Greetings from Athens, Greece! I am now nearing the end of my summer 2011 travel experiences. Pictures will most definitely be up soon. After doing my mini tour of Europe, I made a pit stop over in Beirut, Lebanon, to visit family. My aunt, who lives there, asked me to give her an "insider's guide" to each of the countries I visited this summer. I figured that I may as well share this with the rest of you, too!
England: I flew from Nantes to East Midlands, took a train to Hastings, and stayed a week with my friend Sophie. She was an incredibly enthusiastic guide, quite eager to show me around her country. Her parents were incredibly friendly too, always offering me a cup of tea (that British stereotype is one that is definitely true!). It was also a funny experience to make fun of each other's accents (I was unfortunately outnumbered and I got a lot of grief for my pronunciation of "herbal," "Cornish pasties," and "route."). Anyway, Sophie took me around her hometown (site of the Battle of Hastings in 1066), showing me Battle Abbey, the coastline (from which we were kind of able to see France), the Smugglers' Cave, the "best fish 'n' chips in the country," and various other places within her hometown. Then we-- of course-- visited London and all the sights there; Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, the London Eye (which to my surprise is owned by EDF-- Electricite de France!), Tower of London, Tower Bridge, and Top Shop (couldn't buy anything though-- was too worried about fitting things into my Ryanair-sized suitcase). I got to taste cream tea, which is scones, clotted cream, jam, and a tea! Typical English snack! England is a must-see, especially since English is the language, so you have no excuse to not go! I would say that it is important to visit cities other than London, since I kind of liked Hastings more than London, but that is just me. My pictures with captions will be up in the next entry!
Sweden: This was the shortest of my trips. Sophie, Bing, and I spent the night in the London airport because the flight to Stockholm left at 6am and the latest train we could take was at 12am. So we slept in a cafe. When we finally arrived in Stockholm, it was gorgeous but we could not really profit from the sights as we were exhausted from our sleepless night in the airport (and the flight was only 2 hours long). We did, however, see the Gamla Stan ('Old Town') and walk around a bit. Things are more expensive there, though; I had 500 Swedish kronor (equivalent of 50 euros), thinking it would be enough for one day in Stockholm. For the hostel and the food alone, it was not enough and I ended up having to withdraw more money. Very frustrating, indeed! I can't really give an opinion on this place, though, because I spent less than 24 hours there.
Finland: From the port in Stockholm, we took a ferry (Viking Cruise ship) to the port in Turku, Finland. Our friends Siiri, Harri, and Elina were waiting for us there, and they drove us to their hometown of Pori, which is 2 hours away. Pori is not a very big city, but Siiri and Harri were passionate about where they lived and were eager to show us everything good about it. We also went to a cookout at Siiri's mother's house, where I finally tried out a real Finnish sauna. I got made fun of a lot for the good old American prudishness concerning nudity (a real Finnish sauna is COMPLETELY nude, and co-ed.....luckily we separated by genders to calm the prudish American and British people down), but eventually I got over it, went totally nude into a sauna full of other totally nude people, and....didn't die. The awkwardness I was expecting was not there, and it really made me admire the Finnish for being so relaxed about it. Then we spent a couple of days in Turku, which is the European Culture Capital 2011, so there was a lot of sightseeing to be done there, not to mention the gorgeous midnight sun (that did drive me crazy and insomniac after a while, but it was still lovely!). Bottom line: go to Finland, try the sauna without being inhibited, and eat lingonberries (they are only found in Scandanavia in the summertime).
Hungary: The next stop was Budapest, Hungary, where we hung out with our friends Zsuzsanna and Peter. They showed us around their capital city with much enthusiasm (that is why it was shocking to find out later that they actually don't like Budapest). There is a lot of stuff relating to their revolution in 1956, including a museum of terror that Communists used to torture dissidents at that time. I also didn't know that Budapest is separated into Buda and Pest by the Danube River. The Buda side of Budapest is mountainous and includes a large castle. The Pest side is flat and includes the building of parliament (which is really beautiful). After that, Zsuzsanna and Peter took us to their hometown of Varpalota, 2 hours away from Budapest. I also got to see the surrounding towns of Veszprém and Székesfehérvár, as well as Lake Balaton, the biggest lake in Eastern Europe (and a huge tourist destination). All in all, it was a great visit, and Zsuzsanna and Peter were great tour guides. Plus, everything in Hungary is really affordable and cheap.
