8/2/10, Monday - Split, Croatia

Today was my first full day in Split. I arrived late last night, checked my email, talked to some nice guys from London and from New York, and went to bed. My loud Spanish roommates (4 guys) came in as I was falling asleep and were so loud. I think it was a combination of them being rude and me being hostelled out because after about 5 minutes I said "shhhh!" Luckily, that's another universal thing. I woke up this morning, bought a Croatia towel, and made my way to the beaches that the girl who works at the hostel suggested. I started out at their touristy beach. When she told me about it she said "it's nothing special. You will walk and walk out in the water and it will still only be up to your waist and you will just get annoyed." She was right. It was like a giant pool. It had no waves, but it was the first sandy beach I have been to in Europe. It was really nice for families and children and there were a lot of people playing handball (sort of a mix between catch and volleyball with a small rubber ball). Though there were a lot of Speedos and a few naked children, which I still find traumatic, but I did not see any uncovered boobs, so I was very thankful for that. I spent about 30 minutes at that beach before I got bored and decided to make my way to the less touristy beach on the other side of Split. I liked that beach a lot, though it was a pebble beach. The water here is as clear as everyone promised it would be, but I think its equally clear in France and Greece. After about an hour and a half at the second beach, I made my way back to the hostel for a shower and to clean up. Then I went back out for dinner and to tour the old city. The old city is quite cool and I had a really nice time looking around. Then I ate at a real restaurant by myself for the first time this whole trip. I have mainly been hitting up grocery stores for bread, ham, and cheese, but I decided to splurge ($8!) for some seafood risotto. It was quite tasty. I then climbed to the top of this nearby hill for what I heard from some guys at my hostel was a very nice view of the city. I was hoping to see the sunset from there, but it turns out the hillside you climb faces east. Regardless, I did get some nice views of the city and some really good exercise! I stayed at the top of the hill until the sunset, took some pictures of the city at dusk, then made my way back through the old city, took some more pictures, and came back to the hostel to catch up on my very outdated blog!

8/1/10, Sunday - Croatia

I left Hamburg early this morning to catch my flight to Dubrovnik. I took a city bus tour which provided some excellent views of the city. Then I checked my bags in while I took a look around the old city. It was pretty impressive. I then got on a bus to Split. It took 5 hours. I spent the first hour or so taking pictures, the view from the bus was amazing! Then, out of fear that I might run out of pictures, I made myself go to sleep. (By made myself go to sleep, I mean I closed my eyes- As you know if you have read my blog, I have trouble staying awake on public transportation.) At the stop where I woke up, a guy got on the bus and asked if he could sit by me. Though I didn't mind at first, he then fell asleep and then fell on me! I tried elbowing him a bunch of times, but it was no use. He didn't wake up easily and I was destined to be smushed until he got off the bus about an hour later. As he got off, a group of guys got on. One asked if he could sit by me and I bitchingly said fine. It turned out he and his two friends were Croatian and were very nice. His friend asked where I was from and we started talking. They were very helpful, finding out when we'd get to Split (it took longer than I thought it would) and telling me which stop to get off on. If they hadn't been there to help, I might have gotten off about 30 minutes too early. I thanked them for their help (hoala) and took a taxi to my hostel because it was so late that I didn't want to try to navigate a new city with my bags so late. Good thing too! I never would have found my hostel, but the taxi driver knew just where to go.

7/28/10, Wednesday - Contributed by Danni Leifer

Early last week, Amin and I arrived in Hungary. On Tuesday, July 20, we went to Vienna, Austria, and we returned to Budapest two days later. On Friday, we met up with Jessy and she took us to the Great Market Hall. She had to be back at her apartment at 4PM to catch the shuttle that would take her to the airport to meet Corie (arriving from Turkey).


While Jessy headed back to her apartment, Amin and I went to the West End mall and then back to our hotel, the Queen's Court. Jessy texted us at 5PM to let us know that Corie's plane would be landing in 20 minutes, around 6PM she texted us again to inform us that Corie was with her, and finally at 7PM to tell us that they were both at Jessy's apartment. After Corie got settled, they headed over to our hotel.


It was very exciting to see Corie after 4 weeks! I noticed right away that she looked tan and thin. :) She had lots of presents for me (and my turtles); some Turkish Delight (candy), a few blue and white items to match my house, and turtle memorabilia from almost every place she'd visited.

