Travels Through Greece and Turkey

By Tarini Carr - May 2005

Day 1

The morning of our departure we all met at the college and boarded a bus. Everyone was so excited that the air was full energy. Many of the people on this trip (26 in all) had never been out of the country before, (unless you count going to Canada, but that's still North America). Being out of the country for the first time in Greece and Turkey was going to be a pretty amazing experience.. I have never gone on a trip like this, with 22 other young people and 3 teachers, so I was rather excited myself.

We were flying from JFK in NY to Istanbul , Turkey. The travel went without much incident excepting that I nearly didn't' leave the country. Apparently Turkey only allowed people whose passports expired in more than 6 months into the country. Mine expired in 5. The clerk frowned when he saw my passport and muttered something about being 'right back' and walked off with my passport. Of course we all thought the worst was going to happen. The man returned and said that I would be allowed to go, but that I was supposed to have more than 6 months until it expired. That could have been terrible! Not even on the plane and I would have had to turn back. Being that our tickets were as cheaply acquired as possible meant we did not have ideal seats. Most of us were spread out here and there. We were able to switch with some kindly people, so most of us were together. I had a window seat going over and just as we were crossing over Ireland the sun was rising. It was a gloriously beautiful sight.

Day 2

We arrived in Istanbul at noon and then boarded a bus and were off to find lunch, and then on to our first sightseeing's at the Topkapi palace. Just as we were stepping off the bus downtown the call to prayer started. It was eerie and beautiful,   most of the group had never heard an Islamic call to prayer and were very struck by it. We got a blast of Turkish culture right away, for as we walked to our restaurant we were stared at , and many of the men very openly sighed and looked after all the girls in the group. I found it rather funny(being used to the stares I get in India as a light skinned foreigner), but some of the girls were a bit unnerved by it . The weather was beautiful , sunny and warm and the I don't think I've ever seen a city so pretty as Istanbul. It had a very different vibe from anywhere I've ever been, and I loved it.

By the time we got to Topkapi palace and saw the sights, (some very elaborate jewels and furniture, and looking across the water at what was Asia Minor, are all I frankly remember) most of us were very jet lagged. We were given about half an hour to wander as we liked before we must board the bus. Me and a bunch of the others went out into a grassy area and just relaxed. I wandered away and later found out that everyone fell fast asleep in the grass and then freaked out , not knowing how long they had been out. Jet lag does funny things to you!

Back at the hotel I found a pool in the basement floor and got my roommates to come with me..We jumped in anticipating a nice warm pool and instead found that it was unheated! It was rather disappointing, for it was too chilly to really stay in very long. Maybe they don't believe in heated pools in Turkey. And odder still on the side of the pool there was a belly dancing class practice going on..About 5 ladies stood in a line wearing their skirts and jingly belts while gyrating to some imaginary music. It was altogether rather strange.

The Turkish people were very polite and warm to everyone. I don't think anyone had a bad experience except for an incident with a persistent perfume seller who got in a tizzy because the female professor he was trying to sell the perfume to touched his arm. ( Being a devout Muslim that was a grave taboo)

Day 3

We were all up bright and early and were off to Greece by bus! This took most of the day. It was a beautiful drive through the Turkish countryside. There were poppies everywhere by the side of the road. When we reached the Greek border we had to get out of our bus and cross on foot with our luggage (It was about a 10 minutes walk) and meet our bus some distance away. Kind of peculiar really, I'm still not exactly sure why they made us do that. There wasn't any sightseeing today as we arrived late in the afternoon at our hotel in Thessaloniki.

Day 4

Today we went to visit the birthplace of one of the most famous conquerors in all of history, Alexander the Great who was born in Pella. Of course the site is now in ruins, and all that remains is the foundations of the houses that used to be there. But archaeologists can tell and awful lot from the foundations there. The house set up, the luxury of the home, basically what kind of family lived there. Some of the original floors where even intact. They were beautiful and detailed mosaics of Greek myths. It was under a roof so the lighting wasn't very good but I have a picture of it here.

