Sisterhood of the Traveling HUGgers

So it's Thursday already...meaning it's already been almost a week since we got back from the cruise. What! No. Where does the time go? I remember when I first got here each day felt like two days long. And now each day feels like its twice as fast. Time is weird like that. So!

the mediterranean cruise of my dreams 

April 1 - Boarding and Mykonos
  
We got up early on Monday morning to begin our cruise. We left the Artemis around 7:00-7:30, checked in and turned our passports in, then went through security (it was like being at an airport) then boarded and found our rooms. Now the rooms were different than I expected - ours were like two night train rooms stuck together. There were four beds in the room with two normal ones and two that fold down on top of them like bunks. We had a lifeboat meeting and drill after that to make sure if something like the Titanic happens we're prepared. We ate lunch and then Meghan Moriah and I took a long nap :) 
When we woke, we were at the beautiful island of MYKONOS! This island is absolutely gorgeous. It's very traditional Greek looking, and exactly how I pictured Greece was going to be before I left in January. We had tea time really fast then departed at 5:30 to explore.

Must See Things in Mykonos:

Little Venice. Famous group of buildings that have been constructed right on the sea's edge with their balconies overhanging the water. I want to live there.

Petros the Pelican. An old celebrity of the town's waterfront, "Petros"is a large pink pelican that has been the official mascot of Mykonos for over 50 years (we found two though, and we weren't sure which was Petros, or if neither of them were since he's supposed to be the biggest.) For the sake of this blog, let's say he's Petros.

The Windmills. And of course these! From as early as the 16th century, they are one of the most recognized landmarks of Mykonos.We watched the sunset here and it was one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen. 

 Oh and here's a cute old Greek man sitting outside his home, just because. This cruise was a perfect oppurtunity to get some great shots to add to my photography collection. 

Fun fact: In Greek mythology Mykonos was the location of the battle between Zeus and the Titans, and the island was named in honor of Mykons, son of Anios who was a son of Apollo and nymph named Rio.

While there we also visited a friend of Mama B and Steven, a little old lady who hand makes these beautiful Greek shirts. It was so wonderful meeting a local and getting to talk to her.

After hanging in Mykonos a few hours we headed back to the boat for a late dinner and dancing on the top deck where the high schoolers were. We had the best time making conga lines into their groups and being generally loud and obnoxious (because that's how we are) 

 April 2 -Kusadasi, Ephesus, and Patmos

The next morning, we had left Greece and were able to add one more country to our list: TURKEY!!! We had a tour guide lead us through the ancient ruins of Ephesus, the city Paul wrote Ephesians to. 
Of all the ruins we've been to, Ephesus was my favorite. There was just so much left there, and there's still so much to be uncovered. Apparently they've only discovered 10% of it. We went through these old Roman Terrace houses and into a big theater still there. And, of course, we sang there. All these places we've sung and worshiped - how amazing is it that we can do that? All over the world. Wow. 
 

Oh also there were alot of cats every where. Like, EVERY WHERE. So I really loved Ephesus.

After the ancient Ephesus ruins we went this really neat CARPET making shop. This funny Turkish man showed us how they collect the silk from the silk worms and make it into carpets. They gave us this delicious apple tea and showed us their carpets -- and whew they were GORGEOUS carpets...unfortunately the smallest ones they had were at least $250 so no goes. It was a great experience though. Afterwards we went back to the port because we had about an hour before we set sail again and we just wandered around Kusadasi and soaking in what we could of the Turkish culture. The people were super friendly, and we got milkshakes and sat at a little outdoor cafe (mainly to use their wifi, but still)

 

After we left Turkey, we had lunch on the boat around 12:30 then hung out until Patmos later that afternoon. Patmos is mentioned in Revelation and is the place where John was when he had his vision. You can see the crack in the cave that was made when the voice of the Lord appeared. (no pics allowed) We then went to a monastery further up the cliffs and looked around.

