audubon park

my roots soaked in soil
under the loose marsh and the moon
'neath a symphony of singing toads
an empty bottle night in june

memory tiles the mosaic mind
scent of earth and wood and stone
the worship of a summer night
flowered fragrance of my home

the now becomes a memory
night rushes into day
hold my eyes open, ward off sleep
and keep the future at bay

The Golden Horn: Istanbul

Day One

After the all night bus from Selcuk, I was exhausted and confused when we arrived in Istanbul; mainly because no one could explain to us how we were going to get to Sultanahment. A connecting bus took us there from the bus station and Mike and I separated on the street. Two Australians were on the bus and familiar with the neighborhood, so they brought me to the neighborhood of the Istanbul Hostel. Within 30 minutes, I was showered and out the door to see the sights. Because the only map they had was in Italian, this proved very difficult so I just walked around and took it all in. On every corner is a carpet salesman, trying his best to make you stop and say hello because after that, it’s over and they know it. Two blocks away is a gorgeous fountain embedded between the Blue Mosque and the Aya Sofya. I followed the crowd around and discovered the gates of the Topkapi Palace, so I decided to explore it. I saw prayer rugs, jewels, thrones, porceline and arms from the Ottoman Empire. I was also really impressed with the tile work in the more prestigious rooms, like the Harem and the circumsision room. After the treasury was a killer view of the Bosphorus River. The palace was crowded with people and I saw a huge concentration of Muslim women wearing the complete black burke. Strangely, these were the more pushy and rude people that I encountered in the palace.

After the palace, I had a roasted corn and went to the Aya Sofya for free because some Italians had extra tickets that they couldn’t sell. This mosque was really gorgeous. I’m not sure who built it in 413 AD, but I know Justinian put up the famous mosaics that were later covered up. It’s strange to see Muslim and Christian art in the same building side by side. The light in the building is fantastic: it streams through the windows like beams. It is also amazing to see the view of the Blue Mosque from the Aya Sofya.


I returned to the hostel for a nap and later met some guys and smoked shisha on the terrace with them. I went to dinner with some people from my hostel and then for a beer. Three of us stopped and played volleyball with some local boys until we destroyed the ball and had to stop. A small group from the hostel then went out for apple tea and a rose shisha water pipe.

Day Two

The next morning, I went down to breakfast and met Louisa and Emily (The English). They went out and I went with a few of the guys to the Blue Mosque where Zen (our Pakistani guide) told us about the procedure for entering the mosque. This mosque is also spectacular, though the small woman’s area in the back was quite a sad site. From there we walked to the bazaar.


This is probably my favorite place in Istanbul. There are over 4,000 shops selling jewelry, leather, ceramics, water pipes, shawls, and about anything else you could imagine. I got a feel for how to haggle with the locals and quickly began to enjoy the banter with the vendors. Turkish people are born salesmen; it’s in their blood since the spice trade on the Silk Road. They call to you, but you can’t pay them any attention unless you really want something. “Yes please”, “Where you from?”, “I make a good price”, and “You want apple tea?” are their most prized phrases. If you stop for a chat, you will get sucked into a long conversation that results in you buying something. Then you get home and you wonder who you’re going to give all these things to. I only bought a shawl that first day: I wanted to get a feel for the bazaar before I made my large purchases.

After a lot of tea and walking, we returned to the hostel for a rest and a smoke. Then we went out to the Basilica Cistern, a Roman aqueduct that had the face of Medusa carved into its columns, and the Hippodrome, two Obelisks located right next to the Blue Mosque. We returned to the hostel and had a bite to eat and some shisha and decided to go on the sunset cruise along the Bosphorus. We haggled the price down for the boat and boarded, then met another group of people from a hostel on the other side of the Golden Horn. So we all chatted and hung out, enjoying the wonderful view of the only city that spans two continents. When we were done, we all walked to Taksim and went to a bar on the top floor of a swank hotel. We had a complete view of Istanbul at night, which claims to be one of the largest cities in the world. I hung out with Rich from Milwaukee, and learned about his work in Biology and Geography while drinking mojitos.


We left the hotel and went to Taksim, the hip area in Istanbul. One person wanted to go to a college bar with cheap drinks, which Rich and I (and the English) wanted something a little more unique to Turkish culture. When we wouldn’t sit down, it became quite a fuss and the group ended up splitting in two. We went for beer and pasta on a cute little street further down. Louisa, Danny, Emily and I walked back to Sultanehment together, telling stories and laughing all the way there. The fishermen were still out on the Bosphorus at 3 am with their polls yelling, “fish fish” just because they were proud of what they were doing.


