Well, I guess this will be my final post as my Spanish Adventure has finally come to an end *sniff sniff*. As I'm sitting at Elliot's house in NY writing this, it just dawned on me that I'm sitting in the exact seat where I started this blog nearly 10 months ago... wow how time flies, it feels like I never left. I know everyone says this. Seriously, though, when we were landing in JFK it felt like I had been dropped off to catch my flight only a month before. But enough of that.
As expected, I've integrated back into American life nearly seamlessly. In fact, I really missed it! I realize this as I sit here sipping on my Dunkin Donuts coffee, thinking about all of the places I can drive to with a car and all the types of food that are available to me, and laughing at the ridiculous idea of actually walking to work (or anywhere for that matter). On our first day back we went to the mall. Oh, malls, how I've missed you. Oh how I can't wait to grab an iced coffee and stroll around the floors of the Providence Place, just the parking garage alone is bigger than some towns near me in Spain, and the stores are bigger than neighborhoods. Bigger certainly is better here. Another thing, I'm happy to no longer be the proud owner of a bidet (pronounced: buh-day) in my bathroom. Google it. I'm also excited to be in a place where it's socially acceptable to go meandering around with your face stuck in your phone, wonderfully oblivious to the rest of the world, which happens to be the case as I have finally entered the world of smart phones (better late than never!). There are certainly things I will miss about Europe. Fortunately, I haven't gone out for dinner or drinks yet. I'm expecting the first bill I receive to potentially stop my heart.
Leaving Spain was sad. Not heartbreaking, but sad. As I've been bouncing around from place to place and job to job since I was a freshman in college, I don't get very attached, and 9 months in one place starts to take its toll on me. I made great friends with all my private lessons, so it was tough to say all those goodbye's. My older high schoolers weren't too depressed to see me go. Not surprisingly, I wasn't their favorite person since I was the person making them do work. The younger ones were adorable and gave me gifts, including photos, posters, flowers, and 2 sweeties sang a song for me. The elementary school put a little book together of drawings from all the little ones, which is a great memory for me. One of the student teachers from the school kept asking me why I wasn't crying and I didn't seem sad like she was. I tried my best to explain how I don't get very attached to places, attempting to not sound like a cold, heartless monster as 20 little 7 year olds were clinging on me to begging me not to leave. Spain did leave its mark on my heart though, because I unexpectedly started tearing up as my plane took off from Madrid. But that ended quickly when Elliot and all the people around me on the plane started staring.
SO, my last trips.... We started in Athens. It wasn't quite what I expected. It was pretty run down, I guess that's what a major recession looks like. It was more market-y than we expected, if that makes sense. Lots of people trying rushing up to you trying to sell you things.. what you'd expect to see in a more developing country instead of a country in the EU (just barely hanging on- but still in it). But I was mainly in the tourist areas, I can't speak for the rest of the city. It was very very busy during the day, but deserted at night. One thing that really struck me about Athens is the amount of kids there were on the streets begging for money. It breaks my heart and makes me so angry. Kids are more ballsy than adults, so they'll bother you anywhere. One came up and started hanging on Elliot while we were having lunch, wrapping her arms around him and playing with his hair. It was kind of cute/funny until she grabbed his fork and started playing with the food on his plate, then started pushing the food off his plate and onto the table. But what can you do? She's a little girl, and one who won't understand you if you start yelling. It was really odd. During one lunch we had to ignore about 10 little girls coming up to us, and probably 5-10 more people trying to sell us stupid things. I felt safer in Istanbul than in Athens, but we weren't really there at night because we stayed in the port of Piraeus. I would recommend staying in Piraeus if you go to Athens because it's much cheaper (30 euros/night for a hotel) and is only a few metro stops from downtown Athens. One suggestion I have to whoever is in charge of their public transport is to actually monitor their transportation systems. After 1 day we completely gave up on paying for anything, because all you had to do to take the metro is buy a ticket and 'validate' it with a machine, a validation that no one actually checks. We saved about 15 or more euros each by not purchasing tickets, and I can't imagine we're the only ones to do that. We didn't even pay to get back and forth to the airport..twice. So, I'd be willing to bet Greece is losing lots of money on their public transportation... just saying. Anyway, on the theme of saving money, we got ourselves into the Acropolis for free, saving us 12 euros each, by saying we were erasmus students in Spain (which is partially true). To see the Parthenon in person is pretty cool. It's hard to grasp the fact that these buildings have been standing there for thousands of years.
