I just completed my first final exam on John Milton. The test started at 9:30am and I barely slept the night before because I was too nervous I wouldn't wake up in the morning and Trinity is a very unforgiving institution. I showed up to the exam exactly at 9:30 and the test had already started. I walked into the gymnasium where the test was being held, and had a complete throwback to standardized test taking at Highland Park High School. About 400 students were there, silently scribbling away in a diverse array of tests from advanced mathematics to science to humanities, you name it, sitting in long rows. I didn't realize we had assigned desks to sit at, so I had to run outside the building, find my desk number on a wind-whipped piece of printer paper taped to the outside panel of an electrical box, then ran back inside the building, up the stairs and to my desk. So I began my test five minutes later than everyone else, but I still made it. I was a little frazzled and when I opened up my test book the sweat was literally falling from my face and dropping onto the exam booklet. With that I got settled and wrote two essays over the course of two hours. The first was on Paradise Lost and how it deals with free will. My essay was about how Milton reconciles free will and Providence (destiny under divine guidance) by making Providence a choice Adam and Eve choose to abide by after the Fall. The second essay was about Milton's play Samson Agonistes and whether or not we can enjoy it when we live in an age of suicide bombing. That was an interesting question and I hope I gave an interesting answer, but then again... Walking out of the exam I was relieved because I had been focusing purely on Milton the last week. But I do think Milton is the most incredible writer I have yet encountered, and Paradise Lost is unlike anything I've read before. Samuel Johnson once said that Paradise Lost is the kind of work you pick up, read and admire and then never read again. He's probably right but I do hope I have time to read it again one day. It's an incredible, unparalleled piece of work.
Anyway, now that I finished that exam I finally have time to finish my blog posts about Greece, so without further ado, here it goes. Day three of the road trip:
I woke up to a beautiful day in Olympia. However, the manager of the hotel (John C. Reilly) informed me I happened to come to Olympia on the one day of the year that everything was closed because of Easter. Therefore, the entire ancient Olympic grounds were closed, and my tour of them dwindled into having to walk along the road bordering the grounds and looking in at the park. It was almost as disappointing as this. I really wish I could have explored it because I came all that way to see it, however I kept thinking that the drive from Nafplia to Olympia was so great that it was well worth the trip. I still was able to snag a few shots though, and I wasn't the only tourist who came to see the closed site on Easter.
Many other people walked along the same road, straining to snag some pictures. An old Greek or Russian couple passed me (sad I can't differentiate the two), and the man started asking me something in Greek/Russian to which I responded in English, and we both laughed as the old man lifted up his hand to give me a high five and the two of them went on their way. I looked at the site for a little while longer and then got back to my Hyundai and set out for my next stop: Kalavryta en route to Delphi.
The manager of Hotel Kronios was nervous for me because he didn't think any gas stations would be open, but after leaving Olympia I luckily found one in ten minutes and filled up the gas tank. Nothing on a road trip is more assuring than a full tank of gas. I raved about the trip from Nafplia to Olympia because it was one of the most beautiful drives I've ever seen, but my God, the drive from Olympia toward Kalavryta and Delphi was in its own league. I spent the entire ride gasping and gawking at the scenery.
The mountain ranges are truly incredible and are said to rival the Alps. I must have stopped 20 separate times to get out of my car to take pictures. I also stopped for lunch at the top of the mountain and sat at the cliff edge with a bag of white bread and a cup of nutella just staring at the mountain ranges, fully satisfied with that moment in life.
After lunch I drove on, around the narrow, curvaceous mountainside streets that had no railings bordering the cliff drops. Thank God for the GPS. There's absolutely no way I would have figured out Greece without it. I made a wrong turn at one point and led myself down curvy streets with no turn radius, through a tiny mountainside village, and then wound up at a point I was at 10km before. But I made my way to Kalavryta because there is a famous Holocaust museum and monument there. The story behind the people of Kalavryta is that the Nazis destroyed them as an act of revenge when a different region of Greece rebelled against them during World War II. There is a hill at the top of Kalavryta where Nazi soldiers brought the 700 men of the town to execute them. They stuck the women and children into the schoolhouse in the center of the town and locked the doors and set the building on fire, so as the men and women were dying they could also watch each other die (the hill is clearly visible from the schoolhouse). An Austrian soldier took pity on the women and children and opened the doors of the building so they could escape being burned alive, but most of the men were executed at the hill. They turned that same schoolhouse into the Holocaust museum, and many of the burnt floorboards are still there as a testament to what happened there.
