Gorgeous Greece & Purgatory

I am extremely behind in my travel e-mails because at the last few places I was staying, internet was about 1 USD per 10 minutes....ridiculous. So, in this e-mail, I'm going to recap Greece and Milan (aka Purgatory- will explain momentarily), and then I'll send another one in a few days about Switzerland.

Ok....so after Sicily, Maddy and I flew to Athens and were ridiculously excited because we had been talking about this portion of our trip together for months. Though it was an exhausting travel day getting there, I bought a few magazines (the first English ones I've seen in a while!), and I kid you not that made everything a lot better. For those of you who understand my slight magazine obsession, you know about their power to turn my mood around. We arrived in sunny Greece excited and ready to take on the city, but we were both pretty exhausted. To make matters worse, the first hostel we went to was full, so they sent us to another hostel 25 minutes away. When we finally got settled in, we decided to walk around Monastiraki, a cute area in Athens with outdoor markets, lots of shopping, and great restaurants. We sat down at some local place and had- I kid you not- the most delicious Greek salad I have ever tasted in my entire life. I made a vow to eat two of those a day, and I kept my promise all the way through Greece....they were THAT good. As we sat down to digest after we finished, some woman came over with complimentary yogurt and honey (which was also a delight to the taste buds). Then, someone gave us a dozen fresh roses! So as you can tell, it was hard not to take a liking to this country right off the bat. =)

After a little sightseeing, Maddy and I got dolled up for a night out, but unlike at college, we did not have any speakers for music. So, we decided in our silly, usual fashion to listen to the same songs at the same time on our "headpods," as we call them. Trying to get our songs to play at the same time was a process in and of itself, but bobbing our heads to the same beat on our individual ipods was pretty priceless.

After a long night of wandering and making friends, Maddy and I winded up taking a tour of Athens on motorcycles (don't ask). And, we saw the most beautiful view of the entire city lit up at night, which will almost certainly be a highlight of this trip. I will also say that I've always been skeptical of motorcycles due to my mom scaring the crap out of me about how unsafe they are...but there is nothing that compares to the freedom you feel when you are on one of those things....I think I'm going to plan my midlife crisis ahead of time and save up for a Harley.

After getting home at 5:30 am, we slept for about 2 hours before we had to get up, check out, and roam Athens for the next 7 hours until we got on our boat for the Greek Islands. Maddy and I went to see the Parthenon on the Acropolis, and aside from me being dehydrated due to the crazy heat, we were both in awe of what we were seeing. I couldn't help but think about how many times I heard about the Parthenon from friends who had previously seen it on family vacations or while studying abroad. I was actually planning on studying in Athens if I didn't get into the Fiji program, and a part of me wondered how my life would have been different had I gone there instead. Not that we can ever answer these kinds of questions, but they are always interesting to think about.

The other thing I thought about while I was there was...."!?!?!?!?!?!?!" Yes, that was the thought. You sit there and look at this enormous structure on an even bigger hill, and you've gotta wonder about all the sweat, blood, and tears that probably went into building that thing. At first sight, it's just an old looking infrastructure that is falling apart a little more each day. But when I sat there and really thought about it, it was crazy to imagine how people built such a thing so long ago. I know I marveled at the Pantheon in Rome, but this was even bigger and higher up! How in the world did the Ancient Greeks pull that off? It probably took more than one generation to build, and I just found it amazing that those who started building it did so knowing that they wouldn't see the end result. They did it out of faith that the finished product would come, so long as they started to build it first. It just goes to show that the legendary things and people in life are not always recognized as such at the time they are alive or being built. This fact alone is probably a big part of why things and people become legends to begin with. Like the Acropolis, or the Pantheon, or people who get increasingly more famous after their death, it is the bittersweet reality that these things and individuals were not fully appreciated in their day that further contribute to how special they are now.

After a great day of seeing the sights, we got on the "Express" boat to Santorini. Let's just say that "express" was an understatement. This little vessel-that-could was chuggalugin along at a speed of about 70 mph more than I was comfortable with. Now, I will just have it be known that I never EVER get seasick, but I really was going to puke. The only reason I didn't was because I kept telling myself, "Don't be that girl, Melissa. DON'T BE THAT GIRL!" hahaha. We finally got to the island at 11 p.m., and from a distance, the lights of houses on the Caldera looked like stars huddled together in a barren, black sky....I knew I loved it before I even saw it...I practically smelled the love!

