It's Istanbul not Constantinople...

I sincerely apologize for the delay, but it's been a really crazy week of school work and trying to get over a cold (our hostel last weekend was a little deficient in the heating department).

So (and I promise this is the only time I'll say this) - I was in Turkey for Thanksgiving (get it??)! Istanbul is unlike any city I've ever been in, probably because it's the first Muslim country I've ever been to. The Blue Mosque is spectucular, but honestly, every mosque we encountered in Istanbul was stunning. And hearing the call to prayer five times a day never ceased to be awe-inspiring. Our hostel was in the Old City, which is where all the important historical sites are, but we also made it over to the New City one night for dinner, which looks like it could be the shopping district of any city in Europe (and looks eerily like Athens in many ways).

It is definitely a city caught between the east and the west. In the Grand Bazaar (SO overwhelming!), for example, we had some very bizarre interactions. For example: I was bargaining with a vendor in the Grand Bazaar, and even though we were technically sparring over what I wanted to buy, he kept stopping me to ask how I was pronouncing certain words in English (e.g. "higher quality"). He said he wanted to use them in the future, and was very thankful for my help. Everyone we met kept asking where we were from, and were eager to show off their knowledge of Western culture (although sometimes it was a little off, such as how we would get referred to as the "Spice Girls" or "Charlie's Angels"). There were a lot of women in almost full black burkas (I'm not sure if this is the right word to use for what they were wearing, but it's what they reminded me of), and my friends and I were extremely uncomfortable when we found ourselves lost in a very Muslim neighborhood (even though we were fully covered in pants and jackets, the difference between us and the other women there was stark, and everyone stopped and stared at us as we walked past).

Coming from Greece added another dimension to our trip. The Greeks and Turks have a love-hate relationship, but I couldn't sense any anti-Greek feelings when people we encountered learned we were studying in Athens. The name issue is actually pretty interesting, since some Greek maps still call the city Constantinople. We had dessert on our last night with a woman who was born in Pakistan, moved to the UAE from her teen years, studied undergrad/grad in the U.S., and now lives in Istanbul with her Turkish husband, who gave us some fascinating commentary on modern-day Turkey. She said that the biggest issue for the Turks is actually the Armenian genocide, followed by Cyprus and other things involving Greece and the Aegean.

The weekend was pretty chock-full-of-sightseeing, and we saw all the famous stuff and then some (including a trip to the Asian side of Istanbul! I've been to Asia!). There are a bagillion pictures, so I'm going to split things up into separate posts.


A Washington Monument-esque (except the real thing from Egypt) monument in the old city near our hostel. It's insane to think that they moved this thing from Egypt to Istanbul in the days before cranes and all that.


The first (of many) glasses of apple tea. It's everywhere in Turkey, and tastes like the best apple cider you've ever had. It also comes in these adorable little glasses, which adds to the experience.


The second monument in the Hippodrome brought to Istanbul from Egypt.


A really cool street-scape in Istanbul. I have to say, between Athens and Istanbul, I get the impression that the Mediterranean is where city planning comes to die. The layout is insane, and it's very easy to get lost.


A busy street we took on the way to the Spice Market.

Post about where??

Post about ISTANBUL coming soon...

Delphi pt. 2: The Pagans

After lunch we arrived at the site of Delphi, which was one of the most important Panhellenic religious sanctuaries in ancient Greece. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain and freezing, so I have no pictures from the first day (goal number 1 that afternoon was to survive while climbing around slick, jagged rocks...).

The second day we were up early to go back to Delphi (the first afternoon we were at the lower site, and the second day we did the upper site). It's all on a slope, and as you walk up you pass all the offerings and dedications left by visitors and states trying to show how pious they are. The main attraction is the temple of Delphi itself, along with the theater and stadium. This was also where a number of treasuries are located, and some of those were reconstructed by the French archaeologists who excavated the site.

Even though the weather was grey, it made for pretty perfect conditions to experience the site - everything was misty and very peaceful. Delphi was where people would come to hear the oracle give prophecies, supposedly through a communication with the god Apollo. Had lunch again in Arachova and then headed back to Athens.

Interesting, and sad, story about Delphi: during WWII, this area was home to much of the Greek resistance movement, because the mountains afforded a sense of security. However, the Germans made it to the town that was near the site (modern day Delphi), and set up camp there. After an incident with some rebels, the Germans came into the town and killed everyone - men, women, and children. There's a museum in town about it and a very moving memorial that we passed on the way to the site. To this day, the town is very sensitive about it, and actually sued Germany for compensation. They won the case, and the German government was in danger of having to sell its holdings in Greece (like the embassy building, for instance) in order to pay the settlement. However, the Greek government intervened and I think it was settled some other way.