After we caught up a bit, we headed out to dinner, which my dad generously paid for, at a restaurant near the Oktogon area of Budapest and Jessy's friend Jackie met us there. Amin and I shared a pizza, Jessy got a pizza of her own, and Corie and Jackie each got something called a sandwich with cranberries and blueberry sauce, but it really wasn't a sandwich since it didn't have any bread. After dinner, Jackie left, and the four of us went to a very old, well-known restaurant called Gerbeaud where we got ice cream sundaes (Amin got a piece of cake).

Following dessert, we explored the city a bit and took lots of pictures by the Danube and the St. Stephen's Basilica. We stopped for a minute to watch a street performer man who played classical music on water glasses.Since we were missing our other quarter (Aimee), Corie suggested we take some pictures and leave a space for Aimee so we could Photoshop her in later.

The next morning, Saturday the 24th, Amin and I met Corie and Jessy at Jessy's apartment at noon. We had plans to meet a penpal (email pal, actually) of mine that I started corresponding with about five years ago, but had never met in person. We took the metro and tram to the Cog-Wheel Railway Station where Lajos was waiting for us.

After introductions, Lajos explained that it was only a 15 minute trip to his village, Budakeszi, but we'd be taking a longer, more touristy route. We took the old and bumpy, but scenic, Cog-Wheel Railway to the top of the mountain. From there we got on the Children's Railway, a train operated by 10-14 year-old Hungarian children (Lajos referred to it as child labor).

We got off the train near Budakeszi and walked into Lajos's village. We saw a monument to the man who wrote the Hungarian National Anthem and lived in Budakeszi for awhile, the local post office, and an old steam engine. On the way to Lajos's apartment building we walked through the peaceful town and saw lots of cute houses and fruit trees.

When we got to Lajos's house, the first thing I noticed were the leather jewels. Five years ago, my purchase on Lajos's website leatherjewels.com, is how we first became acquainted. Now I was getting to tour the 'factory'! We spent a lot of time pawing through the merchandise before we finally decided which pieces we wanted. Lajos didn't want to take any money, but Amin left him some, anyway, although it still probably wasn't enough for all the things we got!


While we were 'shopping', Lajos was preparing some food for us. A few years ago he had sent me a recipe for potato pasta and Corie and I made it; it was good but we didn't know if it turned out correctly. Apparently, it didn't. Lajos's potato pasta tasted much better (and spicier) than ours! He had also provided us with a raspberry drink - originally it was concentrated in a bottle and then he put it in a glass. Then he put some water in a canister and when he sprayed the water into the glass, it was carbonated because the canister had acted kind of like a whipped cream can.

We told Lajos about the man we'd seen playing classical music on water glasses the previous night and he informed us that the man used to play on glass jars before he saved up enough money to buy the glasses. While we were eating, Lajos showed us all the different kinds of paprikas he had and he also brought out three different Hungarian wines for us to try. Before we left, Lajos gave me a couple of gifts: a can of pork and beans and a can of goose breast (also with beans so Jessy called it Goose and Beans) because we had discussed it in one of our many emails. He was such a great host!


After dinner, Lajos walked us to the bus station (we passed a Trabant, an old East-German car on the way) and Amin, Corie, Jessy, and I took the bus back into Budapest. We chatted with my Mom on Jessy's cell phone and walked around the city some more. We discovered a little jazz fest going on that had some crafts and food. We bought and shared a cinnamon donut-like thing that Jessy and I had eaten earlier in the week. After some more exploring, we headed back to our hotel where we hung out for a bit. Amin said his goodbyes, since he was leaving at 4AM the next morning and Corie and Jessy headed back to Jessy's apartment.


The airport shuttle was scheduled to pick me up the next morning, Saturday the 25th, at 10AM. It was really nice of Corie and Jessy to venture out in the rain to stop by at 9AM with breakfast. I ate my croissant and cookie, packed up my stuff, and said goodbye at 10AM. :( It was a very dreary, depressing day (the only one we'd had all week). When I called Jessy from the airport a little while later, she and Corie had gone back to bed! I know Corie's having a great time, but selfishly, I'll be glad when she's back home in 2 weeks. (Jessy will be back in 3 days!)

7/21/10, Wednesday - Istanbul, Turkey

It is now the end of my first of two days in Istanbul. After my frustrating trip here, I phoned the hostel and they sent a shuttle driver to find me. I shared the "shuttle" (a VW Jetta) with a Swiss girl, Giuliana, who was half American and half Italian and was in Istanbul for a wedding. I arrived at my hostel, settled in, and then ventured out to see the city. My first stop was the Blue Mosque. There I started talking to Wendy, a native New Yorker who now lives in D.C. We got along so well! She was in Istanbul to celebrate her 30th birthday. It was about 6:00 by the time we met, so we grabbed a kabob, and walked around to check out the city. One store, not far from where we were staying had some really nice jewelry that Wendy was interested in. The typically pushy shop owner finally convinced her to try a necklace on (by basically putting it on her himself.) "It shows off your tits," the old man told her. "And you have nice tits." I was rolling on the floor laughing. Interesting sales pitch.

