July 23rd - Day 43

Lysikrates Monument

Today was our last day of scheduled site visits. The end is truly upon me and I can hardly believe it! This morning we made our final trip to the Agora, where John Camp showed us around the south side of the Athenian Agora and then took us on a tour of the current excavations being carried out by the American School.

Next it was off to the Lysikrates Monument, which was erected by Lysicrates, a wealthy patron of the musical performances in the Theater of Dionysus. It was built to commemorate the award of first prize in 335/334 BC to one of the performances he had sponsored.

We then stopped for a little coffee break (there is always time for a coffee in Greece) courtesy of Bella. After that we had the remainder of the afternoon off. I spent the afternoon getting caught up on my blogging and picture tagging. At some point I am going to need to start tackling the mess that is my suitcase...that will probably be tomorrow's project. 

We have a whole day free tomorrow, with a farewell party being the only thing on the agenda. I am looking forward to being able to sleep in a little bit tomorrow and being able to relax before I make the long trip home, which involves a good 17 hours of travel time starting at 5:30 am...boo! I am excited to be coming home. Six weeks away from home in a foreign country is a long time!

July 22nd - Day 42

The Temple of Apollo @ Aigina

Today was the last day that I will have to rise and be ready to go by 7:30 am (!), as we made our way to the island of Aigina. We were picked up for the last time by our faithful bus driver, Spyros, who has been with us for 6 long weeks, and dropped off at the port. We had to say our goodbyes to Spyros there as he would not be accompanying us to the island or picking us up, because it would have gone over the 12 hour limit. There is a law in Greece that prevents drivers from working more than 12 hours a day.

The ferry took about an hour and a half and we landed in a quaint little port town. We made our way over to our first stop of the day, which was to see the ruins of the Temple of Apollo. The temple is also known as "Kolona," meaning column because only one column remains standing today. The temple dates from the 6th century BC and is constructed in the Doric architectural style. It was believed to have had 11 columns on the sides and 6 columns on each end. After we walked around the site and took in the amazing views of the surrounding water, we stopped in the on-site museum to look at the finds.

Sanctuary of Aphaia

Next we hopped on a local bus and made our way across the island to see the Sanctuary of Aphaia, which is a really cool site. The goddess Aphaia was almost exclusively worshiped on the island of Aigina and was a local deity associated with fertility and the agricultural cycle. According to myth, Aphaia, who is identified with Britomartis, daughter of Zeus and Karme, was loved by Minos. To escape his attention, she jumped into the sea and emerged in Aigina, where she became "invisible" in a grove. Later the goddess becomes associated with the Athenian hegemony and comes to be associated with Athena and Artemis.

The temple had a really cool inner structure and I wish that we had had an expert with us so that we could have gone inside the temple and learned more about the goddess and the architecture of the temple. After we finished at the temple we headed back to the port via the public bus and got back on the ferry. After we arrived on the mainland, we had to take the metro back to Loring Hall.

It turned out to be a long, hot day of travel and we didn't get back to Loring Hall until around 7 pm. By then most of us only had enough energy to find some dinner, shower, and head to bed. Tomorrow is our last day of scheduled site visits. We are heading to the Agora of the last time and then to the Lysikrates Monument.

July 21st - Day 41

Kerameikos

Today was a fairly easy day as we wind down our 6 weeks here in Greece. We visited the Kerameikos, an area located to the northwest of the Acropolis. The Kerameikos was the potters' quarter of the city and was also a site of an important cemetery and numerous funerary sculptures erected along the road out of the city towards Eleusis.

This is also the site where the Hiera Hodos (the Sacred Way) began, along which the procession moved for the Eleusinian Mysteries. We visited the destination of the procession, Eleusis, back on June 26th. After touring the site, we visited the small archaeological museum there to look at some of the finds.

We had the rest of the afternoon off and I spent it doing a little souvenir shopping before heading back to Loring Hall to relax and take a nap. Later that evening I met up with some group members and we went to a local restaurant called Avocado, which is an all vegetarian/vegan restaurant. The food was absolutely amazing. I had a juice drink and a margarita pizza - all made with fresh, local ingredients.

Tomorrow is another early day as we embark on our last day trip to the island of Aigina.

July 20th - Day 40

Hangover survival kit

Today was a dark and sad day...today was the day that I learned that I am no longer able to drink and party like I did in my early 20's without consequences. Mom, if you are reading this...sorry...not one of my best moments...

Last night we all went out for a big group dinner and copious amounts of wine were had by all, including myself. I will not go into all of the details, but let's just say that I woke up this morning not feeling so well and regretting the aforementioned amounts of wine that I consumed. Compounding my misery was the fact that today we spent most of the day on a hot bus as we traveled back to Athens.

Our first stop of the day was at the Volos Museum. I cannot honestly tell you what I saw in that museum as I was trying not to be sick on the antiquities (again...sorry Mom). I vaguely remember seeing some more grave stele and pottery. After the museum it was back on the bus for a few hours on our way to Mitrou. I slept most of the way and felt somewhat better when we arrived. We stopped for lunch at a small "mom and pop" restaurant. I think they were very overwhelmed with our group of 20.

