Seoul – 5 days

Jeju (and Udo)- 4 days

Seoul – 3 days
Seoul: I really loved Seoul and, it was my favorite city in East Asia. The metro is very clean and convenient, and the air is fresh and cool. The shopping is great, and so is the food. You are reading a blogpost from a serious kimchi lover! I like it SUPER spicy!??????? The first time that we were in Seoul we stayed in a Hanok hotel. It was so cool and it gave me a sense of what it’s like to live in a Hanok. In case you were wondering what a Hanok is, it is a traditional Korean house, and it has rice paper sliding screens, intricate roof tiles, and amazing courtyards. I definitely want to stay in one again. Seoul is an amazing city, and I would like to live there some day. If you enjoy tourism, then the palaces are definitely for you. If you like to shop, then the streets of meyongdong are a must. 
Here is a review of the neighborhoods we visited:

 It is full of hanoks, and hanboks(the traditional dress, if you haven’t seen one, it’s more or less like a kimono). This is basically the “traditional” neighborhood. There is a big part that is only Hanok, and it is beautiful in the snow and in cherry blossom season. You have to take your shoes off before going into a hanok, and you have to sleep on a futon. Don’t be put off though. The futons are very soft and thick, and the floors are often soft too. Sometimes they have tatami mats, which I believe are made of rush. They are cushy. The hanok guest houses and hotels are a bit pricey, but definitely make for a great experience. The only problem is that you can hear right through the rice paper sliding screens, so that can be a bit problematic. Hanbok rental is quite popular, and some of them will even braid your hair. I personally did not do it, but it looked very fun. There is a part of this neighborhood that has lots of nice little boutique shops and food carts there are also very good Korean barbecue restaurant in the area. Jeju black pig is my favorite. There are one or two palaces in this neighborhood.

Meyongdong: It is an amazing place. When you are at the beginning of the big street, if you just look up you will see hundreds of signs hanging off of buildings. Many of the buildings are a cosmetic store on the first floor(because Korean people are obsessed with makeup and skincare), and the rest of the floors are most likely high rise apartments, or a department store with AWESOME clothes. There are lots of very good small restaurants on the smaller streets that come off of the big street. If you don’t know what Korean food is, then you might know some of these dishes: kimchi, bibimbap, Korean noodles, steamed dumplings, etc. There is a funny fact about kimchi! It smells so strong that if you put it in your refrigerator, it will smell like kimchi forever, so in some Korean houses, they have another small refrigerator, just for the kimchi! Something weird that you will see in meyongdong is the same stores over and over again.

Hongdae: This neighborhood is a college area. Kind of bad food, ridiculously trendy shopping, a lot of bars. We tried to go shopping there, but all of the clothing was one size, and they wouldn’t let us try on tops or dresses. After that, it was lunch time, and we went to a grilled octopus restaurant. We ordered a small and they gave us a large, so we had lots of food, that we ended up not liking.

Dapsimni: This is the antique shopping neighborhood. Lots of traditional Korean furniture and art. Giant stone Buddhas, paintings, sliding screens and partition screens with paintings on them, masks, hand mirrors, combs, jewelry boxes, trunks with mother of pearl, and more! We bought a mask. This area has so many good things. It is a little expensive, but definitely worth it. It was a little run down though.
The DMZ: This stands for demilitarized zone. It is the border between North Korea and South Korea. You have to wear nice clothes because there are North Korean people taking pictures of you, and if you are wearing ripped jeans for example, they will take a picture of you and use it in propoganda news saying that South Koreans can’t even afford new pants, discouraging people from leaving. There is a river that runs right through the border, and South Korea has a little bit of land on the north side. The actual border is a little bit north of the river, and right next to the border on the North Korean side, there is a fake concrete city that is supposed to get South Koreans to come to the north. It actually just looks haunted and spooky.(good luck with that, N.K.) Seoul is way prettier. Anyways, on South Korea’s piece of land north of the river they have a REAL town with ACTUAL people. I think that it is much more tempting even though it is just rice patties and tiny Hanok style huts. There is a rule there though, that you cannot go out after dark. And south of the river, there is a theme park. 
Udo: No, I do not mean udon. This is a small island off of Jeju island, that is famous for it’s peanuts and abalone. We thought it was a bit quiet, other than the swarms of Chinese tourists coming in the morning. We stayed in a small guesthouse, where Sophia and I slept on traditional Korean beds(which I prefer), and mom and dad slept on a western bed because of their backs. We ate at a popular seafood hot pot restaurant. I kept an abalone shell to remember it. For dessert we ate peanut ice cream, which is very common in Jeju and Udo. The next day we drove around the island. There are some very yummy pastry shops in Udo. We checked out some mustard seed fields, and took the ferry to Jeju.
Jeju: This is a nice little island that is a bit overrated, but it has good hiking, restaurants, and ocean views. We stayed in hostel. Nothing seemed to be to special about the place, although there was a small film festival in a nearby town. It had a naval base that was unwanted by the people. When we walked into the town, there were signs that said that you shouldn’t come if you were wearing military clothing. They were very much against war. We hiked the Ollie trail, and there were mostly just quaint little villages and the occasional hiker. 

My General Opinion: I liked South Korea a lot, mostly Seoul. I think I could live in Seoul some day, but the islands were a bit disappointing. Seoul has a nice feeling to it. A happy and fresh feeling. I love Seoul.

Thank you for reading my blog!

– Raisa Brauner?

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Traveling to Iran or any Muslim country is a bit of a taboo in the United States (we have received some shocking xenophobic advice). The reality is that most Iranians love Americans. Keep in mind that most of them are very well-educated and can easily separate the idea of the American government from the American people. On numerous occasions, people curiously asked us where we were from, and when they learned who we were, their faces lit up with excitement. They always welcomed us and inquired about many things.

We went only a few months before the sanctions were lifted. I believe this may still be a requirement, but at the time, all American, English, and Canadian citizens were required to take a tour to enter the country. We were extremely fortunate to have the sweetest, most amazing guide imaginable, Milad. He was so much fun to talk to and he did his job very well. Our tour was 2 weeks long, covering much of the country from the North to the South, and at every location we were surprised with how much he knew. During the long car rides from city to city we had long conversations about Iran, culture, and education. By the end of the trip, we all felt like Milad had become part of our family.

I cannot tell you all the details of our long trip, but I can say that I really enjoyed learning how to cook Iranian food. This particular tour was a culinary tour of the country. That means we often went to people’s houses to learn their recipes and techniques. Our first lesson was in Buscher, a town on the Persian Gulf. We were delighted to meet a warm family who had built their own house from scratch and showed us how to make a delicious dinner. We learned how to make traditional Iranian rice and even better, fish cooked with Turmeric, a favorite ingredient of the Iranians.

