Loraine and I departed quite early the following morning after Athens and took the ferry boat to Santorini– we were impressed by how seemingly luxurious the ferry boats were.. the seats were comfortable and the windows had wide views perfect to see out while you were cruising along.  When we arrived in Santorini I was just as impressed as I expected to be.  The rocky slopes of Santorini were such a contrast to the white pureness of the buildings and the deep blues of the roofs.  Its any persons paradise- no matter who you are.  Our villa was right along the edge of the top and we could see out to the volcano and we had a beautiful panoramic view from fira to oia!

On the ferry

Port in Santorini and our Ferry!

The View from our Villa!

After settling into our villa, we began planning for the Greek Easter festivities!! We planned to go to a Greek Orthodox service at 11pm and wait for the ringing in of the day where Jesus rose at midnight!  The service was an unbelievable experience.  Although we could not understand a word they were saying you could tell how deeply religious these people are and how much this holiday means to them.  Right before 12 the lights went out in the entire church and then a candle was lit by the priest and the light was passed back from candle to candle (that each person got to hold) until the entire church was lit again.  Such a simple act, that had so much meaning.  At 12 everyone celebrated and fireworks went off.  We then went to a restaurant next door the hotel had recommended and had a traditional 5 course easter meal…little did we know that for 2 people it would be 100 EURO!!! That was another detriment to our bank account by a good Easter nonetheless!

The Church during the Day

After service celebrations!

Our lit candles

We spent the following days exploring the island of Santorini by foot and by four wheeler!  We up and down and all around- we got to see the three different beaches of the island, visit the islands lighthouse and eat traditional Greek food like souvlaki!  My favorite part of Santorini was probably the fact that I was spending time with Loraine and we got to lay out by the pool and just relax.  I was so used to going going going that it was nice for us to just take the time to enjoy the view and the sun :)

Sunset in Santorini

I know that title was a grabber :) but of course I am here to write about my adventures once I FINALLY got to see my mother :)  As of sure at this point most of you had heard our trip started off with a bang. But I think I have to first write about what it was like seeing her for the first time in months… little did she know I planned to take the metro from the city to meet her at the airport rather than the hotel.. I couldn’t wait :)…The anticipation was unbelievable.. I felt like the seconds were passing so slowly and every time the doors would open for a flight to arrive I would jump up on my tippy toes hoping to see her flowing golden locks coming my way… and after what seemed like eternity she finally did.  It was probably one of the brightest moments of my trip so far.. it was nice to have a piece of home right here with me… seeing her over skype is not quite the same!!  And boy was she dressed to impress.. girl was rockin heels and everything.. She looked amazing :)   So after we enjoyed our cuddling in the airport terminal our adventure began.

I had arrived in Athens a day earlier and had watched the buildings light up over the Acropolis and wanted to show her the same thing.  After visiting the Arch of Hadrian, watching the changing of the guards in front of Parliament and seeing the Temple of Zeus… we arrived at the top of the Rock of Mars below the Acropolis.  When we got up there we were relaxing when we met an Athenian Native named Apollo who helped explain what we were seeing from our view.  He felt like an old friend after the time we spent talking and as the sun was setting we had just begun to get on the subject of theft and he warned us to watch our purses when I turned around and yup.. it was gone.  At first I was sure he was in on it, I couldn’t believe I had been so stupid.  But that thought quickly faded when he spent the next couple hours with us talking to other people on the rock to see if anyone had seen anything, searching high and low to see if the thief had dropped it, and then finally through the maze that is Athens to the police station.  It became clear that if he was in on it- he would not have gone through all that trouble to help us.  I was so mad at myself… I have been warned so many times but I guess its that feeling of invincibility.   Because I had been in Greece for so long already I was sure it wouldn’t happen to me! But it did and the first couple of days were still a shock when I would wake up- I couldn’t believe it had happened- I swore it was a nightmare.  The hotel central we stayed at was a God SEND! They helped us out in any way they could.  Luckily Apollo had encouraged us to get a police report because that was the only way we could get our flight cancelled to Thessaloniki and get a refund (my passport had been in my bag :( )  After that long night, we spent the following morning walking aroudn trying to find the Embassy but it was closed and then finally viewing the sites of Athens- The Acropolis and Acropolis museum and just walking around the city. We had an early night that night to wake up for our ferry to Santorini!!!

