Bring it back down tonight

The rest of Greece was un-fucking-believable. It was so beautiful, especially the day we went to the island. Aegina was so... Greek. We rented a 4 wheeler and drove around the island, which was totally sweet. Eventually we found this little lagoon with chairs and everything set out but nobody on it and went swimming, even though we didnt have towels. It was the clearest water Ive ever seen in my life.

The rest of Athens was awesome too. I ate an obscene amount of those gyros and just generally enjoyed the Greekness. I wish I could go back.

Now I'm in Tel Aviv. We've been sort of taking it easy, since I'm staying in the pimpest apartment ever. Adam is loaded, I swear to god. This place is palatial. The first day here we went to this harvest festival celebration at a kibbutz. I made a flower wreath hat, did the jew circle dance, and ate the best food known to man. I LOVE Israeli pastries. The next day we went to the beach, which is beautiful. Yesterday we went to Old Jaffa and saw some pretty historical shit, then Steph and I came home because I was seriously sunburned. I remain that way.

So, at the moment, my life is a series of me taking off my shirt to apply aloe vera, then very gingerly putting it back on and walking around in my pajamas and no bra all day. Exciting! I think were gonna go to the Ein Gedi and Eilat for a few days soon, and there's a jazz festival in Caesarea next week, so I'm excited.

This summer rules.

Papa was a copper and mama was a hippie

Ah Athens. So far, definitely my favorite place in Europe (except of course for London). The Greek people are SO NICE. Gyros are unspeakably delicious, as is the rest of the food. The city is beautiful and totally easy to navigate. I am IN LOVE with the old shit everywhere. Yesterday we went to the Acropolis and it was so amazing. I was just in awe. I love that you can walk everywhere. I love that it has rained so much. I love ouzo and the other Greek alcohols I’ve tried. And mostly, I just think I’m going to live here someday. Today we go to an island, I’m EXCITED. Tomorrow night we leave for Tel Aviv, and no matter how excited I am to see Adam, unpack my shit, and have some privacy, I will definitely be sad to leave Athens. Sigh.

I didn’t see a ton of Rome, but what I did see was sort of dirty and unpleasant. I mean, I loved the Trevi Fountain, the Colosseum, and St. Peter’s Basilica… plus the Italian food… but I don’t think I’d go out of my way to go back there. Glad I went, probably won’t go back. Stephanie and I sort of decided that Rome is too confident in its position as a desirable vacation destination, whereas Athens is still trying to be desirable. It’s much better this way.

Seriously though, I’m in LOVE with gyros. I am learning Greek and moving to Athens asap I’m pretty sure. Sigh.

Off we go to the islands ☺

Ps- My perfume broke in transit from Rome to Athens! So… my shit smells like Ralph Lauren Romance but I don’t. Sigh.

You ask and I dont say anything

So I find myself on a train on the way to Rome. I was supposed to be flying, but then I realized that my overweight luggage fees were going to be absolutely re-cock-ulous, so I just abandoned that RyanAir ticket and bought a train ticket instead. This way I get to see Stephanie sooner anyways.

Anyways, Venice was unbelievably beautiful. I got up really early yesterday and started my day off with some lovely sightseeing. Piazza San Marco was ridiculously crowded with tourists, but I can’t really complain since I’m one of them. Basilica di San Marco was really pretty in a super-ancient way. You would think that since I like history so much I’d like older buildings more, but I am so in love with St. Paul’s that everything just pales in comparison. In any case, it was a beautiful building and I took an illegal picture inside. When I was done with that I grabbed a delicious ham and cheese sandwich of some variety from a little café and ate in under the REAL campanile, which was my next stop. It was so pretty up there – you could see so far! While I was up there the bells rang, which was (a) deafening and (b) awesome. Seeing the actual campanile made me nostalgic for Berkeley a bit though, which isn’t so fun. Still, it was lovely. My last stop in Piazza San Marco was the Palazzo Ducale. It was pretty awesome, I got to cross over the Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs) into the old prisons. I also saw all the government chambers from ancient Venice and a lot of art.

My next stop for the day was Murano, a cluster of six islands in the lagoon that are famous for their glass. I got to watch some guys blow glass, which was pretty amazing. I have no idea how that works, they make it look so easy. I bought a cheap little set of four glass fishies because they were just too cute. I also spent awhile just sitting with my feet dangling into the water. It was a beautiful island, and a nice change from Piazza San Marco because it was practically abandoned.

