Ciao Italia!

Posted by Where in the world is Rachel... , Friday, August 13, 2010 3:13 PM

On Saturday, the 31st, we arrived back in Venice. We went to our hotel, dropped our stuff off then headed to the main part of Venice. We walked around for a while and actually found a kebab place!!! Of course we ended up getting kebabs for dinner!! Call me crazy but I LOVE them!! We walked around for a while then decided to call it a night.


The next morning my dad left around 7am but my flight was a lot later so I didn't leave until about 11. I hoped on the "metro" boat and headed to Piazza Roma. Apparently I was supposed to go tell the worker on the boat that I needed a ticket, but in every other metro/train I've been on, they go around asking for tickets and then you can pay for tickets then. Well I didn't know that and no one ever asked for a ticket so I didn't pay the 6.50euro for the ride...oh well!! After I got off the boat, I got on a bus that took me to the airport. This ticket I did pay for, it only cost 2euro.

As I got to the airport, I had to wait in an extremely slow line at British Airways to drop off my bag. I thought the point of doing early online check-in was to have a shorter wait at the airport, oh well! There was a very nice Italian couple in front of me, so naturally we started chatting. They were coming to New York, Massachusetts, Maine, DC and hopefully the Outer Banks for two weeks! They were pretty ambitious, they were renting a car and going to drive everywhere!! I told them some places to go see and some tips about discounts in different places. I even invited them to come to Philly and I would show them around, even though I didn't know anything about Philly really. :) We ended up switching information and they said we could all get together next summer when I come back to Venice! They were very friendly and they made the wait in the line go by super fast!!

I had a connection in Heathrow but for literally 5 minutes! But once I boarded my plane to Philadelphia I saw that I had economy plus seats!! It's basically business class! I was in HEAVEN!!! I could recline, I had a foot rest, lots of leg room and more food/drinks that I knew what to do with!! The flight went by pretty fast.

I finally made it to Philadelphia and was DEAD tired but I had to be awake super early the next morning for med school orientation!! Overall, I had a good time being back in Europe again for the week I was there. I really am looking forward to going back to Europe next summer!! I miss it so much!! Everything reminds me of Europe, especially Spain...I guess I'll have to go back!!! :)

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Nafplion, Greece

Posted by Where in the world is Rachel... , Thursday, August 12, 2010 2:09 PM

I forgot to mention that at dinner the night we left Izmir, we were seated with two other couples. One couple from the states/Romania and another couple from Montreal. They were both very nice and we ended up being at dinner for about 3 hours just eating and talking!!


The next morning we were a bit tired but we had arrived in Nafplion! I love Greece and was excited to be back! Our tour that day was going to be of the Corinthian Canal and the ruins of Corinth. We headed straight to the canals. We got to take pictures of the canal for a bridge crossing the canal. As I crossed the bridge I saw a sign for Bungee Jumping!!! I got so excited!! They weren't jumping that day but don't worry, I would've been the first jumping if they were operating that day!! It reminded me of that RANDOM roadtrip to Arizona with Lily and Dan the Man to go bungee jumping. The one in AZ was 476feet, this one in Athens was only about 160feet.
Anyways, we get on a boat and go down the Corinthian Canal. It was pretty cool to see the structure and how well preserved it was. It is still a very busy Canal. It is the fastest way across the Peloponnesian peninsula. It connects the Ionian Sea to the Aegean Sea. On the boat I met a very nice older gentleman. We talked about everything from Medical School to traveling! We ended up having dinner with him and his wife later that night.

After the canal crossing, we headed to the ruins. The ruins were pretty interesting as well. Yet again it was an amazing opportunity to be able to be in the location where Paul preached to the Corinthians.

That was our last port of call on our cruise, the next day was another Sea Day and then we headed back to Venice!! Italia!! Another one of my favorite countries.

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Izmir, Turkey!

Posted by Where in the world is Rachel... , 11:40 AM

The following day, Wednesday the 28th, we had to wake up super early! Our tour was leaving at 7:30am! So we got up early and ate a little bit then headed out to Izmir. Our tour guide's name was Alif, but he let us call him Ali. Again, he seemed to be exactly what I thought a Turkish guy would be like. He was funny, but didn't laugh at his jokes and didn't make any hidden or unintended jokes.


Our first stop was about an hour and a half away, near the ruins of Ephesus. We were going to visit the Virgin Mary's house. On our way there I couldn't help but compare the scenery to that of Utah. Driving down the highway I was reminded of driving down I-15 from Salt Lake to Provo. It really did pay a very close resemblance to I-15. The major difference was that instead of an LDS Chapel every 2 minutes, there was a Muslim Mosque every 2 minutes. It was a scenic drive...I slept most of the way though.

