Can you believe it?

I can't believe that I have visited 8 different countries on 4 different continents in the last 6 weeks!!!!!!  I even sailed across the entire Atlantic Ocean!!!!  I spoke Spanish, Italian, Croatian, Greek, Turkish, Arabic and English with the locals along the way.  I have learned about each country's political, economical, cultural and social differences too.  THIS HAS BEEN A THE TIME OF MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!  I hope all of you have enjoyed reading about this voyage for the last 6 weeks.  Hopefully, you will stick with me over the next 3 weeks as I finish my voyage around the Mediterranean!!! 

Miss you guys!  Thanks for the comments!

Egypt Update #2

Well I have some bad news...no hot air balloon ride!!! My dreams were crushed after I found out that they only give rides from Luxor, which is about an hour plane ride away. I was very upset! I really wanted to do that!!!!!!!! The jeep safari definitely made up for it though. That was soooo awesome!!!! You have no idea!

I am headed back to Alexandria now after a busy day of exploring Cairo! We saw so much of the city! More later...

Egypt Update #1

The camel ride and jeep safari through the desert was soooooooooooo freaking cool!!!!! They drove the jeeps up and down all of the hills super fast and spinning around in the sand. It was sooooo fun! Our camel ride was fun too. My camel was named Michael Jackson! The driver took tons of pics for me too. So worth the money!

The people of Cairo think we are like superstars! We tell everyone we are from Canada! The little kids all wave at the tour bus like a movie star was inside! Really neat!

Day 42...Egypt, say what?

Day 42/C13, July 26th:

Today has been a great day onboard the MV Explorer!  My sea played the game of Mafia after our sea meeting tonight!  It was so entertaining!  I can’t believe how exciting it was and how much we all got worked up over the game.  I don’t want to explain how to play it here, but those of you that know what it is understands why it is so much fun.  Daniel was the narrator for our second game and he was just too funny and definitely an awesome moderator.  We will have to play this game back in Charleston!!! 

Anyways, my Art History test this morning turned out to be okay.  It definitely could be a lot worse, but I don’t know how I feel about it, as I have never taken Art History before to judge my knowledge for the test.  Global Studies was interesting because we talked a lot about the culture and statistics of Egypt.  We discussed its political, economical, social, and citizen satisfaction levels, as well as general and more specific history of the four topics mentioned.  It was really shocking to find out that Egypt, out of the Mediterranean countries we are visiting, has the lowest longevity, second to lowest literacy rate (at 70%), most wars since 1945, lowest percent of women in the legislature (1.82%), and is the poorest country per person (average of $1,729 per person per year).  Egypt is currently challenged with its poverty level, high unemployment rate, high inflation level, high corruption, large gap in inequality, and is a very volatile neighborhood.  It was very shocking to hear some of this today.  I never thought of Egypt as being a super poor country or that they would have a pretty low literacy rate.  I guess that is why Global Studies is mandatory on the ship! 

I finally got my Jeep Safari and Camel Trip!  This means that Danielle, Heather, Molly, her friend I haven’t yet met, and I will all be on the same trip and we are going to spend the night in Cairo after our activities.   Yeah!  So you may find this interesting, but we made reservations at the “American Hostel” in Cairo for the night.  Is that not weird?  I am unsure how I feel about that, but it may be really nice.  All of the hotels are like $10 per night so this will be a very inexpensive trip (minus the $110 ticket for the SAS trip).  I also really really really want to go on a hot air balloon ride over the Sphinx and the Great Pyramids in the early morning of the second day in Cairo.  I hope it works out and I need to start researching that pretty soon, since it is only three mornings away.

Pre-port was also the longest pre-port ever!!!!  I understand that there is a lot to talk about for Egypt, but it went on way too long.  As you know, we can’t drink any of the water or eat any uncooked fruit or vegetables (unless, if applicable, we peel them ourselves).  We also can’t even brush our teeth with the tap water, so we will be using a lot of bottled water on this trip.  We also were advised not to eat any dairy products or deli meats.  Basically, we should take a lot of snacks from the ship and eat them as our meals while in Cairo; otherwise, eat every meal on the ship.  It should be an interesting port!!!  I really don’t know what to expect.  We also have to take taxis everywhere because we can’t read Arabic to know where to go!  It is pretty ridiculous, but have you tried to read Arabic?  It is impossible!  I am glad that we are traveling as a large group and that we are taking a SAS trip for the things we really wanted to do. 

So here is a basic itinerary for Egypt:

Day 1: Explore Alexandria

Day 2: SAS trip leaves at 07:30 for Cairo by bus, see Great Pyramids, Jeep Safari and Camel Ride, leave SAS trip and spend the night in Cairo

Day 3: (Hopefully hot air balloon ride)  Explore Cairo and go see the Nile River, train back to Alexandria (but don’t know when)

Day 4: Orphanage Service Visit in Alexandria from 13:00-17:00, Explore Alexandria

Day 5: Explore Alexandria even more

I will keep you all posted on my schedule for Egypt!  It is hard to plan with very limited Internet and you don’t even know where you are or what to expect until you get there.  It is almost 1am so I need to get to bed!  I can’t believe that I will wake up to EGYPT in the morning!!!!!!!!!!!!  As you read this, try to think about what you will wake up and see in the morning.  I bet mine is better…

Day 41...Back at Sea

Day 41/C12, July 25th:

Another boring yet busy day onboard the MV Explorer!  Classes are pushing forward yet again and I have a test tomorrow in my Art History class.  I now remember why I am a Math major!!!  I was at the field office looking at the FDP book when a girl came up and wanted to sell her Egypt Service Visit to the Alexandria Orphanage.  I bought it from her within the hour.  I can’t wait!  Those are the trips that make this voyage so unique.  You can go to Egypt on your own and see the Pyramids, but you can’t go to the Orphanage. 

I also am trying to get on the Camel ride and Jeep Safari trip, which takes us from the ship to see the Great Pyramids.  Once we explore the pyramids and take millions of pictures of the Sphinx, we get to jump in 4x4 Jeeps for a drive into the desert.  We then take a camel ride through the Sahara Desert and eat lunch at the Sakkara Country Club.  We also stop at the oldest ancient cemetery along with the world’s first monumental stone building, the step Pyramid of King Zoser, which was built 5,000 years ago.  It sounds like a pretty cool FDP!  Danielle and Heather already purchased the trip and we all want to spend the night after that in Cairo.   I really want to take a hot air balloon ride over the Pyramids and the Valley of the Kings that next morning before returning to Alexandria for our service visit the next day. 

I also attended an Explorer Seminar on travel photography with the ship’s photographer tonight.  It was absolutely amazing!  She showed us things to look for in our pictures and how to better create a collection of images.  She also showed us a lot of her work for magazines and marketing schemes for various organizations, as well as several pictures from our voyage.  We watched the Italy slideshow from the Blog and it was so amazing!  It is very cool to see how pictures can truly capture how we feel compared to the pictures of just what we have seen.  Watch the slideshows on the SAS website for our voyage if you haven’t already!  They seem amazing! We can watch them on the ship because they are too large.  :(  
Today also was a great catch up day for my blog!  I spent countless hours writing so all of you can have the joy of reading about my adventures.  I hope you have enjoyed them so far!!!  Back to studying for my test tomorrow…

Noon Report for July 25th:

191 NM since Istanbul with an average speed of 12.16 knots, 549 NM to Alexandria, we are 14 NM NW from Nisos Lesvos (Greece), sea depth is 1680 ft, sea swells are 3.3 ft, water temperature is 73.4 degrees, air temperature is 75.2 degrees, sunset 20:32, sunrise 06:12, currently +7 hrs from EST.

Day 40...Spice Bazaar

Day 40, July 24th:

Istanbul Day 5!

Have you ever been able to smell spices from all over the world all in one location?  If you answered yes, then you have probably been to Istanbul’s Spice Bazaar!  It is a very distinctive place.  There are many merchants selling everything from gold jewelry to lace bedspreads to saffron.  It is remarkable.  I could smell the hundreds of spices that fill the air full of glorious scents for hours after I left the bazaar.   It was truly an experience.  The spice stores have various teas, nuts, dried fruits, and concoctions of spices for various dishes, as well as liquid extracts and oil essences.  

There are several stands outside of the Spice Bazaar selling various animals, including roosters, chickens, baby chicks, geese, rabbits, dogs, cats, ducks, turtles, tropical fish, and even birds.  Some were definitely going to be bought for food and others for pets.  It was really pretty sad to see how they treated these little animals.  There were hundreds of ducks in one cage crawling all over each other, for example.  The geese were way too big to be in a cage that size and they managed to squeeze two of them into one cage.  I just wanted to go open all of the doors on the cages and let them run free.  It was really sad.  I just had to keep walking! 

After our wonderful discovery of the cruelty to animals, we decided we were done with Turkish food and we went back to the ship to eat lunch.  We couldn’t come to the fact that one of those guys might die because we ate their brother.  It is one of those mental things…you don’t mind it unless you see it personally. 