Temple of Zeus

Changing of the Guards

The Purse that was Lost

Hadrian's Arch

Walking Up to see the Sunset

My Beautiful Mother :)

ONce Atop- Our view to the RIght- ( The acropolis)

Frontal View of Athina

Our Good Friend Apollo

The Sunset

Acropolis

:)

She's so Pretty :)

Athen's Stray --- AWWWWW

It has been some time since I last wrote and I’m sure I have been keeping you all on the edge of your seats with what I’ve been doing.  The reason for this delay in writing is that for the past 21 days I have been on “spring break” from school and took the time to travel Italy and the islands of Greece. All in all there were plenty of ups and the unexpected downs that come with traveling but all in all what I feel as I write this is relief: relief to be home and to relax.  It seems odd to say that because usually a break means some form of relaxation, but  I’ve been more relaxed since I got back to Thessaloniki than I was away and here is why…

Ebony, Orlando, and I left for Milan on the 24th of March and arrived to find the “fashion capital of the world” just as many people had described it.  Dirty and pretty much uneventful.  I was not so smooth in planning our hostel arrangements in Milan and while the staff was nice- it was a sketchy part of town to say the least.  We saw their nightlife-or lack thereof in our opinions and just prepared for exploring the next day.  With no itinerary or plans it seemed the best way to see Milan.  We took the subway here and there finding our own way around the dismal city.  We stumbled upon a castle, visited the most beautifully constructed church I’ve ever seen (The Duomo – side note: it holds the Last Supper painting by Da Vinci but the waiting list to see it is 3 months long- which is why we didn’t get to see it), and saw first hand the price of shopping in the city of Milan.  As we walked in and out of each designer store, Orlando became curious.  He thought well if I’m in Milan I should at least get a designer keychain.  We walk into Prada and he turns to the saleswoman and asks how much for a keychain.  She looked him square in the eye with no emotion and said “one hundred and thirty euro” –  what would seem like a simple statement to most people sounded like a slap across the face to us budget wary travelers.  Orlando forced a smile and pretended to actually consider the prospect of buying the keychains, so we didn’t look like complete idiots and we left the store.  We began to joke on how we could probably only afford the keychain if we split it three ways: maybe passing it around between the three of us or cutting it into three parts.  Needless to say, we window shopped plenty and at the end of the day came back empty handed of course.

Outside the Castle

The Fountain!

Home to the 130 euro keychain

The Duomo <3 that holds the Last Supper Painting

Feeding the "Flying Rats" as Ebony called the Pigeons

and then… we were Venice bound.  Since I had already been there, I was not quite as excited as them to go but Venice is still beautiful.  Unfortunately we did not get the best weather while there- very muggy and foggy but we managed to see everything worth seeing (Murano, Burano, St Mark’s Square, Rialto Bridge) and met plenty of new friends!   I had plenty more pictures from Venice but my camera memory card was stolen ( story about that later) so these are stolen from Orlando and will have to suffice.

St Marks Square

The Rialto Bridge

Our New Friends Studying in Leeds, UK

From there we got on a train to Florence and it was one of my favorite destinations of our little adventure.  The thing about Florence was that it never really seemed as big as it truly was.  I felt comfortable and homey in Florence- much more than I had at any other travel destination.  Upon our arrival we walked among the markets in the streets where leather goods and other cheaper goods can be bargained for.  All the sudden I looked over and saw a girl I thought for sure I knew and as I got closer I confirmed it, one of my sorority sisters who is from Baltimore and studying in Florence was right across me in the market.  I ran over to her and two other Chi O’s who were also with her and pretty much tackled her in front of everyone.   I couldn’t believe that we had coincidentally been at the same place at the same time, especially because Florence is a decent sized city.  It was a nice surprise and I could tell that the girls were loving Florence and it was definitely a place I could have seen myself studying as well.  After that we took a carriage ride around some of the major sites of the city and just took in all we could. 

On our Arrival in Florence

The Church in one of the City Squares

Our Quaint Little Carriage Ride

The House of the Medici Family- Freakin HUGE!

The market

New Friends studying in Madrid- (We went to this restaurant both nights in Florence because our waitress was a HOOT! We would ask her what she recommended and she would go through the menu and do the funniest things to tell you she liked it. For instance, Sarahi asked her if one item was good and she pretended to start licking her fingers as if to say it was finger licking good hahah)

Girls out on the Town

While walking along the streets we came across this little boy doing soccer tricks as he was walking along and then he encouraged us to play by passing the ball and then calling to us to give it back - we called him the mini Cristiano Ronaldo. He was adorable and quite good for his age.

New Friends in Florence

After our night out on the town, Orlando and I woke up and decided to do a city tour of Florence through our hostel.  Many of the houses along the way were designed back in the day with a very simple outside.  It was thought at the time that the way to embellish a house was only to embellish the inside of it so as not to draw attention to the wealth of the family.  They only wanted those they invited inside to know about their wealth.

A typical Old Florence House

Back in the day they had drive thru wine -- you could just pull up your horse to the window knock on the little door and someone would give you a glass!

We crossed onto the Bridge that led to the street where gelato was first introduced or so the legend has it.

As you can see it had a GORGEOUS view

One of the 203984029384 times we got gelato haha

and of course after that we went to see the David by Michelangelo and it was breathtaking- all like 15 feet of it.  I wish we could have taken pictures but it was not possible with the security guards. :(

After two days in Florence, we left for Rome which was tied for the top destination.  While it was VERY touristy I thought our two days spent there were two of the most relaxing and adventurous days.  We decided to take a bicycle tour through the city with our guide pictured below.

