Classical Greece Tour Journal – August 29th - September 5th, 2008
I really never had any intention of going to Greece until I was strong-armed into going by my friend and co-worker Sam. It was only inevitable that I would develop a fan base for all the entertaining travel videos I have concocted over the years. More and more of my friends and co-workers hungered at the “privilege” to travel with me and ultimately star in one of my goofy videos. Sam was the most aggressive and won the rights to travel with me (you should have seen the dragged down fight between Sam and my girlfriend, though she ended up being fine with not going since she refers to Sam as my “other girlfriend” and knew he would shoo away any potential hussies), the problem was I had no idea where I wanted to go next. Having traversed through Italy, Cuba, England, Prague, Mexico, Norway, Denmark, Puerto Rico, and Africa, where should head next? That's when Sam suggested Greece.
Day 1: Friday August 29th – Departure Day
I was up by 6:30, showed, ate breakfast at 7:00, left for Sam's at 8:00, picked up Sam by 8:30, arrived at O'Hare airport by 9:00, checked in and was at the gate two hours before our 11:30 flight. We flew from Chicago to Philadelphia and then over to Athens, Greece. The travel went smoothly except for Sam's unique sleeping habits. While I have the ability to sleep anywhere even sitting up, Sam does not. I was sleeping comfortably during the flight when I was awoken by being nearly pushed from my seat. I'm not sure how Sam knotted his body this way, but he curled sideways into a ball in his seat with his neck crooked sideways into the shallow well of the window with a blanket over his head. He was taking up a seat and a half of space, so I took my seat space back crushing Sam towards his new career as an in-flight contortionist.
Day 2: Saturday, August 30th – Arrival Day
We arrived at 10am and took a cab to our gorgeous hotel, the Zatrofia. In all my readings, Greek cabbies are one of the most crooked cab drivers in the world. We already knew how much we were supposed to pay and made sure he indeed did turn on his meter and that we were at the day rate, not the doubled night rate. When we arrived I think he still tried to overcharge us, but Sam just gave him what we thought the fare was and he didn't complain. I'm pretty sure we underpaid, but oh well, it will balance out for the rides where that cabbie rips someone off.
The city of Athens is stacked and packed into a valley. The population of Greece is 10 million and 5 million live in Athens. Isn't that crazy? We quickly found the subway train system and explored the Plaka, which is the narrow street like maze filled with shops and restaurants. For lunch I had a traditional Greek sandwich which was a huge chunk of feta cheese topped tomatoes & olives. It tasted great as the feta cheese in Greece is delicious. That night for dinner I had stuffed calamari while Sam had lamb chops. Back at the hotel we met our fellow tour mates. I was really excited when I learned that 8 of our group were Australians, I knew at that moment we're going to have a fun time. Aussies are crazy (but in that fun good way). We were lucky in that we got a nice mix of people from all over and at various different ages.
Day 3: Sunday, August 31st – Get on the Bus
The Globus tour bus is amazing. It was new, clean, and had enormous windows. The bus holds 50 people and we only had 23 people in our group, so we had lots of space to stretch out and relax. I must admit, I was a bit skeptical of a bus tour. It turned out to be a blessing. I normally like to go to a location and self discover all that a country has to offer, but for this trip I had no time to prep or plan. Having all the planning done for me was such a relief, all I had to do was show up and enjoy myself. Without a doubt the bus and the hotels exceeded my expectations for this trip.
Our first stop on our journey was crossing the spectacular Corinth Canal. What a spectacle of brute force to cut a canal through stone by hand. It was started by Caligula and failed, then Nero tried and failed, and finally modern technology caught up and it was finished in 1893.
Here is a scan from my Sketchbook/Journal
Next we visited ancient Corinth and saw the excavated ruins. We were informed that we could not use flash photography on pictures and we were not allowed to photograph sculptures with people. They were very militant about getting a photograph of you and a sculpture. They would blow a whistle and wave their finger at you. I got whistled constantly on the trip.
I thought it was some sort of religious custom or superstition. Nope, turns out the fashion industry was coming here and taking pictures of models by the sculptures and making a ton of money in the 90's so now no one can take pictures. Damn you – you skinny money grubbing supermodels!
When Rome took over Greece they kept the cities intact except for Corinth, which was razed to the ground leaving nothing but desert. Later, Julius Caesar rebuilt Corinth because of it strategic location, but it was destroyed again by an Earthquake. Finally this cursed city was built again and became a bit of a sinful city. The Priestesses of Aphrodite preached the word of the goddess of love and would lead the men of Corinth up to the temple and practice their skills of “love.” The priestesses were highly regarded while the prostitutes in town were shunned. St. Paul came to Corinth and was shocked at the lifestyle. He wrote a letter to the people of Corinth about what the true meaning of love which is the bible.
