I'm really working on a deadline here. I have to have blog posts for each month, and I'm really pushing it. A lot of things have been happening, namely returning from Europe, graduating from medical school, packing up my home for the past 3 years, and moving into the Loft at Westlake Hills. Now many of you Austin locals may not be familiar with the Loft, but it shares the same land as the Resort at Westlake Hills. It's in close proximity to my parent's home. Also my kitchen happens to be the same kitchen that my parents use. And we share the same dining facilities. Ok I live with my parents. My name is Lindsay, and I'm a 26 year old doctor who lives with her parents. Hi, Lindsay. Welcome.
Since I decided to forgo the expensive condo (thanks, Larry the jerkface realtor, who decided that for me), I realized the smartest thing to do would be to save about $18k and live with the crazy people who raised me. This is going to be an adventure in sanity and space. But this way my Zoey beagle can always be taken care of, and Punky pug can always have a dog friend to play with. Too bad she's a princess and doesn't even identify with dogs. She can't even walk on the grass; she has to follow the brick path out to an appropriate spot, and then puts half her legs on the grass to pee.
Ok let's get to the trip. I'm going to hold off discussing the fights that ensued with me and the boyfriend, and just focus on the good. I got to see my little Lala and her lovely new FIANCE and my Daynieflower and my other Lallers. These names are ridiculous, but I have to abide by HIPAA rules for my blog. We ate and drank a lot at Blue Sky and Beast and the Campbell Apartment in Grand Central, made famous for me because that's the bar where Nate and Serena first hooked up. I'm such a teeny-bopper. If you don't know what I'm talking about, good for you. We also saw a local play which was pretty thought-provoking and funny and went to the Met, where I found some hot jewelry.
Then it was off to Barthelona for a quick 48 hours of Spanish flair. We were super jet-lagged, since we decided to drink the free tiny wines that Iberia gave us on our flight, instead of sleeping like intelligent people would do. After awhile, the stewardesses got tired of bringing us drinks and just told Chris the bar was open in the back. Note to self: always fly Iberia. Also I really loved their little packaged meals. One steward just kept coming by saying "Pan. Pan? Pan. Pan," distributing more bread to anyone who wanted it. Mas pan, por favor. Our hotel had an amazing view of a church with a big angel on top, and of La Sagrada Familia, and I really dug the modern bathroom, complete with bidet. Being a lover of all things Spanish and artistic, I was superpumped to see Gaudi's buildings, which were more amazing in person. That man was way ahead of his time. We tried to go see the Magic Fountains near the Placa Espana, which I think are pretty normal fountains, just with a neat name, but they never came on. All these people lined up to see them go off, and they totally disappointed us. Luckily we made some Spanish friends. Then for some reason Chris and I got in a fight, I went home, and he came back several hours later minus an iphone and our fake D&G sunglasses from NY. It seems he made some good "friends" in that fair city.
Then it was off to Athens to meet up with my Swanky Surgeon friend AZ. You may be familiar with her from the wall of quotes... Um she's never drunk during surgeries; don't worry. Let me just preface this with the fact that this whole trip was supposed to be a med school graduation trip that petered out a bit. AZ and SF were set to go, and SF wanted a manfriend to go along too... So I invited the new man. Prob not the best idea in retrospect, but that's what hindsight's all about. So we book our flights to Europe, and AZ remembers she is a bridesmaid for a wedding that falls right in the middle of our trip, so she changes things around. S puts off buying a flight to NY, even though he has paid for his ticket to Barcelona. 4 days before the trip, I haven't heard from him, and he also avoids calling me back to let me know his plans. I figure if he's coming, I may see him in the Austin airport. S was a no show there. Maybe I'll see him in NY? No S. Barcelona? You get where this is going.
