May 25, 2007
THESSALONIKI, GREECE – – Friday came early to us in Greece, as most of us had no problems sleeping last night. It was a challenge to stay awake all day Thursday after traveling 24 straight hours, but that is what was recommended yesterday to better adjust to the eight-hour time difference.
Today the Iowa women’s basketball team spent its last day and night in Thessaloniki. The Hawkeyes spent the entire morning touring the hot spots in Thessaloniki before splitting up and enjoying the city in smaller groups. Junior-to-be Lindsey Nyenhuis talks about her day below.
The Hawkeyes are scheduled to leave Thessaloniki at 8:30 a.m. Saturday and spend most of the day busing down the scenic coastline of Greece to Athens.
As always, daily photo galleries and video postcards are being uploaded to hawkeyesports.com, so for maximum and exclusive coverage of the Hawkeye women’s trip to Greece click on Greece Central to follow the team’s adventures.
The audio and video clips are free, but all visitors to Hawkeye All-Access, the multi-media pages of hawkeyesports.com, need to register.
Hello from Greece!
Today was a fabulous day to say the least! After an eventful day yesterday I had a hard time falling asleep last night, which really hurt me when we had to wake up and be ready to tour Thessaloniki at 9 a.m. this morning.
We started our day off at the Museum of Byzantine Culture. Although I am not what you would call the “museum-type,” it was interesting to be face-to-face with artwork that is centuries old! After the museum our bus driver took us to the highest part of the city. There are absolutely no words to describe how amazing it was to be looking over the entire city of Thessaloniki. The buildings appeared strategically woven tightly together and the buildings stretched down the coast as far as you could see. This stop allowed for several photo ops, and believe me, we ALL wore out our batteries taking pictures!
When our tour was over we were all dropped off in the center of the city to do whatever our hearts desired. No surprise to anyone, my heart led me directly to the shops! I can’t begin to explain how amazing the shopping is here. The clothes are unique and entirely different from anything in the US. I found myself walking into every store and doing a full 360 degree turn and wanting everything in sight! However, I was so overwhelmed and in awe of everything that I couldn’t make any decisions on what I wanted to buy. Needless to say, I came out empty handed.
Later, Nicole and I decided to venture off the beaten path and experience some Greek cuisine. Thank goodness for the picture menu! Neither Nicole nor I understood what anything on the menu said and the man at the counter was not going to help us understand it. I simply pointed to the picture of meat on a stick and said, “I’ll have that one!” I still don’t know what I ate but it was DELICIOUS! I just hope it wasn’t dog or cat because the stray animals around here are everywhere!
Though it was relatively warm outside today the sun refused to come out and after a long day of sightseeing, all we really wanted to do was lay out at the pool. I can guarantee that none of us got any sun, but we definitely had a good time relaxing in our bathing suits under cloudy skies watching Coach Jensen tend to the Bluder children demanding her to play with them in the freezing cold pool!
It is almost 6 p.m. right now and the sun has finally poked out from behind the clouds making it a very lovely evening. Although my mystery lunch was extremely filling for the time being, my stomach is beginning to scream for food. Therefore, Nicole and I are going to venture back to downtown for yet another fantastic meal overlooking the Aegean Sea. No complaints here folks!