Greece!!!

I’ve decided that I love Greece and I’m coming back one day when my bank doesn’t suck and I’m not confined to 4 days!!

Day 1:
I started Greece off by getting breakfast with my friends and then going to the purser’s desk every 15 minutes because my debit card had arrived but they hadn’t given it to me yet and every time I went they said “Come back in a few minutes we haven’t gotten to it.” So to kill some time before lunch me, Taryn, and Bridget went to find where the ferries were so that they could check out the prices and I could see where I had to go on day 2. After finding it we went back and ate lunch on the ship. Then a bunch of my friends headed out to the S@S trip to Athens and me, Courtney, and Taryn went to find the Metro and go to Athens. It was a really long walk but we finally found it and got our tickets. When we got on the Metro I was being a stupid tourist and I saw a ΧΩ on one the signs and a Greek guy saw me and started laughing I asked him what was funny and he asked me if I knew what the sign said and I said no and he said that the sign said something like keep the windows closed because the train is air conditioned. We ended up talking to him for a while about what to visit in Athens and what was best to eat while we were there.

When we got off the train at the Thissio stop (Alex is that spelled right?) we walked up the hill to the Acropolis. Greece was completely different than Italy. In Italy if you wanted to see a historical site they charged you for EVERYTHING. For example you had to pay to get to Vesuvius, for a bus ride up the volcano, for a ticket to climb up to the top, for the bathroom, for water, everything. At the Acropolis a student ID got you a half price ticket (only 6 euros!) and the ticket worked at about 6 different historical sites. Not to mention that while we were walking I stopped at a random café to get a cup of water and when I asked how much it was they laughed and said no charge. (Yay Greece!!). I loved the Acropolis! Courtney is taking an architecture class so she played tour guide and told us fun facts like the Parthenon was built for the goddess Athena and there used to be a huge gold statue of her in it. Also, it was built with a slight curve so that to the eye it would look straight. Those smart Greeks.

So after the Acropolis, the theater of some Greek god that starts with a D (Dionysus? Or something like that) and a bunch of other sites we did some touristy shopping and heard from a shop owner that there were some more historical sites one metro stop away. Once we paid and got down to the metro we realized we didn’t know which direction so we asked some randos and they pointed us in the right direction. When we got off the place we were going (I don’t remember the name) was already closed so we walked around until we found a place to eat. I had some kind of Kebap (haha! Aka a kabob) that was really good. After walking around a little bit and shopping a little more we headed back to the ship where I went to sleep right after getting my debit card that had FINALLY been processed.

Day 2:
I got up at 5:15 to catch a ferry to Mykonos with Georgina, Jill, and Courtney. We got to the ferry about 20 minutes early so I tried to take money out of an ATM and had an unpleasant surprise when my pin number didn’t work. Since I didn’t have a calling card and my friends offered to lend me money I didn’t worry about it right away.

After a 4 hour ferry ride (which was fun because there were a lot of S@S-ers to keep me entertained even though I forgot my iPod), we got to Mykonos and waited a long time for the bus for Villa Vissilias (the place where some friends of ours were staying and added us onto their reservation). The Villa was beautiful! It was all white and it had 3 bedrooms with 3 or 4 beds each (which was good because there were 9 of us) since we were all hungry we walked down the street and found a cute little bakery. They didn’t speak English there so we just pointed at stuff in the windows to pick what we wanted to eat. Since pretty much no stores on Mykonos took credit card (which I would have loved if I had money) Courtney paid for me. There was a fruit stand/store next door and when I went over to buy a banana the lady behind the desk gave me a mini greek lesson (Yasoo is to say hello to one person, yasass is for a bunch of people, and to say thank you you say efharisto… pardon the phonetic spelling).

