Days Four and Five: Santorini and Athens

Wednesday:
Kathryn and I spent the morning by the pool while Faisal and Tiffany went hiking. We then packed up, loaded up our "convertible", and headed back to the great place we had dinner a couple nights before. After we finished our lunch there, we went to the port, returned our car, then got on the ferry.

Eight hours later, we arrived in Athens. We took a cab to our hotel and checked in, but had to move rooms at 1:30am because our air conditioning broke. 95 degree weather + 5th floor of a hotel without air conditioning = torture.

Thursday:
We got up Thursday morning and indulged in the fantastic continental breakfast at the hotel. We then went to the acropolis to check out the Parthenon and whatnot. My French student ID came in handy because I used it to fake being a European Union citizen and get free entry- score!

We then walked around for a little by afterwards before heading to our hotel and grabbing our luggage to head to the airport. Kathryn, Tiffany, and Faisal had a 7pm flight to Istanbul. Even though my flight didn't leave until 9:30, I decided to go to the airport with them. While I waited for my flight, I walked around Athens's new, shiny airport and bought a copy of Game of Thrones to read for my upcoming traveling.

I finally boarded my flight, where I am writing this from now. I'm flying Transavia airlines and I thought it was going to be a janky budget flight, but I am thoroughly impressed with them. The flight is only 3 hours but they just screened Big Miracle (the whale story with Drew Berrymore). The only thing miraculous about that movie was that I paid attention to it for 2 hours. It was mediocre and filled with unsuccessful attempts at humor, but hey, it gave me something to do for the majority of my flight. I get in to Amsterdam around midnight, where my childhood next door neighbor, Jess, will be awaiting my arrival. She moved there a year or so ago and was extremely generous by offering me a place to stay in the city for the next couple of days. I don't really have much on my agenda for Amsterdam, but hopefully Jess will have some recommendations for me!

Hartelijk,
Katie

Photo: pretty sunset on my flight to Amsterdam

Days Three and Four: Santorini

Monday:
We got up around 5:30am to head out of our hostel and ride the metro to the port, where our ferry to Santorini left at 7:30am. We were all exhausted, so not long after boarding the ferry we found ourselves a spot on deck where we each pushed together a few chairs into makeshift beds. I got an hour or so of sleep and Tiffany and Faisal got a couple of hours. After that, we found some big, comfy leather chairs inside of the ship, where we chilled out for the remainder of the journey

We arrived in Santorini around 3:30pm and rented a car at the advice of Radu, our guide from the day before. It ended up only being 20 euros a day... Split between 4 people and that's not too shabby! The owner was trying to get our business, so he bargained with us and promised us a convertible with a top that goes "aaaall the way back". When we got our car, we realized that our "convertible" was a glorified sun roof. We told the salesman that the car was far from a convertible, to which he replied "no no I no say convertible! Maybe I say 'like a convertible' but I no say convertible!" we were annoyed, but decided to drop it and get in with our day

After 10 minutes of driving, we soon realized that none of the roads in Santorini have names or signs. We spent a good amount of time aimlessly driving around before asking for directions from a few different people. We finally made it to our hotel, checked in, then headed to the beach fortune remainder of the day

Tuesday:
This morning we drove to Red Beach, a beach on the island with red sand. Kathryn and I spent the whole day there whole Tiffany and Faisal, who prefer to explore, hiked parts of the island. We left the beach around 5:30 to head to dinner and after that, we explored Oia, the picturesque part of Santorini. We wandered around tons of white buildings with blue domed roofs before settling somewhere to watch the sun set. When the sun finally set, many people applauded because it was so beautiful, Kathryn and I took this romantic opportunity to start clapping and shout to everybody that Tiffany and Faisal had just gotten engaged (which they didn't). We attracted all sorts of attention (most of which was unwanted by Tiffany) and people even came up to congratulate the "happy couple". We got a huge laugh out of this and were very satisfied with ourselves.

We then returned home to our hotel where we hung out for the remainder of the evening. Back to Athens tomorrow!

