Day+4-Onward+to+Nauplio!

Today we were on the move. We originally had plans to visit four different sites today while changing hotels from Corinth to Nafplio. We started off the day a bit late but we soon traveled up a huge mountain nearby called Acrocorinth, which is the ancient acropolis of Corinth. It was the main defense of the connection of the Peloponnese to mainland Greece because you can see far and wide on a good day. Fortunately, although it was raining pretty badly last night, it was beautiful when we woke up, clear skies and warm air. In the bus we traversed half of the climb up to the top of the huge rock and there were such incredible views from the bus. Once we got to the parking lot, we had to hike the rest of the way. I won’t lie; it was difficult. The rocks were slippery and we had many near falls both up and down. I had no idea what it would feel like being on the top of Acrocorinth when I first chose it for my topic however many weeks ago. You feel like you are on the top of the world. That is really the only way to describe standing at the ancient (and empty) site of the Temple of Aphrodite. There is a 360 view of the land around the mountain. You can see water, farmland, ancient Corinth, Modern Corinth and so much more. Even now I can’t believe that Cassie (or any of us really) made it to the top; I am so happy for her. Anyway we saw a great site and lost a lot of energy for a FULL day of things to do. But it was totally worth it! (And everyone else will agree with me!) (eventually.)

Next was Ancient Corinth! This place was so cool. We saw the Temple of Apollo, which is one of the oldest temples that still partially stands on its own. We walked around on our own for a few minutes in the site and heard the water of the Lower Pierene Spring. Next we took a quick look-around in the museum. After that we were called over to meet with the director of the site, Professor Guy Sanders. With his awesome British accent and Jack Russell Terrier named Charlie, he brought us behind the scenes. (One woman got really mad that she wasn’t allowed to go too!) He talked to us about the geography of Corinth and archeology in general. It was really cool to hear him talk about his work and the rest of the work that they are doing at Ancient Corinth.







Before we got lunch we went to Nemea, where Ms. Mellican works in the summer. We met two dogs, Cotton and one that has yet to be named. It was awesome to walk around in the ruins of the temple and to see the still totally intact sinks and pipes of the bathrooms. A very short drive away was a stadium. Just outside of the stadium there were remains of a work out room where people would warm up before their events. We all ran through the tunnel, cheering and yelling, and lined up at one end of the stadium. We raced from one end to the other. I lost. Well I started laughing halfway through and stopped but really I lost. Anthony came in first and Lexi came in second.

This is where Ms. Mellican will be competing over the summer.

We boarded the bus one more time-onward to Tiryns! Here Mitch gave his presentation on this famous ‘mighty-walled’ Mycenaean citadel. I couldn’t believe how massive the walls were! Some of the stones were so big they more than likely weighed several tons. This type of construction is called cyclopean masonry because the stones were so big, the ancient Greeks believed only the mythological race of Cyclops could have moved them! Though the site wasn’t very big, it was still impressive. Once we got to our hotel and settled in, everyone changed into bathing suits and we took a walk to the beach. While our walk was long, we saw amazing views of the Aegean Sea and the mountains on the other side of the inlet. The water is so incredibly blue; it looks so pure. The small little beach that we arrived at was pretty full but we found a spot that could fit all of us near the water’s edge. Some of us went swimming, making sure to avoid any sea urchins on the rocks, and others were tanning on the warm rocks of the beach. We had such a fun time at our first beach visit of the trip!

For dinner after everyone got ready, we, like always, found one restaurant that would seat all of us at two tables. Tonight we eat at a cute Italian place in the center of a plaza not far from out hotel (you can only eat so much Greek food before you need a change.) After a few laughs and bowls of pasta and plates of pizza, we split up into two groups and went our separate ways; but not for long because we ran into each other shopping. Not long afterwards, per Ms. Mellican’s recommendation, we found ourselves in a small Italian gelato shop just steps from our hotel. The women there were so nice to us! When they saw how big our group was they gave all of us a free sample of gelato, which was absolutely delicious. Once the gelato was all gone, we went back to our hotel for the night! What a great day!