Fun With Ferries: The Trip Begins!

Actually, this is what happened when I accidentally left my camera with my friends when I went to bed on the first night on the ferry. Please note that these photos were not taken by me. They are NOT MY FAULT. I'm sorry if the creepy photo of Chris is giving you nightmares.
In some order, which I can't determine due to the fact that blogger is doing weird things: Chris taking a myspace photo, Christine and Catharine playing cards at a funny angle, Gina finding this whole thing quite funny, Catharine with cards, and Christine looking like a blow-fish.

Crete- A Really Big Island That's Pretty Far Away

Tonight I am going to Crete on a school trip. I will be there without internet access until Sunday, so there won't be any posts or contact until then- but expect some pictures and exciting stories after I get back!

For the geographically challenged among you, here is a map of Greece- if you look towards the bottom of the map, south of pretty much everything else, you will find the island of Crete. For safety's sake (this is, after all, a public blog) I won't be saying exactly where I am going, but we're hitting a lot of the major sites in the next few days, and it should be quite exciting.

I actually know very little about Crete. It has produced some very famous writers and artists, most notably El Greco and Nikos Kazantzakis, and has a very interesting culture, in part because it's a long way off from the rest of Greece (I'm going to be on a ferry all night tonight!) and in part because it has been occupied by many, many people for a very long time. It's a very mountainous place, and has been settled for a long time- the famous palace at Knossos is on Crete. It is the largest island in Greece, has a lovely climate for growing all sorts of fruit, and produces an alcoholic beverage called raki which I can say from personal experience (CYA provided it for us) is really rather awful.

Expect some posts on either Sunday or Monday! I hope that everyone has a lovely week!

In Which Caroline's Reputation as a Classics Nerd Is Forever Cemented

We went to the Epigraphical museum, a place which has been recommended to me multiple times now and actually does measure up to all the hype.

...if you're a nerdy classics major, that is.

The Epigraphy museum is a fabulous place. It's right next to the National Archaeological museum, and I don't think they get many visitors. First, they try to kick you out- they explain, in very earnest Greek, that you've wandered down the wrong street and that this is not the big museum. That is when you have to smile and explain that yes, this is the epigraphical museum, you know this. Then they have to turn on the lights, and send off one of their minions to follow you around. But it's so cool! This is a part of one of the Athenian tribute lists. You can make out the names of the different poleis! The tribute lists. As you can see, they are quite large and quite fragmentary. They also are fun, because with limited work you can read the names out loud and it's kind of fun.

At this point, the guard was still following our every step. I think she was worried that we were going to attempt some sort of mischief with the inscriptions.

And then we found this inscription. If you can make out the words, you may notice that every other line runs backwards- this is an example of boustrophedon. It's a fancy word meaning that one line runs from left to right, and the next runs from right to left. What we found really interesting was the fact that in this inscription, there were no etas or omegas- in words like "aner" or "on" the long vowel was written with the short vowel. This was also the case with the next inscription over which was from about the same time, 55o BC. Why is this? We don't know. We're also very curious. If you know anything, please contact me.

Also, this is the point where I got out my dictionary, and the guard actually got bored and left. I think she figured that Chris, Josh and I weren't actually out to hurt the inscriptions- just to be painfully nerdy.

This is the oldest inscription from the acropolis- it's from the eighth century, and for us at least it was completely illegible.
And, in this case, the plaque was of no help, even though it transcribed the letters. Basically, I can tell that it's boustrophedon, and that there are some alphas, kappas, and maybe some epsilons. Helpful.

Around Athens- Interesting Signs and Wall Art

Err... great? I'll be sure to go to your store now.
It's a bird!
Or a funny elf man!
Or a lizard!
Or a dolphin!

Oh, Athens.

It's a Good Thing We Aren't Agoraphobic...

...or this would have been a harrowing trip! First we went to the Agora museum, which is a nifty little museum that's inside the reconstructed Stoa of Attalos. They have a lot of really interesting finds in there, dating from the prehistoric period all the way up to the Byzantine period- these are ostraka from the classical period. Can you sound out the names?
This is a wall painting from a restored Byzantine church in the Agora. I love looking at Byzantine paintings. I went to the Benaki museum this morning and spent hours looking at the icons there- they're all very beautiful and oddly compelling.
The Hephaistion! This temple, located on a hill in the agora, is actually one of the best preserved temples from antiquity. (It still has a roof. This is extremely rare.) If you walk up to it, you can peer inside and see some of the carvings. Unfortunately, you can't go inside.
In contrast with the Acropolis, the agora is actually very quiet and peaceful. You mostly get to wander the ruins by yourself, occasionally being interrupted by a guard jumping out of the bushes when they think you're getting too close to something. The funny thing is that back in the day, the agora would have been a very lively place- it was a center of both markets and governmental bodies.

