Cougars vs Flash part deux...

We played the Flash last Saturday night at 8pm. Saturday night lights! It's always fun playing a night game and this was our chance to make history. A chance for redemption. The whole week Dino our running back was intense. He has some friends who play for the Flash, some really good friends and you could tell he wanted nothing more then to beat them. The Flash recently returning from their Russian victory had a new attitude and quite literally a new looking team.

I think they must have gotten 8 or so new players, some of which had experience with the NFL Europe. It was going to be a tough test. We came out and chose to recieve the ball. The inspired running back, Dino led us down the field in one of our best looking drives so far in the season. We ran left, right, and up the middle on the back of Dino's will. He ran hard and after Michel's pass that got us to the 5, Dino ran in for a Touchdown. As soon as we started celebrating, it was as if Lee Corso himself pulled a "Not So Fast My Friend"... of course holding. Finally we plunged the touchdown in on a Quarterback sneak. Matt and I went on to the line and Matt told me he wanted a silent snap. We rushed to the line and only me and him where moving as we caught them off guard for the touchdown. Where up 7-0 in the makings of what appeared to be a great match. Unfortunately though Dino twisted his ankle on one of the runs and was in pain for the rest of the game.

With a confidence and enthusiasm we kicked off the ball to the Flash. They returned it to the 40 and their offense took the field. I'm not kidding you, their Offensive line was as big as Georgia Tech's starting line, but with one key advantage that you don't find much of in college football... Man Strength! Knowing they liked to run the ball to the tightend side and often on first down, they made a brilliant play call with the play action and scored on the first pass. 60 yards to Number 9, who would turn out to be frog picking flies out of the air. The guy had hands, normally you have guys who drop a ball here or their in France, but not sticky fingers. I wasn't surprised to learn he had almost made the Bengals team.

The rest of the match would look like a bigger brother holding down a little brother. We couldn't seem to get anything going on offense, and as soon as we'd get to 3rd down on defense they'd find a way to make things happen. They ran quite a bit behind their massive line. 21-0 at half. We seemed out of it going into the locker room. That first play touchdown had swept the wind right out from under us and some of the guys looked asleep.

The second half as we walked out of the locker room the Flash were chanting and yelling as we walked through the tiny tunnel out to the field. See their locker room was right upon entering the hallway, while ours was left. As we walked to the field, they were waiting chanting together as a team and it seemed eager to beat up little brother some more. Personally it fired me up because I love playing the cocky arogant teams/players, who think they're God's gift to life. However they would pick up right where they left off. They scored twice more in the 2nd half to go up 34- 7. They didn't even play their americans either, I guess figuring they didn't have to, or giving them a break and the younger guys a chance to compete. As they went to kick the extra point to go up 35-7, I broke through the line with Ludo and Nyda and blocked the extra point.

I was pissed and we needed to come together as a team. After we got the ball back I said we were going to score regardless. The offense needed it, the Cougars needed it, I needed it. With time winding down we made it into the endzone on some good quarterback keepers and hard earned yards. It seemed that we were going to stall on the 4 yard line but then got some good breaks from stupid mistakes/ penalties by the Flash. We finally punched in a touchdown with 0 on the play clock. I was proud. It's what I've learned about the Cougars, about my teamates, about my friends. They didn't quit. They didn't give up. They played til the end. Even when we were physically outmatched they left it all on the field.

After the game I got to talk to the Americans on the Flash, and talk a little bit about our experiences. Seems like they were having a good time and some of the same things when it comes to football. I also noticed that the Spartiates head coach was at the game, kind of different because they should have been playing. He came and said hello to me and is a nice guy. Apparently the Meteores where not able to produce a 2nd ref for the match so they would automatically lose. Instead of going to play the game for pride, their coach decided it was better to just not go at all. A 5,000 Euro penalty for this. So the Spartiates got the win without even stepping a foot on the field.

4 more games to go and in a must win situation, we still have a shot at the playoffs if everything goes our way.

Chantilly....The home of creme, castles, and chevals

Yesterday Coach Mas took Matt and myself to Chantilly to see the chateau there. It was a pretty quick ride. Funny to think that it took the Kings and Queens of the time over 8 hours to arrive from Paris to Chantilly. Coach made the comment that for us 8 hours now means New York, not Paris. The world is definitely getting smaller, which makes you think what it will be like in the next 100 years.

