Day 89-100: Greek islands

My nearly two week long weekend in the Greek islands was just a perfect way to end the international trek I've been on. Cloudless skies, clear waters, reflection time, more new friends, no schedule and a few adult beverages.

I was on the islands of Corfu, Ios and Mykonos for 4, 5, 2 nights respectively with an overnight bus to Athens too.

Corfu- stayed in The Pink Palace, a legendary hostel that, although I believe it's past it's prime still made for a good ridiculous time. Activities/festivities consisted of everything from sea kayaking to booze cruising to cliff jumping to organized volleyball drinking games to toga parties. It was a much more structured hostel experience than most places I've stayed (free community bfast and dinner, isolated, everything you need right there, don't need to leave hostel resort/beach) but I definitely liked not having to make many decisions for a few days.

Ios- stayed at Francesco's, one of my favorite hostels for sure in one of my favorite places I've been to yet. Close proximity to nightlife, easy to meet people, relaxing pool, affordable. It was the time on this beautiful, fun island that felt like the cap/end to my post grad summer adventures, allowing me to return to the US content and happy with the outcome of the whole trip.

Mykonos- For going in with absolutely no expectations it ended up being a blast- pleasant beach time, music nonstop, hanging out with Australians, Macedonians, Canadians and Frenchies. A few of us went to Cavo Paradiso, a sweet club right on the beach, on my last night. It was amazing there- the club was half indoor, half outdoor with an incredible view of the moonlit sea all around. Just a great last European nightlife memory- encapsulating the beauty of the beach/island/sea and club culture in one spot. Not sure how it happened but I somehow ended up on the VIP balcony section with unlimited (free) rose/Moët and grey goose courtesy of the club owner. Like I said, not sure how it happened but it did. Maybe it was the half unbuttoned party shirt?

Few closing notes for the international chapters of this blog-

Internet really has changed the game for traveling and relationships built through. Before Facebook (and email), it just wasn't nearly as simple to stay in touch with good (or potential) friends you meet while traveling. Nowadays, it's a name exchange and a Facebook add and suddenly you can stay connected with those you had some of the best experiences of your life with. I mean there are definitely connections that will fade out and people you never hear from again. However, there are others you might actually meet up with again, whether in other travel endeavors or visiting. This could be a few months down the rode, or in an unforeseen few years. I hope that some of the awesome people I met this trip throw Boston on their itinerary when they come travel the US or at least reach out to me about other places to go within my home country (as the same resources will be available to me on future travel expeditions).

Don't get me wrong I enjoyed every day and every moment of my trip but by the end I couldn't help but be a bit excited to get back to the states to reunite with friends and partake in some quality family time in Colorado. With it dawning on me that the travels I worked so hard to set up and make work within my post grad path are ending, there is also the excitement of taking the next step forward- clearly a bittersweet moment. Or for those that know me, a classic time for the sad winky face emoticon... ; (

Day 68-88: The London 2012 Olympics

The Olympics happened, wow. A month in London flew by. Here's a highlight reel- I was blessed/lucky/fortunate enough to be at these happenings (in no order)

-4 USA swimming golds in 4 events (thanks phelps/missy frank)
-Mexico Brazil football final (Determination and heart won this match)
-metropolis studios tour/recording (especially neat after taking courses on music history/production in college)
-closing (Never in my life have I received more chills than this)
-USA basketball gold medal hunt from quarterfinals to podium
-Usain Bolt 100m Finals victory (sub 10 seconds of excitement)
-Women's beach vball (amazing venue, great views of London, fun atmosphere, lotsa talent)
-parties- NBC, Oakley, Budweiser, Lulu lemon

What I've seen and done is priceless- no party no place no nothing can match it. Attached a few pics (most are on inaccessible phone at the moment). Memorable experience. A month and done. Which brings me closer to the real world but the Greek islands for now, absorbing some rays, and reflecting some thoughts (corny or well worded?).

