Greeting sweet readers of mine! Did you miss me? I certainly missed you! My time in Athens is sadly winding down which is extremely sad but that also means I will be back soon and can hug anyone who wants one!
I say this almost every time but MUCH has happened to me since we last spoke. I am currently writing this blog on a rainy Thursday afternoon in a little cafe that has twinkling lights and smooth jazz- I am FEELING it today. I will try to keep this post in chronological order but no promises 🙂 I will start you off with a trip that has been on the forefront of my mind since I returned from it and that was my field trip to the Peloponnese. What is the Peloponnese, E? Well, since you asked, it is this AMAZING BEAUTIFUL place in Greece that is kind of technically an island I think but not. Picture this: rolling green hills/mountains (is there really a difference?), deep blue skies, fluffy white clouds and the most amazing ruins you have laid your eyes upon yet (except for the Parthenon of course who am I kidding?!) If you can picture what I briefly and poorly described above then you just visited the Peloponnese in that mind of yours. We visited Nafplio which was a gorgeous little sea town with the best gelato and amazing fort overlooking the city as well as passed through Sparta, did some sports at Nemea, explored Epidarus and finally ended at the motherland of Olympia. Visiting Sparta has been a dream of mine and many others I am sure since watching Gerard Butler slay the heck out of the Persian’s immortal army (before perishing of course- we all know how 300 goes! Another side note is that a jazz instrumental version of Singin’ In the Rain just came on and an actual tear has formed in my right eye… what a beautiful time I am having!) Sparta, however, was nothing special to see. It has 9 attractions according to TripAdvisor and I went to all of them in an hour. Before you sigh with disapointment reflect on what Sparta was and why this makes sense. They were a military society that focused a lot more on the Spartan people and their army rather than architecture and appearance- that was more of an Athenian thing bless their hearts. That being said, I am glad I went and will never forget eating the most delicious gyro while walking to see King Leonidas (“Our arrows will block out the sun!” “Then we will fight in the shade…” booyakasha Leo!) However, the sanctuary of Epidarus positively BLEW ME AWAY. It was massive and beautiful with great reconstructions and an impressive and gorgeous history. It was the healing sanctuary of Asclepius so yeah, kind of a big deal. This was probably my favorite sight of the trip but let me tell you- NOTHING compared to running the track at Olympia. I ran where legend has it Hercules did and if you couldn’t tell by my blog titles that I am a huge fan of Hercules, I am! I could talk about this trip for pages and pages but long story short the Peloponnese is amazing and if you are coming to Greece THAT is where you must go.
Coming back to current life, it is peaches and cream. My parents and one of my sisters visited me here in Athens and then we jetted off to Santorini which looks exactly as you picture it. It still feels like a dream! A break is coming up for me here and my sister and I will be doing a lot of traveling. I will meet her in Seville (where she is living) and then we jet off to Madrid, Berlin, Vienna, and finally Salzburg for a SOUND OF MUSIC TOUR *cue laser sounds*
Basically I am a woman in Europe who is thriving and trying to experience as much as she can! I said I won’t say I am in love but dang it all to heck I AM! I am in love with this place! I am sorry this post was a little dense and disorganized but I had so much I wanted to tell you guys! Peace and blessings my sweet honey bears, until next time- E xoxo
(also please enjoy these photos of your truly)