στοργικά,
Katie

Photo: Sunset in Santorini

Day Two: Athens

SUNDAY:

This morning, around 9am, a man named Radu met us at our hostel to take us to the marina. We got there and waited on the boat for about 45 minutes until two fellow travelers got on as well. All six were accounted for, so our guides, Adriana and Radu fired up the engines and we were on our way

The ride to Aegina from Athens was about 2.5 hours, but it went by quickly with the beautiful scenery and great conversation. Unfortunately, the German woman got really seasick and was puking for the past half hour. I guess she'd only been on large ferry-type boats before, so she didn't know that the sailboat would have that effect on her. We got off the boat, glad to be away from the barfing lady, and climbed to the highest point of the island to see what remained of an ancient Greek temple. It was really cool and practically nobody was there, so we had the site to ourselves.

We were told to be back at the boat by 2 and when we got there, we were informed that the German couple had taken a ferry back because the woman was too dehydrated to walk around or swim or anything like that. We were sorry to hear that she wasn't feeling well, but them leaving meant that we had a private tour for the rest of the day. Adriana and Radu anchored the boat in some gorgeously blue water and got us the appropriately sized flippers and snorkel equipment. They led us on a snorkeling tour through a pretty reef with tons of sea urchins and other cool things.

After that, we got back on the boat and ate the lunch they'd prepared for us, which was a sumptuous "cheese pie"- puff pastry filled with creamy cheese. For dessert, we had Greek yogurt with honey, which was also very tasty. Our guides suggested that we sail to a different part of the island and walk around for a bit, so we did just that. After about an hour of exploring, we went back to the boat, where Adriana and Radu asked if it would be alright with us if they extend our day by a couple of hours so we could watch the sun set while sailing back... Is that a serious question!? Of course it's alright with us!!

We sailed back and it took a few hours, but once again, it went by quickly. We were sailing against the waves so we got splashed quite a bit, but we didn't mind too much. We chatted the whole time with Adriana and Radu, who are a young couple from Romania who came to Athens for "the sun, the sea, and the city". They did the same type of tours for a company for a few years and realized that they could do it on their own, so they bought their own boat and started a business. While talking to them, we couldn't get over how happy they seemed. These were two people who are working for themselves, doing what they are passionate about. They were such great company and made good conversation with lots of laughs. It really felt like we were hanging out with friends for the day instead of being schlepped on a tour. While the sun set, Adriana offered everyone Ouzo, a Greek alcohol. I declined and was glad I did, because the others took one sip and their faces said it all- the drink was disgusting. Adriana described it like "vodka mixed with toothpaste". Yum...

We mentioned to them that we were going to head to Santorini the next day, so they offered to drive us to the ticket office and help us get tickets, then offered to drive us home from there. They were such nice people that truly made the day exponentially better. We couldn't believe how much we got to do for the reasonable price of 60 euros per person for more than a 12 hour day.

Radu and Adriana took tons of pictures (both on the boat and underwater while we were snorkeling), and they were going to write them on a DVD, but their computer was acting up. They told us they'd put them on a photo sharing website for us and email the link to us- I can't wait to see them!

στοργικά,
Katie

Athens: Day One

Saturday morning I woke up around 3am to get ready and head out to the airport for my 6am flight to Athens. The taxi ride was seamless and luckily I wasn't stranded anywhere, being approached by shady characters and scared out of my mind. After that experience a couple of months ago, any airport experience will seem anticlimactic. Also, it's reassuring to know that NOBODY looks good while waiting through security at 4:30am. Glad I wasn't the only zombie there...

I flew via EasyJet, a reputable European budget airline. When I went to check in, I realized how the company makes their money. Their luggage policy is much stricter than other airlines, limiting your carry-on to roughly the size of a backpack. The carry-on that I bring everywhere, of course, wasn't "regulation size" so I had to pay to check it. Even though that was a bummer, I was happy to see that nobody had the seat next to me, allowing me both the window seat and some wiggle room as well- score! Towards the end of the flight, a woman passed out on her way to the bathroom and they called for any medical personnel on board to rush to the front. All of the chaos definitely woke my sleep-deprived self up. Luckily, the lady is fine and was well enough to walk back to her seat after the doctors did their thing.

I met Kathryn, Tiffany, and Faisal at the airport around 11am, since our flights got in within 20 minutes of each other (they were flying from Munich). We figured out how to use the metro and get to our hostel. Turns out, we went to the wrong hostel. The owner of the hostel we went to said "Oh! You're supposed to be at my son's hostel!" how Greek is that!? I found tons of humor in the stereotypical Greek family connection situation. We made our way over to the correct hostel and checked in around 12:30. (side note: if your luggage is ever broken (ie missing a wheel), do yourself a favor and DON'T take it somewhere that has only cobblestone streets. I learned that the hard way so that you don't have to).

