Spring Break - Italy

I flew from Athens to Rome on Monday morning where I met Dad at the airport. I had not seen him since before the trip started, and now we were able to spend almost seven days together. He had flown into Rome about an hour before me, so the timing was almost perfect.

From the Rome airport, we took a train to Naples then caught another to Sorrento. In Naples we were both starving for lunch, so we set off in search of a particular pizzeria that Dad had read about in his guidebook. We thought we followed the directions, but we could not find this particular pizzeria. With our suitcases in tow we walked for blocks in search of this restaurant before finally conceding. We stopped at another restaurant, and the pizza was delicious. After this we realized that the many restaurants written up in guide books are often tourist attractions and cannot be better than any authentic Italian pizzeria. This was my first Italian pizza, and it was amazing. Dad and I talked about how pretentious we may be at the end of the trip so that we will never allow ourselves to eat American pizza again. I hope this isn’t true because I do love pizza, and I would like to be able to return to my favorite restaurant in Milwaukee, the Pizza Man. ☺ After our next train from Naples to Sorrento, we had an extended stop in Sorrento waiting for the public SITA bus to take us to our final stop, Positano. Little did we know that holdups at SITA bus stops would become a recurring theme. The bus did finally come, and we arrived safely in Positano and found our hotel, the Savoia.

Dad and I have a particularly great memory starting at the SITA bus stop in Positano, from which we hitched a ride into Sorrento. We were waiting at the stop in the pouring rain. Two scheduled buses never came, and it was nearing the time when the third bus should arrive, but we were losing hope. While we waited, a very nice Italian lady lent us her umbrella, and the three of us cowered under it. Then a passing car stopped to talk to her and ask if she wanted a ride. They were going to Sorrento, and she needed to go in the other direction, but she told them that we were going to Sorrento. The driver then offered to take us, and our friend pushed us toward the car, saying that they are her friends, her friends, her friends!, and we should ride with them. I looked at Dad, and he shrugged, so we hopped in the backseat. We were able to talk some to the relatively young man and his wife, and especially memorable about this ride was the moment when we almost hit an oncoming SITA bus. The road between Sorrento and Positano is very narrow and tortuous, and it always presents a problem when a SITA bus encounters another car. The bus honks its horn before it goes around every curve since because of its size it must cross the center line on these curves, and cars around the bend cannot see it coming. So approaching the curve, we distinctly heard the call of the SITA bus, but our driver pressed forward. Then he rounded the curve just as the SITA bus did, far on our side of the road. Our driver slammed on his brakes, and all was fine, but his wife got very upset with him. Dad and I cannot understand a word of Italian, but we knew exactly what she was saying. She raised her voice, gesticulated wildly, and even made the honking sound in imitation of the SITA bus. Perhaps shamefully, Dad and I really enjoyed this experience.

On Wednesday we visited Pompeii, which was fascinating. I will return to Pompeii with the classics group shortly before Easter, but it was the first time each of us visited. We had no conception of the size of Pompeii, and we spent over four hours at the site but still did not see everything. Most of the Pompeii mosaics have been removed to the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, which we visited on Thursday. We were able to learn and understand a lot more about Pompeii by seeing many of the best-preserved artifacts at the museum. We spent hours here too and did not get through everything. We were scholarly for all but about five minutes of this visit, and during these five minutes Dad and I just had to get some silliness out of our systems. We goofed off a little bit and took some very funny pictures of us imitating sculptures. After the Archaeological Museum, we visited the Diocesan Museum, which was also wonderful. The Diocesan Museum showcases Christian art of the region which consists mostly of paintings, altars, and sculptures depicting biblical characters or scenes. Dad and I were especially stunned by the graphic paintings of martyrdom. My life has been unbelievably painless, and I only caught a glimpse of that by looking at those paintings.

During our walk from the National Archaeological Museum to the Diocesan Museum, we were caught in a sudden and vicious thunder, lightning and hail storm. It may have been a slightly gloomy day, but the storm seemed to come out of nowhere. The hail that fell was the most intense hail I have ever seen. The hailstones were huge, and they bounced back up as they hit the ground, but soon the sidewalk was covered. This scene reminded me of the scene from Home Alone 2 when the robbers slip on the pearls that Kevin drops in their path. The hail on the sidewalk in Naples created a similarly perilous situation, and Dad and I hid under an awning as we watched the storm strike.

