Howdy, guys! Long time, no see, huh?
As usual with me, I'm currently on a bus to the airport. This trip's destination is...Berlin, Germany! I'm solo traveling again, and am looking forward to visiting my ancestor's homeland and stuffing myself with as much schnitzel as possible. To address my absence, this past month in Athens has been absolutely insane. Most of my days have been spent in class (whether in an actual classroom, in the ancient Agora, or on the Acropolis) and then locked away in the computer lab writing research papers. Unfortunately, all my energy has gone into writing required assignments recently, not blogging about my experiences. But I can proudly say that my two term papers ("Harriet Boyd Hawes: Life and Archaeological Influence" and "A Scholarly Critique of Wolfgang Petersen's Troy," if you're interested) are now finished and about to be submitted once I arrive at the Athens airport. Now I only have to worry about writing another two papers, studying for two finals, and finishing journals about cultural activities...yay... However, amidst the insanity of writing what seems to be a thousand papers this semester, I've managed to do some pretty cool things. I actually visited two islands in two consecutive weekends: Crete and Santorini, both of which are in the Cyclades. The 5-day Crete trip was part of my study abroad program while my weekend in Santorini was strictly for pleasure. By far, Crete was my favorite place we visited as a class on this program. Beyond visiting many ancient sites, I got to ride on my first ever cruise ship to get to the island and I did one particular activity that really pushed me out of my comfort zone (details to come in my post dedicated to my time in Crete). This excursion was also generally much more relaxed than others have been; we spent much more time outside than cooped up in archaeological museums, which was very much appreciated. Santorini was also beyond amazing. I'd been wanting to visit this popular tourist destination known for its whitewashed houses, bright blue roofs, gorgeous sunsets, and black beaches (and its ties to Minoan civilization, if you're a Classics geek like me), ever since I first watched The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. One of the main characters in the movie, Lena, spends a summer in Santorini (in Oia, no less) visiting her Greek grandparents. She ends up meeting a very handsome Greek fisherman-university student and they fall in love. But more importantly, Lena gets to use a donkey as one mode of transportation around the island. Casual. So I finally got to live all of my Lena dreams (besides finding a great boy ha ha hilarious). There are so many exciting things I have to share about the trip. But for now, I'm off to visit my 7th country in 3 months. Look forward to upcoming posts about my time in Amsterdam, Vienna, Rome, Crete, Santorini, and Berlin, as well as seeing more photographs. Talk to you soon, Hannah
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Hannah BisbingStudent @ Penn State. Figure skater. Writer. Traveler. Coffee fanatic. Foodie. Semi-professional people watcher who recently returned home from backpacking around Europe. All photos taken by me, unless otherwise noted.
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