Last Day in Athens

Today was our last full day in Greece. Its hard to believe that we've been here for three weeks already! The time flew by but at the same time each day was so long and took forever.

Today was free, and so me and some girls did even more shopping! We stopped at our normal 2 euro gyro place :) for lunch, and then just relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. We had a nice dinner planned at a taverna for us by the women at HERC, who are the same people that planned out all the details of our trip.

Dinner was nice, I got my 3000th dish of chicken souvlaki, with ice cream for dessert. I was planning on getting one last chocolate banana crepe, but after dinner I was too stuffed. I might get one in the morning before we leave for Rome.

After dinner we did a sort of its-the-last-day/dinner-so-we-should-take-a-lot-of-pictures type thing.

Me and Lauren.

Cuz we're the four best friends that anyone could have!

We are really cute!
Me and Katie got matching dresses!

The whole group on the last night.

Me and Fran in our Rome dresses. That is, our dresses that we bought to wear in Rome but decided to wear in Athens.

We were trying to eskimo kiss with our half Jew noses.

A really cool bar that we passed by!

Aaaand me Fran and Erica in the elevator going back to our rooms.

I'm a little sad, just because I've come to know these people, and they've shared everything with me for the past three weeks. Also because everyone else is going home! I really do miss everything at home, both in Tucson and Flagstaff. Its amazing that I get to travel all around and see all of these things that I've wanted to see with more to come starting tomorrow, but its so hard being away from everyone and everything that I love. I kind of wish that all of these places and people can be mixed into one place, but I also can't wait to come home!

Delos and back to Athens

So today I took zero pictures. I got super seasick, and kinda just sat around. But I'll tell you from the beginning of the day. Or, the end of last night...

Because we've been traveling for three weeks and washing our clothes in sinks with only a little bit of detergent each time, our clothes reek. Totally disgusting, the kind of smell that makes you feel dirty. So when we got into our hotel in Mykonos, and I saw that they had washing machines, I NEEDED to use it. They weren't washers for the hotel guests, but I asked an incredibly nice woman named Penelope if there was any way Fran and I could use them to wash our clothes, and she obliged.

Let me tell you, I have never been more excited to use a washing machine before in my life--we did that jumping squealing thing that girls do when they are excited.

So we did two loads of wash and hung them out on the upstairs terrace (because up there it won't look like a gypsy camp?) and woke up early this morning at 6.30 to pack them up. My clothes smell so good!!!

After breakfast, we headed out on a small ferry to the island of Delos. Because it was a small boat, I think I felt every single rocking motion it made, but because the trip was so short I couldn't take dramamine. So I felt horrible, and me and my friend Jessica sat at the small coffee shop on the island. I wish I had seen more of it :(

By the way, I'm sure that it sounds like I'm having a horrible time because of all the complaining. But I'm not! I guess I'm just not as well prepared as I want to be, or maybe the trip is going differently than if I had planned it.

So we got back on the same ferry back to Mykonos, where believe it or not I was yelled at again by the hotel guy. This time it was for trying to carry my suitcase by myself. But he wasn't even there when I left my room! He yelled at me when I reached the bottom of the stairs. My apologies?

The boat ride back to Athens was 5 1/2 hours long, but this time it was great because the ferry wasn't as full this time, and we got to sit in nice seats on the inside of the boat. When we got to Piraeus Port, a bus picked us up and took us back to the hotel that we stayed at in the beginning of our trip. As soon as we got close, we felt a little like we were coming home, because it was finally somewhere familiar.

We got 2 euro gyros and Häagen-Dazs ice cream for dessert, which I've been wanting since we were last in Athens. Tonight we're going to sleep early, and tomorrow I think we're doing the last of our Greek souvenir shopping.

Mykonos!

Yesterday we left Naxos for Mykonos. The ferry wasn't too long, it was an hour ride to Paros where we had an hour and a half before our next ferry to Mykonos. Once we got there, we walked forever (not really, it only felt like it because we had to carry our luggage in the heat for about twenty minutes) to our hotel, which like in Naxos is right by the port and the water.

As soon as we got into our hotel we changed into our swim suits and hopped on a bus to go to Paradise Beach. Apparently Mykonos is a huge party island. And a huge gay island. Lots and lots of parties and gay men.

There was a dance party on the beach, but I fell asleep.