We looked around a few more shops before calling it a night and agreeing to meet the next morning for a bus tour. I retired to my room and spent an hour or two conversing with my roommates Jo and Ellie (from England) and Gonoula (from Germany) and getting to show off my impressive German skills!

7/21/10, Wednesday - Istanbul, Turkey

I am now on the plane to Istanbul after an incredibly stressful morning. My day started by being woken up by this gross Indian guy talking to our roommates with zero regard for the fact that I was sleeping. "Where are you from?" he asked them. "Australia," they whispered back, aware I was trying to sleep. "I am from Mumbai," he proudly told them, apparently hoping people at home would hear him. After 20 minutes of attempting to sleep through his echoing voice, I angrily got up, stormed past him, and went to breakfast. I don't even think he noticed I was annoyed. After breakfast, I used the computer for an hour and left for the airport with exactly the right amount of time to spare. I got on the metro to the airport. The train stopped about 5 stops before the airport and everyone but me got off the train. One Greek man looked at me strangely. "Hello?" he said. He was trying to tell me it was the train's last stop. I am so thankful that he told me, as minutes after I got off the train, it turned around and headed back into Athens. I exited the train, still unsure of why this train, unlike the other 3 that I had taken to/from the airport, required me to switch tracks. Frustrated and a little panicky, I said out loud (but mainly to myself) "How do I get to the airport then?" A guy about my age answered. "Go up the stairs to the platform across the tracks." As I moved to the correct platform I saw that the next train to the airport did not come for 18 minutes! Though I had left myself the perfect amount of time to get to the airport, I was suddenly running 20 minutes late. I arrived at the airport and ran with my bags like an Army cadet to the check-in counter . Just in time! The check-in guy was very nice and said I had time, but that I was the second-to-last person to check in. I thanked him for his help and went to passport control. I got in line behind a Canadian woman. Though I was stressed out knowing that I had less than an hour to make my flight, she was well past stressed out. She was ready to hyperventilate as she explained to me that her flight home to Canada left in less than 45 minutes. She was in a panic. After standing in line for about a half hour (even though there weren't that many people in front of us), we finally made it to the front of the line. The kid that was checking passports could not have been more than 16 years old. We passed through passport control and sprinted to security, only to find another discouragingly long line. By this point, my new Canadian friend, her two sons, another Canadian woman behind me, and myself knew we had less than 10 minutes to make our flights. The panicked woman asked if she could use the security line meant for airline staff and I tagged along. Good thing, too! As I finally made my way through the last check point, a man from my airline (Pegasus) said to me, "Pegasus?" "Yes!" I said with excitement. "Where have you been?!?" he yelled at me with anger. I had tried to have a good attitude throughout the morning knowing I could always fly to Vienna to meet with Danni or Budapest to meet with Jessy if I had missed my flight. But after my train mishap, the long lines, and this random Greek man screaming at me, I lost it. "Where have I been?!?" I yelled back. "Maybe if you'd tell your ***** security to hurry the ***** up I wouldn't be so late!" I screamed as I ran past him to my gate. It is probably a very good thing I had to run to my flight because at this point he had pissed me off something wicked and if I had the opportunity to stand around and exchange words with him, I might have found myself in a Greek jail.

I am now in Izmir, Turkey on a layover. While I was aware that I was stopping here, I was unaware I'd have to disembark, take a van (just me and the driver) to another terminal, and buy a 15 euro entrance visa! If my bag wasn't on its way to Istanbul, I would have turned around and flown to Vienna to meet up with Danni and Amin. As I was unaware of my layover, I gave the wrong arrival info to my hotel. I hope they are still there to pick me up. The directions that they provided seem difficult to follow. I am so frustrated today that if they aren't there, I might take my bag and hop on a flight to Vienna or Budapest instead, especially since now I can say I have been to Turkey. I have the passport stamp and visa to prove it. The criteria we have set for claiming you have been to a country or state (and not just flown over it) is if you could be arrested by their police. If this is the case, than I have been to Turkey and Greece more than anywhere else!

