spent the last...

...few days in santorini. there were a couple of locals on syros that told me santorini wasn't really worth visiting due to the amount of time it takes to travel here (about 6 hours by ferry). am i glad i decided to listen to ms instead. it's been so wonderful here! i will edit this post later, for i am about to head to see the volcanoes (the ones that formed these islands) and then i am off to athens tonight (an 8 hour ferry ride...eek) but here are some samples for now.

in a heated bed...

...i woke up on wednesday, the 25th, after having slept 4 hours and felt refreshed. i went about making coffee and began unpacking my things. when i had fallen asleep...around 330am gt(greece time, i'm sure it's the technical term)...it was dark and stormy. when i woke up at 730 and it was pitch black i supposed it was still storming. i went on thinking it was 730am for about 20 more minutes until, while chatting with m, i realized that it was in fact 730pm! no wonder i felt refreshed, i had slept 16 hours! crap. it's a good thing i am staying here so long otherwise i would have been severely bummed! i stayed in that night getting settled into the house. it's even better than the pictures, honestly. so cozy and...well...mine for now. the walls are almost 2 feet thick, solid stone. you're so insulated it's like the outside world doesn't continue moving while you're in
here. it's superb. i could hear the wind blowing very strongly outside, but when havoc is brewing out there the knowledge of sturdy shelter in here brings such a feeling of security and peace. if it weren't for the ample amount of windows and 'windows'(what they call the top half of the doors) it would rightly feel like a cave.

the next day, thursday, i began my trek to town (ermoupolis, the capital). :) this is what the start of it looks like. seriously. as i began the path was fairly clear...then it just sort of dumps you out onto the road. seeing no other clear path, although i am certain there is one, through the terrain i chose to just follow the road, the path most taken, if you will. after walking about 5 minutes a young greek gentleman on a motorbike asked where i was going and offered me a ride. it was such a perfect, european moment. saddled onto a bike, holding onto a local speaking broken, but good english he had taught himself from years of watching american films, riding down the hills and winding roads of greece, sun shining, salt in the air...all of it, every traveling movie you've ever seen. haha. once there he took me to buy a cell phone and i offered to buy him a drink. seeing as it was noon, we (he rather haha) opted for a coffee instead. we thought it proper to mark the occasion with a photo. Leyteris and me.
he showed me the fresh markets, good restaurants, which islands to visit. he showed embarrassment at being dressed in his work (painting/construction) clothes which was odd because he was better groomed than most male hipsters around my hood anyway. he knew when to excuse himself and let me wander on my own, giving me his number and making triple sure i understood to not feel bad in calling him for anything. i shopped in the markets (i know this may seem obvious, but the fruits and veggies, namely the tomatoes and oranges, i got are sooo delicious) and sat at a cafe on the port's edge. i had a frappe, which is what i kept seeing everyone with. very tasty. basically iced coffee but with froth...and sugar if you'd like. i got a taxi home. and get this...ash gave me directions that i have to give any driver in greek, because there is no english interpretation, to get home since...there aren't really any addresses in our village. yep. awesome. made dinner, watched 'tideland'. you should watch it if you haven't. it's fucking nuts and wonderful.

friday, decided to hike up to the top of the hill (it's hard to call it a hike when it's only like 15 minutes). i found an old well along the way and this poor lost fireman?









when i got to the top i was greeted by a flock of sheep in this sort of round! they quickly ran away from me, but luckily came back awhile later and i got all national geographic on 'em. i stayed up there for a few hours, reading, eating, taking pictures, watching the sun go down...
basically heaven.









i've been sitting outside a lot of course. i met one of the ladies who lives in the next house today. apparently she is the reason why there are anywhere from 2-7 cats roaming about while i am doing so. she owns 15 of them! and she says one of the females just had 3 yesterday. perfect. ha.

tomorrow i leave for paros, only there a handful of hours before i then leave for santorini for a few days, then to athens to meet m. we shall galavant and adventure together, the swashbuckler and i...

a quick pictoral:
an afternoon snack.
my morning view.
me taking pictures of myself.
my dryer.

oh, and if you need a log
with a handle...i know where to find one.

and it begins...

