Day 11 & 12 March Break Trip: Mykonos to Athens to Toronto

(Read about Day 10 here)

(Read about Day 1&2 here)

Day 10 (March 18) we started to make our way back home.  But we got to spend the morning doing whatever in Mykonos.  Nancy and I went back to the more expensive food market because the AB Food Market is closed on Sundays.  We bought supplies for another crafty lunch!  We also found out that morning that there was a marathon going on.  Children and adults were running past us, music was blaring, and there was a huge crowd cheering them on at the finish line.  What shocked me was how that many people just appeared on the island.  Did they live there?  Did they take the ferry over?

After lunch, we went back out on the streets.  This mini adventure included our typical run-in with the local cats and dogs, souvenir shopping, and squeezing our way through an incredibly small gap between two buildings.  Sylvia and I made friends with a cat and it followed us almost all the way back to the hotel (if not for the mini sand beach it dared not cross).

Mykonos is a beautiful island and I would love to come back during a more busy season when the island is in full swing.  I also recently found out that Lindsay Lohan has a bar there and I've seen a couple photos of her relaxing there.  It's weird to think she and I went to the same place.  What an icon.

This is the Blue Star Ferry that we took to arrive and depart the island.  Crazy nice inside.  This ferry took us back to Athens where we took a short bus ride to a city just outside Athens and where our hotel was that we previously stayed.  Only this time we stayed at a hotel just opposite.  Our morning call time was something like 4 am so we tried to stay up all night.  We walked to Athens (~20 min) and got gelato.  We also hit up a gas station mart and got creme cheese, croissants, and more lemon cookies!  Then we went back to our hotel and watched a movie (which movie? beats me).  In the end I crashed and had about a two hour nap before it was time to get up again.

Our layover flight was in Germany.  We found out that our flight was overbooked and the airport staff were asking if people would want to stay back four days and be re-compensated like 900 euros.  We were very tempted and I honestly probably would have taken the offer if I wasn't traveling with a group.

When I got back to Canada it was like nothing really changed (except for me crashing at 10 pm for the rest of the week).  There's a certain rush and high you get from being in a new environment.  If I get the chance, I would love to learn more of the Italian language, but also improve my French speaking skills.  I've been in French Immersion since kindergarden and I still feel embarrassed when asked to speak French to locals.

I freaking love Europe.  I'm thinking of taking a year to study abroad there.  

Something cool I discovered is that visiting big cities like Rome and Athens didn't feel far off from Toronto (besides the unbeatable architecture), which makes me appreciate the city I live in much more.  This summer I've been exploring downtown a lot more.  I went on a mini ROM Walks tour around the Arts and Entertainment District yesterday and learned a lot about commissioned art installations around every block and the history of Toronto that I never knew before.  I've been downtown countless times but never stopped to admire the details.  I also discovered how beautiful walking out west along Harbourfront and through Ontario Place is.  I always thought I had done everything there was to do in Toronto that didn't cost a fortune.  Man, was I wrong.

Traveling with really good friends is a blast.  Sena and I have dreamed of going to Paris together since middle school.  Hopefully someday our dream will come true and you might just read about it here!  We also planned on sharing an apartment together.  That's a topic for another post someday.

Anyways, this is the last post from my March Break Trip to Rome and Greece 2018.  It took awhile for all the post to go up, but I'm glad it's done.  As much as I love when bloggers post super long update posts with tons of photos, this was gonna be way too lengthy and had to be split up.  Now I can spend more time living in the moment than trying to relive the past (and also get more fashion related posts up cuz I miss those).  Grazie mille for reading, especially those of you who have read this series start to finish.  Here's to new adventures!

Ciao,

Sophia

(Read about Day 10 here)

(Read about Day 1&2 here)

Day 1 & 2 March Break Trip: Toronto to Rome

(Read about Day 3 here)

I'm currently typing up this recap as I sit in the lobby of my hotel in Tolo, Greece.

Day 1 (March 8th) was a travel day.  I met up with my school group at the Pearson Airport for 11am.  We had a layover at Montreal and then departed for Rome.

The company we are touring with is called Explorica and our guide is Nancy (we love her).

Rome is 6 hours ahead of Toronto so I slept throughout the entire flight to adjust to the time change.  Plus, we had touring plans for the entire next day when we landed.

Before we continue with this recap I'd like to mention that I might not remember the chronological occurrence of each picture; partly because they were taken on both my phone and camera, which leads me to state that some pictures have been edited via VSCO and some haven't.  I've got dozens of pictures to go through and I've only been editing them when I can here and there.  But if I edited them all I'd never get these posts up.

Anyways here we go...

Day 2 (March 9th) ~after landing~ we hopped on a bus (the one we'd be taking in Italy) and checked into our hotel.  Thanks Erasmo for being an awesome driver!

Once discovering our room had a private patio, of course, we took more pictures.  The view was great.

(I won't be listing where my clothing is from unless it's worth a mention).

We made a lunch stop at the Piazza Barberini, which is located in the center of the city.

I 100% recommend grabbing a slice (more like a slab) of pizza from Barberini Express, which is right across the Fontana del Tritone.

I split a pesto pizza with my friend.  Tasty and inexpensive :)

The Spanish Steps (Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti); built to connect the Trinità dei Monti church at the top to the Piazza di Spagna down below.

At the bottom of the steps there are a ton of designer shops.  The lanes are also great to just stroll down.

Gelato stop at Della Palma near the Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Trevi).  It's a gorgeous shop with dozens of cool flavours.   I got lime and blueberry.  Sweet, but very tasty.

Then we made it to the Trevi Fountain!  Stunning architecture.  It's good luck to toss a coin over your left shoulder.  Once a day the soldiers collect the coins, which go towards charity.

Pantheon; formerly a Roman temple, now a church.

We crossed a bridge in the evening with a great view of the Vatican and sunset.

(if you must know, I'm now finishing this post in Mykonos, Greece *wink*.  I think the rest of my posts will be written post-trip)

Ciao!

(Read about Day 3 here)

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