"What is this place?" -"Uhh...Awesome." GREECE!

     Well if I'm being honest, Greece wasn't awesome until we got there after 21 hours of traveling. After an hour at the train station Monday night trying to find ways to get to the Milan Malpensa airport, we finally figured out the most convenient way. And here it was:

1. Catch the 12:45 AM bus from Florence SMN train station to the Florence Campo Maria train station 15 minutes away (the last train was at 11:08 and our train from Campo Maria wasn't until 1:45 AM, so we didn't want to hang around there for 2.5 hours if we didn't have to. And good thing because that place was SKETCHY. The "station" was a place where all the homeless people went for a warm place to catch some shut-eye, while those who were traveling didn't dare get to close.)
2. 1:45 AM train from Florence to Bologna Centrale where we waited for an hour till our next train. This train was lovely. Our seats we paid for were occupied by scary looking men, so we didn't dare fight them for it. Also, everyone's cabin doors were closed and covered with the curtains. So we decided to sit in the hallway and wait. Am equally sketchy man offered us a seat (there were two of us), so we shared the seat while being stared at by 5 Italian men. I pretended that I couldn't understand them, because, well obviously, I didn't feel like talking to them. So, I pretended to be really confused and answer incorrectly in hopes they would let me sleep. But, when I heard them say they were from "Napoli" aka Naples aka the sketchiest place on earth, I knew sleep was out of the question. I HAD TO GUARD MY BELONGINGS! But, nothing happened and we finally reached Bologna. There, since it was 3:15 in the morning, it was absolutely freezing and there was no more chairs, so we resorted to sleeping ontop of our bags that we placed on the ground.
3. 4:15 AM train from Bologna to Milano Centrale. This train was equally entertaining/draining. Once again, our seats were taken and we found 2 together in another cabin. But, only one of us had a seat in that cabin (it wasn't me), but we weren't about to split up! I got in there before the guy with the ticket, and old Italian men helped me settle in as the angry, seatless man stared everyone down. He and another guy with a seat got into a fight about how no one had seats and he'd have to find one because everyone was settled. Instead of finding another, he stood outside our cabin and stared at each of us. Creepy. So, again, another sleepless train ride. When we finally arrived at 6:15 in the morning, we were exhausted, cranky, hungry, and tired.
4. 6:30 bus from Milano Centrale to Malpensa airport. I finally got some sleep!
5. 11:00 flight from Malpensa to Athens. We had a 5 hour layover so we decided to venture out and get some food. A taxi driver ripped us off and took us about 25 mins away from the airport and charged us an excessive amount. We complained a little and then enjoyed our lunch. Wanting to get back to the airport on time, we struggled to read the Greek letters that covered the signs of every "bus stop" on the long street. After waiting for 40 minutes and no bus, we hailed a taxi. This guy said he wouldn't take 5 girls because there weren't enough seatbelts. Thankfully, another taxi was driving by so I asked him, he agreed, and we ditched the first guy. Well he grew very angry and tailed our taxi for a good 10 minutes before pulling along side him on a narrow two lane street to flip him off. Luckily, our driver was cool and just stepped on the gas and brought us to the airport for half the price of the first cab. 
6. 7:30 PM flight from Athens to Santorini. We got to the tiny airport around 8:15 and were met by a cute, chubby, old guy with our hotel name on a sign. He drove us about 20 minutes around a mountain and led us to our hotel that was about 15 ft. from the water. Finally, our day of traveling was over. 

          After getting the keys to our room and information of the activities of the island, we threw our bags down and went out to find the nearest bar. We figured that would be the best solution to potentially the worst traveling day EVER. So we walked along the water for a few minutes and came to the Beach Bar...original name. Figuring this would be our best bet, we went in and had a few Long Islands and saw on the couches by the sand. After it got cold we went inside to watch the soccer game. Greece was playing Real Madrid so we had some conversations with the bartenders about which soccer players are better and which ones are just popular for their looks (a.k.a. Christiano Ronaldo). After the game was over (they lost 1-0 to Real Madrid) we decided we could use a good night's sleep, so we headed back to our cute little apartment.

Shelbs!

           Day 2 started with a nice little surprise: given the time change we all accidentally slept in an hour! Oops. Once we finally rounded all the troops, it took quite some time for everyone to get ready. The "shower" was an issue given that it was just in the middle of the bathroom. There were no curtains or doors, AND we had to wait a few minutes for the water to go from freezing cold to scalding hot. Oh, and when we checked in, Steve warned us not to drink the water and after brushing our teeth the night before, we understood: it was salt water. So showering in salt water didn't make us feel the cleanest of clean, but what could we do? Also, 5 girls had to share 2 tiny mirrors. That didn't work out too well either, but we managed. So, continuing with day 2, we had no idea how to get around, so Steve told us where we could catch the bus into town. We found our way to the bus stop, waited for 15 minutes before realizing it probably wasn't coming, and then decided that we wanted breakfast/lunch at the bakery we passed. This bakery was amazing! They had nutella croissants, sugar doughnuts, pizzas, calzones, water, yogurt, EVERYTHING! And it was cheap, so you know we went there a few times. So we got our cheap pastries and decided to rent a car! That's when good old Shelby entered our life. Cars there are so cheap! It was 20 euro/day so it basically cost less than the bus would have, and we could stay out as late as we wanted because we had Shelby for 24 hours at a time! So we finally got our day started when Shelby took us to the little city of Fira. Fira was beautiful! We just wandered around there for a little bit.