I got to Kalavryta.
It is a small city built inside a valley, and I was disappointed but not surprised when I found the museum to be closed for Easter. But the monument was on the hill, so I went and explored that. It is a powerful monument that is also a cemetery for many of the executed men. On my way out from the monument I put a small rock on top of one of the headstones and went back to my car.
It took me roughly 3 hours to get to Kalavryta, but because the museum was closed I spent about an hour in the town and went on my way to Delphi, glad that I made a visit.
The continuation of the drive to Delphi was still gorgeous. I had to pass over the river by way of the Gefyra Riou Antiniou bridge, a very long bridge connecting the Peloponnese to the rest of mainland Greece.
When I got to the other side of the bridge I met the toll man who said it cost 13.20 euros to pass the bridge, to which I looked at him and said, "you're shitting me, right?" "Haha, wish I was. But it's 13.20." Grudgingly I gave him the money and went on my way, the streets now bordering the water separating the mainland. Every view was glorious.
Delphi is a town on the side of a mountain, and to get to it you must drive up a very steep set of streets. I got to the city and found a parking spot on the side of the road and went to the first reliable looking hotel I found. A 19 year old girl was there covering for her mom who had to step out for an hour. I talked to her for a while since she had a pretty good grasp of english, just enough that we could talk but lacking enough that I found it endearing. The room was nice with a big bed, but they didn't have internet. The girl at the desk told me about a place called XOPI (chori) with internet two flights of stairs down the mountain (Delphi is a really steep city so they need steep staircases) and I found the place. It was more like a club and the manager told me they stay open until 5 in the morning. I got back to the hotel and asked the girl if anything was going on that night, and she said the only thing was the dance festival that was starting right then, so I went to that.
This was pretty cool. Boys and girls and then adults were all dressed in traditional Greek clothes, doing traditional Greek dances.
I stayed and watched it along with the rest of the Delphi community, and then went exploring a bit. I walked to the highest street in the town and found a forest path. It was still light out at this point. I began walking up the path, which then turned into an olive grove,
which then turned into a mountain hiking trail. It was such a great hike that I couldn't stop walking up the mountain.
Eventually I had to take my jacket off and I watched the sun go down far in the distance. When it started to get concerningly dark I contemplated going down, but I had a goal to get to the top of the Delphi mountain, which didn't seem too far away. But it was far away, and eventually I reached a point when I knew I would have to descend the mountain in darkness and I stopped climbing. I did, however, find a point on the side of a boulder where I could look down and see the ancient Delphic site from way up above it, so that was cool. Delphi looked very small from where I was, just a blot of city street lights, but the music coming from the dance festival traveled all the way up to me and echoed against the top face of the mountain. It was deep twilight at this point, so I started making my way down rather quickly, getting nervous because it was hard to see where I was stepping.
So to pass the time I started singing the couple Saturday evening shalshuddis songs I knew under my breath, sang them again, and before I knew it I was back in the lighted safety of the city. I walked around a while longer and then went back to the hotel, utterly exhausted from the day and my hike.
I ate rice wrapped in grape leaves from a can I bought in Olympia, not enjoying it, and ultimately feared that I was going to contract botulism and I threw it away. You Don't Mess with the Zohan was on TV and I watched that, which is one of those movies that you watch to be entertained and for no other reason. The end of a long day 3.
Anyway, now that I finished that exam I finally have time to finish my blog posts about Greece, so without further ado, here it goes. Day three of the road trip:
I woke up to a beautiful day in Olympia. However, the manager of the hotel (John C. Reilly) informed me I happened to come to Olympia on the one day of the year that everything was closed because of Easter. Therefore, the entire ancient Olympic grounds were closed, and my tour of them dwindled into having to walk along the road bordering the grounds and looking in at the park. It was almost as disappointing as this. I really wish I could have explored it because I came all that way to see it, however I kept thinking that the drive from Nafplia to Olympia was so great that it was well worth the trip. I still was able to snag a few shots though, and I wasn't the only tourist who came to see the closed site on Easter.
