Graffiti in Athens

Graffiti in Athens

Location: Tsiklitira Streeet in Pangrati near the Panathenaic Stadium

Translation: “They steal your life and they’re feeding you with nation and race”

Description: According to the worker that translated this, “they” refer to either the government or fascists. The only other person I got to talk to, let’s name him K, said that they (government/fascists) say things such as migrants are bad people (“essentially lies” -K) in order to feed the people fear and make their brains into nationalists. I was not quite sure about what he meant by this because I just wanted to let him continue on, but he seemed as though he was ready to change the subject (I also think he got a glimpse of the other graffiti that I had pulled up on my laptop and wanted to talk more about those than this one. I still think it’s interesting to note that he was not too excited to talk specifically about this graffiti like he was about the other two. I wish I had the guts to ask him more about this one, but I couldn’t.

Location: Iakchou Street in Gazi

Translation: “You have to respect the workers, otherwise Rubicons will come against you like storming rivers.”

Description: Rubicons, as was explained to me, are an anarchist activist group in Greece. I then talked to the two Greek men that I had talked to for the other graffiti photographs. K said that he feels most of the anarchist tags are inspirational and inspirited, and that he liked most of them. He then went on to say that he himself is not an anarchist but he likes their “passion for their utopia,” but doesn’t always like the methods they use (meaning the street fights, riots etc.). F agreed with this specific graffiti, about respecting the workers, but he said that he is not an anarchist himself and that he doesn’t really see the world the way anarchists do. It’s interesting to note that these two men were also around my age, if not a few years older. The worker at the cafe also said that he is not an anarchist, but he agrees that workers should be paid on time and be treated fairly (makes sense because he’s a worker himself).

After talking with them, I decided to do a bit of my own research, and I found out that Rubicon is exactly what they say they are: a group of activists who protest for the rights of others and themselves, sometimes in a peaceful way, as unraveling a banner with the words “Solidarity with the hunger strikers - Immediate fulfillment to their demands - Anarchist group Rubicon,” (Article Here) or in a not so peaceful way, as in the vandalization and attack on Attica Prefecture Headquarters with sledgehammers (Article Here). I thought it was interesting, and I never knew about this anarchist activist group until seeing and talking about it with some Greek people.

Location: Stournari Street in Exarchia Square

Translation: “Asteras Exarcheion” (left side) and “We wear masks to look at each other in the eyes” (right side)

Description: Asteras Exarcheion is the football team for Exarchia. I had no idea what it was until I asked. I ended up asking only two people what they thought about this specific graffiti, and the only answers I really received were “Oh, that’s my team!” On the right side, I was just told that it was a sort of joke by one, and the other said he just didn’t really have any sort of take on it whatsoever. However, it’s interesting to note how they quickly could identify with the football team, but not so much the right side of the graffiti. I decided to do a little research on the football team, and ended up watching a short Youtube video of an Asteras Exarcheion football game (just a short one with most of the focus on the crowd). In the description it reads:

Like any notorious neighborhood, Exarcheia in Athens, Greece, has its own

notorious football team and the fans it deserves. A sports club operated by its

antifa fans on a self-organization basis promoting non-hierarchy, freedom and

solidarity through open assemblies. The atmosphere during the games cannot

be properly described unless you've been there. Highly identified with anarchist-communist politics, wherever the team plays, its fans create an

atmosphere that resembles a riot, like the Exarcheia neighborhood is known for

across the world. Whenever the team scores a goal, the fans usually cheer with

anti-cop (ACAB) slogans like they would during a protest (Cops-Pigs-Murderers).

If the opposite team scores a goal, the fans cheer regardless, like they have scored

a goal themselves. Even if the team is demoted to a lower football league, the fans organize a party to celebrate it, no matter what!

I thought this was interesting because throughout the video, I noticed how the fans were chanting and throwing toilet paper and even had some kind of color bombs. Honestly, it did look like a riot, but it was interesting. I think this graffiti was more about the football team rather than the quote next to it, but I wish I could’ve been able to get a little more information on the right side of the graffiti.

Delphi 9.2.2017

First CYA Field Trip: Delphi



Our long bus ride to Delphi began with a visit to the Hosios Loukas monastery. 

After this we drove to a beautiful lodge resort. After a good nap in my cabin my roommates and I decided to join the others for snacks, ice breakers, and some swimming in the indoor pool. After the buffet dinner we watched the movie "Mama Mia" on a projector under the night skies.

