Conclusion

There you have it!

Dutifully recorded, that was our trip. I hope the details weren't too tedious and the pictures suited the paragraphs.

At first, it was uber-weird being home. The trip really clung to me, especially because of jet lag. For a good week or more, I was zonked at 8 and wide awake by 4. Then NY was very, very cold. Almost cave-like. Everyday was laden with clouds and rain and I was bummed.

It's been nearly a month since we got back, not so cave-like anymore; (My epidermis is cooked) still I'd write out the stories and scrounge up the pictures and it would feel like everything happened yesterday. I know time has a way of sucking the details out of things, but hopefully this blog will act as a mental adhesive.

I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I did reminiscing!

barışı korumak, (I hope this means, keep the peace)

-E

Day 13: τέλος [End]

June 2nd-

Homeward bound.

Like the animals in that movie... wasn't there a drowning cat or something?

Except, they were bounding home. I, on the other hand, have small icepicks that bite into the pavement with each step I take. No bounding for me.

I'm pretty sure my brain is struggling on 1/2 hour of sleep. Last night was charged with negative-sleep particles. After dinner I went up to the disco for 9 seconds, got bored out of my mind and then spent the rest of the night with Rachel and Andrew, a fellow cruiser.

A couple hours into our final day, I was pondering sleep, but then stumbled across poor Paula, sleeping outside on white plastic lawn chairs. The boat had been rocking wicked bad during dinner, and Paula nuked her sea legs the first day on the boat. Her cabin wasn't supplying the fresh air, so there she was, 2:00 in the morning, sleeping on the patio.

Between Andrew and I shenangling a lounge chair from where they had been locked up and Rachel grabbing a pillow and comforter, we conjured a pretty nifty abode for Paula. It was still weird leaving her alone, so I sat up and read a book, figuring I'd have to get up in two hours anyway. I'm glad I stayed, because 20 minutes later, a whole bunch of Creepy McCreepsters crept out of I-Don't-Know-Where and started cleaning off the deck.

Actually, they were all very nice and being careful not to be noisy and wake Paula up, but I think everything is sketchy when you're alone at whatever in the morning it was. Unfortunately, two guys in spiffy white suits ended up strutting over and shaking Paula awake. Something about needing to clean the deck, go see the doctor if you're sick, just get downstairs.

This is the part where I charged in and karate kicked them off the boat.

[I'm a liar]

It's actually the part where we went below deck, Paula though she could handle it since the boat had chilled out, and I got 1/2 an hour of sleep.

After waking up, it's all a little fragmented. I remember being overwhelmed with joy that I was able to get up in time for coffee. I remember that a bus ride and a few bad jokes later, we were unloading at the Athens airport. We checked in our bags. We got something to eat, sought refuge from cigarette smoke. There was a stray dog in the airport. Then we were on the plane, homeward bound.

Sign of homesickness: Everyone ran for Mcdonalds.

Group Shot: Leaving Athens

Rachel in Paris

Paris Layover

Passing the time

The plane rides went very well. After a little bone reassembling, I slept nearly the entire way. The half-hour of sleep was a good idea. We landed in JFK around 10:00 or 10:30 PM and pulled into my driveway 4 hours later.

I walked up to my room, and there was the shirt I'd never picked up off the floor. The trash still had lettuce guts in it from feeding the iguana. I sat on my bed, which was still a little crinkled from when I'd slept in it 13 days ago. The last thing I remember was two weeks of events scattering through my head. A deluge.

Then sleep.

-Emily

Day 12: Dur

June 1st-

It's the last night here. This may be because it is the last night and I'm trying to vacuum in every detail, but everything seems super-magnified. The wind slapping at the plastic umbrellas sounds first like gun shots, then like very heavy footsteps. The whole ship feels like a giant snore, one enormous rolling inhale.

I hope I'll be able to come back to the Mediterranean area. I don't really want to return as a tourist though. It's cool to see all the sights I've learned about since I was in a crib, but there is so much more to being in another country. I want to learn the language, cook the food, make the rugs.... Actually, I just want to make the rugs.

