4th of July

As the 4th approached, I remembered what some of the other teachers had said at the beginning of last year.  They had commented about how strange it was to celebrate Independence Day and hear the anthem after a year of living in another country.  With that in mind, I was preparing myself for a different 4th experience.

I shouldn't have bothered.  I can understand what they felt, but for me, being in Hungary didn't change a thing.  If anything, it made me more grateful for the afternoon I got to spend with my dad and little sister.  I still felt that swell of pride as the Star Spangled Banner played; still fully enjoyed sitting in the heat munching on a hot dog; still loved watching Jadyn get her face painted with red, white and blue stars; still stared in wonder as the fireworks exploded overhead.  Don't get me wrong, I loved being in Hungary.  I love how beautiful Budapest is and the different things that it has to offer.  But I completely loved being able to sit back and enjoy a fully American holiday.

I always liked July 4th, but it never felt like a super important holiday to me.  I love that as a country we recognize and celebrate our freedom and give thanks to the people who fought for that freedom, but the holidays that always meant the most to me were the ones where I got to spend significant amounts of time with family: Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving, Easter.  But it had new significance for me this year.  I loved getting to celebrate America and being American this year.

Vacation to Greece

The school year ended in a bit of a blur which I will expand upon later.  After the madness that was school in May and the emotional distress of saying goodbye to my students and some of my colleagues and friends, I was blessed to get to visit Greece with 2 of my best friends from college.  They were celebrating their 5th anniversary in Greece and I flew down to join them for 3 days in Crete, 3 days in Santorini, and 4 days in Athens.

It was great to have a relaxing time away to reflect and get caught up on my sleep!  Of course, it was wonderful to get to spend time with Jim and Amanda.  Also, Greece is one of the places that I have always wanted to visit and I spent some time just being thankful that God orchestrated things so that I got to enjoy the first few weeks of summer there.  It was so beautiful!  

Stop #1 - Crete

Flying over Athens - A huge city of 5 million people

The view from our top floor apartment

The first day we rented a car and drove through the mountains across the island

We visited a monastery on our way to the beach one day

We hiked a kilometer down to the beach - really pretty going down, really steep going back up

All beaches had taverns or snack bars.  It was quite convenient

Sunset from our deck

Our landlords made us dinner

And got it to the roof using a basket

We visited Knossos Palace - the inspiration for the myth of the Labyrinth and the Minotaur 

The beach right down the road from our apartment

Everyone at dinner except for our fabulous hostess, Antonia

Stop #2 - Santorini

Santorini was probably my favorite place.  Though all three had something special and unique that I enjoyed, Santorini was the most relaxing.  If you were to close your eyes and picture Greece, you would probably be picturing Santorini. The buildings were white and blue and we were on a thin island so no matter where you were, you could see the Mediterranean.  There were black sand beaches and gorgeous sunsets and crazy drivers.

We stayed in this little cave house which was right  on the edge of a cliff overlooking the water

The view from our deck - this is where I spent an afternoon reading.  Basically, a perfect few hours.

There was this church on the winding path down to our  house.  The path from this door  was a staircase straight down so it looked like a door to nowhere.  I was slightly fascinated with it.

We went for a "short" 6 mile, uphill walk in the heat of the day.  But we saw a lot of really pretty things like this church.

This was the cathedral in Thira, the capital city in Santorini

One evening, we went to the tip of the island where there was an old castle and we joined our fellow tourists in order to watch the sun set over the water.

To pass the time, we made bets on when we thought the sun would set.  I lost fabulously!

A view of Oia at night after dinner

Amanda and me at the beach

Waiting for the sun to set

Stop #3 - Athens

Athens was soooo cool!  It was definitely much more of a big city feel but what I loved was all of the history.  It was incredible to be standing in front of buildings that had been there since before Jesus.  And truthfully, after reading the Percy Jackson books, I got pretty excited any time we heard the name Poseidon or Athena.  It was a strange sensation however, to be looking at these ornate statues of the Greek gods.  I could look at them and admire the craftsmanship, but there were people who once truly believed they were powerful.  We were made to worship, they were just misplacing their worship - giving it to cheap imitations rather than the Living God.

The view of the Acropolis from a hill across from it that we hiked up

The Parthenon - so iconic and so cool

These statues were copies.  We saw the actual statues being restored in the Acropolis Museum

The Olive Tree that Athena supposedly invented for the Athenians in order to win their allegiance

The Temple of Zeus

Olympic stadium

A temple to Hephaestus - the most well preserved ancient building in Athens 

We had to give at least one Gig 'em during our trip ;)

Jim and I sitting in the King and Queen's thrones surveying the Games

I won, of course

Zeus had a huge arm

Poseidon - I was pretty excited to see this