Culinary Excellence: Greece

I'm going to sauce out a toilet then have a kip.

Translation: I'm going to look for the bathroom then take a nap.

WE WENT TO ATHENS, GREECE.. for the weekend. 

After a short pit-stop in Germany for pretzels and sausage Miss Alex Gray and I jetted off ATHENS, GREECE.

Let’s just say – THANK GOD we speak English. Though I knew some of the symbols thanks to the greek system, KKG, DU, PhiDelt, etc… The Greek language looks like someone threw a bunch of random things together. It’s sort of like when you change the font in Microsoft Word to the one with the airplanes, dollar signs and all sorts of symbols, but real.

The trip got off to a great start! We took the bus from the airport into the city. It was a long haul, but we were able to see some of the things that make up the real Athens… automotive row, furniture row and STARBUCKS! You know, the stuff Athens is known for.

We made it to the hostel around 6pm ready for dinner and a bit of exploring.  Of course our room was occupied by 3 boys…Australian boys nonetheless. Sidenote: It seems like the Australians have it down!  After graduation they take several months to see the world (maybe I’ll have to do that too)...

The boys, Jake, Matt and Hugh invited us to join them for dinner. Who were we to say no? We were all pretty new to Athens, so we decided to wander for a bit to find a place. Strolling down restaurant row was like The Buckle challenge to get the back of the store without someone selling themselves to you. Each place we passed offered discounts, drinks, anything to get us in their restaurant. The restaurateur man ‘from California’ offered free drinks, a discount and free dessert. Sign us up!!

After a night full of fun with the boys and a group of 7 Danish guys we met at a ‘Bar Crawl’, we made our way up as close as we could to the Acropolis.We decided seeing it in the day might give us a better idea where we were to try again the next night.

So we did just that.. Friday morning Alex and I made our way to the underwhelming hostel breakfast then to the hostel tour. We saw all the sights (from the outside) and learned the history not even Greek Historians knew.. Our tour guide spoke for what seemed like HOURS at each destination. Four hours later we went exploring on our own.

Because we were in Athens and had the dream of a beautiful Greek man pulling us out of the water (like in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2)… we decided to go to the beach. Keep in mind it is February. Great idea. hmm...We packed up a mini picnic – with the Aussies in tow made our way to the water.

Moving right along on this play-by-play blog…sorry.

Saturday was another great day of exploring. Alex and I checked out of the hostel and said our goodbyes to the boys. The last night in Athens we spent at the Hilton – best decision ever. It was AMAZING. The view, the big bed, a bathtub, rain shower: heaven.

Later that night we got all dolled up for a fancy, candle-lit dinner at Milos. It was magnificent. Octopus, Salmon, shrimp, seafood delight. Breakfast the next morning at the Hilton only continued the culinary confusion of excellence.

After we had our fill of Greek coffee, which despite my facial expression was delicious, and all the other breakfast fixins we could have imagined, Alex and I took our last stroll through Greece. Of course picking up a few necessary gifts and keepsakes.. we made our way back to the Metro station. We were a bit surprised to find riot police and a demonstration in Syntagma Square. We decided it was time to go when they put on gas masks. Scary. Then a few hours later we were home.. in Bologna. Great weekend :)

Thanks for the hat Hugh. 

View from the Acropolis

Athena

Temple of Zeus

Nighttime view of Athens from the Hilton rooftop bar.

The jumping in front of the Parthenon was a must.
We were copied by a family about 15 ft. away. Success!

Short, Sweet Greece.

Exams are finished.
Back in the swing of classes.
headed off to Athens, Greece with Alex Gray.
February has already been 100 times better than January.
loving life...

Here's a photo recap since I got back.. I'll fill in the details sometime..

Here's a photo recap since I got back.. I'll fill in the details sometime.

