BY JEREMY·11:42 AM
we're off!
Manoli made us homemade cinnamon rolls and drove us to the airport. It rains. We left. Survived tsa, some of us more than once.
Jeremy
11:42 AM
Journal
Stories, thoughts, and memories from the road
BY SERENA·7:45 PM
1st international flights for the boys!
We started out a little rocky with Justin forgetting his wallet in my Mom's car but got it with time to spare and went on our first place in a teeny plane that had only 3 seats across total. My claustrophobia set in for sure! After landing in Charlotte, we continued on to JFK with no issues. Once we arrived in JFK, we decided to eat lunch in the airport before continuing on to our last leg which was JFK to Athens. We were all boarded in the plane when Jeremy and I looked at each other and both agreed it smelled funny. A few minutes later the pilot said maintenance was coming to fix a door. We ended up being delayed just over an hour and a half because thankfully JUST an interior crew cabin door wasn't working properly. Then on we went! We all agreed the food they provided was actually good. Dinner was a choice between pasta with cheese and tomato sauce or herbed chicken and rice. They completed the meal with greyere cheese wedge, crackers, roll, and brownie bar. Some of us slept well on the plane and some of us not so much.
Serena
7:45 PM
BY SERENA·8:37 PM
International travels
For breakfast on the plane they served yogurt with granola and fig bar. After arriving in Greece, we went thru customs which took forever. Once thru successfully, we hailed a taxi for an hour drive to Athens epicenter and met the rest of the crew at the baggage drop off. We decided to not drop off our baggage and instead go to the Airbnb. The Billers went to find a late lunch then decided to go back to the Airbnb and rest for a bit before exploring more. The Billers walked to the geological museum to look for gardens but didn't find any. Instead we took a citysightseeing bus and drove half the loop to the natural gardens and explored there for a bit. At this point the bus was no longer running so we hoofed it back to the Airbnb. Everyone was pretty tired so we decided to hang there and eat leftover lunch for dinner and get a good bed time.
Serena
8:37 PM
BY SERENA·8:52 PM
Acropolis and ferry ride
We woke up early and taxi'd over to the baggage drop off (ace cafe) then walked to the keyguide tour office for our acropolis tour. Petros (with a OS he explained many times...as in NOT peter but petros) was our amazing tour guide who shows us the ruins, arch, Melina statue, guard statue then finally the acropolis (i.e. hill) and partheon (the structure actually ON the hill). It was very hot and lots of walking but our tour guide always found shade to stop and talk at. We got to learn about the theater and conference area as well as who was married to whom and all the fun little Greek god info. The tour was worth the money! Once we left the Acropolis, the billers got back on the hop on hop off bus for a couple stops before we realized we had to get off because we really couldn't go far and get to the ferry in time. We got off one stop too late BUT we ended up getting to see the changing of the guards, complete with food stomping like our guide told us. We were glad we missed our initial stop. We went just past our baggage claim and ate at the grecos project. I got a yummy pork platter and after dinner the server brought us some desserts on the house. We had a bit more time, so we walked to the kiosks and on our way to the market met up with the rest of the group. We then walked to the baggage claim, hailed a taxi and took it to the FastFerries where we boarded a rather large ferry. My first ever. We started off inside but it was a little warm for some of us so instead we meandered upstairs where it was covered but still breezy. The docking at the different islands along the way was alot of fun to watch. I don't know how we continued barreling towards the dock and did NOT hit it at such a speed. After a 4ish hour boat ride, we arrived at Mykonos. We once again split from the group to get to our own airbnb. It is a nice little place right in the middle of Ornos Beach and all the shops and things. Perfect location and it IS busy and loud, but once inside the airbnb you can't hear it. We walked down some of the alleys and found dinner at Metropolitan Greek Style Gyros, where I split a yummy lamb platter with Ryan, ordered a delicious philo dough fried feta (very yum) for the table and enjoyed the table pita and tzatziki. We went back to the airbnb to shower and sleep cause we were so exhausted.
