Pictures

…are on the way.  I have loaded some onto myspace and facebook, so you can look on there if you’re my friend.  Flickr is bugging me, so I am working out some kinks with it.  All in time

Return

I’m back!  Exhausted, jetlagged, and so happy to be back in NYC.

Coming home

I am ready to go home.  This trip has been incredible.  But I’m exhausted, and I miss NYC terribly.  I want my bed, my friends, my kitties, and a pedicure.  Tonight I leave Santorini for Pireaus.  Arrive at 1:3o am.  From there head to the Athens airport and camp there till my 9am flight.  Arrive Heathrow (after a 2 hour time change) at 11am.  Leave Heathrow at 6pm.  Arrive in NYC at 9pm.  It is going to be a loooong Tuesday.

Greek Islands are pretty stellar, although I haven’t been able to see as much as I would have liked.  And Greek men?  Well, they sure like me!  Italians too, they’re all travelling in the islands at the moment and they are pretty damn aggressive!  Starting to get quite the ego out here ;)  Stories on that to come, for sure.

I’m off to enjoy my last hours in Santorini.  See ya stateside!

T minus 1 week…

Holy shitballs, where has the time gone?  I only have one week left of my super european adventure!  It has been fantastic, but I am getting ready to get back to good old NYC.  Even when I’m having the time of my life, I miss that city!

In the past few days I’ve been to Pisa (to take one of those cliched pictures with the Aussie boys), Florence (where I met a chef and talked about food all day), Venice (and I am TOTALLY enamored with Venice!) and am currently in Athens, heading to Mykonos this evening for a party all night, Santorini on Friday, and back to reality next Tuesday.  I’ll post more fully upon my return (and full night’s sleep) to the states.  Much to write about, but travel exhaustion is winning out at the moment!  To those of you in NYC, can’t wait to see you upon my return!  Pictures to come soon as well.

XOXO,

Bex

Cinque Terre

Wow.  Cinque Terre is heaven on earth!  I arrived in Riomaggiore on Monday in the late afternoon.  Walked around a bit then came back to my (super dodgy) hostel to do laundry where I met Jason - an Aussie from Surfer’s Paradise.  He made us drinks and we chatted, later meeting 2 other Aussie boys from Melbourne.  We ended up heading to the beach to have a bbq (Jason had purchased a cheap one along the way) and to drink some wine.  Then we went to Bar Centrale - the bar in Riomaggiore where EVERYONE goes to drink.  It’s crazy and fun and nonsense.  At one point, I was already pretty smashed, and Jason pulled me aside to tell me “he liked me.”  I told him we were better off as friends, especially as we had planned to do the 5 town hike the next day.  But kinda awkward, I was definitely NOT into him.

Drank some more at the bar, and somehow still managed to wake up bright and early for the hike between the 5 towns the next day!  So glad I woke up early, by the time I got to the end, it was hot and the trails were getting crowded. Riomaggiore-Manorola-Corniglia-Vernazza-Monterosso.  People say the hike takes 5 hours, we did it in 3hrs 45min (with stops for coffee, pictures, and exploring).  We being myself and Jason.  It was fun, and it was great having someone there to take my picture, and to eat a big lunch with, but at some point we were lying on the beach (Monterosso has the best beaches in Cinque Terre) and he started touching my leg.  So I had to reiterate that we were just friends and that’s that.

After the hike, we met another Aussie girl - Liesel - at the hostel.  She and I hit it off and all of us went out to dinner that night.  The restaurant (more like a bar) overlooked the water and was gorgeous with really simple, fresh food.  We ended up at Bar Centrale again where the bartenders were hideous and all of Riomaggiore was hanging out.  At one point I started talking to some Canadian guys and they invited me down to the beach to hang out and drink wine.  So we all headed to the beach in the dark in the middle of the night.  And, as I say, you know it’s a random night when… you’re lying on a rock beach in the middle of the night with a 19 year old discussing baseball and David Lynch.  Yeah, that kind of night!

On Wednesday, my last day in  Cinque Terre, I slept in late and went to explore the towns by train.  Along the way I ran into Liesel and a few Americans from the hostel.  Liesel and I went out to a nice meal in Monterosso and I caught some more beach time while she hiked.  Later that night, Jason, the Americans, Liesel and I went to the beach to have another bbq.  Jason was grilling fish and was being very weird and anti-social.  Then, after dinner, when he was cleaning the grill, he dropped it into the ocean.  We were a little tired of his weirdness, so, Liesel and I polished of the limoncello we’d picked up earlier that day and decided to head to the bar.  While there, we met some Aussie guys from Cairns - Luke, Dan, and John.  They were traveling all over Europe in a van.  We talked to them for a while and then Jason came up.  He was still being kinda quiet but was at least somewhat more social.  At one point, upon finding out that the boys were heading to Florence next (and so was I) he suggested I hop in the van with them.  We all thought that was a great idea.  But later, after Liesel and I suggested that they guys stay at our hostel (they had missed the last train to La Spezia where their van was parked), Jason freaked out, and started yelling that the guys were liars and that they couldn’t stay in “his” house and that I couldn’t travel with them.  Um, WTF?!?  So he threw a big fit and then stomped off, yelling at us all.  Okay….Later, the bar closed and we all decided to head to the beach again.  But first Liesel and I wanted to freshen up at the hostel.  So we stopped at our room and Jason was standing there, arms crossed, like we’re late for curfew and he’s our dad.  We quickly left and headed for the beach.  2, 3am rolled around, after a lovely time under the stars, and we decided to try to sneak the boys into our room (Jason was in the room next door).  Bad call.  Jason, of course, is awake and patrolling the hostel.  He comes charging in, yelling, and kicking the guys out.  Even locks Liesel out of the hostel!  So fucking crazy.  So I made plans to meet the boys in the am the next day and we quickly ushered them away.  Liesel and I went to bed (after I let her back in) and Jason was still up, roaming around the place, slamming doors and yelling.  Finally, he came into the room, yelled “twats!” at us, and slammed his door.  What a wanker!  I believe the word “douchebag” was invented for guys like him.  I woke up early the next day to escape the crazy, and meet up with the Aussie boys in La Spezia…

