Swiss Chocolate, Swiss Trains, Swiss Hiking OH MY!

Bonjour (guess where I was this weekend?), 

Back from another weekend trip outside of Italy feelin happy and tired, accomplished and cultured (as is common after traveling). I should be studying for Theology but I think listening to music and blogging take #1 priority right now. 

Our long weekend trip spent in Switzerland ended with us not wanting to come back to Rome. Yes. Not. Wanting. To. Come. Back. To. Rome. I know that sounds really pathetic and bad, but our trip to Switz was perfect. It was perfect, it was much needed, and it was rejuvenating and we just knew that as soon as we were back in good ole Rome,  the wonderfully hectic Rome life would slap us in the face and wake us from our Swiss dreams....

(Disclaimer: We adore Rome of course but it takes a while to adjust back to a city like Rome after three days in the land of Switzerland) 

So on Friday morning I flew from Rome FCO to Geneva, Switzerland accompained by Colleen and two of our other friends whom Colleen and I have become close with while abroad (new friends are always great to travel with). We landed in Geneva and we were welcomed in by a family friend of Colleen's whose house we would be staying at. Little did we know that this lady, Mrs. Wulf, would be the most amazing hostess, incredible cook, generous and accommodating woman that we could have asked for. She took us to her cute apartment (it was basically a house) that was in Tannay, Switerland and we dropped our stuff off and had some tea and coffee. If I needed any reminder that I was in Switzerland all I had to do was consult the kitchen wall in the Wulf's house which had a HUGE Swiss clock ticking away. It was so very Swiss and so very perfect. 

Bundled in our NorthFace jackets, gloves, and boots we headed out the door for an afternoon of touring around downtown Geneva with Mrs. Wulf as our tour guide. The weather was rather chilly, very windy, and cloudy but it was refreshing. We weren't breathing in the smells of a large very compact city like Rome but instead were able to enjoy the brisk, clean air of Geneva. We went to the Flower Clock and climbed two towers from which we got to view Geneva and the surrounding areas.  For lunch Mrs. Wulf took us to a very well known French restaurant that served all you can eat steak with this incredible sauce, and french fries. We also had some very good red wine that comlemneted the red wine perfectly. Look at me, talking about what wines go with what food...Oh la la I feel so well versed. The meat was so perfectly cooked and the fries so tasteful and crunchy, I even had a couple bites of my first Creme Brulee for dessert. After our meal we walked around downtown Geneva some more, went into multiple chocolate shops, and marveled at the clothing and fancy designer shops that were everywhere along the streets and went into a cute little shop with little interior home decorations. We walked to a park where they had large chess games and an ice skating rink and saw the famous Founders wall. We impersonated them and I think we make some pretty good Founders if I do say so myself. Before we headed back to the house on the train we made a pit stop in a Starbucks. Oh my, I had mix feeling about stepping foot and encountering that long lost lover of mine. That oh so familiar smell of Starbucks coffee, but the knowledge that Starbucks coffee now has so much to meet as far as my European coffee standards go was very sad.... nevertheless I got a Cafe Mocha and they even spelled my name right....kinda...André is close enough, they even included the accent...but Andrée is a French name so it was kinda expected.

Rachel, me, Colleen and Clare at the flower clock

View of Geneva from the top of a tower we climbed

In the evening we all thoroughly enjoyed a famous Swiss meal that was home cooked by Mrs. Wulf. Melted cheese over potatoes, pickles and onions. Yes yum. Macaroons for dessert. More tasty than I imagined they would be with flavors like coffee, hazelnut, lemon, and raspberry. We also had some bubbly white wine at dinner, oh we were being treated so well. After dinner the four of us gravitated towards the living room with a huge comfy couch, pillows and a TV. Living in a hotel is very nice yes but I miss houses, especially couches and comfortable pillows. Also I miss the feeling of being able to just relax and recline while watching a movie with the family. So thats what we did while watching My Big Fat Greek Wedding. We were all on could nine.... 

