Sifting

I am still working to sort through all of the info, pictures, and items I brought home from my trip. As I sift I am hoping that I can pull together all of my experiences to inspire my students. I am up for the challenge!

There's No Place Like Home

I cannot be more grateful for the wonderful trip from which I just returned! It was a growing experience for me as well as an educational trip.

I went into this trip expecting to gain knowledge about mythology, and I have. BUT...I have also learned about Greek culture, language, cuisine, and politics. We visited in a time of economic turmoil and we saw the effects - soldiers with machine guns on 24 hour guard at the government building and many tourist sites; empty tourist sites; and businesses with very little foot traffic.

We talked to Dimitris and Elena, shop owners in Delphi. Dimitris shared with us his frustration over the media's embellishments of the recent bank burning in Syntagma Square. "People are scared to come to Greece. They think Greece is unsafe."

He explained to us that when Greeks go on strike, the strikers file paperwork with the government and police to notify them about the reason why, when, and where. The government can then look into the problem, while the police can set up barricades to protect the strikers and allow them to express their opinions. He said it may seem foreign to us, but it is normal for them. Random injuries and broken shop windows near the strike area are generally not due to strikers. It's others who get carried away. He also pointed out that with Athens being the "big city" and hub for travel, people are not coming to ANY Greek cities for fear of traveling through Athens.

His souvenir shop in Delphi is two and a half hours from Athens, and to me it seemed like a world away. It is located on the slope of Mount Parnassus overlooking the Corinthian Sea. It is easily one of my favorite places because of the peacefulness and friendliness of the town. Dimitris said that bad things that happen in Athens don't happen in small towns like Delphi because everyone knows each other and everyone looks out for one another. Yet, the restaurants and shops are being affected by the bad press that events in Athens have gotten. It's amazing how a few news stories can greatly affect so many lives. Not just those involved in the story, but even those unrelated to it.

I plan to keep in contact with Dimitris and Elena and see if they can be my classroom's connection to Greece. Who knows, maybe I'll return to Delphi one day to show a group of students around the ruins!

In addition to my newfound knowledge about Greece, I've had some wonderful "epiphany-like" ideas for other teaching units and my classroom set up. I think next year is going to be the best ever! I cannot wait!

THANK YOU FUND FOR TEACHERS!

Book Review #2

I am finished with Lyddie by Katherine Paterson and I could not read it fast enough! It is so good! I love the character of Lyddie and I feel like I understand her struggles, despite how different my life is from her's.

For my students' 8th grade pre-ap summer reading choices, the students can choose Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix (same author as the Shadow Children Series). I HIGHLY recommend it! If you like Uprising, you'll enjoy Lyddie as well. The struggles are similar but you don't necessarily feel like you can predict the ending of one just because you read the other.

Travel, Travel, Travel

We left Naxos this morning at 11:30am on a Hellenic Seaways highspeed boat. We made one stop at Paros island before we made it to Athens. Who would've known that the metro system would be on strike the last day we are here!!! We were encouraged to use the busses to get to the Athens airport, but we kept seeing people filtering into the train depot so we waited around to find out if anything was running. A janitor took pity on the obvious tourists and told us to take the train (she even pointed to the right one) to Monastiraki where we could change to the train bound for the airport. How did she know where we were going??!?!?

The strike was scheduled to last until 5:00pm (we began our train extravaganza at 3:45), so we figured we'd just ride as far as we could and then either wait until 5:00 to go further or get a taxi. Turns out, we didn't even have to wait. We were able to stay on our train all the way to Eleftherios Venizelos airport, where we checked in (one day early) and caught a shuttle to the Holiday Inn Athens.

So here we sit, with dinner in our bellies (expensive hotel dinner) ready to go to sleep. We'll be taking the 4:30am shuttle back to the airport to catch our 6:35am flight from Athens to Amsterdam, and from Amsterdam we'll fly to Houston. We are pretty excited to get home to our own couches, bed, and closet instead of suitcase. I'm not sure how ready we are for the summer humidity though. It's dry heat in Greece, so we've been pretty spoiled the past two weeks.

