Buenos dias!

I'm sitting at my favorite coffee shop in Syntagma square right now, enjoying a fresh-squeezed orange juice and attempting to study. But instead I thought I would update y'all on what's been going on! This weekend, our class followed in the footsteps of the Greek War of independence. We drove on a huge bus from athens to the Peleponnessos (the massive chunk of land to the west of Athens). We first stopped at the isthmus of Corinth where incredibly skilled architects carved a canal out of a huge chunk of land. It was SO deep and the water was so blue! After that. we drove to a massive fortress in Acrocorinth. In all it's ling history, this fortress was never, ever taken by force. It was only ever conquered by siege. It was completely tourist-free (besides us) so it was really easy to see what life would have been like living and fighting up there. Gnarly stuff. The ground was littered with shards of pottery, and my professor slipped me a couple of small pieces for me to keep because he knows how much I love it! He said potentially after the class if I work with him more on archeology we can reconstruct the whole pieces of pottery from the tiny shards we collected. SO COOL!

After Acrocorinth, we drove to Nafplion, a tiny town on the south coast of the Peleponnese that was the first capital of greece. We stayed in an ancient fortress that had been converted into an amazing hotel. Our room had sweeping views of the sea and the town below. Gab and I definitely did a happy dance or two when we saw the view out our window! That night we toured around the city, saw an old mosque and a madrasa, and then walked to a restaurant up in the hills for dinner. It was run by a really nice family in their home. They invited some friends to come over and play live music for us, and after we finished dinner (which was AMAZING by the way... tender lamb from the local hills, incredibly fresh greek salads, and honey cake), we all got up and danced our version of traditional greek dance (in a circle, snapping a lot, and saying 'opa!'). We all had the silliest smiles on our faces, enjoying every bit of the night. Afterwards, we all went out to a club/bar on the water and danced our little hearts out. In short, Nafplion (and friday in general) was an incredible success. Definitely some of the best memories I've had on this trip so far!

On sunday morning we had a glorious complementary breakfast overlooking the pool and the ocean, got back on the bus, and drove to a tiny little town up in the mountains. The driving was pretty treacherous.... I held my breath a bit as our massive tour bus went over zillion year-old bridges made for donkeys and hand carts. But our driver was a master. He seriously could have driven that bus through an IV without a problem. We had a delicious lunch (I'm now realizing I keep track of my day by the meals I eat) and then drove to another little village to see some traditional mills. Since our class is also studying traditional greek life of 19th century peasants, this was a must see. There was a corn mill, a tannery and a gun powder maker-area all in the same place. And a bonus: the bathroom was literally a hole in the ground, and I mastered it like a pro :p

After that we drove to Sparta to see an olive oil museum. The drive was really long and the museum proved a bit unnecessary. But I busied myself with the amazing storage pottery they had at the museum. I was a happy girl! After that we drove to Tripoli but didn't do any touring around. we just had dinner, lots of wine, and a great nights sleep. I was really excited becasue the hotel in tripoli was playing Buena Vista Social Club at breakfast :)

In the morning we drove back to Athens! I met up with Jason and Lindsey, and went to Plaka and the Monastiraki flea market. It was really great to see them! I was surprised at my tour-guide skills after being here a short two weeks. Pretty soon I'm going to be a local! We had a great aftrnoon stolling thorugh the streets, eating gelato and buying pottery :) Afterwards, we all went back to my apartment and chilled with my roommates for a while. For dinner we went to a pizza place down the street where a dude made our pizzas by hand starting with a dough ball and then baking them in a wood-fired oven. It was delectable! We all hung out and chatted until J and Linds went back to their apartment.

This morning I waslked to their place to get some free hotel breakfast and then we went to syntagma and had coffees together. It was a great time! Definitely nice to be around people you love :)

Okay.... I really need to study, so that's all for now! I hope everyone is doing really well, enjoying the beautiful California weather, and livin the dream!

xoxox Allison