Not Much... Just Chillin'

There hasn't been much going on lately... Just school and livin' the college life. Writing papers and taking exams. Oh well, I guess that is why it is called the American College of Thessaloniki... I got my first marketing exam back and Mom/Dad you would be proud! It is definately refridgerator material! ;) Sarah and I were both going to hang them on our refridgerator but decided we didn't want to be too corny!

I can't believe how fast time is flying by here. Spring break is only 3 weeks away and then we are traveling throughout the whole month of May!

Just wanted to say thank you to eveyone that has been staying in touch with letters, cards, and email! Getting mail here is like winning the lottery! It helps pass the time by!

We are going to the Byzantine Museum and touring the Rotonda, one of Thessaloniki's oldest churches, this Saturday so that will be interesting! The Byzantine Museum is a continuation of things after the archaeological museum. I will post some more pictures of that and some more of our weekend adventures after the weekend!!!

SPRING BREAK IS OFFICIAL!!!!

Hello Everyone!

So we have officially booked all of our hostels for spring break!!! Now we have a place to stay throughout the whole trip instead of trying to find a cardboard box with 24 hour luggage security!

I had a few mishaps in this whole spring break planning extravaganza but I finally got everything figured out! One day this past week Annie Mahoney, Sarah Frost, Dewey Thoner, and I were sitting in the library trying to find the cheapest hostels/hotels and I was looking into the Paris hostel. So I am putting in all of our search information when it comes to put in the arrival date. I went back to check my plane ticket confirmation and just used that date (April 18th). So I found a hostel that we were all satisfied with (2 blocks away from the EIFFEL TOWER!!!!!) and was going through all the info before I clicked "Book Now."

I read through the details and Dewey was like "Wait, I think we get into Paris on April 17th." I told him, no I checked my plane ticket and it said the 18th. So I told him, well maybe we booked different days. I was like, well it is only 1 day and it is far enough in advance that you could change your ticket. So Sarah and Annie checked their confirmations and guess what "THEY WERE LEAVING THE 17TH. I WAS GOING TO BE IN BARCELONA BY MYSELF FOR A DAY!" I had booked the wrong day. I couldn't believe it because when I booked my flights, I used the flight numbers Sarah gave me from her flight confirmations. I went back and checked to make sure I had followed that right, which I had and then I was really confused. Well who knew that Ryanair (the website we booked our tickets on) would assign ONE flight number to TWO different planes on TWO DIFFERENT DAYS.

We all laughed so hard in the library, my abs started to hurt and I was crying!!! So after rebooking my flight to the right day and paying the flight change fee, we booked our hostel and everything is figured out now. We are all leaving Barcelona on the 17th on the same plane!!!


There has been a few changes to the rest of my travels but not too many!

April 2-4 - Athens, Greece (Field Trip through School)
April 11 - 14 - Rome, Italy (Spring Break)
April 15 - 16 - Barcelona, Spain (Spring Break)
April 17 - 19 - Paris, France (Spring Break)
April 20 - 21 - Dublin, Ireland (Spring Break)
April 22 - 26 - London, England (Spring Break)
April 29 - Halkidiki or little village near Mt. Olympus (One of my friends from Eau Claire is studying abroad in England and she is coming to Greece when we return to Thessaloniki on the 26th because she is done with school earlier than we are - We are going to take a day trip to some place!!)

May 1 - 3 - Corinth Canal (Bungee Jumping)
May 10 - Halkidiki (Hopefully it is warm!!!)
May 16 - 18 - Santorini
May 23 - 24 - Mt. Olympus (School Field Trip)
May 31 - Halkidiki (Happy 21st to ME!!!)

June 7 - Destination: ELLSWORTH, WI, USA

I will keep you all updated if anything changes!!!

Apókria 2009! (19February2009)

Carnaval is a three-week period before the beginning of Lent. the carnivals are Christian pre-Lenten celebrations. There are costumes, lots of food, dancing and "general merrymaking" (came off of a flyer we got).

Carneval is a three-week period before Ash Monday when it is the custom to masquerade. Literally “Apokria” means to say goodbye to the period of meat-eating.

The carnival festivities start each year on the 17th of January and end on the last Sunday of Carnival with the burning at the stake of the King of Carnival and a big parade of floats and costumed groups.

We went to ΜΙΛΟΣ (Milos) to celebrate where they featured Brazilian dancers, a street party, fireshow, as well as Latin & Samba dancing. There was ice skating and many different bars to enjoy the entertainment!

These are just a few of the pictures we took!

So I actually didn't take this picture but it was one of the flyers advertising ΜΙΛΟΣ!

Me and my Mask and a little bit of photoshop!

Sarah and I with our Masks with the sweet lights in the background!

So everytime Dewey tried to take a picture of me... the wind would pick up and blow my mask off my face. This was the best picture we could get!