Surprise: Home for the Holidays

Prof. Benevolo, Collin, Prof. Cammarano and Liz 

   Before I get to the exciting trip home - I suppose I left about a month out. The end of November was fun as Thanksgiving came and went. The American holiday quiz which was WAY harder than expected was won by Prof. Cammarano, my Italian History professor (how embarrassing- the italian beat all of the americans). The food with an italian twist was delicious - mashed sweet potatoes, turkey loaf?, etc.

   After the dinner a big group of the girls and I headed to V.I.P to celebrate Ellen's birthday. We had a booth reserved and were served drinks with sparklers - seriously V.I.P. The girls night of dancing was exactly what we needed!

   That weekend I threw a mini-Thanksgiving for Valentina and a few of her friends.. They were obsessed with the stuffing - everything was gone in a flash. Now I know what it would be like to host a HUGE thanksgiving meal - stressful. I loved hosting, but spending the WHOLE day in the kitchen was a bit much. I promised pumpkin bread, but it was made a few days later when I had more time on my hands.

  Shortly after the Turkey Day everyone switched gears into study mode just in time for BCSP finals. Two weeks and we would be FREE for the awaited Christmas break. Never have I ever studied as much as I did for those darn tests. I suppose I should study that much for everything, but meh. The exams went well and I was SO thankful to be on break! Just before heading back to the states, of course Tati, Alex and I HAD to make a trip to Scalinatella to celebrate with them. We found out about the numerous pictures of us on their website.. a little creepy, but flattering nonetheless. They love us...

 My secret trip back to the States went off without a hitch, kind of. Finding a taxi at 4:30am was a bit of a story - I was able to get a cab number from a drunk girl on the street, thank god. Then, the Bologna airport, just like everything else in Italy, was more laid back than I am used to, but I made it to my gate in time. The crazy long flight got me back to Bloomington Friday, Dec. 17th where Barb and Dad were waiting with a sign 'Benvenuti a casa' -Welcome Home. It was adorable.

   My first request when I got off of the airplane was a good ole fashioned american hamburger.. wish granted. Before even dropping my luggage at home we headed to Medici for a DELICIOUS burger!

   Not to mention the sign, Dad and Barb were AMAZING - They kept the secret from EVERYONE. I was sort of expecting someone to know, nope!  Sadly, there are no pictures showing the stunned faces of my family when I showed up on their various doorsteps. Mom cried. Grandma Brown cried. Jim was stunned. Julie cursed me. The rest of the family laughed at me in the wrapped box Brian made me stand in! It was a great surprise. Just bumming around was exactly what I had pictured - getting the new nickname 'Zia' (aunt in Italian) for Savannah was exciting and getting to see Julie's baby belly :) - All worth it.

One of the things Barb was waiting for me to get home for was to make homemade pasta.. after a break from the Italian cuisine, we chose a night and went to work. From beginning to end the pasta-making night was a hit!

 Good idea Berb. This was the ONLY time I ate pasta in the USA. I get plenty of it in BO.

The process:

I'm pretty sure Dad and Barb are thinking of tossing in the towel on their careers to open a restaurant!...  kidding.

Then there was Chicago, IU and Indianapolis... a whirlwind of 5 days led me all over. 

I decided a few days ahead of time to take the train up to Chicago for a day. That is one thing Italy beats the US on, the train system! After several delays Josh picked me up at Union Station and by coincidence we were able to meet up with Steph, Marie, Katy and a few other IU friends! It was the best day walking around the windy city and eating stuffed pizza with some of my best friends!

Katy, Steph, me and Josh in front of the Bean at Millenium Park, Chicago

Then next day I made my way to IU for the best few days of break. Yes, seeing my family was amazing, but at IU I really felt at home. The company wasn't bad either! Signed my lease for next year- got excited  about next year, but then realized I get to come back to Italy for another semester - at that point I had mixed emotions. Now that I am back in Bologna, sitting at my desk with plans for dinner after the post - I can't imagine being anywhere else. Bring it on Bologna - round two. 

Ciao Benito. Oops, that's Big Ben...

Just a short week after Dad and Berb returned to the real world I got to escape from my reality.. To LONDON, England!!

