Parks' Closing Remarks on Greece

Though I've been back almost a week now, I still can recall every detail of this incredible trip so here goes: After returning from Mykonos, Katrina and I checked back into our fancy Hilton. These accommodations were better than our "4-bed" room and our toilet/shower combination that we had grown accustom to in Mykonos. After we were well rested Katrina and I woke up got ready and ventured over to Mike and Jamie's apartment. They asked us to show up around 9 AM, but of course we did not mosey in until at least 9:45. Once Mike and Jamie surfaced, we ventured to the market. First, we checked out the fruits and vegetables. Everything was so fresh and looked absolutely delectable. It was also all fairly cheap, and Jamie informed us that you will get the best deals if you do your shopping closer to the middle of the market.

 After shopping for fruits and vegetables, Mike and Jamie took us to the meat and seafood market...this is not a place to go if you have a weak stomach.

I could see how experiencing this place could easily turn someone to a vegetarian because the freshly slaughtered animals are on display at each booth

Probably not quite FDA approved, but at least it is all clearly very fresh. The meat market is an absolute madhouse, each person is desperately trying to get you to buy from their specific booth. Mike and Jamie were even grabbed by one of those crazy butchers. I would never survive there on my own because if an eccentric greek butcher was waving a giant knife in my face, I would probably be persuaded to buy anything. After the meat market, Jamie and Mike left us because they actually were going to class for a change, and Katrina and I were left to embark on our "Mythical Voyage" through Athens. Of course before we could begin our Mythical Voyage, it was time for another Gyro.

Our motto for the day was to take the road less traveled, and it seemed to make for an exciting day. First we attempted to explore the ancient Greek agora, however our college ids were not accepted because they appeared to be expired, thus exposing a very sad truth, that college was indeed over for us. We were not about to pay full price to walk around the agora, so we opted to move to higher ground and look at it from the base of the Acropolis, and it was a much better view anyways.

We then went to the Acropolis Museum and saw hundreds of ancient relics that were found there. After the Acropolis Museum we did some souvenir shopping, and realized mid-way through the day that we had not yet seen the ancient Olympic stadium, so we went on an adventure through the city trying to find it. We stayed true to our mantra of taking the road less traveled, and somehow ended up in a beautiful park, that also seemed to be a labyrinth.

The park exit led us right to the stadium, so it seemed to work out quite well. We did the walking audio tour of the stadium, and it was incredible!

 We probably looked like such tourists all day without Mike and Jamie who are seasoned vets of the city, but the "Mythical Voyage" was a great success!

We somehow made it back to our hotel, and fell asleep for a good 4 hours before we met back up with Mike and Jamie. Turns out the whole city shuts down during that time anyways for naps, so we fit right in. For our last night, the four of us went out to eat at this amazing restaurant. It capped the close to an amazing trip and I could not have asked for a better last night of our trip. Going to Greece was absolutely incredible. I cannot express how much I cherish the memories from this trip, and would go back in a heartbeat.

Thanks,
Maeghan Parks

Now playing: Pinback - Good To Sea

Lost Boys Forever!

Two Hoosiers Do Athens (Told in pictures and captions)

As many of you may or may not know, last week Jamie and I had some visitors from the lovely state of Indiana, Kat and Parks.  Yes I know, we still do not know what a Hoosier is, but we will not hold that against them.  For their first two days, we enjoyed some adult beverages, hit the major tourists spots in Athens, indulged in Greek cuisine, took in a soccer game and hit up a local house party.

Jamie and my welcome basket to Kat and Parks, which they accepted with open arms

In front of the protest free Parliament

At the Parthenon

At the top of the Acropolis

Temple of Zeus

Kat and Parks taking pictures of the other great scenes of Athens (although I think it was an Italian prop)...come on guys a little more maturity please!

Traditional Greek Mezedes Meal

Parks trying an Anchovy

At Niki's party

After immersing ourselves in the great Athinan culture we decided it was time to head to Mykonos.  Why?  Because Parks insisted "Mykonos is a 24 hour crazy party."  All we had to do was catch our ferry to Mykonos at 7:35 am from Athens, sounds easy enough right?  Well I am unsure if you know Kat and Parks, but these two will be late to their own funeral guaranteed!  We arrived at the port at 7:30 am and when we could not find the ferry we were suppose to get on.  After stopping and asking the ferry office, Parks asked if they would hold the ferry for us to which the nice lady responded, "no, but you can run."  Needless to say after about a 300 yd sprint we arrived at the ferry at 7:34.  Here are some candid shots right after the sprint as we found some seats.

