Anyone fancy some pasta?

Ciao! Bongiorno! Buenasera! You may think I’m just saying hello, but I’m also showing off 3 of the 7 words I learned during my big Easter trip with Katie to Italia (and Greece, where I’m going as I write this and will add info about later)

Italy was one of the most—if not the most—beautiful places I have ever been. Stunning views, lovely waterfronts, glamorous outfits, picturesque beaches, and over the top monuments—I spent half the time I was there trying to wrap my head around how such natural beauty could exist and half the time putting away money to retire there. We visited Florence, cinque terre, siena, sorrento, and Capri, and each one had so much to offer and so many opportunities to make fools of ourselves. So let’s take a walk down memory lane, shall we?

We arrived Thursday and the Italy part of our trip lasted until this Friday, which is today *even though I’m not posting this entry until after the entire trip is over*. Without further ado, here are some highlights and tips from our vacation.

Baggage: On Thursday, our first challenge/reality check was our suitcase situation. If you’ve ever been to Europe/plan to go in the future, you probably should know that what Americans consider normal for a carry on is much, much bigger than the European equivalent. The looks we got were nothing compared to the near death situations that ensued when we tried to wheel our suitcase (which we nicknamed “fucker”) around airports and train stations. From almost killing off a few old men to mini lifts and nearly knocking over vases, I’ve learned my lesson about suitcases that look like they swallowed normal sized suitcases.

Language barrier: after my two visits to Paris, I thought I had learned my lesson about language barriers being a really major communication obstacle. I learned really quick though that italy is quite different indeed. When I first arrived, I had the most awkward encounter with a waitress where I looked at her and slowly enunciated out “can we have a table for TWOOO”, putting up two fingers as a sign. She immediately raised both eyebrows, grabbed a menu, and in perfect English said “yeah here you go”. So you can imagine how quickly I realized the barrier would be a lot easier here. There were some exceptions of course, and my tip would be to keep in mind the English barrier most when going to smaller, more local cities like Siena, for instance. The other tip is to know some essential words. Katie is lactose intolerant, and one of my favorite stories for the rest of my life will be going into a pharmacy to get her some lactose medicine. I used Google translate to communicate with the all-Italian staff, and it wasn’t long before they were looking for lactating pills for “a little child”. So maybe this italy tip is to NEVER rely on Google translate unless you want to end up in the same situation.

Food: If you’re planning to study abroad or travel to Italy because of its food, I have some bad news. Aside from four meals, I am fully convinced Italian food is majorly overrated. And while I know I am probably pissing off any Italian readers I have, I can confidently say that I much prefer some other cuisines. I can also confidently say that I am taking a very, very long break from pasta and from cheese, and that break will commence now indefinitely. The pasta is average and there is no fettuccini Alfredo. And so it’s going to be a no from sharon the food critic on all fronts except gelato, lemoncello, and a few pizza spots (if you’re anything like me though, you’ll end up scraping off the cheese). If you’re traveling to Italy, avoid tourist traps with people standing outside resteraunts ushering you in and one other note, cheese wheels are not worth it.

With that being said, an interesting thing they do in Italy is give you bread, oil, and cheese at the beginning of the meal but avoid giving you any dish to mix it in. So you’re left to figure it out whether to shove it in your mouth, mix it on the table, or just sit there and starve. Then there’s questionable macaroons and cheese fries at McDonald’s, and the only advice here is just because something does exist, doesn’t mean it should.

Transportation: Trains in Italy are bogus, and me and Katie’s track record with them isn’t that impressive either. The staff at italian train stations are rude, train boarding begins 5 minutes before they leave the station, and connecting trains are often late and cancelled. The same goes for ferries, so just be aware.

Other mems & attractions: that wasn’t the most positive feedback, but I AM happy to report that minus the food, transportation, and overweight luggage, Italy was an absolute blast. Some must see activities I highly recommend include climbing the Santa Maria duomo, taking a stroll through the Baboli gardens, stopping for gelato at Eduardo’s, finding ALL of the david statues all over Florence, climbing up to piazzale Michelangelo for sunset, seeing the incredible views from Monorola in Cinque Terre, visiting the Siena cathedral (the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen), sipping some limoncello at I Giardini di Cataldo, (a really cute lemon orchard), and eating at Naima. Other things that were cool were the blue grotto boat experience (basically real life H20) in Capri and walking through breathtaking pompeii. Oh and today at 5 in the morning, Katie and I were awoken by a procession of hooded figures with torches blasting music for Good Friday, a tradition that occurs in sorrento annually. It scared us (a lot) but also was kind of fascinating to witness at the same time.