Next we visited Vergina and the tomb of Philip of Macedon, Alexander's father. Apparently there is some controversy over that, as they believe it may not be. The more sites and museums we went to, the more things it seems 'they' (as our guide Stethos would express) were not entirely sure of. I found that very interesting, when you read a textbook everything is spelled out as absolutes. I guess things change, as time passes and more evidence is uncovered.(After all people used to believe the earth was flat) it can either further prove or disprove an idea. The museum at the site had many treasures from Vergina (which we would visit next) and mosaics.

In 1977 at Vergina a Professor Andoronikos excavated an unrobbed tomb. The treasures inside were so splendid it was concluded that it belonged to Philip II, king of Macedon and father of Alexander the Great. There was a terrific museum at this site, filled with beautiful artifacts, pottery, shields, gold ornaments etc..The way the museum was set up they built around the tomb areas, and you could look down at areas they had excavated. It was very interesting, I've never seen a museum set up like that.

Thessoloniki was a nice city. It is the second largest modern Greek city, and was named after Thessoloniki the sister of Alexander and wife of Kassandoros.  

Day 5

I confess I do not even remember what museum we went to today or what we saw..We visited so many museums that they have all blurred together..But afterwards we drove to Kalambaka, which took up the rest of the day. The scenery changed remarkably as we neared Kalambaka. I guess the best way to describe what the geography looked like is as huge vertical stones jutting into the sky. Hundreds of years ago monasteries had been built way up on top of these stone monoliths. And that is what we would be visiting the next day. One thing worth noting is that we stayed in really nice hotels! There is no way I could have afforded them if I was visiting on my own. There are some perks to going in large groups. That evening we all gathered in one of the recreation rooms of the hotel and our guide (who was accompanying us everywhere while we were in mainland Greece) spoke to us all about the monasteries we would be visiting on the morrow. The people there had and have practiced a very strict orthodox Greek Catholicism.

Day 6

After a very winding drive we reached the Meteora monasteries. As far back as the 11 th century AD, monks constructed inaccessible eagle's nests in the crannies of the rocks. It was not until the 14 th century that the first monasteries were built, and later in the 16 th century that the rest were constructed or renovated. It is said that over 20 monasteries were in habited. However, today only four are occupied, being Megalo Meteoro, Moni Varlaam, Moni Agias Triadas and Moni Agiou Stefanou . We visited the last two. To go inside all of us girls were supposed to wear skirts. I thought at first it was a chastity issue, but apparently it was only just to make a distinction between men and women. If you didn't have a skirt there was a room just as you entered where you could rent one. It was very peaceful up there and one of the large courtyards held an incredible view of the area and the town below. Not all of the monasteries were open for tourists, as they were   still being used as places of worship. The artwork from the time period of this monastery was very striking. For instance in several of the chambers the entire room was painted in scenes from the Gospel and also depicted many saints. It was the most somber and dreary religious artwork I have ever seen. In fact it was positively depressing. The faces of all the saints were haggard, grey, and lined, and they looked so morose it was hardly an inspiration to those trying to serve God. (or so I would think) The colors of the murals were very drab. One of the other less holy claim to fames this place has, is it was used in one of the recent 007 movies, where the intrepid Bond landed upon one of the rock tops.

As we were driving down again I noticed a couple people climbing up the straight rock faces. They were mad! People also come here for the extremely challenging rock climbing. There is very little face variation so I can only imagine how difficult it must be.

And then we were off to Delphi. This was one of the most beautiful drives of the entire trip. The landscape again changed, we went further up in elevation and it became sunny and full of mountains. The lighting was incredible at times where the sun came through the clouds in beams. It was ethereally beautiful. I was really looking forward to seeing Delphi.

