... or, "The Long Pensive Journey Home"
Our journey home from Athens to Montpellier/Narbonne was a three-day-long journey filled with buses and strange overnight boats and trains galore. (And snow. SNOW.) Here's the highlight reel:
Well, now you’ve (probably) seen all the pictures from my Great Greco-Roman Toussaint Vacation Adventure. As you can see, it was a-mazing. Incredible. I’m so very lucky and blessed to have had the opportunity to go to two of the countries on my “must-see” list. Here are my post-Italy & Greece thoughts (written on board the mystery boat while returning from Greece), if you dare (or care).
Opportunity: I am SO glad I took the initiative, opportunity, and financial risk to make this vacation happen. So many of my friends in the program weren’t able to travel outside of France during this first vacation for many reasons: not enough money (we didn’t get paid until October 29th, AFTER vacation had started, and even then it was risky… I was SO glad to see my paycheck when it finally came through!), not enough time to prepare (this vacation happened only four weeks after our contract began), etc. For all of these reasons, it was admittedly a bit stressful to make it happen. But I knew that if I looked back later in life and remembered the two-week vacation I had in Europe that I didn’t use to the fullest… well, I’d be frustrated with myself. I will probably not have the opportunity to be in Europe in October/November again until I’m retired. Which is obviously a looong time away. Every moment of this trip was worth it. As my 9th grade English teacher Mrs. Lacroix used to say, "no risk it, no biscuit." So very glad I risked it.
Money: I spent a pretty penny on my vacation. BUT I did it the cheapest possible way. We had a Eurail pass for Greece and Italy which allowed us unlimited train access. We stayed in hostels. We got a lot of “under 26” discounts. (January’s coming – soon I won’t be able to benefit from those!) I will probably have to eat nothing but cantine food once I return to France, and the biggest splurge I’ll be able to afford for the next month is whatever I spend doing laundry, BUT IT’S WORTH IT. I would never under any other circumstance have been able to do this trip as cheaply as I did it now.
Linguistic Challenge: This is the first time I’ve really traveled to countries where I don’t speak the language AT ALL (or I’m not with someone who does). Before, I’d always traveled to countries where they speak English or French, except for Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, where I was with Irene (who, of course, speaks German). All of those are very safe travel options for me. When I went to Barcelona, it was the first time in a country where I don’t speak the language; however, as I did have one year of Spanish in college, I can communicate very basically in Spanish. (Spain = slightly linguistically adventurous for me.) Then, Italy. As Italian and French (and Spanish, for that matter) are all Italic languages, I can decipher some. I learned to do some basic communication in Italian, but I mean BASIC. However, it’s still in the Latin alphabet, so I can at least read the words (and luckily I had picked up a French-Italian dictionary before leaving France). (Italian = slightly more linguistically adventurous.) Enter Greece. Upon arrival, I literally didn’t know how to say “hello,” “bye,” “please,” or “thank you.” I don’t know how to read the Greek alphabet. I don’t know what sounds the letters make, so I can’t even make connections between an announcement I hear and a sign or a map. On a few occasions, Kimberly and I would say to ourselves “Hmmmm. I wonder what’s going on here. Let’s go read this sign/map.” (Arrive at sign/map. Stare blankly at sign/map. ) “Yeah, this isn’t going to help.” (Greek = most linguistically adventurous location I’ve traveled to thus far.) Talk about total dependence on others. I can’t tell you how many times in both Italy and Greece (but especially in Greece) I picked a random person, brought my map or my paper and pen, and with imploring eyes and simple English (or broken Italian or Greek) asked for help. In order to do this kind of traveling, you have to be willing to put yourself at the mercy of others and ask, no matter how foolish you may look. It will work. People will help you. People will usually even gladly help you, as long as you go about asking with the right demeanor. Thank goodness for our friend Thanasis who we met the first night in Athens at the restaurant and who taught us Greek. Thanks to him, we were able to communicate basically and even learn a bit about how the Greek alphabet works (what letters make which sounds, etc), which made deciphering signs a bit easier. Also, you need not believe us to be Superwomen, here – I will tell you that a lot of the signs in Athens had English on them. And a lot of the people speak English, especially around tourist areas. It’s not like being in Greece is like being thrown into a small village in China, or as if we were totally helpless. All I’m saying is that it was the most linguistically challenging place I’ve been to, and I really loved it. It was kind of fun to be slightly uncomfortable… makes you work a little bit, lean on others. It’s good for you.
