Then we headed to the museum for Nicopolis and saw lots of sculptures and preserved remnants of the buildings. I think the small figure on the right looks like a wolf eating an octopus, but I could be wrong haha
Then we went to Nekromanteio of Aryra, the "gate of Hades", which is more cool ruins, including an underground room.
By this time we were starving, and we had lunch at this sweet restaurant right on a cliff looking out over the sea.
First we had a delicous salad with tomatoes, cucumber, onions, olives and a large slice of feta on the side. That seems to be what a "Greek Salad" really is. I ate a lot of that so I was pretty full, but then they brought out the pasta-lasagna thing we had for lunch at the cafeteria on thursday, except these ones had a layer of ground beef and they were GIGANTIC, probably 4.5" by 4.5" square and 3.5" tall, and everyone got one. I could have shared with someone and still had leftovers. Michelle can't eat wheat or dairy so they brought her calimari, but she wasn't a big fan so everyone else had a bit, and it was fantastic.
We drove just down the road to an adorable town, Parga. Words don't do it justice, but it was a quintessential little Greek town on the coast. First we played on the beach for a while. Taso decided we should have our own Olympics, so we had skipping rock contests, a throwing rocks contest, a reverse-long-jump contest (run, but jump backwards), and a run backwards race. I beat him (that's the goofy-looking-picture below)...
Then we hiked up to the monastery on top of a hill. If I had lived during the time period when it was built, I definitely would have become a monk just so I could live there. Aside from the fact that the property was huge and had all sorts of cool buildings (ruins, now), it jutted out with a 270 degree view of the sea (which is absolutely stunning).
Now normally when I'm visiting some tall, photogenic place I go right to the top to get the sweet view. I did that this time and figured everyone else would follow. A few people did, and then I kept exploring (like I said, the place is big). It was interesting because it hasn't been restored like the other sites we've visited have, so there were rooms full of weeds and broken stones, which of course is realistic for ruins. Anyway, when I finally wandered back down towards the entrance, everyone was gone haha. I felt slightly abandoned but Tina realized and called me to give me directions. The town itself was built strategically to protect the residents from pirate attacks, so the roads are ridiculously narrow and windy and all over the place, which is really neat but you'd have to really know your way around to go anywhere; I have no idea how tourists find hotels, for example.
We had coffee at a cafe on the waterfront, which was very pleasant. Anna actually had hot chocolate, which came with lots of whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles :)
Since Parga was adorable but not sunny, we decided to come back another weekend when it was nice so we could go swimming and be in the sun.
On the bus ride back, everyone was exhausted and passed out, so when we got back, we were still disoriented and we relaxed for a while (aka most people napped; I watched House). Then I went into town with a few people and we got food. I had a gyro for 1.80 euros. It's a pita with meat, french fries, tomatoes onions and tzatziki. Not super healthy, but delicious.
On Saturday, I went into town again on a shopping expedition. There aren't any malls but there are a ton of cute stores. Many are very pricey, but we found two that are more like H&M, and so I got a few new things, which I'm excited about. My goal is to find a cool leather jacket; they seem to be a Grecian wardrobe staple. For lunch, I had my first real spanikopita from a pastry shop, which I enjoyed immensely. I also had a gyro, since I was still hungry. We were pretty exhausted from all the walking and shopping, so four of us headed back to school. Michelle and I stopped at Carrefour and actually had a fast shopping trip for once. I bought more little yogurts. I love them.
The rest of my weekend has not been particularly exciting; it has involved many episodes of House, two runs, lots of sleeping, and actual meals at the cafeteria. I'm very glad they're open on weekends. At dinner today we had green salads AND tomato/cucumber bowls!
This afternoon, we all trooped down to the track and played soccer with some of the other international students. I didn't actually play, but I run and play some frisbee, which was great :) I miss it. The soccer game was fun; a lot of the kids in my group used to play and they were happy to get to play again. Others of us don't play at all, but we enjoyed watching and cheering.
I have class again tomorrow, so I'm off to bed!
Love Alex
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