How Many Americans Does it Take to Navigate Downtown Athens?

Well, you lovely people, the answer to that question would be four.

This morning at about nine o'clock, a good chunk of us ventured to central Athens to do some research on our assigned site reports. It just so happens that this was our first adventure through the big city without the aid of Sir and Lady Kaplan. Mrs. Dr. and Ellie did accompany us to the metro station, but once they reached their stop we were on our own. Like the attentive honors students we are, we decided that splitting up would be a more efficient way of touring the city, so Bri, Corey, Ally-Rey, and I set off towards the Plaka.

I'm pleased to say that we all have our priorities straight, so our first order of business was to find a coffee shop. Thanks to the more relaxed approach Greeks have towards public dining, we were able to sit and enjoy frappe's (and a coke for me) for about an hour.

This concept of sitting and enjoying a single bottle of coke in a Greek restaurant is completely different from what I'm used to. After working in the food business for almost a year, I've become accustomed to the "sit down, eat, and leave" routine. No one want's to be that table that chit-chats for about three hours, nursing one cup of coffee. Here, it's almost like the Greeks expect you to be there for hours on end, just winding down and shooting the breeze. We're pretty much becoming Greek, it's so easy for us to get caught up in a great conversation without a care in the world.

After a much-needed boost of caffeine, we decided to at least get something accomplished. This was when we discovered that we do have the power to navigate ourselves around downtown Athens. Just give us a couple maps, and we're good to go. We may have looked like a group of tourists, but we didn't get lost once, so take THAT, big city.

Anywho, Corey's stop was first on our list, so we immediately sought out the Kapnicarea Monastery. It's this cute little church in the middle of a square in the Plaka. Unfortunately, Bri and I weren't properly dressed to go inside, but the outside was very pretty.


Second on our list was Ally-Rey's National Gardens, a wonderful little nature park in the middle of Athens. It's kind of like an oasis, you don't even notice the city when you're surrounded by a bunch of greenery. We have big plans to take a picnic out there one day and just enjoy the sunshine.

Since we were a bit pressed for time, Ally-Rey and I set off for my site, the Jewish Museum, while Corey and Brianna headed for the Olympian Temple of Zeus. Luckily, the Jewish Museum was wonderfully air-conditioned, giving us a break from the hot sun. 

It was an absolutely beautiful museum, with artifacts that date to before World War I. We had some trouble finding the beginning of the self-tour (elevator issues...long story), but once we figured it out it was pretty self explanatory. There were just so many interesting artifacts on display, and I really enjoyed reading about ancient Jewish customs. I've always found Jewish history fascinating, for some reason, so browsing through such an interesting museum was a great experience.

After a great day in the Plaka, we settled down for some gyros in this little restaurant. You remember the whole "Greek dining is such a relaxing experience" thing? Well, it's not so great when you're trying to get to class on time. We weren't exactly scarfing down our chicken pitas, but in the end our time to get home was cut a little short. We ended up second guessing our decisions on the metro, but it wasn't all that crazy. Eventually, we succeeded in boarding the right subway followed by the right bus home, so all was well. Hopefully our day will end with happy hour at the gelato place. A scoop of ice cream for 85 cents? Uh, yeah!

Alright, folks, this is Maddie, signing off!

Would You Rather: Sweet or Savory?

Kefi can be very loosely defined as the spirit of joy, passion, enthusiasm, high spirits, and all around happiness. It's not something that can be neatly compartmentalized into more acceptable categories of emotion, nor can the limitations of words truly capture its perfect essence. It has to be felt, not learned. During a memorable morning stumbling through the steps involved in traditional Greek dance, I think we all grasped the hang of it. 

Now, it's been widely publicized that I'm a terrible dancer. Two left feet plus general clumsiness does not equal graceful ballerina. Nevertheless, I absolutely love just moving to the beat of the music, and that's what kefi is all about. Our dance workshop instructor even managed to teach us some steps to make it look like we know what we're doing. After a while, though, I have to admit my feet just did whatever they very well pleased, and that was that. Even though we ended up racing to class all sweaty and gross, it was nice to embrace kefi as any good Greek citizen should.

