly because the constant traveling/being around people was wearing down on me a bit. I would love to go back one day when I'm more fresh-faced and less worn out.
The highlights of the stop in Athens were the Olympic stadium (you can see our short race and the medal ceremony in the video I posted the other day) and simply walking around the city and going to a few markets. And also the food, of course (I miss you, €2.30 gyro and gelato). We went to the Acropolis on our first full day there after eating the World's Most Delicious Brunch. It was incredibly cool to see, although it was one of those times when I wish I knew more about that part of history so that I could appreciate it more. We also all decided that we really loved the people of Athens. They were all so nice to us and gave us lots of free stuff (desserts, a bottle of wine, etc) for some reason.
After our 2 days wandering around Athens, we were all ready for our 8-hour ferry ride to city #3:
If you learn one thing from this overly long post, let it be this: if you ever go to Santorini, stay at Villa Manos. Here's the website. And here's a short list why:
1. It was only about €8 per person each night.
2. There is a pool, and our balcony looked over that pool. And it was lovely.
3. Free transportation to/from the airport/port (the airport is about 5 minute drive. We left Villa Manos about 40 minutes before our flight out of Santorini was supposed to take off)
4. The family that owns it are perhaps the nicest people you will ever meet. They were so appreciative when we told them we'd recommend this place to all of our friends, and they helped us get everywhere we wanted to go. They even gave us a free bottle of wine on our last night there. I want to go back.
Our first full day there was one of the most memorable experiences I have had in the last 7 months. After figuring out that it would be cheaper than taking taxis, we decided to rent a few 4 wheelers in the morning for the whole day. Our first stop? The beach, of course. We drove to Kamari Beach and lied in the sun for a couple hours after applying a generous amount of sunscreen so as not to be miserable the rest of the trip. The water itself was pretty chilly and the 'sand' pretty rocky, but none of us cared.
We then drove back to the hotel for a couple hours before heading to Oia to watch the sun set and grab a bite to eat. When Erin and Lauren asked the lady at reception how to get there, she told them to go to Fira (about a 5 minute drive) and then just keep going 'up up up' the mountain. However, we followed signs instead of her directions and accidentally took the scenic route. As the risk of sounding like I am exaggerating, this was the best decision we made on the entire trip (and it wasn't even on purpose). We unknowingly drove up the entire coast of Santorini, stopping once to take in the incredible view. The sunset itself in Oia was a bit anti-climatic because of clouds, but the drive there was easily my favourite part of Santorini as a whole.
Our second day on the island was lazy (I won't describe how lazy for fear that you all will judge us), and unfortunately we all had to leave for our next destinations before we would have liked to. For me, that meant:
A good friend of mine from high school lives in Münster and I had been wanting to visit her ever since I decided to study in London. Thankfully it worked out for me to fly to Düsseldorf from Santorini and then take a train and stay with her for a few days. It was so great to see her after almost 3 years apart. She took me to a fantastic local market and showed me around her city. We also went to Cologne one night for her friend's birthday party. Although a bit awkward at first because I don't speak a word of German (lies. I can count to 3, say thank you, and say 'godzundheit' after someone sneezes. Although I guess that doesn't necessarily make me proficient, does it?), everyone was incredibly kind and asked me lots of questions about American culture. Interestingly enough, the language barrier was most evident in Germany than it was in Italy and Greece. It made me realize that I take my ability to speak English for granted sometimes; because most people know at least a little English, I am not forced to step out of my comfort zone much when traveling. We somehow left Greece without knowing a single word of Greek. I rely too heavily on knowing that I won't have too many problems communicating, and it makes me feel bad that I didn't make the effort to learn some common phrases. Now I know for next time, though.
After Münster, I had one day of recovery in London before traveling to my final out-of-the-UK destination until I head back to Birmingham in June, and that destination was:
I had been trying to visit Erin this semester, but it never really worked out until now because of our hectic schedules. We were both still exhausted from our 14 days of traveling, so we spent most of the 3 days I was there relaxing and trying to overcome our tiredness. I'll put the highlights in list form to give you a break from paragraphs (I'm almost done, I promise. Hang in there, friends).
1. Fota Wildlife Park - This is essentially a zoo, but some of the animals roam freely with the visitors. The larger or more dangerous animals are in paddocks, of course, but they have a much bigger area to roam than most zoos allow. It was a perfect and relaxing way to spend a beautiful, sunny day. I recommend it if you're ever in the area.
2. Tour of University College Cork - Erin showed me her university. It's crazy beautiful.
3. Sundaes - Erin gathered up the people we had just finished traveling with and we made sundaes and watched a movie one night. Sundae toppings of choice: Tesco-brand Twix, chocolate chip digestives, strawberries, and chocolate syrup (duh). Movie of choice: Veronica Mars, followed by the pilot episode.
4. watching Friday Night Lights - this was lazy of us, but we needed lazy. And this is a good show to watch when you need to be lazy.
And now I am back in London. In exactly 2 months, I will be on a plane headed back to Birmingham, where I will be for a couple months before moving back to Nashville (this post makes me seem like more of jet-setter than I really am). Until then, I will be trying to study for exams (key word: trying) and taking day trips to cities around the UK that I've been wanting to visit. But for now, my 'long time travelling' days are over.
Thanks for reading. I'll try to post more less-exciting stuff soon.
Oh and one last thing: CONGRATS ON MAKING IT TO THE END OF THIS POST. You deserve a reward. A virtual hug will have to do for the moment.
Enjoy these photos and my overly sarcastic comments.
Dinner on the first night. The main reason we're smiling is because we were glad to be finished traveling and carrying our backpacks for a few days.
It was a really ugly view at dinner. I almost had to close my eyes.
Hello, random Italian man (I just typed 'Irish man.' I'm tired)
Contrary to what you might think, I did not scan a postcard.
The part of Monterosso that we didn't accidentally miss.
Better luck next time, fisherman.
Pizza + wine on a rock= happy people
Riomaggiore and some of its residents or tourists or something.
I dare you to start singing 'I'm on a Boat' ride now.
What are you trying to say, Italian train? Because I'm sure this could be construed as something wildly inappropriate, despite the translation. Perhaps you should hire a new graphic designer. Just a suggestion.
Manarola is just as ugly as Vernazza.
We survived Satan's Staircase and were rewarded with this view of Manarola.
Corniglia. If you rearrange some of those letters, you'll get 'corgi,' which has nothing at all to do with this photo. It's just a fact.
Erin and I at the aforementioned World's Most Delicious Brunch in Athens.
It wasn't as doomy-gloomy as this photo makes it seem.
Megan, Lauren, me, Erin, and Rachel at the outdoor theatre near the Acropolis that probably has some historical significance.
[insert Greece's national anthem here]
Megan and Hannah on Cookie Monster (yes, we named the 4 wheelers after Sesame Street characters)
On our trek around the entire coast of Santorini
Pardon the weird thing happening with my tooth. I haven't a clue what's wrong with it in this photo.
Erin and I on Big Bird. Miss you, Big Bird.
It was like Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, except real life.
Resume singing 'I'm on a Boat'
[insert cheesy music here]
Contrary to popular belief, you do not actually get your nails painted when you get a fish pedicure. You just pay to be tickled by fish for 30 minutes.
Us with the owner of Villa Manos after she gave us a free bottle of wine.
Cologne, not to be confused with perfume
In case of emergency, do not forget to remove your dentures and jewelry. I certainly know that removing my earrings will my number one priority if something goes wrong.
"Draw me like one of your French girls"
