sleeping on the deck of a ship...

day something....

Venice was amazing and polluted. It was just how I pictured it... boats everywhere and singing gondola drivers.. every form of transportation is via water. We even took a boat/bus. As we walked around Venice later that night someone made the comment that it looked like rain...moments later it poured and hailed...we sought shelter in this small cafe where we felt obligated to buy something. Wine. As we sipped our wine I looked at the menu which was ALL Italian and only saw prices like 45euro...I thought for sure we bought a 50 dollar glass of wine! luckily 3euro was right in our budget.

After Venice we hopped a ferry that would make a 34hour journey to Greece. We got "deck" tickets (the cheapest) and when it says deck it means you live on the deck! I have never experienced such a strange practice. People were literally sleeping on the deck, inside the doorways, in the hallways, under tables and a select few had rooms. I was lucky to find a fold out pool chair and curled up on that and froze the whole night while the guy in the neighboring pool chair snored haha. Kyla and Stephen slept by the railing of the ship. We looked homeless and it was awesome! We were awaken by the most spectacular sun rise over the Greek mountains... it was worth it

We arrived in Athens at 2 in the morning, no map, few euros, and no plan. A big burly man, probably in his late 40's with a Russian accent asked us if we knew where we were going and told us he was going to a 1 star hotel and we should follow him. He was sent from God for sure. He led us and another guy through crack corner, in dark allies, and past some drug dealers to the safety of the hotel. We would have not made it anywhere without him. This has happened a lot to us...we have no plan and have no idea where to go but somehow someone always comes to our rescue...we have never even asked...I haven't worried this whole trip...

The next day we booked a hostel online and jumped on a ferry to the Greek island of Santorini...the boat ride was so funny....ask Kyla...
We arrived on the island at 8 am and the view took my breath away. It is a rocky island with tiny rounded white buildings and the most beautiful view of the Aegean Sea... its like a Mediterranean paradise. We got off at a tiny remote port with nothing but a mountain infront of us.. we had no idea how to get the hostel and for a brief second I thought we were going to have to lug our 20 pound bags over the mountain.. Just as I began to prepare my legs for the hike, a small man stepped in front of us and held up a hand written sign..it said "Kyla Salem" It was the owner of the Hostel and he drove us over the mountain to the other side of the island to our room!!!! We were taken care of again... God is good.

We laid on the black beaches (from the volcano) and swam in the clear sea.... all the while Kyla turning a golden brown and stephen and I resembling lobsters...

today we rented ATV's and are driving them all over the island...People are wonderful here...

first 20 minutes on atvs:
-kyla hits gas instead of brakes, we hit sidewalk instead of road
-stephen forgets you have to turn the key to turn it on and leads us down a one-way
-I stop in the middle of the road cause there is sunscreen in my eye (not reccomended)
- stephen's helmet looks like an astronaut ha.

my atm card doesnt work in Greece....sweet


life is good