So, the final party was sooo much fun and the local “musician” taught us how to dance and there was a giant buffet of all the best foods and it was a really successful party. After that we all went out to Poseidonia and then Prive, and then Legitmus. Not surprisingly we all stayed up the whole night and I think me and Grace might have gotten 40 minutes at the most of sleep at the hotel. So basically the bus ride was hell and when we got to Athens we couldn’t check into our hotel yet. We took the bus to Syntagma, ate some souvlaki and walked to the National Museum of Archaeology. After we spent about 2 hours there we walked back to the Agora and walked around there for a bit. Joel, Christina, Danielle and I walked up to the Acropolis and it was beautiful and I’ve never seen such an amazing view! Oddly enough there was this wedding party trying to take pictures on one of the hill tops, which was just like slippery boulders, so whoever had that idea was a real genius. After that we all ate dinner and I had mousaka and french fries (we also discovered grilled feta is amazing). We got the bus back to the hotel, went swimming and went to bed. I just got my wake up call so I should be heading to the airport soon! I’ll upload some pictures from Athens when I get home! Goodbye Greece!
Field School 2011
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars"- Oscar Wilde
Sorry it’s been a while again! The last few days have been pretty busy since we’ve actually had class every afternoon. Our last day on the site was kind of sad, but we got a lot of work done and Michael said we’re the best group they’ve ever had! I worked with the architect on the total station the past two days, which was a pretty good experience, with the exception of the sun burn. Dinner has been nice and normal, no crazy “icecream” again, which was good. Tonight we’re going to the other Karalis hotel for a buffet dinner and party with greek music and dancing, so it’s obviously going to be wild. Not looking forward to the bus ride at 5 am but I’m already packed and ready so it shouldn’t be too bad. Can’t believe I’ll be home in 2 days!
So yesterday we dug some more and our trench is a little sad because we’re in a pretty sterile area…oh well Happy 4th of July (late I know). Also, today one of the workmen brought a devil costume and made Matt put it on and he was running all around the site in a devil costume and then the workman made Grace put it on and it was hilarious…weird day at the site. So we went to the beach and it was freezing and then we had two lectures and at dinner we had seafood appetizers (potato salad- not seafood I don’t know why that was included- octopus, mussels stuffed with rice, fried calamari, seafood salad, and shrimp with feta), then we had this odd fried fish that was sort of sweet and then for dessert we had cakes with sparklers in them and this giant pyramid of what looked like those honey balls that are warm and really good…turns out that’s not what they were because it was drizzled in this hardened honey-ish thing that was like eating glass and it was filled with this cream stuff…but the cake was good haha Today we had burgers and this vegetable thing and nothing that exciting happened, so no pictures from today. (Matt with the Syrian and Christian, Grace in the devil costume)
So today was our one day off and we all got up and had breakfast around 9. Then we got two taxis to gialova and rented bikes. Little did I know that the seat of my bike was a man’s seat and it hurt to ride my bike haha luckily one of the guys switched with me on the way back. Anyways we biked from Gialova to Voidokilia and swam for a while. After that 5 of us went up to the Cave of Nestor and had a picnic. Then after we swam some more, we biked back and got taxis back to the hotel. It’s been a pretty amazing day and I can’t believe I’m coming home in a week!
No good pictures today…we got moved to a new square in an area where they haven’t been finding much, so that should be interesting…we did get to break early though and go buy a drink in town from one of the workmen’s establishment. Then we went to one of the beaches and will most likely go out tonight since we have no trips planned for tomorrow! We go to a club called Prive, and it usually just ends up being IKAP people, like us and the trench supervisors and maybe a couple of greek people. It should be fun!
Not much exciting yesterday…dinner was good because we had chocolate mousse for dessert! Also I bought a ton of cookies and candy at the grocery store (because I’m not eating enough food clearly) and they’re all really good! We went to the beach in Pylos today for a bit and we’re starting to formulate plans for our Sunday off. Right now it’s between renting bicycles and going to the pretty beach or going to the Castle in Pylos.
Sorry I haven’t updated in a while, the internet’s been really crappy lately, what with the rolling blackouts…anyways two nights ago we went star gazing, which was really cool and I think the coolest constellation we saw was draco (malfoy) the dragon. Yesterday I dug more in the field and our shade broke so it was pretty hot. BUT that afternoon we took boats out to tiscali baba, an island off the bay, which was beautiful. The monument for the French troops during the Battle of Navarino was there. Next we went to Spacteria, the island of slaughter, and saw the monument and wooden church from the Russian troops (the English troop’s monument is on turtle island). Then we went to the golden beach and had a huge buffet feast and swam and then rode the boats back. It was such a fun trip!! Today we just did more digging, and Michael told us the strikes are over (picture is us on top of tiscali baba and the sunset around sphacteria)
More lab today and a new beach! I got to learn about bones, which was fun because I think they’re pretty interesting. I also was told about a great new snack= dipping oregano chips in mayo. It sounds gross and I don’t even like mayo that much, but it is so good! Dinner was tzaztiki, vegetables, grouper, and this awful “icecream” with sour cherry sauce haha Sorry there’s not more about my day, but all we do during the week is sleep, work and eat! The Russians are still here, if that concerns anyone, and also we saw a really nice cruise ship last night, who’s captain looked like a blonde russell crowe from master and commander…yeah
Yesterday was my first day in the lab! We basically just sort pottery and stuff like that, but it was really fun! Last night we went out for Annie’s birthday too and we all had a good time, although watching some of the trench supervisors dance was…interesting. Today we went to ancient Olympia and learned all about the importance of religion and peace in the original games, which I wish was still a part of it. Some of the guys raced in the arena and then we went to the museum. After we were gonna go swimming but the waves were huge and we just went back to the hotel. More lab work tomorrow! (In front of the Phillipeon, in front of the hotel with Annie and Grace)
Last night was so fun! After dinner we went to Iklaina and went to Yanni’s street (one of the workmen who has been working at the site since they began there) and we ate and drank homemade wine and then they lit wreaths on fire, which had been on the townspeople’s doors since May and they lined them up in the street and we had to jump over them! I was unfortunately wearing a dress, which decided to fly up every time I jumped, but I made it over all the fires. We danced after that and Michael said we were the first group where everyone danced and was actually excited to be there! Digging today was rough because we were so tired, but that’s ok! Also, a few of us went to the beach at Pylos today and encountered all the Navy guys who are in the bay right now…needless to say they were all wearing speedos and we waited till they left to start swimming since the beach is so small haha but it was funny.