Speaking of rugs, we excursioned ourselves into Ephesus today. Our boat docked in Kusadasi; from there we nabbed a bus that drove us along the coast of Izmir and into ancient Ephesus. Our guide always said, "And now you must know" and "by the way", when he was telling us about the sights. It's interesting, hearing the phrases each culture snags as its own in the different countries we've visited. Of course, now that I say that, I can't remember any of the phrases from Italy or Greece, but there were some.

A Turkish Stop Sign

Ancient Ephesus was very slippery and awesome. The rocks were a lot like the Acropolis; floor of death. I conquered though, my flip-flops are magic.

I don't remember what this is, but it's handsome.

View from the street

One sight, the Library of Celsus, particularly stood out. It was very well preserved and thousands of years later, it was still an impressive structure, maybe even more so because of its antiquity.

Library of Celsus

Rachel at the Library

This 'n' That 'n' Rocks

Walking out of Ancient Ephesus and back to the bus, we were assaulted by vendors. They are very pushy. They get right up in your face, slathering you with compliments and their merchandise. It got unfriendly wicked fast. I was on my own, waiting for my mom to catch up when a man (I'm not sure if he was a vendor or not) oozed up to me and told me he "wanted a slice" of me.

Good sales tactic.

Maybe I misunderstood him, he could have been selling perfume and said that he, "wanted to spice" me! In any case, it was fairly awkward.

The end of the story is I think my face went "Oh Em Gee" and I skedaddled to my mom before the oozing oozter could say anything else.

Our next and last stop was a carpet display, which was awesome. They kept rolling out rug after rug. If they had the time, I think they could have filled the room to our knees with so many colors and patterns we wouldn't have been able to walk straight for a week.

Carpet Show and Rachel

Drinking Apple Tea

A Plethora of Carpets

They were almost able to send my mom home with a rug, but neither of us were sure what dad would say, or whether the rug was the correct size for the hall she wanted it in. After the bartering was finished, we weren't left with enough time to even shiest a Turkish coffee.

Silhouettes and Boats

I bear a striking resemblance to Orson Welles.

Mom and the Aquamarine on the Left

We got back to the boat with 3 minutes to spare. I almost wanted to just let it leave without me, almost. I'd been looking forward to Ephesus more than anything else and 4 hours wasn't enough. But, it was hot and even though we didn't do an enormous amount of walking, it was still enough to be draining so getting back to the boat made legs happy.

As we pulled away I watched from the top deck of the ship as the increasing distance erased details of the city life into a silver-green glint along the coast of Turkey.

-Emily

Day 11: Rhodes

May 31st-

The epidermis is gathering rather impressive melanin count. [I'm tan]

Well, maybe not tan, but tan-er.
Nice face Emily.

Paula and Christy cooked themselves; if they were kernels, they would have popped yesterday. I haven't burned [yet], but I'm not sure how I've avoided it. It's so windy and cool on the boat, it's easy to lay out and forget that sunshine is still pummeling the flesh. But, I'm just getting sunny, not broiled.

We were docked at Rhodes all day today. Mom wanted me to go out and about the island with her at a Godforsaken hour of the morning, but I couldn't get out of bed. By the end of last night, it was like weightlifting trying to keep eyelids open.

By ten I was awake and ready to walk around Rhodes. Mom and I tried to find a cappuccino while the others shopped. I'd missed breakfast, so I was totally ready to pump myself with caffeine. We were deceived into sitting down at a cafe-esque place, which served us the nastiest coffee... it was curdling under a good wallop of whipped cream and spicy sprinklings. The delicious stuff was really next door.

Rhodes from the boat. See the ancient wall that wraps around the island?
Wicked cool.

Walking around Rhodes

A Rhodian structure through a cranny

Everyone seems really sightsee-ed out. The whole vibe was, "Let's shop!" Mom and I walked into one leather store and I saw this awesome leather cape, trimmed in some sort of ebony canine. There was no delay, it was fantastic, so I swung it on and proceeded to prance around the store. The clerk was friendly and nice. Mom, just for kicks, asked how much the cape was.

2,200 euro.

My skin melted. That thing was off and returned to its hanger in 2 1/2 seconds.

Eventually my mom couldn't resist not hunting down historical places (she found the oldest existing medieval road and a horse) so I left her to peruse Rhodes with Pat, and I stuck with Julie, Paula, and Mrs. Wydman.

