Classic

Running: It's one of those things I will always love to do, even if I put it to the back-burner at times. Before I came to Greece I looked for a race that I could run while I was here. Who would have thought that I would run such an amazing race: the Athens Classic Marathon. Registration was at an all time high for their 2,500th anniversary over 25,000 people.

A couple of my friends and I arrived in Athens and made our way to the Petrides lovely abode. We stayed there over night and took the metro in to the city in the morning. When we got there the amount of people was incredible. Of course we got up early so we could enjoy the beginning festivities. . . we found it and we were safe. Little did we know our whole 'before race prep time,' would be interrupted by something all us girls can relate to: The Toilet. We waited in line for about 40-45 minutes to relieve ourselves before we had to barrel out a 10k. We began the race without really stretching, and just jumping right in. . . This happens much too often with me. Note to self: get to the race 3 hours early next time.

The race started with thousands of balloons released into the air. The route of the race was nice, but running the 10k we didn't run the actual 'marathon route.' But the marathoners were able to take their legs through the historical ground. This is how the story goes: A Greek soldier Pheidippies ran while delivering a message for the battle of marathon to announce that the Perisians had been defeated. After he ran his 26 miles from Marathon to Athens to deliver this message he fell to his death::::Marathon.

I finished in the Olympic stadium with hundreds of people sitting in the stands me cheering on. I finished the race in the same stadium gladiators fought in years before.

We moseyed around the town of Athens for a bit before heading back home to Paros.

Fuzzy Wuzzy.

Before I knew it my 'la-te-da,' time here has turned quickly into a to a blur of time. Where has it gone?

I have yet to update my fellow blog followers of many of my recent escapades. I was able to go to Turkey for 10 days with my classmates. We went places I didn't even know existed, places that couldn't have been created more perfectly in my day-dreamer mind.

Cappadocia and Pamukala: Don't they sound like magical places far far away? Well, they are.

Most of my time was spent in Selcuck Turkey where we were able to explore the towns filled with restaurants and shopping. The currency the lere is worth hardly anything at all, with this in mind it was easy to get carried away with shopping. The food was interesting, yummy I suppose, but it didn't sit well with my stomach. Yuck I know.

Cappadocia: A land made of huge stalagmites with houses hidden in the crevasses. We went to Gorme open air museum where we discovered churches adorned with early paintings of Christianity. This community of around 400-800 people lived and worshipped in this area, hidden from any enemies that would try to take over and eradicate the religion. As a Christian it was very moving to see some of the original first depictions of Mary, Jesus and their followers painted inside a cave.

Pamukale: It stands for land of cotton castles. As you drive up to this, pardon my repetition, magical land it looks like a snow covered mountain. You soon discover that the mountain is made up of calcium which gives it it's white luster. You take off your shoes so you are able to hike up this unique peice of earth to find hot and pure crystal blue pools of water that welcome swimmers. At the top of the cotton castle lies ruins of a once thriving city 'Pamukala.'

We saw the whirling dervish dancers at a Turkish night celebration one night and my hotel room was in a cave. Turkey was a wonderland, beauty around every corner.