Study Abroad Day 32: Back to the USA

We woke up early because Sam had to meet down in the lobby by 6:30AM. We helped her take her bags down and hugged her before she got on the bus. I almost started crying when we hugged her goodbye, which was a little surprising to me. We have really forged a true friendship and it was really hard to say goodbye. I love you Sam and look forward to many adventures in the future!

Cal and I headed back upstairs and got a couple more hours of sleep. We gathered our stuff and took a taxi to the airport at 9:30AM. There were a few other people on the same flight as us so we split a cab. Some of the other people from our program waved goodbye from their hotel room and we got one last look at the beautiful ocean:

We got onto the plane with no issues and headed off for Helsinki, Finland. Here is a shot of our last glimpses of Greece:

There is something that we noticed about the planes in Europe, all of them have this 'fog' that comes out of the ceilings of the planes. We aren't really sure what it is but we took some pictures of it because it was weird to us:

After a three hour and forty-five minute flight we arrived in beautiful green Finland. We talked to some of the flight attendants, natives of Finland, and they said that they loved it in Finland except that it never gets very warm. When we landed there was definitely a chill in the air and it was the middle of summer, can't imagine what its like in the winter:

We got onto our next nine hour flight to Chicago and watched five movies in a row! We decided not to sleep on the flight so that when we arrived home around ten at night we would be tired (hopefully beat jet lag). We arrived in Chicago and rushed through customs, picking up our luggage and then checking it in again. Then we had to switch terminals and go through security again. Thankfully we made our flight to Albuquerque and got to enjoy a beautiful sunset as we left Chicago.

Finally after another three hour flight we were home! It felt surreal to arrive back at the sun port and see so many familiar sights. Mom and D met us just past security with a welcome home sign and little Kota Puppy. I was so excited to see family and finally be home. We got to the house and I pretty much went to sleep right away. I ended up waking up around 2AM because in my mind it was 11AM, but after a few hours I fell back asleep and slept in until ten!

I can't believe that this is my last blog post! I have absolutely loved documenting our trip, and even looking back now triggers so many sweet memories of our Eurotrip.

Thank you all for following along on all of our adventures! Special shout out to Pammy and Daddy for allowing us to have this opportunity, we love you so much.

Hopefully I'll continue to blog on future trips, look forward to seeing more from me!

<3 Morgs

Study Abroad Day 31: Last Day in Paradise

Our last full day in Europe began with our presentation. Peter (our professor) said he was vey impressed with our work and we got an A! We headed down for breakfast and then out to the beach for a little while. We had planned to do some water sports but it was extremely windy on the beach; so we watched some wind surfers and then went by the pool to hang out.

After soaking up the sun for a little while we all went back to the room to get ready for an adventure in Old Town Rhodes. The taxi dropped us off outside the walls and we walked through a small flea market on our way to old town:

We arrived at the wall and I was shocked by how much it seemed like we were walking into a castle. I love ruins so I couldn't help but take tons of photos:

We wandered the little cobble stoned streets shopping, and enjoying the greek culture. There were tons of cats everywhere and every person we met was extremely warm and welcoming:

We were all getting a little bit tired so when we passed the little greek coffee shop called 'Angela Castle' we stopped in. This was the most adorable little coffee shop I've ever seen. We sat down in the small cozy courtyard and absorbed the atmosphere. I tried some traditional Greek coffee and it was very interesting. They put the grinds directly into the cup and just add hot water and sugar on top. Definitely not my favorite coffee of the trip but I'm glad I tried it.

After relaxing at Angela Castle we continued to walk around and collect some souvenirs. One of the shop owners gave us a recommendation for dinner so we decided to try it out. The staff at the restaurant was extremely nice and we had the best meal of  our time in Greece:

We noticed a fish pedicure shop right next store to the restaurant. We had talked about getting a fish pedicure for a few days so it was like fate. We headed to the fish pedicure place and played with their adorable puppy, Rambo. Sam and I had no issues getting set up and letting the fist nibble on our feet. It felt a lot like e-stim at the chiropractors office. Cal on the other hand had a pretty hard time. She's extremely afraid of fish so of course I took a video of her freaking out:

After our fish pedicure adventure we walked around some more and happened upon a henna stand. We decided to get matching tattoos that said 'friends' in greek. I absolutely love how they turned out and the quality of the henna was amazing they came out super dark:

We got a taxi back to the hotel and took one last walk along the beach. It started to hit us that we were going to be leaving each other and it was very bitter sweet. I am so grateful for the amazing friendship that we have formed and it was weird to think that we would wake up and have to say goodbye. We went back to the room and packed then headed to sleep. 

We had a great last day in Greece!

<3 Morgs

Study Abroad Day 30: Finals and Forum-Nexus Graduation

Our day began bright and early because we wanted to look over our notes one more time before finals. We took our first final then looked over stuff for our second (or laid on the floor and took a quick 10 minute nap). Sam had 3 exams so she was super human study girl!

After our exams we headed down by the pool to get lunch at the restaurant there. The food was alright but I fell in love with the 'grandma's lemonade':

We headed back into the hotel where there is good wifi and finished our presentation for marketing. It was already about four by the time we were done with the project. I was feeling tired and wanting to stay out of the sun so, I stayed in the room while Cal and Sam went out to the beach for a little while. We met back up in the room and got ready for our graduation ceremony together. Then it was time to head out for sunset pictures:

We had dinner in the ballroom of the hotel then each got diplomas. It was fun to see everyone all together and be able to dance and have some fun together. After the graduation celebration we headed back to the room and went to sleep, preparing for a long last day in Greece!

