Oh, one more thing....a few Pictures from Greece

Our final Goodbye
Our last dinner with our friends from Fresno Nyrie and Laura
Julia and I rockin' our ATV!!!!
The sunset from Oia
One of the views from Oia
The Donkeys we rode...stubborn ones they were!
mmmm lunch! (my favourite Octopus!)

A little bit of blue and white.....
Con, Harry and Stef.....my favourite greek boys!
Atop Ischia the island just off the coast of Naples, where we climbed to the very top of the island to see a 360 degree view.

It's Coming to an End....

Good Morning, well it is morning here in Athens which I think makes it sometime very late at night for all of you, so I hope you all had good sleeps...I know I did. I am here in Athens now, back staying with my friends Stef and Con, and I am only here for one more night and then I begin the journey home. I fly to Frankfurt tomorrow and have about an approximate 15 hour lay over and then onward to Vancouver. If you ask me the question, "are you ready to come home," I would have to say "ugh yeah," because I have no other choice, but I know if I had more days here it would be so wonderful. But now that home is so close, I am very excited to see everyone...so you better be excited to see me....hahaha just kidding.
The last weeks of my trip have been perfect, I have met so many great new people who I know will be friends for a long time, I have seen countless things, and I have enjoyed great weather which I must add has blessed me with quite a good tan! Greece has been marvelous, Santorini truly was a vacation because all we did was lie by the pool or the beach and bomb around on ATV's. Oh, and for the first time, I rode a donkey! It was awesome, but of course I would get the stubborn one that would stop then run, then complain about anything and then would sniff other donkey's butts....it was an experience to say the least. In Santorini we did go on the day tour to the Volcano, which is the last active one in Greece, so we saw some smoke come out of it, and then we went and swam in the hotsprings that are around it. The concept was very cool, however the water smelt and tasted like sulfur because of the volcano and the water really wasn't that hot (the ones in Italy were much better) but anyway Julia and I were the first ones to swim in, so that was really fun. After we went and saw the sunset in Oia, which is the city at the top of the island where the sunsets are world famous. It was quite a sight, there were hundreds and hundreds of people all sitting on the cliff, the whole island practically was packed on all the streets to try and get a glimpse. It reminded me of a sporting event, because people were all huddled together eating snacks drinking beer and when the sun actually set the whole crowd started cheering and clapping...it was actually quite funny, I guess it's the most action they get in Santorini so its a big deal.
Our last day in Santorini we went to the Red Beach which actually is red and had a wonderful day. It was so hot, so I spent most of the day napping in the shade actually but I did manage to swim about four times as well. We also met these two girls from Fresno and we spent the whole day with them. They were staying at our hotel as well so we spent the whole evening together too. We went for dinner at the BEST Greek restaurant, which is ironic because that is actually what it is called..The BEST! and then we went to the Beach Bar. A very fun night especially since all night all we did was quote from the movie, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," which was hilarious. We even bought a cake at the 24hour bakery at the end of the night just so we could say, "oh it's a cake!" It was just too much fun.
Julia and I had to say goodbye yesterday and yes I have to admit it there were some tears, which I think was unexpected for the both of us, but together we went through so much and I just want to say that I would not have wanted to do this trip with anyone else but her and I want to thank her for everything because I had the trip of a life time and it would not be half of what it is with out her.....so Julia (I know you are going to read this) thank you and I love you so much. Be safe in Naxos and beyond!
Well I guess I should probably start wrapping up, but I just want to say my trip has been exciting, adventurous, sometimes stressful, but one of the best experiences of my life. I think it is a good thing that I am becoming a teacher so I have summers off, because there are so many places I want to see now, that I didn't see this time, and so many places that I want to come back to. So thank you all again for the messages you all sent and keeping in touch with me, it was very appreciated and I truly am very excited to see you all. so I love you and I will see you in two days.

So long Europe, until next time......

