We left March 26th, which was a friday, and headed to Rome. Our group was leaving from Rome Saturday morning so we went a day before to make sure we weren't late. Well we had to get a hostel and the only one we found that good reviews was way outside of Rome and it was called Tiber hostel and camping. We show up there and it looks a lot like Sun Lakes and we weren't quite sure what we have gotten ourselves into, but thankfully our room was nice and we were staying in a 6 person room and the two other people were a mom and daughter from mount si. We got normal people which was nice. Its always a little bit of a risk going into a room with more people than we know, but so far both times have turned out just fine. After putting our stuff in our room we went to their restaurant and got some dinner. In the middle of dinner a waiter who wasn't originally waiting on us comes and brings us a desert menu and inside the menu is a note from the "staff". it was asking us if we wanted to hang out after they were all done working. When we replied to their note our waiter and the waiter who gave the note to us seemed to not know what we were talking about so we were all really confused. So after checking our emails and letting my mom know I was alive we all went to bed.
On Saturday we woke up at 730 took freezing showers and non of us had towers so we had to use our sheets from our beds to dry off. We checked out at 8 and then headed for Termini the main metro/train/ bus terminal in Rome. That is where we were suppose to meet our group at 930. We got into Rome around 9 and still needed to take out money, get food for the bus ride, and find our group. Since all 4 of us had bags and then we all checked on really big bag kat and erin sat with their bags and the checked bag while me and tenessa ran through Termini like wild women trying to find everything and make it back on time. We wanted to buy some alcohol for the week so it would be cheaper. Every person we asked where they sold alcohol got really confused and thought we were talking about water. Finally we found someone in a mcdonalds that told us to go to a grocery store which was perfect because we still needed food and snacks for the bus ride. We are running around with our backpacks on hands full of food and drinks. I felt like I was on the amazing race. We made it back to the bus just in time to board. On the bus we got the 4 seats that had a table and a tv screen hanging in front of us. It was so nice because we could actually sleep on what they said was a 3 hour bus ride but in all reality it is a 6 hour bus ride, plus we were the only bus that go to watch movies. The ride to the port though was really pretty, or at least what i saw when i was awake. We went through a mountain range and then on the other side was the beautiful Italian coast line. The water was so blue and the sun was out it was just beautiful. After 6 hours of being trapped on a bus we finally made it to the port. As we were just about to get on the boat we saw our friend Jacey who was just getting off the boat from the week before in Greece. It was a pleasant surprise and we got to here a little bit what our trip was going to be like. She just told us to prepare ourselves for the boat ride because we didn't have a cabin. As we got on the ship and saw where we would be sleeping none of us got excited. It looked like a really large airplane. With just rows of chairs and a luggage space. After being squished on a bus this was the last place i wanted to sleep but there wasn't much we could do. Our boat ride to Greece was 15 hours and we boarded at like 330 and the boat was leaving at 430, so we had quite sometime on the boat. It was actually a lot of fun. The boat was filled with all sorts of people. Truck drivers, families, a bunch of kids from Italy and Greece, and then all of us college kids. We all took over the back deck, brought out music, and just had fun all hanging out. Later that night they opened the discotec on the boat and that was so entertaining. there were these truck drivers that were just loving all the American girls there. You could tell this was the highlight in their life. It was so entertaining to watch. After awhile we all got tired and went back to our "bed" the lovely chairs and attempted to fall asleep. I ended up just sleeping on the floor until some drunk girl stomped on my head by accident. what a great night sleep.
After we docked on Sunday we found out that we had to take an 8 minute walk, which was more like a 15 minute walk to get on another ferry which was going to take us to Corfu. The ferry ride wasn't that bad. It was an hour and half but it was really pretty because we were passing a lot of islands on the way and it was way more comfortable than the boat ride before. We were finally in CORFUUU! we went to the pink palace, that is where we were staying, we checked into our rooms, and then everyone headed down to the water. They had a really large hot tub which was more like a small luke warm pool, they had lounging areas, a restaurant, and beach so it was a lot of fun. Everyone just laid out there all day. The weather was great so after taking a nice nap in the sun i was refreshed for the night. That night we just had dinner at the hotel and then where we have dinner turns into a bar afterwards so everyone just hung out and had a good time. Halfway through the night these greek dancers came out and put on a show for us. It was really cool.
