So I haven't had much time to update. The hostels we've been at have charged for internet. Its lame. And they are kind of expensive. Anyway, the hostel I'm at gives an hour for free which I've spent a half an hour using already somehow on the internet. It goes so quickly.
So recap:
I was in Prague earlier this week. We left super early wednesday morning, 5am, to fly to Heraklion in Crete. We stayed there for two days. Loved it there. Took a ferry very early in the morning to Santorini. Stayed there for two days also. And I also loved it. Then, we took a ferry this morning, six hour long ride, to Athens. And in the few hours we've been here, its not my favorite. Its very dirty. And we're staying in the nice area.
So what have I done? The rest of Prague consisted of a few days of relaxing. Traveling is somehow taxing on your body so I spent a whole day lounging around. Initially, I felt guilty for staying inside but at the same time, if I'm not going to enjoy myself if I go out then there isn't much of a point. I think the traveling jitter is a little over-rated. At the end of the day, you have to enjoy yourself. At least thats my two cents. I think Leslie would argue with me on that point.
I felt like my time in Prague was more about meeting some really awesome people. I liked it alot. The bar in the basement of the hostel made it easy to meet people. And the beer was only a dollar, less than, so you could spend a decent amount of time down there without spending a lot of money. I also watched a few movies. I was conned in to watching Dirty Dancing. Ok, maybe I had a small choice in the matter, but anyway, I hope my masculinity is not increduluous after this statement but I enjoyed it. There were moments of pure corniness, but overall I was very entertained. Later, I think the next night, there was a large group of people watching another chick flick, What Women Want, and I really didn't like it. I realized that I don't dislike "chick flicks" for the romance, its just when they are so poorly acted, directed, scripted-- they just are lousy films. And, at least Dirty Dancing at some meat to it, ya know, like a little class rivalry, a commentary on life in the 60s, but God, the other one just sucked. There was nothing too it. I liked Helen Hunt though. Anyway, we also watched Into the Wild and Hitmen. Into the Wild has faded on me. I still like it but I think I get more frustrated by it more than anything. His search in a way is too romanticized, but they still show the pain he caused, I don't know, I feel ambivalent towards it. OK I'm becoming self-conscious of my movie review when I "should" be talking about my exciting adventures in Prague.
Lets see, one day I spent going around the city finding buildings I liked to draw them. I met some nice people along the way. I found a friendly couple from Kansas in Starbucks who were Christians. They were very excited to hear that I am a Christian. Later that day, I met two dutch girls in a pizza place. Had a really nice converation with them. They spoke english flawlessly. I think their vocabulary is larger than mine.
Oh! I forget which day this was but I met up with Gina Gregorian, a girl who from my church, for dinner. It was her last night Prague. She lived there for the past year teaching high school kids english. She had fun stories to tell. Her comparison of the Czech education system to ours was interesting. The main difference she said was that the Czech kids are given much more freedom. High schools in the US are much more legalistic about stupid rules.
The next day I didn't go to as many places. My goal was to see Fred and Ginger, a Frank Gehry apartment complex. I really liked it. It was on a corner site. It is also called the dancing house because the left part of the house, Ginger, looks like she is dancing, while the right part of the house, Frank, is holding her. Its a neat metaphor represented in architecture. I thought it was successful in that it didn't overwhelm the streetscape. It definitely had a strong presence too it but not as much as some of his other work.
I was sad that I didn't get contact info from some of the people I met. Its odd to connect with someone, hang out with them a few nights, and just never see them again. People just come and go so quickly. Its a little tough if thats your life for a while.
OK, I don't have much more time.
Crete was one of the most beautiful places. I liked it a little more than santorini, which I didn't expect. Well, the hostel we stayed at persuaded me. It was the most beautiful hotel I've ever been too. The manager I think hooked us up with a nicer apartment for the heck of it too. The view was incredible. The was design of the place was incredible. The food was incredible. All good things to say about Crete. We only had two days there. One day was spent on the beach, roaming the little downtown, and checking out one of the bars. The other day we spent at the Minoan Palace in Knossos. I was off that day so I don't think I soaked it in as much as Aaron, who is a classics major, who's main reason to come on this trip was to go there. I'm glad I went still. We explored Heraklion, the main city, for a bit, and I lost Aaron and Leslie. I had to go home alone. It wasn't too bad, just a little frustrating. We didn't go out afterwards because we had to wake up early for our ferry ride to Santorini.
Santorini was interesting. Interesting in terms of my expectation. I think that whenever a place is hyped up too much, it just can never meet that expectation. I think that happened for me. I wasn't as enthralled with it as I thought I'd be. However, I still really liked it. The first day we got there we rented ATVs. That was the most fun I've had on the trip. Hands down. I loved it. You're allowed to ride the ATVs on the main roads. So Leslie and I explored the island. We went to the less touristy part the first night. We really enjoyed it. The next day we went on a tour. It was expensive! But we visited very cool places. We went to remains of a volcano, swam in the hot springs adjacent to it and saw the most beautiful sunset ever! Spectacular.
OK I have to go! Ahtens for two more days. then italy!
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