After lunch, we headed in search of a grocery store near the ship.  We stocked up on potato chips and canned beverages for the rest of our voyage, since it may be the last port in which we find edible food and drinks.  I wrote out a few postcards to home and got them in the mail just before on-ship time.  After dinner on the ship, we had another lifeboat drill, so we all had to wear long pants, hats, and our life jackets out to our muster stations on the 5th deck.  During the role call, I actually got in trouble for taking pictures!  Whoops!  We were taking roomie pics and the guy didn’t think that was very appropriate.  Our cabin had already been called and we were still in our correct spots and not disturbing anyone else.  You have to capture the moment!  See I do get in trouble every once and a while…

The ship pulled away from the dock about 20:00 and the view of the city was AMAZING!!!  The sun was setting so beautifully behind the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.  It was very beautiful to see the Golden Horn glisten in the golden sunset (I now know where the name “Golden Horn” comes from)!  What a beautiful port from the sea!  I wish all of you could have seen it!!!!! I then spent the rest of the evening catching up on all of my blog writing.  It is amazing what I do for all of you readers back home…spend hours of my day writing to let you know what you are missing!!!  Hope you enjoyed Istanbul as much as I did!!!!  Up next: EGYPT!!!!! But first, two more days of class…

Day 39...How Bazaar was the Grand Bazaar!

Day 39, July 23rd:

Istanbul Day 4!

Today was definitely a different look at the Grand Bazaar!  I began by going rug shopping!  First, I went into a store and looked at millions of rugs trying to find out what I really wanted, or even liked for that matter.  I found a few that I liked, but none that I really loved.  I wanted to see how the bargaining process worked, so I got the rug down from $1,200 to $600 (and could have kept going) but I really wanted to keep looking at other stores.  I then went to grab some lunch, met up with Daniel, Clark, Hannah, Brittany and some other girl that I can never remember her name.  After lunch, Daniel and Clark split off to go see the Spice Bazaar and the rest of us went around buying up all the goodies in the Grand Bazaar.  I got numerous gifts and definitely looked around a lot.  I really don’t know how I feel about the bargaining aspect of things.  I like being able to walk into a store in the US and know if I want to pay the price on the sticker without having to bargain my way down to see what the item really costs.  If the price is too high then you don’t buy it, but in Turkey every price is too high so you must bargain to get a real price.  You can’t really comparison shop like at home.  If you like something you just buy it at whatever price you negotiate. 

After we filled our hands full of bags and emptied our pockets of money, I went to find another rug shop.  This one is frequented a lot by SAS!  He asked me if I was a SASer!  Anyways, he began showing me millions of rugs and I really liked one of them.  I then began the countless hours of bargaining.  He started with $1,400 and by the time I left he was down to $625.  I really was up in the air about this rug because I kinda felt like the guy was still trying to rip me off and it wasn’t an ancient rug.  I think it may have been a machine made rug like we could buy in the US.  With all of these instincts, I decided to email mom and she said that it definitely was not something I wanted.  By this time, I was just dazed and overwhelmed with rugs.  Someday, I will just have to return to Istanbul and pick out my own rugs once I get a house and have a place to put them.  I need to do some more research too. 

After a full day of shopping and bargaining, Danielle and I returned to the ship to meet up for dinner with her extended family.  I became an adopted member of the extended family and went out to eat with them too.  We went to eat at a restaurant named Doy Doy located right behind the Blue Mosque.  We ate on the outside terrace on the roof (aka 4th floor) and there was a great view of the mosque.  It was just beautiful!  Danielle and I split a Meat Pizza  (called “pide” in Turkish) and a chicken kabob.  Both were actually pretty good, but nothing too exciting.  I just don’t like Turkish food! 

After dinner, we stayed in the hippodrome/park right by the Serpent Column, Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia to use the free Wi-Fi.  I then wanted to get some dessert, so we went just up the street to another MADO; however, this time I got a baklava sampler platter and a scoop of raspberry ice cream.  It was DELICIOUS!  The various baklavas were amazing!  Some had pistachios…they all were just AMAZING!!!  My favorite desert place by far!  I also got to Skype with my grandparents and then played on facebook/caught up with friends.  It was a great night! 

While we were sitting in the park using the Wi-Fi, there was this younger kid around 8 years old that was selling corn on the cob from a little roadside stand.  He was so cute!  He kept hollering out to all of the people passing by to come buy his corn.  He was only speaking Turkish, but it was like we could understand exactly what he was saying to the potential customers.  His dad sat on a bench 20 feet away from the stand, watching and laughing at his son’s actions and marketing skills.  He sold a lot of corn that night!!! How could you say no to a little boy working so hard to sell his corn. 

Another unique thing about sitting in the park was observing the local people.  Several families went and bought corn from this kid and then sat on the nearby benches and curbs to eat it.  Several of the families would take off their shoes before eating the corn.  I thought that was pretty unique.  I wonder if that is part of the religion or the culture (you can’t wear shoes in the house or in the mosque either). 

We finally were ready to go just after midnight, but what we didn’t know was the metro stopped at 12:30.  It took us half of the way to the ship and then they told us all to get off and get a taxi.  It was pretty funny actually.  Danielle and I didn’t want to have to deal with a taxi, so we just walked back to the ship.  We got back around 01:00 and went straight to bed.  It was another good day in the neighborhood! 

Day 38...No big deal but I ate lunch in ASIA today!

Day 38, July 22nd:

Istanbul Day 3!

Good morning!!!  Today is a very exciting day!!!  I will be visiting ASIA!!! 

I woke up, grabbed some breakfast, took a quick shower and fled to the ferry station near the Golden Horn Bridge.  I booked a 25 TL cruise up the Bosphorus along with Mindy, Heather and Danielle.  The ferry finally pulled away around 10:30 and provided s with about an hour and a half full of amazing views of both the European side and Asian side of Turkey.  We passed several neat sites along the way, including palaces, a university, the 2 Bosphorus Bridges, a small number of government buildings and a few castles in the lush green hills as well.  Once we finally arrived in the itsy little port town of Anadolukavagi, we began climbing up the city streets until we reached the Yoros Castle.  This castle provided us with an absolutely amazing view of both the European and Asian sides, as well as the Bosphorus and the Black Sea.  You could see for miles!  It was so beautiful.  The homes carved into the lush mountainsides were so picturesque and the little fishing town was situated beautifully on the Black Sea.   There also were these signs that had pictures of people holding machine guns saying no trespassing.  It is rather weird to see that on a sign.  I forgot to say this in yesterdays post, but we went to look at this map outside of an information booth and there was a lady wearing high heels and carrying a machine gun standing out front.  What a different culture.  All of the police had machine guns, not hand guns like in the US.  After climbing up on the castle walls and taking millions of pictures, we began our descent back down the steep roads until we were back in Anadolukavagi.

We definitely worked up our hunger on the hike, so we decided to stop to get something to eat before we took the ferry back to Istanbul.  Now there is something you must understand before I proceed with the rest of the day’s activities.  People in Turkey will come out into the streets, even in the Bazaar, to get you to come into their store, get in their taxi, or even go eat at their restaurant three blocs away.  Everyone seems to be “my friend” and all of the girls are told that they must be models, etc.  Out in front of several restaurants, they will all come and surround you at once telling you everything they have on their menu.  It is ridiculous!  Now back to the story.   When we reached the bottom of the hill and began looking for a place to eat, every restaurant came swarming us!  We couldn’t even move or begin to see what they had to offer.  I finally just break out of the circle of restaurants and begin walking away.  Other restaurants begin to come out and holler their menu items at me still.  We couldn’t even see what they had to eat!  All of us finally just ran up the street and out of sight from the restaurants to determine what and where we actually wanted to eat.  It was crazy!!!  We then briskly walked down the hill and into one of the restaurants that we could see had chicken kabobs on the menu.  All of the others didn’t even serve meat, just fish. 

We all ordered chicken kabobs and they really were not good.  They were just bland chicken chunks on a plate.  The whole table ate more bread and olive oil than chicken.  After our wonderfully filing lunch, we made our way to a little market to buy some snacks for the ferry ride home.  They even had Doritos!  My life got so much better after the trip to the market!  I have never wanted Doritos so badly in my life until you jump on a ship and travel the Mediterranean.  It is weird to see what you crave when you can’t get it anywhere.  We then took the ferry back to Istanbul, but got off one stop sooner to walk back to the ship.  We passed the Dolmabahce Palace, an enormous piece of property with walls 5 stories high surrounding the Palace.  There was more security surrounding this place than there is at the White House!  It was crazy.  They even had bulletproof glass boxes on the sidewalk near the entrance.  It was really cool. 

We ate dinner back at the ship and then I headed out with Danielle and Hannah to get a waffle for desert.  These things are amazing!  We went in search of a good place that was close to the ship, but couldn’t find one so we went up to Taksim Square.  We took the metro and the underground cable car up the hill to the Square, since we learned not to walk there after our first adventure.  The hills in this town can get super steep real quick!  We walked down the street searching and we finally came across MADO.  We walked in the door and immediately were in heaven.  So these waffles are made to order and then topped with whatever you want:  flavored chocolate (dark, milk, white, raspberry, caramel, walnut, pistachio, lemon, blueberry, hazelnut, etc.), fresh fruit (banana, orange, kiwi, strawberry) and other toppings (coconut, pistachio, walnuts, sprinkles, etc.).  IT WAS SOOOOO DELICIOUS!!!!  I could eat one every day!!!!!  Definitely worth the search!  We then walked back down the hill and back to the ship. 

It was very nice and exciting day!  I mean who else could say they went to Asia just for lunch and to climb up a mountain to a castle!  Not only did we visit ASIA, but we also rode up the Bosphorus, ate AMAZING waffles and after all we spent the day in Turkey! 

