Got up at about 10 in the morning and my aunt told me we would go to a supermarket to buy some food. Well, the funny part is that the supermarket turned into Syntagma. We went windowshopping for about 2-3h hours. Man, that was tiring!

I might have overreacted a bit regarding the heat. Today it was bearable and there is a breeze going around the city. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m not sweating, but at least I can breathe. I didn’t get the chance to take pictures cause “we were in a hurry”, but I’m going back there these days and I’ll come back with an update + pics. On the way there I saw the Parliament and the National Garden, and I’m definitely going to visit the last one.

I asked for a map of the whole Athens and the guy at the kiosk gave me on of the city centre. Happy happy joy joy! This means that tomorrow I have to buy a new one, but a good one this time. Greeks are crazy, at least the drivers are. I don’t know about traffic jams and stuff, but I saw how they’re driving and they’re absolutely mad! I’ve been with the bus only 2 times till now and I totally hate the bus drivers! I’m never again going to complain about the one back in Bucharest! The bus drivers here act like the bus is full of stones, not of people and they drive accordingly. You can actually fall when they stop if you’re not holding reaaaaaally tight to the bar. And when it comes to crossing the road, the light turns incredibly quick from green to red so I kind of have to run to be sure I make it on time on the other side, cause the cars are surely not waiting for anyone.

Athens is packed with tourists, which is good, cause I don’t feel like the only alien here. And all the people serving at the kiosks know English and usually the Athenians are friendly so it’s quite nice to be a tourist here. I like very much the buildings here cause they’re not as tall as the ones in Romania and they’re not gray

In the afternoon I took a walk on my own, but I didn’t go too far, but just far enough to spot a Starbucks and be happy about it Where’s Starbucks, there’s a hotspot and that means I can actually post these before I get home Tomorrow afternoon is Starbucks day

Tomorrow we’re going to the beach, so I have to be up at 7 Guess I’ll be going to bed now. Talk to you later!

Athens – day 1

I left rainy Bucharest and came to hot Athens. Like I’ve said, this time I traveled light: my backpack was about 13kg and my laptop bag didn’t weight more than 4kg – can’t get lighter than that.

The trip to the airport was pretty OK, the check in went smooth – it was my first time traveling with a plane and I was on my own, I have to admit I didn’t think it was all as simple as mum told me it would be – but once on the plane, I started thinking about plane crashes and me dying and you know, I kind of panicked. I was really cool about flying before I got on the plane, then it just happened. The first 10-15 minutes after take off I was convinced I was going to die. I almost started crying. I wasn’t thinking about dying and not telling some people how much I love them, but of the fact that I hadn’t made a will.

For my own peace of mind, if anything bad happens on my future trips, I want my parents to take care of uRMa, Jen to be the first to choose from my books, Oompa to have my accessories and my camera, Roxa to have my iPod, Puck to choose from my clothes *I think we’re kind of the same size*, Hiacint to have all my teas and tea sets and they can fight for the rest of my stuff

I was upset that the steward didn’t let me take pictures of the clouds and the sunset, though the guy sitting behind me was using his laptop, and where I come it’s an electrical device as well. It was pretty awesome being above the clouds. They looked so fluffy and puffy! It was 9:20 in the evening by the time the plane got to Athens and the city was splendid seen from above!

I met my aunt at the airport and took a bus back to her place. She lives near the American Embassy, near the town centre, which is totally awesome. What is not that awesome is that fact that it’s bloody hot here: 28ºC at 10 o’clock in the evening. I’m sweating as I’m writing this, though the window is wide open. There’s no wind blowing here, the air doesn’t move one bit. I think Roxa’s curses finally got to me and now I’m complaining about the horrible heat.

The house my aunt lives in is so nice! She has a 5-room apartment on the second floor of a building. I have the smallest room, but, in my opinion, the cosiest one as well! I like the old furniture in my room and the shelves full of books. Of course, they are in Greek so I have no idea what they’re about. And my aunt is 90% vegetarian and eats only healthy food which is awesome!!! I predict we’re going to get along quite well.

Tomorrow I’m buying a map and going exploring! I can hardly wait!

Well, I wanted to use the Starbucks’ hotspot, but the drinks there were kind of pricy so I came to an Internet cafe. The bad part is that I have all my updates on my laptop. Sucky! I’ll come back one of this days and give a full update of what I’ve been up to since I came here.

