Wow I can NOT believe midterms and spring break are both over. As I was walking to school today for my 2 pm Italian class, a sudden surge of fear and sadness raced through my body and brain....I have only 6 weeks left. 6 WEEKS!!!! IS THIS SOME KIND OF JOKE? I am still in disbelief. Spring Break has flown by and it is now the final countdown. It seems like only yesterday we were finished with midterms and packing up for our adventure to Greece.......
Our first task was to arrive on time for our airplane, which was Easy Jet. It only lasted approx. an hour and 15 min (which is basically flying from Michigan to NY) and before I could close my eyes, we landed in Athens, Greece. When we got off the plane, we immediately purchased a 2.30 Euro bus ticket to get us to the Blue Star Ferries. Once we purchased our tickets and quickly looked at Fay Bans, our 8 hour ferry ride to Santorini was underway. During our luxurious ferry ride (my sister Sara would have thrown up at LEAST 5 times) I taught Preeya and Kelsey how to play Kings in the Corner and No Peekie (a Turcotte family tradition card game.) They fell in love and we continued until midnight, when the Ferry finally docked on Santorini. When we got off, the hotel housekeeper named Giorgio picked us up in his Caravan and we finally arrived at the San Giorgio Villas in Fira.
. Although we were up from 4.30 a.m to midnight the night before, the crazy crew decided to wake up early and hit the Black Beach. We took a local bus to the Black beach to lay out and get our bronze on. After bronzing for about 3 hours, two people came up to us and told us this was the last stop for the bus. Thank GOD they told us, we would have been stranded on Black Beach all day and night. After getting tons of sun, we decided to take a chance with a recommend restaurant by Giorgio. The restaurant was called Naoussa Tavern and the chef fell in love with me. Literally he told me to sit on his lap and called me beautiful the entire night...see that would be a girl's dream come true but of course HE WAS A FAT 39 YR OLD HAIRBALL. Gosh Megan strikes out again! However,I had the best Moussaka and took one for the team by flirting with him all night, so he would give us free food. By the end of our stay, we received free desserts and pitchers of wine...which was PARADISE! So I guess the old saying does go: "ya win some, ya loose some".
After we couldn't walk (let alone move!) we started to head back to San Giorgio because we were all exhausted. One our way back, we passed by Murphy's (which was the only bar in town) and heard jammin beats. Oh course we had to stop and check it out. We are ALWAYS down for a good time and ALWAYS thirsty (if ya know what I mean!) Turns out, we stayed there for 4 hours and Taylor and Kelsey found a stray dog out back, named her Cindy, and Tay wrapped her scarf around the stray dog's head...AND THEN proceeded to wrap it around hers. It was an epic night to say the least, and we met a reliable mammal what will touch our hearts forever.
After we woke up from a heinous hangover, we immediately bounced back and went ATVing. We figured renting 3 would be enough and we would all just rotate drivers. The line-up was: Kelsey and Taylor, Shaune and Maria, and Preeya and I. Once we were all situated, we started the engine and never turned back. We drove through steep hills, made tight turns, and went over 40 mph. It was AWESOME. We ATVed through Fira, Red Beach, Port and finally Oia to see the famous sunset. Now, I have to say, growing up in puremichigan has made me develop high sunset expectations and Oia blew my mind. I have never been so peaceful, calm, and happier in my entire life. With a beautiful sunset, great people, and Greece, how could I not be? As soon as the sunset was over, a realization hit all of us. It is DARK. We have at least a 25 min ride back home, and what? oh yeah. PREEYA AND I HAVE NO MORE GAS. well not technically, but our gas meter was blinking and on empty..which of course after being in Europe for 3 months, it does not surprise me in the least bit. It was honestly the most terrifying thing of my life. I was holding onto Preeya for dear life because I was afraid we would die around the tight twists and turns... after all Santorini is essentially the remains of an enormous volcanic explosion! However (as always in the end) luck was on our side and we made it safely back to Fira. What an adventure!
The next day, Preeya and I could not stop talking about our situation and how lucky we were. We all decided to take the ATVs for a quick 2 hr ride before giving them up for good. However, it turns out that the locals stole all of our gas from our tanks and we could not even start up our engines. To our dismay, we had to return them on the spot. Wilted Rose! We then decided to travel and go exploring around Fira when we saw donkeys. YESSIR. All we wanted to do in Greece was ride donkeys like Lena in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (although we DID find her Grandma's house in Oia the previous day!) While the donkeys were carrying heavy loads of wood down the steep steps in Fira, the local ring leader asked us if we wanted a ride for 10 Euro. Of course we did! We were so excited that we gave him 10 Each, which amounted to 60 Euro...he promised he would be back so we all sat down and waited. All of a sudden, reality hit me and I jumped up from my seat and yelled "HE IS NOT COMING BACK!!" We were all so ecstatic that everyone forgot to follow him down to make sure he was loyal to his words. He had our 60 Euro and bailed....what a great businessman. Luckily we tracked him down and before I knew it, I was straddling a donkey in the high hills of Santorini. Taylor, however, was not having it and freaked out every other step, which was hilarious. She reminded me of Jane Sibbett (the step-mother) in It Takes Two on the camping trip..except 1124392032345x better. After our donkey rides, we all crashed in our hotels from the lack of sleep and our bad decisions. Luckily Brittney Spears weekend was on to keep us entertained while we went over our extravagant vacation so far.
The next day, our plan was to get a Ferry from Santorini to Mikinos for two nights. Unfortunately, the waters were too rough and choppy and therefore all of the ferries were not working and off schedule. We were all very disappointed, but we all make an executive decision to go to Athens for two more nights instead. If nothing can be done, we'll make the BEST of what's around... so we went to a famous authentic Greek restaurant called Mama's where I had delicious stuffed vegetables and an explosive Greek Salad The next day, we said our goodbyes and were off to Athens. Unfortunately, we had to endure yet another rigorous 8 hour ferry ride from Santorini to Athens and lets just say I was NOT having it. It was so rocky that I almost got sick 3 times. Once we finally landed in Athens, we took a taxi to Athens Backpackers, which was right by the Acropolis. We saw the Acropolis, Parthenon, Agora, the Temple of Zeus, and of course the First Olympic Stadium. After we saw all of the ruins, we walked the markets of Athens where Kelsey bought a hat and Maria bought 7 pairs of Fay-Bans (which is still hilarious to this day) Since Taylor has a real Louis Vuitton travel bag with her initials on it, I wanted to get the most fake Louis Vuitton handbag from the gypsies and write my initials with permanent marker on it, so we could be travel twins. After multiple death threats and stare downs, I decided that was not smart of me...ahahah I still giggle.
Although I loved Greece, a little part of me is IN LOVE with Rome. I love the language, culture, and atmosphere of the city and a little part of me always gets very excited to come back. It also may be the fact that Paul is coming this weekend which makes me so happy! I am so excited to show him my school, The Vatican, the Colosseum, the bars, the clubs, my friends, and what I go through and experience first-hand everyday. We are also going to go to a another Roma soccer game on Sunday and with three of my friend turning 21 this weekend, it is a sure sign of a good time!!!
Thank is all for now.
Ciao!
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