Thursday June 1st

Today was our final day of this amazing trip unfortunately. We started the day early with some breakfast down stairs. We then proceeded to look at more of the Athens and Marathon sites. The coolest site that we saw was the soccer stadium that Greece national soccer team plays at. Seeing an Olympic sized pool was also very cool to see. Michael Phelps swam in it also! Marathon was really cool because I had never really known the history of why a Marathon is what it is. The amount of history in Greece is crazy. I’ve always been interested in Greek gods and Zeus especially. But learning the backstory of Athena and Nike was very cool. I didn’t know Nike meant victory. But the highlight of the day was when we went to the beach. The water at the beach was absolutely gorgeous. With amazing views of the mountains in the distance it feels dystopian almost. We grabbed lunch on the beach and I had a barbeque chicken pizza which was pretty delicious. Getting this last day to just chill out and lay in the sun was very needed for everyone in the group. We played volleyball a little but I took a big nap out in the sun and worked on my tan. I actually had to be woken up from my nap so I did now miss the bus back. When we got back we counted up our scavenger hunt scores and unfortunately I did not win. But professor Kim provided cool gifts for everyone. We had a late dinner at about 8 pm. Most of the conversation was centered on reminiscing on the trip and started to make everyone a little sad. Dinner was very good having Saganaki, zucchini balls, sausage and lamb chops, I was absolutely stuffed by the end of the meal. After we wrapped up dinner we sadly said goodbye to professor Kim. The rest of the group proceeded to go to a rooftop restaurant to enjoy the rest of the night one last time. After many laughs and memories and jokes, me and a couple of people from the group decided to call it a night early as we needed to head to the airport at 6:15 the next morning. On the walk back I did a lot of reflecting on the trip and it is crazy how much this trip changed me and how much I learned. But just to think about how 3 weeks ago not even I randomly met 13 people from Syracuse that I’ve never talked to then proudly calling these same 13 amazing people good friends of mine. Surprisingly there were no issues between the group at all, everyone really just clicked together which really just made the trip that much better. So as I type this heading to the airport, I am so glad that I took this trip as I got to learn so much about the Olympics and create memories with some awesome people. 

Thursday June 1st

    Today was an exciting day and a sad day, it was our final day and beach day. I feel like Professor Kim did that on purpose. We got to sleep in until nine, which was super nice. We then boarded the bus and headed towards the Olympic sites from the 2004 Athens games. It was supposed to be a thirty-minute bus drive, but it ended up taking over an hour due to heavy traffic. It was hot on the bus, but I enjoyed seeing different parts of Athens. we first saw the basketball stadium, it looked really modern from the outside, but the seat felt really old. It is now home to Panathinaikos, which is the second biggest team in Greece. It was really cool seeing the difference between an American basketball stadium and a Greek stadium, the biggest difference was seeing covering over the away team bench, which really shocked me. We then headed to the swimming pools, they had so many, they were indoors and outdoors. We also saw the diving boards, and we all discussed which one would be the highest one we would jump off. And the final stop on our Olympic site tour was the soccer/track stadium, which is my least favorite kind of soccer stadium, because the fans feel so far away from the field. I was also shocked when we saw the trench in front of the traveling fan section at the stadium which also had barbed wire. I knew European fan where crazy, but I did not know they were that crazy.

    Since we had early morning traffic, we were not able to make it to the museum in Marathon, Greece but instead we headed straight to the beach. It was like a forty-five-minute drive to the beach, and everyone was excited. We made one stop at the ancient battle site where they figured out the name for the Marathon run. Then it was beach time, we went to a little resort on the water. We first stopped and ate in the restaurant and paid for our chairs. After that it was time to swim, which did not last long since the water was really cold and salty. But it was really refreshing, we all headed out and laid in our chairs, which was perfect. I ended up taking a nap and it was amazing, I did not fall into a deep sleep, but it was a light nap that refreshed me for the rest of the day. Professor Kim did have to wake me which I was not the only one that had to be woken up.    

    We then headed back to Athens, which was a very smooth drive. We got some time to freshen up before meeting and discussing the scavenger hunt in the area where we ate breakfast. Zach and I did not do well, but we had fun. After that it was time for dinner, normally we ate around six but today did not eat until around nine, which felt like a common time to eat in Athens. It was a perfect last meal, we had money left over so we got a ton of different appetizers. I got the Bolognese past which was really good. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful trip, I wish I did not have to leave.

Joshua Wilhelm

Thursday June 1

 Marathon and Beach

    Today we were given the opportunity to sleep in a little bit, we did not have to be ready to go until 9am. I got some more Greek yogurt with honey and granola which was delicious. Then it was time to start the day. We took a bus to the old Athens Olympic 2004 complex which was very cool to see. We started off on the basketball court, it was cool but it was nothing like what we have in the US. Afterwards, we saw where they hosted the swimming events. I don’t think I have ever seen an Olympic sized swimming pool so this was cool. Apparently the complex has 13 pools, 4 of them being Olympic sized, which is crazy. There were a lot of people swimming and hanging around. I know the IOC is trying to help past host cities reuse their facilities and get rid of white elephants. Professor Kim said when she was here a few years ago it was like a ghost town but now it is pretty lively. The last stop of this tour was the track and soccer stadium. The stadium itself was very cool but the track was awful.  It really needs resurfacing but I assume it is not being used very often. I also think it is a little odd to put a 9 lane track around a soccer field because then every seat is far away. Overall this site was not nearly as kept up as London 2012. Then it was time to head to Marathon

