Here are some of the quotes from different group members accumulated throughout the trip (courtesy Johnathon). They are in order by city.
Flight to Greece:
"It smells like fresh paint and adventure." - Seonaid
"We would have done it if we could've just added to ten." - me, on KenKen
"That's hot!" - me, on Air Canada TV
"I prefer Crack not Opium." - John, on Air Canada magazine perfumes
Thessaloniki:
"This bus is impenetrable." - me
"What was his name? It just sounded like Meow Meow Meow." - Dr. Cohen
"Eat your cookie stick! It's good! I ate mine." - Tanith to Ceilidh
Vergina:
"We don't want you pulling any groin muscles on the trip." - Halcyon
Nancy: Did you want any water?
Museum Film: The dead are thirsty...
Dr. Cohen: I'm not dead yet.
Meteora:
Seonaid: I wish I had a panoramic camera
Tanith: Or a didgeridoo
Kalambaka:
"Any Sagi-badasses?" - Hal, on the zodiac
Thermopylae:
"I'm planting it. Plant!" - Tanith, throwing seeds and inventing onomatopoeia
Delphi:
"Yeah, that rocked my body, but not in a good Black Eyed Peas kind of way." - Emily-Jean, on her illness
"I'm Johnipotent." - John
Olympia:
"The gyrator?! We can get you one of them!" - me, mistaking the Greek food "gyros"
"Aw, three donkeys! Really!?" - me, appreciating my estimated dowry
"I like... leather." - Jacob
"I'm Canadian. I'm exotic to you!" - Emily-Jean's imagined pick-up line
"Now that we're all together..." - Dr. Cohen, moments before a car separated our group as we walked along the road
"I think... something. That sentence got lost in the depths of my mind." - me
"I am covered in Libyan dust." - Seonaid
Tanith: Oh, I got a nail in my shoe.
John: Did it pierce your foot?
Tanith: No, it got stuck in my Walmart shoe.
"We can ride in the gully. We can get a sled... with rockets." - Jacob
Pylos:
"It made good use of colour." - Ceilidh, on creepy hotel painting
"My dog loves life in its dogloo." - Seonaid
"You take a chisel and you make it schwink." - Jacob, on Corbell vaults
The creation of a dance move:
Emily-Jean: No, it's called "the Bus Trip"!
Seonaid: I though you were saying "the Muskrat"!
Corinth:
"Bleuaghh!" - first instance of a strange and recognizable bird call heard for the remainder of the trip, possible sound of Medea's dragon chariot
"Thou shalt not take good pictures with natural light while shooting through glass." - Emily-Jean
"If a Greek man were to give me a strange bird gripping a crunchy pine cone, I would be his cupbearer." - John
Eleusis:
"That's mildly embarrassing." - Dr. Cohen, ont he Plutonian dance
Santorini:
"I wish humans were built like dog cuz I'd run downhill so fast." - Seonaid
"Welcome to Mama's house, sexbombs!" - Mama, the best restaurant owner ever
"Mmm, thanksgiving chips..." - John on oregano-flavoured chips
"How can something inspired by prehistorica art and Carmen Electra not be awesome?" - John, on a dance move, "The Golden Ibex"
"I'm not even done picking the food outta my teeth and we're landing." - Seonaid, on the short flight back to Athens
Sounion:
Tanith: Bye, Temple!
me: (deep voice impersonating a temple) Bye, Tanith.
Flight Back:
"Look what air pressure did to my Pringles!" - a forlorn me
Nancy's Most Commonly Heard Phrases During the Trip:
"It's SUCH a good movie."
"Dr. Cohen, I have a question..."
"What you seen ______?"
"Bananas unite!" - Seonaid, Emily-Jean, and I
"What time is dinner/supper?"
