Greece is so beautiful! I love Greek food and the amazing weather we had while we were there. We actually didn't have to wear coats! We arrived in Brindis, Greece after an overnight ferry which two of my three roommates started puking from motion sickness. I personally, took one Dramamine and two tylenol, rolled over and went into a medicated coma... pleasantly. =) But for a little while before the medicine kicked in, I thought I was going to toss my own cookies... but we avoided that.
Earlier that day, we stopped by and had a rushed visit to Pompeii and saw the solidified bodies of people cowering in corners as they met their death when Mt. Vesuvius erupted and covered the entire civilization. I had seen so many documentaries on this, that it was pretty darn cool to actually see it in person and walk around in the streets and look in the collapsed houses.
The next morning after the rough fairy ride, we stopped by Delphi, Greece to take a look at the ruins of the temples and amphitheatre where the marathon was birthed. Unfortunately, there had been recent earthquakes and 3/4 of the area was closed off, so we could see one treasury, but no oracle or any other temples and such. But there was some sweet fog that rolled in just after we got there and it was incredibly mystical.
Later that day we stopped by a Greek restaurant and I was introduced to the amazingness of Greek food. There were so many different tastes, textures and it was all so good and so cheap! I ate enough for three people...mmmm. It was so nice to actually eat.
We started the next day out with The Acropolis, some of you may be familiar... ha ha ha. There are some amazing pieces of architecture and I got to see the famous approach through the entrance. As I was doing a sketch that I later ruined by putting in more value, I talked with a man who's son is studying architecture as well, but in Greece. Later I realized I should have gotten some digits, but then again, Greek men are pretty hairy, and that just doesn't do it for me. haha. We wandered around the shopping market when a shop owner caught our attention because of one of the guys and the shoes he was wearing. Weirdly enough, he knew we were Americans, go figure. One of the guys gave the shop owner his business card because he collects American ones, then he gave us lucky Greek pennies, shook the guys' hands and then pinched my cheeks, told me I was beautiful and that he loved my cheeks, and then kissed both of my cheeks. So I walked away feeling pretty good. haha.
After that, we went to The new Acropolis Museum that gives homage to the Parthenon by similar angle and contemporary version of it. I didn't pay much attention to what was inside of it because it was mostly just headless, armless statues, pieces of friezes and columns. But the museum was built on ancient Roman ruins that they discovered after construction started and then agreed to just leave glass viewing holes and actual holes to look down at the ruins....very interesting.
The next morning, we headed to Turkey by plane and my blood pressure raised 6 points just when stepping into the building. Both flights went off without a hitch, but when we got to Turkey, we unexpectedly needed visas and then continued to walk quite briskly through the airport for what seemed like a mile, sweating, got through security to wait for 45 minutes because our plane was a little tardy. I sat between two Turkish men and followed their lead when we got our snack. But the flight was so short that some barely had time to even eat it. But what I do love about Turkish airlines is the fact that no matter how short the flight, there is always a delicious snack!
Ruins, ruins everywhere. For the past two days, I have seen 3 cities in ruins, coincidentally, they all look fairly similar.
We visited Ephesus later that day and saw some incredibly old toilets. In the room with a row of toilets there was once a fountain and a place for a band to play while the men took a poop. There were quite a few standing buildings, including a tunnel to the brothel and the theatre where Paul spoke to the Ephesians... or tried to and where Guns n Roses played plugged in and cracked some of the surviving structure in half...way to go GNR.
Today we drove for 3 hours to see the ruins of Agamemnon that is up on a mountain with some SPECTACULAR views and the rain seemed to agree with us and only fell when we were safely on the bus.
Next we drove another 3 of hours to the ruins of Troy where I saw the real trojan horse.... or the one from 1974 when someone thought it would be neat to put one up there. It was cool to see such a famous place through Homer's books. I have seen stuff as old as 1500 BC today. Troy is dang old, and there are something like 27 different versions of the city that have been destroyed and rebuilt.
Then we drove to our next hotel where we saw the REAL TROJAN HORSE... or the one from the movie Troy made out of synthetic materials...
This is an incredibly blurry picture I took of the horse as I was walking, enjoy.
For the next month, internet will be spotty and my updates will become fewer and farther between and much longer...
So long, until I can write again.
oh and P.S. there are cats and dogs everywhere that will follow you for miles in Turkey and Greece.