Our happy feet finally found rest at the wonderful crepe place in the Plataea. Unfortunately, while preparing for such a long-overdue trip, we found ourselves in a right dilemma. The menu (which was kind of like a puzzle, you had to correlate the Greek one to the English one via numbers) advertised delicious savory crepes on one side and delicious sweet crepes on the other. You see the problem, here? We couldn't decide if we wanted to make dinner in the dorms and go for dessert, or just go for dinner. So the logical thing to do was to go for both dinner AND dessert. Unfortunately my savory crepe pushed the limit by itself, but I did sample some pretty fantastic sweet crepes.

Omelet, ham, tomato, Gouda cheese, green peppers, and oregano...yum.

We ended the night with a short walk around the neighborhood, followed by some good family time. It was decided that going straight to our computers whenever we get back to the dorms is never very healthy, so we've decided to have roommate family time (plus Ally-Rey and Chase). A great round of would you rather had us all talking up a storm, before inevitably retreating to our respective blogging caves. 

Well, that's that. Now for some homework/reading/finding anything to do besides homework/reading. This is Maddie, signing off!

Between Two Lung-Cancers

So, I'm pretty sure by the end of this trip I'm going to become a second hand smoker, just by sitting in the cafe down the street. It so happened that a group of us decided to venture to said coffee shop after classes for a much needed caffeine boost; unfortunately, we forgot that in Greece there's no such thing as a "no fumar" section. Just sitting and watching the interactions of the locals was fascinating, even though it was like being surrounded by chimneys. Contrary to popular belief, being outside did not deter the cloud of smoke emitting from every other table.

Another interesting tid-bit is that people were speaking English all around us. I know it sounds pathetic, but whenever we hear English we get all excited inside. I managed to overhear a bit of one conversation, and it sounded like a bunch of American students were staying here for an entire fall semester. It's ridiculous to imagine living in such an amazing place for four to five months! We didn't manage to catch where they were from, but it's always strange running into other Americans here. After being secluded to our dorm for the past week or so, we've become accustomed to only seeing the dorm residents. It's a bit of a reality check to realize that this is the American College in Greece, so there are bound to be other students here on their own.

Anyway, catching up on Dinner with Persephone was promptly followed by a birthday dinner for Charlie. Charlie, Nicki, Jimmy, Mary, Katieanne, and I all set out for this little Irish restaurant/pub a couple blocks over. Best...french fries...ever. For some reason, I just have a thing for french fries smothered in cheese. They're so great, especially when given to us by Sir Biceps. (Nicki wouldn't let us get a picture with him...apparently she wants to go back again and didn't want to be weird, or something ridiculous like that. Party pooper.) Still, I'd say it was a pretty great day, with cultural immersion and all that. Alrighty, folks, this is Maddie, signing off!

The Acropolis Apocalypse

Alright, you lovely people, since I'm ridiculously behind on this thing, it's time for a double blog. Here we go:


Sunday July 24, 2012

Just for starters, I thought I'd point out the fact that the Acropolis is a giant tourist trap if I ever saw one. Honestly, 4.50 euros for a tiny bottle of knock-off Gatorade? I don't think so, beau! Really, they didn't even have water! Since it's against the law to charge more than 50 cents for water in tourist places, they probably want to force us to buy their other drinks. Well, that's just great, you bastards. If I had died of dehydration you would have SO gotten sued.

Ok, now that that's over, I can happily share with you the beauty of the Acropolis.

I mean, really, look at that!

It's actually interesting, most of the biggest pieces of the Parthenon are restorations. They're breaking apart one of the biggest monuments in Greece and bringing it inside for safe-keeping against the smog.

See these guys? Not real. Friggin' posers.

