Well, before I jump to talking about British adventures, I should mention that my roommates and I had our first evening as hostesses. The Wednesday before I left for London we had our Greek friend John over, along with one of his friends. We were really excited to show them Greek hospitality. We managed to get together some yummy marble and chocolate cake and some wine to go with it (we told them we would be serving desert). However, they totally trumped us once again because they brought us an incredible cake and a nice bottle of wine, oh well. The evening was really nice. We once again got into cultural debates about sports, music, and food. I’m starting to get a good list of Greek music to bring back. We also busted out Emily’s hookah for the first time, which was quite the experience. We definitely had to google how to start a new hookah. I sadly had to leave the “party” a bit early (around 1 am) since I had class the next morning and a flight to London in the evening….
Oh London. What a good time. My flight to London was in the evening. It was my first time taking EasyJet, and I must say I am quite the fan. It was super super cheap and on time (flying it to Paris in a couple weeks). Not a bad combination. My flight to London was uneventful. I basically slept the entire way. Because of the time different I landed in London around 11:30 pm, and thus the fun began. Austin, Kathryn, and Hannah were there the moment I got through customs. It was the nicest, sweetest thing ever. I wanted to have a Love Actually moment, so I quickly ran to them (while trying not to drop everything and my pants which were falling down). There is something about meeting loved ones and friends at the airport, always special. However, because my flight got in so late, the London metro had stopped running (yes, for some reason the London metro stops at midnight, all days of the week, hmmm). And thus our first adventure began. I was so excited to be in London and with such good company, I didn’t care if the trip to their flat was 5 hours long. The trip to back was filled with catching up and deciding what to do for the weekend. The first thing I noticed was how cold it was, my ugg boots and north face were in full force. Goodbye 82 degree Athenian weather. We got to their flat (they are studying at Queen Mary College, which is about 15 minutes outside central London) at about 2:30. We talked for a bit, but very quickly passed out.
Friday: We all got up quite early to eat a true London breakfast. It was the closest thing to an American breakfast I had had in quite some time. I was served baked beans (yes a british breakfast), mushrooms, sausage, hash browns, and eggs. The Brits aren’t leading in the healthy food department. It was delicious though, and it was topped off with an espresso. After breakfast we went back to the flat, because Hannah and Kathryn had to do laundry, and sadly Austin had lab for an hour. Once everyone was done with what they had to do, we took the metro the central London, I was so excited. We got out at Westminster station. Westminster Abbey is one of my favorite places. It might go back to when my dad and I went there when I was very little and we set off all the alarms, but who knows. Sadly, the abbey had close at 3 and we got there at 3:20, I guess another trip to London is alr
eady in order. We then walked around Parliament, Big Ben, and then crossed the bridge to the side with the London Eye. Along the way, I got to pose in a traditional red phone booth, oh the tourist life. We decided to take the London Eye, which was wonderful. One rotation takes about 30 minutes, and it gives you a fantastic view of the entire city. However, once we had seen just about every bit of London we realized that we were super hungry. We then took the metro to the Victoria station to eat at a sushi restaurant called Yo Sushi! It is a chain and therefore not the best sushi ever by any means, but I hadn’t had sushi in over two months and I was in heaven. It is the kind of place where the sushi is put on a conveyor belt and each plate is a different color which represents a different price. I was grabbing eel left and right, it was glorious. While eating, we decided that we all wanted to go dancing, however this of course means planning on which club to go to. Austin, Hannah, Kathryn and I went back to the flat to regroup. We decided to just go i
nto central London and see where the night takes us. After some relaxation, we met up with a bunch of other Dukies studying in London (there are apparently around 20ish in the city this semester), and took the metro to Piccadilly Circus. After much wandering around (but hey, I got to see more of the city), we finally decided upon a club that was “underground.” Pleased that we had finally found a place, we all claimed a table and a place on the dance floor. The evening was a ton of fun. It was great seeing so many people. Around 3 am (yes, compared to Athens, London closes down super early, however I’m not complaining since I like my sleep) we decided it was time for sleep. Overwhelmingly tired, especially from dancing, we bused back to Queen Mary and quickly passed out. A great first full day.
