This year for Spring Break I had the lovely opportunity of going to Greece for a week. It was such a great time that it was so hard to come back and have to go to school. However, by the end of the break we were all looking forward to going back home to Rome. We've all grown so used to our lovely Italian homes! It's a nice feeling coming back from a trip and finally getting back to Rome. I'm definitely going to miss it...this has been the greatest semester ever.
Back to Spring Break. So our first part of the Greece trip was to Corfu. It's a lovely little island with cool mountains and beautiful water and beaches. The trip to get there however was not as lovely. First we had to take a bus from Rome to get to the ferry boat/cruise ship that would take us to Corfu. The bus ride was about 5hrs or so, and the ferry ride was 14hrs. Blair, Dom, and I did not pay the extra for the cabin upgrade. Big mistake. The other four guys we were traveling with did though and so they got a lovely night's sleep. Despite the lack of beds, we had a great time on the boat. There was a dance club area to go to in the evening, and nice places to eat for dinner. We were able to watch a beautiful sunset as well.
Once we landed in Greece we had to walk for what felt like miles in the rain with our luggage for 15min to get to another ferry boat that would take us to Corfu. That was terrible walking there. But that ferry boat was only an hour and a half. So finally after close to a full day of traveling we got to Corfu and arrived at the Pink Palace -- hot spot for college students on Spring Break.
The first day in Corfu, five of us rented ATVs so that we could easily explore the rest of the island. The group was led by Tour Guide Wade (not a real tour guide, just one of the Michigan State kids studying in Rome) who ended up getting us lost more than once. Three of us -- Clint, Wade, and I -- all got the bigger ATVs that were a LOT faster than Blair and Diane's little baby ones that slowed us down very often...lame. (haha)
On our little private excursion, we got to check out some amazing views and meet some friendly people, including the cutest old man I have ever seen. He was 95 years old and had no problem climbing up the same mountain as us.
We headed to Corfutown to grab lunch and see the major city of the island. On the way there we had a little bit of minor accident though...
So Wade decided to pull the group over and stop to make sure we were going the right way. Behind him, Clint made a turn and stopped a little too abruptly for Blair...who ended up crashing into the back of Clint's ATV and taking off his rear blinker light. Watching the whole thing happen was probably one of the funniest things ever. The back light flew into the air! And luckily Blair's ATV didn't flip, but the whole thing was just so funny to watch. Shocker...Blair crashed an ATV.
While in Corfu we got to go to a Pink Toga party which was a lot of fun and everyone looked great, including the guys in their pink togas (that they basically wore as capes).
After Corfu we headed to Athens. After barely getting any sleep on that ferry ride, we took a nap for a few hours then went on a walking tour of the city. We saw a bunch of things including the Olympic Stadium, the Temple of Zeus, and the Acropolis. Seeing the Parthenon was unreal, and standing up at the top and looking out onto the city, you really felt like you were on top of the world. We were all really happy that we forced ourselves to get up from our naps and take the walking tour.
While staying in Athens, we took a day trip to Aegina. It is a beautiful island off of Greece. There we rented scooters for the day...which was awesome! This time Dom was able to join us (AJ was sick so she couldn't come and Drew "has two ATVs back at home" so he wasn't going to rent one) so it was the same five who rented the ATVs and Dom. He was kind of lucky that the owner of the scooter store really did not care that he didn't have his drivers license with him. Don't worry Mom and Dad, it was a completely safe trip...for the most part. We'll get to that part later...(don't scroll ahead. Clearly we're all still alive)
So we started off nice and easy (for some reason it took me a lot longer to get the hang of it). The boys were naturals which was really annoying at first. Diane took it nice it steady...as always. Blair...well Blair is Blair. What do you think happened?
We had been driving along for only a little while, checking out the scenery and stopping here and there to take some pictures, and we decided to head a little farther out. So we turn onto one street, and all of a sudden you hear a loud cry out behind us and I see Clint and Wade's faces behind me just gasp, so I look behind and Blair is sprawled out in the middle of the road yelling, "oooo I'm okay! Gahhh wow I'm fine!" Many of you I'm sure are reading this thinking oh no she could be really seriously hurt! Yeah...well I started dieing laughing. It was clear that she wasn't seriously hurt and it just looked so funny seeing her bike on the ground and she's just laying in the road. Typical Blair. Besides a sweet scar and a bruised up knee, she really was fine...just a little sore for the rest of the trip. But as she likes to point out "at least [her] leggings didn't rip!" Haha...she's awesome.
So Aegina was a great day trip. We got lost for a while...shocker...but made it back to the ferry with enough time to get some delicious fruit smoothies. Something I had been craving for a while. They don't sell smoothies in Rome. Probably because if you get a strawberry and banana gelato, it tastes like you're eating a smoothie. So delicious.
Once we were back in Athens, we got ready and had an amazing dinner. We went to this cute restaurant, with great food, and endless wine. Always a plus! :) We all had a great night, to say the least.
I almost forgot one main part about Greece, something we remember most, our new favorite game: As*hole. (Sorry Mom and Dad for the language...but that's just the name of the game, I didn't create it.) What a great game it is, too. However, the first night that all seven of us in our group played together on the boat, we had a pretty epic fight. Let's just say...Dom was not my favorite person at the time. It was a pretty intense fight, one that we all remember from time to time...and I always get nervous when Dom and I play that game together. He can be difficult to say the least. (Love you Dom!) Despite the arguing, we finally made up...and then fought again...and it was a pretty unforgettable night. Afterward, Blair and I only allowed AJ and Wade to hang out with us for the rest of the night because the caused the least amount of drama. But the next morning we all hugged and made up. Yay! Alls well that ends well.
And our Greece trip did end very well. So we arrived back in Rome with a few days left to enjoy before going back to school...va bene!
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