In the morning we woke up at 7:30 for breakfast and then headed to Delphi. Our exploration started at the bottom of the hill and ended at the top. Here our professors told us about the pithias and their oracles, the meanings behind the buildings and inscriptions on wall. Next, we saw the Museum of Delphi where beautiful artifact of the past are kept. There we saw the remains of the "Center of the world," as marked by Zeus; a sculpture of the Sphinx; remains of statues representing the war against the Amazons; and many more artifacts having to do with the athletics that took place here.

We left for lunch at 13:30. In Parnassos, I ate some delicious pastitio and walked around the town. From here we drove back to Athens.

Pre-Athens Trips

Three Steps to Athens

My best friend Riane and I decided that we would do some traveling before arriving to Greece. She had only been outside the US a handful of times, never to Europe, and I had always dreamt of traveling throughout Europe. After looking at different options and prices, we settled on Copenhagen, Budapest, and Sofia.

 Copenhagen, Denmark

From the moment we got on the metro in the airport, I knew I was going to love Copenhagen! Everything seemed to modern and sophisticated, yet the town had a feelings of the past. As a history major I love moments where you can see the advancements people have made, yet there is still a reminder of where they came from.
The city was welcoming and intriguing. We walked the city center every day for hours! We just could not get enough of this place that seemed so well put together. Not to mention there is a big shopping street (paradise for us shopaholics). During the free walking tour of the city we not only learned about the history of some sites, but also about the current situation that the citizens face every single day. I was surprised at how comfortably the people live here compared to the US, their civil rights make life enjoyable here not a burden, like it is for the lower-working class back home. I think that the most amazing fact I learned was that in Denmark new mothers get three whole months of PAID maternity leave AND they are guaranteed their jobs back. Fathers also get a paternal leave of one whole month, and combined parents can get up to eight months of parental leave. Aside from this there are many other welfare programs put in place to make life livable here in Denmark.
I left this country amazed at the opportunities it offers, and in love with its landscapes, architecture, and social life.

Budapest, Hungary

Our first night in Budapest was a breezy Saturday night. We were not about to miss out on the lively night life since it would be our only weekend here, so we decided to go out to grab some food and enjoy the night with some locals. Needless to say, our introduction to Hungary was set with high expectations. And we were not disappointed!
Although we did not have the time to join the free walking tour of the city, we did our own exploring of the center and the main attractions. Our favorite place was Gellért Spa, a huge bath house containing not only treatment spas but also recreational pools, thermal waters, saunas, and delicious cafes. It was the perfect way to spend a lazy, sunny day.
After this, we climbed the hill to the Citadella. Honestly, I almost did not make it, but it was all worth it when I got to the top and saw the view of the entire city! It was so beautiful I was in complete awe.

Our time in Budapest was unfortunately short, and we did not get to learn a lot about its history, but it was still an unforgettable experience! 

Sofia, Bulgaria 

This was my second favorite destination of our trip. Just like Copenhagen, Sofia offered us a view of the past while still showing us the present. But, unlike Copenhagen, this wonderful city displayed its continuous 4,000 year history. Buildings were built upon each other and next to one another. You can find a Catholic cathedral, an Orthodox church, a Muslim Mosque, and a Jewish Synagogue all in less that a mile squared. Buildings from the past four centuries could be found next to each other. Traces of different eras were displayed along side one another. It is incredible!
My favorite was the food! In Sofia everything is so cheap compared to the US that we were able to eat out every day and still stay within our budget. Sofia is the only place in the world, up to now, to have a FREE food tour, and of course Riane and I were not about to miss it. In this tour we tried local foods, all had cheese (our favorite), and wines. It was truly a once in a life-time mouth-watering experience.

Three cities gave us the taste of what life in Athens will be like for the next couple of months. It allowed us to start opening our minds and hearts to different cultures and their traditions. All I can say is that I am so thankful to be able to have had this opportunity, and I am way beyond excited to see what happens in the months to come :) 

Mount Olympus... Home of the Gods

Mount Olympus Trail Map - http://www.olympusfd.gr/images/Maps/map_us.pdf
for a better view

At the beginning of the semester, my roommate Amy and I planned to hike Mount Olympus, which we were originally going to do over Labor Day weekend, but switched the hike to our second to last weekend in Greece, as our last hurrah! We were joined by our two other roommates - Allison and Melissa - which made this the perfect way to spend our second to last weekend together. 

