Museums and Concert

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Well on Sunday we went to the "National Archaeological Museum" which was awesome. It was so big! It is one of the best museums in the world. I can't believe how much stuff they have in there and it was all found in Greece. There are so many huge sculptures and so many pots! I'll put up some pictures and more descriptions on those because it will be easier than writing it in here. But yea, it was just a great museum. And I really liked that Dr. Hammerling just told us some basic information when we got there and then told us what we should see, and then he just let us see what we wanted and didn't stand there lecturing, so that was great. We got to see what we wanted and spend just the right amount of time there. Then in the afternoon, Emily and I went to a cafe and got sandwiches and then just went to the hotel to do homework. Then on Monday morning we had class and then we went to the Temple of Zeus. That was amazing. It kind of looks like the Parthenon, but it hasn't been restored at all and it was built in the 1st century AD, so it is newer and not in as good of shape. But it's all original, which I think is awesome! There wasn't any scaffolding or any machinery repairing it; they are just leaving it how it is, and to me that's more amazing. The pillars are so big and it is just so cool! And we got to get really close to it because they weren't doing any reconstruction. Also, there was one pillar that had fallen over and fell apart, so we could see exactly how it was put together, so that was really neat. It wasn't that great of weather when we were there, so that kind of sucked because we didn't stay long, but it was still really awesome! Then we just did homework in the afternoon, but then last night we went to a bluegrass concert. The concert hall that it was in was so cool! It was huge! The band was good, it was just a little different. There were a lot of people in it and playing various stringed instruments, and of course singing in Greek. There was also a play/skit that was going on between some songs, but that was in Greek too, so we really had no idea what was going on, but it was still cool. Then today we had class and then went to the Jewish Museum. That was ok. It was very similar to other museums like that... just a lot of stuff about the Holocaust and different artifacts from concentration camps. The tour guide that we had for that was really good, but also very long winded, so that made it really long. Then this afternoon we had our third class of Greek language lessons. Those are going really well. We know how to order things at a restaurant, how to have a small conversation, say where we are, and we know our numbers. So we are learning a lot, which is good. We have been able to use some of it when we are out shopping, which is nice. But it's also nice because everyone speaks English too, so then if we are struggling with the Greek, we can always just speak English. The shop keepers are just really appreciative of us just trying to say some Greek and then sometimes they help us out with the Greek and teach us some new stuff. So that's pretty cool. Well tomorrow there is a strike for public services, so we won't really be able to do anything or go anywhere because the metro won't be running, so we'll see how that goes then! I'll try and write more soon and get some more pictures up!

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Photos

Dipylon Inscription
This vase dates back to 750 BC and has the oldest known Greek writing on it.

Agamemnon's mask
This is supposedly the mask of Agamemnon... It dates to 1500 BC

Zeus/Poseidon
They don't know if this is Zeus or Poseidon. It has the stance of Zeus, but the face of Poseidon.