Stay tuned to hear the tale of the Winking Tigers on Mykonos (The Real Mykonos Story), it is much more entertaining than the Athens story I promise!

Parks Gyro Count

12 in 4 days...

For the record we know where Parks' love of Gyros comes from, we know your little secret Carol!

Parks does Mykonos (Welcome to the Good Life), another Guest Blog

First off, Dad sorry about the text I sent you from Kat's phone I don't know how to work it, hence the text you received in broken English.  Greece is incredible and my whole goal in coming here was to write on this blog, SUCCESSS!!!! Katrina and I spent roughly 24 hours traveling to get here and it was well worth the time. Athens is amazing! We were very fortunate with our hotel, thanks to Big Rich and Katrina. Our first night in Athens was quite an adventure, we went to a legit Greek party and were the awkward American wallflowers in the corner who did not understand a word that anyone else said to us.

Of course we attempted to talk to everyone in English and actually managed to teach a few Greeks a game called "Cowboy," which is AWESOME. Katrina and I successfully made it back to our hotel and were woken up at roughly 6 am by two hooligans who were escorted up by the front desk and convinced them that they knew us. Turns out that the accomadations in our hotel were much better than what these two were used to while they have been studying abroad here, and they continued to utilize different ammenities, like our shower and towels, for the next two nights.  When we finally surfaced around 11 or so and we spent the day following our wonderful tour guide Michael. He showed us the Acropolis and the Temple of Zeus. It is an inexplicable feeling standing in places like that because they are truly timeless. After our day of touring, we experienced one of the wildest aspects of Greece-we went to watch Greece's prized soccer team play- Olympiacos. Our tickets happened to be in the hooligan section of the stadium and it was WILD. The fans are so crazy in this club that fans from other teams are literally not allowed to enter into the stadium. Serious fights and riots breakout over fan loyalties and game results. There is literally bullet proof glass that separates the sections in the stadium. It is UNREAL!! People literally sing chat the entire time, and celebrate goals with flares, which they cleverly sneak into the stadium in Fanny Packs Katrina and I opted to gear up in Olympiacos attire so that we fit in with all the hooligans. (Hint Kelli I got you a sweet sweatshirt).

The next day we had to wake up at 6 am to catch our 7:35 ferry to Mykonos. We arrived at the port at approx 7:20 and thought we were at the wrong port so we walked to the other end of the port only to find out that our ferry was at the port we were initially walking to. I went into the Blue Star office to ask where our boat was, and the lady pointed to the boat on the other end of the port that was raising its anchor to ship out. I asked if she could call and hold the boat, but she said no and suggested that we run fast. The four of us took off on a half mile sprint with all of our stuff, let me tell you I am NOT in any shape for that, I literally thought I was going to pass out. We made it onto the ship at 7:34 and were still walking to our seats as the ship was pulling away. Of course, as we were on our way to Mykonos I realized I did not have an ID which could have been problamatic, considering it was me who booked our room. Fortunately, we were allowed to check into our room with no problems. It was really neat being in Mykonos at this time because the island was just starting to wake up from its winter slumber, so it was fairly desolate. We rented ATV's and explored the island all day on Tuesday.

The sights we saw were breathtaking, and was an incredible place to visit Mike, Jamie, and I opted to jump off a pier and take a nice plunge into the Aegean Sea. Mike of course, decided to jump in in his birthday suit, which was hilarious when Jamie stole his clothes.

Our hostess was this hilarious and lively Greek woman named Maria, who made our stay in Mykonos much more enjoyable. We have had alot of fun thus far, and probably won't be blogging again while we are here since this one is about the length of a novel.

Best regards,
Parks

Mykonos

We are headed to Mykonos in the morning, with Parks and Kat who are visiting from Indiana.  Will post about our adventures when/if we return.

Mark does ancient drain pipe

Mark enjoying a sunset on Santorini

Mark in Santorini

It's Friday!

Today we have to get up in exactly 4 hours to catch a bus to SPARTA.