Counting Sunsets

August 18, 2019

As I watched the sun set on my balcony tonight I began to realize how few sunsets I have left in my future.  As the second half of August closes in, the number of sunsets from my Athenian balcony also closes in.  In September, I will return to the US, exactly one year to the day that I left.  (I swear I didn’t do it on purpose, that was just the cheapest ticket.)  My brain has been far too fried to write proper blog posts, probably from spending over four months in direct sunlight (i.e. digging all the time and running/driving around Italy like a crazy person in between), and frankly there are too many memories and crazy stories to choose from.  Instead, for now, I’ll just include a list of silly (mis-)adventures and memories from this past year from my many travels and life abroad. 

Chasing sunsets with my cousins - and I mean literally chasing! Sprinting through 50mph winds and rain to watch the sunset from the port with my cousins in Naxos, then convincing them not to run through the waves whipping over the pier (you’re welcome, Aunt Marti). 

Sprinting from the car to take pictures of amazing landscapes during the epic cousin road trip in northern Greece. It was freezing so when we saw a photo op I’d stop the car, we’d run to take pictures, then run back before we felt the cold.  I don’t remember the cold, I only remember the fun and the photos, so it must’ve worked.

Narrowly missing getting a parking ticket in Thessaloniki.  And by narrowly, I mean about 10 seconds and adding a smattering of “please don’t give me a ticket, look I can speak a little Greek!” to help avoid paying. 

Randomly meeting a classmate from UW Madison my art history courses in the Mercado da Ribeira in Lisbon, then wandering around Lisbon with a new (old?) friend.  (I knew he looked familiar!  I never forget a face.) 

Missing my flight in Rome Ciampino (because I was in the wrong damn line – why is Ciampino one giant cattle barn?), buying a new one and waiting six hours, and then getting selfies air dropped from a young stranger next to me, the first of which was an innocent head shot, the second of which was him naked, drunk, on a toilet.  Did not accept.  (Shout out to my excavation little sister for helping me realize that the dufus was air dropping the photos and that it wasn’t just some weird WhatsApp feature that I couldn’t figure out how to turn off.)

Bonding with my excavation little sister while entering data.

Always knowing when the Greeks were winning a soccer game from all the yelling from the plateia next to my apartment. 

Eating a Greek salad every day during the Posse trip.

The secret beach (I’m never giving up its location!) in the Mani Peninsula that came fully loaded - a shade cave, crystal clear waters, and huge rocks to jump off of.  Paradise. 

Randomly deciding to get on a boat that pulled up to the red beach in Santorini that was offering rides to the black beach for ten euros… then getting stuck on said boat when the engine died… A two-hour tour for ten euros – not bad!

Convincing four friends (goobers) to join me for a granita festival in Sicily.  Who knew it wouldn’t take much convincing?

Driving along a windy coast with my crew of granita goobers on the way to the granita festival, watching the sun set over the Aeolian islands, but trying really hard to NOT watch the sun set over the Aeolian islands (no accidents, I promise).

Getting locked out of our apartment during the granita weekend thanks to a swift gust of wind.  Guess one of us should have had keys… or a phone… whoops.  Good thing one of our goobers took a flying leap from a ledge to the balcony to get back into the apartment.

Feeling like I was going to get the rental car stuck in Bronte on the slopes of Our Lady Etna on the way back from granita weekend, but knowing that I wouldn’t thanks to a fellow goober’s guidance.

Pistacchio gelato at Bar Sport in Bronte with the goobers.  Oh. My. God.  So. Good.

Finally finishing the well!  Well… sort of…

Not having another “Uvu l’uvu” day this year.  You’re all welcome.

Beaches in Puglia.

Beaches in Basilicata.

Beaches in Calabria…. Milos… Santorini… the Mani… just a lot of amazing beaches…

But seriously – Polignano al Mare – that beach is gorgeous (and literally in a gorge – bah ha ha ha… sorry…).

Driving to the site of Cannae, only to find that it’s closed, despite trying to convince the one lone guard to let us in (i.e. by being a proper Midwesterner and being so nice in order to make him felt guilty about not letting us in after the LOONG way we’d come to see the site…), but failing.  THEN driving to another random site, finding it closed, calling the phone number posted there only to have a guard arrive in five minutes who opens up the site, museum, gives us a tour, and then offers to take us to a normally closed tomb site under the school.  Puglia works in mysterious ways, my friends.

Getting basically a private tour from a guard in the Crotone museum who had excavated half the stuff in there, who later let us take photos with replicas of crowns and helmets from the sites.

Not having the proper location for our first Puglia AirBnB on the map (the location given was in the middle of a field), and instead calling our hosts dad so that we could follow him to our glorious home-for-one-night with a trullo, a lavender garden surrounding us, and a view of the Castel del Monte. 

Finding magic pizza in a town neighboring our first Puglia home after a long day of driving.

Finding magic pizza in Licata, Sicily, also after a long day of driving and managing not to get eaten by a threatening town dog.

Going to the Bohemia, i.e. the homeland, with my mom for the 150th anniversary of our ancestors emigrating to Wisconsin.  Then having everyone speak to us in Czech but only being able to respond on a spectrum somewhere between Polish and Czech, but never fully one or the other and Czech-Polish equilibrium changing slightly every time.  Hopefully no one noticed (everyone noticed).

Bathing in a mint mineral bath in a Soviet-esque “spa” (loosely used term) in western Bohemia, after the “nurse” (another loosely used term) stares you down as you strip off your clothes and get into the tub.  Not weird at all.  Later she wraps you up like a burrito in a large towel for your ten minutes of “relax” time after she’s stared you down, once again, as your get out of the weird metal tub thing naked.  Again, not weird at all.  Plus side?  Being minty fresh all day.

