Grecian Odyssey, A Student's View (Day 3)

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 Grey Johnston, a freshman Political Science and History double major, who is also the new president of the Honors Executive Board; Anessa Berry, a sophomore Early Childhood Education major; and Brittany Bucci, a sophomore double major in Hospitality Management and Entrepreneurship.  We hope you enjoy reading about our journey!

Today I woke up feeling lots of emotions. I was unsure of where I was at first. After realizing I was in Greece, I was only excited. I couldn’t figure out why the alarm hadn’t gone off yet, but I realized it was only 1:45 in the morning! I made myself go back to sleep to try and get acclimated to our new time zone! When I woke up the next time, I could not wait to explore this beautiful country. We went to the sixth floor of our hotel for breakfast, which is on the top floor of the hotel, and it had an incredible seaside view. I ate the best Greek yogurt I have ever had along with cake and fruit (the yogurt is especially good when you put honey on it). We got into a tour bus with our guide, Christiana, who taught us the history of Athens. She was so kind and sweet, and very smart. She knew so much about Greece and could always answer our questions, and I was glad to have her there because I got so much more out of the experience. On the bus ride, we got a summary of 7000 years of Greek history, the Athena and Poseidon debates, the Acropolis, and the Greek war for independence in 1834.

We went to the Acropolis in the heart of Athens. Acro- means “highest point” and –polis means “city.” The Acropolis was truly awe-inspiring. We saw the temple of the wingless Nike, the Parthenon, and the Erectheum. Each temple held a great religious, cultural, and political significance to the Greeks and to the rest of the world. The architecture was breathtaking, the mountaintop view was beautiful, and the history was palpable. When looking at the Parthenon, you can see that there are two different-colored types of marble on it. The one that is pure white is what has been put in place to restore the building. The original marble was colored because the white was too bright in the sunlight for people to see the beautiful structure and all of its detail. Christiana shared with us that it only took 8 years to build the Acropolis, which is unbelievable! Experts say that today, it would take about 16 years to build this structure, even with the technology.

After coming down from the Acropolis, we stood atop Mars Hill. As we walked where the apostle Paul once preached, I felt a very real sense of historic and religious depth. I had never touched any other place as spiritually significant as that hill; this is a memory that I will cherish forever.

Then we went to the Olympic stadium and saw the Discobolus, the discus thrower statue. The size of the stadium was overwhelming, and I could imagine how packed it would have been during the ancient Olympic games.

Next, we went to Syntagma square and had free time to choose our own path and make our own adventure. I, of course, purchased a street donut and it was absolutely delicious. We were also able to shop with our friends and buy souvenirs for our family members. The shop owners were very eager to get you to come inside and buy from them. We also encountered lots of fresh fruit stands. The fruit smelled so good and was so affordable!

We ate lunch at a very small restaurant. I was feeling adventurous and wanted to try so many foods, so I tried something called Moussaka. It was very similar to shepherd’s pie. I really liked it, but the portion they gave me was so huge that I couldn’t finish it! I also got to try some of my friends’ food, and the French fries were cooked in olive oil which was so delicious!

We ran into our group a few minutes later and began to wander around. We encountered an ancient Greek Orthodox church surrounding by sprawling business which showed that even though Greece is an ever changing society, Christianity is at the center.

The changing of the guard was another experience that I had not expected to enjoy so much. The guards change on the hour, every hour, guarding the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. After 400 years of Turkish occupations, the Greek people truly are able to once again take pride in the fact that they are a free people.  

We were ready to go back to the hotel after a bit more walking around the city, so we took the public bus back to the hotel. We ate dinner at the hotel and then went to a local restaurant across the street for dessert. I was exhausted once I got in bed and fell asleep right away. It was an amazing first day in Greece!!