So, this weekend, three of my nearest and dearest friends, CR, RT, and CK came up to the mountains to visit for a weekend that would prove to be as epic as it was movie-filled. It was a rather memorable few days and now I am (according to RT) now officially an American, though my passport has confirmed this fact for some time now.
See, the real issue with my American-ness was the fact that I had never seen Star Wars (the original ones with Luke, Vader, Leia, Han, and Chewy). This was clearly unacceptable and I spent much time trying to defend my citizenship, but finally I broke to peer pressure and arranged for a weekend to watch the three original movies. I must say, they are not my favorite of films, but I can now understand why people love them and now I feel like I have a better foundation for understanding many pop culture allusions that before went over my head. Okay, I knew a lot about them to begin with, I'm not an idiot- I understood the concept of the Force, I knew Vader was Luke's father, and I knew who Yoda was, etc, but that clearly wasn't enough for some people in my life (RT!).
But the real fun of the weekend wasn't watching the movies, but it was being with my friends (and the hilarity they bring to most situations). Friday, CK was able to find the place relatively easily, while RT and CR who came together seemed to have more difficulties than necessary. I must apologize to them because I was unaware that they had removed the sign marking my street due to construction, which make it much more challenging fo find. Eventually, after several phone calls which all had the general theme of RING RING "Hello?" "Where the HELL do you live?!?!" everyone arrived and the fun was ready to begin. After some brief socializing/ telling stories of our summer adventures respectively, we popped in the first Star Wars disk and began the marathon.
After the movie, we all went to dinner at the incredible two-story Wendy's that is in the adjacent town and enjoyed some of fast food's finest. Of course, we sat in the upstairs portion of the building. We then headed back to Blowing Rock and hit up Kilwins for some home made ice cream, and then headed back down to the car, parked at BR School. Because we were not yet finished with our ice cream and there were no people there, we decided to play on the BR School playground, which turned into an impromptu musical review of all our favorites- Phantom, Les Mis, Sweeney Todd, etc...
We went home again after spending about an hour frolicking through the slides and see-saws and put the second Star Wars DVD in and began watching. But, this time, though most of us agreed that this movie was better than the first, we continued to have ADD breaks, including one which led us downstairs to listen to my Dad's records, which in turn became another impromptu Michael Jackson dance party.
We did not finish The Empire Strikes Back Friday night.
Saturday morning, there was much sleeping in, with the occasional tidying up of the living room, etc. In our Michael Jackson-induced joy, I forgot to put the pretzels back in their bag, so they were pretty stale and gross...whoops. Once everyone got up and were ready, we finished The Empire Strikes Back and then immediately went into Return of the Jedi. After the movies, we had to say goodbye to CK as he had to work Sunday, so he could not stay for the rest of the weekend.
RT, CR, and I, however, still needed to get dinner so that we could enjoy the rest of the weekend, so we went back to Blowing Rock and went to Mellow Mushroom, which was good as usual. We wandered around the town for a time and sat in the town park and watched little kids run around before getting back in the car and driving over to Boone to pick up another movie to watch (we're really big movie people...): Disney's Pocahontas. Oh, and we're kids at heart.
Before the movie started, RT tried his best to play on a piano which hasn't been tuned since before 1986. It wasn't too bad, though there was a definite difference between that piano and the tuned piano we're used to hearing him play. We then tried to start a fire in the fireplace, but since it had rained a bit earlier in the day, the wood was fairly wet, so we decided to just burn some personal failure (aka my Russian and Latin note cards). It really felt good to read off the note cards and then watch them go up in smoke... ;-) Unfortunately, personal failure fire is not very good for making s'mores, but we tried anyways, though quickly gave up. Time for the movie!
I think we had forgotten how nice Pocahontas really is...
Anyways, Sunday, we woke up early and went to Mass, then headed over to Grandfather Mountain. When we first go there, the bridge was closed, so we decided to not go, but then a few minutes later it re-opened, so we got to go! Hooray! The bridge is really pretty neat. A mile high and it is very windy when you get over the center of it. The three of us then went on a ".4" mile trail through the woods to a lower parking lot, and then back up.
Sadly, the Mountain Adventure Weekend had to come to an end, so when RT, CR, and I returned home, they gathered their things together and went back to Raleigh. Overall, it was a pretty fun and memorable weekend, and now I'm antsy for getting back to school so that I can hang out with everyone on a regular basis! 22 Days!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
My deepest apologies...
