Monday, April 25, 2011

Here we all are at the cave!
Easter is awesome in Greece. We stayed in Athens on Saturday and Sunday to celebrate Easter around the Acropolis. Dr. D took us out to her favorite restaurant and on Sunday they served us some delicious lamb (the traditional Easter meal) in the afternoon. Dr. D showed us the ruins of the city including the Library of Hadrien, Temple of Zeus, Temple of Hephaestus, the Agora, and the Acropolis. After the tour we watched the guard change in front of the parliament building then wandered through the national gardens and the original Olympic Games stadium. We left Athens at 7:30 pm and traveled to Crete on a huge overnight ferry boat ride.

Early this Monday morning we got off the ferry and went to a little family-owned cafe outside of the ruins of Knossos. We toured the site afterwards and Dr. D and Amy taught us about Minoan culture and the importance of Knossos itself. Later on we visited the Heraklion Museum and saw some famous artifacts that are easily recognizable in any Greek history book.

Finally we spent the afternoon traveling through the winding mountains of Crete to the Idean Cave. This is the mythological cave in which Zeus was raised on the island of Crete. The hills and mountains were beautiful and it seemed like we passed through a variety of climates and terrain. Nate and Brian climbed up to the snow on the mountains and then we all hiked to the cave for exploring and group photos.

We can't wait to see the rest of Crete and Greece. We will keep updating whenever we can :-)

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Here at last!

Hey everyone!!! We made it safely to Athens. Most of us are catching up on a little sleep right now, but later we are going to go out to celebrate a midnight Easter mass. It should be wonderful! Our hotel is right in the heart of the city and the weather is warm with a nice cool breeze. We have all been taking pictures and itching to go out and explore the city. Hopefully tonight will be our chance :-)

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Only 1 More Day...

Hey everyone!! So we leave tomorrow for our Greece/Turkey trip!!! Our flight leaves around six and we will be in Athens sometime on Saturday. I know I am really excited and I am sure everyone else is too. Make sure to follow this blog, as we will be updating it as frequently as we can. Hope everything is going well for everyone!!! See you all in May :-)