Day Three

Rich had planned to email me and set up a way to rendezvous, but it didn’t work out. Instead, Danny and I went to a local neighborhood called Besiktas, checking out the outside of the Dolmabahce Palace and its changing of the guard on the way. The area was a lot more authentic and Turkish, which was refreshing. We took pictures of the vendors in the outdoor market and got Turkish Pide for lunch. Then we walked to Taksim, the way a car would get there: a dangerous and dusty experience but we arrived in Taksim and explored the hip district during the day. The main street was bustling with cool shops, young people, and a trolley that dinged its way around. We got soft serve and walked on to the nearest tram stop.

I got in touch with Rich, who invited me and the English to come to their hostel for drinks on the roof and then dinner. We drank raki and 3 Germans from the hostel played in the didgeridoo for us. The tower was so close that we could see the tourists on its highest level waving to us. From there we walked around the Taksim district and found a restaurant, where we ordered calamari, raki, cheeses, salads and other mezes. A man played the accordion and a small boy sold Rich a rose for Emily (that’s a Faulkner story). From there, we found a rooftop bar and danced all night. The Germans wanted to go home and I really wanted to chill and watch the sunrise, so Rich and Kyle came back with us and we went up to the roof. Our hostel employees had left the tap on, so we drank free beers all morning. The moon was a silver bowl and the river a glistening necklace winding around the city when the sun started to rise. We took pictures and listened to music until the guys had to leave for their train out of Istanbul.



Day Four

I had to wake up, though I was not in the mood to move. Tired and still kind of drunk, I showered and then went to breakfast, when the English arrived. I checked out and went to the bazaar to spend all of my leftover lira, which was about four hundred. When I got there, I met Ziya the jeweler who helped me find a beautiful silver bracelet at a good price. After I got hustled to buy an amber necklace, Ziya came out of the store and told me he would help me if I needed to negotiate with a storeowner. Then he walked me to a friend who had silver and the man gave me a great price on a really heavy piece that will cover the tattoo I’m getting on my wrist. From there, I was in a great mood, though I had spent most of my money in the first 15 minutes of my being there.

I walked on and started admiring the Lapis Lazuli in a store window of a guy named Deniz. He invited me into the store and we had an apple tea. I was instantly taken with him: such a gentle and genuine person. We laughed and talked and I admired his beautiful jewelry, trying a lot of it on. He brought out an amber bracelet that matched my necklace and was so unique that I really wanted to buy it, but I didn’t have much money left. He sold me on it when he said that he really wanted me to have the bracelet and sold it to me at a 5 lira profit to himself. Of course, this could be a story, but that’s the fun of the bazaar; everything is a game. You have to understand that they hold all the cards because they know how much it’s actually worth and your whole bargaining with them is a game. Deniz had to have the bracelet adjusted to fit my wrist, so I waited in his store and finished my tea. I liked the way he looked at me too, but again, I didn’t know if that was a game too. When he asked me to lunch and dinner and gave me his card so I could call him, I really wanted to but I worried that it was another game. It’s hard to read men sometimes, especially men from other cultures.

So I moved on to the next shop: another jewelry shop where I had seen some gorgeous amber that had insects incased in them. I wandered through the labyrinth of shopkeepers, getting stuck in the trap of the Kurdish “doctor” along the way. I finally found Ali’s shop and he welcomed me in, though he knew I had already spent all of my money. He ordered us tea and proudly showed me his designs and tied them around my neck. I could tell that he enjoyed touching me, but it seemed like he just wanted to share the necklaces with someone who would enjoy them. I saw one made of garnet that I fell in love with, it looked like the jewels were embedded in my skin. When he saw that I liked that one, he gave it to me for free. So, though I was swindled a little bit, I had such fun at the Grand Bazaar. I finished my day by returning to Ziya and having a tea with him in his shop and talking to him. He walked me out of his corridor and pointed me in the direction of the Spice Bazaar.

This area of town is called the Egyptian Bazaar. Instead of being inside, it is an open market with a lot of cheap clothes and shoes. There are so many people there, it is hard to walk, especially with mopeds and men pushing dollies occasionally making their way through the crowd. I walked slowly so that I couldn’t take it all in and soon I entered the Spice Bazaar. It smelled amazing! Every shop was teaming with dried fruits, nuts, spices, henna and tea. Everywhere I turned was a sample of Turkish delight or raw honey on the comb. I bought pistachios, love tea and a pepper grinder for Gunner then made my way back to the hostel. I collapsed on the roof terrace pillows in the cool of the afternoon and napped.