Anyways as we arrived to the Chateau, you could see the overwhelming size of land that belonged to the estate. The Chateau was situated on the left of the cobblestone street, while the Great stables and horse track where on the right. Chantilly seems to be the place for the horse. As I was told... apparently the King who lived in the chateau was so convinced that he would be reincarnated as a horse, that he built an enormous stable just for the horses. It was incredible to see a building of such grandiuer housing just horses. But I'll get back to that later. It was a warm day with no clouds to block the sun from beeming down so we were comfortable in shorts.

First we went into the chateau and looked around through the open rooms. It seemed to me that the inhabitants of this specific place were well intrigued with hunting. There were lions and platypus and stag and horns lining the walls.... that's right a platypus was on the wall. Not to mention the massive amounts of old school weapons. Like staffs, swords, and even a completely silver knife decorated in ornate fassion.

A picture of the all silver knife.

One of the Lions hanging from the wall.

The Orleans family owned the property and then left it over to the Institute of France. Apparently his rule was that you could not move the collection of his library and you could not change the arrangement of his paintings. The painting gallery had frame to frame pictures and was quite a unique layout. The library was imense for a private collection. It also had some cool chairs in the room with built in reading stands to lay the books across your laps. Because some people are just too good to hold their own books!

One of the rooms held this really weird piece of furniture. It looks pretty normal from the bottom up, but once you reach the top you'd think you just found Superman's home planet. The top of the dresser or desk or gun cabinent had huge rocks standing on it. I didn't quite understand this one, maybe you can figure it out.

We went into the chapel built for the king. Probably capable of holding 20 people at a maximum. I started singing old songs from choir class, which I still remember. (sidenote I wonder if I just put every piece of information into a song....would I be able to recollect it on demand? Because some how I can still remember the words from most songs I know) After seeing the chateau on our own, we went on the guided tour into the parts of the castle that requires a chaperone.

We saw a 2 million dollar table that was valued at 4 million. The chandeliers that used to run on candlelight only. The guide would explain that they had to constantly clean the candles and could only use half of a candle before they would change them. This was the second highest price spent on utilities, the first being fresh flowers that were exchanged twice a day. As you woke up the flowers were yellow and as you went to bed they were blue. All of this of course was being translated by coach to us in the back of the room.

Afterwards we walked to a small shop which served amazing desserts. Coach Mas is obsessed with desserts. He was literally a big kid in a candy store and couldn't wait for the creme chantilly. It's actually the place where they invented the creme. Needless to say it's amazing. It is whipped cream with a sweetflavors, sometimes having vanilla in it. It was really good on my chocolate pear pie. I tried to take a picture, but of course we couldn't help ourselves and already began to devour the desserts before I remembered to pull out my camera.

Afterwards we saw a pretty neat animal gladiator competition. Against the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. Ok so a duck and some fish were fighting over bread, but I did get it on camera. Check out below.

Afterwards we walked over to the Great Stables and walked around the horse track. The stables were huge. I couldn't believe that they only housed horses. Ridiculous. But when you think about people in power wasting money on things, it's not too bad! Really though it really is a place to show off the horse. The ceilings and walls were all solid stone and had to be close to 3 stories high. Just for 30 or so horses in the main hall.

All in all it was a good day. I learned later that they have a huge firework competition out on the lawn for all the people to see. It's sometime in June...so might have to check that out. Not a bad place to celebrate the 4th of July if it was in America. Also I learned that Ronaldo got married in the Chateau, and that you can rent out the Chateau for formal occasions. Seems me and Ronaldo have been going to the same places. That's another story for another day.

Check out the pictures HERE

Trying to get lost in Paris

Well yesterday I went into Paris just trying to get lost. Moreso just wanting to sit back and take it all in. Because we have exactly 3 months left in France. It was good. I got out of the RER at Chatlet Les Halles and walked around the streets for a while. I stopped by the Eglise Saint-Eustache de Paris, a church close to the station, and hung around in the Jardin there for a while. I then made my way over to the Louvre where I began to notice my stalkers for the day. (Don't worry I'll explain later) Maybe it's best that I use pictures to show and talk about some of what I saw.

The Louvre Pyramid. The Weather was really nice and there was a choir group performing in the hallway. It had great accoustics and echoed throughout the entire pavilion. I then took off to walk along the Seine river.

