Berlin + Greece + lots of studying #HogsAbroad

This is probably going to be a long blog post, updating on what I’ve been doing during the past month of my exchange.  A couple of weeks ago, I took a trip to Berlin, Germany, Athens, Greece, and Santorini, Greece. All of these places held something different and each were great destinations to explore.

East Side Gallery

Berlin was the first stop, which was a very large city, immense with history.  Berlin is very spread out, but the metros make it easy to get around. The first day we visited the East Side Gallery, which was part of the Berlin Wall that had been moved and turned into a gallery of many different artist’s paintings. We also found a beer garden to go to. Since we were in Germany we thought it was a necessity to go to a beer garden even if it was 4o degrees outside. The beer garden was very empty and it only included us and a couple other brave souls to bear the cold weather to enjoy some German beer.

the very empty beer garden

The next day we took a free walking tour around the city and saw many of the big sights, learning about the history of each.  I highly recommended a free walking tour when traveling on a budget. You can get a great deal of information about the city you are touring and all you pay is a tip of what you thought the tour was worth to the tour guide at the end. The Berlin tour consisted of stops at the Brandenburg Gate, The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Hitler’s bunker, Checkpoint Charlie, and of course the Berlin Wall.

In the first couple of stops, our guide took us to a parking lot where we were all very confused as to what the significance of this sight was. She then explained that under this parking lot was where Hitler had his bunker during the war. It was this very bunker where Hitler and his wife committed suicide. It was crazy to be standing on top of something that was an important turning point in history. The only representation of this bunker is a sign in the parking lot explaining it. The German people did not want to preserve this bunker and use it as a tourist destination because of the horrible thing it stands for, so they filled it in with concrete.

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Hitler’s Bunker was under the parking lot behind this sign

Another huge piece of history that occurred in Berlin was the Berlin Wall. Our guide did an incredible job explaining the story behind the Berlin Wall.  The Berlin Wall was put up over night to separate East Berlin from West Berlin. No one had any knowledge that the wall was going to be put up the night it did and they were all surprised by it in the morning.

A sad story our guide told us was how parents from West Berlin brought their son over to East Berlin for a sleepover at his Grandparents.  The next morning when the parents got up to go get their son, they soon found out it was impossible to go back to East Berlin to get him. It was another 28 years until the parents were able to reunite with their son when the wall was brought down.  Something I didn’t know about the Berlin Wall was that it was actually in a shape of circle, not just a line between East and West. West Berlin was the free city and it was actually inside the circle of the Berlin Wall, with East Berlin, the communist city, surrounding them. Berlin is full of so much history and I just got to learn about some of it. I am sure there is so much more to explore and learn, but I am glad I got to experience what I did of this historic city.

Berlin Wall, where it stood years ago

After Berlin, my next stop was Athens. I was only in Athens for an evening, but I still got to experience some of the city. After checking into the Airbnb, we headed straight to the Acropolis. We were too late to hike up to it and see it up close, but the view we had of it was plenty for me. It is an absolutely gorgeous monument.

Acropolis

The next morning we took a ferry from Athens to Santorini.  It was an 8 hour ferry, but much better than any short flight. We got to stop at so many islands along the way and see so many beautiful views.

View from the ferry ride

Santorini was the last stop of the journey and it was by far my FAVORITE. It was absolutely gorgeous with so many different things to do. The island is quite small, so we walked most days, besides the last one when we rented a 4 wheeler to drive around the island. We took a donkey ride down 588 stairs to the Old Port one day.  From the Old Port, we took a boat to the Santorini Volcano and the Hot Springs. We hiked up the volcano and saw the crater at the top. When then went to the “hot” springs, our guides told us the springs were going to be warm but when we jumped in it was a cruel surprise to find out they were freezing cold.
One night while in Santorini we went to Oia, which is a beautiful greek village.  We watched one of the most gorgeous sunsets I had ever seen and then had a delicious Greek dinner. On this trip I was all about trying traditional Greek food and so for every meal I tried something new.  I was pleasantly surprised with every meal I ate, each being so delicious. Of course to go along with the new meals, we had to order a greek salad because I have an obsession with FETA.

On another day in Santorini, we took the 4 wheeler to the beautiful Red Beach, where we spent the day taking in the sun as much as we could before our flight back to sunless Aarhus.  We then took the 4 wheeler to the western most part of the island, where there is a lighthouse and view of the ocean. Driving the 4 wheeler was a fun way to get around the island, even if we couldn’t go very fast and busses were passing us.

Red Beach

Sunset in Oia

yummy greek salad

The timing we had in Greece was just right because they were celebrating Greek Easter. One of the special events we got to take part in was in this village on the island. They lit candles all over the village on all the homes, churches, and other buildings. It lit up the entire village and it was a breathtaking view. It was pure luck that we planned our trip on this date, we really didn’t even know it was Greek Easter until the manager at our hotel told us. This celebration was something I had never experienced before and was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Afer the amazing couple of days in Santorini, it was time to head back to Aarhus. To get from Santorini to Aarhus in the least expensive way, it consisted of us going from Santorini to Athens to London then finally to Aarhus.  The journey would not have been as terrible if it was at normal times of the day, but instead we left Santorini at midnight, arrived in Athens at 1 am, then had a nice long layover until 6:30 am when our flight left for London.

We arrived in London and finally got to Aarhus at 3 pm.  Got to LOVE cheap travel…. For anyone needing to travel cheaply like this, I HIGHLY recommend you get a neck pillow. May sound strange, but my neck pillow has made this traveling ten times better. It makes it so much easier to fall asleep on an airplane if you have a pillow to lean on.  And for those of you who know me, I LOVE my sleep, it is really the only thing to help me get through the day, so a neck pillow is a necessity for me.  Here are a few funny pics my friends like to take of me when I am passed out on airplanes… Hope you enjoy…

Once back in Aarhus, it was time to hit the books HARD.  This whole month of May has consisted of studying, studying, and more studying.  My exams start May 30th and end June 13th. The hard thing about grades and exams here is that your whole grade depends solely on the one final exam I take at the end of the semester. I am used to have multiple exams and assignments make up my grade, but here you only get one shot to prove that you know the information.  It is a very intimidating concept.

And to make it even harder the exams are totally different than the exams back at Arkansas.  The exams at Arkansas are usually the typical multiple choice test, while here at Aarhus University our exams are case studies with open ended questions.  The exams are open book, which is a benefit, but the amount of information that can be used to answer these questions is overwhelming.  I have been trying to prepare the best I can, but this concept is just so new to me.  I cannot even believe that it is already time for exams, crazy to think that I have been here for 4 months already. Well I think my study break is over now, so time to get back to my notes.  Looking forward to getting my exams out of the way, so then I can do some more traveling around Europe later in June!

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Read more from Kelsey at https://kelseyindenmark.wordpress.com/
To find out more about the Walton college exchange program in Aarhus, visit http://studyabroad.uark.edu/exchange/wcobaarhus/