Hello to anyone still reading this blog! I am sorry that it took me so long to finish documenting my trip, but the end of school and then coming home to the US really took up a lot of my time! I am so happy to be home! I finally arrived in Minot on June 16th. It seems like it was just yesterday. Time goes too quickly! Before I tell you more about home, I will finish up my Greece adventure.
When I left off, I had just come back from Santorini and was looking forward to the visit of my Mom and Grandma. I was wrapped up in saying goodbye to some of my friends leaving early and trying to finish up school when they finally arrived. They had the same trouble I did at London’s Gatwick airport so they were late and missed a whole day in Greece. In the end, it did not matter. Seeing them for the first time in months made everything worth it! I picked them up at the airport and got them to their hotel: The Holiday Inn Thessaloniki. They got about 4-5 hours of sleep before I woke them up the next morning to start showing them around Thessaloniki.
We went everywhere from the open market to Aristotle Square to campus. I took them to my neighborhood and my apartment later. They thought my apartment would be bigger, so did I!! That evening we went to our favorite taverna for dinner. I think that the owner knew that we had special guests along because it was the best taverna dinner we ever had. We had pastitiso, souvlaki and tzatziki! The food was the best it had ever been and the whole evening turned out perfect. It was a great last visit to the taverna. I already miss it!!
After dinner, we all went our separate ways and went to sleep. We had to get up the next morning and leave for Thassos Island! It is the northern most Greek island and happened to only be about 2 hours away from Thessaloniki. We took a bus and then a ferry to get to the island. When we arrived, Grandma can tell you how pleasant the wait for a cab was. We were stuck waiting with a very loud Greek woman who really made our day. She was just a treat to be around, especially when she stole our cab. I believe Grandma was not so impressed with her. She actually said, “If that woman tries to take our cab, I will wrestle her to the ground.” She got the cab and Grandma did no wrestling. I was disappointed. My money was on Grandma!
We finally got a cab and arrived at our hotel. We decided to immediately change and get to the beach. Mom and I got changed and then it was Grandma’s turn. As you can probably guess, this is where the problems started happening! Our bathroom door did not shut correctly and Grandma pushed it shut as hard as she could. She changed and when it was time to come out of the bathroom, she discovered that she had in fact locked herself inside! Well, thirty minutes and four hotel staff later Grandma was free! I personally was laughing the whole time. Grandma may have felt differently!
We finally made it to the beach without Grandma locking herself in anymore rooms! It was a beautiful day and we found a great spot. We ordered some drinks and took in the Greek sunshine. It would have been a perfect day except for all the bees! They were swarming us and our drinks! It was awful. Thank goodness Mom is not afraid of them, so she protected Grandma and I as we pretty much freaked out when they got close! She is a superwoman!
After the beach, we walked through the touristy area of Thassos City. I wish I would have had more money because they had amazing jewelry everywhere! It was all beautiful! After a lot of window shopping, we went and sat by the hotel pool. After we enjoyed a little bit more time in the sun, we got ready for dinner. We changed clothes and walked along the water until we found a place we wanted to eat. As we were walking, Mom saw a bunch of tables with red table clothes that really caught her eye. She picked a good one! The staff was so nice and the food was great! Grandma decided she wanted to try the Greek liquor called Ouzo. She ordered a glass and shared a sip with Mom. They both really enjoyed the flavor. It tastes a lot like black licorice. Before we knew it, our server brought out three shots on the house! There is nothing like taking Ouzo shots with your Mom and Grandma in Greece. Another moment I will never forget on my journey!
After dinner we did a little more shopping and then stopped for ice cream. We sat along the water and enjoyed the evening. It was a lovely night, but eventually we had to get some sleep. We woke up at about 10am the next morning and started getting ready to go to the beach again. We needed to check out of the hotel before we left and Grandma ran back into the room for one minute while we were waiting. All of a sudden Mom and I looked at each other because we heard someone yelling “Tracey,” down the hall. After some investigation, we realized that Grandma had once more locked herself inside our room. The lock jammed and she could not get out! We had to call the hotel staff again to free Grandma. She obviously can not be left alone!
