Matthew Engel

The Greek Coast

Athens, Greece Feb. 14-18, 2008 My visit to Greece with the Saint Anthony’s High School Orchestra. We touched Athens, Corinth, and Patras before heading over to Italy in a ferry.

Day 1: Feb. 14, 2008.

Athens, Greece . February 14-16 – We arrived in Athens, Greece on Thursday morning, Valentine’s Day. After transfering in Frankfurt, our buses and guides met us at the airport. The chaperones were off to work right from the very start. I was impressed with their speed and efficiency taking care of the students at the get go. The students and chaperones were divided into their respective groups, by bus, which was kept constant for the entire journey. Driving from the airport to the hotel was an enlightening experience, as we got our first taste of the city of Athens.The city itself is fairly large, about the size of Boston, without the suburbs. The buildings are typical mediterranean style apartments, each one gifted with a comfortable balcony stretching the length of every building. Every apartment typically had some small tree or shrubs growing in potted dishes on their terrace. If you did not know Athens was built on ruins, it could easily be mistaken for a modern city with all the graffiti. The streets were well kept and clean, except for the reappearence of individuals contributing their own names done in an artless fashion with spraypaint on almost everything.

The hotel was wonderful. I am still learning what are some important things to photograph when traveling, and I realize now it is always critical to get a pciture of where you’re staying for recollection. Especially because the interior was so tastefully decorated, the lobby was spacious and filled with mirrors and modern art deco cubist murals painted on all surfaces. There were billowing curtains draped around some walls adding to the aura, which was very relaxing and welcoming. The other thing it is important to photograph, is food.

Later, as I recollect my writings, I try to take note of all the new tastes I experienced and am just bursting to share with you. Unfortunately, the limited photos I have could never do these things justice, so please keep that in mind.

Storing our luggage and instruments that first night was a small nightmare, as we were still fine tuning our strategies at guiding the groups and still keeping all the equipment organized. We were all forced to pack the entire ensemble’s instruments, everything, plus luggage into a small storage area in the main lobby. This was a huge inconvenience for eveyone, but only lasted until after dinner. The first meal together was really nice and I sat with the chaperones here, and for the rest of the trip keeping myself distinctly seperate from the students. The chaperones were consistently served first, and always treated by a very attentive staff.

It was interesting sitting with the professional staff, because I was able to get to know them at the level of an equal or peer, instead of from the perspective of student which I was so used to receiving at St. Anthony’s. FYI I graduated 2000. Some of the chaperones were actually my former teachers, like Ms. Buhler, for french. Shes awesome! After dinner, it turned out two of the students had birthdays already either on the plane ride over or that night so we celebrated with some nice cake and songs. That night we were just so tired from flying that we passed out, because the next week would be full of adventure!

As I dont have any good pictures of the hotel or anything, I will leave you with this small taste, a view from the top of the Parthenon I took the next morning.

View of Athens from the Parthenon

Day 2: February 15, 2008

So the Europeans know how to do breakfast. At least the Greeks know what’s good at 6:30AM, and this absoloutly always includes alot of strong local coffee or expresso. The full spread was ridiculous and I really wish I had a picture of the it, but I don’t. So I will try and paint it with words: A lengthly table with every inch covered by Greek delicacies. The juices were fresh squeezed orange and grapefruits, filled with healthy pulp. Cheeses, hard, soft, with different milks tasting fresher than anything from US. Scrambled eggs, authentic hash browns, fresh creamy yogurt thick as sour cream, and oh! the coffee. I noticed Mrs. Becker continually ordering cappucinos with her breakfast every morning. Now personally for me, a capuccino is a little too feminine, in all its foamy glory. Sticking to the hard stuff, I always opt for the expresso or local coffee when given the chance. Its dense, high powered caffeine has the ability to drive you through those mornings after rising from your remarkably brief 4 hours of sleep. The Greek coffee is very similar to the cups I’ve had in Israel, which are about 6 ounces (175 ml) of black, thickly brewed beans with spices added for aroma and taste. There is always about 1/4 inch of sediment on the bottom when you are done, which may or may not be drunk – depending on your daily caffeine requirements.

Our first full day was spent touring the ruins of Athens. I found it most convenient to help Bob the night before lay out all his clothes and pack his backpack for the next day. Most of his stuff was in baggies label for each day, making my life easier. Typically, when I asked Bob something like, “what would you like to wear?”, his reponse would be “I don’t know!”. He very much disliked the pressure of making decisions or was unable to make decisions for himself involving some of the simple daily tasts we take for granted. However, he was independent enough to take care of himself after getting woken up and responsible enough to get dressed properly and take everything with him that we had packed (usually). Our first few days together went swimmingly. Let this be a foreshadowing of things to come…

Our first activity on the first day was to make mass at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens. This was a quiet service in which I got to see Father Jerry in action. Some of the parents from the shadow tour came and were able to see that their kids had landed safely. The shadow tour was a group of parents of students from our tour we attended our concerts and spent time in the cities we were seeing. They were really completely independent from us, except during concerts and mass.