Later that night, Emily, Louisa and I went to the hamam for relaxation. This place was much more authentic than the Bodrum haman, primarily because it was separated into men and women so that you could be naked. We were led into a marble bath room and sat down next to the marble fountains. There we washed and sweat, watching the other girls who were further along than us in the hamam sequence. The show is run by an old woman who seems to have been in the bath house forever. Her bare breasts hung to her stomach and she wore little black bottoms that hung off her bum, exposing her but crack. But what was fascinating was the naturalness of it all in what I had read as such an uptight culture. We sat and steamed for about thirty minutes before the bath began.

You start by laying down on the marble table and being scrubbed with an exfoliating mitten on both sides of your body. Then you are to rinse off using your bowl and the water from the fountain. Then she called to be washed and massaged with foam on both sides. The strength of this old woman took my breath away. She aggressively rubbed my sore muscles and bones with foam so hard that I winced at times. However, when she was done I felt like jelly. Then she washed our hair and put us in the sauna. The whole process took about two and a half hours. When we left the hamam, we were relaxed and in need of tea so we walked to the seafood district for dinner and then cabbed it back to the hostel. Emily chilled with me all night so that I could stay up for my ride to the airport. The guys from the hostel bought us beers and taught us to play “Chinese” on a checkerboard. We listened to Bob Dylan and Pink Floyd until it was finally time for me to go. I hugged my friends and boarded the shuttle to Ataturk Airport to begin my long journey back to the states.

Let's Talk Turkey, Part 2

Olundeniz-Fethiye-Bodrum

We left early because we knew it would be a long ride to Bodrum, but neither of us could have imagined such a blunderous bus journey. In all fairness, I must say that the Turkish bus system is one of the best I’ve ever seen. It blows the American Greyhound out of the water and makes the Italians look like fools, but this bus trip was so outrageously muddled that I couldn’t stop shaking my head and laughing. We left on time, but as we drove away from the bus station I noticed that the roads were becoming more and more rugged. After a few complicated turns in what looked like a neighborhood, or bus driver took a sharp turn too quickly and slammed into a parked car. Everyone got out of the bus to watch the driver haggle with the car owner, while another employee handed out water to the passengers. About an hour later, they had paid the man off without having to report it to the police and we were on our way again. In addition to the regular stops to pick up people at random street corners or in the middle of a field, we had to stop at a body shop to change a tire and pull over on the side of the road to put more oil in the bus. I’ve never seen a company forget to maintain the bus before taking a trip. At the body shop, all the passengers filed out and were served tea (cay) while watching 4 men and a little boy service a bus. Once again, we were off and really ready to get there. This is when were stopped by the Turkish army 11 kilometers from Bodrum. An armed guard boarded the bus and took everyone’s identification papers and left the bus. It was so odd that we were stopped when so many other cars were aloud to go on. Another 30 minutes later, we were finally on our way to the town.

Exhausted and thrilled to be there, we began navigating our way to our pension, when were approached by Murat. He insisted that we stay at his hotel and gave us a ride and a much cheaper price, so we agreed and lugged our backpacks through the bustling market to his car. The market had a Turkish women wearing their headscarves and sitting on carpets selling apricots, pomegranates, figs, and watermelon. Another lady sold veggies, while the stand across from her had cages filled with ducklings, chirping chicks, sleepy rabbits and chickens crawling all over each other. While admiring this little world under the canvas covering, I lost sight of Murat and Mike and had to jog across the street behind them.

We dropped our bags and had a quick bite to eat before settling in for a nap. That night, we explored the bay of Bodrum. The city is on a port, chock full of wooden Turkish yachts which line the two bays and leave trails of lights on the water. Overlooking the bay, we ate shrimp in chile sauce and a tender octopus casserole on the terrace of a local seafood restaurant. The walk home was almost more crowded than the walk to dinner, as people were starting to head out to the bars and clubs.