Nice

On Saturday I was in hell.  It was an internet-free, French hell, and all the signs were flashing “retard.”  My train to Nice was delayed.  In fact all trains were delayed indefinitely as there was a fire spanning 20km on the train tracks.  After waiting, alone, in a station where nobody speaks english, at one point I got in a long line to see what the fuck was happening.  After quite a wait, some woman came out, spoke very quickly in french, and everyone around me started freaking out.  I “parlez-vous anglais?”ed her, but no dice.  Finally, a French man next to me was able to explain that the woman had told me that no more trains were going out that day.  But don’t worry, I could come back tomorrow and my tickets would be free.  Um, but what about my night’s accomodation!?  So at this point I started to freak out and tear up.  But the French man next to me was like “don’t worry, I’m not from here either but I have friends here, I’ll find US a place to stay,” and started calling and texting all his friends.  So sweet!  Meanwhile, I felt bad because I was couchsurfing with a guy in Nice and he was going to meet me at the station.  Finally, an announcement was made, and the French man hurried me over to the train, saying - “this one’s leaving for Nice, try to get on it, I’ll be waiting here if you can’t get on.”  I mean seriously, where do these people come from?  So I got into Nice, 5 hours late, past 2am, and Florent (the man I was couchsurfing with) still came to meet me at the station.  I have to admit, I was a bit nervous about the whole couchsurfing thing, but it was really a lovely experience.  And Florent had several other girls staying with him, so it felt safe :)  Went to the beach the next day with Sabrina and Stephanie - 2 Canadians who were staying with Florent and had a nice relaxing day of recovery.  But the next day it was on to Cinque Terre, which is probably one of the best places I’ve been on this trip.  More on that later.  Right now I’m in Florence, heading to Venice tomorrow afternoon, and then going Greek on Monday.  Cannot believe how little time is left!

Last hours in BCN

Oh am I going to miss this city!  I just packed up my room, estoy muy triste.  Estoy enamorado con Barcelona.  I actually tried to change my ticket to Nice so I would get there Sun night.  No dice.  Fully booked.  Hope I don’t have trouble getting to Cinque Terre, I have a feeling the next few weeks are going to be a bit dicey….

Anyway, last night I went out to dinner in Grácia  and then dancing in Barceloneta/Port Olímpic with Sunee and her friend Mic.  Had a blast - not as crazy as last time, but still ended up drinking a lot (heped that Mic kept buying us drinks) and got home after 3.  Crawled to class today (did not think I would make it), but I’m glad I did.  Good to go to my last classes. 

Gotta get ready for my last night here.  Tomorrow I’ll be couchsurfing with a guy named Florent in Nice, so will post on that from Cinque Terre.  Adiós!

Soy inteligente!

That’s right, your favorite European traveller aced her Spanish final.  Huzzah!  Nothing special, but it does make me feel quite smart.  The compliments I’ve received from Spanish people (not just the ones who are hitting on me) have been nice as well!

Movie last night was lots of fun….except that the movie was in Spanish…and some Japanese….and with Catalan subtitles during the Japonese parts!  Patricia felt so bad, but it was fine.  Good opportunity for practice, right?

I came very close to extending my stay here in Barcelona to spend more time with the people I’ve met here.  But I decided today that if I want to continue to experience all that I want to this summer, I need to keep moving.  And plan another trip here

Finalized my accomodations today for everywhere except the Greek Islands (where I’m totally winging it).  Wow, less than 48 hours left in BCN…

Last week in España

First of all, happy ketel one (I know not many will get that, but I had to)!  I can´t belive I leave Barcelona on Saturday morning.   I´ve been having too much fun!  Having done all the big tourist things, I´m simply enjoying the city and every moment I have left here.

On Monday, I met a friend of a friend of mine from my production days in Los Angeles.  She took me out to lunch, with her two assistants, to a wonderful tapas bar.  I am really going to miss the food out here!  They were all such lovely people, I wish I had met them earlier!  Hit it off with one of the assistants, Patricia, and we exchanged info.

Monday night, I went out to a couple bars with my teacher friend Sunee.  She´s a kindergarten teacher from NY who is now teaching in Hong Kong.  She is crazy fun, and we were out till 3am meeting random Spanish and Irish men and drinking.

Did I mention I changed to morning classes this week?  So after my 3am night, I had a 9am class!  It was good though, I like having a reason to get out of bed early.  Then I was able to spend the rest of the day doing my own thing (ie - lunch with a friend and siesta on the beach).  Rough life, I know.

That night, I met Patricia (one of the assistants) and her roommate, Pil, for a bit of bar hopping.  They took me all around the Born district and over to Buda Bar which was so much fun.  Apparently it was “model night.”  Good thing we´re hot enough to get in

I just took my final exam at school.  It was actually pretty hard!  Tonight I´m heading out with Patricia and some of her friends (and perhaps some cute, mullet-free Spanish men) to have a picnic at Montjuïc (a huge park) where they are playing an outdoor movie.  She´s really helping me make the most of my last days here and I will be so sad to go.  But at least now I know some amazing people out here for when I return!