View from Fira

This was where we found all the shops and got to find our way through all the little alley ways and up and down all the stairs you see in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants! We got lunch at this cute, but pricey, restaraunt that overlooked the water; but by lunch I mean 3 different types of wine and then some Bruschetta. We're college students! After that we continued to wander and just get our bearings. We naturally got lost on the way home (this was a daily occurrence), but we recognized a Sponge Bob sign and knew where we were! Once back, we decided to relax in "common room" of our hotel. (I'm not sure if it was a hotel or hostel. The rooms were super nice, but there was a bar, pool, common room, computers, chairs, couches, and a shelf with DVDs to watch on the big screen or books to read.) Either way, it was an awesome spot! After relaxing we went to dinner and then out to a local bar with some Aussies we befriended at our hotel. There was this one really drunk/crazy/braless in a see-through top Australian chic who no one was a fan of and she kept grabbing me thinking I was too shy to dance when, in reality, she was just really sweaty and I didn't want her touching me.  Our bartender saved us and brought us some drinks and then proceeded to teach us how Greek people dance. Once we got the hang of it, the locals would throw napkins at you and I guess that means they liked our dancing? Anyways, we finally escaped the loud noise, smoke, napkins, and the drunk Aussie and took refuge in our cozy beds.

The Boys: Zeus (post accident), Big Red, and Orange Julius

           Day 3 started a little earlier than Day 2, but it brought much more exciting events! After prolonging the moment, we finally had to return Shelbs (but don't worry, she makes a come back!) But then we rented...The Boys. Zeus, Orange Julius, and Big Red took us on an all-day tour of the island. All the things we ended up seeing weren't really what we meant to see that day, but wanted to see eventually, so it was a good day. After renting the boys (ATVs) we made a pit stop for gas and breakfast at the bakery again. Then we hit the road. While trying to find our way around, one of the boys got in an accident with a vespa. Thankfully it wasn't the ATV I was on, but I was right behind them and got to watch the whole thing. Driving the vespa was a 15ish year old boy and what was probably his girlfriend. We wanted to stop and take pictures at this lookout spot and he must not have seen us have our blinkers on so he passed us (on the inside?) and colliding. Zeus stood strong and was fine but the boy and his girlfriend got a little bloody. It was pretty awkward because we all stopped to see if they were okay, but we couldn't understand Greek and they hardly spoke English. So, we just waited around anyways, and a few minutes later, a group of teenagers came flying up the road like they were in the Mafia. We thought they were really mad at us because they sounded like they were cursing and one of them threw a broken peice of the vespa across the road. We really thought we were in trouble then. But they told us to wait right there and they drove away. Trusting people. But we did and they returned with a girl who spoke English. She asked what happened and then asked if we were okay and then sent us on our way. ????? That's not how things work in America, but I like it! We were all shocked and weren't really sure if it was okay to leave or not but after they left we bolted for our ATVs and went the opposite direction! Needless to say, we looked both ways and always used our blinkers after that.

Ancient Thira and the view

Me with my tablecloth sweater.

But continuing on with our day, we ended up finding our way to this beach that was really remote and pretty. We took some pictures, played in the rocks they consider sand, walked around some of the shops and then headed out again. We stumbled upon this ginormous hill that had a winding road all the way up, so we figured why not?! It got a little scarier the more we kept going, but once we finally reached the top it was amazing! After parking the boys and walking up the rest of the hill, we found the Ancient town of Thira that was supposedly from 300 BC. Since it was a national holiday in Greece, there weren't any tours, so we just made our own as we walked through the maze of a town. These people must have been midgets because the walls were like 3 feet tall. The town reminded me of Pompeii a little, but with prettier views. After an hour or so of wandering around, we were ushered our by the workers, which we didn't understand because they weren't there when we arrived. But we made our way back to the boys and then down the steep, steep hill and had a late lunch. This was my first experience with Greek salads, and might I say they are sooooo goooooddddd. And there's nothing to them! We ate at this pretty restaurant that overlooked the water and cliffs. It had started to get cold, and once we got up to leave it had begun pouring rain. Lucky us. So the owners told us to sit and wait it and, and because I didn't have a jacket, the lady brought me a tablecloth to keep me warm!

Ancient Thira again

The rain didn't stop, but we got tired of wasting time in a restaurant when there was more of Greece to see! So we cleaned off our seats and headed out to catch the sunset at the lighthouse. We were told that we had to see the sunset in two places: the lighthouse, which was at one end of the island, and from Oia a.k.a. Sunset Village, which was at the other end. So, since we were close, we decided on the lighthouse and made it just after the sun set. It was still pretty though! But freezing. After sunset, we returned to the hotel and hung out in the common room area with our Australian friends and ordered takeout. After deciding we didn't want to venture out to the club again, we rented a movie from Steve and headed back to our room to trade normal American words for funny Australian slang!

