In the Shadow of Mt. Olympus - My Trip to Paralia, Greece

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I took an UNMIK tour to Paralia, Greece. The bus trip over was not too long and I met three young women who I wound up spending quite a bit of time with over the weekend. We became travel buddies!

We stayed in a hotel right on the Aegean sea. Waking up in the morning and going to the breakfast buffet where we then ate at little tables right on the beach was amazing. Breakfast was pretty good too. After breakfast, I took off my shoes and waded into the water. It was too cold to swim, but I enjoyed Skyping with my parents from the Aegean sea so much that I woke them up to do it. It felt amazing being able to share that experience with them.

Me and my new friends decided to go to Holy Meteora, a collection of monastaries perched on this absolutely unreal cliffs. It looked like the floating cliffs from Avatar, except they were firmly rooted to the ground. Absolutely beautiful. We also saw the Olympus mountain range while driving through Greece. One of the peaks was Olympus, but I was never exactly sure which one.

We then went to the best seafood restaurant I've ever been to, and I'm including seafood in Japan. The octopus was absolutely divine. The Greeks can cook octopus, no question. It was so fun eating with my friends because we got to order a whole bunch of options and share. I tried some tsipouro, which is like ouzo but without as strong of a licorice taste.

The next day, we went to Katerina, a nearby larger down, for lunch and then a stroll. We ate at another excellent seafood restaurant and enjoyed the sights. After a few hours we returned to Paralia and it was time to go back. I felt like I could have spent weeks relaxing by the sea and eating the octopus and drinking tsipouro. I really want to go back!

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