So happy and so comfy 

The next morning after a very hearty breakfast Colleen and I ventured out to the train station in the next town to take on a day of hiking though the vineyards of Switzerland! First things first. Swiss trains are amazing and Swiss train schedules are complicated as heck. If the schedule says 12:47 than you better bet that the train is leaving at 12:47:00 on the dot. And it will arrive in the next town at 12:53 ON THE DOT. I was just so amazed.... Rome has not left much faith in me as far as times for buses and trains. Its ok Rome, for what you lack in punctuality you make up for in other areas. Colleen and I made it to the town of Lutry where we began our hike. Our vineyard hike exceeded our expectations. It was a three hour hike of adventuresome exploring, rerouting, panting and climbing, photo ops, and lots of stopping and gazing in awe of the scene and land that stretched all around us. We walked up and down little paths, along streams up steep slopes around bends, through towns, in and out of vineyards and through tunnels. For most of the duration of the hike we were relying on small little yellow signs that pointed us in the direction of the next town or the next path we were supposed to take and that worked for about 2/3 of our hike. At about hour 2 and 15 minutes we kind of lost track of our yellow signs but we knew we were supposed to end up in a little town called Cully. Well a large sign pointed "up" to Cully but our little sheet of directions told us it was "down". I don't know why but we chose to follow the sign and headed up the hill.... at this point we were kinda close to giving up and saying "eh we got this far this is good enough right" but we ventured up a little further and boy am I glad we did so because I am pretty sure a little European angle was watching over us and decided to direct us up the hill to a happy little haven we found. A self serve wine shop. We had no idea what it was but at this point we knew we wanted wine and so we were going in. I was expecting somebody to come out and help us but nobody did. Instead we entered the little shop and discovered it was all do it your self. We were so excited. However Colleen and Andree do not have much wine experience and so we simply  chose a bottle of white wine that was 11,50 francs and went with it. It was perfect to us. We filled out our form, put it in the box and slipped our money in the money box. Happy hikers with a bottle of wine that we deserved. Thank you Europe for being so trust worthy of your inhabitants. If only you could teach America a little about this idea....

Colleen in the self serve wine shop

Ok so we were determined to make it to Cully and we finally did after we asked a women where exactly we were and she told us to go down through the vineyards to the small town of Cully. So that we did, we winded in and out of the rows of vineyards and made it to our destination! A thing about French people... they are very modest when it comes to admitting that they do in fact speak english. Multiple times Colleen and I had to ask people directions and we always ask if they speak english and their response is always "a little" to which they are then able to understand completely everything we ask and point us in the next direction. When I tell people I speak "a little" italian. I mean a little, un po, and you arnt gonna get much out of me except for a blank stare, maybe a couple words, if you start asking me questions so those French people are pretty modest if I do say so myself.... 

We walked down to the pier in Cully and found a bench that was right near the water. We opened our backpack and untwisted our screw top wine bottle (they were really thinking about hikers like us with the screw tops weren't they?), opened our goldfish, carmel corn and Swiss chocolate and we had a little picnic. It was pretty cold at this point and cloudy, (we definitely could not see the mountains) but we were in the best mood and ready to enjoy the next hour of wine drinking and munching. Another thing. Swiss chocolate. Oh my. Creamy, dense, rich, and perfectly soft with a taste that lingers in your mouth and a heavenly sensation when it fills your stomach. Swiss chocolate and Swiss wine on a pier in Cully Switz. TO LIFE!

Two happy girls hiking through vineyards in Switzerland

We walked up to the train station after about an hour, shivering but loving life and waited for the next train to take us back to Tannay. Our tickets technically only allowed us to go to Nyon but us being expert Swiss train riders and schedule readers by this point figured out if we took the train that came at 5:41 on platform 9 instead of the train that came at 5:33 from platform 8 we could get closer to our destination and we could walk home instead of having to be picked up. So we took the train from platform 9 and 30 minutes later we were walking up the street to the Wulf residence. A day of Swiss hiking, map reading, train schedule confusion, train hopping and eventual Swiss train system navigation and epiphany and then walking back through a town that we only saw once in the daylight and making it safely home by 6:30pm. A golden star day for the expert student travelers. 

