It's all Greek to me...

Soo here I am. Celebrating my first official day of summer with my last full day in Barcelona! So completely bittersweet.

Even though I was out late last night, I’ve somehow woken up earlier than my sleepy roommates and am using this downtime to post about Greece! Very necessary since I’ve been back for a week now and all.

Last week, a group of five girls and I traveled to Athens, Santorini and Mykonos all over the span of 9 days. Although the weather was less than desirable, we made it work and had the best time. The perfect cap-off to such an amazing semester abroad.

We spent Thursday and Friday in Athens: exploring the city, dining on fresh greek food, receiving free shots with dinner (only in Greece!), and visiting the Acropolis. After previously learning so much about Ancient Greece in an elective course of mine, I really loved seeing it all sort of… come to life! The Acropolis in itself may have even been my favorite sight of the whole semester.

the Parthenon

Every 2-3 days, we took a ferry ride from one port to the next, usually lasting about 3-6 hours. Let me just say, I am not a boat person. The first and last ferrys were spacious and comfortable, but that second one, “The Flying Cat”, may have been the rockiest boat/ferry ride any of us has ever been on! So that was really fun. Ha. Luckily, no one got sick. It was a close call though.

In Santorini (the most beautiful place you may ever visit), we shopped in Oia and watched the sunset, laid out by our faab hotel’s pool, went wine-tasting on a rainy day, rode donkeys up the hill, stalked the “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” house (just admit you know what I’m talking about!), ate more delicious greek salad, bread and fava dip (basically mashed up split peas with herbs, capers and olive oil– so yum), and laid out by the pool whenever the sun decided to come out to play for those few brief moments.

the town of Oia

sisterhood house!

pinkies out

After our relaxing stay in Santorini, a few late nights out in Mykonos was exactly what our Spring break called for. The official season hadn’t started just yet, so the bars were always packed without being too squished, and the drinks were cheap! All very good things.

Of course, we also shopped around, rode ATVS (slightly more frightening than that donkey ride, but equally as fun), visited “Paradise Beach”, made friends with cute California boys (who were also coincidentally living in Barcelona), got our nails done, encountered some very persistent french men, and were served free appetizers, drinks and dessert at one of Mykonos’ fanciest restaurants. A splurge night that ended up being not so expensive!

oh those french men...

did NOT see that one coming

our last greek meal! with mama bonnie

My week in Greece only solidified the fact that I absolutely have to return in the future–with friends or family, for my honeymoon, whatever!

It hasn’t quite hit me that my semester abroad is coming to an end. While I can’t wait to get back to the states, I also never want to leave this semester behind! It’s all so bittersweet. To anyone even considering studying abroad–I recommend that you jump on that opportunity asap. I have nothing negative to say about it! You may miss your family, your home, american food, etc…but you’ll be back soon enough, all while wishing that the semester didn’t fly by as quickly as it did. Promise.

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