Sun Kissed by the Grecian Sun.

Hello again from London!  These past few weeks have been insane, and it makes me sad knowing I didn't have time to share what was going on.  They have been filled with A LOT of studying and exams, which was then topped off with a Greece holiday to start out the Summer.  Talk about a great way to start the Summer, right?  I got back last Friday, and I have so much to share from this trip!  At the same time, I'm actually kind of sad that my last trip is now over, and I go home in just a few days!  ONLY THREE DAYS.  I'm just as surprised as you, and it crept up on me so quickly.  As sad as I am to go back home, I can't wait to be back with friends and family to tell them everything!

Athens Day 1:
So let me start with the few amazing days in Greece.  To begin the trip, I had to wake up at 2am so I could catch my flight at 6am.  Thank you Ryan air for giving me cheap flights, but I'm so done with these dreadfully early and late flights.  I couldn't really sleep on the flight, but I got a frappe when I landed so that gave me some energy!  The first day in Athens was just so much fun.  To begin, we were really hungry so I ordered my first real Greek salad.  So delicious!  After lunch, we explored the city a bit and just took it all in.  My friends and I found this awesome giant rock that provided us with the most amazing view of the city!  After exploring, we decided to get dinner at a local restaurant by a nearby market.  I got traditional pork souvlaki with pita bread, tomatoes, onions, and tzatziki.  Best meal I had the whole time I was in Greece.  The rest of the nights was spent relaxing at the airbnb and hanging out.

Athens Day 2:
The second day I was in Greece was my favorite.  We got up earlier and caught a ferry to the nearby island of Aegina.  My friend Leah is Greek, and she asked her family that lives in Greece what islands would be good to visit for a day.  We ended up choosing this cute little island, and we were not disappointed.  The ferry took only an hour, where we transported to an island surrounded by water that looked like glass and a tropical paradise.  When we arrived, we got lunch right away where I shared domathes (vine wrapped rice), saganki (fried cheese), and of course a Greek salad with my friend Jodie.  SO GOOD.  Domathes sounded a little interesting to me, but it was so good!  Greek food is my new favorite, and the good thing is that it's healthy for you... Well most of it!

After lunch we decided to walk by the shore and just enjoy the beautiful day!  Literally every five minutes we found a new picture spot, but we couldn't help ourselves.  The whole island is beyond beautiful!  We just enjoyed the sea breeze, I enjoyed getting a nice tan, and the next part was my favorite.  I thought I would bring my bathing suit just in case, so I decided to go swimming.  The water wasn't super warm, but it was the Mediterranean Sea, I was there, therefore I went swimming.  The only bad part about it was dodging all of the sea urchins, but I just doggy paddled over them!  I can't get over this day.  After swimming, we explored the town a bit and got dinner.  Not too long after dinner, we caught the last ferry and got back to Athens.  I love Aegina.

Athens Day 3:
After such a great day in Greece the day before, I knew it would be hard to beat.  Thankfully, we saved a lot of fun things to do for our last day which made it equally as fun!  To begin the day, we slept in.  Thank the Lord.  The day began going to the Parthenon Museum.  We all got in for free since we are "EU" students.  Win.  We looked around a bit, then we had lunch there.  I got saganaki.  That's it.  Just fried feta cheese, and it was delicious.  After lunch, we ventured up to the Parthenon and something amazing happened.  We got in for free again!  Thank you Europe!  The Parthenon was amazing.  Literally the huge hill that it sits atop is just full of ancient ruins.  It kind of reminded me of Rome for that aspect, but it was just so cool to see the things I have only heard about.  After the Parthenon, we just walked around Athens and enjoyed the city.  We might have been harassed by men trying to sell us bracelets, but we didn't let that affect our time there.  The rest of the night was spent getting a delicious gyro and watching the sunset.  Greece has my heart.

   

Ending this trip was bittersweet.  I knew it meant that this was the last time I would travel to a "different" country for awhile, I knew that it meant my study abroad experience was fast approaching the end, and I knew that I definitely learned a lot since my first trip.  Traveling the world has always been a thing I have wanted to do.  Whether it was Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants that made me want to go to Greece or the Lizzie McGuire movie that made me want to go to Rome, all of my dreams came true during these five months.  Oh and the second to last picture was a total joke.  We tried to be models, but clearly I'm not cut out for it. Ha!

I know I haven't mentioned it enough how much I couldn't have done ANY of this without my parents.  They funded me, encouraged me when I needed it, and in a way gave me all of these experiences.  So shout out to the best parents a girl could ask for and making me the luckiest girl in the world.  I hope everyone has a chance to travel to Greece some point in their lifetime.  My life is forever changed by experiencing new cultures, meeting awesome friends, and choosing to push myself and travel.

My next post should be very soon considering I'm almost done with it, so stay tuned!