So, if you have been keeping up, you will noticed that I have been noticeably lacking in blog posts about my adventure in Greece and I guess I need to give you the reason. We have to write several papers about our journey, what we saw, what we experienced, and so on, in order to receive course credit. It came to my attention that one, possibly more students who went on the trip had found my blog and were planning on using it as a basis to write their own papers. I'm not sure in what context they were going to use it, be it a memory jog or brief reminder of what we did each day, but I fear that the more likely answer is that they were planning on using it as a substitute for their own notes and information. Knowing the situation, I cannot blog about my adventure in Greece at this time. I will tell you all in person when I see you, or perhaps post the blogs after the due dates of the papers, but in any case, there will be no Greece blog entries for the next few weeks.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
July 2nd, 2009- Good Morning, Crete
Getting off the boat was a welcomed moment for everyone in our group. We got outside and met the two men who would make the rest of our stay on Crete one of the most enjoyable experiences ever. These two men were George, Prof. McCoy's good friend and guide-extrodinaire of Crete, and Aleko, the loveable, flirtatious, and almost picture-taking-loving bus driver.
In continuance of the boat's perpetual suckage, there was no breakfast, so we bussed through the city of Heraklion until we found a hotel and went in for their breakfast. Our first Cretean breakfast introduced us Cretean Orange Juice, which is not unlike American orange juice in the sense that yes, it is orange. However, this is where the similarities end. It looked and tasted like Tang, which makes me wonder if it actually was Tang. If so, the Creteans must have an intense love affair with Tang, because that is all we were given when we ordered 'orange juice.' The standards of any Greek breakfast were there as well, which means a lot of pastries filled with goat's cheese.
Still tired from the boat (disembarkation began around 6:30 or so...), we were all a bit draggy that first day. But, ever the chipper skipper, Prof. McCoy loaded us back onto the bus and took us to the site of the Minoan Palace of Mallia and later on to Gournia.
The site at Mallia was pretty impressive. They have most of the palace and a lot of the outlying town excavated. George was great, hopping around and showing us all the ins and outs of the palace as if he actually lived there at one point. Palace complexes are a big part of Bronze-Age Crete History. They were the centers for trade and administration for various districts, and these places have EVERYTHING. They are not palaces in the modern sense of the word-sure, the royal families lived there, but they were pretty open to the public and had the main courtyard where games would be played (especially their favorite, bull jumping), religious functions would take place, and general agora-esq activities.
After looking around for a while, we found the old altar at the center of the courtyard and took our Treasure Hunt Oaths.
Treasure Hunt Oaths?
Okay, so in the interest of making our stay on Crete both fun and interesting, Prof. McCoy came up with this great idea to have a Treasure Hunt. The rules? Five teams would solve a series of riddles. After two weeks, the top three teams would compete to find a treasure box, the contents were unknown. Sounds fun, right? What could possibly go wrong when you add competition to a group trip and split people into teams? Okay, enough with the petty sarcasm-in the end, the Treasure Hunt caused way too much drama and did a good job souring part of the trip. More on Treasure Hunt Drama later, though.
On to Gournia!!
When we first pulled into Gournia, it struck everyone as less impressive than anything we had yet seen. Remember, we've just come from a cool Palace site, not to mention we have the Parthenon/ Athens still fresh in our minds. However, it turned out to be pretty interesting. At the top of the site, there was an amazing view of the coast which took almost everyone's breath away.
After Gournia, we took the bus to the town of Sitia and to our (ocean front) hotel. It was gorgeous. Some folks took a nap and went out later in the evening but I decided to take a wander about the city and then went to bed early. I didn't want to wear myself out too early-and the wander was pretty worth it. Sitia is a neat little town with some cool places to explore.
In continuance of the boat's perpetual suckage, there was no breakfast, so we bussed through the city of Heraklion until we found a hotel and went in for their breakfast. Our first Cretean breakfast introduced us Cretean Orange Juice, which is not unlike American orange juice in the sense that yes, it is orange. However, this is where the similarities end. It looked and tasted like Tang, which makes me wonder if it actually was Tang. If so, the Creteans must have an intense love affair with Tang, because that is all we were given when we ordered 'orange juice.' The standards of any Greek breakfast were there as well, which means a lot of pastries filled with goat's cheese.
Still tired from the boat (disembarkation began around 6:30 or so...), we were all a bit draggy that first day. But, ever the chipper skipper, Prof. McCoy loaded us back onto the bus and took us to the site of the Minoan Palace of Mallia and later on to Gournia.