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Post Trip Reflection: March 9
March 6:
riddle answer: 10
fail: We don't understand this one either.
dare: to send a message in a bottle
fail: I was going to mail an actual bottle home, but it was the weekend and the post office was closed. We were also not near any water, so I couldn't send one out to sea.
quote: "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lanscapes, but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust
riddle: My posterior is adorned with feathers. I have a rather long neck and quite a pointy nose. I am able to fly, but have no wings...
March 7:
riddle answer: arrow
success: We all pretty much got this one.
dare: to find the hottest guy in Greece, be a self-proclaimed tourist, and get a picture with him!
fail: Unfortunately, I decided to wait until we were on the plane to read the letter, and so I was no longer in Greece. I would have done it in Frankfurt, but we were only there for a short amount of time and it was hectic.
quote: "Not all those who wander are lost." - J.R.R. Tolkien
riddle: Until I am measured, I am not known. Yet how you miss me, when I have flown.
March 8:
riddle answer: time
success: I got this one, as did a few others in the group.
quote: "Travel is glamour, only in retrospect." - Paul Theraux
So I'm currently back in Sackville, and although I was excited to come home and see my friends and family, I'm already missing Greece. On our last full day in Athens, we went and saw the National Archeological Museum, which was essentially the highlight in terms of museums. It had many of the pieces of art that I have studied over the years, and we were all constantly running from one room to the next in excitement for what was there. It was a great finale to a wonderful trip.
The next two days were essentially taken up with flying. We only had about 45 minutes in Frankfurt to catch our next flight across the ocean, but luckily, we managed to get a drive from our terminal to the next one. That flight was the longest (7 1/2 hours or so), but I spent most of it watching movies. When we finally landed in Moncton, after our stop-off in Toronto, I was very glad to see home, even if that home was covered in snow!
Overall, I'm very glad to have gotten the opportunity to visit Greece. I feel like I was definitely able to appreciate everything after spending four years studying Classics. Yet, I think everyone was able to appreciate this trip, whether or not they were in upper year or were Classics majors. I definitely appreciate Dr. Cohen and Nancy taking us. I'm sure it was not always easy to keep track of everyone or satisfy everyone's wants and needs. We definitely owe them alot!
I would also like to thank everyone who kept up with this blog while we were away. It was nice to know that there were people out there interested enough in our travels or even in our discoveries of Greece to check up every day or so. Afterall, what good is a blog without readers? :)
In closing, then, I will leave you all with a list of favorites and a few pictures. Hopefully, the good time we had will come through in both!
List of Favorites:
favorite site: Meteora (for its spectacular views and mind-boggling architecture), but Olympia in terms of an ancient site (for its ability to infuse the surrounding nature with the ancient ruins)
favorite city: Fira in Santorini (it's hard to compare anything with Santorini)
favorite Greek food: chicken souvlaki (essentially chicken on a stick)
things I'll miss from Greece:
- the weather
- George
- Santorini
- the good times we had as a group
- the proximity to all things ancient!
things I'm glad to have again in Canada:
- toilets that flush toilet paper
- toilets that aren't squat toilets (yes, toilets were an issue)
- face clothes
- mash potatoes
- my friends and family
Pictures:
Natalie :)
Friday, March 5, 2010
Day 15: March 5
March 5:
riddle answer: ". / , / : / ;"
fail: We are confused by this one. We don't understand the answer. Feel free to enlighten us.
dare: to not start the countdown
success: No need. Having too good of a time!
quote: "I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move." - Robert Louis Stevenson
riddle: At noon and midnight, the hour and minute hands are coincident with eachother. How many times between noon and midnight do the hour and minute hands cross?
So today the wonderful Greek people went on strike again. Luckily, it was just transportation, so we just walked to the places we wanted to go.
Anyway, I can now say that I saw the Parthenon. The acropolis was amazing! The view from the top was spectacular over the city, and from one corner, you could hear the Greek protestors (which just made the experience even more interesting!). It was a long walk to the top, but the architects were definitely smart when they designed the layout. The long windy road the top gave us the opportunity to look up to the Parthenon and out on the city, and then going through the Propylaea, you get another amazing view of the Parthenon. It was definitely worth all the hype!