Day 37...Old City...in the RAIN!

Day 37, July 21st:

Istanbul Day 2!

Do you remember the phrase, “When it rains, it pours”?  Well let’s just say that it poured like crazy today!  Literally!!! 

We began our day by going to the Hagia Sophia.  A little history:  Dating from the sixth century, it was originally a basilica constructed for the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I.  A masterwork of Roman engineering, the huge 30m-diameter dome covers what was for over 1000 years the largest enclosed space in the world.  The church was looted by the fourth Crusaders in 1204, and became a mosque in the 15th century when The Ottomans conquered the city.  It was converted into a museum in 1935.

The Hagia Sophia was very interesting because when the church was converted to a mosque several of the mosaics and paintings were removed or pained over.  Since becoming a museum, they have begun removing the new coverings to reveal the original artwork of the church.  It is amazing to see what they have been able to preserve.  The building is absolutely massive!  A person looks like an ant from the second level.  You will definitely not want to miss pictures of this!!!

While we were touring the inside of the Hagia Sophia, it began raining on and off.  Well as soon as we walked out of the gates and began walking towards the Blue Mosque, it began pouring down rain!  We all got completely soaked!!!  That was the first time we encountered rain since we began our voyage!  Totally awesome, but it still sucked that we had to stumble upon it in the middle of the city while we were walking all over.  We finally made it to the Blue Mosque and we jumped under this covered walkway at the base of the outside wall.  In literally five minutes, we had to stand on top of these pillars to keep our feet out of the puddles because it was about 4-6 inches deep of water.  My entire body and all of my belongings were completely soaked.  It was like I jumped in a swimming pool with my clothes on! 

It finally stopped raining enough for us to get inside the mosque.  One of the traditions of the Muslim faith is that you remove your shoes before entering a house or place of religion, so we had to remove our shoes in order to enter.  Once inside, I was completely stunned.  It was nothing like I had imagined.  It was one very large room with a very low (about 8 foot high) spider web of lights illuminating the very tall and enormous structure.  The mosque was very beautiful and again it is something you just can’t describe.  Pictures are worth a thousand words here.   This mosque is still a working mosque so many of the local Muslims enter its doors five times a day for prayer.  Every mosque also has loud speakers on the tall minarets to broadcast the chant-like prayer for everyone to hear.  Another unique fact is that all mosques are oriented so that the back of the mosque is facing East!  They face Mecca when they pray. 

We then ate lunch near the Hippodrome, a small park with the Serpent Column across from the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.  I had a chicken döner, which is a sandwich with the döner that is carved from a spinning block consisting of meat and spices.  It was okay but not my favorite food by any means.  Overall, the food in Turkey is not that great!  It is really not exciting so we have been eating most of our meals on the ship! 

After lunch, we walked around toward the Topkapı Palace and strolled through Gülhane Park.  This park was royal hunting grounds in the past, but today it’s a public park.  The high wall on one side of the park separates it from Topkapı Palace. There also is a great view of the Bosphorus.  On the way out of the gardens, we passed a pretty large (20x20x20 foot) cube-like structure with a pyramid roof.  It is 1 of the 8 places in Istanbul that you could go get water back in the days of no running water.  They can still be used, but most of them have the water shut off because it is not safe to drink without boiling it first. 

After exploring everything we wanted to see in the Old City, we took the metro back to the ship to change into some dry clothes and take a shower.  After we were squeaky clean, Danielle and I headed out to Starbucks to get some free Wi-Fi.  I wanted everyone to see my pictures from Greece and the few I had taken already in Istanbul.  I hope you enjoyed them!  We then ate dinner on the ship before attending a Sufi Dervish Ceremony that evening.  This was my second SAS trip so far!  For those of you that don’t know (I didn’t), the Sufi Dervish Ceremony is comprised of prayer, music and people whirling in white robes.  It is a Muslim religious ceremony.  The dervishes spin with their hands reaching out above their shoulders.  Their left hand is cupped facing the ground the their right is facing the heavens.  The spinning and the placement of their hands symbolize how God placed them on Earth to have an everlasting life.   It was a very unique experience, but I really don’t know too much about the Muslim religion to fully understand.  After the ceremony, one of the whirling dervishes came out and spoke to all of the SASers about what each part of the ceremony stood for.  There is just way too much info to write it all in here! 

It was also very unique because it was a religious ceremony, not a performance, but they charged you to go see it and it was held in a performance hall.  I don’t quite understand how you can perform a meaningful religious ceremony every night in front of paying tourists in a random building and not call it a performance.  It was really unique to say the least!!!  We then retired for the night and caught up on some sleep. 

Day 36...Bargaining is the name of the game!

Day 36, July 20th:

ISTANBUL DAY 1!!!

I can’t believe that I am currently in TURKEY!  I never expected that this would happen before applying to SAS!  Istanbul is the largest city in Europe and almost the largest city in the world, with over 19 million people inhabiting the both the Europe and Asia sides of the Bosphorus.  Istanbul is 99% Muslim, which makes this port a little bit more experience culturally.  Is I just walked down the street around Taksim Square, it is very awkward to look up and see a large group of women wearing black dresses and head pieces in a way that you can only see their eyes.  I guess awkward is not the right word, but it just makes you stop and think, “Where am I?” every time you see it.  It is just very different culturally.  I am not really writing this blog post in the order in which I experienced these things, but more in a way of what comes to mind first. 

Another cultural experience I just had was on our walk home from the Taksim Square.  First, the Taksim Square is like NYC’s Time Square, yet totally different.  There are millions of shops, including Nike, New Balance, Swiss Army, candy stores, restaurants, bakeries, ice cream stands, music and book stores.  Anyways, on the way home we passed a mosque and there was a voice over a loud speaker doing a call of prayer.  Vocally it sounded a lot like what I imagined (like a prayer chant); however, I expected much more from the local people.  I expected the town to sort of shut down for a few minutes and have people coming to the Mosque to pray.  I also expected to see several people stopping what they were doing to get on the ground and pray, but I didn’t see it affect anyone that we passed on the street.  I am planning on going to see the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia and Topaki Palace tomorrow, so my experience may be totally different tomorrow. 

I also got to go on the FDP trip to the Grand Bazaar this afternoon.  My economics professor demonstrated how to negotiate the prices with the merchants and also provided advice on how to pick a price you are comfortable paying.  It was very interesting.  We met up with a local tour guide right outside the ship and we took the metro to the Grand Bazaar.  Now this place is not for the weary or the type that money wears a whole in your pocket!  There are over 4,000 shops intertwined in the 65 streets making up the Grand Bazaar.  From just the little section I saw today, there are millions of jewelry stores and many other stores selling leather, rugs, scarves, clothing, musical instruments, oil genie lamps, stained glass lampshades, Turkish tea sets, sunglasses, watches, key chains, wooden boxes, fur coats and everything else under the sun.  The tour guide began the trip by taking to a rug shop to allow us to view all of the different qualities, styles, colors, sizes, antiqueness, materials and prices of the rugs for sale.  All of the rugs are made by hand and some very small rugs even take up for 4 months to make, the large rugs may take up to a year.  Could you imagine spending a year of your life making one rug!  I sure can’t!  The rugs range in price from one hundred dollars to one hundred and fifty thousand!!!!!  I actually got to touch a $150,000 rug!!!!!  WOW!!!  The tour guide also took us to one of her friend’s workshops where they make the jewelry for their store.  There were 6 guys working away, all making something different.  One guy was placing the gems in the ring, while others were making the chains, making the rings, etc.  I was really cool to see them working away creating some of the most beautiful jewelry I have ever seen…not that I have seen much!  We spent almost 5 hours in the bazaar and I only bought two tee shirts.  I can already tell that this is going to be an expensive port for me…especially if I go back to the Grand Bazaar!!!

I want to tell you guys a little bit about the negotiating process.  First off, you must negotiate the price of everything here.  When you walk into the store and look at an item, they will quote you a price.  Immediately, they will try to give you a lower price.  You then can tell them that Ronald McDonald sent you specifically to this store and he said you would give me a good deal, so the merchant will lower the price yet again.  You then continue to look at the product, telling the merchant how nice it looks, but with some hesitation.  You continue to wedge the price lower and lower.  If the merchant doesn’t go as low as you want, then you hand it back to the salesman and move towards the door.  He will probably offer you a lower price yet.  If that still is not good enough, then you leave and go to the next shop, which is selling the exact same product and you now negotiate all over again.  It is really interesting to do; however, it can give you a headache really quick if you aren’t careful.  Another unique thing about the merchants is that they may offer you a cup of tea, while looking at their products or during the negotiation phase. 

It is really neat to negotiate on your own!  The merchants will not be offended if you give them a price way too low; however, you should never back out of a deal if they accept a price that you set.  This means that you must be careful and that you should let them name the prices.  The best way to negotiate is to come up with a price that you are willing to pay for a specific item before even walking into the store.  If you can get the price down to meet your goal, then you should accept the deal.  Moreover, if you can’t get the price down to the level you thought before you entered, then you should not purchase the item at that store.  It is really a cool experience!  I led the negotiations of a purchase made by 7 of us at the tee-shirt stand.  We all chose our tee shirts and agreed that we would purchase them at any level including the initial price (they were already only $8 for a high quality tee-shirt).  I began the negotiations and he said that all 7 would be 150 TL.  By the time I was finished, I had him down to 110 TL and I could have gone further, but we were running out of time and the price was already much lower than we were willing to pay.  Not too shabby for 5 tee shirts and 2 soccer jerseys.  The group was very pleased and it was really fun!