I walked across at Pont Neuf, which goes throught the island in the middle of the Seine where Notre Dame and the French military are located. I stopped along the bridge at first because they have really cool sitting areas on the bridge. I listened to some music and watched the people as they walked by. You could see local artists taking up some of the small semi circular setting areas. Room for atleast 6 to 8, but normally occupied by just 1 or 2. The sun started to get hot and I felt Spring coming. I then walked to the picture above. The center islands end. Many people where doing the same thing. Wasting the day enjoying the weather. There where TONS of tourists out. The languages walking in the streets of Paris are as numerous as the new colors Crayola is coming up with to sell crayons. Plus you could tell they were tourists because each one of them had a camera strapped around their neck.

I sat next to an older German couple, I hung my feet off the edge and enjoyed it. You can also tell the season is changing because everywhere people are walking in pairs. The Germans laid out sharing a picnic. I thought that would be fun. About this time my two stalkers showed up right behind me and started taking pics, modeling in front of me. I chuckled inside and tried to ignore them. I got up and headed off to the South side of the river.

I wondered over to Saint-Sulpice finally and sat in front of this beautiful fountain in front of the Church with Lions on it. Wait let's play a game... kind of like where's waldo, only you have to find the pigeons in the picture....ready, go.

Anyways my stalkers again followed me to this place. I was sitting on a bench in front of the fountain, watching some boys play soccer, a camera crew recording the fountain and the people, and an elderly woman sitting next to me just taking a break. The stalkers who I found out were Italian walked right up to my bench and again started posing/ taking pictures right in front of me. I took this just as they walked in the way. At this point I kind of ruled out coincidence. They tried to talk to me, but only knew Italian. So my english was of no help. They shrugged at each other and then decided to walk away after they realized I wasn't going to burst into an Italian speech pattern.

After taking some time to think about what it's like for girls having stalkers. I decided to get up and look around some more. I wondered around and found this super sick tree. I just thought it was really cool.
I then made my way into the Jardin de Luxembourg. I big park area with lots of small kids playing, tennis courts, a huge fountain with people lounging around, and all kinds of activities. I watched some pick up ball and thought back to my 8th grade year and how I wanted to just play basketball and not focus so much on football. I'm glad that didn't happen. Street ball is street ball in any country the only difference was the sounds or the language being spoken. This was the large fountain in the park with tons of metal chairs available to the public. The center is the big fountain filled with ducks taking baths in the water. I found a chair that reclined and proped my feet on one a marble bench.

I think this is actually the back side of a Senate building in France. I'm not quite sure though so don't mark my words. It's good to realax and enjoy life. I think we rush too much in life to get "things" done, which are really not that important. Life's in the journey and it's good to be able to stop and smell the roses.

After a while a group of tourists came up right next to me and started taking pictures. I felt bad for the actual picture taker because as you can see there was atleast 10 different cameras he was responsible for.It was kind of fun watching him take 10 shots of the same picture. I thought to myself, sometimes it's better to just use one camera and then share or steal the photos from the one person's camera. I mean makes since right???
There was a cool lion statue. I think I'm obsessed with the sculptures and statues in Paris.

Since the time change which happened last Saturday night, the sun doesn't set until around 8:30 or so at night. Making the days feel like they go on forever.
Just a picture of me with the Montparnasse tower in the background. From up there you can see ALL of Paris. It was a good day. I'm loving Paris.

Random Ramblings

Just some thoughts have had over this past week. Being in France seems so normal now, just a part of everyday life. I was realizing how strange/ new / shocking things were when I first arrived. Matt had a phone interview with a local newspaper in Chatam and I ended up having to talk to him for a little bit. He was wondering what the toughest thing is and all that. Looking back EVERYTHING was difficult. Everything was confusing. I had trouble answering some of his questions just because it all feels so normal now.

This of course led me to think about reverse culture shock and what I'm going to have to do when I get back. I can't believe there's only 3 months left.

Ok so I haven't been able to watch any college basketball until now, the tournament. I get to see some games. Thanks to French TV, I also don't get commercials, so I get to see President Obama say that March Madness is the most exciting sporting event, nearly every 10 minutes. That as well as seeing his Oval office picks. Kind of funny watching the commander in chief picking his bracket.

One thing I've recently paid more attention to is that Parisiens are not afraid to use their car horn. I mean we will be sitting at a red light and the second it turns green people from the back of the line are quickly laying on the horn. I mean come on atleast give them a couple seconds to respond. Just a little difference that I've noticed.