Serena
8:52 PM
BY SERENA·8:09 PM
Mykonos windmills day
No one in either group wanted to wake up or get moving today. I guess we exhausted ourselves the day before! Jeremy and I were up first in our group so we went to breakfast together at Trio Bambini where we got some sweet crepes that looked so beautiful I didn't want to eat it. Mine had fresh strawberry and mango plus some kind of cream AND mango and strawberry Gelato scoops on the side....and Jeremy's was a biscoff and cookie butter style crepe. He got a regular coffee and I got the Spanish latte in Greece and it cracked me up! After eating, we came back to the airbnb with some leftovers. Then, monica, alexis and Kevin made a surprise visit to our airbnb to check it out. We walked together to thr place we ate breakfast to get Monica coffee, Justin a crepe from the place we ate at, and Ryan a Spanish latte. We also got a very thorough lesson on which beach was which, which was nice because we now know we do anOT want to go to Super Paradise beach cause not only is it party vibes but also a nude beach. 🫢 Monica tried on some dresses at a shop nearby, then we walked to the Windmills and explored the "beach" area. We stopped and ate at Niko's tavern, where the food was just OK. I got the Spaghetti tomato pesto, which was yummy, but everyone else just said their food was alright. On the table, they had bread, which we drenched in oil and vinegar, as well as kalamata olives and tzatziki sauce. Then Jeremy departed us for a nap/shower refresh while the rest of us headed to Little Venice and to the other group's airbnb to scope out their digs, while making many a stop at shops to peruse their merch. Once Jeremy finished his nap, he joined us at their airbnb and we went on the hunt for a good bakery, hoping to find gluten free desserts for Monica. We MAY have again gotten distracted by shops AND a Gelato store. I got the mango sorbet because it was so delicious and refreshing at breakfast. Eventually, we made it to Gioras Wood Medieval Mykonian Bakery and their selection was minimal but their baklava cream was sweet but good, and their pistachio baklava which was NOT big enough was fantastic. Since they didn't have good GF selection, we wandered a little further to Cookie Bakery across from our airbnb where they only had prepackaged or frozen items. We tried! We went BACK to the windmill to watch the sunset, then a wooden art store and back to the airbnb. Since we didn't eat dinner but DID eat dessert, we wandered over to the supermarket to get some snack type for when we were hungry. The oregano flavored Lays weren't bad! Discerning the different cheese in all Greek however, was 😆. Tired and nothing else to do, we went back to the airbnb to veg and crash.
Serena
8:09 PM
BY SERENA·7:38 AM
ORNOS beach
We woke up and my crew walked over to the Cosmos Cafe for breakfast. I got the breakfast sandwich which came on the cutest thin loaf of bread. We went back to the airbnb and chilled for a bit and waited for Monica's crew to be ready, then rode the public bus from Fabrika to Ornos Beach. We walked all the way down to the "free" area where there were no umbrellas just sand. The sand there is definitely darker than Pensacola sand and I noticed there's alot of rocks in the sand vs. crushed shells. In fact, there were not many shells to be found anywhere. I have an eye for the teeny little shells and DID end up finding several of those. After shell-hunting I went back into the cold water with alexis and kevin, but neck high this time. After about an hour of being there, we got back on the bus and back to the airbnb to change then eat at Smash Burger. After dinner, we walked to Bond To Go and got Jeremy a coffee then a Gelato place to get Monica a gluten free Gelato and back to Giora's for more Pistachio Baklava. Then having not tried the other bakery yet, we went to Bakery Prozymi and I got a almond Nutella cookie. They were not very nice at that store tho. We split up from Monica's crew and headed back via a detour to see the "castle" and cool church. Then we ACTUALLY headed home. Today we went two new routes we hadn't seen before thru alleyways. We got home and watched a movie on my iPad but since we couldn't connect multiple headphones. So Jeremy and Ryan watched Jack Ryan on my iPad and me on the phone and we timed it so we watched it at the same time 😀
Serena
7:38 AM
BY SERENA·8:29 AM
Out with the old, in with the new!
I've enjoyed our little area in Mykonos and the comfort of knowing where things are located so I'm extra sad to leave BUT very ready for the next place and new adventures. Our taxi ride at 715am came way too early. We had a little snafu with how many passengers she said we had vs what we had and I was definitely standing my ground because I KNEW with certainty the night before I said 4 people with 4 suitcases and 4 backpacks. I wanted to make sure we had a big enough car. The car that arrived was an suv so we had enough room, we just didn't pay the "correct" amount for 4 people. It was a short 10 minute car ride and a very short walk thru the security point, minus ME being flagged to check my backpack and suitcase separately. I had olive topenade that apparently looked like "marmalade" and was flagged. After figuring out WHAT she was looking for I was given the ok to keep it and keep moving on. We joined with Monica's group in the waiting area until our flight 2 hours later on a 6 seat across plane for 2 hours, uneventfully landing in Naples. Once there, we picked up our rental car and drove to our airbnb in Polignano a Mare; a 2.5 hour drive which took us a lot longer due to some navigation issues (both human and tech). We stopped a little bit in for lunch and we ended up eating at McDonalds. I got a big Mac (tasted good and very similar), spicy fries (fries with a bag to place fries and shake the spices onto the fried in the bag) which was good but not AS deliciously awful as our US fries, fanta (which is always better in Europe), and bbq sauce for the fries (smokier version than US). We arrived in Cozze at our airbnb, unpacked and me, monica, alexis, Kevin and justin went to the nearby Lidl supermarket for supplies. It's always fun to see other countries supermarkets and the difference in price and availability. Jeremy and Ryan (because there wasn't enough room in the car) walked the beach while we got food. Then, we came back home and most of us collectively cooked dinner of colorful spaghetti with pork and sauce, olives, and salad. We went for a walk after dinner, then discussed our plans for the next day. After finalizing our plans (eventually) we went to bed.
Serena
8:29 AM