SBK 2k9

ciaoo you guys- annie here, i have officially divided the blogging duties between rachel and I so this is my contribution. I would say to wait for rachel's blog entry but you prolly will be waiting for a while haha. I just got back from an amazing jaunt with my mom and dad around greece ( croatia was thrown in there at the end). We soaked it up: eating grape leaves stuffed with greek gooodness, climbing castles, savoring the paradise of santorini and much more. We left from venice and after waving goodbye to st. marks square, we left for spring break 2k9 europe style. Our boat was very nice and the dishmans did it in style, shacking up in a suite. We had some prosecco (much of this stuff would be imbibed) waiting for us in the room and we felt pretttty special. But we soon figured out that Americans were few and far between. being avid cruisers, we waited for our announcements to come over the loud speakers, telling us what to do. BUT we forgot that we are in europe, not on our own turf like in america. So english wasn't the go- to language; instead, we were introduced to italian, spanish, german, french, and then english. such a multi-cultural experience. the first night on the cruise my dad made a decisive move that proved to be surprisingly beneficial: he introduced me to black jack. I know i know, everyone must be shaking their heads in disdain thinking about how much of my hard-working dad's money that i lost but you are wrong. The dishman duo actually MADE money! after visiting the black jack tables almost every night, we ended up making about 200 euros all together (not even enough to cover our spa charges though). Vegas here i come. But lets talk about the excursions because that was why we were there in the first place:

1. Bari, italy- nice place. It had some great churchs and a castle. I hate to say that it wasn't amazing but im a true italian now so i know my italy.

2. Katakolon, Greece: great place! we went to where they had the 1st olympic games and then we had a greek lunch complete with sambucca. that stuff is nasty but when in greece...

3. Santorini, Greece: PARADISE. i will return to this heaven on earth. we honestly couldn't believe our eyes- every single thing in this little town of oia was picturesque. if you dont believe me, check out my pics

4. Mykonos, Greece: great place too. but we went at night and so it got dark half way through our trip. We did manage to eat at this fantastic restaurant that was bustling. waiters would literally throw down octopus on the table (dont worry they were dead) for us to eat. 

5. Rhodes, Greece: another fun city. There was an old city which we stayed in mostly. it had great shops and there was a castle nearby. We ate at a pretty authentic greek restaurant b/c i wouldn't let my dad stop at the touristy places that he was drooling over. and it paid off, we had some eggplant concoction that was divine and a plate of greek specialties that was wiped clean in about 2 minutes. greek food is yummy

6. Dubrovnik, croatia: this little down on the coast of croatia is from a postcard. there is a fortification all around the tiny town and the water is unreal. 

i have to run but i will post more! time to go on a segway around villa borghese...i think this is a recipe for trouble. love you all and happy late easter! you better have gorged on chocolate...

annie