Rome -- GREECE -- Rome

so its been a while since I posted, but I wanted to just give a quick update---
since I last wrote, classes finished up, papers were written, finals were taken and we all said our goodbyes! it really did go by fast. Somewhere in the mix I enjoyed some excellent Italian cuisine when my aunt visited :) and did a few new sites: biking in villa borghese!

Anyway, and a quick rundown on my adventures in Roma since then:
- 2 weeks in Greece!

- Athens -a big crazy city, like rome but a little dirtier, a lot older, and ruins more centralized. good food cheap! (gotta love gyros in their greasy deliciousness)

- Paros - Chill Cyclades Island! beaches, ATVs, good local food and wine- and island where tourists end up but greeks still live. Luckily stayed in a wonderful "Pension" which was listed as a hostel but was like an amazing bed and breakfast minus the breakfast (which was okay since there was an incredible bakery on the corner with fresh spanikopita each morning!) We went from Athens Pagration Hostel where you had to pay for hot showers and towels crammed in a 6 person bunk bed dorm with a floor bathroom, to Pension Rena in Paros: no bunk beds, own bathroom, own PATIO!, fresh towels each day, and Rena even cleaned the rooms and made the beds. The cost? Rena was 2 euro CHEAPER! I was so surprised at how low cost the islands were, wasn't expecting it!

-Santorini - Touristy Classic Cant Miss it Island-- yes it was touristy, and a little more expensive but the sheer beauty makes it worth it--so many steep drop offs caused by the volcanic eruption that probably destroyed the cretan minoan civilization--towns hanging off cliff faces where all the restaurants and boutiques have stunning views of the sea--towns that are as beautiful as calendars--beaches that are as varied as crazy as the volcano itself: red, black, white, and sand--and a landscape that is incomparable (except possibly California :)

-Naxos - AWESOME low brow, traditional greek, and not pretentious, so many friendly people and so much excellent cheap food (had my 2 favorite greek dinners my two nights in naxos--saganaki and mousakka, and fish salad with fried smelts!) and the most beautiful beach sunset on a beach that was shallow for 100s of feet out. ATVs to tiny towns on the interior where the mountains are literally CUT into the face where marble was taken out, and an old town thats as windy and cute as santorini's fira and oia

-Mykonos - Wonderful, good for shopping (sandals!) and expensive cocktails if you're into that :) perfect just for wandering and having random experiences with local fishermen (trying to negotiate our way to delos after the last boat had left, so funny, and watchinganother literally catch, kill, and tenderize an octopus--its so violent!) Despite people catching octopus, the food in Mykonos was tourist oriented and not nearly as well priced or fresh as naxos. Hoping to find fresh seafood, I asked in a local market what restaurants would serve fresh grilled octopus and the guy said "None, not on mykonos, all frozen, go to athens" and it worked out since the mainland was our next destination! So we got chicken gyros instead of octopus :)

- Delphi - THE ORACLE! so the town's pretty simple, just got the oracle going on. The ruins are incredible to walk through and it was so nice to NOT be part of a big tour group (i would just listen in on a guide every now and then without having to be comitted!) all though usually a day trip place we stayed the night and made friends with a cute souvenir shop owner who cast all his own bronze figurines, got dinner at a cute restaurant, and enjoyed the easy life on the gorgeous slopes of mount parnassus.

- Athens again! - more shopping, more museums, more sites--whatever the Louvre and British museum couldnt steal ended up in the archeological museum! (so that basically includes any bronzes that were recently discovered in the sea, stuff not good enough for european collectors, and gold found at Mycenae later on by Schielmann (mask of agamemnon! and zeus!) it was tiring but incredible to see so many famous pieces. HAND MADE Sandlas from the sanal poet man in Athens--took an hour to decide, but finally settled on the PLATO model (Alexis went for the Jackie O) the guy is legit, been making sandals for years for tons of people (john lennon!) for good prices. And then we grabbed dinner at an awesome seafood restaurant and I finally got my fresh octopus! (grilled to tender perfection). We randomly met Anne, a sweet parisian girl, thanks to matching lonely planet guides and got dinner with her. She was quinticentially Parisian--worked at the eiffle tower while studying the art of perfume and she recommended us some perfumes it was so much fun!

- Last day in athens and back to rome--strange to come "home to rome" but sad to not be in my trastevere apartment. its nice to just relax and not worry about seeing everything sinc i already have sorta. Instead, Alexis and i did a "food tour" of our favorite cafes, pasta places, pizza places, and appertivo places just for old times sake :) Getting pretty sleepy so ill call it a night. ciao ciao!