Strikes: Strikes, strikes, strikes. The Thursday before we were leaving for France, there was a national train strike that lasted until Friday morning (12 minutes before my first train left, to be exact). The day we were going from Milan to Venice, a regional train company in Italy was on strike. Two of the days we were in Greece, there was a general strike (taxis, metro, buses, trolleys, ferries, archaeological sites, etc). Point being, if you’re going to travel in Europe, have a flexible itinerary. Unless you’re traveling exclusively with private companies, you may have to make adjustments.
Traveling Style: Traveling the way we did it, cheaply and independently, can be difficult. It is work. Figuring out train schedules and buses and connections and time frames and prices and rules and exceptions to rules and directions, all in languages that aren’t your own, is difficult. I need a vacation to recover from this "vacation"! In all, we took 1 plane, 1 taxi, 1 trolley, 2 boats, 3 buses, and 16 trains (well, Kimberly took 16, I took 18 because I live in Narbonne not Montpellier). That doesn’t count taking the metro or bus within a city. We slept in five different hostels and spent a (pretty uncomfortable) night in the cheap (read: free for Eurail pass holders) seats on a boat. We had several train/boat delays that put other parts of our journey in peril. Not everything was perfect. It would be much easier (and much more expensive) to travel with a company and/or a guide. However, that’s not really the kind of traveling I like. It might be nice every once in a while, but what I really enjoy is having to use a map. Having to use my brain. Having to communicate with people. Meeting people. Changing the itinerary when needed. Stepping into a free museum because it just happens to be there. Deciding to roam around and stumbling on the best pasta you’ve ever had (or on a restaurant where someone will sit with you for hours, teach you Greek, and regale you with gifts of amazing food). I love that kind of traveling, despite its imperfections and difficulties. You really get to know a city better: how it works, a bit of the real culture, how the people are, etc. It’s not for everyone. But for me, it’s so much more personally meaningful than cookie-cutter tourism. (Which, granted, cookie-cutter tourism can be nice when you don’t want to work so hard! And when you want to be with someone who knows what to tell you instead of having to figure everything out yourself. Basically, any kind of traveling which makes you happy is the kind of traveling for you! It’s an individual choice. I just happen to like my own style and I get to write about that because, well, it’s my blog.)
Cultural Differences, part one: Italy/Greece vs. France
1) In Italy and Greece, people stand outside their restaurants and ask you to come in. Practically beg at times. Even if the restaurant is full! (?!) They have no problem speaking to you in English (in big cities). They’ll make you offers – a free drink, a free dessert, etc. They want you to come in to their restaurant. Badly. I have never experienced this in France. In France, if you come into a restaurant, fine. If not, fine. No one’s going to beg you. At least according to my experiences. Same with guided tours. People in Italy begged us to take private tours everywhere we went. It was kind of stressful. I had to go all ToughKaty on a few. It wasn’t pretty. (Okay, it wasn’t that bad. But I was tough.)
2) People (again, at least in big cities) want to talk to you. In English. I met so many people during this trip, some just in stores or restaurants, some in our hostels, some in trains, who really wanted to talk to us. In France, generally people are not extremely excited to speak English with you (there are always exceptions). Because I speak French, I am able to speak with and meet people in France. But it’s not as easy. There are plenty of wonderful people in France. It’s just that people are generally more reserved in France, whereas in both Italy and Greece, they are more open and talkative.
