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Greece Baby

Before I write a long blog post on The Amazing Greece Summer Holiday That Was, or an even longer post on life post-Kellogg graduation (who woulda thought? I'm now an MBA), I'd like to jot down a few things about Greece that I thought were worth noting, during my visit there this past July:

• Illy's or Lavazza espressos can be found ANYWHERE - including at the crappiest airport food joint. Why can't America have this? Airport waits (of which I have had plenty, especially lately!) would be a much more bearable affair
• Iced espresso (or frappe coffees - I didn't know they were the origin of frappucinos!) are also everywhere. It seems to be the drink of choice on a hot summer day. I'm starting to think there must be a reason for this Greek love of great coffee...
• ...which brings me to my next point: the hours are totally whack in Greece. We would wake up at 1PM, head sleepily to the beach, continue our sleep on the beach chairs (which cost plenty of Euros! This is new - in Indonesia, beach chairs are absolutely free), and lunch would be around 4-5PM. We would then head back to our hotel at sunset, take a shower, and head out for dinner around 11PM, followed inevitably by a night out at one of the Mykonos or Santorini bars or hot spots - returning home only after sunrise, usually around 7AM, to sleep in until 1PM. Rinse and repeat. The crazy thing about this is that EVERYONE seems to be doing the same thing - shops would still be open at 5AM, and by 7AM the streets are busy with people headed home. This, I surmised, is why the Greeks drink a lot of coffee - not least because I was downing an inexplicable number of triple espresso shots myself to keep my eyes peeled at 6AM.
• Souvlakis at 6:30AM after a big night out is the best thing ever. Melbourne has this too - why did I ever leave that wonderful city?
• I love Greece. I love the beaches, with its crystal clear water, where you can see fish darting around your ankles even when you're neck deep; I love the beautiful people that adorn the beaches; I love the food; I love the lifestyle; I love the history; I love the architecture. I also went with possibly the best group of people to go on an awesome vacation with, and they definitely made the trip.

That's it for now. Now onto the next big awesome vacation!