Our faces at the sight of a Swiss train schedule...

After a wonderful Wulf meal of chicken, potatoes, corn, broccli, and bread with wine and ice cream for dessert I climbed into bed so so so happy and so utterly pleased with our successful adventures though Switzerland. 

Today we went to mass at a Catholic Church in Geneva and us four girls got to bring up the gifts at mass. Second time for Colleen and I. Once in Rome and once in Switzerland. Where will we be next? Another high five between Colleen and I after we sat back down in our seats. 2:00pm came all too quickly and we were dropped off at the "Kiss and Fly" section as it is so adorably called at the Geneva airport. We went through security and purchased the necessary bars of Swiss chocolate to take home with us. I bought 6 bars. We boarded our EasyJet flight and headed back home. 

Switzerland was a real treat. We were so warmly accepted into a home, taken care of, fed incredible meals, and we got to expereince so much Swiss culture in only two and a half days. And we loved it so much we didnt even want to come back to Rome?! That's a statement right there. I will return Switzerland no worries...

On our flight back Colleen and I mapped out the course of our post SMC graduation trip we are going to take through Europe. I love traveling now. Traveling is valuable in an infinite amount of ways as is evident through my blog posts and my travels will not stop after my abroad experience is over.

Four days of class this week and than hopefully a trip to Milan this upcoming weekend! So much Europe, so little time.... well that's all for now, I should probably sleep when I am given the opportunity :)

Hugs and happiness from the wanna-be Italian, wanna-be Swiss girl,

Andrée  

Southern Italy and 100+ Views of Paradise

Well hello all!

Sunday afternoon here in Rome, its rainy and COOL! I do believe some sort of cool front is arriving and we may be getting a nice taste of "fall" in Rome for the next week or so. Definitely not complaining.

Last Tuesday our whole group embarked on a trip to Southern Italy. In a way it was kind of like our fall break because we didn't have classes and two of the days were pure vacation like days. We traveled my motor coach to six different cities/sites and visited many historically significant sites and got to experience much of ancient Roman culture. We also had the pleasure of spending two days in paradise while traveling along Amalfi Coast and spending a day in Capri while witnessing some 100+ views of what heaven must looks like. Those five days were simply wonderful, a perfect mix of educational experiences and historical investigation (walking around ruins and excavations) and leisure. Each day was packed from start to finish and our amazing tour guides (aka professors) and program director deserve a huge job well done for planing the trip and making it go as smoothly as it went. Here I will try and describe to you a little bit of my favorite parts of each day in Southern Italy and highlight the things that were just really spectacular.

Herculaneum and Pompeii
Day one was spent in Herculaneum and Pompeii where we adventured through the ruins and excavations while listening to presentations by our fellow class mates and being further intrigued by the insightfulness of our Art History and Archeology professors who also served as the tour guides during our trip. Wandering around ruins and excavations all day is very beneficial for the imagination and for the adventurer that is in each person. I always find myself trying to imagine exactly how each of the cities and areas were constructed and what kind of communication and interactions were going on. In Pompeii we walked along the original cobblestone streets (rather difficult because they are large stones, some chipped some some jutting up) that ran down the middle of the excavations and ruins so it was like you could almost put yourself back into time and envision yourself as a part of the society and culture of Pompeii. One of the ruins that we came upon had the word "HAVE" which means welcome spelled out in tiles just outside and would have been equivalent to a welcome mat that we have outside our houses today. I thought that was pretty nifty.

Colleen and I take on Pompeii 

After we finished at Pompeii (they actually had to shoo us out of the area because we were all just so eager to stay longer...not really we still had presentations to finish) we got back on our bus and headed to our hotel! Our hotel was in the city of Pompeii and so it was situated just in the middle of all the places we traveled, about one to two hours from each place, which was perfect. The dinners that the hotel served us were so great. We ate at 7:00 each night and each of the dinners lasted two hours, I am not kidding. Definitely learning the art of patience and dinner talk as well as experiencing and participating in the effects of tired, slightly immature Saint Mary's girls who have to sit at a table for two hours after a long day. We really appreciated the dinners at the hotel because they always replaced our empty water bottles and we didn't even have to ask. We all have become slightly annoyed at the fact that in Rome when you ask for tap water you get an annoyed look and then they bring you a small pitcher of water that must be shared among 6-8 people and last through out the whole dinner. No wonder we are so dehydrated and have more wine in our bodies than water....sheesh.

