In 12 hours I will be leaving my homestay, getting in a cab, and driving to the Sevilla airport to board my 7am flight to Madrid where I will then transfer flights to go back to the United States. I can't even express how unreal this feeling is. It is a feeling of complete and utter saddness. It almost feels like something is dying. I guess something is. The incredible lives we led in this amazing city are actually ending. It doesn't even feel real. It literally feels like graduating high school...except much much worse. Even if I come back to Sevilla one day (which I definitely plan on doing), it will never be the same as it was these past 4 months. When people told me that this would be the be the best experience of my life, they weren't lying.
Today, my last day in Sevilla, has been a very strange day. It has been a mix of stress, sorrow, and joy. It has been stressful because my friends and I have all realized that there is so much still to do, but not nearly enough time to do it. One of the biggest stressers has been souvenier shopping. We've all been running in and out of tourist shops all day! Today has been full of sorrow because we're all so depressed to leave. Brittany and I had our first cry at lunch today because even though our lunch sucked, we knew it was our last one. It was awkward because our host dad, Antonio, was sitting on the couch watching tv and Brittany and I just started bawling. And today has also been filled with joy because although this is the end, we're all spending it together and just enjoying our last memories in Sevilla.
Before I left for Sevilla back in January, I was honestly a little nervous. I've never been away from home for an extended period of time like this before, let alone out of the country. My family was apparently making bets on how long it would be before I called home crying saying that I wanted to go home. But that never happened. Instead, I'm crying now because I have to leave to go home! Never did I imagine I would become so instantly comfortable with a foreign city. Sevilla instantly felt like home to me. Before I arrived in here, I went to London, Paris, and Barcelona with my parents and none of those places had that impact that Sevilla had on me. Even throughout the semester, all of the different cities I went to, none of them felt like Sevilla. I'm very happy to say I made the right choice in coming here. I couldn't imagine spending this semester anywhere else. This city is just beautiful. It's magestic, charming, cultural, and just so full of life and happiness.
A guy in my class said it best: "A bad day in Sevilla is still a good day anywhere else. This semester has been like having the best day of your life on repeat for 4 months." And it's so true. Even when I thought some days sucked (mostly just due to school work), I would just look at my surroundings and everything would be better. It didn't matter that some days I had 2 tests to study for and a paper to write, because whenever I walked by the Cathedral (3rd largest in the Christian world!), crossed the bridge over the Guadalquivir River into Los Remedios, strolled under the massive palm trees and orange trees that line the streets, or met up with the incredible friends that I've made here, my day would instantly be better, because I knew I was in Sevilla. Nothing will be able to compare strolling through Maria Luisa park, admiring the amazing architecture of Plaza de Espana, botelloning by Torre de Oro, or having your favorite night club just 5 minutes from your house (haha yes, that is still one of my favorite parts about living here). There is nothing more I'm going to miss than arriving back in Sevilla from a weekend trip away in a different city and being able to say "I'm home."
Besides being surprised at how attached I got to Sevilla, another thing I wasn't expecting before coming here was the incredible friendships that would come out of it. From the very first day we met, we felt like we had known each other for ever. Now multiply that by how many days we've been here. Leaving them will be one of the most difficult parts about leaving here, as well as one of the most difficult parts about coming back to Sevilla in the future because I won't have them there with me. We've spent all semester just 5 minutes walking distance away from each other, and starting tomorrow, we'll be miles apart spread out all over the country. I'm going to miss calling them up and saying "meet me at bingo in 5 minutes" when we always knew that 5 really meant 25. They have taught me so much and I can't picture not seeing them everyday from now on. I also got extremely lucky with my roommate, Brittany. This semester would not have been the same without her. We clicked from the very beginning and we helped each other get through our many tough times with our host family haha. I'm truly going to miss seeing her everyday.
Don't get me wrong, I am excited to go home. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends and family and sleeping in my own bed (with clean sheets!). But it's very bittersweet. I'm excited to go home, but I'm very sad to leave Sevilla, knowing that I won't be back for a long time. But I am looking forward to American food, doing my own laundry, not getting eaten alive by mosquitos at night, and taking hot showers when I want and for however long I want. This semester has really made me appreciate what I have at home, but has opened my eyes to what else is out there.
I could go on and on about how much I'll miss this semester, but I'll try and cut this short. All I can say is that I'm so happy with my decision to study abroad. I'm not kidding when I say it was life-changing. How often do you have the opportunity to live in a different country? To meet people of that culture and to truly become a part of it. It doesn't even compare to your typical type of travelling and being a tourist. This city has become my second home. A piece of my heart will always be with Sevilla. Studying abroad makes you learn so much about other people, different cultures, and more importantly, about yourself. I am leaving Sevilla a better and much more independent person. This experience has changed my life for the better and although I am very sad to be leaving it after today, I am happy to say that I don't regret anything about it. If I could, I would do this semester all over again in a heartbeat. 4 months is not nearly long enough. I definitely encourage everybody to step out of their comfort zone and experience something like this because it is truly amazing.
