Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Travelin' ain't easy

A long, hellish busride yesterday that ended with the sorest bum I've had in a long while (and I used to ride horses for hours on end!) had me about ready to throw in the towel on my whole trip. I was forced to sit in the bus's aisle because of a ticketing mistake and wasn't even able to make a case for a seat because I didn't speak their language. My mood eventually lightened given a few hours to wallow and plush leather ferryboat seats that effectively revived my bruised bottom. After the ferry pulled in and we began to wander the gorgeous white winding alleyways of Skiathos I wondered how I could ever dream of not continuing on this trip. This island is simply breathtaking in its easy beauty. The atmosphere is much more relaxed than busy Thessaloniki, more like a Caribbean island minus the crowds and plus lots of Greek restaurants. Long term foresight during emotional situations is not one of my strengths and I'm hoping the difficult times on this trip will help me improve that. Thank goodness I didn't make a rash decision and miss out on this. I hope to not forget how lucky I am to be doing this.







We spent today beachhopping, lounging, daydrinking and of course eating lots of Feta. Tomorrow we plan to rent mopeds to explore the island, a few more beaches and of course the church from Mamma Mia! The whole movie (I believe) was filmed here and I'm not ashamed (okay maybe a little) to say I saw it in theaters and dreamed of one day visiting a similar place. The fact that I came to the exact island is pure coincidence. I swear.







Observation of the day: Greeks smile much less than Americans do. If I smile as the waiter is approaching they will greet us in English. If not, it'll be Greek. I wouldn't say they're necessarily less happy, they just don't express it on their faces as often as Americans do.

Currently reading: The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I'm not enjoying it and not sure if I'll make it through. I finished Tina Fey's Bossypants a couple days ago and it was great. Book recommendations welcome!

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