Photo recap... {take 3}

So a little more time elapsed...

the weather here has gone from a bit cloudy and warm to today's warm, breezy, sun-filled day. All of the blooming trees were bursting with colour and the occasional gust would make the petals flutter through the air like snow. After an early dinner, a few of my flatmates and I walked to campus in the nice weather to see Brandon's play. It was a well directed and artistically performed piece - it was fun to go see a performance in which there was someone I knew... (it will be fun next year to go see all of the concerts, recitals and other various performances at Luther). We stepped out to walk home and it was raining a bit - we called a cab. Today, I also finally figured out my academic to-do list for the next month or so. To say the least - it is depressing. So, with all of that in mind I am choosing to reminisce about break... here are a few glimpses of the phenomenal last few days of break in Greece with Mary...

This was the sky. It was blue. And completely cloudless. We arrived safely in Greece late one night after flying into our island as the sun was setting... which was nice to see from several thousand feet up in the air... and we fell asleep as soon as we had checked into our little place. We spent the next day getting a feel for the island and exploring the beaches near by. We went grocery shopping so we could eat our meals on one of our two balconies overlooking the Aegean Sea in the distance. The owner of our 'villa' was young, incredibly friendly, and very knowledgeable about the area. We enjoyed talking with her and appreciated her advice.

The second full day we were in Santorini, we took a guided tour of the island and the surrounding area. Our means of transportation was a large wooden sailboat and we went from the port, to the half sunken volcano in the center of the island, climbed the volcano, then to the hot springs (where I jumped off the boat and swam to the hot springs with just one other adventuresome girl), and then to the town on the far side of the island called Oia for the sunset.

This is a view of Oia from our lovely boat...
Once there, Mary and I had a few hours to waste before the sunset, so after wandering through some dangerously cute shops, we decided to do what better way to spend time than eat excellent food with an unbeatable view... We found just the right restaurant and had a long, relaxed, Greek meal. We started with two simple, but incredible appetizers, split a wonderful salad with all kinds of good things on it (feta, olives, pine nuts, REAL tomatoes, etc.), and then we each had a fish dish. Mary devoured her prawns and I enjoyed my sea bass immensely. The view looked something like this:

...the manager was jovial and kind, yet professional, and at the end of our two hour meal, he came out to offer us a complimentary local wine to 'warm you up for the setting of the sun'. Satisfied and happy, we made our way back to the top of the hill, through the friendly stray cats and dogs, to watch the sunset. Watching the sun sink below the sea on the horizon while mountainous islands appeared out of the ocean in the distance was really something - but there were quite a few people around. None the less, the sunset was a great end to a wonderful day.

The next day, Mary and I were well rested, so we decided we needed a more independent way to explore the island. We rented a four-wheeler (because they are safer than scooters and we wouldn't want our parents to worry and all sorts of good reasons). Anyway, we discovered a red lava beach, a light house and countless beautiful views from the cliffs and coast of Santorini. And it was fun to ride and drive the four wheeler... it has been over 7 months since I have driven anything.

In case you can't tell, that it is me. The cliffs at the base of the lighthouse proved to be a great place to relax and a perfect place to watch the sun set. We returned later that night and took countless photos of the sun, the cliffs, the islands, and everything in between.

After much exploration, sunbathing, good food and beautiful sunsets, our five days in Greece were almost up. Mary and I were lucky enough to have a late flight back to Athens on the last day, so we took full advantage of our final day on the island. We ventured to the main city on the other side of the island to do a bit of shopping and get a gyro... somehow we had not eaten one yet, and it was on Mary's to-do list... so we took care of that. We returned to Perissa Beach, ate the last of our fresh produce and groceries for an early dinner, read on our black lava beach for a few hours, packed up and left. And that was that. Although we were only in Santorini for four nights, it was enough for me to fall in love with Greece. The people were the friendliest that I have met in Europe, the weather was beautiful (even in early April), the food was simple, but good and it was overall a wonderful experience. I would love to go back and explore more of the islands, spend time in Athens (I suppose it should be done...) and see some of the rural mainland as well. The list of places to go and things to see in the future just keeps getting longer.

This weekend I am going to start a few research papers and take care of some preliminary revising... I hope. Megan is coming from Nantes to visit Notts (and Kev and I), so we will be busy showing her around. Another late night has snuck up on me, so I'm off to bed. Good night, good luck Norse at Drake and Loras, and happy spring!

Photo recap... {take 2}

The first day there, we stripped off our socks, wore flip flops all day, and walked in the med...

The market was amazing, the spices were fragrant and beautiful...

The views were beautiful in Monaco, even if it wasn't my favorite place...

As soon as we got to Italy, we began the consumption of gelato...

Florence from the Michelangelo's Piazza... I have this thing for sunsets as you will later see...

