Santorini is for Me....
Ok so I have found the most beautiful place in the world. Santorini is seriously out of this world. We took a 9 hour ferry to get there but it was worth every second of it. After geting off the dock, we had a little trouble getting to our hostel, but only because it washidden away in this area where everything looks the same. The hostel was so rad...and cheap too. Like 15 Euros a night. It was tucked away within all these whitewashed villas with blue shutters and bright pink flowers. I mean, places like this don't exist in real life. We were so excited to stay there. The whole hotel is like 3 or 4 little villas all connected together by steep little staircases. It was like a maze. You could even go up to the roof and overlook the sea. It was so awesome. There was even this awesome pool that had this little grotto in it. We were so excited to be there that we immediately jumped in. I am trying to figure out how to send pictures from over here because you really must see it. The next day we rented mopeds and cruuised around the whole island which was so fun. We took this coastal rode that just outlined the sea. It wound up high on the cliffs so you could see the entire island, and the caldera, which is the huge bay in Santorini with this other little island in the middle of it. It was breathtaking.
We found a black sand beach called Perissa and laid out there ALL DAY. I couldn't believe how pretty it was. The water was so clear and sparkly, you could see the bottom even from 25 yards out. We sat under some palapas and met Will, our British bartender babe who brought us cokes and stuff. He was nice. I didn't want to leave that beach....ever. It was insane how picturesque the whole thing was. I almost cried, seriously. You need to go there. You really do.
After Perissa we rode to the opposite end of the island to a little village called Oia. We ate at this great seafood restaurant at the port and all got whole fresh fish. I mean, they literally caught these guys like 10 minutes before we ate them. So good. After dinner we went to this cliff and watched the sunset. Probably the most amazing sunset I have ever seen.
The next day we had a few problems though. The guy we rented our mopeds from wasn't there when we went to return them that morning. Which was a problem because we had a ferry to catach in like an hour and he had our driver's licenses. This nice guy pulled up to the building and asked us if we were waiting for the owner. We said yes and this guy called the owner to come down and open up the store. He was so nice. So finally the guy shows up and we get our licenses back, catch a taxi and make it to our ferry just in time. However, in the midst of all this, Rachel loses her wallet-the one with all her money and credit card in it So we get to the ferry and realize this, but theres nothing we can do until we get back to Athens. I feel really bad for her because she lost her camera too the 2nd day of our trip (she also lost my book, but thats ok because i was done with it anyways...) So yeah, Rachel has had a rought trip. But we got her credit card canceled and her money transferred over to Michelle's account. It still sucks, but things could have been worse.
Byt the way, the Acopolis was rad too. It took awhile to hike up there, and it was pretty hot outside, but you can't even imagine this place. The parthenon is huge. I wish I could have seen how it looked when it was first built, back in the day and what life would have been like. It's so crazy to think of how this thing has stayed so in tact for so long. We also saw Socrates house, which really wasn't his house, just the place where all the representatives of Greece would come and write laws for the entire population to then vote on. Democracy dudes, democracy.
Now after another long ferry ride, we are back in Athens. I am exhausted and hungry. Tomorrow we are on our way to Italy. We have to take a train to this town called Patra and then another overnight ferry to Bari, Italy, then a train to Rome. Should be another hard day.
Seriously Santorini, though was amazing. Please go there...you need to go there. The entire time I felt like I was in really awesome postcard. I couldn't believe that it was real. Greece has been so cool. But I am really looking forward to going to Italy. Well, I am spent and really hungry. Alright, talk to ya soon.
Talk to ya soon!
Monday, May 29, 2006
Thursday, May 25, 2006
WE MADE IT.
Yep, we certianly did, and with very little screw-ups too might I add. The past two days have been terribly and horribly exhausting. After the London flight, a 5 hour layover, the Prague flight and another 5 hour layover, another flight AND spending last night in the Athens airport, I was so dead. I didn't think I would feel so crappy, but I really did. I seriously doubt I have gotten more than 2 hours of sleep in the last two days, but as soon as we got into downtown Athens, I was so amped. This city is so amazing. After getting into Athens at 2:30 and kicking it there till 7 (we didn't think it would be a good idea to wander around Athens the wee hours of the morning) we took the train into the city from the airport and went to our planned hotel, but when we went to check in, they didn't have our reservation. I was slightly panicked, but we resorted to our Let's Go Europe book and found a rad little place right in the heart of downtown Athens. We have a terrace overlooking the streets and a view of the Acropolis. Don't think we are living in luxuary though-it does have a ghetto element to it, but its fun nonetheless. We were stoked we found a hotel without breaking down.