I know I always talk more about the food than I do the rest of the day; however, I have not had much Turkish food yet.  I ate all three meals today on the ship, but I did stop by a candy store tonight and get some Turkish Delight.  It is a jelly-like candy covered in a white power and comes in millions of flavors.  It was pretty good.  Clark, Lacey, Heather and Mindy also stopped to get ice cream, but I was still too full to get any.  They make a show out of giving you your ice cream.  First, the ice cream is very taffy-like and stringy.  Secondly, the ice cream is in this huge clump that he takes out of the long frozen barrel with a metal stick and swings it around in the air.  The guy puts on a great show for each person buying the ice cream.  He takes his long metal stick and an ice cream cone and has a great time making everyone laugh by taking the cone off without letting you know, so you grab the ice cream scoop not the cone.  He also swings your cone all over the place because the ice cream sticks to his metal stick.  It was pretty fun to watch him dish it up! 

Okay, well I got to get some sleep because I woke up at 6:45 this morning to watch us pull into port, but once I got upstairs to the deck we were literally 10 feet from the dock.  I was soooo mad!  I got up an hour and a half early just to see us come into port and we came in earlier than the told us we would in pre-port.  Oh well.  Goodnight from ISTANBUL!!!!  

Day 35...Turkey Day!

Day 35, July 19th:

TURKEY DAY!!! (What sucks is that it is not Thanksgiving!) and SPIRIT DAY!!!

Today is a little something the shipboard community would like to call Spirit Day!  Everyone onboard is representing their sea by wearing their sea’s color in preparation for the SEA OLYMPICS on August 1st.   (NBC didn’t get the contract to show these Olympics on national TV…THE MV EXLPORER CHANNEL 4 got this one!!!!)  I am apart of the Adriatic Sea and my sea color is Dark Blue.  For the Olympics, each sea member must participate in at least one of the events.  I am signed up for the Relay Race.   My sea is even having tryouts and practice sessions for some of the events.  Some of the events include Shave a Balloon, Potato Carving, Crab Soccer, Free Throw Challenge, Asian Ice Cube Scramble, Extreme Musical Chairs, Pull-Up Contest, Pie Eating Contest, Donut on a String, Synchronized Swimming, Lip Sync and Dance Contest, plus many more.  It should be great fun!  My roommate Nick is one of the Sea Team Captains, so he is actively planning all of our events and getting us psyched up! 

Today also is Turkey Day!  That means that we get to spend the entire day listening to people tell us what there is to do and see while in Turkey.  I went to the cultural pre-port put on by the inter-port student and he provided a lot of good tips on places to visit and what to eat.  I also attended a talk put on by the Global Music professor about how to interpret music in Turkey.  This will actually become very useful during my Sufi Dervish Ceremony FDP that I have on Istanbul Day 2.   It was very interesting to see and hear the various instruments that they use frequently.  He even had two of the instruments onboard and he played them along with the Turkish music for us.  It was pretty interesting! 

Tonight at pre-port we were briefed on all of the cultural differences and customs in Turkey, as well as the possible medical issues (we can’t drink any of the water…not even brush our teeth with tap water) and transportation guidance.  This port will be getting us ready for Egypt, which they say will be 10 times worse.  The medical staff is now advising all of us to begin taking pepto tablets before each meal not eaten on the ship to hopefully prevent any bacterial infection while in port.  We can’t even eat uncooked fruits and vegetables that we personally do not peel.  This should be a very cultural experience!  I don’t really know what is in store for Istanbul.  I am trying to jump on a SAS trip with my Econ professor to the Grand Bazaar to learn how to negotiate in a foreign country.  I hopefully can do that, but other than that I don’t have any set plans!  I will keep you guys updated as I go.  I will be sleeping on the ship each night and probably eating many meals on here as well.  We will be pulling into port around 08:00 tomorrow with the pilot coming on around 06:30.  It is supposed to be an awesome port to watch us come in, so I may wake up extra early and see us pull in.  Sad part is that the sun will rise around 05:49 and I will not be waking up that early.  Oh well!  Goodnight! 

Noon report for July 19th:

155 NM since Piraeus with an average speed of 10 knots, 195 NM to Istanbul, sea depth is 912 ft, sea swells are .4 ft, water temperature is 71.6 degrees, air temperature is 75.2 degrees, sunset 20:40, sunrise 05:49, winds from the N/NW at 31 knots and much stronger later in the day, currently +7 hrs from EST, we will pass through the Dardanelles around 17:00 for about an hour (Europe on port side and Asia on starboard side). 

It's all GREEK to me!!!

As always, I wanted to let all of you back at home learn a few Greek phrases (at least just try to say them once or twice)! 

Hello = Γεια σομ (ya-su)

Goodbye = Αυτιο (an-dio)

Yes = Ναι (ne)

No = Οχι (o-he)

Por favor = Παρακαλω (pa-ra-ka-lo)

Thank you = Εμχαριστω (ef-ha-ri-sto)

You’re welcome = Παρακαλω (pa-ra-ka-lo)

Notice the trend…Please…Thank you…You’re Welcome…Thank you…You’re Welcome…Thank You…

How do you know if they are saying you’re welcome or thank you?  ;D  hahahaha  I hope you have fun pronouncing these!!!

DAY 34...Acropolis and Parthenon!

Day 34, July 18th:

Greece Day 5!

I can’t believe that today is already the last day in GREECE!!!  Today, Danielle and I woke up around 08:00 for breakfast and was walking down the gangplank around 09:00 heading towards Athens to see the Acropolis.  So here is a question of the day for you:  What exactly is the acropolis?  Many people think that the Acropolis is the name of the buildings up on a hill in Athens.  Others believe it is the hill on which the famous buildings sit is called the Acropolis.  It is the later of the two that would be correct. 

The Athenian Acropolis is the ancient high city of Athens, a prominent rock plateau perched high above the modern city with commanding views and an amazing array of ancient architecture, mostly from the Classical period of Ancient Greece, the most famous of which is the Parthenon.  Once walked the 1,000 miles to the metro station and took the turtle-like metro to Athens, we walked another 1,000 miles to the entrance of the Acropolis Park.  The view of the ancient city is absolutely stunning from anywhere in Athens.  Once we made our way up the hill, Danielle and I purchased our 6 Euro entrance ticket and began seeing the sites.  The main entrance to the Acropolis is the Temple of Athena Nike.  Once you pass through her open corridor, you are immediately taken by the size and longevity of the Parthenon.  The Parthenon is made completely of marble; however, most of the sculptures along the top have been removed and stolen by other countries around the world.  It was very sad to see this massive and beautiful structure missing most of its detail.  From the acropolis, you can see every square inch of the city of Athens.  You can see the Odeon of Herodes Atticus (This ancient theatre is still used today for concerts and plays) and the Theatre of Dionysis, both located on the South side of the Acropolis hill.  You can also see the Ancient Agora to the North. 

The city of Athens overall was very upsetting in terms of what I had prepared myself mentally to see.  It was very run down and trashy.  There was not a lot of ancient Greek art and other famous monuments other than the Acropolis as I had expected to see.  There was not much to do there besides shop, eat and see the Acropolis.  I am very excited that we only spent two partial days there, as it was more than enough. 

After our expedition through the Park, we made our way down the hill and back into the city to find lunch.  Danielle and I stumbled across this little place near the main street and we decided to order a Beef Gyro Plate to share and I ordered a Greek salad as well.  It was very good; however, it was definitely not the best I have had in Greece.  The best food was probably on the island of Thirasia off Santorini!  Anyways, we then did our last little bit of shopping, which was difficult because all of the main stores are closed on Sundays.  We then took the metro back to Piraeus and walked the million miles back to the ship for the last time on this voyage! 

The ship left port around 20:15 and we began heading towards ISTANBUL!!!  I had a great time in Greece, especially Santorini, and I will definitely be back to explore the other Greek Islands! I had a blast and I am glad that I got to do so many things I have never done before!!!  

Day 33... A RED BEACH?!?!?!?!?

Day 33, July 17th:

Greece Day 4!

Today we reserved the day to explore the southern tip of the island.  We slept in a little bit and then drove off on our ATV in search of the Red Beach and the lighthouse.  Both spots were about a 25-minute drive from the hotel.  The ride was very beautiful, since the road runs right along the coast.  Once we finally arrived at the parking lot near the Red Beach, we parked the ATV and hiked around the end of the rock cliff to find one of most unique beaches ever!  The beach was nestled down along the shore underneath a huge rock cliff overhang.  It was very small and definitely a hike down to the beach from the top of the island.  You must really want to go to the beach to get there!  It was very beautiful though.  The sand was soooooo dark red.  Red Beach earns its name from the iron-rich sedimentary rocks in the cliff-face towering over the beach.  Very unique!!! 

Near Red Beach, we passed a small roadside stand that was selling local produce, including sun-dried tomatoes.  On the island, there were several stands along the road with cherry tomatoes sliced in half topped with various spices sitting out in the sun drying.  There also were a lot of grape vines on the island; however, they are not like the vines I have seen in Ohio, as these were laying on the ground in more of a cluster of plants.  I finally was curious as to what these plants were, so I stopped the ATV to check it out.  I was stunned to see that they were grapes.  There also were supposed to be several olive trees in Greece; however, I never got to see any of them.  

