quick picture update

sisterhood of the traveling pants!

i think this is it, need to watch the movie to re-confirm!

the Acropolis in Athens - this is the Parthenon

temple of olympian zeus, in athens

jumping pic after a jog in Athens

lots of stuff, in the Metro

ancient site of Epiduras where we watched Oedipus, in Greek!

the lovely travel ladies! Diane, Lily, and Tara

travel buddies Monkey and Dauphin in Monemvasia

night out in Mykonos

right before the free shots came in...

awake for the sunrise in Mykonos

greek doughnuts - Loukoumades, A+!

sunset in Naxos

sharing a watermelon!

the switchbacks up into Santorini

a homemade meal in Santorini

playing with the shutter speed

on the pirate boat tour

lily with the caldera (cauldron) of islands in Santorini, on the volcano

lily after a dip in the hot springs

on the boat!

before the fateful donkey ride in santorini

lil on her donkey

tara on her donkey, the last pic my camera took

will update with more later!

New update from Istanbul!

It's been a while since I last updated!

SANTORINI - just after the last update, we went on a day trip to tour the islands of Santorini. Volcano tour, hot springs, donkey ride, and sunset in Ia/Oia. On the donkey ride, my camera broke :-( but the sunset was beautiful, and I think I found where they filmed Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, but none of the locals would confirm. Rest of Santorini was chill, didn't do much more except relax and wait... lots of waiting done on this island.

CRETE - rented another car - this time, a Fiat Panda! super cute and compact!

-Iraklio - the main city, a lot like Athens, but smaller and nice waterfront

HIGHLIGHT: went to the famous Knossos ruins nearby, and talked our way into seeing the site for free

-Agia Galini - small beach town on a cliff on southern Crete with cute shops, and good beach nearby

HIGHLIGHT: fun tipsy night that included 1 liter of red wine, free raki shots from "Elvis", lots of laughter, night jumping pictures on the rocks, and sneaking into a hotel pool.

-Chania - lovely port city on western Crete. A local Greek pointing to me in store and saying "YOU, CHINA. BIG."

HIGHLIGHT: tara's first crepe and nutella experience, and jumping picture that pulled me out of a funk.

RHODES - took a ferry from Crete to Rhodes, in our room of 4 beds, 2 girls shared one of the upper beds, which led for a hilarious and awkward night

-Rhodes city - was here for 4.5 nights (arriving at 2AM first night). a relaxing time here that included many days at the beach, no scooter renting b/c island was out of gas, pool time with greek kids, friendly ppl, card game called T-Ball, and delicious food.

HIGHLIGHT: last day w/ Tara included picture tour, beach, pool, underwater pictures, yummy appetizer of fried eggplants and peppers, mixed grill, old tour tour and ice cream.

-Lindos - near by city that had a beautiful Acropolis, beautiful blue waters, and white stucco houses - very picturesque

HIGHLIGHT: underwater pictures in the coves, lots of fishies and warm water to swim in.

TURKEY - took a ferry from Rhodes to Marmaris, then a 13 hr overnight bus to Istanbul.

-Marmaris - cute port town that Lil and I bummed around for until our bus left.

HIGHLIGHT: amazing food at the first sit-down restaurant we saw. The waiter didn't have any menus or spoke English so he just took us to the back kitchen and showed us all the dishes they had prepared, and we just ordered a plate with a little of everything. It had lamb meatballs (so tasty and juicy), barley in spiced tomato sauce, chickpeas in tomato sauce, stewed green beans, eggplant and chicken casserole, spinach and onions, yogurt, and fresh bread. Best meal I had so far on the trip - A+!

-Overnight bus - apparently tickets from Marmaris to Istanbul were selling like hot cakes, so Lil and I bought the first we could find online. This bus had wi-fi, personal TVs that showed Valkyrie and New Moon (dubbed in Turkish), and had video games. The original Super Mario Brothers game was renamed "Pika Man" and all was exact same except for the character and music... the service on the bus was also impressive. There was a boy Murat about my age who served as the "flight attendant", passing out water and pillows, blankets, and also had a drink cart where he served drinks and breakfast. We stopped every 3 or so hours for a bathroom break through out the night (7PM to 8AM ride). Was an interesting way to travel but not easy to sleep on that bus. For about $50, pretty worth it though.

So now Lil and I are settled into Istanbul. We have an apartment near Taksim Square for 7 nights. Already had a great lunch of Turkish pizza, another A+ meal. The men are kind of creepers, mainly because I don't think many Asians/Chinese ppl come here so we're kind of a novelty. Lil and I will be very careful, don't worry Mom and Dad! And this place has free wi-fi so we'll be online more :-)

After Istanbul, we are planning on taking the train back into Greece, stopping in Thessaloniki for a couple nights before going back to Athens for a few nights (and day trips) before flying home Aug. 11th.