After browsing through the Parthenon for about an hour, we had some time to kill. So the obvious thing to do was to take as many creeper photos as possible. There shall be an entire album on facebook dedicated to our endeavors. I mean, really, an Asian guy wearing a white ski mask, a vizor, and a pair of sunglasses, how could we not take a stalker photo of that? I will forever be impressed with Katieanne's ability to photo bomb awkward family pictures, and Becca's creeper pic with the old lady is pretty much perfection. (Yeah...this is what we do...)

When our photo bombing excursions were done, we headed back down the mountain for lunch. The Kaplans treated us to some of the most delicious Greek food I have ever tasted. This restaurant presented food in the traditional Greek way, with about fourteen different plates of appetizer-sized dishes that everyone tried. Seriously, an entire tray of mousaka, saganaki, zucchini, meatballs, fried calamari, dolmedes, stuffed peppers and tomatoes, tsatsiki, fresh bread, Greek salad, and sausages was promptly placed in front of us. Not to mention the delicious desert. I'm pretty sure my tastebuds died and went to heaven several times.

We can put a hurtin' on some food.
Notice that the Greek salad remains untouched.

We toured the Plaka area of Athens, browsing through flea markets and tourist shops alike, before heading back on the metro. And so goes another day jam-packed with adventure. We arrived back at the dorms only to promptly pass out. I really, honestly made the effort to post this yesterday...but I do have priorities. Nap time-food-life-blog. That's pretty much how the list goes. Now, on to the first day of classes...

Monday June 25, 2012

I have to say, today was pretty uneventful until about 7:00pm. It was the first day of classes, which is kind of cool. I guess. If you like that sort of thing. Being completely serious, though, I'm totally the nerd that's excited for classes to start. I always forget about how much I love history until I'm forced to take a class. It kind of sucks that a history minor with a coastal biology major would be completely impractical. Son of a monkey.

Anyway, our first (second? I guess it would be second...technically speaking) class with Dr. Kaplan went relatively well, I thought. I got a new research project out of it, too. Hopefully pretty soon I'll be able to educate you on all this stray dog/cat business. (They're everywhere....no joke.) Our Greek survival class sounds like it's going to be very helpful, too. I may feel like a four-year-old again, sounding out all the words, but I've managed to read a couple Greek signs all by my self. What up, world.

I think our modern Greek history class is actually going to be really interesting as well. Like I said, sometimes I forget the awesomeness of history until I have to take a class for a gen ed or something like that. It's just so crazy to read about the events that brought about the Greece we know today. I mean, the eight page paper at the end of the quarter kind of sucks, but as long as the six of us in Modern Greece stick together it won't be all that bad.

The party really didn't start until about seven. Monday is our potluck night, and our room (304...it's the place to be) decided to bake potato chips smothered in cheese. Not to toot our own horn, but TOOT TOOT! They were freaking delicious. Actually, everything was very much good, I definitely ate like a fat kid tonight. 

Once we had our fill, Nicki thought it would be a great idea to have a dance party. Brianna promptly brought her laptop downstairs, and we all totally got down. I'm sure there are some great videos of the Electric Slide and the Cupid Shuffle...you probably won't find them on here, though. I'm not that stupid. 

Well, now that I'm danced out and out of crazy, it's time to hit the hay. Guess what? We actually get to sleep in tomorrow! Like, for as long as we want! AHHHHHHH! I'm so excited!

Alrighty, folks, this is Maddie, signing off. :D

Of Giant Eggs and Water Closets

'Twas an eventful day in the city of Delphi. While morning person I am not, I can safely say that waking up at six in the morning was absolutely worth it. It was very humbling, standing in a place of so much history.

We got on the bus at about seven o' clock, bright eyed and ready for a two and a half hour drive through the mountains. All aboard: queue nap time. There are definitely some very attractive sleeping photos floating around out there, we're bound to get to everyone eventually.

