Greece Part 2 - Athens

Days two and three of our vacation were spent in Athens. On the second day we got up early, had breakfast at our hostel, and went up to see the top of the Acropolis. That was definitely one of my favorite parts of the entire vacation. The view of the city from up there is just incredible and seeing the Parthenon is almost unreal. On our way down the stairs I slipped and completely fell down - just keeping it cool! After that, we went to the Acropolis Museum which was extremely nice and new.

Then we had lunch outside and then shopped some more (you'll notice shopping is a reoccurring event). After shopping for a while we hopped on a bus to the The Cape of Sunion. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Athens, make sure you hop on that bus and experience the Temple of Poseidon at sunset. It's about an hour and a half ride out there, but it is totally worth it. The bus drove us all along the coast so we had an amazing view the entire way there. Once we arrived, we walked up to the Temple of Poseidon and awaited the sunset. The view from up there was absolutely gorgeous. Not many places can beat a west Texas sunset, but man that one sure came close. Once the sun went down, we headed back into Athens and ate another amazing meal. This time I got veal and eggplant (if you know me, I'm sure your jaw just dropped lol) - it was excellent!

On day three we saw changing of the guards at the Parliament building,

toured the Olympic Stadium,

shopped (When in Greece, buy sandals... right??),

and saw an opera at the Acropolis.

The opera was a very interesting experience to say the least. It was all in Greek which made it hard to follow, but luckily there were English subtitles. The story was the Flying Dutchman. It is very neat that we got to experience a play in that coliseum! 

The next day, we got up and started our cruise around the Greek isles! I am about to go eat lunch with some friends, so I'll post about that a little later. :)

Amy

Greece Part 1

Yasas!

I realize that I haven't updated this in so long and I'm terribly sorry, but I didn't have my laptop in Greece and I had a paper due today... so I've been busy! Get your reading glasses ready though, because I am about to write A LOT and tell you all about my wonderful trip to Greece! I'm gonna try and break it up into several parts in case it just gets way too long to read.

I guess I'll start off my saying that Greece was the most beautiful, wonderful place I have ever been. The only thing that was disappointing was the fact that my family wasn't there enjoying it with me. I've already decided that I'm determined to get a great job and take my family and anyone else who wants to go someday! That might take me a while to build up lol, but I'm dead set on going back!

The best and most surprising part of the entire trip was the people. Every single person we encountered while in Greece was so genuine and friendly! I made little notes in my phone each day so that I could remember what we did and the great little memories we made.

The first day of our vacation was an adventure to say the least - I'm pretty sure I had about 4 heart attacks along the way, but hey I'm alive and well! We were set up to take the midnight train from Prague to Vienna and then fly to Athens from there. Well, because of all the rain and flooding our train was 3 hours late! We spent so much time in the awful Prague train station - there weren't even benches for us to sit and wait on! Once the train arrived it was an adventure trying to find our car because there was no staff working since it was 3 am. We finally got on the train which took 6 and a half hours meaning we would arrive in Vienna at 9:30 am - our flight out of Vienna was at 10:50! We were all so stressed and trying to figure out how we were going to get off the train, find a way to the airport, get over to the airport, get our tickets, check our bags, navigate the airport, and get on our plane all in less than 2 hours. Like I said, it was an adventure lol. We got there just as they were boarding and somehow made it to Athens!

Our hostel in Athens was wonderful. It was very inexpensive and of course nothing luxurious, but it was perfect for us. The workers were all so nice and helpful. After we checked in and got all settled, we walked around and shopped. Shopping in Athens is crazy. I could've spent SO much time and money shopping and maybe I did spend a little too much of both lol. They just have wonderful things and all the shopkeepers are so nice and welcoming! After walking around for a while, we found a nice place to sit and eat outside. I ordered a Greek variety plate that included musaka, pastitsio, fried zucchini, and spinach pie - it was AWESOME! After dinner we walked up to the top of the Hill of Muses and saw an amazing view of the Acropolis and the city of Athens. It was truly and amazing moment to be up there and see everything. Then, we went to a restaurant by our hotel and got a chocolate crepe. I got it all over my dress of course lol but it sure was good!

I know that the people need our money so they were trying to sell their stuff, but they were seriously all genuinely so sweet. Even if we told them we weren't going to buy anything or whatever it was, they still wanted to help us find our way around, have a great time, and even learn a little Greek! Here's what I learned in my time there:
Yasas = hello
Yamas = cheers
Efcharisto = thank you
Parakalo = you're welcome

The weather was absolutely perfect also. It was 80 and breezy just about every day we were there. All the restaurant seating is outside because it's just so perfect there's no need to go inside!