Our Guide

First Stop- The Trevi Fountain in all of its glory

Our little Bike Group in Front of the Spanish Stairs

One of the most interesting things I learned about Rome was that the fountains are drinkable!! The water is filtered out through them and the water in fountains is not recycled through :) Refreshinnggg

Our bike leader and group on a little stop

 In the Church of the Dead in Rome, all the light fixtures are made out of HUMAN BONES!!

All of the skulls that were saved had the people’s names, their date of death and how they died!

We stopped for coffee in this remote little place where the New York TImes has deemed it as one of the BEST coffee shops ever. It was DELICIOUS.

\The Parthenon under Construction

Roof of the Parthenon – Was made to bring you closer to God- there were no barriers seen between you and God because of the hole in the ceiling

The Infamous Coliseum

The Arch

So that night we decide to go out to the Ice Bar- A Bar made entirely out of ice it was -5 degrees in there and you had to be wearing gloves and a protective coat the entire time. we looked sooo stylish

Ebony from LA and Orlando from FL were freezing, but I was fine :)

The Inside

The Following Day I ventured on my own to see the Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s Basilica. The two things that I vividly remember are Raphaels Painting of the School of Athens ( so much more beautiful in person) and the Sistine Chapel- AMAZING! Not many pictures from this day because my camera was broken and I was alone !

 

We have come to the conclusion of testing out all the finest in each Italian city and here is our group consensus :

Best pizza: Milan  xx Best Gelato: Florence xx Best Bruschetta: Rome xx Best Pasta: Rome xx Best House Wine: Venice xx Best Coffee: Rome xx and finally the most beautiful population goes to ROME!

More to Come on Break with LORAINE in the islands of GREECE <3<3

It’s hard to describe how you feel during and after an experience like the one Orlando, Jenna, and I had on our last day in Berlin.  After spending so much time around Julia (my best friend from school who also happens to be Jewish) and hearing everything she had learned from her Grandmother and her family about the Holocaust, I thought I knew it all. I thought I understood the Holocaust from all the history lessons in grade school and the pictures and videos I had seen.  But if theres one thing you need to do to really understand the feelings of the Holocaust, it is to go to a concentration camp.  I look at the Holocaust and the Jewish religion in a whole different light.  I understand why Jewish people respect their religion in the way they do.  Could you imagine waking up one morning and the business you owned completely ransacked and destroyed, your family separated (women and children off to one place and men to another), separated for what you thought was a short time and never knowing the fate which lay ahead of you.  Many of the Jewish people thought that when they left, they were leaving to work and that soon enough they would return to their families and their lives would resume. They were beaten, verbally abused, starved and forced to do the dirty work of the Nazi army.  As you already know, many did not survive.

In Sachsenhausen (about a 30 minute train ride to the outskirts of Berlin lay a town know as Oranienburg) there lay a work camp used by the Nazi army in World War II.  There were two different kinds of camps during this period: work camps and death camps.  Work camps (like Sachsenhausen) were commonly where they had the prisoners (Jews, communists, and war prisoners alike) do grueling tasks like test out the workboots, make uniforms for the Nazi soldiers etc.  The death camps as you can imagine were where within minutes, hours, or less than a day they were sent into gas chambers where mass murders were committed.  When we arrived off the train, our guide Adam once again stressed the importance of taking in the 15 minute walk from the station to the camp.  He wanted us to imagine that we were a Jewish prisoner who had disembarked from a train packed full of other prisoners  and now had to walk through the streets of Oranienburg while the villagers threw things at you, yelled things, spit at you, and tormented you.   He explained to us that if by very very small chance you managed to escape the camp- and you went to a local house for help you were most likely walking up to the house of an SS officer or someone who feared the SS officers so much that they would not help you.  Either way, escape was not much of an escape at all.

Once we had arrived at the concentration camp, it was the most eerie feeling- it doesn’t matter how beautiful of a day it is out- your mood goes from any remote amount of happiness to just somber.  It still to this moment sends chills up my back when I think about what I felt walking in.  Its almost like you can smell the sweat and the fear of the prisoners and you can hear the cries of those who wanted so bad to leave and the screaming of the Nazi officers in your ears. When you walk in the front gate you can already feel the intensity of the situation.  The camp was set up in the shape of a triangle- this was so that from a vantage point called Point A – you could see every angle of the camp from that one point.  There was a huge machine gun sitting on that point to scare the prisoners.  Adam said that the majority of the fear that occurred in the camp was psychological.  Even though that gun was never once fired- people were still in utter fear of anything that would happen.

