Corinth, Mycene, AND Nauplion

Today we had a loonnng and eventful day!
First we started off in the beautiful Corinth, one of the places where Paul from the New Testament had visited and made some speeches back in the day (on the right is one of the many pictures I took of the Ancient site where Paul supposedly spoke!). There was also a really cool slab of concrete (it's more interesting than it sounds, I promise!) that was used as a start line when they used to have races in Ancient times (as a runner, I really enjoyed learning about this!). Another cool artifact we got to see during this site visit was a statue of Augustus, Caesar's son!


After exploring the site we got to visit one of our professor's long time friend, who lived a few minutes down the road of the site (how cool would that be?!). She was nice enough to let our big group of 20 ish people into her home and get this, feed us! She put together some homemade corn bread and apple bread and offered us fresh oranges picked from her backyard, and let me say, that was one of the juiciest/best oranges I've had in my life!

Once we had all thoroughly enjoyed our snacks, it was time to head out to our next destination, Mycene. Here we were able to see a bunch of cool new sites with lots of hills to climb! Luckily the hills seem to be getting easier to climb each trip (I'm telling you, legs of steal when I get back). At the top of the hill there was a little surprise, a dark cave open for exploring! Fortunately I was able to tag along with some who came prepared with a light so we could see where we were stepping (it was pitch black). Once we got to the bottom it seemed like it was an old well that no longer had any water in it. Left: a picture of Becca and I at the bottom!

After we fully explored Mycene, or as much as we could have explored in the time allotted, we headed to Nauplion (I told you it was a long day!). There we got to explore a super awesome castle, that overlooked the beautiful blue water (possibly the Argolic Gulf). The castle was huge, and there was so much to explore, that every time you turned there was yet another breath taking view to see. I'd go back there to visit in a heartbeat!

To finish off the day we headed down to the lower part of Nauplion (closer to the pretty water) where we went to have a late lunch (I got a delicious chicken gyro) and then more time to explore around town. While we were out exploring, Angela and I noticed a bakery store that was open. And I think you know what's coming next don't cha? We just had to stop and check it out on the way back! There were lots of scrumptious looking dessert type items. After we took all of the wonderful deliciousness in, it took us a few minutes to figure out which one we wanted. In the end, Angela shared a good sized cake that we weren't sure exactly what it was at first, but after a good tasting, we knew it was Nutella. Too bad I didn't catch the name of the place (I was too busy enjoying omnom!) or else I would definitely  recommend going there!

Tomorrow's plans are a little bit more relaxed, including a well awaited day to sleep in! Then we are going to head down to Athens again as a group, and we might even be able to get some shopping time in!

Crafty clusters

Since today wasn't as eventful as previous days, besides a really awesome run in town, a lesson on the Greek language and class with an amusing British professor, I'm going to talk a little more about shopping experiences here in Greece while waiting for the chicken to thaw so we can start cookin up a storm! Don't worry, I don't plan on babbling on and on about all the cute and colorful sandals they sell here in Greece (surprisingly a lot though!). I'm more interesting in what the shopping system is like here and how it differs from the American system that we are all so very accustomed to.

One of the main things that I've been noticing as we are exploring downtown Athens is that the stores seem to categorize themselves by locations. What I'm trying to say is that as you are walking down one street, you will be likely to see five different say, shoe stores, or tailor shops. I've even witnessed a cluster of umbrella shops in one area!

So basically everything is sold is approximately in its own district. If you want to go buy a pet rabbit, you go down to say, Peiraios street (don't quote me on that please). Oo, I've got the perfect example! When we went to the food market yesterday, there were not lots of tents set up with a variety of different things to buy, but instead, there was a section strictly for fruits and veggies, another section for spices, and separate sections for the meat and seafood to be sold. 

When you think about it this can be really good for the customers. If it's a rainy day, you can head over to the area where they sell umbrellas. And instead of buying the first one that you find, you can look and compare with other stores to see which umbrella best matches your new outfit, or better yet which one has the best price! Another thing is, with the stores so close together, there is bound to be competition, so you can be pretty sure that they will sell their products at the best price available.

There are lots of awesome benefits when it comes to the customer's side of the story. But the thing I don't exactly get is how exactly this shopping system came about (maybe this is how things worked during ancient times and haven't changed yet), and also in what ways would it benefit the people who own the shops??