Matt at the Acropolis – Parthenon in the background

Afterwards we met out first local guide, who took us to each of the major monuments filling in alot of interesting history. She was exotic, very blond, and well dressed. Elaney, the guide, was also extremely knowledge about ancient Greek history, espcially addressing the historical and political highlights of its mighty past.

Elaney – Our Greek guide, at the foot of the Acropolis

I don’t want to make this blog like a history textbook, but Elaney pointed out so much history and detail I just have to share. If you’re not interested, fell free to skip ahead. But since I went through the trouble of writing a diary throughout the trip, I might as well record them here so you can take a peak. The next several photos are taken from the base of the Acropolis of a nearby mountain top, and of our actual ascent to the top of the Acropolis itself.

View of adjacent mountain, from base of Acropolis

Ascent of the Acropolis by St. Anthony’s High School

Sketch of the Acropolis in my Travel Journal

Notice the construction on the facade

So, currently Greece is about 95% Greek Orthodox, 1% Catholic, and 1% Muslim. Its current religious composition is alot different that it was 2,000 years ago when the Acropolis was built as a temple to Zeus. Built in 5BC, the Athenian Acropolis is the highest point in town and literally means “high” (acro) “city” (-polis). Each city in ancient Greece had its own acropolis which was a highly fortified religious temple with major monuments adourning their peak. The Atheninian Acropolis had been inhabited since the New Stone Age.

Zooming in on the Temple

In Greek, the city Athens is referred to as Athena. 400AD brought the sack of Athens by the Persian empire, during which many statues were stolen and the acropolis was set ablaze. 50 years later, the Acropolis was restored surpassing its former glory with 30 new buildings and terraces, garnished by a massive statue of Zeus. The rebuilt statues and sculptures include the infamous Parthenon Frieze depicting parades and warfare in the name of Athena on the summit of the temple. These major works required 10,000 tons of Athenian marble. Currently, this freeze is in London on display permanently in the British Museum, part of the controversial Elgin marbles.

The Elgin Marbles – currently in London (courtesy of wikipedia)

As Elaney led us up the massive twisting stairway carved into the side of the Acropolis we received a spectacular view of modern Athens. Looking back on that moment, you see an incredible contrast and relationship extending from the ancient to current city. This was to be a day of ancient monuments, and breathtaking views. The main audium - or concert hall, in Greek (root of ‘auditorium’, ‘audible’) is still standing today and was built to hold 5,000 people! All of Europe’s finest classical musicians can all be found performing here.

The Athenian Acropolis – audium. Notice the 3 topmost rows of symmetrical arches, followed by a minaret inspired archway at the base. A middle eastern/Turkish Ottoman influence.

When originally constructed, the acropolis featured a lavish cedarwood roof, covered in terra cotta tiles. However, the roof and stage only lasted a few centuries and now just its foundations remain. In our day, the Acropolis has been home to almost every famous musician and artist, especially drawing famous European classical musicians. Here is an entire view of the Acropolis in the bright Athenian sun, from left to right. The audium, or concert hall is capable of holding up to 5,000 people. Audium is the root for the Enlgish word ‘auditorium’.

Left side view

Right side view

Travelling with my Dad was great fun. I would not have been on this trip without him, and having Bruce there to ask for advice and just to joke with added a whole other dimension. Thankfully, we have some great pictures together.

Matt and Bruce at the Acropolis

One must not forget that democracy was actually born in Ancient Greece. Conceived and implemented by the brilliance of Plato and Aristotle, these two figures could be found speaking everyday at the Athenian Algora. The Algora was where the courts were found, and today is a modern commercial and intellectual centre. It could be found at the base of this mountain, there is a photo of it later. In ancient times, an Aglicia was held every 60 days. At this even a crowd of 6,000 citizens would gather to make communual decisions. Parliament did not have the right to make decisions alone. Imagine, politicians did nothave the right to act alone! Perhaps the Athenians, the forebearers or our American democracy, had a better system than we? What I would give to let my own two cents be heard in a public forum!