Boat that took us around

At the top of the volcano

          Day 4 started off a little bittersweet. We returned the boys but got Shelbs back! We got the bakery again (obviously it was that good!) and headed back to Fira. This day we had plans to go on a boat tour to see the volcano and swim in the hot springs. It was supposed to be a warm day, but Greece tricked us. We hiked down the ridiculous amount of stairs to get to the port, only to be lost and not know which boat was ours. No one was really great at giving us information, either, but we finally figured it out and hopped on the right one just before it was supposed to leave. Of course, being that it was cold and we were the last ones on, we had to sit up at the top instead of the heated inside. We survived. We eventually made it to the volcano and were given an hour to walk around and check it all out. It was so windy that we couldn't hear the tour guide so we ventured on by ourselves. It was pretty scary because it wasn't very safe up there, and it was extremely windy so we felt like we were going to blow right into the volcano or craters. There were even little kids who weren't able to walk because the wind kept blowing them back. It was hilarious! And some were even crying! I'd be scared if my parents took me to the top of a volcano that was due to erupt "sometime in the next 100 years" and it was so windy I couldn't run away. Anywas, yet again there were amazing views at the top of the volcano, but it's Greece so we expected nothing less. After some time on the volcano, we headed back to the boat, which then took us to the Hot Springs. I was really looking forward to the hot springs, that is until they told us the temperature of the water we had to swim through to get to the hot springs, as well as the temperature of the hot springs. They probably thought we were all stupid tourists and wouldn't know how to convert Fahrenheit to Celsius, buutttt I can, and I was NOT going in water that cold! It was i think 50 degrees in the regular water and then 71 degrees in the hot springs. I'm pretty sure my pool is warmer than 71 degrees and I don't call that a hot spring, also, why would I want to get into freezing cold water only to come out and sit on a boat as the wind whips by. So I said No, Thank You and waited on the boat. Two of my friends went, though, and tried to convince me that it wasn't that cold, but I didn't care. It was enough for me just to see them. Plus, they had to wait on the outside of the boat until they were completely dry before they could go in the and change, so HA!

Diego and I. (See what I mean about the steep stairs)

          After we finally reached land, it was DONKEY TIME! This was by far my favorite part of Greece! The donkeys were so cute, but feisty, so I liked them! I named mine Diego and he was awesome. He was very calm in the begining, but I think that was because we were stuck two of my friends, because whenever he was an opening he would bolt to be ahead of everyone. But then my friend Mackenzie's donkey liked to pick on Diego. We suspected that her donkey and my other friend's donkey were a couple, and mine was the player that liked the girl one in front of us. Mackenzie's donkey would purposely stop in the middle of the walk and wait for mine to catch up and then he would run us up to the edge. At first it was weird and a little scary having a donkey run mine up to the edge of a steep staircase, but then it just became hilarious. He was doing it on purpose and his ear would shoot back and he'd sprint at my donkey. I felt bad for the people around us though because we were having more fun than they were. The only thing wrong with the donkey ride was that they didn't have reins. People walking down the stairs were at out mercy and I almost ran over a few kids. Also, Diego got a little spunky after Mackenzie's donkey started picking on him, because he bucked a lady's donkey behind me, and then tried to bite my foot. I forgave him though, because I think he was just crabby. I would be too if I had to walk up and down 600 or so stairs with someone on my back.
           Once we made it to the top, we shopped around and then met up with Shelbs and went to Oia. This was where most of the scenes from Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants were shot, and we understood why! It had the prettiest sunset! And it was also what you imagine when you think of Greece. It had all the white houses and buildings with the blue rooftops and water in the background. We had some dinner and then made our way to this lookout spot that our waiter suggested to us, and then we waited for the sunset. It was absolutely freezing, but totally worth it in the end!

After the sunset, we headed back to Shelbs and then to the hotel. We got lost again and drove around for about 20 minutes trying to read the Greek road signs in the dark. We finally noticed something familiar and went with it and it led us to Sponge Bob, which led us home. We got a few drinks at the bar and popped in another movie and played a few games with the Australians!

Red Beach

          Saturday was our last day in Santorini, so we were up early to get the bakery and re-rent Shelby again. We made our way to Fira again for some last minute shopping and to ride the donkeys again! We made a deal with the guys to go all the way down and up for a discount price because we were repeat customers and there were 5 of us. They agreed and we were on our way, but half way down the guy made us turn around and go back. He wouldn't explain why, he just kept saying "Up, Up, that's what you pay fo." Sooooooo, we were all a little upset but I was a brat and wouldn't leave until we all got half our money back, since we only got half the ride we paid for. I think our guide didn't really understand, he probably just did as he was told by the guy we made the deal with, who happened to be hiding in the back of a nearby store. He finally came out and gave me the money back once his workers kept calling for him because I wasn't leaving. But oh well, we got our money back and a short donkey ride in before we left! After donkeys we had a last late lunch on the water and headed to the red beach to check that out. It's exactly what it sounds like: a red beach. It has red hills and red rocks and red sand, so it was cool to see. We hung out there for a while and then headed to the lighthouse for another sunset. This one was a perfect sunset! It was soo pretty and we got to sit down and watch it for like a half hour before we had to leave to catch the shuttle to the airport.

