Birthday in Mykonos

After waking up at noon, we decided to go to the beach again around 2PM. It was a slow start but we knew we were in for a long night. We then headed over to Mykonos Town for a souvlaki pita at Jimmy's. It was only 2.50Euros and had such fresh tzatziki sauce and even had a few french fries stuck in there. We walked around some of the higher end shops and stopped to watch one of the football matches being broadcast. We knew Greece was playing in the evening and wanted to plan dinner so we could watch and eat at the same time.

Unfortunately, when we went to Atlandida for dinner, there was no TV in the dining area! But because we love the food there so much, we just got up periodically to check out the screen in the hotel lobby. This time we ordered a Greek Salad, some grilled xoloumi cheese, grilled calamari, and some spaghetti with mussels. To drink, we ordered a 16Euro bottle of red wine. All of a sudden, we hear banging, music, and see sparks coming out of the kitchen. We had NO IDEA it was for my birthday but it was. I don't think we've paid for one dessert or shot on this island and we've received so many! The waiter left us 1/4 bottle of Greek cinnamon spirit similar to Ouzo, too. We couldn't even finish our wine! But we had to catch the midnight bus into Mykonos Town to continue the party...

T&M surprised me by paying for all my drinks and cab fare for the night! We ended up at Scandanavian Bar first because we got free shots coupons, but it was not too happening when we first appeared. T&I did spot a ridiculously good-looking bartender on the far side of the bar. We decided we had to come back. We then went to Bar Down Under for more free shots, courtesy of the guy who showed us where it was. He was working for Jacuzzi, which was down the street and he was nice enough to show us into another bar! Oh Greeks! These Albanian guys then start dancing with us. They kind of reminded me of "A Night at the Roxbury" starring Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan. They bought us shots, of course, but then the bar scene quickly fizzled. We convinced them to go back to Scandanavian Bar, so they followed. Fortunately, the bouncer wouldn't let them in! We were getting tired of them, since we didn't really want to dance with them and one had taken a liking to M (he also had bad BO). We just needed to separate. Of course T&I decide we NEED to be at the far end of the bar where the hot bartender was. We find out his name is SPIROS and he is 28. He was so good at his job and serious! When Kristian told us about Greek God Adonis-type of men on Mykonos, he must have been talking about guys like Spiros! Of course, he served me a shot for my bday... they love shots here. After heading out of Scandanavian Bar, we run into Thasos, our waiter from the night before. He takes us to this other bar, which was totally a gay bar. He told us he was engaged to a girl, yet he hangs out at a gay bar?! Our other waiter from the octopus place was there, too! It must be the thing to do for straight males in Greece... Case in point, even though we were at a gay bar, the guys there were more aggressive with us than anywhere else we've ever been!! I don't think we were there for very long, but the time we headed for a taxi was around 4AM. Mykonos lived up to its partying reputation and now we are spent... Back to Athens tomorrow :(

Beach Day in Mykonos

After getting settled into our hotel room in Platis Yialos-Mykonos, we ventured off to our first beach day of vacation! Greek hospitality is something special. Our host, Irene, was so helpful and available to us 24/7. Our little studio apartment had a veranda, where we found ourselves checking our email, relaxing, and girl-talking. We felt like the only inhabitants of this amazing island.

The restaurant next door, Atlantida, helped us get great umbrella-covered seats on the beach. They were great until some college students from Long Island sat next to us. There were these chubby Australian girls trying to hit on them. They asked if the boys had seen the Parthenon and the one guy, who reminded us of a classmate at school, said "after seeing the Vatican, I was not so impressed." Sad, but true! The girls were also asking them about the Jersey Shore and if people really do drink out of kegs and red plastic cups. Anyway, we still had a nice time getting tan and skipping meals. We have adjusted now to 4PM lunch and 10PM dinner, no breakfast. M, the perpetual grazer, always had a snack or a Coca-cola Classic by her side.

When we finally got hungry, we hopped on a bus to get to Mykonos Town. Irene had suggested a fish place that her friend owns. When we got there, it was closed until dinner, but we wanted to see the menu anyway. The guy who was there led us into the restaurant and started opening huge metal drawers full of fresh fish on ice! T said "no, no, no, a menu" and he said "this is our menu!" It was so exciting, but we couldn't eat there because of the time :( We settled on a restaurant with a view of the water and had another Greek salad and grilled octopus (finally!). We watched the kitties go by and even saw a pelican that T described as a "bird-rock" at first. Because it was so still and big, she didn't think it was a real animal! Neither did we, until we got a closer look.