This is just about the only picture that was taken on my camera yesterday! Sorry!

We went to dinner at a nice place, but I made the mistake of petting one of the stray cats, because it jumped into my lap while I was eating. Gross!

Today we had a free day. We were supposed to go to the island of Delos, which is about half an hour away, but the island which is not inhabited, is closed on Mondays. So we went to the beach again! We decided to go to a different beach, I can't remember the name of it though.

Natalie, me and Lauren in front of the hotel.

A little restaraunt that had the prettiest overhanging flowers and matching pink chairs. I wish we ate here!

Me at the beach we went to today.

We got ripped off by a restaurant with beach chairs, something about not having to pay for the chairs if you ate at the restaurant, but it was a load of crap. Four gay men sat next to us, and I helped them haggle for a fake Lois Vuiton bag! We made friends with Franz, Christian, Maurice, and Ralf from Austria. Maurice did our hair.

We then hopped on the bus back, and got yelled at for a good 15 minutes by the bus driver because we had sandy feet. Sandy feet at the beach. Oh, I also got yelled at yesterday for hanging my wet clothes out of my window to dry. The hotel owner said it looked like a gypsy camp. Oh, and he also yelled at us because we forgot to turn off the air conditioning when we left the room. I don't recommend to Hotel Leftaris in Mykonos.

Anyway, we stopped at some places on the way back to our hotel. Mykonos is so picturesque, I would love to come back here some time!

Some of the girls walking through the windy little streets.

These are everywhere in Greece! They are 'evil eyes' and they are supposed to ward away evil spirits.

Old Port of Mykonos at dusk.

You can't see them from here, but there are six windmills like these on a hill overlooking the Old Port. One of the tops collapsed, so technically there are five, but they are a really well known site here.

And to end the night, a man and his pelican.

Naxos Day 2

Definition

By Mayo Clinic staff

Hypoglycemia is a condition characterized by an abnormally low level of blood sugar (glucose), your body's main energy source.

Hypoglycemia is commonly associated with diabetes. However, a variety of conditions, many of them rare, can cause low blood sugar in people without diabetes. Like fever, hypoglycemia isn't a disease itself — it's an indicator of a health problem.

Immediate treatment of hypoglycemia involves quick steps to get your blood sugar level back into a normal range, either with high-sugar foods or medications. Long-term treatment requires identifying and treating the underlying cause of hypoglycemia.

So. It turns out I am super hypoglycemic. When I was younger, and my dad and I would spend the day down in Santa Cruz, he would get low blood sugary. I had no idea what that meant of course, and I had no way of knowing. We would have to either get food immediately or drive back home, without music or talking. I didn't understand it then, but now I totally do.

I can only describe it like this. It's like when I don't have enough food with enough sugars getting to my body, and I'm spending hours upon hours waling around in the hot sun, my body shuts down. I get really weak and cranky. It's almost like an addict suffering withdrawals: the physical side effects are horrible.

I would have been fine today, except no one told me that we would be waking up, getting the same crappy breakfast that we've been getting here the whole time, and then driving, hiking, and baking in the sun for 5 straight hours, with no rest stops for food or bathroom. I'm not stupid, I know how to pack healthy snacks and water. But not when I have no idea what we're doing.

Not that I mean to complain or anything. I just need people to understand how I'm feeling when I get like this.

At the first site, there was almost nothing left, and what was left had been reconstructed. It was the Temple of Dionysus.

This was the whole 'site.' Seriously.

What is this, Holland or something?

The second site was a Temple to Demeter.

The third site was an ancient quarry, where there were remains of a large unfinished koros. I didn't take any pictures because by this time I was dead on my feet.

Sorry I don't really have anything to say about these sites! I didn't learn very much today.

The second half of the day was pretty nice. We went back to the beach that we were at yesterday, and I fell asleep about five minutes after we got there. I woke up like an hour later in a pile of drool and a slight sunburn. There was a Mexican food place right on the beach! The owners are Greek and Canadian, and I guess that equals a Mexican food place on the beach in Naxos! I got chimichangas! The waiters were Australian and we met a man from England. And I accidentally started talking like him.

English man: "I had wanted to hire a scooter."

Rachel "Oh yeah we wanted to do that!"

Erica: "Do what?"

Rachel: "Hire a scooter…. I mean rent a quad."