Sunset at the Lighthouse

Everything went smoothly with our flight, and we landed in Athens around 10:30 PM, which was not a smart idea. Athens is veryyy scary, especially if you are traveling with a group of girls at night. In the 3 blocks from the metro stop to our hostel, we received cat-calls by every guy we saw, and we were followed and taunted by a select few. Our hostel was locked, which we thought was weird because they knew we were coming, but then again we understood given the area. After setting our things down we were starving and so we asked the guy at the desk for suggestions. He said there was a good, fast place on the corner but "it is safer to take it back here and eat it." Hmmm that made us feel safe. But he was right. Getting the food was an experience. Everyone was either blowing kisses at us and looking us up and down or they were cracked out of their minds and talking to themselves in the corner. We just huddled together and watched each others backs after a local walked by and told us to do just that: watch out purses and our backs. Never have I ever felt more scared for my life than I did in Athens. We got our stuff and bolted back to the hostel to eat in the cafeteria! After dinner we went to bed.
The next morning, since we had a few hours until our flight, we ended up checking out Athens. In the daylight, we counted 9 syringes in the 3 block walk from our hostel to the metro. Good thing we were leaving! Central Athens was really cool! We went up to see all the old buildings and read about all the myths and rituals the ancient Greeks used to do. After that, we went into town and did some shopping at the markets. Everything was so cheap, we couldn't pass it up.
Soon enough we were all ready to make our way to the airport and relax. It was another long night of traveling, except this time we were smart enough to catch the fast train from Milan to Florence, so we got home around 11:30 PM. Greece was amazing, but after 10 days of traveling, I was happy to be home.

Maggi's in Italy!

So, before I get down to the weekend full of meeting the family, hearing about all the relatives I don't know, and seeing where everyone lived, I'll give a brief recap of my week of midterms and family:
Monday: Marketing Midterm, Italian Class, Met Mom, Dad and Uncle Danny and Aunti Marty at the Duomo and went to dinner and then the hotel bar for drinks with the rest of the family before the 30 minute walk back to my apartment.

Top of the Duomo, minus Uncle Mike

(gotta give him credit for hiking those 400 and something steps.

Tuesday: art midterm where I got to stare at a still life for 5.5 hours, met family at San Lorenzo markets for some bargain shopping, went home to attempt studying, hiked the Duomo with the brave family members, dinner, hotel for drinks, long walk back, maybe 30 mins of studying before crashing.
Wednesday: up early to study for my Ethics midterm at noon, lunch and more bargain shopping as Jen needed help getting people gifts, back to school to study for Italian, Italian midterm, dinner and then Shots bar!
Thursday: up early to study for my Mafia midterm, Mafia midterm, dinner, and then I can't remember.

Shots Bar

Ponte Vecchio with some random girl

         Finally, after that long week of late nights hanging out with the family and early mornings waking up to cram for my midterms, i was whisked away to the beautiful town of Santa Margherita, only after a few travel delays, of course. The hotel was beautiful (props to Uncle Danny), and we started off the vacation with a nice walk along the water and into the town for appetizers and drinks before it was time to get ready to meet the extended family for dinner.
         Dinner was an interesting experience. Speaking my kind of Italian to people who speak their own dialect (and fluently, might I add) was a special challenge. Although I think my Aunts made a breakthrough that needs to be shared with anyone struggling with language barriers or who wants to learn a new language: if you shout what you want to say, it's basically the equivalent of speaking the other person's language! Aunti Ju was a natural! Just kiddinnngggg. Everyone was really great, and they tried really hard to understand the points we were trying to get across. I didn't know how much family we still had in Italy. I think I remember hearing there were about 40 of us altogether? Anways, dinner was a madhouse, and I felt sorry for all the other customers at the restaraunt because we kind of took over. But, I guess that's to be expected when you have such a large group. After a few hours of non-stop Italian, my brain was friend and I was exhausted. I'm pretty sure I slept like a baby that night.
          The next morning, a few of us ventured out to Portofino, which was about a 10-minute drive from our hotel (or a very expensive cab ride if cab drivers know you are a tourist). Anyways, Portofino is this really quant port with huge yachts and designer stores that are obviously geared towards the famous people like Beyonce, Jay Z, and Simon Cowell that are frequent visitors. We stuck to the gift shops and free sightseeing. There wasn't much to Portofino except the pretty port and the nice restaurants that lined the water, but it was nice for a few snapshots and to be able to say we've been there.
          After Portofino, it was family time again. Some of us made the trek up the mountain on a giant bus to the little town of Uscio, where our family lives, to have a long visit and see the history of our family. We met this cute little old lady who saw us all from her window while we were gathered in the square taking pictures. She came down to as us what our story was and it turned out her son works for our cousin's company. Small world! And it goes to show how nice and connected people are in a small town.
          Once our cousins arrived, they gave us a little walking tour (great idea to walk, Dad). It was a little more than the "10 minutes down the road" than we were led to believe, but it eventually brought us to some distant relative's house and land. It was really cool because our other relatives lived right next door and they invited us in for the best focaccia I've ever tasted. Their house was also beautiful and we spent too much time there getting to know them/trying to converse with them and checking out their house and views. I always see houess on tops of hills and wonder what it's like from up there so it was cool to finally know what it looks like from the top.

