How Was Your Trip?

Oh God.  Overwhelming, wonderful, uncomfortable, awesome, gorgeous.  A true series of adventures.  Lots of looking.  And walking.  Old and beautiful stuff.  Deep and ranging conversations with a dear friend.  I wouldn't trade it for anything.

And yes, Shirley, I came back.  I briefly hallucinated changing my return ticket to meet my family in Mexico and extend the whirlwind, but I couldn't find 2,000 coats, each with a one-Euro coin left forgotten in the pocket, and 38 hours of traveling to get there seemed a bit much.  Plus, now that I'm back, it's hard not to imagine everything in my life singing "Hello Dolly" (It's so nice to have you back where you belong...): my fluffy bed, my not-at-all-broken-into car, soon my kitty and routines and to-do lists.  Comfortable, comfortable.

Because these last two weeks have been decidedly uncomfortable.  Not in a negative way, but in the way that means I couldn't eloquently ask for what I needed when I needed it (miming, shrugging, smiling, badly-pronounced fragments).  And I didn't know where I was going or how to get there (street signs are passé; likewise consistent spelling of place names).  Sometimes I didn't even know what exactly I was eating (but that I never regretted).  It was so far out of my comfort zone, and yet I got to soothe those parts of me that love love love a psychedelic sunset, a quiet lapping sea, the nearness of unspeakably old things, the solitude of holy spaces.  These things were right like breathing, and made me feel like I'd been holding my breath for so long before I found them.  Magic, sometimes.  Mmm.

But here's a more solid recap.  Because "How was your trip?" "Oh, like breathing." is entirely unsatisfying.  To sum up, Sarah and I were on the Greek island of Paros for about a week, then went to Verona, Venice and Milan, Italy before winging it back to Athens for a couple nights and heading home.  (Typing it so straightforward like that, I still can't believe this is my life.)  And now, a list!

• Modes of transportation taken (in order of appearance): walking, bus, light rail, plane, taxi, ferry, train, vaporetto (like a bus, but on water.  Ah, Venice), diagonal people-mover.
• Best food: gnocci with pesto, Venice.  OR feta-stuffed calamari, Paros.  OR whatever fatty meat cutlet I ate at the community festival in Verona.  OR...
• Best drink: Prosecco by the barrel (really, they sell it like that!), Venice.  OR free white wine "because we make the restaurant beautiful," Paros.
• Best Gelatto (yes, this is its own category): Creme de Grom (vanilla with chocolate chips and biscuit pieces), Milan.
• Best killing time during a rainstorm: Greek-language scrabble and hot chocolate, Paros.
• Bodies of water I dipped my toes in: Adriatic Sea (Laguna Veneta), Aegean Sea.
• Best unnatural animal behavior: Cats eating potato chips, Paros.
• Funniest church: Great big Byzantine thing with Baby Jesus SUPER EXCITED about the bird he was holding while Mary looks so very bored, Verona (?).
• Sweetest church: Cliffside grotto not four feet from the waves, with its own broom, Paros.
• Number of nude sunbathers: 1.5, Paros.
• Hours spent listening to the same deodorant jingle while waiting for a train: 2 (interspersed with the trailer for Una Notte da Leoni 2), Verona and Venice.
• Incredulous looks from Sarah at something I said: So many, Everywhere.
• Emails sent/received: 4-ish, Everywhere
• Newspapers I pretended to know how to read: 4, Venice, Milan.
• Bed most like a hammock: the one next to the one I slept in (four to a room), Venice.
• Most cross-cultural musical moment: Band phonetically translating "Paperback Writer" and other Beatles hits, community festival, Verona.  OR "Sweet Home Alabama" ringtone, Milan airport.
• Euros to my name when I boarded the flight home: €0.01, Athens.