And that’s all for Italia! Let’s say ciao (like I said I’m an expert at italian) and head over to Greece for the continuation of me and Katie’s adventures over the rest of the trip.

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I’m on the way back home! (Aka london)

I would start this section off with an intro in Greek, but that’s a language I’m still not familiar with at all unfortunately. Greece was beautiful. In my opinion, not as beautiful as Italy, but beautiful nonetheless. We spent a few days in Mykonos and santorini, and sadly our hopes of sunbathing on the beach were quickly dashed by precarious winds and high tides.

We arrived to Mykonos really excited for the next adventure, but it was definitely a challenging start. After getting an airport escort to our hotel, we realized it was in the middle of nowhere. We’re still not sure if we figured this out first when we typed it into Google maps and nothing came up for miles…or whether it was when we the woman at reception asked us “do you want to rent a car?” Either way, our fears were answered when we learned it was a 20 min DRIVE from the city center and a 40 min walk to the closest market or restaurant. So we did the only thing one does in this situation— we sucked it up and rented a car! And both me and Katie would like to voice our thanks to the Greeks for driving on the right (pun very much intended) side of the road. If you do plan on driving in greece (which I honestly really recommend on the Greek islands since there’s so much to see and no way to do it all by foot), be mindful of the winding roads and streets that should be one-way but magically allow two cars. Though they do make for great Taylor swift blasting marathons, so that’s definitely a bonus.

Aside from renting a car and a room in Mykonos, we also rented a cat! The hotel community cat, Myka (named for the obvious) was taken in by Katie and after a tiny background check, she fell in love with us and us with her. She came to us daily for pets and we were one airline regulation away from sneaking her on the plane back to london.

In Mykonos, we explored the Ano mera square, feasted on Greek classics (omg let me tell you how much my body was craving meat after that trip to Italy so it was perfect), walked along the water, saw cute streets of boutiques and little white houses, relaxed at the beach (is it naive to think I could get a tan in one day of a UV of 8), saw Easter parades, and so much more. We could have done without the ginormous storm that almost yeeted Myka off the roof, but we survived to tell the tale.

The stormy weather unfortunately continued on during our trip to Santorini. Though only there for two days, it was very…eventful. On day 1, we explored the main city of fira, bought souvenirs, and saw some donkeys (which it’s apparently animal abuse to ride them up the hill so take a lesson from me and don’t go asking locals about that). We were going to book an excursion for the following day, but thankfully we took a glance at the weather forecast.. which predicted a downpour of rain the next day. And just as we predicted, the rain hit Monday night. First, I fell down a ramp and went sledding all the way down. Then Katies poor pinky suffered the same fate. Take this lesson or leave it: be very careful when going down stairs. I’m sure if Katie’s pinky could talk, it would say the same.

Besides doing a lot of falling, santorini has so much to offer. We took pictures in front of the jaw dropping santorini oia sunset, walked along the stunning white and blue houses, shopped around, and even took the chance on our last day to go on a boat excursion. We visited the nearby islands of volcanoes, and got to swim in hot springs and hike up an active volcano. So all in all, it was a lava fun (ok…I’ll stop now I promise).

Anyways, this has been a long entry to reflect a long and incredible trip. Who can say that at 20 years old, they feel like they’ve gotten to travel the world? I feel so incredibly lucky to count myself in. Forget being lost in london, this trip has proved that there’s no end to the places I can (and will) get lost in. But for now, I’m ready to snooze and wake up to the beautiful london sky. I’ve missed my little home away from home, my terrible British accent, and the smelly Bomberg kitchen. Time to live it up and be much less lost in one of my favorite places. Let’s all lift our pinkies up! (Katie you'll be doing it in spirit).