 After lunch we headed back to the villa to get ready for the beach. We asked the lady who runs the villas, Maria, and her dad how to get there and they described a 20 minute walk down the road. It ended up being a 45 minute walk with lots of hills and crazy drivers but we finally got there. The beach was beautiful! The water was pretty nice but 2 girls I know had gotten there early and gotten stung by jellyfish so I was a little paranoid and made my friends swim in front of me and would swim really fast until I got to the deep water (apparently in the deep water they are farther down and can’t sting you).

We headed back after a while and I opted to walk with Courtney and Mehmet to save money. I forgot that since we had walked mostly downhill on the way to the beach it would be mostly uphill on the way back… So we finally got there and showered before heading out to get dinner. Since the bakery was closed we walked around until we found a grocery store and we all bought pizza, sandwich stuff, or pasta and I got cereal and chips as well for the next day (they took visa!!!!). When we got back our villa and the 2 other groups of S@S-ers who were staying at the same place cooked dinner in our villa because we were the only ones with a stove and oven. It was a lot of fun! Our villa was full of people cooking, playing cards, singing and dancing to an iPod, watching the sunset, sitting and relaxing, etc. it was my favorite park of Mykonos. After dinner we all hung out at the villa with the other S@S-ers and some Australians that were staying in the other villa and then went out.

Day 3:
We all got up at 10ish and had Alexa (one of my friends who is a fabulous cook) make us breakfast. Jill and Courtney left shortly after to catch a ferry back because they wanted to see more of Athens. I didn’t go because I didn’t want to go to the Olympic stadium but I shortly realized that since they left I only had 2.73€ left and I didn’t know the rest of the people in the villa well enough to borrow money (Georgina had ended up staying the night with one of her other friends).

I had some of my cereal for breakfast and then walked to the downtown with some of the other S@S-ers. They wanted to go shopping so I told them I was going to find a pay phone and I’d meet up with them later. It took me forever to figure out the pay phone. The first one I went to you had to buy a special card for and so I went to an exchange place to ask how to use it and they said to buy a phone card but the mini-mart they sent me to didn’t take visa but luckily I ran into one of my friends, Justine, and she lent me 5 euros to get a phone card. When I tried the phone again it didn’t work so I asked a random person who walked by and luckily spoke English and greek why and they said there was a phone error. I walked around until I found another phone and this one had instructions on how to place a collect call on it and I called the number Chase bank had given me when I called to tell them my itinerary. I asked the lady if my card had been activated and if the pin number was still correct and she informed me that yes it was activated but my pin number had been changed by Chase even though it isn’t supposed to be when you get a new card and that they couldn’t tell me my own pin number to protect my account and the only way I could get money was to take my passport and card to a bank to get money except that this would cost a 10% commission cost. So after some not nice language I hung up on the lady and attempted to call my house only to realize that you can’t leave a message on a collect call. So I tried Natalia’s phone but I think her number got changed when she got an iPhone because it didn’t work. Since I couldn’t remember the number for my families summer cabin and I don’t have my aunt’s number memorized and I had left my passport on the ship thinking it would be smart for it not to get stolen and my friends had all either not gone to town, were back at the ship, or were shopping I ended up completely alone with no money and unable to call anyone in a country where I can’t speak the language. I ended up walking around Mykonos crying and ended up getting lost. I saw a shop that had a visa sign and I went in to see if they sold any snacks because all I’d eaten was some cereal but they didn’t so I bought some stamps and the nice lady tried to get me to smile (I ended up buying a ring as well because she was really nice and I wanted to give her some business).

