I Left my Heart in Santorini

"On Santorini there are more donkeys than inhabitants, more churches than houses, more wine than water."

After some negative group dynamics that are bound to occur with 10 days of travel with a group of determined girls I decided to leave my friends in Athens and venture to an island that I had only dreamed about, Santorini. I have never really traveled on my own. Coming to Prague I was met with new friends and a schedule all planned and on the weekends I travel with friends so although this semester was by myself I really haven't been alone in my adventures. Going to Santorini turned out to be my best decision I think I have ever made-travel related. I knew I wanted to go to the islands but was worried that the off season would cancel many of my plans. I intended to go to Santorini for two days and then ferry to Mykonos. Although I am sure Mykonos is beautiful, I fell in love with Santorini and canceled my plans to leave the island. I stayed five days and four nights in paradise.

I stayed in Karterados which is a small area on the island. The first day I made my way through Fira (the main town) and down the winding path to the old pier where I took a tour of the volcano and hot springs. You don't have to go far to find beauty in Santorini, it was outside my window and in walking. The volcano was cool to see and the hot springs were a fun break but I'd be content in Santorini if I never left the main Island of Thira. I found a great restaurant where I met the local owners and drank wine with the family. Everyone is so nice in Santorini; it is a small-town culture that orients around family business and tradition, needless to say, they made me feel at home.

The next day I rented an ATV and a broken flower pot and two dead batteries later I was off exploring the Lighthouse and the Red Beach as well as Perissa and the windmills. On my way back to from the store I saw a group of tourists that looked utterly lost and confused, "Hey! I know them". I realized that some of my Prague mates had made their way to Santorini! I pulled up next to them on my ATV smiling, what a small island after all. I took them to dinner and we talked about the weeks' activities. Plus more wine.

The next day I explored the other side of the island, Oia and the dock where Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants was filmed (in my defense, I didn't know that until after I saw the dock)! I stopped at the side of a cliff following signs for some beach down below. I parked the quad and made my way down to my own little corner of the world. I beached (a verb: meaning you sit on your butt all day and read on the beach) until the sun went down. I returned, trying not to smile too wide so the bugs don't get in my mouth while I drive! I met my friends again for dinner and some bar hopping where we met up with some locals and a group of touring Americans. What a glorious night!

In the morning I was very sad because I knew it was my last day there. I felt like people search for happiness all their lives and at the age of 20 I had found it, on a Greek Island during off season all by myself! I drove to the beach and skipped some rocks and then headed to the best view in the world, the Caldera. I said goodbye to the island but promised I'd be back. I truly feel that this may have been my best trip I have ever done and it was alone and on my own initiative. I am very proud of myself for doing something I used to be afraid to do. I have accomplished so much and feel like I am really becoming the person I've always wanted to be! I have left a piece of my heart in Santorini.

Boats docked by the volcano

My ATV and I :]

The incredible Red Beach

the Lighthouse

My little beach

View from Caldera

Athens, Greece

Athens was an incredible surprise! It was much bigger than I originally imagined, call it my ignorance but I never really thought about Athens outside of the Acropolis. But it was a surprise to see all the culture this city has to offer.

I was warned before I left about the constant upheaval in Athens because of the Greek financial crisis. My friend went a couple weeks ago and told us a funny and somewhat frightening story about the current situation. He was couch surfing with a guy when they decided to head to Starbucks to wait for some local friends. They got to where the Starbucks had been and looked around at an empty lot filled with debris. "Oh yeah, " his host says nonchalantly, " I forgot they burned it down." I hope you have the same face I did when I heard that story; eyebrows up, eyes to the side and the expression that half laughs half cries, "wahh?.." Athens, however was very safe and being tourists we were never involved and were luckily never forced to be involved. We did see freshly painted anarchy signs and steered clear of a protest but as long as you're aware of it- there was no harm. On returning, my friends who went to Spain and Germany for the break said they saw more protest there then we saw in Greece!  The ferry strike did, however, affect a lot of people at our hostel and my friend who was supposed to go to Santorini with me. The ferry strike was to end on Wednesday at 6:00am and my ferry left at 7:25am! SO I missed the ferry strike by an hour and a half, a close call!

On finding the hostel we took a hike up Lykavittos which overlooks the whole city! At first site of the Acropolis I lost my breath! We watched the sun set over the city and were all happy to be in a city of such incredible history.

We got up early and had our sights set on exploring every archaeological site in Athens! We started with the Archaeological Museum and then went to the Acropolis and saw every ruin imaginable! We did a lot of walking and were happy to take a nap at the "Democracy mountain", the birth place of Democracy where the first group had meetings! We ate at a little cafe and I splurged on the Menu which reminded me of "Menu del Dia" in Spain. I got Greek Salad (oh the feta!) and Gyros plus fruit for dessert! Yumm... I tried Greek Baklava and fell asleep happy having accomplished so much in two days!!

First sight of the Acropolis!

The view from the top

Some incredible artifacts at the museum

Theater of Dionysus 

On top of democracy hill- post nap

Original Olympic stadium

Istanbul and Asia!

Spring break, for most college students, is a week with no school, no homework and good old fashion partying usually leading to stomach pumps, bad tattoos and is probably the number one cause of STD's. For me, Spring break is the time where I take extra hours at work and start on various art projects. This year I was able to go on a trip to somewhere I have been dying to go! Istanbul, Turkey and Athens, Greece!! Throughout this trip I had to continually stop myself and realize how lucky I was to be here. It was truly an amazing city and a fantastic trip.

