I can't really even begin to describe the experiences I have had in the last 2 weeks. I haven't posted yet because there has been too much to say, and I realize I can't put most of it into words. I thought that it couldn't get better than Greece. I spent the first day (my birthday) in Crete, and we visited the ancient 3,000 year old Minoan Ruins where King Minos and the Minotaur lived, and a wild peacock wondered across the palace yard while we were hiding from the scorching sun for a minute. spectacular. then we took a 4 hour ferry to Santorini and found ourselves at the bottom of a thousand foot cliff with nearly nothing around except for the port, so we took a taxi to the town of Fira. the next day, after a great omelet, we did a 7 mile hike along the clifftops to the next town. it was completely stunning and the highlight of my time in Greece. That night the 3 of us hung out with 3 really nice guys, and I even got to salsa dance for a while with the guy from argentina. the other two guys were from brazil and canada, and they were all great, so the next morning we rented a car (so cool, and I got to drive in a foreign country!!) and we drove across the island and met them at the black beach. and we found some rocks that float because of all the airbubbles trapped in them. We went swimming in the ocean because it was so warm, and the water was turquoise and crystal clear and deep. I just floated on the surface for a while in pure contentment. I could not believe how gorgeous and clear the water was. That was another highlight.
We later drove to a red beach after saying by to the boys, and we even got to do a little painting. the next day we hiked down to a rocky beach and harbor at yet another part of the island and had an amazing time there too. It was sad to leave, and getting to our hostel in Athens was a complete nightmare. We had to take a bus at 7 am to the airport on santorini even though our flight wasn't until 11 because it was the only bus down for 3 hours. and the airport didn't even open until 9.30 we passed the time with journals and a semi fermented mango. when we finally got to athens, there were 5 strikes and a road was closed, so after sitting on the bus for 2 hours, we were all dropped at the metro because the bus couldn't continue, and we had to take it to the center and then a trolley to our hostel. it took nearly 4 hours. and our hostel was ridiculous. rule number one: no clogs in the hostel. but it was fun, and Athens was really cool. an extreme change of pace. we saw the old olympic stadium, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the Parthenon, the huge park behind it, the ancient athenian market and agora, and the modern one, which was crazy. the meat section was out of a nightmare. It was a long hall, cool and dark, with huge tall ceilings and was at least a 10th of a mile long. There were stalls all along the sides with skinless sheep heads, or bodies of animals totally cut in half and just hanging there, and it smelled like flesh, and there were butchers on all sides in white coats covered in blood, and they would just walk towards us and even touch us and talk to us in Greek. I wanted to throw up. it was all I could do to power walk to the other end. I am definitely becoming a vegetarian as soon as I get home. Wanted to in august, but there is now way I could pull it off in Denmark. but it was amazing to see all of these places that were crumbling and to think of all the people who had built them and come to these places to worship gods thousands of years ago.
The next day I had to wake up at 3 am and walk alone 6 blocks to the taxi stand and then I took it to the bus stop, where I took the bus to the airport and headed to Pisa, Italy to meet up with Anya. Pisa, I had been warned by the guys in Greece, was the worst city in Europe. I must say that this is absolutely not the case. Pisa was a very pretty and pleasant town with fabulous Italian food at this one particular restaurant we went to, and the leaning tower was amazing! so cool. and the surrounding churches were stunning. and our hostel had pingpong and pool, so we played a lot of that on the night that poured rain. the next day we discovered the worst city of europe for ourselves when we went to Livorno to catch a ferry to an island to go hiking. we ended up walking for over an hour out of the way on accident through this industrial zone only to find that the ferry didn't leave until 1.30, and was 2.5 hours, and we would only be on the island for 1 hour. so we got something to eat and walked back to the station hoping to get back to Pisa and rent vespas and drive around the countryside. but it was pouring rain when we got back. so we played some more pool with some other people, and actually improved a lot. when the next day arrived, we hopped on a train for La Spezia.
La Spezia is a beautiful Italian town in northern tuscany about 10 minutes from the extraordinary state/national park Cinque Terre. We hiked a lot of it, which consisted of walks through 5 beautiful coastal towns, and a path along the cliffs between them that connected them. but one of these paths was closed so we had to hike a trail all the way up a mountain and around it and then back down to the coast. It was gorgeous though, and we got to see the aqua ocean, colorful towns and boats, olive groves everywhere, churches, a mountain town, a vineyard, and then some very lush forest which was pretty unexpected. at the third town, corniglia we got some food and then took the train to the end because it was getting late and we were exhausted. This was the day that made planet earth look average. we actually started to watch planet earth that evening and just turned it off and waited a while because we were too in awe of the day we had just had. and it was fantastic, and even better than Greece perhaps, but even that did not compare to what came next...SWITZERLAND
I need to find a way to move here. maybe I can do research here or something. I probably need to start learning German immediately too. I wanted to cry when the train came out of the tunnel on the swiss side to reveal a huge huge huge lake with snow covered mountains and a gorgeous town with velvety green pastures, golden trees and truly magnificent mountains. as great as those beautiful oceans and beaches were, I felt immediately at home and in love here. the train ride only got better, and when we arrived in lauterbrunnen, we thought we had gone to heaven. It is known to be one of the most beautiful mountain valleys in europe and it must be. It is long and narrow with a milky blue glacial creek running through it, and it is full of green pastures, beautiful Swiss houses, cows with real cow bells, sheep, and a train. 1000 foot cliffs tower above it with waterfalls falling off everywhere, and snow covered mountains are visible even beyond these cliffs topped with evergreens. it is a lot colder than greece though. but I am ready for it. we spent yesterday hiking up the valley for a while and taking tons of photographs. we had no words to describe our emotions or what we saw. all we could say, again and again was oh my God. Our hostel is a cabin, and Anya and I are staying in the loft of our room, with our windows overlooking the valley houses and mountains, and I felt like Heidi, yet another dream come true.
Today, we went (after paying a fortune) on the train ride to the highest train station in europe at 11,333 feet. the 2.5 hour ride was unfathomably gorgeous, and even that didn't compare to the top. the surrounding mountains are so beautiful and intense I once again was speechless. we saw the Eiger and its beautiful, majestic, and tragic north face, and we saw the Jungfrau and Monch mountains as well, along with an ice palace, which was really cool. It was freezing up there, and we were surrounded by snow. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen, and I wanted to stay forever. I can't believe mountains like these actually exist; I guess I had never really believed it despite the posters and images of them in movies. So needless to say, today was spectacular, and switzerland has blown away everything else I have seen so far. not to mention we got to have a lunch of Brie cheese, apricot jam, and bread, with some apples and clementines and pistachios too. and tonight some wine and chocolate along with some delicious pasta we are going to make. Tomorrow we are planning to hike to the carless town of Murren, which is otherwise only accessible via cable car, and it should have fantastic panoramic views. Except its supposed to rain tomorrow, but we want to be in the woods, so we are going anyways. Hope it isn't too cold and wet! the next day we are heading to Geneva to stay with Anya's family friend and enjoy their hot tub and a tour of Geneva before we fly back home to Denmark on Sunday.
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