Day 9: Rome

We started off our day in Rome with a tour of the Vatican museum and the Sistine chapel. Priceless works of art lay all around for us to see, as we wound our way through the museums to see Michelangelo's famous ceiling and his "Last Judgment."

Next, we were given free time to visit Saint Peter's Basilica. The Basilica is built on the grave of Saint Peter, the first Pope, and is the largest Church in the world.


Before leaving the Vatican, the Holy Cross students and I paused for a picture in front of the heart of Catholicism.
After a lunch of the best pizza I ever had near Piazza Navona, the students had free time to complete a scavenger hunt that took them to the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. While they were hunting, I got a chance to meet up with Alexis and get a few #1's in across Rome!

Day 8: Mount Vesuvius/Naples

Today we started off our day by climbing Mount Vesuvius, of course pausing for a few #1's on the way up...
After a long climb up to the crater, we met with our guide who told us that Vesuvius is still active and considered one of the world's most active volcanoes. 800,000 people live within the "red zone" of Vesuvius, without counting the 1 million people who also live in nearby Naples. The last eruption was in 1944, and according to our guide with today's technology they should be able to give residents of the area approximate 3 weeks to evacuate before another eruption. While he was talking however, the thumping bang of a landslide in the crater was enough to spook us.

After lunch at a restaurant nestled right in the side of Mount Vesuvius, we went into Naples of a brief city walk, stopping at the Gallaria Umberto, the Cathedral of San Gennaro, and several other scenic locations around Napoli.

Day 7: Pompeii

Once our ferry landed in the port of Bari, Italy, we drove across the country to see the ruins of Pompeii. Pompeii was destroyed by volcanic ash when nearby Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. Even though Vesuvius is about 8 miles away from Pompeii, a strong southerly wind brought a rain of rock, ash, and debris on Pompeii, killing its residents and burying the city under over 20 feet of debris. Excavations of Pompeii began in the early 1700's and still continues today.

One of our first stops in Pompeii was the theater, where AJ got to try out the acoustics with a little round of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat."Next we got to check out the home of a Pompeii aristocrat and marvel at how well preserved the frescoes inside the house were, like this one in the dining room...
Today you can even see the shops of Pompeii. The two holes in the counter top in this picture would have been used to serve "fast food" to passers by.

Finally we got to see a few plaster casts of people who died in Pompeii. Due to the way the ash rained down in the city, they were forever preserved in the positions in which they died.

After our amazing of Pompeii we arrived at our very nice hotel in Naples and got ready for another busy day of touring.

Day 6: Olympia/Overnight Ferry

Today we left our hotel in Corinth for Olympia, the site of the first Olympic games in 776 BC. The town of Olympia was used to train athletes for various sport activities, and thereby keeping them constantly in shape for war. The site was chosen because it was believed that the nearby hill was the birthplace of the gods. The temple of Zeus was also located in Olympus and housed one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, an enormous marble and gold statue of the god. Today the Olympic flame still originates at Olympia before being transferred to wherever the Olympics are being held.

At Olympia we got to see the ruins of the temple of Zeus...

And the original Olympic stadium, which sat over 40,000 spectators...
From Olympia we left for the port of Patros and boarded our overnight ferry for Greece. The ferry was very nice, and more like a small cruise ship...
And due to the later wake up in the morning, we had a chance to check out the on-board disco and do some dancing...

Day 5: Epidaurus/Corinth

We started off our morning today with a service project, helping clean up, weed, plant seeds, and rake the Julia & Alexander N. Diomides Botanical Garden in Athens...



We then headed for Corinth, stopping briefly to check out the famous Corinth Canal...
And after about 4 hours of driving finally arrived at the theater of Epidaurus. Epidaurus was mainly a town used for healing during ancient times, but its theater is the most well-preserved ancient theater in the world. Events, plays, and concerts are still held there regularly and it seats between 11,000 and 15,000 people. No microphones are needed because of the perfect natural acoustics of the place...



After our tour of the theater, we went checked into our hotel near the canal, had dinner, and did some swimming in the hotel pool.

Day 4: Aegina

Today was much more relaxed than our day in Athens yesterday. In the morning we boarded a ferry for the Greek island of Aegina, about 1 and a half hours from Athens by boat.
Which gave me the opportunity to read "The Odyssey" for a few hours while sailing on the Aegean Sea. I know it's fictional, but it was kind of cool reading it while thinking, "I guess this is what it looked like for Odysseus too."
Once on the island, we took a bus to a private beach for a dip in the Mediterranean and a nice sea-side lunch.

After lunch we had a chance to walk around the quiet city-center of Aegina, do some shopping, and sit in a cafe by the sea for a while. All in all, a pretty awesome day by anyone's standards!

Day 3: Athens

Tuesday was packed with touring, site-seeing, and walking! We started our day early by taking a light rail tram to Athens' Syntagma Square. We got off the tram just in time to see the unusual and entertaining changing of the guard...

And take a few pictures with the very serious guards...
From there we took the metro to the Acropolis. Athens is really a city steeped in history, so much so that even the metro is partially a museum. As they were digging to create the metro lines old sewage pipes, homes, graves, and other elements of Athens' 3000 year history. Instead of simply disgarding these elements of the past, though, the Atheneans glassed in large walls as you go down into the extremely clean and efficient metro system.

We got off at the next stop for the Acropolis, and were able to visit the oldest known theatre in history, the Theatre of Dionysus...

We then climbed the steep, slippery, rocky hill of the acropolis in 95 degree heat that felt like about 110. The prize at the end, however, was a great look at the many temples atop the acropolis, including the famous 2500 year old Parthenon...

On the way down the hill we stopped at a large rock mound called "Mars Rock" that was used primarily for trials during ancient Grecian times. Today it is often visited by Christians because in 51 AD Saint Paul addressed the people of Athens from this rock. Many of the people of Athens were not convinced by Paul, but one man named Dionysus was converted and became the first Bishop of Athens. Today he is known in western culture as "Saint Dennis." The plaque behind me in this picture is the Greek text of Paul's visit to Athens from the Acts of the Apostles.

Back at the bottom of the acropolis we enjoyed a nice lunch, and had some time to wander around the busy yet pedestrianized Plaka...

Next we were off to a Greek school for some traditional Greek dancing lessons...
After dinner we were treated to a Greek dancing show by our dance teachers in an Athens park...
And of course were invited to join in ourselves much to the entertainment of the local children and elderly...
In the end, everyone was given a "diploma" for our success...

Day 2: Athens (Glyfada)

On Monday we arrived at our hotel in Athens' Glyfada neighborhood. Glyfada is mainly a seasonal beach neighborhood where a lot of wealthier people own condos and vacation during the summer months. We had a quick opportunity to check into our hotel before checking out the shops and beach in downtown Glyfada.

Day 1: Travel

Our first day (Sunday) was spent traveling on an overnight flight from Philadelphia to Athens with a layover in Frankfurt Germany. We met at the Crown Plaza in Cherry Hill for our bus to the airport, and I quickly found out my camera wasn't working. Luckily I was able to grab a camera in the airport before we departed for Greece!