Guest Post #2

From the time I was in the air (also including the snide comment made to me by the person next to me about how I ‘must have slept well’ as apparently I tend to flail in my sleep on a plane at 30,000+ feet) until the time I landed in Athens and was pleasantly surrounded by the English that I thought would be absent, I knew this trip would be amazing. Though it took a minute for me to figure out the bus (despite clear instructions, but hey I was tired), I eventually boarded the correct line and began a trip en route to Athens. Upon riding said bus, a key factor I noted—though those of you who A) live there and B) have visited (order is of no consequences w/r/t the two cities) may be inclined to disagree—was the striking resemblance Athens bears to southern California, particularly Los Angeles, what with the hills and desert-type landscape and the general layout of the city that make you feel as if you’re in an inviting yet fast-paced environment that is completely and totally soaked in sunlight 95% of the time. And but so upon decamping the bus in Syntagma Square, I was lucky enough to find a bank that had a solid (free) Wi-Fi connection and thus was able to determine where in the hell I actually was in Athens (let alone the world) so that I may be able to make my way down to where you were staying, my friend. From the time we linked up to the time I left, we encountered a lot of things and made a ton of memories, memories which I’d like to quickly recap for the sake of brevity.

So, Athens: meandering around the streets led to getting lost and catching up which led to lunch (mousaka and beer) which led to seeing some sites you’d already seen up close but were still interesting to see (up to and including but not limited to: the Temple of Nike, Acropolis, Roman Baths, the [felled] Temple of Zeus) which was then followed by beers at the local beer vendor (two delicious ones, might I add) which was then followed by the infamous ouzo purchase (remember this part!) which we then took to the room to drink and relax and pregame before going out in Athens which resulted in elegant yet delicious drinks at roof 1, no drinks at roof 2 (seriously, I will NOT pay that much for a Guinness), and ultimately losing our location bead on bar 3 but which resulted in the venerable chicken gyros which I’ll never forget though at this time it was early in the morning which means that we went to bed fairly close to the time that we planned to wake up and thus resulted in our sleeping in and missing our ferry to Ios, though the trip was saved (she must be given credit) by the lovely woman at the ticket office who arranged for us to get to Paros.

And so Paros: a long and grueling boat ride—which led to the introduction of the “game of the trip” (Heads Up)—that landed us at the port of the small but beautiful isle of Paros wherein we experienced our first taste of the Aegean sea and all of its clear water (and the awareness of the urchins) and which also brought with it the greatest seafood that was to be consumed on the trip (the fried octopus stealing hearts and minds) which was of course coupled with a quaint, quiet, beautiful town in which the locals (and bars) were amazingly nice and accommodating and friendly but sadly our time there lasted only one day before we departed to Ios.

And now to Ios: so upon arriving to Ios—the island we should have been on the night before but see above point about Athens (blame the ouzo!) for THAT particular explanation—we were greeted off the ferry by our host who promptly gave us a good-hearted ribbing about missing the previous night’s accommodations prior to pointing us in the directions of both the nightlife and the square where we had the amazing plate of street meat prior to beginning one of the more arduous climbs en route to Ios’s famous nightlife, which further included a hip-hop bar we made no less than 5 stops at throughout the night, a club where we joined some new friends met at said hip-hop bar which ultimately led to dance lessons in the middle of the walkway (which we never continued) and then the unforgettable experience of dancing on bars with fellow travelers to the likes of Cyndi Lauper and blink-182 and after that (and also after concluding that I was not, in fact, “mad at you”) heading back to the hotel way too late (and to those who received my 5:30, 5:45, and 6:00 snaps w/r/t the sunrise on Ios, I apologize, I knew not what I was doing) before being quickly awoken by our host (“Clean. Friendly. Amazing.”) with the warning that we would just make the ferry because thankfully it was running 20 minutes late (NO ONE should make that same mistake twice in one vacation). And so from there we continued to Santorini.

On Santorini: still reeling from the night before led to sleeping throughout the ferry ride to Santorini (hence the lack of pictures) which also almost resulted in us sleeping through our stop (a common theme, I guess…) but didn’t because of some very well-timed spontaneous awakenings and well-paced sprinting down several flights of stairs, but so we were in Santorini and thus were in the land of boardwalks and black sand beaches (which were volcanic rocks that also felt like volcanic rocks when you walked on them without shoes) and beautiful mountainous scenery (and also images of people jumping off of mountains into the water [locals, I presume]) and an isle on which we swam in water which was floored not by sand but by a slab of volcanic rock (hardened magma, I think, was the explanation we settled on) reminiscent of a concrete pool which is now in the running for my favorite beach experience (including finding the largest stones we could and throwing them as far as we could), and but an island that included a great little outdoor pavilion where the DJ DID take requests where we passed both nights until our time to depart arrived and we made our way to Mykonos.

And finally Mykonos: some ill-advised consumption of canned coffee (or shellfish or tap water, but who really knows?) left 1/2 of the party sidelined for the day but yet we were still on the isle of Mykonos which was of course the isle of great views (though lackluster wifi and A/C) and wonderful blue water and some insanely large ships, and thus following a solo night on the town where the shrimp saganaki was exceptional and the walk was nice (despite the narrow roads and cars whizzing by), though when all parties recovered the following day we enjoyed the beach (where you read MY book) then decided to explore the town’s nightlife which was marred by a blackout encountered whilst navigating the back alleys that comprised Mykonos' sidewalks and shopping/dining/drinking areas though we managed to successfully survive and navigate back to the hotel (where we experienced ANOTHER blackout, though this one was short lived) and then had to depart to the ferry (filled with babies wailing in chorus) to travel back to Rafina and ultimately our separate destinations.

And so the trip concluded, and what a trip it was. Throughout the time we traveled Greece we solved problems (damn ouzo) and bonded and ate ridiculous food and saw beautiful sights and views and met some of the most wonderful people in the world that surely made the trip special. It would be an understatement to declare this trip as the most amazing trip I’ve taken, and I owe it to you, my friend. Travel is certainly a special concept. While it can be disquieting, the biggest thing is to embrace the difference. To be open to the changes. To allow myself to be immersed in a new culture and a new area so that I would be able to fully experience all of the wonders that a new location has to offer. So who knows? Maybe next time it’s my turn… However, fare thee well my friend, and I wish you all the best in your coming endeavors and hope they continue to enrich your life as much as this short trip enriched mine.