First days in Athens

Yasue!

Thats Greek for Hello (to all my dearest friends and family). 

Athens has been a little different so far. We were taken from the airport on the bus right to our neighborhood, so we really haven't seen much of the city yet. When pre-traveling, we were immediately seeing the sights and touring the tours. So far in Athens, we are taking the city in one sip at a time. 

We've been exploring the neighborhood (Pangrati). It's a working class neighborhood filled with old men playing backgammon under canopies, tons of stray cats and dogs, and small, family owned corner markets and bakeries. We do have a nice walk to our school buildings (5 mins, 4 blocks!) and the Olympic stadium is right next to school. 

My friend Danielle (a Track and Field star) and I went for a run this morning to the stadium. However, we haven't quite figured out how to get in, so we ran up and around the whole neighborhood around it a few times. An hour of navigating and exercise was refreshing and good to gain a sense of where we are. 

We spent the afternoon walking through the national garden to Syntagma Square where we all were going shopping for clothing and supplies. Not much luck finding things, but its nice to know I'm close if I need anything. 

Speaking of clothes, mine are sooooo gross. After ten days of travel, I seriously need to bring them to the laundry. But, much like everything else here- its expensive. Even through the school its around 5 euros (8 bucks!) to do one load. 

So here's my solution: about 2 hours ago, I filled up the bathtub with hot water and shampoo and gave all of my sweaty clothes a bath.... eh?

They're drying on a rack now in my room, they dont look great, but they definitely smell like citrus herbal essences :)

I'll splurge next week. 

We went out to dinner tonight. To be honest, one of my biggest worries about studying abroad here was the food. I'm a notoriously picky eater (For example, I only ate pickle and cheese sandwiches from Subway until I was 16). And I was pretty sure that I would be importing jars of Jiff. 

BUT

The Taverna we were at tonight was fantastic. It was a super expensive meal at a really nice restaurant- paid for by the school so that we could sample (and overfill on) traditional, delicious, Greek cuisine. 

Plate after plate arrived for our three tables of ten. We had first, a drink customary to the natives of Crete, made of the skin of green grapes. They call it "Cheapiro" and its nasty. Andrew and Will downed theirs like it was a shot of vodka (apparently the right way to do it if your a traditional Crete)   and I let it sit on my tongue. Big mistake. Its very bitter and very strong. 

Better food followed. My favorites were a grape leaf filled with rice and feta cheese. So delicious. Also, Tomato balls (Deep-fried tomatoes stuffed with cheese). Spiced Pork sliced up really small was good too. We ate with our professors and enjoyed our meal for over 3 hours.

 Now, I'm in a food coma and I must sleep. 

I finally organized my london pics! Check them out! 

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150416547695828.443201.759905827&type=1

Goodnight! The first day of school is tomorrow!

KP

Paris and Barcelona

I feel like I'm running in quicksand with the updates.

There is so much to tell you, but I just can't fit it all in.

I'll try to pick up where I left off:

We lost Megan in the Lourve for about 45 minutes. hah. It was awful then, really funny now.
Saw the Mona!

I loove the Lourve!

Wandering Paris was fun on foot, but mine we're awful. I feel like I should dedicate a short paragraph about the importance of good walking shoes and how stupid I am about not bringing them.

My choices:
sandals = no
new keds = no way- huge blisters after london
flats = alright for like 2 hours, then crippling
old navy flip flops = I wanted to wear them so bad. fashion taboo in Paris.
Nikes = I was begging for them by the end, but nobody wears them. AND they would look so dorky with my sundresses and sweaters

So I caved and bought some cheap, walking shoes.
Cute? No. Practical? Oh yeah.

The moral of the story- bring. good. shoes. on. trips. I spent so much money on Band-aids.