I went to the top of Montparnasse tower in the South part of Paris the other day with Matt, Kristin and Hannah. I was afraid the bad weather would keep us from seeing the view. It was wet and rainy... we went to the top of the skyscraper. 56 floors up around 210 meters or so. The views where ridiculous. It was like seeing the world living below you. You could see all the way out to Cergy, the entire layout of Paris and the suburbs. It was really cool. The weather also was incredible. First it was overcast, especially over La Defense, the business quarter. I thought that to be a bit symbolic of the times. Then it started to hail. Which was so funny because apparently we all had been told at lunch by differernt people the french word for hail and that it was normal for this time of the year to have rain or hail and then good sunny weather.

Almost on cue after the hail, the sun opened up and God showed up. Well that's what it looked like to me... somebody else thought it looked like an alien ubduction. You can make your own decision. The coolest part though was actually going on the roof top of the building. I've never been on the absolute rooftop of a skyscraper, but they let you meander on the top next to the helipad and everything. Of course there was a security guard, sharp metal bars to keep you back from the edge, and a security guard. I thought about what would happen if a gust of wind knocked something out of your hand and it fell to the ground. More so likely if a young child threw something off the edge. Potentially that could kill somebody with the whole gravity and 9.81 m/s. I mean I'm not positive, but I'm sure it would suck.

I have found a good chinese food place close to Paris. Actually Will took us there. It's location.... Chinatown. It is awesome. The soup they have with noodles, shrimp ravioli's, vegetables, and all other sorts of deliciousness is quiet amazing. How can you not be a fan of such authenticity. The menu is in chinese with some french subtitles. I definitely trust a place where the language spoken matches the food. You can tell this is where the real Chinese go to eat good food. It's fun.

We have a big game coming up this week against the Flash. I'm looking forward to that one. Also we planned another trip to go see Barcelona. I love having the opportunity to just travel to a completely different country and culture so close. Can't wait to see some spanish shoreline and good spanish food.

We went to a little house party the other night to with a bunch of French guys that we have made friends with. They are fun and a good group of guys. It really is hard sometimes to muster up the courage to try and communicate in French. Once you start though it really isn't so bad. The most difficult part for me is not having any vocabulary knowledge or prior teaching. The team actually tried French night and just speaking in French. That's tough, I realize how easy I've had it. It's frustrating not knowing what's going on.

Oh also the food we've had in Paris is pretty amazing. I know I talked a lot about it in earlier posts, but I figured I'd make a quick video so I could show you exactly what I meant. This is from one night at a restaurant with Matt's parents, coach, and one of Matt's friends from home.

Warning: Do not read if you can't handle suspense

Sunday we played the Argonautes from the south division. It was quite a thrilling/suspensful game that left you guessing all the way until the end. The weather was nice and cool at the beginning of warmups. The overcast clouds helped create a chill in the air. I prayed that it would get sunny because I didn't bring any long sleeves. As we arrived in the lockeroom, we all sat in the same one. See our lockerroom has 4 different rooms. One on gamedays used for the refs and normally the other 3 for the players. This time coach wanted us all together.

We crowded into the small room. Cramped we each tried to make enough room to get our stuff together for the game. Two of the refs were actually smoking cigarettes right outside the lockeroom. Another first for Matt and myself. Struggling to find room to relax and think about the game, we all managed to get ready. We were a team, we were together, and we were united.

The game started much like the weather had...overcast. Slow and grey, with not much happening from either side. We both stalled early going three and out, but there were a few surprises along the way. As we recieved the ball to start the game, we were the first to punt. I snapped the ball and ran down the field. The kick made it's way directly to the back leg of an Argonaute player. LIVE BALL. Unfortunately we were not able to recover. The Argonautes then began driving.

After there failed first 3 plays, they punted as well. In the spread punt formation, which allows greater coverage, but is more susceptable to blocked punts....their snapper delivered the ball to the upback, who in turn spun around and pitched it back to the punter. Our guys on the punt block ran into the punter who was kicking the ball. They called a penalty and gave the Argonautes a first down. Ok so I'm thinking that was definitely the wrong call. 15 yards now they are close to the 35.

They run some more offense, counter, screen, pass. Then Bago intercepts a pass. Wait! Of course there's a flag if any big play actually happens. I don't know what the call was, but Argos you get another shot at it. We stop them on 4th down and get the ball back. By this time the weather has opened up and the sun shined it's way down to the field. We drove the ball a bit and then got an offsides penalty on Loic, which thankfully was cancelled out by the 15 yard personal foul by the Argonautes. I think this is a good time to introduce you to the dumbest football player I have ever met. Yea that's saying something.