I finally found some people I knew but they kept stopping to shop and I wanted to get back to the villa and get my stuff so I could change my ferry to that day so they pointed me in the right direction and I walked the 5 km back to the villa where it was locked. So I found maria’s dad and he opened for me and as I was opening the door some of my friends came back from where ever they had been and Georgina was with them so we both grabbed our stuff and Maria’s dad nicely drove us to the new port to catch a ferry. We ran into 2 S@S-ers there one of which had a ticket for the 5:00 ferry and one of which was trying to change his as well. When we tried to get on the ferry the lady said we had to talk to this other guy. Luckily the S@S-er who was trying to change his ticket speaks greek so he did the talking. The man told us we had to go to the downtown area to change our tickets at the office or to get money out of an ATM (there wasn’t an office or ATM at the new port) but since the 5:00 ferry was the only one to Pireaus on that day and we only had a ½ hour until it left we decided to walk back to the ferry. This time I did the talking and found someone who spoke English and explained that we didn’t have any cash and our tickets were for tomorrow and asked if they knew of any other way to get back to Pireaus on that day and the guy agreed that we could ride back on the ferry and he would go with us to an ATM when we got off. Luckily about ½ way through the ride Nick found his emergency money so we could pay the guy on the ferry and I now owe Nick money too. We got back at about 9:00 and went right back to the ship since we were both starving (I’d only eaten the cereal earlier in the day) so I got back and had the single best burger I have ever eaten in my life and then called mom and aunt and we figure out what to do about money. And then I went to bed early because I was tired.

Day 4:
As horrible as day 3 was is how perfect day 4 was. I got up in time for breakfast and then got my computer and found the free wifi spot I had been hearing about for days. After spending some time on facebook and checking my regular email I went to a bank to try the visa pin number my mom had given me and IT WORKED!!!! I was so relieved that I could finally get money and pay back Courtney, Mehmet, Justine, Georgina, Nick, and Justin. I went to the grocery store after to get some junk food (S@S has the whole healthy food thing covered) and then I went back to the ship in time for lunch. After lunch me and Jill went to Athens because she never had a chance to do her tourist shopping. It was fun walking through the stores and making fun of some of the ridiculous clothes we saw and I ended up buying a pair of sandals because they were handmade by the guy who was selling them to me. We got back to the ship before the line to get our bags checked and swipe in got long and I had just enough time to write my postcards and send them before it was dinner time.

Life lessons learned in Greece:
-       Greek food= YUM!!!
-       Find a bank that takes just as good care of their customers and they take of their customer’s money (I’m looking for one… any suggestions?)
-       ALWAYS put sunscreen on your feet.

The next stop is Turkey and my plans are…

Day 1: Go to the giant market thing and maybe some palaces.
Day 2: Capadoccia
Day 3: Capadoccia
Day 4: Capadoccia
Day 5: TBD maybe visit the aquaduct or the Turkish baths… not real sure yet. Mehmet speaks Turkish and is from Cyprus so maybe I’ll ask him

Dubrovnik!!!

I LOVE CROATIA!!! I’d move there but then I would miss Chicago…

Before I get into what I did in Croatia I wanted to write down some things that I want to remember. I’ve noticed that hamburger, bus, no, and Disney are the same in every language! And according to Bridget so is magenta but I haven’t said that word in any of the countries yet. I’m keeping my eyes out for more so I’ll keep you updated. Also, I’ve noticed that the further we get into the voyage the more delightfully ridiculous the S@Sers are getting. For example, there are now running jokes about Dia (the assistant dean of students) and Roman (the captain… who by the way doesn’t even pilot the ship. It pretty much runs on auto pilot) having a love affair and people using their pillows as shields and running down the hallway and crashing into people. I love it! Its like summer camp but better. Yay S@S!