Day 7

Delphi is of course the place were the famed Oracle of Delphi resided. There has been many myths related with Delphi and I found a very informative site at (sacredsites.com) . Through the years there has been speculations about whether the Oracle of Delphi was a myth or there was something to the stories of gases coming up from the earth. In the late 1990's an archaeological team discovered that the oily limestone of the region was fractured in two faults which crossed directly under the temple. This faults made a path by which petrochemical fumes such as methane, ethane and ethylene could rise to the surface. The women priests who then breathed in these gases were affected by the psychoactive fumes. So basically the visionary oracles of Delphi were high! I was rather disappointed for we did not stay long at this site and did not even go to the top! We were pressed for time, as we needed to drive onto Athens. But it was a beautiful sunny day, and quite a few buildings were well preserved. Stethos 'walked' us through the site, describing what people would have been doing, how there would have been market stalls here and there, etc..Stethos was rather a unique character but he had a way with words and was excessively well educated. While speaking he would pause and say " parenthesis "..and keep talking then say " end parethesis". He had an unusual way of speaking, which was rather charming, but I thought he talked altogether too much at times. It was the complaint of many of the other students that they wished there had been more time to look around, especially in museums, and not just have to listen to Stethos talk for 20 minutes in front of one case of artifacts. He knew what he was talking about, but he tended to ramble. So then after visiting the most photographed site in all of Greece, The Tholos temple or the Sanctuary of Athena, the remains of an ancient gymnasium, and a nearby spring, we boarded the bus to Athens.

Day 8

We were supposed to visit Mycenae, and the Argolis region but somehow we changed it around and instead did the Athens site seeing today. First off was the Athens National Museum. And then on to the Acropolis. Everyone was very excited because for many this was the highlight of the trip, seeing the Parthenon. I wasn't terribly excited at first but everyone else's enthusiasm started to wear off on me.We climbed the steps up to the Acropolis and through the ongoing construction and through a gate, and then before us stood the Parthenon. Revered in history as the birthplace of modern democracy, the place where great men walked and spoke, supposedly where the gods themselves sometimes stood, and one of the most famous pieces of stone in all of history. It was beautiful, and the sheer size of it shocked me. I had no idea it was that enormous. I cant guess accurately how tall the pillars were. It really sunk in what an incredible piece of construction this temple was, and to think they created this thousands of years ago without the cranes and tractor trailer trucks we have today. It is a wonder. Much like the ancient Indians, and Egyptians these people had technologies that we still do not understand. Built between 447-437 BCE, the Parthenon has been a place of worship for many religions. Through the centuries it was converted into a Byzantine church, a Latin church and a Muslim mosque. The Turks used the Parthenon as a powder magazine ( I wonder whose bright idea that was) when the Venetians, under Admiral Morosini, sieged the Acropolis in 1687. One of the Venetian bombs fell on the Parthenon and caused a tremendous explosion that destroyed a great part of the monument which had been preserved in a good condition until then

We walked around and also visited the on site museum. Around the back of the Parthenon and the sides it wasn't quite as pretty as the front. It was under major construction and there were scaffolding and metal bars everywhere. It is a painstaking and tedious task to put together all the bits that came apart, figuring out where each piece of rock came from and fitting it back to the each pillar . It is slow work, and I'm not sure how long they have been at it. Apparently the first time the site was restored years and years ago, it was done wrong, many pieces put together were incorrect, and this has caused even more of a headache.

We then walked down through the Agora. It is now only the foundations of what was once there. As we walked through I imagined all the people and shops and bustle of what it would have been so long ago. And this was were Socrates wandered around and spoke his philosophies, and probably where Plato met him, and so many other men. I was walking in the footsteps of great and revolutionary thinkers. It was rather thrilling.