          From there we hiked (literally) on over to the cemetery, which is not like the cemeteries we have in America. First of all, they are visited way more often in Italy. Second, there are very few headstones in the graves, but rather little blocks of stones on the walls. (I forget the actual word for them, but the Italian way of burying people is way less creepy.) We got to see our relatives and their little room with their plaques. I was surprised by the amount of flowers that were brought to the graves of everyone, and how pretty they were. Then Lexi had to go and ruin it by telling my the flowers were fake, so it seemed like the people visited more often than they actually did. Thanks, Lex. But the wide range of colors that the flowers added was a nice touch in comparison to the dullness of the gray and black that usually dominates a cemetery.
After the cemetery, we were pressed for time to catch the last bus down the windy hill, so we had to say our goodbyes without visiting the homes of our cousins. That night we went down into town to get diner, and I had he most delicious gnocchi with pesto, but they were thin, tiny strips of gnocchi that weren't so heavy. Dinner was awesome (good job Lex, making a comeback after letting out the truth of the fake flowers). The following morninr, Sunday, my mom, dad and I were up early to catch a train to Cinque Terre for the night. Naturally, our train was delayed. Once we finally made it onto the train, and were on our way, being the small world that it is, we stopped at the next station to be met by our family waiting for another train. We opened our window, shouted our goodbyes again, and were on our way. Once we finally reached Monterosso, the village we were staying at, we checked into our hotel, changed, and were on our way to check out the famous 5 villages. We took the train to the farthest village, Riomaggiore, and walked up the street. There wasn't much to that place, so we decided to start our walk to the next village. This was a really nice walk as it was along the water and the weather wasn't too hot or cold. There were a lot of locks, as this was the "lover's path," and I believe the locks are put up by couples who walk together and it's supposed to bring them good luck and fortune in their relationships. We ended up taking a train to the next couple cities because we weren't feeling the walk, and our favorite village was Vernazza, which had the most beautiful port and we happened to catch it right at sunset, which was even better. We battled the wind and hiked up to this little lookout balcony spot and hung out there for a few minutes before making our way back down. Our family's clock was on the church tower, so that was another bonus for Vernazza! Our plan was to return there for dinner, since the restaurants weren't opening for a few more hours, but by the time we made it to our hotel on Monterosso, we were pretty tired. We headed around the corner for our last meal and then made it to the gelato shop before they closed! Then it was bedtime. 

           The next day we weren't so lucky with the weather. It was pouring rain, and our train was delayed over an hour and a half. This meant we would miss our train from Pisa to Florence as well, so lucky us! After many hours of waiting, we finally boarded our train and were on our way! Naturally, right as we pull into Pisa Centrale and are waiting for the doors to open, we see our train to Florence leaving. So there went another half hour of waiting. Finally, we made it back to Florence, unpacked and rearranged our suitcases, got some gelato, and walked the Ponte Vecchio. Then it was to the taxi stop in Piazza della Republica to say goodbye. Jen and Doug were so much fun and I was sad to see them go, but I was only allowed about 6 hours of relaxation time before it was more planes, trains, and automobiles taking me to GREECE!

LONDON! - long overdue

So yes, I am finally getting around to writing about London, but it's been a busy month! I went to London in early October and, sadly, I only got to spend a solid day and a half there. Nonetheless, London was absolutely amazing! I loved everything about it from the language to the architecture. Our flight was delayed going out from Pisa on Friday, further shortening my time in London, but we eventually got there. Since it was later in the evening, my friends and I checked into our hostel, dropped our luggage off in our little lockers in our room, and went to find some food! We had heard that Asian food is a must in London, so we stopped at some cheap whole in the wall place and grabbed some noodles and chicken and headed back to the hostel. Surprisingly, my veggies, chicken and steamed rice did not disappoint, not did my snickers and coke from the vending machine!

Oh! How could I forget the cab ride?!? London driver are PSYCHO! Naturally, I called shotgun, and from the moment I hopped into the passenger seat it was all bad (but exciting) news. First off, the passenger seat is on the left. Second, they drive on the right side of the road. This was too much for me in the front, but I loved every minute of it. Everything looked like it came right out of the Harry Potter movies and I was obsessed immediately. Except, i was scared I wouldn't live to see London in the daytime the way that guy was driving. The roads look they are big enough for maybe a minivan, yet two cars make it work. It was crazy when we had to pull out too, because cars were coming from the other way. I can't even explain it, but it was exhilarating. I felt like I was in a twisted nascar game.

Hostels are an interesting thing; people say you are only paying for a bed, and I must say they are right! But this hostel was awesome! It was like being back in the dorms at college, except these dorms are international! You meet so many different people with different backgrounds and stories; and they have a bar! There were hangouts everywhere in that hostel! There was a library style room with a fire place and couches and tons of books, as well as a game room with a pool table and two big screens, then there was the cafeteria where people mingled and got to know eachother. Since London was freezing at night, we chose to hang inside by the bar and pool table. After a little bit of food and making small talk, we headed up to our room. We were welcomed by a 4th roomie, who wasn't too pleased with us talking and bumping into everything in our tiny closet size room.

