Chicago Trip Summer 2014

Living abroad has given me a new appreciation for traveling within the US. The three hour flight from Utah to Chicago seems like nothing. But I have to admit, even with this new appreciation, I still wish mine and Rusty's families lived closer to each other. It would be so nice to see everyone more often, not to mention save money; the benefit of Rusty being from a cool city- we get to visit it often...the drawback- travel expenses. But luckily, this summer our travel plans could not have worked out more perfectly.

Rusty was asked to play on the Great Lakes Region volleyball team for the Adult National Volleyball Tournament. It's the closest thing to professional volleyball the US has, and it's just a week long tournament where all different regions of the US play against each other. Fortunatley for us, the team flew him out to Chicago to start training. So, one ticket to Chicago paid for! But it gets even better, the tournament was in Arizona, which is where my older sister Cassie and her family live, which means, another travel expense taken care of! I was so excited that it worked out so perfectly. And to top it off, next summer the tournament will be in Detroit, which is close to Rusty's extended family who live in Michigan!

Rusty left to Chicago a few days earlier than I did, so he could start training. We were both excited to see the Lavaja's cause one- we hadn't seen them in about a year! (how crazy is that?!) and two- it's always a good time with the Lavaja's.

While we were there, we got to celebrate, Molly's birthday! Molly is Rusty's brother Ryan's girlfriend. That sounds more confusing than it is, but anyways- she is awesome and we were excited we got to celebrate with everyone because we have to miss a lot of birthdays and holidays while were out of the country. Rusty's mom, Susie, and I baked a brownie/strawberry cake, which turned out super good, if I say so myself. And since it was a birthday brunch, we also made french toast, "Sarah's Famous"- my family's recipe for the most delicious buttermilk syrup ever, biscuits and gravy, and a breakfast casserole. If those aren't the makings of a good brunch, I don't know what are.

We walked around downtown. I really love downtown Chicago. I love how clean the city is and I love how the water runs through it. We ate great food- Giordono's Pizza, Portillos, and sushi with Rusty's extended family; we visited the Sports Museum, which had fun interactive games; and we went to horse races! It was my first horse race ever! I wished I had brought a big hat, but luckily Susie let me borrow one of hers.

It was so great to see family! As far as in-laws go, I really hit the jackpot. The Lavaja's are awesome...and I'm not just saying that because they will be reading this ;) They are seriously the best! I can't wait til our next trip!

"We all know that the moon is not made of green cheese...
but what if it were made of barbecue spare ribs, would you eat it then?"

Kirsten Comes to Visit: Lamia, Greece

Getting from Athens to Lamia was quite the dilemma. Our ferry from Santorini got in to Athens about 5 minutes before the last train to Lamia left- the last one was at midnight and then the next one wasn't until 5am! We made sure to be the first off the ship, and we ran across the street to the train station, but we were too late :/ We took the train over to another station, where the 5am train would leave from. By the time we got there it was 1am so we thought we could just sleep there, but after sitting in the rock-hard chairs and realizing it probably wasn't the safest idea, we booked a hotel within walking distance and slept for a few hours before walking back to the train station.

We finally got to Lamia, where Rusty and his trainer were waiting to pick us up! Running on such little sleep was starting to catch up to us, so we took a short nap. Kirsten had her own little twin size blow up mattress next to our bed haha. My friend was nice enough to let us borrow it. I was happy I didn't have to buy one just to leave it in Greece a couple weeks later.

That night we went to Rusty's volleyball game- with hopes that they would lose. I know that sounds crazy, but if they lost, Rusty's season would be over and since we had already bought him a ticket to go with us to Italy a couple days later, we were hoping the season would end. Luckily our prayers were answered because we lost haha. Most of Rusty's teammates had told us they wanted the season to be over too and I think it showed during the game, but hey! I'm not complaining :) 

After the game, we went out to eat at Coyote, one of our favorite restaurants, and then gave Kirsten a taste of the Greek nightlife. We joined all of Rusty's teammates at Central, a coffee shop/bar that becomes like a club at night. My friend Patty works there and was bartending that night, so she prepared shots of pineapple juice for Rusty, Kirsten, and me haha.

The next day Kirsten, Rusty, Rusty's teammate Nikitas, and I went to the hot springs. We relaxed for a while and then drove up the road, to see the Leonidas Monument, which is where the 300 Spartan soldiers fought. Looking back, it was cool that we had those things so close to us.

I loved having Kirsten in Greece! Not only did I have a girlfriend to do things with, but I finally got to show her around the place we had been living for the past seven and a half months. The hardest part of living out of the country is not getting to see family or friends. Of course we try to make friends wherever we are, but we still miss our friends and family back in America, so I was so excited to have her there.

The next day the three of us took a train back down to Athens for our flight to Italy!!

Venice

Ah the city of love! A place I had been wanting to go my entire life- and it did not disappoint. Obviously a gondola ride was a must, so we found a guy who gave us a pretty good deal! I think it was about 90 euro for the three of us to go, which was the cheapest we could find. Riding in a gondola down the canals of Venice was exactly how I pictured it. All the gondoliers and their striped shirts were picturesque. And then going out onto the main waterway and seeing the famous Rialto Bridge was even more amazing! And on top of it all, the gondolier let us take over his job for pictures- and even lent us his hat!

We had such a great day in Venice! From the gondola ride, to Italian cuisine, to dancing in the square- the day started on a high note and stayed that way until we left. I can't wait to go back one day! And hopefully next time, we won't be so confused as to where we are- the tiny streets and tall buildings make it impossible to tell. I felt like I was in a maze!

We all had to get a picture being the gondolier...when in Venice!