It was supposed to be over 115 degrees the next day, so we tried to stay indoors as much as possible. We visited the Castle of St Peter and the Museum of Underwater Archeology, which is inside of the castle. It was really beautiful and featured harbor views of Bodrum and its yachts. My favorite was the English Tower, a tower with barred windows and stones etched with Old English lettering. It was the kind of room you imagine when you think of King Arthur: it had a huge table for feasting, walls covered in armor and animal heads, and the knights’ coats of arms on display. The Underwater Museum was also quite remarkable, featuring the largest ancient collection retrieved from underwater excavation. It was mainly ceramic pottery used to transport olive oil and wine throughout the Roman Empire. They also had small glass objects lit from underneath and a reconstructed stern of a transport boat in an old chapel.

Exploring the castle didn’t take too long, so we went to find wireless Internet connection and spent the rest of the day chilling out away from the heat until it was time to go to the Hamam. A car from Cleopatra’s picked us up at the hotel and brought us to the spa, where we were systematically put into the sauna, steam room and then massage room. We were exfoliated and bathed with a foam massage as well, topping it all off with a relaxing oil massage. I was in a daze as we were driven home.

That night, Mike and I ate at a restaurant where you buy your fish from the market next door and they prepare it for you. It was covered with stray cats and kittens who anxiously awaited the bones from your dinner or a small piece of fish.

Bodrum

I woke myself up really early, grabbed breakfast and then took a cab to the port to go diving with the Bodrum Snorkle and Dive center. The boat was packed with high maintenance French people, but I managed to find a spot next to a Norwegian couple who were very interesting and kind to me. Thomas and Sula had been diving all over the world together and ended up being in my dive group with a master named Jim. The reef was like a giant mountain that we swam around, seeing a school of barracuda, star fish, parrot fish, tiny bright blue fish and sponges. I hugged one of the black sponges! Though I had some trouble with my buoyancy, I had a really fun first dive.

We got out of the water and chatted until we came to the second site, where we had lunch. I went swimming and hung out with the French-speaking Turkish guy who was stuck dealing with the French customers who he was forever having to explain things to. Our second dive was a little bit strange. I couldn’t control my buoyancy because they gave me too much weight and then I ran out of air. I had to buddy breath with Ozgur, the dive leader, until he sent me up to the surface. When the Norwegians came back, we had ice cream and hung out for the rest of the day. I walked back to our hotel and took a nap.

Mike wasn’t around when I woke up, so I went for a jacket potato at my favorite sandwich shop. Then I ran into Mike and we went to the Italian café to use the internet, planned our move to Selcuk, and packed our stuff up.

Bodrum-Selcuk

The ride to Selcuk was wonderful because we took my favorite bus company, Kamil Koc. We arrived in Selcuk and found our hostel, Jimmy’s place. We were given a deluxe room with separate beds and a huge, clean bathroom for the price of a double. Jimmy instantly took a liking to us and brought us across the street to have doner kebab and ayran, the typical Turkish yogurt drink. After lunch, we went to a tea house and watched the old men play rummy cube. Jimmy bought us figs from a young boy in the tea house.

Turns out, Jimmy sells Turkish carpets from his hotel and he brought us into his shop to teach us about the history of Turkish carpets. After 2 hours of Turkish coffee and learning about the art form of carpet weaving, Mike and I were both sold on buying carpets from Jimmy. I bought 2 kilims, embroidered carpets made of silk on cotton. They were made by nomadic Turksih women from the Noah’s Arch region of Turkey, each of which tell a story about her family and her feelings.

We had barbeque with Jimmy, then Turkish coffee, then pistachios, then a bottle of wine. Jimmy’s brother, Capatian G, was parading around with his beautiful, new daughter, Hessia, or shooting the stray cats with water guns. I loved staying at Jimmy’s because the vibe there was so familiar and relaxed. I felt like these people had known me forever.
Jimmy brought me up on the roof, where we drank another bottle of wine and looked at the castle and the stars.

Ephesus- Selcuk- Istanbul

The bus arrived to take us to Ephesus right as I was finishing my tea. Our tour guide brought us to the city gates and then around the best preserved Roman city in the world. We saw the government centers and ancient board games carved into marble, the remnants of huge fountains and brothels, ancient communal toilets, and the amphitheater. I was most impressed by the city’s towering library, the front of which has great, carved Corinthian columns and statues of scholars that are surprisingly well preserved. The city was remarkable, despite the fact that only 20 percent of Ephesus has been excavated. As we left the city, local actors were reenacting a Roman show for the tourists from the cruise lines.

