My European Adventure

So, I was going to give you all the condensed version of the journal I kept while on my recent European adventure. But as I was typing it all up I realized that it would still be way too long. It seems like I wrote about pretty much everything, mentioned most of the people I met, and recorded most of the meals that I ate during the whole trip (they were good enough to write it down). So rather than potentially boring you with all the little details that probably have more meaning to me anyway, I will just give you a brief overview and a couple of highlights from my trip to Italy and Greece.
This trip quickly began to exceed my expectations in almost every way. My first day was actually spent in Stuttgart, Germany where I had served the first year of my mission. Some of my close friends from my first two wards organized a little get-together for me with the people that I had worked very closely with during my time there. Between the branch presidents, ward mission leaders, and a couple of converts I had the time of my life despite my being exhausted from the 15 hour plane ride. It almost felt as if I hadn't even left and it even felt a bit like home. This felt like the best way to start the trip.
The rest of my trip consisted of 5 days in Rome, 2 days in Florence, and then just over a week in Athens and some of the Greek islands. Since coming home people have kept asking me if it was ever lonely being out there by myself. The answer: There was probably a 30 minute period of time when I felt a little bit lonely, but everyday I was meeting new people and making new friends. So it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I was also practically running from sight to sight anyway, and had planned my days out so well that I didn't really have much time to feel lonely.
After I got out to Italy I had found this Greek Island cruise deal that I decided to hop on. I had originally planned on seeing the islands of Patmos, Mykonos, and Santorini, and this cruise was going to all of those plus Rhodes, Crete, and Kusadasi (a Turkish island). So it was pretty much perfect... and then some.
I wish I could go off into detail about each and every island, but I would probably have to write a book in order to do that. But all I can say is if you ever have a chance to see any of the Greek islands, Santorini and Mykonos are musts. Mykonos was the first one we stopped at, and the only thing that made me get back on the boat was my curiosity if the other islands had anything comparable to offer. I seriously felt like I could live there for the rest of my life. On each of the islands I would rush off the boat, hurry over to the first scooter rental place I could find and pay the 15 or 20 Euros to rent it for the afternoon. The cruise line had these organized 'excursions' that the guests could take that cost about 30 to 40 Euros and they would all pile on a bus and go see 2 or 3 spots on the island before heading back to the boat an hour or two before the departure time. My favorite part about the end of the days was coming back and hearing my new friends go off about how cool the excursion was and about the guided tours they took of a couple spots on that particular island. After they were done telling me all about it they would then say something like, "We didn't see you on the bus. What did you end up doing?" I would then tell them about how I jumped on a scooter, drove to the far North end of the Island, wrapped around the far west side of the island and came back near the port from the South side of the island. Then I took all the main roads that cut through the wooded hills down the middle of the island, and sat and watched the sunset from what I had previously decided was the most beautiful part spot I could find. After telling them more details about each specific island it would get a little awkward as they realized how much cooler my day was than theirs. Day after day this same exchange would happen and I would invite them to join me on the scooters the next day, but they would never do it.

My favorite scooter trip was probably in the island of Rhodes. After checking out the town for a little bit I decided that the spot where we docked was nothing special and super dirty. So I took off down this road that ran along the coast and drove for about 45 minutes until I came across a little town called Soroni. Right at the far edge of town there was a little fish restaurant with nobody there but the little old Greek man who ran the place. So I parked the scooter and went in to check it out. This older guy couldn't speak any English, which is only fair since I don't know any Greek. But after realizing that we weren't going to be able to understand each other he scratched his head and said "Calamari?" I was stoked because that was exactly what I wanted. After reading the excitement on my face he went back in and brought me out a tomato and cucumber salad and then went back in to make my calamari. I was able to see what he was doing from where I was sitting and sure enough he chopped up and battered the squid himself before frying it. Now, I'm not an expert when it comes to seafood. But this calamari was the best I have ever had, and as far as I could tell it was the freshest as well. He gave me a fresh lemon to squeeze over it as well. If I have learned anything from Andrew Zimmern or Anthony Bordain on the travel channel it's that the best seafood should only be eaten with lemon or lime juice anyway. So, I felt like it was pretty authentic. As I was finishing up my meal, this older man (Niko) had just finished watering his herb garden and came over and took the seat across from me at the table. He handed me a little bunch of Oregano that he had just plucked from his garden and from when I understood he told me that it went great in spaghetti. Then he told me how he has a boat at the port and every morning he goes fishing with his nets and catches what he is going to cook that day (It's amazing what you can learn when you understand 2 or 3 Greek words and the other person can say 2 or 3 English words). After our little chat we just sat there at the outside table watching the cars go by, taking the occasional whiff of our oregano leaves, and exchanging little smiles of satisfaction as a breeze would come through and greet our faces to cool us off for a short moment. As we sat there we had a clear understanding that we couldn't understand each other verbally, but there was an unspoken understanding that we were both enjoying the each other's company. To some people this probably sounds like a weird way to enjoy a vacation, but when I set out on this trip I had made the decision that I wanted to "Bourdain this trip." For me this means enjoying the culture by meeting and enjoying the locals that make up that culture. That is a pretty hard thing to do in the bigger tourist cities, but on Rhodes I felt like I had seized the perfect opportunity.

