MC in Greece
I have always thought that blogs, or really any personal journal and diary, were much more interesting if the author gave information about his current whereabouts. For the record of this blog, I am laying in my Novotel, Athens, bedroom eating a Baclava dessert that I picked up in downtown a few hours ago. It is 11:40 at night, a 7 hour time change from Maryville, and we leave for the airport to return home at 8 am! I really enjoy starting with this because it is so interesting how during traveling, the minuscule things become so normalized. Before coming to Greece, I never thought my daily ‘normal’ would be eating Baclava in my hotel room bed, but yet it has! Two weeks in, I am now reflecting on the entire experience as a whole and the things that have contributed to my growth prior to returning home Tommorow. Even though I can’t offer you a Baclava or my comfy bed, I truly do hope you will learn from these lessons and experiences as well as I recite them here in this blog.
Since my last blog, the group and I have been spending a lot of time exploring Athens and traveling to entirely new cities in the Peloponnese region of Greece. The sights and landscapes that I have seen during this past week have honestly changed my life. I feel like many travelers use this line, however, given the fact I am quite an inexperienced adventurer, I can really say it was my first time seeing anything as amazing as the giant mountains, oceans, and cliffs that I viewed.
We first went to Nafplio, where we visited the ancient ruins of Mycenae. The site was the location that King Agamemnon ruled, a leader who was rumored to have sacrificed his daughter to the gods and was later killed by his wife in revenge. Along with this myth, many others occur here on the site of Mycenae, including many unfortunate tales. Despite the gloom of the myths, the site was incredibly beautiful and lively. Like most things in Greece that are ancient, the site was high upon a hill so that the kings were able to look out at the harbor to watch shipments, as well as the fields and vineyards to watch cultivation. We really loved learning about the site while at the same time seeing the physical history in front of us as we pondered the existence of the giant walls, tombs, and castle structures of the Mycenaeans. After this, we were able to walk around the city and enjoy some amazing shopping, food, and perfect weather! This city was a small and relaxed town where a lot of individuals retire to. I loved it!
After Nafplio, the group traveled to Olympia and Delphi. Both of these towns held very important sites dedicated to the gods. Olympia was the site in which Zeus was known to love, as well as the place where the first Olympic Games began and chariot racing! Delphi was known as the temple of Apollo, and held the Oracle, as well as other temples dedicated to worshiping the god, sacrifices, and town processions. These two sites were incredibly interesting and both worth the long walks to the top of the mountains. In Olympia, the group all ran the original field that runners in Ancient Greece would run on! I definitely am not competitive, so I didn’t win, but it was so fun to think that we had been running where competitions were held long ago! In Delphi, we were able to see giant and beautiful mountains that truly made the trip so amazing. These mountains convinced me to reflect on my own thoughts and how glad I was to be able to go to Greece and experience such amazing things.
Like many travelers, I have been having the blues as time neared the last few days. The group and I have been through so much in such a short time and are truly closer than ever. Now that we are all adapted to the culture, time, and routine of the local areas, it is time for us to go back and share our knowledge to our communities. The main take away that I have for this trip is how thankful I am. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the trip and tried my hardest to not take anything for granted. From the small subway rides, to the giant cliffs, I truly attempted to take everything in for what it was. I believe I did the best I could do at this, and took as much as Greece had to offer me! I hope I can come back in the future and experience more, because I truly love this place and the way it makes you feel. I think traveling is one of my new favorite things and one of the only things in life that can insight such an excitement and wonder for what new thing will be around every corner. As I return home to the US Tommorow I will be glad to be back on routine, and to get much needed rest, but I will be very sad to leave the memories I have made so far away from my home.
I have always thought that blogs, or really any personal journal and diary, were much more interesting if the author gave information about his current whereabouts. For the record of this blog, I am laying in my Novotel, Athens, bedroom eating a Baclava dessert that I picked up in downtown a few hours ago. It is 11:40 at night, a 7 hour time change from Maryville, and we leave for the airport to return home at 8 am! I really enjoy starting with this because it is so interesting how during traveling, the minuscule things become so normalized. Before coming to Greece, I never thought my daily ‘normal’ would be eating Baclava in my hotel room bed, but yet it has! Two weeks in, I am now reflecting on the entire experience as a whole and the things that have contributed to my growth prior to returning home Tommorow. Even though I can’t offer you a Baclava or my comfy bed, I truly do hope you will learn from these lessons and experiences as well as I recite them here in this blog.
Since my last blog, the group and I have been spending a lot of time exploring Athens and traveling to entirely new cities in the Peloponnese region of Greece. The sights and landscapes that I have seen during this past week have honestly changed my life. I feel like many travelers use this line, however, given the fact I am quite an inexperienced adventurer, I can really say it was my first time seeing anything as amazing as the giant mountains, oceans, and cliffs that I viewed.
We first went to Nafplio, where we visited the ancient ruins of Mycenae. The site was the location that King Agamemnon ruled, a leader who was rumored to have sacrificed his daughter to the gods and was later killed by his wife in revenge. Along with this myth, many others occur here on the site of Mycenae, including many unfortunate tales. Despite the gloom of the myths, the site was incredibly beautiful and lively. Like most things in Greece that are ancient, the site was high upon a hill so that the kings were able to look out at the harbor to watch shipments, as well as the fields and vineyards to watch cultivation. We really loved learning about the site while at the same time seeing the physical history in front of us as we pondered the existence of the giant walls, tombs, and castle structures of the Mycenaeans. After this, we were able to walk around the city and enjoy some amazing shopping, food, and perfect weather! This city was a small and relaxed town where a lot of individuals retire to. I loved it!
After Nafplio, the group traveled to Olympia and Delphi. Both of these towns held very important sites dedicated to the gods. Olympia was the site in which Zeus was known to love, as well as the place where the first Olympic Games began and chariot racing! Delphi was known as the temple of Apollo, and held the Oracle, as well as other temples dedicated to worshiping the god, sacrifices, and town processions. These two sites were incredibly interesting and both worth the long walks to the top of the mountains. In Olympia, the group all ran the original field that runners in Ancient Greece would run on! I definitely am not competitive, so I didn’t win, but it was so fun to think that we had been running where competitions were held long ago! In Delphi, we were able to see giant and beautiful mountains that truly made the trip so amazing. These mountains convinced me to reflect on my own thoughts and how glad I was to be able to go to Greece and experience such amazing things.
Like many travelers, I have been having the blues as time neared the last few days. The group and I have been through so much in such a short time and are truly closer than ever. Now that we are all adapted to the culture, time, and routine of the local areas, it is time for us to go back and share our knowledge to our communities. The main take away that I have for this trip is how thankful I am. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the trip and tried my hardest to not take anything for granted. From the small subway rides, to the giant cliffs, I truly attempted to take everything in for what it was. I believe I did the best I could do at this, and took as much as Greece had to offer me! I hope I can come back in the future and experience more, because I truly love this place and the way it makes you feel. I think traveling is one of my new favorite things and one of the only things in life that can insight such an excitement and wonder for what new thing will be around every corner. As I return home to the US Tommorow I will be glad to be back on routine, and to get much needed rest, but I will be very sad to leave the memories I have made so far away from my home.