Anywho, after snoring for about an hour and a half, we happened upon a random gas station on the highway where we stopped for food. Not a big deal, right? Wrong. This little convenience store just so happened to be the first place in which I encountered my preconceived notion of Greeks. From reading "Culture Dimensions" and "Dinner with Persephone", I imagined Greeks to be loud, pushy, and rude. Fortunately, my prejudices had been disproved thus far...not so fortunately, I encountered them full force yesterday. 

As most of you may have noticed, I do not enjoy being in places congested with people. High school hallways, Islands of Adventures during Christmas break, The Cheesecake Factory on Friday night...you get the drift. Well, replace all the crowds in those places with pushy and touchy Greeks, and voila, you have this gas station. All I wanted was a frappe, but we had to bull-doze our way to the cashier because lines were practically nonexistent. Seriously, I was merely waiting to get my coffee minding my own business, and a parade of people physically pushed me out of the way to get past. Rude. 

Unfortunately, we were all too dazed to take pictures of this place...
this was the only one I found. Thanks, Charlie!

Still, I suppose you could argue that this station was the first truly Greek place we've been to. Being completely honest here, nearly every restaurant, super market, and shopping center we've visited has had some sort of English influence. I hate to admit it, but we really do look like a group of stupid American tourists everywhere we go. It was just a culture shock going to a place so different from what I'm used to. I mean, don't get me wrong, Americans are idiots in crowds, too, but at least most people make the effort to say "excuse me" and "sorry". Not to mention the unwritten code against touching complete strangers, which I can't say I disagree with. 

It was an experience, that's for sure. 

After making that quick little pit stop, we ventured further into the city to the Sanctuary of Apollo and yet another Temple of Athena. As we climbed up the mountains, Robin gave us the 411 on Delphi history; interestingly, each Greek myth differs from the next, though there's usually some sort of similarity. According to the ancient Greeks, Delphi is actually considered the center of the world. Zeus let loose two giant eagles (think Lord of the Rings, people), one from the East and one from the West. Said birds flew and flew and flew until they ended up meeting in the center of the world and BAM. Delphi. 

'Tis the giant egg that was created to mark Delphi as the center of the Earth.

Apollo then overtook the Kastilian Spring for himself, founding the the oracle of Delphi. The spring functions as a cleansing site in which ancient Greeks would purify themselves before entering the sanctuary.

Not to take anything away from the sacred tradition,
but that water was really refreshing.

Now, we made it to the top of the mountain with the aid of a nice, air conditioned bus. It took two and a half hours, and then we had to climb even more on foot. Imagine making that pilgrimage with no other means of transportation. Athens to Delphi, on foot or by donkey. Those Greeks must've really wanted to get somewhere, because those who had the means were expected to make such a trek. The tradition was to bring offerings to the gods, receiving advice from the oracle in return. We were able to see one of the restored treasuries as we walked through the ruins. 

This is not actually said treasury...I just really like this picture...

As Robin kindly informed us, legend has it that the oracle was used as a mouthpiece of the Gods. One of the most recent theories is that a giant earthquake created cracks in the ground, from which gaseous fumes sent the oracle into a euphoric state. It was in this mindset that she would make predictions and advise travelers. This sanctuary is one of the most important archaeological sites in Greece, I kind of had a geek-out moment standing in the middle of so much history.

We continued to browse the realm of ancient Greece in the Archaeological Museum of Delphi, where Ellie and I decided that having a Lion King movie night would be a marvel idea.

We're BFF's now. 

Arachova proved to be absolutely beautiful, and I managed to find souvenirs for a few people. It was a little touristy, but a lot of the shops had authentic Greek paraphernalia, which was a nice change.

Our next adventure was a little interesting. Bus rides are long, see, so Hannah, Chase, and I had need of a water closet when we got to the Houskos Loukas monastery. Well, we found one. Innit so fancy?

Yes, that would be a hole in the ground. With foot stirrups. Great.