We found Luxembourg gardens and hung out on the chairs eating fresh oranges, Iced Tea, and McD's. (It was cheap)

By Thursday night, we we're in early preparing for our early flight the next day and chatting. Our apartment was on the basement level, and they don't have screens in Paris, only metal bars over the windows. We shut off the lights around 2 am, and no sooner had we all lay down to sleep- something hard came flying in at Megan. We flipped on the lights again and found a rock. Somebody through a rock through the window at us! A second later, they threw another one.
Freaking out, we locked the window and realized we we're so stuck. We tried to grab the phone and dial  for a drive by (do they do that in Paris?)

and the line is dead.
and we don't speak French.
and we can't get out of the window.
and we're on the basement level.
and it's one room, there's no where to hide.

*Hostels from here on out. No apartments.

I definitely had some horror movie reel playing through my head for the next few hours. Little sleep, but we were up at 430 am anyway to get to our flight to Barcelona.

It was raining when we got up, so we pulled out our umbrellas and dragged our suitcases ALL THE WAY AROUND INVALIDES to the metro stop.

Soaking, We couldn't figure out the ticket machine and Cait accidentally set off the emergency siren for about 10 minutes.

Its really comforting to know that they don't show up when you press the red button....

Long story short- we were very close to missing our flight, very tired, very crabby, and we were very lucky to have a friendly airport shuttle bus driver who helped us pay for tickets.


Arrived ready to relax in Barcelona on Friday, and spent the day at the Barceloneta soaking up the sun. It was so cool to really swim in the Mediterranean Sea.
*Kudos to Megan for picking the BEST hostel ever.
Equity Point Gothic was fantastic, and the breakfast was so good.

We met up with Andrew and 6 other boys from our program who were in Barcelona too. We spent some time with them going up to the Magic Fountain (a light and music show at the huge fountain at Montjuic- my favorite part of our visit) It was free and so well done. We hiked over to the '92 Olympic Stadium and checked it out from the entrance.
We did a Gaudi walking tour, and la Sagrada Familia was overwhelmingly beautiful. I can't wait for the day its finished.
We had some Paella and Sangria for lunch one day and its all I want to eat for the rest of my life. (I don't even like seafood!) We had it at some hole-in-the-wall restaurant, where they didn't speak English, and I was so pleased.

It's been pretty smooth since then.

Here I am in Athens, I have my own room in a great apartment with Gretchen, Hannah, Ali and Caitlin,  and we have Balconies on both sides. Its huge and beautiful and I can't wait to get to know this city and everyone on my program.

As always, more later!
Kirsten

London and Paris Continued

Hola Again,

So, I'll try to sum up my favorite parts for you.

London ended up being amazing. We did a hop on-hop off bus tour, which allowed us to see all the major museums and sights. We didn't want to be just tourists, but with only 3 days in each city, we didn't have much choice if we wanted to see everything. I loved the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. We also did a "Royal Wedding" walking tour, which brought us to Buckingham Palace and St. James Park.

The guide wasn't a William and Kate fan though. It ended up being a history lesson at sites. All the better. 

We got back on the second day to find we had a fourth roommate. Shock to us! She was thirty-something and French. She was there job-searching, so we tried not to bother her. She did give us some helpful French phrases for Paris though. 

We spent our last evenings eating carrots and peanut butter for dinner in our hostel room and listening to some live music at an Irish pub :) 

Highlights: 

Megan getting "pip-pipp-ed" at by a British Gent. (I've never laughed so hard,  they actually SAY that!)

Yogurt at Yu-Foria for breakfast in Soho. 

Viewing the Tower Bridge

Strolling through St. James Park

NOT enough time in London.

We left Tuesday morning for Paris on the Chunnel. Not as eventful as I thought it would be. Easy, easy travel though. Highly recommended for busy travellers with lots of luggage. 

PARIS

Got into Charles de Gaulle in the morning on Tuesday. We got to our apartement we rented and...

it

was

so

tiny

Literally, my arms reached from one wall to another. 

But, it was somewhere to lay our heads. And it was only ten minutes from the Eiffel Tower. 

We were across the street from Invalides (the Military hospital and Napoleon Bonaparte's tomb!), so we visited there first. Gorgeous building! 

I stepped on the grass illegally and got whistled at. Oops. 

We got the 3 day Paris Visite Pass (only 20 euros, score!) and the museum pass.

