Athenian Finale

Our final day in Athens provided a chance to roam freely through the city of Athens.  We toured the Acropolis Museum, built on top of current archeological excavations, with glass floors so that visitors can see the progress below.  On the top level, the building is built to scale with the actual Parthenon, so that the stone reliefs with sculptures of parades and battles can be presented on the walls themselves.  Tourists can walk around the life-size model, columns and all, to see how the reliefs were displayed in the past.  Our group was extremely excited when we realized the design.  Later, our group parted ways and explored the city's markets and other historic sites. It was extraordinary to imagine the possibility of walking in the same footsteps of Socrates, Plato, or Aristotle; we even found a spot that might have been where Socrates sentenced to death along with the ancient stoas and other ruins.

 


Ryan and Xavier participated in the Cape Sounion dinner excursion, which included Temple of Poseidon tour, the inscription of Lord Byron's name is a trademark of the site.  Unfortunately, the column on which he had done so was so worn and had so many other names carved on it that very little could be seen of the original and far more famous piece of vandalism—or the original column, for that matter.  The others spent the day exploring the city of Athens and experiencing the local culture, seeing many small sites not mentioned on the tours, including various details in the Athenian Agora, or market, from ancient times.  However, all adventures must come to an end; our party reported to our hotel in Athens before a remarkably early morning departure for the States. It seemed that EF designed the trip so that our hotel quality increased from one hotel to the next, as our final hotel in Athens was spectacular. We flew out of Greece under the dark of the early morning.  Only two flights and a brief layover in Paris stood between us and our homeland for Memorial Day cookouts and the comfort of the familiar.  Our overseas adventure was done, but the experience will remain with us for the rest of our lives. 

 

 

 

 

 

Acoustics at Epidaurus

The day we were to head to Epidaurus, we had the chance to sleep in until 7:00 AM. It was glorious! We were soon on the road, after a luxurious buffet breakfast, to our day's destinations. Our first visit was to The Great Theatre of Epidaurus, a visual awe from all vantage points. As the theatre speaks for itself, no pun intended, our knowledgeable tour guide for the day, Sophia, gave a presentation that came off as exhaustive to some. Still, she gave us an excellent demonstration of how the theatre is designed to amplify acoustics so that people at the top can hear the slightest sound from the stage area. She made mention of the acoustic superiority of the theatre and the fact that modern architects are still baffled at how the Ancient Greek architects where able to manage such impeccable acoustics. The ancient stone venue has been well protected and preserved over the years, serving home to Greek drama production. While music was rarely performed there due to fear of harsh effects opera would have on the stones, but there was a performance in 1960 with Marie Callas.
There was a brief, hurried visit to the Temple of Asclepius, dedicated to healing, to which ancient Greeks were brought for healing. The guide explained how the Greeks used basic medical 

Temple of Asclepius

instruments and medicines, special diets, green scenery, and physical exercise in curing sicknesses. I was in awe of the way that speaks to the Greeks’ inclination to reason. Our society seems to lack this kind of rational disposition in some areas. Chemotherapy, for example is administered in masses with the intention to kill cancer cells. However, it does not do anything to prevent new cells from springing to fruition. No, chemo has been found to have many secondary cancer side effects that many are unaware of. The focus on a comprehensively sound inner health which manifests through you favorably, rather than unfavorably and thus unable to defend against malignant cell growth is often considered as an alternative viewpoint, against the grain of our society. The Ancient Greeks may not have had the sharpest microscopes but at least they were looking in the right direction.

Our next stop was the Agora store, where we were faced with an array of talented salespeople and museum replicas. The variety of pottery, jewelry, and other Greek goods were exceptional. The Tomb of Atreus was also impressive. It was a monolithic--literally—monument, legended to be built by Cyclops to explain the enormous rocks used in its construction. Inside of a massive mound, within a honeycomb stone cavern, the tomb of the Mycenaean dynasties was kept with all of its treasure. Archeologists call it a "treasury" to make it sound better, but it as, in effect, a tomb. Within sight of the mound was the acropolis of Mycenae, with the ruins of the earliest and once greatest civilization of mainland Europe. 65,000 people lived within the realm of Mycenae, from the acropolis to the sea, within sight of the top. We visited The Lion Gate, famous for its one-of-a-kind nature among the Mycenaean civilizations. Beyond this gate that once served both as protection and recognition of the great Mycenae, lay the progressively higher levels of the acropolis, culminating in a height from which the surrounding countryside could be seen in a truly spectacular view. Mycenae was, according to Homer and archeological evidence, the greatest of twenty-two different kingdoms of its era. Agamemnon, the famous king of the Iliad, was a kind of high-king of the other kings in the civilization that bears his city's name. Afterwards, thoroughly exhausted, we ate a traditionally late Greek lunch.
Afterwards, we journeyed back towards Athens, stopping briefly to see the phenomenal Corinthian Canal. It was built by the same company that constructed the Suez Canal, enabling trade by sea through the Corinthian Isthmus, which connects Peloponnese with mainland Greece. People had tried to build a canal there since Ancient Greece, but it was it was not finished until the 21st century with modern technology. We threw a rock over the bridge when we stopped to take pictures; it fell, a long time down the deep chasm before splashing in the waters below. Altogether, it is twenty feet wide and four miles long, a little small for heavy modern shipping but a monumental breakthrough at the time.

The group was more than glad to call an end to long bus rides, something we became quite accustomed to. Certain members of our group learned the hard way, also, to always plan ahead financially; foreign ATMs can be uncooperative with banks in the States. We ended the night in Athens, with another provided meal, celebrating our last full day together.

Sport & Victory

We arrived at Olympia to a tour of the ruins of the stadium, temples, etc. dedicated to Zeus, athletic competition, sport, and victory. The tour guide did a good job to explain how athlete training areas were set up, describing the purposes of the temples, roofs, stadiums, etc. It seemed to help us understand within that context, the way the Greeks viewed sport, victory, and Zeus.

A group of us decided we would have a footrace at the stadium, and we did so barefoot. There was disagreement over whether we were racing the length of the track, or there and back. As we took off, the others went ahead in a full sprint, and some started with a more moderate pace, under the assumption we were going there and back, thus pacing for the long run. Xavier won the race after one length, and some wondered why the return stretch was excluded. Then one of the unidentifiable security staff members indicated that we need to put our shoes back on. They are pretty sharp in their response time, as we were quickly reprimanded for prohibited rock contact such as sitting, standing, etc.

From the grounds of Olympia, we continued to the Ancient Olympia Museum which contained many pediments, sculptures, statues, and so forth from the temples in antiquity. The Ancient Greek architecture styles included decorative pediments as can be seen from the statue decorative art. Seeing all the art from Olympia of antiquity really helped the imagination envision the awe Olympia once was.

Statue Art from pediment of Temple of Zeus

"Know Thyself"; "Avoid Excess"

During our drive to Delphi, we saw more wind turbines on the mountains and solar panels in the fields, and we drove through some of the largest crop--and especially cotton fields--in Greece. The Greeks, and other Europeans, are careful to preserve their countryside from suburbs and other urban spreads, keeping most of their population in the cities themselves. Europeans are very concerned about pollution; Ryan commented on how, in Germany, he saw many more people on bikes and that bike trails, alongside roads, were common. Other people we talked to mentioned how much more common public transportation, compared to individual cars, is in Europe. We made a quick photo stop at a beautiful lookout on Parnassus Mountain on our way to the Oracle of Delphi, which was an exhilarating experience of natural purity.

Oracle of Delphi exuded intellectual vibrance, and the energies that flow in that environment are positively remarkable. Both inscribed on the Temple of Apollo and the atmosphere of Parnassus, are the notions, in Greek: “Know Thyself” & “Avoid Excess.” The tour guide was phenomenal, giving a presentation that reinforced the effect of Delphi; she stressed that the questions asked yield the answers they deserved. Delphi was the center of the Greek world, where people from every polis (city-state) would gather to ask wisdom of the Oracle. Before every colony was founded, from Barcelona to Alexandria, the Oracle of Delphi had to be consulted first. Many years later, Theodosius the Great, an Eastern Roman emperor, outlawed paganism and had Delphi shut down. Eventually, the entire site was buried under rockslides and dirt and a village was built over it. The British and French rediscovered Delphi in the 1800s, relocated the village, and restored the site to its current condition. Even now, it is still a far cry from the lavish and richly decorated temple complex it once was. Our entire journey was under the sight of Mount Parnassus, a tall and rocky natural monument. After the enlightening presentation, many of us journeyed up the entire side of the slope to the stadium where the Pythian Games were held during Roman times. We toured the Delphi museum, where we found a lot of the remaining art and statues from the original setting. That Oracle and that entire side of the mountain had to be incredibly invigorating in its prime. The essence of Delphi is a perfect model of the human condition. The way things unfold for us has so much to do with what choices we make, and the best way to do that as leaders did in antiquity is to craft our question very carefully in order to evoke the knowledge we seek. We must clarify both sides of a decision as distinctly as possible to allow reason, or in ancient Greeks’ cases, the priestess, illuminate the favorable option.

