Corfu, Greece

Did you know it takes around 32 hours to get from Florence to Corfu? Because, due to a typo in the travel agency's itinerary, I didn't until 24 hours before leaving....
We walked to a bus, to a ferry, to walk to another ferry, to a bus, to the hostel. Getting there wasn't even that terrible, but getting home was hell because we not only hit a thunderstorm on our 18 hour ferry ride (holy sea sickness) but we then hit traffic on our bus ride home. It took an extra 4 hours to drive home... As Louis CK would say, "it was the worst day of my life!" (no idea what this reference is? Youtube the video "Everything's Amazing and Nobody's Happy". Trust me, it will be 5 minutes well spent. Hilarious.)

I wish I could say it was 100% worth it, but sadly we only had one nice day in Corfu and it was 32 freakin' hours of travel... The second and third day were cold and rainy and although I still had a great time I wish I had more time to spend on the beach. I was kind of hoping to not be this pale still... grrr.

The first day of Corfu was beautiful so thankfully we got to go to the beach that day. Didn't do much but lay around and play in the water! It was very relaxing and different from the usual trips we take. It was nice to not have to run from site to site for once. After the sun was setting and it was getting too chilly to be on the beach we headed in for a nice dinner that was complimentary (free food is the best kind of food) and then had some fun at the hotel's club. It actually had a decent night life and I learned a new drinking game called Cheers Govna! (Proud parental moment for the rents I'm sure).

Being a dork with the Evil Eye

Corfu Castle

The second day was cold, cloudy, and rainy. While most of the students decided to drink and go in the hot tub (which looked gross it was so crowded, and then a girl threw up in it 3 times... so no thanks.) I was feeling a sinus infection coming on so I decided that wasn't the best decision for me. So Kendall, Ashley, and I chose to take a shuttle bus to Corfu Town and explore around there. It was the cutest place. Everyone in Greece is wicked friendly!!! The workers don't look like they want to kill you for entering their shop and they smile when you ask them how to say something in Greek rather than ignoring the question (cough cough, Parisians....). We went to the shops and of course got suckered into buying some almonds and kumkwats from a woman who offered us free samples. She was too good at her job. Had us eating out of the palm of her hand. No pun intended. Then we bought one too many Evil Eye charms. They are believed to ward off bad things. Kendall has one in her car at home and swears its saved her from multiple car accidents... sounds to me like she's just not a great driver :)

r0oMiEs 4 LyFe

After heading back to the hotel the girls changed into some pink togas for the toga party! I was still feeling under the weather so I happily drank my Coke Light (still not Diet Coke) and played photographer until I peaced out for bed... I party hard. But it was still a lot of fun and I got some quality pictures of my amazing friends here. I also laughed my butt off the entire night, such funny girls. One of my favorite quotes of the entire trip was after Kendall and I took a picture together and she said "Yeah! Roomies for life!" ... That quote's sticking around for awhile haha.

My Body Guard

The next day was an awful thunderstorm. But Sara and I didn't want to sit around so we braced ourselves for the rain and trudged down to the beach to head to this little market place. On the way these two dogs spotted us and walked a long side us the entire way, in the pouring rain. When we got to the shop they walked inside with us and I thought the owner was going to be pissed, but he just laughed and called the dogs our body guards. They really were. They wandered around the store but never far, and one even got in between me and a guy that was looking at the sunglasses next to me. It was hilarious. They stuck around with us for about 2 hours. But after the weather got nicer they ditched us for a group of girls with food. I wish I could have kept them (hint: Dad, let's get a dog!).

The girls on the beach at sunset

At 4 PM we left Corfu to head back to Florence. Like I said, it was an awful trip back but I guess it was worth it. I mean, we were in Greece for Easter after all (oh yeah, did I mention the day it was storming was Easter? Because it slipped my mind most of that day...)! I just wish that with how long the journey was the weather would have cooperated. Oh well. Study abroad problems, whatchya gonna do about it?

This weekend I'm going to the Amalfi Coast with the school. It's supposed to rain all weekend. I really hope it doesn't though, this is my only other beachy vacation. I don't want it to rain for BOTH of them... boo. Plus if it rains too much the Blue Grotto will be closed. It's this awesome cave the glows blue inside. I want to go so badly! So fingers crossed everyone!

First glimpse of Greece from the ferry, Hellenic Spirit (which was written in Greek and I could read it. Greek life at ISU being put to practical uses!)