And onto croatia!
Day 1:
This day was Bridget’s (my roommate) 21st birthday!! So the first thing we did in the morning was get off the ship and get a beer. My first impression of Croatia, besides the clear water and beautiful mountains, was that a lot of people speak English. Their national language is Croatian but all the waiters/waitresses spoke English and explained Kuna to me. The Croatian currency is Kuna and the exchange rate is 5 kuna to a dollar aka. I’m a kunanaire! After sitting at the café (which was in the port… we didn’t get real far) for a while we went for a little walk toward the old town. Cadiz spoiled us and we assumed that most of the ports would be near the old historical parts of each port city but that is dead wrong. It was a 30-40 minute walk to get to the old town (ew). Since only me and Georgina had S@S trips and Bridget, Taryn, and Justine didn’t, me and Georgina went back to the ship a lot earlier than them. My trip was packed! We had about 5 buses of 40 students. We drove up the mountains to this one point where there were pretty views of Dubrovnik. The tour guide was adorable and said, “We start with nice drive up to mountains so you can have Kodak moment.” On the way up she told us random information about Dubrovnik. For example, its patron saint is Saint Blaise, the patron saint of throat diseases. On February 3rd (St. Blaise’s holiday) everyone, including exiled outlaws, go to the cities center to get their throats blessed by a priest. I thought that was hilarious so I bought a St. Blaise statue. If you ever have throat issues come visit me! When we got to the picture spot me and Georgina ended up standing on the guard rail thingy so that we could get better pictures. Then we drove to the actual old town and went on a tour of the city walls. The town is really old and so the walls were built to protect it from invaders. A lot of them were damaged in the early 90’s when the Yugoslav army attacked Dubrovnik. They had a really sad map that showed everywhere a bomb/missile (I don’t know the difference… are those the same thing?) landed and all the buildings that had burnt down. Our tour guide said that the whole town is still really sensitive about it. The walls were awesome! They have beautiful views of the city with the ocean in the background and at one point you can go really high into this old fortress and go into this little room that I call the Batcave (too much time with Zane I think…). The tour was fun but the tour guide was slow so me, Georgina, and Lexi decided to walk ahead. When we got to the ocean side of the walls we saw some people jumping off the cliffs into the Adriatic sea. We wanted to join in but I was a party pooper and forgot my swim suit. So we went and got gelato instead. After that we had to meet our tour guide for the bus ride back. When we got back we got dinner and got ready and went out for Bridget’s birthday.

Day 2:
We all decided to sleep in a bit on this day and when we woke up the ship was already tendering. Because Dubrovnik is such a popular port there were a lot of ships that needed to dock so the M/V Explorer went and anchored a little off port and we took little boats called tenders back to port. Me, Courtney, and Jill took one together right after lunch and then Taryn and Georgina met us on the dock. Since Jill, Courtney, and Georgina had an FDP, me and Taryn had to figure out what we wanted to do for the day. We decided to check out this tourist store where you could rent kayaks, buy ferry tickets, rent jet skis, etc. We decided on a ferry to an island and we asked when they were leaving and they said now (1:30) or 4:30 so we ran to catch the ferry before it left. They had just untied when we got there so we asked if we could get on and they said sure and pretty much pulled us up and then they asked what island we were going to and we said any island. We bought tickets and sat down and figured we’d just get off at any island when our friend Will who we had hung out with the day before came up and said him and his friends were sitting 2 rows behind us so we went and sat by them and asked them what island was best and they said the second island called Lopud. We got off and walked to the new beach which was GORGEOUS!! We had to walk over a big hill to get there and were gross and sweaty by the time we got there but it was worth it. The waves were huge so after we found a place to leave our stuff we went in and body surfed for a while. Then the guys (Aaron, Will, Casey, PJ, and Will) decided that they were going to launch each other into the waves. It was really funny because they flew so high! I only went twice since I was wear a bikini and they aren’t exactly made for falling into waves. After that we went to the restaurant and got burgers and I got a milkshake (yay!) we sat around for a while and just enjoyed the beach and then we walked back so that we could see the ferry when it came again. We were a little early so we went swimming on the beach on the other side of the island. It was strange because the water was really calm on that side so we just floated around for a while and skipped rocks. When there ferry came we got on and since it was the last one of the day it was packed and we ended up sitting on the front where there weren’t any seats. It was a beautiful ride back and when we got back to the dock the ship wasn’t tendering any more so we didn’t have to wait for another boat. So then we all showered and ate dinner and then some people went out but I was really tired so I went to bed early.