This working experience was great for me to get prepared for my full time job with IBM starting in October. Sure, there is a significant difference between holding a lollipop sign to direct guests around and making real business decisions for large companies and working with them towards solutions, but there are similarities- getting into the 15 min early mentality, real life time management (incorporating work outs, meals, errands, sleep and social outings into your schedule) and getting comfortable in new work environments. With Coca-Cola, I was dealing with different guests and coworkers everyday. At IBM, I'll be dealing with different clients and coworkers every project. Learning how to adjust to the clientele has proven to be of extreme importance to me in the past, and this will clearly transfer into the business world. I've started to realize that traveling has helped me quickly adjust and relate to people from near everywhere in the world. Have I been to everywhere in the world? No. But I have been some places and met people from all around, heard their stories of different places. This is travel networking, which makes traveling easier, better and more rewarding.

Networking is important in business. Nothing new there. But networking isn't a term solely associated with business. Networking is important in all aspects of life and doesn't need to have financial goals.

Some of my best travel experiences have been a result of recommendations from other travelers I "networked" with. On this trip, it was other travelers that landed me on a small plane 13,000 feet up skydiving in the Swiss Alps, staying in a legendary hostel in Interlaken. It was a handful telling me to go explore the islands of Croatia, the hidden gem of Europe.

Through travel networking, you can end up with places to stay in Chile, Sweden, Great Britain, Canada, Singapore, Australia and cool Guests visiting you if they act on the offer first (shout out to Matty visiting Chapel Hill.. Twice). This type of networking isn't about eventually making money, but more saving it and efficiently allocating it within travel time.

Traveling is awesome and lots can be learned from it just as lots can be learned in a classroom or office. I've traveled a lot the past couple years. I'm about to be in the business world (at least) a couple years. Given the way i have played out the last couple years, I'm going to use what I've learned traveling in the business world and see how it goes. But for now I'm going to a toga party in Corfu, Greece (recommended hostel) so Yamas! (cheers)

Day 61-67: Let the Games Begin.. Tomorrow

Who's ready for the Olympics? I am. I've now been trained for my job. The past few days I have been touring the Olympic venues and airports to get a better feel for the layout and meeting points, learning more about the Coca Cola Company/ it's connection with the Olympic Games, and getting to know my co-workers in formal and informal settings.

Had a pair of off-days which was nice to rest up and enjoy the rare nice weather in London. Last night, Coca Cola treated us to seats at the Opening Ceremony technical rehearsal. Although I need to save the surprise, I can tell you it is worth watching tomorrow (at whatever time it shows).

And today was day 1 on the job, welcoming Coca-Cola's international VIP guests and leading them to the hotel. Yes it was an early start but I had an awesome time getting into the groove of things! finished early enough to sight the Olympic Torch on its move through London this afternoon too!

If you follow me on Twitter (@khais3), I will be dropping knowledge/ fun facts on London, the Olympics and what Coca Cola is doing to make it these Games the most green, sustainable yet.

In the meantime, enjoy some pics of the venues and such!

Day 60: Coca-Cola happiness, Colorado sadness

Today was a weird day for me, with highs and lows occurring simultaneously. I woke up this morning pumped to start orientation for my Coca Cola Global Hospitality job at the Olympics- showered and showed up an appropriate 15 minutes early to pre-registration breakfast. Before the program starts I take a chance to check Twitter. "Thinking about everyone in Colorado" from Erin Andrews is at the top of my timeline. This of course raises questions in my head- what happened? I refresh the page and BBCnews (London news source in close proximity) already has a story/link about the tragic unfortunate awful random theatre shooting in Aurora at the "Dark Knight Rises" midnight showing, 45 minutes from my home. What? 12-14 were shot dead? 50-60 more wounded? Young people that just wanted to have a fun late night at the movies with friends and/or family?

Orientation starts. Phone away. Thoughts still there. People back home were home still unaware of the happenings (about 3am Colorado time). Families were being informed of relative casualties. This could have happened anywhere, to any family, any family that had a kid, or parent, that loved the story of Batman.

I couldn't be more excited about the opportunity I have in front of me to serve Coca-Cola's VIP clients/ guests and do what I can to create an amazing international experience for them at the London Olympics this summer. It was great finally seeing the Coca-Cola Family together and learning more about my duties / the plan this summer. But Aurora, Colorado, affected families, those that lost lives and dreams were all on my mind.

I was able to periodically check social media sites throughout the day and I appreciate those that reached out to me to make sure my family was okay. Fortunately they are but others are not.

