P2P Olympia, Greece: Day 6

Today is our last day in Greece.  Before heading on our journey to Italy, we had to drove to the historic site where the Olympics were first held ages ago.  To get to Olympia, we had a few hours on the bus where we sang our morning song and rested up for our day.  Thanks to some of our awesome delegates, we have dance moves to our song!  Check out Francine below who forgot her socks on the beach!!!

Upon arriving to Olympia, we had a guided tour where we learned about the first Olympic Games.  Our guide filled us with information about this historic site as we toured the ruins.  No one really knows the exact date of the first Olympics, but the first recorded games were in 774 BC.  No matter what was happening in the world, the Olympics still continued, even during war times.  

When the Olympic Games were held, people would walk for weeks to come and witness the events.  No one was allowed to stay in the buildings, so everyone went camping for weeks to see the games. 

 Another interesting point is that athletes used to compete in the nude!  Oh how things have changed in modern day games!  Once the Christians took over the area, nudity was banned and remains the same today.  Women were not allowed to enter the games back in the early days, but that has changed as well.  

If an athlete won an event 3 times, a bronze bust was of the athlete and was paid for by the town in which the athlete was from.  Our students had a chance to run a race like the athletes did back in the day.  

The winner was Danny!!!  Our runners worked so hard that we had a couple that threw up due to the exertion and heat.  

In 394 AD, the city of Olympia was neglected and left behind.  In 551 AD, an earthquake knocked down all of the buildings, and they have never been rebuilt.  The first modern games were hosted in Athens in 1896. 

This is the archway to the stadium where our athletes competed.  After our visit to Olympia, our group had the opportunity to meet the major of Olympia for a short welcome from him.  

Next on our agenda was lunch!  This would be our last meal in Greece.  Mmmmm!  The restaurant even had a sign to welcome us!

After lunch we drove to the port where we got on our 14 hour ferry ride to Italy.  We were put into little cabins and then had some free time on the boat.  

It was bittersweet saying goodbye to Greece, but we were really excited to get to Italy!

P2P Peloponnessus, Greece: Day 5

It was finally time to leave Athens and head up north.  We departed our hotel on our coach bound for our service project with the local Boy Scouts group of Athens.  Our group met up with them in a forest where we played team-building games to get to know one another before doing the service portion of the project.  

The service component of our program was helping restore park furniture.   Students scraped and stained benches and picnic tables to refresh the park.

All of the students got a certificate of completion for their service hours with the Greek Boy Scouts.

We left the park and went to a Greek family's home for lunch.  It was hands down the best food we have had so far!  Everything was awesome- pork, Greek salad, feta cheese, bread, rice, white beans, and lemon Greek yogurt with cookies for dessert!  This was a new component of the program, and it was a great experience to eat at someone's home for a meal.  I wish we could eat all of our meals at home!

After we left our Greek home, we stopped at the Corinth Canal for a rest stop.  This canal is four miles long joining the Pelloponese to the Greek mainland.

We finally made it to Epidaurus, which is the site of a 14,000 seat theater with perfect acoustics.  This site was built in the 4th century BC, and today is mostly in ruins, but does make a great site for performances.

Our visit to the theater was guided, and it was fun to see our group hear the acoustics by clapping and singing.  It was HOT!  After we left, we went to our hotel which was on the sea where we swam and had an amazing dinner.  

The view from our hotel room was spectacular! Simply gorgeous! The hotel was the nicest one I have ever seen on a People to People program!  We wanted to stay another week!  While we were swimming, Evan slipped on a rock and cut his foot.  Ouch!  

Evan was lucky enough to experience his first Greek taxi ride with Randall and I to the hospital to check out his foot!  We just wanted to be sure he didn't need stiches.  The whole hospital experience took only about 20 minutes, and it was free!  

Luckily, all the hospital had to do was clean out his foot, wrap it up, and then give us a prescription for antibiotics.  

While we were at the hospital, the rest of our group went swimming in the hotel pool.  

Today was another great day!!!  We were sad to say goodbye to Greece, but excited to move on to our next country.  

P2P Greece Island of Aegina: Day 4

After an awesome day in Athens yesterday, our group was ready for a day at the beach!  We boarded our coach bus and headed to the port for our island cruise.  We took a cruise to the island of  Aegina, one of Greece's 1,300 islands.  From there we took a bus to our own private beach were we played volleyball and swam for the morning.  

 

After a morning of swimming, we went to do a little shopping and walking around the streets of Aegina for our free time.  Pistachios are famous from Aegina, so Randall and I shared a sweet pistachio crepe which tasted like a Christmas tree.  

Here are some other pictures of the sites of the island of Aegina. 

We had some fun while we were waiting for our boat to take us back to mainland Greece. 

After a great day on the island, we took our cruise back and then went to the hotel for dinner and free time.