We believe that these signs mark the center of some sort of cult worship. The cult of "Apagoreutai h Diabasis" was apparently a religious cult of some prestige, and the sites of cult activity, located within the agora, were off-limits to the uninitiated. In respect for these ancient traditions, and for the preservation of the important archaeological evidence, the public is asked to stay off.

...or not.

Return to the Acropolis!

On Friday we returned to the Acropolis so that we could take it in at a leisurely pace without the demands of class. As is usual, we got in for free- the joys of being an archaeology student! I think I calculated that I've saved at least $45 dollars on museum and site admissions with my ISIC card, which for a poor student is no small thing. One of the things that people forget about the Acropolis (and I'm not sure why this is) is that to get to the top you do need to make a bit of a climb. The views are absolutely gorgeous, though, and at least on Friday it was a bit cooler.
The sky from inside the cave of Pan! The slopes of the Acropolis, especially the north slope, are littered with caves. Most of them are sacred to some god or other.
Almost there! You can see how far on the plain Athens extends here. The interesting thing is that in the classical period, where I live now and where I go to school would both have been out in the country, though now they are well within Athens city limits. Classical Athens was actually quite small.
The Propylaia! Much of the Acropolis is currently under construction of some sort. The Parthenon is also covered with scaffolding. It's sucky for those of us here right now, but in the long run I think it's a good thing. (I'm taking a workshop on conservation, and I'm hoping we might learn about this. I do know that we get to destroy pots and then put them back together. Exciting!)
And one more view of the Parthenon. Going to the Acropolis is oddly depressing- it's amazing to see everything, but the whole top is covered with tour groups and tourists who seem to care less about the history and more about getting a picture of themself in front of a Caryatid. If they know what that means. It's still worth the trip up, though.

Next stop- the agora!

The Hills Have Eyes: More Thoughts On Athens

I'm sorry, the hills in Athens don't actually have eyes, unless there are cats sitting on them, and generally cats do have eyes. This post is not actually about cats, or hills, or eyes. It is mostly more thoughts of mine about Athens, and about things that are different than I had expected them to be.

1. Grocery Stores. For one thing, grocery stores are usually quite tiny, and have an extremely limited selection of items. The grocery store that I go to is about a ten minute walk away from my house, and it has about three different types of bread, but three whole shelves full of different types of wine. Go figure. Different priorities, I guess. Things are also inexplicably expensive or inexpensive. Fruit, once you get past the fact that it is priced by the kilo and not by the pound (everything looks twice as expensive as it should be!) is generally quite cheap. Honey, on the other hand, is extremely expensive. (About $12 for a container that would probably cost $3 at home.) Another big difference is in milk and yogurt. At home, we mostly eat non-fat yogurt and drink 1% milk- here, the milk with the lowest fat content I can find is 1.5%, and the yogurt 2%. Most yogurt is about 10% milkfat, which is delicious, but a bit overwhelming.

2. Apartments. My friends at Scripps are aware of the fact that the walls in Browning and Dorsey are essentially made of paper. In my apartment, the feeling is even worse. The apartments here don't have very thick walls, and since everyone has windows and balconies that open up into central courtyards, you can hear people's telephones ringing in an apartment that is actually in a different building on the next street over. You can tell when your neighbors have done laundry. You can tell when someone set an alarm to ring at 6 am. When someone is having a fight with their husband/wife/significant other/children, everybody knows. There is really only privacy if you draw the curtains and are absolutely silent.

3. Greek people. They're actually really warm and friendly, which I guess I wasn't expecting. It's a little uncomfortable at times- they have absolutely no concept of personal space over here- but it's because they really aren't standoffish. One of our neighbors, who is particularly friendly, gave my roommate and I half a watermelon the other day- we had our window open, and he had his window open, and so he yelled down and asked if we wanted any. Other people have had similar experiences.

4. Elevators. Elevators in Europe- especially in office buildings and apartments- are tiny. You can fit two people in one, if the two people don't mind touching rather a lot. It's a good thing they don't care about personal space?

