Who's Counting??

So things changed as they tend to do. No Turkey but a thorough exploration of Greece instead. People warned me about going deep into the heart of Greece.. They said everyone is unfriendly and no one speaks English. It turned out to be quite the opposite actually. Before making this trek, I spent about a week on the charming little island some of you may have heard of.... Santorini. The first night I arrived at about 2am and took a cab to the hotel with my new friend Jane. Jane is from Portland and we became friends instantly. The next 3 days we were inseparable. We rented a quad and explored the island. 2 days zipped by and Jane left me with tears in my eyes. I have found that leaving new friends has been one of the biggest challenges so far. Luckily I had Yohi by my side to comfort me. He is from Ethiopia but lives in LA. He helped me decide which way to go next and even decided to come along with me. I didnt book accomodation for my last night in Santorini so ended up sharing a twin size bed with a new Australian friend. Tight quarters to say the least. Then the next night I slept on the floor of the ferry and back to Athens we went. We boarded our train to Thessoliniki and didnt have seats together so Yohi tried to sit across from me next to this old man. Now keep in mind, Yohi did not have his shirt on [because its freaking hot] and there are few black people outside Athens... so needless to say the old man ended up yelling lots of Greek words then finally a "get out!!!" Yohis awkwardness made it probably one of the funniest things Ive ever seen. One of those had to be there moments probably.
On the same train, I ended up spotting a hot Greek man who was looking in my direction. I finally worked up the courage to leave him a little note on his seat when he went to the bathroom. And the rest is history. We continued passing notes like 3rd graders [very much my style] and eventually sat next to each other and exchanged life stories. Then came his stop and with that, my Greek God was no more but an email address.
Yohi and I made it to Thessoliniki, found a nice hotel, got some sandwiches and ate on the pier wth our feet dangling towards the water as the sun went down over the city.
The next morning I had to see what all the fuss was about from the Nescafe Frappes that everyone in Greece loves so much. Turns out they are simple and easy but deliciously great. Then I made Yohi shoe shop with me. He loved it. Best shopping ever in Thess, cheap and quality: cant beat it.
After Thessoliniki, we headed to the grand and infamous Mt Olympus where we found a hotel for about 18 dollars each with a balcony, AC, our own bathroom, and TV. Hollerrrr. The town we were in [Litchtohoro] reminded me of Santa Barbaara with its tiled roofs, mountain backdrop? and beachfront. Beautiful. We hiked around the mountain the next day and took a lil skinny dip in the river which we later learned is against the law... oops
Then onto Meteora. If you dont know Meteora, you need to google image that word ASAP. Its probably one of the coolest places on Earth. These huge rock formations jut out of endless greenery and on the tops of these rocks... monestaries with active monks and nuns practicing their peaceful existence. Yohi and I ended up hiking around, losing the trail, making our own trail through some crazy thick bush, but after some blood and bruises found the proper trail.. as we found the trail, the monks were chanting on the mountain tops. Maybe thanking God that we survived... :)
From Meteora we headed back to the hostel where I had made friends from a couple weeks before, stayed up late chatting and drinking the night away and had to see another friend off to the airport. Guess you choose to be the one who is left when you travel for 8 months...
But boy did I meet some special ones in Greece: including Moussaka and Baklava. The most tasty morcels of all time.
Now I am writing you from a Japanese restaurant in Grenoble, France. Not on my itinerary but we all know how plans change with the wind. I met a couple from here who were supposed to give me a ride to the train station but turns out I wanted to go to Spain from Italy on the busiest travel week of the year and all the trains were full. So they offered me to come to their house in Grenoble... The ferry from Greece was 19 hours? slepts on a bench then we drove for 10 hours. Luckily the girl Marina and her family are the nicest people ever and have been feeding me and gave me a nice place to sleep last night. The city is in the French Alps too which isnt too bad either. So here I sit, in the back of Marinas Laosian familys Japanese restaurant and finally have a second to use the internet. Awww. Tomorrow its off to Barcelona then Sevilla to reunite with my long lost Spanish gay lover. 10 days till Africa but who's counting................