Number 75 on the Argonautes was stupid. Not just a jerk, or a mean ass...no he was legitimately stupid. After every pass play when he obviously didn't get to the quarterback and after Matt had thrown the ball up, he would then run and hit Matt. This will be important later, needless to say it was his penalty. However we still ended up stalling and punted away.

The Argos hit the jackpot on the 2nd play following. Their Quarterback an american from Utah State, hit the wide reciever for a 78 yard touchdown. Somehow he broke our coverage and out ran the defense to the endzone. End of the 1st quarter.

We get the ball back and start driving. Dino makes a good run up the middle. Then we hit Jean Michel over the middle down to the 25 before he fumbles. Luckily that idiot hit Matt late again and got a 15 yard penalty. So still our ball. About this time, it's also important that you realize Coach David is going crazy on the sidelines trying to protect his players. Team first. Anyways, this kid is chirpy. The type of character that runs his mouth like he's the king in a movie, only to get shot a few seconds later. Yea that's him.

So a few pass plays go by. On one play he ignores the ball and get's in Matt's face, the other he get's chopped by Loic S. Then it happens. You know it. Normally preceeded by an S and an H. Yea. Matt makes another pass play, rolls out of the pocket towards our sideline and gets hit. Well 75 runs after the play up to Coach David and pushes him. Coach obviously having enough of this character looses his cool and goes back at him. Penalties fly, and it really looks like a Parade of Yellow flying from the sky. The rest of our players start getting upset and it looks like a brawl is about to happen.

Someone eventually pulls Coach back. Because I think he was going after the ref for a little bit. Being that the ref wasn't paying attention. I tried to get the offense to huddle up. It was chaos for a few minutes. We drive to the 10 and then switch into Goaline offense. The first play dino runs for 5 yards or so. Next Matt rolls out to the left on a QB keeper to the 3 thanks to a bad spot. Then a dive to the right and we are on the 2. Fourth down we go for it, run a pass play and turn the ball over.

A solid defensive performance 3 and out and we get the ball back. Matt hits dino over the middle for a big gain, and then another pass and we are on the 14 knocking at the endzone again. Matt then throws a touchdown pass that get's called back for an illegal reciever down field. I watched the tape and it looks like Will is about 2 yards in front of the line of scrimmage as Matt throws the ball. Ahhhh....

We turn over the ball again, being so close to scoring. Matt who was also getting his first shot at defense this game, made some big tackles in the unsuing drive. One of which was on their QB causing an increase in excitement and talking. The announcer yells "Quarterback on Quarterback" The game is getting fun.

The Argos drive to the 6 yard line before stalling out. They grab 2 offsides penalties and try to kick a field goal. As they attempt the 33 yarder, I tell Michel Donati that I want to try and block it. So Johan and Michel rush the guard and I time up my jump. It was a low kick but not to low, I barely get the tip of my finger on it and land back to the ground upset that I almost had it but let it go through my fingertips. Then I look back and the kick hits the bottom cross bar and bounces up. PLEASE DONT GO IN. It flys back to the field and we are safe!

(ok I have to make this clear. They were on the 16 yard line. After the missed kick the ball stayed on the 16 yard line.... point of reference)

We drive the ball to our own 15 yard line before time becomes our worst enemy. We head into the half time with the offense moving the ball and the defense only giving up one huge pass play and one drive that we held strong on.

The second half kicks off and we are hungry. A quick 3 and out by the defense and then it's the offenses turn. Dino takes the first handoff and runs 36 yards to the 20. Another couple runs and finally Matt powers his way into the endzone on a QB toss. The extra point is blocked and we are still down 7-6.

They drive the ball. The QB hits a 10 yard gain over the middle. A few plays later and it's a big 3rd down and 8. Somehow I run past the Guard, the QB steps up into the pocket. I grab his right arm and rodeo him down for a sack. Lucky me. Fabien returns the punt from the 4 yard line to the 20. We drive the ball through the 3rd quarter and half way into the 4th all the way down to the 2 yard line. We tried a field goal to take the lead, but missed wide right.

