GREECE!

At the Parthenon in Athens--this is a post blog picture post b/c I failed to mention that before this Mykonos-->Syros--->Kos Odyssey began, I was in Athens. See above picture for proof... and keep reading to find out about said Odyssey.

It’s amazing the lengths one will go to save a few dollars on Travel. You think I would have learned by now that cheap travel comes at a pretty steep price (namely sleep and convenience) but alas, here I am at the Mcdonald’s in Köln at 3:51am battling through drunk late-night eaters/revelers to find a place to sit and wait for my 5:01am train to Flensburg. Life lesson Fail. 

However, even though I’d much rather be sleeping than listening to the drunk chants of Cologne partiers while eating a burger for "breakfast", this 48 hour island-hopping, overnight-ferrying, red-eye flying and soon to be 7-hour train ride has been an eye-opening (I mean literally… I haven’t slept a whole lot) and actually pretty fun experience.

This journey began 2 days ago when we left our charming greek beach house on the windy, but beautiful Island of Mykenos where I had spent a wonderful and relaxing week with friends eating lots of Feta Cheese and olives and reading books. The weather was ironically warmer on my coastline home of Flensburg, but it’s incredible what the word “vacation” does to your ability to let yourself just sit and be unproductive for a whole week.

A small greek snack in our cute little beach house. 

The Island itself was arid and windy, but the buildings and downtown were exactly the blue and white splendor one thinks of when thinking about Greece. The water was as blue as the shutters on the windows of the white washed houses, and the newly bloomed easter poppies provided a splash of red and yellow over the rocky hills surrounding the town.

 FUN FACT--the streets are narrow and all the houses are white because the Island was subject to pirate attacks back in the day. The theory is, when the sun is shining on the the white houses it has a blinding effect on the attackers, and because the  streets are narrow, unmarked and winding (and all the houses look the exact same) the pirates would get lost in the blinding maze and the islanders could easily jump out and attack the blinded/confused prates as they tried to pillage and plunder and do whatever it is pirates do

It is in Mykenos that we spent Easter Saturday and were able to take part in the beautiful greek orthodox celebration of lighting candles at midnight and singing and walking around the church to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection (which they had been mourning since Friday).

The Priest was absolutely joyful when the bells started ringing at midnight to mark the resurrection. Until the joyful smiles and kissing of neighbors he stood in front of the town and sung prayers

After a week in Mykenos we went to Syros which was a quiet harbor town—still in the Cyclades, so more lush, but not particularly tropical by any means. We spent the afternoon enjoying the quiet overview from the churches and marveling at the blue of the water before eating a nice dinner on the harbor.

Syros

View of the St. Nikolaus church from Resurrection church on the peak of Syros. Obviously prettier in real life. Or with nicer cameras...

From Syros we took an overnight ferry to the home of Hippocraties: Kos, which arrived in the port just as the sun was coming up over the mountains and the Agean Sea. We stepped off the boat and were greeted ancient palm tree lined city walls and a warm breeze rather than the rough winds we had been experiencing in the Cyclades.

My friends Tara, Emily and I walked in a dream like daze (mostly because we hadn’t slept much on the rocky ferry but also because it was entrancingly beautiful) until the all too familiar cry of Greeks selling their wares snapped us into reality and we realized how hungry we were.

Our tourist outfits. That bag was 28 pounds. Don't ask how I schlepped that from beach to beach for 2 days. 

Fully equipped in our tourists outfits of sunglasses, wrinkled clothes, visors and backpacks, we tried our best to avoid the urgent card-waving/wares-peddling Greeks…but ultimately failed after being chased down by an old woman on a moped named Irene. She at least pointed us in the direction of some food and we ate microwaved spinach pie and chocolate croissants on a bench over looking the yachts and sailboats in the harbor.

At this point it was 7:00am and the food had settled our stomachs but had done nothing to wake us up, so we resolved to search for coffee along the beach. We didn’t find coffee, but we found some wonderful looking beach chairs (and nobody around to tell us we coulnd’t use them as beds) so we threw our stuff down and plopped on the chairs and slept soundly on the breach until 10:00 when blaring melody of “Tik Tok” from the beach shak behind us opened for the day.

We opened our eyes and beheld the gem like water, the beautiful stretch of beach, and the MTV spring break (euro style) vibe all around us, smiled, and went back to sleep.

Not us...but might as well be. This is where we woke up.

We made it to the tiny Kos airport after an hour long beautifully scenic taxi ride around 8:30 for an 11:45pm flight. My sunburned butt was not very happy to be sitting that long, but I guess on a positive note it was the reminder of a wonderful day.

And now, as I post this, I am back in Flensburg,  have officially washed the Mediterranean from my hair, changed the outfit I wore/slept in for 2 days straight, and am feeling ready to start the final chapter of my Fulbright journey.

Happy May Day! (And happy birthday tomorrow, Mom!)