We then made our way to lunch at Omfalos which may have been my favorite restaurant we went to; they were impressive with the way they do business. As soon as we all got seated they presented us with options, showing the fresh cut meats and ingredients. Then, instead of the usual pitchers of somewhat cool tap water, they brought us glass liters of cold, fresh tasting water, free of charge.  The olive oil drizzled bread, which they had no problem bringing more of when we devoured the first basket, was wonderfully seasoned and made from quality ingredients, it seemed, as is tradition in much of Europe . The souvlaki and pasta was delicious, and after lunch, we all were given slips of paper worth 15% off in their gift shop, which brought them even more commerce. There was a table full of Greek children, and they all had “fizzy water;”   Greek youth seem to be very trendy, as on another occasion I noticed that about three fourths of a group of adolescent students wearing the flashy American sports teams’ snapback caps. It seems like if it’s cool, you better be doing it, or you’ll be an outcast.

After a beautiful ride along the coast to our next hotel in Patras, we admired at the scenery of mountains and sea while digesting the life-changing experiences of the day. We were able to enjoy some time at the beach before dinner and swim in the Corinthian Sea, dodging numerous sea urchins.  After dinner at the hotel, we had the group in full together at a table discussing the day and other observations from the trip creating pleasant interaction.

Nautical Excursion

After an early departure from the hotel following a scrumptious breakfast, we headed for our cruise of the Sardonic Islands. Upon arrival, we boarded the ship accompanied by some chilliness from the wind teaming with the lack of sun. After drifting about the ship, one might find the front deck to be most enjoyable with many beach chairs out for lounging with plenty of sunshine and close proximity to the water. The ascetic beauty of approaching an island on a ship is special in itself, but some of the things to be found on the island are their own adventures. The most memorable island of that trip might be Hydra where Greece's oldest naval academy is located.  Our group spent some time exploring the local stores and swimming in the Aegean Sea.

 

Surprisingly, Sean was not a part of that group of swimmers, no, upon return to the boat; we learn that Sean took a trip up through the donkey trails, BY FOOT! It's funny to imagine Sean, "The Billygoat,” as we dubbed him, darting through the mountainside trails without the donkey.

Our final stop was Aegina Island . Here, our group split up as Ryan, Xavier, and Sean accompanying Dr. Morgan to the temple of Aphaea, perhaps the jewel of Aegina for its remarkable stature and storied history. 

Aegios Nektarios

The excursion continued to the church of Agios Nektarios, an architectural imitation of the Hagai Sophia in Istanbul, which was a very important church to the Greek Orthodox Church until the Turks turned it into a mosque. I was glad to get the opportunity to try some Aegean Pistachios; they were so delicious! However, those were also the first pistachios I’ve tried, so I may be terribly disappointed the next time I have some, as the pistachios grown in Aegina are said to be the best in Greece, which could mean the world.

During the ship's journey back to Athens, we were entertained with traditional Greek dances and music, in which we could certainly see some of the influence left by the Ottoman Turks. Over the course of the day, we also noticed that there were many wind turbines on top of the mountains, and we even saw a lot of solar panels mixed in with croplands. However, as wonderful as our adventure was, it took its toll on us. We were more than happy to return to our hotel after a long day of adventure and excitement, enjoying dinner and then departing for sleep.
Upon returning to the hotel, we had a rather intriguing experience dining in the hotel restaurant area where we learned the customary tipping practices: one should tip ten percent, no more, and leave it on the table. This dinner was enlightening both as an experience of Greek culture as well as exposure to the intellectual interests of our collegiate counterparts.



City on Top

 

Our first day on the scene was started  with  a wonderful buffet style breakfast and many gave the authentic Greek yogurt a try. The first stop was the Olympic Stadium, built for the games held in Athens in 2004; seeing the Greek flag at half mass in honor of Anna Pollatou, Greek Olympic medalist in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sidney, Australia was respectable, saddening and interesting, all at the same time.  One has to wonder what kind of events are held to utilize such an amazing venue.

Then we continued to the Parliament, where they had an honor guard of soldiers in traditional uniforms standing watch at the tomb of the unknown soldier. Our tour guide, Roberto, told us how they are picked from the Greek military for their height, good looks, and "sexy legs." All Greek men are required to serve one year compulsory military service. After a brief picture-taking period, we arrived at the Acropolis. The march up the winding way was the first of many such approaches to attractions. 

