European Exodus: Part I

As an American citizen who was denied a Schengen Visa to study in Sweden, I was forced to leave the country after 90 days.  Although my moral was low, and I felt like an illegal alien, I had mixed emotions when I set foot in Arlanda Airport on day 91 (!!!).  It was extremely sad to leave Stockholm; it was an opportunity that satisfied so many of my desires.  I have always wanted to live in a city, ditch my car and take public transit, live abroad, and among other things, experience and embrace new cultures...Sweden allowed me to do all of that.

On day 91 I did not join my luggage and board a plane to America, but instead was off to Istanbul, Turkey to embark on an epic 2-week journey across Europe before I headed home.  I spent the first night with a postdoc from my research group at school, and the latter three with old friends from school.  Istanbul is like no other place I have ever been; it is a recipe that includes 2 cups of history, 1 cup of religious relics, 2 tbsp buried treasure,  1 handful of delicious food and drink, 3 tsp bustling craziness and pure mind-fuck, a healthy serving of swindlers and pick-pockets, a whole lot of sheesha, and a few overly-selective clubs.  I went to Turkey alone, and fours days later I was sitting in Atatürk airport with 5 of my closest friends...there is no beating that.

After spending 4 hours at a hotel near Athens airport, we headed to the Greek island of Mykonos on just a few hours of sleep.  The small island could barely contain the five americans and their japanese counterpart...we rented 3 ATVs and drove around like absolute madmen for three straight days.  We set off in search of secluded beaches, swam in the crystal clear waters, ate some gyros and freshly caught fish (head and all!), washed it down with greek beer, dabbled with the night clubs, and then repeated.  

Chora, the main port city seated on the western side of the island, with its all white buildings with blue doors and roofs and iconic windmills became a photo shoot every night...what a beautiful place!  At the pace we were at, three days on Mykonos was just the right amount.  On the final day we took a 5 hour ferry to Piraeus (the main port of Athens) and managed to run into some *friends* we had met a few nights before. 

When we reached mainland Greece, each of us individually realized that no one had thought enough ahead to look up directions to the hostel...we were fresh meat for the ravenous cab drivers and pickpockets.  After discussing things over with two cabbies lurching over our shoulders we decided to hop in and take the most roundabout and angry cab ride to the hostel.  After spending 24 scorching hours in Athens visiting the ancient ruins and drinking numerous freddo cappuccinos, four of use took a flight over to Nice in the south of France to meet up with another pal from school.