Omaha, Nebraska

My old teacher just sent me this picture.

And I love it.

Athens and Rome

Being in the big cities tests our friendship because everything is much more stressful. Surprisingly we didn't argue much, but there were moments when it was close. Spending a few days in Athens at the end of the trip was a good idea though. We'd relaxed and hung out for a few weeks on the islands, so some stress was ok I guess.

We went on a walking tour of Athens which was really cool. Its crazy how many ancient monuments are just sitting in the middle of this HUGE city.

Of course we went to the Acropolis. For some reason when I think of that word I want to say apocalypse. Anywho, it got rainy but we didn't suffer too much.

We ran into a guy who loved me because he thought I looked Greek. He kept squeezing my cheeks, loved Elise's nose, and gave us each a lucky penny. Ah..nice guy.
We went to Slouvaki Row and bought two Gyro's from two different places. Its just a street lined with slouvaki joints that sell cheap gyros, and since that is basically what I lived off while in Greece I was in heaven.

Oh this is just a turtle we ran into.

While in Athens we stayed in a room with 6 beds where you have to pay 50 cents for hot water. So I had three FREEZING cold showers of course. I was actually a little numb when they were over. Worth it I think. We also had an extremely loud roommate in that place so neither of us got much sleep. That was a fun hostel though. We got to meet a lot of other fellow travelers and hear about some of their experiences. 2 weeks is pretty short. Almost everyone we met was traveling for at least 2 months. One guy and his wife got laid off their jobs so they are taking a trip around the world. THE WORLD. Wow.

What a sad day when we had to pack up our stuff and head to the airport. Our only consolation was that we had a 19 hour layover in Rome. It was a bummer that our flight was delayed a little and our train into the city was having mechanical problems and kept stopping for minutes at a time, but we were so happy when we got into Rome at about 3:30. After checking into our hotel we quickly bought tickets for one of those double decker tour buses. I hate being a tourist, but when you only have a few hours in a city, I guess that is the best option. So we were able to see the bigger sites of Rome, even though we didn't really know much about what we were seeing. All through Greece we had guide books. I enjoyed Italy and could definitely see myself doing a similar thing there that I did in Greece (spend two weeks there not only in the big cities, but the small towns and really get a feel of the people and culture).

Our room in Rome was behind the front desk with a weird mirror door.

We seriously considered missing our flight. I even looked up ticket prices. In the end we decided to come back though because we each had some things we needed to do this weekend.

This trip was amazing. I had a great time and learned a lot about Greece's history and culture. I also learned a little more about myself.

Elise is a great traveling buddy. She understands that when I'm hungry or tired I get extremely grouchy and calls me out on it. She knows how to use a map. And she doesn't get too upset when I wake her up because I want to get an early start. A few people were surprised that we were traveling Europe together when we haven't even known each other for a year yet. Our response, "we haven't known each other for a year?" Wow. It seems like its been much longer than that.

Thanks Elise.
I hate you. Do you wanna go on another trip sometime?

A LOT has happened

This is the sunset in Oia I talked about, and the donkeys in Fira that take people up the hill from the port because it is so steep.



Right after we left the Internet Cafe when I published my last post, we went to check on our ferry that would be leaving in 2 hours. "Oh the ferry to Crete? Its canceled." Oh... So after some reading of my book and tons of questions to the ferry lady, we decided to head to Naxos instead of waiting another day for a boat to Crete.

Our intention was to catch another ferry to one of the tiny islands off Naxos, but once we got there we found that there weren't really any boats that worked with our schedule. Oh well, I guess we'll just make the most of Naxos!

We wandered around the streets late at night and took pictures of the castle. The streets were completely deserted, which was weird. They are very cute though. Tight and windy, just like you'd imagine for a Greek village. We met a man who wanted us to go to his restaurant. The conversation went like this:

Man: Where are you from?
Me: We're from America.
Man: (after sizing me up) Originally?
Me: Yes...where do you think I'm from?
Nothing
Me: Greece?
Man: Yes.
Me: You're right. I'm Greek.
Man: Where?
Me: Um....Athens...?

At this point Elise interrupted with, "She's not Greek! We're from America!" Haha, he totally believed me. So we ate at his restaurant and paid more than we should've. I'm such a sucker...



The next morning we rented a 4 wheeler and took off for a journey exploring the island. We drove for hours up and over mountains from town to town.




