Rain on Your Wedding Day IRONIC

"The day cruise you'll never forget!!"

Such were the saccharinely cliche yet somehow foreboding words printed at the bottom of the boarding pass handed to me by the unwashed Greek man this early morning. [Was it really just this morning??] We began our soon-to-be epic voyage to the islands of Mykonos and Delos on a fairly routine note; gathering red-eyed and groggy by the bus station after an early wake up, munching on spinach pies and cheese croissants from our favoirte bakery and making our way across Paros to the port where our boat was waiting. Per usual, we were the last group on board, and as the concept of "maximum capacity" does not exist in the progressive nation of Greece, all of the actual seats were taken up by French tourists. We struggled through the crowds into the interior lounge, which resembled either a bad Chinese restaurant or a Golden Girls set gone wrong, and flopped ourselves in a tangled heap on the shaggy mauve carpet, ready for our journey to begin.
Or so we thought.
As we pulled out of the harbor, a few waves splashed their sparkly turquoise magic against the window, making all of us squeal in delight. The boat rocked a bit, amusement-park style, eliciting further squeals. Oh, we WERE naive the twits, weren't we???
The boat continued to rock, the waves continued to roll. We laughed.
A man in beige started handing out little white bags. We stopped laughing.
And thus we entered a hitherto unexplored circle of Dante's Inferno. Oh yes.

For nearly two hours, the waves and wind tossed our little cruiser like a sock in a washing machine. We tipped, turned, dipped, rolled; every possible motion was explored. I felt like I had been injected into a bad sequel for the Perfect Storm. My real problem wasn’t actually the motion so much as the second-hand effects of the motion on everyone else...erm... let’s just say that those little white bags weren’t just for show. Left and right, the carefully savored bakery goods from earlier found their way back into the light of day. Oh, the things I have seen, heard, and smelled. The French curses I have learned. The ways we have all contemplated filleting our serenely grinning professor. I retreated to the top deck for some fresh air only to discover a veritible splash zone dripping with more than sea water.

Yes, the slogan was accurate.“The day cruise you’ll never forget!!" continued to stare back at me mockingly from my poorly laminated red boarding pass. Curse you, irony.

Needless to say, when we disembarked on Delos, one of the most significant archaeological finds in Europe and a UNESCO world heritage site, all we cared about was sitting on the 2,500-year-old rocks to wait for the horizon to stop rocking. I sipped a Coke and picked poppies and half-heartedly listened to a guide ramble about ancient swimming pools. Even Mykonos Island with its picturesque harbor, yellow sand beaches, and waterfront bars did little to revive our drained (figuratively and literally) bodies.
On the way home, I loaded myself with Dramamine, slept like a drunken sailor, and am finally safe in the sanctity of my motionless apartment. Man, what a crazy final trip! Ah, well. That which does not kill you makes you stronger though, right? Or at the very least makes it unlikely that you’ll purchase expensive and fattening baked goods for awhile…

Discovering Atlantis

In the preceding months I have alternated between an intense desire to see the fabled volcanic island of Santorini and an equally potent gag reflex that surfaces every time one of the girls here giggles and references the filming location of Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants ----> "Like, OMG, it's going to be sooooo super cool and stuff." Cringe. Tourist trap.

Upon return to sunny Paros from a splendid weekend expedition I have this to say: SANTORINI GOES FAR BEYOND AWESOME. I can see why the film studio just had to bite the bullet of expense (it's a wickedly pricey location) and shoot their flick there; it has some of the most breathtaking views I've ever seen. And, in comparison with all of the other Greek islands I've seen, it is a unique natural treasure. (yeeeees, I'm aware that sounds like a terribly cliche and cheesy travel brochure, but its absolutely true).

For starters, as your boat pulls into the harbor of Fira, all you can see are cliff faces and the city built far above, silhouetted against the blue Mediterranean sky. You either have to walk up a series of killer stairs, take a donkey, ride their version of a ski lift, or attempt to traverse a scary winding road in one of their trusty rusty Greek buses. The adventure begins.
We spent Friday afternoon winding around the beautiful twilight streets and admiring postcard- perfect views. On Saturday we got up early and sleepily staggered down those aforementioned hundreds of steps in Fira to a waiting sailing ship that took us to the small uninhabited volcanic island in the middle of the caldera (Santorini is a big crescent moon shape; the interior being a collapsed volcanic crater that formed as a result of a HUGE eruption in the BC era -- thus the tales of Atlantis) and to a series of hotsprings where we got to lounge and paint ourselves tribal style with red oxidized mud. We went to another smaller satellite island for lunch, then headed to the town of Oia for some cliff jumping! Seriously. The Travelling Pants crew would have been proud. And so would have the Croc Hunter...I got some seriously crazy critter action when I stepped on a sea urchin (ooooh, bad karma) and had to yank its spines from my foot. OUCH.

We stayed in Oia for several hours after yet another trek up some massive stone stairs, waiting for the long-awaited world famous sunset which turned out to be perhaps the most colorful and spectacular sunset I've ever witnessed. As much affection as I have for Petoskey and its night time light show...Oia beat it. We went out for a night on the town under a full moon and danced until nearly sunrise. On Sunday after a not-quite-satisfying 3 hours of sleep, we trooped to the museum and attempted to absorb some history. Needless to say, the acres of identical pottery shards did little to resuscitate my tired legs. We finished our trip with gelatto and some shopping and cliff-side relaxation, then hopped the 4 hour ferry back to Paros.

It was a trip I'll never forget, and I really hope to go back someday. Touristy? Yes. I heard more English and saw more American pizza and bad Hawaiian shirts than I have during my entire time in Greece. Worth it? Absolutely. My verdict for Santorini is: best island destination yet. Aaaand quite possibly the lost civilization that Big Foot hunters hypothesize about. ;-)

Mayday! Mayday! It's the post-May Day bleckies.

Bleck. Double bleck. I'm sick! How could this be?? A beautiful sunny Sunday on the island spent in bed sleeping. Perhaps it's simply the body's need for a thorough recharge? Or a paranoid bout of swine flu???? he he he.

Thus ends the weekend of May Day, a big holiday here in Greekland. No maypoles, but plenty of flowers and food and good times to be had. Yesterday my class took a trip to the neighboring island of Antiparos (yes, I love how the closest neighbor of Paros just snagged our name and stuck "Anti-" in front of it) where we went to a cool group of ancient ruins nestled in a pretty flower-carpeted valley to have a picnic. We got to pick poppies and daisies for May Day, and then went on a seriously amazing boat tour where we sailed into seacaves Pirates of the Caribbean-style and docked next to a white cliff face to jump off the deck into the Aegean. The water was shockingly turquoise and so clear that even though it was crazy amounts of deep you could see the sand on the bottom. I felt like I was living in a Carnival Cruise commercial.

After our blissful May Day frolicks and an evening of dancing, Greek wine, and chocolate chip cookies, I woke up feeling like I'd been struck by a truck. Or, more appropriately, trampled by a market donkey? Whatever. Hopefully after a day of immobility I'll feel right as rain -- we're taking a trip to the Daoist center tomorrow (and a Thai restaurant!) so I had BETTER feel better!!! I need me some spicy Asian noodles.