From there, we were brought to the site of the Temple of Artemis where only one column survives from what was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. We then saw a fashion show at a local leather wholesaler and a demonstration in ceramic pots at another showroom. We also visited the Selcuk museum, which housed a lot of artifacts from Ephesus. Seeing the museum made the fountains and buildings come to life more, as it held a lot of their statues. When the day came to an end, Mike and I returned to Jimmy's to hang out until it was time for our overnight bus depart for Istanbul.

Let's Talk Turkey, Part 1

Marmaris- Antalya- Olympos

Yesterday morning, Mike and I woke up in Rhodes and took a cab to the port in the early morning. The wind was so harsh, my hair was continually in my eyes and my coffee cup almost fell over. We waited in line to pay the port tax and to have our passports stamped before waiting for the boat to depart. The ocean was so rough, I thought I was going to be sick, so I climbed to the top of the boat, falling on multiple people along the way. As the Turkish mountains were unveiled from behind mist, I became more enchanted with the exotic trip I was taking. One of the sailors climbed on top of the ship and raised the Turkish flag, scarlet with the moon and star on it, to allow us entrance into the port at Marmaris.

The bus station was unlike anything I had ever seen before. A man from a bus company carried our bags from the taxi and put them in the ticketing office, I paid for our bus fair and we were put on a bus leaving for Antalya within ten minutes. Once aboard, the bus began whipping through pine forests and hills while the attendant periodically passed out ice cream, tea, or cookies. When we were halfway to Antalya, we stopped at a roadside restaurant and had an authentic meal prepared buffet style for about 4 dollars each. I had stewed meatballs with peppers and tomato, rice, bread and tea. Back on board, Mike let me listen to his music so that I could tune out the bus’s terrible Turkish pop music. We listened to Bach’s cello concerto while overlooking farms at the foot of great mountains. The Turkish farmers are mainly women, dressed in long sleeves and long shirts with hair covers. When they weren’t harvesting or tending to the plants, they were picnicking under the shade of a tree.

We came through the mountains and forest to Antalya which, like a tide pool brimming with life, burst forth from the ocean. After some confusion with a security guard, Mike and I were able to buy Tickets for a bus to Olympos which left in 20 minutes. I wanted to visit Olympos because it was a beach city featuring ruins and the Chimera fires. Visitors to Olympos stay in tree houses or bungalows and take adventure tours during the day. I thought this sounded really fun and exciting, so I insisted we check it out. After a 7 hour bus ride from Marmari to Antalya, a 2 hour mini-bus ride from Antalya to a restaurant outside of Olympos, and then a 30 minute mini-bus ride from the restaurant to Turkmen Pension, Mike was not happy with me. Mike was even less happy with me when they were out of air-conditioned bungalows and we were left with a tree house. Mike and I were both taken aback when we realized that “tree house” in Turkish means “shack made from the wood of a tree.” It was a little bit bigger than our bed with a padlock for security, though the window wouldn’t even close. Mike was not pleased, but I thought it was quite funny.

I left Mike to lie down and went to explore Olympos, which is charming but not worth such a long trek. I walked past many pensions like ours with restaurants and little shops along the way, but nothing terribly impressing. I continued walking and saw the ruins tucked in between the boulders of Olympos, but no matter how far I walked, I never made it to the beach. I finally gave up and returned to the pension for dinner to find a very upset Mike Falcon. Together we decided to “get the fuck out of here as soon as possible” and went down to dinner, which was an extravagant Turkish buffet. They had so much eggplant, couscous, yogurt, potatoes, broccoli and meat that I had to stack food on top of food, which got me some really funny looks. When we were done we sat and tried to watch King Kong in Turkish and then registered for a tour of the Chimera.

The Chimera was a legendary monster, part lion, goat and dragon, to whom Zeus set fire and buried alive under the earth. This is the explanation behind the flames that seep out of the earth. They are mostly methane gas that ignites when it comes in contact with air, but it is quite interesting to see at night when the flames seep through the ground like a gas fireplace. By the time I arrived back at the “tree house,” I was dripping with sweat from the climb up the hill and so tired from all of my rocky travels, that I did not care about the lack of air conditioning. Mike and I showered and collapsed in our tiny little room and slept soundly until the next morning.

Olympos-Fethiye-Olundeniz

A rooster didn’t wake me up at the crack of dawn. When I stormed outside of our “tree house” to chase away whatever creature was howling at us, it was a flock of mangy chickens running from a rooster that made those terrible choking sounds. I chased them up into the next level of shacks, but that did little to help the noise. I went back for a hot and muggy few more minutes’ sleep and admired the view of a purple dawn brushing against the mountains outside our “window.”