Day 3:
I had an S@S trip to Montenegro this day so I got up early and sat on a bus for 3 hours for the drive to Montenegro. Thank goodness I have the best little sister in the world and she gave me a bunch of CD’s for big sis reveal or I’d have been bored out of my mind! I got in trouble for taking a picture at the border too… oops. We stopped at this little medieval town called Kotor fist. We went to the old fortress and got a tour and then had a whole 15 minutes of free time! (that was sarcastic…). I ended up sitting at a café with 2 of my friends (both named sarah) and talking to the tour guide about the differences between Montenegro and America for one of my classes. Then we got back on the bus and drove up the mountain for about 3 hours (ew) it was beautiful but they only let us out twice, once to take pictures and once to sit in this cute little village and have a snack of ham and cheese on bread. That is pretty popular snack in Europe and that would be fine but the ham isn’t that great (its like mildy cooked bacon and its really hard to chew). So then after too little time in the cute little village we got back on the buses for another hour and a half to go to the main tourist town for lunch. I can’t remember the name of the town because I didn’t like it. The waiter at the restaurant ignored my table pretty much the whole time and when we finally got the lunch paid for by S@S it was mashed potatoes out of a box, soggy peas, soggy carrots, and chicken that was so hard I couldn’t cut it. I was a little crabby about this and then I remembered that Montenegro is a pretty poor country with 30% unemployment and that was probably a really good meal for their country and then I felt bad and ate the food. After dinner we had 45 minutes to walk around but the area we were in was overrun by tourist shops and so it wasn’t very interesting. So then we got back 1 ½ hours late so I got ready really fast and went out with my friends.

Day 4:
I got up super early for some reason on this day and went to the market to get groceries (aka pop). I liked grocery shopping in a foreign country because it was cool to see signs and foods similar to the US but in a different language with slightly different food. So then I got back to the ship and Bridget was awake so me, her, and Taryn went to get lunch. We went to this little sandwich shop and ordered kabobs and strangely they handed us huge sandwiches with gyros meat on it. They were delicious though! They let us pick the toppings so I got lettuce, tomatoes, corn, mayo, and some random other sauce that tasted kind of garlicy. So then we walked over to the old town and I finally got to jump off a cliff!! We had to walk through these curvy and confusing streets to find this bar that was on the outside of the city walls and so we went down and I went first from the higher cliff (40ish feet). I was pretty scared but I didn’t want to wait long to go because then I’d chicken out so I jumped and it was SO MUCH FUN! So then Taryn went off the shorter one (25ish/30ish feet) and then a guy was in line before Bridget. He was really nervous and stood there for a long time so Bridget went and talked to him and said she’d go really fast and show him where to stand and stuff and then we all cheered for him and did a count down for him to go. So then he finally went but when he got in the water he started splashing a lot and after being a lifeguard for 3 years I knew he needed help so I went and got him and dragged him over to Bridget and the two of us same him over to the rocks while Taryn climbed out so that she could help pull him up. On the way there Bridget asked if he could swim and he said, “Not really.”… Ok. Seriously? What kind of dummy jumps off a cliff into the Adriatic sea if they can’t swim?!? So after that we stood around for a while to dry off in the sun and watched other people jump. We ended up meeting some dancers on the Holland America cruise line. They were really funny because they were all scared so I told them it was like a grand jete with water at the end and they for some reason thought that was hilarious and all jumped off… so then we did some touristy shopping and got some more gelato (yum!) and went to take the bus back to the ship. The bus SUCKED. It was packed with people and it smelled horrible and it was so hot but there was no air conditioning. We ended up getting off a couple stops early and walking. The bus was so hot that the air outside actually felt cool! When we got back we got our computers and attempted to get some internet but it didn’t go well because everyone was doing the same thing. So I gave up and went to send out my postcards before on ship time.

Now we have 2 ship days, one of class and one for the Sea Olympics, before Greece. I had a test today in my second class and I’m normally fast when I take tests so I got out after 20 minutes and now I’m really bored. I already took a nap, watched a movie, and did laundry and now I’m pretty much done with my blog and I still have 2 hours until I got watch Ryder…

My only S@S trip for Greece (a service trip to a children’s village) got canceled because of some complication with the people at the village. I’m pretty bummed about that one because I was really excited about it but its fine because now I’ll just spend another day in Mykonos.