After souvenir shopping and meeting a clown who made us balloon animals (T had a well-endowed blue bear; another tidbit, the clown was designing a submarine on his spare time), we watched the sunset near the windmills at a restaurant called Caprice. They served our wine in an ice bucket filled with flowers and basil. It was the perfect setting for the sunset. We then headed back to Esperides Apartments and to a restaurant called Avli. There, we met a nice waiter named Thasos, who was only the third of many waiters who gave us free dessert shots with our meal. This time, T had some lovely baked mussels, M had a Moussaka, and I had grilled sardines. We went home and went to bed, since we knew the next day was going to be our marathon party day to celebrate my bday!

Greece Is Great! (Just not Athens)

After a long day of traveling from Lisbon to Rome to Athens, we arrive at the Art Hotel. Did we mention it cost us a $60 cab ride from the airport? Sheesh. Even though we traveled all day, T&I thought it would be a good idea to check out a bar in the area and have a drink with the Greeks. M was too tired and was all about staying in and reading email. So on we went towards the nearest square. Wow, we were not expecting Athens to be so GHETTO. It smelled like urine, but we weren't sure if it were the lamp posts or some of the sketchy people. At one point, T&I stopped speaking to each other, because it was just so scary. One guy had a unibrow, a dirty face, no shoes, and smelled like pee. When Sergio from Lisbon mentioned "sh*t people" he probably meant some of the sketchballs in our neighborhood. But of course, this isn't all of Athens, and it is otherwise an exciting, historic and interesting city. But even the locals will tell you it is not the safest or most aesthetically pleasing, especially at night in our area. When we got back, with no drink in our belly, T described the scene to Marisa as "the outskirts of hell."

In the morning, we had a decent and FREE breakfast at the hotel. Ok, it was a big deal to even have breakfast in Europe, and to wake up early enough for it. Even though our hotel recommended us to take the Metro to the Acropolis, we decided to walk. We were excited to add another historical site to our list of sightseeing we've done (and that they kept getting OLDER!), but the Acropolis is simply a shell of what it should be. After viewing pictures, M's dad said he was surprised at how "run down" the Parthenon was. Some of the statues were still marvelous, but overall, having seen the preservation of Sintra's Moorish castle and Pena Palace, it was kind of a let-down. But it was still a great experience and I am grateful to have seen it and the views from it.

After a day of sightseeing in Athens, we got on our ferry to Mykonos! On the boat, we half-slept and half-watched the football match between New Zealand and Italy. When we got to our stop, our hostess Irene was waiting for us. She is just GREAT. She recommended a nearby restaurant and we had our first Greek salad! T also ordered the chicken souvlaki platter, M got the grilled sardines, and I had some lamb in lemon sauce. A wonderful end to a long two days of traveling! xoxo from Greece!

Last Day in Lisbon :(

Just when we were beginning to feel like locals, we had come to the realization that our Portuguese vacay was coming to an end. So of course we get up at noon to begin our day at an Italian restaurant where we meet real locals. Our goal for the day was to find a friendly spot to watch the USA-Slovenia World Cup match. After brainstorming with a local couple, they suggest the Hard Rock Cafe, a slice of America around the corner! We thought it was a brilliant idea and headed over. The drinks were unfortunately American prices. Boo. But we only drank one drink each because we were so into the excitement!

After the match, we headed to the Baixa neighborhood for shopping. Although there wasn't a Desigual, we found a cheap H&M and Mango. We then proceeded to a mediocre dinner at Portvgalia although the seafood platter LOOKED great. To make ourselves feel better, we went to Pasteis de Belem again for hot custard treats :)

After scoping out some party areas, we decided to go back to the Bairro Alto and see our friends Kristian and Sergio again at Fieis Aos Copos. We had an AMAZING muddled cocktail that consisted of fresh strawberries, sugar, vodka, and a flavored black vodka called Eristoff. Simply put, it was the best mixed drink on our trip and cost a third of what it would in the States. We were sad to say bye to all the great people we met (including Charles from Kansas City but lives in Madrid and travels on his own during the weekend). But it was nice to know Greece was waiting for us!

M Joins the Trip of a Lifetime! And then what?!

At 7:30am, M joins us in Lisbon! I knew she was here because the police car was beeping at her taxi. After letting her in, we all went back to bed because M had no sleep on her red-eye and T & I had been accustomed to waking up around noon.