Nemea, Corinth, to Naxos

Ok, so I know I keep saying that 'today was a long day!' but I think yesterday was the longest day yet! We left Nafplion at 9.30, which wasn't so bad, but it turns out we would have been fine leaving at a later time. We drove a few minutes to the site of Nemea, which is where Heracles slew the Nemean Lion, and where they have the Nemean Games.

We then drove to ancient Corinth.

Corinth, or Korinth (Greek Κόρινθος, Kórinthos ( [ˈkorinθos] (help·info)) is a city in Greece. In antiquity it was a city-state, on the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece. To the west of the isthmus lies the Gulf of Corinth, to the east lies the Saronic Gulf. Corinth is about 78 kilometres (48 mi) southwest of Athens. The isthmus, which was in ancient times traversed by hauling ships over the rocky ridge on sledges, is now cut by a canal. (Wikipedia).

Me and Natalie in front of the starting blocks of the track at Nemea.

Temple at Corinth.

I caved in and got hammer pants. Now I totally blend in with the locals.

Some mosaic at Corinth.

Then after some MORE driving, we stopped at the Corinth Canal, which I had no idea was going to be so deep. I'm not sure if you can tell from the pictures, but it was a long way down, and I'm scared of heights. : /

The Corinth Canal.

MORE DRIVING. We got to the port of Pireaus at about 3.30 to catch our ferry to Naxos at 5.30 pm. We heard that the day before there was a strike by the Communist Party and the whole port was closed off, and that's why we arrived so early. However, I'm pretty sure the bus driver was just sick of us and wanted to leave. We got on the boat, thinking we would have seats because our ferry tickets were 30 euro. However, we were wrong, and spent the entire six hour ferry ride outside in the back of the boat on the deck. Not only this, but the boat left an hour and a half late. A couple of really nice Croatian women let us sit next to them and their little dogs in a booth, and one let me borrow her jacket when I got cold. They were awesome!

Ugh boat.

We were supposed to arrive on the island of Naxos at 11.30 pm, but because the boat left late we got in at around 1 am. I was too grumpy to appreciate the island or the cute little hotel we're staying at.

Because last night sucked so much, we had a free day today. I slept in until 9.30, ate breakfast, showered, taking my time and trying to feel better after yesterday. We decided to go exploring and then to the beach. I met a family from Tucson, and when they found out that I'm traveling to Rome after Greece, they told me that they lived in Rome for two years, and gave me a list of places to go that aren't too touristy.

The view from our hotel on Naxos.

The beach by our hotel.

Me and three other girls got on a bus to go to a beach about 20 minutes from our hotel, and it was totally worth it. There were only a couple of gypsies, and they were good ones! I actually got a foot massage from a man from Beijing, and a purse from another one. I haggled him down to 20 euro from 45! Tonight we are going out to dinner, courtesy of money already spent on the cost of the trip.

Natalie, me, Lauren and Jessica.

Mycenae and Epidavros

Today was another super long day. We left at 7.30 am for Mycenae, which was awesome! Its about an hour drive from our hotel in Naphplion. You enter the site through the Lion's Gate, which was also the traditional entranceway.

Grave Circle A at Mycenae.

The style of walls here are called Cyclopean walls, because the people who lived after the ancient Greeks didn't believe that men could have built walls with such large boulders, and believed that it was the work of Cyclops.

Me under the Lion's Gate in Mycenae.

View of Mycenae from the palace.

Kate and Natalie looking up the tholos tomb.

I thought it was weird that the little museum at Mycenae had a replica of the Mask of Agamemnon. We saw the original in Athens at the National Museum of Archaeology. Why would they bother making a replica? I know it was found at Mycenae, but still. Is the one at NAM even the original I wonder?

We also got to walk inside of a complete tholos tomb. I didn't even know there were any complete ones left!

A beehive tomb, also known as a tholos tomb (plural tholoi) (Greek:θόλος τάφοι, θόλοι τάφοι, "domed tombs"), is a burial structure characterized by its false dome created by the superposition of successively smaller rings of mudbricks or, more often, stones. The resulting structure resembles a beehive, hence the traditional English name.

Tholoi were used for burial in several cultures in the Mediterranean and West Asia, but in some cases they were used for different purposes such as homes (Cyprus), ritual (Syria), and even fortification (Spain, Sardinia). Although Max Mallowan used the same name for the circular houses belonging to the Neolithic culture of Tell Halaf (Iraq, Syria and Turkey), there is no relationship between them. (Wikipedia)

After we left Mycenae, we drove about another hour to The Sanctuary of Asklepios, which was an ancient healing center. I had never heard of it before, so I was a little skeptical about it's coolness level. But it turned out to be great!