My next stop was the train station to get the ticket I am currently using. Then I went back to my room and made a relatively unhappy discovery – my hostel thought for some reason that I was a boy and booked me in a room with three dudes instead of three women. I talked to one of them for a little while, he seemed nice enough, if a little douchey. So after a nice nap I went back to Campo Santa Margherita, right by where I was staying, and repeated my successful practice from the night before. One normale parmigiana pizza from Pizza al Volo + one bottle of Prosecco wine = a drunk and happy Jordan. Then I had gelato again, which is always delicious. I’m pretty sure I’m addicted to Italian foods.

I didn’t sleep very well because I was so excited about getting to see Stephanie and Rome today, but that’s ok. This morning I had a nice cup of Italian coffee and sat in Campo Santa Margherita watching the people and animals walk by. There were these little birdies that practically landed on me, it was ridiculous. All in all, Venice was pretty amazing, even though I was alone.

A tip for future visitors – don’t pay for the vaporetti (the bus-like boats that take you all over the city). I didn’t buy a single ticket and they never even asked me to see one. I saved about 40 euro that way. And even if you do get caught, the fine is only 30 euro, which is less than I saved. Just trust me – don’t pay for that shit.

And so I continue on my merry way to Rome…

Venice 2

So last night, I didnt just go to bed. I left the room to get pizza and decided at the last second to get a bottle of wine too. Come on, it was only 5 euro! So then I ended up sitting in Campo Santa Margerita eating DELICIOUS pizza and an entire bottle of amazing wine. I got pretty drunk, ate some gelato, and went back to my room, where I talked to the 3 other girls in my room. One of them was in the Peace Corps in Vanuatu for the last year and a half. It was, essentially, the best night ever.

I love Venice.

Now, off to St. Marks Square to do battle with the douchey tourists!

Venice

I am in Venice. Oh traveling, you wear me out so. Padova was pretty sweet. Ashley’s friend Susannah (whose apartment I was staying at) is pretty goddamn awesome, she totally cracked me up and she was like the best hostess ever. My first night there, right after I wrote that last entry, she got me SO high, and it was glorious. For some reason her apartment is simply infested with mosquitoes and she spent like 45 minutes killing them with her bare hands and such accessories as books so I could sleep well.

The next morning, I was totally covered in bites anyways. The Italian mosquitoes feasted on my nubile flesh. So now I have a constellation-like series of red bumps on my face. Yippee! (not) Ashley and I had delicious pizza for lunch then went to this really amazing square and sunbathed while drinking a bottle of wine. Then we went to the Basilica and I saw the supposed jaw, vocal chords, and tongue of Saint Anthony. Sorta weird. The best part was DEFINITELY when we went to this little booth outside the basilica and I bought… drumroll please… a HOLOGRAPHIC JESUS PHOTO. Yes, that’s right, I am now the proud owner of a holographic Jesus. Not only that, but I also bought a business card sized one of Jesus’ face with a crown of thorns. He’s supposed to be blinking, but if you turn it just right he can be winking. SO GOOD.

My new favorite word: sacrelicious (instead of sacreligious).

Having had enough desecration of the faith for one day, we went back to Susannah’s and had some more pizza while we got ready to go out. I got to meet a lot of Ashley’s Italian friends, many of whom spoke very little or no English, so it was an interesting night. We went to some pub first and had the most impressively large things of beer ever, then went to this really fucking amazing outdoor discotheque called Par Hasard. I didn’t really get drunk, but holy crap the music was incredible. We thought it was good when Usher’s “Yeah” came on, but we didn’t know yet what good meant. It was quickly followed up by Shania Twain’s “Man (I Feel Like a Woman),” the Village People’s “YMCA,” a medley of tunes from Grease, and “Cotton-eyed Joe.” I watched Ashley do a ho-down in horror. All in all, priceless.

Today I woke up and got ready to leave but was greeted with an unpleasant surprise when I went downstairs – the main door to Sue’s apartment complex wouldn’t open. Long story short, we couldn’t get out for a few hours and it was seriously in doubt whether or not I’d get out today at all. Ultimately, I did, thank GOD. I hopped onto a train to Venice with all my shit, got here half an hour later, spent an hour finding my hostel, and then when I got here the goddamn key broke off in the door. I was like wow… jesus hates me. I think its punishment for the holographic Christ. Well, too bad God, I like you better in hologram form – you can deal.

