The rest is history

καλημερα! We are back safe and sound from the best cruise I've ever been on! The first day we went to the Island of Mykonos, walked around in the city and looked at the old wind mills. I found an extremely cute shirt in a local shop and with the help of my friends, realized I should splurge and buy it, because my birthday was the next day. We left the island and headed for Rhodes. I spent the evening exploring the boat and enjoying the cool breeze on top of the deck. We also went to the disco and when it was midnight, some of my friends requested the dj play a birthday song for me, which was embarrassing but very thoughtful and sweet! Because we had all day on the island, I slept in for awhile then took my time getting ready. I wore a bright flowy dress that I bought in the plaka and it made me feel so girlie and fun. As I was waiting for Lacey and Alana to finish getting ready, they surprised me with a birthday slideshow, including pictures from my family and from this past semester. It was such a perfect gift and exactly what I needed since I couldn't be with my family on my 20th birthday. We disembarked (this word was way overused) around 11 and walked around the shops, taking lots and lots of pictures. We ate some yummy pizza on the balcony of an adorable restaurant. Then I called my mom (at 5:37 am of course) to wish her my happy birthday haha! Even though I woke her up, I'm pretty sure she was glad to hear from me (and I loved talking to my mom and dad!). We continuted venturing the island and shopping and finally boarded the ship around 4. The theme for dinner that night was "Greek night" so everyone wore lots of blue and white. After the meal, the staff brought out a cake and began singing and clapping. I even got to shake hands with the captain! We watched a greek show then spent the rest of the evening at the Disco. Sunday morning was super early - we left the boat at like 6:30 am to visit the Island of Patmos, the cave where John possibly wrote Revelation and a monastery in his honor. Our tour guide here really reminded me of the short, black haired lady on the Incredibles (but our guide was really sweet and funny). Then we sailed to Ephesus in Turkey, visiting the ancient city and a ceramic store. Once we were back on the ship, we got dressed up for Captain's night and the final show. It was around this time that we all realized it was probably the last night our whole group would be together, which is absolutely crazy! I still feel like I just got here and I've gotten so close to everyone in the past 3 months...I'm just going to miss life like this. The word that best describes it is fantasy...like it has been too good to be true. Everyone is now busy packing up to ship our luggage off tomorrow. The first group of free travelers are leaving tomorrow, which I'm sure will be a tearful goodbye. So if I could request one thing, please keep all 42 of us in your prayers over the next 2 weeks as we travel about Europe.