Remember the point of reference... we'll since we missed on the 2, the ball got moved back to the 20 yard line. A knew rule for me, I guess I had never seen this before. I was confused trying to figure out what was going on, but the ref said it is a rule. Later after the game he would open up his rule book and show Matt P. At the time I thought he had lost his mind. I guess it's because I'm used to fieldgoals from that distance being made most of the time, thanks to T-Bell at Tech.

The Argos get the ball and drive down the field. They make some big plays and come up with conversions at the right time. I am exhausted at this time. My body feels like it's been pushed to the limit. They drive all the way to the 8 or 9 yard line. At one point I made a good read on the shovel pass and tackled the rb for a loss. But it was never enough, because they found a way to move forward. Another time Ben and I tackle the rb on a counter and started pulling the crowd behind us. I pumped my arms up and down...needing their support because my body felt like shutting down. The juniors in the stands and the rest of the Cougar faithful yelled for us.

We stopped them and pushed them back to the 16 before they kicked a field goal to go ahead 10-6. Less than a minute left on the clock. Never losing hope, the cougar offense took the field. A good return by Michel took us only 42 yards away from victory.

The first play Matt scrambled from the pocket and gained a hard earned 2 yards. On the same play a defender from the Argos broke his arm. It reminded me of A.J. Smith popping his elbow out of socket. The guy tried to make an arm tackle and it just came out of his shoulder. Laying on the ground it looked disqusting. The only good thing about that was that it gave us time to come up with our plays and get set. We hurried to the line after the medical time out and ran a passing play. Matt got hit by the rushing lineman at the precise moment that the ball left his hand. The ball flew high into the air and was then caught somehow by Nico, who saw the ball coming up short and ran back to catch it. A small 3 yard gain, but a momentus saving grace.

36 yards to go and only 13 seconds remaining, Matt took the 3rd down snap and fired the ball long to Michel. Michel reaching out grabbed the ball in the back of the endzone with 9 seconds left to take the lead and give the Cougars a 12-10 lead. AMAZING. The stands went crazy. The players went crazy. We all went crazy.

As I sprinted down to the endzone to congradulate my team...all I could think about was this is worth it. This makes it all worth it. Definitely one of the most amazing comebacks I had seen/ played in. I mean Clemson and Calvin Johnson is probably by far the greatest, but the fact that this one was close. A buzzer beater. It means the world to me. I tackled Michel and everyone else piled on. The 15 yard celebration penalty meant nothing. Today the Cougars had fought to the very end. Never quiting, never giving up, and never hanging their head in defeat. New team, new attitude. MY TEAM.

The extra point was good and as we made the tackle on the return, the Argos only had time for one more play. From their own 26. The QB hurled up a deep ball, while getting hit in the chest. Matt Polhemus came down with the interception and gracefully touched the ball to the ground to end the game. Who are you? Cougars. What a great game. Now it's on to the Flash... A team we have never beaten.... I think it's time to write some more history.

FYI- the game should be available to watch sometime soon on http://www.radiossa.com/

Island hopping

To conclude this three part dialouge I have to talk about the Greek Island adventures. I initially wanted to go to the island of Rhodes, for obvious reasons. However, after discovering it was more like an hour and a half flight, we decided to hop to some of the closer islands next to Athens. Aegina and Agstri, i think?

Well anyways Matt had to say it. "This has just gone to smoothly." ....NOOOOOOooooooooooo ...

Now we were jinxed from the start. There had to be some kind of mishaps along are so far amazing trip. Well here it was.

You know how when you hop on a ferry, it usually takes you directly to the destination and then stops for EVERYONE to get out. The Hellenic Ferry we jumped on was nothing like this one. It more so resembled a metro on water. We pulled up to the first island and started to dock at the port. Matt and I walked down to the exit, but the door was not open. Thinking that maybe this would take a while, we went back up to quickly use the bathroom. As we finished taking approximately 4 mins 34 seconds, we noticed that the boat just so happened to be taking off to another island destination....

What? Matt figured maybe they were going to dock somewhere else. Maybe the guys messed up. After about 10 mins, we came to the conclusion that they really messed up. Apparently 10 or so other people also didn't get out of the boat at the stop. I think the crew just forgot to open the door to let people out. So all of us are trying to figure out what we are doing, where the boat is heading now and all that jazz.