Saturday: We woke up around 8:15 am and got ready for another filled day. We took the metro to central London in order to get tickets for a Billy Elliot performance that day. For those of you who don’t know, I have been wanting to see this musical for a very long time. This past year it won 10 Tonys, including best musical. However, since it is very popular the evening performance was sold out, so we bought tickets for the matinee instead. Since we had a couple hours to kill before the show, we talked to Buckingham Palace, and got food to picnic in St. James’s park. It was lovely. We then walked around the Buckingham Palace area for aw
hile, before heading back to the theater. Sadly, Austin could not join us because he had to finish a lab report, boo, therefore it was Hannah, Kathryn, and I who went to the show. IT WAS INCREDIBLE. I can’t even begin to tell you how talented the lead boy was, incredible. The dancing and choreography was splendid. Multiple times I was looking at the stage with my mouth open in awe. I totally recommend it to anyone who likes musicals. It also appeals to all ages. After the show we met up with some Duke friends who were also visiting London for the weekend, Allie and Adam (studying in Scotland and Barcelona) and headed for a quick tour of Harrods. After seeing the famous Egyptian rooms, we decided to go to a pub in Piccadilly Circus for dinner and drinks. We found a very nice pub a block from the main square, I got Klopenberg pear ale (soooo good), and a traditional Shepard’s pie sort of entrée. Yummy. After that we went back to the flat to hang out before passing out from another full and wonderful day.
Sunday: Was super packed. We woke up again around 8:15 am and took the metro to central London. However, half the metros were under construction that day so it took us about 2 hours to get to central London because we had to do a crazy combination of buses, metros and walking (good thing we woke up early). We stopped along the way to King’s Cross Station, so I could see PLATFORM 9 ¾. It was great, why can’t Harry Potter be real!? I ask that everyday
. After pretending I wasn’t a muggle, we continued on to the Tate Modern (the famous modern museum of London). As most of you know, I love love love art, and especially modern art (the kind that most people don’t get), so therefore the Tate Modern was heaven for me. I walked around for about 2 hours and soaked up the amazingness of the place. I honestly could spend all day there. I recommend the Tate to anyone who remotely likes a
rt when they visit London. I honestly thing it gives the run for the MOMA and could even beat it at times, no kidding. After some modern art, we decided to walk across the Millennium bridge (it is the bridge that breaks a part from the dementors
in the new Harry Potter movie), to St. Paul’s cathedral. First of all, the bridge is pretty cool. However, after it opened in 2000 I believe it was shut down for some years because it bounced too much, that problem has since been fixed. St. Paul’s is also very beautiful, I really liked the interior. It is where Prince Charles and Princess Diana were married. After walking around for a bit, we took the metro to the British museum. Most of you probably already know how incredible it is, or have heard about its reputation. It is this HUGE museum that basically covers the history of the entire world, it is really great. It has artifacts from just about every time period an from every corner of the glob. It is very famous for its Egyptian mummy collection. I however really enjoyed the off beat exhibits of India, Japan, and Africa. I thought they were especially interesting. HO
WEVER, as you probably know it is where the Elgin/Parthenon marbles are. If you haven’t heard about this controversy then well y
ou are probably living under a rock. If you haven’t, you should look it up, its pretty interesting. The marbles are in this stunningly beautiful room, so a part of me wants them to stay there. But now that I feel like an honorary Greek, I must say I think they should be in the New Acropolis museum, and I will stay with that side of the argument. But you can see why both cities want them, they are beautiful. Nothing beats them when it comes to Greek sculpture, nothing. It was funny however seeing so much Greek stuff in London. Anywho, after about three hours in the British museum, we headed back to their flat s
o that I could sadly pack my bags. We decided to meet up with a bunch of Dukies and get Indian food for dinner. I was super excited. The food was incredible, I have been craving ethnic food for so long. After a very good and filling dinner, Hannah, Kathryn, Austin and I headed to King’s Cross station in order for me to get a train to the airport. After a sad goodbye (however Austin and Kathryn are coming to Athens in November and I am super excited!), I was on the train to the airport. My flight was at 6:30 am though so I got to spend a lovely evening in the airport, woo hoo. It wa
sn’t that bad, actually. AND my flight landed just in time for me to be on time (with two minutes) to spare for my Greek class.