I hate goodbyes. So to Sevilla all of my friends: This is not goodbye. It's hasta luego! I'll see you all soon :)
Friday, May 20, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
My First Spanish Bullfight Experience
A couple weeks ago, Brittany, Lindsey, Megan, Cassie, and I spontaneously bought tickets to go see a bullfight one saturday evening! On our way to the stadium, there was a long line of protestors down the street. They were for animal rights and were saying how wrong bullfights are. We picked a perfect day to go!
It was like the Spanish version of a baseball game. It was an entire stadium with designated seats and security to help you find your seat. There were people outside selling food, drinks, seat cushions, brochures, and inside there were concession stands. There were a mix of Spaniards dressed up suits and ties while others were in jeans and a button-down shirt. Although it felt like a baseball game, this game involved killing animals...
Luckily I knew what to expect from watching a video in my Spanish Culture & Civilization class. The video pretty much showed everything that takes place in a bullfight all rolled up into 5 minutes. It showed the stabbing, the gushing blood, everything. My friends were a little taken back by what we saw. The part I was shocked about was seeing a group of horses pull away the dead body of the bull. They made such a show out of killing an animal!
In a 2 1/2 hour period, we watched 5 bulls get teased by many different bullfighters around the arena. But only 4 were killed! We were actually fortunate enough to watch a bull get saved, which apparently hasn't happened in decades! When the audience thinks a bull does a good job at performing, they will wave white flags (or anything) to show that they think the bull should not be killed but rather saved to perform again. One bull was very good and the audience loved him so they waved their white flags and he was saved :)
Overall, the bullfight was definitely an interesting experience. I think I like it for the most part. It was interesting to see how this is sort of like the Spaniard's baseball game in a sense. They go to these things fairly often and get a lot of enjoyment out of it. I'm very indifferent to the killing of the bull. In a way, it's like, we just kill cows in a slaughter house, so at least here we make a show out of it, right? And they use every part of the bull. Bullfights are definitely an acquired taste.
It was like the Spanish version of a baseball game. It was an entire stadium with designated seats and security to help you find your seat. There were people outside selling food, drinks, seat cushions, brochures, and inside there were concession stands. There were a mix of Spaniards dressed up suits and ties while others were in jeans and a button-down shirt. Although it felt like a baseball game, this game involved killing animals...
Luckily I knew what to expect from watching a video in my Spanish Culture & Civilization class. The video pretty much showed everything that takes place in a bullfight all rolled up into 5 minutes. It showed the stabbing, the gushing blood, everything. My friends were a little taken back by what we saw. The part I was shocked about was seeing a group of horses pull away the dead body of the bull. They made such a show out of killing an animal!
In a 2 1/2 hour period, we watched 5 bulls get teased by many different bullfighters around the arena. But only 4 were killed! We were actually fortunate enough to watch a bull get saved, which apparently hasn't happened in decades! When the audience thinks a bull does a good job at performing, they will wave white flags (or anything) to show that they think the bull should not be killed but rather saved to perform again. One bull was very good and the audience loved him so they waved their white flags and he was saved :)
Overall, the bullfight was definitely an interesting experience. I think I like it for the most part. It was interesting to see how this is sort of like the Spaniard's baseball game in a sense. They go to these things fairly often and get a lot of enjoyment out of it. I'm very indifferent to the killing of the bull. In a way, it's like, we just kill cows in a slaughter house, so at least here we make a show out of it, right? And they use every part of the bull. Bullfights are definitely an acquired taste.
The man on horseback comes around and stabs the bulls back.
The audience waving the white flags to save the bull!
La Feria de Abril...orrrr Mayo?
Every year, Sevilla has what is called La Feria de Abril (April Fair). It's always 2 weeks after Easter so since Easter was so late this year, Feria actually fell on the beginning of May, this past week. Every city in Andalucia (the southern region of Spain in which Sevilla is the capital of) has their own Feria, but they don't all take place at the same time.
But this is not your typical fair. Oh no. This is a fair done Spanish style, which basically means much more spectacular, extravagant, and cultural. It is an entire week-long festival that takes place at the end of Los Remedios (which just so happens to be the neighborhood I live in. How convenient!). The Sevillanos look forward to this week every year because everybody gets off of work and school (yes, I got off of school for an entire week just for this huge party! I love Spain.) to gather with their friends and family to drink, eat, and be merry. In fact, all shops close for good for the day once it's siesta time. Which was annoying for me because everytime I needed water, the supermarket was closed!