Thursday November 11th was supposed to be the day of our Italian Grammar midterm. London was to serve as the 'Yay, we finished the exam.' However, it was rescheduled to the following Tuesday. Hm...
Anywho, we headed straight from the BCSP office to the airport to being the long weekend in a non-schengan state.

As a first-time RyanAir flyer.. I was a bit nervous. It is quite possibly the most inexpensive airline ever. We soon found out why.. Our evening flight started off just as any other after getting through security to our gate just before a group of about 40 people lined up behind us. After sitting at the gate for a while, a line began to form at the gate.  There are no assigned seats on RyanAir. It was a bloodbath, but somehow we got seats together. The duration of the flight was the interesting part... You know the AirMall magazines on flights.. well on RyanAir the flight attendants try to sell those things over the LOUD SPEAKER.. including smokeless cigarettes, lottery tickets and a selection of other gems..

The WE I keep referring to were the lovely Tatiana, Nicola, Ellen and myself. Maried and Mallory joined us on Friday.

We made it to Gatwick Airport, then took a bus into London for about an hour. The bus dropped us off at King's Cross! We were here EVERY DAY taking the tube from place to place.

Thursday night proved uneventful after getting HORRIBLE directions from the concierge (if you want to give him a proper title, dude if not.)

Friday marked the real start of the trip. We decided it would be a good idea to take the free hostel tour.. oh boy was it! Haha our tour guide and about 70 other people walked all over London stopping at some really neat places and got a short description of each. Saturday we decided to get an extended tour of old London. That time there were only 8 people, including the guide. The sites included...

Our tour guide in front of Parliament. This was the end of the tour, but whose counting.. 

Yes, the tea company. They have been paying rent in this building for over 300 years!

Well.. this we saw at every intersection. What a brilliant idea for those pesky tourists and other idiots that forget they drive on the opposite sides of the road in England.

Tati was a bit disappoint with Big Ben. It was impressive, but too small for her standards.

Westminster Abbey. Breathtaking.

This beloved site was visited SEVERAL times over the weekend. Yumm.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the only royal ground on which an Olympic event will take place in 2012. You guessed it.. Sand Volleyball.

We had someone take a picture of us in front of Buckingham Palace.. It's behind that pesky pole.

And the trip would not have been complete without a picture inside the telephone booth.

Caroline, Kimberly, Jessica, Tati and me.

Friday night was a bit more eventful than Thursday had been. Tati, being the world-traveler that she is knew several people living in London. Thankfully, she was able to get in contact with them. They were able to show us a real night out in London. We went to Proud Gallery in Camden Town. This photography gallery by day and dance club by night welcomed us with a line of about 75 people. For the first time in my life I can say.. we were on the list! We skipped the line and headed into the club. The dance floor was full of people singing along to songs EVERYONE knows. The DJ was Fantastic.

I was hugged by a tree.....

Saturday was another day of exploring.. after the second tour we met up with one of Ellen's friends, Stephanie. We made it to Buckingham Palace just in time for the Changing of the Guard ceremony. It was a bit underwhelming because we couldn't see anything. So naturally we went to Satrbucks. A little while later Stephanie took us to Harrod's. Can you say 'one-stop-shop'? It was AMAZING. Period. There were clothes, puppies, a sweets store, a food section.. it was incredible. We ended the night with a movie  because we were worn out. Due Date.. it was terrible. Don't waste your money.

On the way in to change the guard.. the hats were epic.

Killing time before the movie.

Sunday we decided to be super touristy and head over to Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum. In all honesty, it was a bit terrifying. I was waiting for them to wake up and jump out at me. It was a good use of a few hours while the daily rain came and went. Later, because we had originally planned to go to London for the premiere (in theaters) of Harry Potter, we HAD to stop by Platform 9-3/4. It was conveniently located at King's Cross Station.

The group.

After a long weekend we were able to make it to Stanstead Airport at about 4:30am for our flight back to Bologna. We made it back and to class! Well done girls.

All in all, London was amazing.