Vacation: All I Ever Wanted

Today is a daydreaming kind of day.  I'm not cranky, but the sun is shining and I have no interest in being in class.  When your in high school or college, they call it senioritis, but there is no good word for how I'm feeling now.  The closer I get to graduation, the more I am just totally itching to get out of school and get away.  Wherever away is, I'm not really sure, but it's definitely not anywhere in West Virginia.

Today I am reminiscing on some scenes from my study abroad trip to Greece, Turkey, and Italy.  One day, when I am a highly paid and well-renowned lawyer practicing in some now-unknown area of law, I will be able to afford trips like this and I look so forward to that day.

It's funny how, in retrospect, the things that annoyed you or upset you sometimes just fade away into the background.  On this particular trip, I had a professor who I really, really hated--and who I fought with on a regular basis.  But now, looking back, I barely remember those things, and only remember the times that were totally awesome.  I wonder if law school will be that way.  Will I ever look back and say, "but there were so many good times"?  Somehow I doubt it.   But I guess anything is possible. 


It's finally March.  I'm itching for the end of Winter, the end of law school, the end of life in West Virginia--and the beginning of everything else.  If I weren't so poor, I would plan a celebratory trip.  But I am poor, and all that remains is to remember the better times, the amazing trips, and wish for a chance in the future to do it all over again.

Who wouldn't want to be at the beach right about now?

Or the Spice Market in Istanbul? 

I really, really loved the sort of eerie prayer music that played through the streets in Turkey whenever it was time for the Muslims to pray.  I will never forget that sound, and how everything would just stop.  Even though we were able to visit the mosques and see some of their holy sites, non-Muslims (and women, let's not forget that I am even worse than the regular non-Muslim simply by virtue of my gender) can only go so far.  And even then we had to cover up our bodies.  I wore a head scarf, which was pretty fun for a little while, but I kept being very self conscious that it had gotten in a weird place and wasn't looking quite as stylish as I hoped.  Oh well.

I have to admit, I really love ruins.  There's something really cool about walking through the rubble and imagining what used to be.  Also, there's not nearly as many exhibit Nazis as there are a museum or something.  You can walk around, talk in normal voices, touch whatever you want...  And, let's face it, it's hard to see something cool and not touch it, no matter how old you are.

We rode donkeys up to an acropolis in Lindos, Greece.  I don't know if it looks like fun, but it cost like 5 euro and it also was quite uncomfortable.  My donkey's name was Heracles, which I thought was kinda funny.  He had to be pretty awesome to carry me all the way up the winding cobblestone street to the acropolis. 

I'm Catholic (don't hold it against me) and something about seeing the Vatican (and the Sistine Chapel and the Pieta) that really spoke to me.  Its amazing how much art and sculpture and maps and architecture is all located in one teeny tiny little place.  Of course, cliche person that I am, I definitely tried to figure out what the route was that Robert Landgon took in The da Vinci Code book.  Failed.  Vatican City is so tiny, I still can't figure out exactly where he went.  I only wish I could have had my passport stamped there.

Back to Turkey again. 

We ate octopus in this little restaurant in Greece.  Yup, octopus.  And it wasn't half bad.  Lobster is better, but anything coated in butter and washed down with wine is pretty tasty. 

This is one of the boats that took us to the restaurant.  It also took us here, to the caldera, which is the volcano that created the island of Santorini.  We hiked up to the top of the volcano, which was really, really, incredibly tiring.  But there was no big hole in the top with magma pouring out.  A little disappointing.  But true.
After that, we went swimming in hot springs around the side of the volcano.  Pretty sweet.  Much less disappointing than the fact that volcanoes don't look like those models that you made in elementary school.

Pompeii!  Another volcano.  Well, we didn't GO to Vesuvius, but we did see part of the stuff that has been excavated, which was pretty cool.  It's so strange to think that Vesuvius could erupt again and cover the city all over again. 

I must have taken a hundred pictures of the Trevi fountain.  I definitely threw some coins in it and made wishes.  Do you ever wonder how much money really sits in the bottom of fountains and where it goes?
Also, there was a kick butt gelato shop on the corner right behind the fountain that I may or may not have visited a couple times.

It's hard to believe the Colosseum was ever flooded for naval battles.  Where on earth did the water come from in the days before piping and plumbing?  Those ancient Romans were so clever.  Except for that whole battling to the death while lots people are watching for casual entertainment thing.

Needless to say, I am feeling like I need a vacation.  But people who can't afford vacations should just be content to remember times when they DID have vacations and happily return to those memories for a few moments, just to remind themselves of what it was like.  I'm taking a little moment out of the day, a little vacation (conveniently during Jurisprudence class) to remember this vacation.

I hope that soon I will be able to plan another real vacation of my own.  It is a goal of my life to go to Egypt (you don't have to tell me that I shouldn't go to Egypt any time soon) and India.  I want to go on safari and see the Alps.  Drink some beer in Germany or eat my weight in bread and cheese in France.  I'd like to go to Amsterdam (just for funsies, not for any kind of sketchy experimentation--totally not my style).  Wish I could see Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding.  I'd also like to go to Aruba and the Virgin Islands, and probably lots more tropical places.  One day, I'd like to road trip across the country and go camping out west.

Maybe I should make a bucket list.  Maybe Andy and I should collaborate.  That will have to be a work in progress.  I think it's really important to have a plan for where you want to go in your life and what you really want to accomplish.  It would force me to really think about what's most important to me and how to make it happen.

Bucket list task #1: Get a job to fund Bucket list items 2 to __ (however many there are!)