We travelled North and came to a beautiful city called Shīraz. We visited the internationally famous monument, Persepolis and toured some stunning mosques. I have to say that my all-time favorite was the Pink Mosque. It is probably one of the most unique mosques in the world because of the prevalence of the color pink. In most Persian architecture, the mosques are tiled with green and blue, perhaps a hint of yellow. In this unique mosque, depictions of European houses and countryside can be found along with pink roses. This is all painted upon small tiles that make up a bigger and greater mosaic. The most beautiful part however, is its large array of stained glass windows, which during the morning, pattern the hall with a rainbow of colors.

Yazd was an amazing city. This mostly has to do with how cool the buildings are and how amazing the food is. We had the opportunity to go to a famous sweet shops near our hotel and since we love food a lot more than the next guy, we

We then ventured East towards Afghanistan. At certain points, the air grew so frigid that I was cold even with a hijab. Snow began to dust the desert for the first time in years, and the sky grew soft. As we drove through a small village situated in a grand valley, we stopped when we saw a huge blood stain in the road. It turned out that a camel had been sacrificed for a wedding that day. We stopped a few times to have snowball fights in the desert. We hurled some at a passing truck and they pulled over to join the fun. That is a very good memory.

Esfahan is also a city that I liked, even further North. Snow had come the day before, and was hiding, unmelted in the cool shadows. You can really get a sense of traditional Persian style there because the bazar, palace, and parks are so freely displayed.

We went shopping in the grand bazar and found a beautiful nomadic rug which had been dyed with pomegranate, rhubarb, and saffron. The shops had some of the most beautiful treasures I had ever seen. Looking for a traditional painting, we purchased a few miniatures that had been done by local art students. Luckily, we got to see the work of a master as well. His shop was covered from the ceiling to the floor in his miniatures. In case you didn’t know, miniatures are a form of painting which is done on a slate of camel bone. Of course they are very small and the brush is made to fit the delicate size of the work with a few cat hairs on the tip.

I can now proudly say that I have tried a lamb desert. Yes, I am not kidding. Milad took us to a restaurant in Esfahan and we tried a desert that was made out of lamb meat and fat. None of us found it to remotely pleasing,

One more amazing thing happened in Esfahan was meeting Nadia. She is another tour guide that Milad knew. She was with her clients from Singapore who are cousins, and we all have become friends. We headed back to Tehran later where we met her family for a wonderful meal, which her sister made for us. It was very sad to leave Tehran. We had an amazing experience wit wonderful people traveling a beautiful, unexplored country.

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I asked Phoebe to take a photo with her dad’s iPhone for documentation, but since it was fairly far away, I think I may go back with my Sony to get a closer shot. Here is the photo, I think you can see pretty clearly the flower and pitchers.

P.S. Thanks, Phoebe!!!

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In conclusion, there were many things that I absolutely loved about India, but I felt like I needed to be honest about our experience and what I really think about traveling there. I believe that many people have sugar-coated it to an inappropriate extent and I really just needed some content for a video. Never the less, enjoy!

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Aside from the pollution, Delhi has been fascinating. It is a whole new world of colors, people, and religion. This is the first country with a large Hindu population that we have been to, so it is very new and exciting for me. Last night, as we were walking home, we saw a beautiful little temple built into the side of an edifice along the street. Since there was no door, we could clearly see the paintings and sculptures of the gods, decorated with colorful clothing and flowers. The old man sitting outside offered to let us in. He showed us the God of Mercy, depicted with the head of a lion, along with many other element of their religion. All I can say is that it was hauntingly beautiful.

We took a bicycle tour of New Delhi yesterday. We pedaled through some of the narrowest streets I have ever seen. It was quite difficult to adjust to the Indian style at first. This consists of honking your horn or ringing your bell excessively, speeding through red lights, weaving through vehicles, power-pedaling through busy, disorganized intersections, and perhaps the most of all, just going, you’ll never get anywhere if you wait until that car is a safe distance to pull out.

Perhaps the craziest of all has been the trash. The collectors in the poor and middle-class neighborhoods have been on strike for around a week now. This made cycling very difficult because…it’s slippery. I actually enjoyed the challenge, and even though it was disgusting knowing that there was most likely some cow or dog feces on the bottom of your shoes, it really showed you what life is really like for the people of India.

The food that we have had so far has been so delicious. As an Indian food fanatic I have been enjoying myself here. I have to tell you, though, that we have eaten street food that we know is safe. Our tour guide on the first and second day took us to a small restaurant down an alley that they knew was completely safe. We had some sort of puffy bread along with a small spicy dish that had chick peas in it. We also tried some biscuits and some yogurt lassi.

It is half past noon here on our third day. Our new friend Evan (who is also from Oregon) has agreed to come with us to the Mela (a Central and South-Asian craft and theatre festival). People have come from as far as Tajikistan and Afghanistan to participate, so hopefully we will get to see some interesting Middle-Eastern culture from countries we were not able to reach.

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When I hopped off the airport in Zanzibar, the night was cool. I could see the water glistening in the moonlight. We were driven into Stone Town to an Air Bnb on the water which was a rickety-looking structure situated upon a raft made of sticks and logs floating in the ocean. We slowly putted along on a water taxi to the Air BnB. As we approached, we saw a sign that said: Dreamer’s Island. I think we all liked that. We slept there for only one night, but I had a really hard time adjusting to the climate there. It was so hot and sticky and all I wanted was an air-conditioned room. Although it was strange and uncomfortable, the next day was quite nice because when I awoke, the view was absolutely perfect with the boats bobbing in the waves and the palm trees on the shore.

Luckily, later that day, we switched to a small resort in Jambiani. The pool was the deepest blue I have ever seen. It blew my expectations out of the water. Even better, the rooms were air-conditioned and it was only 100m from the beach, which was soft with water the most alien color of neon turquoise. We spent our week there relaxing, mango juice in hand, and treating ourselves to calamari. I finally summoned the courage to wake up before 6:00 AM one morning to photograph the Golden Hour and Sunrise. I dragged Mom along with me and we watched the local women harvesting seaweed while the tide was low. I snapped some awesome shots, one of which has been my most liked photo on Instagram to date (with 178 likes).

On Christmas Eve we left for Stone Town once again. This time we stayed in the very top apartment in the center of the city. I got my own room on the top floor with a beautiful view, my own canopy bed, and a breeze. Unfortunately, the lady’s kitten was in the adolescent phase, which caused it to act crazy and jump on us. I hated that cat.
I think the happiest moment that I had in Zanzibar was listening to the choir sing on Christmas Eve. As an American, it is such an important holiday to me. It means generosity, good food, and a reason to party, but even more importantly, family. From the roof deck, we had a wonderful view of an old cathedral just down the street. It was beautifully carved and it made me miss Western Europe. We were about to go and join the celebration, but Dad decided we had better not, because a bomb had supposedly gone off at last year’s Christmas celebration. Although that was unfortunate, we all had sweet dreams that night.

