Day 35…
        Another country down and I’ve never been so happy to be back on the ship. Don’t get me wrong.. I adored Greece but I spent the majority of it traveling around by bus touring all the major sights (Probably 24 hours total on the bus camped out in the back seat) including Delphi, Meteora, Olympia, The Corinth Canal, Mycenae, Athens, ect. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many ruins in my life or been in so many museums. It was fascinating to see but a lot to take in. I didn’t realize that Olympia was separate from Mount Olympus. I was a little disappointed that in all my travels I didn’t see the mountain since it is the highest in Greece but I did see quite a few and drove through many. The Acropolis in Athens and Mycenae were probably the most intimidating sights because of the steep incline to tour both but I survived and I’m probably better for it. I would love to come back to Greece some day and tour the islands. If there is one thing I learned from this trip is that three or four days is just not enough time in one place. This whole trip has been a sampling of each country and the more time I spend reflecting on it all, the more places and sights I can add to my bucket list to return to. Greece was probably the most intriguing port so far due to its history and was the best for shopping since I love buying tacky souvenirs. The food on the other hand was hard for me to adjust myself to since their favorite plates were mostly meat. We stopped yesterday for lunch at a banquet style restaurant that served lamb and potatoes. I thought I would be okay just eating the potatoes but of course they were touching the lamb so it didn’t end so well for me. On the other hand, I had a club sandwich with turkey AND mayonnaise today. As if life couldn’t get any better. My roommate from the hotel last night, Emily, mentioned she just wanted to do sandwiches for lunch today which got me thinking about turkey sandwiches at home until I soon realized the chances of finding that anytime soon were slim to none. Its funny the little things like sandwiches that you begin to miss the most when you are out of the country. I was a little upset and immediately added it to my list of things to do as soon as I get back to the US. We walked up to the town of Olympia and lord and behold the first restaurant I saw had Club Sandwiches. There was no question in my mind about going anywhere else. To actually top that, they serve popcorn at all of the bars! The first night in Athens we walked to a local bar area where no one really spoke English and stopped at a few different places. It was expensive but well worth it since the popcorn on the ship is not good and with out a microwave I’ve been lacking on the popcorn diet. We also ordered a ‘finger food platter’ and to our surprise it came with onion rings and cheese sticks!! As far as American food, Greece was awesome for it. I even found my favorite energy drink today, which was the best ending to a beautiful port, and I bought the ring I had wanted since day one in Greece. My friend bought it and I really liked it but didn’t feel like spending any money on it. She ended up wearing it so all I day I had to see and it and regret not buying it. I walked in to the last store today to buy something to represent my new goals in life I have come up with in the last few days and as I put the wooden owl down on the counter I saw it. So happy. I just keep saying today was the best day ever. I know it wasn’t but these past few days have been by far some of the better. Its funny that people spend their whole lives trying to discover who they are and yet they are only chasing behind the person they are becoming. We are only half way through the voyage and already I feel like so much has changed. I just hope I keep the same mentality when I get home and I don’t just mold back in to the same life. P.s. for some one who NEVER ate tomatoes, I now eat them plain. As I said, it’s the simple things. Although many are probably going to disagree, all this time away has made me begin to strongly consider moving off campus and getting a job so I can save up to do more extraordinary things in my life. I think its time to finally maybe grow up? We will see.

Some other observations and interesting happenings: The government is in negotiations for budget due to a major debt that is accumulating at a fast pace so fear of strikes kept everyone on the ship on their toes. We took a taxi into Athens on the first day, which was quite convenient, and by the second day the taxis were on strike. Our tour bus was an hour late because the taxis blocked in the buses and surrounded the ports and airport. It was very interesting to see but odd to walk out of the terminal on the second day where there once were millions of taxis and men everywhere offering you rides to absolutely no one but the stray dogs. The last few ports have been full of stray animals. I saw at least three different stray kittens and all of the cats are huge. They have the longest legs I have yet to see on a cat. Thank God I am on a ship or stray cats would infest mom’s house right now. Also, I’ve seen Ralphs EVERYWHERE. It seems that in every country dogs are mixed with bassets or other oblong shaped breeds. Makes me miss him a bit.

I’ll try to think about the other things from Greece and maybe update this again but I don’t want this to get too lengthy especially since I still have to update from my other ports. The bad news, its hard to find time to update this or get the motivation up in the little time I do have. Its harder then I thought to take classes in between all this traveling. Getting in and out of the class mentality is almost near impossible and I’m not looking forward to getting right back in to school when I get home. The good news: I am having way too much fun and loving life way too much to be able to update the blog. Sorry! Back to class tomorrow for two days and then off to Bulgaria!!!

Side note: I want to go to Hydras and ride a donkey in my future plans to tour the islands. One day….