"Ciao" from Italy!!!:)

On the plane... so excited!:)

Since Greece, does not have a Thanksgiving holiday, obviously, Janice and I celebrated our Fall Break by taking a trip to Italy. We had a blast and explored as much of the country as possible in one week. Here is what we accomplished...

Saturday, October 22

*Plane flight arrived in Rome at 3:30. We flew Ryanair and it was definitely a strange experience. Also, we were told that we were allowed 20 kilos for luggage, but when we got to the gate they changed it to 15 kilos... so we had to rearrange/repack at the counter. 

*Took a cab to dinner and got settled into The Vatican Vacation B&B. Despite the outside, it was very nice. 

* Went to dinner at La Florina... a traditional Italian restaurant were we enjoyed some Pizza, a Mediterranean Salad, and Gelato. We also meet a couple here that was vacationing and getting married in Capri the next day (they even asked if we could be their witnesses... haha).

Sunday, October 23

*Woke up and enjoyed a Cappuccino and Croissant. 

*Walked around the city and ended up touring the Castel de San Angelo where we had enjoyed a beautiful panorama of Rome... WOW!

The Vatican... a view from on top of Castel de San Angelo. It was amazing and since it was Sunday, Janice and I went to mass right after taking this picture. You can see all the people in front of the Vatican WOW!

This was when I was crowned "Princess United States"
in front of the Pantheon. 

*Then after seeing so many people at The Vatican, we decided to go and see all the excitement. It was Sunday so not only did we see mass, but also 3 Saints were being honored by the Pope.

*Met up with a girl named Aliki, whose mom works at our Greek school, and she showed us around a little bit of the city. We had lunch (Gnocchi with seafood and a cream sauce) together along with another one of her friends, Isabella. 

*Walked to The Rome Parliament building and accomplished The Mouth of Truth. Also saw Circus Maximus.

*Made a stop for gelato:)

*Saw a little bit more of the city including a few churches before grabbing a snack and heading back to our B&B. Such a great day!

Monday, October 24

*Wake up, breakfast, and headed to catch a tour group. This was funny because we could not find it so easily and we ended up having to run a little down the streets... it was frantic but fun.

*Meet up with our tour group to see The Vatican. It was GORGEOUS, and we got to see the Sistine Chapel, Raphael's 4 Rooms, The Popes Palace, The Room of Maps, and many other important art pieces. The actual St. Peters Basilica was closed at the last minute, so we had to miss it... but no worries, we went to mass at The Vatican the day before. I was a very happy girl. 

*Took a cab from The Vatican to the Colosseum to start our next tour. Sat in front and enjoyed some pasta and a panini while we waited for out next tour to start. 

This is my Gladiator picture inside the Colosseum.
This place was really magnificent!

The Trevi Fountain!!!

This is a group of Study Abroad students as well from different countries.
We all went on a tour together and then hung out for a little bit
at the Spanish steps. Great company!

Pizzaria Da Baffetto... very famous place and it had a
"Don't mess with Texas" sign on the front door.
We definitely had dinner here:)

*Met two other students, one from Canada, and another from Chicago, and then began our tour.

*Went through the Colosseum, The Arch of Constantine, The Roman Forum, The platform Mussolini is seen speaking from, The Trevi Fountain, the smallest Roman chapel, Piazza Navorna, The Fountain of the Four Rivers, and The Spanish Steps... the tour was definitely worth it!

*Topped off our day with a slice of "The Best Pizza in Rome" from the place called Pizzaria de Baffetto.

Tuesday, October 25

*Woke up early to catch out train to Florence. 

*Called my parents, grabbed a Cappuccino and enjoyed waiting for our train at the Termini Station. 

*Meet more students on the train that were very nice. Made it to Florence at around 12:45.

*Went to meet up with our tour group to Pisa. It is about a little over an hour away from Florence... but it was so worth the trip.

*Drove to Pisa, enjoying the Tuscan countryside and a storm of perfectly drizzling rain:)

*Conquered Pisa!

*Back to Florence where we went for dinner at a hole in the wall place... but they had some of the best Spaghetti I have ever eaten. Also met a family from Houston that sat right next to our table. 

*Went to see the statue of David... WOW... it was magnificent!


Wednesday, October 26
*More and More sightseeing in Florence!!!

Thursday, October 27

*Train ride from Florence to Venice.

*Arrive in Venice… oops they are having a strike (surprise, surprise) so we store our baggage and hit the city on foot. Thought I had left most of the strikes in Greece, but guess again... haha.

*Walked along Rialto Market visiting all the shops. Toured St. Marks Basilica (it was so amazing that it was built to honor St. Mark and commissioned my the Doge) and rode around on the water taxi (since they finally opened) to Lido.

