Newcastle 365 Weeks 33, 34, and 35

By Jess Friedman

Once upon a time, I went to film school. I loved it, but I ultimately decided to take my career in a different direction. (It was seriously the hardest decision of my life, but I know it was right.) And even though I’m no longer focusing on a career as a professional filmmaker, I still love to make videos. I don’t do it very often, but I’m always really happy when I sit down to edit and see a project come together.

I’ve been wanting to make some videos about my adventures and I finally made it happen! During our two week visit to Crete, Greece, I shot hours and hours and hours of video. I couldn’t wait to get home and splice it all together. I was going to save the final video until I am able to post pictures of the trip, but I’m just so pleased to have a completed video that I can’t wait to share it any longer.

Don’t expect anything fancy (I don’t have the best video camera), but here is my first ever travel video! Enjoy! 🙂

And look! Pictures!

Week 33

There are churches everywhere in Crete. This one is the official Greek Orthodox church for Sivas, but people like to build churches on their property, near beaches, in canyons, and at the top of mountains.

One of our many field trips was to an organic vineyard and winery. I didn’t drink any wine, but I did enjoy the views from the top of the mountain the vineyard sits on–and yes, there will be pictures of this.

The night before I left for Crete, some of my flatmates and I went for a quick adventure across the street, where they were setting up for a carnival. It wasn’t open until after I left, but it was fun to watch some of the set up and see the rides that I probably wouldn’t ride even if I had the chance to…

This was a real Monastery with real monks and an incredible view. They let us look at their traditional olive press, and gave us a box of Turkish Delight as a parting gift.

I’m not much of a beach person, but I did enjoy the views at this one. I also really enjoyed the Greek feast we had here on May Day, courtesy of a couple of our professor’s past and present Ph.D. students. It was a gorgeous day, with the most delicious food ever.

This is the little village we stayed in during our 2 week module in Crete, Greece

After my recent trip to Amsterdam, I realized that I had had pizza in every country I’ve ever visited. I decided to make it a tradition, and asked my professor if there were any good pizza joints near Sivas. Turns out, there was–and he said it was the best pizza in the world. We went there to celebrate a classmate’s birthday, and the pizza *was* pretty good.

Week 34

Liza and I decided to try to catch some of the Eta Aquarids meteor shower at Komos Beach. She saw one meteor and I saw none–but I did get some sweet shots of the beach at night. Totally worth it.

Crete has an abundance of cats. They’re all strays, but the locals keep them around to control the mouse population. They’re also very friendly, which did my heart a lot of good. I would have loved Crete even if all I got to do was pet the cats.

We visited a restaurant called Drymos Taverna, which had the best food, a mini zoo, an organic garden (with zero plants in it), a sweet playground, and hiking trails through an amazing gorge full of trees, rocks, and waterfalls. It was one of my favorite things that we did in Greece.

We didn’t stay at this gorgeous 5-star hotel, but we did get a behind-the-scenes tour of the organic olive orchard and recycling units. They also treated us to lunch at their fancy buffet and sent us each home with a bottle of the best olive oil I’ve ever tasted.

I learned more about olive trees than I ever through there was to know. I even ate some olives and liked them!

Sivas was just a small village in the mountains, and I really enjoyed going for walks in the evenings.

Week 35

After two whole weeks in paradise, it was tough to come back to dreary, cold weather. I’m definitely ready for summer.

There were LITERALLY snails everywhere. They were on trees, fences, walls, ceilings, floors, roads, flowers, pots, my fingers, my dinner plate (bleagh–not a fan of escargot, apparently), and each other. We couldn’t look anywhere without seeing a snail. “I spy” got really interesting.

There is a whole line of cedar trees just outside the entrance to my accommodation complex, and every time the wind blows, I get a whiff of their heavenly scent. They remind me of the cabin my grandparents built in Ontario, Canada, so every sniff brings back a million fond memories.

One of my coursemates found this lovely little herb shop in the neighboring village. It was full of every spice and tea you could ever imagine. I picked up some flavored sea salts and some yummy crystalized ginger. Mmmm!!

I took a break from writing a paper to edit a video–something I haven’t done in ages and really missed.

I loved the food in Greece so much that I bought a cookbook so I could learn how to make it. First recipe: Aubergines Baked in Tomato Sauce. Delicious!

I went to yet another beach this week, but this time, it was in England. A group of YSA folks got together to film an advert for the upcoming Convention of the North, and we had fun feeding the gulls after the cameras stopped rolling.

ευχαριστώ, Greece! You were amazing!

Jess Friedman

Jess is a Canadian-American who's always ready for the next adventure. She loves all things living, always has a million creative projects in progress, and polishes her nerd badge daily. She is passionate about strengthening families by empowering women to make space for things that bring them true and lasting joy. You can read more posts by Jess here.

6 Responses

Dawn Christensen says:

May 19, 2015 at 4:37 AM

Nice video and pics of Greece, Jess!

Reply
1. Jess says:
  
  May 20, 2015 at 9:30 PM
  
  Thank you! 🙂
  
  Reply
Heather says:

May 20, 2015 at 12:15 AM

I love all these adventures you’re having! GREAT pics and video!

Reply
1. Jess says:
  
  May 20, 2015 at 9:14 PM
  
  Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoy them! 🙂
  
  Reply
Aunt Beth says:

May 20, 2015 at 12:05 PM

I love it! Thank you for sharing your adventures!

Reply
1. Jess says:
  
  May 20, 2015 at 9:13 PM
  
  My pleasure! I have lots more pictures to share, too, so watch for those. <3
  
  Reply

Newcastle 365 Weeks 33, 34, and 35

Jess Friedman

Jess Friedman

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