It has been a crazy last few days, my goodness!

I am finally in Greece! It is beautiful here! Largely because it is surrounded by water. So anyways, my adventure in Greece started in Athens. At this point in our trip we were extremely tired and wanted to nap all day, but no can do! So much to see and experience! So we started at the Parthenon. It was beautiful! It was a decent hike up to the top but it was overlooking the entire city! I could've sat up there for hours. Later that night we ate at our first Greek restaurant called "God's Restaurant" where I was completely overwhelmed with culture shock. The server came over and started talking and my mouth just dropped. You see, in Italy I could at least attempt to read the words and pronounce what was on the menu. I could even somewhat guess what they were saying to me! In Greece however... it is completely different. It seems like they are talking gibberish and there is no way to even attempt to read any of their letters/words. It was crazy! But thank goodness I had my Greek friend with me who could ease me into the language and cultural mannerisms. At the restaurant we began to learn short Greek phrases while eating the most amazing salad ever! A Greek Salad! It has tomatoes, and cucumber, and onions, and olives, olive oil, spices, and most importantly FETA CHEESE! It was soooo good and officially my new favorite food!

The next day we ventured our way to the riot (which I have already mentioned below) and met up with our friends Carlos and Renee (from Ohio). Later that night we met a bunch of travelers on a rooftop bar that was owned by the hostel company. It was so fun. You could not only see the entire city from above once again, but you could also see the Acropolis all lit up during the night. It was beautiful! We definitely enjoyed the happy hour at that bar! Mary and I had a wonderful drink called the Zeus Boost! A fun tropical drink with wonderful friends (Andy from New Zealand, Carlos, Mary, Renee, Me, and Aaron from New Zealand) on a rooftop in Greece! What could be better. Later that night we made friends with the bar tender who eventually took us to a local bar where we had a blast dancing and meeting new people.

Now, after a five hour train ride, we have finally made our way north up to Thessaloniki where we will be taking classes. Mary and I have settled into our cute little apartment and have made many awesome friends from the building and from school. The apartment building is one block from the boardwalk and about a thirty minute walk to the city. We have also recently planned a trip to Santorini with some of our new wonderful friends from St. Louis (Caroline and Jacqueline)! That is going to be awesome.

Overall in our program here there are about 80 students that are participating in the summer program at ACT (American College of Thessaloniki). The campus is beautiful! There are only about five buildings but they are right outside Thessaloniki and look over the entire city. Mary and I will be taking one photography course so be expecting many more picture to come!
Also, the food here is just as amazing as Athens and Rome and my favorite food is still FETA cheese. Num. The authentic Greek Gyros of course are delicious also!

Pictures

Arrival to our hostel in Rome!




The streets of Rome!
















First night out

Me, Mary, Elise (from Norway), Pantelis (from Iowa State), and Carlos (from Spain)

Our friend Dyne from Florence got us into the biggest party that I have ever been to! It was a blast!

First day sight seeing in Rome.... First stop, Coliseum!






Carlos, Mary, Heather, Pantelis, Erich (friend from Iowa State)



Second stop..... The Vatican!

First day in Athens

Today was a crazy day in Athens! There was a riot down town with between 20,000-40,000 people! It was huge! They were all protesting about the government/economy crisis in front of a parliament building. It was interesting to see the variety of people that were involved. There were old men, parents, college students, teenagers, and even a few children (and of course the dogs that wander around the streets). They were carrying flags while chanting "thieves" and "we're never going to pay!" When we walked through the crowd there were tipped over garbage bins, burnt trash cans, and litter covering the streets. The police were guarding every entrance to the building. They had shields and masks on because the protestors had been spitting and throwing Molotov Cocktails all over the place. When the protestors got slightly out of hand, the poilce even sprayed tear gas! We had to hold scarves over our mouths and squint our eyes to prevent from coughing and crying. Luckily we made it and we are still alive! haha but don't worry mom and dad, it wasn't that bad! :) It was definitely an experience though!

