Sparta

So this weekend was the class trip to Sparta. I knew from the start that there wasn't going to be much, as the Spartans were not known for their great engineering talents, but rather their amazing abilities at war (See 300) if you need to know more. As the writer Thucydides wrote in the 5th Century BCE (that's BC, it's a history thing), "Suppose the city of Sparta to be deserted, and nothing left but the temples and the ground-plan, distant ages would be very unwilling to believe that the power of the Lacedaemonians was at all equal to their fame." After developing into the powerful city-state that beat Athens near the end of the 5th century BCE and establishing a hegemony throughout Greece, Sparta wound up losing power fairly quickly. It had a brief resurgence during the Roman period, but soon, very few people lived there. With the building of the city of Mystra in the Renaissance, the Eurotas Valley became completely abandoned. Therefore, when King Otto I, the first king of Greece, came to power, he ordered the construction of a city on top of the ancient site. This has led to a major headache for archaeologists, as the ancient ruins are now located under people's personal property.

Anyway, enough of my history tirade. As i have said, there wasn't much, and none of the sites were developed in any way. However, that doesn't mean that the sites were not impressive. While they lacked the refinement of the Acropolis, each ruin possessed its own charm. Our first visit was to the Menelaion, which was the ancient temple dedicated to Menelaus, the first king of Sparta and his wife Helen (of Helen of Troy fame). This was a rather simple temple, but as it was built during the 8th century BCE, it demonstrated some impressive architetural knowledge with its large, well-fitted stones. Also, from here we got our first view of the modern Spartan city, and the infamous Mt. Taygetus. This mountain range rose out of nowhere to be as high as the clouds. The river Eurotas is one of the few rivers in Greece which runs 365 days a year, making the valley incredibly fertile. Also near the Menealion was a Mycenaean villa, basically a large house which was fairly well reconstructed and impressive in its own right.

After lunch and a hike back, we checked into the hotel, then went for a hike to the Temple of Artemis Orthia and the Acropolis. The Temple of Artemis Orthia is fairly well known throughout the ancient world. Don't worry if you haven't heard of it, I hadn't until i became a history dork. But you may remember it as the temple where the Spartan youths were divided into two groups, one in front of the main altar holding whips, and the other group in front. The boys with whips were to keep the other boys from grabbing pieces of cheese off the altar. The ceremony would not end until blood was spilled on the altar. Kinda bloody and unnerving, but better than later on when it became an endurance contest with the last man standing after a whipping winning the "contest."

The Acropolis is especially impressive. It's now part park, part private property. There were a number of ruins on the hill (Acropolis doesn't refer to just the one in Athens, an Acropolis is a large hill), namely a Roman era theater. This theater rivals that of Epidaurus in my opinion, and is going to be excavated again soon. With a view of the Eurotas Valley and Mt. Taygetus, you'd be hard pressed to find a more gorgeous view. There were remnants of a Roman bath and a number of inscriptions. After a long day, we went back to the hotel, went to dinner, had some fun, and went to sleep.

In the morning, we visited the Sparta museum, which was in sore need of restoration and repair. Nevertheless, it still contained a number of important works of art from Sparta, including some impressive lead and bronze figurines. After this, we went on to the the Amyklaion, a temple to Apollo. This temple lacked any remains pretty much at all, and the only highlight was finding some cool pottery shards which sadly i could not keep. Sadly, we had to kill time here, so many of us just sat back and enjoyed the sunshine. Our final visit to the Caidas, the great pit where the Spartans would throw their prisoners, a somewhat recent cave in/earthquake made the site unsafe, so we were unable to travel inside. A somewhat big disappointment.

On the whole, what we saw was impressive, but there was not much beyond what you could see in a day or two. The modern city itself was even disappointing, with many dilapidated buildings and run down streets. I don't recommend Sparta for those who have no knowledge of ancient history, as you'd be terribly lost and confused without it, and even then, you still may be disappointed and confused.

Argolid and snow in Athens

This weekend was the first of the school field trips I'm going to have over the next few weeks. This one was to the region of the Peloponnese known as the Argolid. It's the region that is in the northeastern section of the peninsula. This region has been settled since the beginning of history, with settlements dating from the Bronze Age all the way to the modern day. It's a fairly agriculturally rich area with mountains, plains, rivers, and a gorgeous ocean view.

While I was there, I went to Mycenae, Tiryns, Epidaurus, and Nafplion. Essentially, I saw settlements dating from all the major periods in Greek history. Mycenae and Tiryns date from the Mycenaean period, Epidarurus from the Classical and Roman, and Nafplion is mostly a modern/17th century and beyond. Each place had it's own individual character and each was gorgeous in it's own right.