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We left Athens late in the day, prepared to drive into darkness in a few hours time. We passed by the ocean on the drive and glimpsed many mountains. Upon our arrival at the base of Mount Olympus, we made the decision to go even further up the steep slope to the parking lot at the start of the hiking trail. As we drove, the mist crept onto the road and enveloped us so that we could not see more than 15 feet ahead. I was especially frightened because I knew that there was a steep drop not far from my window. We eventually pulled over and did our usual things: cooking spaghetti for dinner, talking, making our beds. It was a very cozy evening because we knew that we would be doing something spectacular the next morning.

The next day, we woke up to discover that some wild boar hunters needed us to move our car because we had unknowingly parked ourselves in front of a water source. They were very friendly about it so we felt obligated to get ready quickly. We started our car and continued the drive. The view was splendid but we arrived in the parking lot very quickly.
I felt quite underprepared. It was obvious that many of the hikers had professional gear and were experienced. We hung out preparing and playing with the kitten in the parking lot for a good half hour before we started hiking. I was surprised at the ease. As I mentioned earlier I was a bit intimidated by all of the “professionals”. The whole hike is beautiful. I went in October and the trees were turning all sorts of amazing colors. We stopped to rest many times especially because I was carrying a stuffed 45 liter pack which was completely unnecessary. Luckily we reached 1/3 of the way very quickly.

The walk reminded me of home because the forest floor was carpeted in orange leaves and the trees were reminiscent of Oregon. The fog rolled into the valley and it was so nice and cool. This made the whole trip so enjoyable and I will remember it forever.

Mount Olympus can be done in one day or two, depending on whether you want to summit or not. We decided to summit and stay at the refuge near the tree line. I can remember being very tired after hours of walking and wondering, “When are we going to reach the 2/3 mark?” Fortunately, we were a ten minute walk from the refuge and we had missed the mark! On our short way up we saw some adorable donkeys descending the mountain.

The refuge was very nice and the food was better than I had expected. It happened to be a pretty busy time of year so there were plenty of people to talk to. The only downside was the temperature. At night, it drops so low that you have to have three blankets over you while you are sleeping. And there is no heating system.

I woke up the next morning with the pleasure of watching the sun rise. It was angelic, but there was no time to waste. We ate our breakfast quickly, put on our coats (which we of course shed quickly) and hit the trail. Instead of hiking the highest summit, we did the more common one which is only 18m lower. The morning sun made the view look even more expansive and ever-lasting, so as you can imagine I enjoyed it very much. Ae continued hiking for a while until we hit the monotonous section which even I had to admit (for lack of a better word and to put it in modern terms) sucked. It was a loose, steep slope in the middle of a dry, rocky valley that seemed to persist onward infinitely. When I made it to the top, the view was incredibly pristine and gorgeous. The sky was the bluest I had ever seen it. In front of me I saw the highest peak, to the left was the view of the ocean and the Greek islands far off in the distance. My family and I sat up there for a while enjoying the sights before heading down the mountain.

The next day, we left Greece. It took us the whole day to get our act together so our goal of reaching Dubrovnik that night seemed impossible. As I was standing in the parking lot of the Macedonian border patrol I realized that we were about to enter a new phase of the trip! We were going to travel the Balkan States. This was very appealing to me because this would be my first chance to see developing countries. I had only been to stable, relatively Western countries before. Then was the chance to finally venture East.

Macedonia is certainly one country I am longing to explore. On our way to Dubrovnik, I saw so much absolute pulchritude through the car window. We zipped past grand mountains, quaint villages, and even the world’s largest cross. There is something so alluring about Macedonia. Perhaps it’s the exciting mountains that may never have been explored, or maybe it’s simply the fact that everything is so mild and untouched.

As the late afternoon set in, we arrived at a grey and solemn looking border patrol station. This was the border to Kosovo. As the officer looked at our passports, I could see that he had lived through a lot of hard times in his country, yet he still smiled. I respect him deeply for that. As soon as we entered Kosovo, a slightly depressing feeling came upon me. “What would it be like to live here?” I thought. It is such an odd country that has been through a lot of suffering and poverty. The grey skies perfectly reflect the feeling I get from the place.

We drove on into the night, passing sections of farmland and business. As you drive by, you can see luxury stores and glass hotels totally out of place on the side of the road. This is one of the most bizarre things about the country.

As we drove, we watched the sun disappear behind the mountains far from the highway. We passed through different strange towns and stopped at a few even stranger restaurants through the night. The roads were quite awful and the lanes were sometimes indistinguishable so naturally I was a little worried. Late that night while Raisa and I were asleep, we pulled of the frankly dangerous highway and into a small town alive with people and lights. The first glance that I got of it was very nice.

We pulled up to the hotel and unloaded our bags. Our room, fortunately, was modern with nice lights and beds.

At first I started to realize that I was awake and not dreaming. I heard a strange music playing which I thought was the hotel speakers. As I continued to gain consciousness, I became aware that the music was coming from outside the building yet not far away. It was very loud, but by no means to an uncomfortable degree. It was haunting and beautiful, so foreign to me. I began to hear someone speaking among the voices in song and a jolt of fear hit me. Was a mob of protesters assembling outside the hotel?! I knew by then as a traveler that protesters were a very bad sign and certainly something to be avoided. Then I heard Mom whisper, “Listen, girls, do you hear that? It’s the Mosque across the street. They are performing early morning prayer.” After I received this information I felt very inexperienced. I had never even seen a mosque before, let alone heard the prayer! Now my fear was totally gone and interest replaced it. I fell back asleep listening to the greatness of the music.

I woke in the morning with light floating through the windows despite the grey, rainy sky. We had an interesting breakfast and explored the town. As I walked outside into the rain, I spotted the mosque that we had heard in that morning. I remembered seeing a few buildings while driving on the highway that looked similar. As we whisked past a domed building with spires, I said, “Mom, that looks like a mini-Hagia Sofia! Is it a mosque?” My mother confirmed that it was in fact a mosque, and as a result I got very excited.
We walked around some shops that day, overjoyed that we accidentally stumbled upon the cultural capitol of Kosovo. The view of the city from the top of the hill was very beautiful, and soon after we splashed our way down to the heart of the city, where an unfortunately polluted river runs. As we walked along the sidewalk, Dad spotted a man selling roasted chestnuts. He made a beeline for his stand, purchasing a nice-sized heap. At first, I was uninterested in trying them because I had previously hated chestnuts and refused to consume them for years. I eventually decided to try one and, of course, it was delicious. Dad told me the story of his trip to Europe as a small child. He ate roasted chestnuts every day and used them to warm his hands in the winter. It’s a great tradition.
We stopped at out hotel, got some croissants and left after finishing our walk. As soon as we got out of town, me being the hungry teenager did the daring act of trying my croissant. Bad move. Kosovaars simply do not know how to make a croissant! They didn’t even bother using butter!!! My oh my.

