Well, Thursday and Friday were spent in Olympia, the birthplace
of the Olympic games. I’ve been here
before, but it was definitely interesting to see it from an academic point of
view versus a tourist point of view. It
was also MUCH cooler than the last time I was there so I actually jogged across
the Olympic field when last time I did more of a slow walk.
Original Olympic field.
After Olympia we went to the museum there to
see what they had uncovered at the site.
Helmets
For lunch the whole group ate together at this restaurant owned by a
fabulous family who was very generous and cooked some great food.
Saturday morning we woke up for a loooooong bus ride back to
Athens. We drove for about 1 ½ - 2 hours and stopped at Chlemoutsi Castle,
which was a medieval castle.
Then we got back on the bus for another 1 ½ -2 hours and
headed to Patras where we went to the Basilica of Agios Andreas (St.
Andrew). The basilica was beautiful
(despite all the pick pockets out and about) and in the church next door they
were setting up for a Greek Orthodox baptism.
We then boarded the bus again and headed to lunch (fast
food, nothing exciting).
Beautiful hand carved chandelier.
We headed back toward Corinth and the Isthmus that separates
the Peloponnese from Attica. We crossed
the canal and headed northwest to Perachora to see the Heraion (temple to
Hera: http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Hera.html). We also had the chance to go in
the water below the temple and some people went cliff diving (don’t worry
safety dad, every part of me wanted to do it, but I knew if I died you’d get up
at my funeral and talk about how irresponsible I was).
Then we got back on the bus and headed toward
Athens… to the heat! I don’t think I
slept at all that night because it was so hot.
Sunday morning we didn’t have anything planned so I did some
research (because the library is air-conditioned!!! In the afternoon we headed to the
Epigraphical Museum and had the chance to learn about reading inscriptions on
stones (which are technically our only primary source writings from the
time). My ancient Greek is getting
slightly better and I was able to read a couple things and actually understand
what some words meant!! Sunday afternoon was hotter than Hades!!! (http://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/Haides.html) As a result of this I spent more time in the
library!! I got a little bit of sleep
Sunday night in preparation for Monday (103 degrees!!).
Monday morning we left at 8 to head to the Acropolis. Lots and lots of tourist… We had the chance to learn about early sanctuaries
built on the site and then focused on the Erechtheion!! I remember seeing my parents’ slides of the
Porch of Maidens when I was little and was excited to be able to go into the
sanctuary (even if it was only on the north porch).
Halloween costume....? View of Athens from Erectheion
After that we went to the south slope of the
acropolis to look at some more shrines at the theaters down there. It was hot!!
This afternoon we went to the National Museum for a couple
of hours to look at the vase exhibit.
There we had a great lecture by an expert in the field and I learned a
lot more about ancient Greek pottery.
Bottom half of vase: Gorgons http://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Gorgones.html
I’m pretty sure I’ve lost half my weight in sweat over the
past couple of days and tomorrow is going to be 100 + as well! I guess I should try to get some sleep!!
No comments:
Post a Comment