We left Friday for Istanbul and got there late at night. We had some trouble finding the hostel mostly because it was in a dark alleyway off of the main street, Istiklal street, outside of Taksim Square known for its nightlife. We got some kebabs and slept after planning the next days activities! We had a full day of fun walking through the Galata area in the morning and stopping to get some famous Turkish apple tea! We walked over the bridge and visited both the Spice Bazaar and the Grand Bazaar. The salesmen picked up we were English and got rowdy saying things like, " The Spice Girls are here!" or "Lady, how can I help you spend your money." They are very eager to get you into their stores and as long as you are prepared for it, it can be quite enjoyable. For some, their methods might be too forward but if you go in with a good attitude you will see that they are just trying to make a living and when competing with 20 other businesses that sell exactly the same goods they have to get your attention. My favorite methods were in the Grand Bazaar where one man told our group that today was his mothers birthday and that every thing is free because he is celebrating his mothers birthday. Another one is they'll tell you to stop and have a free cup of tea and then after tea he will be insulted that you did not buy anything. The last was a common trip where the store owner says while you walk by that you have dropped something, when you turn to see if you had he will come up and ask you where you're from and what you're looking for and will say that what you're looking for is inside his store! We made our way to the incredible Hagia Sofia which was unlike anything I'd ever seen! We saw the Blue Mosque and made our way to the castle to see the famous Harem. Of course, we stopped and got the legendary Turkish Delight! What came as a surprise was the fabulous muscles that were sold on the side of the pier. 2 lira for a packed muscle which the seller opened and squeezed lemon onto. Needless to say, this was what I ate for dinner as I handed him sufficient money and stood there eating as many muscles as I could on the pier!

The next day we went to Asia! Turkey is part Asia and part Europe and now calls itself EuroAsia. We took a boat tour of Turkey and stopped in Asia for an hour-enough to get Ice Cream in the park. Two continents in two days...score!

Istanbul Nightlife

Making a wish!!

Galata Tower

Turkish Apple Tea

Spice Bazaar

Blue Mosque

Incredible Hagia Sofia

Inside the blue mosque!

We saw jellyfish off the pier!!

Friends and I in front of one of the many mosques!!

I am probably missing many details as this seems like a month ago that I was in Istanbul!! But it was an awesome trip and a beautiful-mosque filled city!

Running in Prague

As many of you know, before I left my little old town of Reno, Nevada I was training for a 10K run. And as much as I had planned to continue my training in Prague I have to say that I didn't follow through. I have ran a couple times here but it is no where near the amount I was running before I left. Regretfully, people don't run in Prague. I have seen maybe two runners the whole time I have been here! Prahans perhaps are too fit off their sausage and gulosh diet to ever need to run. At first I thought this might be a European thing, American's are often criticized as being lazy overweight king-size customers and so our culture puts more emphasis on running and going to the gym. But while I was in Berlin (just for two days) I saw many joggers and counted 15 in Amsterdam! There are several gyms near my apartment and I assume many in the city but what happened to fresh air and pavement under your feet? Apparently and sadly, Prague knows nothing about this.

Running in a place where running is not a norm causes confused glaces and the occasional squished face that asks, "Whaa?" But my last run really hit a soft spot in me. The people glared me down until I felt like an ugly rat scurrying around some sacred area. I couldn't concentrate on my run, I couldn't hear my music-I just shrank under their disapproval. This leads me to a very sad understanding of the Czech culture. One that I am sure is only half true and perhaps I don't know much at all but I have seen, in my experience, that Czech people have a very fearful and judgmental nature. I am sure that this goes back to the Soviet occupation of Czechloslovakia were it was illegal to wear your hair in different styles or colors and it was frowned on to wear certain colors. If you weren't "normal" in this society you were feared by the government and if you are feared than you will be killed. In one of my classes we speak of the Czech generation that is coming out of its shell and rebelling against the harshness of the 15 year regime but I honestly just do not see it. In Berlin we saw transvestites, punks, goths, hippies, hipsters-really, anything you name it! But where is this underground movement in Czech Republic?

It is maddening to say the least. I can't run with these glares on my back in a place where creativity and imagination are squashed because of these former fears that still have Czech's locked in cages. Go crazy Prague, go crazy!!

Sorryyy...weird tangent I suppose. Anyway...

Perhaps, the crucial point here is finding your place to run, finding a little oasis that you can call yours. I like to run around my apartment area and sometimes over the bridge to a large park which I can hopefully post pictures of soon and also to a small park near my university. The third has many different sites to see and I was able to post pictures (see below). I have also posted my running routes in case any readers are thinking about venturing out to the streets of Prague. Hopefully, I get out of this funk and can start running again soon!

The view is great on the top of the hill, there are some major stairs to get up and  some heavy traffic getting there but the distance is nice and makes for a good run!

This is my favorite spot because it is so convenient, get off at I.P Paplova, go all the way to the end hang a left, and go under the brigde to the park. The park is located underneath a main bridge splitting the old town with the new town. I have to go around a few times to make it worth it but there are less people here so less to stare! Here the pictures of this run:

Crossing under the bridge

What would a run be without some cool graffiti?

View from the top

See the park from below

Stairs...

more stairs...

more stairs...

Guess what these are...

Running path

child sculpture

flower sculpture

Kid's playground

Take out your earphones and hear the bells :]

I do these at 1.5mile marker. The top is pretty cool-it was blocked off today for construction so I couldn't take pics

River by running path

Happy Running! :] more to come...