We left Kosovo pretty quickly and headed into Albania. I have been interested in Albania for a while mainly because of it’s unique history, namely the fact that it was the first declared Atheist State. It was also one of the weirdest communist countries because despite its size and location, aligned itself with China. I do not by any means or by any stretch of the imagination support Communism, or outlawing religion like Albania did. I simply find it fascinating how their bizarre government came to be and what happened to the people as a result of it. It’s simply a unique story.

As soon as we entered Albania, my eyes nearly popped out of my skull. It was so gorgeous. The mountains absolutely towered above the huts on the roadside, and the mist was like the ocean, swallowing everything in its path. Nearly all surfaces were covered in something green wether it be trees, moss, grass etc. It was truly amazing. We went on driving for nearly an hour before we hit the lowlands and the odd cities again, much like Kosovo. We spent another hour driving on a bumpy, muddy road in a very rural section of the North. It was eye-opening to see what life is like for many Albanians: difficult, rural, and poor.
Our rule for officially going to a country is stepping off your mode of transportation. We approached a small café on the edge of the border of Montenegro, and could not resist the temptation to get out. We sat outside and sipped peach ice tea while listening to the Albanian language being spoken by some natives. We left soon after, which was quite disappointing. I wish so very badly to go back soon.

I can confidently say that Montenegro is extremely different from some of the other Balkan countries. The infrastructure is different and even the landscape is very contrasting. It was a nice country to drive through with many pretty beachside houses and seafood restaurants.

We finally reached Dubrovnik before dark and pulled into a nice camping ground where we cleaned ourselves up before dinner. We went into town later and ate at a very nice modern restaurant that Dad found via the internet. Over the next few days we visited some of the touristic spots. We went to the docks and a few churches. It was very nice.

The next place we went in Croatia was Rijeka. Dubrovnik was a classic, but Rijeka really hit my heart and it had some real importance to me. Some of my father’s best childhood moments were enjoyed there back in the 70’s. It is an absolutely stunning city with loads of character. The buildings are majestic with gorgeous carvings that shape the aura of the city.

Our first stop was the Saturday Market, which was full of people, young and old, selling their products. The bright vegetables stood out against the subtle colors of the buildings, which were surely beautiful on their own. We entered the fish market and took some photos for Grandma. She remembers the time she spent there with her family and we wanted to show her how it’s doing today. One of Dad’s favorite pastries is Borek, which basically contains delicious cheese between thin sheets of dough. I don’t know what types of cheese are in Borek, but apparently they are unattainable in the United States. I personally loved the Borek that we got in Croatia. It was thick and filling and had a very delicious flavor to it.

As we usually do, we drove back to the place that Dad and his family stayed when he was little. He remembered the exact spot as he always does. It makes me hopeful that I, too will be able to reach some of the meaningful spots later in my life. We took a dip in the ocean later and walked up to eat some traditional seafood.

We sadly had to leave later that day. I really felt a connection to Rijeka. It was so sweet and calm and I think I could live there someday. But we had to move on to Venice. The drive was full of the beautiful Croatian seaside, but what was even better was Slovenia. It is probably one of the most amazing countries I have been to, so serene and gorgeous. The trees were turning and the landscape was truly flawless. There are so many countries I am longing to go back to now, and I am realizing that one year is nowhere near enough to see even a tiny fraction of the world.

We arrived in Venice in the evening. We pulled into the campsite and set up our van. I was very excited because they had a pool! Of course we went swimming and came back, cold in the dark to our van where we listened to Adele’s single, Hello (which I am unfortunately disappointed with) are dinner, and went to bed.

We woke up the next morning, did our usual routine, and headed out to the bus stop. I am embarrassed to say that before we approached Venice on the bus, I had no idea it wasn’t on the mainland. I RARELY am in this state of misinformation, especially about geography. We disembarked from the bus and stood out in the sunlight that was shining so brightly down upon us. I checked to make sure I still had my camera attached to my wrist.

We spent most of our day walking around the city in the general direction of St. Mark’s Cathedral. I definitely underestimated Venice. I had no idea it was so picturesque and my camera was almost never turned off or put away.* When we finally reached St. Mark’s Cathedral, we stood in line for quite a reasonable amount of time and when we

entered, it was marvelous. The ceiling was beautifully decorated and it was in every way at the pinnacle of architectural perfection, at least as far as aesthetic goes. We walked quietly across the length of the building, and joined the back of the line to see the jewels. They, too were magnificent, plastered upon a golden plate engraved with all sorts of pictures. I know this sounds bad, but we love to joke about how we would steal the Mona Lisa or The Birth of Venus if we were art thieves, (obviously we are not so don’t worry) and these jewels were no exception. I can’t remember our silly plan, but I can assure you it was good.

We continued walking through the city, contemplating whether we should pay for a Gondola ride or not. The very best part of the day was getting Gelato at a tiny shop on a narrow, winding street. I think that there is no possible way to wrong with gelato, but when it’s made in Italy, it’s the best. At the end of the day, we decided not to take a Gondola ride because it was so expensive and the mosquitoes would be out. Instead, we had some pasta at a restaurant near the bus station.

As our quick day in Venice came to an end, we boarded the bus bound for our camping site. We walked on the gravel road to the back fence and went inside the premises. Another tired evening after a long day of travel and enjoyment.

The next day, we woke up as quickly as possible, our end destination being Prague with a quick stop in Vienna. So we all hopped in the car again like we had done so many times before and braced ourselves for another day of hard driving. One thing I would love to convey is my absolute adoration for the Austrian countryside. My day was mostly made up of sleeping and gazing in awe at the picturesque, rolling hills. The ride was smooth in the perfect Mercedes Benz van, which rolled upon smooth, Austrian highways. I think if there is a true number 1 place to go back to it would be there for me.

So as the night approached, we arrived in Vienna. This is another place that my dad stayed when he was a child. The street of the apartment he and his family inhabited was ironically called Bräunerstraße. We aimed to take a quick, self-guided driving tour around the city, but as it was dinner time, we decided to stop and eat at a beautiful, traditional restaurant nearby. Since I was feeling quite sick, I decided not to order anything, but when the food came, I decided I had to have some. After eating some heart-warming Austrian food, I instantly felt better. We also learned an interesting fact about the place. The building was formerly a stable, but now is a restaurant.

When we left, I noticed the street sign, which said: Bräunerstaße. We were on the same street! Then I realized that the restaurant was the stables which Dad had described, and I recognized the big doors leading to an apartment that he had told me of! By accident we found the street! I got Dad to pose in front of the big, steel doors so we could send the photo to Grandma and Grandpa.