Afterwards, we went down the Areopagus, which is essentially this giant rock/hill. Then we moved from there into the Agora. Overlooking it is the Temple of Hephaestus, which is one of my favorite Greek temples, and is also supposedly the best preserved temple in Greece. Lastly, we tried to do the Karameikos (the "potter's quarter"), but probably due to our constant bad luck, it was closed.
That left the rest of the day free to shop. The set-up here is pretty funny. All the purses and sunglasses are sold by men on the street - literally on the street. They lay them all out on blankets so that they can pick up and move whenever they need to. It's kind of sketchy, but definitely an experience.
Tonight we were supposed to go to a Greek cooking lesson, but due to the transportation strike and the fact that the lesson was all the way across town, we are going to eat the old-fashioned way - by buying it in a restaurant! Unfortunately, I will not have any Greek cooking skills to bring home to everyone! :(
Tomorrow is the National Museum, which is supposed to take a long time. It is also our last night in Greece tomorrow as we are leaving on Sunday. I'll be sure to post tomorrow, and then when I return, I will see if I can figure out how to add pictures. Talk to you again soon!
riddle answer: ". / , / : / ;"
fail: We are confused by this one. We don't understand the answer. Feel free to enlighten us.
dare: to not start the countdown
success: No need. Having too good of a time!
quote: "I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move." - Robert Louis Stevenson
riddle: At noon and midnight, the hour and minute hands are coincident with eachother. How many times between noon and midnight do the hour and minute hands cross?
So today the wonderful Greek people went on strike again. Luckily, it was just transportation, so we just walked to the places we wanted to go.
Anyway, I can now say that I saw the Parthenon. The acropolis was amazing! The view from the top was spectacular over the city, and from one corner, you could hear the Greek protestors (which just made the experience even more interesting!). It was a long walk to the top, but the architects were definitely smart when they designed the layout. The long windy road the top gave us the opportunity to look up to the Parthenon and out on the city, and then going through the Propylaea, you get another amazing view of the Parthenon. It was definitely worth all the hype!
Afterwards, we went down the Areopagus, which is essentially this giant rock/hill. Then we moved from there into the Agora. Overlooking it is the Temple of Hephaestus, which is one of my favorite Greek temples, and is also supposedly the best preserved temple in Greece. Lastly, we tried to do the Karameikos (the "potter's quarter"), but probably due to our constant bad luck, it was closed.
That left the rest of the day free to shop. The set-up here is pretty funny. All the purses and sunglasses are sold by men on the street - literally on the street. They lay them all out on blankets so that they can pick up and move whenever they need to. It's kind of sketchy, but definitely an experience.
Tonight we were supposed to go to a Greek cooking lesson, but due to the transportation strike and the fact that the lesson was all the way across town, we are going to eat the old-fashioned way - by buying it in a restaurant! Unfortunately, I will not have any Greek cooking skills to bring home to everyone! :(
Tomorrow is the National Museum, which is supposed to take a long time. It is also our last night in Greece tomorrow as we are leaving on Sunday. I'll be sure to post tomorrow, and then when I return, I will see if I can figure out how to add pictures. Talk to you again soon!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Day 14: March 4
March 4:
riddle answer: ton
success: Tanith got it.
dare: to have everyone in the group sign my shirt
fail: I was inconveniently wearing black, and I didn't get the chance to buy a white shirt. Maybe I will get one in the next couple of days though.
quote: "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - took the one less traveled by, and that has mae all the difference." - Robert Frost
riddle: There are 14 punctuation marks in English grammar. Can you name half of them?
Today was a fairly busy day. We woke up at our usual time of 7:30 AM and headed to Marathon. There wasn't much there, as it is just a field, but we saw the tomb and this interesting 3D map that explained where all the different monuments were in the area.