Our first night in Rome, we stumbled upon an Irish pub showing the Twins game - Aaron insisted we stay and watch and inning. The game began at 1:30 am. We walked home much later and we found the colosseum on accident. it was a nice surprise.

One of the ceilings within the vatican museum - almost every ceiling was better than the last.

This was the BEST gelato that I had during my stay in Italy. I can't remember the name of the flavour, just the wonderfulness that it was. Thanks Primavera, Sorrento!

The rest of the group from Sorrento with their delicious flavours...


Part of the ruins at Pompeii, it was a day full of education, awe, and sun...

The view of Mt. Vesuvius from Sorrento... Naples was visible on clear days too...

As I flew into Nice, the Mediterranean was as blue as could be and the weather was sunny and warm. I found our cosy little apartment without too much trouble and met up with three of my flatmates. Mary and Em were just stopping by for the night, so we went grocery shopping and then cooked a big family meal. It was great to catch up with eachother - it seemed longer than only a week and a half apart. The girls left early the next morning and I spent the next three days with the boys exploring the markets of Nice (amazing produce, spices, olives, you name it!), the parks (with mosaics of Odysseus...)and even a day trip to Monaco. We sunbathed on the rocky beaches, actually carried our dinner to the beach in bowls one night for a picnic, and chucked rocks into the Med for entertainment. It was another place that I have decided that I will return to in the future... that list is growing longer and longer...

From Nice, I took the train with the three boys to Florence. Brando went off to meet up with Mary and Kevin, Aaron and I found our B&B on the edges of the city. We enjoyed taking it easy in Florence, that seemed to be the theme of this break - relaxing, sun, and gelato. The food was great - we had a wonderful meal of true Italian pizza, gelato every day and actually a meal of kebabs was in there somewhere too. We waited for hours to get into the Uffizi galleries and the Academia was a long wait as well, but it was worth it. The art was incredible, but the number of tourists was not appreciated. I suppose it was our own fault going there over Easter holiday. On Easter, the three of us opened our lone easter egg on a bridge while looking at the pontevecchio and thought longingly of our Easter baskets of years past... we soon got over our lack of chocolate when the church service provided fireworks and rocket powered doves. It was quite the experience.

From Florence, we headed to Rome by train. We settled into our B&B there and forged through the crowds. We saw the Pantheon, the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's Basilica, and all kinds of other important and famous things (Trevi Fountain, Colosseum, Roman Forum, Piazza di Popolo, Spanish Steps... etc). The gelato was good again and it was beautiful weather. We cooked a few simple meals in our B&B (fresh pasta of course) and before we knew it we were off to the train station again. We met Kate in the train station and then met Mary and Emily in the Naples train station and headed to Sorrento.

Sorrento is on the southwestern coast of Italy, not far from Naples, on a peninsula. We spent a day in Pompeii... the ruins are incredible and much more extensive than I had ever known or imagined before. It was worth out 11 Euro - with out a doubt. At somepoint, every day, we all made a point of getting gelato - it never got old - and we found time to cook family meals in our great flat. We did go out for dinner one night... there was live piano music, candlelight, and phenomenal food. The beaches of Sorrento weren't all that great, but the nearly intoxicating scent of orange blossoms that was always in the air, plus the fun markets made up for the lack of good beaches. With one day left, Em and Aaron headed out to make their way to Athens and then Istanbul... on the last day in Italy, Mary and I were on a train before 7am to begin our trek to Greece... Kate left later in the day to meander her way to Istanbul as well and Kev left last to spend some time on the sandy beaches of Northeastern Italy.

It is officially way past my bedtime (funny how that happens with internet allowing you to talk with friends at home so easily), so I will just have to finish the last post about break tomorrow...

Just incase you couldn't tell from the pictures on Picasa, I loved Greece... so it may turn into an epic post. Good night, sleep tight, and thanks for all of the love from the States - it is great to hear from you all.

Photo recap... {take 1}

At long last, all of my photos are up on Picasa, so please go watch all 219 of them on the lovely slideshow feature. I am proud to say that I was gone for a full month and I only posted 219 of the 400 some photos I took - which is MUCH better than the 278 out of 700-ish photos from Christmas holiday (it was a full week shorter). Granted I went to eleven cities in eight countries over those three weeks and this time it was only eight cities in five countries this time... and yes, I did just say ONLY... Anyway, it was the perfect vacation in my mind, I can't think of what I would change. To give you a taste of the massive slideshow here are a few good ones...

Galway harbor...

The dramatic Cliffs of Moher - a lovely day trip showed us these

the cute afraid of heights couple peering over a cliff

Guiness factory - fresh pint overlooking the city of Dublin

Trinity College in Dublin...