The site at Mallia was pretty impressive. They have most of the palace and a lot of the outlying town excavated. George was great, hopping around and showing us all the ins and outs of the palace as if he actually lived there at one point. Palace complexes are a big part of Bronze-Age Crete History. They were the centers for trade and administration for various districts, and these places have EVERYTHING. They are not palaces in the modern sense of the word-sure, the royal families lived there, but they were pretty open to the public and had the main courtyard where games would be played (especially their favorite, bull jumping), religious functions would take place, and general agora-esq activities.
After looking around for a while, we found the old altar at the center of the courtyard and took our Treasure Hunt Oaths.
Treasure Hunt Oaths?
Okay, so in the interest of making our stay on Crete both fun and interesting, Prof. McCoy came up with this great idea to have a Treasure Hunt. The rules? Five teams would solve a series of riddles. After two weeks, the top three teams would compete to find a treasure box, the contents were unknown. Sounds fun, right? What could possibly go wrong when you add competition to a group trip and split people into teams? Okay, enough with the petty sarcasm-in the end, the Treasure Hunt caused way too much drama and did a good job souring part of the trip. More on Treasure Hunt Drama later, though.
On to Gournia!!
When we first pulled into Gournia, it struck everyone as less impressive than anything we had yet seen. Remember, we've just come from a cool Palace site, not to mention we have the Parthenon/ Athens still fresh in our minds. However, it turned out to be pretty interesting. At the top of the site, there was an amazing view of the coast which took almost everyone's breath away.
After Gournia, we took the bus to the town of Sitia and to our (ocean front) hotel. It was gorgeous. Some folks took a nap and went out later in the evening but I decided to take a wander about the city and then went to bed early. I didn't want to wear myself out too early-and the wander was pretty worth it. Sitia is a neat little town with some cool places to explore.
Friday, July 10, 2009
July 1st, 2009 (Cont.)- I'm on a Boat!
Please excuse the blatant pop-culture referance, but it was made so many times while we were on the boat that it seemed only fitting to title the blog post with it.
After Acrocorinth/ Ancient Corinth/ Canal of Doom, we drove back to Athens (well, the Harbor, which isn't really in Athens proper, it's on the coast about 4 miles away) to board the boat that would take us to Crete for the remainder of the trip. Everyone was, thanks to Lonely Island's recent song "I'm on a Boat," very excited to be on a boat. As we entered, there were signs to the swimming pool, lounges, bars, and a disco. Plans were quickly made that all four sites would be visited that evening. We got to our rooms, which were a little smaller than the hotel, but that was expected. This was the first night that I was rooming with AH because there had been a cancellation and her roomie couldn't come and I was down for a single. AH is really nice and I am thoroughly enjoying having her as a roomie.
We all hit the deck because we had a few hours until we actually left Athens (we got there at 6pmish and we were going to set off at around 9pm) and found the swimming pool. It was empty. We all sort of sighed and then went back down to one of the bar/lounges. As we were all sitting around, some of us got drinks. They had the best hot chocolate I have had in quite some time. Suddenly, one of the girls, SB, comes up and she looks quite panicked and really upset. She informs us that her wallet has been stolen, and it had a good $600 worth of Euros and USDs. We went down and tried to sort it out and find it or at least see if anyone had seen anything.
See, SB had been sitting at a table and then gotten up, left her wallet at her seat, and gone to get her food. It was all of a 15-20 second trip as her table was right next to the counter. Someone sitting near said the only one who walked by was a waiter. We asked the waiter and they told us that we shouldn't look for it and we should just give up. It was pretty fishy and a lot of us had our suspicions. SB started looking in a trash can and a waitress looked at her and said "you aren't going to find it." After that, we were all but convinced that it was an inside job. The boat was not as we imagined it would be.
Prof. McCoy was not happy with the way this trip was going at all...expecially since he had be robbed the previous day and earlier that day as well (he was pick-pocketed on the Metro in Athens and then our bus driver stole around 800 euros from him while we were hiking Akrocorinth). Shenanigans were going down that ought not be going down and he was fuming. We all tried to calm down, considering that these recent shenanigans had happened literally within an hour and a half of getting on the boat. As cool as we all thought it was going to be, we all wanted off the boat as soon as possible.
A bunch of us went to dinner on the boat and it was relatively good food. It might have been more universally enjoyed had we not been in such a foul mood, but c'est la vie, yeah? Most of us took some anti-sea sick medicine and went to bed without checking out the Disco. Sigh. When we woke up, we were in Crete and it was a new day. On to phase two of the trip!
