Greece is the WORD

I met Allie in Greece. 

It was a glorious reunion. 

For those of you who don't know Allie, she is my best friend in the universe and the star in my heavenly sky; we've known eachother for 15 years and everyone mistakes us for sisters, including 13 different people on this trip alone. On our trip we had a guest; his name was Flat Stanley and he accompanied us all over Greece and Croatia and London. 

In Greece, we were in the Dodocanese and the Cyclades islands, so we didn't make it to Athens or the mainland. However, we did manage to touch down on 6 different islands: Rhodos, Santorini, Paros, Naxos, Koufonessia and Kos. 

Here is a map of what we did: 

1.Right on Rhodos

Huge Turkish influence with an immaculate fortress old city

 and amazing stone and rock streets! 

(They felt good under my Birkenstocks. :)

2. Pleasurable Paros 

Humble and down-to-earth locals, mind-blowing views whilst ATV-ing 

and sensational calamari! YUM!

3. Easy-Peasy Koufonessi 

  a teensy-tiny, non-touristy

romantic island

with more goats than people, and 

more dead people than living ones, and 

 secretive, untouched caves, and

 the most gorgeous cerulean and aquamarine beaches imaginable. 

4. Naturally, Naxos 

An artsy island close to Paros with sprawling beaches

 and the Apollo's Gate ruins readily apparent at the coastline 

(that's Flat Stanley!)

5. Supposedly Sweet Santorini

famed island with sweeping views of a volcanic crescendo

but very touristy and catered mostly to partiers 

(we were special guests at a foam party near Perissa beach)

and lacking proper beaches 

(volcanic rock! CRAZY!)

6. Casual Kos

a low-maintanence, heavily British-influenced island close to Turkey. 

Happy Hour was f**king awesome.

All of them were special and beautiful - I mean, come on, it's Greece! I still do not like feta cheese (what is wrong with me???), but I have a newfound love for squid and octopus, which I never really liked before. 

I'd have to recommend Paros and Koufonessi, personally, especially if you're looking to relax. 

For the record, we met 8 Michaels in Greece.

RE-POST: German love for... ?

Jews! 

That's right!

Found in the Viertle of Bremen, Northern Germany, September, 2010.

Fitness Camp in Turkey? Yes.

Mid-May, after I turned in my last assignment I embarked on my crazy 5-week adventure to Turkey, Greece, Croatia and London. 

In Turkey, I stayed in Dalaman, in a town called Oludeniz off the south-western coast, at a resort called Lykiaworld, which was hosting a German fitness camp. Yep. Me and 60 forty-plus German women doing yoga, sweating to the oldies, drinking wine and tanning topless. It was fannnnnntastic!

Drums ALIVE! 

(aka drumsticks with a balance ball)

Turkish sweets. So much for the fitness.

Powerbeaching. 

Last night in Oludeniz. Sunset over Dalaman mountains. 

Sushi dinner with my wonderful host sister Martina. 

Sushi in Turkey exceeded my expectations and was actually hella bomb.

It was gorgeous, but towards the end of the week I was itching to get off a resort (not my thing) and meet Allie in Greece for some real sister time. 

Porto's Coast

The coast in Porto was absolutely beautiful. 

- 'twas the first time in months I'd been close to the ocean. It gave me a can-oner.

 The sea was such a deep shade of teal and the contrast of the fluffy white waves crashing up against the shoreline made for one coastal scene I don't want to forget.

The River Douro in Porto is home to many Port wine factories. 

And an impressive metal arch bridge, called the Luís I Bridge (Ponte Luís I) 

Fantastic ancient architectural wonders were sprinkled all over the streets of Porto.

Churches also ran a mighty tally all over Portugal. Duh. 

Behind me is an old "cheese castle". Also known as Forte de São Francisco Xavier, this castle was given the name of Castelo do Queijo because it is built in the top of a rock that resembles a "piece of cheese."

Inside the cheesiness with Louise and Joisa

Portugal: South -> North

Our research paper on Google’s brand animorphism through the changing of it’s logo (Doodles) was accepted to an ECREA (European Communications Research & Education Association) conference on Organizational and Strategic Communications, in PORTUGAL! 

So, at the beginning of May, Louise and I hopped on a RyanAir flight to Portugal for a week! We flew into Faro, an old dilapidated fishing town on the southern coast of Portugal and the plan was to make our way up through the middle of the country by bus to the small town of Covilha, where the conference was being held.

My goal in Portugal was to see what this economically-deprived yet historically and geographically rich country is all about. (And, to relish in wines from opposite sides of the spectrum: Port and Vinho Verde (green wine). Oh, and I did. THANK GOD Louise is Brazilian and speaks Portuguese – I have no idea how we would have gotten around without her.

