HOME!

WE MADE IT! We finally arrived in Houston yesterday! We basically stayed up and left the hotel in Nafplio at 2:30 am to ride, by bus, to Athens. At the Athens airport we said goodbye to Carolyn and David and then we flew out of Athens at 7:05.

We arrived in Paris at 9:30 and literally RAN to get to our connecting flight which left at 10:35. We got there in time but the flight was delayed until 11:05. They let us board and while we were standing in line we saw Hakeem Olajuwon there! He let us take a picture with him too, since we are a photography class and all! :) Turns out he was on our flight!

Anyway we boarded, finally. This flight felt SO LONG! Nine hours and 47 minutes of sitting there and doing nothing. I really couldn't go to sleep and so I listened to my ipod and played a few "video games". We touched down in Houston an hour late at 2:30 and went straight to Customs and Baggage Claim. After that we went through the exit doors and my mom and Cordelia were waiting for me!

I am so glad to be home! I loved Italy and Greece but it feels wonderful to be back home!

Last Night!

Today we slept in until nine, got up and had breakfast. Then we worked for a little bit on our projects and chilled. Then we went to the Farmer's Market and shot photos there and then we went to lunch while Carolyn and David went to get the T-Shirts that Claire designed printed/ordered.

We finished lunch and went shopping for a little bit. Then most of the girls went to the beach with David while Carolyn, Demeris, Dena, Claire, Carly, and I went to a cafe that had free wi-fi so we could chill and work on our projects there. I had a Mochaccino which is basically a Mocha Frappuccino with tons of whipped cream and chocolate syrup on it! It was SO good!

After the cafe we went back to the hotel and looked at everyone's Top 10 photos of the trip! All of them were SO great and wonderful! We then grabbed our Tripods and went to dinner at the first restaurant of Greece which we discovered was true because it was founded 100 years ago and the Ottoman Empire fell in 1923 which was approximately 100 years ago! It was really interesting!

After dinner we went to this empty dark street, set up our tripods and cameras and used flashlights and glow-sticks to write things and draw things and capturing it on film using a slow shutter speed. The pictures turned out REALLY awesome!

We leave the hotel at 2:30 this morning! We take a bus to Athens and then a flight to Paris and from there we sprint to our connecting flight to take us home!!

Idra/Hydra

Today we travelled to the little island called Idra-Hydra for those english speaking people out there...which would be everyone...because this blog is written in english...ANYWAY, this little island is SO cute! They do not allow cars there, the only motor vehicles are the garbage trucks! The locals use bicycles, their own two feet, and DONKEYS!!!! Tourists can get a 10 minute donkey ride for 10 euro. Not really worth it though, they take you in a circle around the town.

We went around the town taking pictures of portraits for a National Geographic "On Assignment" project thing. I also took some pictures of the town! After that we ate lunch and then we went to this rocky (rocky as in there are small cliffs there) ledges and platforms over the water from which you can jump out into the water. I didn't go swimming. I sat and read my book, listened to music, and took awesome photos! After that we took the last fairy back to the mainland and the bus back to Nafplio. All in all, a pretty great, chill day! One more day left then back to Houston!

Nafplio...still.

Well, we survived the hike! It was ALOT of steps! We all needed the exercise however and we all had a great time when we got to the castle on top of the hill! It was so amazing and had awesome views of the town and the mountains and the ocean!

After we climbed down we went to lunch and then shopping for a little bit! I didn't spend THAT much money this time! :) Then, after everyone had changed, we went to the beach! The beach here is a little, rocky, public beach but the water is perfectly clear (YOU CAN SEE YOUR FEET!!) and a beautiful turquoise color! I didn't actually go in the water like most of the other girls but I lay out in the sun for a little bit and then under an umbrella for a little bit drinking a coke. Greece is amazing!

Right now we are about to start designing a t-shirt for our final project and then we are going to dinner and then we are having a "night lesson". We will learn how to take good quality pictures in the dark. I will post again tomorrow for sure because we are going to Idra (also known as Hydra) where we can cliff jump and see/ride donkeys and go to the beach again! More Later!

OH! I got a letter today that my dad sent me! I needed some help reading it...but other than that it was SO funny! It almost didn't sound like he wrote it! I hope he had a great Father's Day even though I know that the letter was written way before yesterday!

