Grecian Odyssey, A Student's View (Day 4)

The Honors Program just completed its Grecian Odyssey tour, where thirty-five students and two staff members traveled to Greece from May 6th through the 16th. We asked our students to blog about the journey, so each day is written from the perspective various students.  Today's post includes contributions from Jessica Myers, a sophomore Biology major, who is also the new vice-president of the Honors Executive Board; Jenny Fleck, a sophomore Early Childhood Education major; and Brittany Close, a sophomore double major in Mathematics and Business Administration.  We hope you enjoy reading about our journey!

9:00 a.m.             Athens, Greece

The day started off with breakfast at our Athens hotel again then checking out and loading the bus to begin are 4 day classical tour of Greece. As we were leaving the Athens area we drove through the city and our tour guide, Christiana, pointed out a few more sites that she did not have the chance to show us the day before. After driving through the city we got on what would be considered a highway and started our drive to the Peloponnese Peninsula.

10:20 a.m.           Corinth, Greece

After driving out from Athens bright and early in the morning, we arrived in Corinth, where we saw the Corinth Canal. The bus stopped just before the canal and we were given the opportunity to walk down the street to the canal and over a footbridge to take pictures. Along the walk, we passed a bungee jumping place with a group of people preparing to jump! While this wasn’t the first canal I’ve seen in my life, it certainly was one of the prettiest that I’ve seen. You could see where the water from the two bodies blended together in a mix of deep and light blues that were bright in the Greek sunlight. The water was bordered by smooth cliffs and greenery, and the contrast between the rock-colored walls of the canal and the strong blue of the water was an absolutely gorgeous sight. The height from the bridge was a bit high for some, and I also tend to have some light fear of heights, but the view provided to us was beautiful enough for me to not notice the height we were at. We watched a boat pass through part of the canal, and we learned that most boats need a tugboat to pull them since the canal is so narrow. After some pictures, it was time to continue our journey.

2:20 p.m.             Epidaurus, Greece

We just finished lunch (which was amazing) after some sightseeing in Epidaurus. Lunch was neat because we went to an authentic Greek restaurant with all homemade food. It was interesting because when we got there, they took us into the kitchen to see all the food choices, and it was neat to have the different dishes explained.

After lunch, we went to tour Epidaurus. This historical site is where Hippocrates had built what was essentially the first functional hospital in Greece, and was dedicated to the god, Dionysus. Naturally, he decided that there should also be a theater, and so we visited the Greek theater in Epidaurus. This theater is one of the most well-preserved theaters, and it was absolutely amazing. One of the things the Epidaurus theater is known for is its great acoustics. Despite its large size, from the top, you could hear everything that was being said in the center of the stage. One guy even dropped a coin in the exact center, and we could hear it perfectly at the top. We all made the trek up the hundreds of stairs to the top of the theater, where the view was as incredible as it was from the bottom. After a brief period of taking in the beauty of the theater, we went to the nearby museum that held a lot of sculpture from the nearby hospital, theater, temple and stadium. The marble stonework of the statues never fails to astound me, as the works are stunning, even with a difficult medium. Following the museum, we went over to the ruins of the hospital, which was the highlight of my day. We saw the remains of the healing center, dorms for the patients, and the stadium where the patients exercised. The stories of the initial medicinal efforts in Ancient Greece and seeing where they happened and the tools they used was incredibly fascinating, particularly because I was to go into medicine myself. To see the beginnings of organized medicine, and knowing how far we’ve come, was really cool for me to see.

6:39 p.m.             Greek Countryside

After some more sightseeing in Mycenae, we’re on our way to Olympia for the night. In Mycenae, we saw some absolutely breathtaking sights. We climbed up to the acropolis there, which is the oldest known acropolis site. The ruins were surrounded by mountains and hills that made it an incredibly beautiful place. After climbing down from the acropolis, a bunch of us enjoyed fresh squeezed orange juice, which was the most delicious I had ever tasted, before heading over to what is known as the beehive tombs. The tombs were awesome because of their age and shape. The rocks are placed in a circle, and the lowest ones are larger, and they get smaller as you go to the top. Then, the keystone is on the top, but it can be removed without compromising the structure of the entire tomb. The tombs were built well over 3000 years ago, and are still standing today. The fact that something that old is still preserved is truly astounding, and it made it an awesome sight to see. Overall, today was a beautiful, astounding, and amazing day full of travel and sights seen. Christiana, our tour guide, said something that I think sums up the simple beauty of Greece that we saw today, “Seas and mountains… this is Greece.”

7:00 pm               Olympia, Greece

We finally made it to Olympia where we will spend the night. After having an authentic Greek 3 course dinner at the hotel we ended the night by exploring the small town of Olympia, which was sort of a touristy area, but really nicely kept. Then, we all crashed and prepared for another busy day tomorrow!