Turns out we basically get to take another ferry ride in a completely different direction that will use up a lot of our time, leave us with a little under 2 hours on this other island, and then come pick us back up and take us to aegina. GREAT. Being that we had a lot of extra time to spend on the boat, Matt and I just started playing around on the top deck. We just spontaneously made a video, the 24 hour ghetto workout video on a boat...yea that one... Turned out great.

As we got to the new destination, Matt and I stopped to get a bite to eat and drink. We order some coffee and some desserts, like bread. The Greek guy taking our order had no clue. We ended up with this cold frappachino type drink, that was half foam. However I will have to say it tasted delicious. For the "desserts" we recieved a bowl full of peanuts. Translations are fun!!!

Afterwards we finally got him to understand sandwhich and he brought the glorified grilled cheese to the table. It was another day of great weather and after we finished eating, we headed to the little beach there. The water was pretty crystal clear and you could clearly see the rocks that made up the ocean floor. While on the beach we noticed some really good rocks for skipping stones. It looked like a granite manufacture had lost his shipment somewhere at sea, and it all managed to end up here on this beach. Tons of pieces of smooth white granite countertops broken into perfect throwing sized stones lined the shores. Matt and I skipped stones in the beach and tried to see how many we could get. Timing up the waves was very key.

Finally we moved over to the bay that was right next to the beach and found the tranquil waters to be perfect for our new found hobby.

We headed back to the dock and jumped on the ferry back to Aegina, our initial destination. When we arrived we walked along the island shores looking for a souvenir t-shirt or sweatshirt. It had started to get a little cold so the sweatshirt seemed like a good idea. However size is a problem. The biggest we found was an XL which more so fit like a Large in the US. Matty bought it. I found a cool shirt and wrapped it up to go. We enjoyed the rest of our time on the island by watching the sea and taking the whole trip in. When you think about it we had a pretty amazing weekend.....

Old women walking in on us at night, breaking handles in the bathroom, climbing the acropolyis, touching the temple of Zeus, best weather so far, incredible landscapes, monastaries, old world, gyros, taverna experiences, including a washed scarf, stray dogs, the friday market lined with fresh veggies and what not, impossibilities of catching a cab, island hopping, and most important making new friends. I mean it was pretty good. I feel spoiled now and I don't know how I'm so lucky!

Meteora....and the GREAT METEORON!

As we jumped on the train I remembered wanting to take a train ride somewhere as a kid. Not that it mattered where to, just a train ride. It felt good to jump on and see the countryside. I think if you have the time, train rides are the way to go. You get to see the countryside and enjoy the company of friends, or maybe even making new ones. It was a fun train ride. The best story from the train was when Matt went to the restroom and got himself stuck by breaking off the door handle... hahahaha so funny. The Greek countryside was really beautiful. Mountains lined the horizon and the green grass looked like a photoshoot for Ireland or somewhere else you would expect to see REALLY green grass. You drive along the cliff sides/ mountain sides and the sunsrise and sunset where gorgeous.

We arrived at the stop in Meteora at night and decided to find our way to the Koka Roka Taverna, our room for the night. As we walked through the city, it seemed very peacful/ tranquil. We managed to figure out the right direction, knowing that it was towards the base of the mighty cliffs. The only problem was that the city started looking a little more sketch, and the silent peacefulness turned into more of the same silence during the climax of a suspense movie. The foreigners not knowing where they were headed, walking up dark streets, passing pubs filled with nothing but old men and the only thing outnumbering the amount of beer was the excess of smoke. It turned out great though as we climbed up the windy streets to the taverna. Lauren called to make sure we were in the right direction and of corse Katarina just said, "keep coming up" in that unique questionable European accent.

As we arrived Nick who turned out to be her husband pointed us in. He was playing with some old equipment and reminded me of a Texan Great Grandpa fiddlin' with gadgets and equipment older then I am. Katarina showed us the room. Apparently she only had 1 because a group had decided to stay an extra night. This would be a problem the next morning when we tried to pay, but don't let me get ahead of myself. We go above the taverna which actually turns out to be their old house that they have converted into a makeshift hostel to give guests a place to stay. The room was great 3 beds for 4 people. Thank you girls for sharing a bed despite Katarina's suggestion of "...if 2 want to sleep together it works...you with her? or you two??" ha. The bathroom though demands some explanation. Lets just say you could use the restroom and shower at the same time.... not because they were so close together, but because they were one in the same. Just a hose connecting to the wall next to the toliet paper dispenser and a drain in the floor.....We didn't take showers.

