Greek Gods

April 11

Wow, I am amazed at how fast time goes when you are having fun…maybe a little too much fun in my case. In the past month alone, I have seen 2,000 year old ruins, experienced several  different religious cultures, and have eaten culinary delights I could have never imagined up myself. What is my life right now? At age 22, I’d have to say, it’s a pretty good life.

So, yesterday, I was in Athens, Greece. A place I have wanted to go ever since I saw sisterhood of the traveling pants….lets be real ladies, EVERYONE kind of hopes to go see that place after that movie haha. Though we were not on the island of Santirini in the movie, I was so stoked to go see a part of Greece.

I have always been fascinated by Greek gods and Goddesses and the ancient city. However, we had several mandatory drills yesterday, so the time to explore the ancient city of Acropolis was slim. A few of my friends and I, Heather, Eli, Adele (our hostess on the ship)and I all decided we just wanted to be like the locals, sit and enjoy some people watching. We could see parts of Acropolis from where we were eating. Oh my gosh, the food here was finger licking good! I had the most delightful plate of eggplant salad, a cucumber tomato salad and some tsaziki. Amazing! We also got the most wonderful, light bottle of wine. What a treat! And for those of you who know me, you know I hate Olives, but have always wanted to like them. I mean, hey, I already can’t eat so many things, I would say it’s just not cool to not like anything I’m not allergic to haha. So there was this Olive Tapenade, and I tried it, and it was awesome! Not bitter at all like most of the Olives I have tried before. I swear I am going to acquire this taste. In Greece, the olives are just the best. Haha (Dad, Loren and Bran, I got some for you to try at home J ). After our lunch, we walked around and did some shopping. I have literally burnt a hole in my account. Especially because the exchange rate from Dollars to Euros is ridiculous. I did a little shopping and walked around the city. I would have loved to have explored more, but time was so limited. On our train ride back to Piraeus (about a 15 train ride to Athens) I met some locals who were just so wonderful that told me, I will come back to Greece one day. She looked positive that I was going to be able to have more time eventually. And I will. I have to see Santirini Island and more of Athens. This trip was just a taste of the places I will go in my future.

Really, I feel like this whole experience on the cruise has been amazing to see and test taste different cultures. Its funny cause about a year ago, I was telling my mom that I really had a travel bug and I have to go see some more places. Well, I guess I got my wish and then some cause this is the coolest job I could have ever asked for.  The job has also made me aware of places that I want to go back to and some that I won’t need to see again for a long time. I know I want to go back to South America and explore more of Chile, Peru and Argentina. And I must go back to the Mediterranean. This place has so much to offer. Next stop, Naples, Italy overnight and a crew tour to the lost city of Pompei. Yay! More Ruins!