Hoovlers Abroad!: From Colorado to Molivos!

As I type this blog, I'm laying on the couch in our rented villa in Molivos, Greece. I'm so overwhelmed by the beauty of everything here and by the simple fact that we are here after what seems like the longest day and a half of my life, that I can hardly think of what to blog about! So here's our trip so far in pictures:

Mama and Daddy at our house! We left for the airport at 7 on Sunday morning.

The three of us!!!

Our family :) My cousin drove us to the airport at 7 am.

After some much needed Starbucks at the airport, we got on the plane to Toronto!!

Luckily, Gandalf (aka my mom all snuggled up in her hoodie) decided to join us on the plane. KEEP IT SECRET, KEEP IT SAFE.

At the airport in Toronto!

Having had a complete airport fiasco on our European vacation last year, we made sure we were extra prepared this year. All of our travel papers were in a folder and we did a "document check" (where we all incessantly ask each other if we have our important stuff, like our passports) about a gazillion times. So, we were feeling pretty confident as we got off the plane in Toronto. We handed our itinerary and passports to the man at customs and thought we were scott free! Then the customs agent looks at my mom and says, "Were you gonna smuggle that in or were you planning on declaring it?" We all look around, panicked, and realize that mom is holding a bag of sandwiches we had bought at the airport in Denver. She stutters, "Uh . . . well... I mean... I fogot I had them", looking at me and my dad for some sort of help. The man hastily scratches an "x" on our customs form and snaps, " Lady, it's right in your hand. Next time, declare all your items." RUDE SIR RUDE. I wanted to say, "Oh yeah, we were trying to destroy the airport with our bag of Heidi's deli sandwiches." He did stamp our passports and let us through, but we all thought it was pretty funny.

Landed in Athens!!!! Our flight was pretty smooth, although none of the lights in our section worked and we had no sound on the movie screen. Also, they showed the worst movies on our flight. Never Say Never: The Justin Bieber Story (ABSOLUTELY NOT I HATE JUSTIN BIEBER), Yogi Bear ( whoever signed for that movie needs to be removed from the film business), Conviction (which I'm sure wasn't that bad, but do I really want to watch a movie about prison on a ten hour flight???) and The Dilemma (Kevin James: please stop making movies. Sincerely Rachel Hoovler) Air Canada won't be our first choice for overseas flights in the future.

The football stadium in Athens! We could see it from the road in our taxi on the way to the harbor!

Dad and I checkin' out the menu at the ferry cafe where we hung out for THREE AND HALF HOURS. GOOD GOD. I 'm someone who can entertain myself pretty well but SERIOUSLY. We were there for SO LONG. My dad didn't think we'd be able to make the one o'clock high speed ferry, so our boat didn't leave til seven and we couldn't board til four. We had plentyyyyyyyyyy of time to relax.

My mom and I at the cafe in Piraeus. We look more chipper than we were. Cause for reals. I tried to sleep on my suitcase and there were flies EVERYWHERE. They were attacking me.

Our boat, the Mytilene! I have never been so happy to see a boat in my life.

Our stateroom on the boat! It was an overnight ferry and we made SUCH a good choice getting a room. We also had a little bathroom with a shower. A shower has never felt so good before!

My wonderful parents on the boat :)

Sailor Joe! Reporting for duty!

Sitting on the stairs of the boat! I was SO TIRED.

As evidenced by this picture. God, Tired Rachel is incredibly attractive.

Leaving the harbor!!! The sea wall of Piraeus Port.

My dinner on the ferry! We literally got enough food to feed a small army. I accidentally ate meat, it was in the eggplant, but I was so tired, I think I probably could have eaten an entire cow and not really noticed. The food was delicious! I can't wait to keep eating here :)

Papa Joe! He had little baked sardines. I ate a couple of bites but got a little freaked out cause their little fish bodies were still intact. I could almost hear them saying, "Pleaseeee don't eattt meeeeee, I have a nameeeee!"

Parents at dinner :)

"I'm flying, Jack, I'm flying!"- Rose
"No you're not. You're standing on a boat. Get real."- Me

Me and my Papa Joe on the ferry :)

Sunset over the Aegean Sea! So beautiful. I'd like everyone to know that I also had a picture of the sunset. Numerous pictures in fact. However, I was told while blogging that my pictures were not as good and was instructed to use Papa Joe's picture instead. So. I begrudgingly give Papa Joe credit for his sunset picture. There. Credit has been given.

Happy birthday Papa Joe and Mama!!!

Me and Papa Joe at breakfast on the ferry!

My beautiful parents! This is the 34th birthday that they've spent together :)

My family! I couldn't be luckier to get to spend today with my parents on their birthday

Coming into the harbor at Lesvos island!!!

The castle at the harbor in Mytilene. Mytilene is the capital city of Lesvos.

Loading our bags into the taxi to take us to Molivos! Our taxi driver, Nikos, was so nice! He talked with us the whole way, telling us about the island of Lesvos and helping us with our Greek.

A view of the ocean from the taxi. It's breathtaking here.

A view of the castle in Molivos! It's a 12th century castle about a ten minute walk from our villa.

My room in our villa!!!

My parents room!

Our little kitchen table! Lana, the woman who owns the house and lives in the apartment upstairs, bought us croissants and bread and fruit for breakfast and gave us a bottle of wine!