We ended up in a little place where we ate lunch and walked around. We ended up getting lost for like an hour. Literally, we could NOT find our way out of the maze. At one point we turned the corner and found this:



We finally saw another person and asked for help. She only spoke Greek and French but we finally got our message across and she led us out. So kind of her. Elise decided she was our angel for the day. I don't disagree.

After leaving that town we drove to a beach to go snorkeling at sunset. It was freezing but we saw an octopus, which is very common on this island. We ate Calamari last night because octopus and calamari are so plentiful here.



After snorkeling we set off to find a place to sleep. We'd been traveling with all of our luggage strapped to the 4 wheeler all day. With the sun going down we were running out of time. Unfortunately we hit a bump in the road when I lost the bag we'd put all of our wet stuff in. We turned around to search for it because it had just fallen off the 4 wheeler (named Thomas), but it was gone. How does that happen? We were the only ones on the road, it was a bright red bag, and we turned around no more than 10 minutes after we'd lost it. That is SO annoying. So we lost our swimsuits, towels, a pair of my shorts, my brush, and deoderant. No big deal I guess. I'm super annoyed, but my bag is lighter now. It was our last island and last chance to snorkel too. It definitely could've happened at a worse time. We got lucky.

Unfortunately we didn't get lucky on a place to stay. We searched for a few hours, found nothing, and ended up sleeping on the beach. It was FREEZING cold because we only have silk sleeping bag liners and airplane blankets. We woke up with the sun frozen and wet from dew. We got on our ferry and used the bathrooms to change, wash our faces, and brush our teeth. At least it was free. We also slept for a few hours on the ferry.


Somehow after a day of traveling and a LOT of people who don't speak English, we made it to Delphi. Its a small town on the mainland in the mountains. Its beautiful and we've spent the day exploring ruins from at least 300 BC. Quite amazing really. Tomorrow we're heading to Athens to do some more touristing before we head to Rome and then back home. This has been amazing.




Don't tell our dads we slept on the beach. We were totally safe and saw NOBODY else the entire night. But still.... ;)

Oh Santorini, you've been good to my legs.

So we spent yesterday at the beach and then went to Oia, where there are amazing views and sunsets. Then we ate a candlelight dinner on a rooftop and shared our feelings...I mean...we ate dinner. It was tasty. This is a beautiful island and I'll be sad to leave it, but we're excited for the next adventure.

Happy Belated Birthday Amanda! Hope you're having so much fun in Mexico! We're strapped for time so I'll just post later.

PS: Santorini is ALL STAIRS.

I'm poor, so I travel.

I got up this morning and walked out to the beach while lazy Elise slept in. I watched the sun come up over the hill and listened to the waves. I was the only one out on the beach. I am so lucky to have the experiences that I have. I tell myself over and over again so I won't forget. As I was walking back to the room I saw the manager of the resort. He was confused to see me awake, "it's early huh?" Haha, everyone else that stays there sleeps in with hangovers. Even during the off season, this is a place to party.


We had our breakfast out on the beach and then went into Mykonos to spend the morning then get on our ferry.



I would like to take this moment to explain that we have been completely confused about the days since we got here. When we flew we lost a ton of time and spent the rest of it on the road, so we completely lost Friday. Somehow we got mistaken and were a day behind. It wasn't until like 2:00 PM today that we realized it was Monday and not Sunday. It was so weird.

Elise has broken out with hives, or some sort of rash. It looks like tons of mosquito bites but we really can't explain it. Once we got to Mykonos this morning we went to the Pharmacy ("Open on Sunday, how convenient," we thought.) to get her some lotion and medicine. Mykonos is such a maze of streets it is nearly impossible to find anything. We basically ask someone to point us in the right direction, walk for a minute, then ask someone else. This morning a nice old man who spoke no english walked the whole way with us to the pharmacy. His name was Antonio and of all the people we've asked for directions so far, he is our absolute favorite.



This is us on our way to the port. We ran into a lot of people getting off a cruise ship. I don't know why, but I really try hard not to be a typical "tourist" when I go places. I want to be one who experiences the culture and side of a place that is beyond the facade that the town puts up. Seeing all of the tourists on the ships reminded me of that.



This is us on our ferry to Santorini. These are our cheese and mustard sandwhiches. Ya. I know how to live cheap. :)

So far, coming in the off season has been so good to us. We don't have to go searching for the cheap hostels. When the boat comes into port there are representatives from the hotels and hostels fighting for our business. We were more prepared this time than last time and we wound up in a decent hotel for only 10 Euro a night per person. Instead of 45 Euro for the room its 20 Euro. It all happened so fast I'm still a little dazed. Not only are we getting deals on lodging, but most of the stores are discounting their merchandise. Mykonos had a lot of stores selling everything for 50% off. Its also been really nice weather. I wear my sweater in the morning and at night, but the rest of the time its nice enough to go without a sweater, but we aren't sweaty. Cool.