Along the Gortsia Trail

We began our journey on Friday morning, with a two mile trek to the bus station in Athens to get our bus to Litochoro (Lee-toe-hoe-roe), the closest town on the East side of the mountain range. After a five hour bus ride, we hitchhiked from the bus station into the center of town, where we bought a map of the trail and procured a taxi for the journey to the trail head. Once we got to the Gortsia trail head, we began to hike up the mountain towards the Petrostrouga Refuge, where we were to say the night. I think the hike to the refuge can be broken into three parts with different types of terrain. The first third of the trail consisted of switchback step paths through the wooded mountain and included two hundred meters of elevation change. During this part of the hike, all of our bodies were struggling to acclimate themselves to hiking, but they soon adjusted, and hiking the mountain became much easier. The second third to the refuge consisted of trails in which we lost as much elevation as we gained, while the last third was an uphill climb that changed over four hundred meters in elevation.

Hiking to the Refuge

On the last section of the hike we saw the lightning tree, which I like to believe is the result of Zeus' lightning. During ancient times, Mount Olympus was the home of the gods, Zeus took the Stefani peak as his throne, and the council of the gods took place on Mytikas peak (the tallest peak). The first known summit of the mountain wasn't until the beginning of the 20th century, as the Ancient Greeks refused to climb the mountain inhabited by their gods.

We reached the refuge around 7:30 pm, after three and a half hours of hiking. At the refuge we were given beds and a hot dinner. From the refuge we were able to watch the sun set over the mountain and paint the sky. After bundling up for bed, we retired early in preparation for the second part of our hike.

Lightning Tree

Saturday morning, we got up at 5:15 am for the second part of the hike. Once we started hiking the sun began to rise, and the snow that coated the trails was swathed in oranges and pinks, giving us the perfect start to our hike. It was one of the most beautiful sunrises I have experienced in my entire life.

Sunrise on Mount Olympus

After departing the refuge, we quickly came upon snow covering our path, starting out manageable but quickly becoming quite deep and slippery. While I had hiking boots with me that kept my feet dry and helped me to keep my balance in the snow, my roommates were faced with hiking the snow in sneakers.

Sunrise on Mount Olympus

One of the most fun parts of the hike was crossing this snow covered valley, which was surrounded on both sides by hills. The crossing included a lot of falling, snowballs, and ended with us breaking for breakfast while watching the last of the sunrise over the Aegean.

Hiking in the Snow

Eating Breakfast

About a half hour after breakfast, the snow started to deepen along with the rapid increase in the steepness of the trail. At this point Allison and Melissa turned back to the refuge while Amy and I attempted to continue up to the peaks. Once we got to Skourta, the snow was over a meter deep and we often had to brace ourselves against the wind, which threatened to blow us over. Thankfully most of the snow had been compacted and we were able to walk in the footsteps of other climbers.

Hiking in the snow

After summitting Skourta (as seen in the picture above and below) we were able to see the Plateau of the Muses, as well as Stefani and Mytikas. The view was absolutely incredible, and we poured some wine for the gods of old in libation. While we wanted to continue, we lacked the necessary equipment for the conditions and thought it was safer to return to the refuge.

Home of the Gods

From the refuge we made it to the Gortsia trail head in two and a half hours, shaving an hour off of our time. We had so much fun hiking and all of the Greek people that I have talked to about the hike have been quite impressed with our achievement. 

I have found that there is power in human belief. The Ancient Greeks' unwavering belief in their gods has left a trace on Mount Olympus. You can feel their spirits in the landscape, whispering through the wind, in the shape of the snow blown off the mountain. And so, perhaps it was better not to climb any farther, lest we partake in deadly hubris.

To the Islands!

The Greeks recently celebrated Labor Day (May 1st) giving us a four day weekend. My roommate Amy and I traveled to, arguably, the two best known islands in Greece - Crete and Santorini.

Crete

Thursday evening, after our classes for the day finished, we took a ferry from Piraeus, the port of Athens, to Heraklion, one of the major ports of Crete. This was an overnight ferry (nine hours), the first four of which, we spent freezing in the cold upper deck taking occasional breaks to the bathroom to warm up, as we were unsure of the range of our economy tickets. Eventually we plucked up the courage to descend to the lounge, where we saw other economy passengers curled up on chairs sleeping. Once we joined them in the warm lounge and put chairs together to sleep on, the journey was much more enjoyable and I would highly suggest traveling by ferry! Upon waking up on Friday morning, we were able to see the sunrise over Crete.

Sunrise over Crete

After landing in Crete and exploring the town of Heraklion, we went to the Archeological Museum of Heraklion, where we saw Minoan artifacts, including bull sculptures and the original frescoes from the Palace of Knossos. We then proceeded to drop our backpacks at our Bed and Breakfast (minus the breakfast), and then took a walk along the shore of Heraklion, where we found a beach a which to relax. The mentality of this trip was gelato, gelato, gelato, and this night I got a creamy caramel flavor. 