    We drove some of the route that the original marathon was run, which was pretty cool. We made a brief stop at the battle site and then headed to a beach resort. This was amazing, the group all grabbed some lunch. Then we spread out on some beach chairs. I went into the water for a little bit but for the most part I was on that chair. I read some of my book, which is my favorite beach activity. Before leaving I decided to take a nap in the sun. I completely fell asleep and had to be woken up by Professor Kim. I had a great nap but then it was time to get back on the bus and head back to the hotel. Once we got back to the hotel we showered and met back in the lobby for the wrap up. We went through the scavenger list and I am proud to say Ryan, Brendan, and I won. Professor Kim gave us honeycomb and a Paris 2024 mug plus some extra credit! She also gave everyone some baklava and soap. We then headed to our last group dinner. We ordered so much food, multiple appetizers, lamb, and dessert. My favorite part was dessert. I have been craving restaurant baklava this whole trip and I finally got some with vanilla ice cream. It was so yummy. As a group we reminisced about the trip and said our goodbyes. This trip was amazing, I am so fortunate to have been a part of it.

Wednesday, May 31

WELCOME TO ATHENS!!  a.k.a. my dream come true

We had a very long day today, but we saw some of the most impressive monuments in the world. Starting with the Ancient Greek Agora, the group followed our archeologist Demetrios through the ruins of what was once the city center of Athens. From the temple of Hephaestus to administrative buildings to common areas, it was very easy to understand that Greeks were very social people and they organized all their important and social areas together for that reason. Many of the buildings were crumbled, even those added by the Romans during their occupation — you’ll find that the Romans HAD to leave their mark on anything Greek. However, the temple of Hephaestus was still very stably assembled. Designed just like the Parthenon, the temple was smaller in scale but still a representation of grandeur. 

After wandering the Agora, it was time for THE ACROPOLIS AND THE PARTHENON!! AHHHH!! Despite the size of the Acropolis, the hike up really wasn’t too bad, and it was also lined with artifacts from the ancient times. Prior to seeing the Parthenon, we listened to a lecture by our guide Nikki about the history of the area — including the myth of Athena and Poseidon’s dispute over who deserves the naming rights of the city. Clearly, the olive tree prevailed over the salt water spring. With that, we also learned that the Parthenon now was not the original. There was a much smaller temple built for Athena to begin, and it wasn’t until much later that the now-standing Parthenon was built along with a sanctuary marking the dispute of Athena and Poseidon, and a temple for Athena Nike — a combination of Athena and Nike (the Greek Goddess of Victory) to symbolize that Athenians are always the victorious. So as we traversed up the winding path and through the marble arches, the Parthenon appeared in all its shining and crumbling glory. IT WAS SO COOL!! Along with the temple of Athena Nike and Athena’s olive tree, we almost just had to sit and stare at one of the most historic and impressive artifacts of the ancient world. Not to mention, we could practically see the entirety of the city of Athens from the top of the Acropolis. 

After taking a group photo, we headed down the winding path and back into the downtown area of Athens for a couple hours of free time and lunch. We found our respective souvenirs, some of them very very funny, and Dr. Kim bought us some ice cream :) Now onto the Acropolis Museum! I will not lie, we were exhausted by this point (some of us delirious), but Demitrios guided us through statues and pottery and carvings from the ancient times and it was very interesting. The coolest part was easily the original pediments from the Parthenon. On the roof of both the east and the west side of the Parthenon, two stories were depicted in stone — the birth of Athena (east) and the dispute between her and Poseidon (west). The British Museum actually has a lot more of the original stone and images (it’s a touchy subject), but we were able to see part of the sculptures and the stories, and there were smaller models of what they believed to be the whole depiction. Another interesting part was the impact the Romans had (yet again) on some of the stones. Because they opposed any pagan religion as Christians, they essentially “sautered” off the images of the Greek gods on some stones, leaving them almost completely uninterpretable :( 

We had one last stop after the museum, and that was the Olympic Stadium of both the 1896 and the 2004 Athens Games!! 1896 as in the first modern Olympic Games… WHATTTT!! The stadium can hold around 50,000 people, but historians believe it held even more a century ago. It is not a typical track, but events and ceremonies took place in the stadium for both games; it happens to be a perfect arena for archery. And to this day, they still hold events and host crowds on the marble bleachers. This was another place where we just had to sit and admire, especially considering this was where the majority of the 1986 sporting events were held. Plus, we got to walk through the original cobblestone athlete entrance/tunnel underneath the stadium, and up to a small museum with the alter of where the Olympic Flame is lit and a replica of the reflection mirror used to light the flame with the sun. It was very very cool to be somewhere so pivotal for the Olympic movement. 

Finished with our group activities for the day, we all did their own thing for a few hours before going various places for dinner. We all joined back up together later and explored the city of Athens for the night. We had a lot of fun after such a long day, and now we prepare for our last day of the trip tomorrow :((

We miss you GM and Prof. Ryan!