Katro: Giving the US a latro

A few days after I returned from Greece, I set off for a relaxing and fun week in Honolulu, on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. More to come soon!

I’m surprised I haven’t made any lists yet on this blog! Here are some of my observations from when I got home after nearly a month in Europe. I’m way behind on my blog but still wanted to share things I’ve been keeping mental (and written) notes about since then.

Things I Love About Being Home

• My wonderful family
• Our shower that passes the 10-point inspection Alyssa and I used to assess the shower in each new hotel we checked into
• My super comfortable bed
• Flushing toilet paper down the toilet (Greece’s sewer system couldn’t handle it)
• Mexican food, real salads with lettuce, and edible scrambled eggs
• The mountains and monsoons of the desert
• Having more than 7 shirts to wear
• Using a washing machine

Things I Miss About Europe

• Seeing a new site or town each day
• My travel friends
• Walking everywhere
• Being in bustling big cities and cute small towns
• Lemonade Fanta, Magic double caramel ice cream bars, Fun Fun yogurt (it was made for kids but came with a plastic spoon so we didn’t feel as silly buying it)
• Tsaziki, stuffed vine leaves, and mousaka (a trip to Opa! is in order already!)
• Eating gelato or ice cream practically every day (we blamed the heat)
• The sense of adventure we felt whenever we went exploring
• Being near an ocean and the spectacular views we saw
• Eating most of our meals outside
• The lack of large parking lots

Things That Seem Weird About Being Home

• Having more than 2 English television channels
• Driving in a car (as opposed to larger vehicles such as buses, trains, and ferries)

I think that’s it. Looking over this, I can say that I’m definitely re-accustomed to being back now!

I had a relaxing few days at home after Greece before leaving for my next adventure (more about that soon!), but I somehow managed to get pretty behind on blogging. I still need to upload pictures from Athens, but the Internet is kind of slow so words will have to do for now!

Our last day in Athens was fun and relaxing. My roommate and I repacked in the morning so she could get ready for her afternoon flight and I could check into my new room for the night with the other two girls who were staying until the following morning. Then we set out with the others for lunch, enjoying our last gyros of the trip in one of the squares by our hotel. Our lunch was completed by going to a nearby gelato shop that had the best gelato of our trip. It was incredible! The others had been there before and told me how great it was, but I had to taste for myself. I had the amareno flavor, which was a creamy vanilla with real cherries in it. Yummy!

After that, we wandered through the nearby Greek flea market to pick up souvenirs and spend the rest of our euros. After a quick trip to the supermarket, we went back to the hotel to relax (and nap!) for a bit while everything was closed in the afternoon. Then the three of us wandered around to find dinner, ending up at a sandwich cafe right near the gyro place from lunch but passing through neat roads filled with upscale shops on the way. Then we hung out in the room for a bit before one final visit to the gamer Internet cafe and then bed!

I woke up at 3:30 am Athens time (5:30 pm the night before in Tucson) to take a cab and then bus to the airport for my 8:15 am flight to London. I slept on most of my first two flights, but sometime around the four hour mark going from London to Dallas I got really restless and couldn’t find a good position to sleep. I watched the movie being showed, wrote in my travel journal a little, and somehow made it to landing in Dallas. Then I knew I was close to home since most of my trip was over.

I got even more excited when the pilot of my Dallas to Tucson flight announced the flight time of one hour and 45 minutes. I don’t remember much of that time because I was asleep from just after takeoff to right before we landed, but I knew it was short! It was awesome seeing the UA, downtown, and A Mountain as we circled down to land. The pretty yellow sunset and small raindrops on the window as we taxied to the airport were just as comforting as the flight attendant saying “Welcome home” over the speakers. I was reunited with my family, we stopped at Beyond Bread for dinner, and it felt great to be home :-)