After Acrocorinth/ Ancient Corinth/ Canal of Doom, we drove back to Athens (well, the Harbor, which isn't really in Athens proper, it's on the coast about 4 miles away) to board the boat that would take us to Crete for the remainder of the trip. Everyone was, thanks to Lonely Island's recent song "I'm on a Boat," very excited to be on a boat. As we entered, there were signs to the swimming pool, lounges, bars, and a disco. Plans were quickly made that all four sites would be visited that evening. We got to our rooms, which were a little smaller than the hotel, but that was expected. This was the first night that I was rooming with AH because there had been a cancellation and her roomie couldn't come and I was down for a single. AH is really nice and I am thoroughly enjoying having her as a roomie.
We all hit the deck because we had a few hours until we actually left Athens (we got there at 6pmish and we were going to set off at around 9pm) and found the swimming pool. It was empty. We all sort of sighed and then went back down to one of the bar/lounges. As we were all sitting around, some of us got drinks. They had the best hot chocolate I have had in quite some time. Suddenly, one of the girls, SB, comes up and she looks quite panicked and really upset. She informs us that her wallet has been stolen, and it had a good $600 worth of Euros and USDs. We went down and tried to sort it out and find it or at least see if anyone had seen anything.
See, SB had been sitting at a table and then gotten up, left her wallet at her seat, and gone to get her food. It was all of a 15-20 second trip as her table was right next to the counter. Someone sitting near said the only one who walked by was a waiter. We asked the waiter and they told us that we shouldn't look for it and we should just give up. It was pretty fishy and a lot of us had our suspicions. SB started looking in a trash can and a waitress looked at her and said "you aren't going to find it." After that, we were all but convinced that it was an inside job. The boat was not as we imagined it would be.
Prof. McCoy was not happy with the way this trip was going at all...expecially since he had be robbed the previous day and earlier that day as well (he was pick-pocketed on the Metro in Athens and then our bus driver stole around 800 euros from him while we were hiking Akrocorinth). Shenanigans were going down that ought not be going down and he was fuming. We all tried to calm down, considering that these recent shenanigans had happened literally within an hour and a half of getting on the boat. As cool as we all thought it was going to be, we all wanted off the boat as soon as possible.
A bunch of us went to dinner on the boat and it was relatively good food. It might have been more universally enjoyed had we not been in such a foul mood, but c'est la vie, yeah? Most of us took some anti-sea sick medicine and went to bed without checking out the Disco. Sigh. When we woke up, we were in Crete and it was a new day. On to phase two of the trip!
Monday, July 6, 2009
July 1st, 2009- On the Road Again!
Today we checked out of the Airotel Parthenon and left Athens for the remainder of the trip (until we go home). We drove approximately 15 miles to the Temple of Demeter in Eleusis. This is where the mystery cult initations took place. Because of the similarities in characteristics, when Christians came through, they put up a Church to the Virgin Mary at the top. It was also very pretty and very simple.
There was a museum at the top that had all the statuaries from the temple. The ladies who worked there kept yelling at us because we were setting things down on this bench. Apparently, it was from the 1st Century AD, but we had no idea-there was no sign and it was next to the other benches that were okay to sit on. I'm pretty sure those ladies hated us. We were the only ones there and were most likely ruining their otherwise normal and quiet existence. I highly recommend visiting this place if you get to Greece anyways. Just don't touch the bench.
After Eleusis, we went to Corinth, making a pit stop at the canal. It is very high and reminds me of Indiana Jones. A few of us brave souls ventured to a smaller bridge under the main road. I'm not sure if McCoy knew we were down there...it sort of looked like a Vietnam bunker and was a little creepy, but we survived and got great pictures!
We then headed over to Acrocorinth. Acrocorinth is this huge rock much like the Acropolis with a temple to Aphrodite on the top. I challenge anyone to be more dedicated to their religion...that was quite a climb. One girl almost had an asthma attack and another girl had what they call in competitive eating a reversal of fortune. But eventually, we all made it to the top. The site is quite disappointing after a long hike like that. We all wanted there to be some great reward for our efforts, but there was basically a foundation square of rocks and that was it. We basically ignored the actual historical site and just focused on the view. After reaching the top, a bunch of us wandered back down looking at the much more facinating medieval and 19th century fortifications, which, as opposed to their ancient counterparts, were actually still standing. There was even an old cannon!!!
Back at the bottom, we visited Ancient Corinth, which was pretty neat. There were a bunch of columns and was similar in appearance to the Agora and the Olympion in Athens. One of the mor interesting places we saw was where Paul spoke to the Corinthians.
