Athina + Kriti

I am highly superbly discouraged from studying. So I'm going to take some small, dispersed breaks through blogging! Blogging always functions as my break. =)

After Florence was a couple weeks of school, and THEN Rachel and Hannah came to visit. It. was. incredible! I was so excited, and STILL can't exactly believe, that we were all in Europe together!!
First, we met in Athens, and for most part of our time there, we were all infected with this lazy attitude. Until of course we ate! But the best part about Athens was going to the rock where St. Paul preached and really having it sink in that he was there!! He writes so much of the new testament, and realizing that he was alive and spreading the gospel right there was an awesome thought.

From Athens we took a magnificent night-ferry [it was like a cruise ship!] to Crete, which was the highlight of EVERYTHING europe for me. We had planned on hiking the Samaria Gorge, but oil strikes and lack of transportation prevented us from ever gettting there. But maannnn our hotel was amazing. And it was only 15 euro /night!! Ok, we have so many good pictures from here that I have limited posting-issues.

a shot taken from our door the morning we got there =) =D

and then the same view in the evening. We almost missed this sunset because they happen so quickly!the pool and hannah! i LOOVE this kind of pool. [i think they're called infiniti pools?] And even though the water was preetty cold, I had a BLAST! Ohh...memories of spending whole summers at Willoughby's Pulic Pool.
our second day, we spent in Charaklion and ventured out into the sea urchin-filled waters at the old harbor. Our goal was that island in the background, and on our way back [we got 3/4 of the way there] i had this panic attack and couldn't get myself to jump from one fuzzy land mass to the next in fear of sharp shells that could pierce my feet, so rachel is coming back to my rescue!

like sound of music. =)

hannah walking on the edge of death. there were spikey rocks to the right-side of this bar.

above and below are classic rachel shots with food. =D

HAHAHAHHA

above and below are poses instructed by director Rachel.

this was our miserable attempt to direct rachel. we are lowly minions. hahaaha

b-e-a-uuutiful ladies.

hannah's self-timer at its best.

ahh..what a wonderful memory.

=)

Firenze

So we went from relaxing, to even more relaxing! Oh boy..the view from our hostel was sooo great. Getting there was not so much fun because we ended up missing our stop and had to ride the public bus all the way around again. And then we shared our tent with a snorer. Which was remedied when the camping site gave us a different tent the next night - then of course there were unexplainable problems trying to get the key to work, but in the end, we were comfortably sleeping. Here's the view from Michelangelo's Square that was adjacent to our campsite:

Florence is famous for the Uffizi that has Michelangelo's David on display- but the line is intense and we skipped out on the museum in exchange for the replica.

In this same plaza, there was an AMAZING guitarist. Many thanks to Hannah's 2gb memory card that caught a snapshot of how awesome he was. [Sorry it's side-ways.]

We also had 2 exciting eating experiences: 1. We shared a florentine steak, and shrimp tagolini - both were greeaat. 2. we had a wine and cheese party! Which was actually supposed to be grape-juice and cheese cuz I just really do not like the taste of wine, but apparantly, wine comes in cardboard containers! I didn't read the label and just figured the 85 cent carton had to be juice, and then it was too late.

this is our food

this is us

this is our view of Florence!!

study time yet again. T-20 days.

Venezia

What a true vacation! There was really not much to do in this city, maybe heightened cuz hannah and i love being cheap. Most of our time was spent browsing the tourist shops that sold upmton varieties of venetian glass, and sleeping/reading on random benches! It was very fun. By fun I mean relaxing. Oh yeaa, we also made a song for our friend Rachel during one of our gelato-highs that is supposed to be sung to the Superman theme.

Things we could've done would be: climb to the top of the church in St. Mark's Square, and ride a gondola - but both of these cost some, and when everything's in euros, it seems much more expensive!! [p.s. i love being in the states using the dollar. I feel like everything is very cheap.]

I made most of my gift purchases here - earrings, hair clips, necklaces, etc... They've got all the accessories you could ever think of!

Hannah's guide book describes St. Mark's Square as famous for its many tourists and pigeons. hahaha Hannah is also deathly afraid of being pooped on! It was a tricky square...

mushroom pizza that's bigger than hannah! I wonder if that's what ny style pizza's like.

lasagna. we had a GREAT meal!!!!!

the strangest gnocchi i've ever seen, but delicious nonetheless!

many canals.

ok! study time. =]

Roma

I'm back in the states! It's very very weird. Most of me feels like my entire overseas experience was one big dream...so I'm happy to continue posting about the cities I went to, just to remind myself that I really was there.

Roma...
The night I got to Rome was spent on the airport floor. With little sleep I wasn't too enthused to venture into the city, but it was completely worth it. My favorite part was probably walking through The Forum, where the ancient Romans used to live, gather, chat, etc... I was trying to imagine what it might've been like to be Roman in Byzantium, which is what movies like Gladiator are good for! hahaha. But really, maybe it's like being American now. I wouldn't have realized it before, but it is truly a blessing to 1. have a US passport 2. speak english 3. live in america. We can do just about anything with those three things. The Spanish Steps were also beaauutiful.

Spanish steps!
a building in The Forum

Having fun in Augustus's house

the colosseum!

We also saw many many squares [i can't remember all their names], ate goood gelato, saw the pope through his window!, went to the sistine chapel and St. Peter's Bassilica, had an amazing cannoli from a great shop [i don't think any cannoli i have for the rest of my life will compare], stood inside the amazing pantheon, and squeezed between the crowds to see the trevi fountain.

i'd say..go during the LOW SEASON. the many many tourists were not a huge plus, but still, it was great! ANNND we had amazing weather.