No Such Thing as a Typical Day in Greece

A typical day in Greece varies greatly because we have visited so many different islands and cities. However, at each place, we usually visit an archaeological site or ancient ruins from either the Mycenaean era or Roman era. We most often tour a museum, as well, which usually corresponds to the site that we see. At some of the places we visit, we have lectures by professors and local professionals that specialize in certain subjects. I will describe a day from this past week that reflects a lot of what we have learned and experienced on the dialogue.
In Napflion this past week, a city on the mainland of Greece, we were able to experience a great deal of Greek history as well as hear from a young lecturer about various current issues. We got up in the morning and had breakfast at our hotel. We then took a bus, along with our tour guide Ioanna, to the old town of Napflion, which was declared the first capital of modern Greece in 1837. We climbed to the top of an ancient fort which bore ruins from the Mycenaean era and overlooked the entire port of Napoleon, which was beautiful. We climbed over 1,000 steps to explore all of the ruins. Our tour guide took us through the site while adding in information about Greek mythology and how it related to certain inscriptions, theaters, and other remains that we saw. We then toured the old town and learned about the value of Greek Orthodox religion in Napoleon by touring the church at the center of town. We also visited a goldsmith and we were able to look on as he worked in his shop.
After our tour of the ruins, we went to a conference center a few miles away from the old city by bus and listened to a lecture by Professor Makis Beriatos. The lecture was titled “The Effect of the Economic Crisis on the Young”. It was very interesting and engaging, as we asked many questions and participated by discussing how Greek youth compares to American youth. After the lecture, which lasted a little over an hour, we headed back to the hotel by bus to have free time.
Before dinner, at 6:30 pm, we had another brief lecture by a woman named Niki. She lectured about the Greek health care system and education system. She was very informative and it was interesting to learn about these systems firsthand from someone who experiences them every day. We then had dinner at the hotel and went for a walk around the neighborhood as a group before heading to bed.
One of the things that I love most about this dialogue is that we get to travel all over the country. I never imagined that each city and island would be completely different from the next. Greece has a wide variety of landscapes, architecture, cultures, and cuisines and I am so grateful that we are able to explore many different places during the course of this program. For this reason, some days are much busier than others. On some days, we are traveling for quite some time. On other days, we have lectures and tours of museums and famous sites. No matter what we do on a particular day, I am always learning something new and taking in all that my surroundings have to offer. I have learned so much about Greek history, culture, economy, public sector, religion, traditions, and more. I do not think I would have had as valuable of an experience if we stayed in one place the entire time. I feel so fortunate to be able to explore so many different places in Greece and I learn something new each and every day I spend in this incredible country.