My plans are…
Day 1: Athens
Day 2: Mykonos
Day 3: Mykonos
Day 4: either Mykonos or back to the ship… I haven’t decided yet
Day 5: I can’t remember if we have 4 or 5 days in port so I’m not even sure if there is a day 5.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIM!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR TIMMY!!!!!!!!!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Have an awesome birthday and get ready to celebrate again when i get home!

So much going on!!

Ok first and foremost... HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAYLA SCHUBERT!!!! (sorry i'm a terd and didn't put that earlier)

Second... HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE W. and HAPPY early BIRTHDAY LAURA OLIN AND LAUREN COLLINS!!! (just because i'll be in croatia and most likely forget the day of). I hope all of your days are fabulous and you eat lots of sugar!

third... Ryder's family had a thank you party on their deck (yeah. they have a deck. jealous!) for all of us who help out with the toddlers and Ryder was ADORABLE as usual. He handed out all the cake and surprisingly made it to the end before stuffing his face.

finally... S@S is probably the best place i could have ever gotten pick pocketed. So far almost everyone i've talked to (including a life long learner and the dean of students) has offered to lend me money until i get it figured out. yay!!

alright its my roomie's b-day tomorrow so i have to go distract her so people can decorate!!!

Italia

So this was an interesting country...

Day 1: Roma!!!
On the first day I slept in until 8:00 and then me and my friends (and every other S@Ser) grabbed our passports from the faculty lounge and headed to the train station. The platform (Binari in Italian) was PACKED because of all of us but we (me, Bridget, Courtney, Lexi, Jill, Tiffany, Georgina, and Taryn) got seats on the train. When we finally got to Rome we walked to our hotel, a Best Western. It took FOREVER! We had to keep asking people where it was and no one spoke more than 2 or 3 words in English and its really hard to give directions in foreign languages so our typical conversation went like this…
Us- (shrugging) Best Western Globus (show then piece of paper with name and address)
Them- (look confused and then figure it out) *random Italian rambling* (points in general direction)
Us- Due minuto? (make fingers look like they’re walking)
Them- *more Italian rambling with lots of fierce pointing*
And then we would finally just walk in the direction they were telling us.

So when we finally got to our hotel it wasn’t time to check in yet so we left our bags in their storage and went to find some food. We went across the street to a gelato/panini place and we all ordered our food by pointing at random sandwiches. I got one with turkey and cheese on really good bread! The people who worked there were adorable and were really excited because they knew a couple English words (aka… they could tell us the prices in English). Then we went to find a place with vegetarian food for Tiffany and Jill and we found a place that had pizza and the Italian equivalent of grilled cheese. They do their pizza really cool. Its really thin (and fairly greasy) but they fold it in half and put it in the panini press so its like a pizza sandwich.

After that we went and checked into the hotel and got a metro map. We then bought our metro cards (I felt like I was back in Chicago!!) and we decided to go to the Colosseum first. We got off the metro and walked out and it was RIGHT across the street, which was crazy! So we walked for a little while before a guy recruited us to go on his tour of the Colusseum and the Roman Forum for only 5 euros over admission price because we were such a big group. While we were waiting for the tour to start some guy selling necklaces walked up and put one on Bridget’s neck and was trying to make a sale when the police came and chased him  away because he wasn’t supposed to be selling stuff there. But he didn’t get the necklace back before he ran away and we couldn’t find him later when we got out of the Colosseum so Bridget got a free necklace. I didn’t really listen to the tour guide much but I did hear some cool stuff about where the kept the lions and why the fighter-guys were called gladiators.

I LOVED the Colusseum though! It was really cool and I remembered seeing pictures of it in history classes but I never thought that I’d ever see the actual thing! So then we walked around the upper levels by ourselves for about an hour until it was time for the Roman forums tour. Then Jill, Courtney, and Tiffany left to go find a place to stay since we couldn’t fit more than 5 people in our hotel room and the rest of us (me, bridget, lexi, taryn, and georgina) went on the next tour.

