Day Six - Excursions Outside of Athens

In 490 B.C. the Athenians and Plataeans defeated the Persians on the plain of Marathon to secure the safety of Greece for the next decade until the Persians returned to avenge their loss in 480 B.C. Traveling the 26 mile distance from modern Athens to Marathon on Theodore's luxury coach, we spent part of the day examining the burial mound of the 192 Athenians who died in their struggle against the Medes. The highlight of the Marathon museum was the Ionic capital of a trophy dedicated to Nike in remembrance of this landmark defeat of the Persian Empire. With grumbling stomachs and being out in the countryside of Attica, we bag-lunched it and ate (with an aggressive canine companion) on the steps of the Brauron museum. Opened after many years of renovation, the museum holds hundreds of votive offerings to Artemis as goddess of the hunt and protectress of women in childbirth. A fascinating site that gave us a clear glimpse of feminine roles in Athenian cultures and the importance of Artemis in the lives of the ancient Greeks, we said farewell to Artemis Brauronia by paying respects to the north Stoa and the temple site. We left the wilds of Brauron energized and ready to contiune our study of sanctuaries dedicated to the Olympian gods: next on the menu, Poseidon. Destination: the tip of Attica and Cape Sounion. In the presence of Lord Byron, who etched his name on one of the temple's columns, we felt the breath of Poseidon as we hiked along the bluff and viewed the splendor of this sacred precinct. Boarding Theodore's bus for the last excursion, we returned to the hotel and headed out to the Plaka for dinner. We celebrated Sara's sixteenth birthday with friends, both new and old, in the festivity of one of Athens' most renowned travel and tourist districts. Check out today's photo gallery.
Tomorrow we walk next door to the Acropolis museum to see many of the treasures of the Parthenon. Oh, by the way, a soccer game or should I say real football game tomorrow night in the Olympic Stadium. Go AEK!

Day Five - Delphi and Arrival in Athens

Here we are in Delphi in front of the tholos at the lower site of Delphi. After visiting the museum and upper site in the morning, we had lunch and then hit a trail above the town. The highlight of the hike was getting a great view of the stadium from above, as it has been closed to the public recently. We stopped at the lower site before heading to Athens, which took us about 4 hours since we hit some Friday afternoon traffic. As we entered the city, the bus was filled with excited students eager to catch their first glimpse of the Acropolis. Our hotel in the city is a mere 2 blocks or so from the Acropolis and the recently opened museum, both of which we will visit on Sunday. Our agenda for Saturday includes visits to Marathon, Brauron, and Sounion. Before that, however, Mr. Newman and I will be leading a small group of students on an optional, early morning walk to Philopappos Hill to see what the Acropolis looks like from there at 7am. Given the current late hour (1:30am), I'm going to wrap this up and fill in the blanks tomorrow evening. Don't miss today's photo album.

Day Four - Patras and Hosios Loukas

After a lengthy bus ride to from Olympia to Patras along the coast of the Ionian Sea where Elizabeth Sparks taught us the Greek national anthem, we prepared ourselves for the Greek celebration of Independence Day. Ubiquitous throughout Patras was the blue and white of the Greek national flag. The standard has not changed since the Greek revolution against the Ottoman Empire in 1821 and the eventual success of gaining independence in 1829. The white cross in the upper left hand corner of the flag signifies the importance of the Greek Orthodox Church in the formation of the Hellenic nation and the stripes of blue and white symbolize the rolling waves of the Aegean Sea. There are nine stripes representing each letter in the Greek word for freedom, Eleftheria. Armed with Greek flags in honor of the day's festivities, the Hawks went forth among the throngs of people to view the parade. After an incredibly delicious gyro at a local restaurant, the group watched the procession of school children and other national organizations marching through the streets, many of whom wore traditional Greek clothing aimed to celebrate Greek culture. Having arrived from Olympia and given the occasion, we were not surprised to see the Olympic flag carried majestically through the streets of Patras during this national celebration.

When the parade ended, we grabbed a group photo on the busy docks of Patras as it is the third largest city in Greece and an economic hub for commercial and tourist traffic to Italy. Making our way out of the Peloponnese, we crossed the Gulf of Petras by traveling over the Rio-Antirrio Bridge to the mainland. This bridge, completed prior to the 2004 Olympics, is a majestic structure that blended naturally with the landscape.