Later that night, we arrived in Prague. I can’t remember much as a result of my state of sleepiness. Nearly the only thing I can recall is thinking, “This is our hotel? It’s so plastic and colorful.”

We all woke up the next day, prepared to take a “free” walking tour of Prague. We took bumpy, but efficient public transportation into the center of the city. The time of year ensured that the weather was chilly, but within reason. We needed breakfast, so we ate at a nearby crêpe shop. I was missing home so I got a cinnamon apple crêpe. It was so, so delicious.

At this point, we realized we were in a hurry so we dashed across the Charles Bridge to meet the tour. At first, we couldn’t find them, but they arrived shortly after we got to the other side. We met three young ladies, two from Slovakia, and one from Romania. Fortunately, they were on the same tour as us, so we got to have some interesting conversations. The tour was nice, and I definitely got to see a lot of Prague. I have to say, it’s absolutely beautiful. Later, we walked around near the gardens and parks up on the hill. The fall colors were becoming clear and very beautiful. Up there, you can see the whole of the peaceful city, with bright rooftops and the gorgeous river.

The next day, we went into town to take another tour of Prague. I thought it was nice as well. I learned a lot about the architecture of the city and why it is so unique. This is mostly because some buildings contain up to four distinct styles, often from different periods. We even got to see the famous clock!

After our tour was over, we mostly walked around and stared at some of the buildings, which was actually very fun. I had a strange kind of dessert that is made by sticking dough around a stick and baking it over a fire. For the last, and most important touch, they add sugar to the outside and Nutella to the inside. You can find these all over Prague.
As we were walking through the streets, a man came up to us in attempt to sell us tickets to a Vivaldi concert. We thought it sounded fantastic, but when we left, so many more people approached us selling a similar thing, we figured we should be smart about which one to choose. In the end, it turned out to be the right one because the concert hall was absolutely magnificent, they were so professional, and the raw quality of the music was astounding. I thoroughly enjoyed the concert and I thought it was fabulous!

This is where our journey ends in Prague. The next morning we woke up extremely early to drive back to Germany (which is where we rented our camper van). All I can remember is waking up as we were driving down the highway before sunrise. The ground was frosty and mist was swirling around the edges of the road.

We returned the car in Düsseldorf later that morning and took a train to Amsterdam. What we did there is not important, so I will sum it up for you now. We got our vaccinations, and went to an amazing restaurant called Ctaste. All the waiters and waitresses are blind or visually impaired, and they lead you into a completely pitch-black room where you dine. It is a very cool experience because you have to eat and function in the dark, much like being blind. That includes drinking and pouring water as well as not dropping food on yourself. From personal experience, that is pretty much impossible. Before you eat, you can choose from a vague menu. For example, you could choose that you want a meat dish or fish, but that is it. We all ended up taking the daring order which is Chef’s choice. While we were “blind” it was great fun to guess the layout of the room or at least the searing arrangements by the sounds of peoples’ voices. But in the end, the desert was by far the best thing I have ever tasted in my life. It included lemon ice cream with lemon cheesecake and a stroopwaffle sprinkled with pop rocks. There were so many more amazing flavors, but unfortunately I cannot remember them all. After we were finished, we got to see if our guesses about our food were correct or not.

The next day, we flew back to Athens. In the next post, I will tell you about our travels on a quaint Greek Island called Serifos and the mainland of Turkey and Iran. Thank you.

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 I would like to start off with France. It’s quite big and historically has had a lot of cultural influences on many other countries in the area. I will probably go there again. I liked Paris and Normandy. Lyon was over rated. 
I loved Disneyland and the food in France is pretty good. I am interested in their history, and the Dordogne was my favorite place in France. We went kayaking and saw some cliff dwellings, where the troglodytes lived. And we stayed at an amazing camp ground. It had two great swimming spots; one bright blue natural pool that has creeks running in and out of it, and a platform to jump off of. The second one was a human made swimming pool, it wasn’t very warm, but definitely warmer than the other one! There is also volleyball, mini golf and a restaurant and bar. Also, a great thing about the Dordogne is that there are tons of hot air balloons in the morning and evening, and there are so many chateaus that wherever you are it’s easy to see one. My overall feelings about this country were; Nice(ha ha). Currency is the euro.€?
          The United Kingdom: ( not Northern Ireland)
          England: I LOVED England. It has definitely been one of my favorite countries in Europe. In fact it’s so wonderful that I could totally move there some day. We went to Canterbury (Kent) and visited a marvelous beach called Broadstairs a few times. Directly above it is where Charles Dickens lived. We also explored the medieval town of Sandwich. It’s where sandwiches were invented. Then we continued on to London. That’s where I had my birthday Despite the fact that it’s the stabbing capital of the world, London is simply one of my favorite places in Europe. It’s crowded in and out with every kind of person you could think of, but it’s great. There’s lovely shopping, delicious food, and amazing sightseeing. One could live there a lifetime and never see all of it. I wanted to ride the eye because I have heard that it has breathtaking views, but sadly, we never got around to it. After that we visited Oxford, just for the evening. It was a good experience, and we took a tour. Then we fought an absurd amount of traffic, to get to the small village of Sulgrave where we stayed at a splendid bed and breakfast called the Star Inn, and I wrote a post about that. My overall feelings about this country were; AWESOME!!!!! Currency is the pound.£?
      Wales: Wales was nice. I didn’t get to experience the Welsh culture in the way I wanted to though. I only drove through it at night and slept in an air (rest stop) in the car, and woke up to quickly getting buckled in, and drove to catch the ferry to Ireland. My overall feelings about this country were; good. Currency is the pound.£? P.S. In Wales they also speak Welsh.
     Scotland: Scotland was so fun! Although we only visited Edinburgh,(pronounced edinborough) it was lovely! If you go, definitely try one of the ghost tours of the underground city and the graveyard that’s famous for a few things:
     1. Greyfriar’s Bobby. This is a true story about a policeman who had the hard work of arresting very dangerous people such as bodysnatchers thieves etc. and the the chief of police decided that he needed a friend to work with him and help protect him. So he gave him some money to go off and buy a big strong dog. And the policeman came back with a lapdog. He named him Bobby. Surprisingly, Bobby did a pretty good job during his career, and earned a very good reputation throughout the community and when he finally died, the locals tried to bury him in the graveyard, but the rules were that only humans could be buried there, so they got permission to put up a grave stone there and buried him elsewhere. They also built a statue of him, and it’s good luck to rub the nose, but lately the government made it illegal because Bobby’s nose fell off. The locals still do it though.