I told you I was gonna write a lot... that was just day 1!! I will write more about Greece hopefully tomorrow, and if not then on my way home. Tomorrow is my last day in Prague! I absolutely can’t believe my time is already up. I have had such an amazing experience and I’m so sad it’s over. I am, however, SO ready to see my family, wear boots, and eat Mexican food lol. Now that there is warm weather in Prague I’m wishing we could have some of that cold back because there’s no AC in our apartment and it is HOT! Anyways, I’m going to try to sleep so that I can enjoy my last day in the city!

Amy

Czech Republic

We finally had a beautiful day here in Prague! I already loved this city through the cold and rain, but man it is AMAZING with some nice weather! The sun was out all day, and it was about 70 degrees - just perfect :)

We got up early this morning and went to Vysehrad (the other castle), and it was very pretty. There's a neat cemetery on the grounds that was really neat also. The best part about the castle was the view of the city from some of the look outs.

After we went and saw the castle, I went on a nice little run by the river. The weather was so nice that I just wanted to be outside! My idea of running outside involves running down a caliche road or just a street, so this was a whole new experience. The only bad part is that I inhaled so much second hand smoke that I'm not sure I actually received any kind of health benefit lol. Nevertheless, it was nice to just be outside! I stopped a few times to take some pictures and mostly just catch my breath! In this picture you can kind of see how high the water got on the river.

After my run and class, we met up with our professors and went to a small production that was put on by some former Tech students. It was very entertaining and insightful! We all went to eat together afterwards at a really nice French restaurant that was delicious.

In less than 24 hours I will be on my way to GREECE!!!! At midnight tomorrow Nicole, 2 other girls, 2 boys, and I will take a train from Prague to Vienna. From there, we will fly to Athens! We will be there until Sunday morning when our cruise heads out at 11. Over the duration of the cruise we will be visiting Mykonos, Kusadasi, Patmos, Rhodes, Crete, and Santorini! We will be back in Prague on June 15th. I am not planning on taking my laptop, so I probably won't post again here until I am back in Prague. I will have my phone though, so I will still be able to check Facebook and my email. Please say a prayer for safe travels! 

If you need anything or just want to talk to me, feel free to imessage, fb message, or email me any time! dobrou noc from Praha! :) 

Amy

An update from Prague

I cannot believe it's June!!! Time has absolutely flown by! I'm sorry I haven't posted all week - I've just been busy having fun and seeing new things. Although I am really loving everything I'm seeing and doing, I can tell you three things - I miss the sun, my family, and mexican food (especially Kourt and Ang's enchiladas and rice!).

It has been raining constantly for several days now, and I'm so tired of it. I need some heat and sun in my life! It's nothing to be alarmed about, but the city of Prague has declared a state of emergency because of the flooding likely to occur as a result of the level of the Vltava River. My school and apartment areas are in no danger, but I'm just letting you know how much it has rained! I only brought one sweater which I've warn every single day we've been here lol so I'm sure all of these kids think it's the only thing I own! I am very thankful for that sweater, my rain jacket from my granny, the $5 umbrella, and 3 scarves that I brought! They are definitely all being used. Every single one of the spokes on my umbrella is broken, but the dang thing still works lol.

This weekend we took a trip as a class to Cezky Krumlov which is a city in the very southern part of the Czech Republic. It was beautiful of course. We got to tour the Boudvar brewery and see an awesome castle. The castle had a bear pit at the front (that has been there for hundreds of years) and of course it made me think of my awesome Baylor Bear brother! The weather of course wasn't great, but we still had an awesome time together! Even when it's pouring rain on us, we're all still just laughing and having so much fun together - I've really been blessed with a great group! We got back early this afternoon and went to eat at our favorite place here in Prague, Lemon Leaf (a thai restaurant lol), and then just came back to our apartment to catch up on some stuff before starting a new week!

We only have two real days of class this week! Tomorrow we have a regular day, Tuesday we're touring the Jewish quarter as a class (which I'm really excited about), Wednesday is a regular class day, Thursday we have our first test, and Friday morning (at 12am) we catch the night train to Vienna to connect to our flight to Athens!!! Yes, Athens, Greece! :D That means sunshine, swimsuits, oh and SUNSHINE! (I'm a little excited if you can't tell) - We are going on a five day cruise through the Greek Isles!

It's really awesome to see how much I have already learned through this experience. I have gained SO much knowledge about myself, the people around me, and just the world in general. I think this experience has really opened my eyes to what and who I want to be in the future and right now. It's weird that it took me being half way across the country to realize how much of a redneck hillbilly I am lol - but I'm proud of it! I am far from a city girl and VERY far from a European girl lol but hey the country girl can hang! I am honestly enjoying every experience I have gone through with every single one of these people. I hope you are having a wonderful day and a wonderful weekend. Remember to make the most of EVERY situation you're in. Live for the now, not for the future. I love everyone in my life so much!!!

Amy