Greece Part 2: Mainland

During my last week in Greece, Ilias took us on a week long road trip! It was exhausting, but mostly wonderful. Early Monday morning, we bid goodbye to Kostas and set off for Athens on a 6:30am flight! During our short, one hour flight we were treated to a chocolatey breakfast snack and the view of the sunrise over the Aegean. After an hour long bus ride, we arrived at our first hotel of the week.

Vanessa and I quickly learned the elevators in the mainland were less than spacious.

The weather was quite overcast and cloudy, but our first stop was the Greek Parliament building, where we saw a changing of the guard ceremony, similar to the one at Arlington Cemetery in Washington, DC.

Next, we ventured to the Acropolis! Walking around parts of Athens, it was easy to forget the grand importance of this city, until you see the Acropolis. We existed the subway and could see the massive structure a top the hill. On our way up there was a mini theatre, so Ilias made sure to squeeze in a small lesson.

*group photo, Paideia*

Indicative of my new found bread/olive oil obsession

We ate breakfast at the hotel (greek yogurt+honey, of course!) and then set off for the day. First, to the Ancient Theater at Epidaurus (more info here).

Ilias insisted we climb to the top, so we could hear/see for the incredible acoustics for ourselves. It is hard to see in this photo, but he was standing on a small center stone at the center of the theater and we could hear him perfectly!

On our way to Mycenae, we stopped at Nafplion, a small port, and then at this random restaurant for lunch. There were olive trees as far as you could see!

Mycenae – an ancient Greek city with incredible views, rich history, and massive tombs. There is now a museum on site with an unbelievable number of artifacts, as seen below.

Walking into one of the honeycomb shaped tombs

Next, we stopped in Nemea, another ancient city with a museum

Temple of Zeus

A quick stop at a wine store (not sure if it was a winery or not??) before arriving in Argos (one of the oldest cities in Europe!!) for the night.

That evening Vanessa, Nancy, and I poked through some of the shops before meeting up with the group for dinner. I can’t remember much about that meal, but I do remember Ilias ordered for us and the serving sizes were HUGE.

In the morning, before departing the city, we had the chance to meet with the Mayor in his office. He spoke in Greek to Ilias and I caught about four words of the entire conversation. Soon enough, we set off on a drive to Olympia, the site of Olympic Games during classical times!

Before exploring the Olympic Village, we walked through this beautiful museum. At this point, I had been to over a dozen Greek museums, and it easy for them to all blend together. BUT THIS ONE! The building itself was filled with light, illuminating gorgeous wooden beams, and the museum was small enough to keep my attention the entire time!

The Olympic Village was quite big, but mostly filled with ruins of buildings and structures. Winding through the old pathways on this warm, blue sky day was absolutely beautiful.

At the entrance to the stadium. Below, Ilias encouraged us to participate in a race, because for goodness sake, we were at THE Olympic Stadium! Unfortunately, I was wearing a dress…bad choice for this particular day!

A second museum at Olympia

We arrived in Nafpaktos just after the sunset, to the cutest hotel, ever. It was so cozy and full of charm! We spent very little time in Nafpaktos, but I can only imagine how lively this little city must be in the summertime!

The next morning, we set off for Delphi, which included our longest bus right yet, a whopping 3.5 hours. BUT! It was accompanied by the most beautiful views of the ocean, mountains, and blue skies.

The closer we got to Delphi, the sharper the turns became and the higher up the mountains we climbed.

We started at Tholos Temple, where Ilias talked for quite a long time, but I think most of us were distracted by the view.

Next, we walked along a road wedged between two green mountains, to the entrance of the museum and proceeded to wander through Delphi

We ended our trip to Delphi with a museum and then a stop at a corner store for snacks (probably included a twix bar, pringles, and cashews)

Next, we stopped in Thermopylae, at this statue for King Leonidas (Remember the movie 300? Yeah, him), and a neat little interactive museum including 3D films.

Quick stop at this hot spring, including one naked, middle-aged, Greek man frolicking around…intentionally left out just to the left of this photo

A late lunch, but I mostly just ate gelato. oops.

Made it to Kalambaka, another squeezed elevator photo.

Vanessa, Seth, Nancy, and I went shopping in this sweet little town. I found a beautiful oil painting of Athens for only 25 Euros (that I still have yet to frame), unique food stores, AND half of a store devoted to LEFTIES!

The next morning, we visited Meteora, which I already wrote an entire blog post about here !

THEN! If any of you have doubted how freaking awesome Ilias is, listen up. We walk up to a museum (in the mainland, far away from Rhodes, his home) and it looks closed. Ilias whips out his phone, says “Paideia just one moment, I will make phone call,” and then a magic man appears. The man apologizes for the museum being closed but explains there is a ceremony downstairs, and proceeds to bring us! Ilias is ushered to front to sit next to a Greek bishop. No big deal. Following the ceremony, we get a special tour of the museum! Moral of the story, Ilias is the man.

We arrived in Katerini mid afternoon and checked into Hotel Olympion before wandering around another charming little city

I try to keep a travel log, especially when I go abroad, so I can remember all of the little details that are easy to forget. I reference my entries when writing this blog. I laughed a little when I saw this picture and then read the entry “ps. I bought THE PERFECT strawberries and then took a picture :)”

On our last day, we started in Dion, a village at the foot of Mount Olympus. It was the coldest morning yet, foggy, with frost covering all of the delicate leaves sprinkled across the ground. I have to admit, I wasn’t dressed warm enough, but the fog and frost made this place so magical.

fun fact! My Greek professor at UNH, owns this museum!

By this point in the trip, we were all fairly tired from the constant state of travel, but Ilias insisted we visit Vergina. TOTALLY WORTH IT. We visited the *underground* tomb museum, which contained the tomb for Philip II, father of Alexander the Great. As a super nerdy history major, this made me weirdly emotional. Standing in front of the tomb, of the father of one of the most influential men in history, I have to admit, I shed a few tears. The museum was super strict, so I have no pictures of the inside. But the entrance is pictured below.

We arrived at our final destination, Thessaloniki, in the middle of the afternoon, allowing us time to walk through the bustling streets filled with markets. MY FAVORITE!

We were super fortunate to have a room with a balcony at almost every hotel during our road trip!

That night we hung out with the UCONN guys, packed, and said our goodbyes. We were all departing at different times, so that was our last time together! After about four hours of sleep, I woke up at 4am set off for the airport, after what is sure to be, one of the most memorable trips of my life!

Fun last note – I have to say, I doubted the fight crew when they announced we were about to land while flying over these rugged mountains, but in a matter of minutes were landed safely on the ground in Munich, Germany!

Thanks to everyone who followed along with my Greek posts, I hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I did reminiscing!