VIP

Wednesday

Akropolis, Day 2

We were supposed to go to the museum again but didn't have enough time so we went straight to the Akropolis and stayed there all day. It was significantly hotter today than yesterday. We spent the first half of the morning talking about the Nike temple located just outside the Propelya and the Erechtheum, located North of the Parthenon. The Erechtheum was very beautiful--I enjoyed it's various porches, including The Porch of Caryatids and a large flowered doorway.

The Porch of Caryatids

After hearing about these buildings from our teacher, we met the former leader of the Propylaia excavation work, Tassos Tanoulas, who took us behind the scenes and talked about various features of the architecture of the Propelya. It was incredible. Definitely the most interesting and exciting part of the trip so far. We were in completely roped off sections of the Akropolis getting a lesson from the guy who worked on the restoration. Plus I am interested in architecture I especially enjoyed this. One of my favorite aspects was how you could see the different layers of civilization throughout the rooms and buildings. For example, on the south side, there was a big open room, but you could see where later the Byzantines came in and separated the room, making it two stories, and later other features were added and tweaked. You can see this both through structural changes and indentations, but also by remnants of different materials: marble, limestone, brick, etc.

Tassos Tanoulas

One of the reasons we can tell this is unfinished is because the blocks still have pegs sticking out from them that were used to hoist them up during the building process. Upon completion, these squares jutting out from the blocks would've been shaved down and removed.

Unfinished wall of The Propelya

Behind the Scenes: Leaning Wall

In the interest of perspective, this is a photo of The Akropolis from afar. See that tiny temple in the top right of the frame? That's The Nike Temple.

Notice where the people are.

You can't get to the Nike Temple, you can only look at it as you walk up to The Akropolis and through The Propelya.

The Akropolis

Now just read the caption of the next photo and realized how awesome I am.

Steps of the Nike Temple

Wednesday afternoon and evening I spent finally writing my first paper for class :(...a descriptive paper on the West Facade of The Parthenon--I can tell you all about sylobates, doric columns, friezes and pediments!

Lesson of the Day

Behind-the-scenes tours of The Akropolis don't just happen every day.

Photo of the Day

Me, Fushia, The Nike Temple and Athens!

The Count

Glasses of wine drinken: 89

Number of times visited the Akropolis: 3
Papers written: 1

Photos taken: 2775

Akropolis, Day 1

Tuesday

Akropolis and Akropolis Museum, Day 1

We got an early start and made it to the top of The Akropolis before it got too excruciatingly hot. We looked at The Propelya, entrance to The Akropolis, and The Parthenon, talking about their various architectural features. I won't bore you with the details, though.

The Parthenon

We spent the second half of the morning in the New Akropolis Museum. Fun Fact: The Museum just opened 2-3 years ago. They had originally planned for the museum to open in time for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens but when they started construction, they dug up an ancient Roman bath...so building took a bit longer than expected. They are still working on uncovering the ruins but have incorporated the project into the museum. Part of the entryway to the museum is open in the middle and the surrounding floor is glass so you can see down into the site they uncovered and can even watch people digging and polishing mosaics. The whole museum is really well done (much better than The National Museum...most likely because it's much newer) and I loved how they integrated the Roman Bath archaeological project into it. The Museum houses many of the original fragments of the Parthenon, but parts of what are is on display are merely plaster casts because the real deal is in the British Museum in London. Most of what is on the Akropolis is a casted copy for preservation reasons.

My dad has a Greek colleague who is currently traveling in Greece with his wife. I have never met him but we have been in touch over e-mail and Tuesday afternoon he called me saying he was in Athens! I met him and his wife in the later afternoon, but his wife was visiting with another friend so he showed me around the Plaka area of Athens and gave me a few history lessons (many of which I already knew from class so I was able to comment and contribute which was exciting). We sat in a cafe with a nice view and had saganaki and grilled octopus while chatting about life in Florence, Athens, the islands and Charlottesville. Even though I had never met him before, it was nice to see a pseudo-familiar face as well as to interact with someone outside of my program. Both my mom and dad have always spoken highly of him and now I know why! It was such a refreshing afternoon :)

It was the first time I had octopus, and the first time since leaving Florence that I've tried a new food! I really liked it...much more than calimari and sepia. I found that it tasted much less like the sea and had a significantly better texture--more tender and less chewy, melted in my mouth (in a good way!)

Grilled Octopus and Saganaki

Tonight I procrastinated writing my descriptive paper for class by helping my friend edit his Dental School essays! Much more fun to read other people's papers than to write my own!! :)

Lesson of the Day

I like to walk around at dusk. The weather is comfortable and the lighting is beautiful.

The Count

Glasses of wine drinken: 88

People from Charlottesville seen: 1 + the 2 students on my program who go to UVA

Number of times eaten out in Athens: 3

Photos taken: 2706

The start of a good week

Sunday Night

The opera was really fun! It was in the Herod Atticus Theater at the foot of the Akropolis and while the seats were rather uncomfortable, the whole experience was enjoyable. I only stayed for the first opera, Rustic Chivalry, because I couldn't sit in the seats any longer and didn't want to be there until 1:00 AM. The opera was performed in the original Italian and there were English subtitles projected on either side of the stage. Hearing Italian again made me really happy :)

Ancient Theater

Monday

National Museum

We saw lots of cool art, sculpture and artifacts such as kouri and pottery. The museum is very large and not very well organized but we saw a lot of interesting and important pieces and learned a lot about the evolution of various styles and work. My favorite was the miniature reproduction of Athena Parthenos, the statue of Athena that used to stand in the center of the Parthenon. The original statue was over 40 feet tall and depicts Athena holding Nike, god of victory, in her right hand. If you're interested, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athena_Parthenos.