Venice! I loved this picture and yes, most of the buildings looked like
this... loved the feel of this city!

Enjoying being around the Grand Canal!

We spotted an American Flag! God Bless the USA!

*Grabbed a cappuccino and found our hotel on Lido, it is a small island that is right next to Venice. While the hotel was a little walk away from the boat stop, it was AMAZING because it was not only really nice inside, but also was right next to the beach.

*We got dressed up and went down to the water to take fun pictures. Then walked back to the dock and took another water taxi to the Casino di Venezia.

*Went to the Casino… yes… that was quite and experience. We had heard it was something really neat to see, and it was, we were just majorly out of our element… and Janice won 10 euros, while I lost 10 euros… haha.  

*Walked to Al Busco were we enjoyed a late night dinner along the Grand Canal to top off our trip. It was delicious… I had Ravioli with prawns and a cream sauce. The waiter was also hilarious and talked about how if you fall in the water he will give you a free coffee. He also shared a story about how Nicolas Cage came to the same place and his bodyguards ordered flat spaghetti and Fanta. He was HILARIOUS!!!

*Back to La Villa del Lido for a warm bath (the last one for a while) and bedtime. What a great day!

Friday, October 28

*Wake up leisurely… don’t you just love being on vacation?

*Breakfast and head from Lido to Murano to see the Glass Factory.

*Glass tour and demonstration… very amazing to see hand blown glass. The workers were not very nice at all, but gave us a few of the glass fragments for free!

 *Took another boat back to Venice. We stopped at St. Marks Square to tour the Doge’s Palace. WOW! It was amazing to see such beautiful rooms of such aristocratic royalty including The Scala dei Gianti (the giants staircase), and the Scala d’Oro (a golden staircase where the Doge would greet many dignitaries). Also, inside and across “The Bridge of Sighs” were many old prisons… also called Pozzi (or the wells). Creepy!

*Walked along St. Marks Square and enjoyed the area.

*Late lunch at… yes- The Hard Rock Café. Disclaimer as a traveler: I usually would not go to a place such as this on a trip to Venice… but I was not traveling back to the US. I was traveling back to Greece, and the smell of Nachos and Bar-B-Que was one of home.

*Another water taxi to Lido to get ready to go home… sat in the lobby for a little and relaxed/ prepared for our trip back.

*Boat back to Venice for a last bite of Italian gelato before getting on our night train to Rome. 23:30 departure time. And so the adventure begins…

Saturday, October 29

*… never went to sleep really… on a train all night and arrived in Rome at 6:45.

* Caught a bus back to the CIA airport. Our hearts were beating a little fast when they weighed our luggage (souvenirs are heavy sometimes), but we made it through and onto our plane.

*Made it back to Thessaloniki… so good to be back “home”.

Αγαπώ την Αθήνα-I Love Athens!

Pinewoods was gracious enough to allow Janice and I to tag along with the 11th and 12th grade trip to Athens this past weekend. We had a blast looking at all the sites and getting to know the older kids of the school. Athens is so rich with history, and fortunately the Art History Teacher at Pinewoods, Mrs. Amaleia, guided us around for the entire trip. She is so knowledgeable of the history of the city and structures. She also warned the students that, like the Greek mythological creature Argus, she had over 100 eyes and would be on the look out for all of them through out the tip... very fun! 


We left Pinewoods on a bus Thursday morning, and arrived in Athens around 5:00. On the way up, the weather was a bit overcast, and as we drove through the lush green mountains, all I could do was soak in the beauty. 

Thermopylae... where the Spartans defeated
the Persians during the reign of Xerxes in
480BC... Known as the Battle of Thermopylae!

Driving through Makedonia

Arriving in Athens... the waterfront overlooking
the Aegean Sea! BEAUTIFUL!

When I turned on the TV in our room, this is
what was on... WAR EAGLE!!!

The pool inside the hotel was really pretty! We
stayed at the Congo Palace Hotel a few
kilometers from the center of Athens. 

The students and I after dinner. Jordan
(to my right) was celebrating his 18th
Birthday. Very sweet group!

Through the trip, I really enjoyed talking to the Pinewoods students about college. They had many questions about studying, Greek life, social life, and much more. The students were from all over... Bulgaria, Spain, France, England, and or course, Greece. My name, Morgan, is hard to say with a heavy Greek accent (they say it morDgen). Because of this, and because I am of course American, they decided to call me Hannah Morgana after Hannah Montana. I did not mind:)

First Stop on Day #2: The National Gallery of Greece.
The paper I am holding is a packet the students filled
out about certain pieces of art Mrs. Amalia wanted
to discuss. I filled one out as well as we ventured
though a gallery of 17th-20th Century Art. 

