June 7th, 2002
Friends From London…
Studying abroad in London was a great experience and opened a new door for making friends from around the world. I was really fortunate to meet such good peoples who came together from all different backgrounds and countries. I even had a neighbor from Burma.
London is a great place to study because of the different array of people you meet and how everyone I met was interested in each other’s backgrounds, culture, and views of the world. It was truly an international and multicultural enriching experience and I learned so much just by making friends with people who were not American. I was really fortunate to break away and embed myself into a different surrounding and learn about myself and my country by listening to my friends and what they had to say.
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June 1st, 2002
Long Live The Queen
A four day celebration marks 50 years of glorious reign.
London celebrated The Queen’s Golden Jubilee commemorating 50 years of a glorious reign with parades, parties, concerts, and a thanksgiving service at St. Paul’s Cathedral. The Celebration attracted more than a million people to Buckingham Palace, Green Park, St. James’s Park, through The Mall to Admiralty Arch to Trafalgar Square. This event has proved the strong relationship between the people and Sovereign through the past 50 years of British history.
The celebrations and festivities displayed the unreserved British pride with more than a million spectators waving the Union Jack, singing “Land of Hope and Glory”, and uniting with other British of all colors. Multiculturalism and diversity were themes expressed by the events with a parade of 36 organization’s representing Britain’s ethnic minorities and ambassadors from its 54 commonwealth nations. Accompanying the parade was a gospel choir of 5,000 singers belting out uplifting soul. The finale was a crowd pleaser with a red, white, and blue low-level fly-by with 27 Air Force aircraft.
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May 25th, 2002
Cambridge
A day at peace at one of England’s premiere universities
Cambridge and its consisting college campuses are absolutely beautiful. Students enjoy a tranquil environment ready to focus and to get on with their academics. Flore, Juliana and I, enjoyed the day by relaxing near the canal and watching people punt down the water.The student environment in Cambridge is special and so are the traditional activities in which take place. Students spent their sunday afternoon playing cricket, rugby with friends, reading outside in the short time of good weather, or inside making notes for the upcoming final examinations. It felt like a totally different student life from Westminster. I thought it would be challenging to readjust into this slower paced lifestyle from already adapting to the bustle of London.
Unfortunately my camera was stolen last week so there are no pictures of Cambridge.
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May 17th, 2002
Pembrokeshire
When living on the edge in London was just not enough
This weekend our Council Study Abroad Group kayaked, coasteered, hiked, and wandered through the lands of Wales. We stayed in a cozy Welsh adventure camp ‘Preseli Venture’ situated in the heart of Pembrokeshire. If it wasn’t cliff jumping into a blue lagoon, scrapping skin on rough coastal rocks, trekking through sheep farms baa’ing at the sheep, or rolling over in a kayak in the nice ‘warm’ water, then it was probably the good simple fun that made the weekend. We played scattergories, ‘asshole’, ‘bullshit’, pool, and even ‘pig’ with Brooke freaking the door. The delicious hot soups, the tasty breads, and the cows doing a morning hump before our kayaking trip will all be remembered. The weekend was enjoyed with fresh clean air unlike LA’s “ghetto fabulous” smog Katrina and I coincidentally recalled in scattergories. It was also a good bonding and breathing ‘non black-booger’ session away from the metropolis of London. Thanks James and Council…
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April 13th, 2002
Athens Crash Course
A short hop into the big city was enough to see the Acropolis.
Most backpackers will agree that Athens is just another big city with nothing more to do than see the Acropolis. The beauty of the Greek Isles had soaked up so much of our time that Athens was a short [but enough] venture. We arrived from Mykonos into the Rafina port at 5am awaiting the first circuit of buses to transport us into the city centre about 45 minutes away. In Athens, we first got lost in the Greek alphabet, then found the train station, booked train tickets to Patras, left our bags, and ventured to the Acropolis. In Athens, the underground tube stations are museums with precious static displays. A newly designed underground tube momentarily arrived and transported us to the Acropolis stop where we got off and got lost. Finally making way to the entrance with a lady from Barcelona, I paid €6 to walk up and through the historical ruins of the Parthenon, Theatre of Herodes Atticus, Theatre of Dionysos, and Erechtheion.