At times I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and I continued to take pictures until we came to a section they call Point Z.  As you can imagine point A is the beginning and point Z is the head.  We saw the trenches where they used to push as many prisoners as they could into and then gun them down mercelessly, we saw the walls where prisoners thought they were getting their height measured when in fact they were getting a bullet to the back of the head, and we saw the gas chambers.  While this sounds pretty violent for me to describe, thats the problem of it all.  Most people are ignorant of the truth without even knowing it.   While I could go on for hours about the camp, I won’t.  There is just one last thing I want to say about our last stop in the camp.  The last stop was the morgue where the bodies were delivered for “autopsies.”  My first question when we walked in was why would they do autopsies for prisoners when they clearly didn’t care about them in the first place and Adam’s answer was this… they would use different causes of deaths than the actual cause and when the death certificate was produced the Germans would be able ot take all the possessions and land that were owned by the deceased.  But the worst part of it all, the people who worked at the morgue– were prisoners themselves.  The Nazis forced prisoners to carry and prepare the bodies of possible family, friends, or maybe even neighbors.  When we went into the bottom floor, you could still see the stains of blood along the floor and that’s when I really lost it.  Even writing this right now I can’t get the image out of my head or the tears that streamed down my face in the matter of a glance at the floor– it was the one thing that I couldn’t understand why anyone would want a picture of- It doesn’t really set in until you see something like that…
One of the most important things Adam taught me while we were there was how important of a step that group of people made on our tour.  He said you can travel anywhere in the world and see beautiful things but its hard to take the time out of your vacation to see something thats not so beautiful.  What we don’t realize is how much we can learn from the history that encompasses a place like Sachsenhausen– and how important it is to understand and believe in change from the mistakes of our past

I hope these images can do more justice than my words …

The Gate

The numbers and letters used for the prisoners

Entrance

The Barriers to get out of the Camp

Stones were put on top of the signs for old bunkers kind of like a rose being put on top of a grave- many times it was done by the Jewish visitors to the camp

The bunks in the rooms- with roses as memorials

Propoganda to identify a jew

A Prisoner Uniform

One of the Trenches

The Remains of the Gas Chambers

After struggling to awake the morning after the Pub Crawl, we actually found ourselves a bit ahead of schedule and decided to stop by the Museum of Kommunikation before we headed off to our city sightseeing tour.  The museum was full of a timeline of historical inventions starting with things like postal service up to the present where they have robots that can ACTUALLY respond to you when you talk to it and another robot who will follow the movement of a ball (as if it were playing soccer :))

The Museum of Kommunikation

Orlando using the GIGANTIC, ANCIENT camera

These look like ordinary cushions but they in fact played nature sounds that made you feel as if you were in the rainforest etc. coolest thing ever

The Robot that plays Soccer!

After sprinting to make it to our tour (because we were too engrossed in the museum), we met our tour guide Adam.  A former graduate of University of Georgia (a bulldog, YUCK! The cocks are WAYYY better) <– UGA is a school rival so him and I were going back and forth arguing who was better :)   Our first site on the tour was a shock.  While the below window is a part of the most expensive hotel in Berlin it also holds a much interesting role in history.  This was the balcony where Michael Jackson held the baby out and it hit the tabloids everywhere.

Michael Jackson's Baby Holding Balcony

Our second site was the famous Brandenburg Gate which you saw in earlier pictures.  The Brandenburg Gate was a separation of East and West Berlin for the longest time and a portion of the Berlin Wall ran right behind it.

The Brandenburg Gate Goddess

This site has a lot of history to it. France and Germany have never been on really good terms and at one point during war times, France stole this statue from the top of the Brandenburg Gate. She was called the goddess of peace until she was stolen by Napoleon and the French. When she was finally recovered and taken back they put a really threatening looking eagle on top and she holds an evil glare toward the direction of the French embassy below in the square. Her name after being recovered changed to the Goddess of Victory :) Take that Frenchmen!

It Didn't End There Either.. They named the Plaza beneath the Goddess of Victory- "Paris Plaza" to rub it in the face of the French

Our next stop was the Reichstag.  An arson occurred here right during Hitler’s campaign for election.  He blamed it on the Communist Party and eventually used this “arson” as an excuse to wage war against the Communists.  To this day it is believed that Hitler had the Reichstag burned down.

The Reichstag

THe Holocaust Memorial right along side Paris Plaza and the Brandenburg Gate was erected shortly after the Holocaust. Many people have pondered its meaning and this was the trick.  The architect had no specific meaning for each block.  The meaning is meant to be interpreted by each person that views it.  Many see it as grave sites, or trains that used to carry Jews, Communists, and other prisoners to concentration camps.  The site can not be explained in a mere picture but it seems to go on for miles when it really encompasses about a block area.  People are not allowed to walk on top of the site although many people do anyway – but there are German guards there 24-7 that yell very loudly if you attempt a picture on top.  I’m not sure why anyone would want to though– especially if your personal interpretation of the design is that of a grave- that is essentially walking on someone’s grave..

Holocaust Memorial

Soon after, Adam took us to a site that many tour guides leave out but he felt was one of the most important and I agree.  Today it stands as a parking lot, but deep underneath lies one of the happiest moments in German history. This is where the bunker of Hitler lies. This is where shortly after marrying his long time mistress- he and his new wife committed suicide as the Soviet Union closed ranks. To get rid of the bodies, the SS (Nazi officers) were instructed to burn the bodies so that Hitler’s body could not be used as a trophy by the Soviet Union.  Unfortunately, they did not have enough gasoline to torch the entire bodies.  When the Soviet Union finally found the remains they kept it hush hush for awhile.  This is because they wanted the people of Germany to gain trust and find protection in them.  Eventually word got out and Hitler’s body was put on a raft and sent down the river.  This is significant because they wanted NO final resting place for Hitler-  They didn’t want Neo Nazis or anyone who wanted to worship his work able to find a place to do it.  I think it is one of the most brilliant ideas.  This is the SAME reason why the bunker was filled in with concrete and covered over and over to make a parking lot rather than turned into a museum.