Even in ancient Greece, every man over the age of 18 was obligated to vote, and bestowed with the rights for administration.This makes me wonder if we, as Americans take our right to vote for granted and forget that it is a privledge that our country’s forefathers fought and died for. Unfortunately, in ancient times the women of Greece were restricted to the home. This region of Athens was also home of Diogenes the Cynic philosopher. He is known for walking round naked, living the virtue of poverty and being quoted as saying: “I’m trying to find an honest man”.

The Temple of Athena Nike is a tribute to the goddess of victory, for which the Athenians hoped for in all their wars. Found on top of the Acropolis, it features a special arrangement of pillars in an 8 x 17 format. They were designed in proportion to the golden ratio (4:9), or 1.62. On top of the Acropolisone finds the Parthenon which was built of 1000 kilograms of gold and ivory. This was removed by Constantine. In 5BC when the Parthenon was built, the Athenians were modest people with normal sized dwellings. The Parthenon was unique. The structure was unique, covered in marble – even the roof tiles. Thomas Bruce is known for removing the beautiful and illustrious Frieze of the Parthenon. He spent his fortune having them cut and shipped to his native Britian where they are still exhibited today. This particular frieze is known as the most beautiful in all Greece and was found along the inner temple’s border. The Frieze contains the well known parade scene in which Gods and humans are walking togehter, showing man and the divine coexisting in the same dimension. In is athletes and officials are sculpted as they walk to the Acropolis. This temple was defaced by the Christians when it was used as a church. The Pediment of the Frieze shows he birth of Athens and an image of Zeus’ head, Poseidon and contains 25 other statues. The original can be found in London, here is a photo from the internet:

Parthenon: West Freize (found in London, the Britih Museum)

Our guide, Elaney was exremely beautiful and I could not wait to see her again the next day. She had a fabulous accent and was dressed in that unique European fashion, it was quite infatuating. I would like to show you the rest of photos of the Saint Anthony’s Orchestra climbing up the Acropolis and what the Parthenon looked like on its peak.

I found Greece amazing because it was such an ancient city, and such a modern city simultaneouly living and thriving side by side. In some ways, this is much like Jerusalem, Israel. All the way to the right, you can see the Athenian Algora, where court was held. The construction and arrangement of its pillars is remarkable.

Matt – February 14th, 2008	Bruce!

Finally, after all this marching it was time for “free time”. Yeah!! Of course, this meant watching over Bob, as it was my responsibility to insure he was well organized enough to buy something to eat and maybe some souveneirs. In total, we had roughly 2 hours for lunch and shopping, which was definitely not enough to get in trouble, but just enough to see some things. Incredibly, since the beginning of our ascent there was a small herd of dogs following us around. They managed to stay with us the entire way up, back down, and found us again after lunch. What great noses! Apparently, even the animals are friendly in Greece.

Before we settled on a shop to eat, there was a brief amount of exploring in the Plaka District. I had accumulated a small band of students to watch over including Bob and his sister, plus a few friends. We wandered into several stores, which were mostly selling Football Jerseys, t-shirts, or other small things. However, I did find one shop that was diverse and bought a small key chain which said Athens on it for my brother Seth and an ash tray with greek etchings decorating the exterior. We also found this AMAZING shop, possibly one of the most beautiful stores throughout our entire trip. I am drawn to interesting things, this shop was no different. I wish I took a picture of the store front! But I know I could find it again. They sold all types of guitars, mandolins as well as chess and backgammond boards. Right up my alley, as I am an avid chess player. Alas, I did not purchase anything – perhaps next time.

Music Shop in the Plaka District

Posing by the chess and backgammon boards

Lunch was fun, we had some trouble finding a good restaurant. That is always a little tricky when travelling with a group- it is often hard to agree on a place. After perusing a few menus, I picked a nice little cafe where we were able to eat outdoors. The first restaurant we looked at featured a kind man outside trying to lull us in, however I picked the place across the street which looked to be of slightly better quality and had a better view of the square. Bob, of course, had a very difficult time deciding what to order, and thankfully his sister was there to basically just order for him. We all got some pizza’s and some sandwiches, which were alright. While it was fun, I had a little difficulty mingling with the table of 16 year old teenage girls and after eating felt the need to go inside the cafe alone for a bit. I paid the bill, order an expresso and sat inside alone finally, and smoked a thin Greek cigarette. Soon it was time to leave, our break flying by faster than any of us imagined. We left time to hit the shops on the way back, and we browsed through some of them which are perfect for tourists. When we arrived at the meeting spot I noticed many of the students were carrying bags, alot of them had bought goodies for themselves or even wine for their parents. This required a thorough inspection of their purchases before boarding the bus to make sure none of them were squirreling away bottles of booze for themselves.