Later on we visited the Panathenian Stadium. This stadium's acoustics are so perfect that one can sit anywhere and here what the speaker down below is saying. Mind that this stadium holds something like 15,000 people! Scientists still have not been able to figure out how it was created, or replicate the same technology. The next day happened to be the birthday of two of the students, so 2 other girls took it into their mind to sing them happy birthday in honor of it. ( People were allowed to stand up and speak , act something out, or sing etc..) We were then treated to a rather embarrassing display of Americanness. For they were imitating the infamous Marilyn Monroe Happy Birthday rendition. We all vacated the premesis shortly thereafter. To our credit that was the only embarrassing American display we had the whole trip.

That night my friends Amanda and Rocco and I found the roof of our hotel. We thought we were being sneaky and going through a small door (we found later the elevator went right up there too). We just wanted to go outdoors, but when we walked around one corner..we were greeted with a wondrous site: The Parthenon lit up for the nighttime. We stopped in our tracks. It was one of those magical moments that you will always remember. It was ethereally beautiful. We stayed up there for at least an hour just talking and looking at the Parthenon. We were hoping to keep it our secret but the rest of the class found it shortly after.

Day 9

Today was the excursion to Mycenae,Corinth and Epidaurus. I think I was looking forward to Mycenae more than most of the places we had been. It was a bit of a drive away, and the day was rather hot. First off we stopped at the Corinth canal, which was begun in the 1 st century AD by the infamous Roman emperor Nero. It was under construction for 3 months before Nero died and was then abandoned. It was not completed until 1893. Ever since ancient days the seafaring Greeks had dreamed of digging a canal that would connect the Gulf of Corinth and the Saronic Gulf. The Isthmus of Corinth, as the narrow bit of land between these two Gulfs was called, has played an important role in Greek history. For this piece of land connected North and Southern Greece, everything had to come through there, goods, troops etc..Most importantly, having a canal would prevent ships from having to sail around the dangerous Cape Maleas off the Southern Peloponnes, and save a lot of time.The city of ancient Corinth was beautiful, but it was pretty much more of the same. Rocks, foundations, pillars, and more rocks. I think I looked intentionally at more rocks this trip than ever in my whole life. Mycenae was up on a hill overlooking the valleys for hundreds of miles in all directions. In the 2 nd millennium BCE it was one of the major centers of Greek civilization, and was a powerful military stronghold that dominated much of southern Greece. It was a city that could not be attacked very easily. I cant imagine how anyone would even try, for they would spotted from tens of miles away. The original stone paved road was still intact and we all tramped up it. When we stopped to listen to the guide, I looked over the area and imagined what it must have been like to live there. In a time where war was common and most men saw battle in their lifetimes. I was standing where kings stood, and where restless armies waited for their orders, watching their foes get ever closer. This was the place where Agememnon lived and fought. Blood was spilled on the stone beneath my feet. And then I was taken out of my revery by the boy next to me looking upward and pointing out a rainbow. A rainbow on a perfectly sunny day. This trip was becoming full of unique moments.

I don't remember much else of the day because I was to much enthralled by Mycenae. We had fresh squeezed orange juice at a stand, and stopped in a coastal town called Nauplion for a late lunch. I think I had salad and pasta. Much like every other day. There are few options for vegetarians in that part of the world, besides pasta, pizza and salad. They are big on lamb, and seafood there. I do remember the lighting though, something about the sunshine is different in Mediterrean countries. Its more brilliant and the way it hits things colors the world differently. The only way I can think to describe it as it gives everything more warmth and vibrancy, they very air seems colored by it.

Day 10

We woke up bright and early to catch a plane to the island of Samos. We immedietly set off to see the island by bus and visit a few sites and museums. According to mythology the goddess Hera was born here, and we visited her temple, The Heraion. Samos is perhaps most famous as the birthplace of Pythagoras, as well as Epicurus, Herodotus and Aesop. Although located only about 1km off the coast of Turkey it is a Greek island. Samos has a varied and interesting history, and was once a very important place of trade with the Phoniecians, Persians and the rest of Greece. The museum we visited reflected this. There were artifacts from all over the ancient mediterrean and middle eastern world. I saw figures from Egypt, Greece,Phoenecia, and even what looked like ancient Indian statues of various gods, among others. It was the most interesting museum we visited the whole trip.