Now onto omnom shopping! Here, there isn't one store that carries everything and anything that you could ever dream of, and there are absolutely no Walmart, *gasp!*, well none that I've seen yet. The closest thing I've seen to a big department stores is Ikea, but those are everywhere anyways.

But back to food shopping! Here we have a small little super market that carries the essential things like milk, bread, cheese, and has an outside section for fruits and veggies. You may be thinking, well that sounds a lot like what a Publix would have. Not so much, here it's on a much smaller scale. That's because there are stores here that sell more specific items but with a larger variety (and fresher too!). For example at the mini market, there was only a small selection of bread, and none of them looked all that appetizing. That's because all the good stuff is at the bakery where you are supposed to get it!

Here's an interesting story from today. When my friend Allison and I went to the store to get supplies for dinner, we were looking for the chicken, but since everything is in Greek we weren't exactly sure what we were looking at (and we weren't exactly brave enough to pick something at random). So when I went to ask one of the ladies who worked there, the first thing she said was that it wasn't fresh. I was like well duh, we know it's frozen! But then I thought about it some more and realized that it's much more common to walk down to the local butcher and get some chicken there (fresh!). Not sure how long it's going to take for me to gather the courage to go there yet, but I want to go at least once before I leave!

Now the chicken that was once frozen is settling quite nicely in our tummies and it's time to hit the sack so it won't be as hard to get up at 6 in the morning (crazy I know!), but we've got a big day planned to visit Corinth, Mycene, and Nauplion (all in one day!) so more on that tomorrow! But for now, Kalispera! (Goodnight in Greek)

Omonia!

Before we could get to exploring another section of downtown Athens, Omonia, we had to venture into the metro station once again. So you know how there is rush hour in the United States when a bunch of cars seem to be going to the same place at the same time. Well, that was the equivalent to what it was like traveling in the metro this morning. As we crept closer to Omonia, more and more people came aboard while barely any pasengers got off. So with more additions than subtractions to the small metro train, it wasn't long before a unf student sandwich evolved. Needless to say I was extremely happy when we reached our destination and I could get some fresh air!

After we emerged from below, I was in awe of everything. There was lots of commotion. At first I felt in the way, then after getting used to all the combustion around me, I was a little bit more comfortable with getting bumped every once in a while (I may have even bumped some people back just for funsies). Since our visit I've been trying to think up the best way to explain Omonia. And I've imagined it kind of like an older version of New York. It's similar to New York with all the buildings and it's very busy, but it's different in that it's not as, hmmm, high tech (does that even make any sense?). Or another way to explain it is as another version of New York but with a small budget for infrastructure.

After walking around for a bit, we finally found what we were looking for, the meat market/bazaar! First we played it safe and walked through the fruits and veggie section so we could get a feel for how these things work in Greece. It was pretty crazy, there were lots of people trying to get you to come to their stand and buy their food (sounds about right), but it was a bit overwhelming at times. On a good note, everything looked delicious! I was very tempted to get one of everything, but, I wasn't too fond of the idea of having to lug it all the way home.

Then we moved on to the meat section... Brace yourself, as this is not for the squeamish. There was meat hanging everywhere, and not just portions of meat that you see in the super market like a rack of ribs, but the whole sha-bang was there, head and all. Not only was the sight of dead meat a lot to take in, but the smell, ugh, at times I regretted that I had ate any breakfast at all. As we were walking through people were yelling all sorts of things in Greek and seeing as we were really the only young females in the area, we got some interesting looks (some guy even winked at me!). Thank goodness we had Dr. Kaplan to lead us through the maze. I don't know how Greeks can handle all the loudness and smelly smells, but I guess it's worth it when you want some fresh meat on the table for dinner.

We ended the day with a scrumptious home cooked meal of pasta with spicy red sauce and sauteed sausage! And you can't forget about dessert! We hit up the local gelato place during happy hour so we could get half price. And let me juat say, they have the best dark chocolate gelato I've ever tasted! To make it even better, I got it with a cone this time, yummm :)

Tomorrow we don't have much planned so maybe we'll have some time to relax a little bit, but who wants to relax when you've got all of Athens to explore?!

Stop and Stare

After a long awaited two weeks, I finally went running! Thank goodness class was pushed an hour later than usual so my roommate and I had enough time to go out and about.