The core part of Feria is the casetas, or tents. Hundreds of casetas lined the streets back-to-back. Each one was lavishly decorated with lanterns, tables, a bar, dance floor, kitchen (to make the tapas!), streamers, lights, and a lot of them even had live bands! Although all casetas are public in the other cities, Sevilla chooses to be exclusive and 80% are privately owned, which means you need a ticket to enter. They are usually owned by families, companies, or other social groups. The other 20% are public casetas, owned by political parties or other organizations that choose to be nice and open up their caseta to us outsiders who didn't get invited to a private one. The public ones, although not nearly as clean or nice as the private ones, were still a lot of fun.
My favorite part about Feria was how festive and cultural it was. You really can't get any more Spanish than Feria. Women swarmed the streets in their traditional flamenco dresses, hair pieces, shawls, flowers, etc. Many of the men were dressed in their finest suits. Horse and carriages were clopping through the streets of Feria as well as all over the streets of Seville. They were driven by men in traditional wear as well. It was like I was taken in a time machine to a different world. The ultimate Spanish world.
It amazed me that every Spaniard and their mother seemed to know The Sevillano, the traditional dance that is performed by everybody in each caseta and out on the streets during Feria. My teachers tried teaching us during our classes before Feria. But a total of 2 hours is not nearly enough time compared to the years of practice you need to get this dance down. Many girls go to actual Sevillano dance classes while they are younger! It is a very difficult dance, but is beautiful to watch.
Another aspect of Feria is the typical drink called Rebujito. It is a mixture of manzanilla (like a sherry) and sprite. Walking down the streets of Feria, you'll see everyone holding a glass of it! It's delicious, but causes really bad hangovers and headaches.
Feria also had it's own amusement park! It was called Hell Street. It was much more extravagant than the St. Dennis Fair that I'm used to at home. There were several roller coasters, 2 ferris wheels, 2 sets of bumper cars, and tons of other rides, game booths, and food stands. My friends and I went on what looked like the "slower" ferris wheel. But it was much faster than any ferris wheel I've been on! Then Cassie and I went on the bumper cars. They were so scary. There are no rules. You can go any direction you want, turn around whenever you want, there's not island in the center. My first experience heading towards a guy that was driving towards me head-on was terrifying. It was a lot of fun, but I got a bruise on my knee from how chaotic these bumper cars were. I thought I was going to die. We discovered that night that all Spanish rides are much faster and much less safe than any ride we've ever been on!
Another tradition of Feria is that it begins and ends with lights. It begins monday night at midnight with the lighting of the portada (the entrance into Feria). Then it ends sunday night at midnight with a fireworks display over the river. I was able to watch it from the bridge that connects Plaza de Cuba to Centro (the bridge I cross to get to the center of town).
I loved how lively and traditional Feria was, but the number of people made me dislike it a little bit. It was packed with people! I didn't go as often as I wanted to because the crowds were such a turn-off. But one night in particular that I did go was a lot of fun. Lindsey and I met up with her intercambio, Dani, his girlfriend, Claudia, and a few of their friends. We got into their private caseta, drank a lottt of rebujito, Claudia tried to teach me the Sevillano, and we snuck into another private caseta that wasn't theirs! It was a very fun night and it was cool to experience Feria the way the Spaniards do.
But this is not your typical fair. Oh no. This is a fair done Spanish style, which basically means much more spectacular, extravagant, and cultural. It is an entire week-long festival that takes place at the end of Los Remedios (which just so happens to be the neighborhood I live in. How convenient!). The Sevillanos look forward to this week every year because everybody gets off of work and school (yes, I got off of school for an entire week just for this huge party! I love Spain.) to gather with their friends and family to drink, eat, and be merry. In fact, all shops close for good for the day once it's siesta time. Which was annoying for me because everytime I needed water, the supermarket was closed!
The core part of Feria is the casetas, or tents. Hundreds of casetas lined the streets back-to-back. Each one was lavishly decorated with lanterns, tables, a bar, dance floor, kitchen (to make the tapas!), streamers, lights, and a lot of them even had live bands! Although all casetas are public in the other cities, Sevilla chooses to be exclusive and 80% are privately owned, which means you need a ticket to enter. They are usually owned by families, companies, or other social groups. The other 20% are public casetas, owned by political parties or other organizations that choose to be nice and open up their caseta to us outsiders who didn't get invited to a private one. The public ones, although not nearly as clean or nice as the private ones, were still a lot of fun.
The outside of some casetas.
My favorite part about Feria was how festive and cultural it was. You really can't get any more Spanish than Feria. Women swarmed the streets in their traditional flamenco dresses, hair pieces, shawls, flowers, etc. Many of the men were dressed in their finest suits. Horse and carriages were clopping through the streets of Feria as well as all over the streets of Seville. They were driven by men in traditional wear as well. It was like I was taken in a time machine to a different world. The ultimate Spanish world.
It amazed me that every Spaniard and their mother seemed to know The Sevillano, the traditional dance that is performed by everybody in each caseta and out on the streets during Feria. My teachers tried teaching us during our classes before Feria. But a total of 2 hours is not nearly enough time compared to the years of practice you need to get this dance down. Many girls go to actual Sevillano dance classes while they are younger! It is a very difficult dance, but is beautiful to watch.