We checked out and ate as fast as we could to “get the fuck out of there” and get to our next destination without wasting too much time. This goal turned out to be a bit unrealistic as we had to take three different buses to get to Olundeniz, but it was a beautiful drive and we had air conditioning most of the way. I drove along the Turkish coast with its red and chalk cliffs beside a turquoise sea. Though it was a lot of driving for 2 days, I loved seeing the beauty of the coast. I didn’t get to stop there, but Kas seems like a city that I would like to see later on in life.

After 5 hours on the mini-bus, we arrived in Fethiye and took another mini-bus to the beach town, Olundeniz, where we got a really nice room with air conditioning and our own bathroom to try and make up for the rough night before. We went out for lamb shish and Turkish ice cream served out of a melon cut in half.

Olundeniz

Olundeniz is a famous Turkish resort spot for British tourists, so there are a lot of non-local tourist traps to work through, but with enough patience and an eye for authenticity, it’s a really cool place to spend a few days. If you look up at any given moment, there are over twenty people paragliding from the cliffs around the beach. They also have a huge lagoon that hugs the beaches and little coves where private yachts are docked. The lagoon mirrors a beach, both of which are crowded with people lying under the shade of high bushes or trees. You can see Turkish Muslim women in their head scarves and traditional clothing out on the beach as well, though they are usually under the shade of an umbrella.

We took a boat from the shore to Butterfly Valley, a 40-minute journey that exposed a lot about the Turkish sense of life. The sailors loaded people onto the boat using a small ladder that was periodically being thrust 3 feet in the air, as the waves were crashing into the shore. This made loading difficult for people; imagine my face when I saw them pick up and load a refrigerator! It seems that the shuttle service to and from Butterfly Valley also stocks the valley with supplies that they need from town. Loaves of bread, bottles of water, liquor, cigarettes, and cheese were hauled over the toppling waves along with clients for what turned out to be a little commune.

As we rolled up to the shore of Butterfly Valley blaring Tracy Chapman, a crowd of people swarmed on the pebble beach by the bright blue water. I was reminded of the movie “The Beach” where the people never leave: it seemed like travelers had visited the Valley and traded a tent and a vine-covered veranda for civilization. To get to the butterflies, we followed hand painted signs through a farm and garden, along boulders and towering cliffs to a waterfall. We saw very few butterflies, but the trip to the waterfall and refreshing bath made it worth it. We made our way back through the sunflowers and marigold gardens, past the cow and goat, to the veranda where Mike and I played a game of chess and waited for the boat.

We crossed the bright blue bay back to the beach of Olundeniz. It was rush hour when we pulled up, so boats were pulling up right next to each other to unload on the beach. Our captain had to run to the back of the boat and kick another one away so that it wouldn’t damage his prized vessel. I had to jump into the waves wearing my dress and holding my backpack!

Yamas!

Corfu- The Pink Palace



Kevin, Jake, Mike and I were thrilled to get off of the ferry from Bari. The twelve hour journey wouldn’t have been too hard as it was overnight, but the ferry was like a meat locker and the deck was so cold I lost circulation in my fingers. Kevin and Jake were trying to stay at the Pink Palace-- the same backpacker resort that Mike and I had reserved—so we waited for the rest of the Pink Palace arrivals, a lively bunch of Canadians and Americans who we ended up partying with. We were shuttled across the island of Corfu to the Pink Palace where we shot Ouzo before even eating breakfast.

It’s hard to explain the experience without explaining the palace. It was a resort aimed at attracting backpackers, so it was more like a fraternity house than a resort. Breakfast and dinner were included and drinks were cheap, so it gave you a pretty good excuse to stay put and party all day with the people you met. It was sectioned into 3 parts separated by stairs. There was a bar in reception on the street level, a dinner and drinks at the palladium on the next level down and breakfast on the lowest beach level.

It was like summer camp for a bunch of college students who want to get wasted and hook up with each other. They had activities like kayaking, quad safari, booze cruise, toga parties (with plate smashing over people’s heads), yoga and happy hours. The first day I went down to the beach and roasted myself all day with some of the kids from breakfast. Later, we had dinner in the palladium which turned into a club later that night. I danced and had shots with my new friends, Justin, Sally, Brenden, and Tucker, and listened to Jesper play the guitar on the steps leading us back to our rooms.


