Hello again!
Wonders never cease. For Greek Carnival I went to Skyros, an island of rolling hills, whitewashed buildings, and an interesting custom of men in sheepskins and bells dancing through the streets with women (and men) in traditional garb behind them. We hiked up the hilly main town to see this tradition at sunset the first day, and the next we roamed the island, seeing the harbor Achilles supposedly graced with his presence and the majestic steeds of the ancient race of Skyrian horses (they were so cute).
The following week I worked in my marble carving class on a relief of Hera, and had Archaeology class INSIDE the Parthenon! I didn't have time to stop smiling after that because the next day I was off to Ossios Loukas, a Byzantine monastery that was lovely - it had stunning mosaics, including probably the cutest? representation of satan or death in the form of a small jack-o-lantern underneath a crucified Christ - and Delphi!
Wonders never cease. For Greek Carnival I went to Skyros, an island of rolling hills, whitewashed buildings, and an interesting custom of men in sheepskins and bells dancing through the streets with women (and men) in traditional garb behind them. We hiked up the hilly main town to see this tradition at sunset the first day, and the next we roamed the island, seeing the harbor Achilles supposedly graced with his presence and the majestic steeds of the ancient race of Skyrian horses (they were so cute).
Delphi, in addition to being covered in cats, was rainy but it only made the ancient stones stand out more to me. We took the old path of those visiting the Delphic Pythia priestess from the purifying spring through the market, past the treasuries, to the great temple of Apollo (below), from where we looked down upon the valley and mountains of central Greece stretching alongside the Mount Parnassos we stood upon. Everything about the site itself is awe inspiring, and the museum holds artifacts that follow that trend. I got to see the beautifully preserved white ground kylix vessel depicting Apollo again.
My incredible study abroad in Athens continued with on sight classes, and some cafe discussions of Demosthenes for Macedon History, and went for a walk and talk in Plato's Academy for Philosophy, discussing morality in Plato's Republic. I followed these on site tours with a visit to Rhamnous and Marathon! The optional day trip took us to the site of Rhamnous by the sea (below) and its temple of Nemesis (where we admired the sturdy columns and took a fun picture) before heading over to Marathon to see the burial mound, the museum, and the very beach the Persians landed upon.
The opportunities I am getting here are incredible, what a dream come true!
(Note: if you click on the pictures you can view them larger, and after clicking one you can use the side arrows to flip through them all)
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