Is That Tan or Dirt?

 This is a question that I have come to ask myself everyday (I'm pretty sure I also used shampoo to wash some clothes in the sink the other day).  The other day the answer was “neither,” it was marble dust.  We started Tuesday heading up to Mt. Pentali and the Dionyso Marble Quarry.  We had the chance to go into the quarry and see where they were cutting marble.  Some of the marble they’re cutting will be used for the reconstruction of the buildings on the Acropolis.  We also went to the marble factory and saw how they then finished up the marble.  We also got some free marble samples.

Marble quarry

 After that we headed to the Marathon battle site and saw the Athenian tumulus where roughly 193 Athenian soldiers perished.  

Athenian tumulus on the plains of Marathon.

                     

The modern day Marathon was named in relationship to events of the battle.  Guess what the distance is from Marathon to Athens?  We also had a chance to drive our the damn (made of marble) on the Marathon Lake.

Marathon damn on the right

We had lunch somewhere in there… then headed to Rhamous and saw the remains of a temple to Nemesis, which is the only on in existence.  We then headed back to Athens.

On Wednesday we headed back to the Agora for our final look.  We went through the south side of the site and then went to see the current excavations on the north side on the other side of the railroad tracks.  Luckily the day before they had uncovered the east side of a stoa and we had the chance to see that.  Next we headed to the southwest corner of the Agora and looked at the foundations and uses of houses.  We had the afternoon free and since it was HOT HOT HOT I spent a good chunk of it in the library researching for my report.

Peiraeus

Thursday we woke up early and headed to the port of Peiraeus to look at ancient ship sheds and to go the archaeological museum to look at bronze statues.  The bronze statues had been found placed on top of each other in the port.  They were most likely on their way to being shipped to Rome when Sulla came in and pretty much-looted Greece.  Then we went on to see a remake of an Athenian ship or trireme that they would have used during the Persian Wars.  We then headed back to Athens to finish up our reports and run some errands before we headed up north the next day.  I did some last minute stuff in the library and then ran some errands.               

Friday morning we got on the bus around 7:30 so we could start our journey north.    We then headed toward Thebes (home of Oedipus and such).  The modern town was built on the ancient city so they have had to do some excavations within the town (which sometimes requires convincing owners to sell their buildings… The Archaeological Museum of Thebes was our next stop.  The museum is currently closed and will open in about two years, so we got a sneak peak!  

We then left Thebes and drove around the site of Gla. Yes, Gla… sounds like something out of the Princess Bride or Monty Python.  It is a HUGE site and there are no ancient sources providing information.  While on this long bus ride some of us decided it’d be great to only speak in song lyrics.   This conversation lasted for 2 minutes because it’s really hard to come up with song lyrics on the spot.

Next…we headed to Orchomenos and we saw another tholos (which is really just a round building, but many of the ones we have seen are tombs) and an ancient theater.  

Tholos entrance

Back on the bus after that to head to Chaironeia where a battle took place between the Macedonians (led by Phillip the II) and the Athenians. The Athenians lost… and then we got back on the bus.  Next stop… crossroads where Oedipus killed his dad.  If you have no idea what I’m talking about you should probably have done your research when I went to see Oedipus the King.

After that we headed to our hotel in Arahova (just next to Delphi). We’re staying in a family run hotel and their relatives run a tavern in the village.  The food they served us was AMAZING.  On the walk home some of us overheard music and dancing.  We started clapping for them and…. Were invited into the home where they were celebrating a 15^th name day celebration.  There was lots of traditional dancing and the family offered us homemade wine and homemade pastries.  After much dancing we decided it was time to head to bed because we had a long day at Delphi the next day.

Delphi from up above

Now we’re on Saturday July 21^st!  We hopped on the bus at 8 am so we could start the site at Delphi by 8:30am.  We finished the site around 1:30.  I’ve been to the site before and it is one of the most breathtaking spots on earth.  While at the site a handful of us gave reports, mine on the Siphnian Treasury.  The weather was pretty nice today.  A bit chilly in the morning and then while it was sunny and low nineties the rest of the day there was a great breeze and it was a great day.  After lunch we headed to the museum at Delphi and I finished up my report and then we had a chance to look at some of the artifacts found at the site.   

Back at where were staying we had a woman speak to us about weaving and showed us how to dye wool and cotton yarn using natural ingredients.  She currently volunteers for an organization that teaches women this trade (she’s been to Senegal) in order to help them earn money to feed their families.

For dinner I had a pork gyro and it was delicious!!

Tomorrow we’re going to a cave and then off for a hike!