Afterwards, we hopped on the bus again and went to Brauron. Unfortunately for us, the site itself was closed, and so we had to satisfy ourselves with pulling the bus over to take pictures over the fence. We did go to the museum though, where I was very thrilled to see all the different grave stele of the little children. It was also fairly interesting to see the statues of hands holding doves and childhood toys.
Thirdly, we went to Sounion, which has a spectacular temple of Poseidon overlooking the water from the top of the hill. In true form, we did our dance in front of it. It was pretty interesting to see all the signatures of individuals dating back to the 1800's which were carved into the marble. We wanted to see Lord Byron, but alas!
It was also our last day with George (our driver). We were very disappointed, but apparently he has a life that doesn't include driving a bus for a group of students and their professor. Who knew?
By the time we got back to the hotel, we were exhausted. Unfortunately, on our way into the city, one of the main areas was closed down. George informed us that there was a protest going on, and the hotel reception desk man told us that there is going to be another general strike tomorrow. Isn't it just our luck that we would fly thousands of miles to see the Acropolis, and it may not be open to us! Or even better, isn't it just my luck that it's my last year at MTA after spending four years studying Classics, and I might not even see it! However, with some luck, only the transportation will be on strike, and we will be able to walk, since the Parthenon is visible from our hotel. We are a little worried about these strikes though... not because we're worried about being in danger or anything, but worried that we might not accomplish everything. Wish us luck!
riddle answer: ton
success: Tanith got it.
dare: to have everyone in the group sign my shirt
fail: I was inconveniently wearing black, and I didn't get the chance to buy a white shirt. Maybe I will get one in the next couple of days though.
quote: "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - took the one less traveled by, and that has mae all the difference." - Robert Frost
riddle: There are 14 punctuation marks in English grammar. Can you name half of them?
Today was a fairly busy day. We woke up at our usual time of 7:30 AM and headed to Marathon. There wasn't much there, as it is just a field, but we saw the tomb and this interesting 3D map that explained where all the different monuments were in the area.
Afterwards, we hopped on the bus again and went to Brauron. Unfortunately for us, the site itself was closed, and so we had to satisfy ourselves with pulling the bus over to take pictures over the fence. We did go to the museum though, where I was very thrilled to see all the different grave stele of the little children. It was also fairly interesting to see the statues of hands holding doves and childhood toys.
Thirdly, we went to Sounion, which has a spectacular temple of Poseidon overlooking the water from the top of the hill. In true form, we did our dance in front of it. It was pretty interesting to see all the signatures of individuals dating back to the 1800's which were carved into the marble. We wanted to see Lord Byron, but alas!
It was also our last day with George (our driver). We were very disappointed, but apparently he has a life that doesn't include driving a bus for a group of students and their professor. Who knew?
By the time we got back to the hotel, we were exhausted. Unfortunately, on our way into the city, one of the main areas was closed down. George informed us that there was a protest going on, and the hotel reception desk man told us that there is going to be another general strike tomorrow. Isn't it just our luck that we would fly thousands of miles to see the Acropolis, and it may not be open to us! Or even better, isn't it just my luck that it's my last year at MTA after spending four years studying Classics, and I might not even see it! However, with some luck, only the transportation will be on strike, and we will be able to walk, since the Parthenon is visible from our hotel. We are a little worried about these strikes though... not because we're worried about being in danger or anything, but worried that we might not accomplish everything. Wish us luck!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Day 13: March 3
February28:
riddle answer: glass
fail: we did not think of that
dare: to celebrate
success: we arrived in Athens and had wine at 4:00 in the afternoon.
quote: "A journey of 1000 miles begins with a broken fan belt and a leaky tire." - Anon
riddle: with potent flowery words speak I, of something common, vulgar, dry. I weave webs of pedanticprose, in effort to befuddle those..
March 1:
riddle answer: a riddle
success: :)
dare: to dance
success: we have invented a dance based loosely off our travels and dance moves acquired from meat commercials. We not dance everywhere.
quote: "American who travel abroad for the first time are often shocked to discover that, despite all the progress made in the last 30 years, many foreign people still speak in foreign languages." - Dave Barry
riddle: You are 8 ft away from a door and with each move you advance half the distance to the door. How many moves does it take to reach the door?