      2. The Body Snatchers were people who dug up dead human bodies. This was a business that became quite popular in Edinburgh and Ireland+Northern Ireland because to get a degree in medicine you had to dissect a human body, and there weren’t enough of them for each student. It became a job that was quite well paying, because people were quite eager to get the bodies and many of them would pay ridiculously high prices for them. People who were well respected in the Scottish community, such as doctors and teachers were discovered to be body snatchers, and were caught. People became so scared that the buried bodies of their loved ones would be dug up that people started to sell metal cages to put over the fresh graves. And a man named Robert Louis Stevenson actually wrote a book about it, but I have yet to read it.

    In Edinburgh there is a castle that is very nice and I would definitely recommend. There is a church that King David I of Scotland(not the current king) built in the 12th century for his mother, St. Margret who was the person that brought Catholicism to the city. It fits roughly 20 people and it’s usually packed with around 30! You can also see the Crown Jewels (of Scotland) and the Stone of Destiny in the castle. It has kind of a funny story I won’t write it now but you should definitely look it up. Edinburgh also has great food and a sausage called haggis. I don’t want to leave out too many thing like this and the stone of destiny, but trust me on this, once I tell you what’s in it you won’t want to try it. My overall feelings about this country were; really cool!! Currency is the pound.£?
Note about the United Kingdom. It’s quite expensive. 

    IRELAND!!!!! This place was great! I am disappointed that we only went to Dublin, but wow! It’s AMAAAAAAZING!!!!!!!!!!! First of all they have amazing food! Soda bread! Boxty! Bangers & mash! Leak sausages! A million kinds of stew! Secondly you can go on a horse and carriage tour of the place! It’s always gorgeous outside even when it rains!! Something fun to do there is going Trinity College and seeing the Book of Kells, because I am quite into Celtic culture and I like to practice drawing Celtic knots. I also play the harp. My favorite restaurants there were The Celt, O’Neil’s, and Gallagher’s Boxty house. The all served traditional Irish cuisine. To give you the picture, it’s comfort food. The comfort food that is simply purely DIVINE!!!!! The mashed potatoes are like clouds, and everything is cooked to the point of deliciousness. YUMM!!! If you are like me and love great comfort food be sure to visit Ireland! My overall feelings about this country were; ONE OF THE BEST COUNTRIES I HAVE BEEN TO YET!!!!!! Currency is the euro.€? NOTE: they also speak Gaelic there.

      Italy! Yup. It’s nice, but there are a lot of ridiculous things about it. One of them happened to be that they are extremely proud of their campgrounds, because they are quite fancy. At first, that seems okay. But then you look at the prices and you freak out because it’s almost as expensive as a hotel. We were mostly camping, so that was a bit of a problem. Another thing was that although part of the time we were there in the fall, and it was still PACKED with tourists. I will mention some of the places I visited. Florence was great. Lots of beautiful art in the Uffizi gallery, and the domed church. There was also some good shopping and nice food. Cinque Terra was EXTREMELY overrated. I’m not just bashing it for no reason. I’m being honest. It was just filled with touristy shops and mediocre restaurants. I have to admit, it was a nice view of the little towns from the water. Rome was OK, it was filled with quite extravagant statues and temples. There were a lot of touristy things, but there were places where it was more quiet. We got robbed there. They took my mom & dad’s bags, which had nothing in them. BUT! They took mine which had all my stuff in it. They took my special harp necklace, which really isn’t valuable at all! Other than that it was pretty enjoyable. Venice was also OK. We wanted to go on a boat, but it was SUPER expensive. The food was okay. Basically spaghetti and pizza. My overall feelings about this country were; OK. Currency is the euro.€?

            Spain! It’s a cool place, and it’s sad that it doesn’t have a good economy because it’s a beautiful country and it’s people are super nice. We went to only two places. Barcelona, and a beach called Calla Del Pi. Let’s start with Barcelona. It was really nice. Sophia had her birthday there. They have good paella, and I would definitely recommend seeing the Roman ruins. Sagrada de Familia was amazing, so was the Cathedral of Barcelona. Don’t go to the beaches there though because they were built for the Olympics and the sand is imported from the Sahara desert and is really annoying because it is SUPER fine and gets on everything. 

Calla Del Pi was a beautiful pebble filled beach. If you swim out far enough, you can see the ruins of something, I don’t know what it is. It’s pretty cool though. There is also a good rock to jump off of. To the left of the beach there is a cave. Walk straight through it and there is a big cactus. After that, keep going on the trail until you see the big white rock. Then climb it and jump off into the water! My overall feelings about this country were; super fun! Currency is the euro.€?

         Greece! It’s great! Tons of wonderful Ancient architecture! Sadly, I was a bit disappointed with the food. My dad makes amazing Greek food, so the food there was nothing compared to my dad’s. One of the first places we went was Olympia, where we stayed at the campsite most of the time and met a family from the Netherlands. We played with their kids a lot. The food there was good, but it had one of the problems that food has all over Greece, IT HAS FRENCH FRIES!!! If you are one of the people who are reading this that know me well, you probably know that I REALLY do not like French fries. The rest of the things about the place were nice though. It had a great pool, and the camping spots were great too. They were shaded by overhead mats and vines. Continuing on, I’d like to mention that the Greek countryside is not as charming anymore because all the young people have been going to Athens. About half of the people in Greece live in Athens. I wanted you to know because for a long time I was in small towns that I didn’t know the name of. We spent a short while in Porto Heli where we went to see dad’s old friend. We went to Athens twice, and it’s quite nice. There is the same deal with food, but the temples are nice and it has some really good shopping. It has some good museums too. It’s a great city. Next place is Mt. Olympus! We climbed it in two days. The first day, we climbed about 2/3rds of it and stayed at a refuge. The second day we climbed to the summit and since the rest was downhill, we climbed all the way back down. We did a few other countries before coming back down to Greece, I will list them after I finish telling you about a Greek island that we went to. This island is called Serifos. You can take the ferry there, or you can fly, (don’t get the idea that it’s some big city because you can fly there, it’s tiny) but you should take the ferry. We stayed at our friends’ summer house, in a town called Chora. All of the houses are blue and white. All over the island there are WAY too many cats. You throw a can into a dumpster and cats jump out, because they’re hungry and they’re in the dumpster looking for food. When you go for a walk you count how many cats you saw. In our town, there were 4 kittens that we named Medallion, Princess, Queen and Popoki. Princess and Queen were pure Cyprus breed, although Popoki and Medallion were an interesting looking mix between a Cyprus and a German Rex cat. Princess and Queen died of diarrhea, even though I was feeding them as much as I could to help them get stronger and fatter. But luckily when we left the island, Popoki and Medallion were strong and fat. Something that I really enjoyed on the island was that we got to do pottery at a pottery studio that belonged to our friends (not the same friends that owned the summer house). One night that we were there, we got to participate in a Greek Orthodox holiday that celebrates the island’s patron saints, which are angels. It took place at the monastery that looks like a castle. The walls are interesting. All monasteries have walls, but not like this. There are slits in them just big enough to pour hot oil out of. They did this to keep the pirates out, who climbed up the rocks from the ocean and then tried to scale the walls. Not so fast! And while all the villagers hid within the walls, the monks pored boiling oils and water on the pirates. There is only one monk there now, and he likes to make wine. We got to see his small winery. They also have a tradition of sitting down at long tables with lots of other people and have free food served to you medieval style. Free food! I had chick pea soup and bread. My parents had the same thing, but with wine. After that, we went to a packed restaurant, where we had many different kinds of food. I played with our friends who owned the pottery shop all night. A band was playing. That was a magical night. After that, we bought tons of pottery and left the island. My overall feelings about this country; COOL! Currency is the euro.€?