Houses near the museum and with the Acropolis
in sight... very expensive and very nice (apparently)!

The Acropolis Museum. Held many artifacts from
the Acropolis, and even had a replica of the
Parthenon, complete with natural lighting and
the exact dimensions.

Mrs. Amalia (center) and the group of students.

A cafe inside the museum where we had lunch.
Yes, having a Greek roasted eggplant dish, while
hearing about Greek myths and history with
Mrs. Amalia, and looking out at the Acropolis...
Yes... a moment to remember. 

Janice and I snook away from the group to actually walk
up to the Parthenon. It was so much fun! This
is the Theater of Dionysious... enlarged by the Romans to
hold gladiator fights in 342BC and now occasionally holds concerts.  

THE PARTHENON!

I bought two children's books at The Acropolis Museum! 

The Temple of Athena

Standing in the Aegean Sea... very blue water and very rocky sand!

Our "after adventure" break... classic Greek Freddo Cappuchino,
cheesecake, a deck of cards, and post cards. 

Janice and I conquering Greece together! She is so fun!

We spent the evening at Badminton, where we listened to a Greek Concert. After the concert we headed back to our hotel for some much needed rest. When we woke up the next morning, we were taken on about an hour bus trip to Cape Sounion, right outside of Athens to visit The Temple of Poseidon. The drive was again beautiful!

The Temple of Poseidon! Poseidon was considered the second
most important God (Zeus =#1). People would make sacrifices
and give gifts to Poseidon as a form of worship. Since Greece is so
dependent on the sea, Poseidon was well worshiped. 

This is me and Mrs. Viki... she is the High School Greek
 teacher and very nice. She taught me a few Greek
phrases and words on the trip. 

This is a picture of the sea... looking down from The Temple of Poseidon. According to legend, The King of Athens, Aegeus, sent his son, Theseus, on a mission to Crete to kill Minotaur (a half man and half bull monster). King Aegeus told his son to sail white sails if he had won, and black if he had been killed. But even though Theseus had won, he forgot to change the sails and came into the area with the black sails still blowing in the wind. This is the spot where the Aegeus, leapt to his death at the sight of the black sails... now giving us the Aegean Sea!

Theo, Christianna, Marta, and I... sweet girls!

We were then taken to the Lavrio Handcraft-Industrial
Education Museum, where the students worked together to
make a meter stick, using old fashion systems. Lavrio
was where the first factory in Greece was located. 

This is Kostis and Mr. Mama. Mr. Mama has worked in
the factory for over 40 years and was such a sweet Greek
man. I loved the way he helped show the kids how all the
old fashion machines worked. (yes he is missing a finger)

This is Sophia, the guide and instructor, myself,
and Mr. Mama... he is so cute!

The group under a famous Lavrio clock. 

We ate at a Greek Taverna for lunch, and had a
little gelato for dessert. This is the center of
Lavrio... a very quaint area. 

We then took a trip over to the Attica Zoo... these are Lions that were massive. Also, due to the fact they were in mating season... the song "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" now takes on a whole new meaning after this trip:)

A family of Apes that seemed to be posing for us when we walked up to them. I thought they were precious!

We then stopped off at a mall close by, where Janice and I ate dinner at a bistro that overlooked a shopping square. This was a Coco-Cappuccino, and a great way to end such a great trip. We headed back the next morning. 

 Athens is a great city, and I highly recommend everyone taking a trip there. The history was fascinating! Going with students made it especially fun as well. I was so proud to teach them "The Awkward Turtle", talk to them about where they were from, and tell them all my lame jokes over the bus microphone when we got lost. Yes, many thought they were lame, but it brought me back to the times my jokes Auburn Tour jokes did not go over so well:) 


Still loving the journey and thank everyone for their prayers and thoughts. I miss all my friends and family SO MUCH! My heart still sinks a little bit every time I see an American Flag... so proud to be an American!  

Maid of Honor!

Bethany Robinson sent me a present in the mail today, asking me to be her Maid of Honor. I AM SO EXCITED! I wanted to post this to let anyone reading know how much she means to me and how much I am looking forward to being there for her Big Day. She is an amazing woman that will be marrying Ian Shows on June 2nd, 2012, in Denton, Texas. They are such a Godly couple and I know God has great things in store for them. CONGRATS Bethany and Ian!!!

Opening up her card and a calendar with the big day noted!
Had to catch the moment... Thanks so much Bethany!

My reply... YES!!!