Greece (and then some).

Wow, where to begin. So much to update you all on! Last week we had class as usual but no class Wednesday. So what better way to spend it then at the Gelato festival! Vendors were set up and you could buy 5 samples, 1 cocktail, and some other free trinkets for $15 euro. If you didn't know, gelato is a pretty big deal here! Now on to my weekend away! This past weekend I flew to Thessaloniki, Greece with 4 of my roommates. (Sorry Mom and Dad that I didn't give much detail regarding my where a bouts and making you nervous! So heres for you--all the details!). We took a train to Rome the night before our flight (Thursday night) and stayed in our first hostel. It was pretty nice for a hostel and came with free breakfast in the morning (: Friday morning we got on the  metro (It's basically a subway) and took that to the train station. Then we took the train to a shuttle bus that took us to the airport. When we got to the airport we got right in the security line because we checked in online and already had our boarding passes printed (if you don't print them ahead of time its 60 euro!!). We were about to go through security only to realize we had to go to the check in line first to get our tickets stamped. Thankfully we were able to jump to the front of the line so we could make our flight on time. The whole weekend was quite an experience and not quite what we expected. We booked the trip kind of spur of the moment without much research because the flight was a good deal. Not considering what the city was like, how we were going to get to the airport, where we were gonna sleep. You know..all the important details that should be figured out before you book your flight! Don't worry--we learned our lesson! Thessaloniki is a big city in Greece that isn't very touristy. It isn't the part of Greece with nice beaches, pretty houses with colored roofs, and people riding around on camels. On Friday afternoon when we arrived we sat down for some lunch feeling really disappointed, frustrated, and tired. We saw these girls sitting a couple tables away who looked American so why not ask them if they are right? Sure enough they were and were so much help! They were two girls from New Jersey, one had been there 8 months studying abroad and the other was her friend who was just visiting. They were full of advice and tips to help make our visit better. They said we were the only Americans they'd seen all week, if that gives you a better idea of the city (not very touristy). After lunch we spent the rest of the afternoon shopping. I bought some pretty cool trendy European pants! That night we checked out the night life which was insane. They have a street that is literally bar after bar with tons of tables outside and crowded with so many people. We enjoyed an authentic Greek beer or two and then it started to rain so we headed back to the hostel for the night. Saturday we woke up around 11:00am and took the shuttle to the bus station and took a bus to Kalithea (google image it!) where our new American friends suggested we go for a nice beach. It took longer then we expected to get there but we arrived there at about 2:30-ish. The beach was pretty and the sand was warm! It's killing me not being able to post pictures. I should have brought my laptop instead of the iPad so I could upload pictures. Any way, we hung out at the beach for about an hour and then it began to get cloudy and rain was clearly headed our direction. So we left the beach and enjoyed some gyros for lunch and did some shopping. The gyros are not like the ones I've had in the states. They put french fries in them, different but still delicious! It then began to rain and we had about an hour and a half to kill before the next bus came. We sat under an awning, watched the rain, and enjoyed some crepes with Nutella and bananas and some gelato. We caught the 6:35pm bus back to the city and when it arrived at the shuttle station we still had to buy our shuttle tickets and make it on the shuttle without it leaving or we'd have to wait like another hour for the next shuttle. And waiting another hour was not an option, we wanted to be back at the hostel ASAP! We were literally sprinting to the shuttle because we thought it was going to leave and it didn't end up leaving for like another 15min. We felt so dumb, you could clearly tell we were tourists and everyone was probably laughing at us. But thats ok we were laughing at ourselves! Everyone in Greece was very friendly, helpful and spoke decent English. A good majority of the signs throughout the city were written in Greek and English. Here in Europe specifically Italy, the men are very forward with women. They will tell you straight up how they feel about you and usually they use the phrase--ciao bella (hello beautiful). In Greece, not so much. Although, on our shuttle back to our hostel we encountered some men that made us feel probably the most uncomfortable yet. It wasn't anything they said because we couldn't understand their language and they weren't trying to talk to us but they were clearly talking about us. They kept looking at us, laughing, and talking to each other. We could see them out of the corner of our eye staring at us. At one point I could have sworn they did take a picture of us or were trying to. They were harmless and did no harm but I couldn't wait to get off the shuttle! When we got back to the hostel we couldn't wait to shower but you should have seen this shower! It was so tiny! It looked nothing like a shower! I can't even describe it, you'll just have to wait and see it when I post pictures. The beds at the hostel felt like you were sleeping on a box spring with sheets that felt like sand paper. But hey, we booked a hostel not hotel, so I couldn't expect much. Then that night we went to a really good Greek restraunt with live Greek music and delicious food! We got a variety of Greek dishes such as; Greek salad, grape leaves, saganaki, and another I can't remember the name. We each had a little of every dish and to top it off we got free wine and dessert on the house! We stayed there pretty late enjoying each others company and the live music that when we left it was already pretty late. So we head back to the hostel for the night. On Sunday it was time to head back to Florence and we were ready to back at the apartment! On a side note--Being away from Florence really made us appreciate the city and our apartment more. It's crazy that we've only been here 2-ish weeks and how the apartment already feels homey and gives us that comforting thought and feeling. Florence no longer has the vacation feel to it like it did the first 2 weeks. I now don't feel like just a tourist but know my way around, and feel comfortable here. To put it in simpler terms, it  finally feels homey (: Ok, now back to my trip Greece. So we finally arrived in Rome and we had to catch a train to Florence. We had two options--the slow train (makes multiple stops) for 17 euro or the fast train (no stops along the way) for 45 euro. I really didn't want to spend the 45 euro but I wanted so badly to be back in Florence at the apartment. We had spent so much time traveling this weekend that the last thing I wanted to do was to wait 2 hours for the slow train to arrive and then ride it for 3 hours. So I spent the 45 euro along with my roommate Megan and her friend Chelsea and we were home in a little over an hour. It was probably the best decision I ever made to take the fast train! It was such a good and comforting feeling to be back on familiar grounds and reunited with the rest of be belongs at the apartment (haha). Well, that basically concludes my weekend in Greece. It wasn't what we expected but that's ok! We made the best of it and it was fun. It was an experience and now we can say we've been to Greece and ate authentic Greek foods! Lesson learned from this trip is to do research before you book a flight to some place foreign! Even if it's a killer deal on a flight! Oh and if your wondering about the riots and all that going on in Greece--there was none of that where we were. We all felt pretty safe! Now it is time to take on week 3 and it's adventures it has in store--everyday is something new here and I love it! More to come later but thats all for now--xxoo, ciao!