 
Once we got back we ate dinner and then went to karaoke night in one of the lounges - it was a blast! More dancing on the top deck afterwards. Oh. I also had my first crepe in Patmos. And it was so good.

 April 3 -Rhodes

The next day we docked ALL DAY in Rhodes! Rhodes was a crazy awesome, with a wall surrounding the city. Rhodes is famous for being the site of the Colossus of Rhodes, a statue of the Titan Helios that is considered one of the 7 Ancient wonders of the world. It doesn't stand there anymore, but it was neat seeing the site it once was.

Afterwards we hung out at a Starbucks (that was built inside a CASTLE) and then walked around Rhodes. Unfortunately it was rainy and cold that day, and the sea was going crazy. Fortunately, we took refuge in a spa and got a FISH PEDICURE to cure our rainy day blues (and our icky Chaco feet)  It was so fun! It tickled a little and felt like little bubbles on our feet. (And Erin, if you're reading this, we will do it when I get back I PROMISE)

 We walked around town, looking at shops and stopping for gelato and crepes at a little cafe. We were all slightly disappointed because we'd been told Rhodes was great for cheap shopping but everything was pretty expensive. Overall though, we loved Rhodes and just wished the weather had been better. We boarded and our room took a nap again (I slept so good in that room - it was pitch black) Then we had dinner and did more karaoke in the lounge (being a group that likes singing from a school that's all about singing, we loved karaoke) That night was rough though because the waves were so choppy and made the boat rock. A lot of people in our group felt motion sick from it. When you walked through the halls on the lower decks you felt like you were flying because the boat rocked you so much.

Captain's night! We all dressed up for dinner

 April 3 -Crete and Santorini

Our last full day on the cruise. We woke up docked in Heraklion, the capital of Crete. We didn't get much time there, as we woke up around 9 and left at 11:30, and it took time to walk to the town from the port and back. It reminded us all a lot of Athens, a modern bustling city but with ancient sites and charming shops. 

 Fun fact: The skull of St. Titus is in Heraklion (or what people think is his skull. How they know this I have no idea.)

We set sail and and had a meeting about departures the next day. Then we ate lunch and hung out on the cruise ship. This ship had some pretty cool stuff - a sauna, a casino, 2 pools (that we never used. Too chilly or blocked off for rough weather) So we passed time until we made it to SANTORINI!

Santorini, as many may know, is where Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was filmed! Donkeys, white buildings, cute Greek people, it has it all. Although we weren't actually in the town STP was (they were in a less touristy town called Oia and we were in Fira, the capital) It was BEAUTIFUL. We rode donkeys up the 500 something stairs (poor things) and a Greek man followed us up on his own donkey to make sure we made it up. I loved it! Definitely something I've always wanted to do and now I can cross that off of my bucket list. Afterwards we wandered around, taking pictures and eating gelato and having a merry time. I love Santorini. Love love love. 

 After we got back on the boat we ate dinner, did more karaoke, and enjoyed our last night on the cruise. The next morning we had to get up at 6:30 to eat breakfast and be off the boat around 8. We were back at the Artemis around 9:30, then we had classes. Not exactly the most exciting finish to our wonderful cruise week, but classes come with the territory haha.

So sorry this is really late...and on a super sombre note, today is my last day here. My last day in the Artemis, in Porto Rafti, in Greece. I could write a novel on my reflections and thoughts about the past three months, but let's save those for another post shall we? I'll be back home in the Texas in 27 hours. Wow wow wow. It's such a bittersweet thing. I'm so excited to go home, but heartbroken about leaving this place and these people. It's been the journey of a lifetime and I'm so grateful I had the opportunity to experience all these wonders of the world. 

σ 'αγαπώ για πάντα Ελλάδα

Rachel   

THIS IS SPARTA (actually, Northern Greece)

I'm so behind on blogging!!! The past few weeks have been nonstop, an endless cycle of packing, traveling, overloading poor Yianna on laundry and repeat. But today it suddenly hit me that I have ONE WEEK left here. That's all. No more. So I'm making myself sit down and do this to make future me happy.