At first, Hannah and I thought we were in the wrong bathroom. Nope. It was probably amusing to anyone in line, we were talking to each other through the stalls trying to figure out the best way to utilize said facility. Our solution was to take off our shorts and squat, which according to Erika is the right way to go. 'Twas an experience, that's for sure. I can now say that I've peed in a hole. Cross that off the bucket list.

The monastery itself was absolutely gorgeous. We had to rock the nun look for a while, which was an interesting experience. The artwork on these walls was breathtaking, though, I just can't get over how pretty it was.

Fun fact: in the Greek Orthodox religion, priests and saints aren't supposed to decompose, so they perform some sort of preserving ritual before burial.

Rotting priest... weird.

We meandered around the monastery for about an hour before making our way back to the bus for our long ride home. Again, queue nap time.

Though the days are long and hot and tiring, these excursions are one of my favorite parts of this trip. I like learning about all of the archaeological sites we visit, and standing where famous Greek philosophers stood thousands of years ago. This is such an amazing experience. I'm going to miss logging on to Facebook and having like, fifteen notifications. That's right, my life's interesting. 

Alright, lovely people, time to go shower and sleep. Classes bright and early tomorrow morning...ugh. This is Maddie, signing off! <3

Ain't No Mountain High

If you had asked me five days ago to climb a mountain at five o' clock in the morning, I probably would have asked you where you got your shrooms. Being completely honest, here, I pretty much win the gold medal in laziness. Nevertheless, five-thirty this morning found me joining a handful of adventurous students to hike the treacherous trail up Mt. Hymettos. This is one of those situations in which YOLO becomes the primary driving force. You really do only live once, and while I'm here I plan on taking advantage of every opportunity thrown my way. Six mile hike up a rocky mountain? NBD, I've been needing a good workout, anyway.

Though the trek really was dangerous and difficult, especially once we left the safety of the pavement, the view made every step worth it. We stopped for a break just as the sun was rising, and watched light cascade over the entire city of Athens like a sheet.

It was actually not as physically strenuous as I was expecting. I may have sniffled a little because of the cold, but other than that I was being a real trouper. Long runs on the beach have really payed off, probably with a little help from mom's workout videos of death. It wasn't until we kept reaching false summits that I began questioning my mentality. Really, the highest peak would look so close, and then Mr. Dr. Kaplan would look up to point out Chase still climbing several yards above everyone else. So close, yet so far.

I made it though, and that's all that matters. Now I can legitimately say that I have climbed to the top of a mountain, rather than banking on my little walks through the Appalachian trail as hiking experience. It was hard, but I really did feel like we accomplished something amazing this morning, living out the adventures that some only dream about. I mean, we climbed a mountain and watched the sun rise over Athens all before nine o'clock in the morning. I'd say that's pretty badass.

After a three hour nap (hey, it was only like, 10am, we deserved a little sleep), Rebecca, Lauren, and I set off on a journey for bakeries and cheap food. We, of course, ended up getting well and truly lost. It started as a simple walk down to the main street of our neighborhood. Then we got bored and decided to see what was down another street...more houses and apartments. So we kept turning....and walking straight...and turning...and walking straight. Until finally we ended up walking down this huge road with lots of cars and stores.

Throughout this entire trip, I'd never felt the enormity of the language barrier until that adventure. So far we've always had Drs. Kaplan around to help us order food and such, or someone in the store was able to speak English. Very few people understood what we were asking, and when we did find an old couple who understood English, they walked away. While the getting lost was great fun, it was a bit frustrating trying to find our way back home with no ability to ask for directions. 

Finally, we ended up miraculously deciding to keep going in a certain direction before coming upon the playground across from our dorms. I guess once God decided we'd had enough adventure time he brought us right back home, safe and sound. It was a great learning experience, and now we know where to find the Greek Pizza Hut downtown.