view of the Acropolis
The Parthenon
Honestly, the only disappointing thing is that all of the buildings on the Acropolis have been renovated so many times that you're hardly looking at the original structure anymore. It'd be nice to see the Parthenon without the scaffolding, but what can do you? These are things you read about during your high school ancient history classes.. and here it is in real life! But if these buildings crumble you can kiss what's left of the Greek economy goodbye..
So, after a few days in Athens we were off to Mykonos. We took a 5 hour ferry out of Piraeus, which was a beautiful ride through the Aegean Sea. It wasn't like other boat rides where you're sailing through open water. There are thousands of islands in Greece, so there's always an island visible from the ferry. Most of them are very small and uninhabited, but very pretty. We stayed in Mykonos for 2 days. I chose a hotel that was far from town, out of the party scene and set in a hillside overlooking Panormos beach, one of the nicest, most relaxing beaches on the island. We got super lucky with an upgrade into an awesome room, high up on the hill, with a really nice balcony overlooking the pool and beach. This was for sure one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in (and totally affordable too!). The owners of the hotel are a couple, and they really took care of us. They gave us the room, let us stay the entire day after check out, gave us free dessert and shots after our meals.. they were great. I highly recommend this place.
Our hotel balcony
I also highly recommend going to Mykonos at this time because the high season hasn't started yet, so things are calmer and cheaper, but the weather is still perfect. On the 2nd day we rented an ATV for 20 bucks. It was a great, and reallllllyy fun way to get around and see the rest of the island's beaches and the town of Mykonos. Mykonos is definitely in a competition with Ibiza, so if you're looking for a party trip, this is a great place. The ATV is great, and I think even if you stayed in the main town you'd still want to rent one to get to the beaches. Some of the best beaches are totally secluded, so you need to ride down scary hills to get there. But completely worth it once you arrive.
Panormos Beach
Mykonos town
Prices aren't too bad either, so it is surely an affordable vacation. After beach hopping for a few days it was time to fly back into reality. Our flight back to Athens was literally the shortest flight I've ever experienced. I think we were in the air for 20 minutes. By the time the flight attendants gave us our drinks, we were already descending.
All in all, Greece is a lovely country. It's cheap and beautiful. Great for a trip on a budget. Stay in Piraeus, not Athens. Don't pay for public transportation. Don't pay for the Acropolis. Eat lots of feta cheese. There's nothing better than a country where it's acceptable to eat a week's worth of cheese in one salad. Elliot and I have this phrase we always used about Spaniards. In Spain people say "no pasa nada" which translates to "no worries". So we describe Spain and Spaniards as being very 'no pasa nada'. Well, if there is any country that is more 'no pasa nada' than than Spain, it is definitely Greece. They are laid back about everything, including things you don't want people to be laid back about, for example airport security. Anyone else notice a correlation between laid back countries and hurting economies? I'm certainly rooting for Europe though, as I'm now stuck with a bunch of euros and a crappy exchange rate.
By the way, we JUST missed some riots going on in Athens due to that politician hitting the woman. The riots just happened to be right where we had been 12 hours prior, so it was a relief and great luck that we missed it.