Dancing in the streets.
Another aspect of Feria is the typical drink called Rebujito. It is a mixture of manzanilla (like a sherry) and sprite. Walking down the streets of Feria, you'll see everyone holding a glass of it! It's delicious, but causes really bad hangovers and headaches.
Feria also had it's own amusement park! It was called Hell Street. It was much more extravagant than the St. Dennis Fair that I'm used to at home. There were several roller coasters, 2 ferris wheels, 2 sets of bumper cars, and tons of other rides, game booths, and food stands. My friends and I went on what looked like the "slower" ferris wheel. But it was much faster than any ferris wheel I've been on! Then Cassie and I went on the bumper cars. They were so scary. There are no rules. You can go any direction you want, turn around whenever you want, there's not island in the center. My first experience heading towards a guy that was driving towards me head-on was terrifying. It was a lot of fun, but I got a bruise on my knee from how chaotic these bumper cars were. I thought I was going to die. We discovered that night that all Spanish rides are much faster and much less safe than any ride we've ever been on!
View from the top of the ferris wheel. All of the lights are the streets of Feria. It's huge!
INSANE bumper cars.
Lighting of the Portada
Fireworks sunday night
Brittany, Megan, Lindsey and I enjoying Feria during the daytime :)
Feria at night!
One night in Mykonos: "Hello. My name is KOSTAS."
We arrived in Mykonos on friday and it was by far the most beautiful day of our trip. It was sunny the entire day (but still chilly enough for me to have to wear my boots. I didn't get to break out my sandals once this trip). The water in Mykonos was a gorgeous shade of blue and all of the buildings were white-washed like in Santorini.
We were greeted by our hotel guy, George (everyone in Greece is named George), at the port where he drove us to our hotel: Orpheus Rooms. Our room had 3 beds which was odd, but it was still nicely decorated. Our building's theme was "red". Each building of the hotel had a different color theme.
We immediately headed out into town for lunch. I wasn't crazy about the lamb and vegetables that I had, but I got to eat at a red-checkered table cloth! I was on a serious hunt for one in Rome but could NOT find one! So why is it that I was able to find one in Greece but not Italy? Beats me. We then walked around the town a little bit. There's not very much to see in Mykonos, only a bunch of shops, so I'm glad we were given the extra night in Santorini. Mykonos was beautiful though..so clean! It was so full of color, too. It seemed like each house, like our hotel, had a different color theme to it. I feel like everyone was told to do that, though, to attract tourists. Well, they did a good job. The only thing I didn't like about Mykonos was how windy it was! It's known as "the windy island" and it definitely lives up to its name. The wind was out of control! Also in our exploration of the island, we came across Restaurant Kostas. Needless to say, we just discovered where we would eat dinner that night.
After dinner, it was time to hit the town! I never knew this, but apparently Mykonos is "the party island." Everyone I talked to gave me a look and said "ooooo the party island!" whenever I said I was going to Mykonos. It definitely lived up to its name. It seemed like everyone was drunk...even in the daytime! Going back to the hotel earlier that day, we walked by a group of guys who stopped their friend in his car as he was driving by. When he stopped, they handed him a shot for the road! He took the shot and drove off. WTF?! So we were excited to go out that night to see what all the hype was about. It was a blast, and all the bars were in walking distance of each other.
I heard that the Skandinavian Bar is a must-go bar, but it was closed!! We found this out from 2 guys who were walking in the opposite direction as us that we passed. They said "where are you going?" We replied with "where are you going?" They said they were going to the bar we just came from. We told them we were going to the Skandinavian Bar. They crushed our hopes by telling us it was closed. So we tagged along with them to go back to the other bar. They asked us our names. "Sam." "Melissa." We asked them theirs. The first guy said "Christos" (that also seems to be a very popular name among the Greeks). Then the other guy said "my name is Kostas." We played it cool. I replied, "Kostas?" He said "yes." We still played it cool even though we were having a huge victory dance playing in our heads. WE FOUND KOSTAS!!!!! Our last real night in Greece and we found him. SUCCESS!!! And we got a picture with him too! His friend just so happened to be the one we asked to take a picture of Melissa and I, then I did one of the casual "get in with us!" to Kostas and he did!
We were greeted by our hotel guy, George (everyone in Greece is named George), at the port where he drove us to our hotel: Orpheus Rooms. Our room had 3 beds which was odd, but it was still nicely decorated. Our building's theme was "red". Each building of the hotel had a different color theme.
