Today was an absolute whirlwind, to say the least.
It started at 6:15 am when my alarm started ringing, telling me it was time to head to the weekly laiki (an outdoor farmers market) in Pangrati. Normally I wouldn't willingly wake up this early to be a functional human, but several classmates and I wanted to hit up the market before leaving on our scheduled, weekend (class) bus trip to the Peloponnese. The trip had several major site stops: Mycenae, Nafplio, Epidaurus, Franchthi Cave, and Tiryns. By 7:00 am, I was strolling through the market, and perusing the variety of fruits and veggies. I ended up purchasing 2 eggplants, 4 Pink Lady apples, 4 carrots, a head of lettuce, and a jar of homemade fir tree honey. I tried to use what limited Greek vocabulary I have whilst at the laiki, but I didn't get too far after the native Greek-speakers would answer my "yassas" entirely in quick, unintelligible Greek. But hey, I at least tried. After my short visit to the market, I had to run up the hill to The Athens Centre to get a copy of my passport for the trip. Although the Centre is supposed to open at 7:30 am, no one showed up until almost 7:40, which was when I was supposed to meet the rest of my companions for the coach bus. I managed to get inside the school, but the copier ultimately wouldn't turn on...a little annoyed, I *literally* ran back to the apartments moments later in order to grab my stuff and to head to the bus. The bus left a few minutes after 8:00 am. There was a strict "no food" rule on the bus, which secretly made me happy since several people who'd gone to the market also stopped by the nearby bakery for a fresh breakfast while I impatiently waited outside the school - in the cold, early morning air. I was a little #salty about not getting a chocolate croissant, so "ha" to the people who had to wait just like me to eat some delicious delicacies. Fast forward nearly 2 hours of sleeping on the bus and we arrived at the Corinth Canal for a brief bathroom and food/coffee break. After a quick trip to the water closet before grabbing a ham and cheese pie and a double cappuccino (which I basically had to shove in my face in less than 10 minutes, meaning I promptly burned the entire roof of my mouth), I headed towards the bridge to view the Canal. I don't think I've ever seen a canal so deeply cut before. It was so steep and, surprisingly, aesthetic, even in the cloudy morning light. On the way to Mycenae, aka the home of the great, mythical warrior king Agamemnon, we passed by the Corinth Acropolis, which is a fortified citadel on top of a large mountain in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, we didn't stop at the site, so no great pictures of the amazing city on the hill exist. Once in Mycenae, our first stop was to a small stream bed where evidence of a Cyclopedic-style (HUGE stones that, myth says, only Cyclop giants, could move), Mycenaean bridge still stood. It had rained the night before, and the weather was barely holding out for us, so several people took some falls on the slippery mud-covered rocks. But we all survived - including our expensive cameras, too! Then we headed up the road and stopped at what looked like a very small hole with trees growing in it. It turned out to be a small tholos (chamber) tomb built into the hill from the age of the Mycenaeans (are you noticing a pattern here?). And we didn't just look at this barely-visible-from-the-outside tomb; we actually went inside it. With some finagling through the trees and more slippery soil, we all made it inside the tomb. Let me tell you: being in an actual, ancient grave is weird. Dead people (families and individuals alike) used to be piled in there. It likely produced a pretty foul smell back in the day (mhm flesh), but we mostly just smelled rotting leaves and dirt. One of the best things that happened inside there was a fellow student casually eating gummy candies while the professor lectured about grave structures of antiquity. Ah, the old mixing with the new and the general circle of life, amiright? Afterwards we headed to a REAL tholos tomb: the Treasury of Atreus (pictures to come). This tomb is a well known structure in history class. It has a large walkway to the entrance gate, which boasts a massive 120 ton stone that took several years to place on top of the 2 front columns. The grave also has a rare second, smaller tomb to the one side that's visible once inside. Finally, we hit the main attraction: the Acropolis of Mycenae, the hometown of the family descended from the great Atrius. The lion gate stands proudly atop enormous walls made of Cyclopean architecture (we even mimicked the pose of the heraldic lions. Again, pics to come). We visited the 2 graves on the site: Grave Circle B, the tomb outside the Acropolis' walls that once held 24 graves (14 shaft grave, 10 cist graves), and Grave Circle A, the wealthier tomb inside Mycenae that held fewer families/individuals and contained ludicrous amounts of gold and precious items. The site was absolutely gorgeous, even with the cloudy sky and cold windchill. I did some fun rock scrambling and took several pretty spectacular photographs up on the citadel - and almost lost my hat a few times in the process. After our Mycenae visit concluded, we all climbed back onto the bus and headed to Nafplio, which is where we'll be staying for 2 nights. It's a gorgeous little town by the water and has many great shops, including seemingly infinite stores to buy so-called "worry beads." The product is essentially what it sounds like: beads you wear or hold/play with to relieve worry, stress, imbalance, or illness. Besides the supposed healing powers of the beads (whose materials range from olive wood, to glass, to obsidian, to amber, and even to dyed olive pits), they are absolutely stunning. I seriously am obsessed with these beads, the stores, and the craftsman. So pretty, my goodness. I ended up buying a small string of olive green and rose pink beads with an evil eye drawstring bead that turns the string into a bracelet. I'm. In. Love. Once settled into our hotel rooms and after getting a brief tour/history of the area, we stopped for food (souvlaki!) and gelato (chestnut and tiramisu). We then shopped around for several hours before heading to a local taverna to have dinner with the professors. I ordered spanakopita (spinach pie) and shared a carafe of house red wine with some classmates. Dr. Killebrew also wanted someone to share half of her moussaka with her, so I (very) willingly obliged. So tasty. With a 2-hour dinner concluded, we all headed to a nearby bar for some drinks and live music. A limoncello-prosseco later, we went back to the hotel, got very messy showers (boo to showers that don't have curtains or shower doors), and hopped into bed. As I'm writing this, I'm probably the last conscious person on this hotel floor. Now, off to bed to prepare for another history and traveling-packed day tomorrow. - Hannah
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Hannah BisbingStudent @ Penn State. Figure skater. Writer. Traveler. Coffee fanatic. Foodie. Semi-professional people watcher who recently returned home from backpacking around Europe. All photos taken by me, unless otherwise noted.
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