At lunch I ate Pastitilo, which is a lasagna like pasta made with mincemeat and cheese, but no tomato sauce. Then in Mycenae we admired the Beehive Tombs, the Treasury of Atreus, Lion Gate, Europe's oldest known monument, and the remains of Agamemnons Royal Palace.
Last, we took a short drive to Epidaurus and toured a 2,300-year-old open-air theater. Our hotel that night was in Nauplia.
Day 4: Monday, September 1st – Birthplace of the Olympics
Our 2nd hotel was more like a resort in the middle of nowhere. Our window had a view of orange trees and the large pool had a view of cows. I got my first good night of sleep. Our breakfasts and dinners are all the same on the tour - buffets. In the morning we stopped at a pottery and sculpture store. Then we traversed the Arcadian Mountains with its narrow and windy roads. I had a Greek gyros for lunch, which means it's made of pork, not lamb. It has a unique taste. Sam doesn't eat pork so he gladly passed on the Gyros. Honestly, I'll eat a Chicago style gyros any day over a Greek gyros.
The Olympia archeological site was fantastic. Sam and I had so much fun running around the site and learned so much from our tour guide Voula. It turns out Voula is a history teacher, lucky for us. She was filled with copious amounts of information. For example we learned that only men could compete in the Olympics. Any women caught were thrown off a cliff.
Everyone had to arrive a month early and especially the non Greeks had to learn all the proper rules and understand the true meaning of the Olympics. The men competed nude in all events (yuck) including wresting, and often they were covered in olive oil (super-yuck) to make events even more difficult. It was a celebration of manhood. In fact, the word gymnasium comes from the Greek work for nude.
Only one priestess was allowed to watch all the strapping young lads compete. All the ladies in our tour collectively mumbled, “Lucky girl.”
Anyone caught cheating had to make a sculpture of Zues with their names on them and they were displayed at the entrance to the arena to boldly show their shame and discourage anyone else from cheating. In the museum we saw Praxiteles's nearly intact statue of Hermes.
Day 5: Tuesday, September 2nd – The Oracle of Delphi
The bathrooms in Greece don't want you to flush paper down the toilet. Instead, you are to toss the soiled paper into a metal trashcan. That grosses me out so I've been bad and have been carefully flushing the paper down in multiple flushes.
On the way we stopped at the busy seaport of Patras and toured St. Andrew's church. I found out that the Romans named Greece and that the Greeks still refer to their country as Ellas.
We drove over the “Charilaos Trikoupis” or Rion-Antirun bridge, the longest bridge in Europe. For lunch we ate at a port restaurant. I had some delicious snapper.
Down by the ocean, Sam made a new friend with a sea urchin. He was afraid to touch it or pick it up, but after an incessant amount of urging I finally convinced him to hold it for some photos.
Afterwards, he asked me to hold the sea urchin and I told no way in hell am I holding it, urchins are poisonous (they aren't but Sam didn't know that). He was really mad at me.
Then we sped through the picturesque fishing villages along the south coast of the mainland to mystic Delphi located on the slopes of Mount Parnassus. It is said that Zues sent two bolts of lightning around the world and where they met was Delphi, the center, or navel, of the world.
The Temple of Apollo in Delphi was the highlight of the trip. We walked the same original steps that Ulysses, Alexander the great, and Julius Caesar had walked. Being such a history buff, Sam was actually getting emotional. At one point I jokingly said, “Sam, I think you actually look – happy.” He didn't laugh and replied that he could honestly say that he was genuinely happy at this moment.
All over Greece there were dogs everywhere. Pets are not kept inside so they're communal. They are well behaved dogs, but they are everywhere and are a slight nuisance. At Delphi, the place was overrun with cats. I guess for the 2004 Olympics they rounded up all the pets and took them out of the cities to a farm and had them spayed and neutered. When the Olympics were over, they returned all the pets from where they found them, unbelievable.
It was here at the Oracle of Delphi that the 50 year old virgin priestesses would get high on fumes from the volcano and prophesize the future. Arguments over the correct interpretation of an oracle were common, but the oracle was always happy to give another prophecy if more gold was provided.
A good example is the famous incident before the Battle of Salamis when the Oracle first predicted doom and later predicted that a 'wooden wall' would save them. Some Athenians decided to build a wood wall at the Acropolis and were overrun by the Persians and slaughtered, but fortunately Themistocles interpreted the wooden wall as the naval fleet of ships and led the Greeks to a victory. At the end of the day we visited the museum to admire the Charioteer, an extraordinary 5th-century B.C. bronze statue.
Day 6: Wednesday, September 3rd – Meteora
We took a long bus ride to Meteora stopping at the towns, Trikala and Kalambaka, along the way. In the afternoon we enjoyed the unreal, fantastic landscapes of Meteora and visited 2 of its 24 rock-top monasteries.