Ok stay focused here. So we met up with AZ in Athens, where she booked us this sweet hostel that was really like a hotel. We got our own rooms on the 6th floor, and our own chic balcony that had an amazing view of the Parthenon. At night, the 7th floor turned into a happy hour bar, and we made friends with the bartender and the hotel staff. I tried to get AZ to work it / route with the cute Australian bartender, until we found out he was 19. Game over. Now let's talk about the Greek salads. It is so much better in Greece. The tomatoes are fresher and the feta is wonderful and the people are so much friendlier, so for some reason it all tastes better. At one restaurant the (humongous, sweaty) chef came out to take our plates, and seeing that I hadn't eaten the fish head, proceeded to take my knife and fork and cut the cheek meat out for me. Then he watched as I ate it. A little creepy, but entertaining.
Athens was a lot more fun than I was expecting. Dirty, but the people are so friendly, you couldn't help but love it. We ate at one place twice, Thanasis on Mitropoleos, and around midnight while walking home, we told the man working there how much we loved it. He promptly sat us down and gave Chris a beer and me extra feta cheese. Maybe answers why their economy is going to shit, but I still give them credit for the spirit. And I can't forget the night we went out with only a credit card, asked the bars if they took credit cards, then when paying they said their machines were down due to the strike. We must have gotten hundreds of dollars of free drinks that night. And we made a nice little reputation for ourselves at the hostel as being "those girls" with the one guy trying to babysit. Oh man I left out the Parthenon, which was super mind-blowing, and I didn't even think I'd appreciate it. It's much cooler than just ancient rocks.
Next we were off on our high-speed ferry ride to Santorini. I am going to have to skip some details because this is becoming a novel, but let me just say that Santorini is beyond words amazing. The water is gorgeous, the island and volcano are stunning, and I seriously kept singing the Talking Heads song, "Heaven, heaven is a place, a place where nothing, nothing ever happens." It popped into my head subconsciously after the sun woke us up to the beautiful ocean. We tanned and beached, and you can see my facebook photos for picture reference! We stayed at Delfini in the northern end of the island, on Oia. Ohh and that's where we got into some trouble at a bar, where we made friends with the locals (see above photo), including a police officer. We ended up wearing his jacket and playing with his gun. Another red flag for their legal infrastructure.
I can't... too many events... AZ left for the States.... Mykonos. Gays. Flamboyant. We rented a pow-pow-power wheels ride that we nicknamed Donkey, because it was stubborn and had to be pushed up hills. Ate at a great restaurant where the owner was our waitress. Went to Delos, this ancient city island that was the beginning of the beginning, and was just excavated in the 1960s. That's where Athena was supposedly born, and the hottest gods all lived there. There's mansions and temples and areas used as malls and butcher shops and banks, and it's incredible. AG, you must go, and I'm mad at you for not doing it before. Get a tour guide like Antonio, who was the bomb.com.
Paris. Food... Walked all over the city, even though we had seen a lot on previous trips. Walked along the Seine and saw the Notre Dame, the Eiffel, the Louvre, the Touilleries, Petit and Grand Palais, Old Opera House (amazing), and a bit of the Arc de Triomphe. Big day. Tired. Food. Good. Wine. Good. OO beignets au chocolat GOOD. Brought 3 home. Really great trip, I'm getting tired just reenacting it all!!
In other news, I'm a doctor. The ceremony was really spesh, and my dad got to go on stage and put my academic hood on me, because he's a doc too. Jewish Judy flew in, along with my aunt, and it was just very dear to my heart. Then all my friends left me, and I'm getting withdrawal-like symptoms. Maybe that's just from the alcohol withdrawal. Nono, it's the friendship part.
Well, I'm off to go swim in the Retreat at Westlake Hills with the beagle. Life is hard. Also if you guys haven't noticed, I put up a sweet little fish pond on this blog, and when you click, it feeds the koi. I bet Deebs will enjoy that when she's looking for some distractions. Oh and Kstar is engaged. Congrats! But seriously, quit it you guys, I can't keep up with all this life-ness!!
You know you love me. XOXO, dappergirl.
