Well, my time in Grece was really amazing!  I just got back from my travels to Athens yesterday.  I had to fly first to Munich, and then back to the States.  I think that I may be a little jet lagged for a couple of days, but it was so worth it!!!  There were so many things to see and do that we kept pretty busy during our trip in Athens. There were many highlights of this trip for me.  Here are just a few that I wanted to share with you all. 🙂

Presenting at the ATINER Conference. The primary reason that we were in Athens was to present at the ATINER Conference.  What a great conference!  Another thing that I really liked about it was that it was very interdisciplinary – we had researchers from communications, psychology, economics, risk communication, and many more!  I presented the first day of the conference.  It went very well – we had some good feedback on our paper and it was a very friendly environment.

Having a traditional Greek dinner with dancing.  I told my family that one of the things that I had to do was to take part in some Greek dancing.  I got the chance during our first conference dinner where we went to a local tavern and we had music and dancers – and I got to learn from my friend Margarita how to do a traditional Greek dance!  It was SO much fun and what a great workout!  OPA!!!

Eating Greek food – moussaka, baklava, and many more! Can I say that the food this year was FABULOUS!  We had so much great meals in Greece that there was so much to choose from! From Moussaka to baklava to having fish (very salty, but a must do!)  It was all very glorious!

Seeing the history of Athens. We got to see all of the major sites in Athens – from Acropolis (we got a splendid view of the site from our hotel) to the Temple of Poseidon and the Temple of Zeus, walking around the first Olympic Stadium,  and even around the Greek Islands.  It was absolutely breathtaking – it was so amazing to walk around and look at the structures and appreciate what the Greeks did for the world.  It was very wonderful.

These are just a few of my highlights of my trip! 🙂  It was such a wonderful experience, and it was really great to share with it with both Kristin and Mom. 🙂  Even though Dad and Karla were not there, I felt that we got to share our experiences with them as well because we Skyped while we were in Greece.  Plus, I got Dad a few cookbooks on Greek cuisine that had all of the dishes that we had in Athens – very cool! 🙂  So, if you get a chance, Greece is indeed a must-go-to place for research and academic opportunities, as well as for its culture. 🙂  I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Athens, and I made some amazing new friends in the process!  Thank you ATINER and everyone at at the conference for making my time in Greece one that I will always remember.  Here is a link to some more pictures on my web site on my trip to Greece!

Hope you all are having a great day!

Best Wishes,

Karen