Can't believe the trip is already 3/5ths over but it's been fun so far. Will try to update more from Istanbul while I'm here. Especially on the food, which I have HIGH hopes for. Our apartment also has a stove so we're planning on cooking here as well; dinner tonight: Spaghetti Carbonara!

will post pictures soon :)

lotsa love,

belinda

a very packed week so far...

sorry for the long delay on updating - it's been hard to find wi-fi in this place. highlights so far:

Peloponnese car tour:

-rented a car! - very cute VW golf car that Lily drove on the crazy Greek roads

-Nafplio - cute beach town we stayed for 2 nights on the Peloponnese in "2 bedroom" apt

HIGHLIGHT: when we were leaving the hotel, we had to back out of the parking lot and then go up a hill, once backed up, we yelled for Lilster floor it up the hill, but she backed into the wall. Little VW golfy was a little scratched but no big damage.

-Epiduras - watched the play "Oedipus" by Socrates in GREEK - couldn't understand a thing but was cool to experience it at the ancient theater

HIGHLIGHT: intentionally poured water on my feet to stay awake during the play, so sleepy

-Monemvasia - 3 hr drive though mountains to get to this village built on the side of an island but so worth it for the views

HIGHLIGHT: delicious greek yougurt with chopped walnuts and honey - Eri would love this!

-Corinth - ancient village and town; saw shipping vessels and containers, just like work @ home

HIGHLIGHT: we were already over seeing ancient ruins at this time so we just took pictures from the fence to avoid paying admission "we're over it"

Island Hopping in the Cyclades!:

-Mykonos - party island in the Cyclades, we stayed here for 3 nights. Saw lots of windmills, beaches, expensive town. Made some new friends and some creepsters. Diane left to meet her parents in Paris.

HIGHLIGHT: creepster Spanish friend bought us drinks at Scandinavian bar, and then we ditched him when his creepier friend came over

-Naxos - cute beachy town where we stayed for one night. We rented bicycles and road along the coast to the beach = mini triathlon training.

HIGHLIGHT: loukoumades- greek fried doughnuts drenched in honey and cinnamon// or Nutella!

-Santorini - just arrived yesterday. but already a fun place. wanting to live out the sisterhood of the traveling pants dream. last night we played in the pool here, and then walked the supermarket. made my own homemade Greek salad with lettuce, feta, olives, tomatoes, shallot, cucumbers, peppers, avocados, and carrots, and a stolen lime from our walk home :-)

HIGHLIGHT: asking the supermarket employee if they have hummus, her friend walking me to the cold foods section and giving me ham instead... i guess no hummus?

today we are going to see the volcano in Santorini, and then boat tour and sunset in Oia, can't wait!

-belinda

we made it!

after 19 hours of traveling, we finally made it to athens! good trip so far:

-ate delicious lamb kebab, really good tzatziki, souvlaki, pitas, gyro
-saw the beautiful Acropolis, Parthenon, lots of ancient ruins, fun markets, 1 Starbucks!
-lots of walking around this HUGE city, blisters galore, but it's worth it
-super paranoid about people stealing things/bags/etc but paranoia pays off, nothing stolen yet!
-successfully rented a car for our 3 day trip to Corinth, Epiduras, Ancient Olympia, and Nafplio - we leave today!
-no major jet lag! but feet got swollen from the flight.
-lots of sunshine and sunscreen
-pictures galore - already took 490! yikes!
-decent hostel so far - 15 EUR a night at Hotel Zorbas
-strange Greek boys called at us "Jackie Chan!" when they saw us - that's all they know about China

that's it for now. pictures later! bye!

the day before the trip

Did all the last minute errands today - Sprint store to unlock the blackberry, AAA for international drivers license, trader joe's for all the necessary snacks on the flight, and seattle deli for bahn mi (viet. sammies). Just checked into the flights, too - we got primo seats together, and I'm hoping no one sits in Diane's aisle so we can get two rows together.


we're going to eat pizza for dinner @ giorgios up in everett. we've been going there for years - their lasagne and pizza are both delicious!

now all I have to do is pack... hopefully I don't forget anything!

new blog, new adventure!

Hi Everyone!

I'm about to leave for Greece and some neighboring countries that are to be determined at this point :-) I will try to document the lovely scenery and food while abroad. N-joy!

FYI: This blog will most likely turn into a food blog upon my return home, so stay tuned for more delicious updates!

-Belinda