It’s not what you know, it’s who you know that makes the experience and unforgettable memories

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Hola Everyone!

So I just returned from my vacation in Greece (9/29-10/6) with Kendra and it was truly a dream. Though we had a bit of an early flight schedule, it was nice to still have the entire day to spend when we arrived in Athens. We were lucky in the case that Kendra had family friends, Stamatis and Katrina, in Athens who were generous enough to provide accommodation, and help us plan out the hot spots to visit. We went to the National Archeological Museum of Greece, where I totally fell in love with the art history and mythology. The artistic design of the mythological gods made them seem more like they were a reality in Greece’s past time. We spent all day Sunday getting to know the city and visiting with Stamatis and Katrina. They introduced Kendra and me to a new found favorite food: Souvlaki! It’s like fast food there, a thick hot pita, with shish-cabob veggies: peppers, onions, Mediterranean tomatoes, and pork. SO GOOD.
Whitney- you know how you recommended going to the Greek island Santorini and how it was your dream vacation? We totally a wonderful 4 days there! Apparently Stamatis and Katrina have a family friend, Sofia, in Santorini, soooo off on the boat we went! Sofia, a welcoming, spiritual, and free willed newly acquainted friend, took us for explorations around the island where we were able to experience Santorini on a more cultural basis and from a less touristy perspective.

We traveled all over Santorini, land covered in vineyards, small white and blue villages, and coasts of black sand. We visited 5 vineyards and learned all day about wine, the history, the making, and the tasty details. Kendra and I watched sunsets from a different piece of the island every night. Our favorite was while we swam in the Aegean Sea by the volcanic black rocks, and how the fiery sun colored the sky and streaked the deep blue water. UH!

The small apartment Kendra and I had the privilege of living in viewed the ‘Caldera’, a sunken volcano and what used to be the center of the city until it sank from an eruption in 1000 B.C. We were able to see the inner crescent of the island and how the sun peaked over in the morning and how it colored the white dome houses in the early evening. Our terries was probably our favorite part to wake up to in the morning, but apparently other people loved it as well when Kendra and I woke up one morning to Asian tourists on our porch taking photos, so Kendra popped out to say good morning in her PJ’s. -I will never forget how hard we laughed after this little acquaintance.

Santorini is known to have great restaurants and their specialties in seafood and wine, thus, evenings out to dine were filled with new and rich flavors our tast buds will never forget. In the evenings we dined at restaurant terraces viewing the coast of the island eating mussels, octopus, baked sardines, shrimp, and other seafood and famous Greek dishes, which almost always included feta cheese . (Yea, seafood to the max, I ate and loved! How crazy!) And of course white wine with every meal :D

When we returned back to Athens we spent our last two days of our vacation visiting the mythological ruins atop of the acropolis and around the city, and of course the Olympic stadium. Kendra had an old high school buddy studying there with the St. Johns St. Ben’s program, so we all met up in the evenings to go out to dinner and hit up some clubs. It was so much fun to go clubbing with people our age and from the U.S. I suppose I might visit them more when I go back to the states, -Matt, I’ll be sure to stop by and embarrass you or something 😉

Thanks to Kendra for planning a bit of celebration, my birthday this past weekend was great. I spent the night out and about with many friends from the Segovia program eating tapas, dancing like rock stars, and doing the whole 21st birthday dealio. -My first happy birthday song was sung to me by a bachelor party. HA! Everything was in moderation other than the friendships; those extremes made the memories.
I have too many stories to write, so I guess we’ll just have to have long visits when I return. Thank you for all the birthday wishes, take care, I miss you ALL!

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· Peace
, ', _ Love
· ' __ Happiness
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· ', / -Luv Breez

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