Greece!

First of all, Happy Birthday to my Mom! Since I was a complete idiot and forgot on the day it actually occurred, let the whole internet be aware, November 29 my mom turned... 29! Hehe. She's been 29 for a while now, but shh I didn't say that. Anyway, anyone who knows her email send birthday wishes of epic proportions to make up for my stupidity. Or leave comments here if you don't know her email.

So. Greece.

For one thing, Agean airlines has the best airline food ever. Also, it's the first cheap airline that actually served us food we didn't have to pay for.

Greece was gorgeous and amazing and a perfect way to end the semester. Jill, Heather, Meredith, John, Jenna, Devon and I went. It was a pretty good group to travel with. It was t-shirt weather, sadly not beach weather, but still wonderful and sunny. We only really had one day to roam around since we left on a Friday instead of Thursday night, but it was worth it. We went to the Acropolis, the Theater of Dionicis, and a bunch of surrounding ruins. It was sunny and beautiful the entire time we were there. We ate at a Greek restaurant where everyone had Gyros and I had a Greek Salad. We wandered through some marketplaces that sold mostly antiques and such. There was not a souvinir place to be found. I was afraid I'd leave Greece without my shotglass souvinir, which I get in every country I visit and have accumulated quite a collection so far.

At one point we lost Devon. Jill, Heather, Jenna, Devon and I were searching for souvinir shops and ended up on this street lined with clothing shops. Jenna dashes into H&M to see if they have a jacket she wants, and we all follow her. But Devon was taking a picture and didn't see where we went. So when we leave H&M we wait outside for her, but she never shows up. Jill goes in and searches the entire four floor store but does not find her. We walk up and down the street looking for her, and she's not there. We're freaking out just a little and eventually go back to the hostel and there she is. After she lost us she just took the metro back. I get freaked out when stuff like this happens because I expect the worst, I forget that a lot of people here have really good travel smarts and are able to keep a level head and find their way back themself. I wish I was like that, but unfortunately I tend to flip out and I can't go anywhere alone. Which is sad, because I am really upset I missed out on Berlin and would love to spend the one day/night we have free going there, but I am the only one with an active Eurail left and it's too expensive for most people to buy a ticket. So I'd have to go by myself. But I'm too scared. Anyway.

That night a few people went on a Pub Crawl, which I really wanted to do, but I got a massive migrane and had to stay in. Pub Crawls are fun, Aaron and I went on one in Amsterdam. You pay a certain fee that lets you into 5 clubs for free with a free drink at each and free shots at the door. But my head was seriously in pain for a good part of the second half of the day. I lay down and tried to nap it out, but it didn't work. Also, no one had brought any sort of tylenol substance. So I didn't go on the pub crawl. Meredith was also sick though, so I had someone to talk to at least while I had a pillow wrapped around my face as to not let any light touch my head and make it hurt even worse. Everyone came into the room at about 4, when we had to wake up at 5:30, completely under the influence of Greece's famous Ouza shots that were 50 cents each and aparently potent as hell. I'm a bit sorry I missed out on that. Jill was still loopy when we got to the airport at 7, it was funny.

At the airport I finally found a store that had the tiniest souvinir section ever. Athens aparently is not fond of souvinirs. I almost bought some Ouza for my Greek relatives (since aparently Ouza is a traditional Greek liquor) but it was in a 200 mL bottle and you can only have containers of 100 mL on the plane. Oh well. I got them another little gift instead. I still need to get them another something, maybe another little gift for my brother, and something for my stepdad. I keep seeing things for my mom and getting them, but he's very hard to shop for. I think I am going to Amsterdam one more time before I leave, and possibly the Brussels Christmas Market. That is, if I get all my mountains of work done before then. Which looks nearly impossible as of right now with a total of 30 or more pages left to write. Uuuugh. But worse comes to worst I'll shop in London, since we go there for two days before leaving for the U.S, it'll just be a bit expensive there. Any ideas on what to get for the remaining family members?

The trip is almost complete and I can't wait to be home. It seems like I'm the minority that actually is homesick. No one else wants to leave. I'd love to return someday, but right now it's just time to be home. I miss you all lots. Lots of love.