Once we woke, we spent the rest of the day touring the city of Belem. Belem is the home of the Monastary of Jeronymos and President of Portugal! We had a light Italian lunch on the pier next to the Monument to the Discoveries. We had our best Sangria ever there. We then proceeded to the Monastary to see the Tomb of explorer Vasco da Gama! That was so surreal.

We also got a snack at the famous Pasteis de Belem, established in 1837! It was a pastry shop whose recipe for custard cups has been guarded by the monks who began making them for income almost 200 years ago. It was such a treat and we recommend it to anyone visiting Lisbon. Even T, who is not into pastries, truly enjoyed this flaky, crunchy, savory dessert.

We then went back to the city to the Port Wine Institute, which was established in 1756. You could taste over 300 port wines here between 1-22 euro! But they didn't tell you much about the wines. Wine was followed up by the famous roast chicken at Bonjardim restaurant and a night out at Bairro Alto, where we were becoming regulars...

Falling for Lisbon... Literally

Despite the title, this post is about a town outside of Lisbon called Sintra. Sintra is where former kings and queens of Portugal resided so they would be far away from the city. We had to take a 40 minute train to the town, but it was totally worth it (less than 4 euro round trip!) for all the history and scenery.

Anyway, one of the most interesting shops in Sintra was a store called Bar Binho, which was just off the first bus stop. We were intrigued by their huge selection of Ports and wine (including bottles from the 1800's!) and the pair of Russian women who were buying many bottles. Some of them were in the hundreds of Euros! After tasting some ginginjha (cherry liqueur popular in Lisbon) in a cup of chocolate for 1 Euro, the shopkeeper allowed us to taste 3 different ports: a white, a tawny and a ruby. He then casually mentioned that he is a knight. YES A KNIGHT!

T & I then proceeded to the Moorish castle, believed to be built between the 9th and 10th centuries by the Arabs who once conquered Portugal. Despite the name, it was more like a fort to see if invaders were bound to attack. It was the highest point we could see in the area, so when we got up to the top, we could see so much of the country.

After the castle, we visited the lovely Pena Palace. This was where true royalty lived until they were driven away. So much beautiful art, tiles, furniture. We got to see how Portuguese royalty once lived during the Age of Exploration. However, it took FOREVER to get out of the compound. Every destination involved a hike through a path. We could not figure out the path to get back down to the entrance. I fell for the second time in two days on the way out. It was as if i was skating on a rock. Minor scratches. The first fall was in the city and down some marble staircases. Did we mention all the streets are made of marble here?! I began to wear tennis shoes after that first one. After a few wrong twists and turns, we finally found PEOPLE in this FOREST. They were a trio of German tourists who looked like they were their 50's... until the man said he had a son who was 53 years old!! T could not get over this. We were walking with 70 year olds and it was so hard to keep up with their speed.

When we got back to the city after a long day sightseeing, we went into a restaurant for some seafood. You know a place is gonna be good when the host is wearing a shirt that says "free cock rides." After a trip to the WC, he pulls me aside to ask if T & I are just friends, to which I said yes. He says "you never know anymore, because of all the stuff you see on TV" and asked me for a kiss on the cheek. T & I are always giving kisses on the cheek here (gross but could be grosser). When I asked for a pic with him (because I wanted to remember his shirt), his hand was cupping my a$$! T was taking her sweet time taking the photo, as I tried to wiggle out, because she did not know the situation. We proceeded home pretty soon afterwards because it was a long day of hiking (unintentional) and sightseeing. Also, M would be here at 6am the next morning! Yay!

After 3 Hours of Sleep... onto Portugal!!

Of course our last night in Barcelona ended around 5AM and we had to wake up at 8AM for a flight to Lisbon, or Lisboa as they say in Portugal. Our flight was scheduled to come in at noon, which gave us a lot of time to watch the 3PM football (yes, football!) match between Portugal (Christiano Ronaldo... swoooon) and Cote d'Ivoire... or so we thought. But more about that later...Our contact for the apartment was prompt, but a little too speedy. He also mentioned that our water would be out of commission until 3PM, but you never know. "With the Brazilian guy" you never know, but we were given an emergency number to call Miguel, if there were any issues. Anyway, the apartment is really cute, basic and in a quiet neighborhood. There are some amazing buildings here and some even worth listing on Sotheby's. But who will buy them?! We are right above the Bairro Alto in Principe Real, and just a nice walk away from Rossio Placa, which is our favorite local landmark.

