DELPHI, GREECE
On our final day in the beautiful country of Greece, we took a day trip to the city of Delphi. Once we arrived, we toured Temple of Apollo,
Ancient Theatre and Delphi Archeological Museum. It was amazing to see another place of theatre, especially since most of us have a connection to theatre in one way or another. Once our tour guide, Maria, was finished with the archeological part of the tour, we sat as a group just past the theatre. We listened to Gerritt tell us ancient stories, looked out at the amazing view and just took it all in. After seeing two beautiful Greek theaters, and seeing where this beautiful art form came from, it was a lot to take in, but we were able to all appreciate it, especially just being in the place where historical plays and comedies and tragedies took place. We continued on to the museum portion of the tour and were able to learn further about the artifacts that have been discovered within the area. After the tour was complete, we stopped for lunch in this cute little town of Arachova.
Ancient Theatre in Delphi
Beautiful Views of Delphi, Greece from the Archeological Site
Lunch stop in Arachova
Once we arrived back in Athens, we were dropped off near the Acropolis since we were going to be seeing Norma later on in the evening. Most of us got a small bite to eat or walked around the streets with shops while we waited before entering for the opera. The opera started between 9:00-9:30pm at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. We stayed only for the first act unfortunately because it was already close to midnight when intermission began and we had to be ready to head to the airport at 4:30am. Watching an opera in this historical theatre was definitely a dream and it was beautifully presented. After we left the theatre, we took our last walk back to our hostel in Greece!
Odeon of Herodes Atticus ~ Norma
SPLIT, CROATIA
Our first day in Split started out with us getting acquainted
with our hostel and the hostel owners, the Lero brothers and their dog Blondi.
We ended up learning that the two brothers actually grew up in the house that
we called our hostel, and they had renovated it to use as a source of income.
The hostel was by far the nicest place we stayed at during our two weeks abroad, and I think we were all very grateful for it after our hostel in Greece. After
getting settled in our rooms, we had some free time. Some of us took naps, some
went out for lunch on the town, and others just went and explored around the
harbor.
Later in the afternoon, we had our scheduled bike tour. The
group all met outside Toto Travel, the company we rented the bikes from. The
bike tour started off great with wonderful views and perfect weather for
biking. We first stopped at this little path that takes you down to an amazing
view of the mountains and the crystal-clear water below. We kept biking and
then we stopped at a museum that Gerritt recommended we visit when we have some
free time. Our next stop ended up being our last stop... We stopped at a
beautiful, quiet beach area where we could swim if we chose to do so. The water
was freezing, but that didn't stop many people from going in! Some dove right in
and others eased their way in. Very quickly, Gerritt and Julie realized there
were sea urchins in the water and warned everyone to be very careful of where they
were stepping. Despite the warning, six of the students got stung by sea
urchins and had to get in a taxi to go back to the hostel.
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| Overlooking the Adriatic Sea in Split |
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| The 10 Sea Urchin Survivors |
Therefore, there
were now 17 bikes at the beach and only 10 of us to get them back to Toto. Some
of us grabbed a quick bite to eat at the beach before attempting this journey back.
Once it was time to go, we paired up in teams of 2 and each team had 3 bikes to
get back. Very quickly into our walk back, these two men from Bangladesh and
London showed up and offered to help us get them back to town. They ended up
helping us the whole way back, which was incredibly nice of them to even offer!
Along the way, we got to know them a little bit more, and we found out they are
university students in London and are backpacking on a rock-climbing trip.
After the walk back, Gerritt treated us all to dinner.
What an interesting - but adventurous - first day in Croatia!
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