One of the best things about our nights in Southern Italy were that we didn't have anything to do because there was crappy WiFi (sometimes nonexistent) and we didn't really know our way around the area so everybody was in bed by 10 or 11 each night. Man it was amazing. Granted we did have to get up around 7am each morning.

Amalfi Drive and Coast
Day number two started out with a continental breakfast which we all devoured and appreciated so greatly. For the past six weeks most of our breakfasts have consisted of fruit or a cornetto and maybe a cappuccino so to have a variety of breads, and rolls, and toast (oh how I have missed toast and butter) as well as EGGS, and yogurt and orange juice to drink was great. We looked forward to this breakfast so much we even got up 15 minutes early one morning so we could make it there before all of the good food was gone. We loaded our bus and sat back as we enjoyed an hour of the most beautiful, breathtaking, paradise like and heavenly views I have ever seen. We had to take two smaller buses because the roads along the Amalfi Coast were too narrow and winding. As we neared Amalfi the views just got more expansive. The sky was a gift from above. Bright blue and the only signs of clouds were the transparent wispy kinds that lined the sky like a painter had just lightly stroked them in. Amalfi, amalfi, oh my. Little pink, blue and white houses lined the sides of the massive hills that overlooked the coast of the sea. We arrived in Amalfi around nine and we were able to spend around five hours there. During our time we toured a Cathedral in which Saint Andrew was buried, we walked through the shop area and we also spent time sitting on large rocks on a pier.

Amalfi and Capri are both known for limoncello so of course we all had to get some. There were specific shops that were filled with hundreds of limoncello bottles, lemon soap and the most wondrous lemon candy that I have ever tasted. We went into one shop and together we all bought so much limoncello that they lady kindly gave us a discount on the lemon candies. I can assure you that on that day Amalfi's limoncello business spiked immensely from the amount that all of the Saint Mary's girls bought.  That wasn't even the best part. After we bought our limoncello and had lunch we all went to the pier and one of my friends and I poured ourselves a small amount of the drink in these cute little limoncello wine glasses we bought. We clinked our glass and toasted to the most picturesque moment that we created. Sitting on a pier on the Amalfi Coast in November with the best of friends and a small glass of authentic Naples liquor. Before we left we also got to wade in the water on a small little beach. The tide came in and out as the salty water cooled our feet. Was this real life? Yes it was and I felt like one of the luckiest gals in the world.... yes I am blessed beyond belief . We left Amalfi and headed back down the coast towards our hotel. By this point everybody on the bus had about 1000 pictures just from Amalfi alone and of those 1000, about 90% were pictures of what heaven is going to look like. That is how I am going to describe the scene to you. Just that. Andree's heaven.

Limoncello with Kate on Amalfi Coast. 

Paestum
On day three we headed to Paestum where we visited a museum and spent time in some more wonderful excavations. If I am being completely honest, the museums didn't do very much for me....there are only a certain amount of tomb paintings and ETRUSCAN POTS that I can take. One of our friends has such a dear connection with these Etruscan Pots that she couldn't contain her joy and began crying after being so overwhelmed by the masses of pots. It was rather touching ;) After the museum we spent the rest of our time in the excavations marveling at the grand temples (Temples to Hera I and Hera II, both of which we studied in class) and I really enjoyed my time doing that! It's one thing to study the temples from a book but you get a completely different perspective by seeing and experiencing the effect that the temples have on the their surroundings.