It was definitely one of the more interesting runs that I've ever gone on. First of all, I really had no idea were we were going. I just made sure to know what general direction the dorms were at (it worked last time we got lost!), second of all, there were a LOT of hills! You would think that after being here for about a week and a half I would have gotten used to walking on an incline, but it's an entirely different story when you're running (makes for a good workout, for sure). But the thing that bothered me the most was the stares!

Okay so I know people go running during the day on the sidewalks back in the US, and people will most likely check em out see what's up and stuff, I admit, I've done it once or twice. But here it's like they've never seen someone go running in their lives. For the most part I tried to stay on mainly the residential streets so I wouldn't have to worry to much about traffic, but as I was weaving in and out of the trees in the sidewalks, I would notice locals that were doing outdoor chores stop and give me weird looks. It got even worse when we passed the central gathering place, I literally saw people stop what they were doing and just stare. Thank goodness we went in the morning when not many people were up, I can't even imagine going during the evening when everything is crowded with customers.

Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever really seen any Greeks running around town. Every once in a while I get excited when I see someone jogging by, but it usually turns into a more temporary pace to cross the street or something. When it comes to any exercise here in Greece, I've mainly noticed walkers, for example when we hiked up the mountain the other day I saw quite a few older folks conquering the incline, but other than that I haven't seen much. But I plan on keeping an eye out for any runners, who knows maybe I'll find a Greek running buddy! (wishful thinking right there :P)

Since I went running this morning, I decided to treat myself for dinner (not that I wouldn't omnom without running...). As a group, we've been eyeing a nearby Crepe shop, but we can never figure out when it's open. After consulting our professors we realized it's open evenings! So can you guess what I had for dinner? Yummy Crepes! This place wasn't just a cute little french crepe truck you find on the side of the road, but a full on crepe place. They had everything from salty crepes with meat to chocolaty sweet crepes. It didn't take long for me decided I wanted some CHOCOLATE! I ended up ordering an interesting combination of chocolate, pineapple, and nuts (surprisingly delicious).

Overall I would say I had a pretty successful day today, I got my run in and I got yummy chocolate, what more could a girl ask for? Tomorrow we're planning a trip to Omonia to check out a popular meat market/ bazaar. It's also a slightly sketchier than downtown Athens so I'm very curious as to what we're going to find (don't worry Dr. Kaplan will be accompanying us). Wish me luck!

Exploring Athens

Since today we didn't have much planned besides our class from 2:30 to 4:30, I tagged along with some of my classmates and my professor back into down town Athens. It was nice being able to with a smaller group this time (there was only six of us, compared to 19), and we were able to accomplish everything on our list and more :)

For our first visit of the day we went to visit the Kanellopoulos museum, the museum that I was assigned to gather research on and try to persuade the class to that it's worth going to, and I must say that I was slightly disappointed. Don't get me wrong, it was a cool museum, and there were plenty of interesting ancient utensils, jewelry, and pottery, but only a small selection of items were available for viewing. As in there was this whole museum that I had researched and looking forward to getting to see all of it, but most of it was closed, *pout!* After being denied access to some areas of the museum, we asked someone at the front desk if the currently closed galleries would be open another day. And indeed they were. They told us it was because they didn't have enough staff to open up more than a few galleries at the same time, I guess that's the consequence you have to pay for free admission. 


Here in Greece, timing is a little different. There is no such thing as late night trip to the grocery store for a snack and there are definitely no 24 hour Walmarts here. Everyone goes by Greek time, and time is a much more casual matter here. What surprises me the most here is nap time. Everyday from 2-5 is pretty much when everything closes down, all the shops, all the museums, and even all the bakeries! Now there are some exceptions like in tourist places, people will usually stay open during that time because they can't afford to lose business, but for more local shops it's break time. Sometimes the stores close for good at 2 and don't open till the next day. There's something you won't find in the US, we're always open, even on Sundays!