On our way down to the beach, we stopped at the headquarters of the Mitrou dig currently going on and visited with the dig supervisor and got to talk with some of the excavators and see what they are currently working on. We spent the next few hours at the beach, before heading back to Athens. Only 4 more days left in Greece!

July 19th - Day 39

Sanctuary of Isis @ Dion

This morning we traveled to another one of my favorite sites, Dion. Dion was an important religious and cultural center of Macedonia and is known for its many sanctuaries. It took us almost 2 hours to get there and it took about 1.5 hours to tour the site, as it is very big. We saw a few sanctuaries, my favorite being the Sanctuary of Isis. This sanctuary was cool because it is being reclaimed by nature. It is now surrounded by a marsh, which gave it a really cool, sunken appearance. Plus we got to see frogs, turtles, and fish swimming around the temple, which was cool. Other highlights on the site included a Roman theatre, a few bath houses, and the Temple to Zeus Olympios, who the site is dedicated to. The site has a nice view of Mount Olympus and they also held athletic games and music competitions in honor of Zeus. After spending time at the site, we jumped on the bus for a quick ride over to the museum where we got to see some of the finds from the site.

Dimini

After a short lunch break, it was on to Dimini, which contains remains of both a Mycenaean and Neolithic settlement. The city was built up on a small hill and you can still see the foundation remains there. We also got to see a well preserved tholos tomb. We didn't spend too much time there as we got there shortly before the site closed for the day.

Then it was back on the bus and onto Makrynitsa where we will spend the night before we start making our way back to Athens tomorrow. The hotel we are staying in is much nicer than the hotel in Thessaloniki. It is located in the mountains and we had to walk a ways to get to it because our bus could not get there. They were nice enough to come pick up our luggage, so at least we didn't have to lug that along with us. Although, if they have a luggage shuttle, shouldn't they have one for people too? I'm just asking...Anyway, the hotel has a nice rustic feel to it and feels like the Four Seasons compared to our last hotel.

Tonight is our big official group dinner. We are eating at a restaurant which apparently has excellent views of the surrounding mountains and valleys below. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow! Less than a week left in Greece - can't believe it!

July 18th - Day 38

Pella

This morning we headed off to Pella, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia. It was the birthplace of Philip II and Alexander the Great. We spent the entire morning touring the site and museum there. The site is still be excavated and they are working on turning it into a park for tourists, which means they are undertaking some serious restoration and conservation projects in the area. The new visitor center on the site is scheduled to open in 2014 and should be quite a draw for tourists as there is quite a lot to see on site. The museum contains the finds from the site and is laid out well. It contains a lot of interesting artifacts, including mosaics, terracotta figurines and pottery, as well as some really cool coins. 


After we finished up at Pella, we drove another 2 hours to Vergina, which is my favorite site of this trip North and definitely a top 5 for the whole trip. Vergina is the reported burial site for Philip II and Alexander the Great (and a few other members of the royal family). There is quite a lot of debate among scholars as to whether or not this is really the burial site. The problem is that the site is largely unpublished and politics plays a big part in this site. Many believe that much of the site has not been published so that there cannot be any doubt cast on who is buried in the site. The site itself is really cool. The tombs are underground and the museum has been set up around the tombs. So you go down to see the excavated tomb and then you can walk around the different cases and see the artifacts that were found in the different tombs. No pictures were allowed. My favorite was a suit of armor and shield that supposedly belonged to Philip II. Some scholars argue that it actually belonged to Alexander. The amount of wealth that was buried in these tombs was staggering. Tons of gold, benches with ivory decorations, weapons, silver, etc. It was amazing! There were even grave stele found with their original paintings still visible - this is largely unheard of anywhere else. It was a truly remarkable site.


We got back to Thessaloniki just before dinner time. We headed out to the same restaurant again, being too tired to look for anything else. I ordered my Greek salad and mushrooms again and had another Mythos to wash it down. After that I trudged back to my horrid hotel room (late night!!) took a shower and sat down to write this blog post. I am going to hit the sack very shortly as we have an early wake up call tomorrow - 7:30 am...BOO!! Good night, y'all! 

July 17th - Day 37

Olynthos

This morning was a pleasant surprise weather-wise. It was actually overcast and somewhat cool, which was a nice change from the blazing hot sun we have been experiencing. It even started to sprinkle for about a minute. The cool weather didn't last long, but it was still cloudy which kept the temperature from getting too hot.

We started the day with another road trip - the bus is starting to feel like a second home we spend so much time on it - to the ancient city of Olynthos. Olynthos was an important cultural center for the Bottiaians during the Classical period. It was destroyed by the Persians in 479 BC, when it passed into the hands of the Chalkideans. It was later destroyed by Philip II (Alexander the Great's father) in 348 BC. It is often studied today for its domestic architecture as there are several well preserved houses on the site.

