Greece: Day 3....finally!

So day 3. It was a travel day. But it was an EXCITING travel day! We decided to head out to Santorini. The day before we could only find tickets for the slow boat ferry. Kind of like a cruise ship. I'm so glad we chose that route. It was fun and relaxing...more on that later.

So this is funny. Mine and Angela's bags made the worst noise on the sidewalks by our hotel. This is around 6 in the morning, too. I felt bad. Dawn thought it was hilarious, so she decided to document it with a picture.

This is us waiting for the subway. The benches were interesting, and we obviously were over waiting there at 6am. So we get on the subway and the line going to Piraeus (port city), was closed. So we got out in this random part of Athens, and found a taxi. He was a nice Greek grandpa that crossed himself every time we drove by a church. We also drove through a REALLY bad part of Athens. Prostitutes, refugees, rundown buildings. Yeah, it was interesting and sad. Really sad.

We barely made it to our ferry. We ran, and only had a few minutes to spare. We booked it on up to the deck (or steerage, as I like to call it), to claim some good seats.

 

This was our seating on the ferry. Tables and chairs. But before you think about how uncomfortable, imagine the cool Mediterranean air and the constant view of the blue, blue ocean. Yeah, it really wasn't that bad.

 

 Here is a view of the water and the port. I was kind of obsessed with the water. You may have got that by now.

 

Sunrise and the beat-up Greek flag. This was one of those moments. The ones where you want to pinch yourself because there is no way that this moment is real.

 

 This was our view for a few hours. It was awesome. I think if I ever go back, no WHEN I go back to Greece, I'll take the slow boat over again.

 

This rock formation fascinated me. Just random rocks, hanging out in the middle of the ocean. Plus I liked how everything was blue, and BAM! Brown.

The first port was Paros. It looked cool, but nothing like the pictures I'd seen of Santorini. But it was the perfect build up. The excitement was getting more and more intense.

Another, closer view of Paros...

 

 Disembarkation at Paros. The ferry played the funniest little cartoon music when the ramp was being lowered. It was a lot of fun. I wish I had a recording of it.

 

The next stop was Naxos. Now, I really wouldn't mind going back there. It looked like a lot of fun, plus my old roommate Katie went there and loved it. Oh well, next time.

Close up of Naxos!

Wider view...

I think this is the ruins of a temple of Apollo. I would have loved to go investigate. You don't even know how awesome the archaeology was in this country. I could have spent a year there and been totally fine with it.

Leaving Naxos! See you next trip...oh hello, Angela! I'm sorry I took a picture of you without your knowing.

Now comes the big shabang! Santorini! This was our first view of the island. You can see how the caldera curves around. Look at all that red volcanic rock! Oh heck yeah we were going to an island that's history inspired legend of the lost city of Atlantis!

This is Oia. Pronounced eee-ya. It's all sunny and gleaming now, but when we went it was so windy, we thought we were going to go over the cliff on our ATV's.

On our way to the port at Fira...

 

 While we were waiting to disembark, we were standing next to this awesome guy. He had his little buddy tucked in his jacket. It was awesome.

 

After we got off the ferry, we looked for a taxi. I asked this one taxi driver, he asked where we were staying and then got in his car and drove off. We were soooo pissed off. This is us being pissed off. I'm trying to find the number to our hotel, Galatia Villas. They didn't have a shuttle, so we asked someone about the bus, and they were like, it leaves from over there. When? In an hour. Yeah, so not happy.

Finally we got a taxi! Taxi #1. By the most awesome taxi driver of all time. We would say thank you and he was like, "You in Greece! Speak Greek! Efkharisto!" Yeah, he was really awesome. We passed a stupid restaurant called Senor Yorbas, or something like that. It was a Mexican place. #1 taxi driver was like "eh! Touristos!" Again with the awesome.

 

He dropped us off and we had to trek it down the hill with our bags. Turns out he was just being lazy because the taxi driver that picked us up to go back to the ferry, came down the hill.

 

 The front of our hotel. We were trying to figure out where to go. Down the stairs? Around the building? One thing you need to know about Greece, they really are all "eh! whatever!" No signs, no one knows anything. Yeah, fun times.