We then explored our way to the lighthouse about 15 minutes away from the Red Beach.  It is situated on the most southern tip of the island on top of many jagged rocks and provided an amazing view of the entire crescent shaped island.  You felt like you were on top of the world here!  The white and green painted lighthouse was not as nice as I expected, nor was it painted in the traditional white and blue.  The views definitely made up for the decrepit lighthouse!  I of course took millions of pictures and I can’t wait for you all to see them!

We then went to get some lunch in the small village just outside of Akrotiri.  For those of you that are interested, Akrotiri is a roughly 3,500-year-old Minoan town preserved in volcanic ash like Pompeii.  It is currently closed to visitors, but the locals said it should reopen sometime soon.  We ate at Taverna Plateia.  I had rice stuffed vine leaves and a chicken souvlaki pita.  We then rode the ATVs back to Fira to do some last minute souvenir shopping before heading back to the hotel to pick our bags and take the shuttle down to the port for our return trip to Piraeus. 

For the return trip, we took a high-speed ferry for 58 Euros.  It took us about 4 hours to get to Piraeus, as we were literally flying on the water.  We were moving so fast!!!  We arrived in Piraeus around 23:00 and went straight back to the ship for a shower and some sleep.  Santorini was so AMAZING and I can’t wait to visit again sometime soon.

Day 32...I CLIMBED AN ACTIVE VOLCANO!!!

Day 32, July 16th:

Greece Day 3! 

There was one thing I really wanted to do on this trip and that was to climb a volcano.  I missed my chance in Italy to hike Mount Vesuvius (because I thought it was part of Pompeii, but I learned quickly that it wasn’t); therefore, today’s expedition was devoted to accomplishing my goal.  Around 09:30, Babis took us into Fira for a full day excursion that he so graciously booked for us.  We began by taking a cable car from the top of the island down to the port.  This cable car was not like the one in Spain, but more like a bus cable car as there were like 8 mini compartments hooked together that went up and down together.  It was an amazing view and very exhilarating, as we were just dropped straight down along the rocky cliff.  It was super cool. 

Once at the bottom, we boarded a glass bottom boat called the Calypso, which took us all over the entire day.  The first stop was the National Geological Park of Nea Kameni, also known as “the volcano” in my book.  For an additional 2 Euro, we could climb to the top of the volcano and hike around it’s many craters and admire the surrounding views.  It was super cool to see the hot gas vents that release with temperatures that are between 75 and 95 degrees Celsius.  The sulfur that was released from the gas vents also made the surrounding rocks turn various shades of green.  It was really hot and the hike to the top was not for those unprepared.  It was so neat!!!!!! 

We boarded the Calypso again for our ride to the natural hot springs on the other side of the volcano.   When the boat pulled up, you could immediately tell where the hot springs were located.  There was a very fine line separating the dark blue sea water from the murky and muddy water in the back bay creating the hot springs.  The boat stopped just outside of the springs and we could jump off into the water and swim over to the springs.  It was really neat to see how much the magma from the volcano held in the underwater chambers affected the water temperature.  It was like getting into a hot tub!  I can’t believe that nature can build a hot tub for everyone to enjoy! 

After our nice swim, we jumped back on the boat and took a short ride to the island of Thirasia, a village on a nearby island with the same name.  We only stopped at the island for about an hour and a half, so Danielle and I went to grab some lunch at Taverna Kamara, which is situated on a floating dock over the water looking out over the sea.  I finally got to try the very famous Greek dish, Mousaka. Mousaka is a ground beef dish seasoned with saffron and cinnamon, sitting atop a layer of sliced potatoes, layered on top with a handful of various cheeses and Santorini’s local white aubergine eggplant.  It is finished off with some olive oil and baked until the cheese is melted and golden brown in color.  It was absolutely delicious!  I wish they made this more in the US!  I also had a Greek salad, which uniquely does not include lettuce. A Greek salad is composed of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, red onion, olives and a huge block of feta cheese and topped with olive oil, oregano and a few other spices.  It was delicious as well!  The feta cheese is so different from those I have had in the US, but I think the difference is that this is probably much fresher.  It was my kind of salad!  I even ate all of the onions and green peppers.  Once back on the boat, the boat drove us over a reef where a few smaller boats had sunk and the glass bottom allowed us to view the ocean life present.  It was like we were scuba diving without getting even our feet wet. 

Our last stop of the day was back on the island of Santorini in the village of Ia (also known as Oia).   Just above Fira at the highest point of the island is the quintessentially Santorininian town of Ia with its whitewashed walls sunk into the volcanic rock and its blue domes rising above the sterling beauty of the stunning Ammoudi Bay.  As I mentioned, Ia is the highest point on the island and our boat is coming in at sea level!  How in the world do you get to the top of this 900 foot massive rock structure to actually see Ia?  Well, you could climb all of the 588 zigzagging steps to the top, or you could take a taxi up from the bottom.  Now I never mentioned that is was an ordinary taxi!  You can take a donkey up from the bottom for a solid 5 Euro.  Is that not weird!  You get to the stairs and this guy standing amongst 50+ donkeys starting yelling, “Taxi?  Taxi?”  Well worth the 5 Euro not to climb to the top. 

Once we arrive at the top, we begin exploring the picturesque town.  Ever since we set foot on the island, Danielle and I began thinking about renting ATVs to explore the island (30 euro for 24 hours for both of us).  All of the SASers we stumbled across had rented them and we finally went to rent one before dinner.  As we went to explore the city of Ia on the ATV, we ran into 4 other SASers, that also rented ATVs, and we all were in search of dinner.  We promptly walked to find a restaurant in which we could eat and watch the sunset; however, every restaurant is booked solid until after the sunset.  At dusk, the town began to fill up with crowds of people venturing to see the sunset.  Santorini’s sunsets, especially viewed from Ia, are reputed to be among the world’s most beautiful.  We decided to go get dessert, so we stopped at this amazing bakery called Μελενιο.  I wanted to eat one of everything in the store!  I ended up selecting only two:  Strawberry Cheesecake and the traditional Greek Baklava.  Both were sooooooo delicious!  We ate our dessert while the sun was setting!  People were everywhere and once the sun set fully everyone began cheering and clapping as if they had just witnessed a live performance.  It was really cool. 

We then rushed off to eat dinner at a nearby restaurant over looking the bay.  After eating both of my massive and delicious desserts, I decided that I wasn’t very hungry anymore, so I ended up splitting a steak with Danielle.  It was extremely good, especially since that is not served on the ship!  We then decided to begin our ride home on the ATVs.  It was amazing to see the coastline after dark with the lights in each town shinning brightly.  The stars were also very bright and it was cool to see them from the darkness of Santorini.  We arrived back to the hotel and went to sleep.  It was a very long day, but one that was full of fun and excitement!  I am very glad we got to see so much!  However, today made me really want to revisit the island sometime soon. 

I CLIMBED A VOLCANO!!! I RODE A DONKEY!!! I SWAM IN A NATURAL HOT SPRING!!!  I RODE IN A GLASS BOTTOM BOAT!!!  I RODE IN A CABLE CAR!!!  I ATE TWO DELECTIBLE DESSERTS WHILE WATCHING THE MOST FAMOUS SUNSET IN GREECE!!!  What a day!

Extremely Important Update! Not...jk

Shipboard Update:   Today is a very important day for Deck 4 Starboard!  It is the day in which we gather up all of our dirty laundry, try to shove as much as we can in one bag, place it outside our cabin doors and wait a whole day for it to magically reappear clean and folded.  Please note that the stuffing of the bag must be done very carefully and creatively, as if there is an award going to be given out to the person that can get the most stuff in one bag.  Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, I might have received this imaginary award!  I managed to stuff 20 tee shirts, 5 polo shirts, 12 pairs of shorts, 1 swimsuit, 24 socks, and 19 pairs of underwear into this little itty bitty bag!  YOU SHOULD BE EXTREMEMLY IMPRESSED!!!!!!!!  This is the moment when you feel like you really got your full $6 out of the laundry fee.  Note: This bag is much smaller than a Walmart/grocery store plastic bag!  Kids don’t try this at home!!!!  Hahahaha  Just wanted to give you all the wonderful news!  Goodnight!

Day 31...FETA CHEESE!!!!!

Day 31, July 15th:

Greece Day 2!

Side note:  It is totally weird writing a post about a day in which you didn’t really end because you just slept on a ferry.  It is like the two days just merged into one super long day.  Here it goes anyways…

The overnight ferry ended up arriving in Santorini around 09:30 in the morning.  Babis was waiting for us at the port and took us immediately back to the hotel.  Babis is the awesome guy whose entire family works at Hotel Babis.  This guy was so friendly and made our trip extra enjoyable.  As soon as we got to the hotel, he gave a fresh glass of orange juice, while he carried our bags to the room.  The room that we got for only 43 euro a night had an awesome balcony with a view of the entire village of Karterados.  We got a free shuttle ride wherever we wanted to go, he booked our tour for the next day and we get free breakfast.  The hotel was awesome! 

