Weekend Thoughts: Odyssey in Greece

It is truly a tragedy that Greece has been in such bad shape for the last four years. The country still has so much to give in natural beauty, the study of our mother civilization, and (of course) food! Hopefully they'll soon realize that with tourism as their number one industry, rioting will not solve their economic problems. Here is my tribute to that wonderful country, which I hope will find peace again so that you can all make your own Odyssey!

October 2

The school kicked off our class trip to Greece with our very own Olympics. Dressed as gods with wreaths on their heads, the professors looked down as we ran in races, came up with group chants and songs, and made human sculptures with shaving cream. Apparently 2008 is "too soon" to make jokes about the Vesuvius eruption in 79 AD.

October 3

By late afternoon, buses had brought us to Bari, on the eastern coast of Italy. St. Nicholas is buried there in a grand basilica. At twilight we headed onto the ferry Piraeus that would take us to Greece. My friends and I had a blast wandering the corridors, getting lost, and sitting in the darkness of the stern deck, watching the waves churning and leaping in our wake. We danced late into the night at the ship's disco, ordering kamikazes and arguing about who came from the best state. Plenty of smokers lounged in the bar, which probably contributed to me having a bad cold for the rest of the trip (As I said when I started this half a year, sickness is definitely a theme of my Rome Semester).



October 4

I swear that our cabin was right on top of the ship's engines, because I could hardly sleep. Once we got up for breakfast, I started feeling the rolling motion of the ship. Lucky for me, my seasickness was easily cured when I went up to the top deck of the ferry.

I can't even describe how much of a paradise the sea near Greece is. The waves are sapphire blue, with white froth and foam galloping beside us. Islands with pale brown rocks are topped with green trees, and the sun shines through the clouds so bright you hope it never sets. Watching the droplets of water on the metal deck, I saw the wind slowly push them in little rivulets. Our hair flew into fantastic shapes as we held on to the railings.

We piled onto new buses in Greece, and took off for Olympia. We saw a little bit of the town (very touristy) and visited the museum. With me and my two roommates sick, we went to bed early, missing the lessons in traditional Greek dances.

October 5

We wandered the ruins of the temples and gymnasiums of Olympia. The columns of the Temple of Zeus lay on the ground forlornly, like trees showing their rings.

Traveling on, we came to the town of Delphi, high up on Mount Parnassus.

The valley below Delphi, seen from our hotel.

It's so gorgeous. One of my favorite places in Greece. (More about my trip to Delphi here.)

October 6

Herds of goats on the hillsides!

Mount Parnassus, home of Apollo and the Muses.

Temple of Apollo, where travelers consulted the Oracle.

In ancient times, an inscription on the temple proclaimed, "Know thyself." Once we got to the museum at the top of the mountain, we saw treasures from the temple, such as this statue.

The Sphinx

Seriously, this VIEW...

...no wonder they thought a god lived here.

By night we had made it to Athens, where I got my first taste of Moussaka.

 

Skip to 3:00, or watch it all. The girls don't know what they're missing.

Wow, should not have seen a picture of this while I was hungry.

More about Delphi and delicious moussaka here.

October 7- October 8 Athens

View from the top floor of our hotel.

The Parthenon!

Caryatids supporting a temple on the Acropolis.

Read more on Athens here.

October 9-10 Nafplion and Epidaros

The Palamidi Fortress. The lion of St. Mark means it was owned by Venice.

This reminded me of the end of Pirates of the Caribbean.

See?!

 

 

Oh yeah, and on the bus ride up to the fortress, we learned this song:

And of course, there's always Wagon Wheel. That song brought us right back to the welcoming lights of the Mensa at Due Santi.

OKAY. We're almost current!!!! Just two more important events:

October 19 The Seven Church Pilgrimage

 17 miles of beautiful Roman churches. We began with a bus ride to San Paolo Fuori le Mura, or St. Paul's Outside the Walls.

Mosaics are the best.

The apse mosaic.

Small circular portraits of every pope.

San Sebastiano

Saint Sebastian is a small church by the catacombs. It's right by the Via Appia, which means there are lots of sheep!

San Giovanni in Laterano

Saint John Lateran is one of my favorite churches.

Mainly because of the incredible statues here, and on the inside.

Santa Croce in Gerusalemme

The church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem claims to have several relics from the Crucifixion, including a piece of the true cross, the INRI signpost, nails, and thorns.

San Lorenzo

In Saint Lawrence, a baby was being baptized. The church is next to a cemetery with colossal sorrowful statues.

Santa Maria Maggiore

Saint Mary Major, shining with colored mosaics.

San Pietro

After a quick gelato stop, we hurried around the Forum, past the Capitoline Hill, across the Ponte D'Angelo, and up to the Vatican. In the dusk, Saint Peter's was brightly lit up, as was the Pope's apartment window.

October 21 Sant' Agnese Fuori le Mura, on Via Nomentana.

The leaves were beginning to change and fall in Rome, while I made a trip with the People and Places of Europe group to this church and accompanying catacombs. Bricks, mosiacs, and frescoes make up this delicately beautiful church.

The first sensation I felt in the catacombs was cold. It had been cold in the church, but below the marble floors the temperature dropped even further. The levels of tombs and biers are made of brown dirt called tufa, and cold and soft to the touch. Passageways branch off in all directions, and niches for bodies line every inch of the wall. Inscriptions have names or small pictures, and there are graves till covered over with marble or stone, small enough to contain children. Darkness and cold loom in the narrow halls. (Halloween is coming up, I'm feeling spooky.)