7/20/10, Tuesday - Santorini, Greece

I haven't written much lately, as I did not feel the need to share my bad attitude and mood across country borders to whomever might be reading this. I don't even like moody Corie and I figured no one else would want to read her negative thoughts, but positive, fun Corie is back after 2 wonderful days in Santorini, so I will write my blog in retrospect (from July 17- July 20).

I woke up in time to eat breakfast, take a shower, and make it to Natalia, Michelle, and Meredith's hostel by noon, when we had agreed to meet up. I took a bus to go see them where they were staying at Hotel Perissa. I asked the bus driver when I got on the bus if he knew of it and he said yes. As the beach we were headed to is called Perissa beach, I had a feeling he wasn't really listening to me and that I'd have to keep an eye out for the hotel. As we cruised along the curvy roads of Santorini smushed in a bus like sardines in a can, I began to talk to the people around me on the bus (it started with me apologizing for basically laying on their laps). I told them I was going to Hotel Perissa, not Perissa Beach, so when we passed the hotel, it was a whole group of us asking the bus driver to stop. I showed up at Hotel Perissa and met up with the girls. They are great and I had a fantastic time with them. We took the 4-wheelers they had rented and went down to the beach. We had a super cute waiter on the beach who brought the food and drinks directly to our lounge chairs. I told them about Kamari and that they should check it out. Natalia teased me. "When people ask 'How were the Greek Islands?' You can tell them 'the rocks were amazing!'" We laid on the beach all day until I had to go. I left on a bus to make it back to my hostel in time to catch my plane back to Athens and, tomorrow, on to Istanbul.

7/19/10, Monday - Santorini, Grecce

It is the end of my first of two days in Santorini and I am finally starting to see the appeal of Greece! This day almost made up for the suffering and boredom I have endured over the last few days.

My day started at 4:30 am so I could catch my 7:00 flight from Rhodes to Athens and then Athens to Santorini. The same American businessmen from my flight to Rhodes were on my plane leaving as well. Quite a coincidence…

As I left Rhodes, things almost immediately became better. I am not sure why, but I even got my own row in business class!

With my horrible opinion of Greece, I was probably a hard guest to win over, but the family that ran my hotel started off on a good note. They were at the airport to pick me up, something no other hotel has offered me. It was nice not to have to worry about how to navigate a bus system or pay an arm and a leg for a taxi. After explaining a bit about the island, the hotel owner offered me free breakfast. While eating, I started talking to these Aussie girls, Ez and Trish, who told me they were going to see the famous sunset in Oia that evening and were nice enough to ask if I'd care to join them. I quickly and graciously agreed to meet up with them that evening. I went and changed into my bathing suit and headed to Kamari Beach. The first thing I did was get a massage on the beach. Though I believe the baby oil she used to be the reason for my sunburn (even though I also gave her sunblock to put on me), it was well worth the 10 euros for a 15 minute back massage on the beach. On Kamari beach and the beach I am going to tomorrow to meet up with my American friends (Michelle, Natalia, and Meredith), there is black sand, as Santorini was formed by a volcano. My science-loving, dorky-self was most impressed with the volcanic rocks. Though you'd think that black sand beaches made by volcanic rocks consist of black rocks, it is not the case. There were also sorts of colored rocks; green, blue, yellow, orange. It was beautiful and I collected a lot of them. There were some nice Americans that gave me their raft as they were leaving. Though I didn't use it today because I was afraid I'd fall asleep and end up in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, I definitely plan to share it with the girls tomorrow.

After my day at the beach (where I got fairly sunburned despite having applied 50 spf sunblock numerous times), I went back to the hotel and showered and looked for my two Aussie friends from breakfast. As I was walking into the hotel, I saw other girls I knew! Katie and Steph, my Aussie friends from my flight from Milan to Athens a few days before happened to be staying at the same hotel as me. Today has definitely been a day of serendipity. In addition to bumping into Katie and Steph, Ez, Trish, and I went up to Oia to see the famous sunset. On the bus next to me was a woman from Great Falls. She actually lives about 3 miles from my dad (off the same road and everything!)

We then went out to dinner and made our way back to the hostel.

7/18/10, Sunday - Rhodes, Greece

I have just finished my day in Rhodes. While the age of Greece is quite impressive everything else about it couldn't be less so. It is run down and dirty and the least Westernized place I have ever been (including Morocco and Honduras). I don't mind non-Western culture but this place is gross.

I arrived in Rhodes on a late flight from Athens. There were two American businessmen on my flight. I caught a glimpse of their passports and was pretty excited to talk to them. "Nice passport," I said. I began talking to them and learned that though they were from New York, one was of Greek decent and owned a house in Rhodes.

