Today was a day much like any other
day, with the one exception being that is was our last. Before I get started I
would like to mention that prior to this trip, most of us only knew one or two
other people but seventeen days later we have grown incredibly close and it is
my group members who I wish to thank for making this trip what it is. I would
also like to thank Professor Ryan for everything he provided before and during
the trip, there truly is not an greater professor in my eyes.
Our final day began early, with an
8AM meeting time in the lobby. The group met briefly with Nike (pronounced
Nikki), who was our guide for most of Greece, prior to her joining us for our
hike up the Acropolis. On the walk there we walked on the old road upon which
the “tripodon” was found. The tripodon translates to “Street of Tripods”, which
were awarded to the actors in the theater district. We followed this road all
the way to the base of the Acropolis, joined the while time by Nike’s dog Ino,
whom we left at the entrance.
The walk up to the Acropolis started on the
south side, where the old road led us to the amphitheater dedicated to
Dionysus, the god of wine and theater. The amphitheater itself was mostly
complete and was wasn’t original had been filled in with new marble. We were
able to walk up one of the aisles of the amphitheater onto the road that the
people of ancient Athens took up to the top of the Acropolis. On our way up to
the top we passed multiple caves and other sorts of holes carved into the side
of the hill, which used to hold anything from statues of the gods to altars
where soldiers would swear their lives to Athens.
We reached the top of the
Acropolis, surrounded by a couple hundred other people. The first view of the
top of the Acropolis brought us the most famous structure in all of Athens, the
Parthenon. Back in ancient Athens, the Parthenon was a giant temple dedicated
to the goddess Athena, whom the citizens considered their patron goddess.
The rest of the Acropolis held
multiple different santcuaries that had been uncovered over the years, as well
as the old Temple of Athena. Hidden behind the older temple was the olive tree,
which according to legend, was a gift from the goddess herself and the reason
the city is called Athens. Everything started to become a little crowded as we
made or way down from the Acropolis so we hustled over to the near by museum of
the Acropolis before it became too crowded.
Inside of this museum were all the
relics that had been recovered from the top of the Acropolis, including
muktilple pieces of the eastern and western pediments of the Parthenon. After
we did a short tour of the museum, we said good-bye to Nike because she was
leaving us to work on a presentation that she was giving the following day.
Following our lunch in the
Monastiraki section of Athens we headed back to the hotel to rest before Prof.
Ryan’s associate Dr. Dakaia Chatziefstahiou gave us a short lecture on
Olympism.
Dakaia gave a very thorough lecture
on the nature of Olympism and what it meant to Coubertin and the current
members of the IOC. We then wrapped up our trip, each of us sharing what we got
out of it, and Prof. Ryan announced the winners of the scavenger hunt, with
Alex, Mike, and Jess winning with a score of 46, the most by an Olympic Odyssey
team ever.
Our meeting concluded, we headed
out to dinner, a place called “Lontus”, that had a wonderful view of the
Acropolis at night. After dinner we somehow managed to get free dessert for
what seemed like the fifteenth time on the trip, and we finally got Prof. Ryan
a small birthday cake with a candle to celebrate his birthday from the previous
week.
Our night wrapped up with a trip to
a rooftop bar near our hotel, where we all enjoyed an adult beverage and said good-bye
to Dakaia before heading back to our rooms and packing for our return trip.
As I said before, today was a great
day but it was a very sad day as well, because none of us wanted to leave. To be
short, I shall never forget this trip, or the people who joined me on it. It
was definitely an Olympic experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment