My Adventures in Greece and Turkey

Day 10 was actually a pretty fun day, though it was so long! We left the ferry for the Athens airport to catch our flight to Samos at 10 AM. The plane was one of those propellor ones, definitely not a commercial plane! I quite enjoyed the flight, the views of all the islands were picturesque. Once we arrived at Samos, we did a brief tour, starting with Samos’ ancient aqueduct. During the tyrant Polycrates’ rule, this aqueduct was built to supply the ancient city with water. It was an excellent defensive measure because usually in wars the first thing the enemy does is cut off the water supply. Since the entrance to the aqueduct was hidden, the water supply to Samos remained safe. The aqueduct also served as a means of escape for the people of Samos if they needed it. Our guide told us the legend of how the Samians dressed their youth in uniform and marched them around the city via the aqueduct to make it appear to the Persians that they had so many soldiers. I thought that was pretty clever! The aqueduct itself is pretty amazing and it was so cool to go into it. At first it was pretty tight, because the entrance is a tiny set of stairs, but it gets bigger as you go deeper in the aqueduct.

On our way to the Archaeological Museum, our guide told us some interesting facts about Samos. Pythagoras, creator of the Pythagorean Theorem among other things, was born here. Samos also had a temple devoted to Hera, which I thought was pretty interesting. I don’t know too much about Hera and her worship, but apparently in ancient times on Samos there was a lot of focus on fertility. Hera was considered the goddess of fertility. Reflecting this, the ancient Samians were very respectful of women and they had a larger role in society. When we got to the museum, we saw many old statues and ruins. I really liked seeing in particular, a giant kouros. A kouros is a statue of a male Greek youth. I think this particular kouros is the largest of its kind in all of Greece. It was huge! After the museum we grabbed lunch and went back to the hotel for a nap. I’m definitely getting accustomed to the Greek way of life! Everything closes at 2 PM and reopens around 5 or 6. It’s very different from America, and sometimes it can be frustrating when you desperately need something but the shop or pharmacy is closed. Anyway, for dinner we headed to a local restaurant to get our last taste of Greek lamb-chops before we head to Turkey! Lamb-chops are one of my favorite Greek dishes =]

Heyyy my lovely readers!

Day 9 was a pretty relaxed day because we didn’t have anything specific planned. I dropped off some dirty laundry at a cleaners, definitely the best 7 euros I’ve spent! I then headed off to the market to grab some gifts for my family. I learned some cool info on how to store olive oil. Apparently all the good olive oil on Crete is sold in dark black glass bottles. This is not accidental, as the black glass blocks any negative reactions that would spoil the oil. Plastic bottles are the worst to hold the oil in because plastic reacts with the oil and ruins it, making it good only for a few months. Olive oil stored in a black bottle can be kept for at least a year or two, if not more. Afterwards we grabbed a quick lunch at our favorite gyro place (cheap and delicious!), picked up our laundry, and went back to the hotel to get ready to board the ferry back to Athens. We will be taking an early morning flight the next day to go to Samos. I’m looking forward to the ferry, I had a very nice sleep on the way to Crete so I’m sure that I will be able to sleep tonight as well. I’m looking forward to Samos!

Hello!

I woke up on day 8 to find myself in Crete! The ferry landed while I was asleep. We boarded the bus, dropped our bags off at the hotel, and headed towards the Minoan palace of Knossos. On the way, we passed so many olive trees and George, our tour guide, told us there were 30 million olive trees on Crete, and that Crete has the highest concentration of olive trees per meter in the world. That’s pretty intense! I resolved to get a bottle of olive oil from the local market =]

We finally reached the Minoan palace of Knossos. I’ve read the mythology about King Minos and his famous labyrinth, so it was cool to check out his enormous palace. According to George, the labyrinth holding the Minotaur referenced in all the mythology actually was just his palace, it’s that big! We walked around the entire complex and George told us some cool facts about the palace. He showed us the throne room, where archaeologists think that a queen sat because the throne is shaped for a woman. We also were shown these gigantic pots that used to hold 1.5 tons of honey. They are so heavy that no one has been able to move them! We also learned about the game of bull-leaping/flipping, which seemed pretty dangerous to me. Basically the participant runs towards a bull head on, grasps the horns, and leaps over the bull as it bucks it head. The momentum the person gains is used to perform somersaults and other acrobatics over the bull. And I thought the running of the bulls was dangerous! After exploring the castle ruins, we headed to the Archaelogical Museum and saw some artifacts from the labyrinth. One mysterious one was this circular disc that archaeologists don’t know the purpose of. It was the subject of a mystery documentary on National Geographic!