 

But we figured it out and found our room. It was right next to the office and down the stairs. We got our keys from another hairy-chested Greek man with a gold chain. It was a really cute hotel, even if it had cardboard beds and the smallest shower known to man.

We ditched our bags and then headed up to the main part of Fira. This was one of the buildings I took a picture of on our way up. It was insane how beautiful it was there.

 

 The little roads and pathways were so quaint and interesting. You just wanted to walk, walk, and walk some more exploring everything. Angela was in heaven.

 

Main street in Fira. Home of the ATM's so we could get cash! I bought a beach towel here, and Angela and Dawn got beach hats.

We finally made it to the edge. Yes, I was happy! How can you tell? By the fact that I'm actually smiling and showing my teeth. Oh yeah, this was awesome. So worth getting laid off, HA!

This was at our spot. I wanted to pet this cat like you wouldn't know. He was fat and cute.

 

 This was our spot. The wall between Cafe Classico and some other building, probably a jewelry shop. I love these pink flowers. And look at the sunset!

 

Us at our spot, eating gelato. I had coconut cream. It was awesome. Don't mind my hair. Frizz city. Plus it was short, bad combo.

Sunset in Fira. I can imagine myself there, right now. I get kind of nostalgic and weepy over it.  

 

And finally, dinner. We went to Nicholas' tavern. It was in all the guidebooks, and for good reason! We had moussaka, stuffed grape leaves, and fish. I can't remember what they were called, but they were amazing!!! Seriously, one of the best things I've ever eaten. It was a long, but GREAT day!

Quote...

I was reading an article about Gabourey Sidibe, the star of Precious. I haven't seen the movie, but you know how it is, reading random stuff on the internet. Anyways, I really loved what she said..."I learned to love myself, because I sleep with myself every night and I wake up with myself every morning, and if I don’t like myself, there’s no reason to even live the life."

2009: A Year in Review...aka thinky thoughts...

I've seen these around a little, back in January. I wasn't able to add one to my blog then because I didn't have a computer. So here it is, a month and half late, but I really wanted to write a list since it's been one of the craziest years yet...

January: Had an okay holiday season. Sister 3 (Jarika) was in Green River for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. We were all sad about that, but what can you do. I got a nice bonus for Christmas at work, so I was happy about that. But I was starting to get that itch again that all was not well at my company. Plus I overheard the big boss talking about having to talk to us all later in the new year. And he did not sound happy.

February: Honestly, I can't remember much about this month. Well, actually, I remember talking to anyone at the office that knew anything, and keeping my eyes and ears open. I'm a suspicious person by nature, plus a little bit negative. This makes me hyper aware about things going on. So, I emailed everything from my work computer to myself and got all my files in order. I was ready.

March: Got laid off! Yep, the Friday before, I packed up half my stuff because I just knew that it was going to happen. I didn't know if it would be me, but they weren't going to catch me unawares. Plus I had a lot of stuff. 3 years worth. The Sunday before, I couldn't even sleep. It was insane. I just knew. KNEW. Sure enough, Monday morning I went and talked to Stacey, and she told me it was happening that day. Plus I saw all the HR ladies walking down the hall. When half my department disappeared and just left me and Rachael, I knew. Talk about the suck. I was sad, happy, and freaked out all at the same time. I knew that it was time for me to go. I WANTED to go. I was so over that job and everything that came with it. But I was upset. I had seniority and that obviously didn't mean anything. Whatever, I got severance and nice reason to get on with my life instead of being stagnant. Once we were told, everyone was hanging out all sad. Nope, when I get upset, I get angry. It gets me through things. I was done and over it. I wanted out. I still have a hard time driving by the building. I want to go and egg it sometimes...

So I went home and moped for a week, and rest of the month I was kind of depressed. But whatever. It also allowed me to be around 100% for the best thing EVER! Oliver Tony Mayall was born. He is the best thing that ever happened to my family. He was the best way to end a crappy month.

April: I spent a lot of time at my parents, where Jarika, Tony, and Oliver were living. I just worked part time at Barnes, and got used to being unemployed. In the last 6 years, I've never not worked, and in the last 2 years, I've worked 2 jobs. It was weird not to have that. I had to figure everything out again. I think I was depressed during this month too, actually...

May: Crazy month! I started this blog, I started to think about going back to school for Photography, got Marissa to let me take her engagement pictures, and...bought my ticket to Greece! Oh yeah. I decided to use that severance for something that counted. I didn't have a job, I was going to travel. I had been responsible my whole life, and look where that got me, laid off. Well, I decided to be irresponsible. I had paid off most of my bills, my car was almost paid off. Screw the world. I'm sticking it to the man and going to Greece and Paris. Though, I also freaked out after I did this.

June: I held Oliver A LOT. And I took Marissa and Nate's engagement pictures at Memory Grove. I was so nervous. I'm so glad they turned out. I also took Justine's friend Olivia's engagement pictures. They were a complete 180 from Marissa's, but they were just as fun and exciting. I've never done anything like this before, but that's also when I realized that I loved doing it, and you know what I think I'm pretty good at it. Obviously there is room for improvement and education, but it inspires me in a way that nothing I've ever done before has.

July: I started swimming again. I love swimming. It's the one form of exercise I won't talk myself out of because it makes me happy. I love it. I've always loved it. I wish I could have been on the swim team in high school, well if Dugway actually had a swim team. I also went to the George Strait concert. I love him. He reminds me of my Grandpa Palmer (Papa). I've wanted to go to a concert of his since forever. July was a good month. I just hung around, swam, read books, and held Oliver. I also took my old friend (since kindergarten) Jessica's boy's pictures. First time shooting kids. It was insane and so different, but rewarding in a different kind of way. I loved how they turned out, but it was exhausting, lol.

August: Tomato season, and Oliver's blessing. He was so cute and fat. It was a special day. I also took Marissa's wedding pictures. That was a stressful day, let me tell you. This is where experience and education come into play. Things that I'm lacking. They turned out okay, I wish I could have done better, but it was a good experience. I also went to Yellowstone with my friend and also laid off coworker, Rachael. It was a lot of fun. We camped, and hiked (not enough for Rachael), saw bears, and just had a grand time. It was fun and simple. Oh, and I turned 28. I so wasn't where I thought I would be. I have friends who have 4 kids. My mom had 4 kids at 28. I don't have a career, I've changed my mind on what career I actually want. I work part time at a Barnes and Noble, yet I've never felt more free.

September: I was sad that summer was ending, but getting excited for Greece! Hotels were getting booked, plans were being made, the anticipation was half the fun. Then my friend Mem texted me and told me they were going to Thailand. I was so sad because we had been planning on going together the next time her family was going to go. But we didn't think it was going to be for a few more years. Nope, they were going December 2009. I was sad. But then it hit me, why the FREAK not? Why can't I go? I called my boss at Barnes, and she said I could go for two weeks. Not the entire month, like I wanted, but what can you do. So readers, I did it. I bought a ticket for Thailand. Greece and Thailand within a two month period. Who does this. The new Jennifer, that's who!

October: Got all my shots for Thailand...and went to Greece! One of the most amazing experiences of my life. I've been wanting to go to Europe as long as I can remember. I've just never had the opportunity. There were a few instances that could have made it better. Some people on the trip were cranky for the majority of it, but what can you do. I constantly think about how I want to go back. I got to go to Versailles, people! The Parthenon! I got to see the Mask of Agamemnon! I got to swim off the coast of Santorini! It was a dream come true. Seriously.

November: Thanksgiving and recovering from Greece and getting ready for Thailand. Did you know that you can't find flip flops anywhere in November! And I took my dear friend Mindy's family pictures and 1 year pictures for her baby, Stephanie. (these will eventually be posted.)

December: Thailand. What can I say. I haven't had time to write about it yet on my blog, but it was amazing. The people, food, and scenery. Amazing. I've decided that Mem's family is my Thai family. My brothers from another mother, my sister's from another Mister, lol. They were so nice and it was so relaxing and refreshing. I can't wait to go back in four years. I was invited by Mem's mom and her uncles who don't speak English. Christmas was a lot of fun too. Oliver's first. He was a joy to watch.