We've just walked around Santorini for a little bit. We ate Slouvaki and Tzatiki or something like that at a local restaurant. This island is BEAUTIFUL. We will definitely be getting more pictures tomorrow when its sunny, but here is a preview.




Elise was wearing the watch for the first day, but then she got hives and the watch was irritating them. So now I'm wearing the watch. We are SO good at traveling. :)

Mykonos, Greece

This trip was totally hyped up, and for good reason. I am definitely not dissappointed with how things are working out for me here. Elise and I made it to Athens without a hitch. Elder Nelson actually flew with us on our non stop flight to Paris. He was in first class though. Can you believe they do nonstop flights from SLC to Paris? Thats amazing to me.

Anyway, once we got to Athens we hopped on the metro and made our way to Piraeus where we had a hotel. Our hotel was decent enough. I woke up at 12:45 AM by natural causes and had a very difficult time getting back to sleep.

On Friday morning we woke up at 5:00 AM to go out and search for a ferry. We had looked at times but didn't have any tickets or anything. We bought the tickets, had breakfast on the street where an extremely nice old Greek man served us, and watched the sun rise as our ferry pulled away at 7:25.




The ferry ride was like 5 hours but we got some great views of the sunrise and several islands that we both passed and docked in to drop people off. When we got of the boat in Mykonos we were accosted by a woman trying to get us to stay in her hotel. She offered us a really cheap price for a nice room with a kitchen and stuff, but we don't need all that stuff and it was still more expensive than we wanted. We were both very turned off by how forceful she was so we went with the nice guy that was driving out to Paradise Resort. Thats the PARTY hostel and the bus was already full of young people like us. We ended up getting pretty good deal there, and the parties aren't as intense now that its the off season.

We spent Friday afternoon out at the beach. I gave Elise a quick overview and we went snorkeling. We were enjoying the fish and the coral when suddenly Elise pointed me to a...OCTOPUS! Are you kidding me? It was awesome and I even saw it open all its arms and move around a rock. Wow. SO worth how cold it was getting into that water.


We spent the evening out at the Resort trying our darndest to stay awake at least until 9. We made friends with the cook at the bar (the picture above is me at the bar) who finds it extremely interesting and funny that we are Mormon and don't get drunk. We made it to 8:30 before we fell asleep.


This morning we were at breakfast at 7:30 and on our bus into town at 9:15. We made it to the town before it was awake and were able to watch it come alive. The white buildings accented by color are absolutely amazing.


We've taken a ton of pictures but I've just included a random few since we're on a time limit here. We're making sure to enjoy the sites, eat good food, and not take it for grantide. We even met a painter who is from Northampton Massachusettes where we stayed for Foodplay rehearsals. Small world? Yes, yes it is.





We're off now to spend the rest of the day in this beautiful town. It rained last night and was cloudy this morning, but now it is hot and sunny. Of course that means we get to carry our jackets around for the rest of the day. :) Tomorrow we get on another ferry and head off to Santorini. I'll post more soon!

I'm going crazy trying to figure this out

Should I do foodplay again!?

When you cannot make up your mind which of two evenly balanced courses of action you should take - choose the bolder.
-William Joseph Slim

I was going through some quotes about decision making, cause that's what I do, make decisions...anyway. I came across this one and it kinda slapped me across the face. Doing foodplay again is the easy and safe decision. It won't fulfill my needs, I won't learn anything new, and it won't get me closer to my long term goals. All that I could've gotten from that tour, I got the first time around. NOT doing foodplay is scary. So that's probably what I should do.

I wonder if I'll still feel this way after I sleep on it.

A Chorus Line

Its about a group of dancers are going through an audition for a show on Broadway. In a scene near the end of the show, all the dancers are discussing how tough the theatre business is. While its specifically about dancers, anyone in the industry can relate to what they are saying. There is no security, any job you get will always end, "and then you just have to start all over again!"

Every night by the end of this scene I am questioning, what the heck am I doing in this industry? What was I thinking?! Then the character of Diana starts singing this song. Its a love song about theatre. Everyone in this business is here because we want to be. I go through this rollercoaster every night, but I always leave sure of my decision.

Won't FORGET, can't REGRET, what I did for LOVE.