       We went past a lot of countries that we didn’t really spend any time in while we were working our way back up to Germany to return our car. I will list them:

Macedonia: We did nothing.
Montenegro: We did nothing.
Albania: Pretty, but we did nothing.
Kosovo: We stopped to take a photo of the sunset, and we also did later and had a pizza dinner, and stopped for a slice of cake, and while we were eating, we saw a grocery store that was super cheap and we thought we could buy a lot of stuff for a good price. Then we stopped to look at the price for a hotel, and the price was good, so we stayed there, and in the morning we woke up super early from the call for prayer because we hadn’t realized that there was a mosque across the street. We ate breakfast and figured out that we were in the Prizren City, so we explored it, and walked past some mosques and churches. 
Another thing about Kosovo is that it is still recovering from a war called the Kosovo war. any of the roads are bad, and they are building lots of big houses. Sometimes when you are driving down the road, you see lots of furniture shops, and hardware shops, and home decoration shops because people are rebuilding their houses. There are women and children walking to the bus, but the roads are bad and it’s getting dark, but there is not proper lighting. Kosovo is kind of a strange place because it’s like a country under construction.
Croatia: We went to Dubrovnik, and explored the castle a bit, and we camped. Then we went to Rijeka where we explored the market and got some food. When my dad was a little boy he spent some time in Rijeka. We also went to the beach and my dad went swimming, and we looked for the World War II bunkers that he remembers. We couldn’t find them. Then we had lunch at a small seaside restaurant, and my dad thinks that it was the best meal that he’s had yet on the trip.
Slovenia: We did nothing.
I’m disappointed that we didn’t spend more time in them.

      Austria! We only went to Vienna, but it was so fun. Actually, we only spent the evening there. We went to an amazing restaurant that actually turned out to be the stables that my dad remembers from when he went there as a child! It was on a street called Braunerßtrasse (they converted the stables into a restaurant) And after that we left for Prague. My overall feelings about this country; Nice! Currency is the euro.€?
Czech Republic! It was soooo fun! We only went to Prague. It was GREAT!! We stayed in a hostel, and we got our own room! We got to have a strange swirly pastry with Nutella on the inside. If you’ve been there you’ll know what I mean. We went on two free walking tours, and we heard about some things that we would have liked to do that we would have done if we had had enough time. And I really can’t say anything more! My overall feelings about this country; REALLY COOL!!! Currency is the Czech crown. 

Germany! I really didn’t ‘go to Germany’. Because both times that I arrived there, I was gone within 12 hours! My overall feelings about this country; ??? Currency is the euro.€?

Belgium! This is one of my favorites! We went only to Bruges, which is the chocolate capital of the world, so you can probably imagine what happened. We stuffed ourselves with chocolate(and marzipan). Also, we went on a bicycle tour, ate lots of waffles, and went on a free walking tour. Fun fact: many of the buildings(including the streets) are not actually medieval, although you may be told so. There is good shopping there. Be sure to check out the nunnery, and Trappist bar(It’s underground, and they have some great appetizers). That is all for Belgium, although I wish I could remember more. My overall feelings about this country; GREAT! Currency is the euro.€?

The Netherlands! We went to three places, Amsterdam, Den Hague and Egmond aan Zee. Amsterdam was nice. The first time that we went we stayed in a houseboat, which was cool! We went to the Vincent Van Gogh gallery, and the Anne Frank House. The Anne Frank house is a building with a secret annex where Anne and her family(also another family) hid from the nazis. The nazis killed Jewish people, and they were Jewish. We also ate delicious Dutch pancakes at the Pancake Bakery. They are simply AMAZING!!!!!! I will admit, the pancakes themselves and their prices are outrageous, but THEY ARE WORTH IT!!!! Trust me. Another restaurant you should try is C taste. It’s the wonderful experience of eating gourmet food in pitch black. It is as if you were blind. You taste things in a whole new way and I would definitely recommend it. A delicious bakery is Dutch Homemade. They have so many different kinds of tiny sweets! Try it! The next city is Den Hague. We really didn’t do anything there except going to Escher in Het Paleis, which is an amazing gallery of many of Escher’s works of art, and how to understand them. Next, Egmond aan zee! It is cute little beach town with warm water, nice sand and good waves. I don’t have much to say about it because we really just enjoyed a nice afternoon of swimming, and left. My overall feelings about this country; FUN! Currency is the euro.€?

And that is it! I hope you you enjoyed! 

Thanks for reading our blog!

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Our chosen mode of transportation was a ferry from Italy to Patras. Until I looked at a map, I hadn’t realized how far south Greece is. It then made sense to me why our ferry had taken 24 hours. The weather was so nice there, and thankfully while we were in Patras, we were able to wild camp next to the water. Patras was only a rest stop for us before going to Olympia. We planned on staying in a campground near the ruins for a night before heading on, but we liked it so much there that we stayed three. We met some awesome Dutch people, and relaxed with them until it was clear that we had other priorities. One amazing thing that I must mention is the lightening storm. On the second day, before dinner, lightening was flashing well into the night, and every second, too. The sky was illuminated with bolts scribbling across the sky. I ran down to an Olive grove to get a better perspective with my camera. I stood, getting chowed by mosquitoes for half an hour in order to get these few shots: 

On the last day, a tour group of old Americans pulled into the camp ground with their gargantuan RV’s. It was funny to hear their accents when we had heard only Dutch and Greek for so long. They were definitely an odd group, but the thing we all liked most about their arrival was the Greek Dancing. The old woman who runs the camp ground told us that Greek dancers were coming in the RV’s, so when the Americans arrived, we were surprised that when they told us that they were not dancers. After that, we lost hope. We figured the lady must have been joking, but during dinner, out came a group of traditional Greek Dancers decked out in dresses and old-timey attire. It was such a nice show, and they even invited us to join them! That was a time that really stood out and made me happy.

