~Greece~

Hello from Sparta. This is definitely the low point in our trip to the Peloponnese so far. It’s dirty, kinda smelly and the ruins are not very well maintained. Even worse is the fact that since Spartan civilization did not believe in theatres, stadiums, or any real public buildings, there are only 2 ancient ruins even interesting enough to stop at. But let’s rewind to Sunday, when we left on our 5 day 4 night trip…I get terrible internet in all of the places we stop so I haven’t been able to talk to any of you in a long time.

Sunday we left bright and early (8 am, haha maybe not that early) on our coach bus for Korinth. (Hey Morgan, remember in The Boondock Saints when the cop dresses like a woman and lures that mafia guy into the bathroom and then shoots him? Tony our bus driver is an exact look alike to that guy) Anyway, Corinth, aka the place I went Bungy Jumping at on Saturday, was one of the first power houses of Greece. Its home to the Acrocorinth (please google earth it to see how high we had to climb up this mountain ) which was once an ancient sanctuary to Aphrodite. Anyway, it’s like 600 meters tall and Stavros (my prof) just climbed straight to the top, no hesitation what so ever. After the 15 minutes it took for the rest of us to climb it, we finally saw what made this place so special. You can see almost every important mountain from the Acrocorinth, so it was used in later times as a palace and then again as a military vantage point several times. In the 1940’s Germans took over the Acrocorinth as a huge advantage over the Greek/English soldiers, because you can see for miles and miles and also both the Corinthian Gulf, canal and then to the Aegean Sea. It was worth the climb but all part of my rising suspicion that this program is secretly a fat camp. There honestly hasn’t been a day when we haven’t either walked 10-15 minutes to a destination, or climbed a mountain to get to our lecture site. But more on that later….

After the Acrocorinth we went to the ancient Agora (market/meeting place) of Corinth, and its museum where my prof. Stavros used to be the curator. The special thing about Corinth, is after the burning of the city by the Romans, and then the rebuilding of it a century later, it was one of the first places in Greece where Paul preached the Gospel. After seeing the podium he preached at, we took some time for lunch, and then got back on the bus to drive ½ hour to our hotel in Loutraki. Loutraki was beautiful. Our entire group went to the pebble beach and swam for a couple hours before dinner by the beach.

The next morning, we left Loutraki and went to the Peninsula of Perea, about a half hour away, to the sanctuary of Hera. After seeing how gorgeous the land was around it, we played in the water a bit and then took our bus to Epidauros. Epidauros is the most famous theatre in Greece, mainly for it’s beyond amazing acoustics. From the very top of the theatre, to the very last seat, you can hear a coin drop at the bottom of the stage. It also can hold about 15,000 people. Very cool.

After this we went to where we were staying for the night, Nafplion. After getting lunch, talking a long walk around the castle and then heading to the rock beach, we went had traditional smoked fish, and then went to bed.

This morning we went to 2 Mycenaean ancient palaces. The Mycenaean’s were the legendary civilization that started the Trojan war against Troy. They dated back to the 15th century BC. After seeing the city’s and the huge tomb of the royal family, we drove to Sparta and stopped at the Temple of Artemis. After a brief visit to the run down site, we went to our hotel. So here I am, sitting in Sparta, wishing I could talk to you all. When we get back to Athens on Thursday (the 25th) we have a free day on the 26th, and then a day trip to Marathon on the 27th. On the 28th, a bunch of us are going to the island of Agistri, an island close enough for a small daytrip. Then after the final on the 29th, Im off to Santorini Island for a much needed vacation .

Just kidding, but seriously. I can’t wait to get back to Athens and my Wifi so I can talk to you all and see how you’re doing. Miss you.
Oh! Another Interesting thing I just learned about the 2nd class. We are traveling to Istanbul Turkey in about 2 weeks…Istanbul!!! Im super excited!

Hope all is well at home and I'll talk to you all soon enough.

Love you All