Reminiscing

It is a rare day when I go without looking at some pictures from Greece. Having talked to a few other group members, it seems as though we have our minds set on traveling there again; it will not be any time soon, but we are bound and determined to go back!

In case you haven't visited the Flickr with all of the photos from Greece--shame on you!!!--here are some of my absolute favorites!

Enjoy.

Back to Reality

As you may have noticed, I'm a little behind on updating our blog.

Our tour of Greece ended on May 28th, and by now we have adjusted back into our normal routines:  work, school, Chickfila, parents, friends, Chickfila, Georgia heat and many other things that we are familiar with.  We've realized there are some things we took for granted before we left--shower curtains, for example--and there are some other things we wish were still available to us--mainly the Greek food!

In fact.. I'm so behind with our blog, that we've already graduated from the LINK program! (I'm blaming my tardiness on the fact that the Greek's relaxed sense of time hasn't quite made its way out of my system. Yeah, that's it.)

As promised, here is the Flickr page where many pictures from our trip to Greece are posted:
Click here!

Also, here is the link to our documentary that we created for our graduation:
Click here!

Greece was an absolutely amazing experience for us all. We cannot give enough thanks to the Center for Student Leadership for all of the valuable skills and lessons we have learned over the past three years. Our lives are forever changed.

Athens.

Remember when I told you about our pleasant ferry ride to Santorini? Well, the 1am ferry we caught back to Athens was absolutely terrible. We slept in tiny chairs that had straight backs, and the air conditioning was on full blast all throughout the night. We could have lived our whole lives without that experience. Just awful.

Anyway, we made it to our hotel in Athens around 9:30am. Athens was a little different than what we had imagined; graffiti is everywhere, and the city is much dirtier than Thessaloniki. Our hotel rooms weren't ready until 11:30am, so we walked around for a bit to waste some time before we could crash on our beds. 

Resting for a few hours was somewhat revitalizing and gave us enough strength to explore the original Olympic Stadium. What a sight to see! Some of us took the opportunity to run around the track and others experienced what it was like to sit in the seats reserved for the kings and queens. We all really enjoyed visiting this monument! The Temple of Zeus was next on the list, but when we arrived, the gates were closed. We took pictures from outside of the gate and decided that that would suffice; unfortunately, we don't have enough time to fit it in on any other day!

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Today, we had a great plan set up. We were going to visit the War Museum first thing in the morning, head to the Acropolis Museum, and then climb to the Acropolis. However, the last tour for the Acropolis was at 2:45pm, and we missed it by about 10 minutes.. Now, we are moving it to tomorrow morning and have to save Posiedons Temple for our next trip to Greece. 

There have been a lot of things that have not worked out as we thought they would. 

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Since we are in such a tourist-y area, it's been hard to find that good, authentic food we experienced in Thessaloniki and Lake Kerkini. We're getting a little tired of the subpar Greek cuisine. In fact, a lot of us have already planned out our first meal when we arrive back in America. Some of us feel that it can't come soon enough. These seven-hour days of walking everywhere and the crazy transportation situations have taken a toll on all of us.

We'll see ya soon, America.

Planes, Trains, & Automobiles....and Ferries

We now understand why our friends from Aristotle University shook their heads in pity when we told them we were catching a midnight bus to Athens and a morning ferry to Santorini...

The bus ride lasted for six hours, and we immediately boarded the ferry for an eight-hour trip. The only person who got decent sleep was probably Shon, who stayed rolled up in fetal position for most of the ferry ride. Fortunately, the ferry was a lot nicer than we expected, so that made the situation a little better; we really questioned whether or not it was a Titanic replica. The thing was huge!

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Arriving in Santorini was a crazy experience. Half the time we felt like herded cattle and the other half we felt like VIPs. A steep drive up a mountainside sprinkled with a few turns brought us to our lovely hotel that had a nice, distant view of the ocean. We immediately felt like family when we walked in, and we couldn't have asked for a better stay! The location of the hotel was not the best, however, so we ended up taking a bus everywhere on the first day and the morning of the second day, which was not a pleasant experience--late buses, no buses, throw up.... Just don't ask.

Eventually, half the group rented a car and the other rented ATVs in order to get around the island. Everything was much easier, and the group was able to explore the island without having to rely on the public buses. Sweet freedom!

The weather was incredibly--let me repeat myself--INCREDIBLY windy, so the cute summery outfits we all brought stayed packed away while jackets and jeans made their debuts. We planned on having at least one beach day, but the weather was just too bitter, so we changed our itinerary and spent some time shopping and adding in extra sightseeing opportunities. 

On our final day in Santorini, we were supposed to go on a tour that included sailing and touring a volcano, but the wind was too strong for the boating excursions to be offered. We adjusted well to the setback, and decided on a great guided walking tour that went through three different parts of the island.

We got amazing pictures and were able to see some of the most beautiful parts of the island, which included both the buildings and the ocean view. Aside from the obstacle of a cancelled tour, the group really enjoyed our short time spent on the beautiful island of Santorini! The seven-hour ferry ride back to Athens is going to be rough!