After the museum, we were free to explore Crete, so we headed to Lion’s Square, which is one of the centers in Crete. We went to this delicious gyro place (clearly I’m an addict) and I fell even more in love with lamb, it’s delicious! Greek gyros are definitely the best. After lunch we walked around town a bit. There were lots of shops to buy olive oil, and I got a bottle for my parents. It’s always yummy with some warm crusty bread and a bit of balsamic vinegar! That also happens to be the Greek way of eating bread too. As you can tell, I’m definitely loving the food here!

Kalispera!

Sorry I am falling behind on my blog, we are doing so much and there isn’t a ton of free time/internet access for me to post! But I will try to tell you guys about some of the last few days right now =]

So on day 7, after a quick gyro, we headed to Mycena. I was particularly excited about checking out this specific location because I’ve read about Agamemnon, the mythical king of Mycena, and the tragic cycle of his family Atreus, in my Reading Tragedy class this past semester (thank you Professor Pletcher!). Prior to leaving for Troy to fight for h, Agamemnon was told by the gods that he had to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia in order to have favorable winds to sail to Troy. As a result, Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter, wins at Troy, and sails back home only to be murdered by his vindictive wife Clytemnestra, who wanted revenge for her daughter’s sacrifice. In my class I had read Aeschylus’ Oresteia trilogy, which told the story ofAgamemnon’s murder by Clytemnestra, and her subsequent murder at the hands of her son, Orestes. There is just a constant cycle of violence in the trilogy. Since we couldn’t go to all the sites because of the strike, we could only look at the acropolis of Mycena from the outside of the site, much like we did at Olympia. Still, we could see some old tombs in the sides of the hills and some ancient ruins. We also learned about Henry Schliemann, a controversial archaeologist obsessed with Homer’s descriptions of Mycena and ultimately his discovery of Mycenean gold and treasures. Nani told th story so well and it was pretty wild learning about his story. He ended up accidentally finding the treasure by stepping close to a pit and causing it to collapse, revealing the treasure site. He had actually given up his search and was going to go home, but he felt he had to say one last goodbye to the ancient city. Imagine if he hadn’t, we may never have found the artifacts otherwise!  After our visit to the Mycenean acropolis, we went to this Greek restaurant where many famous people have eaten, including George Bush Sr. and Jackie O. The food was delicious, we were given lamb and potatoes and it was incredible!

After lunch, we drove to Piraeus port at Athens to take a ferry to the island of Crete. We said bye to Nani and Chris and boarded the boat. I definitely did not expect the ferry to be so big, it was like a cruise ship! One thing about the ferry is that instead of buying expensive rooms, people can opt to sleep on the floors of each deck. I saw loads of sleeping bags set out onech floor, which was definitely different. I did like our room though, and I was glad we got one because the next morning I heard from some other tourists that their bag was stolen from them while they were sleeping on the deck floor. Thank goodness we got a room! I definitely slept very well in it =]

Kalispera! (good day in Greek)

So today we got some bad news. Apparently the employees working at the historical sights are on strike because they haven’t been getting full wages. That means that we aren’t able to enter the sites. Definitely a bummer =[ but I guess these things happen, right? Greece’s economic situation isn’t exactly the greatest right now, and I have definitely seen the frustrations of the citizens over the course of my time here. There is graffiti everywhere and a lot of it asks for help and reforms to be given. Hopefully the unrest doesn’t affect my stay here!

As a result, we were not able to go inside the Temple of Zeus or any of the other sights at Olympia. Our driver, Chris, and our tour guide, Nani, were really upset! But they wanted us to be able to see the ruins  so they managed to drive us into the site illegally hahaha. Best tour group ever! We got to see the original ancient Olympic stadium and gymnasium from behind the fence. Apparently the only married woman allowed to enter the stadium and watch the games was the oracle. Otherwise the other married women had to stay at home. My friend joked that since the athletes were naked, this rule ensured that the married women didn’t cheat on their husbands! Who knows, maybe it’s true hahaha.

We stopped for lunch at a local restaurant and ate some pastitsio. It’s kind of like lasagna, but with noodle pasta, not the sheets. It was delicious! Afterwards we drove from Olympia to Naphlion, a seaside town. Of all the places so far, this would definitely be the place I would like to live if I was in Greece! The views of the sea were incredible, and there were so many little shops and restaurants too. Such a fun little town! I also had my first Greek gyro here, and let me tell you…they are the best gyros in the world! They also put French fries in them! The Greeks love French fries, they accompany so many of their foods…I definitely do not complain! After a night of shopping, eating, and exploring the town, we headed back to the hotel for a well-deserved sleep.