Next, we flew to Istanbul. Istanbul is a beautiful city, and more modern than I expected. This is also a cheap place to travel, although our hotel was a bit more expensive than the hotels in Greece. The shopping is soo cheap. I'm not really one to buy souvenirs, but I couldn't stop buying things. All of the things they sell are gorgeous, like carpets, lights, jewelry, and anything else you can think of. We stayed right near the Sirkeci tram stop, and I was very happy with that decision. In my opinion, it's the best part of Istanbul to stay in. It doesn't have the really high prices that come with staying in the old town, and it's not far from everything like the new part of town. It's also right by the ferry port, in case you feel like taking a day trip to Asia. I always felt completely safe. So, we got lucky again with a nice hotel and great location. I had read that things died at night, but I completely disagree. The streets are packed with shops and restaurants that stay open really late. I guess there wasn't much for night life, so if you want that you have to stay in another part of the city. People aren't too pushy in shops, although haggling is the norm. People are also really touchy, men link arms and kiss cheeks. Randomly, a few of the people we met there had actually lived in the US. People around that part of town all spoke English really well, and most of them were super friendly. A man, self-named 'Mr. Delicious', offered to buy me for 2 camels. Unlike the man in Morocco, he was actually kidding. However, apparently its the norm to barter women and camels.
Right by the port is a bridge that links the 2 parts of the city, which has really cool bars and restaurants underneath it. It looks beautiful when lit up at night because the colored lights reflect into the water.
Dinner isn't too expensive, and we got a lot of free tea and desserts. Everyone drinks tea in Istanbul, and here's my opinion of it: the regular tea is really strong so I need to cut it with water, the apple tea is yummy but really sweet and tastes more like apple cider, and the mint tea kind of tastes like cough medicine.
The city is huge. Half of it is Europe and the other half is in Asia. This is the bridge crossing the Bosphorus, connecting Europe and Asia:
We spent our last day just across the bridge in the Taksim area of the city, which was more modern and like being in a completely different city. It was the more modern area, with huge shopping areas, commercial streets. It was much less touristy and we felt like we had much less people hassling us in the street in front of stores and restaurants. There wasn't much for historical sites (some embassies), this area appeals more to the nigh crowd (unfortunate for our sleep). Sadly, even though we were only 2 hours from it, I couldn't muster the will to travel to the Black Sea, but I settled with seeing the Sea of Marmara. I was kind of disappointed by my lack of motivation, but after schlepping all over the place and spending hours and hours and hours on buses, trains, planes, boats, or whatever, I couldn't bear the thought of traveling almost 3 hours each way on a crowded hot bus in traffic just to see a beach that was as pretty as the ones close by... not with a 16 hour day coming up 2 days later. Another trip, another time. Also, after nearly a year of traveling, Elliot realized that we had a panoramic setting on our camera. oops.
Well, I could go on and on, but I should wrap it up. Some closing thoughts..
One last piece of advice: never transfer more money in any country than what you think you'll need.
You get robbed on the exchange, then you'll get robbed exchanging it back.
As expected, I've integrated back into American life nearly seamlessly. In fact, I really missed it! I realize this as I sit here sipping on my Dunkin Donuts coffee, thinking about all of the places I can drive to with a car and all the types of food that are available to me, and laughing at the ridiculous idea of actually walking to work (or anywhere for that matter). On our first day back we went to the mall. Oh, malls, how I've missed you. Oh how I can't wait to grab an iced coffee and stroll around the floors of the Providence Place, just the parking garage alone is bigger than some towns near me in Spain, and the stores are bigger than neighborhoods. Bigger certainly is better here. Another thing, I'm happy to no longer be the proud owner of a bidet (pronounced: buh-day) in my bathroom. Google it. I'm also excited to be in a place where it's socially acceptable to go meandering around with your face stuck in your phone, wonderfully oblivious to the rest of the world, which happens to be the case as I have finally entered the world of smart phones (better late than never!). There are certainly things I will miss about Europe. Fortunately, I haven't gone out for dinner or drinks yet. I'm expecting the first bill I receive to potentially stop my heart.