Final day in Rome

So much has happened since my last blog! Where to start.... I had the best gelato ever the other night! I had mint chocolate chip and nutella flavors. The cone was even dipped in chocolate and covered in sprinkles! Yum Yum.
So I have been traveling for the last two days and I am now in Athens! We took a 4 hr. train ride, 30 minute walk to the ferry, 14 hr. ferry ride, 4 hr. bus ride, and finally a 15 minute walk to our hostel. It was a hike and we are very tired, but we made it! The ferry was an awesome way to travel. It was like a mini cruise ship. You could either purchase deck tickets (in which you slept on the deck of the boat), air seats (which were 100 airplane seats in one big room), or cabin room tickets. We purchased the air seats and slept in a chair with many other people awkwardly next to us. Haha but it was still very nice! There were restaurants, bars, and even a small casino. The staff was very friendly and we happened to pass by 12 students from Iowa.
So this morning when I woke up early on the ferry, I went upstairs on the deck of the boat and read a book that my best friend gave to me called, "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho. From where I was sitting I watched the sun rise over the ocean, the sail boats along side of us, and the mountains along the shoreline of Greece. It was an incredible sight. I sat there and thought alot about my adventure and what I had learned so far from "The Alchemist." Through the things that have been changing back at home and through only a few days abroad, I feel like my life has been changing.

"To realize ones destiny is a persons only obligation" -The Alchemist

I have learned that in order to find ones own destiny you must go beyond your comfort zone and follow every good opportunity that comes along your path. That is what will lead you to your dream.

"Every blessing ignored, becomes a curse" -The Alchemist
"when every day is the same as the next, it's because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises" -The Alchemist

So take risks, and seize opportunities . Never be saddened but be happy for what you have. So.. as cheesy as it may seem, I have started my own "Personal Legend" and my own dream. I want to travel places where I don't know the language, and then learn that language. I want to read more books to widen my horizon and learn about more cultures. I want to explore the natural world and seize every opportunity.
This adventure in Europe has helped me meet new people and experience new things. It is changing my perspective of life and everything in it! I hope that if you are reading this, that you too get the same opportunity to travel; like I did. And I hope that if you do stumble upon the opportunity that you take it and live it up!
YA YA (Bye Bye)

Here I go!

Through one crazy plane ride, a twenty minute train ride, and 30 minutes lugging my suitcase through busy brick roads (trying to hide my map and not look like a tourist), I made it to Rome!
Next stop... Gelato.... yum!

For those of you who do not know, I am traveling with my good friend Mary. She is great! We have been friends since freshman year at ISU. She has such a great heart and strong personality! When we first arrived to Rome her luggage didn't make it. Some how she held herself together and we are still trying to figure things out. Anyways, after day one, Mary and I were masters at traveling around the Termini train station. We had to walk there four different times to pick up some friends. We meet up with Patelis (our friend from Iowa State) and his two friends Carlos (from Luxembourg) and Elise (from Norway). That first night we walked to the Coliseum and the pantheon. They were both awesome! The coliseum is way bigger than I had imagined; it can hold 50,000 people! It was crazy to stand their and think about all of the lives that have been lost their from intense gladiator contests. The pantheon was also a sight to see. There is a huge arched dome that symbolizes the "arched vault of the heavens." At the top there is an oculus (large circular opening) which is the main source of light for the room. As the sun moves across the sky, the light circles across the room and shines beautifully on each of its statues. Myth has it that because the heat rises through the building and out the oculus, the rain does not enter the building. Whether that is true or not I do not know but it is interesting to think about.
My overall impression of Rome is amazing! I WILL be returning here some day. The streets are paved with stones, there are beautifully structured buildings around every corner and ruins on every street. It is like New York City, but beautiful and everyone is nice! (Dont worry, I don't trust everyone and I am constantly checking my purse so that nothing gets snatched). There are tiny little cars and mopeds zooming everywhere with out following a speed limit or guided by any street lines, they just go wherever they want and merge together without any sort of structured form. I experienced the rush of this crazy traffic yesterday in a crazy taxi ride; I'm pretty sure my life flashed before me. We zoomed past every car just inches away from hitting them. At one point the driver asked Elise in the front seat to pull the mirror in so that he could squeeze through two large buses. It was definitely an experience that I can show everyone because we do have it on tape! Anyways, overall Rome is amazing! The Gelato is too!
Ciao! Ciao! Ciao!

Also if anyone wants to follow Mary's blog, you can find it at...
http://eachdayforhim.blogspot.com/