After getting back from Egypt, I spent the night in Athens, woke up, and left immediately afterwards for the next trip on my schedule. One of our last orientation trips was to Peloponnesus. We started at Monemvasia, which consisted of a mountain on an island. The reason this place exists is because Peloponnesus is at the very bottom of Greece, and hundreds and thousands of years ago when pirates were an issue, this area was most at risk for being targeted. The town was built on an island and from many points of view, you cannot even tell it exits. Do not be fooled though, it was one of the most majestic things I have seen.
After walking through a little hole in the wall, we entered the little town. Very quiet but so old and beautiful. Then a few of us climbed the mountain. I ran ahead, loving the feeling of exploring and feeling so free and alive. The view from the top was... indescribable. I could see far off into the sea, and turn around and see a whole little city, all of the clay rooftops and off white walls. The wind was so strong, though, that it was almost a danger to us and cut our time short.
Our next stop was Ancient Sparta, which I must say was slightly disappointing. After movies like 300, you expect epic things of this town. There were few ruins in the actual ancient town, and the area around it was similar to that of any other town in Greece. We were dropped off almost at the top of the mountain and hiked down with a tour guide. Though it was nice to have a guide who was very knowledgeable about our surroundings, it became too much. He talked for tens of minutes on one site when there were many others we still had to see, making me lose interest quickly in what he was talking about.
Our last stop was Ancient Olympia, which was actually very neat. Though, again our guide talked so much that I wanted to rip my eyes out, it was so cool to see how things were in the Olympics back when they began. We raced in the stadium and saw where the torch is lit for modern day Olympics. Overall, that was a very cool place to be able to see.
I think, after all of these trips, I am just happy to be in Athens which is the closest thing I have to home right now. Traveling is great but in small doses, maybe limited to smaller and more spread apart trips. I am so pooped, which may explain my lack of enthusiasm in this post. Anyways, bedtime for me. More details later probably.
After walking through a little hole in the wall, we entered the little town. Very quiet but so old and beautiful. Then a few of us climbed the mountain. I ran ahead, loving the feeling of exploring and feeling so free and alive. The view from the top was... indescribable. I could see far off into the sea, and turn around and see a whole little city, all of the clay rooftops and off white walls. The wind was so strong, though, that it was almost a danger to us and cut our time short.
Our next stop was Ancient Sparta, which I must say was slightly disappointing. After movies like 300, you expect epic things of this town. There were few ruins in the actual ancient town, and the area around it was similar to that of any other town in Greece. We were dropped off almost at the top of the mountain and hiked down with a tour guide. Though it was nice to have a guide who was very knowledgeable about our surroundings, it became too much. He talked for tens of minutes on one site when there were many others we still had to see, making me lose interest quickly in what he was talking about.
Our last stop was Ancient Olympia, which was actually very neat. Though, again our guide talked so much that I wanted to rip my eyes out, it was so cool to see how things were in the Olympics back when they began. We raced in the stadium and saw where the torch is lit for modern day Olympics. Overall, that was a very cool place to be able to see.
I think, after all of these trips, I am just happy to be in Athens which is the closest thing I have to home right now. Traveling is great but in small doses, maybe limited to smaller and more spread apart trips. I am so pooped, which may explain my lack of enthusiasm in this post. Anyways, bedtime for me. More details later probably.
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