Oh, and one last note...on the way down from the hill, I had a full out epiphany! I had no idea what BAMF meant at all and then it seriously just HIT me! It was a good feeling. PS- Acrocorinth is a bamf. Pictures soon, I promsie (and by soon, I mean July 20th, 2009 at the earliest).
There was a museum at the top that had all the statuaries from the temple. The ladies who worked there kept yelling at us because we were setting things down on this bench. Apparently, it was from the 1st Century AD, but we had no idea-there was no sign and it was next to the other benches that were okay to sit on. I'm pretty sure those ladies hated us. We were the only ones there and were most likely ruining their otherwise normal and quiet existence. I highly recommend visiting this place if you get to Greece anyways. Just don't touch the bench.
After Eleusis, we went to Corinth, making a pit stop at the canal. It is very high and reminds me of Indiana Jones. A few of us brave souls ventured to a smaller bridge under the main road. I'm not sure if McCoy knew we were down there...it sort of looked like a Vietnam bunker and was a little creepy, but we survived and got great pictures!
We then headed over to Acrocorinth. Acrocorinth is this huge rock much like the Acropolis with a temple to Aphrodite on the top. I challenge anyone to be more dedicated to their religion...that was quite a climb. One girl almost had an asthma attack and another girl had what they call in competitive eating a reversal of fortune. But eventually, we all made it to the top. The site is quite disappointing after a long hike like that. We all wanted there to be some great reward for our efforts, but there was basically a foundation square of rocks and that was it. We basically ignored the actual historical site and just focused on the view. After reaching the top, a bunch of us wandered back down looking at the much more facinating medieval and 19th century fortifications, which, as opposed to their ancient counterparts, were actually still standing. There was even an old cannon!!!
Back at the bottom, we visited Ancient Corinth, which was pretty neat. There were a bunch of columns and was similar in appearance to the Agora and the Olympion in Athens. One of the mor interesting places we saw was where Paul spoke to the Corinthians.
Oh, and one last note...on the way down from the hill, I had a full out epiphany! I had no idea what BAMF meant at all and then it seriously just HIT me! It was a good feeling. PS- Acrocorinth is a bamf. Pictures soon, I promsie (and by soon, I mean July 20th, 2009 at the earliest).
June 27th-28th-Athens!
June 27th, 2009
After we left the Acropolis, it was 5:30 and we decided to commemorate our first full day in Greece as a group by going out for dinner and drinks. After much debating about where we would go (some wanted to get some American food at Hard Rock...really?!) we ended up going to the Athens Club, a hotel with a rooftop restaurant. The view of the Parthenon and the Olympion were, as expected, spectacular. The food was pretty descent, a bit over priced, but with that view they can get away with it.
After dinner, we went up to the Plaka district and found a little hole-in-the-wall bar. Some people decided to try to save money by getting beer/alcohol early instead of paying 8+ euro for a drink at the bar. We had the whole rooftop to ourselves and the Parthenon was right behind us. Don't worry, blog buddies, I neither paid for drinks at the bar nor bough alcohol beforehand, though I did have a glass of wine before dinner, which was enough for me. Our server was hilarious and since he couldn't speak English and we really couldn't say anything other than "hello," "thank you," and "this food is delicious," there were some funny lost-in-translation moments. Eventually in the evening, bottles started being dropped and glass started going everywhere (and yes, there was some blood, though not mine), we split up and a lot of us went back to the hotel. I was in the group to go home.
June 28th, 2009
9:50 pm
I am so exhausted! Today was not so much longer than yesterday, but the whole group started dragging. More than half of the students were hungover and Prof. McCoy was very not happy. It didn't help that he got a complaint from the hotel's management because someone spilt beer and stained the carpet in their room. It is a little annoying to think that some people on the trip are not trying at all to be good guests in Greece. They are being exactly what Europeans imagine as stupid Americans. Ask me for specific examples.
This morning we went to the Acropolis Museum. It is brand new (open for 5 days when we went there) and is right across the street from the Acropolis. It houses all of the shards of pottery and votive offerings and friezes which are not housed at the British Museum. There is a lot of debate as to whether or not the BM should now send what they have back to Greece. The museum is pretty interesting, but it could have taken a significantly shorter amount of time to go through. Even Prof. McCoy was shocked at how long we spent there-so shocked that he cancelled one of the sites we were going to see that day. he imagined it would take us maybe an hour, hour and a half. We sludged out of there after three hours. I think McCoy was a little sad that we were not so Beatlemania-ish about each individual broken piece of pottery as he was. All I'm saying is that at after a certain point, a Kore statue looks like a Kore statues which looks exactly the same as another Kore statue. It would have been better if we hadn't been as tired, too, but that was our fault.