Nafplio

Yesterday we arrived in Nafplio and worked on our blogs and pictures for a while. Then we went to lunch and were allowed, afterwards, to split up into small groups and explore the town. It is not quite so quaint as Delphi but is really nice and is right on the water. After shopping (yes, I bought MORE souvenirs), we came back to the hotel and had more down time. We went to dinner in small groups and then met back up with everyone else and walked to a "show". I put show in quotation marks because it is really more of a religious ritual that they let people come to watch. It is a small sect of Islam and they were "chanting" (might not be the right word) and spinning. It was pretty interesting actually. We came back to the hotel and did our Critique #2 and watched the videos from Caroline's Birthday Scavenger Hunt. Everyone was SO tired. So we went to bed.

Today we got up and had breakfast and we are about to go out now and climb to the castle on the hill. It is 999 steps. I guess it makes up for all the bread we have been eating. I have to go now! More Later!

Athens- Part 2!

Yesterday morning we got up and had a VERY good breakfast and then we walked to the Archeology Museum in Athens. Apparently it is the most famous archeology museum in the WORLD! It was really awesome! They had statues, busts, heads, tombstones, pieces of a chariot, and old arrowheads and spears all from Ancient Greece!

After the Museum we walked to Lunch and after that we went to another Museum: The Benaki Museum. In this museum there were pieces of art, clothing, jewelry, books, coins, and other artifacts that described and told the history of Greece. It was really awesome! There were these earrings and necklaces that were shaped like "men-of-war" sailing on the ocean and were made of gold!

After this museum we went to the Parliament Building, passing the French and Italian Embassies on the way. We stood outside the entrance and watched the guards do a little performance which must have been totally humiliating. They were dressed in the traditional greek guard clothing and were standing in the sun...not only were they certainly humiliated but they were also sweating bullets!

Next we went to the hotel and relaxed for about two hours and worked on our blogs/pictures/folders. After that we went out and shopped for about and hour or 45 minutes. Then we went to dinner where, thankfully, they had spaghetti so I didn't have ANOTHER Greek Salad. During dinner we celebrated Caroline's 16th Birthday! The waiters lit a candle and we sang to her. The guy at the next table had bought roses for the girls at his table and he gave one to Caroline! It was SO cute!

When we finished dinner we went and did another "scavenger hunt". We split into two groups and went around asking people if they would say "Happy Birthday, Caroline!" while being videotaped. We got extra points if they said it in a different language! It was so much fun!

This morning we woke up, ate breakfast and loaded the bus. It is AMAZING how different Athens is on a sunday. Much quieter, especially with the market being closed on sunday. We drove to Nafplio and checked into our hotel. We then went to lunch and walked around the town to take pictures and, unfortunately for my budget, bought some more souvenirs. On the plus side I got a present for Sophia! Right now we are back at the hotel and are again working on our final projects. This is good because then it means the less we have to do when we get home! More later!

Delphi and Athens

The second day we were in Delphi we had breakfast and then we were allowed to walk around and explore the town! I bought many things although I had to restrain myself from buying 50 pairs of shoes. I only have to buy my dad a present now, oh yeah, and Sophia. Anyway we split up for lunch. I went with the larger group because I did not want to spend anymore money, I wanted to save it for Athens and Nafplio. After lunch we walked to the Archeological Museum of Delphi and we took a tour with a very informative tour guide. We learned the myth of how Delphi was founded. We also learned that the temple in Delphi was to Apollo and how the Pythia (the pythia is the person and the Oracle is the place) made "predictions". After the tour we walked around the ruins which included the bases of statues, remains of the temple, a theater (seating for 5000), a stadium (seating for 7500), and an approximately 2600 year old wall with inscriptions in ancient greek. After exploring the ruins of Delphi we went to dinner and then back to our hotel. We then celebrated Abby's Birthday on the roof and watched Mama Mia! A fun ending to a great day!

The next morning we got up early and drove to Athens. To be honest Athens is dirty, graffitied, smelly, and CROWDED! Interestingly enough I have found that I hate large cities. You might be skeptical and ask me how I can hate large cities when I live in one? Houston is very large but it is spread out. I love that because each little section is like its own little town! But in places like Athens, New York, Rome, and Los Angeles everyone is piled on top of each other and it is dirty and disgusting.

ANYWAY…we had lunch as soon as we got here and then we split into two groups and we went to explore the city and take pictures. After this we walked up to the Acropolis. It was a long walk but we made it before closing and we stayed there for about an hour. It was awesome! It probably would have been much better except there was a giant crane in the way and scaffolding. I suppose they need it to hold the building up but still…it takes something away from the history of they place. After we got kicked out of the acropolis when it closed at 630, we went to dinner at this really nice place near the acropolis after shopping for a while of course! There was a band playing and some locals performed some traditional greek dances. We all had a really amazing time! Then we went home and went to bed after saying goodbye to Ms. Hartman who had to leave today due to family emergency. We are really going to miss her!