Day 3 - First Day Exploring Greece

Sea Turtle Rescue, Cooking Class, a guided tour of the Acropolis, Metropolitan Cathedral of Acropolis, & the Acropolis Museum

Only 45 minutes of the day was spent aboard our lovely motor coach, our feet took us the rest of the way...16,370 steps (approximately 7 miles) to be exact! Our day began at Glyfada Sea Turtle Rescue Center. We got a bit of time on the beach, then received a comprehensive tour - compliments of Marianna, a med student from Germany and long-time volunteer. We learned about the hazards that can adversely impact sea turtles, the comprehensive multi-city efforts to keep them safe and thriving, and the rescue work that takes place when needed. We adopted our own Turtle CC!

Our next stop had us in chef’s hats, aprons and gloves. We prepared three dishes to supplement our lunch. The chef chose the best team based upon their dishes. Team Vita might have won the prized plates, but we ALL won a tasty lunch! We walked off our lunch with a guided tour of the Acropolis. We were in awe of Ms. Fay who brought the Acropolis and it’s vibrant history to life with her brilliant storytelling. Check out those views!

On our way to dinner we popped into Metropolitan Cathedral of Acropolis for a quick look around. At one group’s dinner at City Zen, we met some Rock Hill/Charlotte neighbors. Small world right!? We wrapped up the day with self-guided tours of the Acropolis Museum. It was a long day, but our 14.5 hour day was time well spent! Opa!

Day 4 - Itea - Delphi and Visiting the Olive Grove

Delphi guided tour, Delphi Museum, Olive Grove Visit and Olive tasting, New Year's Eve dinner/celebration in Itea.

Today we had a three hour journey by bus to visit Delphi. Along the way we saw beautiful scenery aka, “Oh my God views!”, miles and miles of Olive Groves, small quaint villages nestled into the side of mountains. We stopped for a quick group photo at #Arachova and enjoyed a leisurely sit down lunch of fried cheese, bread with olive oil, salad, rooster and potatoes, stuffed peppers, sautéed greens with lemons, gelato and cake at roadside “tavern”, Taverna Omfalos. It was νόστιμο (nóstimo) aka delicious. Our next stop was Delphi! If that sounds at all familiar, you may remember learning about the Oracle at Delphi. It was fascinating to hear about how the priest and Oracle partnered to deliver the prophecies people wanted/needed. It was truly fail safe. Remnants of the many treasuries where offerings were kept at Delphi reminded us of the US Treasury back home. Coincidence? Definitely not. The museum helped us to understand the grandness of some of the more prominent sculptures and works of art.

Next, we visited an Olive Grove for an olive and olive oil tasting. Every family in Itea owns a portion of this Grove of 1.2 million trees which has existed for 30,000 years! They use nets and big sticks to harvest the olives. With two harvesting seasons annually and no machines, it takes a lot of hands to get the job done. As a result, our host made sure that we learned about what makes an olive and olive oil great and the plethora of uses for this tiny fruit. We wrapped up the day checking into Hotel Nafsika Palace which is nestled alongside the Gulf of Corinth. We enjoyed a nice traditional Greek dinner, enjoyed a walk on the pier, shared our one sentence that most captured our 2022, before greeting 2023 as a group. The Greek culture has a history of spending their evening with family, so the fireworks didn’t begin until 12:30am. Part of the group headed out to dance the night away. The rest tucked in for a quiet start to the year. Ευτυχισμένο το νέο έτος! Happy New Year!

Day 5 - Nafplion and New Year's!

We slept in today, had brunch, some of us took a final reflective walk down by the water, then we left Itea to make the four hour drive to Nafplio.

Along the way, we stopped at Greece’s version of McDonald’s, Goody’s. Everything was hot and fresh as it was made to order. The students had mixed reviews on the Grecian version of American concepts, but appreciated the change of pace. The vegan options were delicious!

As we made our way to Napflio, we saw more amazing views, learned about a variety of historic battles and saw several historic landmarks along the way. But mostly, we enjoyed a relaxing ride which was appreciated by all - especially the party people!

Upon our arrival to town we checked into Hotel Rex, then enjoyed free time. One group took a stroll through town and enjoyed views of ships, the water, graffiti, a fort in the center of the water and an Archeological site way up on the hill. A few of us plotted climbing the 999 steps up the side of the mountain to see the Fortress of Palamidi. Stay tuned to see what we decided! The other group found a wine bar and enjoyed a leisurely afternoon of wine tasting, relaxing and chatting.

Graffiti is common around Greece particularly in Athens. There is both sanctioned and unsanctioned graffiti all over the cities. Occasionally, shop owners and the city paints over the graffiti, but it reappears almost overnight. It is now an accepted part of the culture. We enjoyed taking a few pictures of some beautiful graffiti found near the waterfront at our hotel.

We came back together for a family style dinner. The students loved the beef pasta dish I had - vegetarian risotto. The meal was accompanied by the bread, Greek Salad, and tzatziki that has been present at almost every Greek meal we’ve had. The desserts were incredible too! Perhaps the best part of dinner was the good company, the stories, the stomachaches and tears from laughing so hard. Sounds just like family right?

Our evening concluded with a walk around old town Nafplio. The holiday decorations and Christmas trees were still up, the shops were open late, and people were still out and about enjoying the holiday.

More adventure and historic sights await us tomorrow. Καληνυχτα (Good night!)!