After we dropped off our stuff, Babis took us to Fira, the main town in Santorini about a 10 minute walk from the hotel, and suggested a great place for breakfast:  Mama’s house!  Now, this place beats the Track Kitchen in every way possible.  “Mama” is the cook, greater, server and comedian for the restaurant.  It was a great way to begin our adventures in Santorini!  When we entered the outdoor restaurant, Mama hollered out at us: “You better say hello to Mama!”  She came out and greeted us and introduced herself.  I ordered blueberry pancakes and Danielle ordered chocolate pancakes.  Both were so full of the respective toppings that you could hardly find the pancake batter.  It was delicious.  She even gave us complimentary hash browns.   Nine other SASers were sitting at the table next to us and she told the other waiter to go get the three beautiful ladies pancakes.  “Why the hell did you not give complimentary pancakes to the three beautiful ladies?  They are beautiful aren’t they?  Well, then give them some damn pancakes!”  She was such a hoot!  Everyone in the restaurant had to get their picture with mama before they left and she always hollered out:  “Make them ugly and me pretty!”  This lady was so funny!  After we finished eating our delicious breakfast, Danielle and I took our pictures with her as well.  She hollers out her famous line and then says “Feta Cheese!” as we smile away!  We really enjoyed our first find on the island.

After breakfast, we head out exploring the village of Fira.  We stopped at several shops along the way.  It was really unique seeing the shops because they are all very diverse in what they sell.   Many souvenir shops only focus on the tourists; however, these stores also focus on the residents as well.  They all sold office supplies, technology equipment, newspapers, magazines, books, stamps, tee shirts, souvenirs, etc. 

After exploring the village of Fira for about an hour, Danielle and I decided that we already were falling in love with Santorini and wanted to spend an extra day on the island if possible.  We immediately head back to the hotel, grab our ferry tickets and go back into Fira to get them changed.  It was kinda like love at first sight!  Everyone on the island was so nice and very helpful.  The view of the surrounding rolling hills, islands, unique white and blue architecture just made us want to EXPLORE!!!!! 

We finally met back up with the other ten SASers and rode the public bus to the small village of Perissa. Before I tell you all about Perissa, I want to tell you a little bit about the island of Santorini in general.  The island is composed of several quaint little villages filled with hotels, villas, restaurants, etc.  Just to put things in perspective, the village of Fira is the main cliff-perched town on the island.  It is located in the middle of the island overlooking the harbor on both sides.  Another unique feature about the island is that none of the roads have street signs or address for that matter.  You travel from place to place based on which village you are going to and all of the signs just have arrows telling you which way to go for each village.  Everyone that is from the island knows exactly where everything is and who runs it.  For example, when we rented our ATV (learn more in Day 33’s blog post), they want to know where you are staying and they will just come pick it up from the hotel.  Everyone knows everybody!  The island also doesn’t have potable water.  It was really pretty cool to see how much the prices of beverages changed from the Greek mainland to the island of Santorini, as well as being able to compare it to the US and the other countries on the voyage.  Since water cannot just come from the tap for drinking, it was extremely low in price at the supermarket and at restaurants on the entire island.  Cokes, Gatorades and other beverages were also much cheaper than expected, but were always found to be about triple the price of a similar size of bottled water (.5L of water was .50 cents, 1.5L of water was 1 euro, .333mL of assorted soft drinks were 1.5 to 2 Euro).  It was really fascinating to see this price differential!  Since it was even a higher commodity on the island, I expected to see much higher price.  Okay, back to the day’s activities and the village of Perissa. 

Perissa is a small fishing village that is famous because of the kilometers of black beaches.   Once we arrived, we walked along the village’s main street, which bordered the beach, in search of some local Greek cuisine.  We ended up eating at Aquarius Restaurant, which was right on the beach.  It was very scenic and relaxing!  I had chicken souvlaki (aka grilled chicken and vegetables on a skewer sprinkled with squeezed lime juice…yum) with rice and french fries.  It was very good!  Another favorite of the Greek cuisine! 

After lunch, we stepped onto the black beach and relaxed!  An hour and a half later, I returned to the bus stop with banana ice cream in hand for the ride back to Fira.  Danielle and I walked down the hill back to the hotel and freshened up for our more elegant evening on the town.  We promptly met back up with the other 10 SASers and took a bus to Santo Wines for a wine tasting over the harbor to watch the sun set.  I tasted the Greek Coca-Cola, as well as the awesome cheese, olive and tomato paste assortment plate.  It was so delicious!  All of the others loved the wines and the sunset was very beautiful!  SAS has taught us to enjoy and appreciate sunsets!!! 

After the sunset, we waited over an hour on the side of the rode for the metro bus.  It actually was so much fun!  We sang songs and chatted with two other Australians that did the wine tasting as well.  Once the bus finally arrived and took us back to Fira, we went to grab a pita for dinner, since it was now around 22:30.  I had an awesome cheeseburger pita for only 2.20 Euro!  We all were ready for bed after our delicious pitas and our long day. 

Day 30...GREECE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 30, July 14th:

Greece Day 1! 

Today was a pretty calm day.  I was not really in exploration mode yet, so I immediately got off the ship and bought my ferry tickets, as well as booked a hotel on the Greek island of Santorini.  We booked the midnight ferry, which means that you can sleep on the boat, since it takes about 8 hours to get to the island from Piraeus.  Danielle and I went to Santorini with 10 other friends; however, they were also planning on going to the island of Mykonos after Santorini and we didn’t want to venture there too.  The ferry ticket was only 31 Euro for the overnight ferry.  While making the hotel reservations, we went to McDonalds to use their free Internet and I ended up eating my first meal in Greece at McDonalds.  I couldn’t resist!  The fries just smelled so good; therefore, I ended up with an entire quarter pounder with cheese value meal!  I know, I know…I the most Greek food I could find for dinner!  (More about that in a minute) 

After making all of our reservations, we headed back to the ship to drop off our laptops before venturing into Athens.  We had to walk about 30 minutes to the metro station from the ship!  We definitely got our exercise at this port!  The metro was an above ground train that moved slower than Christmas!  I got so accustomed to the quick moving metros in Barcelona and the fast trains in Italy that this metro system seemed like we rented turtles to ride to Athens.  6 miles and 30 minutes later, we finally arrived in Athens!  We immediately could see the acropolis from the metro stop.  It was unreal!  We decided that we wanted to see it another day, so we headed up to the shopping area of the city.  After looking in countless stores and exploring the various side streets, we stopped for dinner at ΔΙΟΣΚΟΥΡΟΙ and ordered a chicken pita plate.  The tzadziki was really good and the pitas are much better than they are in the US.  After dinner, Danielle and I returned to the ship by metro to pack our bags for SANTORINI!!!! 

The 12 of us met up at 21:30 to begin walking towards the ferry terminal, a 40-minute walk from the ship!  They obviously had to put us at the furthest terminal from our ship; however, it was basically a stone throw away from our ship.  We all wished we could walk on water!   Boarding the ferry was like herding cattle!  There were so many people all pushing and shoving their way to the front.  No one wanted to get a bad seat on the boat, since we had to sleep there and it was general seating.  The 12 of us all got seats together up on a little stage-like area in this very large open room with a snack bar in it.  The chairs had very low backs on them, so I could tell it was going to be a fun night.  We all sat around talking for a few hours and finally I tried to fall asleep in the chair, but soon moved to the floor as it looked much more comfortable.  By at least 01:30, we were still docked in Piraeus and I finally fell asleep sometime shortly thereafter.  I never saw us leave port.  It was really convenient to take the overnight ferry because that means we didn’t have to waste an entire day.  I was really looking forward to arriving in SANTORINI!!!!

Santorini Pictures

Everyone keeps asking to see some pictures from the island, so here is just a taste of what we have seen! I really could spend weeks here!!!!!

Today was so cool. Climbing the volcano was very exciting. More on all the specifics once I get back on the ship!

Plan for Tomorrow: Red beach, lighthouse, ferry back to Athens at 1700

Brief synopsis of pictures:

Sunset from the village of Oia from amongst the white houses overlooking the harbor

View of the island from the winery last night

Black beach in the village of Perissa

Greece Update #3

Don't be jealous but I am about to indulge in a Greek salad and Mousaka in Thirasia, Greece. I just took a cable car from the top of Santorini down to the port to board a glass bottomed boat to an active volcano. I then climbed my way to the top, enjoyed the panoramic views, swam in a natural hot spring and now this. What a day so far! Next I get to take the boat to Oia and watch the sun set. Wish you were here!

Greece Update #2

Santorini is absolutely stunning! All of the buildings are white and blue (the colors of the Greek Flag) and at most double level. We went to Perissa yesterday, which is a black sand beach on the island. It was so unique. We also went to a winery before dinner to watch the sunset behind the islands just of Santorini's coast. The sunset was very beautiful too. Everyone else did a wine tasting and we had a great time.

Danielle and I loved the island so much that we decided to change our ferry tickets and stay another night. That allowed us to take a tour today that goes to the volcano, hot springs, the island of Thirassia and returns to Oia. I am excited because it should be pretty cool.

Greece Update #1

I still can't believe I AM IN GREECE!!!!! Today, Danielle and I went to explore a little of Athens and really didn't get to see too much. We did get our first authentic Greek chicken gyro today for dinner! Amazing!

I finally decided that I wanted to go to the island of Santorini! Since you can't take the midnight train to an island, 12 of us decided to take the midnight ferry instead. We will arrive on the island around 7 or 7:30ish in the morning and take a shuttle to the hotel. There is so much to see there including a red sand beach and a black sand beach! You also can take a submarine out to see the ruins of wrecked ships off the island. All of those sound really cool. I don't know what we will get to do though. It should be exciting! I can't wait! Goodnight!