Leaving Spain was sad. Not heartbreaking, but sad. As I've been bouncing around from place to place and job to job since I was a freshman in college, I don't get very attached, and 9 months in one place starts to take its toll on me. I made great friends with all my private lessons, so it was tough to say all those goodbye's. My older high schoolers weren't too depressed to see me go. Not surprisingly, I wasn't their favorite person since I was the person making them do work. The younger ones were adorable and gave me gifts, including photos, posters, flowers, and 2 sweeties sang a song for me. The elementary school put a little book together of drawings from all the little ones, which is a great memory for me. One of the student teachers from the school kept asking me why I wasn't crying and I didn't seem sad like she was. I tried my best to explain how I don't get very attached to places, attempting to not sound like a cold, heartless monster as 20 little 7 year olds were clinging on me to begging me not to leave. Spain did leave its mark on my heart though, because I unexpectedly started tearing up as my plane took off from Madrid. But that ended quickly when Elliot and all the people around me on the plane started staring.
SO, my last trips.... We started in Athens. It wasn't quite what I expected. It was pretty run down, I guess that's what a major recession looks like. It was more market-y than we expected, if that makes sense. Lots of people trying rushing up to you trying to sell you things.. what you'd expect to see in a more developing country instead of a country in the EU (just barely hanging on- but still in it). But I was mainly in the tourist areas, I can't speak for the rest of the city. It was very very busy during the day, but deserted at night. One thing that really struck me about Athens is the amount of kids there were on the streets begging for money. It breaks my heart and makes me so angry. Kids are more ballsy than adults, so they'll bother you anywhere. One came up and started hanging on Elliot while we were having lunch, wrapping her arms around him and playing with his hair. It was kind of cute/funny until she grabbed his fork and started playing with the food on his plate, then started pushing the food off his plate and onto the table. But what can you do? She's a little girl, and one who won't understand you if you start yelling. It was really odd. During one lunch we had to ignore about 10 little girls coming up to us, and probably 5-10 more people trying to sell us stupid things. I felt safer in Istanbul than in Athens, but we weren't really there at night because we stayed in the port of Piraeus. I would recommend staying in Piraeus if you go to Athens because it's much cheaper (30 euros/night for a hotel) and is only a few metro stops from downtown Athens. One suggestion I have to whoever is in charge of their public transport is to actually monitor their transportation systems. After 1 day we completely gave up on paying for anything, because all you had to do to take the metro is buy a ticket and 'validate' it with a machine, a validation that no one actually checks. We saved about 15 or more euros each by not purchasing tickets, and I can't imagine we're the only ones to do that. We didn't even pay to get back and forth to the airport..twice. So, I'd be willing to bet Greece is losing lots of money on their public transportation... just saying. Anyway, on the theme of saving money, we got ourselves into the Acropolis for free, saving us 12 euros each, by saying we were erasmus students in Spain (which is partially true). To see the Parthenon in person is pretty cool. It's hard to grasp the fact that these buildings have been standing there for thousands of years.
Honestly, the only disappointing thing is that all of the buildings on the Acropolis have been renovated so many times that you're hardly looking at the original structure anymore. It'd be nice to see the Parthenon without the scaffolding, but what can do you? These are things you read about during your high school ancient history classes.. and here it is in real life! But if these buildings crumble you can kiss what's left of the Greek economy goodbye..
So, after a few days in Athens we were off to Mykonos. We took a 5 hour ferry out of Piraeus, which was a beautiful ride through the Aegean Sea. It wasn't like other boat rides where you're sailing through open water. There are thousands of islands in Greece, so there's always an island visible from the ferry. Most of them are very small and uninhabited, but very pretty. We stayed in Mykonos for 2 days. I chose a hotel that was far from town, out of the party scene and set in a hillside overlooking Panormos beach, one of the nicest, most relaxing beaches on the island. We got super lucky with an upgrade into an awesome room, high up on the hill, with a really nice balcony overlooking the pool and beach. This was for sure one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in (and totally affordable too!). The owners of the hotel are a couple, and they really took care of us. They gave us the room, let us stay the entire day after check out, gave us free dessert and shots after our meals.. they were great. I highly recommend this place.