Cultural Differences, part two: Italy vs. Greece
Italy: We were in big cities, it’s vacation right now for France (and probably other countries), and the weather is still somewhat nice, so it was a bit crowded. Nowhere NEAR as crowded as it would be in summer, of course, but still there were quite a few people. In Italy, there was a TON we wanted to see, and so we felt more rushed. There was more pressure to see everything. It was wonderful to be somewhere with so much history, especially Rome, but there was just a bit overwhelming at times. It was lovely, though. Milan was, well, cold and rainy. Ha. Not necessarily my favorite, but I didn’t expect it to be; we had to go there simply due to train schedules. Lake Como was naturally picturesque and quietly isolated. Venice was artistic, musical, unique, romantically beautiful. Pompeii was hauntingly timeless. Rome was sturdy, strong, and epic - historically significant at every turn. We saw so many different parts of the country, and I’d love to see more. I’d love to see the warmer south, including Sicily. I found a random photo of Positano when I was in high school, and I’ve always wanted to go. I’d love to see some Cinque Terre. I’ll have to come back for Florence and Pisa, as well; they got dropped from our itinerary due to time constraints and strikes in Greece. Like I said, so much to see!
Greece: Ahhhh Greece. What to say about Greece? Due to complications, Greece was almost dropped from our itinerary. How sad that would have been. We made it happen, and thankfully so. We didn’t get to see a ton of Athens as the city was on strike, but luckily our hostel was situated in the tourist center near the Acropolis (our street literally dead-ended into the 2500-year-old city on a hill). The atmosphere in Greece is more relaxed. Well, possibly our mood in Greece was more relaxed as it was the end of the trip and the strike (thankfully) made us relax. Also, there weren’t nearly as many people. I’m not sure if it was due to the crisis, the strikes, it being out of season, or all of the above, but there weren’t nearly as many tourists in Greece as in Italy, and it was great. People were very nice. Happy to have us in their country. Happy to talk to us about their culture. The landscape is AMAZING. The day we spent on the Aegean Sea going to islands was a mutual favorite day of the trip. Gorgeous. Mountainous islands everywhere you look emerging from an intensely royal blue sea. (Royal blue if you look out horizontally, a kind of teal color if you look directly down near shore.) Even during our 2.5 hour bus ride from Athens to Patras, we drove with the ocean out one window and mountains out the other. The countryside and islands are magnificent, and even Athens is cradled by hills and mountains. There is, of course, the crisis going on in Greece right now. Some people were surprised that I was going in spite of the crisis. Well, despite some obvious signs of unrest, I still felt comfortable and safe. I am still so glad I got to see Greece, even right now. (Also, the strikes that were happening the days that we were there were because of the vote to pass a bill that would raise taxes and lower wages; people came from all over Greece to demonstrate against the bill. Can we really blame them for that?) Other than the strike, nothing was affected. I was safe, people were happy, the food was incredible, the landscape was breathtaking, and I honestly feel like I could just move to Greece and live on some island for the rest of my life and be happy. It’s that beautiful. And I really like gyros. And moussaka. :)
Our journey home from Athens to Montpellier/Narbonne was a three-day-long journey filled with buses and strange overnight boats and trains galore. (And snow. SNOW.) Here's the highlight reel:
We're not in Western Europe anymore, Toto.
(Yes, that is a toilet in the bus station in Patras, Greece.)
This was a sign on our boat, the Zeus Palace/Eurostar Barcelona (to be (kind of) explained). What does it even MEAN?! Quick, everyone, smoosh a family! ??!!??!
Okay, a quick moment to explain our (free) 26-hour boat ride from Patras, Greece to Ancona, Italy: We were on a boat named "Zeus Palace" according to our tickets/the exterior, but the "Eurostar Barcelona" according to the interior. The rooms were named after sites in Barcelona. The announcements were made in Greek and English, but the employees spoke Italian. We were assigned to sit in section D, which didn't exist, so we sat in section C. The desk where we received our tickets and the tickets themselves said Minoan Lines, but everything inside said Grimaldi Lines. My cell phone, which texts me every time I enter a new country, texted me all throughout the night "FreeMobile accompanies you in Albania," "FreeMobile accompanies you in Greece," "FreeMobile accompanies you in Albania," etc. Back and forth like five times. Also, when the restaurant printed out our receipts, the address for the Zeus Palace was in Venice. Not to mention the aforementioned sign. I mean, really. Curiouser and curiouser, cried Katy.
This is what a few hours of our trek from Italy to France (through the Alps) looked like. (The trip there was spent gazing out at the Mediterranean, the trip back was spent watching snow fall in the Alps. Whose life is like this?!)