Capri (another new love of mine)
Day four was the much anticipated trip to the island of Capri just off the bay of Sorrento. We all waited on a dock for a boat (called a hydrofoil) that would take us to the island. Once the boat came a group of us decided to stay in the back on the lower dock that was open to the air and the views (also because we heard it was the best place to stand to avoid getting sea sick). The trip out to the island was so fun. We all stood in the back of the boat as it whisked though the waves and created a nice rhythm as we sung and propped ourselves on the side of the boat and looked over the edge as our hair whipped back and we closed our eyes as we enjoyed the breeze and the warmth of the sun. Yes, it was that cliche. We pulled up to the bay and unloaded from the hydrofoil and we walked right over to another section of boats and waited for our private boat tour to arrive. About a third of our group decided to take advantage of this boat tour which was 110% worth it for the price. When the tour boat arrived we all piled on and sat as we toured around the WHOLE island of Capri accompanied by a driver and a young very tan man who was our tour guide. One of the main attractions on this tour was the Blue Grotto. All along the island there are these little grottos with different names and we got to stop at them all and look down through the clear bright blue water to the rocks bottom. The blue grotto was the last grotto stop and it was unbelievable. When we first pulled up to the area I was a little confused because I didn't see any grotto like thing for us to go into. Well thats because the grotto that we were going to go into was a small little hole that got completely covered by waves every five seconds as the tide came up and down. So we all got into little row boats (three people per boat) that were waiting for us and then ever so trusty row boat driver rowed our way towards this little hole. We literally had to lay flat down in this boat so we wouldn't not scrape our heads on the rock as we were trying to get through the hole. We were just up at the opening of the hole and the driver grabbed a hold of a skinny chain that was attached to both sides of the rock and at just the precise time, when the waves were as low as they would be and the hole to the grotto exposed, the driver pulled on the chain and he himself laid flat as he pulled our boat into the grotto. OH. MY. GOSH. Coolest experience I have ever had the pleasure of partaking in. Once we were in the grotto all we could see were the outlines of the other small row boats making circles though the grotto and the blue illumination of the water as the sunlight shined off of the limestone in the grotto. It was a surreal experience. After about three minutes we were out of the grotto and back on our tour boat. We were so awe with the whole thing.

Before we arrived back at the dock the boat driver made a pit stop kind of near the island and some of the girls jumped off of the boat and went swimming. It was all great salty fun! After our tour we took a funicolare (little lift/train thing) up the side of the hill to a part of the island with shops and bars. Here we met our archeology professor who took about six of us interested girls up to the highest point of the island to Tiberius' Villa. It was closed, but us being wonderful Saint Mary's girls with great luck, the man let us in and so we toured around the villa for free and with nobody else in sight. The views at the topmost peak of the island were as far as the eye could see and more beautiful than any camera could ever capture. There was one point where the view was completely panoramic and the sea stretched out so far in its light and dark blue wonder. Of course we all snapped millions of photos but I also tried to enjoy this view for myself without a camera. Once again I am pretty sure these are the views that I will see when we I to heaven. By the time 4:00 rolled around it was time to head back to Sorrento. We all piled back on the hydrofoil and headed back. It was so hard to leave Capri we had become so attached in such a short period of time, it was almost painful.... it was that beautiful of a place. The sun was just setting on the day as we got off the boat and make our trek back to the hotel.

View of Capri coming in on the hydrofoil 

View from the top of the island at the Villa

Cuma
Day five was kinda anti-climatic after the experience we had in Capri the day before. Why did we have to end our trip with another museum?! Nevertheless it was still relatively interesting. The museum we went to was all statues so no pots which was a relief. After three hours in the museum we were grumpy and tired but fear not because we were in Naples and Naples is known for their outstanding pizza and coffee. So what did we do after the museum? You better bet we scavenged for a pizza place and we sat down and enjoyed some of the best Italian pizza accompanied by a cappuccino. We were so happy after our meal. Our final stop to finish up our trip was to Cuma which is the entrance to the underworld. Some of the mythology students gave presentations and we walked through what was thought to be a cave but apparently is a huge cistern (so said our archeology professor). We only spent about an hour or so in Cuma and than we all got back on our bus for the last time and make our way back home to Rome.

It was about a three hour trip home and boy were we all so glad to finally be back in Rome again. There is no place like Rome. Where there is nightlife and where we have our albergo home to come home to. It was comforting coming back to our room, we really missed it. We rested for a little while and than decided we deserved to go out and enjoy the night so we made our way to Trastevere and than to Scholars Pub for a night of being crazy and jammin' out to American hits. Much needed to put a cap on our very busy but incredible five days.

