Greece is absolutely amazing. There's not really much more to it. The mountains and the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas provide a glorious backdrop to some of the most gorgeous places I've ever seen. The trip lasted 10 days total; on day 1, we drove down to Barri and saw the Basilica of St. Nicholas, where Santa Claus is buried. His bones secrete this liquid called manna, which many revere to have sacred properties. They sell it in the gift store, but it's really expensive (sorry to get your hopes up like that, Mom).
Interestingly, Barri, for the small port town it is, has a rich history. Not only is it the resting place of St. Nicholas, but it was one of the last places in Europe that crusaders would pass through on their way to the Holy Land. Both on their way and coming back, they would give gifts to the town. Thus, over the years, Barri grew in wealth and power.
From Barri, we took an overnight ferry to Greece, to a small town called Patras. When we arrived in Patras, we took the bus first thing in the morning over to Olympia. There, we went to the Archaeological museum of Olympia, went to mass, and called it an early night.
The next day, me and my roommates all slept through our mandatory wakeup time, at 8, till 11. We were told we would have a wake-up call in the morning, but we were the only room not to have a phone in the room. We missed seeing the Temples of Hera and Zeus, as well as the ancient Olympic stadium. And we now have to write a 6 page paper. I tried arguing that missing those sites was more than enough punishment in itself, but they wouldn't buy it. Ugh.
After lunch, we took another bus over to Delphi, the site of the ancient Oracle. Delphi was really cool, as it was where I met the the culinary masterpiece I like to call the gyro. Gyros are worse for you than a Big Mac but better tasting than anything else I have ever had in my entire life, and believe me, we got along really well. But on to more important things. At Delphi, we saw the main temples and the place where the Oracle would tell her prophesies, as we walked in the footsteps of thousands of travelers before us throughout the ages.
Right after we were finished seeing the Oracle, me and my good friend, John Bascom, decided to climb Mt. Parnassus. At the top, waited the Cave of Dionysus, an ancient cave dedicated to the worship of the God of Wine and Revelry. Our English Professor told us it was up there, and only one other student had ever made it. We basically ran up the mountain for about 3 hours, following the only path we could find. We didn't make it, but the views up there were incredible.
The next day, we left for Athens. Athens is both one of the most aesthetically pleasing and ugly places I've been to yet in Europe: surrounding the beauty of the Acropolis, Pnyx, and Agora, lies a city jam-packed with concrete, where every building is the same and it's easier to get lost than in a labyrinth. Flatten the landscape and subtract the Acropolis, and Athens would get no tourists. At all. Furthermore, anyone that decided to go would get so lost in the city they would never find their way out. However, the food is to die for (GYROS!!) and the shopping there is a good time. My only regret is that I wanted to spend more time on the Acropolis than the alloted hour and a half. We also went to the Theater of Dionysos at the foot of the Acropolis.
From Athens, we journeyed to Mycenae, the ancient palace of Agamemnon. Excavated by Heinrich Schliemann, the famous archeologist of Troy, the site boasts the alleged tombs of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, as well as one of the world's oldest still-standing entrances, the "Lion's Gate," from 1250 BC. Not mentioned on the list of famous items there, but just as notable, is the unmarked grave shaft that me and my friends decided to climb down. 10 minutes and a dead flashlight battery later, I encountered the freakiest experience of my life. I swear, Indiana Jones would have cried.
After Mycenae, our last stop was the town of Nafplion, one of my favorite towns we went to on the trip. It was fairly touristy, but not crowded by any means. At the top of the hill that looks over the city is an ancient fortress, the wall of which me and my friends climbed. It's about 20-25 feet tall, so it was pretty scary. No worries, I made it over ... I know how many of you guys would be devastated if I couldn't update my blog anymore.
All in all, Greece, in my opinion is much more beautiful than Italy (from what I've seen, at least). Don't get me wrong, Italy is pretty sweet, but it's too flat for me. Put a gyro in my hand and put me on the top of a Greek mountain, and I would be happy. Until I finished the gyro, anyway.
Until next time,
Jacimbo
P.S. The internet here is terrible. I can't even send emails 99% of the time, so hang with me.
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