Grecian Odyssey, A Student View (Day 2)

The Honors Program just completed its Grecian Odyssey tour, where thirty-five students and two staff members traveled to Greece from May 6th through the 16th. We asked our students to blog about the journey, so each day is written from the perspective various students.  Today's post includes contributions from Kassandra Blackburn, a sophomore Biology/Toxicology double major; Aubrey Baker, a junior Nursing major; and Emily Schordock, a sophomore double major in Mathematics and Integrated Mathematics Education.  We hope you enjoy reading about our journey!

The line between the first and second day was rather blurry, due to the overnight flight. It all felt like one very long day, even though I did get a bit of sleep on the plane. Honestly, it was a rough night and difficult morning. Despite the excitement of being in another country, everyone was tired and cranky, and we knew we had another flight before we’d be able to stretch and explore. Besides this, very much expected, travel funk, everything was going well.

                 The way down to Munich was beautiful. From above Germany looks to be made of rolling hills and scattered red-roofed towns. We flew over a lot of farmland, which turned the landscape into a quilt of greens, browns, red, and golds. The towns I saw were like little storybook villages. They were small collections of houses that all looked alike, with a church tower in the middle and a backdrop of fields and windmills. It looked so peaceful.

                In contrast to the small and simple appearance of the descent, the Munich Airport was a giant. After getting off the plane, we had to walk for a while and then take a small subway system inside the airport, which I thought was weird, to get to our gate. Then, to make the whole place feel even bigger, we had to get on a bus to get from the airport to the actual plane. In all that’s plane, walk, subway, walk, bus, plane. It was like I was traveling through a city rather than just the airport.

                It was really cool to see all of the signs in German and listen to people talking. Also, the bathrooms were strange. Instead of having paper towels, there was a cloth towel that you could pull down like a paper towel to dry your hands, but both ends were connected to the dispenser in a loop so you couldn’t detach it. I’d never seen something like that as a way to save paper.

                The second, and final, flight of the day was the short flight from Munich to Athens. There wasn’t a lot to do on that flight, since it was just a small one, but the view was amazing. We flew over some mountains, the Alps I believe, and had a beautiful view of the snowy caps.

                We landed in Athens around noon. When we first arrived, we were greeted with the beautiful scenes of the sea that surrounded the country from the windows of the airplane. As our plane touched down, excitement filled everyone as we hurried to jump out of our seats and prepare to step into the next week’s journey. Landing in Athens was a total relief, since it was my first trip with overnight travel. Like in Munich, I was so excited to see all of the signs written in Greek and listen to people talking in a language I didn’t understand. It’s a very pretty language.

                The bus ride to the hotel lasted around 45 minutes, and showed us a lot of the countryside of Attica. It was caught between the sandy look of a beach town and the green of an inland area, with rolling hills that were dotted with bushes and spiky undergrowth. Throughout the drive, and especially as we entered the city proper, there was a lot of graffiti. Most of it was beautiful, even though I couldn’t read it. I’m hoping most of my pictures aren’t Greek swearing.

                We arrived at the hotel and everyone quickly started to settle into their rooms before dinner would be served. For our first introduction to Greek food, we had pasta. It honestly didn’t taste much different from the pasta that we typically eat back home. The interesting thing from dinner was the salad bar. It consisted of feta cheese cubes, onions, cucumbers, and tomatoes. A little different, but still delicious.

Once we settled into the hotel, we were free to explore, and I was more than ready to get out and do some moving. We were fortunate enough to be staying across the road from the Aegean Sea, so most of us walked across the street first to see the beach. The Aegean Sea was beautiful. The water was so clear and blue. Even though I could only see a small portion from the beach, it was stunning. Interestingly enough, the beach itself was made of small, smooth rocks. I had been expecting white sand beaches in Greece, from photos I’d seen online. Either way is great for me, the rocks were all very pretty and collected a few that day. The water was cold to the touch, but some of us were so excited that we had to jump in!

                

Next, a bunch of us walked down to the nearby marina. There was a large wall between the walkway and the ocean, which blocked the view but provided a new plethora of graffiti. A couple of people tried to climb it, but I didn’t want to get in any trouble. I got some beautiful pictures off of the rocks at the end of the wall as well, which provided a wide view of the ocean.

                The few hours of free time to explore around the hotel were perfect after a long day of travel. It fully cleared up my travel blues, and I didn’t even feel that much jet lag. The fresh air of the ocean, the stunning view, and the ability to walk around for a bit refreshed me completely, and I am so glad the hotel was in such a beautiful location.

                Later, my friends and I played Spoons (the card game) while we watched the Greek version of Deal or No Deal on TV. I am really excited to start exploring the city tomorrow.