Delos

This was my first view of Delos, which is an uninhabited island about half an hour by boat from Mykonos. It used to be inhabited, which is what makes it such a modern archeological theme park.

The wind was bitterly cold and ferociously strong, which I hadn't been expecting. I was very, very under-dressed and probably looked like I was doing the I-have-to-pee dance during the whole two-hour tour just to keep moderately warm.

See that? It used to be someone's window.

There were wildflowers growing and blooming everywhere. The colors coupled with the bitter wind and absolutely gorgeous ruins made Delos exactly what I was looking for--it felt like I'd really gone somewhere new.

The boat runs from Mykonos once every two or three days, depending on the season and the weather. It took four days for me to make it out to Delos. I'd almost given up on getting there at all--there'd been a storm, the weather still wasn't great and the travel agent told me the wrong time for the boat. I ended up racing along the waterfront to the end of the dock--sprinting like I was in the sixth grade Olympics--but I made it before they cast off.

(I still breathe a sigh of relief when I think about how close I cut it. They pulled up the gangplank/walkway/whatever it's called behind me as I boarded.)

There aren't any second stories (storeys?) surviving today, but apparently in ancient times they were about as common as in I.V. or P.Q. (I.e., very. Many buildings had them.)

The ledge was used to hold olive oil lamps. And the surviving plaster on the wall! So cool.

Ruins for as far as the eye could see. Ohhhh my god, it was beautiful. (And cold.)

And the famous Delian lions! These are copies, though. They moved the originals into a small museum on the island to protect them from the damage they'd been receiving from smog and air pollution and such.

Chocolate and pierced ears

It's been so cold the past two days. Icy--at least for me. The wind hasn't been bad, thank god, but it feels like the air temp has just plummeted. Yesterday I went to lie in the sun while wearing long pants, two jackets, and a scarf, and still was so cold I was fighting off shivers. I couldn't feel the sunshine at all, which was more upsetting than I'd anticipated.

So I went home and baked brownies. The kitchen smelled wonderful, I got to chow down on some chocolate, and my flatmates loved me. Life was good again.

And last Friday, I went to get my ears pierced (for the first time). With one of the bestest flatmates ever, codename Red. :) She's quite fond of piercings in general, and when I told her I'd been thinking about getting my ears pierced, she practically pounced on me. ("Really? Let's go! Today! Showers, then let's go get piercings! I'll come with!")

I'm quite pleased with the results, actually. There'll probably be at least one more visit to Tribal Tattoos off Nicholson St. before I head home. :)

Colds are yucky.

I’m sick. Blargh. I went up to Santa Barbara to visit school friends before I leave for Scotland for a year and basically more fun than my immune system can handle. Traveling and staying up until six-thirty in the morning and such.

Oh well. It was worth it, and I’m on the mend now, even if my sleep schedule is all wacked out. I got up at about noon today and spent the first two hours of the day writing book reviews for my goodreads.com account. Go ahead and check it all out. :) I don’t… ahem… have any friends yet, but I really love the whole concept. It’s like Facebook for book lovers. You have these things called “shelves,” where you basically categorize books as “read,” “currently reading,” or “to-read,” and you can assign stars for how good a book was and write reviews for books, talk to people that read the same things you do, obsess over pretty cover art (I’m so glad I’m not the only one in the world who does that), follow your favorite authors and what they’re reading, and even join book groups that choose a different book to read each month.

Pretty sweet deal, if you ask me. :)

And speaking of shelves, I have put up three new bookshelves in my bedroom! Okay, so only two are up at the moment and I still have to finish painting the third, but I’m so excited! I love filling up bookshelves almost as much as I love finishing books. =P