My hotel in Rhodes was beyond disappointing. In fact, I would go as far as to say it was disgusting. I arrived at around midnight. Rather than try to navigate the bus system so late at night, I felt I had no choice but to take a taxi. Though it was 32 euros, it was a good decision, as I never would have found the "hotel" (hereafter referred to as the roach motel) on my own. I checked in and it was if they were annoyed that I showed up so late. I explained that I was only there for one day (which contrary to what my American businessman friend said, was plenty) and would like to see as much of the island as I could. "Does a tour of the whole island exist?" I inquired. "Well, it's too late for us to book it for you tomorrow since you arrived so late," I was told. I went to the room they gave me, as I was exhausted.

The room was infested with bugs. I spent the next 30 minutes trying to kill them all, but it was no use. I was so outnumbered! Additionally, the room I was given was directly in front of the hotel bar, where some British people were getting drunk and living it up. I hate to be the buzzkill, so rather than asking the front desk guy to shut them up, I requested to change rooms. I was happy in my new room until I went to unpack my bags and saw the biggest spider I have even seen. It was so huge, I think we actually made eye contact. I gasped and sprinted out of the room. (Note to my high school track coach: if you wanted me to run faster, you should have found a spider like this!) Though I am no girly-girl and am not afraid of bugs, I thought if I tried to smush this thing, it might fight back. I ran into the lobby frantically saying "There's a tarantula in my room! There's a tarantula in my room!" The front desk guy came back upstairs with me and killed it. After paying extra for air conditioning and conducting a very thorough spider hunt, I was finally able to sleep. The repulsiveness of the hotel is illustrated by the fact that when I checked out nearly 30 hours later, the dead arachnid was still on the floor in his final resting place.

Today I visited the cities of Rhodestown and Lindos. Rhodestown had a lot to see. I visited the Fort of St. Nicholas, Avenue of the Knights, Church of the Virgin, and the Palace of the Grand Master (doesn't that sound like something out the World of Warcraft or Magic the Game or something?). I paid to take a brief (self-guided) tour of the Palace.

I also stood (at some point) where the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, once stood. See, they are not sure exactly where it was. It was rumored to have stood straddling the river, but they now know that is impossible. It is believed to have stood where Fort St. Nicholas is or where the Palace of the Grand Master is. Either way I was there.

I bought some souvenirs for my sisters and then took a bus to Lindos. I arrived at the bus stop in Lindos and after walking down the only street I saw, began to feel very frustrated. All I saw were two small stores, a few hotels with pools, and more donkey farms than I care to think about…(the donkeys weren't even fenced in). Right before I gave up and went back to Afantou (the village where my hotel was) I asked someone if there was an actual town to see. "Cross the street and you'll see a carpark," I was told. "Then go down the stairs and down the hill." Turns out the town itself is not really visible from the hill where the bus drops you off. Once I found the actual town, it was quite cute. The problem was it consisted only of souvenir stores and restaurants. I felt like the whole town was designed to make you spend money. Sort of a Disney World without rides. I only spent like an hour and a half there before boredom set in again, and I headed back to Afantou.

7/17/10, Saturday - Athens

Today will be my third day in Athens. Right now I am sitting on a curb waiting (indefinitely) for a bus to take me to Cape Sounion. If nothing else, the bus trip should take some time. During the day I am taking a trip outside Athens because I am so bored here. It is the first time on this trip that I have been flat out bored. It isn't that I hate Athens, but I can't begin to explain how disappointed I am.

I just finished my very brief daytrip to the Temple of Poseidon in Cape Sounion. I only spent like 10 minutes there, as I have seen many ancient ruins in Greece. The highlight has been the bus ride, as it travels along the rocky coast and has provided countless beautiful views.

Tonight I fly to Rhodes where I will spend 2 nights and 1 day and then I am off to Santorini.

7/16/10, Friday - Athens

When I had originally booked my hostel, it was full for the middle night of my three night stay in Athens. Knowing I'd need some respite from the hostel lifestyle anyway, I treated myself to a (fairly inexpensive) four-star hotel. Wow! Let me tell you! I used their (very small) rooftop pool with a view of the acropolis, took an hour-long shower (to scrub the hostel off of me), and watched BBC World News. The only other things I have seen on tv for the last 3 weeks have been soccer (only not broadcast in English). Man, I have missed tv- and knowing what is going on in the world. I then slept for about 14 hours! I guess I had a lot of sleep to catch up on… around 2:00. I left the hotel and checked back into the hostel. My big outing today was going to see the first modern Olympic stadium.