After Olynthos, it was a 2 hour bus ride back to Thessaloniki where we had a short lunch break and then took a short walking tour of the city on our way to the Archaeological Museum. On our walking tour we stopped at the Rotunda of Galerius (Galerius was a Roman emperor), which has been both a Christian church and Muslim mosque throughout its history, and the Arch of Galerius. We then walked down to see the Palace of Galerius, which is one of the most important monuments of late antiquity in Thessaloniki (according to the sign). The palace is located in the heart of a busy downtown area and is currently being excavated. We were allowed to go down into the site and look around, which was cool.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the museum, which had a lot of really cool gold jewelry that was found in burial tombs, as well as some Roman statues which were neat. After that we spent the few hours before dinner relaxing. We went back to the same restaurant from the night before. This time I had a Greek salad and sauteed mushrooms - so good!

Tomorrow should be an exciting day as we are going to visit Vergina, the burial site of Philip II and Alexander the Great!

July 16th - Day 36

Great Meteoron

This morning was a morning of monasteries as we traveled to Meteora (means "suspended in the air"), which is a group of 6 monasteries located on top of high cliffs. The cliffs that these monasteries were located on were breathtaking. The whole area had a very sacred feel to it. Four of the monasteries are still active religious communities and because of that we had to adhere to a dress code when we visited. It was nothing to crazy - woman had to wear skirts and have their shoulders covered, men had to wear pants. We only visited two of the six monasteries - Great Meteoron and Varlaam. Each one involved a hike up winding staircases, which were built right into the cliffs. The monks used to use rope ladders attached to pulleys to get up and down the cliffs. I'm glad that they added the stairs, because there is no way I was getting into a net attached to a rope and being hoisted up a cliff!

Cliffs around Meteora

Our next stop was at Aiani, which was a Macedonian city. Unfortunately the site was closed, so we only got to go to the museum. Aiani is known for a unique style of pottery which we got to see in the museum. Most of the artifacts have not been published, so while we were allowed to take photographs, we were asked not to post any of the pictures on the internet.

After Aiani it was back on the bus for a long bus ride to Thessaloniki were we will be staying for the next 3 nights. Because we got back so late, we opted to push our walking tour from tonight to tomorrow and spent the rest of the afternoon resting and relaxing before dinner. The hotel we are staying at sucks and is my least favorite so far. The rooms are really small and smell of cigarette smoke. The bathroom is small and the shower had mold in it. It's the type of place that you bring your mistress or a prostitute, and we are staying here for 3 nights :(

The restaurant we went to for dinner was really good. It was located only a few blocks from our hotel and it had freshly made rolls that were to die for. I ordered a Greek salad and chicken soulvaki and it was delicious. I topped that off with a Mythos (a Greek beer) and I was a happy camper!

July 15th - Day 35

Theatre at Orchomenos

Today was another bus heavy day as we traveled from Delphi to Kalambaka. Our first stop of the day was Orchomenos, which was a very important Boeotian city. Orchomenos seems to have been inhabited from the Neolithic period through the Roman period, with a particularly prosperous phase during the Mycenaean period around 2000-1200 BC. Homer makes reference to Orchomenos' wealth in the Iliad.

Lion of Chaironeia 

There was not much left to see. We did get to go inside the Tomb of Minyas, which is a large tholos tomb, and the theatre. There are remains of a palace, but they are currently located under an Eastern Orthodox church. We couldn't really walk around the site where the church was because there were services going on. I enjoyed sitting outside the church in the courtyard and listening to the patriarchs sing and chant the service. All of the churches project the service over loud speakers, so you can often hear the service if you are in the surrounding areas.

Our next stop of the day was at Chaeronea where we saw the giant Lion of Chaeronea. This was a memorial erected by the Thebans in honor of the elite fighting force known as the Sacred Band of Thebes, who died in the Battle of Chaeronea. The monument was built on the site where the cremated bodies of the soldiers were buried. The site also had a small museum that we visited.

Thermopylae

Our last stop of the day was Thermopylae. I was expecting a lot more from this site, but it was a little disappointing. The only things to really see there were a monument and a reconstruction of the epigram left by Simonides. There is a modern highway that runs through the battle ground now. When we arrived there was a group of high school aged students (from America, I think...) all posing in front of the monument and yelling "This is Sparta." Across the highway is a hill were the last of the 300 supposedly died and where the epigram of Simonides is located. The original stone has been lost to time and as been replaced by a reconstruction.

We then got back on the bus, for the longest and hottest bus ride of my life! Three hours later we finally arrived in Kalambaka. After a rest, we headed out to dinner. Unfortunately my meal left something to be desired. I order stuffed peppers, which are normally really good, but these were really bland tasting. Even the wine was disappointing. I am looking forward to getting home and having a little more variety in my dining choices. Everywhere we go in Greece, the restaurants all have the same basic menu...35 days in and I'm starting to get sick of it :( Tomorrow we are off to Thessaloniki for the next 3 nights. Only 9 days left!

July 14th - Day 34

Tholos in lower site

Today was an exciting day for me...we finally made it to Delphi! The sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi was built over a series of terraces in the foothills of Mt. Parnassos. Delphi was considered the religious and spiritual center of the ancient Greek world. According to myth, Zeus sent two eagles from the ends of the universe to find the center of the world. The two eagles met in Delphi and Delphi was considered by the Greeks to be the geographical center of the world. Visitors from all over the Greek world would come to Delphi to consult  the oracle whenever they were about to take a serious decision or initiative.