In the afternoon, we headed over to the Agora. This place was really neat. It was funny because it seemed to still be a little center where people would go and hang out...like just a normal park. The Temple of Hephaestus might be my favorite site we've been to in Athens. It is the best preserved temple around and is so beautiful. It was a perfect way to end our time in Athens.
After we left the Acropolis, it was 5:30 and we decided to commemorate our first full day in Greece as a group by going out for dinner and drinks. After much debating about where we would go (some wanted to get some American food at Hard Rock...really?!) we ended up going to the Athens Club, a hotel with a rooftop restaurant. The view of the Parthenon and the Olympion were, as expected, spectacular. The food was pretty descent, a bit over priced, but with that view they can get away with it.
After dinner, we went up to the Plaka district and found a little hole-in-the-wall bar. Some people decided to try to save money by getting beer/alcohol early instead of paying 8+ euro for a drink at the bar. We had the whole rooftop to ourselves and the Parthenon was right behind us. Don't worry, blog buddies, I neither paid for drinks at the bar nor bough alcohol beforehand, though I did have a glass of wine before dinner, which was enough for me. Our server was hilarious and since he couldn't speak English and we really couldn't say anything other than "hello," "thank you," and "this food is delicious," there were some funny lost-in-translation moments. Eventually in the evening, bottles started being dropped and glass started going everywhere (and yes, there was some blood, though not mine), we split up and a lot of us went back to the hotel. I was in the group to go home.
June 28th, 2009
9:50 pm
I am so exhausted! Today was not so much longer than yesterday, but the whole group started dragging. More than half of the students were hungover and Prof. McCoy was very not happy. It didn't help that he got a complaint from the hotel's management because someone spilt beer and stained the carpet in their room. It is a little annoying to think that some people on the trip are not trying at all to be good guests in Greece. They are being exactly what Europeans imagine as stupid Americans. Ask me for specific examples.
This morning we went to the Acropolis Museum. It is brand new (open for 5 days when we went there) and is right across the street from the Acropolis. It houses all of the shards of pottery and votive offerings and friezes which are not housed at the British Museum. There is a lot of debate as to whether or not the BM should now send what they have back to Greece. The museum is pretty interesting, but it could have taken a significantly shorter amount of time to go through. Even Prof. McCoy was shocked at how long we spent there-so shocked that he cancelled one of the sites we were going to see that day. he imagined it would take us maybe an hour, hour and a half. We sludged out of there after three hours. I think McCoy was a little sad that we were not so Beatlemania-ish about each individual broken piece of pottery as he was. All I'm saying is that at after a certain point, a Kore statue looks like a Kore statues which looks exactly the same as another Kore statue. It would have been better if we hadn't been as tired, too, but that was our fault.
In the afternoon, we headed over to the Agora. This place was really neat. It was funny because it seemed to still be a little center where people would go and hang out...like just a normal park. The Temple of Hephaestus might be my favorite site we've been to in Athens. It is the best preserved temple around and is so beautiful. It was a perfect way to end our time in Athens.
Friday, July 3, 2009
July 29th, 2009- Official Start of the Program!!
Greetings Blog Buddies! So, this morning we went to the Temple to Olympian Zeus and the Temple and Theatre of Dionysus. Both places were really amazing (get used to hearing this adjective). The Olympian Zeus Temple was built by Hadrian and now has 15 remaining columns left (one was felled due to a thunderstorm). The Theatre was also very nice-they were doing a lot of construction work to preserve it, so it was not quite the somber, awe-inspiring moment you would imagine, but still cool all the same. I think my favorite part of the more touristy sites like the temples and theatres has to be the whistle blowers. Yup. These people are the Ninjas of Attica. Step just a foot out of line and bam! They come out from the trees, behind columns, and from the graves blowing their whistles. Yes. They literally sit in trees and hide behind columns and yes, they really do have whistles.
After visiting the two sites, we were given an hour and a half for lunch. Despite all the "dumb American" moments I've had so far (especially dealing with the hotel room and how things work), I was able to make it up somewhat. I negotiated for some worry beads IN GREEK and saved 2 euro. Okay, the whole thing wasn't in Greek, but I did say hello, asked how much, and said please and thank you. It's a start!