The first stop was the Corinth Canal. Minus the horribly overpriced market there, the actual canal itself was pretty spectacular. Unlike with the Panama Canal with it's locks, this one is just a straight shot, carved about two hundred or so feet down. It's quite imposing/scary. The water was fairly blue and it was certainly worth a stop.

After the pit stop, we pressed on to Mycenae. In mythology, Agamemnon called Mycenae home (he's the guy that attacked Troy). Discovered/excavated by Henriech Schliemann in the late 1800's, Mycenae was an impressive citadel which controlled the surrounding area. Today, it's still a daunting sight with it's tremendously large stone walls and gorgeous view. The first thing we looked at was a tholos tomb. Essentially, the Mycenaeans built a large stone structure, then covered it all with dirt. The most incredible fact is that, given the design, if they were off by more than a MILLIMETER, the entire thing would collapse. Just think about that. It's a hard feat to pull off even today, and these were built around 1400 BC!! The other remarkable feature was the relieving triangle in the front. It was remarkably similar to the Roman arch, but again, that would not be invented for another 1000 years at least! As we walked towards the actual citadel, the walls began to tower over me. The stones were enormous (some as big as me), and the walls themselves were several times as tall as i am. The Lion Gate guarded the entrance, at one point holding a massive door. Minus the grave circles which i'll skip, there wasn't much else. There was most def. a gorgeous view, and some other things that don't really excite non-dorky history majors. The only other notable thing was the large cistern that was carved down 3 long flights of stairs and could contain enough water for 3 months. Tiryns was pretty much the same, some very large (bigger than Mycenae) walls and some cisterns and a meeting hall.

After Mycenae, we traveled on to Nafplion, the original capital of independent Greece. The city has a long history, stretching all the way back to the Mycenaean era. The Venetians and Ottomans fought heavily for this area, as it is a very good natural harbor. As such, it has several impressive fortifications on top of some large hills. The most impressive was the Palamidi, which was built by the Venetians, but quickly taken by the Ottomans due to a traitor. The castle was enormous, with 900 some odd (i counted 902, but other people got different tallies) and several bastions within the walls. You literally could get lost for hours, and it would make the ultimate site for a game of hide and go seek. I climbed up the night before we actually went there and got an gorgeous view of the harbor. The other amazing castle was the Bourtsi in the middle of the harbor. At a good sunset, it creates a beautiful picture. There were some really good tavernas and one exceptional gellato place with really good Italian ice cream. I also went to a wine tasting and learned about Greek wines. If you're ever here, for a red, get one from Nemea, for a white, go for one from Mantinea.

The final stop on the trip was at Epidaurus, home to the sanctuary of Aesciplus, the god of healing, and the best preserved ancient theater in the world. It probably has the best acoustics anywhere, even today. Even in the last row, you could hear a coin dropped on the stage or a person scuffing their feet on the ground. Performances are still done today in that space, unfortunately in the summer, so i can't see one, but i hear they are spectacular. The backdrop behind the actors was equally impressive, with large mountains rising up, green trees and plains. The sanctuary of Aesciplus was where people came to be healed. This was a major site with hotels in the area to provide for visitors. Apparently, a person came to be healed had to perform the proper rituals and provide payment before treatment. Treatment consisted of being knocked out with drugs, while the priests cured what was wrong with you as best they could. The idea however was that Aesciplus came to the patient in their dreams and healed them there. There were some pretty funny stories told to us by my professor of cases that came to the sanctuary. After treatment, the patient had to provide a sacrifice within a year. Overall, there was not much left at the site, mostly ruins. There was a stadium for athletics and the actual sanctuary itself, but all were in ruins. The Greek gov't is testing out new ways of preservation by rebuilding much of the site using modern materials to differentiate from the ancient. In my opinion, the end result is an ugly blend of classic and ancient. But who am i to judge?

The other major development was it snowed here in Athens! Yes, snowed! And not just a little bit, a legitimate 3-5 inches. I had a snow day in fact because of the weather which was an unexpected bonus. It's quite the sight. Sadly it won't last for very long, with temperatures expected to reach 60 by Wednesday. Everything is pretty much shut down, but it's not bad. It's an experience that is not soon forgotten.

Athens (Sorta) Weekend

So this weekend, I was lame/exhausted, so I stayed in Athens. Yea yea i know, I fail at providing amazing new pictures, but the weather was sooooo bad here it wouldn't have made much difference. It was very windy (the balcony doors almost blew open a few times), cloudy, and somewhat rainy. So I stayed in Athens and watched some DVDs and slept.