There were a few times where I was totally blown away by how lucky I was to be able to go see what I was seeing. Sitting outside the Colosseum on the grass with scenes from Gladiator playing through my head (which sounds silly, but I thought it was probably a fairly good portrayal), reading the entire Book of Revelations on the Island of Patmos after visiting the Cave of the Apocalypse, and just sitting near my scooter on the beaches of Mykonos with an overwhelming sense of peace were just a few of the moments where I felt almost as if time had stopped and nothing else going on in my life really mattered.

While I was in Rome my mind went back to an Art Appreciation class I had taken about a year ago where we covered a section on ancient Roman architecture. I remember being particularly impressed with the Pantheon and getting goosebumps as I told myself that I was going to see that in person someday. As I sat inside the Pantheon on one of the benches I seemed to forget the crowd of people inside for a moment as my heart filled with gratitude that I could actually be there. I started to realize that if this is possible, anything else is probably achievable as well. I mean sure I might be broke when I get home, but I had moved back with my parents to save money for a trip like this. If you want it bad enough you will be able to make it happen, right?
So like I said before, I had an amazing time and my expectations were even surpassed. Being out there by myself gave me a great opportunity to find direction and figure out my priorities in my life. I had joked to a few of you before I left that I was going on a 'soul-searching' trip, but that's actually what it started turning into.
My last night in Athens was spent with the missionaries that I had ran into the day before. They invited me to their outreach center to come to a lesson with some new members and a few investigators. It turned out that a couple of them were even German and I had an awesome time getting to know them. It's funny how my trip started and ended in similar ways, having to do with missionary work.
My entire trip went just as smooth as could be. I was never rushed to make it to a train or plane on time, I never got stuck in a shady part of town, and I was never in a potentially threatening situation. But my journey coming back home was a different story... When the missionaries were asking me when my flight left the next day I decided that 1:00pm sounded good. I'm not sure where that time came from, but it sounded about right so I just went with it. I had told so many people that that was when my flight was leaving that I had even convinced myself that it was the correct time as well. I didn't even think to double check it the night before. So, the next morning I woke up around 8:30, got some breakfast and went back to my room to get all my things packed up and ready to go at my leisure. At some point I decided that it would be a good idea to check and see exactly what time my flight was leaving and was horrified to see that it was leaving at 10:30. I looked at my watch to see that it was already 9:15. So rather than panicking, I gathered my things and went down to the lobby to check out and asked them to call me a cab. I asked how long it took to get to the airport and they told me that it takes about an hour or so. When they asked me when my flight left I said "Oh, I have a couple of hours. No worries." yep...I totally lied to them just because I didn't want them to discourage me by telling me I would never make it. Somehow I 'lucked out' with the only cab driver in Europe that followed the speed limit and let others cut in front of him all the time. But we still made it there in about 30 minutes. After getting through the line it was about 10:10 and they told me I would be on the flight to Atlanta rather than New York. I told them I could make it onto the flight if they would just check me in. After a few words they said, "Okay sir, but just this once." I was relieved and just took off running to the gate. I was the last one in and they closed the doors right behind me. Naturally my checked bag never showed up at the JFK airport, which turned my already impossible one hour layover into yet another 20 minute scramble. I jumped every line I could and rushed through the security line so quickly that I totally left my belt and sunglasses behind. Ef. But after running as fast as possible with a pair of flip-flops on, I made it to the gate just as they were letting the stand-by ticket holders on. Needless to say, I was exhausted but relieved. Even though the rushing through both airports kind of stressed me out for a minute, I found comfort in telling myself that it was a very time-efficient way to travel home.