After lunch, we went up to the Acropolis. It is absolutely stunning! The Parthenon is currently under some renovations/ conservations, but I did get some good pictures without any construction. I'm going to try to photoshop some of the construction out of the other pictures. As wonderful as the Parthenon was, I think my favorite temple on the Acropolis was the Erechtheum. It is a beautiful Ionic temple and is a lot smaller than its big sister, which is Doric. I'll let the pictures do the talking when they get posted because I really can't describe it properly otherwise.
After visiting the two sites, we were given an hour and a half for lunch. Despite all the "dumb American" moments I've had so far (especially dealing with the hotel room and how things work), I was able to make it up somewhat. I negotiated for some worry beads IN GREEK and saved 2 euro. Okay, the whole thing wasn't in Greek, but I did say hello, asked how much, and said please and thank you. It's a start!
After lunch, we went up to the Acropolis. It is absolutely stunning! The Parthenon is currently under some renovations/ conservations, but I did get some good pictures without any construction. I'm going to try to photoshop some of the construction out of the other pictures. As wonderful as the Parthenon was, I think my favorite temple on the Acropolis was the Erechtheum. It is a beautiful Ionic temple and is a lot smaller than its big sister, which is Doric. I'll let the pictures do the talking when they get posted because I really can't describe it properly otherwise.
July 28th, 2009- Arriving in Athens, or, How Greek Hotels are a lot different than American.
The two other students and I got a cab to the Airotel Parthenon from the airport and we got to the hotel at around 1:30. I had a single the first two nights in Athens and the room was absolutely gorgeous. The hotel is quite literally around the corner from the Acropolis. The hotel is quite different than any hotel I have ever been to in the States. First, to get electricity, you must plug your key into the wall. Second, the elevator- you manually open the door (like normal doors) and they are big enough to fit two people if they get cozy...there is a video coming soon of the elevators because these things are wild.
Also, the door knobs at the Airotel don't turn...there is a button on the top that you push. It really made me feel like a stupid American...oh, and there was a fully stocked mini-bar with a lot of alcohol. I didn't take any though because mini bars charge a lot and I don't feel the need to drink while I'm here.
Also, the door knobs at the Airotel don't turn...there is a button on the top that you push. It really made me feel like a stupid American...oh, and there was a fully stocked mini-bar with a lot of alcohol. I didn't take any though because mini bars charge a lot and I don't feel the need to drink while I'm here.
June 27th, 2009- It starts...
Okay- so, I finally have a solid/ continuous internet access now that we are in Crete, so I can update the blog (!). But, since we've been here a week, I'm going to post in somewhat order what we have done so far. Each post is a day/ segment of the trip. Pictures will be posted when I get state side...I have no camera cord here in Greece. My apologies.
4:25am- Let the games begin! In order to get to my 6:20am flight, we have to leave the hotel at 4:50am, get to the airport at 5, go through bag check/ check in, and then security. We are about to leave at 4:50 when Dad tells mom and I to stay in the hotel room for a few minutes longer due to the arrival of what he would only describe as "grody gentlemen." We finally head over to the airport and my body is experiencing that tingling feeling under the skin because it is absolutely convinced that it should still be asleep and can't quite figure out why it is not.
5:03am- Plan stalls. We got my bags checked and look at the departures board and saw that my flight had been delayed until 9:13. There was a collective eye-roll/groan amongst those going to Newark. Instead of chilling in the airport, we headed back to the hotel and entertained ourselves with the "Jack and Elaine LaLaine Power Juicer" infomercial...you know the one-you shove a whole live fruit into it and suddenly you have juice, muffins, and salsa? Anyways, around 7:00 we began our journey again.
The plane arrived at Newark/ Liberty at 10:47am. The flight was relatively calm and uneventful and were given an explanation for the delay. Due to thunderstorms in NJ, the pilots got back to CLT late, meaning they couldn't get enough federally mandated rest to fly. Wouldn't it be great if the Fed mandated sleep for the rest of us?
Greetings Professor Trelawny,
We apologize for Ms. Archer's absence- she was prohibited from coming to class due to a lack of federally mandated sleep. Please excuse her for the day.
Sincerely,
Barack H. Obama
Anyways, while waiting for my 5:30 flight to Athens, I did a great deal of exploring and I came upon a Boarders. I proceeded to spend the next hour and a half reading. Also while spending time in the wonderful halls of Newark Airport (which is more like a mall than an airport), I have learned several things:
1)Child-leashes, while ridiculous, are something one would best have for no reason than without one and really needing it.
2) It seems to be a universally known and accepted fact that Jamba Juice is wonderful. I had my first at Newark (the Razzmatazz) and it was amazing.
3)Payphones, while seemingly simple machines, possess the emotional capability of lying, especially when it comes to what you can and cannot do in regards to hanging up and dialing again.
