Hello all,
If you recall from the previous blog post, my Monday of this week was on that post, as it was a long weekend for those in Europe. On Tuesday, my class was just a lecture regarding greenhouses. On Wednesday morning, I was able to volunteer, and I worked on the dairy farm. This was my first opportunity to see the dairy production systems at Perrotis College. My experience with the dairy farm was honestly not that great. It was interesting to see dairy in another country, but unfortunately, it was upsetting to see that the standards of the United States dairy industry are not reciprocated elsewhere. Perrotis College dairy is well known in Greece for being the first to pasteurize milk for consumption. I am interested in continuing to learn more about their dairy farm and why it runs the way it does.
Wednesday afternoon, I was allowed for an awesome opportunity to surprise my mom and sister at the airport. They came to visit for a week, and I told them how to take a taxi to their Airbnb but ended up missing my class to surprise them at the airport. To see their faces light up and receive some fantastic hugs, it was incredible. For the rest of the week, I have been with them. I have been a poor student this past couple of days, skipping my classes, all except one. This week so far has been a thrill, and it’s not even done yet. On Wednesday, after finding our Airbnb and getting comfortable, we decided to walk around a little and then got a 360-degree view of Thessaloniki. This was stunning and provided a good opportunity to relax and see Thessaloniki from a different view. After some time and relaxing we decided to eat supper at the sea and then call it a night.
(a crappy video surprising mom and Cortlyn at the airport!)
On Thursday, we participated in a walking tour of Thessaloniki. I felt that this was important for my mom and sister as it gave them more information and background history on the monuments. We also did the White Tower tour to get more information and end on a breathtaking view of the city. Afterward, we decided to relieve our brains from all the information and went to take pictures at the umbrellas. For the rest of the day, we just walked around Thessaloniki and then went to see the sunset on the water, which was stunning.
(#1 first picture together at the waterfront #2 a mural found in Thessaloniki #3 mom touching the top of the White Tower #4 alleyway sign in Thessaloniki #5 a gravestone being reused for a retaining wall #6 a flower store on the street corner #7 & #8 & #9 pictures from the White Tower #10 & #11 Umbrella pictures #12 Sunset at the sea)
On Friday, we went to visit the inside of the Rotunda. The Rotunda has lots of history, and it was restored in its last state of being a church. There are beautiful murals all over the dome ceiling and the arches. It is breathtaking inside with all of the intricate details. Afterward, we headed to my campus. Here we toured the school and where I am spending most of my time in Greece. I also decided to take them to a very popular store, among the study abroad students, here called Jumbo. To give a small overview, it is like a Toys R Us plus Target + Ikea. We didn’t stop to look at anything and walked at a brisk pace through the store, and it still took around 15-20 minutes. Afterward, I decided to take them to explore Thermi, where we ate at BrunchBox, got some groceries that I needed, and then got some tasty Buffalo Ice Cream. I decided to go to my class that day, and afterward, we took a plane and then train to Brussels. On our plane, we were lucky enough to sit all together; this was probably really annoying for those around us because we were singing and laughing the whole ride. For some reason, we were singing as many nursery rhymes or camp songs that we could think of. Once we landed in Brussels, we had to take a bus and then a metro to get to our location. We ended up getting in late and decided to go to bed and explore the next day.
On Saturday, we participated in a walking tour. These are by far some of my favorite tours because they are tip-based; therefore, the tour guides have to work for their money, and they are excellent. The tours allow for sightseeing of all the essential sights within a couple of hours. Another favorite reason I love the tours is that it also does not include any planning on my end. During the tour, we visited the Grand Place, Mannekin Pis, the Palace, and much more. I enjoy seeing just intricate, architecturally built buildings. It always amazes me the different styles of buildings showing the different eras they were built in. After the tour, we were able to snag some yummy waffles. We then discovered more of Brussels afterward, with a highlight being the St. Nicolas Church and Jeanneke Pis. We also were able to find some fries called “frits” in Belgium. A quick fact, french fries are not actually from France. French fries were discovered in Belgium during a war. When the soldiers were eating them, the question was asked, “Where are we?” and they were unsure but could hear people talking in French; therefore, they thought they were in France, hence the name. We ended Saturday, on a train headed to Paris, France. Once again, we arrived relatively late, so we just found our Airbnb and went to bed.
(#1 & #2 Grand Place #3 Mannekin Pis; he was dressed up for a folklore event #4 the Palace #5 Jeanneke Pis #6 Fritz #7 Grand Place at night)
On Sunday, we discovered Paris. Of course, we started the morning with crepes and coffee, followed by the Eiffel Tower. We decided not to visit the top of the Eiffel Tower because of the long lines. It was stunning to see in person, and we were lucky enough to be up early enough to see it without lots of people around. My favorite view was at night when it sparkles for a few minutes on the top of the hour; unfortunately, I was not able to get a video of it. After the Eiffel Tower, we decided to visit Arc de Triumph; here, we decided to take the stairs to the top to see the stunning view of Paris. Unfortunately, the weather was poor, it was really rainy and windy, but it leads to some beautiful pictures of the sights. After our own small little tour, we decided to participate in another walking tour. This one was probably close to my favorite because it showed us around medieval Paris, an area I probably would not have seen without guidance. The tour led us around some beautiful views, and also took us to the famous Notre Dame, the Love Lock Bridge, and the Louvre. After this tour, we decided to head back towards the Airbnb to get some dry socks and warm up a little. Later that night, we did a night tour of Paris by segway. At first, this was a bit terrifying, but quickly we learned how to ride segways and had lots of fun. We traveled around Paris at a quick pace, and it was just a lot of fun. Afterward, we decided to call it an early-ish night and head to bed as we had to be up really early the next morning for our next adventures!
(#1 Picture with Eiffel Tower #2 Crepe and Coffee #3 Eiffel Tower #4 & 5 Picture from the top of Arc de Triumph #6 Arc de Triumph #7 Place of Saint Michel #8 Oldest trees and oldest church in Paris #9 Notre Dame #10 Locks on the bridge #11 Segway tour)
Overall this past week has been a ton of fun and has allowed me to spend time with my loved ones. To be completely honest, I have cried multiple times due to an overwhelming feeling of joy along with sadness, knowing that they will be leaving again soon. But for now, I try to live in the moment and enjoy every second with them.
- With Love, Cambrie
(EDITORS NOTE: I am behind on uploading pictures to my photography page. After Wednesday, it will be a top priority of mine to start uploading and adding captions to the photos.)
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