The woman we were staying with was supposed to pick us up at the port, but our boat was 2 hours late so I figured she wouldn't be there. Maddy and I got off the ship from hell and, disheveled and tired, we both cluelessly looked at each other thinking, "Now what?" There were at least 200 other people shuffling past us, all of them seeming so sure of where they were going as we stood there like lost puppies in the middle of the night. Then, all of a sudden, I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned around to see a little Greek woman in her best English say,
" You look for someone?!" AHHHHHH! It was Stella, the hero of my life. How she knew who I was at the time, I have no idea. But, again, this is another reason why Greek people rock. I knew instantly that I would love this woman- take a second and just picture the sweetest, funniest, cutest lady ever.....did you picture it?......ok, now multiply that by 15,000 and you've got cute lil' Stella.

After a good night of rest, we woke up the next day and had the most beautiful 15K hike ever. We went up rocky hilltops, through several cute towns, stopped for frappes and a great view along the caldera (the picturesque buildings stacked on top of one another along a cliff), and ended in Oia to marvel at the incredible beauty of that magical island. We celebrated our great day with a night of dancing in the town of Fira, and we had an amazing time...definitely one of those nights that you never want to end.

The next and last day of the 'Maddy & Melissa Summer Chronicles' included a lazy day at a beautiful beach, our last Greek salad together (tear!), and a delicious final dinner that left us both overstuffed. We capped our trip off in true M & M style by going out dancing until 6 am. It was one of those nights that you can't really put in words why it was so much fun, but we laughed the whole way back to Stella's about it. Despite only sleeping for an hour, I saw Maddy off as she got on a boat back to Athens to catch her flight home and felt sad to see her go. I'm not really sure where the time went, but like all great things, it goes too fast when you don't want it to. Her and I were planning those two weeks together for a while, and it was weird that all of it was over already. It was like the end of the night on your 21st birthday- the hype that you built up for so long finally dissipates and all you are left with is great memories. That, and a hangover.

After Maddy left, I hopped on a ferry to Ios, Greece. In a nutshell, Ios is the Cancun of Europe. I didn't really believe it when people said it was a crazy party island, but...uh.....it wasn't a lie by any stretch of the imagination. During my couple of days there, I did not go to bed before 8 am, no exaggeration. I was staying at Far Out Beach Resort (anyone staying in Ios in the future should be at this place....3 pools, a 30 second walk to the beach, and an almost 100 percent crowd of 20-somethings all there to do one thing: P A R T Y.)

I stayed in a bungalow and realized that I only had one roommate, so again, I was hoping she was not psycho. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was a pink hair straightener on the table and though I hadn't met her yet, that alone made me love her already. She winded up being the best roommate I could ask for...a wonderful girl from Melbourne, Megan. Her and I spent the next 2 days partying, eating, relaxing by the pool, and making fun of each other's accents. By the way, I honestly wish I talked like an Ozzie because everything they say sounds cuter and happier (ex: instead of mosquitos they say "muzzies", haha). And I guess that makes me a New Yorkie... =)

One of the highlights was meeting another really nice Australian guy and as we tried to get a cab back to the beach club, he informed me that there were only 3 cabs on the entire island. As a girl from NYC, I couldn't quite wrap my head around how that statement could ever be true, but ohhh how true it was. After waiting for almost an hour, we decided to get gyros and hike back to the beach, and it was one of the funniest 40 minute walks of my life. We talked until about 8 am on the beach, and watching the sun come up by the ocean (first time ever in my life) was really amazing and left me speechless. I don't know what it is about sunsets, but they almost seem to smile at you and throw a brand new 24 hours of possibility your way each and every day.

I can't really express here how truly sad I felt to leave the Greek Islands. That week was the time of my life. Before I left Santorini, I jokingly asked Stella if she would let me move in with her and she said, " You want job? I find you something to do." It's a good thing I have work waiting for me back in New York, because if I didn't, I would be living in Greece right now and no one would see me for months. If you know me well, then you know I'm not kidding.

My next stop was supposed to be Cinque Terre, Italy (google it to see the beauty), but due to being mesmerised by Greece, I waited too long to book accommodation, and everything was full. So, I had to stay in Milan (aka Purgatory) for two nights until I got to my next destination. I just consider it to be my penance for planning poorly. I haven't really thought this at all on the trip, but Milan is one place I don't ever plan to return to again. It was dirty, unfriendly, sketchy, and even the so-called amazing fashion there didn't leave me in awe. Now that I've said this, watch me marry a dude who's family is from Milan. Shoot me now.

There were a few highlights though....

1.) Walking down the same streets where Versace and Gabanna got their start in the fashion industry....pretty amazing to be in the presence of that.

2.) I met a nice guy at a cafe who I swear I thought was Citizen Cope. Enough said.

3.) I was sitting at a park writing when this guy came over to me and asked me in Italian if I had a lighter. He looked shocked that I did not smoke, and proceeded to try and make conversation with me like somehow the more he talked in Italian the less it would confuse me. I just smiled and nodded, and about 5 minutes in, he pulls a lighter out of his pocket and all I did was point at it and say, "bugiardo!" (liar!). He looked ashamed about asking for a lighter when he had one the whole time. I was ROTFL (just hadda find a way to use that abbrev. at some point during this trip!).