I was too beat to do anything right away, so I took a nap while the othe three got some food and explored around. They were kind enough to save me some pizza because they knew I'd be starving when I woke up. We found outthatthe city of Athens is basically shutting down on Sunday for the presidential elections, so we went to the travel agency by our hostel and booked a day trip. We'll be going on a sailboat cruise that will take us to a Greek island and provide a day of snacks, drinks, snorkeling, and exploration. All with a young, hip tour guide that we met today. Her name is Adriana and she was so friendly! We are all looking forward to a fun day with her tomorrow!

στοργικά,
Katie

La Semaine Finale

My dear blog followers (aka just my family), how I have neglected you. I apologize profusely for not updating my blog frequently these past couple of weeks. Life has been so hectic getting everything in order for my departure that the blog has gotten put on the back burner. Je suis très désolée!

This was my last week in Paris.

The week flew by even faster than I thought it would. Monday-Thursday were filled with finals and big papers, but I'm finally done with schoolwork. I had to write a paper on a certain dress in a painting and talk all about how it "exuded the spirit of the woman wearing it" for eight pages. Seriously. After completing that, I now consider myself a master of BSing.

This past weekend, I had some friends from U of M in town. They all graduated in May and are traveling around before their "real person jobs" start next month. Unfortunately, I couldn't hang out with them as much as I would've liked because I had so much studying to do, but I usually met up with them in the evenings. On Saturday evening, we climbed the Eiffel Tower because none of us had done it yet. We climbed up 56 stories before calling it quits and taking the elevator the remaining 44 stories. The view from the top was magnificent and we went at a perfect time, just as the sun was setting. We heard some young, college-age Americans, so we struck up conversation with them. Soon enough, we came to realize that not only were they from Michigan, but they were U of M students as well! They were on a weekend trip to Paris from their study abroad location. How cool is that!? Even weirder, one of them graduated a year before I did at Troy High School. Such a small world! My friends from U of M left Paris on Monday and are traveling around a bit. I will meet them in Greece tomorrow morning. After we gallivant in Greece, I'll go to Amsterdam for a few days and spend time with Jess, my next door neighbor from childhood who now lives there. I am so excited for the week to come!

After all of my schoolwork was done, there were still loose ends that needed to be tied up in the city. On Monday night, Diane (10) invited me to come to her school play. Of course, I said yes and of course, it was adorable. It was a series of fairytale skits, many of which I already knew (Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, etc.) That made it much easier for me to understand! The best part of the show was when the 5th graders had to dance with each other at Cinderella's ball. Every single one of them looked like they were about to die of embarrassment having to dance with someone of the opposite sex. Hopefully none of the girls caught any of the boys' nasty cooties. 

There were a few things on  my "to do" list that I'd been putting off, so many of them got accomplished this week. I went to some AWESOME pastry shops as well as to the top of Tour Montparnasse, the skyscraper close to my house. I also bought some last-minute souvenirs for friends and totally cleaned my room, packing everything in my suitcase. I have to come back to Paris on the 24th to fly home the next day, so my host family was kind enough to allow me to leave my large suitcase at their house while I travel to Greece and The Netherlands for the week. 

taken at the top of Tour Montparnasse

For our program, money was allocated to get us in to all of the sites we visited for class throughout the semester. Our professor got us all in for free everywhere because we were students, so the money didn't get used. The university has a "use it or lose it" policy, so our professor decided we'd use it on a nice dinner. We went to Le Grand Pan (the same fantastic restaurant I went to with my family), and we had a large spread of beef, veal, and pork, which were all fantastic. We also had every dessert on the menu, my favorite being the chocolate mousse with fresh raspberry sauce on the bottom. It was a very, very nice dinner with the whole program and a great way to say goodbye to everyone.

Group picture after dinner

It makes me a little sad sitting in my bare room. It's so empty, with no traces of me ever having lived in it. My host family has been one of the best things about this whole experience and I truly hope that they enjoyed my presence as much as I enjoyed theirs. I will greatly miss their lively family atmosphere, Madame's fantastic French cuisine, and Monsieur's hilariously loose grasp on the English language. If I ever return to Paris, I will absolutely give them a call. I really couldn't have asked for a better host family than them.