After work I went to find a gym, debrief the day, regroup, etc. Sure enough, right next to the Pump-up work-out music videos was another tv with breaking news of the Denver shootings. Had a home(hostel)-cooked stir-fry meal for dinner with the sis and friends then stayed in tonight to reflect on this day I just had.. Had lots of moments of silence today. It's always good to slowdown and reflect, just unfortunate it had to be under these circumstances.

I'm planning on getting back to it best I can tomorrow. Thoughts and prayers to all affected from this unfair occurrence.

Day 54-59: Ciao Italy, hello Lun-Dun

In the blink of an eye it's 5 days since my blog post. We haven't been in the best Internet spots and there has been a lot going on wrapping up in Italy (eating my last pizzas) and getting settled into London, reuniting with old friends and trying to get rested up before my 23 straight days of work for Coca Cola at the Olympics begins.

After Florence, my sister and I found ourselves in Rimini, a fun beach city on Italy's East Coast, for a couple days. We stayed in a really cool hostel called Sunflower Beach Backpacker and logged some solid beach time before our night in Milan and flight to London.

We arrived in the city hosting the 30th Summer Olympics a couple days early to get a feel for the place. We met up with one of my best friends from home Oliver and his sister Kalina to do a free walking Tour the first day. Attached you'll see a photo of Ollie and I posted up with a soldier. Afterwards, i got a necessary haircut (it was a good run). We all went on a pub crawl that night (to see if it was a worthwhile event for Coca Cola guests when they arrived of course) and yesterday we checked into our well-located hostel (in proximity to the Coca-Cola hotel/base) where we will be staying most of the 4 weeks here.

Yesterday and today were all about getting situated- getting our Olympic accreditation to enter events and use London's public transportation, getting groceries, finding good/quick eats, reading the work manual, etc. I've been taking it really easy, sleeping in and reading the book "Outliers" in free time. That's about to change as orientation starts tomorrow morning.

Sorry this was maybe the least intriguing of my blog posts thus far but it's bound to get interesting once I start work and the Olympics begin! Just for fun though take a deep look at a lady on the walking tour and let me know if anything strikes you as funny.

Day 51-53: Crushed Florence

My great college friend, Daniel Bernstein, is down in Peru doing some medical volunteer work right now. Just over a year ago though, he studied abroad in Florence. I have to thank him so much for the efficient and extremely helpful 5-5-5 (things to see, places to eat, best nightlife spots) guide he took the time to create for me prior to my arrival in Italy. Thanks to that, in less than 48 hours, my sister and I managed to do Florence pretty alright.

We went through the Uffizi museum to see some of the best art from the Renaissance (Michelangelo and Bartorelli), Santa Croce to see the tombs/monuments of Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Dante and Galileo, Duomo to hike the steps and explore the Cathedral, and of course the Accademia to see Michelangelo's David (pic attached, don't tell the museum I took one!).

Quick note on Machiavelli- I can thank rap music for my interest in this politician/philosopher. When 2pac was in jail in the early 90s, he got really into reading. One of his favorite topics was Machiavelli and his theories on efficient power gains. One of his thoughts off of this was that faking one's death while rising in power is the ultimate way to forever become a powerful remembered figure. When 2Pac came out of jail he returned to power within the rap game and switched his name to Makaveli for his last album "The 7-day Theory" released right after his questioned death in Las Vegas.
Not saying it's what went down but definitely an interesting conspiracy thought.

Food-wise we had two great dinners and found a healthy smoothie spot to keep our diets mildly in line. The first night we ate at an awesome hole-in-the-wall pizza place called Gusta Pizza where I got a huge spicy salami, mushroom, basil za and a glass of wine for under 10€. Night 2 we went to another recommended spot called Zazas where I endulged in a mixed grilled meat platter with potatoes and spinach. Really good.

We had 2 nights in Florence. The first one we just hiked up to Plaza Michelangelo to watch the sunset over the city and took it easy. The second night we partook in the Florence Bell Tower Pub Crawl which went to a few bars (including Lion's Fountain for those familiar) and ended at a dance club called Space Electronica. Lots of fun and I ended up getting offered a gig with the pub crawl for a week post-Olympics if I'd like to return to Florence, make/save some money, yada yada. I think it would be a blast but so would lounging in the Greek islands so we'll see how it plays out I guess.

