Friday, January 4, 2013

Greetings from Greece, Day 9 Adventures


Greetings from gorgeous Greece:

We are on our way from Delphi to Athens right now and I am taking a break from the beautiful scenery to write you a bit of a letter. We’ve just spent most of the day in Delphi, and I am sad to say goodbye. Once I’m able to post photos, you will see why I’ve been mesmerized by these views, the town, and all of the people.

It’s about 3:30 in the afternoon and I’ve done quite a bit since the last time I was able to send you something. When we woke up this morning we had a delicious breakfast (great peaches, sweet bread, and hardboiled eggs) and headed two minutes down the road to the Oracle of Delphi’s stomping grounds. The oracle of Delphi was extra important because people only came to Delphi with the big questions about war and peace. There were other oracles, but this one was for more than just everyday minutia—I thought that was pretty cool.

We first stopped at this little museum where a tour guide shared fascinating stories behind the sculptures that were in the museum from an excavated Apollo’s temple. Thanks to you, I knew a lot of the Greek gods and goddesses she was talking about.

Josh. You would have thought you had died and gone to Mount Olympus if you had been there. The amount of that temple that was on display without glass covering it was just phenomenal. I could walk up to it with barely an inch blocking me from the depiction of Nike or Athena. Dr. Pizzo said this was one of the only times in history people would be able to get that close to such phenomenal illustrations of history.

We left the museum and went to the actual site of the old temple and various different parts of the area. It was a ginormous hill to climb to see everything, but the view was completely worth it. There were huge mountains and beautiful architecture everywhere. I’m not usually a view obsessive gal, but Greece sure has blown my mind. Even the bus we are riding on has a camera in the front of it (like the one on cars used to back up) that plays the image on the television screens to show everyone the amazing view. It’s pretty dang cool.

After the views, we headed to this place named Agelos for lunch where I tried this fried cheese in Fila bread (the most delicious cheese stick I’ve ever had. We need to get these in the states) and a pasta with rooster dish. Everyone at my table was quick to swap bites of meals, so I got to taste some pretty good food throughout lunch. I think the cheese sticks were still my favorite though.

After that we headed to see this little monastery, and that was not as exciting as some of the things we have done; however, it had really gorgeous views and the weather was pretty nice so we had a good time relaxing.

Now that we are in Greece it has really hit everyone that we are over the middle hump of our trip, and I am starting to get pretty sad that the trip is going to end. So far it has been one of the coolest things I have ever done (maybe THE coolest), and I just don’t want it to end. Plus, the whole going back to school thing seems pretty lame comparatively. I’m thinking maybe that you and the fam can just move up here and we will move into a house that kind of looks like the monastery with gorgeous views and a big courtyard. We will eat fried cheese sticks every week. And bam! Live happily ever after.

Our tour guide today said humans tend to only be influenced if they think something else is interesting and not inferior. I know that on this trip there has been some things the group thinks America does better (WHAT!? THEY DON’T HAVE DR. PEPPER!???), but there has also been a lot I have learned from Italy and Greece. I don’t know if I have had some sort of drastic change so far, but this trip has definitely influenced me. I hope one day you will be able to travel here or even somewhere else that has something interesting enough to influence you.

Love,

Maddie 

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