Now comes the good part, omnom!  After exploring for a while our tummies were grumbling at us. As a group we decided that we wanted something small and inexpensive for lunch. Luckily we had an experienced Dr. Kaplan with us to take us to one best places in town. We ended up heading going to a small pastry kind of shop with lots of different pies. I ended up getting a spinach pie (I even ordered it in Greek), that was only 1.40 Euros! This was my first time trying out spinach pie, and it was quite scrumptious! While enjoying our cheap but delicious meals, we noticed some tasty looking dessert pictures on the wall. After a short discussion I already knew I wanted in. So I went back for round 2 but this time for a yummy dessert! I was also able to order this dish in Greek, but it back fires on me when the handsome Greek guy responded back in Greek. Luckily he also spoke some English and asked me sugar or cinnamon, I said both please! This time dessert was a really good cream filled baked pastry with a flaky crust topped with powdered sugar and cinnamon (mmmmm). I was even nice enough to share!

Once we all had happy tummies, we did a little more exploring. We stumbled upon some really cool looking graffiti and even a Greek version of a Dollar Store (pretty much the same cheesy stuff in this store that's in the US). After we found our way back home through the metro, we quickly got ready for class. Tonight we decided to stay in and we made yummy grilled bacon and cheese sandwiches. Hopefully they will fuel us for our exciting Greek Dance class tomorrow. And seeing how I'm not that great with my hand eye coordination, I'm sure it will be entertaining!

Acropolis!

Sorry for not posting yesterday! I'm still trying to figure out how to manage my time here with all the fun stuff going on, while at the same time trying to get enough sleep. And since last night I was too sleepy to give the breath taking Acropolis enough justice, I'm going to talk about today! Plus I have some good omnom experiences to share with you too!

Finally, the moment I've been waiting for, a trip to Acropolis! We got to semi sleep in yesterday (hooray!), but when it was time to head down town we didn't take a group bus to get there like we've usually done, instead we learned how to use public transportation for the first time! So from what I remember we have to... Walk down to the bus stop, get on the right bus, get off at the right stop, go down to the metro, make sure to head to acropolis instead of the airport (the opposite way), and then figure out which stop to get off at, sounds easy enough right? I wish! I've got to remember how to get to Athens (and back!) for the next time I go back! I'll be revisiting soon because I have to visit a museum for an assignment (actually excited about this one), annnd there is lots of cool (aka not as touristy) shops around down town Athens.

Even the view from ground level of the Acropolis was spectacular! The picture I added was taken right when we arose from the metro station, and I'm pretty sure the building to the left of the picture is a monastery (two picture worthy places in one!). As we got closer  to Acropolis the view just kept on getting better and better (I didn't think it was possible either!). They tortured us some more by taking a pit stop halfway up on a rock that over looked the city, but thankfully I could still see Acropolis, there were TONS of people there.


Even though it was blazing hot outside (not a cloud in sight to provide shade), I was in awe when we finally got to the top, I don't think I could have whipped out my camera fast enough (so many pictures to take!). Last semester I was able to take an Art Appreciation class for one of my General Education requirements and we studied some Greek art (including the Parthenon of course!) So I was more than excited to actually be able to see it up close and personal, and it's also nice that I have a better understanding of the history behind it since we discussed it in detail during class.

That reminds me, today was the first day of class at the Greek college Deree. I'm taking an Art History class and this being a college in Greece, I was expecting maybe a Greek professor or something. Nope! For the whole semester I will get to listen to a flawless British accent. Yup, that's right, he's English! He reminded me a lot of the guys from Monty Python and along with my notes for class, I was also keeping track of some of the amusing things he said during class (don't worry, I was still paying attention!). One of my favorite expressions that he used are a "nutty nutshell," a "nitty jumper," and the time when he referred to American football as a watered down version of rugby! Needless to say, I definitely won't be bored in this class!

But back to down town Athens! After exploring every corner of Acropolis, everyone was hungry. So we stopped at one of the Kaplans favorite restaurant in Athens, and if you were there, you would know why! The way this place works is that they bring you this big platter of appetizers/Greek dishes (it's the yummy looking picture) and you get to pick out which ones you want  (we got to pick out 10!!). Everything was extremely tasty, and to no surprise, I was definitely full afterwards (but soo worth it).

After lunch we were able to walk off the food a little bit and do some shopping. There were a bunch of cool shops to look at and not all of them were the same touristy shops that you normally see in areas like this. We were even lucky enough to be there during the Flea market, where we got to see a lot of cool different things (it's a lot like a flea markets I've been to in the US but in a Greek setting).

Once we were officially shopped out and exhausted from the heat, we met up with our professor so that we could make it back home without getting lost. And for some reason I find metro stations really interesting (maybe it's because we don't have any in Florida), but what's even cooler is that there is even old and ruiny stuff inside the metro station!