Once we arrived at the Virgin Mary's house, we had to wait in a super long line to go through it. The house was very small and there wasn't a lot of room. Only about 3 or 4 people could be in the front room at once. This is where it is thought Mary came and lived after the crucifixion of Christ. It was cool to be able to visit this very sacred site. Just outside the house was a fountain. The tour guide gave all of us these little clay jars so we could fill it with water from the Virgin Mary's house. We did that, but the little clay jars leaked A LOT!! We had to improvise when taking the jars home.

My favorite part about visiting the Virgin Mary's house was the wall of wishes just outside the house. There was a wall where you could make a wish or leave a prayer. You would write it on a tissue or something and tie it onto the other ones hanging or onto the wall somehow. It was really cool to see all the wishes and prayers that people had left.

After we visited the Virgin Mary's house, we headed down to Ephesus. It was cool to see Ottoman ruins after having just seen Greek and before that Roman ruins. This is the place where the Ephesians lived and where the apostle Paul preached to the Ephesians. The ruins were in pretty good shape. There was also a little interactive play about gladiators from back during the Ephesians time.

After that we headed to a Turkish rug factory. It was actually really interesting to see how they make these intricate designs all by hand. They also showed us how they gathered silk from the cocoons. The people there were very friendly as well. They gave us all something to drink, I had the apple iced tea, it was delicious!

It was a very long day but a pretty cool day of seeing lots of interesting sites! Overall, I would go back to Turkey, in fact I plan to visit Istanbul next summer!

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Athens!!

Posted by Where in the world is Rachel... , Saturday, August 7, 2010 2:47 PM

The day after Croatia was a sea day, so we lounged around the pool all day. It was nice to be able to relax and try to catch up on the jet lag.

On Tuesday, the 27th, we headed to Athens, Greece! I have always wanted to visit Greece and I am definitely not done visiting Greece but I was excited to finally make it there. We went on a tour around Athens with some other cruise ship passengers. Our tour guide was named Helen and she was the epitome of what I have always imagined Greek women to be like. She was very funny, charming, kind and family oriented.

Our first stop was the Acropolis! I was so excited to be able to go see ancient Greek ruins. I feel very fortunate that I have been able to see ancient Roman and Greek ruins in the same year. The Acropolis was an amazing place. The views of the city was breathtaking from up there. Not to mention the amazing fact that the infrastructure is still in pretty good condition. I loved being up at the Parthenon. I would like to visit it again sometime but maybe when there aren't so many other people there. There were literally thousands of people, I would like to be able to appreciate the incredible structure in a quieter setting.

After the acropolis we headed to the Olympic stadium which was cool to see, since the Olympics first began in Athens. Finally after the tour part was over, we got dropped off in a little part of the city to go shopping and get some food. Of course I went straight for the gyros!! I love kebabs and gyros now!! My dad and I did a little shopping and then I wanted to walk around the town like I would've if I were backpacking. We looked at a very poorly labeled map and headed to Constitution Square. From there we walked around the city and found the cathedral and other nice parts of town.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time in Athens and look forward to visiting it again next summer when I take the ferry from Athens to the Greek Isles. I still have not visited the Islands and have always wanted to so that is what I plan on doing next summer!

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Dubrovnik, Croatia!!

Posted by Where in the world is Rachel... , 2:31 PM


On Sunday, we woke up in Croatia. I guess that's once nice thing about a cruise, you don't realize you're traveling anywhere because there is so much to do on the ship so you just wake up in a different location!


We tendered from the cruise ship to the docks in Dubrovnik. We took a guided tour of the old city. It was a beautiful city. There was a lot of history there that I had never really knew about or ever really learned. The entire old city was surrounded by a wall, which was built as a fortress against different empires such as the Ottoman Empire.

The old city had a certain charm about it that made me love the country. The people were very friendly and the men weren't to hard on the eyes either. Overall I really enjoyed the short amount of time I was able to spend in Croatia. I would definitely go visit the country again.

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Venezia!!

Posted by Where in the world is Rachel... , 2:14 PM

On July 22nd, I hoped on a plane and headed back to Italy! I was not really looking forward to the long flight but I was very much looking forward to being back in Europe and more specifically in Italy! I had my first taste of Europe, surprisingly in the airport terminal of the Newark Airport. Two little girls started playing their violins in the middle of the terminal and people were giving them money. It reminded me of the trains in Europe and all the people playing music for money.


My flight to Italy was not to bad, I watched movies and talked to the nice Italian man sitting next to me. Once I arrived in Rome, I felt right back at home! I made it to my connecting flight to Venice. My flight was a little late but I made it and met my dad at the Venice airport. I was super tired so we went straight to the hotel and I literally fell onto the bed and slept. I slept for about 2 hours and then we headed out to San Marco's Square. We walked around the city for a while and found a little place to eat. I saw a ton of backpackers and all I wanted to do was throw my backpack back on and head out with them.

We called it an early night since we were both still jet lagged. The next morning we boarded our cruise ship. It was a beautiful ship. I am not exactly the biggest advocate of cruise ships because I like to travel a little differently but I tried to keep a positive outlook. The next morning we would be waking up in Croatia!!!

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