Olympia photos2

 Cheater's row

On your mark, get set, GO!

The Altar where the torches are lit.

 Alexander's family creation

 Bronze kettles

Olympia photos1

A little about Phillip II and Alexander

 You know who

This is where they got ready and then competed in the middle

The artist's house

Olympia

I may try something new with this post. I may add photos later and in smaller batches. I am having trouble uploading.

Anyway The ruins of Olympia were a short walk from our hotel. We started in the Olympic Museum where you could see models of what the area looked like throughout the years. It also talked a little about the sporting events and the athletes. The kids, of course, got a kick out of the fact that the athletes competed naked and that women weren't allowed to compete or view the games. Only one woman was pardoned for watching her son because she came from such a distinguished line of athletes. Any other woman was banished.

They also had a code of no fighting during the time before, during, and after the games.

Walking through the ruins was spectacular. You could see where the athletes got ready, the Temple of Zeus, where the artists shop was that created a large statue of Zeus that is no longer standing but they found several of the molds used to create the folds of his robes.

We entered the stadium where you could start at the actual starting line and run about 200m in the heat. You passed by the stands where the stautes of the cheaters were displayed. They did not take kindly quitters, cheaters, or blood dopers. There were special urine tasters that could tell if you had used animal blood to give you an edge. (an interesting fact for you)

You also saw the Altar of Athena where the Olympic torches are originally lit before they make their trek around the world.

And right beyond was the Circle of Philippeion was started by Alexander the Great's father, Phillip II, and completed by Alexander himself. It housed statues of their family members and no less than six statues of Alexander.

The Archaelogical museum held amazing artifacts including the bronze pots and ancient discs and jumping weights. If you won a championship you could ask if you could get a statute made of yourself as a prize.

There were also pieces of glass from the artists house and a cup with his name on the bottom.

This is SPARTA! (and Mystras)

Sparta was quite the town in its heyday. Then it fell and was basically desecrated. Almost everything was removed from the ancient town except a few stones. Alexander the Great didn't really feel the need to invade or conquer Sparta. He was the guy who let you do your own thing as long as you were loyal to him. Sparta was already floundering by the time he came around and he decided it just wasn't worth it. But how can you be so close and not stop by? We took a few photos at what's left of the ancient city. Modern day Sparta is quite bustling. Of course, right outside the ruins is a large statue of a Spartan warrior, so we got some pics with that.

 This really is Sparta.

Six kilometers away is the town of Mystras. Another ancient city/fortress built high on a hill. It again was such an experience stepping back in time and picturing the city life of long ago. Religion was extremely important. In just this small area there were at least four churches/monasteries. You could still see the ornate paintings on the wall.

 Mystras

Another amazing thing was in the museum. They actually had a preserved hair braid and scraps of silk and bits of a shoe heel. In this museum was also a stone carving of A the G ascension.

The views were amazing and you had two entries into the site. You walked through most of the fortress through the lower entrance, then drove up to the top entrance to finish it out. The palace was being restored so we couldnt go inside but still it was quite the site. At the very top it was a straight down to your death drop. Very nerve wracking.

 Just an idea of the drop down. He's inside a little walled area as I'm still freaking out watching him.

 Walls inside one of the churches.

Nafplio

This is one of the most beautiful spots I've seen. It is a charming harbor town that just comes alive at night. There is a fortress ruin on the hill overlooking the city and a large wall that continues around one side. We had a view of the fortress from our room and walked down to the city center once we arrived in town, about a fifteen minute walk. We were afraid we wouldn't find anything to eat at ten o'clock. What a laugh! The town square consists of blocks of shops and restaurants a crowds of people. We stopped at the gelato shop and asked how late they'd be open, hoping to get some after dinner...they closed at 3 a.m.! It was delicious, by the way.

By the way, did you know there are many, many stray dogs and cats throughout Greece? We made a friend with one dog and he found us again the next night. The kids want to take each dog home. I think it's because we all miss our dog, Ringo. These dogs and cats seem very well cared for. People put out water and food for them, and they seem to know where to go and what to do.

 The fortress on the hill.

The next morning we decided to walk, rather than drive to the fortress. The only way up is to climb hundreds of stairs the meander their way up the side of the hill. We decided to try to count the stairs. We got to 912 before just entering the site. Inside was a labyrinth of walls, rooms and passageways to explore. Every where you turned was another place. You thought you were done, and then there would be another secret room. What's so cool is you can go in and check them out. There aren't ropes keeping you out, although on some spots, you wish there was something there to keep you from going over the edge!

 

Only PART of the steps.

Inside the fortress.

A little room.

 

The view of the beach below.

 Going back down.

The view of the city was amazing. You could see the sea below and one of the beaches in town, where we decided to go cool off after our adventure. The beach was rocky, which hurt, but the water was so refreshing and so salty that you could float with very little effort-something I can't do at home!