On Monday we woke up to the beautiful sun shinning so we all headed down to the beach again. That day a lot of the other kids who were staying there went atving or went on a booze cruise so the pool area was not as crowded and it was nice to just lay out again. I got pretty sunburned on Monday. None of us brought sunscreen which probably wasn't a good idea and the sun down in Greece is way more intense than anything I am use to, but it is now a tan so I am okay with it hah. Monday night was the famous toga party. After laying in the sun all day we went and got our like pink togas, which looked really good with our sunburns ... not, and went to our rooms to attempt to try and make a toga somehow. all they gave us was a large piece of fabric and they told us we couldn't cut them if we wanted our money back. It was rather interesting but we figured it out after about an hour and then headed down to dinner. Every night they provided us dinner and they were all really good. After dinner once again the room turned into a bar and everyone was ready to have a good time. After awhile they did some more traditional greek things for the toga party. Well when cara went to the pink palace last semester they used her to crack a stack of plates over her head, so of course i thought that i should do that also. So when they were asking for volunteers to have that done i immediately jumped up to do it. Well to start you off they give you 5 shots of ouzo which is some local Greece liquor which is absolutely disgusting. It tasted like black licorice. After taking those shots they drop a stack of plates over your head. It hurt a little bit but the next day my head was fine so thats a good sign. Other things they did beside smash plates on my head where they lit a chair of fire and then some guy put it in his mouth. They danced some more and then lit a lot of things on fire and did tricks with them. It was a good last night in Corfu.
Tuesday morning everyone wanted to go on the booze cruise but knowing how i get seasick and considering I drank the night before i thought it would be in my best interest to do something else. Two of my friends were going ATVing so i decided to join them. We got the ATVs for 6 hours so we had a lot of fun doing that. Corfu is actually a pretty big island so we never made it to Corfu town, but we found a little town and got some lunch there. Since it is still their winter season for a few more weeks a lot of things are closed in Corfu so it took us a couple of trys to find a restaurant to eat at but we finally did. I wasn't that into the food, but food is food so I ate it. I really liked the stuffed peppers we had, but we got this lasguna/ pasta thing that i really didn't like but thats fine. After lunch we asked our waiter what his favorite beach was and he told us so we went on an adventure to try and find it. We thought we found this off road short cut, but at the very end of the road it was blocked off so we had to turn around and go on the main street. But the off road trail we took had a lot of mud so get got stuck a ton of times. By the time we made it back to the top my friend Ian was completely covered in mud from pushing our ATVs out of the mud. It was really funny. The beach was awesome. There was no one on the beach except for this old man in a speedo going for a little jog. The sand was so soft and it felt good to just lay and listen to the waves. I miss the beach sooo much. After laying there for awhile we decided to find one more beach before heading home. We went to this other beach, but by the time we got there it started sprinkling just a little bit so we didn't stay there long. We got a little lost on the way home, but we finally found our way back to the pink palace. we were leaving tuesday night to head to athens so when we got back we packed up, had dinner, and then all got back on the buses which took us to the ferry that took us back to the main land. After the ferry we got back on the buses for a 9 hour over night bus ride. needless to say that was one of the worst night sleeps i think i have ever had.