The second day we all registered for a booze cruise that seemed more like a glorious boat tour. The coastline had absolutely stunning cliffs and crystal clear water with 30-foot visibility. They took us cliff jumping first. We had to dive from the boat and swim up to the boulder, then scale up the side of the rock and stand in line to wait for your jump. After I went, I climbed back up to try the second, even higher boulder jump. Next they took us to a bat cave in the side of a cliff. We dove from the boat and swam into complete darkness, but when you looked up you could see the bats flying overhead and once the screamers left the cave, you could actually hear them chirping. The last stop was a private beach where we chilled on the warm pebbles.

(i jumped from these cliffs!)

The third day we went on an ATV tour of the entire island with our hilarious guides Brandina and Dean leading the way through rugged roads to beautiful island vistas. (or as Brandina called them, “Wow spots. Wowsah!”) The following day I rented scooters with Sally, Brenden, Tucker and his girlfriend and Mike, which is when the accident happened, causing an extended stay at the Pink Palace. The staff was really kind to me. They let me camp at the reception bar and watch movies. They brought me lunch and made me tea and even picked me up to put me in my chair. It was a little pathetic, but Duncan, Ashley, Francesca, Paula and Charles really tried to help me keep things in perspective and help me as much as they could.

When we left the Pink Palace on the overnight bus to Athens, I was relieved to move on. For every good thing that happened at that place, something equally tragic happened; sometimes the trade off is not worth it.


Athens

I have never felt as helpless as I did when I arrived in Athens. The bus dropped us off in the middle of a neighborhood of which we knew nothing. We tried to hail a cab, but no one would stop and I couldn’t walk yet. A shopkeeper felt bad for us, closed his shop and walked us to a hostel around the corner. It was a really depressing hostel: dirty, overpriced, cramped and far away from anything of interest. This is when I felt I should maybe cut my losses and go home, but I am really glad that I didn’t. Looking back, it was only my fourth day after surgery and I should have been a little easier on myself.

Mike and I got a better place to stay on the second day and found a bus that let us explore Athens without walking. We also took my friend Gunner’s suggestion to take a cable car up to a monastery at the highest point in Athens. We got a killer view of the city and the ocean as the sun was beginning its decent behind the hills. We enjoyed amazing Greek cuisine and found a public bus that took us to all of the sites, so we got to see a lot of the beauty of Athens without having to move around too much. On our last day we tried to see the Acropolis, but the Greeks had gone on strike that day, so I had to miss out on that important site. However, on our walk back to the bus I saw the upcoming Acropolis museum. Though it was under construction, I know this building is going to represent modern architecture as well as the Acropolis represents antiquity.

We finished our day in a really hip area of town, which was bustling with jewelry merchants and an outdoor meat market, complete with whole carcasses of skewered lamb. All along the roads were huge murals of street art, though they didn’t seem to be illegal graffiti but commissioned art in public spaces. All of this added to the charm of this unique little district of Athens. Sorry to say I don’t know its name.

Ios via Sikinos

Determined to redeem ourselves, Mike and I had visited a travel agent and organized the rest of our trip to the islands so that we could get passage on the crowded boats. Because everything was booked out, we decided to splurge and get a sea plane to Ios, an expensive but unique way to travel the islands. Unfortunately, Poseidon had different plans for us: the flight was cancelled due to rough seas. We chartered a last minute flight from Athens to Santorini and then caught a ferry to Ios, or so we thought.

We were so tired from waking up at 3 am that we fell asleep during our stop. Instead of realizing this, we got off the ferry at a little island called Sikinos, convinced that that was just the name of the port. In our defense, the main city, Hora, is the same name as Ios’s so when we got on the bus, we thought we were in the right place. A Greek couple from New York helped us figure it out, but it was too late to fix the problem. We ended up staying in a gorgeous white stucco apartment with blue doors and windows, overlooking the ocean. Our landlord, Luca, also had a restaurant so we ate their delicious local seafood and made the most of our delay.

The ferry didn’t leave until the following night at 8, which is 9:20 Greek time. By the time we arrived at Francesco’s in Ios, we were relieved and ready to enjoy ourselves. What was a 6 hour ferry ride had turned into a 3 day journey; I could see how it took Odysseus so long to get home from the Trojan War.

Mike explored the island by scooter and I enjoyed the beautiful beaches with people from Francesco’s. Ios is a stunning island. It’s small main city is manicured and caters to its youthful, party crowd. You don’t get much sleep on this island, but that’s the point. Everyone is brimming with excitement and contagious about it. Even though I was still in bad shape, I insisted on going out with my Canadian neighbors on their last night. I was up till 6 in the morning without batting an eye, bar hoping and jumping around conversations all night.