These are pictures my mom took.

I bought a beach towel that has an enormous donkey on it. The Rhodes Donkey. I have no idea what the Rhodes Donkey has to do with anything since ever, but it's on my beach towel, so it must be something?

So we got back to the boat with our goods and got ready to go swimming!

Neat fruit creations made before our eyes during the shopping/ beach interlude

Jason took us to a beautiful, uncrowded beach. We hung out there for the later half of the afternoon. It was nice, with decent waves and beautiful blue water. No jellyfish! I've never swum out so far in the ocean, but I nearly made it to where the ocean changes blues, from the light shallow blue, to the deeper there-are-large-fish-in-this-area blue. I got sketched out before I made it quite that far though.

We made our way back to the boat in time for another late dinner. After, I went up to the disco. It's weird calling it the disco. I say it, then expect Johnny Travolta to jump out of the corner. Anyway, I'm not exactly sure why I go, because I can't dance at all. And even if I could, Pat was freaking me out. I don't think I'll go back tomorrow.

-E

Day 10: Steazin'

May 31st-

I can't get over the difference I feel between Greece and Italy. It's been so relaxed, friendly and open. Keep in mind, I am writing from the deck of a cruise ship, gallivanting through the Mediterranean, so there is a possibility that my perception is skewed...

A little.

We boarded this morning and I used the few hours of free time we had to get acquainted with the layout of the ship. I was really confused at first; I kept losing my room. Then we had this life jacket/ boat drill thing, where we all had to go to our assigned life boats. I'm in a boat with several people I know, which is good. I guess my mom has a small raft. I'm trying to help her relax, telling her that if the boat does sink, they're just going to toss her in the water with a piece of driftwood and wish her luck.

But when we settled down, I sheisted a Scrabble game and Julie, Seth and I all started playing on the upper deck. Julie may not have won Scrabble, but she did win the Price is Right after.

Julie playing The Price is Right

Julie winning The Price is Right

This evening we dropped anchor just outside of the island of Mykonos. We had to take a tinder boat to the island, which wasn't so awesome. The wind was vicious. But of course, like everything else around here, the island was very picturesque. They go crazy with the whitewash, the houses, roads, even tree trunks are all painted.

Mykonos

Dead Squid

I managed to harass their pelican... I felt like a jerk afterwards, but it almost bit my face off, so I s'pose we're even? Maybe not, I was pestering it so I guess I shouldn't pretend I wouldn't have deserved to go faceless.

The Pelican.

I'm sure they're all good questions.

Patrick

A Road and a Cat

I watched the sunset from the island. I always find sunsets in photos to be fairly chintzy. Tonight was the unique island sunset they reproduce a gazillion times on a gazillion postcards. It was very beautiful, but beyond the postcard-worthy way. Between the smell of the food from the restaurant behind me, the murmur of the people milling around the beach [mostly Asians snapping photos of themselves, but what's new] and the visual hues and tones, the whole atmosphere was mellow acoustic. I couldn't send that in the mail.




Taking the tinder boat back to the ship wasn't as bad at all.

Blurry Aquamarine from a distance.

We had a late dinner and I'm super jazzed, they have vegetarian soups that are wicked good. Till tomorrow...

-E

Day 9: Acropolis

May 29th-

So Em, What did you to today?

Oh, I went to the Acropolis.

Oh yeah? How was it?

Mind-blowing, thanks for asking.

Being at the Acropolis was the clincher. I've had this vague idea in the back of my head that this trip has been pretty cool, but now the sheer big dealness of it all has filled my brain with, "Wow, this is flippin' incredible," thoughts. Was that really me slipping around on the marble of the Acropolis? That wasn't just wishful thinking? I was sitting on a wall that overlooked the city and just thought about everything we've done so far. So much, that I never, ever thought I'd do, I've done.

I'm so blessed that I was able to come here and not just myself, but with an pro-awesome group as well.

View from the Acropolis

When marble is shinier than your shoes, that's bad.

The Parthenon

Molly, Rachel and Sierra

Erechtheion


Christy with Mars Hill in the background


The view from the wall

We spent rest of the day getting lost trying to get back to our hotel. When we finally did get back, we went shopping and I spent too much money. After dinner we listened to Jason's half-hour talk about what to expect on the cruise ship for an hour and a half, then finally went swimming. After that, we went out for ice cream again. No dog this time though.

