I really just want to tell you about this crepe

So now we are in Crete but the journey that got us here is definitely blog worthy! four days in Athens and a group of twenty weary travelers was doomed to have its issues and it did!

Athens is a huge city, and not a very pretty city either. So we had our hotel drama to start off our time there and the shuttle system dictated what we could do everyday. Add on top of that that the people in Athens are just very busy, fast paced and not really even slightly interested in being friendly... People just got frustrated! But today the trip made a 180 degree change for the better!

We took the "fast ferry XII" to Crete and it really was like a mini cruise ship!! For seven hours at sea we played games, drank wine, took naps, and ate a delicious dinner! when we docked a tour guide picked us up and she was young and fun! Completely opposite of our last one. Tonight I learned that cheers in Greek is yamas! We are staying at galaxy hotel and I get wifi in the room instead of having to go to the lobby :) I really wish we had more than one day to explore this island!

I got to go to the national botanical garden of Greece and was on cloud nine! It was so beautiful with such unique flora, my plant taxonomy teacher would have been so proud!

On our exploring of Crete tonight we found a local crepe place and I got a nutella and strawberry one yumm!

Such a tourist

Hello all!

I can't believe it's been a week since I left Chattanooga! The rest of our stay in Delphi was outstanding. We found a European techno club which always provides a good laugh! The next day we went to the Delphi acropolis (yes there is more than one acropolis) and here was the temple of Apollo and Athena and the views were breathtaking! Greece is so mountainous! This one point in the trail we climbed down into an old original passageway that the Greeks would take to visit the oracle. It was a little claustrophobic but so neat to be climbing through the exact same tunnels! I also learned more about the actual life of an oracle, and it would absolutely suck to be an oracle!

Then back on the bus and to Athens we go! Here we hit a couple road bumps. A physicians conference bought out our rooms at the hotel we were supposed to be staying at so the travel agency "upgraded" us to a five star hotel. Now this sounds fine, but this new hotel is an hour's walk from downtown Athens instead of our original five minute walk and the shuttle stops at 430 pm. So after that time we are kinda stuck at the hotel. Taxis at night have a flat rate of 6 euro per person that then climbs and is supposedly mega expensive. But were making the best of it, I mean it is Greece! And when all else fails there is a pool on the roof of our hotel!!

Haha also seeing this group of College kids here is funny, we are so out of place! One coke costs 5 euros (that's about 7 American dollars) and breakfast isn't free either! So sorry dad im spending more than planned :)

We have three free days here to explore! Today we went to THE Acropolis! The one with the Parthenon!! Wow! Mind blowing! There was also the theatre of Dionysus (god of wine) so I was a fan of that one! Athens is a very dirty city, which kind of surprised me. A ton of graffiti and surprisingly Istanbul seemed to be a much more peaceful major city, if that oxymoron makes sense!

Random fact about Greek culture : meals are eaten late! Breakfast is served until ten lunch is at 130 or 2 and dinner not till like 9. Just a tid bit of Grecian culture for you!

Flea market tomorrow morning!! Sorry I haven't learned how to say bye in Greek yet, this language is difficult!

Greece 101

So I was delayed in posting! I know you all have been anxiously checking the blog but there were some technical difficulties, but I worked through them and alas!

So I am in Greece! It was quite the journey getting here, my favorite part being how some of our feet swelled up so much on the plane our sandals literally no longer fit! I already have cankles

So this just made them that much worse! Hahah anyways we spent our first three days in Nepflion which is just a small sea side town! From there we visited ancient Corinth, Sparta, and an old Byzantine community, or what remained of the ruins! I have really enjoyed seeing all the correlations between the ottoman empire from the Greek point of view and what I learned about the Turkish point of view while I was in turkey! Two completely different stories by the way!

We have a crazy tour guide! When we drive on the bus she never stops talking! Haha today we all sang Disney songs so she wouldn't talk, but she eventually won and told us her life story on a four hour bus ride, totally a loss for us!

I've learned that the Greeks are very proud people! It can be a little unfortunate because they do not want to mention any fault in their society. Exhibit a: there are strikes still happening and we even saw a protest but our tour guide doesn't want to talk about it, nor does she want to talk about the huge economic crisis of Greece last year and it would be interesting to ask a Greek how it affected everyone! But our bartender last night was really friendly and talked with us about life in Greece and that was really cool!

Also the Greeks are not very hospitable. Not that im complaining or expecting them to serve me hand and foot it's just surprising because any other country I have visited has been surprisingly hospitable. Over lunch today a group of us decided this must be because since this economy thrives off of tourism it it always swamped with tourists then there is really no need for hospitality because people will continue to visit just for the country's beauty? Maybe? Plus the people here are probably sick of tourists, I would be! I also had an interesting conversation with a Greek about how the Americans are not proud people because we have no history in comparison to the world, and the he asked me who is truly American? It was an intriguing conversation indeed!

Of course there is a lot of mythology everywhere we go! Which I enjoy a lot! We visited one place, Agamemnon's palace, which was super neat because we read about him in the Iliad my freshman year! I also tried to explain "Greek life" to a Greek. Now that was hilarious! He had seen shows like "Greek" on abc family and was super curious as to why americans would make a community called greek life. It was fun trying to explain it to him, which was difficult with all the secrets and such. So he just laughed and said we were dumb! Sounds like my brother..

Well we just got to Delphi so I might go exploring soon, but there is really nothing here it's just a pit stop on our way to Athens! I hope everyone is doing well!!