I did manage to get some things done on Friday. I went to the local farmers market which is quite a sight. The entire street gets closed down weekly and local vendors come in to sell their produce. Some of it they buy and then resell, but some of it is grown locally. Chefs from the area buy all their weekly produce here. As you walk down the street, vendors shout out the goods they are selling and try and get you to buy from them. I was very impressed. The food I got was in pretty good shape, and pretty cheap. Now i really can't wait until spring when the strawberries come into season, because they look amazing.

I also managed this weekend to go to two museums (yes, me in a museum...it's a amazing thing). These weren't your typical museums however. The first was the Numismatics Museum. Numismatics is a big fancy word for the study of coins. The collection apparently houses over 600,000 coins from all ages, all the way from the ancient Greeks and Persia all the way to the modern day with the Euro and Dollar. Some were quite impressive in their detailing, even the ancient coins. The display was not the most easy to follow, as i apparently went backwards at times. If i didn't know what i was looking at, i wouldn't have known what was going on in the ancient coins. The very first gallery is made up of collections from individuals, so there is no order to them. Once you get to the second floor, there is a lot more of organization. The most fantastic part of this museum is that it was the house of Heinrich Schliemann. For those of you who are not ancient historians (I only know this because i'm a history dork), he was the man who in the 19th century discovered Troy and Mycenae. He discovered these by using Homer, so is a bit of a crackpot, but overall he contributed greatly to our understanding of ancient Greek history. His house is in Athens, built in the Neoclassical style, and is rather impressive. Unfortunately i got there about an hour before it closed, so i had to rush through, but i plan on going back.

The other museum i visited was also a former house, but this time for a wealthy family named the Benaki's. This is truly an impressive museum. It contains art starting from the early Minoan and Cycladic civilizations all the way to the late Byzantine and Ottoman. Best of all, it was free for students, so the price was most certainly right. I enjoyed the first two floors, but was getting tired, so i rushed through by the end. There were 2 more floors, but they did not interest me very much (they were from the more recent era). Who knows, maybe I'll go back and visit. The museum does contain several impressive pieces of art, and is most certainly worth a visit.

Next weekend, I'm traveling on a school field trip to the Argolid, which is the northeastern part of the Peloponnese. Not quite sure what the itinerary is, but Nafplion, Corinth, Tiryns, Mycenae, and Epidarus are in the area, so I'm sure i'll be going to some of them! Plus, spring break is going to be in Austria and Germany, so you KNOW there will be good pictures!

Meteora

So, this weekend with a bunch of friends, we went up to Meteora. I personally had never heard of this place before, but it got 3 out of 3 stars in my Frommers guide, and let me tell you, it was totally worth it.

To get up there, we took a train from Larissa Station to Kalambaka, which took about 5 hours, give or take. The train ride was remarkably smooth and relaxing, despite it's length. It wasn't even that expensive, costing 30 euros round trip, or about 45 dollars. Upon arriving, we got off the train and went exploring for a hotel. The one we found was no Hilton or Sheraton, but it did the job for a night.

I guess i should explain what Meteora is, because i for one knew next to nothing about it before a friend suggested that we take a trip up. Meteora is best known (and famous for) the enormous rocks/mountains which dominate the landscape. Easily rising 500, if not more, feet in the air, Eastern Orthodox Christian monks/nuns have constructed several monasteries over the past 1000 years. Some are abandoned, but 6 are still in use. I visited 3 of them which were open, but walked by 2 more which were closed, so i saw most of them. The artwork was exquisite, the view extraordinary, and the building incredible. How people managed to build anything on top of these peaks is mind boggling.

Some of the monasteries were run by the monks/nuns, each charged a few euros for entrance. The churches were all the same though, having a similar layout and structure, with similar paintings and designs. That didn't detract from how spectacular and unique each one was. The Great Meteron was certainly the most fantastic, with both a gorgeous view, large building, and several museums/relics on display. Sadly, i didn't see any monks at this one, as it was run by others. Very sad. The same was true for Varlaam, which there was not much to see. The first one, run by nuns, called St. Stephens, was prob. my favorite, as you could talk to the nuns, and there was a great deal of room to walk around in.

How these mountains formed was another question. Apparently, the plain of Thessaly was once an ocean, so the mountains formed through geological/volcanic activity, then were left when the ocean emptied out. There was no method or plan, they were all different shapes and sizes. The pictures I took were sadly not the same as the actual view. You needed to take a taxi in order to reach anywhere, as it was a long walk to reach anywhere.

The town itself was simple and quaint, a major change from Athens. There were small shops, many geared towards tourists, but i wasn't complaining. Most were closed for the season, as high season is in the summer, but there was enough to provide a view of a small town in Greece. We found a taverna where the owner was waiter/chef, and cooked the food right in front of us in a fireplace. It was an amazing experience. The souvlaki was delicious, as were the appetizers and the atmosphere/company.

All in all, a fantastic trip, well worth the cost, and the time it took to travel to!