Oh! So I have reached an achievement that I think is pretty blog worthy if I do say so myself.....
Over the course of the six weeks I have been here I have been on almost every type of transportation (Vespas are not being included in a type of transportation because they are a sub type of transpo and also because I haven't ridin' one yet so there...)
Plane, train, metro, motor coach, city bus, taxi, bike, boat (row boat, small motor boat and also a hydrofoil. BOOM) and a funicolare (little lift thing we took up to a part of Capri). Now thats pretty cool isn't it?


Today has consisted of mass and relaxing in the hotel room (aka staring at Facebook and this blog and uploading millions of photos and ohhing and ahhing at all of the photos that everybody else is uploading while also struggling to decide what picture to use for my next desktop background because they are all so freakin' magnificent).

Ok I have said enough to make you all very satisfied I do believe. This week we have classes (blah) and more Rome livin' and than I am headed to Switzerland on Friday! Sometimes I cant believe that the things I write are actually true and are actually things I did or things I am going to do..... we are all some of the luckiest most blessed girls to have these experiences and participate in a program as wonderful as the Rome program.

I hear there is Christmas music and Christmas decorations already showing up back in the States. Even I, Andree the Christmas fanatic, says that November 11th is too early for that. We haven't even started listening to Christmas music here in Rome yet.... just give us another few weeks then it will begin...

If you would like to see more pictures of all the views and places we went to just go on Facebook, there are an endless amount for you to indulge in :)

I will return with more after our trip to Switz.....

Ciao!

The new loves of my life: Hostels and Greece

Hello all!

I finally found time to sit down and tell you all about my extended weekend which was all too wonderful. Right now it is POURING rain and storming and we already went out for gelato AND we do not have class for the rest of the week so I am in the perfect mood to blog so sit back and enjoy!

Thursday night....Halloween....end of midterms week

On Thursday evening everybody was so exhausted and drained from tests and many hours in the library. Midterms were over, it was Halloween, and the weekend was here. We all deserved to have some fun and fun is what we had! A group of us went across the river to Trastevere (remember its the hip side of town where all the young teenagers hang out and where all the bars and the best gelato stop is?) and went to the Harry Potter bar. Apparently Halloween is a bigger deal here than I thought! People went all out in terms of face makeup and many people were dressed in costumes and there were even people walking around on stilts. I couldn't tell if the majority of those dressed up were students like us studying abroad or if they were Italians but never the less it was a rip roaring time in Trastevere on Halloween night! Our plan was to be back before 1 am cause some of us had to get up earlyyyyyy for Greece the next morning but you all know how that goes when you are having a good ole time.... so I didn't get back into the room until around 2am and wasn't in bed until 3. We all had a lot of fun letting out the steam from the week of midterms and just being crazy and enjoying ourselves. Weekends in Roma (without lectures and tours) are the best...Cheers!

GREECE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!

Two hours after I put my head on my pillow I had to get up to take a taxi to the airport for our flight to Thessaloniki Greece. I was so so excited to go to Greece but with just under three hours of sleep it was so hard to get up. I quickly cured my tiredness with a nice cappuccino from La Tazza D'Oro. Cappuccinos always do the trick they have something magical in them and they always make me feel FANTASTIC, especially when they are only 1,20 euro and especially when you don't have to wait in line for them. There were eight of us Saint Mary's girls going to Greece so we all caught a ride in a taxi and headed to the airport. The flight went well nothing unexpected although it was my first time flying on RyanAir which is a lower budget flight so when we safely landed in Greece they played a victory tune on the loud speakers as if to say "Yay we landed safely, whew that doesn't happen a lot" and than everybody on the flight started clapping. That had me laughing let me tell you. I mean its always good to applaud a safe flight and a successful landing right? Just have never experienced that before! It was so different landing in Greece where the language was not even close to being decipherable. Like you know when you are studying a language and you know it but also kinda still struggle with it sometimes but you can figure out what something is saying based on other words around it or the look of the word? Yeah NOPE not for Greek, I didn't even know how to begin trying to say those words on the signs at the airport and the billboards that we passed as we took our taxi to our hostel. I had to tell myself to switch Italian mode off and stick to English...at some points during the weekend in Greece Italian words snuck out...old habits die hard I guess :) We reached our hostel after about twenty minutes on the road...