Kalimera! (that means “good morning” in Greek)

So today we left Delphi to continue our tour of the mainland. Today was mostly a driving day so there really isn’t too much to tell. We left Delphi and drove to Olympia. One thing that was pretty cool was the bridge to Antirion. It is the world’s longest cable bridge, and it crosses the Gulf of Corinth near the town of Patras. On both sides of the bridge are these forts that, in ancient times, guarded the entrance of the gulf. They are still here today! After we crossed the bridge, I fell asleep until we got to Olympia. The drive was just so long!

We arrived at our hotel at Olympia, which was really nice! It was a bit chilly though. All in all the weather has been colder than I had expected. Definitely not as cold as winters are in Chicago and New York though, so I’m not complaining! We ate at the hotel for dinner.  I’ve never eaten so many 3 course meals in my life! We had a cheese pie and salad for appetizers, chicken and rice for the meal, and a rum cake for dessert. I love cheese pie, but my lactose-intolerant body hates me for it! The Greeks love cheese and they love meat. My favorite foods have definitely been souvlaki and tzatziki though. I’ll post pics of the awesome food soon!

Hey everyone,

So on the fourth day we left Athens for a tour of the mainland. The first place we went to was Delphi, the ancient sanctuary dedicated to Apollo, the Greek god of light and prophecy.  As a classics major, Delphi has special significance to me because I read about it all the time in Greek tragedy. Oedipus hears about the prophecy that ultimately destroys him from the Delphic oracle, and it was really amazing to finally see it in person. We started the 3 hour drive and headed towards Mount Parnassos, the major mountain where Delphi is located. Can you imagine in ancient times how long it must have taken for the Greeks to travel to Delphi? Such a long journey! Mount Parnassos is now used as a skiing and snowboarding location. After stopping for a quick break at a local rest stop and eating my first spinach pie of the day (they are delicious but we ended up eating them ALL the time so we got tired of them!) we finally reached the museum at Delphi.

Delphi is located high in the mountains, just past the little town of Arachova. The museum is located below the actual sanctuary. It holds many old sculptures and statues unearthed from the sanctuary. Apparently all the contributions to the exhibits came from a French archaelogical team, who spent 11 years excavating the site. The one sculpture that I really liked was “The Charioteer”. He was made of bronze and sculpted in such great detail. He even had eyelashes!

After the museum, we got to explore Delphi and began the hike up the hill to the sanctuary. We saw the Temple of Apollo and learned about the Delphic oracle who inhaled fumes from earthly gases and delivered the prophecies of Apollo. The temple was quite large and it had a great view of everything below. We also saw a theater and a sports arena, which was at the very top. I will definitely add photos to this post when I get back!

After Delphi, we headed to a local restaurant for lunch. A friend of mine and I shared the mixed dish, which was comprised of different foods. There were cabbage rolls stuffed with veal, fried cheese, tzatziki, fried zucchini balls, and salad. It was delicious! The food has been absolutely amazing here.

After lunch, we headed to Arachova to explore a bit. Arachova is now a popular place for skiers since it is close to Mount Parnassos. There is this one set of stairs, 200 in all, that leads up to this church and plane that gives you a great view of the city. My 3 friends and I ran up the stairs in 3 minutes! My legs were trembling on the way down! The views were phenomenal though, so it was definitely worth it. And apparently every year a bunch of old men run up the stairs following some custom. They must be in great shape because the climb was no walk in the park!

After that, we drove to the city of Delphi to check into our hotel and unwind for the night. It was a great day!

Hey all,

So I haven’t had consistent Internet for the past few days (we have been traveling quite a bit!) so now I can finally sit down and write a decent blog entry. Oh, and I’m sorry I haven’t been posting any pictures! I only brought my iPad on this trip so I can’t upload any photos, but when I get back home I will definitely add loads of photos to this blog!

So on the third day, we all piled on our tour bus and did a quick bus tour of some sights in Athens. One of the places we stopped at was the Panathenaic Stadium, where the first Olympic Games of the modern era was ever held!! It now is used only for special occasions, but it is still an impressive sight. You could still see a podium for first, second, and third place!

After the stadium, we headed over to the Acropolis Museum. I wish I could properly describe the building to you, it was so nice! It is located on the hill of the Acropolis and has foundations from 1865 when the museum was first conceived. It’s really cool because the floor outside the museum (in a foyer of sorts) is glass so you can see the original foundations. The building itself is super modern. Inside there were different exhibits with old ruins and sculptures from the Acropolis. One of the things I thought was really cool was a section where the Caryatids were displayed. The Caryatids are these sculptures of female figures that served as part of the supportive structure of the Erechtheion temple on the Acropolis. But at the museum, they are doing a restoration project of these Caryatids because they need to be cleaned. Instead of harsh chemicals, they use lasers to clean the statues, it’s pretty cool! Reminded me of Physics 2 ahahaha.