I also highly recommend going to Mykonos at this time because the high season hasn't started yet, so things are calmer and cheaper, but the weather is still perfect. On the 2nd day we rented an ATV for 20 bucks. It was a great, and reallllllyy fun way to get around and see the rest of the island's beaches and the town of Mykonos. Mykonos is definitely in a competition with Ibiza, so if you're looking for a party trip, this is a great place. The ATV is great, and I think even if you stayed in the main town you'd still want to rent one to get to the beaches. Some of the best beaches are totally secluded, so you need to ride down scary hills to get there. But completely worth it once you arrive.
Super Paradise Beach
Prices aren't too bad either, so it is surely an affordable vacation. After beach hopping for a few days it was time to fly back into reality. Our flight back to Athens was literally the shortest flight I've ever experienced. I think we were in the air for 20 minutes. By the time the flight attendants gave us our drinks, we were already descending.
All in all, Greece is a lovely country. It's cheap and beautiful. Great for a trip on a budget. Stay in Piraeus, not Athens. Don't pay for public transportation. Don't pay for the Acropolis. Eat lots of feta cheese. There's nothing better than a country where it's acceptable to eat a week's worth of cheese in one salad. Elliot and I have this phrase we always used about Spaniards. In Spain people say "no pasa nada" which translates to "no worries". So we describe Spain and Spaniards as being very 'no pasa nada'. Well, if there is any country that is more 'no pasa nada' than than Spain, it is definitely Greece. They are laid back about everything, including things you don't want people to be laid back about, for example airport security. Anyone else notice a correlation between laid back countries and hurting economies? I'm certainly rooting for Europe though, as I'm now stuck with a bunch of euros and a crappy exchange rate.
By the way, we JUST missed some riots going on in Athens due to that politician hitting the woman. The riots just happened to be right where we had been 12 hours prior, so it was a relief and great luck that we missed it.
Next, we flew to Istanbul. Istanbul is a beautiful city, and more modern than I expected. This is also a cheap place to travel, although our hotel was a bit more expensive than the hotels in Greece. The shopping is soo cheap. I'm not really one to buy souvenirs, but I couldn't stop buying things. All of the things they sell are gorgeous, like carpets, lights, jewelry, and anything else you can think of. We stayed right near the Sirkeci tram stop, and I was very happy with that decision. In my opinion, it's the best part of Istanbul to stay in. It doesn't have the really high prices that come with staying in the old town, and it's not far from everything like the new part of town. It's also right by the ferry port, in case you feel like taking a day trip to Asia. I always felt completely safe. So, we got lucky again with a nice hotel and great location. I had read that things died at night, but I completely disagree. The streets are packed with shops and restaurants that stay open really late. I guess there wasn't much for night life, so if you want that you have to stay in another part of the city. People aren't too pushy in shops, although haggling is the norm. People are also really touchy, men link arms and kiss cheeks. Randomly, a few of the people we met there had actually lived in the US. People around that part of town all spoke English really well, and most of them were super friendly. A man, self-named 'Mr. Delicious', offered to buy me for 2 camels. Unlike the man in Morocco, he was actually kidding. However, apparently its the norm to barter women and camels.
Right by the port is a bridge that links the 2 parts of the city, which has really cool bars and restaurants underneath it. It looks beautiful when lit up at night because the colored lights reflect into the water.
Dinner isn't too expensive, and we got a lot of free tea and desserts. Everyone drinks tea in Istanbul, and here's my opinion of it: the regular tea is really strong so I need to cut it with water, the apple tea is yummy but really sweet and tastes more like apple cider, and the mint tea kind of tastes like cough medicine.
