Thursday, June 16, 2011

Πρέπει να εξασκήσω τα ελληνικά μου: I need to practice my Greek

Okay, stop the press. We actually got to sleep in today… until 9! It was a big deal. When we came downstairs, there was a small buffet consisting of various breads and traditional Greek yogurt and honey. I was skeptical at first, but I tried the combo and actually loved it! Nutritious and delicious… what’s not to love?! After breakfast, we had a short lesson on shutter speed, and then David and Carolyn released us freely onto the streets of Delphi. We were sent out to “explore.” This included taking pictures for 30 minutes before resorting to shopping for the next hour. This is an all-girls group, after all. Maddie, Stephanie and I stopped in one jewelry shop, and I ended up buying three Greek coins to hang on chains for necklaces. I thought they happened to be the perfect souvenirs! I also did a little shopping for friends and fam. These are just a couple shots of us enjoying our little bit of freedom:

After shopping, we met back at Hotel Kouros and split into groups again for lunch. Stephanie, Maddie, Rachel, Erin, Holly and I went to an unpopulated restaurant and sat outside on the porch, overlooking the valley, surrounding villages, and the Gulf of Corinth. What a breath-taking view! I ordered the Gyro and was surprised to see that it was nothing like the ones in the US. It carried the same basic concept of meat, tomato, onions, and yogurt sauce, but rather than these ingredients being accompanied by a piece of pita bread to wrap them all up in, they came on a plate in piles. However, it was just as delicious as I had anticipated, if not more! Here’s us with our waiter, the only other person in the restaurant:

When we arrived at the hotel after lunch, we were given the opportunity to upload pictures, blog (which I’m very behind on), etc. and then we headed over to some ancient Greek ruins and corresponding museum for a tour. Our tour guide was easy to listen to because she herself was so interested in what she was saying, teaching us of Greek mythology and how each piece of art relates to one story or another. Maddie was also very interested in what she was saying:

After doing a quick walk-through of the museum, she led us outside where we walked up and through the ruins. We all stopped for icees and chugged them before entering, laughing and shrieking as we all experienced excruciating brain freezes… rough life. When we reached the top, though, our eyes lit up at yet another gorgeous view! I was especially fascinated by a caterpillar I found perched on some nearby flowers. Take a look-see:

By the time we reached level ground again, the group had reconvened and decided to stop for dinner. We literally chose the first restaurant we came upon, but it ended up being quite the catch! I ordered lamb with lemon sauce and was more than pleased with my choice; it was finger-licking good! However, we put off dessert. When we returned to the hotel, word spread like wild fire that we were hosting a toga party as a surprise for Abby’s 16th birthday. We each grabbed a sheet off of our beds, wrapped ourselves up in it in a toga-esque fashion, and met on the roof. We took pictures, ate cake, and ended up watching Mamma Mia until a man who works at the hotel came and told us it was time to leave… oops? Haha regardless, though, it was a blast! Happy birthday, Abbs! Yasas y'all!

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