The question everyday is: So what have you done today, well, I...

2-22-08

The full day in Delphi was spent by first going to the site itself. We walked from our hotel to the site and took a tour. I will admit it was not what I was expecting. I thought it was just a few ruins or what one usually sees on postcards of Delphi. It was much, much more. There were many treasuries, the Temple to Apollo as he provided the oracles the visions, a stadium for games, a theater for the games, and of course the navel of the universe. It was a beautiful day so the site was even more amazing.

Next we moved across the road to the gymnasium for the Athletes, the temple of Athena, and the Tholos, which is what is in most of the pictures of Delphi. I climbed up a little ways to get a better shot from above of the Tholos. After going down to be around this part and walk and actually climb among the ruins, we had a foot race were the ancients would also have ran. It was pretty sweet but I realized that I should not run in those shoes. Up the hill we climbed to the museum in which they had the more accurate navel of the universe, the Charioteer, frieze from the temples, and more from the dig site of Delphi.

After lunch, a group decided to climb the Delphi mountain or the closest thing to a mountain I’ve ever climbed. As we made our way up the mountain, switching back and forth the narrow track on the side of the mountain, an outstanding fell before us. The way up was hot to say the least, since the body needs to work to climb. I was pretty hot by the top. We made our way through paths that went a little ways into the fault line and then cut across to a road that led to a covered observation area. Roy, Peggy, Lissie, Brock, and I were the first to make it to the top and this magnificent look out. We had seen this from below but it looked like a little hut. The view from the top was absolutely breathtaking! We could see all the way to the Peloponnese and the mountains that climbed the other side. I could see that city by the sea which I had fallen in love with because it reminded me of the Lord of the Rings. We were joined by Rachel, Molly, Erik, and Kelly. It was wonderful to just sit on the side of the building, dangle my legs over and just look at the view. This is my favorite view, that were you can see everything and the world is so small. Words and pictures can never capture that moment or feeling of reaching the top to witness the world.

It was getting cold and night would be coming so we decided to head on down the mountain. It had taken 1 hour and 15 minutes to get to the top and walk 2.7 miles up it. Going down we easier physically but harder with gravity wanting to pull one down on the loose rocks. As we went down the name BIL MERK was created out of Team MERK. It was an enjoyable descent talking to Brock and Lissie with team MERK behind. Once to the bottom, we made our way to the hotel. I felt like I had so much energy after that hike I could run a few miles. Unfortunately I had a paper to work on and finish.

After dinner at the restaurant again, there was a little homework party in Rachel’s and Kelly’s room, followed by going out for a drink with Lissie, Molly, and Michele at a nice bar that had a magnificent view of the city by the sea and was decorated with modern art and seating (semi-circular chairs & square couches). It would be a hopping place in the summer. We had our drink and talked, it was quite nice to just relax and chat for a while.


2-25-08

After breakfast, everyone boarded the bus and went down to the sea. Once by the shore, we walked down to a cave in which there were boats waiting to take us into the caves. It was amazing, the guide pushed the boat through the water as we sailed beneath hanging stalagmites. The way was lit by floating luminescents which cast artistic shadows. If you kept silent enough you could hear the drop of water from the ceiling. It was a great experience. Once we reached the end, we walked through the cave a little and then headed down to a rock beach where some rocks were skipped.

That expedition was over, so we moved further down the road to a stop that had a castle. After taking two incorrect left turns, ending up in some farmer’s pasture, stumbled through paths covered with thorns, and Christina sprained her ankle, we finally turned around and went back to the correct road. The road went from tar, to gravel, to tire track gravel, to single line path, to just climbing over stones. We hiked out to the tip of a peninsula that contained ruins from a castle. Here we had lunch, I peed outside for the first time, and just explored for almost an hour and hug my feet off the cliff over the Mediterranean Sea. The sea was a beautiful blue and the waves crashing against the side of the rocks added to the atmosphere of the picnic lunch. We climbed back down and across the field of rocks and back to the bus, wet with sweat, kissed by the sun, and ready to take a shower.

The night was again fairly uneventful, with the exception of calling Anna over her lunch break. Molly and I did however go down to another super market and found fruit for our lunches and snacks. This was a good day with the exception of the town being dead in this season and being small to begin with, but that’s ok, it’s just another Monday.

2-27-08 (Thursday)

At 6:00 this morning, I awoke to get ready and watch the sunrise. Sun rising over the mountains in the distance, creating a beautiful watercolor across the sky at twilight was a sight everyone should see. Boats were in the body of water called Kolpods Argolikos in Greece, the harbor and marine areas were quite at this time of morning. The only sounds was the waves lapping on the shore below the balcony.

Starting early was essential to get to Corinth at a decent time. We arrived at the archeological site first which included among other sites, a fountain, a temple, the bema which Paul preached at, the ancient road, aqueducts /canals, a theater, Roman Odeon, and a museum with statues. Interesting to note that Corinth was considered the Las Vegas of its time, it also had over 100,000 people which would have been much bigger than Athens.

