Sooo V.I.P.!

We have done so many cool and amazing things these past couple of days, it's hard to say what I've enjoyed most! Yesterday we took our first day trip out to the sanctuaries at Brauron and Sounion. The former is a sacred place that honors the virgin goddess, Artemis, where they perform different rites, rituals, and festivals that we can only guess about (but there are lots of theories!). The latter is on the tip of Attica on the water where there is a temple dedicated to Poseidon, the god of the sea. The water here is this unbelievable blue color; I've never seen anything prettier! One of the cool things about this temple is that Lord Byron left his mark there by grafittying his name on one of the columns. You can still see it today. He also wrote an amazing poem which references this place in the last stanza entitled, 'The Isles of Greece' (if you want to check it out: http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/lbyron/bl-lbyron-isles.htm). We also saw the Laurentian Silver mines and learned about how the ancient Greeks would mine silver to mint coins. It was all pretty neat. After this long day trip, we got a chance to swim in the Mediterranean. It was a lovely treat! My first beach experience of the summer! I had a great time playing in the water and sunbathing. But we made for a pretty tired group, because on the bus ride home we were all asleep! :) (I sadly forgot my camera on this day, so I have to post better picture once I get them from my classmates...)

Yesterday was pretty fun, but it didn't compare to how AMAZING today was! Our group got a chance to go inside the Parthenon! (Very few people are allowed inside. It's roped off and there are many guards to make sure that you don't. In case you don't know, the Parthenon is the famous temple on the Acropolis at Athens that was used as a store house for the treasury in Classical times. In later times, it was converted into a mosque and the Turks used it to store gun powder when they were fighting against the Venetians. The Venetians sadly shot cannon fire at the temple causing it to explode and destroy a large portion of the building. So sad!) We got to learn about the techniques the archaeologists are using to restore different parts of the temple and then we were able to walk around and examine the structure from the inside. It was so incredible! An opportunity of a lifetime. I felt so VIP! :) Afterwards, we had a seminar on ancient pottery. I loved this, because (being a potter myself) I like to find new ways, techniques, and shapes to incorporate into my own work (Diane, I have sketched so many fun new pieces we have got to try to make!!).

Now I am packing and preparing for our trip to the island of Crete. It is one of my FAVORITE places so I can't wait! We will be taking an overnight ferry to the island, so that should be an adventure!

Until next time...