Greece

As usual, I find myself behind in my blogging (or whatever those crazy kids are calling it these days).   I always tell myself that after something exciting or interesting happens, I should write about it so that all of the emotions and facts are still fresh in my mind.  Of course, I never do that.  I put it on my weekly to-do list and promise myself that I'll write about it before the week is done.  Next thing I know, 3 weeks have passed and the interesting thing that happened is old news for you guys (this is probably because most of my readers are family and friends and if you don't hear about it from me, then you hear about it from my mom or sister).  Oh well.  Better late then never, right?

3 weeks ago, I was in Greece.  I was having the time of my life exploring ancient ruins, eating delicious food, and enjoying vacation with my love and his Papa.  Honestly, it was everything I hoped it would be.  

Excuse me if I gush throughout my description of our travels, but it can't be helped.

Our journey began in Kiev where Jesse and I met up the day before we were set to leave for Greece.  We spent the day wandering through Kiev (which honestly loses it glamour after you have been there 20 times).  We spent the night in a hostel (oh the life of a Peace Corps volunteer) and got up at 3:30 a.m. to go to the airport.  Since it was only the fourth plane ride of my life, I was pretty giddy with excitement.  My little world traveling boyfriend on the other hand was less than stoked.  Unfortunately, we end up sitting on opposite sides of the aisle which ended up being worst for the stewardesses because our hand holding prohibited them from moving their beverage carts at the desired speed.  We landed in Vienna for a lay over where we treated ourselves to Starbucks.  I should state right now that Ukraine doesn't have good coffee.  It's instant and it's awful. Although I am not one of those coffee snobs, I was really excited about getting my Starbucks on.  From Vienna we flew straight into Greece.  All together, it only took about 5 hours to get there.  We met up with his dad, grabbed a cab, and began our vacation.

We headed to our hotel, which happened to be located in the middle of all of the ruins.  Seriously, you could see the Acropolis from our hotel window.  We dropped off our stuff and set off to explore.  Within the first 5 minutes of walking the streets, I fell in love.  The buildings, the smells, the fashion... it was all just so perfect.  It was amazing to be in this cosmopolitan city while being surrounded by ancient ruins at the same time.  Mesmerizing is the word I would use to describe the sensation.  After walking around for a bit, we decided to try out the local cuisine.  As a girl who has always loved and appreciated food,  I was in heaven. Gyros, Greek salad, and gelato galore!  The portions were huge and every single thing we ate was great.  After that, we returned to our hotel and visited our rooftop, which had a quaint bar with cozy seats so you could watch the sunset on the Acropolis.  The feeling I had there, at that moment, now that is simply indescribable.

I'm not going to bore you with all the other details of our amazing trip (besides, nobody likes a bragger).  I will tell you about some of my favorite things, though.

The ruins-  We saw everything there was to see.  We saw every temple and every pile of stones that the ancient Greeks left us with.  You would think that it would have gotten boring after awhile, but for a history nerd like me (and Jesse), this just wasn't the case.  The Acropolis was by far my favorite, though.  It was
surrounded by tourists, but still absolutely breathtaking.

The food- I know that I touched on above briefly, but it good enough to deserve two mentions.  Everything was delectable.  After living in a country where spice isn't an option, Greek food was just the ticket for us.  Everything was fresh and everything had a unique taste.  I've always been a lover of tomatoes, but the tomatoes in Greece make all other tomatoes look like impersonators.  If I could have gotten through customs, I would have brought home a suitcase full of Greek salads and Greek yogurt.

The shopping-While shopping wasn't on my to do list while in Greece, I couldn't resist indulging a little after seeing all of the unique things they had to offer.  Of course there were a lot of cheesy souvenir stores (where I did purchase a few things), but most of the stores were really unique and full of little treasures.  Jesse and I really loved the little clothing stores that specialized in comfy, colorful linen garments that you would have probably seen people wearing at Grateful Dead concerts (we like hippie attire.  stop judging us.)  We treated ourselves to a few choice items to add to our already hippie-esque closets.

The islands-We took a one day cruise that took us to three different Greek islands, Hydra, Poros, and Aegina.  Hydra was definitely my favorite.  For starters, it only has 2,000 inhabitants.  Secondly, they don't allow cars on the island, so everyone travels on donkeys.  I immediately fell in love with cascading  hills that were full of traditional Greek houses overlooking the Aegina.  Simply breathtaking.

The beaches-On one of our last days in Greece, Jesse and I took a tram to the beaches outside of the city.  We spent the day lounging in comfy chairs, reading, drinking Greek beer and swimming in the crystal-clear waters of the Aegina. Although the water was freezing, it was still fantastic.  It was a perfect day that I didn't want to end.

The wine-Greeks know their wine, that's for sure.  Not only does Ukraine not have good coffee, they also don't have good beer or wine (which is more upsetting to me then the lack of good coffee).  The house wine at the restaurants was perfectly dry and perfectly sweet at the same time.  It meshed well with the food and it didn't hurt that you could get a liter for 7 Euros.  I will be dreaming about this wine every time I take a sip of the overly sweet fruit juice that the Ukrainians some how call wine.

Those are my highlights.  Honestly, everything was a highlight.  I loved every minute of the trip.  It was a dream come true for me.  Greece had always been my number one travel destination.  After actually having gone there, I can honestly say that it was everything I ever hoped it would be.  Jesse and I are already dreaming about when we will get to go back (Santorini, please). 

Ahh, but all things have to come to an end, right?  Thankfully, I have a couple hundred pictures of memories to keep me satisfied until we get to go back.

Here are some of my favorites.

View from atop our hotel.  Not to shabby, huh?

Jesse, John, and I in front of the Parthenon 

Jesse did a little research before we went and discovered the Poet Sandalmaker.
He has made custom sandals for Jackie O and the Beatles.  We each got a pair,
and John sent home  9 more pairs for the rest of the Van Horn Morris clan.

We thought it would be cool to get one of those jumping pictures in front of the
Temple of Zeus.  8 pictures later, we still didn't have it.  A for effort.

My love and I enjoying a sunest

Me, my fella, and the Acropolis in the background.  Perfect

Jesse and I got matching hairwraps. Here we are back in Kiev having entirely too much
(gross) fun with them.
He makes my heart happy