March 2:
riddle answer: never
success: I got this one. I never even gave people a chance to answer. How gracious of me!
dare: to buy Alex's gift
success: I got you something. You'll just have to wait and see. And good call on guessing that I wouldn't have bought your gift by now.
quote: "I see my path, but I do not know where it leads. Not knowing where I am going is what inspires me to travel it." - Rosalia de Castro
riddle: What do you call your father-in-law's only child's mother-in-law?
March 3:
riddle answer: Mom
success: it took some time for some of us to wrap our minds around this one, but it was a success all the same!
dare: to dip my toes in the water
success: I went swimming in the Mediterranean (which included being beaten against the rocks by the strong waves!)
fail: I did it the day before.
quote: "Travelling is the ruin of happiness! There is no looking here after at another building since Greece." - Fanny Burney
riddle: Forwards, I am heavy. Backwards, I am not. What am I?
So I apologize both for bombarding you with the last four days of riddles and for not blogging for the last four days. I have a good reason though: Santorini!
On the first day I didn't write (February 28), we went to Corinth and Eleusis. Corinth was pretty amazing because it was a fairly big complex which I haven't actually studied before. It's nice to see something new! Eleusis was very interesting as well. We particularly liked the cave where Demeter allegedly sat and waited for Persephone. To add to Dr. Cohen's embarrassment, we did our meat commercial dance in it! Someone had also cleverly left a half eaten pomegranate. We were also incredibly excited to find that the museum in Eleusis holds the Blinding of Polyphemus amphora. I snuck a picture of myself with it before quickly exiting!
On the second day, we had to get up fairly early (like 5:30 AM early!) to catch the 7 hour ferry ride to Santorini. We weren't too impressed about a boat ride taking as long as the plane ride across the ocean, but it turned out to be fairly fun. The ship stopped at several islands, and the view was spectacular. When we finally arrived in Santorini, we were all pretty excited! Our hotel was amazing. Every group of two essentially got their own suite of rooms that included a bathroom, a kitchen complex, and sometimes a living room or dining room. Besides that, our terrace area looked out over the caldera (which is essentially this big bay where the volcano is). The caldera is apparently "bottomless" and the ferries can't drop anchor there. Our view was the stereotypical island view that looked out over the water and included the white painted houses all built up on the side of the cliff. Needless to say, we were impressed!
The third day, we rented a bus and went swimming in the Mediterranean. We also went to Oia which was another city on the island. Oia is where they filmed the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. It was pretty cool. For the rest of the day, we shopped around and lounged on our beautiful terrace. It's a hard life. I know.
That evening for supper, we went to Mama's House. I mention this restaurant particularly because it included a wonderful woman (Mama), who met us at the door and said, "Say hello to Mama, Sexbombs!" She was this fiery Greek lady who was incredibly charismatic. We danced our meat commercial dance for her and she made the whole restaurant clap. She was definitely the highlight of our time there.
On our last day in Santorini (today), we relaxed. We slept in, walked around the city, and read in the chairs on the terrace. We were very sad to leave. We took a plane back, which was essentially a half hour long. We barely finished eating the snack they gave us 10 minutes on the plane, when they ripped the garbage our of our hands, and told us they were landing. It's ironic that it took us 7 hours to get there on a ship, and so little time to fly back on a plane. Now we're back in Athens looking at the last stretch of our trip here in Greece. We're going to Marathon, Sounion, and Brauron tomorrow... But I have to say, my dreams will be of Santorini!
riddle answer: glass
fail: we did not think of that
dare: to celebrate
success: we arrived in Athens and had wine at 4:00 in the afternoon.
quote: "A journey of 1000 miles begins with a broken fan belt and a leaky tire." - Anon
riddle: with potent flowery words speak I, of something common, vulgar, dry. I weave webs of pedanticprose, in effort to befuddle those..