Not having your hostel host show up to check you in on New Year’s Eve in Prague (despite numerous calls and waiting FECKING* FOREVER), so you end up spending your last night at the airport… where everything is closed (yes, even the restaurants), and even the vending machines laugh in your face when you try to get a bag of chips (we may have spent upwards of $7 trying to get vending machine chips…). 

*Not a typo – I just like saying it that way better.  Watch Angela’s Ashes and you’ll do the same.  Dare ya.

Being at a classical Christmas music concert in a beautiful old church in Prague and in the middle of a song hearing the bottle of Czech moonshine that your mom bought CLANG to the floor.  At least the heated seats meant that everyone’s butts were happy and warm and people weren’t upset with us.

Excavating a water melon with a trowel because your AirBnB doesn’t have a knife.  Best watermelon ever.

Waiting in a line of cars for about an hour just to get into a (very full) parking garage in Syracuse, then getting to eat a pizza with ricotta stuffed in the crust.  Worth it.

Sweating through EVERY layer of clothing while digging in Sardinia.  I never knew how truly disgusting and smelly I could be. 

Going to the beach in Sardinia every Friday after sweating through EVERY layer of clothing.

Going hiking on Mount Parnitha with friends and snow, but having to walk through a casino to do so.

Visiting archaeological sites in Greece that I’d never even heard of and realizing that I still have so much to learn. 

Doing a free tour in Thessaloniki with a great guide and learning about rebetiko music and the true meaning of filotimo.

Having to actually recycle in our tiny dig town in Sicily this year.  What?!  Progress.

Waking up every morning to the site of Our Lady Etna from my bedroom window in said tiny dig town in Sicily.  Priceless.

Not having to walk 15 minutes and up a large hill to the dig house in said tiny dig town at 5:45am.  Also priceless.

Getting a scratch on your rental car during your post-dig giro in Sicily.  Expensive.

Buying a hammock.  Seriously, one of the best purchases of my life.  I guess the fact that it was perched atop my balcony in Athens overlooking Lykabettos helped a bit.

Having your cousins come up with a mnemonic device to remember how to pronounce Lykabettos and now not being able to say the name without thinking of “Lick-happy-toes.”

Walking around Naxos in the pouring rain for an afternoon, not having your one pair of shoes dry that night, then putting plastic bags on your feet the next morning and putting your still-wet shoes on over them.  Worked.

Hiking up a mountain river bed on Naxos with 50mph wind gusts threatening to blow you off a mountain.  Next time, Cave of Zeus…  Now I know why you don’t visit the Greek islands before April (also, because there are no loukomades before April… no clue why…).

Ordering beer with pizza on the phone during the monsoon in Naxos when it suddenly occurred to me that ordering beer over the phone was incredibly strange.

Flying to Rome for 24 hours for four food festivals.  (Artichoke, beer, pizza, and gelato, in case you were wondering.)

Living the fancy beach life on Mykonos and discovering the most amazing Cretan bakery on Santorini (Erotokritos, FYI).

Making an 11pm decision to go to Delphi the next day from Thessaloniki and ending up staying at an amazingly cheap and beautiful hotel with a sunset and sea view, eating gyros on a cliff, then driving back through Greek Switzerland (Arachova).  Samz cousins do it right.

Taking many wrong turns, but realizing that even though they were wrong, they were so right.

Identifying a Midwestern woman solely by her haircut while in Delphi.  Turned out that she was even from Wisconsin!

Sitting below the Acropolis and eating lunch when two older women approached me and asked me how to get to the Acropolis entrance.  Instead of giving them verbal directions I walked them to the entrance and learned that they, too, were from Wisconsin!  Small world.  Cheeseheads, man - we find each other. 

Having a fellow Cheesehead in Athens with me to remind me of home and just generally to be a fun person to be around.  AND for saving me one of her coveted Spotted Cow beers!

Having my brain constantly so full of other languages that sometimes I can’t produce the right English word.

Making weird shadow puppets with my phone flashlight on the walk back to our apartment on Milos.

Having one of the most amazing dinners of my life in Plaka, Milos, while we ate delicious food and watched a Greek band play under a tree. 

Cruising around Greece in a convertible VW Beetle.  Cruising around the Mediterranean in general, often while blasting Italian pop music. 

Denting the Naxos rental car while trying to turn around in a tiny mountain village after realizing the road was too narrow for the car.  Oops.

Driving past the outskirts of Gela with a field on fire.  Fitting.

Finally getting the hang of Mediterranean driving and cruising around like a boss on ridiculously narrow roads, sometimes not using a map.

Dig house balcony goals, with tea.

Befriending many Greek cats, but especially Cinnamon on Milos.

Discovering how truly amazing and beautiful Puglia is and staying in a trullo with great friends (see what I did there?).  Never did I ever think I’d stay in a house shaped like an upside-down ice cream cone, but I loved it.

Hanging with all my Sicily dig goobers for a glorious three weeks and eating a luxurious dinner at the German Bar every night. 

Watching the sun set from my balcony in Athens and thinking about how lucky I am to have spent a year abroad.

Writing this blog post instead of doing work and reliving my adventures.

Making new friends and spending more time with old friends in Greece and Italy. 

Falling for the first foreign city I ever visited, all over again.

Thanks to all my friends and family who were a part of these adventures – mis-adventures or otherwise.  May there be many more to come.