Gymnasium

We started the day by walking from our hotel to the lower sanctuary where we saw the Temple of Athena Pronaia - both the latest temple and the remains of the archaic temple - and some treasuries. Next we walked back up the hill and stopped to look at the Kastalian Spring and the gymnasium. We then continued up the hill to the main entrance of the site and traveled along the Sacred Way, just like pilgrims in ancient times would have. Along the way we saw the Treasury of the Siphnians, the Athenian Treasury, the Temple of Apollo, and the theatre. The Temple of Apollo, where the oracle was located, was completely roped off and being watched by guards, so we were not able to get very close to the spot where people would have gone to ask their questions of the oracle. I stood as close as I could to the spot and asked my question...no response, but maybe I will receive a vision tonight in my sleep...

Temple of Apollo

Antinoos

Most of us continued our voluntary "forced death march" to the very top terrace where the stadium is located. It is quite a trek from the gymnasium to the stadium and it gave me a new appreciation of the ancient athletes who participated in the games. Delphi, because it is built on a series of terraces, is full of inclines and stairs with little to no shade and we were there during the peak of the day, so it was a little warm out. It was just so cool to be at the site that I didn't even mind the hike.

Stadium

After we finished at the site we headed back down to the museum on site where we got to see some of the finds. My favorite was the statue of Antinoos - the beloved companion of Emperor Hadrian who drowned in the Nile River. He was supposed to have been very beautiful and his statue had fabulous hair. After the museum it was time for lunch - gyros at a local restaurant - and a little souvenir shopping.

Highlights for tomorrow include Chaironeia and Thermopylai before we head to Kalambaka for the night.

July 13th - Day 33

Herkyna Spring

Happy Friday the 13th! This morning we set off for our 8 day trip through northern Greece. While I was not looking forward to having to live out of a suitcase again, I was looking forward to staying in hotels with AC. The last two nights in Athens have been almost unbearable because of the heat. But I digress...

Our first stop of the day was Thebes. We got shown around the current excavations by the director of the site and then he took us on a walking tour and showed us some of the other remains scattered throughout the town. Our first stop was at the Temple of Apollo Ismenios. There is not much left of the temple that is visible except a few walls, so it was a quick stop. We continued to walk through Thebes and saw the Herakleion (shrine of Herkles), the Church of Agios Gregorios, the Elektra Gates, some treasury buildings, and an archive. Our tour ended at the archaeological museum currently under construction. We got to go inside the museum and see a few pieces that are being stored there and will eventually be apart of the exhibits when it opens to the general public, but there wasn't really a lot to see.

After that we hopped on the bus and drove to Livadia were we had lunch next to a beautiful spring. The spring was called the Herkyna Spring and is said to have been the site of the Trophonius oracle. The hero/god Trophonios was believed to be the protector of the city. Today the spring is surrounded by a park and it was a very pleasant place to stop for lunch. I think we all enjoyed dipping our tired feet in the cool spring.

Our next stop was in Distomo to see a memorial commemorating the Distomo massacre that occurred during World War II. The massacre occurred on June 10, 1944 and was part of a collective punishment policy of the Germans in response to the killing of 3 Germans at the hands of local guerrillas. The Germans, who believed that the town was harboring the guerrillas, rounded up the inhabitants and killed them, sparing no one. Photographs of the victims were hung in a room with their names and ages. The Germans spared no one in this massacre and there were photos of men, women, and children, young and old. It was an extremely powerful memorial.

Church of Hosios Loukas

Our final stop of the day was at Hosios Loukas, which is located on the western slopes of Mt. Helicon near ancient Stiris. It is home to the Monastery of Hosios Loukas and is one of the most important and well preserved Byzantine sites. The monastery was founded in the 10th century and is home to some spectacular mosaics, frescoes, and other religious artwork. It was an important site of pilgrimage because of the healing miracles said to be performed by Hosios Loukas.

After we finished at the monastery it was back on the bus and off to Delphi where we will be spending 2 nights. I'm super excited about tomorrow as we will be visiting the ancient site of Delphi. It is definitely one of the sites that I have been looking forward to since I found out I was coming to Greece.

July 12th - Day 32

On the road again...well, sort of. Today we took a day trip to Peiraeus to visit the Peiraeus Museum and a few other sites. Although small, the museum has a really interesting collection. I especially like the collection of bronze statues that were found in a storeroom in 1959. It is believed that the statues were put there for safekeeping when Peiraeus was besieged by Sulla in 86 BC. The most impressive one was a bronze statue of Athena, which was probably my favorite of the day.


After the museum we walked a few blocks to the Arsenal of Philon that served as a storage place for all the "moveable" parts - i.e. ropes, sails, etc. - from the triremes (Athenian war ships) when they were not in use. The arsenal is currently located between two apartment buildings and was found when the buildings were being built and is now a protected archaeological site, although many of the remains are under the surrounding buildings or have been lost.