Back in France! While we were out, posters for The Hobbit invaded. (So. excited.)
Finally back to Narbonne! Violeta picked me up at the train station in (get this) one of my teacher's cars (the teacher's name is Cathy and she is LOVELY and you will hear about her soon) and she took me to dinner. Violeta surprised me with the keychain I'd seen at the market and loved (the little whale) as well as her adorable drawing of our life in Narbonne! On the left you have me (blonde hair, Violeta sees me as blonde in comparison with all the dark-haired Spanish people she's used to) and Violeta in SPAR, the convenience store where we go for Wi-Fi, on the right is the bus we take to go downtown, in the middle are all the smoking high school students that surround our life, and at the bottom is the magical cat on campus who is saying our slogan: "Narbonne: Tout est possible!"
............
Well, now you’ve (probably) seen all the pictures from my Great Greco-Roman Toussaint Vacation Adventure. As you can see, it was a-mazing. Incredible. I’m so very lucky and blessed to have had the opportunity to go to two of the countries on my “must-see” list. Here are my post-Italy & Greece thoughts (written on board the mystery boat while returning from Greece), if you dare (or care).
Opportunity: I am SO glad I took the initiative, opportunity, and financial risk to make this vacation happen. So many of my friends in the program weren’t able to travel outside of France during this first vacation for many reasons: not enough money (we didn’t get paid until October 29th, AFTER vacation had started, and even then it was risky… I was SO glad to see my paycheck when it finally came through!), not enough time to prepare (this vacation happened only four weeks after our contract began), etc. For all of these reasons, it was admittedly a bit stressful to make it happen. But I knew that if I looked back later in life and remembered the two-week vacation I had in Europe that I didn’t use to the fullest… well, I’d be frustrated with myself. I will probably not have the opportunity to be in Europe in October/November again until I’m retired. Which is obviously a looong time away. Every moment of this trip was worth it. As my 9th grade English teacher Mrs. Lacroix used to say, "no risk it, no biscuit." So very glad I risked it.
Money: I spent a pretty penny on my vacation. BUT I did it the cheapest possible way. We had a Eurail pass for Greece and Italy which allowed us unlimited train access. We stayed in hostels. We got a lot of “under 26” discounts. (January’s coming – soon I won’t be able to benefit from those!) I will probably have to eat nothing but cantine food once I return to France, and the biggest splurge I’ll be able to afford for the next month is whatever I spend doing laundry, BUT IT’S WORTH IT. I would never under any other circumstance have been able to do this trip as cheaply as I did it now.
Linguistic Challenge: This is the first time I’ve really traveled to countries where I don’t speak the language AT ALL (or I’m not with someone who does). Before, I’d always traveled to countries where they speak English or French, except for Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, where I was with Irene (who, of course, speaks German). All of those are very safe travel options for me. When I went to Barcelona, it was the first time in a country where I don’t speak the language; however, as I did have one year of Spanish in college, I can communicate very basically in Spanish. (Spain = slightly linguistically adventurous for me.) Then, Italy. As Italian and French (and Spanish, for that matter) are all Italic languages, I can decipher some. I learned to do some basic communication in Italian, but I mean BASIC. However, it’s still in the Latin alphabet, so I can at least read the words (and luckily I had picked up a French-Italian dictionary before leaving France). (Italian = slightly more linguistically adventurous.) Enter Greece. Upon arrival, I literally didn’t know how to say “hello,” “bye,” “please,” or “thank you.” I don’t know how to read the Greek alphabet. I don’t know what sounds the letters make, so I can’t even make connections between an announcement I hear and a sign or a map. On a few occasions, Kimberly and I would say to ourselves “Hmmmm. I wonder what’s going on here. Let’s go read this sign/map.” (Arrive at sign/map. Stare blankly at sign/map. ) “Yeah, this isn’t going to help.” (Greek = most linguistically adventurous location I’ve traveled to thus far.) Talk about total dependence on others. I can’t tell you how many times in both Italy and Greece (but especially in Greece) I picked a random person, brought my map or my paper and pen, and with imploring eyes and simple English (or broken Italian or Greek) asked for help. In order to do this kind of traveling, you have to be willing to put yourself at the mercy of others and ask, no matter how foolish you may look. It will work. People will help you. People will usually even gladly help you, as long as you go about asking with the right demeanor. Thank goodness for our friend Thanasis who we met the first night in Athens at the restaurant and who taught us Greek. Thanks to him, we were able to communicate basically and even learn a bit about how the Greek alphabet works (what letters make which sounds, etc), which made deciphering signs a bit easier. Also, you need not believe us to be Superwomen, here – I will tell you that a lot of the signs in Athens had English on them. And a lot of the people speak English, especially around tourist areas. It’s not like being in Greece is like being thrown into a small village in China, or as if we were totally helpless. All I’m saying is that it was the most linguistically challenging place I’ve been to, and I really loved it. It was kind of fun to be slightly uncomfortable… makes you work a little bit, lean on others. It’s good for you.
