It seems like eons ago that my wallet went missing even though it was only last week. And it seems like ages since I took a shot of ouzo at midnight in a village high in the Peloponnese mountains to commemorate my 20th birthday, but that was only Thursday/Friday night.  It’s been an incredible weekend.  Allow me to begin.

We left early on Thursday morning at about 9:00am.  After purchasing two bread rings for the road (one of the huge food/snack items in Greece are these rings of bread covered in sesame and sometimes sunflower seeds. They are the most delicious things after feta cheese!), we boarded two charter buses and began our long trek across the Greek countryside.  To my joy and delight, we took a 15-minute pit stop at Corinth to view the canal.  The canal connects the Gulf of Corinth to the Saronic Gulf and was just amazing!  People were afraid to venture out to the bridge’s center because it was so high and vertigo-inducing, but after egging everyone on with promises of how amazing the view was, my Arcadia peers slowly inched their ways out to join me…

Next we stopped at a cheese factory… a small private family-owned place that was pretty much out in the middle of nowhere.  They weren’t making cheese at the time because all of the animals were pregnant and there was no milk available for cheese-making, but the owner did pull out a wheel of Mizithra cheese for us to try.  It was so delicious, I went back for a second piece.  Then I found out that it was a cheese made with goat’s milk. Mhm. In any case, the surrounding area afforded some pictures of epic proportions to say the least!

Into the Peloponnese mountains we climbed, the buses ascending steep switchbacks and hairpin turns that I’m sure I would have struggled to clear even in my own little Toyota Corolla from back home.  Those bus chauffers really are a whole new breed of driver.  We arrived in the mountain village of Kalavrita, a town with a tragic past in regards to World War II and occupation.  We had the evening off, so a small group of us went exploring and actually wound up hiking our way up to the Kalavrita monument (which we later found out we would visit the next day).  We watched the sun go down and then went to grab dinner at a local taverna.  Then the countdown began to midnight… my birthday!

I was all set to head to bed, but my roommates found me wandering with some pals in Kalavrita in the dead of night, so they dragged me to the one happening bar in the little village and hooked me up with some ouzo and vodka tonic.  I didn’t stay up that late, though, and woke up the morning with a slight headache… ouzo is strong stuff.  I think my subsequent sickness on the bus might have been a result of not enough sleep paired with the shots from the night before.  It wasn’t that I was hungover or anything… just exhausted, and the bus ride was rather claustrophobic and nauseating due to the windy mountain roads.  But it all worked out.  We got to see some other small villages along the way to New Olympia as well as a Water Power Museum, which was, believe or not, was one of the prettiest little places I’ve been to yet! From there, we snaked through the mountains again and found ourselves in New Olympia.  Most people slept on the bus, but I was wide awake, and I watched the sun go down to some amazing music.  I kept thinking, “I’m in Heaven.”  It was a great birthday gift to be sure.

We stayed at a pretty fancy hotel.  That night, a big group of my friends took me out to dinner.  We went out for dessert later where I faced one of the biggest dilemmas of my time here… baklava or kataifi? My friend Ted informed me that the Arcadia staff would be buying me a big piece of baklava for me back in Athens (they did!), so I settled for the nest-looking kataifi.  I also stumbled upon this awesome bookstore in the village center run by a really nice man who tried to help me with some of my Greek skills.  What else could I do but purchase a book from him?!

The next day we went to the ancient archeological site in Ancient Olympia where ruins abounded and the very first Olympic track and stadium are.  My friends Jessica, Allison, Ryan, Joe and I had a footrace across the stadium when we got there.  How many people can say they raced their friends at the original Olympic Stadium, hmm?  Not too many, I am guessing…

We jumped on a bus again and headed for the Frankish castle of Klemoutsi.  As we approached from afar, all I could think of was Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which prompted me to make a joke to my friend Jessica, which fostered many great impersonations and movie quotes as we trekked up the hill to get to the ancient thing. After my history professor, Stavros, who had tagged along on the weekend trip, finished his speech about the Frankish origins of the place and the importance of its location in the Peloponnese, I took off on my own and climbed up a ladder, which afforded amazing views.  I have to say, I scaled some pretty gnarly walls that day… and I probably climbed up to places that I wasn’t allowed to.  My arms are still a little sore from all of the hoisting and climbing, I must admit.

We stopped at the Agia Sophia on the way home (ancient sanctuary almost completely gone by now) and then returned to New Olympia.  That night consisted of another dinner out (I ate a Greek salad every day of this trip – no lie!) and more dessert to follow.  We tried to hit up a dance club called “Calypso,” but unfortunately dance clubs don’t open until around 11:30pm, and we were beat by then.  So I went to bed with no regrets.

The next day we left early and began our voyage home.  We stopped in a little mountain village called Lagadia, where I bought (surprise surprise!) a Greek salad for lunch and then made friends with some old Greek man selling fruit on the side of the road.  He gave me a big bag of green grapes, which I happily stowed away on the bus with me.  Literally, all I ate on Sunday was bread (these delicious little ciabatta rolls from the hotel), cheese (mainly feta) and tomatoes.  Plus some grapes and an apple.  How European of me, right?

Last stop! An organic vineyard and winery called Spiropoulos vineyard.  They opened up the place especially for us and set up a beautiful little wine-tasting event with red wine, white wine, cheese, and bread.  After consuming about two or three glasses of wine (one white, two red), I was feeling pretty good and proceeded to nosh down about half a loaf of bread and about the equal amount of cheese.  The best part about the whole thing?  We actually got to purchase the wine we tasted afterwards.  I am now the proud owner of both a red and white bottle of this delicious organic wine.

The interesting thing about the winery, though, was the economic ideology and business model that the owner of the vineyard followed.  He kept talking to us about how businesses should not exist to maximize profits; they should exist to provide excellent products and offer good services to its people.  A business, he further explained, should exist for the betterment of all humanity – not just for the gains of a few individuals.  It sounded so different from the way America runs.  I swear, if some CMC economics professors had heard this man speak, they would have keeled over in pain with his words.  But after listening to this man, I seriously began taking into consideration studying abroad a second semester.  I love the Greek attitude towards life.  It’s so less stressful than in the United States.  I feel like I could eventually come to live here… maybe when I’m old and unable to really do much else, I’d come back to Greece to teach English or something.  I don’t know.  The options are endless.

Finally, we stopped at the Agia Foteine, a church made to look like it was built in ancient times.  It looked like a funhouse to me.  I accidentally walked into the “holy place” inside the church, which Jan informed me was blasphemous, but since no one who would really care was there, it was okay for now… I just hope the hand of God doesn’t strike me down now for my insolence.

All in all, it was an amazing trip, though I could have done with less charter bus travel.  My birthday was pretty awesome, and now that I am back, the homework has stacked up like no other.  This weekend will be spent in Athens, hopefully seeing and doing things (dance club as a belated birthday celebration, perhaps!).  Next weekend I go to Crete for our October break.  In November, a trip to Thessolaniki may occur with my history class, and I am trying to put together a Delphi/Meteora jaunt.  Mount Olympus may or may not happen.  There’s a movement on the table to do the last weekend in December in Santorini because no one in their right mind would go to Santorini in December except for people who just want to hike… it’d be a way to avoid the tourists.  We shall see… we shall see…