Hey ya'll!
Well, I am officially back from Greece, and have been for some time, however, only now have I unpacked my suitcase! The week was exhausting, but very enjoyable. It doesn't hurt that the trip was completely paid for and I managed to only spend about 140 Euro on gifts and souvenirs! The trip around Greece was mainly on the Peloponnese. This Greece was much different than I pictured.... the white washed cliffside houses with blue roofs. We all know that Greece. Annnnnd, because I didn't see that, I have resigned myself to the fact that I will just have to go back and visit the Greek Isles (sans children).
We had a great time, and the kids were wonderful for the most part. We arrived in Athens and found out that a Government Police escort had been hired to follow us the entire trip. After some phone calls to the Greek American and Canadian Embassies, as well as back to the Administration at ASD, we found out that no one knew anything about police escorts being hired. This means that some parent of a child personally hired Police escorts to remain with us throughout the entire week. Soooo, we have no idea who the particular child was that was being kept tabs on, but it became a running joke amongst the adults. Most of the kids were fairly oblivious to the fact that we had escorts, which was good to keep it that way.
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| Oh, Hey there Mr. Police Man.... |
We departed Athens the day after arrival to make our way to the Peloponnese.
In short here are the places we visited and some highlights:
- Corinth: where the amazing canal was cut to separate the Peloponnese from the main land, and where Paul preached and taught the ancient Corinthians.
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| Corinth Canal |
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| Agamemnon's tomb at Mycenae |
- Mycenae: where an ancient civilization was, the tomb of the famous King Agamemnon is, and the best tasting fresh orange juice ever. This site also has something to do with the Battle of Troy and that famous horse... not too sure what though?
- Nafplion was a little seaside town and very cute. It has a giant fortress built by the Crusaders.
- Epidaurus: where a natural amphitheater still resides. It could seat up to 60,000 people and has such amazing natural acoustics that have never been replicated to this day.
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| "Give me your best thug-life face." - My chaperone group of great kids! |
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| The left half of the Theater of Epidaurus. Acoustics are so good, I could hear those people talking clearly. |
- Olympia: the site of the Olympic Games and the famous Temple of Zeus. We ran on the track and enjoyed the amazing feeling that so many of our athletic competitions were born there.
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| Archway leading into the original Olympic stadium |
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| Me being a ninja on the ancient olympic track. |
- Delphi: where the famous Oracle resided and received her clairvoyant powers from getting stoned off of sulphuric gases coming through a fissure in the earth! (Don't do drugs, kids!) Ask her a question about your future and she would answer you in riddles and vague answers so that everything was open to interpretation and she would never be wrong. I didn't find out who my husband would be or if I would ever have my own reality TV series. Shoot.
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| Delphi: An almond tree in bloom with the Treasury of Athens and the Delphi valley below |
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| Me at Delphi |
- The Acropolis and the Parthenon: Amazing. I never thought I would make it to see this place. Just an awesome experience and the view of Athens surrounding the Acropolis was something in itself.
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| Me and the Parthenon |
- The Temple of Poseidon: on a bluff overlooking the stunning Aegean Sea. We were able to just relax here while the kids sketched in their journals. There is something about looking out at never ending teal blue water that never gets old.
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| Aegean Sea from Temple of Poseidon |
- The Plaka: a famous walking only shopping district of Athens right below the Acropolis. Lots on little shops and a fabulous Gyro and gelato stand. All the Greek shopkeepers were so thrilled to have business in their winter season.
- Running on the "modern"Olympic track, built in 1896 and birthplace of the Olympics as we know them today.
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| Zoom. I'm so fast. Not. |
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| Standing on the medal podium after we raced. Thomas, me, Ahne, Sohpie, and Bernie. My colleagues are athletic. I got last place :( |
- Tree planting in the hills outside of Athens. This area is recovering from wildfires, and for the past six years ASD has worked with a local company to come and plant tree saplings. We raised enough money for each child to plant two trees (about 250 trees total). The kids were awesome at this and really enjoyed working hard. The hillside we planted in was clay-like soil, and full of marble stone, and so the planting was rigorous work.
We made it home safely and were greeted at the airport by the parents waiting anxiously. It was overall an amazing experience, and so awesome for the kids to see the places they had studied for the last month. I was so impressed by how much they knew of ancient Greece and Greek mythology. Check out some of the links and pictures!
