Kane Tees

National Archaeological Museum 

The National Archaeological Museum was pretty interesting. it was full of statues and artifacts of Greek history. it was a verity of marble statues form Greek gods to Greek architecture. there was an audio tour available but me and my roommate decided to walk through at our own pace again.

Museum of Greek Culture

The museum of Greek culture was a smaller mean that the ones we had been to previously but it was still really cool. It had tons of artifacts from Greece’s history. it had a verity of items ranging from clothing exhibits, pottery and a little bit of what looked like Christianity.

Panathenaic Stadium

The Olympic stadium was massive, its crazy to think that it was once used for ancient sports. it is still used to this bay for music festivals and some sporting events. the stadium also had an audio tour which I decided to use this time it took me throughout the whole stadium and the Olympic touch museum. I didn’t know they saved all of  the touches in Athens. a the end of the tour I raced two of my classmates on the track in the stadium, it was a really close race. I think its safe it say that us three became Olympians that day.

Our Farewell Dinner

For Our final dinner it was really emotional. Our tour guide took us to a traditional Greek restaurant a little bit off the main area, it was delicious, the main course was moussaka, I devoured my whole plate. someone ended up not wanting their plate so they offered their swerving to me, I also devoured the entire thing. the moussaka was really good. towards the end of the dinner everyone put together a pot of money so we could tip out tour guide because she did amazing. I was tasked with giving her the money and when I gave her the money initially she refused but when she took it she gave me the biggest hug and tears of joy were shed. She took such good care of the group and was so happy that she got to tour us around.

My time in Aegina

My time In Aegina wasn’t too crazy, when I got to the island me and my roommate immediately started doing the scavenger hunt just to get it out of the way. Me and my roommate unfortunately didn’t get all of the scavenger hunt items, I believe we missed two for them but we were still able to get most of them. the island itself is a small fishing island off the cost of the mainland that you have to take a ferry to get to. I spent most of my time on one of the beaches near the port, I’m not that big of a beach guy but I enjoyed my time at this beach. for lunch that day I had swordfish for the first time. The swordfish was pretty good but I would have to try it again to get a good read on whether or not its as good as everyone says it is.

The Athens Central Market

with the market being right outside the hotel I’m surprised that we didn’t tour this place sooner, our tour was kinda loose but I found it to be fascinating. The market itself was split into a couple different sections even stretching across the street. There was so much fresh produce, most of it being fresh fish. But there was so fresh meat of every kind. Every part of the cow was sold from the tongue to the internal organs, whole chickens and whole lambs. From the Ocean of freshly caught fish to every part of the cow being cut up and sold it was a completely different experience that what you would see in the U.S.

Winery

The winery we went to was a really well put together family owned operation. its in the middle of this really nice valley and had so many different vineyards that produced all types of grapes for wine. We were given a tour of most of their facility as well as their wine cellar. after we toured the property we were able to take three for their wines. A red, rose, and a white wine. Im not too fond of alcohol and I tend to avoid it but the wines that I tried were okay, I don’t have enough experience with wine to tell weather or not they were quality or not

Feta Cheese Producer

The feta cheese Produce was not at all what I was expecting. I was expecting to tour around the facility like we did at the winery but we ended up sitting in the front yard of their house while eating food that had their product in it and talking about the concept of cheese while their daughter played piano for us. It was an interesting experience to say the least

The Acropolis 

Going to the acropolis was one of the coolest parts of the trip. we were given a tour of the entire and structure as well as the surrounding hills and other structures. we were shown the temple of Athena and its recitations, one of the theaters and the pillars of heritage. The day of the tour was both really hot and really windy which made being on top of the acropolis a bit of a challenge. while at the top there was sand blowing around sand getting under sunglasses into my eyes which wasn’t the best but it was still really cool to see the Parthenon up close and personal.

New acropolis museum

After the visit to the acropolis we all went to the New Acropolis Museum  and were given free reign of the museum so we could explore. the option of an audio tour was available but I decided to walk around with my roommate and look around at my own pace. The Museum itself was full of Greek artifacts and history from the acropolis site and beyond. it had a ton of marble pieces from the acropolis and around Athens, mainly statues of Athena but it was still really cool.

Delphi 

another one of our tips was to Delphi. it was quite the long drive but I was incredibly worth it. The scenery going to and around Delhi was stunning. Pictures do not do a justice how grand the mountains were. The village of Delphi itself was on the side of one of these mountains, you could see right down into the valley. while in Delphi we toured the temple of Apollo and the museum the was also located in the park. We toured around the museum and were able to see a lot of historical statues such as the charioteer what was the most impressive piece there in my opinion. there was so much detail, its a shame that the rest hasn’t been recovered.

My trip to Greece 

Traveling to Greece was an interesting experience, I took a direct flight from JFK to Athens international which was a nine hour flight. With this being my first time flying alone and my first time flying to Europe it was kinda stressful. Getting to Athens international was the easy part the hard part was being on the airport itself. when I landed I ended up not having service for the first couple hours but i managed to get service when i got the hotel. 

Predeparture reflection 

When getting to Greece I had realized that I forgot to pack enough socks. I only packed five. im not sure what happened, I remember putting ten pairs of socks in my suitcase but I guess they just don’t make it into my suitcase. I ended up making it work for the whole week though. Aside from my socks I had everything else I needed for the tip.

Athens

My first time in Athens was awesome. the first day I was able to take in some of the sights and culture of the city. we as a group didn’t do too much the first day but we did get to meet our tour guide for the first time, go to dinner, and at the end of the night a couple of us went up to the roof to relax. the view from the hotel roof was stunning, you were able to see the entire city and you were able to see the whole acropolis!

First dinner 

the first group dinner that we had was delicious. The restaurant was a smaller place right nest to some ruins and had a great view  of the acropolis. The food was amazing, for the appetizer there was a spread with hummus, olives some spicy feta and bread to dip. For the entree it was a roasted chicken with broccolini and potatoes with honey and tzatziki on top

I’m really excited and lucky be have had the opportunity to go on a study aboard. with this being my first time being out of the country and travelling alone, this trip has been full of a lot of firsts so far and I’m excited to see what else it has in store for me.

Expectations

I’m hoping to see how Greek culture interfaces with the ways of hospitality and tourism. I’m expecting to be taught all about Greek history and culture. I’m also expecting to be sweating bullets, looking at the weather I saw it was supposed to be in the upper ninety’s all week. I’m not excited for constant sun beating down on me since I burn really easily, I’m going through at least two bottles of sunscreen. the sun aside I’m expecting this to be a really cool experience to meet new people and see a part of the world I don’t think I would get to see this early in my life.

What Have I Packed

I didn’t pack too much, I pretty much followed the the list that was given to me by the school. I didn’t pack too heavy, I Packed 5 stets of street clothes, just so i can mix and match outfits and not have to worry about suitcase space. I also packed a set of formal wear, my toiletries, and a pillow. just in case i would need it. my suitcase is on the larger size so i should have enough space for some souvenirs.

What I think I forgot

I know for a fact that I forgot my inhaler, its not too big of a deal but I would have been nice to have. Going through my bags I don’t think I forgot anything else, I was very thorough in checking my bag and making sure everything that i needed was there.

Plans for after the trip

After the trip I would love to look into maybe another study abroad, maybe not immediately after but I would not pass up another opportunity to travel out of the country like this. it doesn’t even need to be a study abroad, I would love to just travel in general. since this is my first going to Europe I’m not going to maker it my last. I hope to be able to get out and explore more after I graduate from Montco.