Tour Group Overtop the Bunker

THe Bunker

The Nazi SS Air Force Base —  The Door to the SS Nazi Air Force Building was believed to be built with such a high handle so that you had to use all your might to enter the building itself (sorry Mushie I don’t think you could reach :)), essentially making you a “strong” person to be a part of such a building. It was one of the few buildings that remained erect after the war– there are two common guesses as to why it still stands 1) Because it was so large from an aerial view, it could be used as a landmark for enemy planes above so that they could get a general sense of their direction or 2) That there was a secret treaty where both parties agreed not to bomb each other’s air force.

The Door

The Air Force Base- Look closely along the wall as I will describe the importance of the mural shortly

These are three separate sections of the mural on the SS Air Force Building.  This is what Hitler and the rest of his commanders wanted the Germans to think life was like.  This idyllic place where everyone was happy, everyone worked and did what they were supposed to, and everyone believed in Socialism and Hitler’s plans.  The following pictures below are a photograph that sits right outside (parallel) to this mural.  It is the exact same size and dimensions to show a comparison between what everyone thought and what really was.

These are the faces of people were shot and killed in cold blood in front of this building for protesting against Hitler.

Our next site of interest was the Berlin Wall- Constructed to keep West Berliners out of East Berlin and to keep the people from East Berlin from leaving.  East Berlin constructed this wall over night first using barbed wire and then adding more.  Over night this separated people from their families and from their jobs.  You were only allowed to cross if you had official documents which were very hard to come by.If you were caught attempting to cross the wall – you were immediately shot and killed.

The Berlin Wall and I :)

One man was quite daring in an escape attempt. He threw a cable across to the other side where he had a friend waiting who tied it up. He and his family ZIPLINED over the berlin wall and were one of the only success stories ever heard of.

An Aerial map of where the Berlin Wall was- Its the Orange Line

Checkpoint Charlie- not named after anyone named Charlie as is commonly believed- It was named after the third letter in the army’s code – A = Alpha B= Bravo C= Charlie   (Charlie’s checkpoint was the 3rd checkpoint created in the city hence its name).

Checkpoint Charlie

and a Black and White Photo of the Checkpoint

Picture of the Checkpoint from way back in the day

Us Dancing in the Snow :)

Me and my Jenna :) It was snowwwwing!!

A German Cathedral

A French Cathedral built RIGHT next to the German one of course. always in competition

The Book Burning Memorial –While Hitler was in control, he believed that any books written that had any communist beliefs, any Jewish beliefs, or anything that went against Nazi ideology should be burned. Humboldt University considers it one of the worst days in history when over 20,000 books were burned by the Nazis. This memorial was erected underneath the square- you can barely see but it contains bookshelves that would hold 20,000 books. It has been locked and closed and will never be opened- this is symbolic because they will never be able to put those 20,000 books back on the shelves so forever it will remain empty in memory of what was lost.  

On top is a quote by Henrich Heinrich-- it says "When you begin by burning books, you will end by burning people." This quote was spoken before the Holocaust occurred- how eerie of a thought that eventually turned into a reality.

One of our last stops was to a Monument standing erect for those in the Holocaust- inside was a statue of a woman holding her dying son and beneath her were the graves of two people- to the left a Nazi solider and to the right a Jewish man.  This was to symbolize that many lost loved ones in the Holocaust including the Germans who lost their fathers, sons, brothers, friends to the persuasive Hitler.

THen to lighten our mood after all these sights we ate truffles- German heavenly truffles- Divine divine invention.

Kar, this is me sending my love in a little raspberry flavored truffle- I should have thought to send you over a package although I know they'd be ripped apart you little Snack QUeen

Miss and love you all- will update the Concentration Camp Tomorrow- Hope you feel better Soon Mushy and Doug- I’m thinking of you both all the time!

When I first came to Greece my intentions were more to explore the country of Greece itself rather than plan travels across parts of Germany and the rest of Europe, but when the opportunity presented itself to make a trip to Berlin –I couldn’t resist.  This weekend, although not a long enough time to see everything there is to see in Berlin, was one of the best weekends that I have spent overseas.  I want to divide my trip into three blogs partly for the sake of my dear brother Jesse who hardly gets the time to read one of my shorter blogs because of work  (at least he still reads it :)) and also partly because I want to show an important distinction between the experiences I had while in Berlin- the nightlife, the history, and my first visit to a concentration camp of the Holocaust.

Jenna, a girl whom I study here at ACT with and whose heritage is largely German first expressed an interest in Berlin because of the things her mother has said of Germany– so Jenna, Orlando, and I hopped on a flight Friday at 10am and began our adventure in Berlin.  From what I know there is no German in my blood so Germany was not one of my first destinations of choice, but Berlin stole my heart in the matter of a weekend and only increased my interest in the history and culture that encompasses Germany.