Epidavros

I couldn't go to Greece and not see the oldest theater there. It was not easy to find but it should've been. There are several small towns with the same name close by and the GPS took us to a different small theater that was not what we were looking for. We asked directions and found we didn't see the right sign...the road was supposed to take us right into the parking lot.

 This is the right spot!

It was a huge amphitheater and you could imagine performances happening there. The special Greek theater festival was taking place and there was a performance happening that night. After deliberating, we decided not to buy tickets. The show didn't start until 9, and it was only five; also two hours of a Greek tragedy, in Greek, was just a little too much to take in. If it had been a play that I knew and had a general idea about what was happening, then maybe we would've gone.

My performers

Outside the theater were more ruins of what was an ancient hospital. It's amazing...you can't go too far without seeing a brown sign that tells you what ancient ruin you are going by.

 (for Luke)

Mycenae

The town of Mycenae itself is not much. It's a string of touristy tavernas and souvenir shops. But once you get to the fortress, it's pretty amazing. It was settled around 2000 B.C. And to think that these walls have survived that long is truly amazing. You enter under the Lions Gate and see the grave circle, which is where all the treasures we saw at the Archaelogical Museum were found. According to mythology, Mycenae was founded by Perseus. This is also were the whole Helen of Troy saga started, with families warring over who should be king.

 The Lions Gate

One of the neatest places to explore was the cistern, a deep, dark cave that I'm not sure what it housed. You could just keep going down and there was no light and it was pretty cool.

 Overlook

 The cistern entrance

Just outside the fortress was the treasury, an ancient tomb. It's built like a large orb and the front stone is the largest in the world.

 This is basically hidden from the outside, except for the entrance.

Driving

Something needs to be said about driving in Greece. In a word...crazy! I will apologize up front if I offend anyone, but it is really scary to drive here. First of all, many of the roads here are what we would call an alley and they are not marked well. Thank God we have a GPS, almost couldn't get one, but that's another story. You have to know the Greek English spelling of the town in order to plug it in to the GPS. We went on many roads that we thought for sure were just driveways to groves but were actually the roads we needed. Thankfully, the signs to the towns are typically written also in English to help you.

Another thing is that Greece is very mountainous and you must drive up and over many mountains to get to where you need to be. This means steep, narrow roads without a guard rail and you will drop straight down. Not good if two of the passengers tend to get carsick.

In order to make it driving in Greece you must drive like a Greek. That means passing on double lines even if you are too terrified to. The cars expect you to do that, and they get over onto the shoulder (if there is one) and wave you by. If you don't pass the car behind you starts honking and goes around both of you, whether there is oncoming traffic or not, whether you are on a mountain S curve or not, whether therebisnreally only space for one lane/one car. We are managing, but it really is scary sometimes.

That being said Greece is one of the most beautiful countries to drive through. Picture the stereotypical vision of Greece with the small quaint, red-tile roofed towns, groves full of grapevines, orange and olive trees, and little old ladies sitting outside their houses, and that really is what you see. It is gorgeous.

Technical difficulties

Sorry it's been so long. It seems like I don't get back to the hotel until almost midnight and I'm just too tired to post anything. I've also had several occasions where I've typed a few pages and they fail to upload because I lose the Internet connection. Sooo frustrating. It's a beautiful night and I think my connection is strong so I'm going to try to catch up on a few.

Last full day of Athens...

The heat here does something to you. First of all, you don't sleep well without air conditioning. You can get AC in our hotel for an extra six euros a night but the woman who runs our hotel said we wouldn't need it because it was going to be nice and cool that night at a chilly 84 degrees!

Second, you drink a TON of water. Thankfully, water is very reasonably priced here. Third, you aren't very hungry, which can be either good or bad. Fourth, you really have to plan your day with the heat.

We went to the National Archaeological Museum. They have artifacts and statues from 14th century b.c. The Mycenaean antiques were very interesting to see, especially since we will be going to the town of Mycenae tomorrow. It's so interesting to see how with some things, little has changed over thousands of years of evolution and invention. We still cook on bronze pots, needles are thin with a hole through them, safety pins, other than the protective cap, still look the same. An incredible collection of statues of the gods and goddesses are there too. 

National Archaeological Museum

Safety pins and needles. If it isn't broke....

 Statue of Zeus

We returned to the Acropolis area to see the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Again, just mind boggling to visualize what it might have looked like in ancient times.

Temple of Olympian Zeus

A pleasant surprise of the day was touring the Olympic Stadium. It was originally created back in about 400 b.c. Then rebuilt for the first Olympic games in the 1800's and again for the summer games of 2004. We each got to see what it felt like to be on the podium as a gold deal winner. The had a neat collection of torches and Olympic posters.

Olympic Stadium

 The gold medal goes to ME!!