HOSTELS, oh how I love thee.

Little Big House was the name of our hostel, if that doesn't make you smile and feel good right off the bat than I don't know what does.... but anyways it was situated pretty far up in a quiet, yes QUIET little neighborhood on the side of the hill. We got out of the taxi and walked up the steps, through the cutest little bright pink (very Greek) gates and into the little outside seating area. Right away I was in love. There was a lower sitting area and then above that a terrace with lantern lights of different colors. I love lantern lights and I love terraces (our albergo home in Rome has terraces that we all love dearly). We needed to check in so we walked into the reception area and the happiest, most smiley woman comes to greet us. She said hello and introduced herself as Vicky and then paused and said in her Greek accent "you are the ones who are here from Rome right?" and than she went on and said each of our names like she new who we were. Wow I was amazed and so impressed. This lady, oh so perfect. Red hair and a style that was so European but also so hip and trendy... one day she wore overalls and totally pulled it off... yeah that was the type of style she had. Vicky was the best. She told us to make ourselves at home, sit on the terrace and relax while she made a very authentic Greek refreshment, frappes. After our drinks she showed us our rooms and went over the map of the city showing us where to go and what to eat, what to see and the routes to take. Our rooms exceeded all expectations I ever had about hostels. This hostel was only about two and a half years old and you could definitely tell. Everything looked so new and clean and was all so cute. One word to describe this hostel and it was cute. The winding staircase had little candle lanterns along it and along one of the walls the quote "there's no place like home". The rooms had little kitchenettes in them and the black bunk beds were perfect, even the curtains had little houses on them. Our hostel set the bar so high for our hostel expectations and I also have a newly developed appreciation for them. Hostels are so diverse and have so many interesting people that stay at them, you get to meet wonderful hostel owners like Vicky and all for a student friendly price. Hotels walk in a very shallow light compared to the hostel and the experience we had at Little Big House. We relaxed only for a little while because by that time it was already around 3pm and we were not about to waste our time when we had all of Thessaloniki to experience!

Our hostel, oh so cute!

We made our way down the hilly streets and found a caffe that Vicky told us had the best gyros. And oh my they were the best. I have never had one before and it was incredible. Like totally 100% perfection, all the tastes blended together perfectly, pork, onions, mustard, french fries, and some other things I cant remember because I scarfed it down way too quickly. We sat outside at the caffe and so by that point we were all noticing the beauty of the Greek population. Wow they had a look to them that was very different than the Italians. They had the looks and man did they have the style. Men and women in Greece dress so much more European than in Rome. If we didn't feel like we stuck out too terribly as tourists in Rome man we stuck out like a sore thumb in Greece. Everybody knew we were tourists because Thessaloniki is not a touristy place and so everywhere we walked we got looks and it was pretty funny. I just wanted to be Greek for those two days I was there. Own some black ankle boots, black fish net tights with the jean shorts and a cute top, with the shades and the Greek strut. Yup that was one of the many styles of the Greek girls.... oh well I was American I couldn't change that and I didn't have money to buy a whole new outfit so my outfits would have to do.

After gyros we went down through the city and to the water. On our way we passed a group of people that were Greek dancing in the center of a little park area while people watched and dogs dozed on the sidewalks. Thats another thing. Dogs are everywhere in Greece but they are almost like humans I swear, they cross their palms when they sleep and apparently they wait for the light to turn green before crossing? We made our way down to the water and the sight was simply amazing. The sun was setting on another evening in Greece and there were boats on the water and people walking up and down the sidewalk on the shore. It was a little chilly, but chilly was perfect. We sat on a curb in a park and watched people talk and dogs play. Eventually we made our way back up the streets and into the neighborhood area near our hostel. We decided it would be a nice evening to just relaxing and so we found a place that sold wine and beer and we each got some wine and walked back to our hostel.