That was my year. It was intense and insane. I have a lot to look forward to for 2010. In May, I'm flying to the US Virgin Islands to play photographer for my friend Annie's wedding. I'm going to swim again this summer. I'll hopefully talk Rachael into doing Zion's slot canyons with me. I'm going to go to Salt Lake Community College in the fall to get my Associates in Photography with a certificate in Online publishing. They have a really good program and it's cheap. I'm going to do this. I'm tired of being scared about what's going to happen or how it's not responsible. I'm mostly debt free and honestly, I'm just going to live. I don't want to be one of those people who just do what I think I'm supposed to do. I'm going to take chances and go down different roads that I have no clue where they lead. I'm sure I'll get frustrated and upset. I'm sure I'll have trials. But I'm going to have a lot of fun in the mean time.

New Layout?

So here it is, my new layout. My old one was boring me, and all the free cutesy ones aren't really me. But this one is hilarious and so wrong, it's perfect! It'll make me laugh every time I pull it up. Hooray! Two birds, one stone.

I'm baaaaack!

So, sorry that I've been incommunicado...My computer crashed and burned back in November, and since I was going to Thailand in December, I just decided to wait. Fast forward two months...it's STILL at the shop, I don't know what the guy is smoking that is fixing it. I stopped by today and the guy who shares his office, hasn't seen him in days. I've called, and called, and called. SOOOO annoyed.

Well, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I went and bought another laptop. Frivolous, yes. Stupid, probably, since I'm unemployed. But it has made my sad, sad, computer-less heart so warm and fuzzy.

So keep on the look out for the rest of the pictures from Greece, the pictures from Thailand, and some deep, thinky thoughts from me!

Oh, and not so secret shout out to Mindy B. I now can burn your pictures on to a CD and give them to you! What? It's been two months? I know, some professional photographer I am!

Day 2

So here is another long post....Seriously, it's like one day is one week. It doesn't help that I'm obsessed with pictures. So hopefully whoever is reading this likes pictures.

Our second morning started out leisurely. We woke up around 9am, then we stopped at a grocery store near our hotel, and then ate at a Starbucks-type place near the subway station. We decided to be adventurous and get some crazy flavors of yogurt. This one is apple-pomegranate. It was really good! So Greek yogurt is definitely something you should eat if you ever go there...and if you like yogurt...

Then we went to Piraeus and got on a ferry to Aegina. Pronounced Ay-eena. Not like a certain part of the female anatomy. We were going to try and go to Hydra, but the ferry was booked. So the travel agent lady told us to go here. I'm really glad we did. My travel book said that this island doesn't get a lot of tourists, I don't know why. It was great! Here is the harbor...

Another view of the harbor. I really loved this place. I guess Aegina was the old capitol of Greece back a few thousand years ago...This is Aegina town. It was really cute...

This was our first view of the famous white buildings of the Greek Islands...I love the contrast of the white buildings and blue water. This was only a hint of how beautiful Santorini would be...

It was SOOOO hot on Aegina. Even more so than in Athens. It was insane. We decided to celebrate us melting by toasting with some nice, cold, refreshing lemon fanta. The stuff was everywhere.

This is Angela and I at the bus station. We were waiting, and waiting, and waiting for it to leave so we could go to the temple of Aphaea. It was so hot that I rolled up my pants. That coupled with my sexy 5 euro hat (I needed something bad, I was sweating to death), made me one smoking lady...kind of like the lady in our picture...

The bus showed no sign of leaving and since we only had 3 hours until our ferry came back, we rented a car. It was like 20 euros. So worth it. It was awesome and little and European. It was great. We got the teenager who took us to our car to take our picture. I'm sure he thought we were insane. But luckily Greek people are awesome and nice, so they aren't too mean about it. Mostly, they just laugh at us.

Angela and I in the car. This was staged. I was in the back seat, and Dawn drove. But we had to get a picture.

I loved the blue water, and I LOVE this picture. I don't even know why. I mean it's mopeds and a parking sign. Goes to show there is no accounting for taste.

We drove along the coast on the way to the Temple of Aphaea, and I basically hung my head out the window and took pictures. I was really jealous of this woman. She was swimming all by herself in crystal clear water. JEALOUS!!!