We immediately headed out into town for lunch. I wasn't crazy about the lamb and vegetables that I had, but I got to eat at a red-checkered table cloth! I was on a serious hunt for one in Rome but could NOT find one! So why is it that I was able to find one in Greece but not Italy? Beats me. We then walked around the town a little bit. There's not very much to see in Mykonos, only a bunch of shops, so I'm glad we were given the extra night in Santorini. Mykonos was beautiful though..so clean! It was so full of color, too. It seemed like each house, like our hotel, had a different color theme to it. I feel like everyone was told to do that, though, to attract tourists. Well, they did a good job. The only thing I didn't like about Mykonos was how windy it was! It's known as "the windy island" and it definitely lives up to its name. The wind was out of control! Also in our exploration of the island, we came across Restaurant Kostas. Needless to say, we just discovered where we would eat dinner that night.
So windy!
That night for dinner, Melissa and I hit up Restaurant Kostas :) This was our 3rd sign leading to Kostas. He just HAD to be there! Our waiter was very nice and enjoyed talking to us. By the end of the meal, it just so happened that I was able to fit "so who is this restaurant named after?" smoothly into the conversation. He started describing Kostas so I asked if he was there. Our waiter said "no he's not. Kostas is very very old." We were SO disappointed! Our trip was coming to an end and we still didn't meet Kostas :(
After dinner, it was time to hit the town! I never knew this, but apparently Mykonos is "the party island." Everyone I talked to gave me a look and said "ooooo the party island!" whenever I said I was going to Mykonos. It definitely lived up to its name. It seemed like everyone was drunk...even in the daytime! Going back to the hotel earlier that day, we walked by a group of guys who stopped their friend in his car as he was driving by. When he stopped, they handed him a shot for the road! He took the shot and drove off. WTF?! So we were excited to go out that night to see what all the hype was about. It was a blast, and all the bars were in walking distance of each other.
I heard that the Skandinavian Bar is a must-go bar, but it was closed!! We found this out from 2 guys who were walking in the opposite direction as us that we passed. They said "where are you going?" We replied with "where are you going?" They said they were going to the bar we just came from. We told them we were going to the Skandinavian Bar. They crushed our hopes by telling us it was closed. So we tagged along with them to go back to the other bar. They asked us our names. "Sam." "Melissa." We asked them theirs. The first guy said "Christos" (that also seems to be a very popular name among the Greeks). Then the other guy said "my name is Kostas." We played it cool. I replied, "Kostas?" He said "yes." We still played it cool even though we were having a huge victory dance playing in our heads. WE FOUND KOSTAS!!!!! Our last real night in Greece and we found him. SUCCESS!!! And we got a picture with him too! His friend just so happened to be the one we asked to take a picture of Melissa and I, then I did one of the casual "get in with us!" to Kostas and he did!
Me, KOSTAS, and Melissa
Unfortunately, we didn't spend much more time with Kostas. But that's ok, we were just thrilled to have found him. The rest of our night was fun. Melissa pointed out that there were a ton of guys in comparison to girls there. Which was true. We felt like "fish in a shark tank." Greek men are also very aggressive, but I've never experienced anything as bad as Italian men. They win the prize for that one. I was mean and kept Melissa out until 5am (I'm just too used to Spanish life), so it was definitely a struggle waking up the next morning for check-out.
Do you see any other girls besides Melissa? Nope.
The next morning, we went in search of breakfast, but it was very difficult! We finally found a place by the water where I had toast with ham and cheese (yum), orange juice, and my first Greek coffee! I figured I needed to try it before I left. I heard it was very strong, but it wasn't bad! I really liked it. And I definitely needed it after the night before.
Greek coffee
On our way back to the hotel, we fit in some last minute pictures, then boarded the van for George to take us down to the port. We then took a killer 7-hour ferry ride (and of course it was the one we weren't in business class for! haha). We had to sit at a table and it was very uncomfortable. We made it back to Athens in the evening and had a nice, last dinner. I got my favorite dish, Briam, of course :) We stayed at the Acropolis House again (we were sure that the owners there were thrilled to have us back!...not!). As we were walking down the main street of restaurants, the sandwich guy who called me his "Philly friend" spotted me through a crowd right away and said "my friend!!" I was like oh god. Melissa puts it as he was "devouring me with his eyes...like most Greek men." haha. Awkward.
In front of the Mykonos windmills!
Uncomfortable ferry ride back to Athens
That night I was only able to sleep for an hour until it was time to take my 2am cab to the airport. My flight from Athens to Prague left at 4:30am. Then I had a 4 hour layover in Prague, then another 6 hour layover in Barcelona! It was a really bad day. And typical ryanair women decided to be bitches as usual and stop me for my carry-on. I was just about to sneak on too! In the end, she let me go, but she told me that I should have checked my bag. Whatever, ryanair. You suck. I arrived in Sevilla later that night.
Overall, Greece was incredible. The food, the people, the scenery. Everything. It was just amazing. And we found our Kostas! I will definitely be returning to Greece, no doubt about it. Next time, I will go in the summer like all of the locals told me to do so that I can have the real Greece experience and enjoy the beaches :)
Santorini: The Hunt for Baklava, Donkeys, and Kostas
So, picking up from where I left off...