After narrowly missing our flight, then arriving to FREEZING (hence the title Burrrr-lin haha :P ) weather and snow , and spending an hour and a half lost in an attempt to find our hostel– we were quite hungry.  We happened upon a little German restaurant called Cafe4you and the traditional food became my first obsession in Berlin.   We ordered dumplings of all kinds- ham and potato, spinach and cottage cheese, and sauerkraut and gravy.  Honestly, the most divine meal.  The dumplings themselves were identical to the concept of pierogies ( a doughy outside with a variety of different fillings) so of course as Loraine knows, I was in heaven!  We then began our own personal tour of the city and were surprised to find how CLEAN it was for such a large city- We were then introduced to the red/green men of Berlin found on the stop and go pedestrian lights (PICTURES BELOW). The green/red man are a very popular symbol around berlin, you see it EVERYWHERE including on the shirts of Berliners themselves. They created these signs for the aid of young children– they believed that the cartoon like shape helped the children relate to them better and hoped the children would view these “red/green men” as their friends: walking with the green man and making sure to stop when the red man was up. Interesting psychology behind the invention….

During the afternoon, we visited an art exhibit of George Grosz, a Berlin artist who did caricatural drawings of Berlin in the 1920’s and then set out after for the Sandeman New Europe’s (a tour company) PUB CRAWL.  For 12 € we explored the nightlife of Berlin with Americans and European travelers alike at 3 clubs and 2 bars.  From 8:15pm-9pm there was FREE beer and Gluhwein (a traditional spicy mulled wine) included and at every bar thereafter there was a FREE shot of Jaegarmeister with every drink purchased.  Needless to say the group began with around 60 people and by the last club we were a mere group of 15 (a true pub crawl experience in Germany).  We visited the most versatile of places ranging from a grafittied bar to a nightclub of 10 rooms with varying styles of music in each room (Club Matrix).  One of their renown beer choices is called Berliner Weisse and they add a food coloring that is either red or green. These two colors are the colors of, you guessed it THE RED/GREEN Man from the pedestrian walking signs… see it really is EVERYWHERE! It was a delicious concoction that didn’t taste anything like a beer- it had either a raspberry or apple kind of taste. YUM! Along the crawl, we met a group of Americas studying in Prague and a group of Europeans studying in the Netherlands that made the night even more enjoyable. That I think is one of the aspects of traveling that most people forget to mention in their journeys- the amount of people you meet especially when you stay in hostels is incredible! Coming from so many different backgrounds but finding so many similarities even though we live continents apart is mind boggling to me. After the amazing night of exploring Berlin’s nightlife we planned the next day to take a FREE 3 and 1/2 hour walking tour with the Sandeman Europe group to really see the history of the city of Berlin…the history that encompasses that city is unbelievable- the recency of some of the events is crazy but I will update on that tomorrow because there is SO much to tell.

Here are a few pictures from my first day/night in Berlin

Green MAN!

RED MAN!

Brandenburg Gate Edit-

Berlin Artists Cariactures

Pub Crawl :)

Oh Germany!

Orlando and I with our green Berliner Weisse

New Friends from Amsterdam and Jenna :)

This weekend my friend Orlando and I decided to be spontaneous and take a bus ride on Saturday morning to the small town of Kavala- 2 hours North of Thessaloniki.  Here the famous sites are the castle of the “old city”, the kamara (arches/aqueducts) and the ruins of Phillipi.  Upon arriving in the town, we saw very many similarities to Thessaloniki.  It was very urban and crowded but it had a serene feel to it unlike the hustle and bustle of Thessaloniki.  When we arrived it was rainy, which I believe couldn’t even for a second take away from the beauty of the city.  We spent the afternoon walking around the city and just taking in everything that we could.  We began our adventure by viewing art in the archaeological museum and visiting the open market that happens every Saturday.  The archaeological museum was quite small but interesting.  We got to see art pieces, pottery, and grave stones from the “old city” as they call the town of Kavala in the past.  After that we, went to the open market where we stood out like sore thumbs.  See in Thessaloniki, its very urban and many people from places all over the world call Thessaloniki home, as well as the fact that most everyone speaks at least a little bit of English.  In Kavala, barely anyone spoke English and most people were born and raised in Kavala and have never let, therefore EVERYONE was Greek.  Here come this pale white American girl and tan Puerto Rican boy, pretty obvious we weren’t from Kavala.  After leaving,  we walked up the hill to the castle and were able to take in a view of the entire city.  The castle had a panoramic view, so if you walked to opposite sides of the castle you could see out to the Aegean Sea and on the other side the city.  The castle was strategically placed in the highest part of the town -making it hard for enemies to conquer the fortress.  We then went down to the arches and walked through the town just to see what it was like.  All in all we walked for 5 hOURS!  The time passed so quickly but we definitely felt the soreness the following morning!  We went to a taverna for dinner and then planned on going out on the town.  Little did we know that Kavala is a ghost town at night– even on a Saturday!! We ended up spending the evening walking along the port at night and then walked out to the end of the barge and looked back toward the city.  It was a spectacular view.  From admist the darkness on the top of the mountain was a cross lit up.  We couldn’t get a good picture of it, but it was a sight to see.  It looked like the cross had literally ben lit up in the heavens because it was so dark, the outline of the mountain was impossible to see.  Orlando and I both agreed we made the right decision by doing this spur of the moment trip.  The following morning we had planned to take a ferry to a small island off the coast called Thassos, but the ferries don’t run on Sundays, so we ended up taking an early bus back to Thessaloniki.