5. School. I'm in an American program, but I realized the other day that not one single one of my professors is actually American- two are British, two are Greek, and one is Belgian. It's actually really cool, because it means that you learn not only your subject, but also about their experiences. Latin is particularly hilarious- our professor, who is Greek, spends most of our "five minute" break talking about Greece. We learned rude hand gestures the other day. And where to get gyros. And Greek ghost stories. And Modern Greek is particularly informative- another Greek professor, who tells us all about Greek schools and Greek culture.

6. Everything is in two languages. I think it is probably because the Greeks use a different alphabet, but basically all signs are in both Greek and some other European language, usually English, sometimes French, occasionally German. Every once in a while Italian. It does mean that you can come here not knowing the alphabet and still read what street you are on, but in some ways it must be very strange for the Greek people here. When I walk into a store, I am usually greeted in English. (I try to reply in Greek- my Greek is getting good enough that I can conduct most of my day-to-day business without reverting to too much English.) On the street people do talk to me in Greek- I think, because I don't look like a total tourist, they think I'm one of the many resident foreigners in the city- maybe if I started wearing a visor and sandals with socks and carrying a map and camera, they would go back to speaking in English.

7. Sirens on Ambulances. They're actually totally different sounding than they are in the U.S.- who knew?

At the Acropolis! (At Last!)

Today, I finally actually went up the acropolis! This was very exciting, especially since I have been looking at it for two weeks now and hadn't actually gotten any closer that the Odion of Herodes Atticus. I went with my archaeology class, and officially we were looking at prehistoric sites on the Acropolis. The problem with this is that the acropolis has been in use continuously for many, many years, and many of the very ancient layers have been hidden or destroyed by newer buildings. (Parthenon, I'm looking at you.) What is left is mostly pot sherds and other hints that areas might have been in use during the Bronze age or earlier. The two caves here are sacred to Zeus and Apollo- the cave of Apollo was a sanctuary during the bronze age.
Oh look! It's the Erechteion! And the Porch of the Maidens!
This is one of the leftovers from the Bronze Age- it's part of a massive retaining wall from a Bronze Age palace. You can tell because of the huge stones. It's called a Cyclopean wall because of the giant stones- it was assumed that such walls had to be made by the Cyclopes, since normal mortals clearly couldn't do that sort of thing. They're very cool- the stones are massive and more or less unworked, and no mortar was used.
Oh look, it's the Parthenon!
And last, but not least, "Oh look! An ancient drinking fountain!" Thank you, Josh.

And Now for One Last Teetering Column...

At long last we made it to Kolonna and the Temple of Apollo, which are actually just outside of Aegina town. The Temple of Apollo is at present one measly column, which is fragmentary and not all that exciting, but the site also has bronze age ruins and a very neat little museum that details the phases of the town and shows many finds, mostly pottery from the early periods but also some stuatuary from later periods. This is the archaeological site, and I would try to describe what all of those walls are, but it would get pretty confusing pretty quickly. A common issue is that in a place like Kolonna, there were years and years of continuous occupation. There is a cistern from the Byzantine period in this picture. There also are defensive walls from the Bronze Age, thousands of years before. There were a few signs, but they were quite confusing- different colors for different periods, written only in German, and the like. This is the one teetering column, which is all that is left of the Temple of Apollo. It is quite visible, though- coming in on the ferry, you can definitely see the column poking above the trees.
The view from the site- I can see why they decided to build a settlement/fortified area/temple here. After we were done with the site, we went swimming at the beach you can see- it was magnificent. The water of the gulf is really salty, even compared to the water of the Atlantic or Pacific, and so floating was really easy. It also was bathwater-warm.
One last picture of the site before we left to get lunch and go for a swim! It was a lot of fun, but the sun was pretty brutal and there was no shade or water. We were all pretty beat.
And this is a mosaic, which came from the floor of a Jewish synagogue from the Byzantine period. You never think of Greece as having a large Jewish population, but at one time, there were definitely Jewish communities here.

Basically, if you ever find yourself in Athens and are looking for a nice weekend getaway, I would very much suggest Aegina. We had a great time, and I would definitely go back. Just remember to bring water and good walking shoes! (And if you're reading this, remember to read the three posts before this! I'm sorry, my adventures on Aegina were just too exciting for one post.)

