And Here We Have Idaho

Oh, what a week! I arrived in the beautiful Pacific Northwest on a spectacularly perfect day: blue sky, sun shining, and Dad waiting by the car to help me with my suitcase before we sped off to Hayden Lake. As we pulled up to the country club, I couldn’t help but comment on the extraordinarily stunning scenery and how lucky I was to return home to such a gorgeous, refreshing place. Mom joined us and we boated across the clear, midnight blue lake to the cabin. I voiced my wish list early on, and nearly every dream came true over the next several days (largely with the help of my newly retired parents)…- Bond with Arney. Sam’s dog provided an array of activity whether he was running off with the neighbor and his dog or pleading for a game of catch. He’s a good-natured pup with LOTS of energy and was always happy to see me (albeit a bit too visibly happy, if you catch my drift).
- Water ski. Mission basically accomplished. When I wasn’t doing the splits (unintentionally, of course), I was crashing and giving myself a lake water enema (too graphic for the blog?). Despite my poor performance, I was entertained and appreciated my parents’ patience.
- Eat at Hudson’s. A trip home isn’t complete without a stop at the all-time-favorite, savory-yet-simple burger haven. I broke tradition by getting a cheeseburger to go and pampered myself to a picnic lunch while reading a novel at the base of Tubb’s Hill.
- Witness Jenny Mick and Mick Gray tie the knot- finally. Together for over seven years, this pair of high school friends finally made it legal while I was home. It was great to catch up with Lake City HS friends, many of whom I hadn’t seen in six years. Naturally, I had to dance the night away once the music started playing. Fun, fun time!
- Chat with Chelsey. We connected not once, but twice (!) during this latest path-crossing trip. We caught up over coffee and mingled at the wedding before Joel abducted Chelsey to another wedding with his brethren in his homeland to the north. She’s enjoying her two jobs, making progress toward her masters, turning her Utah house into a home, tending to the pets, and cleaning up after Joel (kidding!). - Kayak. I spent a bit of time tootling around Hayden Lake in one of Dad’s handcrafted wooden kayaks. It was great to reflect on the beauty of North Idaho (again), relax to the max, and contemplate the meaning of life. Okay, maybe I didn’t get that deep, but it was a very peaceful trip around Yellowbanks Point and into the neighboring bay.
- Check out Coeur d’Alene’s newest additions. I peeked in the new public library downtown and was amazed by its modern, open feel and popularity. The real jaw-dropper came with a tour of the state-of-the-art Kroc Center. Whoa. Miranda Fisher led me around the top-shelf facility from the competition pool to the indoor track to the community wing with its meeting rooms and theatres to the play pool with all its bells and whistles. I stopped by development director Harry Amend’s office to say ‘Hi,’ and we had a nice chat. Way to go, Cd’A- things are looking good!
As soon as the trip was just getting started, it already seemed to be coming to an end. For my last dinner at home, I feasted on some favorites: rack of lamb, cheesy potatoes, salad with berries and poppy seed dressing, zucchini bread (straight from the harvest of Mom’s garden), and huckleberry daiquiris. Add in the idyllic weather, two awesome parents, one brother fresh from a Boise internship, and a breathtaking view, and perfection was achieved! Without a care in the world, I remember thinking, “It doesn’t get better than this!”

Bay Area Bonding

After a brief touchdown in Houston, I headed off to California for some escapades in the greater San Francisco area. Despite delays along the way, there was no sweeter sight than smiling Jenn greeting me at the gate. I met many of Jenn and Robert's family members and had a great dinner with spicy meatballs and Poizin wine. The festivities really began in the morning with an engagement shower in the neighbor's backyard patio garden. I especially enjoyed the mimosas and the outrageously good melt-in-your-mouth quiche.Jenn and Robert opened gifts and then we caravaned to Robert's first communion. The mother of the bride's cousin facilitated the sacred rite; he will also perform his priestly duties when he presides over the December 27 wedding in Houston. More food and celebration followed. We enjoyed a lazy Sunday morning with tons of dim sum and amazing views (Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, etc.) from the rooftop. Shortly after noon, Rachael and her boyfriend Jon picked me up from the house on the hill and whisked me away to Oakland.We met up with her friend and classmate Lauren who took us to a cool Burmese restaurant with excellent vegetarian options. Then we headed south to Santa Cruz. Rachael treated me to a private tour of the lodge-like UCSC campus with an important stop in her second home, the Psychology building. We had homemade fajitas for dinner before I passed out from exhaustion. The next day was exceptionally action-packed with breakfast at Cafe Brazil, a morning walk through the duckpond, and a midday wine tasting. We spent the afternoon walking around the coast, checking out the wildlife and popping in to see the surfing museum. We made our way over to the pier and the boardwalk where we played a rousing game of mini golf. We played skee ball, ate cotton candy and slurpies, and watched a circus-like performance on the beach. I satisfied my craving for a clam chowder bread bowl before we headed home. With Jon in tow, we saw the latest Harry Potter installment and had a late-night snack at a diner. It truly was such a great getaway! Now, I am in Idaho and will have more to report soon!

