Greece: Athens, Corinth, & Aegina

Finished at Delphi, we headed to Athens, where we would be "camped" for the last three days of our trip. The first thing we did when we arrived was visit the National Archaeology Museum where I got to see even more textbook artifacts.

I saw the famous Mask of Agamemnon

I got yelled at for this picture. Apparently you are not allowed to pose.

One of the coolest things to see was that statue I had written my Art History paper on. Below is a series of photos my friend took of me while I was explaining the significance of the statue to my professors. I love these photos so much.

The next day was Sabbath and we were supposed to listen to a sermon on the Areopagus (Mars Hill). However, they were building a new Visitor Center and the Areopagus was within the construction zone so it was close to visitors. This was pretty disappointing because Paul preached to the Athenians on the Areopagus and it would have been cool to replay those events ourselves. However, we did the next best thing and drove to Pnyx Hill. This is a little hill inside an olive grove that looks out at the Parthenon. It was commonly used for assemblies and orations similar to the Areopagus.

One thing I really liked about Athens was all the natural parks and olive groves in the city, especially around the Acropolis. It feels a little more wild and there is a lot more neutral space where you can exist without a fee and without bumping into other tourists. Pnyx Hill was especially quiet. Also, as a little bonus, we got to see the cave where Socrates drank Hemlock.

The Acropolis from Pnyx HIll

Me sketching the Acropolis in the distance.

After the sermon, it was time to actually visit the Acropolis. This was probably the most life threatening situation I had been in since I had arrived in Greece. Picture over a thousand people all trying to climb up a marble staircase that has been worn from 3,000 years of use while the wind rages around them. I though I was going to slip and die so many times, and I witnessed plenty of other individuals have near death experiences. The Acropolis was too crowded for me and too windy, but I comforted myself by reminding myself that if I had visited the Acropolis in ancient Greece, it probably would have been the exact same experience; thousands of people, nose to nose, slipping on marble pavement all to get a glimpse of the glorious Parthenon.

The wind really tried to take me out.

Really ruined the vibes of my photos.

But this one is pretty cute.

She pretty tho.

After that, it was another museum. I wish I had more to say about this day, but I was so tired at this point that I don't remember much except the wind. Maybe my two mile run from the day before did more damage then I realized.

Here is a picture of me holding the flag for the tour group haha.
I look very enthusiastic.

We went back to the hotel for lunch and then headed back out to see the ancient Agora. We sat on the steps of the Stoa to listen to my professor lecture, because that is where Paul would have debated with the stoics (who are so named because they met under the Stoa), and I remember getting up, going to a water fountain, splashing water on my face, slapping myself, and sticking a piece of gum in my mouth to try and keep my eyes open.

If you zoom in on this picture, you will find that it didn't really work.
Not sure what I was looking at, but I don't think I was paying any attention.

The Agora was really beautiful though...

Another temple. although I've completely forgotten who this temple is dedicated to.

Sunset view of the Acropolis

The next day, we crossed the Isthmus and went to Corinth. I had done a paper about Corinth, so it was pretty exciting to see it in person. One of my favorite parts about Corinth was finding a piece of black figure pottery. I had been searching for black figure the entire trip and I found it at our second to last site!

The Isthmus of Corinth.

My other favorite part about Corinth was seeing the Diolkos. Before this canal was built, the Greeks used to pull their ships across the Isthmus from the Ionian Sea to the Aegean Sea. If they didn't use the Isthmus, they had to sail around the entire Peloponnese, which is very dangerous because the three headlands generate a lot of storms. You can still sea the tracks where the ships would have been hoisted onto logs and dragged across. I took pictures of them, but those are lost now.

I lost most of my pictures from Corinth,
but I do have this one of Stella. This was the site she
researched, so she was pretty excited.

Looking for interesting things that may have washed up. The most
interesting thing I found was a dead sea turtle.

My professor crossing the rope for a picture of the
stone which mentions Erastus, who Luke wrote about in Acts.

That evening we enjoyed a nice dinner in Athens and walked around. I forgot to mention that our hotel was situated right in front of the temple of Zeus. Breakfast was on the rooftop, so every morning I would eat breakfast while I looked out over the temple of Zeus and the Acropolis in the distance. 10/10 breakfast spot.

The modern olympic stadium

Gettin' a little grumpy it seems.

The tan is crazy.

On our last day, we ferried out to a small island called Aegina. On this island, there was a temple dedicated to Artemis. Supposedly, the Parthenon was modeled after this temple. This was one of my favorite sites. Much like Delphi, it was in the middle of the woods, and commanded a beautiful view of the ocean. I could see Salamis and Athens from the temple. In addition, there was nobody around. Aegina is known for its pistachio orchards. I had never seen fresh pistachios before. Did you know they are pink?

I love this photo Erin took of me.

After visiting the temple, we drove back to town to eat and then we had some free time to walk around the town. We used our free time to go swimming one last time. The water was amazing!

I found a little sea urchin

And I convinced my professor to hold it.
He was very scared, and very proud of himself.

All of us students with our professor. That is Salamis to the west.

In town I bought a bunch of pistachio stuff for my dad and tried some pistachio ice cream. It was good, but a little too salty.

When we got back to Athens, we were going to have a final farewell dinner, so us girls snuck away to do some dress shopping. I found a really beautiful blue and white dress from a small local boutique which I was really pleased with.

Our dinner location had a great view.

I bought some flowers for Erin and said goodbye to everyone, and got up early the next morning to go to the airport. That was it, all that waiting and now it was time to head back to Bogi. I had an incredible time in Greece. It was by far my favorite country that I visited in Europe. I'll admit, I already had a soft spot for Greece before I went, so I'm sure that contributed. However, to be fair, I also had a soft spot for Italy and it completely disappointed me. Greece surpassed all of my expectations. The people were kind, the food was amazing, and the sites were incredible. I loved getting to do this tour with friends and colleagues as well. It was special to be able to learn more about archaeology and the Bible while I was there. Its hard to write a summary of everything I felt and experienced in Greece. I guess, to sum it up, I'd tell you that I think about that trip pretty much every week, I certainly don't shut up about it, and I'm just counting down the time until I get to go back and explore more sites. There is so much I didn't get to see and do, which is an exciting thought. I mean seriously, I didn't get to hike the Acrocorinth, I didn't sail to Delos or Crete, I didn't go see Isthmia or Olympia. Heck, I didn't get to see Mycenae! Greece has certainly not seen the last of me.