Affectueusement,

Katie

Giverny and Normandy

My final exams are next week, so I've been super busy studying and whatnot. My Aunt Julie e-mailed me and reminded me that I haven't blogged in a while, so I decided to start this post with something that remind me of her last week: Monet's gardens in Giverny.

A few classmates and I had a day off of school last week, so we decided to leave the city for the day and go see Monet's jardins at his house in Giverny, France. We took the train for about 45 minutes and once we arrived at the train station, we had to take a bus for another 10. Once we arrived, we got in the very short line and got our tickets. The garden was absolutely gorgeous. We wandered around the grounds for a good two hours, looking at all of the beautiful scenes that inspired many of Monet's paintings. I had heard that Giverny is a zoo during tourist season, but it wasn't bad at all while we were there, perhaps because we went on a weekday. We had perfect weather and really couldn't have asked for a better day. I was thinking of you the whole time, Aunt Julie. You would've loved it and I'm sure you could have identified the hundreds of different flowers that we saw.

This past weekend, my class went on a trip to Normandy, France. We met at 8am and boarded a luxurious charter bus for our 3.5 hour drive. I'm not kidding. This bus was sparkling clean had leather interior. Since there were only 16 students and 4 adults, everybody got a row to themselves. It was fantastic. There's some crazy rule in France that bus drivers can't drive for more than two hours at a time, so we made a stop in Bayeux, France to see the Bayeux tapestry. Never heard of the Bayeux Tapestry? You're not missing out. It's a 70-meter long piece of fabric from the 1070s that depicts the story of William the Conquerer. I realize that it's huge and was made a long time ago, but it was horribly underwhelming. The best part of Bayeux was the lunch I had with some classmates. We found an English pub and I got a fantastic homemade tomato-cheese soup. After our lunch, we headed back on the bus to our next stop, Pointe du Hoc

Crater at Pointe du Hoc

I wasn't planning on stepping on American soil until June 25th, my return date, but it happened a lot sooner than I expected. Turns out, Pointe du Hoc was declared American land in 1945, just after the war. It was a key spot in Operation Overlord, at which the American troops arrived and fought the Germans on D-Day. The site is preserved so that it resembles how it looked on June 6, 1944. The ground is filled with enormous craters that were left by bombs and you can even walk inside the German bunkers. The site was fantastic. It was so cool to be able to stand exactly at one of the most significant sites in recent world history. After our walk around Pointe du Hoc, we drove a few kilometers to our hotel in Port-en-Bessin, a little fishing village on the Atlantic coast. We had a few hours of free time to unwind and hang out before going to the dinner that our professor, Katie, organized for us. It was held at a local restaurant and we got three courses for only 10 euros each (instead of the original 20), thanks to the "Paris by Site fairy", as Katie informed us that morning. I opted for escargots, sirloin, and apple bread as my three dishes, and all three were out of this world. I ordered my steak medium-rare, but it came out practically still mooing. I didn't care- it was fantastic and I haven't gotten violently ill yet, so I think I'm in the clear. The dinner was an awesome experience and I'm so glad we had the opportunity to do it!

I woke up very well-rested the next day, since I got a queen bed all to myself the night before. We had a great breakfast in the hotel, then headed out to see both the American and German cemeteries. The American cemetery / museum was so émouvant, I must've gotten chills at least ten separate times within the hour that we were there. The museum was filled with tons of anecdotes that I loved learning about and did a phenomenal job of respecting people's stories. One of the stories that stuck with me was about a woman who, in a period of a few days, learned that her husband and two sons had been killed in the war and that her third son was reported missing. I can't even imagine what horror that woman experienced and I sincerely hope that I never have to live through anything similar to the mid-1940s. The German cemetery was a totally different experience. Instead of beautiful, tall gravestones, the soldier's monuments were somber plaques on the ground. It was hard to feel sympathy when standing in the middle of the burial site of 21,000 Nazis, but it was important to remember that many young German men were required to join the Nazi army and were likely there against their will. The most interesting thing about this whole experience is that my professor's husband, who is a German, was with us. He was able to tell us all about the German perspective on World War II and what it was like learning about the war in a German classroom.

The trip to Normandy was very relaxed with plenty of time to wander around and experience a given space. It definitely made me realize how important the United States was to Europe in World War II and sent chills through every patriotic bone in my body. God bless the USA!

Affectueusement,

Katie