Just like everywhere else I've gone to, the cruise I ventured on could be summed it pretty easily: boring when we were at sea because all the activities were designed for old people and families, we were almost the only college students on board, and fattening because of the buffet styled breakfasts and lunches. The cruise wasn't awful and I wouldn't mind doing it again because you get to see so many places for such a good price. I think the most memorable moments on the cruise were the themed dinner nights we had. One of the nights was themed Italian and we were asked to wear the colors of their flag. It was quite entertaining to see our waiters dance and sing and all the Italians having a good time. The Italians are such happy and friendly people and that is what I loved most about visiting Venice and being on the cruise.
I had higher expectations for Greece and its entirety for some reason. I feel like the places I've heard of already, I had already imagined it to be like something in my mind. Whereas, places like Amsterdam, London, and Marrakech were more memorable because I didn't really have an idea as to what they were going to be like. Unfortunately, I tend to compare what I expect and what the place is really like, so I hate to break it to everyone. We traveled to four places on Greece: Olympia, Athens, Santorini, and Corfu. I was most excited to see Athens.
I felt most aggravated in Olympia and felt that it was a waste of my time and money. We were in an area with a street full of tourist shops that sold the exact same thing from one store to another. I wasn't impressed and the stores repeated within the rest of Greece. We spent about 20~30 euros to see the archaeological sites of Olympia. Though the weather near the pier was full of sunshine, it was the complete opposite when we got off the bus that took us to the archaeological sites. It was like rain forest weather. It'd be sunny and then it'd be pouring like crazy for a short amount of time. The sites were rather boring with tons of rocks that you don't really know the importance of. Olympia did not impress me.
Though I had high expectations for Athens, I'm glad I got the shots that I did. I had imagined the Acropolis to be in a designated area away from the hustle and bustle of "modern" Athens, but nope, it was right dab in the middle of it all, right next to a subway. There were just sooooo many tourists walking around the area. On a brighter note, as a student we got to see everything for free.
I should've known better than to imagine Santorini like the movies and the pictures. Regardless, Santorini is a beautiful location and it's crazy how high up the buildings are. I didn't even think of how we were going to get to the top of everything. I guess it's because I had imagined the buildings to start on bottom and work its way up. I think what was most memorable about Greece was the donkey "taxi" we took when getting up to Santorini. I wasn't expecting it and it was quite an experience. The donkeys are walking up several flights of stairs full of a lot of donkey doo doo and no one's controlling these donkeys so every now and then, my donkey would hit a corner that overlooks the ocean and just look out. Hahaha You could pay to take the donkey back down, but we chose to walk down all those flights of stairs.... there was a lot.
No expectations for Corfu really. It was just a beautiful little town that had tourist attractions I did not care for.
After this spring break trip, it has prepared me a lot for the second two week trip I'm taking in late May.
- I'll be spending a lot more money on food than anticipated.
- Better reason to take more pictures because I will be with someone who can tolerate it.
- It'd be a good idea to have more pictures with me in it.
- The memorable moments aren't the ones where you see famous things, but the experiences that you have within the country's society. At least for me. I wouldn't be surprised if Nuremberg will be the most memorable city I go to for the next trip.
- Airports will always be a *****. Flying sucks. And figuring out how to get to the airport at 4~5AM sucks also.
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