Of course Rachel would find this place...


Sierra and I at the beach

Me, Julie and Rachel, soggy with icecreamface.

Cruise starts tomorrow! I wish we could spend more time in Athens, but at the same time I'm stoked for the relaxing that is at hand!

-E

Day 8: Earth's Bellybutton

May 28th-

We spent a majority of the day at the ruins in Delphi. It was a very quiet and picturesque town. It has some neat stores; I bought an awesome sweater that I could easily wear and herd llama in. I really got my exercise hiking up and down the streets last night though, the silly place is built on the side of a cliff.

Pat, Rachel, Seth and 1/8th of Paula in the Hotel

The street outside our hotel

Hiking today was not so good. It was wicked hot and we were trekking up these slippery stairs to see some shadeless ruins. Seth and I walked all the way up to the ancient stadium that's still intact. It might have been a 10 minute walk in cooler weather, but it really should have been a 20-30 minute walk to avoid heat stroke. Of course, the two of us are hardcore and we jogged the whole thing in 7 minutes. I was on fire.

Temple ruins

Why do I look so sketched out?
I'm creeping around a tunnel that winds underneath an ancient temple.
Spiders. Darkness. Death.
No big deal.

Stoked to see the light of day!

Mom


The ruins

The stadium...

wasn't really worth the heat stroke.



Post stadium hike

some-of-the-group shot

After we visited the ruins, Mom, The Wydmans and me all rushed through the museum to get a picture of the charioteer, then hopped onto our bus around 12-30 and headed to Athens.

In the ancient days, Delphi was believed to be the center (or navel) of the universe. This rock represents the navel. [I guess it's an outie] Julie and the belly button sculpture.


The Charioteer

And his original eyes


A weird old man baby

Driving around these small mountain villages is horrifying. The roads are so narrow, death lurks around every corner, our lives are in jeopardy with each turn of the wheels. Actually, it's not all that bad. I like to "oooh and ahhh" over our driver's maneuverings though, the driving seems to
be pretty sketchy. I bet the color of our bus (a shrieking shade of purple) alert all others on the road to our presence though. It's less a design flaw, more a safety measure.

Is this color legit?


This crazy little town we had to drive through

We reached Athens in time to unpack and eat dinner. After that we went to the beach, which was right down the road from our hotel. Crossing the street is really, really scary. Jason told us to, "Wait for the little green man to say go," before we attempted a crossing. I clung to his words religiously after being nearly run over by a motorcycle. (Paula saved my life) Everyone else though I was silly. Once, I ended up being left behind as when they booked it across the street during an empty stretch of road. Maybe I held them up, but I didn't want to be sent home in a garbage bag after they scraped me off the pavement. Imagine the stench on the plane!

Athens: A bus shot.

Grafitti

After watching the sun set at the beach, everyone headed back to the hotel to rinse off, then go out again to find some ice cream.

Elevator shot!

In the hotel

Everyone piled down the stairs and we headed out the door. A couple blocks down the street, Julie pointed out that there was a dog following us. For some reason, in Athens there are a ton of stray dogs that the entire city basically takes care of. This one animal, rather obese, with weird bulging eyes, was most definitely following us. When we stopped, it stopped. When we walked, it walked. When we got to the ice cream shop, it waited for us outside the entire time, (about 20 minutes). It followed us all the way back to the hotel .

After I'd bought my ice cream, I looked to see if the dog was still there. Sure enough, it was. I made eye contact with it and it got up and tried to walk into the store. I started waving my arms, saying "No! Go sit back down!". The animal nodded its head, and laid back down. I'm convinced it was a human trapped in canine flesh.

Llama Sweater; soggy Molly; obese dog

I don't think I've mentioned how delicious the food has been! A vast improvement since we've left Italy. The variety of flavors here are awesome, except for the olives, which taste like the smell of fresh paint, but they have these stuffed grapes that slaughter the ones I eat at home. They don't put rice in them, it's something else weird and good. And there are these spinach pie things that are delicious as well. The Greek salad is a big favorite too.

I'm glad we're spending more time in Athens, Delphi already seems like such a long time ago.

-E