Our First Day in Dublin, Ireland 10-6-08

When I arrived back to America, I decided not to finish my blog since it was so far behind, and I could just tell people about the trip. Well, that's a lie. There is no way I can express to a million people a day how amazing this trip was for me. Because of this and the overwhelming amount of people asking me about my blog, I have decided to complete it. No matter how long it takes me. (fingers crossed) I will be pretending I am actually on the trip and writing about my day through these.

You will never believe where I slept last night. In fact, a few weeks ago, I would have never believed someone if they told me I would have to sleep here. As a poor college student, I had to get out of my comfort zone. Our flight in the morning was supposed to leave at like 8 a.m. or something, meaning we had to be at the airport around 6. Due to the lack of transportation from Verviers to Brussels this early in the morning, we had to leave home the night before. If we were going to get any sleep at all, we had to rough it on the floor... in the airport... and hope that our stuff and more importantly, ourselves, made it through the night. This is not the best part, though. The floor was ice cold and who knows what is unseen waiting for an innocent victim. Casey, one of the girls with us, and I had the bright idea of sleeping in these plastic bins nearby. When they stacked together, they gave just enough cushion to be better than the concrete. The problem was how small they were. We didn't completely fit in them, but it was better than nothing. I assume you have guessed what these bins were by now. Yes, we slept in the same bins that take a stroll through radioactive x-ray machines multiple times a day.

We didn't really have many plans for today in Dublin. We just wanted to get a feel of the city and see how the locals spend there time, basically. That night we met up with some of our friends who also were in Dublin. (We are on free travel at this point. I am traveling with my friends Haylee, Alisha, and Megan for the next two weeks.) Our goal was to eat at Weyland's Pub where "P.S. I Love You" was filmed. There was a fee to get in, and we weren't sure what that meant. Instead we ran into a guy named Barry (which is pronounced "Bar (as in the place where you drink) - ee). It's Irish. We talked for a while, and he asked us if we wanted to go eat with him. We hesitated, but there was only one of him and eight of us. Plus, one thing the students who came last year suggested was to get to know the locals. He took us to a restaraunt that ended up being really good. There was a band playing right in front of us, too!
Sleeping in the bins. We actually weren't asleep yet.

Free Day #2 in Athens (9-28-08)

The School of Athens and me and Abbe

The Olympic Pool

We enjoyed the beach so much that we wanted to go again today. The only problem was the weather. It ended up being fine. We went to see the School of Athens where Socrates taught Plato who taught Aristotle who taught Alexander the Great. We also went to the Library of Athens. I wanted to go in both of these so bad, but it is not permitted. When we left this area, we went to the 2004 Olympic Stadium. We saw the pool that Michael Phelps swam in! This area believe it of not is pretty much abandoned. Athens spent so much money to build all these stadiums, but only like 1/7 of the amount of people they expected came. They cannot afford to keep them up and pay off their debt. This means there are brand new stadiums all over Athens with no purpose but to sit. The one we went to was probably more kept up than normal, because Madonna had a concert there the night before.

Free Day #1 in Athens (9-27-08)

Before leaving Greece, we were given 2 free days to see everything else we had not gotten to see yet. The first day, Abbe, Sam, Tori, Bailey, and I decided to hit the beach. We figured it was our last chance to get a tan this year. Well a tan was not all I got. We had to take a bus from our hotel to the beach. There was just one problem. We had no idea how to pay. There was supposed to be a place beside the stop where we could buy tickets, but we never found it. We hopped on about 4 different buses without paying for them. I don't even want to think what would happen if we had gotten caught. On the bus we passed a lot of beaches. We were not sure which one to get off at, but lucky for us. There was a woman in front of us who had on a cover-up, flip flops, and a big bag. Jokingly I said, "Hey, let's follow her!" I spoke too soon. Next thing we knew, she was screaming at the man beside her. It was all Greek to me. Then she started hitting him and his bag. Instead of hitting her back, he just walked to the back of the bus to avoid the situation. None of us knew what was going on. I was mildly freaking out, thinking to myself, "We are in close coriders on a moving vehicle. What if she pulls out a gun?!" What happened next, I couldn't believe. She started walking towards me! My heart started racing. Then I realized, "Alex, you're stupid. You're standing by the door. Her stop is coming up." Well that's a joke. Apparently the 3 foot space in between her and I was not enough for her to fit through. She starts screaming at me, and then... She slapped my bare arm!!! The same anger raged in me that I would get years ago when Warren would hit me. I wanted to hit her back so bad. I had to use a great deal of self-control. What was mainly stopping me was that I sure was scared what would happen if I did hit her back. Lucky for us, her stop really was the next one. When we got off a few stops later, I had a red hand print on my arm. Go figure. When we finally got to the beach, we had a nice relaxing day. I needed it after that adventurous bus ride.