Naxos Cheese

Dinner was amazing tonight. I had a Greek salad - you'd think I would be sick of them by now wouldn't you? Not even a little!! After eating from street vendors, I was excited for some fresh veggies. I am not a big fan of feta cheese but I decided to give it a whirl anyway and much to my surprise, I loved it. Well, it wasn't traditional feta. They put local Naxos cheese on their Greek salads. It looks like feta but is more creamy and less crumbly.

I was so hungry and it was so delicious that I ate the whole thing and then said, "I wanted to take a picture!" Oops!

Naxos - island of Zeus

The jetty is connected to the portara's island and is surrounded by aqua water.

In mythology, Naxos is where Zeus was raised, so the island has many sites dedicated to him, but the most prominent memorial is to Apollo. The portara sits at the top of a small hill that is connected to the mainland by a narrow walkway, so it makes a little island. The portara is the only thing on the island hill, which sits elevated from and away from the town, so you can see it from most places.

Our hotel owners, Michael and Irene, were so wonderful to us. Irene made some traditional Greek dessert topped with creamy, caramel ice cream. She insisted that we stop to enjoy some dessert before heading out for dinner. We loved Hotel Adriani!! http://www.hoteladriani.com/

Blond Beaches of Naxos

WOW! Why don't we have beaches and sunsets like this? It's not fair!!!


Our hotel owner gave us a ton of info when we checked in, including a book about the history of Naxos. He also provided us with a "city plan" (map) to get around. He highlighted the sites and beaches and told us that Naxos has beautiful blond beaches. I'd never heard white sand called "blond" before. But I guess I also hadn't heard a map called a city plan either. I love being immersed in a new culture and having to adapt to new ways of doing things. It is humbling to have to ask questions instead of assuming you know everything.

Happy Father's Day from Greece

We miss our dads and hope they have a relaxing day today!!

We love you!

New Best Day Ever

Kamari Beach

Red Beach


The pictures don't do them justice, but today we visited the two best beaches ever! I am in awe of how gorgeous Kamari (black) beach and red beach on Santorini are! It's like God took a paintbrush and used totally different colors to create two beaches so close to each other.W

We ate dinner at Volcano Restaurant tonight. It sits on the caldera and has views similar to those in yesterday's landscape pictures. Look at the delicious appetizer we shared!!



Anyone know what it is?

The Best Day Ever

Santorini. Anyone who has visited the island knows that there is little that can be said to accurately express the beauty and charm it has. Also known as Thira, the island is said to have been formed by a volcanic eruption. It is believed that one side of the island collapsed, giving Santorini its famous caldera views and unique shape. Other people believe Santorini is the lost island of Atlantis.

Whatever you believe, everyone agrees that Santorini has breathtaking views and interesting history. Other than the ruins in Crete, the ancient site of Akrotiri has the most well-known Minoan ruins. Some of the frescoes found at Akrotiri are now at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens (which we visited).

I just kept taking sunset pictures from the same place every 15 minutes. Look at all the different colors. Don't miss the tiny sailboat in the last picture!


We are staying at Villa Romantic, about a 10 minute uphill walk to Fira's city center. The hotel is not on the caldera but has great views of the other, less touristy side of the island. I would have loved to book a hotel built into the side of the island with caldera views but they are quite pricey! Plus, we had the benefit of a great host, Kosmas, who picked us up from port and provided plenty of maps and tourist info. He also told us to let him know if we ever wanted take out. He said he can call it in and make sure we get what we want without leaving the hotel. Great offer, but we didn't come all the way to Santorini to eat in our hotel room. We like to wander and discover our own places.

We ate lunch at Noussa and I tried moussaka (there are pictures of Mike's moussaka in Delphi). Moussaka is a traditional Greek dish that looks like meatloaf and is filled with meat, tomatoes, and eggplant. Tasty!!
http://www.santorini-villa-romantic.gr/

Book Review

I finished my first book on the trip - Burning Up by Caroline B. Cooney. I normally love her books, but this one was not one of my favorites. I went along for the ride and really appreciate the way she writes, but I felt like her topic was forced. It was almost as though she said, "Ok, what haven't I written about before? Great, I'll do that." It didn't feel inspired.