Sunsets and Sightseeing

For our second day in Santorini, Risa and I booked a caldera cruise at sunset. Before we set off, we went to the hotel's fitness center, which is nestled in one of the cave-like rooms of the 400-year old winery-turned-hotel. Then we had a snack at Raki, a nearby restaurant that was used briefly for filming during The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Around 2pm we made our way to the town of Fira where we took a jaw-dropping, cliff-hugging cable car ride down to the port.Our wooden ship first docked at the uninhabited volcanic island of Nea Kameni, which had blossomed from the center of the caldera. We hiked around and heard the history of Santorini's destruction and some of the newer volcanic creations. Good exercise, great views, and interesting info. The boat continued to muddy hot springs (the rust-colored water above). After anchoring out in the bay, I jumped off the side of the ship and swam with Risa to the warm, silty waters.When we returned to the ship, yummy Greek appetizers awaited us along with some famous Santorini white wine. The cruise continued around the island as the sun went down, leading to even more gorgeous scenery. On our last day in Santorini, Risa and I spent more time on the black sand beach and had a delicious lunch at a nearby taverna. We indulged in vin santo by the pool while reading our beachy novels, then had an afternoon session in the Turkish steam bath. Lest I sound too much like a braggart, here's where I admit we spent the night sleeping on the hallway floor of a ferry en route to Athens.Arriving in the port of Pireaus in the wee small hours of the morning meant that Risa and I wandered through darkness to the Metro and then poked around our hostel's area during dawn. Suitcases shed, we grabbed some spanakopita for breakfast and lined up early for entry to the Acropolis. The site invoked an interesting debate about the balance between unaltered excavation and artful reconstruction- between preserving authenticity and restoring former glory. The views from the top of the hill were fantastic, and the crowds rapidly accumulated at the top around the Parthenon (above).The day continued with visits to Hadrian's arch and the Temple of Olympian Zeus. We sauntered through the National Gardens and watched the changing of the guards in front of the Parliament building. The "Evzone" soldiers stood guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and had a peculiar high-step walk, shoes with big pompoms on the toe, heavily pleated khaki skirts, and long, black ponytail-like tassels. Quite the get-up. Across the street was Syntagma Square where the underground Metro stop was like a free museum featuring the archaeological finds from the station's excavation. Then we went to Hadrian's Library, a Roman Forum, the Tower of the Winds, the Agora (and its museum in the Stoa of Attalos, above), and the Kerameikos cemetery.For my final day in Greece, Risa and I visited the extensive collection at the National Archaeological Museum. I especially enjoyed the Cycladic art, treasures from various graves, the Thira frescoes (from Greece's Pompeii - Akrotiri, closed to the public), colorful glass from shipwrecks, and tons of sculpture. Afterward, we strolled through the city, had gyros and kebabs for lunch, and visited the new, impressive Acropolis Museum. With the stress of international travel looming, I packed my bags. Risa and I said our goodbyes over pistachio gelato and baklava. For the first time in two weeks, we parted ways, and I made the long, long journey home!

