GREECE

"We're 1,000 miles from comfort, we have traveled land and sea, but as long as you are with me there's no place I'd rather be.."

There is no two other people that I would rather have spent the last 5-6 days on an island that had no wifi with. Tina and Christine S and I have had this trip to Greece booked since the second week that we have been in Milan and it has been one of our most anticipated weekends. On Wednesday we left Milan, took a train to Florence and stayed the night there so we could meet the Bus2Alps group early in the morning on Thursday. Since Tina and I have never been to Florence, Christine showed us the Duomo and a little bit of the main square that night. 

Thursday we got up and we met the group early in the morning at the Florence train station and took a 4 hour bus ride down to the coast. From there, we got on the 17 hour boat that would take us into Greece. After the boat ride, we took another 2 hour ferry to Corfu where we took a bus to the Pink Palace. The scenery of every boat, bus, etc was so so beautiful and was great to see. A lot of traveling, but definitely worth it. After we finally got checked in our room, we decided to relax on the beach the rest of the day. It wasn't very hot outside, but warm enough to get some sun and it was the best day of weather we had so we made the right decision.

The second day we were in Greece, the hotel was offering a 6 hour boat ride to see some more parts of Greece. The boat took us to our own private island for a couple of hours. The weather was cooler Saturday, but Christine and I braved the cold and jumped in the water anyway. The water was so clear and we got to experience some of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen.

After dinner that night the Palace put on a toga party for all of us and did some traditional Greek dancing / plate smashing. Unfortunately, the hotel had terrible wifi so the whole night my stomach was in knots because I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to get to watch the Kentucky game. Because we were with a trip of all study abroad students, there were more people that wanted to watch the game so the lobby streamed the game for us and got it on the TV so we were able to all watch it. Because of the time difference and running on very little sleep, I woke up around 5am and made it down at halftime to finish the rest of the game. Very disappointed with the outcome, I couldn't go back to sleep and just roughed it the rest of the day.

Once I started to recover from the Kentucky game (couldn't even focus on the fact that it was Easter Sunday), we signed up to go four-wheeling for the day. It was rainy and cloudy, and Christine fell off her four-wheeler, but it was such a beautiful way to spend our last day in Greece. We got to ride through the town and stopped a several scenic views to see the ocean. We also saved 3 puppies that were abandoned in the cold. We named them after Greek gods (only fitting)- Zeus, Poseidon and Hurcules. 

Not only did I miss Kentucky in the Final Four, but I also missed Reds Opening Day for the first time in 3 years. AND it quite possibly was one of the best Opening Day games in years. BUT, who can say that they spent Easter Weekend in Greece with two of their best friends? And who can say that they watched Kentucky play in the semi finals on a 10-inch tv in the lobby of a hotel with only 5 other people in Corfu at 5am? I'll take it. 

After 8 buses, 5 different beds, 4 boats, 2 hostiles, 1 train and 6 days later, we FINALLY made it back to Milan safely. It was a crazy adventure and extremely tiring, but we will remember this trip forever. Some of the craziest stories that you only had to be there to believe. I love both of these girls and we spent half of our time talking about how lucky we are to have each other. Next stop in two days.. IRELAND. 

Still bleeding KENTUCKY blue (not Duke) 'til I die!