Lebanon: This is a place I have already been to at least 3 times, but this time was a new experience for me-- my first time at an authentic Lebanese wedding, that of my uncle Baha. The partying started on Wednesday night, which is the party thrown by the bride's family. It was a big dinner and dancing. On Friday night was the party from the groom's family. On Saturday morning was the big ceremony. For this, the party starts in the groom's home village (in this case it was Kfarmatta). All the wedding guests on my uncle's side of the family got into their cars and paraded, honking their horns as loudly as possible, to the bride's house. My sister and I rode in the car with my uncle to calm his nerves (boy was he nervous). When we arrived at the bride's house, there were dancers and musicians and a big ceremony where the family of the bride gave her away to the groom. Unfortunately for me and my sister, we did not get to ride in the car with my uncle after that.... On Saturday night was the big party to celebrate their union. This is where the big dinner, the dancing, the music, the wedding cake, the men dressed as Spartans, the flame swallowers....wait, WHAT? Yes, I am dead serious. There were people dresssed in elaborate white costumes, flame swallowers, Spartans, and fireworks. My videos will be uploaded as soon as I can get them on my computer!
Greece: I met up with my friend Dimitri here. We stayed a few days in Athens with his family and visited the Acropolis. Then we took a ferry (Blue Star cruise ship) to Patmos, an island located pretty close to Turkey. It is otherwise known as the 'Holy Island' because it is where the cave of the Apocalypse is located, where St. John the Theologian of Patmos had his visions. We visited the monastery as well as some surrounding islands. I ate a lot of Greek yogurt, souvlaki, dolmades, spanakopita, and other Greek foods on this trip! However, everything was very expensive here and I was not prepared to have spent that much money.... so be wary of countries with bad economies...heh.
So ends my mini-tour of Europe, as well as my study abroad in general. Reflections to come soon.
England: I flew from Nantes to East Midlands, took a train to Hastings, and stayed a week with my friend Sophie. She was an incredibly enthusiastic guide, quite eager to show me around her country. Her parents were incredibly friendly too, always offering me a cup of tea (that British stereotype is one that is definitely true!). It was also a funny experience to make fun of each other's accents (I was unfortunately outnumbered and I got a lot of grief for my pronunciation of "herbal," "Cornish pasties," and "route."). Anyway, Sophie took me around her hometown (site of the Battle of Hastings in 1066), showing me Battle Abbey, the coastline (from which we were kind of able to see France), the Smugglers' Cave, the "best fish 'n' chips in the country," and various other places within her hometown. Then we-- of course-- visited London and all the sights there; Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, the London Eye (which to my surprise is owned by EDF-- Electricite de France!), Tower of London, Tower Bridge, and Top Shop (couldn't buy anything though-- was too worried about fitting things into my Ryanair-sized suitcase). I got to taste cream tea, which is scones, clotted cream, jam, and a tea! Typical English snack! England is a must-see, especially since English is the language, so you have no excuse to not go! I would say that it is important to visit cities other than London, since I kind of liked Hastings more than London, but that is just me. My pictures with captions will be up in the next entry!
Sweden: This was the shortest of my trips. Sophie, Bing, and I spent the night in the London airport because the flight to Stockholm left at 6am and the latest train we could take was at 12am. So we slept in a cafe. When we finally arrived in Stockholm, it was gorgeous but we could not really profit from the sights as we were exhausted from our sleepless night in the airport (and the flight was only 2 hours long). We did, however, see the Gamla Stan ('Old Town') and walk around a bit. Things are more expensive there, though; I had 500 Swedish kronor (equivalent of 50 euros), thinking it would be enough for one day in Stockholm. For the hostel and the food alone, it was not enough and I ended up having to withdraw more money. Very frustrating, indeed! I can't really give an opinion on this place, though, because I spent less than 24 hours there.