So now I’m in Venice and it’s absolutely gorgeous. It’s also 9pm so fuck it, I’m chilling in my room for the night, sleeping well, and conquering the city tomorrow. Exactly 48 hours until I see Stephanie in Rome!!!!!

I just cant get you out of my head

Today I learned that funny travel stories are only funny afterwards. And sometimes, I don’t think they’re really ever funny. I swear to Christ, leaving England and arriving in Italy took all the energy in my soul. Here’s a quick outline of my comedy of errors, beginning this morning:

3am- I got SUPER high with Allyson, Cari, and Jackie because I need to get rid of my weed. We, of course, opted to go to the BK Lounge for one last meal. Much to my horror, the man at Burger King knew my order. I immediately wished for death. But at least it was my last day in town :-/

5am- I finally went to sleep.

9am- My alarm clock went off. I basically just called Stephanie and talked to her for a while. This was DEFINITELY the best part of my day.

10:30am- I left the dorm room with ALL my shit, a mere hour and a half after my deadline to be out. When I finally got all my ducks in a row, it ended up costing me £45 to ship a small box of crap home. Ugh. (Annoying expense number one of the day.)

11:30am- I finally arrived at Victoria Station to store my luggage for the day, only to realize that one of the wheels on my big suitcase was somehow missing… which explained the gash on the back of my leg. Fuck. There went another £55 and about half an hour repacking 4 months worth of shit. (Annoying expense number two of the day.)

12pm- I went to St. Paul’s and The Cheshire Cheese with Rebecca and her grandma. It was actually pretty awesome. Her grandma bought me a pint of cider, which is pretty bad ass. I am so in love with St. Paul’s and I can’t wait to see St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome. At the end of the afternoon I had to say goodbye to Rebecca though, and that was sad. I damn near cried in public, and we all know how I hate that.

4pm- Upon arrival at the airport, I realized that my freshly packed luggage was a good 10 kilos overweight, resulting in a nice £30 charge for me. (Annoying expense number three of the day.)

5:30pm- My flight took off and of course I ended up next to these two really bitchy fake Orange County moms who wanted me to tell them all about what to do in London, then tell me that’s not good enough. Fine. You don’t think Avenue Q is funny, whatever… but don’t look at me funny when I answer your question after you interrupt my reading. Ho.

8:30pm- I got to Venice airport, got my luggage, and switched to a bus to Padova.

10:30pm- The bus gets to Padova. Sweet deal... Then the wait began. To make a long story short, Ashley’s friends were supposed to pick me up at the bus station but they didn’t and they weren’t answering their phones. Ashley was completely out of town and also not answering her phone. So, I sat completely alone in a dark abandoned bus station in the middle of Padova for about an hour and a half. Somewhere in the middle of this I started getting genuinely scared and put my passport and credit cards in my pocket in case I got robbed. Thank god for Stephanie, who ended up saving my ass by getting a hold of one of these girls. In the meantime, I spent an hour and a half frantically calling everyone I could think of who might be able to help me. (Annoying expense number four of the day.)

Midnight- I finally got in a taxi that took me to where I needed to be. Upon arrival, I showered which was AMAZING. Unfortunately, I’m also starving and there’s no food. And no one else is in this apartment. And I just realized that I left the base for my electrical outlet adaptor with Rebecca, which will soon result in annoying expense number five.

I am so ready to conk out. I just have to wait for Stroud to get here so I can yell at her, make her prepare food for me, and go to sleep. Sigh.

If all summer is going to be like this, I don’t think I’ll make it. Basically, all that keeps me going at this point is the prospect of seeing Steph in four days. Yay!

I'm sorry love I'll have to turn you down

Well, 41 hours remain in London. That is so utterly depressing, but I'm adjusting. I will always love this city, but I think I'm successfully savoring my final moments here (for now). I will DEFINITELY come back here someday. I plan to live here at least once.

