I'm home!!
It's been the most amazing few weeks! On June 6th, I returned to the US from 3 weeks abroad in Bulgaria and Greece! Now that I'm back home, I have an itch to get back on a plane and go somewhere else new.
I won't lie and say everything was perfect all of the time. I am a very anxious person a lot of the time, so it was a huge adjustment to travel abroad alone for the first time (alone as in with no one else from my family). I will say, though, I am glad I took this opportunity to study abroad. It's been something I have always wanted to do. In high school, I almost went abroad for all 4 years of college, but ultimately found a home in my home state.
We started in Sofia, Bulgaria, a city I had never even thought about traveling to. What's crazy is Sofia was my favorite stop on the trip. I wish my stomach wasn't full of nerves the entire time we were there because I would have loved it even more than I did. It's a place I never anticipated traveling to, and I already want to go back and explore more! The people we met there were pretty kind because they don't get very many tourists there (especially from America). The architecture and history in the area were really interesting; I had no idea how old the city really was!
After Sofia, we drove all the way to Ouranopolis in Halkidiki, a region of Northern Greece. It was a beautiful beach-side town with an interesting story. The city is the final stop many men make when taking pilgrimages to the Orthodox monasteries on Mount Athos. Because of this, there aren't a lot of women in the city. It was a little jarring but we got to hang out at the beach and explore this beautiful and historic area. There was even a bar that let us do karaoke 2 nights in a row (shout out Andy and his family)! We had amazing food, good memories, and plenty of hours spent swimming in the Aegean Sea.
From Ouranopolis, we went to Thessaloniki, where we spent the majority of the trip. I liked it there a lot. The city is huge, though, so I was a bit overwhelmed coming from a small coastal town right before. I will say, though, the food I ate there was probably some of the best I had. There was a restaurant right by our hotel that we went to 3 days out of the 8 we were there (shout out Favela Thessaloniki). Thessaloniki was such a cool city with lots of cool street art, museums, and lots and lots of cats. I love seeing the street cats around the city, they're well taken care of by the people of the city, too. People leave out treats and beds and water for the cats so they can eat and be comfortable at night. While we were in Thessaloniki, as part of the major project of my study abroad program, we were able to tour and taste from a local winery in the region called Ktima Gerovassiliou. It was such a beautiful winery! The vineyard was huge! It had so many varietals of grapes, including a strain of Greek grape that they brought back from near extinction. We learned how they make their wines, what makes the winery special, and the family history of the Gerovassiliou label. Thessaloniki was also filled with many a fun night out with new friends at rooftop bars, especially our favorite, Zeus is Loose. There is something magical about watching the sunset on top of a building that overlooks the whole city (old and new) while playing cards with people you didn't know 2 weeks ago. We also took a food tour and cooking class around the city, which was so much fun! We got to make foods we probably would never make at home with the help of a chef and food journalist local to the area. I come out of this trip a big fan of bougatsa, not so much a fan of Ouzo.
From Thessaloniki began the tail-end of our trip. We stopped in Delphi overnight on our way to Athens, which I wish we'd stayed a smidge longer in that little mountain town because it was so beautiful. It overlooks one of the largest olive groves in the world! Delphi was about the halfway point between Thessaloniki and Athens, so it made sense to stop there. Dinner was on a patio on the edge of a cliff (basically), and it was such a beautiful sunset over the valley. We were able to visit the Sanctuary of Apollo and see one of the most beautiful Greek theatres I have ever seen. Sidebar: if you know me, you know I studied theatre and theatre history in a past life, so I was so excited for all of these :).
As the days began to blur together, we were able to see some of the amazing monasteries in Meteora. There used to be 20-some monasteries and convents on these mountaintops, now there are 6 active ones left. These things are bonkers. They sit on the tops and sides of cliffs! And the architecture is a marvel. I'm not a religious person by any means, but I can appreciate a good old church in Europe, and these were so beautiful. The only negative from this part of the trip was having to wear a long skirt in the heat, as per the monastery rules. I bought a magnet from the gift shop (yes they had a gift shop), and they even sold cherries there. Those holy mountain Greek cherries might have been some of the best I have ever had in my life (my deepest apologies to the Rainier Cherry).
Athens, our last stop, was one of the coolest big cities I have been to. I love it when old cities (especially one of the oldest in the world) just have ruins or archaeological sites just in the middle of the sidewalk. Athens is so unique in the fact that there are ruins everywhere. I loved Athens. Normally, I am not the biggest fan of big cities or capital cities when I travel abroad, but I think Athens was such a positive experience for me that it was one of my favorite stops in the trip. God bless TikTok, on our first morning there, we had some of the best cinnamon rolls of my entire life from Ugly Rolls. A pistachio cinnamon roll and a freddo cappuccino for only 8 euros! I think some of the best food my friends and I had was in Greece. Though the best gyros I had were in Ouranopoli!
The Acropolis was a life-changing experience. Yes, I know everyone goes there, but with our tour guide, Ioannis, I feel like I was able to understand the site so much more. He gave us a lot of interesting information about more modern history, including World War II and the Nazis in Greece. Ioannis is one of the smartest individuals I have ever come across in my life. I learned a lot about Greece, Greek history, and life in the Balkans because of him. I want to learn more about him, though. He was a fascinating man.
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to talking about my trip. Loads of little moments shared between friends, meals I'll never forget, hundreds of thousands of steps taken, hundreds of miles traveled on a bus, and a heart so full I cannot wait for my next international adventure.
Take a peek at some select frames from my trip! They're roughly in chronological order, so refer to the text to guide your perusal!
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