We soaked in the sun for a couple more hours and then made our way back to ferry. After the ferry, we had to take a cab back to the bus station. I was so tired, I started dozing off in the front seat, but Grandma and Mom were terrified of our cab driver. He was a pretty crazy driver, but I had just grown accustomed to the Greek way of driving. They are insane drivers! After our cab ride, we had to wait at the bus station for our bus back to Thessaloniki. Before we got on the bus, we thought it was a good idea to use the bathroom. The bathrooms were another thing I had become familiar with, but Mom and Grandma could not believe it! The bus station bathrooms were nothing more than a hole in the ground!! Mom decided not to use them, but Grandma had an interesting experience with them! Let’s just say she ended up with washed feet!
When we got back to Thessaloniki, we decided that we should try something new for dinner. We skipped the Greek food and went to an Indian restaurant that my friends and I had just discovered. It was Mom’s first taste of Indian food and only my second. We all loved our dinner and had a wonderful meal in this little hole in the wall restaurant. Our time was cut short when one of my roommates called and said that he was leaving for Athens in 20 minutes and I had to say my good-byes. I ran the 4 blocks to my apartment and told Demetri good-bye. I was very sad to see him leave us, but he gave me his backgammon board as a memento. I have it in my living room right now, waiting to find someone to play me!
The next day we woke up and just enjoyed the city. We met the girls at our favorite Sunday afternoon gyro place, “The Best.” It is literally called “The Best.” We went there every Sunday, and this was to be our last visit. It was fun to bring Mom and Grandma to see the places that we had come to love! After lunch we had to say good-bye to the first girl, Brandy. The girls finally had to split up. When all the tears were done, I took Mom and Grandma to the city’s most famous church, St. Demetrius. It was more beautiful that day than it had ever been. There was a Greek Orthodox baptism going on when we visited. It was interesting to see how the Greeks performed baptisms. They actually dunk the child’s whole body into the water. They even have professional photographers present. It was a very cool thing to see.
After the church, we walked down to the harbor and walked along until we found a place to sit and relax. We got some coffee and dessert and just enjoyed their last day in Thessaloniki. We bought some souvenirs and then headed back to my apartment for a while. We decided to go up to the old city and have a nice dinner on their last night. We met the rest of the girls at a café that looked out over the whole city. It was beautiful. When dinner was over we walked downtown and had crepes. I had waited the whole semester to try a crepe and it was worth it! Mom and I shared a peanut butter and chocolate crepe. It was delicious! I am almost glad I waited. If I would have tried one earlier, I probably would have eaten one everyday. I said good-bye to Mom and Grandma for the night and the girls and I walked down to the water. There was a street market open full of fake designer glasses, purses and jewelry. I was glad I did not have any money with me; I did not need one more purse to take home.
I went back to my apartment and finished up packing. I had to move to a different apartment building for my last 3 days in Greece. I woke up early in the morning and had to say my good-bye to Kara. It was tough but we did it! After that I met Mom and Grandma at the Holiday Inn to have breakfast. Then we walked downtown to finish up some shopping that needed to get done! They were forcing me to pick out clothes at my favorite store! It was brutal but I managed to pick out a great dress and shirt. They are so mean!! We made it back to the hotel and it was finally time to say good-bye. It was hard to say bye to them even though I knew I would be seeing them in a few days. I had just been so homesick that those 4 days seemed like 4 weeks! It was hard, but I left them at the Holiday Inn and returned to my apartment for the last time. I was packed and ready to move to my temporary apartment.
While Sarah and I were waiting for our ride across town, we went to get some lunch down the street. I usually would have left my phone at the apartment, but I brought it with me this time. I am glad that I did! Kara called me from the airport. Olympic Airways had messed up her flights and she had to stay one more night. That was alright with Sarah and me because we were not ready to say bye to her yet! We spent one more night together in Thess and then Kara had to leave. After she left in the morning, Sarah and I spent her last day wandering around downtown. It was our favorite part of the city and she wanted to see it one last time! When we got back to the new apartment, we walked to Goody’s for dinner. Goody’s is Greece’s most popular fast food restaurant. We usually skipped the veggie burgers and octopus and had club sandwiches. They were my favorite. Maybe because it was a little taste of home! Sarah and I watched a movie and then went to bed. She had to leave early in the morning and I had one day left.