Delphi (9-26-08)

The navel of the universe.

The ancient olympic track.

Today we went to Delphi which is the center of the ancient world, according to Zeus. Zeus wanted to know where the center of the world was so he let out two birds. Where they met must have been the center. He called it the navel of the universe, or Delphi. There is a rock here that is supposed to represent the navel. Apparently outis were more common then, because that is what this rock looks like. We climbed a mountain to see the ancient city. We got to see the Sanctuary of Apollo, the Treasury of the Athenians, and an ancient track probably used in the ancient Olympics. We went to an Archaeological Museum.



For lunch we had a cheese-egg pastry for an appetiser, chicken kabobs, rice, salad, and baklava. It was amazing!

Athens (9-23-08)

I did not realize I skipped this one until I just now so that's why these are out of order.

This morning we walked up to the Acropolis. We got to see the Parthenon! We also saw this olive tree that was "planted by Athena." Whatever. There was a competition between Athena and Poseidon to find out what the people were going to name their city. Athena planted an olive tree and Poseidon gave them water. The people voted. There was one more woman than men. The vote was biased, and Athena won. The women never got to vote again. Anyways, this is why Athens is called Athens.

When we left, we went to Mars Hill. This is where Paul spoke to the Athenians in Acts 17. Dr. Johnson read this passage while we were up there. It has a whole other meaning to me now.

Corinth, Mycenae, and Epidaurus (9-25-08)

The Bema. Paul was tried right here in front of it.

The Epidaurus Theatre

This morning on our way to Corinth, we stopped to see the Corinthian Canal. It was sooo deep.

I really expected more in Corinth, but all we saw was ruins. These were really neat ruins, because Paul walked here. He came to this market. We stood in front of the Bema. This was the seat of Gallio who and where Paul was brought to be tried in Acts 18. How cool is that! I stood where I know for sure Paul stood!

In Mycenae we visited the prehistoric citadel fortified by walls supposedly built by Cyclopes. This is where we saw the famous Lioness Gate. We saw more ruins here. The best part about this one is that we had the opportunity to hike up a huge hill. Yes! In real life though, it was a very beautiful view.

Epidaurus was my all time favorite part. Here we went to the best-preserved ancient theatre in all of Greece. It is famous for it's acoustics. It can hold 12,000 people. We sat on the top row, and we could hear our tour guide drop coins down in the bottom. Casey, Lauren, Elise, and Haylee Wheeler sang "It is Well." The acoustics were amazing. It was so beautiful. To make it better, they all have amazing voices. They are all a part or have been a part of Freed's chorus group. Later we all went down and sang "The Greatest Commands." It was the most beautiful singing I have ever heard. I know we touched people, because I could read it all over a couple's faces that were watching us. A random lady even videoed us a little bit.

Sometime during the day, we had an amazing lunch. We had a lasagna souffle for an appetizer, salad, lamb and potatoes for a main course, and ice cream for dessert. Mmm...

Grecian Cruise (9-24-08)

Today was my favorite day in Greece. We spent basically the whole day on a boat while we traveled to three different islands: Poros, Hydra, and Aegina respectively. This is how I viewed Greece before I got here. I thought it would all be like Greece in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I sure was wrong. These islands were so cute with their white and blue buildings and all the donkeys just waiting to carry you up the hill. Going to the islands was not the best part, though. The best part was the cruise around. For starters, we got a meal! And we got to eat first. That was awesome, because the people in Greece eat a late lunch. When I say late lunch, I mean that our tour guide would look at us like we were crazy when we asked, "How much longer 'til lunch? It's past 1:00!" That is still not the best part. Here it is. Are you ready for this?... We learned how to Greek dance! It was so much fun! After we were taught how, a man and two women came out and did a whole show for us. They were so good. I loved it!