The Wall Art walking up to the Castle-- I know Mushie would have loved it

Playing in the Park :)

orlando and I along the port

Kavala after the RainCastle and Town Skyline at Night

Town in the Sunlight!!

The Arches

Town during the Day

La Kamara

Town View during the Rain

The CastleView from one side of the Castle out to the Aegean

On the Castle above the Town :)

Castle and Town Skyline at Night

As the days pass by I start to smile at the growth I feel I’ve made since I’ve been here– already. There’s finally a daily routine I find myself falling into and things are star

ting to get familiar.  I still get that little giddy feeling when I learn something new or manage to speak a full sentence in Greek without sounding too American.  The

re are still those moments of learning that would normally drive me crazy in the states.  Numerous times we’ve attempted the bus system here and gotten off too late or too early and had to walk down countless wrong turns to find our way back.   I think the good company I’ve made here has helped make the stories of searching for a way home all the merrier. I’m finally learning how to spend less money here- avoiding the cabs and working through the bus system and grocery shopping and making real meals instead of eating out.  I made my first meal here the other night- nothing special to most people but to me it was divine! With the help of Mom on skype I managed to cook a nice garlic and pepper chicken, corn, and a homemade salad.  The process of cooking almost makes the food taste better! You realize all the time and work put into a meal and I think it made me appreciate each and every bite a little more.  In addition to getting used to cooking here, school has finally become a bit of a routine too.  I take the city bus every day to and from class and at first it was a bit scary but the 30 minute ride seems to pass by with ease now.  They are quite strict here about having a ticket- most people will get on and never punch their ticket and the “bus patrol” will get on and fine you 30 euro if you don’t have a ticket.  Two study abroad students once got caught without tickets and were threatened that if they didn’t pay the 30 euro on the spot, they would be taken to the station downtown!  They take it very seriously here so I don’t try to cheat the system at all.  I buy “thio isitirio (two tickets, one for the way there and one for the way back) every day at the kiosk on the way to class.I was so proud the one time the ticket man asked for my ticket and I proudly showed him and took a big sigh of relief for not being threatened about being taken to the police station.  I don’t want to stand out here much more than I already do here-especially not in front of the 60 strangers on the daily bus ride.

Although I feel the classes here are not challenging at all, it doesn’t feel as much like a long vacation now as it does a real life now.  The college is quite small- only 2 buildings which makes it hard to get lost for sure!  The college is connected to the high school and the elementary school and it is considered very prestigious to attend ACT here in Greece.  Because university is offered for FREE to anyone wishing to attend, attending a private school like Anatolia is considered an honor.  From what I’ve heard from some of the Greek students, most of them say that it’s a bunch of “dumb rich students” whose parents can afford to send them there.  But for the most part, they all seem quite intelligent but yes, most of them are well off! We have become quite good friends with a couple of the boys that go to ACT, they usually show us a lot of the city and the good nightlife here.  It’s so funny because they don’t understand the sarcasm that most Americans joke around with.  Erin would be so flustered by the fact that they don’t understand wittiness — sometimes i miss her wittiness and when people laugh at my jokes.  They just kinda give you a puzzled look and smile awkwardly when you say something they don’t understand.  Quite amusing.

I finally got to skype with Mushy and Grandad the other day and it was nice to see Mushy in her element showing me little candy bars and being goofy and watching her make fun of Grandad and his slippers :)  The two of them make me giggle.

Mom started to plan her trip here and I’m more excited than ever to see her and go on an adventure around Greece with her.  Ebony had her Dad come visit her this week and it was so nice to spend time with her and her Dad and see how excited he was to be here.  I can only imagine how excited Loraine is going to be when she gets a glimpse of this paradise! She’s going to be coming over my spring break for about 10 days and we are going to visit some of the islands of Greece that Mush has helped us pick out (from her worldly travel experience).  Anyone else who wants to come is more than welcome :)

I’ve finally managed to upload my pictures so I’m going to post a couple for you to see the city I live in and the life I now live

Walking around town!

The White Tower Along the Water

The Graffiti on the Walls

Walking Around Downtown

How Beautiful

The Water

The Clear Blue Waters

The Boardwalk

Ebony and I

View for my Apartment

The Crepes Here... AMAZING!

The Kamara (arches) by day

View From Campus!