The first was Varlaam Monastery, famous for its frescoes, and of course, gorgeous panoramic view. My favorite rock tops are the “toothpicks” that look like long, thin slivers of rock.
Our 2nd visit was at St. Stephans Monastery, featuring a unique collection of religious icons. The monastery was under restoration as it had been destroyed twice in history. Since it wasn't completed, much of the art techniques of the religious icon art were on display. I loved seeing the vibrant colors of the freshly painted art on the walls.
And some of the subject matter was just plain grisly featuring people being tortured and flayed alive, and of course, numerous demon and hell beasts tearing poor sinners apart. I really enjoyed it. They even had some hand crafted books dating back to the 1500s. Oh yeah, Sam had to wear a skirt in the monasteries because he had shorts on, ha-ha. He had on this ugly pajama like skirt that looked like the bad Jams pants from the eighties.
Day 7: Thursday, September 4th – 300 Spartans on the side of the highway
At the hotel I saw a Greek preying mantis, which looked just like an American preying mantis back home. In case you didn't know, the Greeks invented everything, and if you don't believe me, just ask them. We were told that Latin comes from Greek, and in fact everything was invented in Greece. One morning we had Greek Coffee, which Sam was quite admant that it was Turkish coffee. He pressed out tour guide about this and she just gigled and said, "Yes, it's Turkish coffee but we call it Greek coffee here."
Sam and I have really gotten along well with everyone in our tour group and we've be collectively adopted by the Australians. We spent many a night chatting over a beer, trading wild stories, and having a grand old time. Also by the 7th day, I'm getting quite tired of the same breakfast and dinner buffets every day, ugh!
This morning we stopped at the factory studio where they hand make Byzantine religious Icons. It was beautiful. We were explained the entire process. First, they dry out logs from trees (Olive, Pine, etc.) and form the hand carved wooden frames. Then they take cotton and make sheets, stretch them out, and back them in a kiln to turn them into a stiff canvas. They cut out the canvas and glue it to the wooden frame. Then they paint the image with 50% minerals (that they get from Germany) and 50% egg yolk and vinegar.
The colors they get are amazing with these minerals. They also use 24 carat gold leaf on the image. The painters comb their hair with a paint brush building up static electricity. Then they use the electrified brush to grab the gold leaf and deftly brush it onto the painting. They use thicker gold leaf and hand stamp in images usually used for halos or jewelry on the subject in the painting.
The final image is not coated and they said will last forever (a long time at least). This is the same techniques they have used for hundreds of years. I thoroughly enjoyed this. Sam, on the other hand, has lost interest in anything since being at Delphi.
On the way back to Athens we stopped by the battle of Thermopylae, the site of the heroic battle of the 300 doomed Spartans against Xerxes huge Persian army. Unfortunately, the location is now a highway with very little to see. There is a sculpture they built and a small plack just up a hill. It was terribly unimpressive.
On the way back to Athens, Voula told us about Thebes, the setting of Oedipus Rex, and Marathon, where in 490 B.C. 10,000 Athenians defeated more than twice that number of Persian invaders. For dinner in Athens we went down to the Plaka again and had dinner with two of our bus mates, Kenny and Jerilyn.
Day 8: Friday, September 4th – The Acropolis
It has been a busy week of sightseeing, but the last two days have really slowed down in pace. In the morning we bussed up to the Acropolis and beheld the Parhenon, the Erechtheum with its Porch of Maidens, the beautifully preserved Theseum, Roman Temple of Zeus, and the Theater of Dionysus and the Agora where Socrates taught.
The size of the Acropolis is amazing only outnumbered the sheer force of people visiting, and we were told that it was a light crowd. When the cruise ships arrive it's like being at an outdoor concert, except the band is a thousand year old series of ancient stones. It was blistering hot at the top of the Acropolis, luckily there was a nice breeze. I had heard it was very dusty being at the Acropolis, but we lucked out with some nice weather.
Afterwards, we visited the Archeological Museum. The museum was like Dr. Who's Tardis, bigger on the inside than the outside. Sam and I got lost in the museum and kept thinking we were at the end only to find another wing of amazing art and sculpture.
If fact, we got to see a sculpture that hasn't even been published yet. A fisherman caught the sculpture in one of his nets and they have been slowly restoring it. The face is finished showing off the woman's beautiful face. They wouldn't let us take pictures because it is still unpublished. The guard was quite proud to show it to us. It was the highlight of the museum and felt special to see a piece of art before the rest of the civilized world.
Day 9: Saturday, September 5th – the long road Home
We snuck on the bus to the airport and saved ourselves 10 Euros and a long walk to the train station. After a long day of traveling we made it back home. It was quite a nice adventurous week and enjoyed being on a bus tour. I would definetely go on another bus tour in the future.
_____________________________________________________________________________
If you liked this Journal, check out some of my other Travel Journals
On Safari in KENYA, AFRICA
