YIAMAS!!
Trip Start
Jan 09, 2011
1
17
26
Trip End
Ongoing
Where I stayed
Rhodes, Dodecanese, Greece
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Right when we arrived on the island, the first thing we wanted to do was eat and go to the beach. We were so excited for Greek food and found a great little place right on the beach. However, since it is down season not much was open but the nightlife was insane. It was weird how it was a ghost town during the day but at night it was crazier than Florence. It was perfect timing because we got there just in time for their celebration of Halloween/ carnival so everyone was dressed up in fun costumes and masquerade.
There were SO many stray animals!!!!! Everywhere we went we had dogs and cats following us around, we felt like it was Noah's ark as they literally followed us through the city at all times and would even wait for us outside of restaurants. Even though we went for the most randomly coldest week of their winter, it still didn't stop us from the beach and water and it was still one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. We started collecting shells and ocean glass throughout the week from the beaches. Next we went to explore the city and I found my first place for my favorite baklava :)!!! Something I grew up with and was dying to try (and we ate enough of it daily). We found a really cool old basketball court surrounded by graffiti and a couple local kids were playing in it so Chelsey joined in.
Pretty much all we did all week was eat. The food was to die for and we couldn't get enough of it! We found our favorite gyro stand which we ate at a few times. We also couldn't get enough of the pita, Greek salads, or lamb.
Our first night we went to the nightclub Colorado. It was a kind of older crowd with a live band that was incredibly good. They covered a lot of Greek and American oldies that we loved listening to all night.
The next day we went to discover old town. On our way we ran into a dog that became our new friend and leader. We named him buddy and he literally guided us to everywhere we wanted to go. The old town was incredible. It's an old medieval city and still has all of the archaeological sites and structures. It is full of shops, nightclubs, and restaurants and the walls are along the harbor. We stopped there for a great lunch and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the nighttime.
At midnight going into March 7th, Chelsey turned 21!!!! To celebrate we took her out of the town to a very authentic Greek restaurant that was recommended by our hotel. When we got to the restaurant there was no menu, instead the cook came out to us and told us exactly what we were going to be eating and that we were going to like it. It started with an amazing glass of wine, Greek salad, fried feta with honey, baked mushrooms, and garlic bread with tzatziki sauce. We then had lamb and potatoes for our main coarse and it was incredible how soft the lamb was. For desert we had a honey cake and since it was Chelsey's birthday they poured us some weird tasting shots. Every shot type drink we tasted in Greece tasted like black licorice. We also got this alcohol (in cyclone colors) that is all natural and still has the plant that produces it inside the bottle.
To celebrate the start to Chelsey's birthday, we got her some beer goggles and headed out the nightclubs for Halloween! It was funny cause the first place we went the theme everyone was dressed as was native Americans... ironic. At the end of the night Chelsey ended up coming back with her beer goggles, a birthday cap, a Mario bros hat, and a sword....we then woke her up in the morning with her gifts. Since we knew it would be hard for her not getting to do her traditional 21st birthday that everyone does back at home with her closest friends and shot books in the sorority, and being somewhere where we aren't already legal.. we wanted to make the birthday amazing which it was since we were in the Greek islands!! Her boyfriend Matt had me pick up some orange juice and champagne to make mimosas in the morning and ferrero rocher's which are her favorite candy. Us girls had gotten her a Greek bunt cake and we all pitched in to buy her a really nice bracelet from Florence which is a gold charm bracelet with turquoise and charms of the city's symbol and she loved it! We then went for round 2 of her birthday night. My cousin Tasha had me in contact with some people she knew there and we met up with them at a bar. It was a very traditional Greek bar and we had so much fun! They were throwing napkins up at people (which apparently is a tradition) and teaching us how to Greek dance and we joined in on a family's girl's night.
On Wednesday we went to Lindos!! It was the most beautiful place!!!! It is the part of Greece you would see in movies and imagine it to be. We ate lunch at a nice restaurant that overlooked the cape of Lindos and walked around to explore. There were so many wild goats and donkey's we saw!! We did a lot of climbing on the rocks along the cliffs and went up to see the Acropolis which was unfortunately closed so we couldn't go inside of it. On our way back into the city we heard hoofs and ran outside without even realizing that we were about to get trampled by donkeys!!....never thought I would say that. We then sat at a cool Mediterranean themed bar and watched the sun set over the city.
Since it was my last night I really wanted some good traditional Greek food. As we were walking around looking for a restaurant, I found in the middle of a Greek island when I have been looking and haven't found a single once since I left America... a Starbucks!!!!!!! I was Soo excited!! We ended up finding a really fun Greek restaurant off a beaten path. We got a deal where when you buy a bottle of wine you get 10 plates of appetizers. It was Sooo good and we pretty much tried a little of everything on the menu. We even ate octopus that still had the tentacles on it... it was terrifying at first but ended up tasting like lemon chicken.
I headed back to Florence earlier than the rest of the girls because a few girls from my house, Patrick, and my parents are coming this weekend!! I woke up early on Thursday morning, got Starbucks :) and started my long, confusing journey back to Florence. I had to take a taxi 20 min from the hotel to the airport in Rhodes. I then flew from Rhodes for 3 hours to Bergamo. Once I got to Bergamo I had to take an 50 minute bus ride to Milan. From Milan I needed to find a train to Florence which took a little over 3 hours. However, the Florence train station it took us too was the one further outside of the city so I had to find another train from there into the main station. The plane ride from Rhodes to Bergamo was incredible! It was a clear day out so you could see everything below and we flew over all of the greek islands, Turkey, Albania, Croatia, and the Swiss Alps! A taxi, a plane, a bus, and 2 trains later (i think the only form of transportation I missed out on today was a boat) I am now finally back in Florence!! It feels amazing to be back, this place really is starting to feel like a home away from home and I love it :)
PS. Yiamas means cheers in Greek!!