After the arsenal we headed over to the Zea Harbour Project headquarters. This venture turned out to be another "forced death march" as our leader Bella week the wrong way. We ended up walking to the wrong side of the harbor and had to double back and walk all the way around to the other side in the blazing heat at a double-timed pace because we were going to be late. By the time we all got the headquarters we were drenched in sweat and miserable. Thankfully the presentation was rather interesting. The Zea Harbour Project is a Danish run organization who runs year round excavations of the Zea and Mounichia harbors in Piraeus. The organization does both land and underwater archaeology and has been studying and excavating the Athenian ship sheds that are located in the harbors. Many of the remains are now underwater due to sea level changes. The ship sheds were built to house the triremes themselves. They had to be stored in ship sheds because the ships were made of wood and if they were left to the elements they warped and aged faster. The Zea Harbour Project is really doing some interesting work, however I'm not sure that I would want to do it. The divers have to wear special dive suits designed for diving in contaminated waters because of the pollution in the harbor. The director of the program introduced us to the work they are doing and then took us for a walk along the harbor to see some of the remains, which in some places (if the water is not too murky) you can see from above the surface.

The Olympias

When we finished there we hoped back on the bus for a short ride to another part of the harbor to see a reconstructed trireme called the Olympias. This reconstruction is largely based on historical accounts as archaeologists have not been able to locate an actual trireme. Unfortunately organic material, such as wood, does not often survive. Then it was back on the bus and back to Athens for a pizza lunch. I spent the afternoon in the library because its air conditioned working on tagging my pictures. I also did some grocery shopping and laundry.

We leave to head up to Northern Greece tomorrow for the next 8 days. I'm really excited to go to Thebes and Delphi!! Hopefully I will have better internet access than I did in the Peloponnese. This is our last major trip. When we return I will only have 4 days left in Athens. I can't believe I am in the final stretch of this trip already. Soon I will be back in the good 'ole US of A!

July 11th - Day 31

I can't believe I have less than two weeks left here in Greece! Our days continue to be jammed packed, but today was a nice change as we got to sleep in a little bit. Our morning didn't officially start until 8:30 am when we walked down to the Byzantine and Christian Museum that is about a 10 minute walk from Loring Hall. We spent about 2.5 hours there as we were guided through the museum. It is a very well put together museum and it was air conditioned! Today's high was 101 degrees, so I was happy that it was a museum heavy day. The most interesting exhibits in the museum were the ones that dealt with how the Christian's re-appropriated the pagan ideas and structures of ancient Greece. Most of the time it just involved adding a cross to convert something from pagan to Christian.

We had about 1.5 hours to kill after leaving the first museum before we were scheduled to be at the National Archaeological Museum for our tour of the Roman sculpture galleries so we decided to walk there rather than take the metro. We stopped along the way for coffee and a snack - because the Greeks always have time for a coffee! - and hung out in the little park area in front of the museum. This was our last trip to the National Archaeological Museum and I think it remains my favorite museum we have visited. It is put together perfectly and although it contains a lot of material, I didn't find it overwhelming. It is definitely a museum that takes more than one trip to see however.

The focus of today's visit was sculpture during the Roman period. There were lots of statues and portrait statues of the various Roman emperors, including a really cool bronze statue of Augustus. My favorite piece was of a sleeping Maenad that was found near the Athenian Acropolis. After we finished up at the museum we walked back to Loring Hall and had a few hours to relax.

We ate an early dinner because we got tickets to the Dora Stratou Dance Theatre to see some traditional Greek folk dancing. The concert was held in an outdoor theater next to the Acropolis. The performance was amazing. The company is made up of 75 dancers, musicians and folk singers. The music was lively and the dancers were dressed in traditional costumes. They changed their costumes frequently to correspond to the region the dance came from. The male dancers did all sorts of crazy kicks, slaps, and turns, and it was a fun evening out.

Tomorrow is a half day trip to Peiraias to visit the Peiraias Museum. We leave for our trip north on Friday morning, so that involves more packing tomorrow as well! Time to live out of a suitcase again...but at least the hotels have air conditioning :)

July 10th - Day 30

Tomb of Athenians

Today was another day trip, this time to Marathon and Rhamnous. First stop of the day was at the site of the Marathon battle. It was a very quick stop as there is not much to see at the actual site, just a model of the area and the Tomb of the Athenians, where the 192 Athenians who died in the Battle of Marathon are buried.

Next it was off to the Museum where we got to see the remains of the "trophy" erected by the Athenians to celebrate their victory. The guards were also kind enough to unlock one of the tombs for us to look at. The tomb we saw was from the Middle Helladic period, about 2000 to 1300 BC. There are several tombs dating from various periods located around the museum. We walked over to see the Plataeans tomb where the Plataeans who died in the Battle of Marathon are said to be buried. We couldn't go inside because it was locked, but it was a mound grave and looked similar to the Tomb of the Athenians, only smaller.

