It's all GREEK to me!

The London house went to Greece this week! 

I have always wanted to go to Greece, so I was super excited to be able to go this week with the house. We had a VERY busy schedule complete with waking up EVERYDAY at 7:00AM (which is 5:00AM London time!). You would think that they would plan that a little better I mean 41 college students waking up at 5 to visit ruins.... right that's a brilliant idea. Anyway, The first night was interesting we had just had a full day of travelling complete with a mercedes-benz bus ride! (Oh pepperdine) and then we got to the hotel which was amazing and had a perfect view of the akropolis and the parthenon. It was a 4 star hotel (in true pepperdine fashion). Then we ate at the hotel, I had never had Greek food before so this for me was a BIG deal. Then we toured the plaka (or marketplace area) and then went to bed. Let me just say that Athens isn't what I expected Greece to look like it kind of reminded me as a cross between L.A. and Mexico. Suffice it to say that if you go there once you don't really need to go back again, except maybe to the Greek Isles.






The next day we had to wake up at 7:00 AM to go to the Akropolis, the Agora, and the Benaki Museum. One girl in the house fell down a few stairs and sprained her ankle quite badly. So our walk to the acropolis was unpleasant for her. So the acropolis is the high city of Athens, it over looks all of Athens and is home to the Parthenon and the Erecthion. It was at this point when I realized that I should have paid more attention in Sonia Sorell's Humanities class back at Pepperdine. Apparently, the Newly Elected Prime Minister of Greece was there that day so we got to see him which was impressive because he had only been in office for a week. Next we walked to Mars Hill where Paul talks to the Greeks about the "Unknown God" that is in Acts 17:16-34. One of the guys in our Group read the sermon from the Bible and it literally gave me chills just thinking about how Paul stood on that same mountain and preached to the Pagans. Indirectly, he caused the start of the Greek Orthodox church.  After that, we went to the Agora which is basically a marketplace for the people of Athens in ancient times. Let me just say that I am so clumsy and I trip and fall ALL THE TIME. So in Greece it was difficult for me to walk anywhere let alone on the ancient pathways of Greece. The group then walked down the Panathenaic Way which was used by many people in the ancient times to get to the Akropolis and the Agora. After all that climbing and Walking we went to the Plaka to have lunch. I had a gyro, which in my opinion is the Greek equivalent of a taco. Oh, and on a side note, London is Getting a CHIPOTLE finally Mexican food in LONDON!!!! :). Back to Greece, so gyros are AMAZING! After lunch we walked to a museum, which I am sorry to say was a WASTE of a 40 minute walk. Basically, we had been up since 7 and had been walking all day and now we are going to a museum that is completely irrelevant so we were not happy at all. Then we went back to the hotel relaxed for a little and found dinner on our own. 

The next morning we woke up again at 7:00AM just in time to hop on a bus for 2 hours to get to Corinth. We had the option to Bungie Jump off into the Corinth canal (on the left) for 60 Euros, but I opted out. I don't care what you say dad, that is SO dangerous (Mom would not approve).  After that we went to the agora in corinth which is just a bunch of old ruins of the city which isn't to interesting. I forgot to mention that there are a TON of stray dogs, which made me very sad all the time because I wanted to talk them all home! After Corinth, we climbed up to the top of the Acrocorinth (Its a LONG way up there) and me being the clumsy person I am almost fell countless times. But, I made it! It was so pretty seeing Corinth and the Gulf from that high up! That night we had a traditional Greek dinner complete with dancing and Belly dancers. It was fun, except the belly dancer was like 50 and not in the best shape and she was trying to fit in to a 13 year olds costume. Wow... Just as mom says, "Just because they make it in your size does not mean you have to wear it".

I CLIMBED TO THE TOP!!! :)

























On Wednesday, we woke up ate 6:00AM that's right 6 o' clock. which is technically 4:00AM London time! We went on a cruise to 3 Greek islands, Hydra, Proros, and Ageina in the Agean sea. The problem with that is that the boat is not very big and apparently I get seasick on small boats who knew? so for the 2 and a half hours until we docked at our first port I was super sick. Hydra (the first island) was by far the best it was sunny. The Greek Islands is what I envisioned Greece to look like complete with seaside houses and donkey rides. My friends and I walked around the city a bit and then a few of us went to a place where you can jump off and swim in the Agean sea. It was too cold for me so we just sat for a bit admiring the view. The next island we went to was Poros. This is more of a city island and more inhabited than the last. We only had an hour so we walked around a bit and then went back to the ship. On the Third island, Ageina, There was more of a port town. We basically just ate there and then went to the beach to hang out before heading back to the ship to Athens.

Day 4, we went to Delphi, This is about a 3 hour bus ride from Athens. Delphi is where the Athenians and other people would visit to get the answers they sought from a priestess (oracle of Delphi). Delphi is said to be the "center of the Earth" because Zeus sent out two birds in opposite directions of the world. they met at Dephi and this is what was said to be the center. It was rainy and cold (about 40 degrees) and I was freezing. It was a very cold, wet, tiring day. We then went to dinner where I ate Spaghetti (That's right mom I ate Spaghetti!) After Delphi we went to an ornate Greek Orthodox church to learn more about the Church. A few of the girls in our group had to put on Skirts because their legs could not be shown. After that was another 3 hour bus ride back to Athens. So the whole trip was 7 hours in a bus in the freezing cold rain... Perfect....

On the Last day, we woke up at 10:00AM (YES!). We had to check out by 12 so it was a lazy day. Then we went to go to a Pireus port to have lunch on the water. It was THE BEST Food I had in Greece all week. Complete with a 4 or 5 course meal! We had the best Crab Salad, Salad, risotto, Chicken, and the Chocolate Mousse. It was so good. We then drove to a little cultural center where then taught us how in the ancient times they used to make olive oil and wine. After that we were just a plane ride back to LONDON!!!!





I missed London SO much on this trip, I think the whole house was homesick for London. Now, its only 2 more weeks until we go to ROME, Italy!