Setting Sail

After leaving Oxford early Saturday morning, we flew out of London Heathrow to Athens. Upon arriving in Athens, we immediately boarded an overnight ferry at the port of Piraeus to the island of Crete. The 'Knossos Palace' was a large ship and felt like a small cruise-liner. We had our first Greek salads, drank retsina (a Greek white, resinated wine//a 2000 year tradition) on the deck, and acted giddy and glad to be on a ship in the middle of the sea on our way to a Grecian adventure.

I could have stood against the railing of the ship, staring at the rushing wakes of the boat or looking up at the constellations while the wind grazed my face all night long...

...and I nearly did.

Aloof

Well, I really have tried to "escape" while traveling the continent for these last fifteen days. It's been pretty wonderful, actually. I've been able to send dearest Mama Liz some iMessages and shoot a few special people emails, but for the most part I have tried to keep my phone on airplane mode and just be as immersed as possible in what I am doing.

I do regret not blogging, though...only because now catching you all up (and my future, nostalgic self) is rather daunting. But, I don't regret it too much because, let me tell you, I am having the utter time of my life. I wake up some mornings not homesick but "peoplesick," but then I remember how fleeting my time abroad is and I am ready to take on the new day in a new place. This has been a quick whirlwind of a dream, but, at the same time, I feel like I have been away for months and months.

Now, I will do my best to post a few, quick tid-bits about what I have been up to in the stellar countries of Greece + Turkey and be better about posting from now on!