I woke up to help Sarah into a cab and then I got up to spend my last day in Greece. I took a bus downtown and walked through the streets by myself. I tried my best to see everything and remember everything all in one day! I went to my favorite places and into my favorite stores. I ate my favorite foods and tried to think of my favorite memories from Greece. I climbed up to the old city and wrote in my journal. It was a very emotional visit to the old city. I was there alone and it was sad. I was thinking about how much I loved Greece and how much I was going to miss Greece. I thought about the people I had met and how much they all meant to me. It was tough. I knew I had to leave sometime, and when the random Greek man would not stop bothering me about American basketball, I knew it was time. I took the long way back to my apartment and watched movies until I could actually fall asleep.
I woke up early in the morning and got all my things together and called a taxi. I arrived at the airport very early for my flight! I just could not wait to start my journey back to North Dakota!! My flight to London went very well and I found my hotel room with no problem. I settled in and had afternoon tea in my room. I just relaxed and tried to get some rest before the rest of my trip home. I went to the hotel restaurant and ate a nice dinner by myself and then spent the rest of my night watching the crazy English television. I went to bed early and got up early to make my flight back to the US! I showed up early for that flight too! I did not want to risk missing anything! My 7 hour flight to Cleveland went much faster than I expected and before I knew it, I was back in AMERICA!! I called home immediately! I could not contain my excitement! Everyone around me was speaking English! It was a great feeling!
I went straight to my gate and waited for my next flight! Before I knew it, I was in Minneapolis! I found my way to baggage claim and met my cousin Jen! She was picking me up and taking me to the train station. We had time to kill so she took me out to eat before I had to catch my train. We went to a little Mexican restaurant for dinner. I had missed Mexican food like crazy while I was gone, so that was a great meal to come home too! We hung out at her apartment until it was time to get to the train station. I showed up a little late, which actually turned out to be good luck. The top level of the train was filled so I was forced to sit on the bottom. It is usually reserved for elderly and handicapped passengers. I had a whole huge row to myself! I slept almost the whole way back to Minot!
By the time the conductor announced that Minot was about 10 minutes away, I was already standing at the door! I could not wait to jump off the train and see my family and friends! As we were pulling into the station, I caught a glimpse of balloons attached to a car. I knew that was my family waiting for me! Finally seeing them again was one of the best feelings I have ever had! It was amazing! I had missed them all so much!! I was finally home! The stress of traveling and missing home was gone! I was in Minot! After my mini-homecoming party, we went out for breakfast. I had also missed American breakfast!! We did not have much time because Mom, Grandma, Janie and I had to drive to Mandan for my new cousin’s bridal shower! I was tired, but it was so nice to be around my family, and people who spoke English again!
So, that brings me to the present. I am home! I have been back in America for about one month now and it has been great! There are times when I think about Greece and get really sad, but overall, I am happy to be home! I am back at work, which is wonderful! I am not used to feeling broke, so that was really hard after coming back to North Dakota. I have seen all my friends again and am getting back into my old routine. I have talked to most of my roommates from Greece, but not enough! I miss them so much! It is crazy to think that there are people in the world you never know exist, and once you meet them, you could not imagine your life without them! My friendships are one of best things that I took from Greece. It was one of the most amazing times in my life and I will never forget it! Thanks Greece for all the memories!
I would just like to thank everyone for your support while I was away! It was so nice to know that there were people at home thinking about me and missing me! I was certainly thinking about all of you! I would also like to dedicate this blog to my most loyal reader: my uncle Jay! He woke up every morning at 5am and checked my website! Thank you Jay for being so interested in my travels! (You do not need to keep reminding me to write this with early morning phone calls anymore!) And thank you again to everyone who kept up with my journey! I am glad that I could share it with you! As they say in Greece, “Jia Sas!”
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