After we checked in, Nellie, the hotel owner let us in on the in and outs of Athens. We then headed off to check it all out. Athens is so amazing. I didn't really expect it to be like this. The streets are narrow, but there are cute little boutiques and cafes lining every one of them. We turned a corner and ran right into this beautiful church. We then met Constantine- this awesome retired Greek man who kicks it out front of this church with his buddy ( i forget his name) he talked to us for like 15 minutes on the best spots to go in Athens and gave us littlke mini-lessons on Greek history. Constantine pretty much hooked us up. He told us to go inside the church and light a candle- we went in, and although we opted to sans the candle lighting, we really couldn't help but be overwhelmed with the beauty of this church. Its the oldest Bisitine church in the Greece. It was built in the 11th century and is just seriously, like sitting in the middle of this court, across from Sephora and like, the J.Lo boutique. It's crazy.
We stopped here at the internet cafe to check in, but we are up to the Acropolis now. I am so lucky to be here and still can't believe I am here, seeing all of this. Tomorrow we leave for Santorini. So excited about it. I will post again when I get the chance. Buh-Bye for now!
Yep, we certianly did, and with very little screw-ups too might I add. The past two days have been terribly and horribly exhausting. After the London flight, a 5 hour layover, the Prague flight and another 5 hour layover, another flight AND spending last night in the Athens airport, I was so dead. I didn't think I would feel so crappy, but I really did. I seriously doubt I have gotten more than 2 hours of sleep in the last two days, but as soon as we got into downtown Athens, I was so amped. This city is so amazing. After getting into Athens at 2:30 and kicking it there till 7 (we didn't think it would be a good idea to wander around Athens the wee hours of the morning) we took the train into the city from the airport and went to our planned hotel, but when we went to check in, they didn't have our reservation. I was slightly panicked, but we resorted to our Let's Go Europe book and found a rad little place right in the heart of downtown Athens. We have a terrace overlooking the streets and a view of the Acropolis. Don't think we are living in luxuary though-it does have a ghetto element to it, but its fun nonetheless. We were stoked we found a hotel without breaking down.
After we checked in, Nellie, the hotel owner let us in on the in and outs of Athens. We then headed off to check it all out. Athens is so amazing. I didn't really expect it to be like this. The streets are narrow, but there are cute little boutiques and cafes lining every one of them. We turned a corner and ran right into this beautiful church. We then met Constantine- this awesome retired Greek man who kicks it out front of this church with his buddy ( i forget his name) he talked to us for like 15 minutes on the best spots to go in Athens and gave us littlke mini-lessons on Greek history. Constantine pretty much hooked us up. He told us to go inside the church and light a candle- we went in, and although we opted to sans the candle lighting, we really couldn't help but be overwhelmed with the beauty of this church. Its the oldest Bisitine church in the Greece. It was built in the 11th century and is just seriously, like sitting in the middle of this court, across from Sephora and like, the J.Lo boutique. It's crazy.
We stopped here at the internet cafe to check in, but we are up to the Acropolis now. I am so lucky to be here and still can't believe I am here, seeing all of this. Tomorrow we leave for Santorini. So excited about it. I will post again when I get the chance. Buh-Bye for now!
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Duhhhn dun dun dun Dunnnn Dun....
Ok, in case you couldn't recognize that little number, that was my rendition, in text, of the graduation march WHICH I will be strolling along to in 3 days. Crazy. But before I could get excited about hearing that song once again, I had to get through today, and let me tell you...it was a doozy.
Ok, some of you (and by some I mean Michelle and Anna) may know that I have been working with the group from hell all semester for a company here in Logan. Today was our final presentation, the BIG one. Usually I am not nervous at all to give presentations, usually because I am always well prepared and confident in what I have to say. This time, however-not the case. My group consisted of 3 of the most unproductive, lazy, unintelligent human beings I have ever meant. The other member, bless her heart, tried her best, but lacked what we call "people skills."Anyways, these people were a nightmare to work with. I was the account manager (like on the Apprentice) which I was fine with, but the people I had in my group were just a joke. I mean, they literally, and I am so not being sarcastic, would sit and stare at me, waiting for me to tell them what we would be doing. Not even that though, they just stared at me, expecting me to whip out the entire project out of nowhere. I mean I am going to go ahead and be honest: I am good at what I do. I understand this field and like doing what I hope to do as my career, but, I am not a magician. I cannot do everything, come up with every idea, write every report, prepare every presentation. I just cannot do it. And as much as I just wanted to do it all myself because I didn't trust them to write our names on our reports, much less do anything legit with the project, I couldn't. I had to delegate and I got screwed. For example, I gave the task of compiling all of our written project into three binders for our teachers and clients to look over during the presentation to one of these incompetent group members. I figured since everything was already done and printed off, she would be able to handle it. I was wrong. These binders looked like a middle schooler put them together. I mean she went crazy with MSWord - different fonts, different colors, graphics.....