Day 11

Today was our day of leisure! Hurray! No having to sit on my bum in a bus for 7 hours! I lazed about by the Aegean for a while, but wisely did not stay out all day like a few of the kids did. I think half of our group was viciously sunburned at the end of the day. Im not much on salt water, as it makes the skin around my eyes very sensitive so I didn't go swimming in the sea. Besides it was still rather icy despite it being so warm. I was however rather unexpectedly pushed in later on in the day, and so I can say I went swimming in the Aegean after all. I was rather lazy and didn't do much today, caught up on doing laundry, and then wandered around town with some people. Samos is charming and there were some very unique gift shops. One I went into and spent some time in was owned by a very congenial bearded gentleman who invited me to come see his theater production .But, unfortunately it was the next day and I would be gone. I discovered the first real Greek food I liked at an outdoor restaurant on the boardwalk. A vegetarian pita. It was a fresh warm pita filled with cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, and had a spiced yogurt dip called jajika on it. It was really good. Ive tried to make it back home but it doesn't quite match up. It was lovely just wandering around the streets and back roads, and looking at the scenery. If one wanted to retire to small, quiet, warm, beautiful place a Greek island would be the place to go. And there were the most gorgeous flowers everywhere on the sides of the road and especially in peoples front lawns and gardens. I have never seen such extraordinary roses, of all colors , growing like mad.

Another Greek food worth mentioning is their yogurt. It is simply the most divine I think one can ever find. It is super thick, and tart and they always serve it at breakfast with cucumbers or jams. I don't know how they make it so thick, but it's really really good.

The rest of the leisure day passed without much incident. We were all tired from being constantly on the road and welcomed not having to do anything in particular.

Day 12

The trip was nearly over, and today we left Greece and took a ferry back to Turkey. We landed at Kusadasi and had a full day of sightseeing planned. We visited the House of the Virgin Mary, where she was supposed to have lived the last 7 years of her life. She came here possibly along with Saint John, who had come to spread Christianity in the area. A nun was giving a tour and she spoke of miracles that had happened there. Several people who had been very sick had walked through those doors and had come out healed. Or so go the stories.

Later we went to the Basilica of St. John, where his tomb is located. Though the upper structure no longer exists, it was at one time a magnificent basilica in the shape of a cross with six domes. As it usually was, when the Turks invaded in the 14 th century, it was converted into use as a mosque. Its use was discontinued when too many earthquakes made it unstable.

During the 2nd century BCE Ephesus was the 4 th largest city in the Eastern Roman Empire. It was famous for its Celsus library, the Artemisium ( One of the 7 wonders of the world), and its medical school. This was my 2 nd favorite site next to Mycenae. Much of this site was very well preserved. We all wandered around the ruins for a good hour or so. One of the neat things about the sites in Greece and Turkey was that there were cats everywhere! There was a cat at Delphi who quickly made his way into a couple of the girls laps. There was at least 2 cats at Ephesus, and in Greece there were cats in all the outdoor restaurants. Just hanging around.

Day 13

Today we flew back to Istanbul. (which was, of course, once Constantinople). Istanbul the city of a thousand minarets. There was a lot of things on the schedule for the last day of site seeing. First was the Chora church, another Byzantine (the era of gloomy artwork) era church. The flash Nazi's were out in full. In all of the museums and many of the churches with murals on the walls camera flashes were not permitted, and they were very vehement to anyone who did, if even by accident. But they have good reason, the flash damages the paintings over time. And in museums its just annoying. One of the people in a group near ours by accident took a picture with the flash on and the room attendant practically shouted at him. This was sometimes annoying during the trip, for we always tried to take our flashes off but sometimes it didn't' happen, and the museum attendants would get very irate. But they are probably sick of telling people off. Some of the most exciting places were saved for today. Next was the Hagia Sophia, the one time church and mosque. It is an intimidating building, and it is even larger than it looks inside. Inside it was dim and cool and people spoke mostly in whispers, but their voices echoed off the walls. There was hordes of people inside and their collective voices made a loud murmmering buzz. The ceilings are so high, I was astonished. It was a remarkable feat of engineering for so long ago, especially as its roof is domed. It is no longer used as a place of worship and is soley a tourist spot. Both the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque (which we were about to visit next) are visible from many points in the city, they are so tall.