At the beginning of it was getting really hot out so we all found a fountain and were refilling our water and were all slightly crabby from being so hot but by the time we had walked to the big area where they had sporting events the sky had turned black over the Colosseum and we could see the lightning coming (I got some really cool pictures). We got a little farther into the tour before it started downpouring. None of us had an umbrella or anything so we stood under a tree for a while and then Taryn said that she wanted to see the circus where they used to have chariot races so we walked around in the pouring rain for a little while and never found it. When we were completely soaked we decided it might be a good idea to head back to the hotel so we walked back in the rain to the metro. When we got out at our stop (Policlinico) it was barely drizzling any more…

So we all took showers and got ready and headed out to a Canada day bar crawl at the Spanish steps. I had a good time and it was crazy because there were about 250 people there and the vast majority of us were S@S.

Day 2:
We (me, bridget, georgina, taryn, and lexi) started the day by waking up early for the free breakfast at the hotel and then heading out for the Vatican. We waited in line outside for a while. The big square/circle area out front was really cool. I was talking to someone when we got back to the ship and they said that it was supposed to resemble a keyhole for some reason. So we finally got inside and went to the basement to see the graves of the dead popes. It was pretty interesting but a little creepy at the same time because there were a bunch of statues of dead people all over…

So then we went to St. Peter’s Basilica and looked around for a while. It was HUGE and beautiful. It was really cool too because the way the windows were put in made it so that there were beams of light like spotlights. We took a bunch of pictures and then Lexi wanted to go to the gift shop so we went there. Unfortunately the credit card machine there was broken so the nun’s running the counter had to call the credit card companies to charge people and they kept dialing the wrong numbers and typing in the wrong things… So the rest of us had to wait while they tried to figure out Lexi’s card and they ended up accidentally charging her 136 euros instead of 30.60 euros. So once she got that all sorted out we decided to climb up to the Cupola. The first stairs lead up to the circular area in the ceiling of St. Peter’s and we were so high up that all the people looked really tiny. Then as we were heading out we saw a sign that said Cupola and had an arrow pointing to more stairs so we climbed all the way up them and they were really small and twisty and reminded me of climbing down to the catacombs in Paris except that they were going in the other direction. After a lot of climbing we FINALLY made it to the top and it was so cool! You could see all of Rome and it was all a similar color scheme (orangeish/redish colors) so it was hard to tell where one building ended and another began.

We made the long walk all the way back down and headed back to the hotel because I forgot my debit card (foreshadowing maybe?) and we ended up taking naps before heading out again to a Roman Forum bar crawl.

Day 3:
Since this was our last day in Rome we decided to fit in as much as possible. We went to Trevi fountain first and I threw in a coin. The funny thing about the coin is that on day 2 before we went out I bought a pop and I had given my money to my friend to hold because she had her wallet with her and I didn’t and she told me that she would probably lose the 20 cent coin that I gave her but the rest of it would be fine and miraculously, even with all the dancing we did, my 20 cent coin made it back to the hotel that night so I threw it in the fountain. After that we got gelato and walked to Piazza Navona. On the way we walked by the Pantheon (or was it the Parthenon… I don’t know I can’t tell them apart. Whichever one is a really old church). And we walked around there briefly and took some pictures. On the way out I went to take a picture of these 2 guys sleeping against one of the pillars out front and one of the guys woke up and gave me a really weird look…

So then we finally made it to Piazza Navona  and we walked around for a little while. After that it was getting kind of late so we headed back to the hotel to get food from the little sandwich shop again and get our bags and headed to the train station. It took us a while to figure out how to buy the tickets and find the platform. We got back to the boat (and didn’t get dock time! Yay) and sat around until it was time to head out.