Friday night I was too excited to sleep since London has always been a MUST on my traveling list...I maybe got 5 hours of sleep. But we were up and at em early Saturday morning, as we had a lot to do in our one short day! First, we hopped on the tube and went to visit Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station. My day was about to be ruined when we thought the fake Harry Potter wall was closed off due to construction, but my determination allowed us to find a way around the construction to the other side. Our day was saved, and we took our touristy pictures, went on our way and all was well again!

From Platform 9 3/4s, we ventured to the famous Abbey Rd. We attempted to take some pictures, but I must say it is harder than it looks! Not only was the road not closed off, but it happened to be an extremely busy street for commuters! (We heard it's best to go on Sunday mornings if anyone ever wants to go!) A busy road is one thing, but a busy one where people drive on the opposite side of the road is another. I never really thought this would be a big change, but when you think of how many times you cross the street a day, your life is threatened often in London. Thankfully there were signs on the intersections saying "Look Right," or "Look Left." I can't count how many times I started to walk into the street checking my left to realize the cars were speeding up on my right. Anyways, after a fair amount of close calls, and waiting for the other tourists to go so they wouldn't be in our picture, we finally got some good ones and made our way to Westminster Abbey.

From the underground, we emerged right under Big Ben! We said hello to Ben and made our way to the Houses of Parliament, St. Margaret's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey. Everything was ridiculously expensive, so as cheap college students we were satisifed with taking some pictures and moving on. I must say that the buildings are breathtaking. I think I might have to make sure my mansion looks like that one day. From there, we ventured across the London Bridge to check out the London Eye. Since that, too, was overpriced, we just checked out the sketchy contraption that takes you up way too high, and then went into the gift shop. There I saw a wax figure of DAVID BECKHAM and I fell in love with London all over again. After that precious moment, we set out back across the bridge to Buckingham Palace. Now the Queen knows how to live! That place is enormous and amazing! Rather than having someone build me a house like the buildings I've seen, I think I'll just marry a prince and live in the Palace. The Queen decided not to show up in London for my arrival, so we didn't get to see the change of the guards. Oh well, we probably stayed a creepily long time. ( I know creepily isn't really a word, don't worry Mom.) We did get to see a guy in a beat up old car get let into the Palace! Calm down, it wasn't as exciting as it sounds. Anyways, from there, we walked through the Green Park, which was soo pretty and colorful! We found a Starbucks and then hopped onto the tube to check out the rest of London.

Harrods is ridiculous! It's like Disneyland at Christmas time; it even has it's own gift shop. A MALL has it's own GIFT SHOP. And the gift shop had more people in it than the overpriced stores. Since we couldn't really afford anything, we headed to the food court and got some more Chinese food and dessert. The dessert was sooo good, I got the red velvet cupcake, but I don't think anything compares to good-old Costco Red Velvet Cakes. Still, it came close. After deciding everything at Harrod's was too expensive, we went to the Camden Markets for some cheap souvenirs and bargaining. I found myself in one shop where I went crazy on my new-found obsession with the London flag and got mugs, shotglasses, shirts, postcards, etc just so I could remember how great London was! After that we got this delicious churro with chocolate sauce INSIDE!! It was absolutely delicious. After growing tired of spending all our money we went to meet up with a friend studying in London for some more Thai food. Since the wait was so long we headed to a nearby pub where I discovered "cider." This drink was so good, I've been trying to find it ever since, but I haven't been so lucky. Dinner was good, nothing amazing like the nutella and strawberry crepe that followed! (I was only in London for a day, so I had to splurge. Don't judge.) After our long day my feet were killing me and I was lucky to get my boots off past my swollen ankles! But we hung around our hostel for a little and took advantage of free internet and cheap international calls and then called it quits and headed for our beds. Our roommate was again sleeping when we came in. I wanted to wake her up and remind her that she's in LONDON, so she should stop being lazy and do something! But, I didn't because who know what her situation is. So, instead, I got a very nice night of sleep after an exhausting 16+ hour day of touring London.

Picture with the telephone booth. So touristy, but necessary.

I sported my "I <3 London" shirt all the way home, and I have never felt more like a tourist/more proud. At home, I was welcome by a long shower and a relaxing night.

Oktoberfest Pics

Proof of the creepy Italians with their silly hats.

First Beer...no wonder I had bruises on my hands!

Dancing on tables with Germans

We found Michael!

Theta picture...typical

This guy was selling hats and tried to sell me one for a euro and laughed when I fell for it. Soo I took his hat...he didn't think it was so funny then.

Inside the tents with my roommate, Colleen.

Dachau Pictures

The Crematorium

Furnaces where the bodies are cremated

The sign leading into the Gas Chamber

The Barracks

Germany: 1, Me: 0

Oktoberfest. What is there to say about Oktoberfest? Well I guess I can sum it up with just three words: touche, Oktoberfest, touche.

It was quite the interesting weekend in Germany. We left Thursday night for Munich and arrived around 10 a.m. The bust ride was deceiving. Germany is so beautiful and the ride through what seemed to be the countryside was breathtaking. Everything was so green, and the houses had such a historical feel about them. But then we stopped in Munich and the hustle and bustle of Oktoberfest began.