The city is huge. Half of it is Europe and the other half is in Asia. This is the bridge crossing the Bosphorus, connecting Europe and Asia:
I highly recommend going to Asia (and adding another continent to your list). The lovely ferry ride only costs 2 lira (about 1 euro) and is a 20 minute ride with views of Europe, Asia, the Sea of Marmara, and all of the main sights. Even if you don't want to get off the boat, at least go for the ride. It's a nearly free cruise, a much better deal than a 40 euro Bosphorus cruise that all the tourists go for. I considered making my own sunset cruise and just going again for the ride. The other side of the river was much cheaper, and people didn't really speak English. There were hardly any tourists, although I don't understand why. In any event, it's always nice getting off the beaten path to see what a city really looks like.
View from Asia: center: Hagia Sophia, left: Blue Mosque, right: Topkapi Palace
On a different day we spent the day in Sultanahment, the old part of the city with all of the tourist sites, including the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, the Grand Bazaar (way less chaotic than expected), the Hippodrome (where the ancient Romans held their chariot races), the Basilica Cistern (old water storage that is huge and sits under the main part of the city), the Egyptian spice bazaar, and much more. One thing that I thought was REALLY cool was an ancient Egyptian obelisk that was moved to the Hippodrome from Alexandria. As a young kid I wanted to be an Egyptologist, so it was like a mini dream coming true..
Here's some travel advice for Sultanahmet: bring socks and a scarf. In a lot of the mosques you need to cover up and remove your shoes. Although the important places, like the Blue Mosque, will provide generic scarves and plastic bags for your shoes, I highly recommend bringing your own. If you're grossed out about walking barefoot, make sure you bring some socks. It's also best to dress modestly. Istanbul is a pretty modern, liberal city, but most people do wear long pants. In case anyone is wondering what the inside of the Blue Mosque looks like...
Another cool thing I saw is a famous mosaic of Jesus that I'd seen before but had no idea that it was sitting in the Hagia Sophia. Maybe you'll recognize it..
Another cool thing I saw is a famous mosaic of Jesus that I'd seen before but had no idea that it was sitting in the Hagia Sophia. Maybe you'll recognize it..
Here's my favorite anecdote from this trip: while walking around someone shot off a gun right behind me,which was slightly terrifying. Some guy was just shooting it for giggles. When I looked at him in horror he gave me a silly, "oh, excuse me". Oh my.
We spent our last day just across the bridge in the Taksim area of the city, which was more modern and like being in a completely different city. It was the more modern area, with huge shopping areas, commercial streets. It was much less touristy and we felt like we had much less people hassling us in the street in front of stores and restaurants. There wasn't much for historical sites (some embassies), this area appeals more to the nigh crowd (unfortunate for our sleep). Sadly, even though we were only 2 hours from it, I couldn't muster the will to travel to the Black Sea, but I settled with seeing the Sea of Marmara. I was kind of disappointed by my lack of motivation, but after schlepping all over the place and spending hours and hours and hours on buses, trains, planes, boats, or whatever, I couldn't bear the thought of traveling almost 3 hours each way on a crowded hot bus in traffic just to see a beach that was as pretty as the ones close by... not with a 16 hour day coming up 2 days later. Another trip, another time. Also, after nearly a year of traveling, Elliot realized that we had a panoramic setting on our camera. oops.
Well, I could go on and on, but I should wrap it up. Some closing thoughts..
One last piece of advice: never transfer more money in any country than what you think you'll need.
You get robbed on the exchange, then you'll get robbed exchanging it back.
I finally finished my bracelet.. a bead for each country I visited. I'm quite proud of it.
First 5 from the USA, then Turkey, Greece, Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, Malta, Holland, Portugal, Morocco, Ireland, Italy
All in all, despite how much I've seen I wish I could have done more. So much more. My adventures are far from over. Although this blog has finished, I hope to start another one with another adventure soon. Until then.. travel, explore, take advantage of opportunities, make your own luck, DO what you want to do instead of just talking about it, and love life.
~ Nikki
~ Nikki