Santorini

Even though Mike was sick of hostels, I talked him into staying at the Hostel Anna in Perissa Beach for one night because our friend, Kevin the Hawaiian, was staying there. Kevin had to leave when we arrived, but Perissa was cheap and beautiful. We had a lamb dinner and drank Mythos by a bon fire on the black sand beach.

We caught the bus to Fira the next day, winding through arid vineyards and trees painted white. We walked north from the bus station for what seemed like an eternity, given it was my first day carrying my bag again. We finally found our apartment a beautifully clean room, all in white with blue accents and light wooden furniture.

We rented an ATV for two days so that we could adventure around the entire island. That first morning, Mike returned with our bright yellow ATV and we were off to find breakfast. We stopped to get coffee at this place that made doughnut balls covered in honey and cinnamon. They were hot and delicious! We started our adventure by returning to Perissa Beach to get our bearings. From there, we scooted over Ancient Thira and Kamari Beach for a delicious lunch right by the water. After lunch we continued our trip singing “Born to be Wild” but taking the turns really slowly. (I could tell Mike was holding back because I was so scared to be back on the road) Our next stop was Red Beach, a phenomenal beach at the base of a mountain of red volcanic rock. The lines in the rock are diagonal, revealing a little about the plate tectonics around the island. The water was gorgeous green, covered with rocks for sunning and jumping. Next to Red Beach are its neighbors: Black Beach and White Beach, each named according to the rocks around them. While the beaches were beautiful to see, this was an adventure day, so we continued our travels to a lighthouse on the south side of the Caldera.

This side of the island overlooked Fira and Oia from a distance and gave another great perspective on what the mouth of the volcano might have looked like millions of years ago. The next day we discovered the other side of the island, starting off Southwest, so that we could get to Oia the less conventional way. We saw a random cave and a port that had huge swans. We continued past the airport, still singing our highway songs. We explored the port at Oia and then headed down the highway.

The next day, Mike and I split and I went back to Perissa to stay at Hostel Anna. I’m really glad that I did because I got to meet a group of amazing girls and go out in Santorini. We had dinner across the street and then went out for drinks and dancing. Before I knew it, it was 5 in the morning and I was walking home with Paula. This was bad news, because I was already signed up for a boat tour of the island with 3 girls from my group and it left at 10. This would be pushing it.



The Santorini boat tour was my highlight of the Santorini trip. We explored the Santorini volcano, bathed in the hot springs, saw the Port of Fira, ate souvlaki on the island of Therissa and watched the sunset in Oia after riding donkeys up the mountain. As if that wasn’t enough, I was with 3 girls who I felt so close with by the end of the day it was hard to realize I had just met them. We were so content and tired that the 4 of us drank vodka and played cards for the rest of the evening. This would be my last night in Santorini and while 6 days is a really long time to be somewhere, I got to the point where I really didn’t want to leave. It is a really special island.

Rhodes

I was dreading the ferry ride, a 22-hour journey across the Mediterranean to Rhodes, but it turned out to be kind of nice to do nothing for a minute. I didn’t realize what a cool island Rhodes was until I saw it for myself. People don’t talk about this island because it’s more family oriented, but it is the best-preserved medieval town in Europe. Old Town is enclosed with a protective wall and moat (though there’s no water anymore). All of the restaurants and shops are situated in the original, medieval structure. There are crumbling towers and twisting alleyways, cobblestone streets and beer gardens all along Old Town.

In the morning, I braced myself for adventure and got back on the proverbial horse: Mike and I rented a scooter. Though he’ll argue that I was squeezing the life out of him, I was proud of myself for overcoming a fear. It was a charming tour of the island. We saw beautiful beaches, castles and mountains. The highlight of the trip was when we discovered Cape Prasonisi. What we thought would be a secluded peninsula turned out to be a crowded wind surfing/kite surfing beach, divided in two by a small strip of sand. There were hundreds of people in the water, the experts on the rough west side and the beginners on the smooth east side of the beach, and caravans parked all along the beach where the surfers would stay for the holiday. We watched in wonder for a while, as it was so unexpected. The wind on that side of the island was really strong, so I was really scared as we scootered home.

That being enough adventure for me, I spent the next day on the beach and left the exploring of Butterfly Valley to Mike. We had a really nice dinner at a local taverna and then tea at our favorite Swedish wireless café and prepared for our voyage