After an excellent five nights in Positano and many adventures in Positano, Sorrento, Naples and Pompeii, we rode the train back to Rome on Saturday. We then spent a day and a half exploring in Rome. Among other things, we went to All Saints Anglican Church, visited the Vatican, saw the Fountain of Trevi and the Spanish Steps, and searched for towels (to be explained later). The visit to the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica was especially overwhelming, and I will definitely return for longer when the group goes to Rome. Over ninety popes are buried in the basilica, and the basilica seemed to focus even more on the popes than on Christ. While we were there, the guards came in to stop anyone from traversing the nave. We watched a procession in which a few priests led at least 100 people chanting something very beautiful. They chanted the entire way from the entrance to the left altar where they held some sort of mass. We were glad to see this take place, especially since we had just been wondering how often the basilica was actually used for organized worship.

Now to explain the towels. It is reasonably expected that I lose something on this trip since we are staying in so many hotels and traveling constantly for four months. Well, I had been doing very well and had not lost anything until Positano. Then, probably because it was Spring Break and I was with Dad, I finally let my guard down, and I left two things there. One was my towel and the other my iPod charger. I had only used the towel at the hostel in Athens, but I would need it after break because the group would be staying in another hostel for six nights. We thought that the next hostel might have towels at reception for borrowing, but we did not think it wise to risk that, so Dad and I scoured Rome for a towel. We saw monuments and enjoyed the scenery as we searched, but we nonetheless searched for a towel for hours. Dad kept expecting tourist shops to have them, but he finally accepted that Rome is not the North Carolina beach we are so used to. It was getting very late and we were getting desperate, so we practically gave up on the towel search and Dad said I could just take one from the hotel. Then on our way back we passed a towel store! We looked at each other with glee and jumped in. The store had many varieties and colors, free engraving, and it wasn’t even expensive. I chose a red towel with gold engraving, and I got my name engraved in black, to resemble Davidson colors. We had found me a towel, it was of my choosing, and even had my name stitched in it. But, to make the story even better, I used the towel for the first time at the hostel last night, and it doesn’t fit around me! It is definitely a kid’s towel, or just not a shower towel, because it is absolutely tiny. And the hostel does lend out towels for 2 euros, so I bought one this morning. Mary said such a story would only happen to me because “my life is an adventure.” Perhaps.

During our time in Italy, as a result of people-watching and conversation, Dad and I made many observations about the Italians. First of all, we were surprised by their short stature. I am not particularly tall, but I was taller than maybe every other or every third Italian man I saw. Second, the Italians are very passionate talkers, and they gesticulate constantly and loudly. During the hours that we spent at SITA bus stops, we made many such observations. Printed very clearly at the front of every SITA bus was a sign to not talk to the driver. However, almost every driver engaged in very passionate conversations with his passengers. As he drove and chattered, he still did not fail to use dramatic hand motions. I hope it does not sound like I am making fun of the Italians, because I do not at all intend to. I admire such passion and engagement in life.

All of this observation of the Italians and their gesticulation reminded me of my high school freshman English teacher, Mrs. Cicero. Mrs. Cicero had a profound effect on me for many reasons, and she is one of those people who I have always aspired to be like. Though this is probably one of the least significant things I learned from her, I distinctly remember her talking about the Italians’ hand gestures during the first few weeks of freshman year. Because of her almost overwhelming personality, I can now imagine that during these first weeks our class probably seemed overwhelmed and utterly confounded by her. One day as she spoke very passionately (and I don’t remember what about), she paused to explain one of the reasons why she uses so many hand gestures. She said that, though she was born and raised in Wisconsin, her family is Italian, and the Italians talk as much with their hands as with their mouths. She also said to not be intimidated by that. I don’t know why I have remembered this insignificant detail for so long. Nevertheless, I thought about it on my way to Italy, and I tested this theory during my stay there. As you can tell already from my writing, it is very true. The Italians gesticulate constantly, loudly and passionately, but I love it. ☺

The Start of Spring Break – Athens

On Saturday morning, the group flew from Istanbul to Athens for the start of Spring Break, a much-needed ten-day vacation to do whatever one pleases. I spent the first two days of break with Liz and Allie in Athens. We shared a room at the Easy Hostel, and had a truly blessed and wonderful two days. I even wrote in my personal journal that I enjoyed every minute of it.

From the airport in Athens at the start of break, we took a bus, two trains, and finally a walk to get to our hostel. Dr. Krentz was with us on the bus and first train, and he guided us almost like a father would. He has lived in Athens and knows the city quite well. When he left us, we were finally alone in a huge foreign city. But we arrived at our Easy Hostel without any trouble.

