Greece!

So, to make a long story short- our 10-day class trip to Greece was AMAZING!!!

We left on the morning of Friday the 5th and drove for several hours in buses until we reached Bari, Italy, which is on the eastern coast.  We made a brief stop at the Basilica of St. Nicholas (Santa Claus!) where we got to see his relics, and then we got on board a ferry around 6 pm.  It was about a 15 hour ferry ride, and luckily we got cabins so we could sleep overnight.  I got up early with some friends to see the sunrise over Greece and it was definitely worth it!  The ferry arrived at Patras around noon on Saturday, where we hopped on new buses and headed to Olympia.

After a delicious Greek lunch in our hotel, we had the afternoon free, so alot of people headed into the very small town of Olympia to do some shopping.  All the storekeepers were really excited to see us, because UD's visits are some of their biggest economic events all year.  Many of them were giving us huge discounts, sometimes even 50% off, and others gave away free gifts as well.  Later that night, after dinner, we had a Greek folk dance presentation, and then some lessons.  It was a bit chaotic with so many people trying to do the folk dances together (especially when alot of them had no concept of rhythm!) but it was still a ton of fun.  One thing that was really interesting about it was the costumes of the male dancers.  When they wore their traditional outfits they wore pretty full knee length white skirts, white tights, and slippers with giant pom-pom balls on the toes.
The next morning we headed out to the archeological site in Olympia, the site of the original Olympic games.  We visited the museum and then the ruins.  The highlight of the visit though was the Ancient Stadium where the runners used to race and where all of us got to run a race as well.  We also ran into a group of Japanese tourists who were running there as well.
Then that afternoon we got back on the buses and headed for Delphi.  When we were almost to Delphi, however, we saw a bus parked on the side of the road.  Our bus driver pulled over and got out, and then came back in and told us that we needed to make room for 30 more people on our bus (luckily we were the third UD bus so it wasn't as full).  When the people from the other bus got on, we realized that it was the Japanese that we had met at the Olympic stadium!  Even more crazy, they were staying at the same hotel as we were and eating dinner at the same restaurant we were.

On Monday morning we went out to the archeological sites of Delphi, the site of the famous oracle.  Unfortunately, however, it was really cold and rainy during our visit.  We saw the ancient precinct of Mother Earth and Athena, the Shining Rocks, and the Precinct of Apollo.  The natural beauty of Delphi was absolutely amazing and the view from the mountains was one of the best I have ever seen.  Then we had the afternoon free, so I did some more shopping with friends and went to a little cafe to celebrate a friend's birthday with wine and chocolate cake. Yum!

Tuesday morning we left Delphi and headed towards Athens.  On the way we stopped at a small Greek Orthodox Monastery called Hosios Loukas.  It was really interesting to see the difference between the Orthodox churches and Catholic Churches.  Orthodox Churches are square shaped, and the altar is actually behind a screen at the front of the Church.  They also don't use the really artistic frescoes and paintings of the Roman Catholic Church, but instead their Church is covered with icons, both wooden and painted directly on the walls.
We arrived in Athens in the afternoon and visited the Pnyx, one of the important locations for Greek democracy, and the Areopagus, the location of the first homicide court in Athens and the site where St. Paul spoke when he came to Athens.

Wednesday morning we left the hotel bright and early to visit the Acropolis area.  First we stopped in the Agora, the heart of the city of Ancient Athens.  There, among many other things, we saw the Temple of Hephaistos and the jail where Socrates was executed.  Then we headed up to the top of the Acropolis to see the Parthenon and the Erechtheum.  It was really awesome to actually get to see the Parthenon in person! (even though alot of it got blown up in WWII).  Then we headed down for a brief stop at the Theater of Dionysus.  After lunch we tried to go to the National Archeological Museum, but it was closed because of a strike.  So a few friends and I decided to go down to Piraeus, the port town of Athens, and the location of Plato's Republic.  The metro line went straight there so we thought it would be pretty simple to get to.  Well, one of the metro stops was broken, so we had to take the buses instead for a short portion to get around the broken stop, which was a little bit tricky because we didn't know exactly what we were doing.  When we finally arrived at Piraeus, we realized it wasn't that much more than a kinda sketchy port.  We visited a really beautiful Orthodox church there, and then just came back.
That evening, for the first time so far on the whole trip, they didn't provide a group dinner for us.  So some friends and I went out and got gyros.  They were really really good, and really cheap too.  Then we went to a discoteca where we had fun dancing until our midnight curfew.

