OK, so I know what you're thinking. Is this douche bag really going to describe in detail the amazing Fall break that he just had just to make me more jealous? And I think you know the answer.
The cruise was spectacular. It was the best way I can imagine to spend my Fall break in Europe! We started things off with a night at my friend Preethi's in Rome. She and her roommates basically run a Hostel over there (It's called Cot World...) so there are about four guests on any given night that somebody stays there. We had a great time just hanging out at her place and visiting a few of her favorite bars around Rome.
2 Lessons:
-Italian wine is awesome and super cheap
-You get free food if you go to bars with Preethi
The next morning we hopped on a train to the "Port of Rome" (conveniently located an hour and a half from Rome...) for the cruise. We accidentally got there an hour early (thank you Daylight Savings Time) but it was a beautiful day so we had no problems just walking around the small port town and sitting right on the beach. After some authentic Italian risotto for lunch we boarded the ship and were off!
The boat was amazing; you can take a virtual tour of our boat here http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ships/class/ship/home.do?shipClassCode=VY&shipCode=NV&br=R but to sum up, there were several jacuzzis, 24 hour food access, a theater, a movie theater, an ice skating rink, a basketball court, a mini-golf course, and fabulous 3 course (which usually turned into 5 course) meals every night! It was pretty nice. So day one was spent boarding the ship and exploring all over. On the morning of day two, we docked in Messina, Sicily. This was definitely my least favorite port. It was described as the "shopping port" and was rainy all day. We also had to take an extra bus to the actual town from the port. There were still some cool things to see (an old Greek theater and a couple of cathedrals) but not too much going on. We did take a nice break in the middle of the day for some lasagna and wine though so it wasn't all bad.
Day 2 we were totally at sea on the way to Turkey. Spending a day on the boat wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I entered a dodgeball tournament with one of my friends and we got first place (and gold medals in the shape of the Royal Caribbean logo...) and we played a few round of mini-golf. It also gave me a chance to finish "A Dance with Dragons" which was totally epic! On day 3 we arrived in Ephesus Turkey. Well, actually we arrived in a port city which is just one extremely sketchy taxi ride away from Ephesus. Negotiating the taxi ride back and forth was an experience in and of itself but one better told in person if I get the chance to explain it to you. All that's really important is that we made it to Ephesus without (serious) incidents and had a great time exploring. The ruins are so well preserved, especially some of the Greek mosaics on the ground. There is really no other way to describe the ruins but don't worry I took lots of pictures (contrary to what's on my blog... I swear they exist though). We went back to the port city for lunch (after a forced detour by our lovely taxi driver) and some shopping around the bazaar there. Then back on the boat for another night of travel before Athens.
Athens was the port I was most looking forward to and it definitely did not disappoint. We walked and took the metro to get to the main part of the city and worked our way up to the Acropolis. We got in for free by claiming we were from Belgium and then started the climb. The view the whole way up was breathtaking. The Pantheon was amazing (although half covered in scaffolding) and we just had the most beautiful weather for walking around the top of the mountain. We went down and visited Zeus' Temple and the city gardens as well. We walked around the Plaka shopping district and got lunch (accompanied by the tradition Greek liquor, Uzo. Bleh...). I think we came close to seeing a protest. There were some angry looking people outside one government building and we saw a lot of police milling around the outside but nothing substantial actually happened. That was definitely our most full day and we didn't have quite enough time to do anything else before heading back to the boat.
The last port we hit was Chania, Crete. We only had a few hours there but it was plenty of time to walk around the small town. It was mostly little souvenir shops and restaurants but we went to a really cool Byzantine museum and walked along the shore for a while. If we had been there a few weeks earlier it would have been a great beach town but it was just a little too cold to really sit out. Still a really pretty town but anything was going to be a bit of a let down after Athens. The last day of the cruise we spent completely at sea so we had one last chance to take advantage of the boat before heading back to shore. Any weight gain that I had prevented thus far during Study Abroad was put on that day.
Early the next morning we left the ship and headed back for an extra day of vacation in Rome before getting back to Brussels. We walked everywhere in the City and saw as much as we could before just getting too tired. We started with the Colosseum and then a walk around the Roman Forum. After some more authentic pizza, we went to see the Pantheon and the Spanish steps. At night we went back to the area to see the Trevi Fountain and enjoyed some more fine (four whole euro!) bottles of Italian wine while making our wishes.
We had another comforting night at Cot World and then woke up early to catch our flights back to Brussels. Returning to Brussels was definitely a bit of a rude awakening in terms of both work and weather. I had the final touches (read: start from scratch) to put on a paper and outside it was totally gray and much colder than we’d left it. All in all it was a pretty quiet week coming back from break. Thursday I went to a conference at The College of Europe in Brugge and Friday, everyone had the day off for Armistice Day. We explored around Brussels a little more on Friday and even got to see an Occupy Brussels protest! Not too much was going on at the protest but it was still a really nice day to walk around the City. That weekend, I really just hung out in Brussels and relaxed. The greatest discovery we made was a bar called Le Corbeau (The Raven). In past times we had gone there but been unable to get in with a large (not French-speaking) group but this time we went a little earlier so it was easier to get in. The funny thing about this bar is that around 11:30 every night, some drunk girl decides to get up and start dancing on the table. Within about 5 minutes, the music changes, the older crowd clears up, and everyone hops on top of tables and chairs to get the party going. It was so much fun!
Last week was pretty busy although Friday we had another holiday to celebrate the founder of the free French and Dutch universities. The holiday is called St. Ve and is basically an excuse for students to parade down the main boulevards in downtown Brussels and hand out free beer. It’s pretty great. This past weekend was packed. Friday night I saw Wiz Khalifa at a nice venue in Brussels. The show was really great but a little short (he was only on for a little more than an hour) so we still went out afterwards and had a great night! Saturday, Skrillex (a great dubstep DJ) played at a venue that was right around the corner from my house. The music at the concert was amazing but the concert itself was only ok. Most of the people there were between 16 and 18 and they got pretty rowdy. There was a ton of pushing, pulling, and screaming followed up with a lot of cigarette smoke in my face. Luckily, the music was really good so I didn’t mind so much and it definitely added to the feel of a big concert. Although I really didn’t do a lot of the work I should have done, this weekend was definitely a blast!
This week I have class tomorrow but I am taking Thursday off at my internship so that I can spend the day baking for Thanksgiving. We have a large potluck dinner Thursday night and I am making pumpkin cake (from fresh pumpkins…) and an artichoke dip. And this week, my apartment will be taking on the title of hostel while I host four of my friends for some Brussels fun for Thanksgiving.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!
ReplyDelete