Island Hopping

I last left off with anticipation of Zakythos, and now I shall try to bring the blog up to speed... three islands later. Zakythos was quite an interesting stop. It reminded me a lot of Phuket, Thailand, in that the genuine natural beauty is somewhat marred by the deluge of tourist industries catering to loaded, lazy consumers seeking a foreigner-friendly, 'hip' experience. Ever the do-it-yourselfers, Risa and I thought we might be heading to a hidden gem and found that all of Britain and Scandanavia had beaten us to it. People were actually quite surprised to hear American accents. Nonetheless, the island was beautiful.Looking past the bow of the ship (over the bare breasts of European sunbathers, of course), the island's features were actually bordering on paradisiacal. A few of the highlights included visiting a white pebbly beach with a shipwreck (above), glowing blue caves, and a rock resembling Poseidon's visage (below).After a short stopover in Patras, a couple bus rides, and a long ferry ride, Risa and I arrived in the port of Souda near Hania on the island of Crete. We took an early morning bus to our final destination of Rethymno, which allowed us the opportunity to watch the sunrise. Watching the slow burn of the creeping sun warm the island was a great way to start the day and left a lasting first impression of the island.We walked around the charming old section of town, paying a visit to a hilltop fortress (above), a Venetian harbor, and the beach. Then we donned our adventure tourism hats and rode horses on the beach as the sun sank below the horizon. Sun up to sun down, it was the complete day!We spent the next day in Heraklion, the third largest city in Greece (the second is Thessaloniki, the first is Athens). Through the hustle and bustle, we navigated our way through a maze of narrow streets and busy traffic. We went to the famous Minoan palace ruins of Knossos (below). I was glad to have brought a surprisingly relevant pocket guide to Crete circa 1970 (thanks to my Friends of Fondren membership at the Rice Library), which guided us through the stone complex. Then we wandered around town a bit more and ate our first real Greek salad (baklava for dessert!).We took a high-speed ferry to Santorini this morning (thank goodness for efficient travel!!) and checked in at our fancy hotel, the Vedema. We toured the complex, checked into our palatial room, and spent some time at the hotel's private section of the island's black beach. We went to a small winery in the evening and tasted three whites, a red, and a sweet dessert wine made from grapes grown on the mineral-rich volcanic soil of the island. Risa and I thought the vin santo was so incredibly delicious that we splurged on a bottle and sipped it by the pool as we read our novels at sunset. Ahhhhh.... :)

Independence Days

Risa and I have made it to Greece, and our trip is well underway. We touched down in Athens late Friday night and took an overnight bus to Thessaloniki. After dropping off our bags in the wee hours of the morning, we walked along the sea to the White Tower (above) and wandered through the high-tech museum inside. Then we went to the archaeological museum and stopped by a few churches along the way back to our hotel. We even made an impromptu stop at a Roman bath that had been converted into a place for showcasing modern art. After several hours of rest, we woke up ready to go and headed to Litochoro. The bus dropped us off about 6km from the town itself. Feeling ambitious, we made the trek there on foot, uphill, to the town nestled at the foot of Mount Olympus. We walked through a park and then walked along a trail on the mountain, following a river in the canyon. Gelato on the way down definitely inspired us to continue the rest of the way on foot back to the train station, so we racked up quite a few miles (15+km) on our sneakers.Of course, the views were heavenly, though the clouds interfered with my ability to take a good picture of the peak. Risa and I ate some traditional Greek food back in Thessaloniki for dinner: retsina white wine, mussels over rice pilaf, and "briam/briand" (our Greek is not up to snuff) a grilled eggplant dish for the Sabbath. In the morning, we set out for Zakynthos, a small island south of Corfu. Though we've had a few detours on our way (like this 3.5-hour layover in Patras), we will get there today!

Up, Up, and Away!

What a week this has been! Here it is, the night before my last exam of my first year of medical school, and I am both terribly excited and incredibly emotionally unstable. Can this really be the end of the first year? Am I really 2/3 of the way through the pre-clinical curriculum? Am I really leaving for Greece in a mere 12 hours?! Insanity. Before I get too carried away, I should ground myself in the events of the past nine days or so:UP! On Tuesday I celebrated my last day of class and Jeffrey's birthday (a week early) with dinner at T'afia and a show downtown. We went to see the Theatre Under the Stars' production of Cabaret. The show was extremely well choreographed, expertly orchestrated, and entertaining. In a complete 180 from the first half of the show, the final few scenes were exceptionally grim and rather poignant. All in all, it was a very relaxing night- just what I needed.UP! On Friday and Monday I tucked the two toughies of Infectious Disease and Neuroanatomy under my belt. I had a chance to catch up with my amazing sister Sarah before she left for her deployment yesterday. Wherever this classified mission takes her, she will be in my thoughts and prayers! Another communication connection over the weekend involved a call to my dear Grandma Thilo. I feel like I should say something cliched like, "What a lady- look who's 80!" Hackneyed expressions aside, it was nice catching up with her and hearing about her birthday celebrations. The picture above is a blast from Christmas past as we meticulously decorated sugar cookies.AWAY! So here I go, away from Baylor and off to Greece for a couple weeks. I am not sure if I'll be able to blog until the 15th, so I'm just going to play it by ear. My bags are packed, I'm ready to go, I'm standing here outside your door... okay, I'm really just sitting in bed, but I am leaving on a jet plane very, very soon!! The picture above is of my latest piece of wall art: my diploma. It only took me over two years to get around to framing it. Hah- classic.