...i am drinking a coffee (well, a cappuccino but that always sounds pretentious doesn't it? especially in type?) and using the ferry's free internet. one of the things i am already impressed with: FREE public internet at the airport and on the ferry. does this exist in my nyc world and i am just unaware?

overnight flight to athens. arrived at 730 - 130am nyc time - so of course i, being the natural night owl that i am, didn't sleep. taking m.g.'s suggestion of getting a bed in a cheap hostel for the day (since my ferry didn't leave for syros until 17:30), therefore having a place to sleep comfortably and store my luggage when i felt like venturing, was the besssst advice. especially since what was supposed to be a direct airport metro to omonia square metro commute was no longer possible since, get this, the metro *m take note* no longer RUNS to the airport. indefinitely. wha? huh? one express bus, where i met 2 dudes who may have possibly thought they were helping me and i allthewhile thinking i was helping them, and 2 metro connections later i was where i needed to be. a lovely greek woman in her late 40s made it her mission to get me to my hostel. in part because her sister lives in "new jerz" and i feel in larger part because she's a real nice lady. yep. there was also a point after we (she) had spoken to 3 taxi drivers that she showed me her Rolex. i have a strong feeling she was trying to tell me 1 of 2 things 1) they saw her rolex and then wanted to charge €€€€ (note: readers this means lots'o'euros and should be processed and registered into your brains for future application in this blog) because they thought she was loaded with them or 2) athens has 'rolex ladies' in the vein of the usa's 'avon ladies'?(or are they an international force now?)

she bid me goodbye, wished me luck, and we almost kissed because i went left first and she right. awwwkwaaard. i made my way up found a hostel trying really hard, sometimes succeeding, to be decorated nicely. the manager, an older man with a jet black full wig, gave me the tour. took a pretty dang cold shower with a window that opened to the alleyway below. sort of like i had my own little villa shower to myself. luckily i had packed my trusty mcvitie's digestive biscuits(aka cookies). they came to the rescue as they have many times before and i quickly fell asleep for 3 hours. i felt like a brand new woman. talked with a charmingly handsome irish lad, in the top 2 reasons for staying at a hostel btw, about getting various things around the square. missions accomplished. enroute to the ferry two men, younger and elderly, got into an argument, i believe about the young man stepping aside so the elderly man could get to the proper side of the train where the doors would open, to which a 1/4 of the riders felt the need to get in on as well. harsh tones and words were exchanged amongst passengers. then everyone shared a good laugh. the two men included. one woman said 'bravo!'. oh, europeans.

already 2 things i know i forgot at home. my pas usb cable(hence no photos for you kids right now) and ...well actually maybe that's it. not too bad.

so i've just been told the free internet only lasts while we're in port so i will bid you adieu...

^edit^ i did remember my card reader for my digslr. ferry ride. ahh.

at a book reading...

...where i knew almost no one, i explained to a new acquaintance that i was heading to greece in about a week. he suggested
i write a blog about it. my initial reaction hit me like this, 'uhh, that seems like work...i don't want to go on vacation and have to do work'. after talking with him a little while, he did change my mind. not only will it keep any interested parties abreast of my voyages, it will be a way to document the trip for myself in the moment(ish).

i leave next monday and return a month later. i happened upon a post by a couple in their 40s who used to live in nyc and needed to return for a month for work and play. they have a gorgeous house on syros. i happen to have a not too shabby, spacious apartment in nyc. emails, pictures, phone calls later, we are swapping. for a month. flights are bought. ferries are booked. luggage is (not yet) packed (but soon). my roommate hopefully won't hate me forever and ever for leaving him again. i think he understands the opportunity, right a?

so for those of you who feel so inclined, check back here periodically for updates. i won't promise wit or photographs every time, but i'll give it a whirl. whatya say?

take a gander.
this'll be my pad.
please take note of the red espresso
machine on the counter. it makes me
happy.