To cut the story short, it’s awesome here! I love the city, I hate the heat, the people are friendly and OK, I’m red from staying in the sun, my aunt doesn’t eat meat as well ^_^ and only from tomorrow will the “get lost in the city marathon” start.

So, catch up with you later!

I felt very bohemian and giddy today and that has to do with me going to Athens! I’ve been waiting for so long for this trip! I still smile bitterly when I remember that I had initially planned it as a trip for me and him and now I’m going alone, but fuck, it’s gonna be fun no matter what!

For once my backpack is not full and I can easily lift it. Yeah, I still have my laptop bag and another one with my camera, but I haven’t traveled this light before! I intend to buy hippish clothes from there, so I kind of need some spare place. And let’s not forget about the presents.

I don’t have an actual itinerary, I haven’t given much thought of how I’m going to spend each and every day, but I kind of know what I want to do: visit museums, go to the beach, go shopping, attend the Fly Beeyond Festival *cause I don’t want to have to return to Bucharest in August just for the Massive Attack concert*, hang out with Pia and her friends. Apart from all that, I really want to walk around the city as much as possible, therefore, as soon as I get there I’m buying a map and go exploring.

Hoping that I won’t leave something important behind, I’m going to bed and Συζήτηση για εσάς αργότερα *according to Google Language Tools, that means ‘talk to you later’ *

*MGMT - Electric feeling

I’ve been in a bossa nova mood lately.

Yeah, I fall in love with good-looking girls. The new singer from Nouvelle Vague is the one who stole my heart lately.

I’m sorry for being such a stupid kid and ruining what could have been a beautiful friendship.

Just for the record: I did reply. But maybe it’s better this way.

I feel like I’m wasting time being on holiday.

Enough already with the staring! It’s just a colour, for fuck’s sake!

This time I’m traveling as light as possible. Hopefully.

I’ve promised myself that once there, I’ll eat only salads and fruit. Oh, teh joy!

Will definitely miss the long conversations with Double D. At least I’ll take my imaginary world with me.

Can hardly wait to see Massive Attack there!

I soooo miss the Beast!

Nothing compares to going to bed at dawn after a night of small and not so small talk.

So, make my heart go boom-boom.

The Nouvelle Vague concert was more than words can say. Definitely this year’s concert. Bravo!

The 5 days I spent at home were…wearisome. My parents kept on yelling at me that I don’t eat properly, Mum went crazy when I stayed up late and talked to Double D, all in all, we were fighting more than getting along. I love when I feel so high schoolish, but not when it brings back bad memories and makes me feel small and unimportant. Anyways, I guess that whenever I get back there, I’m still their kid and they feel the need to show me who’s boss

The cool part was that I bought some incredibly cheap but oh so nice second-hand clothes, I ate that divine home-made ice cream, met L.,Steve and Gabi and got to see some relatives - which, surprisingly, was not that bad.

uRMa has been very loving and caring these last weeks, I don’t know what got into her. She was always sleeping on my lap *hadn’t done that before*, she was purring all the time and she was acting like an adorable cat. Now she’s home and she likes it there cause it’s not as hot as here and she has the whole apartment for herself.

On the train back to Bucharest, I chatted with this very nice old man. Wow, he had such an interesting life story! He fled the country in the ‘70, trading his apartment for his and his family’s freedom. Then he went to Switzerland and from there to Germany, where he still lives today. He was a doctor and so is one of his kids. The other one married a Taiwanese. It was really cool the way he told the story - I would have liked to have him as my grandpa and make him tell it to me over and over again.

Whenever I meet people like him, I realise I’m just going to lead a boring, common, stupid life. And that makes me sad. Well, at lest I have my books and those special lives in them and I’ve got my imaginary world as well. If reality doesn’t give me what I want, then there are ways of cheating.

We’re again 4 people in my room: Roxa, Marianne and Pia, Marianne’s friend. I like it this way with clothes everywhere, taking turns to use the bathroom, not having enough room in the kitchen for all of us. But it’s good that it lasts only 4-5 days and then it’s back to having the place to myself. Another good news is that I’ll be aunt-free starting next month. I can hardly wait for her to move out, we don’t get along, it’s worse than living with a complete stranger. I’m not sure if I want another flat-mate, but I kind of need to money, so I’m preparing myself for another year of horror. I just can’t live in peace with another person and that’s that.

Oh well, time to get some rest, it’s almost B’estfest time!