Day 4:
When we woke up we were already in Naples so we got ready real fast and went to head to Capri but when we got to the ferry station it was 29 euros just for the boat ride there and back (and since its really touristy its very expensive) so we decided to go to Pompeii/Vesuvius instead. It took FOREVER to find the train station. We had to ask for directions about 20 times and no one spoke English so it was like being in Rome again except that Naples is a lot sketchier. We (me, Bridget, Taryn, and Georgina) finally made it to the train and all fell asleep on the way there. When we got off we got gelato and went to Pompeii. Unfortunately it was 11 euros and Taryn had forgotten her credit card so we decided to go to Vesuvius instead. So we got bus tickets that would take us most of the way up the volcano. Since the bus didn’t leave for a while we got giant calzones for lunch and waited around. The bus ride up was beautiful and nice and air conditioned (it is really REALLY hot in Italy) when we finally got to where the bus stopped we had the nasty surprise that we had to buy tickets to climb the rest of the way so we got our tickets and headed up. I looked ridiculous because I was still wearing my swim suit, dress, and flip flops that I was going to wear to Capri and carrying a big old bag with a towel in it… But I climbed all the way up and we got beautiful views of the bay and looked in the crater, which was pretty cool. So then my friends tried to trade me for some Pringles and Lemoncello (jokingly! ☺) and we headed back down to the bus. When we got back we had dinner on the ship and went out with the rest of the S@Sers to celebrate the 4th.

Day 5:
This day sucked. I wasn’t feeling well and Naples is sketchy so I was going to stay on the ship all day and try to get some free internet but I had some last minute shopping to do so my friend Jill and I headed out. We got to the first store and I found a dress that I liked a lot and went to try it on. When I went to check to see if I had enough money to buy it my money belt was gone. We hurried back to the ship so I could check and see if I had accidentally left it in my cabin (which I hadn’t). Thankfully I have the best mom in the world and she called the bank for me right away to get my debit card turned off and figured out how to get a new debit card to me (hopefully by Greece). Then the whole ship took a picture out on the decks and when we took off I went to see Dr. Milt (who we sometimes call Dr. Tallywacker because of a very funny speech he gave at a preport lecture) and he told me that I caught a virus that’s been going around the boat and I should take ibuprofen and rest a lot.

Overall I felt like Italy was like Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde (yeah that’s probably spelled wrong but you know what I mean). I loved Rome and it was beautiful and I had a great time but then Naples was dirty and sketchy and all the girls here could be dressed like nuns and still get whistled at in the street on top of being sick and getting pick pocketed. I’m excited to get to Croatia and lay low for a little while.

Until then I’m taking as many naps as possible. S@S is really tricky because you only have 4 or 5 days in every country so you have to make the most of it and then you have 1 or 2 days of class in between countries so you have to get all your work done really fast and wake up early for class. I haven’t been this sleep deprived since high school.

Tomorrow I get to croatia and since I only have 100 Kuna ($20) I am being as cheap as possible. I do have a couple S@S trips (a city orientation, some island trip, and Montenegro) but other than that i'm going to have to get creative.

LIZ CADWELL AND SARAH SHIELDS READ THIS POST!

Hey friends... i don't know why but my email won't let me send anything your email addresses. I have a post card to send you but no address! can you email it to me? preferable by 11:00 AM your time (6:00 my time) so that i can send it from italy but if you can't thats fine i'll just send it from croatia.

oh yeah almost forgot HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE!!!!!

and HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAIMEE AND MEGAN!!!!!!

Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday dear Jaimee and Meeeeeeeegaaaaaan...
Happy birthday to you!!!!!!!!


ps. sorry about the ridiculous use of all caps...

Independence day!!... with gelato

Hey friends!!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!! and happy birthday Jaimee and Megan!!! (i'd type out the song but i'm lazy and its 2:47 AM right now...)

i'll post about italy eventually... and by eventually i mean in 2 days when we have a ship day between croatia and italy (yay! i'm tired! i have been going on 5 hours of sleep a night for the past 2 weeks!)