To recap, Ireland was a good start to the break. It was wonderful to see Molly again and get to see where she is studying, living and learning. Galway was beautiful and relaxed. Mary, Brandon and I gave Mol a chance to write some papers and headed out to see the Cliffs of Moher and some other neat sights around Galway. Mary left from there to see her parents in Paris and then Brandon and I moved onto Dublin (via non traditional transportation... ). Brandon and I saw all of the main sights and avoided the heaviest rains. It was neat to finally see to Ireland. We even got to go on a musical pub crawl to hear traditional Irish music and drink a bit of Guiness and Bulmers (cider... for those of you that have never had English or Irish cider... put it on your to do list). However, after only three days in Dublin, I was ready for something less touristy...

Fortunately, I headed to London for a few days... by MYSELF. While it was not new territory or anything special, I really enjoyed travelling alone. I stayed in a nice place we had stayed in before and spent my time walking along the Thames, having picnic lunches in parks, seeing the monuments I had not yet seen, and reading in random sunny spots.

Well rested and happy with my alone travel, I headed back to the airport to fly to Southern France.

back to notts for the last time...

after a month long adventure across the continent and other random islands (ireland and santorini) five of the nine are back in the flat. tomorrow we await the return of the rest of our flatmates and prepare ourselves for the next six weeks. the planes, trains and automobiles (and boats and hiking) of break are not to be forgotten and i will be sure to document it all once i get the chance to breathe and dabble through my pictures. as for now, i have been up since 5am greece time (3am gmt) and it is nearing eleven o'clock here, so i need a bit of sleep. let me just say this...

as mary and i traveled from santorini to athens last night and then from athens to london and up to notts this morning, there was a common theme in our thoughts. we could not help, but dwell on the fact that this is the last 'homecoming' for us to nottingham. the past seven months have streaked past us. we have missed those at home and missed many happenings of trivial and meaningful nature, but what we realized is that the biggest change has actually occurred in ourselves. although it is hard to pinpoint just what is different, our outlook on life, how we will live the rest of it, and how we interact with people - it has all been forever altered, for the better as far as we can tell. we have seen more of the world in the last year that i ever thought i would get the chance to. i have had the opportunity to look at my home nation from many different perspectives and going back to that culture which seems so far removed, and yet so close in this globalized world, will be an experience in itself. the next six weeks will be challenging academically and emotionally. it seems as thought i am already caught up in the year to come. from housemates and jobs to classes and training for xc - it can be difficult to consciously soak up every last bit of nottingham. i refuse to start an official countdown, but in my head, i keep thinking to myself... only six weeks... two of classes, a few of exams and papers, and then a week to say goodbye to the place that i have called home for a year. i will miss nottingham and the friends i have made here, but perhaps the more devastating part is leaving my eight other flatmates, knowing that i will not see the people that became my friends/family/colleagues for months... separation from those that can understand the experience only as a notter can. i struggle to imagine what this summer will really be like, not being able to share every moment, emotion, and wandering thought with one of eight of my closest people. and that is merely my flatmates. to be separated from a mentor/parental figure once again will certainly be different. mark and carol are our adoptive parents for the year. we have griped about them in regards to classwork and early departures for trips, but in the end, they have been there, guiding us through a challenging year, helping us to make the most of something that we could not grasp as naive 20 year olds coming to england in september. while i cannot stop thinking and obsessing over my return on june fifth, part of the obsession is wondering how we will go off to different cities and states to live our summer lives separately - for me theoretically, this summer will be much the same as last, but how can it be? after a year of travel abroad and a year of change, life in decorah will be welcomed, but yet i know i cannot imagine how small luther's home town will feel once i return. needless to say i am anxious to see family and friends, but undoubtedly apprehensive. perhaps walking up to the flat this afternoon to find all of our trees in full bloom and being welcomed back by three flatmates and mark and carol made all of these thoughts a bit more intense... that and a lack of sleep. either way, those are my musings on life as it stands now. i hope all is well in the states and more is to come about break... and pictures too.

good night, sleep tight, talk to you all soon...

Happy Easter!!!

Happy Easter from Florence :)

All is well and tomorrow brings Rome and then later onto Sorrento.

Enjoy the weather (where it is warm) and eat lots of chocolate eggs for me.

Hugs and Love.

Ciao!

Southern France and London too I suppose...

After Ireland, seeing Molly was great and Dublin was fun (I got to see the Guiness factory) I headed to London by myself for a few days. The weather was beautiful so I spent a lot of time walking around the city. I saw all of the major tourist attractions that I had not seen yet and even got to hear an evensong service at Westminster, which was beautiful.

I am now in Nice and have been here for the past four days with Aaron, Brandon and Kevin. We have been staying in a really cute apartment close to the beach, going out for coffee and gelato, and eating wonderful food in our flat from the grocery store and the market in Old Nice. We made it to Monaco yesterday for a bit (it was neat to go to such a small country) and this afternoon we laid on the beach to soak up some rays. Tomorrow I am headed to Florence and then on to Rome. This has been a good holiday so far... and I haven't even used my Eurail pass yet! I hope all is well. Keep in touch! Au revoir.