Ancient medical tools. Wouldn't it be great to get brain surgery or something stitched up back then?

There was an almost perfectly preserved theatre, which had great acoustics. Bella stood at the center of the theatre floor, and we walked up to the top (it was really big too), and we could hear every word she said at a normal volume voice. We could also hear her crackle a paper and drop a penny.

Mistras and Naphplion

Ne- yes

Ouki-no

Today was a super long day. We started at 8.00 to go to the Spartan museum, which was a tiny three room building. There were these really cool mosaics that we weren't supposed to take pictures of, but I sneaked one!

Sorry it's so blurry! I had to hold my camera down so it didn't look like I was taking a picture. There a lot of odd rules in museums about pictures. No flash, no posing with anything, and some things you can't take any pictures of at all. One lady in a museum told us "No strange movies!" when we were posing like one of the statues.

We then drove to Mistras. Mistras was one of the coolest places that we've been. It was a medieval citadel which totally reminded me of Osgiliath in Lord of the Rings, because there were mainly in ruins but you can still see the structural outlines. Also, you had to travel through what seemed like a small forest to get to it up on the hill. It was just beautiful. It had like 5 or 6 Greek Orthodox churches, and some of the girls went into one where a nun gave them candy.

Some of Mistras.
Me with a view of Sparta in the back.

Me, Lauren and Natalie in front of Mistras.

There were rain clouds, but the sun was still shining and we only got sprinkled on. It was really beautiful.

We then drove to Naphplion. We got lunch and had a break until 6 pm, when we drove up to the Palamidi Fortress.

The Acronauplia has walls dating from pre-classical times. Subsequently, Byzantines, Franks, Venetians, and Ottomans added to the fortifications. Nafplion was taken in 1212 by the French crusaders of the Principality of Achaea, then in 1388 was sold to the Venetians.[3] During the subsequent 150 years, the lower city was expanded and fortified, and new fortifications added to Acronauplia.[4] The city was surrendered to the Ottomans in 1540. Ottomans renamed her as "Mora Yenişehri" ("New City of Pelloponnes"). It was a sanjak centre during Ottoman rule. At that period, Nafplion looked very much like the 16th century image shown below to the right. The Venetians retook Nafplion in 1685, and strengthened the city by building the castle of Palamidi, which was in fact the last major construction of the Venetian empire overseas. However, only 80 soldiers were assigned to defend the city and it was easily retaken by the Ottomans in 1715. Palamidi is a castle constructed by Venetians during the 17th century. It is located on a hill north of the old town. During the Greek War of Independence it played a major role.

Katie, Erica, Me and Fran up at Palamidi with a view of Naphplion.

Katie, me and Fran

"Somebody needs a bush trimmer."

"That's what she said."

Palamidi is right above the sea.

Me, Lauren, Erica and Katie

Super cool arched tunnel.

This fortress was amazing! So much of it was preserved, like roofs and everything. It was just so dang windy, I almost got blown right off the mountain.

Greece is playing Argentina right now in the world cup, and so in every tavern and restaurant we pass, the game is on and everyone's eyes are glued to the tvs.

This is Sparta!

Today, we drove to Mt. Lykaion, where a group of students from UofA and University of Pennsilvania are currently excavating. It was super high up, and supposed to be one of the birth places of Zeus (I think it was Mt. Ida). It was a nice day, not super hot and a little cloudy, but as soon as we reached the peak of the mountain, the winds picked up and I was freezing! Other than that it was beautiful, and it would be a great place to do a dig. The students said they would be there for 6 weeks, trying to find a Temple to Pan.

The view was great, and you can see most of the Peloponnesus from the top.

They served us lunch, and we hopped back on the bus to drive to Sparta.

The view from the tippy top of Mt. Lykaion.

I think my face says it all. Someone wore shorts and flip flops to climb the mountain. What a dummy.

And since we got here, we've been Sparta kicking everything. We Sparta kicked our hotel room door, we Sparta-kicked some milk and cookies on the balcony, and we Sparta-kicked each other. I would totally Sparta-kick some Persians if I see any.