Rough travel plans for Greece:

Day 1: Athens and overnight ferry to Santorini

Day 2: Explore Santorini and stay at Hotel Bibas for the night

Day 3: Explore Santorini more and take high speed ferry back to Athens from 1700 to 2100 (sleep on the ship)

Day 4: Explore Athens and the Acropolis

Day 5: EXPLORE/do something exciting (ship leaves at 1800)

Day 29...I can already smell the Greek cuisine...ohh wait...it's just the food from dinner!

Day 29 / C11, July 13th:

Today was an action packed day for me on the MV Explorer.  I began the day with breakfast before heading off to the ever so wonderfully boring Art History class and Global Studies.  The best part of Global Studies is when guest lecturers come in to speak and today my Economics professor talked all about the Greek cuisine and the European Union.  After class, I didn’t get to take my daily nap before lunch because I worked on my Art History paper some more.  I then went up to lunch, which happens to be all Greek food today (they always cook food relating to the next country we are going to be visiting on the last day at sea).  It was actually pretty good! That means I know I won’t be starving in Greece.  BTW I can’t believe I forgot to mention this in yesterday’s blog post…you know how I said we always have some type potato and a pasta at each meal.  Guess what?  Yesterday, we had pasta with green beans and potatoes in a cream sauce!  Can you believe that?  Potatoes in your pasta!  These people are nuts!!!  They have to throw them in there somehow everyday so why not mix the two together.  I can’t believe I didn’t take a picture of the sign…it would have been priceless!  Back to the story…  

After lunch, I researched a little more about Greece and tried to figure out what I want to do while I am there, but I still have no idea.  The hard part about Greece is that it takes several hours to get to each of the islands from the port.  Secondly, the transportation in Greece currently is not too dependable because the workers are having strikes and protests.  At any random time, the flights may just stop, ferries not run, port authority not let ships in our out of the port, etc.  As we just learned in our pre-port meeting, the aviation sector within Greece is planning a strike for this Thursday and all flights will be cancelled.  This provides great excitement to travel within the country; however, I still want to get out of Athens and see more of the country too.  There is not enough in Athens to spend all 5 days hanging around there.  I really want to visit the island of Sorrento, but who knows at this point.  A few of us are going to go look at the ferry places to check the times and prices for the various islands once we get to port.  Only time will tell!

After more Greek food for dinner, we had another meeting for the SAS auction.  We are now working on getting students onboard to become auctioneers for the event, as well as donate items.  To help get the message out, Heather decided that someone should get dressed up like a clown and give a mini-speech about the auction tonight right before pre-port.  The entire group voted her to be the victim and she agreed.  In less than 35 minutes, Heather became the best-looking clown on the seas!  She had pink polka-dotted pants, white fluffy shirt, green feather boa around her neck, pink water tube around her waist, clown makeup and even a wild hair style as she did cartwheels out of the door onto the stage to provide some entertaining information about the upcoming auction.  It was so funny!  She did a wonderful job!  I can’t believe we pulled off a clown costume in 30 minutes including full makeup. What great fun!   

After we heard all about the logistics of Greece, I headed down to the 2nd deck to check my email before my sea meeting regarding the upcoming SEA OLYMPICS.  The Sea Olympics is held on the first day after Egypt and each Sea competes in various activities all day long to see who is the best!  Activities include eating contest, extreme musical chairs, pull up contest, Hawaiian bowling, lip synching and dancing contest, potato carving contest, shave the balloon head, etc.  It will be super fun I am sure.  Everyone is looking forward to it!  Now, does that not sound like a busy day!  Well, I am off to bed because I want to get a good night’s sleep before GREEEEEEECE!!!!!

Noon Report for July 13th:

The report is 5,000 NM away from my cozy bed on the 5th Deck (one deck above me) and I don't feel like getting up to get it.  I am currently 6 ft deep under the covers with an air temperature of 72 and a body temperature of 98 (or close enough).  I have travelled only on the ship since last noon at an average of 1/10 knots.  Sea swells are just light enough that I just want to fall asleep.  Sunrise tomorrow will occurs when my alarm goes off and the sunset is at dusk (tomorrow and everyday). 

Sweet dreams!

What did you say?

How to Speak Croatian:

Dobar dan=good afternoon (DOH-bahr dahn)

Bok 
or bogh= Hola!     (bogh)

Do videnja or bog= goodbye (doh vee-JEH-nyah)

Dobro jutro=Buenos Dias!  (DOH-broh YOO-troh)

Most importantly: gdje se nalazi WC?=Where is the toilet? (Gdyeh she nah-LAH-zee VEH-TSEH)

Last but not least: Mom always said to remember to say please (Molim) and thank you (Hvala)!  (pronounced MOH-leem and HVAH-lah)

If you are super confused by all of this then just say the following: Ne razumijem (neh rah-ZOO-myehm)  (aka I don’t understand!)

I hope you have fun trying to pronounce these!   

Day 28...Back to Classes

Day 28 / C10, July 12th:

Well, now that we are back on the ship, we must attend classes.  Spending all that time in port makes us forget that we actually have classes when we get back.  Today in my economics class, we talked about all of the different currencies we encountered thus far in all of the countries.  We also discussed a little bit about how Bosnia was able to sustain the use of three currencies.  It was pretty neat, but I would like to learn more about it.  It was a pretty uninteresting day overall, but I did get a haircut after dinner.  Lacey and Heather introduced Clark, Danielle and I to a new card game, so we played it for a little while.  It was really fun!  I also worked on my Art History paper discussing the architecture and structure of the La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, which is due before we get to Turkey.  Like I said, a very uneventful day!  Good night!

Day 27...Bye Bye Croatia

Day 27, July 11th:

I can’t believe that it is my last day in Croatia today!  I woke up early, ate breakfast, showered and headed out in search of Internet.  I know that all of you at home are dying to see some pictures from this amazing voyage, so I spent 2 and a half hours putting pictures up on Facebook for your viewing pleasure.  I put up roughly 100 pictures per city minus Pompeii and Bosnia.  You will just have to wait to see those and the others from each city.  It is just enough to give you a taste of my last 27 days.  

I then returned to the ship for lunch and to meet up with the other group members.  We all have a few Kunas left to spend before we leave, so we went on a shopping spree in the Old City buying up additional tee shirts, postcards, etc.  We even went to the grocery store right across from the ship to spend the very last of our Kuna.  I ended up with only 1.5 Kuna left (plus what I already set aside to save).  1.5 Kuna=26 cents…not too shabby!  I bought way too much local chocolate, cookies, junk food, etc for the ship, but it may really be nice to have later on in the voyage since we don’t know what we are going to find in Turkey, Egypt and Morocco.  I also bought a big bar of Croatian chocolate for my cabin steward, Angelito.  Angelito treats us way too well.  He even fist bumps me every time I walk down the hall!  The cabin stewards not only make our beds everyday and clean our bathrooms, but he folds our clothes, wraps up our cords to our computers and cell phones, re-organizes our drawers, folds our towels and much more.  The least I could do was buy him a Croatian chocolate bar! 

I then boarded the ship for the last time in Croatia and wrote out my postcards so I could get them in the mail before we set sail.  I ate dinner on the ship with the whole group and played cards out on the deck until we began leaving the dock.  The sun was setting while we pulled out, so the views were absolutely amazing!  I can’t wait until we arrive in Greece!  We now have two days of classes before arriving in Athens!!!!  We also have to turn our clocks ahead for the last time tonight, so we will be +7 hours from EST.  On that note, GOOD NIGHT!!!!

Day 26...Bosnia's Cultural Experience

Day 26, July 10th:

Where in the world is Mostar, Bosnia?  Well I could help you find it on a map now!  Before I begin telling you about my spontaneous adventure to Mostar, I want to tell you a little bit about how SAS has impacted me yet again.  Before I began researching this trip, I didn’t even know that Croatia was a country.  I knew that Bosnia existed, but I never would have been able to tell you where it was in the world.  I was always horrible at memorizing stuff for geography class in grade school; therefore, I was very unaware of other countries, their locations in the world and of their cultures and languages.  In just Croatia alone, I have already become more aware of their role politically, economically and their importance in the Adriatic area.  I never would have guessed that Bosnia bordered Croatia and I never even knew that Montenegro was a country. 

It is the little things in life that make you realize your place in the world.  This trip has already made me want to learn more about foreign countries and I actually don’t mind purchasing items that were imported from the US.  The various currencies in each country are very cool to observe physically, as well as notice how the locals treat their currency.  For example, in the United States, most Americans hate pennies; however, we always give perfect change and use uneven prices.  In several of the countries we have been in so far, the prices are set at even prices and they don’t add a sales tax either.  It is very nice not to have our pockets full of random coins from each country.  One downside to even prices is that the locals hate giving change.  The locals believe that, since the price is even, you should be able to provide the exact amount for the good or service provided.  They especially hate giving change to bills much larger than the purchase price (some will even decline your purchase if you don’t have close to the correct amount). 