Our first problem was where to put our bags. We were on a time crunch given that the later you get into the grounds, the less likely you were to get into a tent, and we were told that if we got there around noon everything would be packed and we'd be waiting hours to get in. AND they don't serve beer unless your IN a tent and have a table. This baffles me, but I guess they know what they are doing more than I do. Buy anyways, our first problem was what to do with our stuff because we surely did not want to be walking through the tents with big backpacks that scream TOURIST! And we didn't have time to find the train station, buy tickets, take the train to Haar (the city where out hotel was), walk the 15 minutes to our hotel and then book it back before noon. So instead, after about 20 minutes of speaking terrible German, leaning back on our Italian, and then getting mocked when we finally had to resort to our oh so familigar English, we found the main train station, got lockers, met up with a friend and were on our way. Note: I don't even like beer (in fact I hate it. it makes me feel all bloated) but by this time I was ready for a Stein.

Much to our surprise, we got into a tent fairly easily, and we were able to meet up with friends and have a drink. Because it was Friday, it wasn't terribly crowded, but as the day went on more people began to arrive. I had my first taste of the German beer, and I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised. Now I'm not saying that it'll be my drink of choice, but it was better than I expected. I feel like that explains a lot about the tents. I never expected to like all the people around us, or the food (pretzels and chicken are not my favorite, especially since I was told they sometimes give you the chicken with the heads still on!) But I fell in love with pretzels, as well as the only American song Germans know. I don't even know the name of it, but it's pretty catchy and I've caught myself singing it a few times since being back. It's pretty short, was repeated often and with much enthusiasm, and goes something like this: "Ooh Ahh! I wanna know-oh-oh-oh-oh would you be my girl?! Ooh Ahh!" Oktoberfest had a lot of tricks up it's sleeves, because it surprised us again. Last weekend just so happened to be "Italian Weekend" meaning that it was the most popular weekend for Italian men to come to Oktoberfest. Just when we thought we were going to get a break from the creeps, they end up seated at the table next to us, plopping their silly looking hats on our heads, asking us to take pictures with them, trying to compliment us saying me and my friend have "the most beautiful eyes" they've ever seen (but, really, how can we BOTH have the most beautiful eyes? Don't they know we are used to their cheesy one liners by now??) Anyways, so yes, Italians surrounded us in our first tent (Lowenbrau if anyone knows anything about that tent), until we were kicked out around . This happens every day because rich people have enough money to reserve tables starting at 3. So we had to hop on over to another tent, where the festivities continued. We found a table way in the back, stood on it, and proceeded to dance and sing and make friends with people walking by. I really can't remember why, but we decided to leave that tent for another, but by that time it was impossible to get in, and we were stuck waiting outside. German food grosses me out, so I got some French fries wile others chose to eat God knows what (aka hot dogs and bratwurst.) By the way, my friend and I expected the bad food and thought ahead. We brought some honey nut cheerios, nutella, and break to serve as our breakfast and late night snack when we got home. Turns out it saved us a good chunk of money! But anyways, we got back into some tents and played around until it got dark. We then booked it back to the train station, found some random German boys to help us buy a train ticket and teach us how to stamp it, where to go, and then we were on our way to the hotel! By that time, everyone we were trying to meet up with either had phones with no more minutes, or they had broken, so we were left to walk down some sketchy streets in the pouring rain with our backpacks and crabby attitudes. (I forgot to mention that I maybe got 3 hours of sleep total on the bus ride the night before, so of course I was crabby.) So then after about a half hour of wandering around a deserted, dark town, we finally made it to the hotel and were in the clear! Successful first night at Oktoberfest? I guess you could say that.

Saturday was a different story, interesting though. We got into the grounds around 10:30, which was apparently too late considering it was officially the weekend and now EVERYONE and their mothers had decided to show up for the festivities. Ohm and yes how could I forget the weather; well it was freezing, windy, and pouring rain so that was a fun little treat. What made it even better was that now we had to try to locate where our friends were, then try to maneuver to the front of the lines and wait for the security guards to let us in. At our third attempt, a side door at Lowenbrau, the security guard was a 50 something year old crabby pants who couldn't even be bribed! We joked that he had a lot of integrity. That was until one of our friends begged him and started giving him little kisses on the cheek to let us in. She even went so far as to get our waitress to come talk German to him...after that he was all smiles and laughs with us. Oh I forgot to explain that for the hour and a half before he let us in, he repreatedly shoved us back into the crowd, even when I was falling back on other people who were having to hold me up. He was an A-hole to say the least. Anyways, after he got some action he was a different man, and all I cared about was that we got in and I never had to be shoved by him again! Inside it was play time again, and thi time we were surrounded by Polish and German people. I must say I prefer the Polish people. We sat at their table and had some good talks with them. I then proceeded to find some fellow Thetas and we took our signature pics (Theta is my sorority at USD). Annnndddd this is about when Germany got the best of me. My camera got beer on it and it is probably forever broke. Dunn dunn dunnnn. I was pretty upset about it. And then after 3 we got kicked out of our table, even though our waitress, Gaby, loved us. We walked around a bit, my friends got some hot dogs, I got french fries, and then we went to dinner at some sketch restaurant. It was weird because they just kind of put you at a table that had enough chairs for your party, so I ended up sitting next to an old man and his wife, but also diagonal from these German guys who let the Steins get the best of them. They officially creeped me out when one of them tapped me on the shoulder and advised me to move to a different table because I was tempting him too much and he didn't want to end up back in jail. Hmmm? I didn't ask any questions. I just turned around and inched my chair away from his. And then one of his friends decided to toss a note over to our table asking how our "back doors" were. God I missed the USA at that point...or even Italy!

