Thursday morning was yet again another early start where a few of us ventured out for some fruit for breakfast, loaded onto the bus, and set out for Lerna, another Mycenean site. This one was a little less exciting than Tiryns, but I guess was important in the Bronze Age. The rest of the day included a trip to see a museum filled with pottery (the less exciting lessons of class), tombs in Dedra (where I was knighted as the "Snail Slayer" after stepping on multiple snails), Hera's sanctuary, the beach in Napflion, yoga lead by Boden on our patio, and a family dinner at our new home.
Hera's Sanctuary
Friday morning, I woke up with a sinus infection (well, it eventually became one at that point). Fortunately, getting medication here at the pharmacy is like picking out ice cream-that simple. After my quick stop there, we went to the museum in Napflion to look at more pottery (if you all only knew the amount of pottery that exists in Greece you would understand...), and took the bus to Mycenae. This citadel is one of the biggest and best Mycenean citadels on the mainland. I also really liked one the best so far as well. Today we only checked out the different tombs and small houses around the citadel, had a picnic lunch on site, and returned to Napflion. We all took quick naps, then went shopping for dinner and ate some seriously kick-ass donut/benet things. Kylie and I were in heaven and probably should have ate dinner before dessert, but hey...when in Greece, right? We returned to our home and attempted to boil water for our soup but pretty much failed due to the unexplainable soapy water that formed from the hot water heater. Anyway, we finished off the night playing cards on the patio until the darkness overcame the light.
One of (few) intriguing relics in the museum
A tholos tomb at Mycenae
Saturday we spent most of the day at Mycenae inside the citadel frolicking through the ruins as our Professor tried to keep our attention spans on topic (we are literally like children at times). We were able to see the infamous Lion Gate, a dark-tunneled cistern, some amazing views of the surrounding countryside, and, of course, more pottery in the Museum of Mycenae. The day was fantastic until I did the unthinkable: I broke Boden's (my professor) little statue of his dog, Gulliver. Why my peers thought it would be a good idea to pose and put him on my shoulder on top of ROCKS I will never understand. What is worse is the fact that I did it. My pals helped me try to look for Gulliver's snout somewhere on the ground (which of course was like searching for a needle in a haystack once you see his picture below), and I eventually had to tell Boden what I did. He wasn't mad, but I could definitely tell he was disappointed. Luckily, he will be receiving a new statue of Gulliver in a month or so when Kevin comes to visit.
The rest of the evening was spent walking through the bazaar in Napflion (set up for the Greek Independence Day on Sunday), dinner at a small restaurant, and some fun nightlife.
Mycenae
Statue of Gulliver, before he lost his face
The Lion Gate
Sunday was Greek Independence Day and our first free day. Most of us slept in and Kylie and I ventured out for some breakfast and an opportunity to watch Napflion's Independence Day Parade. Most of those who were in the parade were children wearing traditional Greek clothing. It was pretty neat, except we couldn't understand the words to the music or anything spoken. The rest of the day we relaxed, went to lunch (and saw the CUTEST yellow lab puppy ever-besides Madagascar of course), and then climbed up to the fortress again. This time, we decided to walk up the steps. 999 of them to be exact. It was definitely intimidating but also thrilling to say we did it (and wasn't actually too bad). It was such a beautiful sight that Kylie and I continued exploring out to the pier in the city.
999 Stairs to Fortress
This was the last night in Napflion and I can easily sum up this leg of the trip in 3 phrases: breathtaking sights, cats, and steps.
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