The following morning we walked to the bus station of Heraklion, as we wanted to visit Psychro Cave, the birthplace of Zeus. However, it is almost impossible to get there on any day except Mondays and Thursdays, so instead we traveled through Agias Nikolas to the town of Plaka, where we proceeded to take a ten minute boat ride to the island of Spinalonga.

Spinalonga

When Crete was taken over by the Latin crusaders in 1204, the island, and subsequently Spinalonga, developed Venetian influence, and the island of Spinalonga was carved out from the mainland. Venetian forts and fortifications dot the island, along with Ottoman fortresses dating the to 18th century Ottoman seize of Crete. During the 20th century, from 1903 to 1957, the Greek government converted the island into a leper colony in order to quarantine the leper population of Greece. Whole families were brought to the island, where they lived self-sufficient with little aid from the Greek government. When the leper colony was disbanded in 1957, the island was abandoned and it now serves as a tourist attraction due to its vast colonization. Hiking across the island and through the abandoned houses is eerie, you can feel the silent presence of all those who lost their lives abandoned to this disease.

Venetian Fortress

When we return back to Heraklion after some lucky chances with the bus time tables, we then went to the Palace of Knossos, the famed home of King Minos and the Minotaur. The convoluted architecture of the palace lent to the myth of the labyrinth, and I can attest to the labyrinthine corridors of the palace, which makes it almost impossible to see everything the palace has to offer. While Sir Arthur Evans, the archaeologist who worked at Knossos, took liberties in his reconstruction of the palace, I really did find it amazing to walk through partially reconstructed areas based upon archaeological evidence (but mostly his own imagination). In fact, I couldn't keep a smile off of my face while walking through the site. (Side note: this night, I got coconut and toblerone gelato).

Palace of Knossos

Peacock

Santorini

Sunday morning, we took a high speed ferry from Heraklion to Fira, the port of Santorini. From there we took a local bus up the switchback road into the town of Thira. From Thira we walked to our hostel... Caveland, which has rooms built into natural caves in the landscape.

The White Buildings of Oia (E-ah)

After getting settled into Caveland and changing into our bathing suits, Amy and I headed to Akrotiri, a town in the south of Santorini known for its beaches. There under the guide of the Santorini Dive Center, we went Scuba Diving! I have been snorkeling before, but I was really nervous about scuba diving as I was concerned about getting the bends and that I would face a mental barrier about breathing under water. Our guides, however, took the time to teach us the physics behind diving, and taught us the techniques used by divers in order to stay healthy while diving. Once we were all suited up, we slowly backed into the shallow water from the beach, where we then practiced breathing. Despite my reservations it was a lot easier than I thought to breathe. Amy and I had so much fun and the guides said that we caught onto diving pretty quickly! I was ready to go and swim around independently, but they kept us together for the dive (which was probably for the best). We got to swim with barracudas and other fish native to the area, and we even saw the famed "Atlantis" volcano from under the water. Diving in Santorini was such a unique experience that I would have never tried without my roommate and I am so glad that she convinced me to go diving with her.

Scuba Diving in Akrotiri, Santorini

Scuba Diving with fish

Me and Amy

After scuba diving, Amy and I took the local bus to Oia (pronounced E-ah) the northern most town in Santorini, and arguably the most tourist-y. We were on a mission. In Venice, we went to Alta Acqua, one of the twenty best bookstores in the world. Oia, Santorini holds another bookstore on the list - Atlantis Books - and we were determined to find it. (To be honest, it was a toss up as to whether we were more excited about diving or visiting the bookstore.) Bookstores are my favorite places in the world, and this one definitely lived up to the hype! Not only was the outside beautifully decorated with paintings of bookshelves and quotes, but the inside was absolutely magical.

Atlantis Books

I was so excited (and still am) to get a bilingual edition of Constantine Cavafy's poems. Cavafy was an early twentieth century Greek poet who wrote my favorite poem - Ithaka. I also got a copy of The Song of Achilles, one of my favorite books that I can never find in print with the U.S. The bookstore stamped the inside of our books with their logo, and I also got an Atlantis Books tote bag!

Atlantis Books

We ended our day in Santorini, and our weekend, joining about five thousand other tourists in watching the sunset from Oia. It was beautiful, though a little overcast, so we abandoned the sunset early for a gelato place (coconut and caramel) and a less crowded bus back to Caveland.

As someone who doesn't particularly like the beach, I was nervous that I would not enjoy the islands, but the Greek Islands have so much more to offer than beaches, they all have their unique cultures and attractions, and by no means is visiting Crete and Santorini satisfying enough.

Sunset at Oia