More adventures in Greece

I am currently on the bus, heading to the town of Olympia, Greece. I have resorted to writing and editing pictures during our bus rides because 1. Our rides are getting longer and longer as we drive around the coast of the country, and 2. When we aren’t on the bus we are on some type of excursion that leaves me exhausted and ready for bed by the time we get to the hotel. There have only been two cities that we have stayed in for more than one night, meaning that every morning consists of repacking our bags and either getting a long bus-ride view of the sea or winding our way through some pretty impressive mountains. Our past few days have been nothing but “just another pile of rocks.” We’ve visited the ancient sites of Mycenae, Eleusis, Corinth, Epidauros, Sparta, and Nemea. While yes, each is just a pile of rocks, it’s been interesting to see the differences in architecture and room layout that each site had. This morning we finally had a break from the rocks when we took a private boat to the uninhabited island/beach of Voidokilia. The island lacks a dock for boats to come in at, forcing the 10 of us to jump in the still semi cold water and swim to the island. We spent our morning climbing sand dunes and exploring hidden caves before finally settling down to relax for a couple hours. Our boat ride back was turned into a picnic of oranges that we picked up from the town market store. Watching the small islands go by while I ate fruit on the back of a boat was hands down the most relaxing thing I’ve done in while. We grabbed a quick lunch at the same restaurant we ate dinner at last night. In Greece, all of the restaurants are outside and the waiters all stand on the sidewalk, ready to show you to a table. It took us a while, but we’ve figured out that if you look like tourists (and our group looks VERY much like tourists) then the waiters will talk to you non-stop because they are trying to get your business. Our first day in Athens it overwhelmed us to the point that none of us particularly like Athens much. Not that Athens isn’t a great city, but the smaller villages are more pleasant when it comes to just walking around. Each day Greece surprises us with something new to experience and learn. The people I’m traveling with have also made the trip that much more enjoyable. Each one of us brings something unique to our group. The quiet ones have come out of their shells and we are all starting to really bond with each other. Our professor keeps joking with us that we should split up for meals so we don’t overtake the small restaurants. We just give him a puppy dog face and stay together anyways because we all want to have these experiences as a group. I am almost halfway through this leg of my European vacation and I cant wait to see what’s in store for us next!