An Invitation to the Mediterranean

Two days after returning home from my 92-Day Mediterranean Trek, I invited some people over to my house for a Mediterranean Night. This involved a potluck of Mediterranean or European-inspired foods (many of which were left at my house and made delicious leftovers for the next few meals), and also featured a slideshow with over 200 of my trip photos. (This didn’t seem like many compared to all the photos I actually took!) It was a fun way to show and tell my experiences with many people who would be questioning me about my travels anyway. And while it just took place in a living room, it kind of felt like I was back in all those exotic cities, but this time I had friends and family right alongside me!

We discovered the evolution of the bridges over the Seine River and debated the merit of Love Locks.

We laughed at how Disneyland Paris portrayed our American culture in It’s a Small World After All.

We cringed in disgust from stories like how this horse statue in Madrid was once accidentally a death trap for birds! 

They watched as I learned how to properly carve ham right off the leg…even if I didn’t want to eat it!

We questioned why this cathedral in Barcelona keeps 13 geese in the courtyard and whether or not the legend behind it is true.

We marveled at the scenic landscapes of every city, and even the world’s second smallest nation of Monaco!

We were fascinated how places like Verona could just casually house so many millenia-old buildings and artifacts!

We shared a sunset over Venice.

Pinocchio and Gepetto’s workshop came to life to us in Florence.

We wondered why the Leaning Baptistery of Pisa doesn’t have the same fame as the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

We were in awe of so many magnificent pieces of art. (I had never pictured Mary or Jesus as being blonde before!)

We questioned if the guards at Athens’ Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was really a reverent location or more of a fun tourist stop.

We learned that Thessaloniki has its own leaning church akin to Pisa’s!

And we finally left Europe with a boat ride to Asia in the intercontinental city of Istanbul.

I know I couldn’t invite that many people into my parents’ living room for a night of personalized armchair travel, but over the next several weeks, I would like to invite everyone to journey with me for the inside experience of backpacking the Mediterranean, just like the ones mentioned above. We’ll explore each city together and have some fun along the way. Will you join me in reliving this Mediterranean Trek?