The lower site of Delphi, with some sense of the landscape and its relation to the mountains.


From the upper site of Delphi - the smoke is from a fire that was burning some ways off the whole day - our prof. said it was probably someone getting rid of their trash.


The treasury of the Athenians, which was reconstrcuted by the French.


The temple at Delphi, or what remains. Much of the site was used as a kind of stone quarry for later occupants of the area, unfortunately.


A sphinx that would have sat on top of a long column at the site (some kind of monument/offering made). There's a museum at Delphi that's home to much of what they found at the site. You're not allowed to take photos of certain things because they haven't been published yet, and therefore all images are technically the property of the archaeologist who found it. Fun fact.

Delphi pt. 1: The Christians

Greece is essentially a tourist destination for it's ancient sites, but it's also home to countless sites from the time of the Byzantine empire. Most of the local museums in Athens feature art from this period (mostly religious in nature), and this weekend we finally had an opportunity to visit an old monastery. The trip was technically to the ancient site of Delphi, but we first stopped at the Hosios Loukas, which is a Byzantine monastery dating back to the 11th century. It's actually still in use as a monastery, although it's clearly tailored to tourists (e.g. there was a gift shop with some very aggressive salespersons).

It was established by a holy man named Loukas, and later was renamed for the Virgin Mary. In later years it was used as a hideout for Greek resistance fighters from various conflicts, including WWII, and consequently has had to have parts rebuilt several times following attacks. It's surrounded by mountains, and when it was quiet I could imagine it being the perfect place to reflect and study spiritual texts.

After the monastery, we stopped in the town of Arachova for lunch, which is apparently a ski resort town. I had no clue there were ski resorts in this part of Greece, but given all the mountains, I guess it makes sense. Nothing much to say about Arachova, since it was very touristy, but the view of the mountains was pretty spectacular.


Inside the crypt of the monastery - the ceilings all looked like this. It was pretty spooky, especially given the low lighting.


Inside the main church of the monastery. You can see where parts of the ceiling were destroyed at one point. The whole space was richly decorated, and very beautiful.


A Greek Orthodox priest outside one of the entraces to the church. We also saw a number of them leading groups into the monastery, although I wasn't sure if they were from the monastery itself or from elsewhere.


There were a lot of elderly Greek tourists here, and this particular group of men decided to do some Ouzo shots at 11 in the morning. Yamass!


View of the mountains and part of the monastery.

Scenes from the Acropolis

This week my archaeology of Athens class had our last class on the Acropolis (although hopefully I'll go back), but I thought it was a good opportunity to put up some pictures from there.


We start class around 8:30 (before the tourists arrive), and on Tuesday saw the soldiers changing the flag on the peak.


Nice shot of the Erechtheion (a building on the Acropolis), if I say so myself!


View of the city from the top - I liked that you can see the big street cutting through what is otherwise a completely unorganized city layout.


A cave on the north side of the Acropolis.


An elevator also on the north side - too bad it wasn't for visitors!

Changing of the guards

On my way to tutoring this past Sunday morning, I ran into the weekly changing of the guard ceremony, which I had yet to experience! The guards march down the big street of Vassilis Sofias, and cars are slightly diverted until they finish. The parade ends up in front of the Parliament building by Syntagma Square, where they go through the whole formal procedure of changing the guard. There was a huge crowd in front to watch, which was a mix of tourists and Greeks (mostly families with small children, who were basically having the time of their life watching the parade!).


The guards marching down Vassilis Sofias.


In front of the marching guards was a kind of military band, which would play music at times but mostly just keep up the marching beat on the drums.

"Least beautiful" is all relative

A few days after I got back from fall break, my friend in London came to visit in Athens! We did a lot of walking around Athens and went to the Benaki museum (another random assortment of Greek art, sculptures, costumes/clothes, and antiques), but one of the highlights was definitely our day trip on Friday to the island of Aegina.

Aegina is very close to Athens, and in ancient times was a major rival. The ferry only took us about 40 minutes, and so it was a perfect day trip. Of all the islands I've been to so far, Aegina was not the most beautiful, but it was still really pretty! The tourist season is over, so a lot of stores and hotels were shuttered, but we were able to have a nice picnic-ish lunch (we brought fresh veggies and fruits from the market, as well as a bread and assortment of feta) and spend a few hours on the beach. The beach was more like a parking lot with sand, but the view of the sea and other islands was great.