Santorini, Greece

Hello from Greece! Yes I finally made it, after two (not one, but two) 14 hour ferries. One was over from Italy and then other one was from Athens to here. We could have been here within 4 hours from Athens but the only ferry left that was in "reasonable cost" was the 14 hour one, so we made the trek. But trust me, I am on the 4 hour one back next Monday. (don't worry Mom I bought my ticket).
Anyway Greece is wonderful. When we arrived we stayed a couple of days with Bennie's friends and they showed us around. We ate traditional Greek food, which was sooooo good after only eating pizza and pasta for three weeks straight, and I think octopus is one of my new favourite dishes. We also tried Enomilo and Rakomilo (I am not sure if that is spelled right) but it is wine and honey that you take shots of back and forth. It is served hot and it was really good. It was funny, they said whatever you do, don't stand up until the end because you will feel too drunk otherwise. So I listened but I wasn't drunk at the end, so maybe it wasn't as strong as they said it was....it was more sweet then anything. But we also saw the Acropolis and the Athen's center and now we are in Santorini. We haven't done too much here except lie by the pool, then at the beach and then back at the pool. I know life is tough, but tomorrow we are renting scooters and going to explore the island. People say that we can spend the whole day just bombing around, so we will see where the wind takes us tomorrow. I think we are also going to go on this tour on an old sail boat that goes to the hotsprings and volcano and then to the Sunset in Ola, where they are famous, so I hope that works out. Santorini is quite quiet which is nice and it is not what I expected. I thought there would be more of the white and blue landscape but I think it is just where we are that it is not as much. (Don't worry I am taking lots of pictures)
It is hard to believe that I will be home in a week. It has gone by incredibly quick and sorry that I haven't done the best job at updating this blog that often, so I appreciate all of you that did read it and I can't wait to see you all to tell you everything in person. I am sure I will update you for a final time in a couple days, so until then, I hope you are enjoying the BC weather (or where ever you are) because I sure am enjoying the weather here, and I will talk to you all soon.

p.s. Thanks again Sophie for the phrases, trust me they helped....and I have learned a few more that I will tell you when I get home.

Lots of Love
Carolyn

mmm Pizza

Hello from Naples. We have been here for a couple of days now and we are actually off tomorrow to an island called Ischia, which is a small island just off the coast by Capri and the Almafi coast. It sounds absolutely beautiful and our hostel offers lots of activities, so I am very excited. Apparently there is horse back riding, snorkeling, language and cooking classes and tons more. Honestly, I am excited about the beach....it has been over a week since I have worn my bathing suit and it is about time to catch some more rays.
Naples has been really great, considering that we heard so many bad things about it. Yes, it is dirty and yuo take your life into your hands when you cross the street, but there are not as many tourists which is soooo nice, and Naples is more of an Italian city, where everyone seems a little more authentic. And of course the pizza is AMAZING! I had a pizza today that didn't even fit on my plate and it only cost 4 euros. Today we also went through the underground tunnels of Naples that used to be aquaducts in Roman times and they were used as bomb shelters during WWII. It was super cool, and there was one point to enter into the tunnel we had to go into this persons apartment and go through a trap door under their bed....i know crazy but it was something that i always wished I would find under my bed as a kid, so it was very neat. Yesterday we went to Pompeii and saw the ruins and we hiked to the top of Mount Vesuvius. It was very exhausting, but definitely worth it. The view from the top was a total panoramic view of Naples adn the coast and looking down into the actual crater was amazing. It was a shorter time at the top because we had to catch our bus back, so although it was quick, worth the money. We actually met a girl from Richmond who joined us all day and today actually as well, so that was nice. Anyway we are back at the hostel now and we are chilling out, we are going to go do a night walk tonight. Julia and I have been doing a lot of our own tours, which has been very fun, and quite adventurous. We just take our travel book, our map, which I am in charge of now because Julia has left us the wrong way a few too many times now, but that is what has made it fun. But being our own tour guides has saved money and we have had a few more cultural experiences. I cannot believe that I am almost coming home, time has been so quick. But I will let you all know how Ischia goes and I will talk to you in a few. I hope everything is great at home, and I miss you all.
love you guys, ciao

ps. I forgot that I didn't tell you anything about Rome, but we did so much stuff. I will have to tell you all when I get back the actual stories, but a few highlights were, well seeing the Pope in person, couch surfing at Biagio's house and he made us dinner every night, buying an espresso maker, actually now liking espresso and obviously seeing the colosseum and the ancient forum. Like I said, so many things and we also treked across Rome and found where Julia's boyfriend Bennie's Nona lives and we rang her doorbell and visited her. She ended up making dinner for us, which was delicious, so all and all Rome was disgustingly hot, but so awesome. Ok, well I am off to tour Naples by night and eat Pistaccio gelato.....and left over Pizza!!