One of the best parts about backpacking / traveling is not knowing what's going to happen the next day and being open to new ideas / schedule readjustment.

The Italy itinerary has fluctuated from Rome 2 days, Florence 3, Venice 2, Milan 1 to Rome 3 days, Florence 2, Venice 0, Rimini 2, Milan 1.

With this being said, we are in Rimini at the moment staying in a sweet beach hostel 50 meters from the Adriatic Sea. We went hard for 5 days in Rome/Florence so we decided it would be best to chill / rest up a bit before London/ the Olympics happen.

Day 48-50: Romin' around Italy

With my sis flying into Rome from the states, and Ryan and I training up from Naples, meeting up flawlessly was a beautiful beginning to our shared travels.

The first day we went and saw the Coliseum, Roman Forum and other old, old structures. Although it was incredibly hot we still had a good time seeing such cool ancient architecture. As it comes with no surprise, the Coliseum was beyond phenomenal. It was actually my 2nd time seeing it (weekend trip with my nana when I was abroad in Madrid and she was bucket-listing through Europe) but it was awesome getting to see it a couple years later with friends. Trust me, nana and I had some great pictures at it (and did a mini tour) but the ones we captured of us fighting like gladiators with water bottles are pretty money- and inaccessible at the moment since they're on my computer-less sister's camera.

That night, we went out for a nice meal- I had wine, bread w/ olive oil and balsam, veggie soup, veal, spinach.. and wine.
Post-dinner we tried this hostel advertised pool party- 10 euro with a drink at bar them transport to a pool for.. A pool party. It just wasn't anywhere near awesome like we had envisioned. It took over an hour to get to, like the outskirts of Rome via metro and bus, and it was a really sketch party once there. Took us so long to get back that we didn't have time to check anywhere else out. Can't win them all.

The next day we slept in. Rachel and I grabbed the necessities for a proper picnic and proceeded to a nice plaza before entering the Vittoriano to get the best Panoramic view of the simultaneously ancient and modern city of Rome. A free walking tour after showed us the Spanish steps, this church and that one, the Pantheon (WOW), etc. It ended at the Trevi fountain where we made our wishes before going back for quick showers/ dinner and a close by pub crawl with other travelers, including our friend Claire from Naples/Pompeii, her boyfriend, and some of her friends she met before Naples/Rome.

We had a really good time doing it- and it was definitely the people that made it because the bars were basically just us (Monday night in not popular bar area, but so close to our hostel). It was 20€ for 1.5hrs all you can drink beer/wine/cocktails, pizza, shot at each new spot, entrance to club and t-shirt.
We ended up getting a 2€ discount because we arrived in a group. Side note- those 2€ were not saved but in fact later used in a late night Donnies (McDonalds) run. The promoter gal from the pub crawl also hooked us up with a good, affordable afternoon tour of the Vatican.

Next day, we had to move hostels. Did that, then went to the Vatican. We were told it would start at 230 but it didn't until 330 (so much for the saving time by skipping lines perk). We definitely weren't stoked about the delay but it ended up working out really well since the crowds clear out later on in the day. The main attraction is the Sistine Chapel which was really great to see because I got a nice chiropractic treatment looking up at it.. It also happens to be phenomenal mind-blowing art by Michelangelo. My favorite painting in the place is Raphael's "School of Athens." not going to get down to the nitty gritty here but Wikipedia can help explain it http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_School_of_Athens#section_1.

After the Vatican tour, and it's incredibly large (largest or top 3) cathedral in the world, we grabbed a quick power nap, went out to dinner with friends from the pub crawl (Cali, UK, Slovenia) and had a more relaxed night. Great after an action-packed few days.

Final thought here- I went from seeing a showcase of the finest music/art of Skrillex last Tuesday to the finest art of Michelangelo and Raphael this Tuesday. I think one thing I love so much about Europe is the different experiences it can offer you in such a small amount of time and space.

In Florence now, saw some cool things already, had some good food but you'll hear about that in my Florence post in a day or two. Let me just go see the Duomo, Accademia (if not fully reserved), Santa Croce, etc first.