I've had a lot of boat, plane, and train time to think about lessons learned during this portion of my trip, and there have been quite a few. I've written them all down, but a few stand out in my mind, so here goes:

- While in Santorini, Maddy and I got gyros at this place that was supposed to be the best in Greece. They were pretty good, but they didn't even compare to the gyro I had on a whim during the walk back to the beach club at 6 am with my new Aussie friend. I went back the next day just to make sure it wasn't my imagination...and yup, they were still 100 times better. The same thing happened in Florence with gelato....the place that everyone said was amazing was good, for sure....but it was still probably my least favorite gelato in all of Italy.

I know all this talk of gyros and gelatos seems pointless, but it really made me think about the building up of expectations. One of two things happen when something is over-hyped:

1.) You are disappointed by the over-hyped thing, primarily because others told you that you should expect something much more than you actually got. The gelato and gyro from those infamous places probably would have tasted better to me had people not made such a big deal of how great they were going to be.

2.) You pretend to love it, or genuinely think you do love it. Until one day, you stop past a little Gelateria or Gyro-eria and think to yourself that you'll deal with how bad the food or ice cream will probably be, only to realize after you take a bite that it's the best damn gyro or gelato you'll ever have in your life.

The lesson here?
..All that glitters isn't gold. And, seemingly hideous rocks wind up turning into beautiful, valuable gemstones.



Final "Melissa Has Too Much Time On Her Hands" thought....

Every single thing, person, place is a STRUCTURE- from corporations and cars, to flowers and feet. Every thing is made up of multiple parts, and each of those parts may be independently meaningless. For instance, what the hell can you do with chlorophyll or a tire alone? Not much. But, meaning is assigned to those things once they become part of a whole. Cars and plants are both important, but neither can exist without those independently meaningless things. As human beings, we often look at our own lives and wonder if, as individuals, we are meaningless and insignificant. But make no mistake about it- we are part of something much bigger, much more meaningful than our own temporary, personal existence.

To understand this concept takes knowledge...we can learn that. But to believe in it takes faith. This is the true challenge of living a life that appears at first glance to be systematic and finite, but is ultimately timeless and boundless when you look at who you are in the context of the much broader picture you as an individual are a part of.





Ok, I will continue with my Switzerland adventures in the next e-mail....thank goodness for the free internet I have at the place I am currently staying at. Hope all of you are having great summers and are rocking at life.....please send me a quick e-mail, let me know how ya are cuz I miss y'all!


Observations:

1. So far on my trip, I have met about 4 dozen Australians and Europeans, and about 6 Americans.

2. The only thing more nonexistent than Americans traveling abroad is people's positive impressions of them. To date, I have not met a single person who has said something initially positive about American people. This is a big problem, and I keep thinking about ways that we might, as a country, come to fix it. Thoughts to come in the final e-mail.

3. They give you your check along with your food in Greece, unless you are at a really nice restaurant. If the latter is true, they will wait until you ask for it.

4. Greek kind of sounds like Spanish!

5. Never put your palm up towards a Greek person- it is viewed as a very big insult.

6. Europen men in general are much more straighforward. The further south you go, the more honest and flirtatious they seem to become.

7. People in Greece eat dinner at around 10 pm, and the go out to party when most Americans (unless you are from NY, LA, or Miami) are going to sleep! When in Ios, some clubs didn't even OPEN until after 1 am!

8. Almost all of the Greeks I met spoke at least a littl ebit of English...very impressive.

9. If you are a girl and don't want to pay for drinks, go to Greece. Just go.

10. No one crosses at the corners in Greece or Italy- they cross in the middle of the street...weird!

11. The Medeterranian ocean turns my favorite color, cerulean blue, after a large boat has passed over it. It looks like the normally deep, navy blue ocean is smiling from the warmth of being touched my the boat's bottom. =)



Trip Stats:
Days: 37
Roommates: 59

Life Lesson:
" Let love make you free, let freedom be your guide." - Megan, Ios Roommate

Jukebox(es): " Days like these- I wish the sun wouldn't set, I don't wanna forget..."
Oceanwide, The Afters

Watching the Wheels, Matisyahu


Random Thoughts:
-Forget dudes, I just wanna dance. (modified Dane Cook ref., if ya don't know it learn it!)

- Just because people don't stare back doesn't mean they don't know youu're looking...


Quotable:

"Nothing in the world is ever completely wrong- even a stopped clock is right twice a day." - Paulo Coelho

Overheard:
From a woman looking at the Parthenon: " Wow, it looks so much higer up than it did yesterday!"
.......I guess she didn't get the message that little munchkins moved the Parthenon to higher ground in the middle of the night just to trick her!