Aντίο, Greece and back home to the States!

I think I've been putting off updating this because then I have to come to terms with the fact that it's no longer technically a travelblog, I'm not in Europe anymore, and I'm back in the States, aka the real world. Sighhh, reality is cruel, haha. I've basically spent the last week being as lazy as possible and avoiding correcting my jet-lag at all costs (although not intentionally, haha).

So last Tuesday, my last day in Greece and abroad for the summer, was incredible. We spent most of the morning and early afternoon at the new Acropolis Museum. We kept giving Stephen flak, like, "So how do you feel about this space, as an architect?" but he actually loved it, and for all that I know nothing about architecture, I loved it, too. Stephen kept pointing out little architectural quirks like setting columns into the ceiling to extend the vertical space, or using glass overhangs to make the seating area more intimate, or how the windows were angled to let sunlight in, but not direct light. Basically, things I would never have gotten on my own, but it was fun listening to Stephen geek out about it, haha.

The museum was truly incredible, though. We got really lucky, it had only been open for like a week when we visited. It was open, filled without being cluttered, and lit mostly with natural light. It was built right over an excavation site so throughout most of the museum, you could see through clear glass panes in the floor to see the site underneath. The terrace had a gorgeous view, and we had lunch at the cafe on it, with the Acropolis and Mt. Lycabettus in sight. Then on the third floor, the exhibit was set in the exact dimensions of the Parthenon with all of the friezes and relics set where they would have been on the building itself

After the museum, we went to the beach. We spent a while in our hostel trying to decide between Glyfada and Voula, but we got off the tram at Edem "just to check it out" and wound up staying because it was free and seemed decent. I'm sure there are prettier Greek beaches, whateverrr, but it was still incredible. We spent all late afternoon and early evening lying out under the blazing Mediterranean sun, taking breaks to swim (okay, more like "frolic," haha) in the gorgeous water - alright, and tell all the annoying hawkers to go away, we didn't want to buy any of their crap, haha - but it was a perfect end to a perfect Eurotrip.

I wound up staying up until like 2 AM despite needing to be up at 4:30, probably for the same reason I put off blogging since I've been back, haha. I couldn't bear to finish packing and go to sleep because then I would have to leave when I woke up. I did finally go to sleep, though, and Kristin and I got up at the asscrack of dawn, I finished some last-minute postcards, and we took a cab to Syntagma where we caught the bus to the airport. I fell asleep on the benches at our gate waiting to board, but then I was wide awake for the flight itself so I read We Need To Talk About Kevin (check it out, it's totally fucked up but still a really good book, haha).

Once we got to Heathrow, Kristin and I had to split up because I was continuing on British Airways and she had to switch terminals to fly American. So for all that LHR is supposed to be a terrible airport, I really like it, or at least Terminal 5. I bought a bottle of water and some candy for my flight, and then went to go sit at the Starbucks bar overlooking the runways (air field? landing strips? whatever) to journal (had a cappuccino and blueberry muffin; the muffin was fab and the cappuccino was horribly disappointing compared to Glass Bar and Tazza d'Oro). So journaling is something I can only do well and consistently when I'm traveling, apparently. I spent my three hour layover scribbling contemplatively (and quite happily, may I add).

Once aboard my flight, I took a nap, finished reading We Need To Talk About Kevin, and had my in-flight meal within the first couple hours, so I spent the rest of the time watching movies until my eyes fell out, haha. I finally watched He's Just Not That Into You (brilliant, hilarious and eye-opening, although annoying because its ending went against its own moral), 17 Again (completely idiotic, but was halfway redeemed by having Zac in it), the Hannah Montana movie (actually vaguely endearing, and Lucas Till makes one fine cowboy), and part of Gladiator (because I just missed the fuck out of the P2Roma crew, haha).

Most of the second half of the flight was miserable, though; there was a baby two seats away from me screaming his head off. Not crying, just absolutely screaming bloody murder. I felt bad for the poor kid, but I felt worse for my poor ears, haha. By the time the flight landed in Housotn, I was just dying to get out; I all but ran off the plane and out to baggage claim, haha. My US phone had died and my charger was in Austin, but while waiting for my luggage, I talked to a woman who had spent the last six months jetting all around Europe for the hell of it, so we traded Eurotrip stories. And luckily, my godmother was right there when I walked outside, so it wasn't a problem that my phone had died. Not having it for two days while I was in Houston sucked, though, haha. I got to catch up with Vicki over Jamba Juice, though, which was great.

So I got back to Austin Friday around noon, and immediately went to Barton Springs with the girls. I'd forgotten how much I'd missed Texas, haha. Lying out under the blazing hot Texas sun, catching up with BFFs from high school, jumping into the icy natural springs, driving my truck down the Texas highways in a drying bikini with the windows down and music blasting... Then Saturday was the 4th, so I had dinner with Robino's family who graciously adopted me for the holiday because I'm temporarily family-less (and while I failed to receive a certain call, I'm pretty sure I got a much better one, haha). Then we went to Auditorium Shores to see the fireworks, and while it was ridiculously hot, we were right up against the water and the show was gorgeous. Then Sunday, the girls did homemade brunch at my house (sweet potato pancakes, cheesy scrambled eggs, bacon, and biscuits) and then a bunch of us all went tubing on the Guadalupe with a cooler full of beer, and since we did run one with time to spare, we went around a second time.

So I've really had a series of "God, my life is awesome!" weeks, haha. Well, not lately, considering I've just been lazy as hell, and some other stuff. My dad showed up at home last night when he was supposed to come home tomorrow. Turns out my grandfather is in the ICU, so my dad bumped up his flight and is going back to Taiwan this Saturday instead of next Wednesday. While I said I could rearranged my schedule to get out of summer classes, my dad insists I need to take the class now to graduate, and that it's too late for me to get a flight, anyway. It's just really hard, because my dad thinks that by the time I do get a chance to head back, it will be too late for my grandfather. I haven't gotten a chance to talk to my dad about anything else, either, with all of this going on. Hopefully I'll still be able to go back over winter break, or better yet, spring break for WorldMUN in Taipei.

Anyway, I really am on my own now for the rest of July, starting this weekend. It should be a little less monotonous once I start classes next week, and hopefully Seton gets back to me soon about a job. I can't wait for everyone to come back to Austin, I'm ready for a P2Roma reunion already, I miss that crew and all of our shens so badly!