While she was here, we also went to a movie - a first for me since I got to Athens. It was called "El Greco" and was about the painter, but it was possibly one of the worst movies I've ever seen. It was sort of in English, sort of in Greek, and I'm pretty sure it was a local movie, so you all in the States won't have the pleasure... We ended up walking out at intermission (they just stop the movie at a random point and you have time to stretch, get snacks, etc.), but the theater itself was very nice and full of pictures of great Greek and American actors (the Americans we knew, the Greeks not so much).


View of Piraeus from the ferry to Aegina.


The port at Aegina.


A cute house on a side street in Aegnia. I loved how bright the blue was!


The "beach" where we spent some time.


A display of fresh octopus outside a restaurant on Aegina...yum?

Civil disobedience

As a relatively new democracy (Greece has been a democracy only since 1974), protesting is still a way of life in Athens. When the people are upset, they go into the streets - last year, a student protest lasted months! While walking to school one day, I ran into the protest below. I don't know exactly what it was about, but given that there were lots of people in wheelchairs, I'm guessing it was about rights or benefits for people with disabilities. The police linked arms in a chain to block them from going down the street where the president and prime minister's houses are, and traffic was mildly backed up, but it seemed pretty peaceful.

Sto Amsterdam!

After a few days in London, my friend and I headed over to Amsterdam, where we met up with another friend as well. I had no idea what to expect about the city, especially with respect to what the buildings would look like and how it was laid out. The best word to describe Amsterdam is adorable. There are very few tall buildings, and most of the buildings and houses are in the same style - I wish I knew what it was called! But everything is petite and pleasant, and there are canals running all through the city, which makes everything that much more picturesque.

Amsterdam is also full of bicycles! Everyone here seems to have a bike, and one statistic I read said that there are more bicycles than people in the city. And it's a good thing, because the city also has an abundance of waffle and pancake shops...

We spent a lot of time walking around neighborhoods, and also saw the Van Gogh museum and the Anne Frank house. Both were extremely crowded - Amsterdam is surprisingly very touristy - which was too bad. At the Van Gogh museum you couldn't stop at all to really look at the pieces, and it was also loud. But still, it's pretty hard to "ruin" Van Gogh... The Anne Frank house was very moving, and thankfully a little less crowded than the Van Gogh museum. A major downside to Amsterdam, though, is that almost none of the museums have a student ticket price, which made sightseeing expensive.

One night we decided to go to the red light district, since a trip to Amsterdam would be incomplete without it. It was bizarre, to say the least. First of all, it was creepy to see large groups of men all walking in the same direction, because you know exactly what they're going for. Second, as you walk down the streets, you're literally face to face with prostitutes in the windows. They can open their windows, which are more like doors, (they're lit with reddish-pink neon lights - thus the "red light" district) and negotiate with customers, a process we also saw. Third, there are guys on the street whispering the names of all the hard drugs they have as you walk by. They would be standing about four feet away from one another, and I was amazed that they could do it so openly (Amsterdam has legalized marijuana and mushrooms, but they've taken a pretty tough stance on hard drugs, like cocaine). Finally, it was odd to think that such a beautiful and charming city could have such a place. I was so curious to find out what the locals thought of it, but we didn't really have a chance to talk to anyone. Apparently, there is a union and legalizing it makes it easier to ensure the rights and safety of the women, but still...

By the end of the week I was very ready to get back to Athens - I really missed the sun and warm weather!


The neighborhood near our hotel - very residential and quiet.


A better view of one of the canals running through the city.


A major square in Amsterdam, with the Rejkstraat (sp? I unfortunately did not pick up any Dutch during the trip!) museum. The pigeons in the square were really aggressive and a few almost ran into us...


Part of the Van Gogh museum, and the park that runs all around it.


Another view of the canal, as well as some sense of the bicycle culture. There were always a ton parked along the streets.

Sto Londoni!

Ok - so fall break was a few weeks ago, but things have been pretty crazy since then and I haven't been able to post. But better late than never!

My first stop for fall break was London, to visit my friend and see the city. I had been there with family years ago, and had a very hazy recollection of what London looked/felt like. The first thing I noticed was how gray it was coming down on the plane, compared to the weather I left behind in Athens. True, the countryside was amazingly green and beautiful, but it was definitely a depressing moment when I realized how cold I was going to be for the next week!

