Elyse Timothy: Thessaloniki, Greece

Elyse Timothy is a senior at the University of Utah studying Psychology. She spent 6 months in Greece last year.

With a few suitcases and a one-way ticket to Greece, I was ready to start my 6-month adventure! I had looked forward to studying abroad in Greece for so long and was ecstatic that the time had finally come! After spending the summer in a small village in the southern part of Greece, I went to Athens (the capital of Greece) for a few weeks and then headed up north to Thessaloniki (the second largest city in Greece) to study. I attended both the American College of Thessaloniki and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. I enjoyed all of my classes (Traditional and Contemporary Greek Music, Politics of the European Union, and two Greek language classes- one at each school), but my favorite class by far was my 3-month intensive Greek language class at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. I enjoyed every bit of my time in Greece and it was great to travel around the beautiful country and visit so many wonderful places with such rich history. I have become friends with some incredible people and I eagerly wait for the next time that I am in Greece hanging out at a café, enjoying a frappe and sharing stories again with my friends.

Pictures 1 and 2: These are pictures taken at the ancient site of Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games. The stadium is where the competitions were held and the spectators would sit on the surrounding grass. Temples filled the rest of the site and columns were topped with capitols such as this one. The detail is amazing!

Pictures 3 and 4: I took a sailing trip one weekend and sailed around the Thermaikos Gulf of Thessaloniki. Each night we stopped at a different town and during the day we set sail. This was most definitely one of the highlights of my trip and it was wonderful to sit on the front of the boat while watching the dolphins play and swim around us.

Pictures 5 and 6: The White Tower is one of the famous symbols of Thessaloniki and as you can see it proudly stands right on the waterfront. It is now a museum and it is beautiful to climb to the top of the tower and in one direction look out over the sea and Mt. Olympus, and in the other direction look out over the city.

Pictures 7 and 8: The first picture is of the Parthenon, which sits atop the Acropolis in Athens, the capital of Greece. The Parthenon was built as a temple to the goddess Athena, for whom the city of Athens is named after. The second picture shows some of the marbles that decorate and portray a story at the top of the Parthenon.

Picture 9: This boat is lit up with lights and is proudly displayed along with an enormous decorated tree and a nativity scene in the main square of Thessaloniki during the Christmas season. The boat represents the significant importance of the sea for the city that encompasses both the greatness of the sea and the mountains all in one.