We had the afternoon off and then had lecture again in the evening.

Athena Parthenos, reproduction

Lesson of the Day

I have become a museum bathroom finding expert.

The Count

Glasses of wine drinken: 86

Operas seen: 1

Modes of transportation used in Athens: 4
Photos taken: 2663

I'm Alive!

I just wanted everyone to know that I am alive and well, I'm just busy with travel, class, being social(!), etc. so I haven't had time to update my blog lately. Unfortunately, I don't have time right now...we are leaving tomorrow at 7AM for a day-trip to Delphi.

So far, this week has been fantastic and full of really amazing trips and adventures--this morning was definitely my favorite part of Athens so far.

I will try to update tomorrow when we return from our field trip!

Photos to tie you over

The Parthenon

Grilled Octopus and Saganaki

Weekend Update

Friday

Class trip to Kerameikos, site of the remains of the Ancient city wall of Athens. Walked around the remains, then went into the museum to see artifacts found on site.

Ancient city wall

Saturday

Jewish adventure! Went to services in the morning and then met a few other English-speakers and went to lunch at the Athens Chabad. Such a wonderful feeling of being at home. I have really missed being a part of the Jewish community and look forward to going back to Chabad and the synagogue throughout my stay here in Athens.

Afterwards, I went to the fresh market to buy lots of fruits and veggies, and walked around a bit, came home and had dinner and sat on the balcony relaxing with my roommates. Such a rejuvenating and relaxing day

Today

Took the metro with Mary to Pireaus, the port of Athens, hoping to find a beach but only finding ferries. So we found a garden with a nice outdoor cafe and hung out there for the afternoon: eating, drinking coffee, chatting and reading.

Tonight we are going to the opera at the ancient theater of Athens. We are seeing Cavveleria Rusticana (Rustic Chivalry) and I Pagliacci (The Clowns). I'm about to read up on the plots so I have some idea as to what is going on!

Photo of the Day

Trash can, Garden in Piraeus

Lesson of the Day

Wherever you go, there's always someone Jewish; You're never alone, when you know you're a Jew!

The Count

Glasses of wine drinken: 85
Modes of Athens transportation taken: 3
Photos taken: 2634

Tomorrow

Class at The National Museum

Attic Adventures

Today

Day trip throughout E. Attica

• Site of the Battle of Marathon
• Temple of Artemis
  -Unfortunately this site was close for cleaning until June 5 so we had to stand on the side of the road to learn about Artemis and the traditions of her cult
• Archaeological Museum of the Temple of Artemis
  -lots of artifacts--pottery, statues, etc. that allowed historians to develop stories about the period and people
• Temple of Poseidon
  -the best view of the trip so far--the first view that was comparable to my experiences in Florence
  -they have had a very rainy spring so luckily everything is still green!
  
  
  
  Views from the Temple of Poseidon
  
  
  
  The Temple of Poseidon
  
  
  Me and the sea!
  
  
• Beach at the foot of the Temple
  -went to a beach, some people swam, I just sat in the sand and enjoyed the sun :)

Photo of the Day

I think I ate one of these last week...

Wild pheasant on the Temple of Poseidon

Lesson of the Day

Traveling with a group of people is much different than traveling alone

The Count

Glasses of wine drinken: 79 and counting

Hours spent on a bus in Greece: 5

Photos taken: 2608

Tomorrow

Kerameikos in the morning then a free afternoon and weekend! Going to look into services at the local synagogue :)

Charged Camera, Temples, Olives and more!

Today

• Acropolis
  -Walked to the Acropolis, stopped at the old theater at the base and bought opera tickets for Sunday night
  -Started walking up towards the Acropolis, but it was mobbed by tourists, so we continued on to a rock whose name is somehow related to Mars and saw a nice panoramic view of Athens
• Hephaisteion Temple
  -the most well-preserved temple in all of Athens
  -had a lesson on Greek temples and their architecture
  
  
  
  Hephaisteion Temple, Doric architecture
  
  
• Lunch at school
  -so different from my "lunches at school" last week!
• Adventures with Mary
  -after lunch and some downtime in the apartment, my roommate Mary and I went for a walk into the city
  -We walked through the gardens to the Parliament building (the only photo I posted yesterday), where we arrived just in time to see the changing of the guard--an item on our Athens to-do list/guide...check!
  -It was a pretty funny ceremony--lots of feet raising and clog clicking
  
  
  
  Changing of the Guard
  
  -Walked down Ermou, one of the main shopping streets in Athens, toward Athinas (another main road), so we could go to the meat market where I wanted to take photos because I missed it yesterday
  
  
  
  Meat.
  
  
  -Bought dried fruit and nuts, and happened across a fruit and veggie market where I bought a lot of olives and eggplant to cook for dinner!
  
  
  
  Fresh, local and delicious!
  
  -Saw a guy steal from a shop then get chased after and kicked by the owner
  
• Class
  -Talked about The Archaic Period and Persian Wars
• Dinner
  -Made myself eggplant caponata!
  -I didn't have onions and the only knife we have is a bread knife, but all things considered it tasted pretty good :)

Photos of the Day

My roommate, Fushia, at the old Greek theater

Cute kitty at the meat market

Trashy heels

Lesson of the Day

1 kilo of olives is A LOT

The Count

Glasses of wine drinken: 77 (wine-free Wednesday)

Days since my last plate of pasta: 7

Days since my last gelato: 6

Photos taken: 2569

Tomorrow

East Attica field trip including beach time and seafood restaurant for dinner!