Tuesday, after Athens, was the day we left for Santorini! As I said before, Santorini has been the one place in Greece I've always dreamed of going (yes, a lot of that is largely due to Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants) and never in my wildest dreams did I think I would have the chance to go this semester. All I can say is thank god I've been a saver all my life and I came over here with a good amount of cash, because otherwise this trip would not have been possible.
Melissa and I boarded our 7:30am ferry to head out into the open seas of the Mediterranean. We had decided to be procrastinators and didn't actually book our ferry tickets until a week ahead of time. It turns out, that all the Greeks like to go to the islands during holy week as well, therefore all the economy class tickets were sold out. This meant that we were moving on up to business class seating! (while paying twice the price of course). Yup, we're high rollers. We had seats facing a large open window and it was a beautiful day...in Athens at least. As we made our way towards Santorini, dark clouds began to appear and every once in a while rain would fall. I spent that entire 5 hour ferry praying that it would clear up by the time we got to Santorini.
That night, I was on a hunt for the traditional Greek dish called Mousaka. Surprisingly, the first couple of restaurants we looked at didn't have it on the menu! But we finally came across a place that did, even though it was a little on the expensive side. After dinner, we went to Thalami's (story later to come) and had dessert. Melissa got apple pie and I got the best baklava ever. So so so good. This was the first of many baklava's I had this trip.
The next day we took a bus into Fira, the main town of Santorini. Sadly, it was pouring, so we spent some time in an internet cafe and inside shops. But it cleared up just in time for a yummy lunch! Melissa and I both had bow-tie pasta covered in pesto and cheese. It was sooo good.
Our hunt for Kostas:
So at the beginning of our trip, I told Melissa that I really wanted to listen to live Greek music one night at dinner. Then, just a few minutes into exploring Oia, we come across a sign posted on a wall. Melissa pointed it out to me. She said, "look Sam, it's your live Greek music." So we paused to read it. Then she said "by KOSTAS!" Here is the sign:
After the sunset, we tried eating dinner at a restaurant that was recommended to us but there was nothing on the menu that we really wanted. We ordered a little appetizer of 2 dips with bread (at first we didn't order the bread, but the waiter told us it was kind of necessary lol). After that, we ate dinner in none other than Thalami's (yes, we actually had the guts to go back there). Melissa thinks all the men there probably thought we liked them lol. But there food was too good and too well-priced to pass up!
Living like Lena:
So throughout our stay in Santorini, I was obviously on a hunt for every place that scenes of Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants was shot. I already read online before going that it was filmed in Oia-- PERFECT! It only took me my first day of exploring to come across Lena's house. I have seen the movie (well, both movies) so many times, I knew exactly what to look for.
Me being the obsessed Sisterhood freak that I am, I made Melissa immitate the last scene of Lena and Kostas at the end of Sisterhood 2 with me. It's right after she forgave him and met him at his boat. The next morning he's at the top of the steps and waves to her, then they show her at her door waving back. In our circumstance, I am Lena, and Melissa is Kostas (mostly because she is dark like him haha):
Bahaha I think we're right on the money with these pictures, right? So there is also a main square area in Oia with a very large church. We spent a lot of time in this square because it seems to be a central meeting spot. WELL, it is also the same place Kostas teaches Lena how to ride the vespa. Look familiar? :
Then we of course saw the port of Santorini. This is shown at the end of the first Sisterhood, when Lena hurries down to the port in order to catch Kostas before he leaves on his boat to Athens and to tell him that she loves him. Such a beautiful moment. Here is the area she rushes through all the people to get to him. The sign is shown in the movie.
And, last but not least, Amoudi Bay. It lays at the very bottom of the cliffs in Oia. You have to hike down (and then back up) what seems like thousands of steps. Melissa and I did the hike on our extra day on the island. Walking back up, we understood the purpose of the donkeys. Amoudi is a tiny fishing area with several restaurants. We sat on the dock that Lena and Kostas spend a lot of time at, including her falling in and him saving her, swimming half-naked, or just spending one-on-one time in his boat.
All of these pictures are of the actual places. Trust me, I re-watched the movies to make sure.
Unfortunately, our actual last day in Santorini came on friday where we went back down to the port one last time. On our way down, I finally saw a donkey!!
We didn't have too much time to wait for our ferry, but with the time we did have, we sat down at one of the port's restaurants and had some deliciousness. Melissa had a crepe chock-full of nutella, and I had yet another incredible baklava--this time with ice cream!!
Then our ferry arrived and it was time to officially say good-bye to Santorini :( Santorini was one of my favorite places that I've visited this semester, and my entire life. It was even more beautiful than I imagined it to be. I will most certainly be returning at some point in my life (when I have money and can afford to come during the summer, preferably). I was just sad that we never met our Kostas, even when all signs were pointing us in the direction! But it's ok, the story continues in Mykonos.
