Istanbul!

This past weekend I traveled to Istanbul. I knew it would be much different than the other European countries I've been to, but I ended up falling in love with the city. The mosque's were absolutely breathtaking. Ever since I took an Art History course my freshman year at UofI I had been dreaming of seeing Hagia Sophia. Luckily for me, this dream has been reached! This weekend was also the first time staying at a hostel. Everyone there was super friendly and welcoming. Plus, you meet the most incredible and fascinating people. There was this one 28 year old man, who decided to quit his job for a year or two and travel. Turkey was his 40th country!!! I've realized just how important traveling. How can you truly appreciate where you're from if you don't explore and learn about other cultures and cities? I would love to take a year off after grad school and travel...time to start saving up now!
During our trip we saw all the major mosques, the Basilica Cistern, Topkapi, visited a hookah bar, did a Turkish bath, the Grand Bazaar (so dangerous for wallets!) and lots of eating and exploring. All of these were really great.
I had been warned by several people that since Turkey is a Muslim country I may be taken aback from their culture. However, the only major difference that I noticed was how few women were outside. It was usually men walking around or out to dinner. The people at our hostel said Istanbul was a liberal city in Turkey, so the more east we would go the more Muslim it would appear.
Overall, I loved this city and had a great first experience in Turkey. Hopefully i'll get the chance to go back one day!

 Jen, Kat and I

 Turkish Delight, so good!!

 The Grand Bazaar

 At Hagia Sophia

 The Basilica Cistern

 The Blue Mosque

Outside Hagia Sophia

Off to Naples and Pompeii this weekend...it's a little tiring being a world traveler!! :)

Everyday life...

I have already been in Athens for 3 weeks, and I can't believe how fast it's going! I'm going on week 3 of classes, which in general are really great. My favorite class is my Greek philosophy class. The professor is this adorable old man who really knows how to capture the class's attention and make the most difficult concepts seem understandable.
On Friday for my Athens on Site class we went to Marathon, an old silver mine where children slaves used to work, the first Greek theater and to the Temple of Poseidon. My favorite was the Temple of Poseidon. It was at the very top of a hill that overlooked the water, it was stunning.
A lot of demonstrations/riots have been taking place in Athens. Thankfully, Pangrati (the neighborhood of Athens that I'm living in) is about 20 minutes away from where the riots take place. Unfortunately, the Acropolis shuts down when the riots take place, so I'm still waiting to officially go see it. :(

 Marathon

 First Greek theater

 Old silver mine where slave children would work

 Temple of Poseidon!

Friday I leave for Turkey for the weekend and am beyond excited...I'll be sure to post lots of pictures when I get back!! 

Weekend Trip to Nafplion

Thursday to Saturday February 4 I was in Nafplion, a small coastal city in the Peloponnese. It's a fairly short drive from Athens, so many Athenians come to this city during the weekends over the summer months. On our first day, we climbed up to the top of the Palamidi. The views here were magnificent. We spent several hours just walking around and exploring everything that the 17th c. castle had to offer. Once we descended back to the ground, we got gelato (the first of the two times that day, so good!!)and just walked around. There was a small stone path that was right next to the water and we spent the rest of the day walking around there. The next day we only had a few hours before we had to leave. We took a short boat ride to Bourtzi, a castle on a small island in Nafplion. It was really cool doing that, i'm glad I woke up extra early to fit it in!

Having my first trip while abroad was very exciting. This weekend really made me look forward to everywhere that I want to visit until May. We have a 4 day weekend at the very end of February and i'm hoping that I will be able to go to Turkey - the number one place I want to go while abroad!

Classes will be starting tomorrow, very bittersweet. I will be taking Greek, the Aegean in prehistory, Greek philosophy, Athens archaeology on site and Greek society. I think all of my classes will be very interesting, I just hope I won't have too much homework :)


Below are some pictures from this weekend. Cross your fingers that classes go over well tomorrow!!