Mycenae and Epidauros

About half an hour away from Napflion is Mycenae. We first stopped at the Treasury of Areus. It was a huge beehive tomb, the most well preserved. It was empty because of grave robbers in the past.

Beehive construction (ceiling)

Then we went up the road to the Acropolis of Mycenae. I saw the Lion Gate!! It was so cool, and Roula said the lintel stone under the triangular relief weighs like 30 tons!

Once we went through the gate we saw Grave Circle A, which was thought to be Agememnon's grave. Another myth is that in the mountains across you can se the forehead and nose profile of a sleeping man and that this is where he lies.



The next day we went to the Sanctuary of Asklepios at Epidauros, the Ancient Theater of Epidauros, and the Ancient Theater of Argos.

 The Sanctuary of Asklepios included a Tholos (round) temple, a stadium, and dormitories. Asklepios was a doctor, the first doctor I think (but don't quote me on that).

His symbol was the snake because it could go under the earth and above so it must know the meaning of life and death. This is why today the symbol for doctors and hospitals is a snake. At the sanctuary ancient doctors could perform brain surgeries and c-sections. A cure/treatment for some visitors was exercise which is why there was a stadium.




The Theater also served as a distraction to those that were ill or hurt and could help them get better.

The Theater of Epidauros is the most well preserved ancient theater and has perfect acoustics! Roula demonstrated by clapping around in the center as we all sat high up. The theater is still used today for festivals and performances,

We then continued on to the Theater of Argos. This theater is the second largest and had a unique basement under the stage. The Romans used it after the Greeks and added some brick structures, What was really cool about this theater was that the seats were all carved out of the rock from the hillside.

Corinth, Canals, and Castles oh my!

On our way to Corinth we watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding on the bus. It was funny how being in Greece and experiencing Greek culture made me notice new aspects of that movie. We stopped for lunch at the canal and saw a bridge that went underwater intsead of raising up to let ships pass. We were all easily amused by it. :)

Then Roula took us to the highest point above the canal on a pedestrian bridge. We saw signs that offered bungy jumping, and some people were seriously considering it, I was not one of them. For some reason I've always felt like sky diving would be a better idea than bungy jumping. 

Kristine, Sam, and Me

After the canal we went to the ancient city of Corinth. Here there was another Temple of Apollo. The unique thing about this temple was that it had monolithic columns, meaning that the huge columns are all one solid piece.

We also saw a Roman forum (in ruins of course) and when we were about to get on the bus to leave Joe told us to come look at an ancient theater across the street. So some of us tromped off through weeds to the theater.

Roman forum

Ancient Theater (really ancient)

Then we headed to our new hotel in the city of Nafplion. This hotel was cute and privately owned too. I loved that about Greece. How all the tavernas and hotels we went to felt homey and unique, instead of like a link in a giant company chain.

Me and Kelly out of her hotel room

Another cute thing about this hotel was that in one of the planters was a mommy cat with a new litter of very sweet kittens. And most people know I'm not the biggest cat person, but come on they were just cute!



We were all pretty tired when we got to Nafplion, so it wasn't a surprise when Joe mentioned a hike up 999 stairs that not many people jumped with excitement. But a few of us realized we might only be able to do this once in a lifetime, so we weren't going to miss out just because we were tired.

Liz and Berry

The Castle of Palamidi is a fort that was built during the Venetian occupation in the early 19th century. The 999 steps it takes to reach the fort is quite the work out, believe me.

But once up there you realize your burning muscles were totally worth it. The views are breath taking, and you feel like you're on top of the world!

Kelsey, Kristine, Me, and Liz on top of the Castle

The Oracle at Delphi

The Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia is one of three round temples, from the 4th century BC. (The others are at Olympia and the Agora in Athens.)

The Temple of Athena was down the mountain from where the oracles were given at Delphi. There used to be a natural gas that came out of the ground at Delphi which is how oracles were made. Today, however, there is no longer this leaking of gas. The day we went started out very cold and gloomy, but once we hiked all the way to the top the sun came out and it was nice and warm.

On the way up to the Temple of Apollo there were many ruins on the mountainside. These ruins were treasuries from different Greek cities where they kept offerings to Apollo. One of the first ruins we came upon was a Roman forum, or marketplace. Then we came across a reconstructed Athenian Treasury.

Athenian Treasury

Roman forum

At the Temple of Apollo was where the oracle used to be. It was here that the natural gas leaked out of the ground. The oracles would never give a straight answer. The reason for this was so people could make their own decisions and wouldn't be able to blame the oracle or Apollo.

After seeing the Temple we saw a theater, then headed further up the mountain.

I think its crazy that people from all around Greece would make the journey to Delphi to get a reading from the oracle. During those ancient times when transportation was severely limited. When we went up there I remember being tired from the hike, and we came on a bus and just had to walk up the mountainside. But to know that I've made the same trip as all those ancient people is pretty cool.

At the top was a stadium, and it was here that we had a break and another unique class setting. Joe read to us again from Herodotus.

Then we made our way back down to the Archeological Museum of Delphi. This museum was really cool because it had one of the very first friezes, according to Roula.

The museum also had a very famous piece of Greek sculpture, the bronze Charioteer.

Model of what Delphi looked like

Arachova!!

The cutest little mountain town ever is Arachova! It is a ski resort so when we were there it was pretty quiet. But it was still very welcoming and picturesque. 

We went out exploring and stopped for a game of basketball, boys vs girls. The boys won.

And who could forget the two little Greek boys who attacked us with water guns. They singled out Kristine for an all out water war, and her only weapon was her water bottle. It was fun, but unfair since the majority of us were unarmed.

Our hotel was very cute and family owned. We were the only ones in the hotel when we were there. The brothers that ran the place were so nice. They held a wine happy hour for us one night in the lobby, and need less to say we took full advantage of their hospitality.