Tuesday, after Athens, was the day we left for Santorini! As I said before, Santorini has been the one place in Greece I've always dreamed of going (yes, a lot of that is largely due to Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants) and never in my wildest dreams did I think I would have the chance to go this semester. All I can say is thank god I've been a saver all my life and I came over here with a good amount of cash, because otherwise this trip would not have been possible.
Melissa and I boarded our 7:30am ferry to head out into the open seas of the Mediterranean. We had decided to be procrastinators and didn't actually book our ferry tickets until a week ahead of time. It turns out, that all the Greeks like to go to the islands during holy week as well, therefore all the economy class tickets were sold out. This meant that we were moving on up to business class seating! (while paying twice the price of course). Yup, we're high rollers. We had seats facing a large open window and it was a beautiful day...in Athens at least. As we made our way towards Santorini, dark clouds began to appear and every once in a while rain would fall. I spent that entire 5 hour ferry praying that it would clear up by the time we got to Santorini.
Living the life in business class!
Unfortunately, it was raining when we arrived in Santorini, which wasn't exactly the entrance I wanted to my dream place. But that didn't make me any less excited! It was really interesting getting off the boat. The announcers on the boat called for only the people who had cars first. But before we knew it, the boat was pretty much vacant except for us and a few others. Some people were standing by the window looking out and the woman working the concession stand screamed "STAY AWAY!" We were a little confused by this statement. Was something going to happen? But then she screamed "SANTORINI! GET OFF THE BOAT!" From my understanding, she was trying to tell us we were at Santorini and we needed to get off the boat. Then she kept screaming it over, and over, and over, and over again. "GET OFF THE BOAT! NOW!!!" Okay lady, chill out.
So we got off the boat and there was literally nobody left at the port. And it was raining. So a guy pulls us away trying to get us to rent a car. There was no way I was going to rent a car. 1. I don't know the island. 2. I haven't driven in months. I'm going to be so bad once I finally drive again. and 3. I don't drive stick. So that was a no. But then he convinced us to have his "cab driver" take us to our hotel.
Our hotel (Laokasti Villas) was beautiful! And the woman who owns it was such a typical Greek woman lol. She saw us get out of our cab and she was angry because apparently that wasn't a real cab. She said "if it was a real taxi, it would have known where this hotel was." But anyways, she showed us to our villa and it was so nice! It was so large and spacious. There was a kitchen and everything. It was like having our own little apartment! This hotel was such a great deal because for 55 euros a night (so only 27.50 euros per person!), we got that large room, a delicious breakfast every morning, and it was right across the street from the main path that takes you right into Oia (probably the most expensive town to stay in on the island and it's the town that is always photographed for postcards and whatnot). So the hotel was such a good deal! But it pretty much doubles in price during the high season.
Melissa in front of our hotel.
Our lovely room.
We immediately went into Oia to try to find lunch. We came across this restaurant called Blue Sky, and there I had one of my favorite meals in Greece! I forget the name of this one, but there's this dish in Greece called "Briam" which is a mixture of all different types of grilled vegetables (eggplant, zucchini, carrots, potatoes, etc) covered in a sort of tomato sauce. It was SO good! And the dish I had at this restaurant was basically Briam with feta cheese on top. They should always put feta cheese on top of it because it made such a big difference! For dessert, we ordered the Greek yogurt with honey and walnuts. It was basically yogurt in ice cream form- it was sooo thick! It was good, but a little too heavy for my liking.
My yummy yummy meal :)
Greek yogurt
After lunch, it was time to go explore Oia a little bit. I was strongly anticipating the sites, and let me just tell you, they were beyond what I expected. Santorini (specifically Oia), is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Even though it was a cloudy day, the sun still beamed through to refect on the white-washed buildings. I didn't know that only churches had the blue domes, for some reason I thought a lot of the houses did too. But basically, that moment struck the beginning of my love for Santorini. Here is a little taste of the views I saw over the following few days:
That night, I was on a hunt for the traditional Greek dish called Mousaka. Surprisingly, the first couple of restaurants we looked at didn't have it on the menu! But we finally came across a place that did, even though it was a little on the expensive side. After dinner, we went to Thalami's (story later to come) and had dessert. Melissa got apple pie and I got the best baklava ever. So so so good. This was the first of many baklava's I had this trip.
The next day we took a bus into Fira, the main town of Santorini. Sadly, it was pouring, so we spent some time in an internet cafe and inside shops. But it cleared up just in time for a yummy lunch! Melissa and I both had bow-tie pasta covered in pesto and cheese. It was sooo good.
Fira
Deliciousness
While in Fira, I was on a mission to find the famous donkeys because I was told that you ride them in Fira. But I could not find them! One guy thought I was crazy for wanting to ride them because "they're smelly." Melissa also wasn't very cooperative with this search because she didn't want to ride them, so I was alone. I was sad because I never found them :( I obviously just have to go back to Santorini.