So after an interesting dinner, we headed back to Haar. I took my much needed shower and we called it an early night! It was just after midnight when we layed down, but hey, that's the closes to midnight that I've falled asleep since being in Europe. And it was ssooooo necessary.

Sunday morning brought a different day! Instead of getting hammered off the German beer just to sit on a bus for 8 hours and probably get carsick, my friends and I decided to head to Dachau, the concentration camp. As twisted as I feel saying this, I actually really enjoyed seeing the concentration camp and reading about all the history. It was a really moving and sobering experience. First, we started by visiting the "roll call grounds," where everyone was to meet every morning. We learned that Dachau was one of the first concentration camps to open, and it was one of the only ones that was consistently running throughout the entire 12 years. Dachau opened in March of 1933, which surprised me considering how early that date seems; and it was meant for rebellious Germans who spoke out against all that was going on in the European governments at that time. It was also one of the last to close in May of 1945. Along with the roll call grounds, we ventured to the barracks, and the crematorium. The barracks were interesting in that there were rows and rows and rows of what looked like huge planter boxes, and then only one building of barracks that they kept up for tourists. Inside the barracks depicted torture in itself. There were rows of 3 level high wooden bunk beds that were basically on top of each other. I would not be able to live without my personal space, so i don't know how those people survived their living quarters alone. They had absolutely no personal space whatsoever. Then, in the crematorium, we got to walk through the rooms in which the people were instructed on how to use the "showers," then where they undressed, and then the gas chambers. This room was really interesting and I am glad I didn't know what it was until I walked through it. But it was a very plain looking room with cement stones on the ground and little nozzles coming out of the walls. It didn't look like it would fit more that 30 people comfortably, but the plaques explained that the Nazis would fit 150 people in there at a time.

The following rom was where they stored the bodies of those waiting to be cremated. They explained that there would be stacks of sometimes 300 people at a time. The next room over was where they had big furnace looking brick contraptions. They reminded me of what you see at pizza places. The outside is all brick and you can see inside the oven; there's a big metal surface and they have that big stick that you use to put the pizzas in and then take ou when they are cooked. That analogy creeps me out, but it's the only way I can think of describing it, and they explained that they would fit 3 or 4 people in at a time in order to "be efficient." It was really eery and depressing to know that I was standing in the same room as people who were waiting to die. I felt really guilty for being upset about my broken camera at that moment, but then sad because I had to depend on my phone to take pictures so I wouldn't forget anything.

After the crematorium, we had had enough. The whole concentration camp was absolutely beautiful. Everything was full of color, which made me even more sad because I know that 60 years ago people may have appreciated the beauty, but they were at such a different point in their life that they weren't sure if they'd every see the light of day again, or if they even wanted to. Even the silence of Dachau was enough to make me want to leave. No one felt the need to talk, and if someone had a question, they asked with barely a whisper. It was as if talking would mean disrespecting the history of the place.

Although it was a really heavy experience, I am really glad that I made the trip to Dachau. The past year and a half, with all of my Italian and Human Persons classes, I have not been able to escape Primo Levi, Giorgio Bassani, Carlo Levi, and many other Italian writers who survived Auschwitz and other concentration camps. But no paragraph in those novels comes remotely close to what it feels like to stand in the open grounds looking around and picturing everything that had happened there.

After about 2 hours, we slowly made our way back to Oktoberfest where we were to meet with our group to board the bus, and travel the 8 hours back to Florence. I was not impressed with all the drunk people on our bus, especially the kid in front of me who decided to yack the first 10 minutes of the bus ride, and then of course he had to end the trip how it began, a he yacked again in the last 5 minutes. Obviously not as many people are as bright as we were about motion sickness and drinking. Anyways, the bus ride was not as exciting as the one from the Amalfi Coast in that we watched terrible movies (with the exception of Wedding Crashers, which everyone was so excited to finally have a good movie that we spent a good minute clapping and cheering and turning off our lights so we could actually what that movie.)

And then our bittersweet weekend came to an end. My camera is still deciding it it wants to die or just be in a coma, and the reminder of Oktoberfest in constant whenever I want to check the time and I look down only to feel the other blow Oktoberfest presented me with. At least my watch can be fixed when I get home; the camera on the other hand, well I might have to just pull the plug on that one. It's not looking so good. Finally, the last reminders of Oktoberfest are 2 little purple and blue marks on the back of my hands. From what, you may ask. The heavy German Steins, of course! Yes, I have bruises on the backs of my hands from holding beers. Family, you should be so proud. I refer to them as battle wounds from the time Germany defeated me. Touche, Germany. Till we meet again, which may be never, I haven't decided yet.

Some of the girls waiting for the Ferry to take us to Capri.

This is a picture of Sorrento.