After an amazing ride along the coast and through some seriously mountainous terrain (thanks, Theodore) we made it safely to Hosios Loukas. This 1oth century monastery of Holy Luke stands outside the village of Styri and has stunning views of Mount Helicon and the surrounding countryside. We all grasped the significance of the Byzantine Church to the Greeks and how this monastery played a key role in the development of the Orthodox Church in Greece. Stopping at the gift shop we purchased some renowned honey and snacks and prepared for the journey to Delphi. A beautiful drive under the gaze of Mount Parnassus, we arrived in Delphi psyched to see the temple of Apollo. We checked in to the Akropole Hotel and discussed the role of the gods in Greek myth to prepare ourselves for the visit to the ancient site tomorrow. An amazing sunset coupled with a tasty meal of svoulaki ended our adventure for the day. Be sure to check out today's photo gallery.

Day Three - Olympia

Although we experienced our first rain since arriving in Greece, it didn't stop us from having an amazing day here in Olympia. Arriving here at midday, we had lunch and then visited the Museum of the Olympic Games. After checking out representations of the events that would have occurred at Olympia and the history of the games, we headed over to the Archaeological Museum of Olympia, which houses the finds from the site itself. Among the many impressive things the museum has to offer were the pedimental sculptures from the Temple of Zeus, photos of which you can access in today's album. We also were able to see the helmet of Miltiades, dedicated to Zeus at Olympia after the Athenian victory over the Persians in the battle of Marathon. We are visiting Marathon in a few days, and this will provide yet another opportunity for students to make connections between the various sites and museums we are touring during the trip.

We then headed to the site of Olympia itself, stopping first at the workshop of Phidias, the sculptor responsible for the massive chryselephantine (gold and ivory) statue of Zeus that would have been housed in his temple here. The temple itself is now surrounded by its columns that were toppled in earthquakes, the lone, standing exception being a column recently restored by German archaeologists. The last stop on our visit was the stadium itself, and the rain didn't stop the students from holding their own footrace.

Having checked in at the hotel, the students spotted the hotel's soccer field and knew that they hadn't brought their ball all the way from home in vain. Everyone, including Theodore, our bus driver (and former semi-pro), eventually joined in and had a great time playing two games before dinner. Beating a rival school's group of students on foreign turf was just icing on the cake.

Thursday is Greek Independence Day, and so we plan to catch the parade in Patras before heading over to the mainland to visit Hosios Loukas, a monastery dating back to the 10th century.

Day Two - Palamidi, Mycenae, and Epidauros

The Lion's Gate at Mycenae. Stepping through this ancient portal to the city of Agamemnon, we were dazzled with Adam Sparks' monologue of Agamemnon's triumphal return from the Trojan War. While Adam did justice to Agamemnon, unfortunately for the King of Mycenae, his time home was short lived as he was subsequently murdered by his wife Clytemnestra. Greek drama at its finest. This celebration of Greek theatre continued at Epidauros as we gained a deeper understanding of the site's importance in the Greek world. The stunning monumental theatre gave students a clear grasp of its architectural principles; not to mention the fact that Epidauros was a healing center and place of worship to Asclepius. Partial reconstructions of the temple gave students some basics in the analysis of temple architecture. From the high altitude of Palamidi as we gazed down at the Argolic gulf, to the cyclopean walls of Mycenae and the theatre of Epidauros, we found that these sites captivated the imagination of the students and appreciation for ancient Greek culture. We're heading to Olympia bright and early on Wednesday morning to see the site of the ancient games.

First Day in Greece - Corinth and Nafplio

The day concluded with a traditional Greek birthday wish to Kalle after a wonderful dinner in Nafplio.  After a long, mostly sleepless night of flying, we arrived eager and enthusiastic to explore the Peloponnese.
Before arriving here, we stopped at the Corinth Canal for photos and our first Greek meal, souvlaki.  Our hotel has a great view of Palamidi, a 17th century Venetian fortress we'll be visiting first thing Tuesday morning. Also on the agenda for Tuesday are visits to Mycenae and Epidauros. Keep your eyes on the Twitter account for 'in the moment' updates throughout the day in the form of text and/or photos.