Day two....

The day started off with an interesting twist...actually it started last night. Apparently the simple task of kneeling is enough for me to pop my knee, so I was in a bit of uncomfortable-ness last night, wondering how I was going to make it through two weeks of hiking. 

After a simple breakfast of fruit, bread/pastries and yogurt, we went and bought me a knee brace. So you will see me sporting that accessory in my pictures. Anyway, it gives me enough support to where I don't feel like my knee will collapse and along with the ibuprofen, I'm happy to say I climbed all over Athens today.

We started climbing the Acropolis, seeing the Temple of Athena Nike, and the Parthenon. We went back down and over to the Agora. It was in this museum I saw my first connection to Alexander the Great. There was a large marble bust of him. 

Odeon of Herodes Atticus

The Parthenon

Ancient Agora of Athens

 I found Alexander the Great

To escape the heat because, boy, is it hot here, we had some gelato before heading to the Acropolis Museum. Another Alexander the Great bust was in there. The mythological statues are pretty amazing and it really boggles your mind when you think about how old things are and how they were made without our modern technology. It also had an interesting exhibit called Archaic Colors. I never realized that so many of these monuments and statues were originally colored. They had representations of what the originals looked like and you could really make out the colors when you could compare it to the original.

Acropolis Museum

This is what the top of one side of the Parthenon once looked like.

 Another Alexander the Great bust.

We finished the evening by touring the Theater of Dionysus. You can actually see the important seats still there and visualize performances on the stage.

Sitting in the seats at the Theater of Dionysus.

Made it to Greece!

After quite a few hours traveling on three planes, we arrived in Greece at about 1pm local time. Found our hotel which is in a nice part of town, took a nap and got up around 7:30 to explore and get something to eat.

Athens is very warm but there was a nice breeze blowing as we walked up to the Acropolis. Dusk gave everything a beautiful glow. I took photos but they just didn't capture the feeling. I will post some tomorrow.

We continued walking through the Plaka area. Fun little touristy places that we will visit more tomorrow. We decided on dinner at this small restaurant that had two lovely older brothers praising their food and beckoning us to join them. This is a very common practice, but something just seemed more genuine about these two. Plus two diners told us the food was great, so we sat down.

Talk about charming! We enjoyed a delicious Greek salad with the best feta cheese ever, chicken gyros and kabobs of chicken, veal, beef and lamb. The men were so friendly, making jokes, and when the meal was over, they brought out complimentary wine for the adults and watermelon for the kids. We ate slowly, enjoying the bustle of the street around us. 

We walked back to the hotel and finished the night sitting on our little balcony (no air conditioning) having some water. Can't wait for tomorrow.

Itinerary

I am doing my trial post from my iPad. I am going to apologize up front for any typos that may occur!

Here is my schedule of cities/towns that I will be visiting in Greece.

Arrive on the 7th in Athens

7-10th Athens

10-12th Mycenae, Epidavros, and Nafplio

13th Sparta, Mystras, Olympia

14-18th Island of Lefkada

18-19th Meteora

20th Delphi

21st Athens and return home

Car has been reserved. Plans are set. First draft of packing list done and to do list started. House sitter lined up and security and neighbors all set, too. 

research!

T-minus two weeks!

Well, I leave for my Fund for Teachers trip to Greece in two weeks! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am. Now that all my reservations have been made and arrangements for Ringo, my dog are set, I can really see this is happening!

I am a fourth grade teacher in St. Paul, MN. I feel so lucky that I have been blessed with such interesting, smart students that challenge me to stretch my learning. My grant has me looking at Alexander the Great's imprint on Greece and his connection to mythology and then connecting that with literature circles for the upcoming year.

One of the challenges is that my plan has had to change since really investigating the travel portion and the feasibility of going everywhere I put in my grant outline. Long story short, it isn't happening the way I wrote it. It was too ambitious to get all the way around Greece in ten days and really enjoy myself at the same time. I will actually be in Greece for two weeks but won't heading as north as originally planned. Also, watching YouTube videos of climbing Mt. Olympus has made it painfully obvious that this isn't really an activity I feel comfortable doing.

This brings me to another challenge. I am traveling with my family. My husband David (I call him Davey) and I have a son, Will, who is 14; another son, James, who is 10; and a daughter, Eva, who is 7. The grant pays for my expenses, so keeping things separate is time-consuming. I have done this before, though, so I think I'm doing OK!

One surprising thing I've found is that prices have gone down a bit for lodging in Greece, so I am able to stay in better, "logistically appealing" areas for what I had originally budgeted. I was also able to find a very good price (relatively speaking) for my plane ticket.

As far as I can tell, most places I am staying have wifi. I am only bringing my iPad and am hoping it will be sufficient for blogging. My goal is to have at least one entry with some photos for each place I visit. I'll put my schedule on my next post.