The night ended with a reception for our entire dorms, including the students from other schools. It was a little awkward, though, since we're all so used to being a close-knit group. Mingling was pretty much nonexistent They seem nice enough, though. As long as they don't start playing "Call Me Maybe" at four o'clock in the morning through loud speakers, we should be in the clear.

Well, after bonding time with ice cream and Tangled, I'm pretty much exhausted. Wish us luck, tomorrow is our first venture onto campus for orientation!

Rhodes to Adventure

Despite the lack of air conditioning and the extensive sweating, I can honestly say that Rhodes was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Let's compare:

Google

Real Life                               

True story. This entire trip has been like an explosion of Hallmark cards. I only wish my camera did this place justice, 'cause you really can't imagine how beautiful it is until you see it. We got to the top of some of these ruins, and my breath literally got caught in my throat.

Beach or mountains? Why not both! We literally watched the sun set behind the mountains of Turkey with the Aegean Sea rolling in front. Every evening. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I'd have posted a picture, but it would've been a cheap imitation of the real thing.

Our first five days in Greece have been pretty jam-packed. Seriously, I need to invest in a caffeine patch or something, cause this "running on adrenaline" thing is just not gonna fly. We got to the dorms, which are nice and clean and pre-stocked with food. Our RA Jerry (he has a Greek name, but it's really hard to pronounce so we just call him Jerry) is pretty great. He gave us the lo-down of ACG before we headed off for the ferry to Rhodes.

The sixteen hour ferry ride went by super fast. It reminded me of a mini cruise, only without the cool shows and indoor pools and free food. I mean, you actually have to pay for snacks...weird. 

Our first stop was the ruins of Lindos, an ancient city founded by the Dorians in the 10th century BC. The magnificent Acropolis is surrounded by a Hellenistic wall, with a very much dangerous staircase leading down into the town. Shoes for Crews would have been handy then, 'cause there were a few close calls. 

                     



After exploring Lindos, we crashed at our wonderful five-star hotel. Six euro's a night for crappy air-conditioning, can't get much better than that!

Really, though, other than the lack of air, it was a really nice hotel. Greeks are all about not using electricity, so Katie and I just left the glass door open and it was fine. Natural breeze and all that.

We all made friends with the bar tender, which is actually not as sketch as it sounds. He's a really cool guy who lived in New York for several years, so his English was great, too. It's so interesting to just sit at a bar and talk to people, you really do get to see so many different perspectives. One night we stayed up until four in the morning just talking to Mano. I don't think I've laughed so hard in like, ever. Not to mention the memorable evenings bull-dozing our way through Scary Street. (The crepes were at the other end, see.)

Sunday and Monday were pretty much full of adventure time. The big elections took place Sunday (New Democracy won, Greeks are still in the Euro!!) so all the sites were closed, and apparently they're never open on Mondays anyway, either, so we had some fun beach days. The Kaplans took us on a tour of Old Town, which was gorgeous. It actually reminded me of St. John's Street in St. Augustine, only much bigger. Florida is also lacking in the ancient castle department.

Sunday night was also our first night out dancing. I was a silly goose and didn't bring my camera, so facebook stalking will be necessary to witness the embarassment. It was really cool, though, cause these two waiters actually performed the traditional Greek dance as seen in the movie Zorba. You can also find videos of said dancing via stalking prowess.

Monday we toured New Town and actually had some time to nap. It was also karaoke night at the hotel. 'Nuff said.

Since the archaeological sites were closed for like, half our trip, we had a bit of a cram-session on Tuesday. Our first stop was the Archaeological Museum of Rhodes, which actually opens at 9:00 am, not 8:30, for future reference. It was really cool browsing through the excessive collection of ancient paraphernalia. Unfortunately by this point I was running out of space on my camera's memory card...I really should've gotten a bigger one back home.

The second site we ventured to was the Monastery of Pileramos and the Temple of Athena in which there were large amounts of peacocks. One of them pooped on Nicki's hand...hehehe.