This was my first time staying in a hostel, though we will start staying in more after spring break. It was quite different than the hotels we are used to, and it had no amenities. Our room had four beds on two bunk beds, no soap, towels, television, refrigeration, or a working shower curtain. And at night the hallways were pitch black. Breakfast, though it sufficed for us, consisted of bread, jam, and eggs.

After crashing at the hostel for about an hour, we explored the city for a few hours. The three of us love to walk and explore, and we took full advantage of this time together. We headed towards the Acropolis and walked up part of the way through tiny streets with adorable small houses, most of which were white-washed and covered with overgrown vines. At one point we were convinced we were trespassing because we were on the narrowest, most definitely single-file path between two houses. We also had a delicious meal on Saturday and picked up food at the grocery store for a light dinner in the hostel.

On Sunday, we woke up at 6:00 am to find a 7:30 English service at a Greek Orthodox church that we had read about online. Though we got turned around and lost several times on the way to the church, we found it right on time only to find it closed and gated up. The guard there looked at us like we were crazy and said he wasn’t sure if the church ever has services, let alone English ones. This was a disappointment, but we decided to look at the map and just go to any church that we saw. We headed towards St. Nicholas, where we stopped and watched part of a Greek service. This was a very interesting experience. We were the only people there for the start of it, and we stayed for about 20-30 minutes until an elderly woman came in and got mad at us for sitting in her seat. After this, we had basically given up hope of finding an English service, so we headed back to the hostel for breakfast and so Allie and Liz could ask the receptionist questions about catching their ferry to Santorini on Monday. After we ate and they asked the necessary questions about the ferry, it was probably around 9:30 am. They needed to visit the ferry booking agency, so we set out in that direction. Then at exactly 10:08, we stumbled across St. Paul’s Anglican Church.

An Anglican Church! That must have an English service! Sure enough, St. Paul’s has a 10:15 Sunday service, and it was no coincidence that we showed up at this time. We stayed for a beautiful and very interesting service in a packed church. In front of us sat a young American couple who we talked to afterwards. Allie approached them because she noticed the man holding a Boston College mug, and Allie is from Massachusetts. He and his wife are living Athens as he gets his PhD in archaeology at the American School in Athens, where Dr. Krentz studied!

As we left church, we saw a major festival going on across the street. We decided to go, and this was quite a cultural experience! This was a children’s festival in which kids all dressed up in costumes. There was fair food, music and dancing, and all sorts of other festival activities. We had a blast, and being there with so many happy people and cute kids having the time of their lives was inspiring. There was confetti all over the ground, and it seemed to me like everyone was smiling. The festival was adjacent to national arboretum in Athens, and we walked through this and we also walked through this and the miniature zoo there. At the fair, as I bought some delicious fried fair food, I met two American girls from Minnesota who go the University of Wisconsin! I told them that I was from Mequon, and we have common acquaintances from high school both at Davidson and Madison.

After the festival, we went on a walking tour of Athens, using a guide book which we borrowed from the breakfast room at the hostel. The walk was really interesting and was the perfect activity for our Sunday afternoon. We again had a delicious late afternoon lunch. Then, as we continued our tour, we ran into Sylvian, our archaeological guide from Eretria! Talk about a day of coincidences! Overall, Sunday was a truly awesome day, as was the entire time that I spent in Athens with Liz and Allie. It was inspiring for me to be with two other people who also wanted to explore, be restless for a few days, and go to such an early church service on Sunday. I said goodbye to them early (at 5:30 am) on Monday morning as they caught a ferry to Santorini and I headed for the airport.

Istanbul!

I loved Istanbul! The city is beautiful and fascinating, and I would go back anyday. Istanbul was bright, clean, and beautiful, and though I loved Cairo, far different from it. First, we all had spectacular views from our hotel windows. We looked out upon the Blue Mosque and the Aghia Sophia. The only negative aspect of our proximity to the mosques was our 5 am wakeup calls by the call to prayer at sunrise.

Among the sites we saw in Istanbul were the Theodosian Walls, the Istanbul Archaeological Museum, the Blue Mosque, Aghia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, the Choras church museum, and monuments on our “Byzantium walk”. We also had two free days in Istanbul, though we were unfortunately inclined to spend much of this time studying for our four tests on Thursday and Friday. The other unfortunate part of our time in Istanbul (and Turkey in general) was that it rained practically all day everyday.