So we had a nice lunch in the Lisbon version of Restaurant Row. T had a chicken stew of some sort and I had some roast pork chops, but only the dark meat! My favorite type of meat... dark! We sat with a pair of sisters originally from Mozambique and a friend from Brazil. We asked where we could watch the game and they recommended the Docas, where there were many higher end bars on the water. I guess Docas means docks, so you can imagine how great it could be. They also said the fare on the taxi would be around 7 euro, so we got on a taxi and said "Docas, por favor!" Well there was some miscommunication or SOMETHING because T&I ended up at a train stop called SANTOS, where the driver told us to go to a bridge and we will find the Docas. Oh, this was all in Portuguese, so we have no idea what he actually said. Not knowing ANYTHING about the area, we trusted him, but also thought it was suspicious that our fare was only $3.50. So, we started walking and figured the overpass to get on the other side of the tracks was our "bridge." We kept walking along the pier to find a lot of empty buildings and construction. The sun was just shining so bright and there were no clouds in the sky, so it was pretty warm for us, too. T decided to approach a construction worker about where the docas is, they said just keep going. There was a bridge about 2 miles away, which looked like the Golden Gate Bridge in SF, and they kept telling us to head towards there, where we'd see a white building, again in Portuguese, so we have no real idea. We walked a few more meters (since we're in Europe) and found huge cargo and branded freight and thought "this cannot be right." Pushing forward, we continued walking where we found some business people watching the match stoicly in office lobbies with a big screen. Finally, an English speaking guy around our age emerged and helped us truly understand where the Docas was, clearly below the bridge that was 2 miles away (or about 3.2 km in Euro-speak) from where we started walking. We still have no idea why the taxi driver dropped us off so soon! So we got there, and people were just as stoic at the bars as they were at the offices, of course except for the teenagers that were sitting near us. At least they added some life to the crowd. It was a pretty uneventful match, but it was still cool to root for Portugal among the Portuguese in Portugal.

After the game, we went back to our neighborhood where we watched the Brazil match at a bar called Portas Largas in the Bairro Alto. It definitely had a Brazilian mood, so people were being rowdy (look at me stereotyping like a local!). It was a much more entertaining match anyway. We continued our night at a bar I can't remember, but the guy who was trying to get the crowd going was named Christian. Half-serbian/half-german and able to speak in about 7 languages, he epitomized super European male. Oh, and he was about 7 feet tall! An aspiring model, he moved to Lisbon "for love" but now he really likes working and living here. He was really great at giving us the low-down on what to do or see in Lisbon, so it was definitely great to meet him on the first night. The bartender Sergio was just a beautiful man, but he was shy I suspect because his English was not as good as Christian's. We asked him where to go for good Portuguese food and he started raving about his hometown Evora as if it was the best place on earth. "I've traveled to Spain, France, Africa, everywhere and all their food is SH*T compared to Portugal!" He compares a lot of things to sh*t. For some reason, it is just so cute when he says it!

Don't worry, be happy

The third and fourth days in Barcelona were better than the rest simply because we checked into the Hotel Pulitzer, a boutique hotel that made us feel like we were living in a modern art museum (as t describes it) or a crate and barrel (as I describe it). It smelled awesome everywhere, there's a rooftop bar, it was very affordable and right on la Placa de Catalyuna.

The third day we of course walked everywhere. It was officially Gaudi day for us so we went to see two of his sites: La Padrera and Casa Battlo. To be fair we only saw the Casa from the outside. It was also tapas day for us! I ate some clams, veal, and grilled calamari. We drank more sangria and cava. For dinner we decided to go back to La Fonda for their great paella and prices! This trip was special not only because it was just as good the second time but because we met a cute old irish couple from Cork. After chatting them up, we got up to leave. As we were walking to the staircase I noticed Macaulay Culkin sitting at a table right next to us on the way out. I tap T on the shoulder and try to mumble "macaulay culkin" and of course she said "what????". By the time she understood, she could only see the back of his head.

We went onto the Harlem Jazz Club, which was great. The percussionist was somewhat of the beatboxer and the band was from Cuba. T kept calling one of them Bobby McFerrin. After some great live music, we ventured back out to La Rambla to get home. That's when two of our waiters at LaFonda call out to us! Of course I had to verify with them that it was in fact the Mac at the restaurant, and they said "si, si, actor American!" and showed us pics they took with him on their camera phone... So it was a true celebrity sighting in Spain. We went to a Brazilian bar with them called Sugar and called it a night...