Because Newark is a huge international airport with people flying in from all over the world, there are many stores intended to leave the perfect first impression of the USA. Ladies and gentlemen unfamiliar with the Newark Airport, I give you America! (The Store)
**There will be a picture here, I promise!**
5:30 rolled around and finally we all boarded the plane. It is the largest plane that I have ever been on, and I got a window seat!! Yay! I met up with two other students on the trip in the terminal, but we weren't sitting together. Instead, I was sitting next to this woman named Estella, who was from Greece. We pull out of the terminal and then pull around to the side and stop. And then we sit. And then we wait. We do a lot of sitting and waiting (actually, an hour and a half of it) while flight control was deciding whether or not we were going to take the normal flight path or come up with a new one. In the end, we took the original flight plan and we take off for Athens.
I don't sleep much on the plane, mainly because Estella keeps invading my foot space, but also because we seemed to have a wild snorlax in our presence. Anyways, I did eventually get to sleep and when I woke up, I was over France. It was quite comforting to see land after being over nothing but water for so long.
At 11am- I got my first glimpse of Greece. It was absoulutely beautiful, and I don't think I've ever seen water this blue before.
Anyways, see you at the Hotel!
4:25am- Let the games begin! In order to get to my 6:20am flight, we have to leave the hotel at 4:50am, get to the airport at 5, go through bag check/ check in, and then security. We are about to leave at 4:50 when Dad tells mom and I to stay in the hotel room for a few minutes longer due to the arrival of what he would only describe as "grody gentlemen." We finally head over to the airport and my body is experiencing that tingling feeling under the skin because it is absolutely convinced that it should still be asleep and can't quite figure out why it is not.
5:03am- Plan stalls. We got my bags checked and look at the departures board and saw that my flight had been delayed until 9:13. There was a collective eye-roll/groan amongst those going to Newark. Instead of chilling in the airport, we headed back to the hotel and entertained ourselves with the "Jack and Elaine LaLaine Power Juicer" infomercial...you know the one-you shove a whole live fruit into it and suddenly you have juice, muffins, and salsa? Anyways, around 7:00 we began our journey again.
The plane arrived at Newark/ Liberty at 10:47am. The flight was relatively calm and uneventful and were given an explanation for the delay. Due to thunderstorms in NJ, the pilots got back to CLT late, meaning they couldn't get enough federally mandated rest to fly. Wouldn't it be great if the Fed mandated sleep for the rest of us?
Greetings Professor Trelawny,
We apologize for Ms. Archer's absence- she was prohibited from coming to class due to a lack of federally mandated sleep. Please excuse her for the day.
Sincerely,
Barack H. Obama
Anyways, while waiting for my 5:30 flight to Athens, I did a great deal of exploring and I came upon a Boarders. I proceeded to spend the next hour and a half reading. Also while spending time in the wonderful halls of Newark Airport (which is more like a mall than an airport), I have learned several things:
1)Child-leashes, while ridiculous, are something one would best have for no reason than without one and really needing it.
2) It seems to be a universally known and accepted fact that Jamba Juice is wonderful. I had my first at Newark (the Razzmatazz) and it was amazing.
3)Payphones, while seemingly simple machines, possess the emotional capability of lying, especially when it comes to what you can and cannot do in regards to hanging up and dialing again.
Because Newark is a huge international airport with people flying in from all over the world, there are many stores intended to leave the perfect first impression of the USA. Ladies and gentlemen unfamiliar with the Newark Airport, I give you America! (The Store)
**There will be a picture here, I promise!**
5:30 rolled around and finally we all boarded the plane. It is the largest plane that I have ever been on, and I got a window seat!! Yay! I met up with two other students on the trip in the terminal, but we weren't sitting together. Instead, I was sitting next to this woman named Estella, who was from Greece. We pull out of the terminal and then pull around to the side and stop. And then we sit. And then we wait. We do a lot of sitting and waiting (actually, an hour and a half of it) while flight control was deciding whether or not we were going to take the normal flight path or come up with a new one. In the end, we took the original flight plan and we take off for Athens.
I don't sleep much on the plane, mainly because Estella keeps invading my foot space, but also because we seemed to have a wild snorlax in our presence. Anyways, I did eventually get to sleep and when I woke up, I was over France. It was quite comforting to see land after being over nothing but water for so long.
At 11am- I got my first glimpse of Greece. It was absoulutely beautiful, and I don't think I've ever seen water this blue before.
Anyways, see you at the Hotel!
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