We go to a Taverna in town and enjoy the splendid prices of a family run operation. A lot of Lamb, salad, feta, meatballs, chicken, eggplant, etc. They however didn't have the stuffed peppers we all wanted to try. Anyways we make it back up to the Koka Roka and head to bed. Meaning girl-esque pillow talk about random crap. Apparently this was a little too loud, and too later for Katarina. Only being 11 I didn't think it was too bad for a hostel and the later European lifestyle. Well here comes Katarina the little old lady, she barges into our room and lets out a "You go to bed now, it's sleepy time" and then shuts the door closed. Um what?? Yea what if I had just hopped out of the shower naked, or if something else embarrassing like that happened? I couldn't believe it and we all cracked up laughing and tried to fall asleep.

The next morning we had breakfast and some really funny anecdotes transpired. First a small Korean man comes walking in with his bad and says he would like to stay the night, but doesn't have much money. Sweet Katarina tells him it's not a problem, how much would you like to pay? Korean man says, "I just have 10 Euro" ...come on dude it's not a hostel and you've got more money than that because I saw you last night at the Taverna eating more then the 4 of us...oh right, that's probably why you don't have money....anyways sweet Katarina turns into ruthless business woman and tells him he heard wrong that she doesn't have a room and that nothing in life is free. He leaves for 5 minutes while we continue our breakfast.

Then he comes back again dragging in his luggage. Katarina yells at him to leave his bag outside, while my own backpack and Lauren's backpack are in plain site lying on the ground in front of him. It's a small place, he see's it. The Korean guy then says, "ok...I don't want room, just take shower" Katarina upset at this point says, "I dont have showers, leave." It was funny, but should have been a big clue. We finish our meal and then try to pay the bill. Katarina comes over and gives us a 97 Euro bill. EEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkkk.....

Horse's come to a hault, wagons stop rolling, and all of our faces drop to the floor, eyes peering up lost in confusion. Excuse me? The meals where 30 and the room apparantely 67 Euro. Well Lauren had called and she had said 35 Euro for 2 rooms. Again I re-iterate that we all slept in one room. So it should be cheaper. She says oh ok.. I give you good deal, she writes out the bill, which consists of her scribbling on a small white piece of paper with a pen. Much like you would do if your doing elementary math. Then she presents her 'adjusted' price... a whopping 96 Euro. Sweet an entire dollar off for sharing a room. This makes a lot of cents!!! bahahaha... well I guess when Gyros are so cheap 1 Euro is like half a meal! ok ok so we debate for another good 10 minutes and finally she says ok ok I understand.... same process and comes the same result 95 Euro.

At this time we were just frustrated and decided to forget about it, not waste anymore time and head to the mountains. Walking up the footpath was definitely the most difficult/ rewarding part of the trip. You wind back and forth not knowing where you are going when finally you find an opening and see the magnificent mountains in the background, town in the valley, bluffs along us, monastaries on top, it's breathtaking. Literally I can't tell you how amazing this hike is. It takes us 40 mins just to get up the footpath and another hour or two across the asphault over the mountains to the other side. It's so surreal, every 200 yards or so you just want to stop and take pictures and take it all in. It's so beautiful. I can't describe the view. You'll have to see it from the little movie Matty P made.

Link for video click me

In the monastaries it is so quiet. So hermet like. The monks dedicate their lifes to becoming closer to God and Holy. The women as the walk in to the monastaries have to wear skirts around their pants in order to keep temptation away. It was so interesting for me to see this lifestyle, and the traditions, customs, and rituals that they do in order to get closer to God. For me I found some difficult questions. I mean for instance, they built the monastaries in the most desolate/ beautiful places away from everyone in a place where there is not question to see God. Trying to be away from the world and yet this in turn draws everyone else to see these places.

Another thing was, these men are dedicate to Christ. However they isolate themselves. How does this work out? I'd figure they'd rather show others the same love. Then I thought about it, I mean I guess this lifestyle really brings the people to see how dedicated they are. Either way following brings fruit even if the fruit is of a different kind. Weither it's monks, missionaries, or the average joe, we still have our own impact. Sometimes in ways we don't know.

Anyways being up there just really brings a peaceful spirit and a calmness. I was just in awe of the countryside/ landscape. We had such a fun time walking up and down together. Taking it all in. It was an experience. That's how I'd describe it. An experience.

Well that's the 2nd part of the trip, still have island hopping to talk about so look forward to that soon.