This despite the fact that London seems to have it out for me. I was doing a little reflection in light of recent events, and I realized that I have had, on average, one near-death experience a month in this beautiful city. Now for a summary:

1) The guy that wouldn't leave me alone in Hyde Park when I went to Speakers Corner. I ended up being afraid that he was going to trail me home, so I sat in the park for a few hours until it was almost dark.
2) The guy that tried to kill me and Kelley on the tube. To make a long story short, he attempted to keep us from getting on the train, effectively leaving him completely alone with us. When we finally did jump on the bus at the very last minute we noticed that he had kept one hand inside his jacket during our entire interaction. And he had a creepy smile on his face as he watched us pull away.
3) The guy that asked me out for Valentines Day at the Greyhound. I didnt call him, so he approached me again later. THEN he saw me walking alone at 2am with Burger King on St. Albans and he stopped and wouldnt leave me alone. When I sort of started freaking out and walking home, he followed me slowly in his car for a block and a half till I got home. Stalker much?
4) Tonight. We were in McDonalds with our friends and this big black guy wearing a white do-rag walked up to us and started bothering us about what kind of music we like. This is pretty typical of club promoters, so we just ignored him like always. He started getting really belligerent though, and followed us out of the restaurant. Him and his friend cornered my friend Allyson and started saying how they should slap us in the mouth. THEN they accused us of being racists and were threatening us, so Rebecca called the cops. There happened to be some cops right near us, so they came over and stopped this guy and the 5 of us went into a club. The club was lame, so we left 20 minutes later and started to walk back the way we came, thinking all was well. The bouncer approached us though, and asked if we had had trouble with a large black man. Apparently he had seen us go into this club and tried to follow us in, saying he needed to talk to us. They didnt let him in, but he was waiting for us in the same general area we had left him.... um SCARY. So we went to Trafalgar Square instead of Piccadilly Square, and took a different bus home. Fucking creepy.

Four events, four months. That average blows. And yet, I will always love it here.

Today I went to Trafalgar Square and looked at the Impressionism exhibit at the National Gallery one last time. I adore Monet. Then I walked around Trafalgar, Soho, and Piccadilly, taking it all in one last time. I bought a new eyebrow ring and just generally wandered through the city. I saw so many places that hold memories for me now and realized how lucky I really am to have had this experience. Then I came home and listened to the rain and missed everyone who is not with me right now.

I tried to go to Tesco Disco one last time, but it was closed by the time I got there. It really upset me at first, but whatever. Tonight was a dud, but I've had so many amazing nights here that I don't care. So now I'm going to bed in room 402 of Atlantic House for the second to last time.

Tomorrow I finish packing, ship stuff home, go to High Tea at Harrods, and go to the Greyhound for my last night out. Friday I go to St. Pauls, Cheshire Cheese, and the Closer park, then fly to Venice. There are only five days until I see Steph, and I couldn't be more excited.

I am so full of mixed emotions about this whole leaving London thing, but I ultimately know that I have been unbelievably lucky to have this experience. No matter whether or not I formed life-long friendships, I had a good time and I made another home for myself. I learned so much about myself that I can't even begin to express it, and I know I will always remember fondly. So maybe it sucks to leave, but every good thing comes to an end sometime. And I have so much to look forward to.

I absolutely love my life.

When the dance is through, its me and you

I LOVE ON THE ROAD. I am actually obsessed with Jack Kerouac. I love his prose, no matter how pretentious it may be. I love the way his writing sucks me in. I love his way of taking what Ive observed and putting it into the perfect words- expressing my concerns. I just love him. Here are my favorite quotes:

"They have worries, they're counting the miles, they're thinking about where to sleep tonight, how much money for gas, the weather, how they'll get there — and all the time they'll get there anyway, you see. But they need to worry and betray time with urgencies false and otherwise, purely anxious and whiny, their souls really won't be at peace until they can latch on to an established and proven worry and having once found it they assume facial expressions to fit and go with it, which is, you see, unhappiness, and all the time it all flits by them and they know it and that too worries them no end."

"What is that feeling when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? — it's the too-huge world vaulting us, and it's good-by. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies."

"They danced down the streets like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I've been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones that never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!"" (gotta include this one, but I feel like a douche because ever poser likes this quote)

"We turned at a dozen paces, for love is a duel, and looked at each other for the last time."

"Boys and girls in America have such a sad time together; sophistication demands that they submit to sex immediately without proper preliminary talk. Not courting talk — real straight talk about souls, for life is holy and every moment is precious."

The first quote is my worst fear for my life, and the second one is exactly how I feel right now. I just love this damn book.