Paliahora, Town of 300 Churches

I probably wouldn't have gone to Paliahora, known as the "Town of 300 Churches," if it hadn't been for the reccomendation of my archaeology professor, who said that it was worth seeing. And let me say it right now, she was right. I had my doubts- I really had my doubts when the bus going across the island dropped us off at the side of a barren stretch of road, somewhere in the mountainous middle of Aegina- but by the time we sorted out where we needed to go, hiked up, and saw the site, we knew that it was worth it. This is the hill of Paliahora, and if you look closely, you can probably pick out the little grey buildings near the top of it. Those are the 33 churches that we went to visit. Aegina, in times past, was a frequent target for pirates. Its prime location near Athens meant that it got attacked by pirates a lot, and so its people built their churches at Paliahora as a refuge in the relatively inaccessible mountains of the center of the island.
The Byzantine churches are still there, connected by footpaths and in various states of upkeep. Some of them are doing quite well, housing icons and pretty well kept up. Others are missing roofs. It's a bit of a grab bag. When we went, it was almost eerily quiet- we saw two other people at the entrance to the site, but by the time we were finished looking at the first of the churches, they were gone.
A mural in one of the better preserved churches- you can tell that it would have been beautifully painted, once upon a time. In many ways, it was a very eerie place. The inhabitants of the site were attacked by Barbarossa in the mid-1500s, and the place was abandoned. Then it was attacked by the Venetians. More destruction. There was some later settlement there, but it was abandoned once and for all in the late 1700s.
The group, quite proud of ourselves for actually finding our way there. It was definitely an adventure- we needed directions a few times, and many of the people we ran into spoke minimal English. From left to right, that's Gina, Stephanie, Maddie, Meredith, and Molly.
Gina and I finished the climb to the very top of the hill, and it was beautiful! There's one final structure, two churches that are basically conjoined, and otherwise it's just a pile of rocks with one heck of a view.

The Temple of Aphaia

The Temple of Aphaia is a Dorian temple located somewhere above the town of Agia Marina. It is a temple to Aphaia, a nymph who was believed to be Zeus' daughter and a virgin goddess similar to Artemis. It is a worthwhile place to go to. We got in for free because we are archaeology and classics students, which has been a common theme throughout the trip- I haven't paid to get into a site yet. We got there at about 8:30, half an hour after the site opens, and for most of it we were by ourselves- shortly before we left, a small group of British tourists arrived.
It is in a beautiful state of preservation- the pediment sculptures have been removed and now are on display at the National Archaeological museum, but at the site itself, most of the temple is still standing and there are lots of signs to point out what things were. This is actually the second iteration of the temple- an older version was burned down in the Archaic period.
The version that is standing now is the one that was completed sometime around 490- there is some dispute about the dates in question. The columns that you can see are typical of Doric temples- they're incredibly plain, with capitals that are only minimally decorated.
All in all, everyone who was on my trip agrees that the Temple of Aphaia is a must see.
And here I am, looking happy and pink-ish. (Don't worry, I'm not very sunburned at all. There's a patch of skin on my left shoulder that was burned, but otherwise I just got a few more freckles.) (Also, please excuse the hair. The tap water at Agia Marina was incredibly salty, and we decided that showering would only make things worse. It also was quite windy.)

More to come- the adventure had only begun!

In Which Caroline Visits Her First Greek Island!

This weekend we went to Aegina, which is one of the islands of the Saronic Gulf. (It's the biggest island on the map below- specifically, the one labeled "Aegina.") Aegina is a short-ish ferry ride away from Athens, and in terms of history is actually a rather interesting place. An ancient rival of Athens, Aegina was originally a colony of Epidaurus, according to Herodotus, and during the Peloponnesian Wars they were allied with Sparta. In the Persian wars, 50-ish years earlier, they were one of the Greek poleis to give earth and water to Persia.

We were going partly for the history, but also for the beaches, which are very nice, and the sights, which are amazing. During the summer, Aegina is a very popular tourist destination- many wealthy Athenians own second homes there. But this weekend, after the season ended, it was very quiet.
It's a really beautiful place.
This is Aegina Town, which is the port that the ferry gets in at. It's the largest town on Aegina- about 7,000 people live there. It's also rather touristy, and filled with people selling pistachios, which the island grows and sells in great numbers. We spent a bit of our first afternoon in Aegina town, but before too long we caught a bus and headed across the island to Agia Marina, a town on the other side with good access to one of Aegina's most famous sites- the Temple of Aphaia.
This is the view from Agia Marina- more very pretty places.