Farewell Greece!

It was a hot day in Athens, but we did not let that deter us from making the most out of our last day in Greece.

We started at the site of the remains of the Temple of Olympian Zeus where we examined the still-standing columns of the massive temple built during the Hellenistic and Imperial Roman times.

We then continued to the Panathenaic Stadium, an Olympic stadium that was built on the site of an ancient original.  There the girls ran their own chariot races on the track in teams of three. 

After the victors were announced we made out way to Syntagma Square to watch the ceremonial changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  Before the ceremony began, we were able to shop one last time in Athens on the ever fashionable Ermou Street.  Once we returned to the square we watched the guards elaborately march before the tomb.

We then rode the subway two stops to the Archaeological Museum.  Before we explored the artifacts housed inside, we enjoyed a delicious lunch of sandwiches at a nearby restaurant.  The museum was filled with an array of remains from Greece's diverse history.  The remains most enjoyed by the group were the golden Mycenaean Mask of Agamemnon and the Zeus or Poseidon of  Artimissium.

After returning to the hotel we changed for dinner at a traditional Greek restaurant in Plaka, where we enjoyed an assortment of small dishes, such as stuffed grape leaves, Greek salad, fried zucchini, fried calamari, and baklava.

We ended the night and our trip by driving up to the highest peak in Athens, Mount Likavitos, where we watched the sunset and wrapped up our tour with our fantastic tour guides, Adam and Blake.  Adam concluded the tour by reading a poem written by the Greek poet, Constantine P. Cavafy:

As you set out for Ithaka

hope the voyage is a long one,

full of adventure, full of discovery.

Laistrygonians and Cyclops,

angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:

you’ll never find things like that on your way

as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,

as long as a rare excitement

stirs your spirit and your body.

Laistrygonians and Cyclops,

wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them

unless you bring them along inside your soul,

unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope the voyage is a long one.

May there be many a summer morning when,

with what pleasure, what joy,

you come into harbors seen for the first time;

may you stop at Phoenician trading stations

to buy fine things,

mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,

sensual perfume of every kind—

as many sensual perfumes as you can;

and may you visit many Egyptian cities

to gather stores of knowledge from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.

Arriving there is what you are destined for.

But do not hurry the journey at all.

Better if it lasts for years,

so you are old by the time you reach the island,

wealthy with all you have gained on the way,

not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.

Without her you would not have set out.

She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.

Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,

you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

We are getting up early to go to the airport.  We will post one last blog entry from Munich!