We climbed up the hillside, decorated with olive trees, past old ruins and outcroppings of the hill's natural limestone base. At a rest stop half-way up the hill, while sitting on some steps, there was philosophic conversation about the question: “What is justice.”  After the hike, the view overlooking the mountainous countryside, a hundred feet or so from the Parthenon, one can imagine being a politician or city leader in antiquity and marching up to that building on a daily basis to execute life’s work and how easy to love that kind of life would be. The Acropolis itself ("highest city," from "acro" for high and "polis" for city, in Greek) was breathtaking; the tour passed through the monumental gateway, effectively designed to impress all those who entered.  The Acropolis is much less ornate than in the past, but still remarkable.  The Parthenon has served as a pagan temple to Athena, a Christian church, and an Islamic mosque. During Islamic Ottoman possession, it was severely damaged when a Venetian cannon bombardment exploded an Ottoman gunpowder store kept inside, effectively destroying the ceiling and interior, leaving it in its current state. 

Unfortunately, while we were there, much of the Parthenon was surrounded in scaffolding and machinery to aid in restoring the Parthenon from pollution.  Some new pieces of marble have been put in, but they are all a different color from the ancient marble so people know what is ancient and what is product of restoration.  We also saw the Porch of the Maidens and other ruins during our exploration of the Acropolis, all of which were fascinating.  Afterwards, we stopped at a shop owned by a friend of Roberto’s. Every shop he took us to had a tourist enticing specialty; this shop’s was the necklaces with your name in Greek along with other Greek goods including pottery and jewelry, where it was explained to us that the Ancient Greeks believed that gold absorbed negative energy from people.  After the shopping, we had a chance to explore and ate lunch at a lovely little cafe.  We had pizzas, pastas, and meats, all of which were good; one thing we split was a Greek pizza, which had olives and feta cheese on it, but we also saw Hawaiian pizza with pineapples and ham. 

Later, ironically enough, we had a chance to explore Deree College, an American college in Athens.  We saw a presentation by a Dr. Elizabeth Langridge, who spoke about how people often enter area that had once been walked upon by incredibly influential thinkers of mankind.  One could appreciate the way Langridge "put the human behind the artifact." Later, we walked from the hotel to a local square with a Greek Orthodox Church, around which were many restaurants, and we ate a variety of foods while there then passed back by the church on our way out.  They were celebrating the upcoming Day of Saints Constantine and Helen, parading their icons with a military guard and brass band round the square, the crowd following in throngs.  In the tent canopies, there were shines of these saints, and the people were approaching, observing, and kissing them. We returned to the hotel and were soon asleep, with a 5:45 wakeup call the next morning.

 

 

 

 

 

Crossin' Seas

After gathering outside of Beeghly Gynasium, our group of seven began our Mediterranean trek. This day was spent on airplanes, flying from the Pittsburgh International Airport to Paris de Gaulles Airport, then a connecting flight from there to Athens International Airport. Ryan met Sidney Crosby at the Paris Airport; he was a personable fellow as he shared his travel plans to Spain and his disappointment over the early Penguins playoff exit. 

Upon claiming our luggage in Athens, we met Roberto, our EF Tour Guide. From the beginning and throughout the entirety of our time in Greece, Roberto was friendly and informative. Our luggage arrived on time, and we met up with the Arkansas group to make our way to Hotel Paradise. We had a brief chance to rest and settle in before we were off on foot to explore the old city, in the shadows of the Acropolis. . We made efficient use of our walk to dinner, with a walking tour of the Plaka district and the Roman Agora, built during the Roman occupation of Greece, where was one of the main market and gathering places of the city. Much of the Plaka district has a lovely environment with charming side-street buildings and apartments, similar to Amsterdam with the stone alley way streets and cozy architecture.

A particular structure we saw was the Tower of the Winds, a Roman tower with an aqueduct leading up to it that which in ancient times had a water-operated clock to tell the time of day. We also the ruins of the old latrines the Romans had built, public restrooms with long rows of seats. From there we continued our exploration of the big city until we reached our restaurant, where we were serve traditional Greek moussaka which is similar to lasagna with eggplant in it; the dish had mixed receptions, but the desert was appetizing to few. After a bit of post-dinner pleasantries, we headed back, very fatigued from "jet-lag," for a much need sleep before an early "wakey wakey" to come in the morning.