Thursday, October 29, 2009

Greece Donkey

I (Katie) decided to take advantage of the beautiful afternoon in Athens by creating my own walking tour. My two wonderful friends, Jill and Wayne, are coming to visit in less than a month so I figured it's about time to scope out all of the great places around Athens that I'd like them to visit. I decided to make the first stop on my tour the Panathenaic Stadium. It was actually very easy to find and it only took about 20 minutes from the American School. In ancient times this stadium hosted the athletic portion of the Panathenaic games and since then it has been used for many events including the 2004 Olympic games. Rob and I will get the change to run in the stadium as it will be the finish line for the 5K we're running on November 8th. Of course I had to take a self portrait while I was there...

Next, I headed down Vasilissis Olgas until I reached the Temple of Olympian Zeus and Hadrian's Arch. Now, let me just say that in the past 7 weeks I've seen a LOT of columns, but WOW these ones were giant! Unfortunately, I didn't get anybody in the picture for scale, but trust me....they're big! And yes, that's the Acropolis in the background (how cool?!).

After spending a few minutes hanging out by the temple of Olympian Zeus I decided I'd head down Vasilissis Amalias and take in the National Gardens. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Athens you will notice the lack of green space so the gardens are very refreshing.
My absolute favorite part of the National Gardens is the zoo! In the words of Steve Nass, "it gives Henry Doorly a run for it's money!" Hahaha, you'll see what he means if you visit. I do want to show you my favorite animal at the zoo:
Yep, it's the Greece Donkey. They entertain visitors by making donkey calls....it's hilarious!! If you have Rob's email address you should ask him about his Greece Donkey. :) All in all I spent about two hours on the walk and I think Jill and Wayne will really enjoy it!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

"No" Day

October 28th isn't just another day in Greece, it's Ochi day!

This is the day that commemorates Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Mextaxas's rejection of the ultimatum made by Italian dictator Mussolini in 1940. Italy, backed by Hitler, wanted to occupy Greece but Metaxas simply responded "Ochi!" or "no!" Because of Metaxas refusal, Greece entered WWII on the Allied side against Hitler. Not only did Greece refuse Mussolini's forces free passage, they seized the offensive and drove them back through most of Albania.

To help celebrate this public holiday I walked down to Syntagma Square and watched the annual Ochi Day parade. I always enjoy a good parade, but I noticed the Greeks do things just a bit differently. This parade was made of mostly school aged students marching down the street in matching outfits and a few military bands. The first band didn't march the entire route but instead stopped just in front of the Parliament building and played music as the rest of the parade marched. Luckily for me I was close enough to the Parliament building to hear the music! Also, (and I'll include a photo of this) the high school girls were marching in heels, some were even marching in stilettos!
Many of the children marched in traditional Greek dress:

The next few photos are of the band that I had the pleasure of hearing during the parade. I'm not sure what kind of band (military?) they are, but I could tell that they're one of the best!




Sunday, October 25, 2009

What to do?

Rob and I have been married for about 2 1/2 months now and away from the States for over 6 weeks. The time we've spent together since August 8th has been both a whirlwind and wonderful, but unfortunately all good things come to an end. Rob left this morning for his third trip (to Central Greece), and I've decided to stay in Athens alone for the next 11 days. Well, I won't really be alone because all of the Associate Members of the school will be here too, but the question is: What should I do?

I made a list of things I would like to accomplish while Rob is away and the first task I've assigned myself is to pick the photos we would like our wedding photographer to use in our wedding album. OH-MY-GOODNESS!!! The task is nearly impossible. How in the world will I manage to pick only 115 pictures from nearly 400 choices?! Does anybody out there have advice? Needless to say, task #1 isn't going so well.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Peloponnese






Rob and I recently returned from our second journey: The Peloponnese! We have not have a chance to upload all of our photos, but here are a few that we can share now. Picture #1 shows what I "sometimes" look like at the various sites. #2 shows Rob coming in first place at the stadium in Olympia! #3 shows the students listening to a report on the Nike (female personification of victory) statue in the archeological museum in Olympia. #4 is Kate posing by the columns at the Temple of Apollo at Bassae. After leaving Bassae our bus had a minor malfunction so we were all getting a bit loopy from the various fumes. Picture #5 shows what most of the students looked like on the bus that evening! Enjoy.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

More Pictures




I haven't quite figured out how to label the pictures yet, so I'll give quick descriptions here.
Picture #1: The view of Mt. Olympus from the balcony of our hotel in Litochoro.
Picture #2: Climbing the acropolis overlooking the city of Philippi.
Picture #3: BAKLAVA!!!! Our first authentic piece of Baklava from a bakery in Thessaloniki. YUM!

Pictures






Here are the pictures that I promised yesterday. Sorry to make you wait even longer, I ran out of patience with the internet :)
Picture #1: Katie and John's duck hiking around the rock quarries on the south side of the island of Thasos.
Picture #2: Rob giving his site report on the ancient city of Olynthus in the Chalidiki Peninsula.
Picture #3: American School friends grabbing a bite to eat in Thessaloniki.
Picture #4: The Derveni Krater (not a big hole in the ground!).
Picture #5: Kate on an old bridge in the town of Arta in the Greek province of Epirus.

Monday, October 12, 2009

The Journey Continues...


Monday, October 12th: This entry goes out to Philly, Steve, and all those who have been waiting so patiently for our blog to be updated. As you can imagine our lives have been very busy lately...in the past month I think we've slept in at least 14 different hotels! It all started on September 21st as we embarked on Trip 1: Northern Greece. This 12 day trip took us through some of the most beautiful country Rob and I have ever seen. Some of the significant cities and sites we visited included: Vergina (Great Tumulus), Thessaloniki, Philippi, and the island of Thasos. I'm sure Rob would like to expand on this trip when he as more time, so I'll just tell you that it was a wonderful and exhausting experience. Highlights for me included the 3 hour wall walk in Thessaloniki with one of Rob's professors named Denver, the hike up to the ancient acropolis in Philippi, and the hike around the island of Thasos. Some of the things I learned during this trip include: A Krater is not a large hole in the ground from ancient times, it is actually a decorative piece of pottery (I'll include photos so you can see the gorgeous Derveni Krater). Also, bees and mosquitos are everywhere, and they'll get you when you least expect it. I woke up one morning with about 10 mosquito bites on my face.

After our first trip ended we had four days in Athens to rest and prepare our site presentations for Trip II: Deep Pelopennese. We're currently 5 days into this trip and tonight we're staying in Pylos at a sea-side hotel. Unfortunately, Rob and I have a view of the street in front of the hotel, big bummer. Tomorrow will be a big day for Rob as he presents two famous battles off the island of Sphacteria to our group, while my presentation will be on Saturday at the Byzantine palace of Mystras just west of modern Sparta. Wish us luck!

That's all I have time for now, I'll try to post some pictures before bed!