Our hunt for Kostas:
So at the beginning of our trip, I told Melissa that I really wanted to listen to live Greek music one night at dinner. Then, just a few minutes into exploring Oia, we come across a sign posted on a wall. Melissa pointed it out to me. She said, "look Sam, it's your live Greek music." So we paused to read it. Then she said "by KOSTAS!" Here is the sign:
But as you can see, we JUST missed him. We saw this sign on tuesday, and he was there the friday before. But we weren't giving up yet!
Also coming to Greece, I told Melissa that I really wanted to rent a mo-ped/scooter/moto/vespa/whatever they're called (notice how I went wanting to do so many things and it seemed like I didn't do any of them??). So the day we were exploring Fira, Melissa, again, pointed out a sign to me. She said, "look Sam, rent a moto..." pause. "...with KOSTAS!" Yes, yet another sign pointing ourselves in the direction towards Kostas. But stupid us didn't go into the place to ask if Kostas was there.
So close yet so far!
So Thalami's, the restaurant that had Kostas play live Greek music the past friday night, turned out to be our favorite restaurant in Santorini. Not only did it have amazing baklava, but it also had really good food for such a cheap price! So we went back our last night in Santorini to have dinner. Since it was our last night on the island, and we didn't think we would see any of these people again, Melissa asked (very smoothly) our waiter about Kostas. She asked when the next time he would be playing and our waiter said he plays every friday night, but not the one coming up because of Easter. The conversation was going perfectly fine and normal until I chimed in. I then said "so nobody named Kostas works here?" Our waiter gave the MOST creeped out look! hahaha he was like "ummm......noo......why?....." and we were like "no reason." So he walked away and we could tell he felt uncomfortable with us the rest of the night. But I was on a search for Kostas so I needed to make it happen!
The next day (thursday), we woke up and it was a beautiful day, just a bit windy. It was apparently so windy that our ferry to Mykonos got cancelled. The woman at our hotel warned us of this, but we thought she was crazy because it was so nice out and there was just a tiny breeze. Well, we waited at the port for several hours only to find that they cancelled it. So we called our hotel back up and asked the lady if we could stay one more night. The theme of the trip: "We're Baaaaaack!"
Making the most out of waiting at the port for our ferry to come.
In my opinion, our ferry being cancelled ended up being good luck. I really wasn't ready to leave Santorini. In fact, I was probably kicking and screaming on my way down to the port. I just needed this one more night. Also, Mykonos was definitely the type of place you only really need to spend one night at. And lastly, Since our time in Santorini had been cloudy, we never got to see the beautiful sunset in Oia that I had read about online. But our unexpected night was perfectly clear and we got to watch the entire thing :)
After the sunset, we tried eating dinner at a restaurant that was recommended to us but there was nothing on the menu that we really wanted. We ordered a little appetizer of 2 dips with bread (at first we didn't order the bread, but the waiter told us it was kind of necessary lol). After that, we ate dinner in none other than Thalami's (yes, we actually had the guts to go back there). Melissa thinks all the men there probably thought we liked them lol. But there food was too good and too well-priced to pass up!
Living like Lena:
So throughout our stay in Santorini, I was obviously on a hunt for every place that scenes of Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants was shot. I already read online before going that it was filmed in Oia-- PERFECT! It only took me my first day of exploring to come across Lena's house. I have seen the movie (well, both movies) so many times, I knew exactly what to look for.
Her house! It was white in the movie, but now it's painted blue.
In front of the house!
Bahaha I think we're right on the money with these pictures, right? So there is also a main square area in Oia with a very large church. We spent a lot of time in this square because it seems to be a central meeting spot. WELL, it is also the same place Kostas teaches Lena how to ride the vespa. Look familiar? :
Then we of course saw the port of Santorini. This is shown at the end of the first Sisterhood, when Lena hurries down to the port in order to catch Kostas before he leaves on his boat to Athens and to tell him that she loves him. Such a beautiful moment. Here is the area she rushes through all the people to get to him. The sign is shown in the movie.
All of these pictures are of the actual places. Trust me, I re-watched the movies to make sure.
Unfortunately, our actual last day in Santorini came on friday where we went back down to the port one last time. On our way down, I finally saw a donkey!!
We didn't have too much time to wait for our ferry, but with the time we did have, we sat down at one of the port's restaurants and had some deliciousness. Melissa had a crepe chock-full of nutella, and I had yet another incredible baklava--this time with ice cream!!
Then our ferry arrived and it was time to officially say good-bye to Santorini :( Santorini was one of my favorite places that I've visited this semester, and my entire life. It was even more beautiful than I imagined it to be. I will most certainly be returning at some point in my life (when I have money and can afford to come during the summer, preferably). I was just sad that we never met our Kostas, even when all signs were pointing us in the direction! But it's ok, the story continues in Mykonos.
Boarding the ferry
My last glimpse of Santorini :(
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)