The summer of my junior year I had the opportunity to go to Greece with a group of my classmates. It was a ten day trip through EF Tours taking me around Greece. We visited Athens, Turkey, Santorini, Crete, Mykonos, Rhodes, and Paros. The experiences and memories I made in these ten days was something I will never forget.
While I was in Santorini without cell service, of course, my card was denied. I had souvenirs ready to be bought and I had to pay for my tram ride back down. The worst was realizing I could not buy the souvenirs and I would probably never be back there again. I also had problems paying for everything on the cruise; after multiple calls to my dad it had finally worked out. Thank god he always has his phone on him.
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In Turkey, I learned how they make rugs. It is absolutely amazing. There was all kinds of rugs from bathroom rugs to huge area rugs. They were extremely expensive. The coolest thing was when we sat down and a man started throwing rugs around and it would change colors. It was something I could hardly believe. I still don't understand how it happened, but it was crazy.
Each place we went had tons of market shops all over the place. I walked along each store, but tried to keep my distance. I learned if you get to close they will suck you into the store and annoy you until you buy something. It is extremely frustrating for someone who tries to be overly nice.
While walking through the streets, I was extremely aware of how awful some people had it. There were mothers with no money begging on the sidewalks, again looking into their eyes was very sad, so I tried to avoid them. Because of this, I had been warned about pickpocketing many times. I could hardly walk for ten minutes without making sure I had everything.
The most frustrating and exciting part about this trip was seeing all of these amazing buildings, but not having your family to share it with. You can't even text or call them to show them the amazing architecture. I loved having this experience all to myself, but hated it at the same time. I really missed my family, but I started to be with my friends more and more each night.
I went on this trip with tons of people I knew of, but I was not super close with any of them. After multiple hours in airports and on planes I was close with everyone. It was like our own little family. Each night we had dinner together and traveled through the cities together. When we arrived to our cruise ship we had rooms next to each other and spent a lot of time together. We saw amazing places together and had a lot of laughs.
Traveling to Greece was scary and exciting at the same time. If you get a chance to go there, it is a must. The islands are absolutely gorgeous, unlike anything I have ever seen. Over time I learned a lot about my travel pals and had shared so many experiences with them. I would give anything to be back on the plane flying to Greece. I miss having fish bite at my feet at a store, I miss walking along the cruise watching the sunset, I miss seeing all of attractions and learning about the culture, but most of all I miss the time spent with all of my friends.