So tomorrow I have to get up early once again :( so hopefully I can get to bed a little bit earlier tonight (this girl needs her sleep!) so I can be energized and ready for tomorrow, round 2 of downtown Athens! This time we are going to check out some of the museums and churches that were assigned for site reports, wish me luck!

A Day in Delphi

We're heading to Delphi! But first, a little Greek history. Delphi is known for the site of the Delphic oracle, which is a major aspect in Greek Mythology. During Ancient times, people would walk all the way to Delphi (aka pilgrimage) in order to pay tribute to the god Apollo. That's a lot of walking! Thank goodness we took a bus (but we still walked a grand total of 9 miles today... mostly uphill too!). Oh! Speaking of buses, on our two hour drive from Athens to Delphi we stopped about halway in at Greek rest stop, and boy was that an experience!

When I first walked in I was expecting a small store similar to rest stops in the US, but man, was I wrong. The store was bigger than I expected with a variety of different snack foods and drinks available. But I didn't pay much attention to that. You wanna know why? There was a delicious assortment of mouthwatering pastries right as you walked in. The only thing that I was able to recognize was the baklava, and there were multiple kinds of it (I was very tempted to get one of each). But since you can get baklava back in the states, I decided to try something else. But that's easier said then done though. There were so many new and scrumptious looking treats that I stood there trying to decide for a good 5 minutes.

In the meantime, people were pouring in this place, and they weren't exactly being nice about it. With the little room available, people were pushing and shoving their way around. No "excuse me" or even "sig-no-me." Even when I was standing in line to use the restroom, several, yes several, older Greek ladies just walked right in front of me. At first I thought maybe they didn't want to put up with an American in their area or something (being as I was the only tall blonde there) so I let the first few slide and remained in my place "in line." Then as more and more women started barging their way through I gave up and left to get help. Luckily a friend came with me for my second attempt, and this time I knew what to expect. I stood tall and made sure to get in when I could (this time I was successful!).

Relating back to some of our readings, it all makes sense now. According to a site regarding Greek etiquette, the people here don't have much of a personal space which explains several of the nudges I received this morning. Also in our "Cultural Dimensions of Expatriate Life in Greece" book by Mr. Drake, he talks about how this rowdy behavior is almost obligatory when in crowded places. A common saying that could be used in this situation would be "nice guys finish last," (Drake, ) and in this case that would be me :(. I'll get the hang of it soon though! 

After hiking up and down the hills of Delphi and taking lots and LOTS of pictures (did I say we took lots of pictures?). We stopped in town for some shopping and lunch at a place recommended by a local here in Greece. Fortunately I sat at a a table that knows the good stuff to order, and I got to try a bunch of yummy stuff! Like roasted vegetables with cheese on top (veggies are super fresh here), stuffed peppers, and a Greek take on a burger (they don't serve it with a bun, but still yummy!). After that we did a little shopping around. Most of the stores had the common touristy stuff, but then we passed by this store that caught my eye. Everything was hand made here and each item was very reasonably priced. I picked out a few things and went to pay when Dr. Kaplan mentioned taking a picture, and something unexpected happened, the owner motioned me back behind his work bench and had me pose as if I was the one making all the cool trinky dinks in his store! Then he came out and joined a picture with me :)

Overall today went pretty well. I got my pastries fill (which by the way were very delicious!), I made some good purchases, and I was able to make friends with one of the locals. What more could you ask for?

Watch out for that tree!

Yah-sas! So today we went on a tour of the college that we are going to be studying at (Deree) and boy, there are a ton of hills, I’m gonna have some killer calves when I get back! Besides the incline, the campus is really pretty. They have a bunch of sports amenities that we can use, including an Olympic size pool that Michael Phelps trained in before the 2004 Summer Olympics! But you can only swim in it if you wear a swim cap, kinda weird huh? They even have a Starbucks on campus to accommodate late night study sessions, but hopefully we won’t have any of those this summer!

On our walk back from campus, I was winding through the trees in the side walk... Yes, that’s right, trees right smack dab in the middle of the side walk! After a few days of being distracted by other components of the neighborhood, like the apartment style homes, and where all the yummy bakeries are located, I pondered the purpose of the obscure trees.