With that said, I would still count her among my favorite YA authors and I wouldn't dissuade anyone from reading it. Actually, I'd love to know what other people think about it, so if you need a quick read try Burning Up and then let me know what you think.

Maybe my opinion was influenced by all the traveling and I didn't give it a fair shot?!?!

To The Islands!

Mike and I boarded an Aegean Airlines flight this morning at 11:15 am to fly to Crete. The flight was only 34 minutes. Our plane landed on a landing strip about 50 feet onto a cliff, so all of our descent was right above the Crete Sea...kinda freaky! I thought we were making a water landing.

We toured the Knossos Palace this afternoon and Mike made a good observation - it's very similar to Mycenae. This similarity has lead some to believe that the the people communicated with each other and were related. The landscape was similar (dry and dusty) and the construction of the building bears a resemblance (rock buildings, no marble like other places).

Why Crete? Well, Crete is where Theseus defeated the Minotaur in a courageous act to save the fourteen youths that his father, King Aegeus, was forced to sacrifice to it each year. Crete is also the home of the Minoans, one of the first great civilizations. The Knossos Palace was once home to the Minoans as well as the location for the Minotaur's great labyrinth. I was privileged to visit Knossos Palace, so according to mythology, I walked where the Minotaur lived and where it was eventually killed by Theseus!! Crete is a gold mine of Greek mythology!

Unfortunately, archaeologists are not sure what all the ruins used to be so as I wandered around Knossos Palace I had to imagine what things "may" have been.

Down Mount Parnassus

Main Street Through Delphi.......View from our room

Great restaurant.........................moussaka

chicken souvlaki........................stadium at the top.

Temple of Apollo.......................Theseus & the Minotaur

We left Delphi today. :( We really liked the charming little town on the slope of Mount Parnassus. We met some wonderful locals, our hotel was great, and the ruins were awesome! Michael and I made the hour plus hike through the ruins to the top where the ancient stadium is located. Along the way, we passed the Temple of Apollo, ancient theater, and several treasuries where excavators found almost fully intact statues, weaponry, and carvings. Mount Parnassus is also the site of Apollo's ancient oracle, where people could go to get answers to their pressing questions. It was quite a cool experience! The Temple of Apollo must have been massive, because the perimeter of the pillars was bigger than any of the other temples we saw!


Side note: Breakfast at Hotel Varonos was wonderful. They put out a huge spread with great variety. I can't be sure, but it seemed like the owners had friends/locals in for breakfast, so maybe they operate as a breakfast restaurant too. I loved it!

From the Home of the Olympics to the Magic of Delphi

What an amazing experience to see where the Olympics began. Did you know that Olympia is still where the Olympic torch is lit at the beginning of each Olympic games? The tradition of a torch with a flame come from the Greek myth in which Prometheus stole fire from Zeus and took it to earth to teach people how to cook and make things. Once the Olympic torch is lit, it travels around the world to the city hosting that year's games. The next summer Olympic games (2012) will be held in London and the next winter Olympic games (2014) will be held in Sochi, Russia.

Touring the ruins at Olympia was a treat. Mike and I wandered around the old stadium site and walked around and through the temples.


Aerial view of the Ancient Site of Olympia



Temple of Hera



Entrance to the Ancient Stadium



Still walking through the entrance



We are standing at the far end of the Ancient Stadium. The entrance in in the back left of the photo, about 246 steps away from where we are standing.


Our trusty Citroen


We left Olympia after touring the ruins and drove the four hours to the magical city of Delphi. I am in love with this town, population 3,500 (plus at least 1,000 tourists), and never want to leave! It is situated on the slope of Mount Parnassus overlooking the Corinthian Sea. It is gorgeous.