The next stop was the Acrocorinth, which is the highest point and was fortified. It was another hike up into the walls and then once inside, there were two high points on opposite ends. I went to the right first and past some rocks to a look out tower area. Standing on the very edge of the corner looking out over the city, the Gulf of Corinth could easily bee seen. It is interesting to me the walls were just built around pieces of high jagged rock that protrude in the middle. Over on the other side, to the left, was the highest peak of the hill/mountain. From the top (Temple of Aphrodite), you can look in one direction and see the Gulf of Corinth and in the other direction lies the Aegean Sea. The view was magnificent. From there, we (Brock and KC - Sara’s twin sister) cut across a mini valley on the hill to another set of jagged rocks. I decided too that I should go to the edge of the wall and walk on it. It was fine until I had climb down. As I did, I swung down, beneath an overhang, with my feet and scrapped my stomach and hands a bit. It wasn’t bad at all so down I continued. On the way, we stopped off at the mosque that was built on the site. The top had caved in years ago and really the only thing that was left were the walls, part of the ceiling, and part of the minaret. I climbed the minaret and did my own little call to prayer. The path down was easier than going up, but the rocks are still uneven and tricky.

For lunch we stopped by a super market and I bought more food for lunch and the ferry ride. Chestnut yogurt is actually quite good and I don’t think I will ever get tired of the fresh fruit here.

On the way to the ferry, we stopped at the Temple of Poseidon. Here we met up with Olin Storvick who is a retired faculty member of the Classics Department. He has taken 35 groups over seas, mostly to Greece and this is supposed to be his last year joining the Credo in Crete program since he is in his 80’s. Olin have us a history lesson about the temple and the style of building along with interesting tidbits about it, such as people were supposedly able to see the gleam off of the spear point of Athena’s statue at the Parthenon from this temple. As we split up, we headed down to the rocks below the cliff that were at the sea. As I climbed around amongst the volcanic rock and broken pillars that had fallen, I thought of what an experience this was since I was climbing on what once held up a mighty monument. The water splashed up on the rocks and sprayed a bit, my feet slipped as the soft volcanic rock broke beneath them, and the sound of the sea was the only sound that filled my ears.

Arriving the Pireaus at about seven and then boarding immediately, we made our way to the cabins which were not all that bad, rather nice actually as far as ferry cabins go. There were four beds, two on each side, a desk, bathroom with shower, and closet. Since we had bought food for our dinner on the ferry, everyone went up to the deck area and eat their meal before the ship started to move. Watching the mainland move away was btter sweet; I loved the mainland but look forward to what will be found on Crete. The ferry ride is scheduled for 10 hours. The first part of that time was spent playing cards in one of the bars/café areas.

3-1-08 (Saturday)

It is the first day of March, how time has flown by!! The breakfast was once again amazing, as it was yesterday, with yogurt, vanilla crème sauce, tomatoes with feta, and egg bake, spiced sausages, cheese crepes, mini apple strudels, myzythra cheese tarts (kalitsounia “lyhnarakia”), mini croissants, musseli, sliced meat and cheese, hard boiled eggs, bread, yam, nutella, and an egg bake. This hotel has the best breakfast by far so far.

Stop number one on the list was Gortyna which is the site of an onld church, theater, and has the oldest written law code on a wall. Behind the site is the Plane tree under which Zeus mingled with Europa. Next was Phaestos, which has the second greatest Minoan palace only to Knossos, but it has not been reconstructed. The walls were low as they are at most archeological sites, but in some places they could be walked on. This is also the site where the Pheastos disc was found.

Last on the agenda for touring was the beach at Matala. The population of the town is about 100 people, so almost everything was closed for the season. The beach was therefore free for our enjoyment. Gravely/pin head rock sized sand had been hauled in to cover the solid rock beach. We picnicked on the beach and lay and read for a little bit before deciding it was time to explore the caves. (I am getting some good color that I’m excited about.) On the right side of the beach as one is looking out to sea, it is protected and framed by a wall of rock which is riddled with caves that were first Roman tombs and then inhabited by hippies in the 20th century. Molly, Kelly, and I found the gate and proceeded to climb the rock with bare feet and flip flops. We went in the little caves and found the burial chambers and other carved niches in the rock. As we neared a point that was treacherous climbing around a point and over the sea, we turned around to go back and climb higher. We got to a high point and could look out over the beach and the water. I felt alive as I looked over the edge to the rocks and water below. The rocks at the top of the cliff were much rougher than those at the bottom which had been worn down by waves crashing and washing over them. As I climbed down, I scraped my legs and hands a bit, but it was all worth it! I have found that I love to climb and feel free as I step from place to place knowing that one slip could be disastrous. Even though I wasn’t that dangerous, I enjoy pushing the limits and knowing that I can go further next time.

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