Many other people walked along the same road, straining to snag some pictures. An old Greek or Russian couple passed me (sad I can't differentiate the two), and the man started asking me something in Greek/Russian to which I responded in English, and we both laughed as the old man lifted up his hand to give me a high five and the two of them went on their way. I looked at the site for a little while longer and then got back to my Hyundai and set out for my next stop: Kalavryta en route to Delphi.
The manager of Hotel Kronios was nervous for me because he didn't think any gas stations would be open, but after leaving Olympia I luckily found one in ten minutes and filled up the gas tank. Nothing on a road trip is more assuring than a full tank of gas. I raved about the trip from Nafplia to Olympia because it was one of the most beautiful drives I've ever seen, but my God, the drive from Olympia toward Kalavryta and Delphi was in its own league. I spent the entire ride gasping and gawking at the scenery.
The mountain ranges are truly incredible and are said to rival the Alps. I must have stopped 20 separate times to get out of my car to take pictures. I also stopped for lunch at the top of the mountain and sat at the cliff edge with a bag of white bread and a cup of nutella just staring at the mountain ranges, fully satisfied with that moment in life.
After lunch I drove on, around the narrow, curvaceous mountainside streets that had no railings bordering the cliff drops. Thank God for the GPS. There's absolutely no way I would have figured out Greece without it. I made a wrong turn at one point and led myself down curvy streets with no turn radius, through a tiny mountainside village, and then wound up at a point I was at 10km before. But I made my way to Kalavryta because there is a famous Holocaust museum and monument there. The story behind the people of Kalavryta is that the Nazis destroyed them as an act of revenge when a different region of Greece rebelled against them during World War II. There is a hill at the top of Kalavryta where Nazi soldiers brought the 700 men of the town to execute them. They stuck the women and children into the schoolhouse in the center of the town and locked the doors and set the building on fire, so as the men and women were dying they could also watch each other die (the hill is clearly visible from the schoolhouse). An Austrian soldier took pity on the women and children and opened the doors of the building so they could escape being burned alive, but most of the men were executed at the hill. They turned that same schoolhouse into the Holocaust museum, and many of the burnt floorboards are still there as a testament to what happened there.
I got to Kalavryta.
It is a small city built inside a valley, and I was disappointed but not surprised when I found the museum to be closed for Easter. But the monument was on the hill, so I went and explored that. It is a powerful monument that is also a cemetery for many of the executed men. On my way out from the monument I put a small rock on top of one of the headstones and went back to my car.
It took me roughly 3 hours to get to Kalavryta, but because the museum was closed I spent about an hour in the town and went on my way to Delphi, glad that I made a visit.
The continuation of the drive to Delphi was still gorgeous. I had to pass over the river by way of the Gefyra Riou Antiniou bridge, a very long bridge connecting the Peloponnese to the rest of mainland Greece.
Delphi is a town on the side of a mountain, and to get to it you must drive up a very steep set of streets. I got to the city and found a parking spot on the side of the road and went to the first reliable looking hotel I found. A 19 year old girl was there covering for her mom who had to step out for an hour. I talked to her for a while since she had a pretty good grasp of english, just enough that we could talk but lacking enough that I found it endearing. The room was nice with a big bed, but they didn't have internet. The girl at the desk told me about a place called XOPI (chori) with internet two flights of stairs down the mountain (Delphi is a really steep city so they need steep staircases) and I found the place. It was more like a club and the manager told me they stay open until 5 in the morning. I got back to the hotel and asked the girl if anything was going on that night, and she said the only thing was the dance festival that was starting right then, so I went to that.
This was pretty cool. Boys and girls and then adults were all dressed in traditional Greek clothes, doing traditional Greek dances.
I stayed and watched it along with the rest of the Delphi community, and then went exploring a bit. I walked to the highest street in the town and found a forest path. It was still light out at this point. I began walking up the path, which then turned into an olive grove,
I ate rice wrapped in grape leaves from a can I bought in Olympia, not enjoying it, and ultimately feared that I was going to contract botulism and I threw it away. You Don't Mess with the Zohan was on TV and I watched that, which is one of those movies that you watch to be entertained and for no other reason. The end of a long day 3.
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