Γεια σας everyone! Sorry this took so long but I was in Greece back in June. All I can say is GREECE IS THE BEST PLACE EVER. Beautiful beaches, nice people, wonderfully delicious food and amazing historical sight and my relatives are some of the most wonderful genuine people I have met in a long time. (I'm Greek duh!) Here's what I did:
10 hour flight: The airport in Atlanta is not a fun place. Everyone was being a charge hog and my iPod was out of batteries. I flew from Atlanta to Athens. The food on Delta is good for international flights. I never had pasta on an airplane before and I spoke to my grandpa a lot since he was sitting next to me the whole time. I slept a little but not too much. Also, when the pilot was talking over the announcement system he spoke Greek besides English. Fantastic!
Athens: Crazy place. Lots of crowds and there were strikes going on. The Acropolis and the Parthenon were
awesome though. The Parthenon is HUGE! They also had really good food. My personal favorite on the mainland: Octopus. Sadly, it turns out I speak very little Greek. But I did the best I could to communicate. I took ships from Pireaus to Aegina and Crete after 3 days here.The ships are pretty nice. I liked looking over the horizon of the Mediterranean Sea and getting to wander around a little bit. There was a lot of graffiti in Greece besides strikes and no one seems to care. My mom thought it was heartbreaking and I thought it was disgusting. Apparently they're in worse trouble than the States are. The only parts I liked about Athens were the food and the Acropolis.
Aegina: One of the best islands to visit. I took a ship from Athens to this wonderful place. Aegina is known for pistachios and St. Nectarios in the Orthodox Church. St. Nectarios is the saint of healing sickness. He died in 1920. When I was at his monastery I saw these prayer cards of arms legs and people in general that were put near his icons throughout the monastery and cathedral. Seeing this brought back some memories of when I was in high school and I didn't get asked to homecoming dance or my drivers license my junior year and recently not graduating from college in 4 years. It was scary for me to see this at first but I realized that there are people in this world who are in far off worse situations than I thought I was in. I need to be grateful for what I have and not complain or internalize problems that can be solved. I got upset because I was remorseful about my behavior. Lately I have had dizziness and anxiety issues because of school and after I left Aegina, miraculously, my dizziness went away. The water in Aegina is really blue and sort of looks like a swimming pool. I was eating at a beach side restaurant and I was tempted to swim in the water but I didn't. It reminded me of Florida. Aegina is Heaven on earth.
Chania, Agia Marina, Crete: Another fantastic island. I stayed in a hotel by the beach and I met my relatives on my mom's side. They are sooo wonderful. They make really good food and do some of the things I do. My cousins swim and dive in the sea even when really cold outside. Some of them also shoot machine guns as a hobby. I found this out when I went to the village where my Grandpa's side of the family is from: Aroni. The funny thing about that is my uncle said,"Maybe they're waiting for the Turks to come." Ironically my dad's family is from Turkey. I also went to Theriso where my great-grandma Elpiniche is from. Its in the mountains and it felt like I was in Colorado or Whistler again. I figured out that in Greek families, including mine, everyone is named after their grandparents. I spent a lot of time at the beach and I got really tan. Even though I already blended in pretty well despite the language barrier I came back to the states looking more Greek than I already am. I learned a lot about my mom's side of the family when I went to the villages where they are from. Going to Vreses, which is where my great grandpa was from taught me about never losing sight of who I am. It was humbling to see where he grew up because the village looked like a third world country. But the people were nice and the food was amazing! I also saw some pictures of my late grandma Dorothy, who I'm named after. The funny part is my relatives would tell me stories about one of my uncles who used to go there a lot. Some of them made me laugh. I met some guys in Crete and in Athens but even though I like Greek men I think the ones who are from Greece smoke too much. Again, the food was amazing. My favorite food in Crete was the food I ate in the village and some of the alcohol I drank. We went to a beach called Falasarna and the water is as blue as it was in Aegina. But when I came back to my hotel the power was out due to a strike! So I ended up sitting by the poolbar drinking because it was so hot in my room. What a relief. In Chania everyone lives in apartments. Including my relatives. Generally, parents live on one floor and their children live below them. The system seems fishy to me. I'd rather have my parents live down the street or be my next door neighbor than in such close space! Speaking of fishy, when I'd go to the beach there were fish that came right up to me and I got to hold a sea urchin! Crete was amazing.
Heraklion, Crete: I was in this city on the last day. I went to Knossos. Knossos is an archaelogical site that e
xisted during the Minoan Civilization. I don't find Minoan Civilization interesting but I liked the layout of Knossos palace. It was cool.International travel is one of the best things to ever happen to me. It was a life changing experience. I learned a lot about myself and my family. The trip wasn't easy but I had a lot of fun and I look forward to another adventure like this one!