But London was great - my friend lives near Borough Market, which is an open air market that happens every weekend. My market in Athens is cute and good for fresh produce, but this place had EVERYTHING, from homemade breads and cheeses to jams and pastries. I even had an ostrich burger! It was absolutely delicious. Ostrich - who knew?

We spent a lot of time walking around the city and looking at neighborhoods, and I loved how many small churches there were on side streets. When my friend had class during the week, I also took myself to a few museums - the Victoria and Albert, British Museum, and National Gallery. The V&A has the most random hodge podge of antiques, sculptures, costumes and antiques, and was not very crowded, so I could take my time getting around. My time at the British Museum is a bit of a sore subject, because, coming from Athens, I couldn't help but be upset when I saw the Elgin marbles (sculptures taken from the Parthenon and Acropolis by Lord Elgin - they even had traces of the original paint and he sandblasted it off!). Greece is trying so hard to get them back (where they belong...), and I even got myself into a little debate with a British graduate student (actually from Penn - he's there helping to teach a class) about the issue.

We also did some very "British" things - my favorite was the tea service at an adorable hotel in a very chic part of London. There's nothing like hot tea, mini sandwiches, and warm, fresh-baked scones with clotted cream on a rainy Sunday afternoon... My friend also managed to get us tickets to see the new production of MacBeth with Patrick Stewart. It was a very different interpretation (set in post-WWI Russia, with some pretty trippy effects, especially during the witches' parts), and I loved it!

The only downside of London was that at night, the city gets very dark and cold, and the people are not always so friendly. The pub culture means that, especially on weekends, people drink a LOT, and that can get a little dicey. I was struck by the difference between London and Athens, where it's very rare to see public intoxication (it's a pretty big taboo here, and a good way to stand out as a foreigner).

But all in all it was a fantastic trip! London is so much more lively than Athens in many ways, and it was nice to be back in a place where everyone speaks English!


A very "British" street, in my opinion. Notice the smart car...


In the tube. I used to have a "Mind the Gap" t-shirt from my last trip to London, but I have no clue where it is now, unfortunately. In Athens they say "Mind the Gap" sometimes, but it's not nearly as endearing as it is on the tube!


The square in front of the National Gallery. Towards the end of my trip to London the weather got very clear and beautiful, although still verrry cold.


So British! I can't get over it!


A beautiful little church near the King's College campus.

Speaking of Marathon...

...today was THE marathon! Runners made the trip from Marathon to Athens, finishing at the Olympic stadium by my school. It was pretty drizzly today, so I don't think as many spectators were out as there could have been, but it was still really exciting. All the runners were given a gold, metallic sheet to keep warm with when they finished, which looked pretty cool when they were in packs. Some people were even stopping just before the finish line to call up their friends and tell them to come and take a picture of them! Otherwise a very low-key day of resting and homework. Pictures from London and Amsterdam will be up soon...probably tomorrow, I'm really tired.

My favorite place in Greece so far...

On Saturday, a smaller group of us travelled to Ramnous and Sounion (it was just my Athenian Democracy class, our professor, and another class and their professor). We were all verrry tired at this point after two weekends of field trips in addition to midterms, but as soon as we got off the bus at Ramnous, I was so glad to be there. Ramnous was a deme of Attica in ancient times, and served as a training site for soldiers and fort (it's located on the coast). It's also the site of the Temple of Nemesis, which apparently the other professor travelling with us had a hand in excavating. Thanks to the efforts of one archaeologist (forget the name, sorry!) and a few others, there has been very little development of the area around Ramnous, and it's almost completely deserted. The view from the site of the sea and surrounding islands is spectacular, and the fact that it was almost silent and completely devoid of tourists made it even better. By far my favorite place in Greece!

After that we stopped at Marathon, which was the site of, shockingly, the famous Battle at Marathon against the Persians. It's now covered with greenhouses and other modern agricultural structures, but from the top of a hill we could get a sense of how the battle might have occurred. Our professor even read us the famous poem about Marathon (by Robert Browning?) as we sat there, which was a little cheesy but at the time pretty cool. He also told us that the famous story of the Marathon runner is probably not true, and that the length of THE marathon (which was today, by the way!! more about that later) has little to do with the actual distance from Marathon to Athens.


Ruins of the Temple of Nemesis at Ramnous.


The "museum" at Ramnous - it's a big warehouse with a reconstruction of the temple using actual remains, as well as displays of columns, inscriptions and stelai (stone slabs with images carved into it). The professor from the other class was involved in this at some point, so he gave most of the lecture.