Oh. My. Hell.
I had to frantically salvage our reports so that they looked less like the 6th grade science report I did on dolphins and more like a professionally done business report. I got up at 6 A.M today to revise our powerpoint, for like the 5th time and I did this alone. I mean, I have never had a group project experience like this before. I have always worked with awesome people, smart people. Half way through the semester I got really angry and couldn't understand why I had to be left with such lame people. But these last few weeks I chose not to care. Not because I really don't care, but because if I did, I would make myself sick with stress and nerves and I don't do well with that.
Bottom line, we did the presentation (well, I did the presentation), turned in our crap and walked out the door. It was the best feeling to be rid of that project and rid of these people. I feel bad for them really. I mean, how are they going to survive in a real job?? They won't. I am convinced. These are the people that 20 years from now will be married with like 10 kids living somewhere in the middle of Utah doing NOTHING with their degrees. One girl just got engaged last night so, you know, she's totally on her way. It's sad. I know I sound like a bitch, but that just how I feel.
I need to go get a Dr. Pepper or something. I am parched. We are having a bonfire tonight-my last bonfire up Logan canyon.....*tear.
Michelle and Rachel. Thank you for tolerating me.
Ok, in case you couldn't recognize that little number, that was my rendition, in text, of the graduation march WHICH I will be strolling along to in 3 days. Crazy. But before I could get excited about hearing that song once again, I had to get through today, and let me tell you...it was a doozy.
Ok, some of you (and by some I mean Michelle and Anna) may know that I have been working with the group from hell all semester for a company here in Logan. Today was our final presentation, the BIG one. Usually I am not nervous at all to give presentations, usually because I am always well prepared and confident in what I have to say. This time, however-not the case. My group consisted of 3 of the most unproductive, lazy, unintelligent human beings I have ever meant. The other member, bless her heart, tried her best, but lacked what we call "people skills."Anyways, these people were a nightmare to work with. I was the account manager (like on the Apprentice) which I was fine with, but the people I had in my group were just a joke. I mean, they literally, and I am so not being sarcastic, would sit and stare at me, waiting for me to tell them what we would be doing. Not even that though, they just stared at me, expecting me to whip out the entire project out of nowhere. I mean I am going to go ahead and be honest: I am good at what I do. I understand this field and like doing what I hope to do as my career, but, I am not a magician. I cannot do everything, come up with every idea, write every report, prepare every presentation. I just cannot do it. And as much as I just wanted to do it all myself because I didn't trust them to write our names on our reports, much less do anything legit with the project, I couldn't. I had to delegate and I got screwed. For example, I gave the task of compiling all of our written project into three binders for our teachers and clients to look over during the presentation to one of these incompetent group members. I figured since everything was already done and printed off, she would be able to handle it. I was wrong. These binders looked like a middle schooler put them together. I mean she went crazy with MSWord - different fonts, different colors, graphics.....
Oh. My. Hell.
I had to frantically salvage our reports so that they looked less like the 6th grade science report I did on dolphins and more like a professionally done business report. I got up at 6 A.M today to revise our powerpoint, for like the 5th time and I did this alone. I mean, I have never had a group project experience like this before. I have always worked with awesome people, smart people. Half way through the semester I got really angry and couldn't understand why I had to be left with such lame people. But these last few weeks I chose not to care. Not because I really don't care, but because if I did, I would make myself sick with stress and nerves and I don't do well with that.
Bottom line, we did the presentation (well, I did the presentation), turned in our crap and walked out the door. It was the best feeling to be rid of that project and rid of these people. I feel bad for them really. I mean, how are they going to survive in a real job?? They won't. I am convinced. These are the people that 20 years from now will be married with like 10 kids living somewhere in the middle of Utah doing NOTHING with their degrees. One girl just got engaged last night so, you know, she's totally on her way. It's sad. I know I sound like a bitch, but that just how I feel.
I need to go get a Dr. Pepper or something. I am parched. We are having a bonfire tonight-my last bonfire up Logan canyon.....*tear.
Michelle and Rachel. Thank you for tolerating me.
This picture has nothing to do with my post (well, neither does the previous picture, actually) but I like it. Last weekend I went to Yellowstone with some friends. This is at Morning Glory pool with Joe and Mark-the water is so hot that it is this way pretty blue. Fun.
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