The City By Air

At times I wondered why I was here, what made me choose Greece and was I really expecting what I got.  When I arrived it was cold and rainy often.  I swore I didn’t sign up for it! I signed up for weather more beautiful than Florida, just so I could brag to Aunt Karen ;) But today was the day I realized why I knew I had chosen Greece.  I could not have woken up to a better day.  The sun peaked its head into my window this morning and from there on, I just knew it was going to be that kind of day. Go ahead and try to brag Aunt Karen, but this time I KNOW I win.  As we speak its 6:20pm and I’m sitting out on my balcony watching the sun set with no jacket on :) ahhhh Thessaloniki!  After the sun drew me out of bed I went down by the water with my friend Ebony and her dad (who came in for the week).  We grabbed lunch at a restaurant overlooking the water and words can not even begin to describe how scenic it was.  It was my AHHA moment where I remembered why I chose here.  The sun was reflecting of the water and for the first time I saw the hint of blue green as the waves brushed up against the boardwalk.  The kind of blue-green water you think only exists in the movies.  Sailboats and ships dotted the bay just grabbing up some of the suns rays.  Oh how I would have loved to be on one at that moment.  You could look all the way across the bay and see the beginnings of the mountain range that lay there. We spent the rest of the afternoon just walking around enjoying the first bit of sunshine we have seen since we’ve been here.  I can only imagine what weather lay in store if its February 13th and I’m already enjoying walks along the boardwalk.  Its not a boardwalk per say like the ones at the shore, its more like a promenade along the water, which makes it even more beautiful to run on!! I’m planning to do just that tomorrow if the weather is the same.  The “boardwalk” is only about a 20-25 minute walk from where my apartment is and then it runs for about 2 miles so it will be the perfect exercise.  I NEED IT! I swear I’ve gained at least 10 lbs in the first week I’ve been here.  The food is so rich and fresh.  I can walk right outside my apartment and get fresh oranges and other fruit.  American can not even begin to compare to the freshness of fruit like it does in Thessaloniki.  Not only that, the desserts– its the killer.  It gets me every time.  Often they give you free dessert with your meal, and really how on earth could you say no to that!!

On my way home (since Ebony and I live rather far from each other) I decided to take a different route home just to explore.  I find that at home I speed walk and never really take the time to look around.  Here, I just can’t help it.  Everything catches my eye and I have to take it all in.  A usual 20 minute walk now takes me about 35 to 40 minutes, can you blame a girl though?!  On this particular nights walk home I walked up a side street and found a HUGE ditch filled with old ruins from the city.  It still amazes me how no matter where you turn in this city there’s always something new to find, something new just waiting for you to discover it.  Now you know why it takes me so long to walk home.  Thessaloniki is a very built up city but its nice to know that among all the new, they are still able to appreciate the old that serves as a reminder of what it used to be in its former glory and now what it has become.

Tonight I believe we are going to see wolfman in theatres.  Here they have the American movies, they just provide Greek subtitles.  Score for the Americans :)  I took a ton of pictures today to share so don’t you worry I’ll post them.  (ps the picture above as the header on this page is only half as pretty as it was today, just to give you an idea :))

:: a kiss on each cheek (thats how the greeks do it) ::

The last few days have seemed rather crazy here in Thessaloniki.  Classes finally began and I’ve been trying to adjust to the ins and outs of the city and take in as much of my surroundings as I possibly can.  I got rather homesick about two days ago and I think the only thing getting me through these days so far from home is skyping with loraine at odd hours, facebook chatting with Kristin and my niece Reagan at 4am (her time), the pillowcase Jesse and Tristain made me that I sleep on every night :), and the comments that all of you post.  Thank you for making it less hard to be away from home.  You all save me from hopping on a plane and coming home tomorrow!

Its an interesting experience being in a city as big as Thessaloniki, much of everyday life is dependant upon the public transportation system.  Many people drive cars but they are TINY and I have seen but one SUV since I have arrived in the country.  Each morning people use either taxis or the public bus system to get to and from work/school… or you walk.  Walking seems to be one of the main things we do around here– the grocery store, shops, downtown area, many restaurants, and even some historical aspects of Thessaloniki are all within 5-30 min walks from my apartment.  For that I am blessed because yesterday the taxis decided to go on strike.  Here in Thessaloniki, they “plan” their strikes and let the city know ahead of time that they will be striking on such and such a day and they let them know how long they will be striking… seems kinda odd that your going to tell the people you are striking against when you will be striking… I thought the whole point was to impose as much inconvenience on the city so you can get what you want. Well, maybe I’m wrong haha but they did go on strike and the buses were abnormally packed.  You know that facial bubble that you like to keep people out of…mine was breached and I was closer to Greek people than I ever could ever want to be.

The post here is rather slow but if you want to send me something you are MORE than welcome to do so to this address.. it usually takes a bit of time because the Greek system is a lot slower than ours but it will get here in due time!!

LynnMarie Tranovich
C/O Ms. Laura Streith
Anatolia College/ACT
P.O. Box 21021
Pylea 555 10
Thessaloniki, GREECE

I will post more later when I remember what the heck I’ve been doing with my life these last couple days and after class :) . Love and miss you all!