A Relaxing Vacation

It's been a busy 2 weeks since I last posted and it of course involved a little more traveling as well as such much needed and desired rest and relaxation. One of my good friends from LMU, Laura, came to visit me and for the last two weeks we have danced, laughed, and sang our way through Greece and London.

The day after Laura arrived we headed off to Athens! For those of you who don't remember, I LOVE old stuff. And history. And learning about it all! We stayed in a cute little hostel with cheerful staff and friendly travelers from around the world. The first night we arrived we attempted to get ourselves oriented with the area we were in (right below the acropolis!) but because it was dark and we were uncertain of the streets we decided that a little reading and sleep were in order so that we could have a full and productive day around the city.

We met up with several others from our hostel and joined a free walking tour provided by a man who has lived, worked, and studied in Athens for over two years. He is originally from Canada but moved to Athens after studying there and falling in love with the city. I was quite impressed when I heard him speaking in fluent Greek to some of the locals he knew in shops along the tour. He took us up to the front of the Acropolis, past the old market place and temples, past the old Olympic Stadium and back through the city center in all it's (minorly terrifying) glory. For all the bad press that Greece has been getting for problems they're causing with the Eurozone I expected to walk straight into protests and fights but besides a not-too-large group of neo-nazis chanting down the sidewalk there was not much to see in the way of political or social or any other kind of unrest. We didn't stay long because we had been warned by so many others to be careful of the main square and I wanted no part in anything that could have happened while we were there.
Morning of day two involved shopping. Up and down the alleyways and side streets of souvenir shops and sandal stores and hand made leather bags! It was almost overwhelming but we managed to handle it. After stopping at several stores selling hand-made leather sandals we finally decided to try a few pairs on and within minutes had each purchased a pair. They are comfortable, seem durable so far, and are the perfect addition to future summer wardrobes.
After a couple hours of shopping we then headed to the Island of Agistri. I cannot explain how beautiful and perfect our ocean view room was. We arrived to the island having no idea how to get to our hotel and under the assumption that we had over an hour drive to the hotel (thank you google maps for being useless everywhere but America) but it ended up being a less than 10 minute bus ride! The woman who owns the small hotel was unbelievably friendly from giving us her own personal beach towels to making sure we had a water boiler in case we wanted coffee in the morning as well as giving us a jar of fresh home-made jelly. I'm sad to say that Laura has now left and we still forgot to try it but I'll tell you how it is as soon as I do!
We immediately headed down to the beach to soak up some afternoon rays and read some more of our books. I should probably mention that we each took 3 books with us making it seem as though we were carrying around  a small library with us! We thought it was pretty funny and definitely necessary as we each went through over two of them in our time there. After sun we found a restaurant on the beach as well where we had some typical Greek food: Greek Salad, Mousaka- it is kind of like Greek Lasagna and tastes INCREDIBLE- as well as a meat platter of some kind involving kebabs. It was one of the most amazing meals.

Yes, those are eyeballs and legs and the whole bit. GAH!

Side note: on a different night I also ate fresh shrimp that I nearly screamed at when put on our table. Yes, I am now aware that when you order shrimp and you are staying on the ocean you will probably get fresh, whole shrimp. Laura convinced me it was good and after promising I didn't have to suck out the meat through the head or brains or whatever (oh gosh I want to barf just thinking about it) I finally did it!! And boy was it worth it!! Any of you who love fresh seafood should be jealous.

yup! thank you Greece for new cheap reading glasses! 

We were both apparently craving sleep that night because we slept for 12 hours before getting out of bed to find breakfast. We had crepes which, funny enough, was also our first meal in Greece when we arrived in Athens. It was one of the few places still open and taking orders at 10pm when we arrived. Anyways. We ate more Crepes in the past 2 weeks than I probably have in the last year but I have no regrets! We then rented bikes from a kind lady near our hotel. Not only was it only 5euro each for the entire day but she didn't take any names, phone #'s, address, or collateral of any kind. She just handed us over the bikes and said to enjoy our ride! Being that we were only 2 of maybe 5 other tourists on the island I guess she didn't think there was anything to worry about. One of the main reasons we picked this Island as opposed to one of the more touristy and popular islands was because it is very small and has beautiful beaches with few people around where all we could do was lay on the beach and relax. Okay and ride bikes for quite some time as well but you know what I mean.
By the morning of our departure we both had absolutely no desire to leave. We so badly wanted to stay and enjoy the sun and sand but alas it was off to London town.
When we landed we were absolutely SHOCKED at how warm it was. Both of us in our jeans and sweaters were hot and sweaty and although I was happy to see sun it was crazy how different it was from the cold, windy and cloudy London that we left 4 days previously.

not blending. torture for Laura hahah

To my excitement and enjoyment the sun and heat remained for the duration of Laura's stay. Because Laura has already been to London we were able to explore museums and parks and places that I haven't even been to yet. We went shopping and to the movies and sometimes just sat reading our books. We also went to see Mama Mia the musical and it was FANTASTIC! We sang our way through most of the performance and then came home and made our own videos hahah! Needless to say it was a fabulous time. We did manage to accomplish some school work but I won't lie. It wasn't much. It felt so...normal! Sometimes it really didn't feel like we were even in another country.
I think my favorite day was the day we spent in Green Park reading, drinking far too much wine and making new friends (of course you did, Kristin). We practiced our long board technique too which must have been pretty darn entertaining for the hundreds and hundreds of other people also enjoying the sun on such a beautiful day.



Laura will be my last visitor from home for my time here so I'm happy it was such a beautiful time. I am truly blessed by her friendship and by the love of everyone who has helped to make my time here easier and happier. Thank you! And on a very happy note... In just over four weeks I will be reunited with my beautiful country, just in time for fourth of July celebrations! I can't wait!

Love from London,
Krisitn