It was an incredible weekend overall. My friends were incredible hosts which just made the weekend that much better. And it was really great to see Duke friends while abroad.
Can’t wait to hear what everyone has been up to. Love comments J
Love,
Erin
be cooking/eating Italian, because he is Italian.
ghborhood Kolonaki, we went down the nicest street in the area called Skoufa. It is where all the hip bars and cafes are, along with the nicest designer stores. After our walk, we took a siesta before our evening fun. For dinner we went to a restaurant called Dionysos, one that my Greek teacher recommended. It was wonderful. It is a popular place for governmental events, because it has a stunning view of the Acropolis. So stunning. My favorite thing I got was octopus, soooo gooodd. After dinner we went back to the hotel and watched "My Life in Ruins," it is a horrible movie, but incredibly entertaining to watch for anyone who has ever been to Athens. Shows a lot of Greece, could even recognize particular streets!
e for drinks and the other for books. Although I'm not quite sure who could read there. At first, because the menus were in Greek I thought you could order a drink called "Dan Brown", however when I asked for it I quickly learned it was not a drink but rather the actual book. Oh well. After coffee we walked around the neighborhood some more before heading back to the hotel to relax for dinner. That night we went to a restaurant called Spondi (my cooking class teacher recommended it so I was sure it would be good). And I was right. It was incredible. It is sort of a fusion of international cuisine but presented in a uber-modern way. My favor
ite dish was the sea urchin served with a type of cucumber foam, amazzzzing. After dinner we went back to the hotel and watched a documentary on Valentino. Was really interesting, recommend it for anyone into fashion/fashion history and business.
alked my mom to the famous meat/seafood market, although I failed as a tour guide because the market had ended by the time we got there, that was a bit disappointing. We then went back to Kolonaki for lunch. We ate at a wonderful italian restaurant called Codice Blu. I think the winning entree was pasta win sea urchin. Yes, I am obviously obsessed with sea urchin lately, because it is sooo good. We then relaxed before heading out to a taverna for greek music and food. My mom got to experience a true Greek evening, which I was really happy about. Sadly people hadn't started dancing by the time we left (12:30 am on a Sunday night), so sadly my mom didn't get to see any greek dancing, although she heard greek music.
g lesson! We cooked an eggplant dip and lemon chicken (I posted the recipes already so check them out). After the lesson, we went back to the hotel the relax since it was our last night together in Athens.
n bunk beds with 6 people. However, it was super cool. We met people from all over the world in our room including two people from New Zealand who knew and have eaten at my favorite cafe in Wellington! super cool.
sty snacks and tea to eat in the park before heading off on our first adventure. Orkun has basically planned out our entire weekend, it was incredible. He walked us to the main port where we walked through the spice bazaar. I have never ever seen so many spices in my life in one place. He also bought us a finely cured turkish meat that was beyond delicious. Before getting on a boat to get a tour of the Bosphorus we walked by a mosque while they were calling people to prayer. Before you enter the mosque the men wash their hands and feet so that they are cleansed before entering the sacred place. We then hoped on a boat for a lovely hourish rid
e along the water. Istanbul is beautiful, we passed many palaces and venetian walls along our way. Incredible. After the ride we took a walking tour of the city. Along the way we stopped at beautiful mosques, cafes to drink traditional turkish tea, and to listen to street musicians. We even played a shooting game with a bb gun where you aim to hit balloons some feet in front of you. First time I have ever held anything that slightly resembles a gun. Quite scare actually. Orkun told us we were walking towards his favorite street vendor that sells "special baked potatoes" and he was right. This vendor sells baked potatoes with ju
st about every traditional Turkish condiment known to man. If Anthony Bourdain ever comes to Turkey (will have to check if he has), I bet, hands down, that he would go to this place. It was incredibly yummy. So good. After our baked potato adventure, we taxied back to the downtown area called Takism (not sure on the spelling), where we went to a hookah bar and got traditional tea. Now one of the great things about Istanbul that at all the bars everyone is playing backgammon. I was taught the rules when I was a little girl, so after a refresher course from Orkun I was h
ooked. Playing backgammon at a hookah bar while sipping tea in Istanbul is not a bad deal. After relaxing for a bit we went to a rooftop bar that looked down upon the busy cities, it as wonderful. The place played British tec/pop that added a lot to the funky atmosphere. However, we were exhausted shortly after we passed out at our hostel.
