Hydra, Poros, Aegina (July 18)

Today I went on a Semester at Sea trip with all the girls to three Saronic Islands. We went to Hydra, Poros, and Aegina. It was fun, but I was feeling SO sick so it’s kind of a blur! Even though it was an SAS trip, it was organized through another company.

We were all ready and met out at the buses like we were supposed to- only, there was one minor problem. Two words: TAXI STRIKE. If we were taking a bus, why would we care about taxis you ask? Well, the taxi drivers didn’t only refuse to drive their taxis anywhere, they lined up all through the streets and parked. Just parked. So not only could we not use taxis, we couldn’t use the streets for any kind of transportation. We were waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and finally after an hour or two one lane of the road was partially cleared and our bus was able to make it. We got on and went to the ferry port, then boarded the trip ferry.

First, we went to Hydra. The entire way there, Michelle and I took over a table and passed out in the booths for 2 hours. Hydra is known for donkeys! So naturally, we rode donkeys around the island. :) Then we walked around a bit and saw a bunch of adorable cats all over! We got back on the ferry and were served lunch- I’m pretty sure I only ate the bread. And even with that, I was loading up on Tums and Pepto Bismal. Once we finished lunch, we were in Poros, the second Greek island we visited. On Poros we just looked around as we walked, shopped, and explored. I honestly don’t remember much of Poros at all because I was feeling so bad. When we got back on the ferry, I laid down in one of the booths and passed out again until we got to Aegina. We had a lot longer on Aegina. They’re known for their pistachios there, so a bunch of the girls got those. Then we headed for the beach- except we didn’t have bathing suits! We looked in some shops to see if we could find cheap ones, but didn’t find success so we just waded around up to our knees. We saw a cute little crab! Aegina was really cute- there were horse carriages all over and it was so tempting to take a ride in one!! All of the islands looked so Greek (as they should!)- bright white walls all over, with colored accents (like blue roofs and shingles).

After leaving Aegina, we got back on the ferry and were headed back to Piraeus. Well, we were in for a treat! On the bottom deck of the ferry there was a big dance floor. The way home consisted of Greek dancing! At first, it was Greek music and two Greek dancers performing, and we were all just clapping along to the music. But then they started pulling people from the audience up to dance! Everyone who knows me will be so surprised—I, Julia, was one of the first to go up and dance, with no hesitation! If that’s not proof that taking all my opportunities and expanding out of my comfort zone, then I don’t know what is! Eventually, a bunch of us SASers were up on the stage dancing to the Greek music and it was so fun! Then they put us in a circle and asked us to kneel down, and one by one took us and danced with us. The first girl, the lead Greek dancer just danced with and spun. Then the second girl, he spun a little more. Then the third girl, he did a double handed spin. Then it was my turn. I figured it would just be lots of spinning. No. He got me, got a different guy who didn’t know how to Greek dance either, and kind of showed us what to do as we went. Since we were a little oblivious as to what we were supposed to be doing, the audience loved it. Then the leader guy put his arms up and was tapping his shoulders. I was SO confused. I thought I was supposed to pat the guy on the shoulder or something- no, he wanted the guy to throw me over his shoulder and spin me around! Both of us refused at first, but the lead Greek dancer wouldn’t take no as an answer so there was me, flung over some guy’s shoulder, SPINNING around in circles. QUITE the show, let me tell you. I wasn’t sure if I’d live to tell the story, or if I’d get dropped and wake up in a hospital bed! I’m actually glad it was a random guy, because the guy in charge who was dancing with the girls himself earlier was VERY, VERY drunk. At least my dance partner was able to see straight! Luckily, I wasn’t the only one who had to do this. Every single other person had to do the same thing- random guy, random girl, flung over shoulder and spun. And I was lucky to have a normal sized guy—later down the line, the leader picked a really tall girl and a TINY, puny guy about half her height!!! We were all a little worried about that one. The whole way home was a blast. Luckily, we got most of it on video! When I can, I’ll post it here. :)

We got back to the port at Piraeus, and came back to the ship exhausted. Michelle, Brittany, and I really wanted to go to Mykonos for the next 2 days, but had NO plans. We went to find internet (and had trouble), then at 1 am decided to wake up at 5 and wing it!

I’m so glad I did the island trip through Semester at Sea- there is no way I would have been able to visit all those places otherwise! Even though I didn’t feel very good, it was amazing to see the beautiful islands! And I can look back now and really appreciate all the pictures. :)

P.S. Happy birthday Chloe!!!