My happy place

well ladies and gentlemen, it looks like the extreme cold will be reaching it's end sometimes this week. Heck, today we managed to stay above 25ºf/-4ºc all day! So to prepare me for the coming heat wave (read: above freezing temperatures) I've decided to reflect a little on one of my favorite summer adventures: my week in the Greek Islands

The year was 2008, and I was due to be moving back from my year in Switzerland at the end of June. So as a final hurrah to life on the continent (as those crazy Brits would say), my roommate and I decided to book a 7 day cruise around the Greek Islands. Now before you get carried away wondering how I could afford such luxuries, I guess you should know that it wasn't the highest quality of cruises - in fact, the website refers to it as, and I quote, "a floating hostel." Why yes, I am talking about Easy Cruise, of the Easy Jet and Easy Hotel franchise. But hey, a week long vacation including 7 destinations, all travel, and all lodgings, and 2 meals a day for under 400€, I'd be willing to pay that again. 

Basically the deal is, you get on this mini cruise ship and that's your hotel. There isn't a whole lot to do on the ship, but that's ok, because every day you dock at a different island and get the entire day to explore, shop, wander around, or - my favorite choice - go to the beach. There really wasn't any need or desire to be on the ship when you had a brand new island to explore every day. 

During this whole Europe-has-turned-into-an-ice-cube debacle, I've been doing a lot of reflecting on this trip. And by that I mean pretending I'm at the beach in a warm happy place, instead hoping my extremities haven't fallen off after loosing sensation in them from the cold. So in case you're faced with any extreme cold fronts coming your way, I've decided to share my favorite beach pics from each stop on the trip to help power through! 

Ano Syros

Bodrum, Turkey

Kalymnos

Kos

Mykonos

Paros