Thursday morning we left Athens, and it was a good thing too, because later that day some really intense rioting started there and most of the streets got blockaded.  Luckily, however, we missed all the dangerous stuff - although some people did see a bunch of police with riot shields the day before.  First we stopped to see the breathtaking Corinthian canal, and then continued on to Mycenae.  There we experienced our first truly warm, sunny weather all trip.  The sun was awesome, and I got sunburned.  But I didn't really care because it was sunny!  Mycenae was a castle/fort on top of mountain where Agamemnon once lived.  We also got to see Clyemnestra's beehive-shaped tomb.  Then we moved on from Mycenae after lunch to Napflion, a small seaside town.  I spent the afternoon wandering around along the beach and coast.

Friday morning we took a brief excursion to Epidaurus to visit the theater.  There is a nearly perfectly preserved ancient theater there.  It is really neat because the ancient theaters had really interesting acoustics, where if you stand at certain spots on the stage, the noises you make can be heard by anyone sitting in the audience.  Even noises as small as crumpling paper or lighting a match can be heard from the top.  Some of my friends sang songs or recited poetry from the center of the stage.  Eventually, however, the people that worked there made us stop because they were afraid that somehow our singing might cause a riot like the ones happening in Athens.  Or something like that.  It was pretty lame whatever their reason :p
I spent the afternoon at the beach again.  I actually went swimming in the Aegean Sea, despite the fact that the water was absolutely frigid.  Luckily it was another sunny day though.  When I first got in the water all the way, I could hardly breathe.  I had to stand for a few minutes before I could breathe well enough to actually swim out into deeper water.  I didn't stay out too long though because I was getting pretty numb.  After hanging out on the rocks for a while a few of us went back into town and got baklava, which was absolutely amazingly delicious pastry honeyness.  mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

On our way out of town on Saturday morning we stopped at the fortress on the top of the hill overlooking Nafplion.  It was alot of fun to explore and it had some amazing views of the sea below.  Then we continued on to Ancient Corinth, where we made a brief stop, and then on again to Patras.  There we boarded the ferry for another long overnight boat ride.
Then on Sunday we got back on buses in Italy and drove back to campus.  Oddly enough, I discovered that I had really missed our mensa dinners here on campus.

As fun as Greece was though, it was nice to get back to Italy.  The time I spent in Rome this week was amazing and I really love it here.  I spent some time in the Trastevere area of Rome on Wednesday afternoon after our Art and Arch fieldtrip and it was really cool.  It kinda has a different feel from the rest of Rome. A few friends and I visited some churches, and then went out for pizza and tiramasu.

Then today Colleen and I walked up to Castle Gandolfo which is just a few miles from campus.  It was a really cute little town with a really nice atmosphere.  We wandered around for a few hours and got gelato, and then we took the bus back down to campus.

Academic-wise, we just finished all our midterms today!  Its nice to have them done, but its a little sad that so much of the semester is done already.  It has zoomed by so fast!  I have a philosophy paper due on Tuesday still though.  Then, on Tuesday, I leave for Spring Break!  Spring Break goes until Easter.

For Spring Break I'm travelling with my friends Becky and Julia.  We're going to go to Vienna first, then Prague, and finally hit Munich.  From there Becky is going to visit her sister in London, and Julia and I are going to take a train back to Rome to be there by Good Friday.  It will definitely be quite the adventure!