You'll definitely want to check out our Santorini pictures on the Flickr we will be making! We will let you know when they are up!

Cultivating Friendships

Two posts in one day...this is a record!

(May 20th)

Visiting Aristotle University's farm in Thessaloniki was enlightening for all of us. We met with three professors who introduced us to some students from the agriculture department and showed us around the 60,000 square meter area. 

The farm is divided into 600 plots that are rented by individuals or families of Thessaloniki. Organic techniques are used for each plot, and renters can plant whatever they want and use the products for their personal needs. Drip-irrigation is used for each plot to prevent excessive use of water. Some members of the group compared this project to the Kennesaw gardens. 

We asked a lot of questions and received thorough answers for all of them. After walking through several plot areas, we had the opportunity to sit down and engage with the six agriculture students.

Questions about our majors and what we all want to do with our futures were traded. The students spoke English very well, even though they kept apologizing! We really enjoyed interacting with them, and we were really disappointed that we had to leave to catch our bus soon after we sat down.

However! On the bus ride home, Judy got a call from one of the students, inviting us out for an authentic Thessaloniki nightlife experience. We gladly accepted! 

They met us after dinner and we had a wonderful time getting to know them and their city. They took us to one of their favorite taverns in town, and we all just spent simple time together creating memories and great friends we weren't expecting to make. 

Leaving Thessaloniki so soon after making such good friends really stunk. We did, however, promise to show them around America whenever they visit the states. We're crossing our fingers that it will be some time soon.

Lake Kerkini

Keeping up with this blog has been a bit tougher than I thought it would be! So much to do with such little time spent around reliable wifi.

Since the last time I wrote, we've learned roughly 13 different phrases in Greek. We're practically fluent!

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On Saturday afternoon, we boarded a train to Lake Kerkini. Everything was going smoothly until the train came to a dead stop 30 minutes into our trip. We later learned that an obstacle on the tracks caused damage to the engine, which caused a delay that lasted for almost an hour and a half. Luckily, we had books, angry elderly Greek women, and staring contests to keep us from getting too bored. 

Once we arrived at our hotel on the lake, we all agreed that the trouble we experienced while traveling was worth it! The hotel was absolutely adorable and, once again, the Greek cuisine did not fail to impress. (Have you tried water buffalo meat before? The 10 of us strongly recommend it.)

Our two days spent on Lake Kerkini were jam packed with biking, barbecuing, archery, canoeing and off-roading up the mountain. Thanasis and the owner of the hotel told us about the lake's impact on Greece and gave us some information about the animals that rely on the lake. 

Saying farewell to Lake Kerkini was difficult. None of us wanted to leave, but it was time to head back to Thessaloniki and continue our journey.

I will be posting all of my photos to Flickr after the trip. I will provide the link a few days after we return home!

It's All Greek To Us!

Καλημέρα! (Good morning!)

We finally arrived in Thessaloniki after a grueling plane ride that left most of us complaining of stiff necks and declaring airline sleep as the worst kind of sleep..!!

But we made it!!

Our first adventure in Greece was deciding which of the two different baggage claims at the Thessaloniki airport would give us our luggage. We finally figured it out after going back and forth only 3 or 4 times. The good news is that everyone in the group received their luggage! Hooray!

Leaving the airport, we hopped on a city bus with our wonderful tour guide, Thanasis, and tested our "how fast can you lift your suitcase, weave through Greek people, & depart the bus" skills. Luckily, that skill kicked in for all the group members and we successfully made it off. After walking one million blocks with our luggage--Thanasis said it would only be about 6 blocks--we settled into our hotel, which is neatly tucked away between the shops of the city. 

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Everyone was very cranky at this point; the lack of sleep, the rise in temperature, and the weight of our suitcases was catching up to us. Once we settled into our rooms, some of us took desperately needed showers, others slept, and a small group headed for a walk about the city.

We convened with Thanasis around 8pm, and he gave us an overview of our schedule for the next few days before taking us out for our first Greek meal! The outdoor cafe he took us to was only about a 5 minute walk from our hotel. We spent a good amount of time reviewing the one English menu the restaurant had before deciding to ask Thanasis to order us "whatever's good." He said a lot of things we didn't understand, and within minutes, the food began to arrive.

Food on food on food. It just kept coming! We were okay with that, though. We tried at least 7 different dishes and experienced another first at the end of the meal. I have three words for you:  Authentic Greek dessert. We were stuffed from dinner, but managed to make plenty of room for that! Needless to say, we all can't wait to eat again. Is it breakfast time yet?!

We concluded the night early--by Greek standards--at 11pm after walking around the city, through the streets of lively cafes and near-empty bars. Thanasis explained that most Greeks don't finish dinner until about 11:30pm, which explained the lack of the bar scene.

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Tomorrow, we head to Lake Kerkini! 

Καληνύχτα!! (Goodnight!!)

This post has been brought to you in part of snoring roommates and jet lag.