Wednesday morning we woke up in Athens. Much to my surprise Athens was one of the nastiest places I have ever been. everyone told me it was dirty but i was not expecting that. When we got to our hotel we were too early to check in, Tom, the Sean's friend who was in-charge of our hotel because we had 3 in Athens, took us on a walking tour. We went to the city hall, the national gardens of athens, the olympic stadium, zeus' temple, and the acropolis. It was so cool to see all those things. I have heard about them all my life and then to finally see them in person was awesome. After our tour me and Tenessa stopped and got some food and then headed back to the hotel to lay out for the rest of the day. We had a roof top pool, but once again it was still their winter so the pool was empty. But i still laid out next to it. That night we paid EuroAdventures to go to dinner at an all you can eat and drink place. It was so much fun. Almost all of our group went and everyone had a good time. In the middle of dinner someone started playing the Mamma Mia soundtrack and the whole restaurant busted out singing Mamma Mia. It was so much fun. there was 160 of us who went to dinner that night and we went through 180 liter wine bottles. After that we all headed out to this bar and just hung out there all night.
On Thursday we were going to go to this island called Aegia which is suppose to be beautiful. we went all the way down to the port, but it was an hour boat ride to the island and we got a late start to the day. It was also 10 euro each way. I was with carly and my friend lizzy (the both live in the apartment below me) we were all roommates and we got separated from Erin kat and tenessa, so we decided to just forgo going there and head back to the hotel and hang out. when we were at the place to buy tickets for the island we asked if there were any good beaches to go to the the guys response was well you are in Athens. Athens is so nasty that they don't even have any clean beaches to lay at. And the port was so nasty i just needed to get out of there. We headed back to the hotel and I just laid out by the pool all day again. This day they were actually filling the pool so that was nice. From the top of our hotel you had a great view of the city. Athens is HUGE, i heard they have like 4.2 million people or something and from on top of the acropolis it looks like the city is never ending. It is so weird how dirty and nasty the city is though. You walk down the streets and buildings are literally just crumbling away. the only nice building i saw was the city hall and state buildings. Everything else was old and nasty and dirty. I think athens is the most cultured place i have been to yet. Wednesday night we got Gyros for dinner and then went to go check out their club scene. Needless to say their clubs are wayyyy smaller than the ones in Barcelona. I don't think anyone knows how to party like Barca does.
On friday we woke up and had to get on a bus to head back to the port at 1030 so we just got some breakfast and boarded the bus. Once again they told us the bus ride was only 3 hours and it turned out to be 4.5 hours. The boat ride back to Italy was even longer this time so we decided to upgrade and get a cabin. We were on the boat for 22 hours and knew that another night sleep in the chair would be awful so 7 of us got a room for 4 people. We all shared the beds but it was no nice to not get woken up at 7 in the morning. The boat was fun, but since it was good friday the discotec wasn't open. We all just hung out on the deck all night and had one last night together. Since it was good friday on the boat they had a littler ceremony, i watched it for little place but i felt a little awkward and out of place so we walked away. We didn't want them to think we were being disrespectful.
We docked in Italy at like 2 on Saturday and took once again another 5 hour bus ride back to Rome. We got into Rome at about 7. Our flight wasn't til 6:35 am on sunday but the last bus to the airport left at 920. so we checked our bags at Termini while we went and got some dinner, gelato, and a book to read at the airport. We then all headed out to the airport. There were actually a lot of girls from Barca who were in Greece with us who booked that flight so we all just camped out at the airport. We slept a little bit but the main airport opened at 4:30 so at 4:30 we all got up and went to go check in. That was a lot of traveling in 48 hours so when we arrived home at 10 on easter Sunday we were all dead. We took naps off and on til like 5 pm on Sunday and just laid low. Everything is always closed on Sundays so we had no food, but got a Kebab from our beloved Kebab shop. On Monday everything was closed again though so we had to make a lot of makeshift food from the small market across the street.
Well needless to say spring break was amazing. Greece is beautiful. we had a great time and will never forget it. This weekend we have a day trip in Costa Brava which is about an hour away from Barcelona and then in two weeks we head on our last trip to Dublin. I cannot believe that I will be home in a month. It is soooo crazy. this has been one of the greatest experiences ever. I miss you all so much and can't wait to see you in a month!