<3 Morgs

Study Abroad Day 29: Study Study Study!!!

I'm going to start this post with another apology! We spent pretty much the whole day studying for finals! I didn't really get many photos but I'll post what I have. Callie woke up with a migraine so she stayed in bed until around 1 pm. Sam and I went to classes then headed out to the pool that has good wifi and studied for finals. We were by the pool for about 5-6 hours (under umbrellas) with our laptops and notes. I ended up eating some lunch and getting a strawberry pina colada:

I guess nows a good of time as any to show you what our hotel looks like. Here are some shots of what the outside it like, there are 3 pools, 5 restaurants, tennis court, basketball court, spa and of course the beach:

We went up to check on Cal periodically and continued to study until around 7pm. Sam and I went upstairs to shower and thankfully Cal was starting to feel better. We headed to dinner at the Greek restaurant and our hotel, The sunset was beautiful! Of course I forgot my camera so heres the only photo from the night, I took it on our cell phone:

After dinner we went back to the room to fit in some last minute studying (or face timing of parents) and went to sleep.

Sorry for the boring blog but we didn't have much free time to do fun stuff today (:

<3 Morg

Study Abroad Day 28: Beach Chillin

We woke up for breakfast and classes and Cal wasn't feeling very well. Sam and I headed down for a wonderful breakfast and class. I got a customized omelette and some greek yogurt:

Our view from breakfast:

Sam and I went to class, then I checked back up on Cal. She was feeling a little better and needing some food. We decided to walk downstairs and see what she wanted. We ended up seeing a frozen yogurt shop and couldn't resist:

Then the three of us walked down to the beach. Cal only lasted about twenty minutes before she went back up to the hotel room. Sam and I alternated laying in the sun and swimming in the ocean for a few hours. Sam can take a lot more sun than I can. So, I put up the umbrella for shade about halfway through!

We went back to the room to shower and get dressed in some normal clothes. Cal was feeling better and wanted some dinner. There is an Italian restaurant in our hotel so we walked down made a reservation and then chilled at the bar for a little bit (sorry no makeup for us):

The view from the restaurant was amazing and I've got to say I absolutely loved the food! They had these really cute balsamic and olive oil containers and we watched the sun go down as we ate our dinner:

Then we headed back to the room to study a little bit and catch up on some social media. We were all pretty tired again so we headed to bed. We have a full of studying tomorrow!

<3 Morg

Study Abroad Day 27: Exploring Anthony Quinn Bay

We woke up in beautiful Rhodes, Greece and headed downstairs to eat some breakfast before class. The breakfast at this hotel is AMAZING, there were so many options! I ended up getting greek yogurt and some fruit. I didn't get a photo of breakfast but its amazing and there will be photos in future posts. We went to class like normal and after classes were over we decided to head we wanted to have a beach day. We went to a local super market to get some water and snacks and left in a taxi for the other side of the island. We arrived at Anthony Quinn Bay and it was stunning:

We walked down a set of stairs and found that the beach was pretty crowded. We walked down and found a spot where we could have one chair in the shade and two in the shallow water in the sun. Our setup was basically perfection and we all settled down to chill out for a while.

Cal and I went for a swim and she spend the whole time freaking out that there was going to be a fish. At some point she screamed "what is that?!?" and I had to tell her, "its your shadow..." It was an adventure to say the least. We chilled out some more and then Sam and I went for a swim. When we got back neither of us wanted to leave the water so we chilled in the four inches of water:

We chilled even more and then Cal and Sam wanted to jump off of one of the rocks. I was supposed to be the photographer, but I was really bad and only got one of them that was kind of in focus:

We decided it was time to leave so we walked back out of the cove, grabbed a cold drink and called a taxi. On the way up we took a few pictures of nearby beaches:

The view from the restaurant we waited for the taxi at was beautiful:

We headed home, showered, grabbed some dinner and went to bed!
We were exhausted from the sun (:

Look forward to another beach post later today!

<3 Morg

Study Abroad Day 19: Sick Morg, Cal & Sam Explore Venice

A note from Morg: Sorry this post is so late I've been trying to get Cal to post it but she hasn't had much time until now!

Hey y'all, Morgan wasn't feeling well and decided to stay at the hotel today. We had planned to go to Venice the night before, so Sam and I decided to go without Morg. Later in the day she started feeling better and went to get food at Eataly then waited for us to get back. While we were gone the power in the hotel went out and she had fun navigating in the dark for a while. Anyway, I hope you enjoy a new perspective and the amazing steamy city of Venice!

We took a three hour bus ride then a boat into Venice, where we were dropped off at Piazza San Marco. We took a few pictures with the group then started down some side streets to get some lunch.

Sam and I wanted to get away from the square because the food gets cheaper and there are a lot less tourist. We found an air conditioned Italian restaurant which felt amazing because by this point we were drenched in sweat. After eating we walked along the streets, there are some really cute stores selling leather goods, masks, and other souvenirs.

Our favorite mask store

We spent most of the day exploring the streets and canals. Looking at the way the city was built is fascinating. There are no roads for cars, you have to walk or take a boat everywhere you go.

The craziest thing we did while we were in Venice was feed the Pigeons in Piazza San Marco. It was honestly such a weird thing to do, but I'm so glad I got the courage to do it. Sam went first, feeding them corn and pasta straight out of her hands. 

I wasn't as calm as Sam and freaked out the entire time I was feeding the birds.

 Pigeons are surprising heavy, but we got away without getting pooped on and some pretty amazing pictures, one even landed on my head! Vience was a beautiful city and I'm so glad that we got to visit it for the day.