Day 4 was spent seeing our last Gaudi stop La Segrada Familia. We didn't end up paying to get in. We also tried arroz Negro (black squid ink rice) and went to a moules frites place called la muscleteria. The biggest thing we did that day was buy fabulous sandals! Apparently my size 35 foot is too small for Spanish shoes but I made myself fit into some 36-es. Best shoes ever in Spain. We spent the night at a random bar called Obama (true story) which had a great cover singer names Mel, also from Cuba. he was really into Dave Matthews, Thom Yorke, and Paul McCartney, but he did a Rick James song too! Of course the night came full circle when he asked T to sing a Celia Cruz song with him followed by "Don't Worry, Be Happy". Don't worry, I caught it on tape!

Getting to know Barcelona

Wow, Barcelona is crazy. We spent the first two of four nights at a 2-star (american zero star) hotel in La Rambla. It was a great location for getting to know the city, but it was sketchy for that location. La Rambla is a great artery for visiting historic sites, but people seem to want to sell you something all the time. And the guys walking around making baby or animal noises were not cute. The front desk recommended a great restaurant (cheap, too!) called La Fonda, but they made us wait in line! Dinner here happens after 9pm. The Paella was great; T&I decided to make paella our regular meal for dinner.

Anyway T's friend A met up with us and explored the city with us. He was great, but as soon as he left us, we found ourselves going into cute stores and spending $$$. We were glad he was there to keep us from spending more. We spent our second day walking to the Boqueria, cathedral of Barcelona and the Picasso museum. Most of the time was spent walking, sitting in the park, people watching, and eating. I had some fried calamari for "breakfast" one morning and a jamon serrano baguette for lunch (around 4PM). That "morning", T & I got up at 1PM. We then went to the W all the way at the end of the pier in Barceloneta. We only saw the beach at night, but it was still nice and people were there making out. There are couples making out all over the place. I am so prude. But my heart warms up when I see old couples holding hands.


After the W, the bartender and hostess recommended a club that locals go to called La Terrazza. It was amazing. It was in the "Disney World" of nightclub compounds and described itself as an "atmospherical fun club." I can't remember all the quirky things that happened, but we gave one girl the nickname "Courtney Love".

London!

We spent less than 24 hours in London but were able to see sights such as Big Ben, the London Eye, trafalgar square (from a double decker bus), Westminster Abbey (from afar) and met up with dear friend and 2009 grad J; he showed us around Camden Town where he lives. Besides the double-decker, T & I got to ride the Heathrow Express, the Tube, and an authentic British taxi. Our accomodations were near the Marble Arch but unfortunately we could not eat any of the Middle Eastern food, which was plentiful in the area.

J took us to a fancy burger joint where I feasted on duck breast and T had a spicy chicken with goat cheese sandwich. After we left J's hood, we visited a few pubs. I think one was the Victory and the other was the Duke of York. The Aussi bartenders at the Duke let us try the weird chicken teriyaki chips (or crisps as they call them in London; the Aussies called them chips) and we ordered the infamous PIMM's drink! It is sort of like a sangria, but made of a British liquor, lemonade and fruit, including cucumber. London exceeded expectations despite the crappy weather and outrageous costs of everything.

Anyway, public transportation has been very quiet. No one talks to each other. Very civilized and way different from JFK where kids ran around screaming everywhere. T witnessed a man snap at and scold his wife and I witnessed a woman breastfeed her child in the open (the offensive part is that she left her breast out after the baby was done). BUT the highlight of JFK, despite the 4 hour delay, was seeing my friend and former co-worker L waiting for the same flight!! Her love of all things Bon Jovi perhaps made this encounter happen. So happy to hear she left the industry as well and happy that she is happy :)

But we've made our way out of London and are now in Barcelona after a two-hour stop-over in Milan-Malpensa. Let me tell you, the European airports are amazing. You cannot even get to your gate in Milan without entering a duty-free.

Introduction and Itinerary

It's about midnight on Wednesday, June 9 and I (S) am finishing my packing. Why not procrastinate by starting this blog??

Anyway, just a bit about the travelers/bloggers. We (M, T and S) are all graduates of the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University (GO BIG RED) and have decided to take a 2-week "honeymoon" trip after going through 2 years of MBA boot camp together (hence, the name JohnsonHoneymooners).

T&S will be in London, UK June 10-11; Barcelona, Spain June 11-15; Lisbon, Portugal June 15-19; M will meet us in Lisbon on the 17th!!; The 3 of us head to Athens, Greece June 19; Mykonos, Greece June 20-22; M stays in Mykonos and meets her friend to continue island hopping eventually to France; T&S head back to Athens 6/23; Fly back to JFK via LHR 6/24.

Stay tuned for pics!! :)