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I am back from yet another journey, this time to the region of Greece called the Peloponnese.  The scenery on our trip was, yet again, magnificent.  We left Tuesday morning, and after a two-hour drive, arrived in Isthmia, which was a roadside sanctuary to Poseidon, but also the site of the Isthmian games (like the Olympic games, but in Isthmia).  We had a nice tour by a University of Chicago archeologist who was very excited to show us around.  Our next stop was Nemea, which was a sanctuary to Zeus and the site of the Nemean games.  The stadium still stands, and the boys in our program had a race in the spirit of Greek athletic competition, while the rest of us cheered.  It was almost like being at the Olympics. J  After leaving Nemea, we drove to Napflio, had lunch, and checked into our hotel.  After some free time, we went out for a group dinner at a local taverna.  I had stuffed tomatoes, which reminded me a lot of golabki.  I was glad they had some more variety at this restaurant because I’m starting to get sick of gyros and souvlaki.  After dinner, we went to an Italian gelato shop- yummy!

On Wednesday, we saw the remains at Mycenae, which were huge!  Up until now, we’ve been seeing a lot of rocks on the ground or standing columns at temples, but no actual walls that are still standing.  At Mycenae, the walls are definitely still standing, and they are quite impressive.  Tombs with all sorts of treasures inside were found at Mycenae, and we even descended into an underground cistern.  We had to use candles to see where we were going- it was pretty cool.  Next, we went to the Argive Heraion, which was the main sanctuary of Argos, with a temple to Hera.  The Heraion was also a big site with the foundations of the structures being easy to see.  An again, magnificent scenery.  Our last stop of the day was the museum of Argos.  During the afternoon, I explored the town, which is know for its jewelry, much of which is handmade.  It is beautiful, but also pricey.  I was content to just window shop.  That night we had another group dinner, and I had pastitsio, which is like lasagna.  Delicious!  After dinner, we tried a different gelato shop, which I think was better than the Italian one.  There is a fortress in Napflio called the Palamidhi fortress, and a group of us decided to try to climb up to the fortress after finishing our gelato.  There were eight of us, and we made it up all 888 steps (some stretches were not well lit at all).  The view was gorgeous!!

This morning, we drove up the mountain to see the fortress by day, then we went to Tiryns.  Tiryns was a settlement in the early Helladic period.  Our next stop was Epidavros, which was a sanctuary to Asklepios.  There is an amazing theatre there with perfect acoustics where the guests at the sanctuary would go for entertainment.  Our resident free-style rappers, Graham and Mike, busted out some beats on the stage.  We walked around the site, then drove to the modern town of Epidavros for lunch.

Our last stop before getting back to Athens was Perachora, where there was a temple for Hera.  There is also a beautiful beach; the water was so clear, and there were sea urchins living on the rocks.  I cannot express it in words- check out the pictures!

A bunch of us planned another trip this weekend since we don’t have class on Monday.  We’re going to Meteora.  I love seeing new places, but it is pretty tiring, so I’ll try to relax tomorrow after our visit to the National Museum.