Oracles, Exams, Gelato, and Small Airports

Roma, Roma! Forum views

Hanging out on a cliff

Last weekend, right before midterms, CYA held a class field trip to Delphi where we got to explore ruins and inquire about the future. Before making our way over to the small village, we stopped at the Ossios Loukas Monastery which I have actually visited once before with the Athens Hiking Group. The beautiful valley surrounding the monastery is even more beautiful in the Greek sun (last time the weather wasn't as nice). This monastery houses a rare relic, the entire body of St. Luke which is on display for visitors to see. After breaking for lunch, we continued on to the lower archaeological site of Delphi were some ruins remain, but aren't the best preserved. After arriving to the hotel and having the rest of the day free, some friends and I hiked around and found some pretty awesome views of the Delphic valley. Dinner and a movie were followed by a visit to the one night club open in town where a variety of music genres were played (like the happy birthday song; three times).
 

Delphi

The next morning we had breakfast in the hotel before driving up to the upper Delphic archaeological site and museum. Here we walked the path that visitors seeking information would walk after being cleansed in the stream to seek our own fates. Partway to the top, we found the naval of the world! The popularity and mythological influences of Delphi in ancient times led to the title of the center of the world, and Apollo's naval was erect. We continued on to the temple were the oracle would sit nine times a year and then up to the theater were you could see the entire site. A short break followed by visiting the museum where it held many of the surviving treasures of Delphi such as a sphinx, the naval cover, and lots of other statues. We left the site and stopped for lunch in the cutest skiing town before heading back to Athens.

Jamie and I practicing ancient wrestling moves

The rest of the week was consumed by midterms and classes, all of which I managed to survive. One cool thing that we have been doing in my ancient sports class is reenactments of the ancient sports, hands on. We learned and practiced moves from ancient wrestling, boxing, and pankration (basically MMA all out brawling) with our classmates and punching bags. It has been a total blast!

The Colosseum

This past weekend I got to finally go on the trip I have had booked since the beginning of the semester, Rome! Leaving late Thursday evening, Katie, Noa, Olivia, and I heaed for the Athens airport to fly into Ciampino. Arriving around 11pm, we made our way to the hostel in the city and went to bed pretty much immediately. The next morning, we woke up bright and early and headed straight for the Colosseum. With our CYA issued ICOMOS cards, we skipped the line and got in for free. It was the perfect time to go as it wasn't super busy yet, and we had lots of time to walk around and marvel at the oval shaped death playground. After exiting, we ran right into the Arch of Constantine followed by the Palatine foothills and the Forum which we explored for a few hours then walked along the Tiber river. 

Gelato ft. Katie

THE PANTHEON

Creepin' in the Forum

Lunch involving pizza was next, where we met Katie's friend Joe who is studying in Rome. For the rest of the day he toured us around the city showing us the Best Gelato Place in Rome (Frigidarium), the Trevi fountain, the Pantheon, Spanish steps, Piazzo di Popolo, Caravaggio church, and finally we had dinner in a lively neighborhood at Da Otello where we were too Greek and stayed until they closed (we were there for hours, as the Greeks do). Also, we witnessed the aftermath of a pick pocketing incident on the bus which was very alarming! 

Trevi fountain with Noa, Olivia, and Katie

Saturday we got up early again before hopping on the metro that would take us to the Vatican where we were distressed as the line looked to be about 3 hours long, paid tour guides were yapping at us about paying for a tour to skip the line, and trying to decide what to do. We ended up deciding to try to get in again with our ICOMOS cards, and the security guard waived us past the line and let us in early. We then rushed through to the Sistine Chapel to see it before it got too crowded, which was amazing. After seeing the marvelous works Michelangelo, we went back through the entire Vatican again, but slower to appreciate the rest of the museum. I saw so many Greek and Roman sculptures, including about 7 different ones Artemis in the round. One of my favorite galleries was the contemporary art gallery which contained many pieces from the mid 20th century and on including what I like to call "pop-art Jesus." After about 3 hours inside the Vatican, we switched over to St. Peter's Cathedral, which had a line too line that we could not skip, so we opted to just look at it.

Sneaky photo inside the Sistine Chapel

Pop Art Jesus

We then walked over to the Jewish quarter and saw the Great Mosque and had lunch at a restaurant near there. After filling up, we walked along the Tiber and stopped by a few other churches on the way back to the hostel, including the Cornaro Chapel which contains the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa by Bernini. After gathering together at the hostel, we met again with Joe for dinner in another restaurant where we clearly were overstaying our welcome, as the servers seemed to rush everything. At this point it started raining, and we made our way back to the hostel, saying goodbye to Joe, to get our things and head to the airport.

Posing w the Vestal Virgins

Now here's the thing, we originally were supposed to have 3 days in Rome and leave Sunday night, but Ryanair being Ryanair switched our return flight to Sunday morning about a week before we left, so we decided it wasn't worth paying to stay in the hostel for a few hours and cancelled that night when we first arrived in Rome.  We took a cab to the airport around midnight, because no buses were running until 4 am and our flight was taking off at 6:30. The kind taxi driver talked and told us stories the whole way, except he spoke absolutely no English, so he rambled on to us in Italian. When we arrived at the airport, we came to find that it was closed, doors locked. We snuck in to arrivals and sat in there for about an hour before that closed to, so we spent the rest of the night (until 4 am) laying on the ground outside waiting. I was frustrated, cold, tired, and annoyed by the situation, but it really shed some light on what it is like to be without a home, and I am very grateful and humbled by all that I have access to in my life that I take for granted every day. 

Finally I arrived back in Athens, and I have never been so happy to see my bed before (springs poking my back and all) and I then proceeded to sleep allll of Sunday which was much needed. We had one day of classes for the week today, and now I am packing and getting ready for our final field trip to northern Greece tomorrow where we will spend 5 days learning about the history and culture of Thessaloniki and the surrounding areas!