In Bosnia, for example, they use Marks for their currency; however, every price displayed was in Euros.  The unique part of this is that when you ask someone how much something is they will tell you the price in Marks, Euros and Kuna because they will accept all three currencies.  If the store had prices fixed to each item, it was in Euros, not Marks.  I bought a sticker in Mostar for 2 marks, which is the equivalent to 1 Euro and 8 Kuna.  I paid the clerk in all three currencies. Of the previous mentioned currencies.  To her, it didn’t matter how much they received in each currency.  I even received change in all different currencies as well.  Daniel, for example, even received a US and Canadian coin as change.  Very interesting!

Danielle, Daniel, Lacey, Clark, Mindy and I woke up around 6:45 and began our journey to the bus station around 7:30 after breakfast on the ship.  The bus departed Dubrovnik around 8:00 and took about three and a half hours.  We actually went through border customs three times on the way to Mostar: we entered Bosnia, re-entered Croatia, and re-entered Bosnia.  There actually is a narrow strip of Bosnian territory that crosses into Croatia and meets the Adriatic coast; therefore, we passed through customs three times in about one hour time.  We didn’t get our passports stamped at any of three places on the way there.  :(   On the other hand, the countryside of Croatia and Bosnia was absolutely stunning.  The highway the bus drove down provided constant views of the sea while we curved around all of the hills and mountains of the mainland.  The sights of the islands just off the coast were so amazing!  This bus ride was really great because it allowed us not only to visit another country, but also to view more of the rural uninhabited countryside and see the natural beauty of the Mediterranean region. 
Once we arrived in Mostar, we were greeted my millions of beggars and hospitality services trying to get you to give them your money.  It was insane! All of us stepped off the bus and began walking swiftly out of the way so we could actually orient ourselves in the city.  We began walking down the largest street we could find and hoped it took us to the main part of town.  The street didn’t take us directly to town, but it gave us a look at the remnants of the war that took place from 1991-1995.  There are skeletons of dilapidated buildings on every street packed full of machine gun bullet holes.  There are many signs in the windows of stores, on the dilapidated buildings and on the light poles with pictures and stories of random people who died in the war.  It is a pretty depressing town and it makes you realize that we take a lot of things for granted in the United States. 

We then made our way to the main part of town and stopped for lunch at Orata Orijenta.  I had a hamburger that was placed inside a freshly baked pita bread shell along with a regional spicy ketchup like condiment.  The ketchup was more of a pickle relish consistency than that of actual ketchup.  I really don’t know how else to describe it.  It was actually really good.  The hamburger was only 4 Marks and the Coke was 3 Marks.  For those of you not familiar to the Mark currency, it is roughly double that of the Euro; therefore, I had a hamburger and Coke for roughly 3.5 Euros or $4.20.  How can you beat that!  We began to realize very quickly that the prices in Bosnia were very cheap to what we Americans are accustomed too.  We then immediately began a shopping spree to spend all of the money we just took out of the ATM for the day.  Danielle and I pulled out 50 marks each and we really had to try to spend them all. 

Another neat aspect of Bosnia is that they have a lot of locally made products, especially bronze vases and plaques, wooden items and local jewelry.   The stores along near the Old Bridge also sold a lot of war memorabilia and military patches from around the world.  Daniel and Clark both purchased brass bullets that were drilled and made into pens.  You could just feel the insecurity among the locals as if they were reliving the war that day.  They all seemed to be very proud of their culture, but feared that it may be taken away again someday.  It was a very unique feeling. 

I purchased two ice cream cones for 1 Mark each ($0.60) and a glass bottle of Coke for 2 Marks ($1.20).  Nothing was very expensive.  I also purchased many gifts for those at home, so I can’t spoil the surprise.  It was a really neat experience.  After stopping to take a look at the Old Bridge, which was destroyed during the war, we headed back to the bus station for our return trip to Dubrovnik. 

At the bus station, one of the beggars was still there with her two small children.  This lady asked me 5 times for money!  It was really irritating me this time, but to top it off she had trained her little kid to come squirt you with his sticky juice from his juice box if you didn’t give her money.  I felt really sorry for the kid, but someday he might do that to the wrong person!  It was really irritating me!  The kid squirted his juice all over Danielle.  Many evil stares later from everyone in the group, she left with her children as three bicycle cops pulled up to the bus station. 

The bus arrived around 17:30 and returned to Dubrovnik at 20:45.  Since we were riding the bus, our dinner consisted of peanut butter filled pretzels, various candy bars and cookies from a convenient store along the way.  What a great meal!  We returned to the ship and called it a night.  What a day and what a cultural experience!  I was very happy that I went because I know that I never would have had this cultural experience in Dubrovnik or in the USA.  I finally asked the customs officials on the way home to stamp our passports, so now I have two more stamps: Croatia and Bosnia!!!!  Yeah!  I am still floored by this day trip and everything we saw. 

Day 25...Kayaking and Snorkeling in the Adriatic Sea!

Day 25, July 9th:

Today is definitely ranked among the top 3 most amazing days so far on Semester at Sea.  The day began with breakfast (well only for some of us…others decided sleep was more important).  27 of us then headed for the gangway.  We rode the metro bus to the City Walls and met up for a kayaking and snorkeling adventure!  Here is a little bit of info about what we did! 

First, we all had to sign our lives away (not really) and pay up the whole 207 kunas.  Then we all lined the beach and the instructors took a million pictures of our group before putting us in life jackets and making us choose partners for the kayaking journey.  Of course, I got stuck with Danielle.  Anyways, we then threw our stuff into a waterproof barrel and they attached it to our kayak.  We climbed in and began our paddling lesson, while we were still in the bay.  Now let me remind you that we began in a little bay at the base of the City Walls and then kayaked to the snorkeling spot to, of course, snorkel.  The views were utterly astonishing for the entire kayak trip!  I mean we were kayaking around in the Adriatic Sea, while looking up at Dubrovnik’s City Wall with people cliff diving off into the water next to us from the rocks surrounding the wall.  We passed many cruise ships anchored outside the city, as well as smaller boats, other kayaks and yachts from around the world.  The water was so blue!  It was a very relaxing journey kayaking from one side of the city to the other.  Once we reached the other side, we went further down the coast until we reached another back bay with a rock cave overhead.  The rocks alone were really cool. 

We then pulled the kayaks ashore and ate salami and cheese sandwiches for lunch.  After lunch, we put on our snorkeling mask, air tube thingy and life jacket and then headed into the frigid waters to snorkel.  At first, I was unsure if I would like snorkeling; however, once I put my head under the water and opened my eyes to a totally different perspective of the Mediterranean Sea, I was amazed with the views and the beauty underneath the water surface.  There were a few fish in the water swimming away that were about the same size of fish that we had in my fish tank a few years ago, but it was still cool.  The sea floor was covered in rocks of all shapes, colors and sizes along with various sea plants.  I found a new hobby!  If you haven’t been snorkeling before, then I recommend that you give it a try!  It opens up your eyes to the various forms of life in the water and puts a whole new perspective on how you view the creatures living below the surface.  I purchased an underwater camera with Danielle before we began, so we took several underwater pictures as well.  When the guides began calling us back in, I did not want to stop snorkeling because I was having so much fun! 

After we all removed our snorkeling gear, we boarded our kayaks and began our journey paddling around Lokrum Island (island located right off from the old city) before heading back to the other side of the City Walls.  The entire journey was 3.5 hours of wonderful views, beautiful landscapes of the surrounding hills and islands, awesome weather and great fun with all of the other SASers.  I really enjoyed it and it was well worth the 207 Kuna ($37). 

After we all got back from our tiring trip, we headed back across town to go to the beach for some rest.  The beaches in Croatia are packed everyday, all day.  I don’t know if these people actually work or if they just go to the beach everyday.  Some of the shops in the Old City close for 3-6 hours in the middle of the day after lunch, while others remain open until 23:00 or midnight.  The locals are all very nice and provided us with many of the local insights on activities and restaurants.  They all know each other and tell you where to go to find what you are looking for if they don’t have it.  Overall, the people are very nice and almost all of them speak very good English.  In regards to that, I am kind of upset that we really didn’t even have to try to speak their language because they spoke English so well.  We didn’t even use what we learned like hello, goodbye, thanks, your welcome, etc.  Okay, I guess I went off on a tangent…back to the beach.  In Europe, I guess that many of the beaches can be topless beaches.  This was the case in Croatia too.  No matter what town we are in, we always seem to stumble across these sorts of things on this trip.  I found a spot in the shade and took a “little tiger snooze” after chowing down an entire bag of gummy bears I purchased from the market.  BTW, I know that you like that movie reference…

A few hours later, we headed back to the ship for a much-needed shower after being in all that salt water all day long.  Our clothes were so stiff from all the salt that got in them while kayaking and snorkeling.  I noticed that my red hat had more white on it then red when I returned to the room and took it off.  The great feeling of the shower may also have been a large role in deeming today one of the best days on SAS.  Overall, the day was just so relaxing! 

After we all were squeaky clean, we met in the dinning room for dinner to discuss our plans for the next day: Mostar, Bosnia!  We purchased round trip bus tickets from the port to Mostar for only 133 Kuna ($23.50).  That was a great deal!  $23.50 to travel to another foreign country for a day…how could you pass that up!  After we purchased our tickets, Clark, Lacey and I had a group bonding session over snacks.  It was great fun!  I just still can’t get over the beauty of Dubrovnik and the amazingness of the water and views!  (I think I just created a word…)  I love this place!!!!  BOSNIA TOMORROW!!!!!!!!