Temple of Nemsis

Then it was on to Rhamnous, the site of one of the most well preserved ancient Attic demes. We originally thought that we were not going to be able to get into the site. Many of the sites do not open or close early because they do not have enough guards due to the economic situation in Greece. We lucked out and the guard unlocked the site so that we could see it. First stop on the site was at the Temple of Nemesis. After that it we hiked (another forced death march!) to the site of the fortified settlement. The hike would not have been so bad had it not be 97 degrees out. It was so hot! The site was really cool and there was a lot to see because it was so well preserved.

Rhamnous

We stopped at a nearby beach for lunch and a swim break before heading back to Athens. We got back around 5:30 pm and I completely crashed and took a nap, as I was drained from spending the majority of the day out in the blistering sun.

Tomorrow is another museum day, which means air conditioning!! We are going to the Byzantine and Christian Museum in the morning and then heading back the National Archaeological Museum to tour the Roman sculpture galleries.

July 9th - Day 29

Today was a fairly easy day. In the morning we returned to the Agora where Susan Rotroff showed us around the few homes that have been excavated and talked to us about the features of Greek houses. We then went back to the Agora Museum and got to see some more of the finds that are on display there. I got to see the "Rich Athenian Lady" burial things which was really cool. Last time we were at the Agora Museum we visited the archive part of the building and got to see the "Rich Athenian Lady's" bones, so it was cool to see all of the jewelry she was buried with and the actual container she was buried in.

Rich Athenian Lady Burial Materials

Child's Potty

We also got to see a lot of things related to the Athenian democracy and judicial systems. One cool thing we got to see was a device they used to select jurors. We also got to see a water clock and some ostraka pottery shards. After that we saw a bunch of things related to the everyday life of Athenians, including a child's potty. It was really interesting to see and it was one of my favorite pieces only because it was so humanizing. It's interesting to think that even the Greeks, thousands of years ago, where still concerned with some of the everyday things that we do today, like potty train our children.

After the museum we head back to Loring Hall to relax and eat lunch. In the afternoon we headed back to the National Archaeological Museum where Carol Lawton lead us around the sculpture galleries and told us about Greek sculpture from the Archaic period to the Hellenistic period. We will be going back on Wednesday to learn about and see sculptor from the Roman period.

Zeus or possibly Poseidon

July 8th - Day 28

Free Day!! Today was our one and only absolutely free day. The only drawback is that it fell on a Sunday when most things are closed. It's the craziest thing - the whole city shuts down. All the markets, most of the shops, cafes and restaurants are closed. I really wanted to sleep in, but alas that was not to be as I had to do laundry and the only time slot available was 7 AM...boo! I did manage a little cat nap after my laundry was done.

Around 11 am I and a few others decided to head to the touristy area around the acropolis to do some souvenir shopping - this area never closes! We only made it a few hours though as it was so beastly hot. Most days are in the 90s or 100s and there is no AC. I have come to associate Athens with sweat. We headed back to Loring to relax and decided that we were going to venture out for Thai food for dinner. Takki is an excellent cook, but the Greeks do not use a lot of spices in their cooking, and since the staff is off on Sundays we thought it would be an excellent chance to try something new. We had to walk through a kind of sketchy part of town to get to the restaurant, but it was worth it because the curry was excellent!

One crazy cab ride later, we were back at Loring Hall. The cab drivers here are crazier than the ones in NYC and I had a few minor heart attacks, but we made it in one piece. Tomorrow it's back to the Agora and National Archaeological Museum.

July 7th - Day 27

Today was another heaving driving day as we made our way back to Athens. We left Olympia around 8 am and made our way to the Patras Archaeological Museum. It is a beautiful museum and was only built about 3 years ago. There were some really interesting finds displayed, including some really beautiful glass works and mosaics. The only problem the museum was that it wasn't full. It had two floors, but only had exhibits on part of the first floor. I'm sure that more will be added as new artifacts are published.

After the museum it was another 2 hours before we reached the site of Perachora. Perachora is located on a beautiful cove and is a site were sailors used to come and make dedications at the Temple of Hera for safe travels. Some of the ruins are still visible, but today most people go there to swim. After touring the site we had a short swim break and then it was back on the bus.

We arrived back at Loring Hall around 5:30 pm. The ladies that run the kitchen were sweet enough to save us some food. They do not generally work on Saturday evenings or Sundays, but they made a point to make sure that we would have food when we got back. After an early dinner it was time to unpack. We all met up for Ouzo hour (or gin and tonic hours for me :)) and then it was off to bed for me. 

July 6th - Day 26

Greetings from Olympia! Today was all about the famed city-state of Olympia. We started by touring the actual site and it was a good thing that we got there right when the site opened because we had it practically to ourselves. After about an hour the site started to fill up with other tourists.

Temple of Hera

There were so many cool things to see at Olympia. I got to see the Temple of Hera and the Temple of Zeus. The Temple of Zeus was absolutely massive, but is largely in disrepair. The surrounding area looked like a column graveyard. There is only one column standing on the temple. This column was reconstructed for the 2004 Olympic Games. Next to the Temple of Zeus was the base of the Nike statue that I presented on when we went to the Olympia Museum.

