Ending in Athens

Since Olympia, we spent a night in Delphi and then made it to Athens, our final destination of the trip. The morning after my last post, we went to a Museum of the Olympic Games that was right around the corner from our hotel in Olympia. It was neat to see medals, uniforms, tickets, and newspaper articles from most of the modern Olympic games. They also had stories from the ancient games and pictures of the first modern games that took place in Athens in 1896. This museum was also a nice change from all of the pottery, statues, and frescoes we have seen on the trip.

I stayed awake on the three hour bus ride from Olympia to Delphi, and as I looked out the window I was certainly glad I did. The scenery was beautiful, especially as we drove next to water and then climbed into the mountains. We took a short ferry ride of about 20 minutes in the middle of our trip, and as we got to Delphi it started to rain, which made it even more exciting.

We first went to the museum and then got dinner and explored the two main streets of the cute mountain town. The next morning, we trekked around the Delphi site. It was really neat to walk along the same path that the ancients did when they consulted the oracles for advice. As we were walking to the theater, a man approached one of the guys in our group who was wearing a UA shirt and shook his hand and told him “Bear Down.” It turns out he was visiting Greece but lived in Phoenix and had gone to UA.

After we saw the Delphi site, we ate lunch and then got in the bus to drive to Athens. I definitely slept for most of the trip, and when I woke up we were back in a big city. We walked less than 10 minutes to our hotel along a pedestrian and motorcycle pathway and caught our first glimpses of the Acropolis. Our hotel is a two minute walk from the site, and we could see it from our balcony if the trees weren’t in the way.

Since our arrival in Athens a few days ago, we have visited the Acropolis, which was super crowded with tons of people, gone to the site of the agora, and took the metro to the National Archaeology Museum, where the most famous artifacts from many of the sites we have visited are kept. As we were waiting for the rest of the group in the huge, new museum, I saw a Camp Wildcat (one of the clubs I was in at UA) shirt and realized I knew the person who was wearing it!! It was really weird and exciting to randomly run into someone I knew in the middle of a museum in Athens!

Last night we went to a traditional Greek folk dancing performance that was phenomenal with intricate outfits and lots of energy. Today we had a free day, which I have mostly spent journaling and exploring. It’s the afternoon now so most of the stores are closed, but in a bit we’re going back out to see the street vendors and buy any last minute things.

Tonight we have a farewell dinner, and then almost everyone leaves tomorrow. I am staying an extra day with two other girls, and I hope to have time to explore some more tomorrow while we pack and get ready to leave. Now that it is so close, I can’t wait to get back and see my family and friends again. I have had a great time on the trip, but I am looking forward to taking a nice long shower, sleeping in my own bed, and doing laundry with a washing machine when I get home. I have one more hopefully long day in Athens and then about 24 hours of traveling until then!