In Greece there isn’t a lot of parking available, and anything that you can possibly need at home is located within your neighborhood. So it makes sense that the common way of traveling is walking. And the sidewalks are narrow enough as it is, so why plant trees in the middle? I have a few hypotheses…

Here in Athens it can get unpleasantly warm during the day, and during the summer it’s mainly clear skies (or from what I’ve seen so far). So maybe, just maybe, it could be a way to provide shade to for the people walking. Or! The shade could be an added bonus and the real reason might be an extra preventative so that people don’t park on the sidewalks. I can completely understand this reasoning, traffic is crazy here. But as you see in the first picture there is already posts on the sidewalk, so maybe it's a Greek way of landscaping...nahhh. One of the cool things about the trees in the sidewalk is that the majority of them bear fruit! I've seen a lot of orange trees around town (I'm on the search for a good one to pick for myself) and also some plum trees! Now, I don't think that these trees in particular are used for the production and selling of fruits, but with the limited land here in Greece, who knows, maybe they are (I highly doubt it though). Why do you think Greeks plant trees in the middle of the sidewalk?

To finish off the day Angela and I went during happy hour to get some gelato (I told you I would!). I tried straciatella for the first time and it was good, not amazing, but you can't go wrong with ice cream. After that we further explored the local neighborhood shops that are conveniently located on the  same street. Before the night ended we decided to join some friends and a bar to watch the soccer game (Greek vs. Germany). It's time to hit the sack here, we've got to get up bright and early tomorrow and head to Deplhi, and see the Delphic oracle a major part of Greek mythology, I'm exicted!

Kalispera :)

(Goodnight)

Up the Mountain We Go

So Last night we got an email inviting us on a hike up a local mountain (heck yes!), but the catch is, we had to get up at 5 in the morning…that’s really early! Especially for someone who is still trying to get used to the 7 hour time change.

As a group we made the 5 mile hike up and down the mountain in just under 3 and a half hours! The first part of our trek upwards was easy peasy and mainly on paved road, but things started getting interesting the higher we got. We decided to no longer follow the road up the mountain, but instead we scaled up the side of it! It took us quite a while to get up the mountain and at times I had caught myself asking a typical traveling question, “Are we there yet?!” The best part of the hike up would have to be watching the sun come up and shine over Athens(so cool!). By the time we reached the top the sun was shining over the most breathtaking view of Athens. I would say we spent a good 30 minutes just in awe of the landscape (and relief that we finally made it to the top!). After taking many pictures (including silly ones), we started our descent. I was kind worried at first (walking downhill on a bunch of rocks isn’t easy), but it was actually one of my favorite parts of the hike (and I didn’t fall :P)

After arriving home and taking a nap (I did get up at 5 in the morning ya know), I was able to do some exploring with some other members of our group, Becca and Maddie. We originally planned on scoping out good bakery close by and then picking up some things at a local grocery store. Unfortunately when we got to our anticipated destination (the bakery) they were closing up. Like I mentioned before, in Greece most places close for a few hours every afternoon (and they don’t always reopen till the next day) because this is when they have what I sometimes refer to it as “designated nap time” (I wish I had one of those!) where everyone usually returns to their families to gather for lunch take a nap.

Since we were already out and about we decided to continue exploring and take a look around town. At times we would stumble upon some random stores that we went inside to check out, but we didn’t stay for long. It’s hard enough not to get approached while shopping in the US where you can easily tell them to go away, but it’s even more difficult when approached by someone who speaks a completely different language (this is where the confused/I have no idea what you’re saying face comes into handy).

When visiting the local grocery store I feel very out of my element. Everything feels kind of rushed and I feel as if I’m just in the way (possibly because it’s kind of obvious that I have no idea what I’m doing…).  So, I’m hoping with frequent visits and some shopping confidence, I will eventually get better at this and be able to go into the store with a smile instead of a worrisome face.

Overall I had a pretty awesome day, a 5 mile hike up a mountain with a mind blowing view, a nap, oh, and did I mention that we went out for ice cream?! I forgot to take my camera with me this time L, but! we found out that they have an ice cream happy hour from 7-8 every day soo, I definitely foresee another visit (make that plural) in the near future J (I got cookie flavored ice cream by the way…you would think that it would be similar to cookies and cream but it tastes more like a baked cookie, so just as good!). So for now, I’m a happy camper, in Greece, eatin some scrumptious ice cream!

In the beginning...

Phew, where to start?! We just got back from our 5 day mini trip to an island called Rhodes, one of the farthest islands from mainland Greece (so far, that we were able to see the sunset along the mountains of Turkey!), and now we have some free time to unwind and unpack in or 4 person dorm here at Dereee. Anyways, Rhodes was one of the one of the most exhausting and rewarding trips I've every experienced, and it's just the beginning of our 40 day adventure!

We first arrived at Rhodes by an overnight ferry (aka lots of sleeeeeep), and directly loaded onto the bus and headed to Lindos, our first destination. Lindos is the Acropolis of Rhodes (aka the highest point of the island), I had my hiking shoes on and I was ready to go! We arrived in a group and started our trek up the hill. It was hot and sunny, but super worth it (especially since there was a nice breeze when you got to the top). Not only was the view of Rhodes spectacular, but the ancient history witnessed on this trip was quite impressive! There was lots to explore and most importantly ice cream at the bottom of the hill (yummm).

After crashing from a long day, we got up bright and early the next morning to meet with our professors (The Kaplans) and headed to old town (one of my favorite hikes around Rhodes). There was lots of tourist stores and tons of European travelers.
One thing I noticed in Rhodes that was different than the few minutes I had spent in Athens was that I felt a little bit more comfortable here. There are possible reasons for this: one, I wasn't the only tourist walking around looking a tad lost/tired/ or abnormally warm and second, most of the store owners could speak English. There were however, times when I was a bit skeptical about purchasing anything. Not only was I trying not to fall into the tourist trap and buy the cute trinky dinks but I was slighty uncomfortable with purchasing anything under unfamiliar circumstances in fear of the cashier taking advantage of my ignorance. So in cases when I did fall into the trap and buy some tourist items that you can find pretty much anywhere in Greece, I made sure to pay attention, and I also was able to converse with the owners on speaking Greek (for example, when ordering gelato, I know to say something along the lines of "plastico" in order to get a cup instead of cone, I know, I know, the cone is the best part, but sometimes I want my ice cream in a cup okay :P)

After sharing some ice cream, my friend Angela and I split from the group and decided to do some of our own exploring (including lunch!). Something that I'm not quite used to in Greece is nap time from 2-4. This is usually when the Greeks go home for lunch and take a nap, so most of the stores are closed and the streets are quite. We took advantage of people-less roads and did some further exploring on the back roads. This is the part were we found all the cool streets that you typically see in Greek themed movies and some really interesting looking doors like one with a random mailbox that had painted a penguin mailman on it :P

So you know how one of the most known Greek dishes is the gryo? Well, I had never had one before, so for lunch I had my first pita gyro, It was super yummy! It's basically a pita that wraps some meat, fries (kinda weird, I think), veggies, and tzatziki sauce aka...deliciousness wrapped in bread. The waiters there were very friendly and were pleasantly surprised when we thanked them in Greek. So here's your Greek lesson for today, in order to say "thank you" you say something along the lines of "ef-har-isto." The thing that challenges me the most about Greek is the written part for example thank you is written in Greek as"Ευχαριστώ."  That doesn't look anything like efharisto, what happens when I get hungry and I've got to read something off a menu!? I'm going to starve! Just kidding, I know a few words (like chicken) and can get some help, but in the mean time that's my main obstacle I need to overcome right now (so I figure out what's for dessert!).




So that was my attempt to sum up my first 5 breath taking days in Greece! I hit on some main points like exploring and omnom... but there were many more amazing experiences that I will never forget! Now it's time to hit the sack and wake up at 5 to take a hike up the mountain were on to see the sun rise during the summer solstice. Crazy? I think so! Expect some pictures tomorrow and thanks for reading! :)

Preparing for take off

I'm taking a trip to Greece! And I will be updating this blog daily during my 40 day adventure in Athens. As a class of about 25 UNF students we are required to blog about our experiences and any moments of discomfort and relate it back to Greek culture, but I will also be keeping you up to date of where we will be exploring (lots of pictures!) and one of the main things I'm looking forward to...Greek food (aka omnom :P). This is the opportunity of a lifetime and I can't wait to share it with you! :)
Included is a picture of our first 5 day trip to Rhodes Island!