Here is another picture of a harbor. If you look closely, there are some people swimming here too...

We stopped at this intersection to look at the sign, but still couldn't really figure things out. Then this taxi pulled up next to us with a stereotypical looking Greek man driving it. I have to admit he was a little intimidating with his hairy chest and gold chain. He was like "Where you go?", we told him and he responded, "Follow road, to end!" Say this in a Greek accent, then you will understand how awesome it was!

This is a view of the back half of the island on top of the hill where the Temple of Aphaea is. It was so beautiful. I love the Islands. I think I need to go back and see more of them. Like Rhodes, Naxos, Crete, and Hydra.

Here it is! The Temple of Aphaea! It was so cool! It was beautifully preserved, which was even more amazing because it's made out of limestone, not marble. And there was hardly any tourists, so we mostly had it for ourselves. We spent about an hour just walking around, taking pictures, and just looking at it.

This is me at the back of the temple. I'm hiding behind the rock so you can't see my rolled up pants, white socks, and hiking shoes. Again the stark contrast of the colors just blew me away.

A different view...me being artsy. Deal with it, lol.

A view of the back end of the temple, without me. I just love pillars. It's so interesting to see these pillars and then to come back to the states, or when we were in Paris and see the Greek influence all over. Very interesting.

Here is a view of the back end of the temple and the ocean. This temple was built on a hill/mountain that had an amazing view of the ocean and island.

This is the inside of the temple. The way the light was hitting everything was beautiful. Don't worry, not everything in Greece was beautiful. I just didn't take pictures of it, lol.

Dawn took a picture of me, taking pictures. She had a lot of these. I had to wear my hat backwards all the time, so I wouldn't get the brim in the way. And I couldn't not wear a hat because I was sweating like a mother.

After we left the temple, we just decided to drive back to Aegina town, but the back way. We passed this awesome Greek cemetery. It's so colorful and almost cheerful. I liked that. It wasn't so somber to me.

We passed this monastery. I think it's Agios Nikolaus, or something like that. It's not listed in my book, and I can't find the paper that had it written down on it. It was really pretty and interesting. It was my first experience in a Greek Orthodox church. The inside had all kinds of scaffolding, though. That was disappointing.

These pink flowers are ALL over the Islands. I loved them. I wish they were here. But I'm sure Utah gets too cold during the winter.

I also loved the mosaics. They were all over the churches and monasteries in Greece. I've always loved mosaics, so I took a lot of pictures of them. I also really liked the Greek Orthodox iconography. Just the aesthetic of their religious pictures were cool to me.

This was inside the church. It was full of these intricate carvings and pictures. Birds, flowers, and all kinds of things were carved into this altar.

This is me buying pistachios. Aegina is known for their pistachios. They were really good! They tasted different than the ones you buy from the store. I bought some for my dad, too. I didn't know what else to get him, lol.

Our ferry was a little late, so we just hung out in the square in Aegina town until it got there. This was before I was sick of pigeons. Gross story, so that fountain right there, I'm fairly sure that it's not potable water. Well this tourist came over and filled up her water bottle out of it. It was all cloudy and stuff. Blech. All she had to do was walk a few feet over to the shops across the street and spend a euro on a bottle of water.

I loved the fishing boats and nets. I wanted to go on a ride and go fishing on one. If I had known how awesome the fish were, I might have just taken it and gone!

After we got back to Athens, we went back to what we thought was the Plaka and ate dinner underneath the Acropolis. This restaurant was at the top of all these stairs. It was kind of corny. They had dancers and singers, but they had an awesome Greek Salad! And we were starving, so we didn't really care.

This is our waiter, Angela, and Flat Theresa (Dawn's thing for her friends, I'll explain later). He was awesome! We called him our Greek Grandpa. When we showed him Flat Theresa he laughed so hard! He was really great and taught us how to say thank you in Greek. Ef Kharisto!

This is the stairs up to the restaurant. It was cute.

As we were walking around, we found Hadrian's Library. Unfortunately, we never got to go back during the day when it was open. But we did buy our Santorini skirts from a store across the street. It was a great day. It already felt like we had been traveling for two weeks! Stay tuned for day three! Santorini!