After a mostly disappointing time in Funky-Ass Faro, we took a bus to Evora, an ancient Moorish fortress town with unbelievable cod a’bras (mashed, herbed cod) and a chapel made entirely of BONES (Capela dos Ossos)!!

The Bones Chapel was a prayer and meditation place focused on the human condition of the Franciscans. The chapel was built in the 16^th Century with the bones of the graves of the town. At the entrance, on a classicist lintel in marble, the following famous inscription can be read: 

WE BONES ARE HERE, WE ARE WAITING FOR YOURS. 

The interior is completely covered with human bones and has the solemn, gloomy and tragic atmosphere of a crypt.

 dem lotsa bones

During the 2 days we stayed at the lovely Old Evora Hostel, I met a UCSC Slug from San Diego (go figure, in the middle of rural Portugal!).

We made our way north to Covilha, a mountainous city in the Beira Interior region of northeast Portugal. The conference, titled "The Dialogue Imperative" went well - people seemed genuinely fascinated and visually engaged by our research. Our presentation was most exciting, if we do say so ourselves. We were on the panel regarding interactive strategies and spoke about Google's fluid corporate visual identity. 

The city of Covilha was quiet with a lot of hand-made crafts to offer. The area is known for it's quiejo de Serra, an incredible soft and salty cheese made exclusively from Bordaleira sheep milk. Next to it, presunto, or dried pork (think: the best prosciutto you've ever had) Mmmm. Damn.

After the conference, we hightailed straight to Porto where I magically stumbled upon a poster for an Ursula Rucker (Bay Area-based spoken word and r&b artist) who happened to be playing THAT night! I just saw her in LA on January! 

Ursula is a bad-ass 

Louise and I met up with her best friend from Brazil, a quirky little lady named Joisa. Her fiance took us to an unbelievable fondue restaurant north of Porto in Póvoa de Varzim where we dipped succulent pieces of chicken and steak into a wide variety of different Portuguese sauce creations. Sauce winner of the evening: garlic cream. HEAVEN. 

I also had my first quail egg at this restaurant, along with other delish savory little Portugese nibbles.

 

Spring Break pt. 2: Munich and New Californian Friends!

Munich was a delight - I would have to say that I like it most of any city in Germany. 

Yea, I said it. 

View from St. Peter's Church tower of Marienplatz

 When we were there, the weather was absolutely perfect. During the Sandeman's Free Tour of the city, we met two wonderful Californians named Lolly and Aaron (what a delight!!). After bonding over the love for the Lakers and a hate for LA drivers, we drank quite a few liters of Augustiner Edelhof beer and ate quite a few rostbratwursts and weiss spargel (white asparagus with hollandaise).

Aaron, Lolly, Louise and I at the famous Hofbrauhaus in Munich. 

Mmmmm! 

Brezeln und Bier aus München sind die besten der Welt!

 After this wonderful week in the South of Germany, I headed back up north to meet up with a new *friend* for a wonderful weekend in Berlin. :)

Spring Break pt. 1: Heidelberg, Salzberg and the Bavarian Alps

In April, Louise and I decided to use Spring Break as a great opportunity to explore more of Germany, since we've been here for over 6 months already. So we headed south - on the Deutsche Bahn (the train)!!! With Munich in mind, we first stopped in Heidelberg to see it's famed castle on the River Neckar. It was really quite a charming and adorable city that I hope to visit for a longer period of time. 

Lovely Louise 

Heidelberg castle ruins

We proceeded to spend 5 days in the Munich area, taking one day trip to Salzburg, Austria (Mozart's home and the setting of The Sound of Music - those quaint rolling hills WERE alive!). And we saw MARIA Rainer!!! Oh the joy!



The next day we took a trip through the Alps to see 2 famous castles of the former Bavarian King Ludwig - Neuschwanstein and Linderhof. These castles were absolutely spectacular and I fully endorse your visit to them, especially Neuschwanstein (translation: new+swan+castle) because a.) it was the inspiration for Walt Disney's magic kingdom, and b.) it is CRAZY - the man was obsessed with swans! They're everywhere in that castle!!) 

Linderhof - inspired by the Sun King and French monarch Louis XIV. 

Gold and gaudy. 

The hall of mirrors was the best room ("1 million lights")

And here we have... Neuschwanstein!

They did not allow photos inside, sadly. 

I enjoyed a König Ludwig Dunkel, a deep-brown or sepia colored all barley lager named after the crazy King. This beer was deliciously rich and nutty, gave off a mild vanilla sweetness on the tongue, and finished dry, and clean without any harsh hops or overt fruitiness.