On Monday, I went to the Grand Bazaar, the famous shopping center in Istanbul of 4,000 shops. This is a must-see for any tourist, even those like me who don’t particularly enjoy shopping. The Grand Bazaar sells every type of clothing, jewelry, accessory, or souvenir that you could possibly want, and haggling is expected. However, it is much classier and tamer than the markets in Cairo or Aswan. I enjoyed the experience far more because I felt safer and more experienced. And while the girls were still called “pretty lady” or “Miss America” or “beautiful eyes/butt/hair”, the overall experience was not degrading or depressing as it often felt in Egypt. Most of the merchants were much nicer and not as pushy. At the scarf store, I found it particularly amusing how the merchant modeled for me every scarf I pointed at. He would flamboyantly twirl them, wrap them around his neck in a pretty knot, and smile.

Twice, the group spent time in Taksim, which is the “hip” shopping area of Istanbul. At night, this area is packed with young people, and it is really exciting to be there surrounded by swarms of bustling Turks. I say this because we got the impression that this was real Istanbul, and we saw very few tourists in Taksim. Though I would be lonely and very unwise to Taksim by myself, especially at night, I loved spending time here and experiencing the big city feeling of being alone responsible and aware of your existence. You are free, (strong?), and independent. This made me think of what it would have been like to go to a huge university, like most of my high school friends who are at the Universities of Wisconsin or Minnesota. I am so glad I’m at Davidson, but I can also see the appeal in being just another person.

Matt and I had a funny experience in Taksim that I may tease him about for the rest of the trip. We were walking back to the bus past a very nice-looking hotel. He wanted to go in and explore, so we do (or try to). As we walk in, he whispers that the employees at such hotels can never bother you because they don’t know if you are staying there or not, and if they ask you it and are wrong it reflects terribly on them. So we barely walk into the lobby and look around a little, when the porter approaches us and asks if we are staying here. We first act like we don’t know what he’s talking about, but we were caught with no way out but the door. As the porter ushered us out, Matt admits that he “just got served.” We decided that instead of fearing away from exploring fancy hotels, next time I should reply to the porter in French and pretend I don’t understand their English.

Also during our first visit to Taksim, Matt told me that Matt L. had gotten roasted chestnuts on the streets of NYC during orchestra tour and shared them with the group. In Istanbul, these little stands were everywhere, and I too decided to do the same. The chestnuts were delicious, and when I go to NYC, I am hitting up the chestnut stands. Thanks, Matts. ☺

On Friday night we went into Taksim for the second time. This was our last night before spring break, and we had a group dinner to celebrate Allie’s birthday, the end of testing and the start of break. (I, foolishly, still had one more test to take when I got back to the hotel at 10, but that’s another story). Louisa, Rob, Trent, Wheat and I took a taxi from the hotel into Taksim. That was one of the more frightening experiences of my life, and I would not do it again. First we had trouble getting a taxi. Rob approached every driver we saw and said we would only pay 20 lyra for the ride. Nobody would take us, and we finally consented to 30 lyra without traffic and 35 with traffic. The five of us tumbled in the taxi, with the three boys in the back and Louisa on my lap in the front. Our driver was ruthless, and he took every possible risk in his tiny car. He even laughed at scaring stray dogs by swerving at them and then away at the last possible instant. It was not fun, and on multiple occasions, I clenched Louisa in fear. But we made it through the heavy traffic, and the driver even let us off a couple blocks away from Taksim because we were in a standstill. We then ran through the streets to the central court area, arriving at 7:18, late for the 7:00 time set by Dr. Krentz. The rest of the group was nowhere to be seen, though we ran around the square looking for them. We then waited for about ten minutes as I tried to phone Jensen and Dr. Krentz. We weren’t sure if we should wait longer or find our own restaurant, and we began to accept that the group had gone to dinner without us. Right when we turned to find a restaurant, we spotted Dr. Krentz and Matt across the square, and we yelled and sprinted towards them. The entire group also appeared with them, we weren’t sure from where, but we reunited and all had a delicious meal together.

Something Turkish, Greek or Roman

Since Assos, we have been to the ancient sites of Troy, Pergamon, Sardis, Didyma, Miletos, Priene, Magnesia, Ephesos, Aphrodisias, Kanukkale, Hierapolis, Sagalesssos, Antalya, Perge, and Aspendus before Istanbul. That’s many Turkish towns, many ancient cities, and a lot to confuse when I study for my tests, think about Greek and Roman history, or finally try to blog! But I have learned so much and have lots to retell.