Reconstructed Column

Temple of Zeus

On our way to the stadium we saw the statue bases that held bronze statues of Zeus paid for by fines charged for cheating. If an athlete was caught cheating they were charged a large fine and their name was inscribed on the statue base so everyone would know their crime.  The stadium was smaller than I expected, but still impressive. We got to walk through the athletes' tunnel to get into the actual stadium and we staged our own Olympic foot race. After seeing the stadium we toured the baths and the palaistra where the athletes lived, trained, and prepared to participate in the Olympic Games. At this point, the site had become extremely crowded so we decided to leave and head over to the museum.

Nike of Paonius

The museum wasn't very large, but it did contain some very interesting finds, including the Nike statue and Hermes and the Infant Dionysus statue which were the subjects of my last site report. The Nike statue was really cool. I had some trouble researching it because all of the sources were in German and French, neither of which I read. The statue is credited to Paonius and was discovered in 1875. It is believed to have been dedicated by the Messenians after they defeated the Spartans at the Battle of Sphacteria, the island we visted in Pylos (the one with the spiders). A reconstructed version of the statue was used as the image on the 2004 Summer Olympics medals. Even though we are still missing large portions of the statue and despite its weathered appearance, it is still an incredibly beautiful piece. Nike means "winged victory" and according to myth she was the divine charioteer in Zeus' war against the Titans. She flew around battlefields rewarding victors with glory and fame. Nike was also a close acquaintance of Athena and is believed to have stood in her outstretched hand in the statue of Athena located in the Parthenon.

Hermes and the Infant Dionysus

The second statue I researched was the Hermes and the Infant Dionysus attributed to the famous sculptor, Praxiteles. According to myth, when Zeus revealed himself to his mortal lover Semele, she was at once incinerated by his divine radiance. Zeus was able to rescue their unborn child by sewing him into his own thigh. Following the birth of the child, Zeus ordered Hermes, his messenger, to hide the newborn from his jealous wife Hera, who sought to destroy any remnants of the affair, including the newborn. Hermes swiftly took the baby to remote mountains for hiding, where nymphs raised the child. Under their care, the infant Dionysos grew to maturity and became the god of wine, revelry, and theater. Hermes and the Infant Dionysos depicts the messenger before he delivered the infant to the mountain nymphs. The Hermes statue is largely intact and was found near the Temple of Hera in 1877. It is an incredibly beautiful piece, but according to the sources I read it is not considered one of Praxiteles' more popular pieces due to the lack of reproductions. It is much more polished than the Nike statue, however you can still see chisel marks on the back of Hermes. The statue is missing its right arm and it is believed that it held grapes.

After the museum we had the rest of the day free. I stopped by the hotel to pick up my laptop and wandered around the town to try and find an internet cafe so that I could at least check my email. I managed to find this cute little restaurant with delicious gyros and free WiFi. After lunch I wandered around the shops and took in the sights around our hotel. I went back to the same little restaurant for dinner and then headed back to the hotel to pack. Tomorrow we head back to Athens and Loring Hall. I am excited to be able to get back to our homebase and spend a few days at least not living out of a suitcase. 

July 5th - Day 25

Theater at Messene

Another early start to the day as we left Pylos at 7:30 am :( I'm really starting to miss being able to sleep in! Today involved a LOT of driving and I think we spent more time on the bus today then off it, as we had at least 2 hours of driving between each stop.

Our first stop of the day was Messene, a large classical city-state re-founded by Epaminondas in 369 BC. It was nice to get back to some classical style architecture after seeing so many Minoan and Mycenaean sites. Unfortunately my camera battery died and I thought I had charged my spare, but that was dead too. So I didn't get too many pictures. Messene's theater was in the process of being restored and it appears that the goal is to hold performances there in the future. The site also has a huge stadium and propylaeum which was remarkable well preserved. Messene is probably the most well preserved site that we have seen to date and it is evident that a lot of effort and money has gone into the upkeep of the site. After a quick stop at the on-site museum we were back on the bus and head to Mt. Lykaion.

Mt. Lykaion, according to myth, is were Zeus is said to have been born and raised. There is also an alter to Zeus located on site, although not much of it can be seen. We were able to see the remains of some civic buildings and the stadium. Getting to the alter involved quite a hike, fortunately some of us were able to hitch a ride in cars, while those who wanted to hike could. I think that I have hiked enough for a lifetime on this trip, so I opted for the car ride :)

After that it was another long drive (about 2.5 hours) to our hotel in Olympia where we will spend 2 nights. Our hotel leaves a lot to be desired and is by far the worst that we have stayed in. It's called the Olympian Palace and the name is total false advertising!! This place was anything but a "palace." It took two trips to the front desk to get the AC in my room to work and the internet at the hotel decided not to work. We grabbed dinner at the hotel restaurant only because we were too tired to venture out. They didn't have half of what was listed on the menu and what they did have was overpriced and a little disappointing. The area we are in seems nice and I think that I will venture out and explore tomorrow.

Tomorrow should be a fairly light day - we are going to the Olympia site and museum and then we should have the rest of the day off!

