Astir Palace Arion Vouliagmeni

... in real life the pictures and symbols I have been associating with these countries my entire life, places I never would have imagined myself visiting, especially not as a college student studying in Europe. At any rate the first night was pretty laid back, we did find an Applebee's and I do have to admit we ate there for our first meal. It was late and we were tired from a long day of traveling so you must forgive us. The next morning ...

... br>and voila - you've got breakfast. <br><br><br><br>*There's a solution for everything.<br><br><br><br>I am consistently astounded by the infinite well of patience my mother<br>draws from when trying to solve a computer glitch or find information<br>on something on the internet. Hours after 99% of us would have thrown<br>our hands up in exasperation and walked away, cursing the invention of<br>computers, mom is still there, clicking ...

... on eyewitness experience than I'm used to. But one of the things I'm here to learn is how to "roll with the chaos" of Greece. The students seem enthusiastic about what they're going to learn. I think every single student brought a laptop, and so before class you can see the students hooking into the WiFi in the classroom building. Quite a few have webcams clipped to the top of their laptops so they can chat live in real time with their significant others back home. If you're not ...

... Apparently, the ocean's here are much saltier than the Atlantic, or Pacific for that matter. We also stopped and bought some fresh figs. I've never even seen a fig in my life. The closest thing I've ever had is a Fig Newton cookie. Definitely not the same thing though--fresh figs are much more delicious. They grow on trees, you pick them, peel the skin off, and eat them. I think they ...

... guy was huge and obnoxious, and he kept complaining about the heat and how heavy his tent was and how he had just brought a fan for 16 euros- pretty much anything that i didnt really care to know. He got onto his bed (shirt off of course... ewww) groaning and muttering, and within 5 minutes was pushing out the most dirtiest, loudest snores i have EVER heard! everyone that walked in was like 'what the hell!'. he slept from 6pm till 10 am this morning. It was ...

... they belong if there weren't also exhibits from Egypt and Turkey in this museum....). They could be better explained - more labels with dates and contexts, but overall a hugely impressive and important collection. And its great seeing the sculptures and treasures from archaeological sites we've been to such as Epidaurus and Aegina. There is also amazement at how sophisticated life was 2000, 3000 and even 4000 years ago - safety ...

just some more pics from Greece... This place is only about half an hour drive from Athens... You can either take a tram from Sindagma or A2 bus... It's just a nice break from being in the city... lovely picturesque beach with those nice sun umbrellas made of palm leaves...

... on my way back to the hotel. I also found this little cafe off one of the streets. There was a group of people sitting around singing and playing music, so it was very entertaining to watch and listen to them while I ate. Of course I could not undestand what they were singing because it was in Greek, but it sounded really good. I ended up staying at the cafe for a couple hours listening to them. Finally I went back to my hotel again to put my shopping bags down and headed to Likovitas ...

Athens! There's tons of stuff to see and do here. The place I stayed had a kitchen, so it was nice to cook my own food for a change, not to mention a lot cheaper. It was fun going to the big open air food market in the morning and buying whatever I needed. I was even able to buy a ton of huge strawberries for ...

... peak, we set about building our customary cairns, taking our photos etc. As we were setting up the camera up for a couple shot, Stacy put her windbreaker down for but a moment, as a gust of wind came from nowhere in the deep valley below and lifted her jacket up, up and away! Picture an irate Stacy running along the sheer edges of Greece's highest mountain, trying to grab onto her flying yellow jacket, tears rolling down her face as I am yelling over the wind for her to LET IT GO ...