After reading the Iliad and watching “Troy,” visiting Troy itself was somewhat of a disappointment. Years of ancient cities were built on top of each other at Troy, so very little of any individual city can be seen at once on the site. Trying to depict conflicting histories on the same land is impossible, as evidenced to us at Troy. Troy was an excellent example of how archaeologists inherently destroy evidence as they go, and it differs from most of the other sites we visited because it was inhabited for so long. We had a class discussion in the Odeon, or small theatre, at Troy, and even though having discussion in an ancient theatre is typical on the Classics trip, I hope that I never cease to marvel as we relax on ancient politically heated stone steps. Troy also has its very own modern Trojan horse, and we all climbed up to take pictures. That almost made my day.

At Pergamum, in the modern city of Bergama, we encountered the strongest winds I have ever experienced. Due to the weather, we were not able to learn a lot but we still spent hours here playing in and fighting the wind for the strength to even stay standing. This was one of the best days of the trip. At this biblical site, I was overwhelmed with God’s power as so clearly manifested to me by the force of the winds. The city was also huge, and we ran around into all the different coves, rooms, and buildings to better see the acropolis or the modern town and scenery below.

Many of the sites we visit contain Roman baths. The concept of public bathing is foreign to us, so we all tend to marvel at these structures. These baths typically have three rooms: a cold water room, warm water room, and hot room, and I was always amazed by how huge the baths were. When we stopped at Kanukkale, we visited the (very touristy) hot springs. They felt great to stand in, but we all just took off our shoes and rolled up our pants. I must be very spoiled and/or vain, but I really appreciate private bathing! I cannot imagine, even if I was accustomed to it, being so free in public. Public baths still exist in Turkey, and they are apparently quite popular. Gülin, our Turkish tour guide, strongly encouraged everyone to experience a Turkish bath. Some of the other girls did in Istanbul and said it was a great experience.

At Ephesos, among other things, we discussed the story in Acts of Paul in the theatre at Ephesos. I sat on the very seats in the very theatre where this event took place! These biblical sites are fascinating, though I wish Dr. Krentz spent more time with us discussing Roman history and the early years of Christianity. He specializes in Greek history, and that’s clearly where most of his interest lies. We also saw the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. While I love to be able to say that I have been to another of the ancient seven wonders, there is not much to see of the Temple of Artemis. All that is left standing is one column (on top of which is a massive stork’s nest). The temple, however, was the largest ancient temple and was massive, as we saw by the area of land containing the remains of the temple.

We had a particularly fun visit to Aphrodisias, most memorable of which was our footrace in the stadium. The girls and guys (most of us at least) lined up along the start line at one end as Dr. Krentz counted down to a start. Rob and Reed stood at the far end of the theatre at the designated finish line and to declare the winners. Us Classics kids are competitive, and after a few false starts, we finally got a clean start and the race began. It was amazing to me how fast the guys were, and within a few seconds they were all far past the girls. In very impressive wins, Trent won among the guys and Sarabeth among the girls. As soon as Trent won, Rob and Reed came sprinting the other way screaming the victory, so the girls did not really know where to stop. The race was exhilarating, though the ground of the stadium is not flat as I hope it was for the races in the ancient days. I twisted my ankle, harmlessly, several times during the race. Trent apparently went all out on this race, and immediately after his win he collapsed on the stadium steps and stayed there for about twenty minutes. He was okay, but it took him quite a while to join the group at the temple of Aphrodisias.

We also had a particularly memorable time visiting Sagalassos/Heirapolis. Sagalassos is very high on a mountain, and there had been a massive snowstorm the day of our visit, so the site and the narrow, meandering mountain roads leading up to it were snow-covered. The most logical decision seemed to be to forfeit our trip to Sagalassos. But no. Gülin insisted on calling the governor to ask him to please plow the mountain roads because a group of serious archaeologists needed to see the site. This tactic worked, and the road was cleared foot by foot in front of our eyes as we followed the plow up the mountain. Then as soon as we got off the bus at the site, us serious archaeologists, including Gülin, Dr. Krentz, and our bus driver Kadir, broke into a massive snowball fight. The site managers watched us and had to patiently wait for us to finish before we even glanced at the excavations. We had an impressively long fight, and for those who can check, Kyle posted a hilarious video of it on Facebook.