In stark contrast to Hotel Antontios in Olympia, Hotel Varonos (named for the owners) is fabulous! It is perfectly located in the center of the main street, with a welcoming atmosphere and huge dining room! Can't wait for breakfast tomorrow. http://www.hotel-varonos.gr/

This evening we wandered into a souvenir shop and talked with Dimitris and Elena, the owners, for over an hour. We told them why we were visiting and they explained a little about themselves and the town. We learned that all the media attention about the strikes in Athens have hurt their business even though they are almost 200 miles away from it. Most tourists fly into Athens, but with the negative attention tourists are not visiting as they normally do. Well, I can verify that Delphi is safe! Athens is a big city and has its dangers as always, but cities outside are fine!!

Our dinner at Patrikomas was delicious! I ate chicken souvlaki and Michael ate moussaka (his new favorite). The restaurant was at the edge of the slope and provided the best views of the valley and sea. I am now relaxing at our hotel, Hotel Varonos (named for the owners), which is my favorite of this two week trip. We have a view, a great room, and wonderful owners who greeted us with big smiles.

Tomorrow we are going to the ruins to see the Temple of Apollo, the Temple of Athena, and the site of the Delphic oracle. I imagine it will be pretty awesome!

Yucky

Yes that's right, Ladies and Gents. I discovered that not only was our hotel dirty but it also had the gift of fleas. Well, at least our room did. Maybe the other rooms were lovelier than our's was...but I doubt it. I really hate that I am dedicating a post to complaining about my sleeping quarters for one measly night, but I just feel that this warrants a little rant.

In all of my travels, I have always been the one to research and book hotel rooms and I have done a good job. Some were worse than others but none have been dirty. I've been disappointed that breakfast wasn't as good as advertised or that the room was MUCH smaller than expected (thank you, London), but I've never considered walking out as soon as I walked in my room.

It took some convincing, but I finally agreed to stay put since it was so late. I wanted to blog but I was so grossed out that I decided to go to sleep so I could get the night over with.

2:00am - I wake up to a 90 degree room with heat continuously pumping into it. I opened the balcony door to see if it had suddenly gotten hot....NOPE, it was quite cold actually. I called down to reception only to be told that "the air conditioning usually works" before being hung up on.

My only choice - go back to sleep. :( I hope our Delphi hotel is better!

Deep in the Heart of Greece

Today was our whirlwind day. I crazily planned for us to hit four cities on the Peloponnese - Corinth, Epidaurus, Mycenae, and Olympia. From a planning standpoint, it made the most sense to pack it all into one day. From a physical standpoint, it may have been more relaxing to stretch it out. But this is research!! Not a vacation!!

As we neared Olympia tonight, Jan and I agreed that it was best to see everything the way we did, because each of the sites really only contains a few hours of touring so to spend an entire day in each would have proved wasteful.

Corinth was fascinating. We saw the Temple of Apollo, the ruins of an ancient marketplace, and the Bema fountain where Paul the Apostle spoke to the Corinthians. The Ancient site is tucked into the city without much signage so we struggled to find it, but it was worth the effort.




Epidaurus was our second stop, and like Corinth, difficult to find. There is a small theatre that we (and some other tourists) ended up at. When we drove up I thought, "This isn't impressive." Clue #1. Clue #2 that we were in the wrong place should've been the lack of cars and guided tours. We almost gave up after an hour of driving around, but as a last ditch effort we pulled into a gas station on the main road and asked the attendant. He told us where to go and after questioning him (I know, I know, trust the locals) he said, "What is your expression - 'When in Rome?'" This made Mike and me laugh. He repeated the directions once more, and emphasized staying STRAIGHT for 12 miles and we were off. The staying straight for 12 miles is what finally got us within a few miles of the site, where we were able to follow the signs. Greece is great. They have a uniform sign with an 'ancient site' logo, the site name, and an arrow at the intersections. If you can follow arrows, you can find the site.

The Ancient Theatre at Epidaurus is amazing!! Mike and I climbed to the top and we could clearly hear a woman who was standing at the base singing. We could also hear Jan talking to another woman named Jan, whom she had met earlier. The story about the acoustics is true. I guess that is why they still hold concerts there. I have tried a few times to upload my video of the woman singing, but it must be too large because 30 minutes is not enough time to upload it.




The day's adventures really started after leaving Epidaurus. Going to Mycenae, our GPS told us to turn off the main road onto and dirt one, so we obeyed the technology and we were soon face to face with a military compound guarded by soldiers with machine guns slung across their chests. We were off the beaten path with no other tourists around so we freaked out, threw the car in reverse and backed down the dirt road until we could turn around and get back to the main one. All of our experiences with Greeks (outside of the bustling city of Athens) were positive so chances are the soldiers would've been nice (if we could've adequately explained ourselves & if they understood English) but we were so startled!! Thank goodness for Ms. Harris' map since the GPS kept insisting on taking us down that road.

King Agamemnon's tomb is beehive shaped and super cool. You are only allowed in the center of the building, but there are some dark chambers inside that I was dying to see into.


A mile up the hill from Treasury of Atreus (Agamemnon's Tomb) you can reach the Citadel of Mycenae - the Mycenaean fortress. The Mycenaeans found this area and built their fortress on the hill which protected them from surprise attacks and allowed them to see miles around them.




From Mycenae, we wound through the orange groves to the freeway (a real paved one that looks like American freeways!) on our way to Olympia. The drive is beautiful. Corinth, Epidaurus, and Mycenae were dry and dusty (think Palm Springs), but once we made our way around a big mountain we were suddenly in a lush, green part of the Peloponnese (think Hawaii). It was overcast and everything was slightly dew-covered. How cool to see two opposite landscapes within a few miles of each other. The mountains really provide for different climates. Remember, Greece is super mountainous!

After traveling on the freeway for a bit, we turned onto a smaller, windy road to make our way across the mountain. On those tiny, barely-one-lane roads we had the pleasure of taking in some gorgeous views of the green mountains. We even came upon two different shepherds with their sheep. They happily herded them to the side so we could pass and then gave friendly waves as we did. So cool!


As we pulled into Olympia after a long, exciting day we were so happy to be greeted by a pretty hotel front. Yes, a plush hotel for a great night's rest! I cannot adequately explain how gross the hotel was. The front and the lobby look portray a 5 star hotel. Pretty cool since we only paid about $50. Well, beyond the lobby were hotel rooms from the 70s that proved that Hotel Antonios does not have a housekeeping department. I cannot believe that in looking back at my photos I did not take a picture of it. I think I was too upset. Now, let's have some perspective here. I have stayed in Motel 6s and Super 8s, so I am not saying that I expected the Hotel de Crillon (in Paris...apparently one of the most luxurious hotels) or the Waldorf Astoria. But I did expect somewhere that I could take off my shoes without the fear of stepping on bugs, hair, and dirt. And what's worse, I had fleas on me!!! But ya know what?!?! Today was so amazing that even fleas cannot ruin the day. The fleas make me itchy, but I still LOVE Greece and appreciate all I saw today!

GPS Signal Too Low

"GPS Signal Too Low"

The theme of today...and probably ever other day the GPS is switched on. It refused to find specific addresses but thank goodness it was willing to find city centers. By the time we neared the center of the cities, there were signs to guide us to the sites. But seriously, Lucy (which is what Ms. Harris named it) is not going to have a long and happy life if she doesn't do her job. She nearly gave me a heart attack this afternoon when she took us down a small dirt road with bushes on either side, which probably should have been a red flag, and suddenly we saw guards with machine guns standing in front of what looked like the entrance to a military facility. What did we do? I screamed and yelled to reverse, so Michael threw the Citroen in reverse and backed a quarter mile down the dirt road until he could turn us around. Then we burned rubber to get back to the paved road.

That little adventure nearly made us return to Athens instead of continuing to search for Mycenae. I wasn't sure if I was up for any more surprises on our road trip, but the nice Shell station attendant was able to give us directions to the ruins at Mycenae. Another success!

Our failure for the day - Hotel Antonios in Olympia. Um, I had fleas on me....

The City on the Hill

It was truly an experience to walk up the Acropolis Hill to the ruins. On my way to the top, I stopped at the Theatre of Dionysos (Picture #1) before finally getting to the Temple of Hera (Picture #3), the Parthenon (Picture #4), and the Erechtheion (Picture #5).