The next two days were a blur, tons of museums and churches, and some window shopping on Champs de Elysees. 

My favorite is Ste Chappelle. Its a church with fully glass windows all around. I literally couldn't breathe because I was too focused on looking at all of the windows. I'm bound and determined to be married there someday. Pretty sure it never happens, but I'm gonna make it work.

Cait and Meg also waited in line with me to go on the towers of Notre Dame and visit the towers. SO worth it. 

Some things I've noticed about French people is that they love to stare at you on the metro- which i think is weird. Total violation of a social norm. We never do that in America. When you're within 5 feet of people, do you ever stare? It's weird. 

 And, that they all speak English. I'm so embarrassed that we aren't required by our schools to master another language. We would ask questions in french (which I'm sure we all butchered), and they would just answer us in perfect English. 

We spent Thursday evening in the park by the Eiffel, watching it glitter and enjoying each other's company!

Love and Peace,
KP

Hey guys,

So sorry I haven't updated you on everything yet, I've been busy experiencing three great cities! I'll try to add in chronological order now that I'm so far behind

But I'll start from the beginning:

Caitlin, Megan and myself got to the airport last Friday and just about half of our whole flight to london was filled with CSB/SJU'ers going to their different programs. We had a quick fuel stop in Gander, Canada and all 20+ of us got out to stretch our legs. It was really exciting to have everyone there, kind of like how I used to get excited for field trips as a kid.

Except this one is four months long.

There were a few disappointments: No TV's, no games, not a double decker airplane, big time changes, and there was no room to sleep.... but it was filled with friends from school.

And it was only $400.

LONDON

The girls and I arrived in Gatwick around 8 am in the morning local time, grabbed our luggage, had a complimentary taste of Pimm's (Like a rum, lemonade, herb-y mix- the local favorite so we're told) and headed off to the Gatwick Express for our journey into the city.

This is where we encountered our only truly stereotypical crabby, snotty Brit.

So, we are on the train with our luggage, as is everyone else coming from the airport. A tall, skinny man with balding hair,
 a neatly pressed pastel sweater over his shoulders,
 and a Jacques Clouseu inspired mustache,
 blasts through the trolley doors with a tiny dog choking on his leash,
yelling with growing frustration "BLOODY IDIOTS, HOW-ARE-PEOPLE-SUPPOSED-TO-GET-THROUGH.... NONE OF YOU SHOULD EVEN BE IN FIRST CLASS". Tripping over everyone's luggage, he makes his way through the cabin.

apparently we were in the way. Good morning to you too, sir.

The rest of the day one was a blur, we we're so over-tired but way too excited not to see anything. After hauling our luggage through the metro and up the stairs (couldn't find the elevators or escalators), we made it to our stop at Piccadilly Circus. Megan, Caitlin and I dropped our luggage off, changed clothes, and left to explore the city.

First stop- St. Steven's Tower (aka Big Ben), followed by sightseeing the House of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and next on our list?

Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station. Overrrated, yes. For any die-hard HP fan = a must. We waited ten mins in the rain for it.

*3 hour nap*

Ate dinner at a wonderful pizza place in Soho by our hostel, and spent the rest of the night at a bar overlooking busy, chaotic, exciting, Piccadilly Circus and enjoying a Stella Artois cider.

More later and pictures!

KP

Leaving Tomorrow Already!

I leave tomorrow.
to-mor-row. 


It's the night before and my life is surreal right now. It's weird to think that I'm finally, finally getting on a plane to see and experience places I've heard of and read about my whole life. It's bizarre to think about, but...


I'M
SO 
EXCITED


I want to take this time to say thank you to all the people who've helped me on my way up to now: 


To my parents,
my brother and sister, 
my grandmothers,
my cousins, aunts and uncles,
my hometown friends,
my CSB/SJU girls and guys,
Andrew, 
and the de family, 


Thank you so much for finding ways to show your support for me! I appreciate all of you more than you know and I can't say it enough.


Now its off to London, Paris and Barcelona before Athens!


Good-bye, au revoir, adios, USA! 






Kirsten