o (the only thing that beats it is St. Peter's and just just barely in my opinion). For those of you ho don't know Hagia Sophia is a fascinating place because in its history it has been both a mosque and a held under Christian rule, so you can see inscription of Allah next to mosaics of Jesus Christ, fascinating. The Hagia Sophia is honestly something you can't describe and photos barely do it any justice. We then went to the Underground Cistern, which are also wonderful. You walk down these stairs and then all of a sudden you are in this spooky, cool, beautiful walkway surrounded by columns glowing with red lights. After the walk we decided it was time for lunch. We decided to get the cheapest gyro like concoction we could find, and luckily it was quite good. We were then on our way to the famous Blue Mosque. Before entering all women have to make sure they are conservatively dressed, if not they hand out long scarves to c
over yourself at the door. The mosque is stunning, it is covered in beautiful, intricate tile designs. We decided to sit in the corner and watch the men pray, it was fascinating and a beautiful tradition to witness. However, the women have to pray in the back of the mosque away from the men (they are even put behind the tourists walking around), I know it is tradition but a bit unsettling, but nonetheless deep tradition. After watching for quite some time, we decided to head the the also famous Grand Bazaar. It is the largest bazaar in the entire world. We were totally taken aback my the atmosphere. I personally was just looking for a nice little memento of Istanbul, however, Emily was o
n a mission to get a hooka. Luckily for us, after talking to millions of people, and looking at billions of shops. We all got nice pashminas, and Emily was successful at finding a nice and affordable hookah. Exhausted, we went back to the hostel to rest before going out again to the downtown area. At around 10ish, we headed back to Takism, the place we had gone for drinks the night before. We decided to walk into the first bar that had a rooftop area, and it just so happened that we walked into an American themed bar, oh well. While there we met two college students who were studying in Istanbul (one was an NYU student who was studying abroad and the other was Turkish studying at a local university), we also met up with some guys who were also visiting Istanbul from our program. The evening was a lot of fun and relaxing.
to be beautiful. The first thing we did was walk about the main square to get a feel for the island. We then decided to take a carriage ride to see most of the island. The carriage ride was beautiful, and we some some amazing summer homes. Halfway through the ride, we stopped at the bottom of a hill in order for the horse to take a bit of a break. While waiting, we decided to climb up the hill to a beautiful church located at the very top. The climb was quite exhausting but well worth the trip. The church was extremely beautiful. Inside I also learned another thing about Turkish culture. A woman and a few young girls were going around the church giving people chocolate, apparently in sacred spaces in Turkey you share sweets with those around you. I think that is an amazing tradition. After walking around for a bit, we walked back down to our horse carriage to take us back to the main square. Sadly, by the time we returned it was time for us to catch the ferry back. However, my roommates were really excited to visit the continent of Asia (hal
f of Istanbul is European and the other is Turkish), so we got off the boat a bit early to have dinner in Asia. Orkun took us to an amazing restaurant so we could have traditional Turkish kebob. It was amazzzzing. After dinner, we took a taxi back to the port to boat back to Taksim for our last evening. Orkun took us to our favorite hookah/tea/backgammon place for the last time. Sadly, after hanging out for an hour (and sort of beating Orkun at backgammon, with a bit of coaching), Orkun sadly had to say goodbye (he had to go back to his university for classes the next day). After Orkun left, we went back to the hostel to get sleep before a 5am wakeup call to catch our plane back.
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