A day in the nature-Loutra

The next day after Athens we went to Loutra, where it has one of the most beautiful nature. I heard it has a hot spring and swimming pool. Apparently just dip down the water there would cure sicknesses because it has much mineral. One can never have too much health right?! After coming out of the water I hiked up the hill to see more nature. And it was beautiful. I have had some sinus problem prior to leaving from Kiev and it just seemed to go away by coming here.

walking toward the resort

this side is way cold, and you can tell the water fall is pretty intense 

it is an incredible feeling 

this cave is completely dark otherwise it would have been interesting to explore

Returning to Katerini for dinner. I have had fries for the past 6  consecutive days

Athens!!!

Growing up learning about Greek gods and its mythologies have always left me a vivid impression about Greece. Never thought I would be in Greece in life but here I am- in the city of the Gods Athens. Our hotel is pretty far from Athens, about 438 km which translate to 272 miles. To put it in perspective, it is about the distance from Rexburg, Idaho where I attend college to Provo, Utah. Four and a half hour in car somehow takes the bus 8 hours to get there. We once again drove all night to get to our destination.

First stop- the Panathenaic Stadium. Meaning "beautiful marbled" is truly amazing. 

The Parliament 

guards in front of the Parliament

We had a tour guide that took us through the downtown area. Her name is Maria. She is very sweet and very engaging. She explains the details and history as our bus drive around downtown. After several photo stops we headed up the hill to where the highlight of Athens locates- the Acropolis 

Odeon of Herodes Atticus

Every morning at 8 am guards will come open the gate to the Acropolis 

Quite spectacular view from the top of the hill

The Parthenon

Maria the tourist guide

Knowing we are walking on the ground dated back as far as 4 century B.C. and so many famous ancient philosophers had walked on is undescribable. It is truly amazing and a dream come true. This is where the present meets the past, in which I have gained much more appreciation than ever simply being here!    

Ελλάδα!

I once thought of die from drowning is the worst thing in the world. It all changed when I got on this Europe trip in the beginning of the summer. Sitting on bus for "days" is the worst thing in the whole world I have now concluded.

Our summer study abroad group and I left Kiev last Saturday morning at 8 am to go to Greece. We literally spent days on the bus. We were stocked in traffic in Kiev (who'd thought there could be traffic on a Saturday morning...) for three hours before we could head south. We had to pass through Moldova, Romania, and Bulgaria. By midnight we barely reached Moldova. Of course we had to sleep on the bus all night. I was on the brink on killing someone by the time we got to Greece. Katerini is where our hotel located for the entire week. We finally checked in at around 11 pm. We actually could have been there a lot earlier but the driver couldn't find the hotel. Needless to tell you how frustrated we were. Shouldn't the bus driver knows where he is going? This is not his first time coming here right? Don't they have a GPS and a map? After our first trip to Italy I kind of have a feeling of what to expect and I really do try to keep a very positive attitude. But there are always surprises jump out to you.

I have not met a lot of Greek in life. In fact, I can only remember eating at this Greek restaurant across from the community college I used to go to in California. The next day I encountered more Greek and realized they look pretty similar to Italian as well as their languages.

Our hotel is right by a beautiful beach. A quick 3 minutes walk we arrive one of the most spectacular view I have wanted for a long time:

beautiful day at Katerini beach

We dedicated out first full day at this beach. Went there three times, got some real serious tam, ate some real good Greek food, played in the water, and just relax. It was well worth it. Though for a single guy like me, going to a beach all day everyday is probably not a very good idea. There are some real attracted ladies there as expected. What I did not expect is some nudity. All I am going to say is this is not good for my mental health.

Gyro: pronounced e-ro. Typical Greek food.

an Orthodox church nearby

night life

In some essence this reminds me a lot about my home country Taiwan. Good food and shops along the streets, very hot and humid climate so people are more incline to come out at night, friendly people, and lots of fun things to do. I took a couple of walks already in the few days that I have spent here and bought some souvenirs in the process. 

Day 2 at Thessaloniki (Salonika): second largest city in Greece

Tour around the city on the bus. I had to give my seat to the school children

Historical city walls

Arch of Galerius: built in 298 a.d. 

The Rotunda: it was connected with the arch and other buildings in the ancient time

The interior of the Rotunda

  

Starter

Independence  Square

I like writing down things that take place in my day to day life. I keep a journal and try to write it at least several times a week. This summer I have an opportunity to come to Ukraine to work on a research project while spending some time in the orphanage as a volunteer. I arrived in Kiev on May 10th and the couple of weeks after my arrival were pretty hectic. A lot of events took place but I did not have time to record them all in my journal. This led to think about having a blog again instead of writing in my journal. I am on the computer a lot so a blog would make a perfect sense. Also I can attach pictures in my blog. So here I am, trying this thing out for the second time.