So we left for Sparta today and my professor on Democracy is also a specialist on Sparta and just published a book on Sparta so he was the guide for everyone today. So we were warned before we left that Sparta was very disappointing and that there were very little remains but I didn't realize how little they were talking about. The first site we couldn't get into but it was where the Spartans would whip young boys until they gave out as a test of endurance for manhood. There was also something about young boys trying to steal cheese in this area without getting whipped haha I didn't hear the full story. We then went to this small museum which had one famous sculpture but that was about it. They then let us go buy lunch which was a disaster since there wasn't anywhere that had sandwiches and then we hiked up to the Spartan acropolis and had lunch up there which basically mean we were sitting with lots of bugs and pebbles and it was really hot out. Our teacher told us that in the sun it was over 90 degrees that day. We then looked at a theater that was built into the side of the acropolis and then made our way back to the bus.
So we were a little off schedule today and so we had the option of going to Mystra or going straight to the hotel because it was supposedly a 3 1/2 hour drive from where we were. I voted not to go to Mystra because it was a byzantine site which would not have interested me and I was tired of being in the sun. That was the majority vote so we drove straight to the hotel which was in Kalamata. That name might sound familiar because of Kalamata olives. They are supposed to have great olive oil. This town is also on the water and our hotel was actually on the water as well which was nice. The town is very small and was unpopulated since it is no longer beach weather. After unpacking and taking showers we went out on a pier where some Greek men caught a huge fish and we also saw a red starfish attached to one of the blocks of concrete off of the pier. We then went to dinner and got some 1 euro gelato before going to bed again really early.
You can tell by the lack of photos that there was not much to see.
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| Trip to Peloponnese Thursday |
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