March 1:
riddle answer: a riddle
success: :)
dare: to dance
success: we have invented a dance based loosely off our travels and dance moves acquired from meat commercials. We not dance everywhere.
quote: "American who travel abroad for the first time are often shocked to discover that, despite all the progress made in the last 30 years, many foreign people still speak in foreign languages." - Dave Barry
riddle: You are 8 ft away from a door and with each move you advance half the distance to the door. How many moves does it take to reach the door?
March 2:
riddle answer: never
success: I got this one. I never even gave people a chance to answer. How gracious of me!
dare: to buy Alex's gift
success: I got you something. You'll just have to wait and see. And good call on guessing that I wouldn't have bought your gift by now.
quote: "I see my path, but I do not know where it leads. Not knowing where I am going is what inspires me to travel it." - Rosalia de Castro
riddle: What do you call your father-in-law's only child's mother-in-law?
March 3:
riddle answer: Mom
success: it took some time for some of us to wrap our minds around this one, but it was a success all the same!
dare: to dip my toes in the water
success: I went swimming in the Mediterranean (which included being beaten against the rocks by the strong waves!)
fail: I did it the day before.
quote: "Travelling is the ruin of happiness! There is no looking here after at another building since Greece." - Fanny Burney
riddle: Forwards, I am heavy. Backwards, I am not. What am I?
So I apologize both for bombarding you with the last four days of riddles and for not blogging for the last four days. I have a good reason though: Santorini!
On the first day I didn't write (February 28), we went to Corinth and Eleusis. Corinth was pretty amazing because it was a fairly big complex which I haven't actually studied before. It's nice to see something new! Eleusis was very interesting as well. We particularly liked the cave where Demeter allegedly sat and waited for Persephone. To add to Dr. Cohen's embarrassment, we did our meat commercial dance in it! Someone had also cleverly left a half eaten pomegranate. We were also incredibly excited to find that the museum in Eleusis holds the Blinding of Polyphemus amphora. I snuck a picture of myself with it before quickly exiting!
On the second day, we had to get up fairly early (like 5:30 AM early!) to catch the 7 hour ferry ride to Santorini. We weren't too impressed about a boat ride taking as long as the plane ride across the ocean, but it turned out to be fairly fun. The ship stopped at several islands, and the view was spectacular. When we finally arrived in Santorini, we were all pretty excited! Our hotel was amazing. Every group of two essentially got their own suite of rooms that included a bathroom, a kitchen complex, and sometimes a living room or dining room. Besides that, our terrace area looked out over the caldera (which is essentially this big bay where the volcano is). The caldera is apparently "bottomless" and the ferries can't drop anchor there. Our view was the stereotypical island view that looked out over the water and included the white painted houses all built up on the side of the cliff. Needless to say, we were impressed!
The third day, we rented a bus and went swimming in the Mediterranean. We also went to Oia which was another city on the island. Oia is where they filmed the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. It was pretty cool. For the rest of the day, we shopped around and lounged on our beautiful terrace. It's a hard life. I know.
That evening for supper, we went to Mama's House. I mention this restaurant particularly because it included a wonderful woman (Mama), who met us at the door and said, "Say hello to Mama, Sexbombs!" She was this fiery Greek lady who was incredibly charismatic. We danced our meat commercial dance for her and she made the whole restaurant clap. She was definitely the highlight of our time there.
On our last day in Santorini (today), we relaxed. We slept in, walked around the city, and read in the chairs on the terrace. We were very sad to leave. We took a plane back, which was essentially a half hour long. We barely finished eating the snack they gave us 10 minutes on the plane, when they ripped the garbage our of our hands, and told us they were landing. It's ironic that it took us 7 hours to get there on a ship, and so little time to fly back on a plane. Now we're back in Athens looking at the last stretch of our trip here in Greece. We're going to Marathon, Sounion, and Brauron tomorrow... But I have to say, my dreams will be of Santorini!
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