2016 Summer ROMEance Part 7

September 10, 2016

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Greece! It was quite an adventure just getting there. We had finals, packing (at 2am) and our last day in Rome the day before. After we made it to Greece, that is when we discover that somehow my bag got left in Rome, thanks Vuleing... that was definitely not how we wanted to start this last part of our trip.

It was quite a tragic mess, thankfully our group leader was kind enough to take care of it and finally we got confirmation that it would be at our hotel in Athens - the day before we were suppose to head back to the states. Honestly, I was not that concered about it. I had actually pack my carry-on with almost all of my clothes, shoes and toiletries, so the main thing that was in the lost bag, was all of the souvenirs and gifts. I think some of my classmates were more upset than I was. Hahaha, they were all so sweet. I was just thankful I had enough clean clothes to wear for the next week.

Okay, I just have to say the food was amazing!!! I have never ever ever liked to eat stuff like cucumbers and tomatoes before, but oh my goodness, Greece completely change that! The food was super fresh and delicious! I keep craving it so often, I have got to finally make it here!

Anyway, so lost luggage, great food and no homework! That would be the shortest summery possible about Greece.

We got to travel to Delphi, Athens, Corinth, and Nafplion.

We started in Delphi and stayed for just around a day, so we could see some of the ruins that had to do with the myths about where Greece originated from.
Everyone enjoyed the Greek Orthodox Church we visited; the icons were breath taking. Even after all of the churches we visited throughout Italy, it was a completely different style and perspective. Again the icons were beyond imaginable. Hahaha, which is why I caved in and bought an icon. It was an actual painting on canvas with gold metallic accents, that was on top of a piece of wood.

One point, that our leaders wanted for this trip, was to see the history of the cities, without going overboard. They knew how exhausted we were, from the past six weeks, and they wanted us to have as much free time as possible. So usually we would spend the whole morning hiking, visiting historical sites and then we would have the afternoon free. Most of the time, we would take an hour or so nap, then go exploring.

Nafplion was definitely my favorite, mainly because we got to spend the afternoon in the Sea. One of the evenings a group of us went out to watch the sunset over drinks and conversation.

Athens is the go-to city for shopping, we spend hours wandering around the shopping streets and found some amazing deals. (Mine was definitely a blanket!)

Back in Rome, some of us got to see where St. Paul was beheaded, so it was amazing to see the other side of the story - where St. Paul would have been preaching to all of the Greeks, both in Corinth and Athens.

Honestly, the best part of Greece was just getting to know everyone a little better. Over the past six weeks everyone was focused on the classes, and all of the assignments for them. So it was nice to see everyone relax and just enjoy the travel. Plus, it was so fun to see the personalities come out, because even though we were exhausted and tired of the heat, hiking and travel, we really did not have to worry about anything else.