July 4th - Day 24

Sphacteria

Happy 4th of July America!! Although most of us were a little sad about missing our traditional 4th of July activities, we tried to make the most of the day. We treated our bus driver to a badly off key rendition of the Star Spangled Banner as we set off for the day. We didn't get very far, however. We were supposed to spend the morning touring the Palace of Nestor and the Chora Museum and take a boat over to the island of Sphacteria in the afternoon. It was decided that we were better off going to Sphacteria in the morning, so we got off the bus and walked down to the pier that was next to our hotel to catch the ferry to Sphacteria.

Sphacteria has been home to several battles throughout Greek history. It was the site of one of a major land battle in 425 BC between the Spartans and Athenians during the Peloponnesian War, during which the Athenians attacked a small group of Spartans who were stranded on the island and forced them to surrender. There was another battle there in 1825 between the Greeks and the Turks and another one in 1827. Both of these battles were part of the Greek war for independence.

There are very few remains left of the island and I never made to the top to see the few that do remain. The hike to the top started out innocently enough. The path followed a winding incline which was largely overgrown - not atypical of an archaeological site and very similar to the other "forced death marches" that we have encountered before. It was not until we reached what I now refer to as the Gauntlet of Spiders that I experienced any hesitation about continuing on this "forced death march." The path was lined on either side by a series of bushes and trees and suspended between this shrubbery were huge spiderwebs complete with quarter-sized spiders. You may not know this...but I have a terrible fear of spiders. I can't even look at a picture of a spider without freaking. I really made an effort to get through the Gauntlet of Spiders, but I failed miserably. Every time I ducked to go under one of the spiderwebs the ginormous spiders seemed to make a beeline towards me. It was too much for me to handle and I turned around and went back to the pier where the boat dropped us off with a small group of my peers who also couldn't handle the spiders and put my feet in the water while waiting for the rest of the group to return. Apparently I didn't miss much - according to those who made it to the top there were the remains of some walls and a great view, but not much else. I didn't feel bad about missing some walls - I've seen enough over the past several weeks to last me a lifetime.

Palace of Nestor

We took the ferry back over to the mainland and had about 20 minutes for lunch. I grabbed a delicious gyro from a local shop run by a very friendly Albanian. Then it was off to the Palace of Nestor, a Mycenaean palace dating back to the Bronze Age, about 1300 to 1200 BC. It was originally a two-storey building with store rooms, workshops, baths, wells, reception rooms, a throne room, and sewage system. It is fairly well preserved compared to some of the other sites that we have seen. We also got to see a Mycenaean tholos tomb. After touring the site we went to the Chora Museum, which contains some of the finds from the site.

We then had the rest of the afternoon free. Some of the group decided to go rent a boat for the afternoon, but I opted for spending the afternoon on the beach by our hotel and swimming in the Ionian Sea. I went back to the same little tavern for dinner and then Bella hosted a little 4th of July party on our hotel's porch complete with beers, snacks, and music. I must admit that I missed home - thinking of the usual barbecue and fireworks that I was missing.

Tomorrow we head to Olympia where we will spend our last 2 nights of our Peloponnese trip. We head back to Athens on Saturday.

July 3rd - Day 23

Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia

We started the morning walking around Ancient Sparta and visited the Artemis Orthia and Spartan Museum. The Artemis Orthia was a site dedicated to the goddess Artemis and where the Spartans would carry out rituals to honor the goddess. One such ritual involved the whipping young boys (probably between the ages of 13-17) and by the Roman times this ritual had developed into a blood spectacle and a theater was built at the temple site in order to witness it. There were also dances performed by young men and choruses of girls.

Hector

After touring the sanctuary we continued our stroll through Sparta and made our way to the Spartan Museum, which is a very small site. I got to see the stele that were dedicated by athletes at the Temple of Athena located on the Spartan Acropolis, which is one of the things I talked about in my site presentation. I thought that was kinda cool. When we finished at the museum we got on the bus and started to make our way to Pylos where we will spend the next 2 days.

Mystas

One the way we made two stops: one at Mystras and another at Methoni. Mystras is a Byzantine fortification. It has several really cool Byzantine churches, which are said to have some pretty well preserved mosaics. However the majority of them were closed when we got there and I have to admit that I wasn't as excited about this site as some of the other things we have seen. We did make friends with a donkey which we came across behind one of the churches. We named him Hector and he was very friendly.

Methoni

When we finished at Mystras, we headed to Methoni, another Byzantine fortification. We couldn't go inside because apparently Bella got it confused with another site which was open later, and it was closed when we got there. We were able to walk around the outside of it and see some of the structure and I felt bad for our site presenter who couldn't really show us anything but the walls. As such, we spend only a short while there before getting back onto the bus and heading to Pylos and our hotel. Our hotel is located right on the beach and the town surrounding it is catered to tourists, so there are lots of little restaurants around. Our rooms all have balconies that overlook the water and the views are wonderful! We had dinner at this little place called Gregory's Tavern and the food was delicious. They didn't have menus, so the waitress took us back to the kitchen were the cooks showed us all the different foods they had. I ordered rice stuffed tomatoes and peppers and they were so good! After dinner we strolled around the town for a bit before turning in for the night.

View from hotel balcony :)