Finland: From the port in Stockholm, we took a ferry (Viking Cruise ship) to the port in Turku, Finland. Our friends Siiri, Harri, and Elina were waiting for us there, and they drove us to their hometown of Pori, which is 2 hours away. Pori is not a very big city, but Siiri and Harri were passionate about where they lived and were eager to show us everything good about it. We also went to a cookout at Siiri's mother's house, where I finally tried out a real Finnish sauna. I got made fun of a lot for the good old American prudishness concerning nudity (a real Finnish sauna is COMPLETELY nude, and co-ed.....luckily we separated by genders to calm the prudish American and British people down), but eventually I got over it, went totally nude into a sauna full of other totally nude people, and....didn't die. The awkwardness I was expecting was not there, and it really made me admire the Finnish for being so relaxed about it. Then we spent a couple of days in Turku, which is the European Culture Capital 2011, so there was a lot of sightseeing to be done there, not to mention the gorgeous midnight sun (that did drive me crazy and insomniac after a while, but it was still lovely!). Bottom line: go to Finland, try the sauna without being inhibited, and eat lingonberries (they are only found in Scandanavia in the summertime).
Hungary: The next stop was Budapest, Hungary, where we hung out with our friends Zsuzsanna and Peter. They showed us around their capital city with much enthusiasm (that is why it was shocking to find out later that they actually don't like Budapest). There is a lot of stuff relating to their revolution in 1956, including a museum of terror that Communists used to torture dissidents at that time. I also didn't know that Budapest is separated into Buda and Pest by the Danube River. The Buda side of Budapest is mountainous and includes a large castle. The Pest side is flat and includes the building of parliament (which is really beautiful). After that, Zsuzsanna and Peter took us to their hometown of Varpalota, 2 hours away from Budapest. I also got to see the surrounding towns of Veszprém and Székesfehérvár, as well as Lake Balaton, the biggest lake in Eastern Europe (and a huge tourist destination). All in all, it was a great visit, and Zsuzsanna and Peter were great tour guides. Plus, everything in Hungary is really affordable and cheap.
Lebanon: This is a place I have already been to at least 3 times, but this time was a new experience for me-- my first time at an authentic Lebanese wedding, that of my uncle Baha. The partying started on Wednesday night, which is the party thrown by the bride's family. It was a big dinner and dancing. On Friday night was the party from the groom's family. On Saturday morning was the big ceremony. For this, the party starts in the groom's home village (in this case it was Kfarmatta). All the wedding guests on my uncle's side of the family got into their cars and paraded, honking their horns as loudly as possible, to the bride's house. My sister and I rode in the car with my uncle to calm his nerves (boy was he nervous). When we arrived at the bride's house, there were dancers and musicians and a big ceremony where the family of the bride gave her away to the groom. Unfortunately for me and my sister, we did not get to ride in the car with my uncle after that.... On Saturday night was the big party to celebrate their union. This is where the big dinner, the dancing, the music, the wedding cake, the men dressed as Spartans, the flame swallowers....wait, WHAT? Yes, I am dead serious. There were people dresssed in elaborate white costumes, flame swallowers, Spartans, and fireworks. My videos will be uploaded as soon as I can get them on my computer!
Greece: I met up with my friend Dimitri here. We stayed a few days in Athens with his family and visited the Acropolis. Then we took a ferry (Blue Star cruise ship) to Patmos, an island located pretty close to Turkey. It is otherwise known as the 'Holy Island' because it is where the cave of the Apocalypse is located, where St. John the Theologian of Patmos had his visions. We visited the monastery as well as some surrounding islands. I ate a lot of Greek yogurt, souvlaki, dolmades, spanakopita, and other Greek foods on this trip! However, everything was very expensive here and I was not prepared to have spent that much money.... so be wary of countries with bad economies...heh.
So ends my mini-tour of Europe, as well as my study abroad in general. Reflections to come soon.
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