The remains of the deme of Ramnous - I want to live here...


A bench on one of the pathways through Ramnous - soldiers on duty would have sat here, and this one shows the board games that were carved into it when the soldiers got bored (original, not a reconstruction!).


View from the top of the site of Ramnous - I can't even describe how beautiful and serene it was up there...

Brauron, Sounion, and some fancy camera-work!

The weekend after the Argolid, I went on two day trips with my class. The first, on Friday, was to the sites of Brauron and Sounion. Brauron was almost completely unreconstructed, and was the site of the Temple of Artemis. When girls turned 12, they would be sent here for a year of training to prepare them for adulthood. As our professor explained the activities and atmosphere, it honestly reminded me a lot of sleepaway camp - the girls were even called "little bears," which sounds very camp-y to me. It's also the site of one of the oldest bridges in the world.

We stopped at Laurium, which is where the silver mines of Greece are located. In ancient times, the silver from Laurium financed Athenian building projects, and was where many Athenian slaves were sent to work, since it was incredibly dangerous. The mines are still in use today, making the area fairly polluted, unfortunately.

We also went to Sounion, which is on the southern coast of the mainland. It's the site of the very famous Temple of Poseidon, which, along with the Acropolis, is one of the dominant images found on postcards. It's the first thing sailors would see coming towards Greece, and is apparently also home to one of Greece's best fish taveras.


Part of the temple of Artemis - there were also some pretty cool, Lion King-ish trees around the site, but I forgot to take a close-up photo of them (you can sort of see one to the right in this picture).


The bridge at the Temple of Artemis, apparently one of the oldest remaining ones in the world. I tried to get the bridge and the river (more like a stream right now) that flows under it.


Remains from an ancient silver mine in Laurium. We couldn't go in, but were able to take photos from behind the gate. Pretty scary-looking...


Figured out how to use the ultra-zoom feature on my camera while hanging out in Brauron!


Temple of Poseidon at Sounion. On the steps and columns there are inscriptions from 19th century visitors (and some older ones, too). One is by a famous British author whose name is escaping me right now - if I remember I'll update this post later.

The most beautiful city in Greece...

The second weekend in October, the program took us on a trip to the Argolid, which encompasses the city of Argos and a host of other sites as well. On the way we stopped at Corinth, which is now home to a very nice rest stop and view of the waterway separating mainland Greece from the Peloponnese.

Our first stop was the site of Epidaurus, which was where the sanctuary of Asklepios (a human who was deified after his death) is located. Asklepios was known for his healing abilities, so the site was where ancient Greeks would go to pay homage to Asklepios and also take advantage of the hospital there. The site itself is mid-reconstruction, so it was very noisy as builders cut stones all around us. The site is also home to the very famous theater that has nearly perfect acoustics; you could sit allll the way at the top and hear someone speaking from the middle of the stage almost perfectly. Our professor even recited a few thing for us in ancient Greek, which was pretty cool.

We pulled into the city of Nafplion mid-afternoon, and I was unfortunately very under the weather and had to miss the afternoon tour of the city. The next day I missed the first site trip as well, but managed to join up with the group to visit a fortress on the top of a hill overlooking the city. It was built by the Venetians and went through a number of name changes, depending on who controlled Greece at the time (the same goes for the city of Nafplion itself, which at one point served as the capital). The view from the fortress was spectacular, and you could see the whole city and the sea (there's also a fortress in the middle of the sea - makes for a very nice view while sipping coffee by the water).

We spent a fair amount of time shopping in Nafplion, since it has a lot of local crafts that you can't find elsewhere (or you can, but it's a cheap knock-off). For example, the beads that Greek men play with while drinking coffee originated in Nafplion, and there were some cute stores where they made them on-site. We also found a guy selling delicious honey made by his family outside of Nafplion, and a potter who took us into his workroom to see the kiln!


Part of a colonnade at Epidaurus - the white parts are reconstruction. There is a lot of debate in the archaeological world about how much reconstrution is appropriate, according to our professor.


The theater at Epidaurus - at its peak it would have sat tens of thousands of people!


View of Nafplion from the fortress on the hill - it's known as the most beautiful city in Greece for a very good reason!


View of the sea from a cafe in Nafplion


My friend Natalie and I in another part of the fortress overlooking the sea and part of the city. We also took some pictures inside the fortress' prison cell, but they came out too dark to post.