So. Way back on March 26 we left on a 4 day expedition to Northern Greece. To be honest, I wasn't as excited for this trip as I was about, say, Egypt. This trip involved traveling through several biblical sites all the way up to Philippi and then making the trek back to Porto Rafti from there the last day (an 8 hour drive) And as much as I love road trips, I just wasn't pumped for sitting forever and doing more museums at first.

March 26 - Delphi

 I changed my mind once we got to Delphi. The view was incredible, and I felt like I was in Montana. (Now, I've never been to Montana but it's what I pictured Montana would look like in my head.)

 

Delphi holds a vast amount of history for the Greeks - it's where the Pythian games were held (I had to give a presentation on this here. It was held every 4 years, but 2 years before and 2 years after the Olympic Games) There's an old stadium and theater there to mark this, as well as a temple of Apollo (the god the games honored). Delphi is also where the Oracle was. The oracle was the priestess at the Temple of Apollo, and one of the most prestigious oracles of the Greeks.

 After the 3 hour drive to Delphi we stayed there about 2 hours, looking at the site and the museum there. We ate lunch (chicken skewers, rice, fries, bread - this became a common theme in what we were fed for the next 4 days) then hit the road for a couple more hours to get to Meteora. Check this place out.

It's like ROCKS. But ridiculously cool rock where Monks live. Meteora means "middle of the sky" where six monasteries were built. We went straight to our hotel though, and waited to explore til the next day.

March 27 - Meteora, Berea, Thessaloniki 

Sunrise the next morning. Wow.

We went up to a monastary the next morning and it was amazing. The view, the church, the very fact that they built it up in the rocks and used to use ropes to pull each other up.
 

Bruce McLarty, the guy who's going to be our new President at Harding next semester, came on this trip with us to make a video of all the biblical places we went, too, so I decided to snap a pic with him for kicks and giggles. 

Afterwards lunch and then on the road again to Berea (which is now known as Veria). Paul preached here (read Acts 17) and Dr. McLarty gave a lecture to be videoed for future Paul classes. Then Thessaloniki, where we went into a church and looked around. It was evening by that point then so afterwards we just went to the hotel to eat dinner.

 March 28 - Thessaloniki and Philippi

The next day we went through more of Thessaloniki and then drove to Phillipi! We went to the site where they think Paul was imprisoned, but our very wise guide James informed us this couldn't be it because they wouldn't put a prison by the center of the city where everyone was (we were literally right downhill from the theater, and they wouldn't do that)

Next we went to the site where Lydia was supposedly baptized. There is a little church there that's absolutely beautiful. Our group sang in there, like we always do when we visit places, and it was wonderful. I could have sat there and sung forever and ever. I think that's been one of the biggest blessings of this trip - the opportunity to live with these fantastic people, to laugh with them, to bond with them, but to grow spiritually and worship our heavenly Father together.

  March 29 - Dion and Thermopylae

We began our drive back, breaking the 8 hours up into a couple groups. We drove 3 hours and stopped in Dion, near Mt. Olympus. It's where an important sanctuary to Zeus used to be. We toured the site for an hour, then the museum for another hour, then lunch for another hour. Back on the bus and we were on our way to Thermopylae.




Thermopylae, for all you history buffs who care, is the site where the Spartans fought the invading Persians, or more likely known as where Gerard Butler fought in 300. It was pretty cool. They say if you're lucky you can still find arrowheads around the area.

The battlefield

So there's my very brief record of our Northern Greece excursion. I may come back and add more but with finals this week I have a few other things to finish (Yes contrary to popular belief I do have school and homework over here haha)

I have another trip to tell everyone about also! Our CRUISE! We just got back a few days ago and I had the most amazing time. But we'll save those stories for that blog.

Ta ta for now,
Rachel