The site itself was quite beautiful, too, and there was a gorgeous view of Rhodes from the top. 

Kameiros was our third destination, and it was really very interesting. It's so crazy to think that thousands of years ago people actually lived in these ruins. You can actually see the different rooms of the houses, such as bathrooms and bedrooms. 

We ended our lovely tour of Rhodes with a journey through the Valley of the Butterflies...well...more like the Mountain of the Butterflies. I don't think any of us were prepared for the mile-hike up a mountain in the hot sun. Still, there was a beautiful view at the top and the refreshment stand sold some really good yogurt, so it was worth it.          

             

Sadly, our vacation time is quickly coming to a close. We've arrived back in Athens after another over-night ferry, and we're in the process of getting settled in. Brianna, Corey, Hannah, Rebecca, and I all went on our first grocery shopping excursion today...it was kind of crazy. I think we were all so overwhelmed that we just grabbed anything that seemed remotely edible. It's going to take some getting used to, and it's a bit of a pain to carry everything back to the dorms, but after a while we should all be fine. It's been kind of a lazy day so far, which is good cause classes are coming up soon...ugh. Ah, well, at least we've got a few days to get adjusted and adventure through Athens. We're going to Delphi on Saturday, too, which should be absolutely gorgeous.

Alrighty, then...beautifulness, arrival, ferry, Lindos, Old Town, dancing, New Town, museum, peacocks, ruins, butterflies...yep. I think it's all been covered. So, now that you lovely people are all caught up on the exciting world of Greece, I can safely say peace out, girl scouts. This is Maddie, signing off.

I'm So Excited...

...and I just can't hide it!!!!!!!

T-Minus One Week 'Til Liftoff

One week 'til the greatest summer EVER. If Greek men don't really look like this, heads are gonna roll. That is all.

Now For Some Tailgating

Hello again! So, Dr. Kaplan sent out an email of a rough itinerary for the trip, and I couldn't resist Google-stalking some of the places we're going. Really, did anyone expect anything less? :D

Adventure Number One: Rhodes

This is the first destination of our journey! We set off immediately for Rhodes after arriving in Athens, a journey that will include two overnight sailboat rides. Let's hope those motion-sickness patches work!

Adventure Number Two: Delphi

Delphi is kind of like a Greek Disney World, making the trip is something of a given. Island hopping actually one-ups theme park touring, though, as we'll learn so much from the historical ruins that roller coasters couldn't even compete.

Adventure Number Three: Arachova

Arachova is most famous for it's popular ski-resorts. Lying just outside Athens, this town provides an excellent getaway for those seeking the slippery slope. Sounds like a blasty blast, alright, but I think we'll have to make due with some hiking or beach strolling during the dog days of summer!

Adventure Number Four: Hosios Loukas

I can't wait to explore the beautiful art crafted in this Byzantine empire! It'll be very interesting to visit a building with so much history.

Adventure Number Five: Corinth

If Delphi is Disney Land, then Corinth is New York City. It would be sacrilege to skip over such a prominent Greek capitol during our stay.

Adventure Number Six: Mycenae

So, apparently there's eons of history packed into this huge pile of rocks. Go figure.

Adventure Number Seven: Nafplio

Sounds to me like Nafplio is every Floridiot's dream: crystal clear beaches and bright, hot sun. Can't wait!

Adventure Number Eight: Sounion

That's the Temple of Poseidon perched precariously on the cliff, surrounded by blue, blue water. We'll be spending a glorious day on the beaches and exploring ancient ruins.

Adventure Number Nine: Hydra

More beaching and eating in on the little island of Hydra. Team Kaplan sure knows how to butter up us Florida kids.

So there you have it! Just a couple of the site's we'll be visiting during our five week vacation...I mean...studies. Right, 'cause we're going over there to learn and all that. Yep. Anywho, in approximately one week and five days, I'll be posting my own photos, so keep a'movin' and a'shakin' and stay tuned!