Well my time here in Greece is wrapping up. I will be home Saturday night. As much as I am excited to come home and see everyone, I am so devastated leaving here. I have had the best experience ever and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I am so grateful to have had such a blessed experience and I will miss everything about Greece and the amazing people I have met. I have the travel bug and I just want to travel everywhere! I did a lot of traveling here, which I am very thankful I was able to do so but I also did experience the Greek culture, too. It is very different than back in the States but I am used to it now and that is what I have been living like for months now. However, when I get home I will probably experience culture shock from the differences. I really do love it really and I can't wait to come back someday. I will miss it a lot.
Anyways, I did travel to one of my dream destinations, which was PARIS! It was so gorgeous. It is literally the city of love. Everywhere I looked was couples and people hugging and holding one another. It was very cute and romantic. I went to Paris on Wednesday, November 27, 2013. We arrived at night. We found our hostel after the plane and got ready to go to the Eiffel Tower! However, our hostel was very interesting to say the least. Very different than any of the hostels I stayed at. Two nights was plenty at that hostel. I wouldn't have wanted to stay longer. But it was definitely an experience. Anyways, we went to the Eiffel Tower and went to the top at night. It was a breathtaking view of the city and everything was lit up. So gorgeous. Words can't describe how beautiful it was. We enjoyed a night around the Eiffel Tower and relaxed. It was just so relaxing and fun to look at the Eiffel Tower shining and lit up! Every hour the Eiffel Tower will sparkle which is also very awesome! The next day we woke up and it was Thanksgiving. It was so sad not to be home with my family but I had such an amazing day that if I wasn't with my family, I wouldn't have spent it any other day! We got up and went right back to the Eiffel Tower. We just couldn't get enough of it! We went by the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower and took millions of pictures. I don't think we took enough.. lol However, the lawn was blocked off for some reason. We aren't sure why but we still got great pictures! After the Eiffel Tower we did a Hop-Oh Hop-Off tour around the city of Paris. We went to Musee Du Lourve which is where the 3 pyramids are that have water surrounding them. Super cool! Then we went under the pyramid and there is a museum there. We walked through the museum and saw the real Mona Lisa. Very cool. I thought it was going to be bigger but it was still very interesting. Also, looking at all the other works of art was awesome! Near the Lourve is also the lock bridge where many people go with their significant other and lock a lock on the bridge and throw the key in the water and it means they will be together forever! It was very cool and it looked awesome! There were SOO many locks! I hope one day I will be able to do that! Then we went to the cathedral of Notre-Dame! So big. The staid glass inside was very intricate and gorgeous! Then we went to the Opera house. Also, very decorative and big. We were able to get a sneak peak of the dancers practicing on stage. We were going to go to the show but it wasn't the night we were there so we were bummed. But it would be cool to attend one. Finally, we went to Champs Elysees which is like a big monument that looks like a bridge. It was very cool. And it was perfect because it was by all the shops :) We then treated ourselves to a great dinner since it was Thanksgiving. We splurged a little. I ended up having honey duck with potatoes which was amazing. Very different than the traditional turkey dinner but it was very good.
After Paris, we left the next morning to go to Brussels, Belgium! The city of chocolate and beer. We went on a chocolate tour through Godiva and tasted many different kinds of amazing chocolate and were able to make our own! To say the least, I got chocolate wasted! lol. I have never been so full from chocolate in my life!!! We then found some "American" looking food, finally, and went to the Hard Rock Café, which was nice to finally have familiar food. They are also known for French Fries, so of course we had to try those! We were pretty exhausted from Paris so we went back to the hostel early and took a nap until like 10. And then we decided to get a few bottles of wine and hang out in the hostel and have a few drinks. It was relaxing and so fun!
We then got up the next morning and got on a train to Amsterdam. Wow, so much traveling in so little time! We got to Amsterdam like midday so we weren't able to do much. We went to the Anne Frank house, which was so intriguing and interesting. It wasn't her original house, it is the Annex where her family hid out during the time Hitler was getting rid of the Jews. It is her fathers work office and they couldn't talk all day or make movement. They didn't want anyone to know they were hiding out there. They had someone bring them food and another family living with them to hide out for protection. They had black cloth hung up in the windows so the rooms would be very dark so no one would see them during the day. Also, the original book case was still there and when you move the book case, it led you to the Secret Annex where they lived. It was so great seeing that and it makes me think how thankful and free my life is! So blessed. Well, we were in Amsterdam so I did go to a coffee shop. Very funny day to say the least. But later on I did go on a canal pizza tour. So relaxing and pretty. All the lights were lit up, especially more because of Christmas time. We went back to the hostel and got up in the morning and came back home to Greece!
Well, I did take another mini trip in Greece to Meteora where a lot of preserved monasteries are. Also, the rocks there are awesome! The highest mountain one is 630m high. It was very nerve racking standing on top of the mountains and looking down because it was so high up!! But it was a great view. When we went into the monasteries we had to wear a skirt and be covered. Even though I was wearing pants I still had to put the skirt on. It was very interesting, I had to walk down a lot of stairs and cross mountains and then walk up a bunch of stairs because the monasteries are on the top of the mountains so it was a lot of stairs! It was very cold this day too and it was snowing! I never thought it would snow in Greece! After I saw two monasteries I toured a cave that was aged back to the Paleolithic period and there were bones found in there and foot prints. Super cool! Then we were able to walk around the town and have some tradition Greek food and relax and play some cards before our 5 hour train ride back to Athens. It was my last trip around in Greece. So sad!
Anyways, those have been my past two weeks. Now its study time for my finals!! Ooohh, I did go to this really cool chemisty bar and I had a bubble shot. Like it was in a bubble, it was very cool! Anyways thanks for keeping up with my blogs :) See everyone soon!!
Kayla
No comments:
Post a Comment