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April 12th, 2002
Hoping over to Corfu Island
First impressions of Greece
At 10am my ferry arrived into Igoumenitsa, Greece with scattered showers and hardly any sun. I got off the port and didn’t have to fuss with the passport thing, i guess Greece doesn’t care. I walked around Igoumenitsa for awhile searching for a place to stay and finally settled into Hotel Acropolis, which was a basic accommodation near the port with rooms including views of the ocean. Igoumenitsa wasn’t such a bad place to spend a day afterall. After I settled in I immediately devoured a gyros pita and got on with the remainder of my day… hoping over to Corfu.
When I arrived into Kerykya, Corfu’s main port city, I was wondering why I every made this decision. The weather was slightly worse and there was hardly much to do besides walk around. So that’s what I did. I walked up along the Old Fortress area never actually finding it, but instead filled my appetite with local fresh produce from the farmers market. I grabbed some bananas and oranges and just sat down for awhile watching Greek people interact.
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April 12th, 2002
Almost MyKyno Island….
The party island before the party and beautiful people.
Mykonos is definitely a luxury image flattering resort for the young & beautiful. Not only is it a place where people strut their hot bods but definitely a Mecca for gay men. On the island there are exclusive resorts and beaches, some nude, some gay, and some with hedonism. Using my imagination was the most I could do, as it was slowly starting to pick up for the summer. With hardly many people on the island, there were still enough bars in full swing and locals to hang out with. Many of the bars were very classy decorated lounges spinning house and trance. Bar hopping around town is like walking through a maze, and even sober you still get lost. I can’t imagine what it’s like when your tipsy.
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April 10th, 2002
Stunned In Santorini
Volcanic island, beautiful architecture, warm weather, what more can you ask for?
On BlueStar Ferries from Naxos to Santorini, I ran into Dustin & Adam who also study in London. Elizabeth and I, connected with their accumulated 9 travelers into a whopping adventurous 11. Once we set foot off the ferry you better believe we used the best bargaining tactic possible with our large group. By the help of Blair and Nat’s experienced bargaining, we scored an 8 EURO per person/per night spot in a villa just outside of the centre of Fira. At this point Santorini was escalating up to the plateau of our trip and…. it just so overlooked a breathtaking volcano.
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April 8th, 2002
Time for Naxos
Temple of Apollo opened the door to a relaxing two days.
From Samos we jumped onto the largest Clycade, Naxos, at 10pm with an ideal offer for accommodations awaiting us at the port. Our accommodations were close to the Kastro (old Venetian area), Agios Georgios beach, and even included a view of the Agean. At this point we hadn’t stayed in one place for more than a day since Istanbul, so Naxos for two nights at €10 per night per person was a natural decision. During the two days I walked around the town of Hora, up to the Temple of Apollo, around the Kastro, and to Agios Georgios beach. Basically my main objective for the island was to just chill out and enjoy the nice weather. Mostly locals were around town providing a peaceful time. I should’ve rented a moped at the time, but I was saving that idea for upcoming Santorini.
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Posted in Europe, Greece, Naxos | 2 Comments »
April 7th, 2002
From Asia to Europe, Turkey to Greece, Kusadasi to Samos by Ferry
An expensive ferry ride, a 10k sprint, and finally sun!
At 8am from Kusadasi, Turkey we hopped onto the only daily ferry to Greece. It was the deal of a lifetime. The less than 10 mile ride, 1-hour long ferry to Samos, Greece was only $35.00!!!. It was so amazing that when I hiked over to the other side of the island, swimming back to Turkey would’ve been faster. There are some serious border issues between the two countries and tourist reap all the hassle. Not to mention, my American passport was questionable that an official straight faced phone call needed to be made. Absolutely bullshit!…. these passport control people… its all a huge front. They checked only my backpack, thank god, because all the illegal items were in the other bag….hah! I guess the trouble all started because I apparently look Turkish. So now I have permission to say I’m a Turkish tourist in addition to the popular Japanese I’ve been constantly getting.
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Welcome to my site and I hope you enjoy it. When I first travelled to Europe while I was in college I really had the time of my life seeing the many different types of cultures. The flavors of the food, the welcome of the people, the love shared across the world was so much greater than living in the United States ... 
