Friday turned out to be a very interesting day. I was on my way to a different grocery store that is not the one right next door to me, but a bigger one that is a little farther away. This grocery store has the Italian food I like to make. Anyways I was running low on money so I decided to go to a different bank than I normally use to get money out since it was on the way to the grocery store. So i put in my card and put in the amount I want to take out and then atm starts processing it and so I wait for my cash to come out. I had not noticed that my card had popped out and I had not read the directions carefully enough. Then I looked at the screen and unlike in the states where you get your money and then you take your card, in Greece you take your card and then the money comes out. This seems somewhat backwards to me but whatever. So as I was reading that I needed to take out my card and about to take it out the atm sucked the card back in and the screen said we have confiscated your card. So then I tried to enter my pin to get the card out but that was not an option. It asked me to put a new card in, in other words it was ready for a new transaction. So then I tried to get into the bank but of course it was closed even though it was not yet 5 on a Friday but whatever that is Greece. Of course I realized it would not be open tomorrow when I got back from Delphi and there was no way it was open on Sunday so I was without my card until Monday.
That night though I went with some friends to the Hard Rock Cafe since we all really wanted some American food. I got a burger, surprise I know. It was really good and I payed for everyone's meal with my credit card and took all of their cash so now I have enough cash to get by with.
The next day we woke up really early to go to Delphi. Delphi is a 3 hour drive up north in Greece. They told us it was supposed to be cold and rainy. Of course it was somewhat warm and partly cloudy/sunny at times. There was no rain. It was really pretty though because it was up in the mountains. Specifically in Mount Parnassus. Obviously I knew delphi was a big deal because of the Delphic oracle but I had no idea how many buildings were there. My professor was explaining that the remains in Delphi are the most important because all of the finest work was in Delphi. The buildings, sculptures, and votive offerings that are the most expensive are at Delphi which means that the finest sculptors did their work at Delphi. Everyone who donated something at Delphi wanted high prestige so they commissioned the best sculptors to do their work. Unfortunately Delphi has been stripped of its expensive possessions for centuries and many of the buildings have been purposely burnt to the ground over time. Thankfully since the Greeks buried everything some of the looters did not find material they buried and so we have a small glimpse of the type of offerings that were devoted at Delphi. We first did a visit to the Delphi museum. Then we had lunch overlooking the Corinth Gulf and then went back to do the site visit. Pretty cool to have been to Delphi.
On Sunday I went with my friend Katie to the Beyonce concert. I had heard some other girls in CYA talking about it so we investigated and bought the cheapest tickets. It was in the Olympic stadium and we were somewhat nervous about the quality of our seats since we were on one of the side sections that was right next to the stage so we thought we not be able to see very well and also we were nervous we would be really high up. Thankfully the stadium was a lot smaller than we had anticipated (much smaller than the Q) and we were not as high up as we thought. Also we didn't have specific seats but just a section but we got there early enough so we were low down in our section and closer to the middle so we could see better. The concert started at 9 and around 8 some openers came on who were Greek rappers haha which was interesting but they were over by 8:30 ish. We were then wondering if she would have any American openers but at 9 still no one had taken the stage. She came on at 9:20 and did a 2 hour show. I was really surprised how long it was and that she came on so close to the time they actually said she would. The concert was great. She did every song I have ever heard her do and more. I'm so glad I got to go. After the concert we were a little nervous how we were going to get back because it was around 11:30 and the metros and buses stop at 12 every night besides Fri and Sat. We ran to the metro which was waiting but we knew, especially from the Akon concert experience, that it was going to be really crowded. Thankfully we actually got seats on the metro which was amazing. We then took the green line all the way to Monastiraki where we had to switch to the blue line to get to Syntagma. We got to Monastiraki after 12 but a lot of the Greeks were heading towards the blue line so we followed. We were able to get to Syntagma so it all worked out great.
It was a late night though for a long week.
O i forgot to mention that on Sunday it was the Athens Marathon. This is of course the original marathon since the Greeks created everything haha at least that is what every classics professor I have ever had stresses. Anyways the original Marathon started in Marathon so that is where the name comes from. A couple kids in CYA did the entire thing which was sweet and it ended in the stadium right by school. Its sweet to have such an important stadium right next to school.
 |
| Delphi and Beyonce |
No comments:
Post a Comment