the thin line between optimism and delusion…

Okay, since I updated in Mykonos with the bare bones of my trip, I have decided to write a few lists for everyone out there in internetland. This might take a while.

Experiences I might never get over (because they were so beautiful and unabsorbable).
1. Watching the sunrise over the Aegean in Syros (apparently Kallie, Nicki, Randy and I have all seen entirely too few sunrises, because we thought the sun had already risen, and we were about to walk off and find some coffee (since we hadn’t had any sleep), when all the sudden, the sun actually DID rise. The conversation went something like this:
C – Wow, that is really pretty, it looks like a water color.
K – I know, I’m so glad that we are here.
N – So, you wanna get some coffee before we pass out on this rock?
C & K – definitely, I’m about to lose it. Where is Randy?
(vague glancing about for Randy, irritation that we can’t find him, thoughts of leaving him for the chance of coffee)
N – there he is.
(sun actually appears over the horizon)
C, K, N, R – OHHHHHHHHH. WOW. (bags dropped, group collapse on to rocks)

2. Donkey ride up cliff in Santorini. Kallie on her donkey Nick, me on my donkey Steve. Nick and Steve were pretty slow most of the time, unless Nick got the itch to pass Steve, in which case they would both break out in to a trot. Trotting on a donkey, on a stone path, up the side of a cliff is quite comical. Nick kept sneezing on my foot. Forever I will think back on the donkey ride up the cliff and be unable to restrain a laugh and a smile. It is one of the happiest memories anyone could ever desire, it is the most priceless thing I gained on my trip, and it only cost 3.5 euro (the same price as the cable car, so essentially it was free).

3. Watching the sun set in Io on a rock, with hundreds of other people from all over the world, great company, a bottle of Santorini wine out of a plastic cup, with the already cliff shadowed volcano and city of Fira behind us. This experience was followed up by an unbelievable dinner at a cliff top restaurant, that included another exceptional greek salad (of course), more santorini wine, grilled chicken, lots of chocolate dessert, and conversation with our new friend Sen about relationships, different parts of the country, religion, marriage, and how Santorini would be the best place in the whole world to get engaged. Sen picked up the tab and paid for our cab ride home, which was the nicest thing he could have done. Kallie and I were not in the position to eat such a first class dinner, and Sen provided us with an irreplaceable experience so graciously.

5. Eating dinner in Mykonos with windmills on my left, colorful houses on my right, the bay in front of me complete with the sun slowly dropping in the sea, and behind me a tank of the biggest sea crustacions I have ever seen. Most of you probably know that I don’t eat crustacions (this spelled wrong, but you know what I mean, shrimp, lobster, crab, etc. they are the bugs of the sea), but these suckers were huge. I’m not kidding around when I say these crabs were bigger than my head(just the body, not even counting the legs), they had barnacles all over them. I don’t eat them, but I think they are pretty cool in a tank. Drinking Mykonos wine, once again watching the sunset, with the waves lapping at our feet, and a couple different greek guys waiting on our table.

4. Standing around in a Turkish rug factory, drinking Turkish apple tea out of little glass cups in tiny silver trays, watching six turkish guys unroll rug after rug after rug after rug. I’ve never felt very strongly about rugs before, but I think I would have cut off my left pinky finger for a couple of these silk on silk turkish rugs. I could learn how to hit the shift key with my right pinky. I think that is the only time I use it. These rugs were exquisite. absolute pieces of art work. ART WORK!!!! Really, I think I would pay money to go in a museum that only had turkish rugs in it. It was like a firework display. But better. We got to sit on the rugs, feel the difference of the rugs, lay on the rugs, flip them over, and afterward they wanted to bring us some more turkish apple tea. It was overwhelming. I like to think I have seen a lot of beautiful things; I have been to most of all the big museums in Europe, seen the treasures of the Vatican museum, seen the priceless pieces in the British museum, the crown jewels, the egyptian collections, the sistine chapel, the Uffitzi (sp), I have stood on mountain tops in Switzerland, in Colorado, on top of the twin towers, seen the fountains in Versailles, the canals of Amsterdam and Venice, and the mountain of Maui. There are few things I think that come close to the display Turkish Rugs. I might have dreams about these turkish rugs forever. The Turkish market was also an array of beautiful colors and exotic prizes. I learned how to bargain. Learning how to get all this stuff back to the states is going to be a whole ‘nother lesson.

5. Sitting with Kallie at the top of the theatre in Ephesus where Paul preached for 2 years. it was the coolest theatre, you could see the water and the olive groves in the distance, up close you could see the ruins of Ephesus, and the acustics of this place were unbelievable. It sat 24,000 people, and 1,000 standing room. I mean, that is much bigger than Stegman Coliseum. It is probably bigger than Tech’s football stadium.

Experiences I will never forget because they were a little less pleasant.

1. Realizing at 10:35 that our ferry (departure time, 10:40) was not going to be stopping at the port in which Kallie and I had been sitting for half an hour. It would be stopping at the harbor two miles down the road, the harbor we could see. After running about 1/3 of a mile with our bags down a dirt road, the coast guard picked us up with some Australian girls and took us to the right port. Lucky, nothing in Greece ever happens on time, and the boat didn’t get to the port till around 11:30.

2. Not being able to find our hotel in Santorini. Everyone we asked told us just to walk down the beach, and we would see it. So we walked down the beach. and down the beach, and down the beach. The sun is setting. We are no longer near other hotels and beach bars. We have been traveling for 26 hours. Things are not looking good. Greek guys keep riding by on scooters beeping at us. other than that, little life is evident in this section of the beach town of Kamari. Finally, around 9, when we are both about to lose it, we stumbled on our hotel. Conversation:
Hotel Man: Ahhh, my little girls from Rhodes! I thought I had lost you!
Us: We thought we had lost you too.
H. M. : I called Rhodes, they said you had left, I was worried.
Us: We too were worried.
H.M.: Didn’t you have my phone number?
Us: Well, that would have just been too easy, wouldn’t it? Too bad we don’t really know how to use to phone.

3. The plane from Samos to Rhodes. Propellers, never a good sign. The wind was blowing me up the stairs of the plane. Take off, the plane is being blown from side to side. Kallie and I look at each other and realize this might be the longest 35 minutes of our lives. but after take off things got better, and the rest of the end our trip passed without worry.

I love and miss you all and if you have made it this far, you must really love and miss me.