The rest of our evening consisted of sitting on the terrace with frappes and bottles of wine, meeting hostel mates, sharing stories and talking the night away. The lantern lights were glowing and the Greece air was nippy but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Life was at a standstill for those two hours we were on the terrace enjoying each others company and it was a blessing. After terracing it (we now have a verb for when we go up on a terrace....terracing is what we so intelligently call it) we wanted some food so we walked up even farther away from the town, up and up some steps until we reached the top of the city and were able to see everything below us and oh boy everything was glowing and the boats on the water were peacefully floating way out in the distance. We found a quiet place right on the edge of the hill and we ordered our food (I got a Greek salad and it was superb! No lettuce just cucumbers, onions, olives, tomatoes and large chunks of feta cheese with a light dressing). We called it a night after our dinner and made our way back to our hostel and climbed into bed.

Thessaloniki Greece, view from our hostel

Next morning we got up and thoroughly enjoyed our buffet breakfast at the hotel. Toast, coffee, orange juice and some authentic Greek pastry with cream cheese inside of it. Lets just say we took our time eating our breakfast. At 11:30 we met a guy who gave us and some other hostel mates a FREE walking tour of the city. We covered a large part of the city and the guide told us about the historical part of the city and some more modern parts, we visited a chapel that contained one of the two portraits of Jesus without a beard in the whole world so that was really neat! We walked through neighborhood and down little staircases, we passed orange and pomegranate trees and spent three hours experiencing Thessaloniki with a very informative tour guide. In the evening we walked back into town and found the eating district with many cafes and restaurants all with seating outside. We had our meal which was interesting.... it was like a soup with meat and potatoes... I don't think it was what we were expecting but hey every new eating experience is worth it right? We got visited my many a people and animal while we were eating including a dog who had eyes that just pierced our souls so we decided to feed it some meat, and we had little children come up to us and play on their accordions and than plop their hand down for money. We had to shoo multiple children away. There were musicians to be heard throughout the whole meal and people walking by.

After dinner we decided we wanted to find a nice relaxing bar along the water for some drinks. There were so many cute little bars and cafes situated along the water and they were all so inviting with their music and comfy couches that they had set up outside. We decided to go to one that didn't look to expensive but that was still very welcoming and cozy. We ordered strawberry daiquiris and chatted and continually reiterated how entirely blessed we were and how amazing our existence at that moment was. Our time in Greece came to an end way to quickly, but I was just so grateful I was able to go and spend my time their with friends.

Friends and a wonderful evening in Greece

Sunday morning we woke, had our buffet breakfast and took the taxi to the airport and headed back home to Rome. I already made an agreement with my friends that I will be going back to Greece after I graduate from college. It is already calling me back...the peacefulness and beauty of the country has to be experienced again, plus all of the Greek food that I didn't have time to eat... yeah I will be back. Even though it was a short trip it was totally worth it, all of these little side trips we take will be invaluable and this is the time we should take advantage of traveling. Traveling is adventurous and the bonds you form with the people you travel with are the greatest...not to mention the opportunity to travel from Greece to Southern Italy to Switzerland and than to Austria and Barcelona all within two months time will not likely ever happen again with the prices we are traveling at.... traveling is becoming something I am really growing fond of, it sure is tiring but at the end of the day I am the happiest gal and always feel so glad for the opportunity.

Greece was successful and I miss it already. I also missed my home here in Rome so it was nice to return to my albergo home last night and eat gelato which I missed out on for two night...two night too many.

Today was our only day of classes for the week. Tomorrow we are taking a five day class trip to Southern Italy. I am looking forward to it and all of the places we will be going (Naples, Pompeii, Capri, Paestum and other places I cant remember).

I do believe that this Wednesday marks our half way point of being here in Rome and I only have one thought going through my head. I do not know how I will be able to leave this place.

Its 1am, I still need to pack and we gotta get up at 6am tomorrow. I always do this to myself but I love blogging and my blog readers more than packing and sleep.

Ciao!