Strikes: Strikes, strikes, strikes. The Thursday before we were leaving for France, there was a national train strike that lasted until Friday morning (12 minutes before my first train left, to be exact). The day we were going from Milan to Venice, a regional train company in Italy was on strike. Two of the days we were in Greece, there was a general strike (taxis, metro, buses, trolleys, ferries, archaeological sites, etc). Point being, if you’re going to travel in Europe, have a flexible itinerary. Unless you’re traveling exclusively with private companies, you may have to make adjustments.
Traveling Style: Traveling the way we did it, cheaply and independently, can be difficult. It is work. Figuring out train schedules and buses and connections and time frames and prices and rules and exceptions to rules and directions, all in languages that aren’t your own, is difficult. I need a vacation to recover from this "vacation"! In all, we took 1 plane, 1 taxi, 1 trolley, 2 boats, 3 buses, and 16 trains (well, Kimberly took 16, I took 18 because I live in Narbonne not Montpellier). That doesn’t count taking the metro or bus within a city. We slept in five different hostels and spent a (pretty uncomfortable) night in the cheap (read: free for Eurail pass holders) seats on a boat. We had several train/boat delays that put other parts of our journey in peril. Not everything was perfect. It would be much easier (and much more expensive) to travel with a company and/or a guide. However, that’s not really the kind of traveling I like. It might be nice every once in a while, but what I really enjoy is having to use a map. Having to use my brain. Having to communicate with people. Meeting people. Changing the itinerary when needed. Stepping into a free museum because it just happens to be there. Deciding to roam around and stumbling on the best pasta you’ve ever had (or on a restaurant where someone will sit with you for hours, teach you Greek, and regale you with gifts of amazing food). I love that kind of traveling, despite its imperfections and difficulties. You really get to know a city better: how it works, a bit of the real culture, how the people are, etc. It’s not for everyone. But for me, it’s so much more personally meaningful than cookie-cutter tourism. (Which, granted, cookie-cutter tourism can be nice when you don’t want to work so hard! And when you want to be with someone who knows what to tell you instead of having to figure everything out yourself. Basically, any kind of traveling which makes you happy is the kind of traveling for you! It’s an individual choice. I just happen to like my own style and I get to write about that because, well, it’s my blog.)
Cultural Differences, part one: Italy/Greece vs. France
1) In Italy and Greece, people stand outside their restaurants and ask you to come in. Practically beg at times. Even if the restaurant is full! (?!) They have no problem speaking to you in English (in big cities). They’ll make you offers – a free drink, a free dessert, etc. They want you to come in to their restaurant. Badly. I have never experienced this in France. In France, if you come into a restaurant, fine. If not, fine. No one’s going to beg you. At least according to my experiences. Same with guided tours. People in Italy begged us to take private tours everywhere we went. It was kind of stressful. I had to go all ToughKaty on a few. It wasn’t pretty. (Okay, it wasn’t that bad. But I was tough.)
2) People (again, at least in big cities) want to talk to you. In English. I met so many people during this trip, some just in stores or restaurants, some in our hostels, some in trains, who really wanted to talk to us. In France, generally people are not extremely excited to speak English with you (there are always exceptions). Because I speak French, I am able to speak with and meet people in France. But it’s not as easy. There are plenty of wonderful people in France. It’s just that people are generally more reserved in France, whereas in both Italy and Greece, they are more open and talkative.