At the Blue Mosque we had to remove our shoes and place them in bags to carry with us. The reason it is called the Blue Mosque is because outside it is a blue grey color, and I think also because inside it is completely decorated with blue and white tiles. This mosque is still used for worship, and inside many Muslims were praying and paying obeisences'. There was a feeling and a strong sense of something in this place. It was different from either a church or a temple, it had its own particular mood. It just felt as if you should be quiet and respectful while in the mosque. We all walked around only speaking in hushed tones. Most of the group was silent afterwards, and many were very affected by what they felt inside the mosque.

I was feeling rather ill today and wished only to sit down, so it was hard to appreciate all the things we saw as much when I felt dizzy, weak, and queasy.
The underground Cistern was very interesting. It used to be a water supply but now they only keep about 18 inches of water in it, and its just for sight seeing. There were pillars holding up the roof, and there were lights low near the water. The effect was very magical. There were many people walking around, their collective voices echoing off the walls. The walkways were slippery in some spots, damp and kind of slimy. While down in the Cistern one of the group members decided to have a little walk about with out telling anyone and caused a big annoyance. She just disappeared, and here we were in the middle of down town Istanbul a ways away from our hotel, and no way of contacting her or vice versa. Our guide informed the guards at the Cistern, and was even about to contact the police, when, after 45 minutes after we noticed she was gone, the girl wandered on back. Apparently she had gone for an ice cream. Our tour guide was practically livid.

And thus ended our last day of siteseeing in Istanbul.

Day 14

Our last day in Turkey and we could do whatever we liked! Everyone went to the famous Grand Bazaar or the smaller spice bazaars. I spent most of the day wandering around the bazaars. This was really one of my favorite times on the whole trip. It was so colorful, and you could find anything form candles to beautiful hand made ceramics, clothing, tapestries, jewelry, Turkish delight, etc.. Actually there was Turkish delight everywhere, and the best is fresh! An enthusiastic vendor practically shoved a piece at me and I dutifully ate it. Its really an odd texture, very chewy, but good. It's made mostly of different ground nuts and honey. Like everywhere in the world where you can haggle for goods, the people will try and cheat you. I was looking at a shawl in a shop ,( It was a very nice shawl but not fancy), and the man was being very tricky with his words, and when I finally asked exactly how much it was, he said it was $300! For a shawl! He acted like it was perfectly fair and normal, and no matter how much I said that it was way to much he kept being very pushy . I finally had to walk away because he couldn't understand that I didn't want it. The shopkeepers were very friendly though, usually, and spoke very good English. They always asked us how we liked Turkey, and what we thought of their country. Besides traditional Turkish goods there was also wicked cheap designer brand clothing and shoes. Everything from Versace to Puma, at a fraction of the cost you'd get it anywhere else in the world. The Grand Bazaar was intriguing, vibrant, bustling, and huge! I think I could have walked all day and not seen all of it. As it was, some people never even found it! They only found the spice bazaar. So after buying some last gifts for people back home, it was time to go back to the hotel and have a last dinner in Istanbul.

Day 15

I was sad to be leaving, this had been a wonderful trip, full of adventures, and many good memories. It was like being in a bubble while away, for we had no responsibilities, no jobs to get to, everything was booked and planned, even most of our meals were taken care of. But the real world awaited and it was time to return. Turkey and Greece are amazing countries , filled with history, beautiful landscapes, sunshine, friendly people, and good food, and I hope I can return there again one day.