Field Trip to Ypres...

Just three days after returning from Greece, Veronica went on a whole day (8 a.m. to midnight) field trip with all of Year 9 (8th grade) as part of their WWI studies in history. Reading about the devastation of trench warfare is one thing, but it adds such a level of understanding after visiting several of the 150 military WWI cemeteries and the trenches.
They traveled to Ypres in western Belgium, where almost 500,000 soldiers died in the trenches and No Man’s Land surrounding the city between 1914 to 1918. The Germans introduced mass destruction weapons here for the first time in the form of chlorine gas. Ypres was completely wiped out as the Western Front was just a few miles away from the center; it was rebuilt according to original designs as closely as possible. The trip went so late because they stayed for the nightly ceremony at the Menin Gate Memorial to sound Last Post (similar to Taps) for the nearly 55,000 soldiers who died without known graves. My knowledge of WWI is pretty limited, so I hope to have a chance to visit as well.

The Dog Whisperer...

Whereas Skiathos was overrun by stray cats, Athens had a huge stray dog population. Ashlynn insisted on buying some dog treats. I was a bit freaked when she first approached a stray on the street, but it soon became evident that the dogs were actually well fed and weren’t aggressive. This black dog followed her around for about an hour; the name she made up was so bizarre that we’ve all forgotten it. On our last day, this tan dog, which she named Apollo, followed her for several hours. He was amazingly well behaved, even crossing major intersections with her. Luckily we didn’t get reprimanded when he followed her around the stadium. When it was time to catch our taxi to the airport, she had to say good-bye, which was traumatic to say the least. It is unfortunate that our crazy lifestyle doesn’t lend itself to having a pet, but it’s nice that we can dogsit occasionally.

Our Olympians...

Vivynne and family had to leave on October 26th after breakfast to catch their flight, but we still had a few more hours to explore. We went some more ancient sites (the amphitheater and library, where we saw lots of turtles), then headed to the ancient Olympic Stadium. Originally built in 566 BC, it was been renovated many times over the years. It was remade in marble in 329 BC and is the only stadium in the world to be made entirely of white marble. It hosted the first modern Olympics in 1896. It holds 45,000 spectators and was used in the 2004 Olympics for archery and the finish of the marathon. Here are the girls having their own competition.
Alas, Veronica might have been ahead, but she decided not to run the entire 200 meters and thus shouldn’t even be standing on the winner’s platform alongside her speedy sister.

Fun in Athens...

Our two-night visit to Athens centered around two things: ruins and shopping. In addition to visiting the Acropolis and Temple of Zeus, we wandered through the Agora to see the Forum and an intact temple. We also went to the antique market and watched the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The pedestrian area was rather touristy, but we all enjoyed looking for trinkets. We bought the girls Greek coin necklaces, both clearly reproductions. Veronica is now reconsidering her desire to study Roman archaeology and thinking she might concentrate on Greek instead.

The Acropolis and Parthenon...

We were very excited about finally getting to see our third UNESCO World Heritage site on this trip: the Acropolis. But first, we just viewed the 490-foot tall flat-topped rock from afar, because we needed to get to the new Acropolis Museum before it closed. The clear acrylic-covered walkway at the entrance was fantastic as it was built over ruins that are currently being excavated. It will be interesting to see how the British Museum continues to justify housing the Parthenon’s friezes now that this impressive museum is open. The following day, we made the walk up the rock to view the Parthenon (a Temple of Athena built in 438 BC). Reconstruction began in the 80s, but as you can see, there’s many decades of work still to do. Considering the large number of people walking around off-season, can’t imagine how crowded it must be in the heat of summer. We got a good laugh out of some Korean tourists that posed with the girls for a photo, then with me with they found out I’d visited their country.

Location, Location, Location...

Gotta admit that when we drove off the highway and saw all the ugly sprawl and traffic of Athens, my initial impression wasn’t good. Luckily, looks can be deceiving. Vivynne booked us into the Athens Gate Hotel, which wasn’t cheap, but was highly ranked on TripAdvisor. It was ideally located just around the corner from the pedestrian zone. This was the view from our room of the Temple of Zeus; begun in 520 BC and completed in 132 AD, this temple was larger than the Parthenon, but was heavily damaged in 267 AD and was never rebuilt.
And, this was the view of the Acropolis with the Parthenon on top as seen from the rooftop restaurant, where we started each day with breakfast and ended each day with cocktails.

More Ruins and Hiking...

After the amphitheater, we went to our 2nd UNESCO World Heritage site of the day, the ruins at Mycenae and the tomb of Clytemnestra. Here you see the Lion Gate to the citadel, dating from approximately 1300 BC; while this appears mostly intact, the remainder of the giant fort was just crumbled rocks. Above, you see Jimmy and me as we attempted to climb the 999 stairs to the castle overseeing Nafplio. Unfortunately, we got too late of a start and the castle was already closed, so we gave up before the halfway point so we wouldn’t have to climb down in the dark. Instead of another giant dinner, we had gyros and beer, which hit the spot. I was thrilled to find a Greek coin pendant in a junk shop; hard to tell if it’s really old, but it’s cool even if it’s a fake.