Cultural Differences, part two: Italy vs. Greece
Italy: We were in big cities, it’s vacation right now for France (and probably other countries), and the weather is still somewhat nice, so it was a bit crowded. Nowhere NEAR as crowded as it would be in summer, of course, but still there were quite a few people. In Italy, there was a TON we wanted to see, and so we felt more rushed. There was more pressure to see everything. It was wonderful to be somewhere with so much history, especially Rome, but there was just a bit overwhelming at times. It was lovely, though. Milan was, well, cold and rainy. Ha. Not necessarily my favorite, but I didn’t expect it to be; we had to go there simply due to train schedules. Lake Como was naturally picturesque and quietly isolated. Venice was artistic, musical, unique, romantically beautiful. Pompeii was hauntingly timeless. Rome was sturdy, strong, and epic - historically significant at every turn. We saw so many different parts of the country, and I’d love to see more. I’d love to see the warmer south, including Sicily. I found a random photo of Positano when I was in high school, and I’ve always wanted to go. I’d love to see some Cinque Terre. I’ll have to come back for Florence and Pisa, as well; they got dropped from our itinerary due to time constraints and strikes in Greece. Like I said, so much to see!
Greece: Ahhhh Greece. What to say about Greece? Due to complications, Greece was almost dropped from our itinerary. How sad that would have been. We made it happen, and thankfully so. We didn’t get to see a ton of Athens as the city was on strike, but luckily our hostel was situated in the tourist center near the Acropolis (our street literally dead-ended into the 2500-year-old city on a hill). The atmosphere in Greece is more relaxed. Well, possibly our mood in Greece was more relaxed as it was the end of the trip and the strike (thankfully) made us relax. Also, there weren’t nearly as many people. I’m not sure if it was due to the crisis, the strikes, it being out of season, or all of the above, but there weren’t nearly as many tourists in Greece as in Italy, and it was great. People were very nice. Happy to have us in their country. Happy to talk to us about their culture. The landscape is AMAZING. The day we spent on the Aegean Sea going to islands was a mutual favorite day of the trip. Gorgeous. Mountainous islands everywhere you look emerging from an intensely royal blue sea. (Royal blue if you look out horizontally, a kind of teal color if you look directly down near shore.) Even during our 2.5 hour bus ride from Athens to Patras, we drove with the ocean out one window and mountains out the other. The countryside and islands are magnificent, and even Athens is cradled by hills and mountains. There is, of course, the crisis going on in Greece right now. Some people were surprised that I was going in spite of the crisis. Well, despite some obvious signs of unrest, I still felt comfortable and safe. I am still so glad I got to see Greece, even right now. (Also, the strikes that were happening the days that we were there were because of the vote to pass a bill that would raise taxes and lower wages; people came from all over Greece to demonstrate against the bill. Can we really blame them for that?) Other than the strike, nothing was affected. I was safe, people were happy, the food was incredible, the landscape was breathtaking, and I honestly feel like I could just move to Greece and live on some island for the rest of my life and be happy. It’s that beautiful. And I really like gyros. And moussaka. :)
Voilà, my many thoughts and reflections about
my Italy-Greece trip. It was totally worth the money and the train rides and
effort that it took to plan. I saw a strings concert in Venice. I heard the
Pope speak. I witnessed an actual pilgrimage. I walked among ancient ruins in Rome
and Athens; I stood on the foundations of Western Civilization. I strolled
through pristinely preserved 2400-year-old streets in Pompeii. I sailed to Greek islands on a
perfect day. I ate more gelato, pizza, pasta, Greek yogurt, gyros, moussaka,
and tzatziki than should be humanly
possible. I made new friends from different countries who were able to teach me
a bit of their languages and cultures. I made a commitment to myself this year
to live my life to the fullest, to live it as it’s meant to be. That’s what I’m
doing. Despite some risks and some work, I lived one of my dreams, and I’m
happy.
And for now, it’s time to get back to life, back to reality. The reality of teaching 12 hours a week in southern France.
The dream isn’t over, people. It’s still only just beginning.
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