After the museum, we grabbed a quick lunch and made our way to the top of the Acropolis, which is located in the center of Athens. It was quite a hike to get to the top, but SO worth it. It was amazing to finally see the Parthenon and the other ruins of ancient temples. Plus, seeing the view from the top of the Acropolis for the first time was breathtaking. It was strange because the skyline of Athens is quite different from that of modern cities in America. There aren’t any skyscrapers because the view of the Acropolis shouldn’t be obscured, so when I was looking from the top of the Acropolis it was just a vast landscape of apartments and other short buildings. Definitely different from New York and Chicago! It was amazing to finally see the Acropolis because it really defined the Golden Age of Greece and Athenian democracy in ancient times, which I learned about last semester. Yay for applying college knowledge to travel experiences!

After the Acropolis, my roommate and I headed back to the hotel to fit in a quick nap and just unwind for the day. All in all, it was a jam-packed day full of awesome sights and great food, as always =] they cook meat here so well, the souvlaki (it’s essentially meat and sometimes veggies cooked on a skewer) is the greatest thing ever and tzatziki is my new favorite condiment. For those of you who haven’t experienced the greatness that is tzatziki, it’s this white sauce flavored with garlic, cucumber, dill, and olive oil, among other things. It’s sooo good with bread, but it is also delicious with gyros/pretty much anything!

So yeah, that’s Day 3 in a nutshell! I will be writing about Day 4 shortly, when we went to…wait for it…DELPHI! Such a great day, but you guys will have to wait for the entry to hear all about it!

Hey everyone,

So I’m typing this journal entry as fast as I can in a local McDonald’s by the Athenian Parliament building because our hotel doesn’t have wifi! So please excuse the typos =] It’s been nice taking a break from technology; I feel like I really am experiencing Athens without an iPhone to tell me where to go…definitely a little liberating!

So I arrived in Athens last night and our professor immediately took us out to dinner to this amazing restaurant. Greek food is amazing! Think pita and tzatziki and meats galore, ohhh it’s so good. I am definitely going to have a fun trip trying out all this awesome food! Getting to the restaurant was a walk though, but we passed by Hadrian’s Arch, which was lit up making it look even cooler. All the ancient ruins have a spotlight shining on them at night, it’s great. After dinner most of us just went home and crashed…I’m so jetlagged, I couldn’t even sleep!

Anyway, so today we did a lot of walking around and sightseeing. First we walked to Hadrian’s Arch, this massive arch structure sort of close to the Acropolis (which we are hitting up tomorrow. SO EXCITED). It was huge, and you could see the Acropolis in the background. Then we walked to the ruins of a Roman agora and saw the Tower of Winds. That was pretty cool because it had a few functions like determining the direction of the wind (if I am remembering correctly). Then we walked all the way to the National Archaelogical Museum (through a pretty shady section of town, drug deals were definitely going down haha). The museum was amazing though, it had so many sculptures from the 4th century and I could even identify some of the subjects they were depicting, which made me proud of myself! We even got to see the mask of Agamemnon, it was this golden mask that served as the mythical funeral mask of Agamemnon. It was cool seeing how Greek mythology intertwined with the arts of the ancient times. After that we grabbed some food and I headed over to the McDonald’s to type up this quick entry!

Athens is a wonderful city, there is so much to do and see and I feel like we don’t have enough time but we will have to fit in everything tonight and tomorrow! I have to run to lecture now, but hopefully I will be able to describe Athens in more detail when I have more time! Hope you all are enjoying 2012, I know I am =]

Hey everyone!

So I’m trying my hand at this whole blogging thing for a few weeks to chronicle my study abroad trip to Greece and Turkey.  Hopefully it’ll be an interesting read but more importantly, I hope I keep it updated!

But anyway, just a little introduction about myself…my name is Lashika!  I’m a Macaulay Honors College senior at Brooklyn studying chemistry and classics.  I love to travel, bake red velvet cupcakes, and read (A Song of Ice and Fire, anyone?).  But most importantly, in t-6 hours I will be on my flight on Turkish Airways to Athens, Greece!  I can’t believe I’ll finally be visiting Greece, it’s been a dream of mine for a very long time.  The classics major within me is VERY excited =]  I’m taking a course with George Mason University so I don’t know anyone going on the trip, but I figure that’ll make the experience even more fun.  So yeah!  I’ll be in Athens for a few days and then we will make our way around the Peloponnese.  I’ll try to upload pics to the blog too.

Anyway, I have to go finish packing (sooo last minute hahaha), so the next time I see you, I’ll be in Athens!  Happy New Year!!