After finally leaving Olympia, we took a beautiful drive through the mountainous Peloponnese. It was there that we witnessed shepherds herding their sheep across the winding road. It is extremely tranquil there. The roads are not too fast, the towns are sleepy and the landscape is magnificent. After miles and miles of driving, the valley opened into a wide, expansive, landscape where the mountains were placed farther apart, and the looming outcroppings folded back to open up the view of the sky to us. I am a so-called amateur photographer, and I love taking photos of the world that I see before me, so I had to stop on the drive to snap some shots*. 

As we got nearer to our destination, rows of orange, lemon, and lime trees decorated the sides of the road. Houses appeared and power lines resumed their ugly duty of providing electricity-AND mess up the view :(. Oh well… 

Late that night, we arrived in the town of Nafplion. Since we were still in the Marco Polo, we camped near the sea along with fifty other other cars and RV’s. The next day, we entertained ourselves with a trip to Ancient Mycenae. During the torrential downpour, we extended our umbrellas and found a tree to hide under. Mom gave us our history lesson in front of the ancient city. We listened and when she was done, we walked up the slope to go back in history. The whole area including Mycenae is amazing, and I gazed at its pulchritude. The whole experience was enhanced by the petrichor, which was, of course, a result of the weather. Despite the true awesomeness of the site, we spent only a short time there due to the rainstorm, which I mentioned earlier. We also enjoyed their little museum on the opposite side from the entrance. This contains many small artifacts from jewelry to weaponry found over time in Mycenae. It’s fun to take a look, though it doesn’t contain much. 

We returned to Nafplion for the late afternoon to walk around their Old Town. There is not so much to see, but it definitely has some charm. So far, we have covered in this post nearly all of our trip to the Pelopponese. There is one last important stop, though: Porto-Heli, a town relatively close to Athens, which my dad stayed in as a little boy. It is still a nice town, but its population has grown to twice as much as it was in the ’70’s. We camped in a great spot right on the beach that night after rolling into town that evening. We drove around downtown to find some of the old restaurants and shops that my dad had been to as a boy. Unfortunately, they were closed. 

Back at our wild camping site, we ate some baked goods and played cards while listening to the sound of the waves lapping up against the beach. The next morning we took warm sun showers and explored the beach. The reflection of the light against the calm, undulating water was absolutely gorgeous. 

That day, we set off on a mission to find Costas, Dad’s missing friend from 27 years ago. Last time he was in Porto-Heli, he became friends with Costas and he has talked about him so much on this trip. Of course, we didn’t know if he was living in the same house, or even if he was still alive, but we hoped we could find him. Dad steered the car along a long road which wrapped around the bay. He said it wasn’t far from there. We eventually reached an over-grown-looking restaurant, seemingly abandoned. We all worried that Costas would not be there, but when Dad disappeared into the house for a long time, we figured that he had found someone. Mom, Raisa, and I soon were invited to the rooftop terrace to meet Costas, whom we had heard so much about. He didn’t know much English at all, but it didn’t matter. Earlier, Dad had communicated with him through, Matina, his sister. We were interested in meeting her, too, but she had awful arthritis and was bed-bound. I took a sweet photo of Costas and Dad on the rooftop terrace before we left, and Costas, glad to see us, gave us a bag of traditional Greek cookies. I was really glad that Dad got to see his old friend again, maybe for the last time.

The rest of our trip to the Peloponnese is very small and quick so I will just sum it up for you now. We drove all the way to Ipadarus to see the monumental Greek theatre. It was very great and the view was beautiful. Some people even came onto the stage and performed. The rest of that day was spent driving until we reached a town seated just below Old Corinth. There, we stayed at a small campground, overrun by German high school students, but managed to enjoy our first authentic Greek meal on the water. The next day, was Dad’s 50th birthday! We went to see Old Corinth, then took a quick drive over to Athens, where we checked into our awesome Airbnb. 

Of course, Athens is not in the Peloponnese, so that’s where our summary ends. Next, I will tell you about all the great things we did in Athens. For Dad’s 50th birthday, we went to a great bakery and walked around the tourist-y part of Athens near the Pantheon. The woman at the bakery was so nice to us. She always smiled and gave us extra sweets for free. The quality of the pastries was perfect and we bought from them every single day. While walking around Athens, we managed to get a bag for Raisa, which she has needed for ages. The best part of the day, though, was walking up the hill a bit to eat dinner. We chose the perfect spot, too, a rooftop terrace. It was incredibly beautiful there and the food was delicious. We sat there and talked, even after we had finished our food. The view was awesome because you were able to see both the city of Athens and the Acropolis. As it got dark, we ordered two plates of traditional deserts. It was probably one of the best things I have had on this trip. It had baklava and various cakes, but even better were the lukomades. The were absolutely sublime, cooked so perfectly. It was definitely a good night. 

The rest of the time we spent in Athens consisted of Dad working on some dictations which he had to finish up from his job back home, and the rest of us watching episodes of Wonder Woman at 3:00 in the afternoon. This is what unlimited wi-fi can do to you. We did a bit of shopping and sightseeing, though. We mainly needed to shop for more conservative clothes for our trip to the Middle East, but more specifically Iran. The nice thing, though, is that even in those countries, the cities are more liberal so you do have some freedom. 

Our sightseeing was limited, but we had to visit the Acropolis. It is so busy there! It kind of worries me because the world is becoming much too touristic. I feel like people have lost respect for the beauty of the world, and instead become obsessed with selfies. Okay. I will admit it. I have taken a few selfies. Okay, more that a few selfies, maybe 100 selfies. Fine, more like a few thousand selfies. But it’s not an obsession. I am respectful with my selfie-taking. I do not climb on monuments to take my selfies. I do not take selfies with random children (weird…). I do not own a selfie stick, nor do I wish to unless I could use it to whack people around with. But the most important thing is that I do not do Duck Face. If you really want to do the Duck Face, just move to Oregon, you’ll like it there. Trust me. The whole selfie-taking culture is definitely bizarre.

Back to my earlier point… I wish that the world was more undiscovered and calm. I loved seeing the Acropolis, but it got me thinking that I wanted to skip all the monuments and spend some time hot air ballooning, swimming on remote beaches and climbing mountains above 4,000m. I am not going to give you a review of the Acropolis because I figure there are so many people willing to do that for you and there are better things to do in the world. An example might be swimming in the turquoise L’Esteron river in the Maritime Alps with a Roman bridge built over the canyon. There will be no one there, so simple and timeless. So I would probably like the touristic monuments better if they were less crowded and more authentic. 

I think I am going to end my blog post here. Athens was fun, but after that we did something even better after leaving Greece: We climbed Mt. Olympus. It was an awesome experience and it has totally set my mind on hiking and mountain climbing. Dad and I have decided to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro this January. We also are going to climb Mt. Roraima, one of the tepuis of Venezuela. We will do even more! I thought that the Mt. Olympus experience was so great, it needed its own blog. See you in a few days.
-Sophia.

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