At the ice skating rink, they had a penguin for the kids to use to help them keep their balance! I thought I would try it out! I look like I am ready for a down hill race or something!

Thessaloniki Archaelogical Museum

Yesterday we went to the Thessaloniki Archaelogical Museum. The museum has exhibits of Archiaic, Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman sculptures from the city of Thessaloniki in particular and the Macedonia region in general.

Most of the Eau Claire Study Abroad Students

Vase for a Burial:

It is one of the finest examples of local (Thessaloniki) pottery.

The band with birds was a favorite decorative motif.

The scene of a hunting dog chasing a rabbit in the lower band is unique.

Late 8th - early 7th century B.C.

Laws in ancient Macedonian times were engraved into stones like this one.

Specifically this stone was a "Royal law that settles the boundaries between certain cities that lie to the north of the Chalkidiki." The features that mark the borders are:

• Landscape features (the rivers Ammites and Mones, the Hermaion mountain etc.)
• Place - names (Hephodryon, Prinos, Lefki Petra etc.)
• Rural sanctuaries (Hermaion, Dioskourion, sanctuary of Artemis etc.)
• Roads, paths and private lands (i.e. the fields owned by Eugeon

Mt. Cholomondas, Chalkidiki
350 - 300 B.C.

Ancient Macedonians grew wheat, olive trees and vine.

The gourmands of antiquity cherished the mullets adn octopuses of Thasos, the squid of Dion, and the filet of a kind of shark fished in the Toroni area of the Chalkidiki.

In this picture there is a purplish picture on the right (it is hard to see) and it is a Fish tank.

* Built in the wall are vessels where fish used to hid to protect themselves from heat and sunlight and to lay their eggs.

Country house in Paliomana, Veroia.

2nd - 3rd century A.D.

On the bottom:

Fishing gear: hooks, needles, weights

Farming tools: mattock, axe, pick axe, sickles, pruning shears, knife

4th - 2nd century B.C.

Another ceremonial Vase

Statue of Ascelpius
The rod and the sacred snake are symbols of the god.
Ano Apostoloi, Kilkis
(ancient Morrylos)
1st century B.C.

The symbol of the snake and rod is what we we now refer to as Caduceus or the symbol of medicine (also called the Wand of Hermes)

Statue of a man wearing a breastplate

possibly of the emperor Augustus.

This may be the very statue dedicated by the priest Apollonius as described in an inscription discovered in the same region.

The thunder bolt on the epaulet of the breastplate is a standard emblem of Augustus.

Kalamoto, Thessaloniki

(ancient Kalindoia)

Late 1st century B.C.

This slab was probably dedicated to Isis in the 1st century B.C. by two or more women, perhaps freedwomen of the same Roman lady.

The Derveni Crater

It is composed of a special alloy composed of bronze and tin, which allows it to display a golden sheen wihtout using the slightest bit of gold.

The Crater served as a funerary urn for an aristocratic Thessalion whose name is engraved on teh fase: Astiouneios, son of Anaxagoras, of Larissa.

330 - 320 century B.C.

Part of a Mosaic

from the floor of a triklinion of a house found at the junction of Egnatia and Antigonidon streets. It probably depicts the Hours (one has been destroyed).

The depiction of personifications relating to the cycle of time in the mosaics of wealthy houses was related to the prosperity of its owners and the abundance of their goods. The placement of this mosaic at the guests' point of entry to the triklinion enhances the symbolism.

250 - 300 century A.D.

Close up of the mosaic. All individual stones placed to create the design.

Statue of Octavian Augustus,
first emperor of Rome (27 B.C. - 14 A.D.)
He is depicted as a heroic nude, holding a scepter or spear. His facial features are difficult to discern. The youthful face and the well-groomed curls in the hair follow classical models, alluding to an athlete or hero of the 5th century B.C.
4th - 2nd century B.C.
The idealistic choice gives the statue the prestige and superiority of classical works.
It may have been sculpted in a Thessaloniki workship in the years of the emperor Tiberius (14 - 37 century A.D)

Spring Break and Other Travel Plans!

I am officially going to ROME, ITALY for the first couple of days for spring break; I just booked my flight on Friday! I am so EXCITED! We are booking the rest of the flights today!

Spring break here runs from April 11 - 26. Sarah Frost, Dewey Thoner, Annie Mahoney, and I are going to:

1. Rome, Italy (April 11 - 14) - Sarah and I are going to Rome and Annie and Dewey are heading to Cairo, Egypt!

2. Barcelona, Spain (April 15 - 17) - Dewey and Annie are meeting us here!

3. Paris, France (April 18 - 20)

4. Dublin, Ireland (April 21 - 22)

5. London, England (23 - 26) One of our friends from UWEC is studying abroad in London for the semester and we are going to meet up with her and then she is going to fly back to Thessaloniki with us and spend some time in Greece with us!!!

I can not believe how cheap the flights are over here. Seriously the killer is just getting from the US to Europe. My flight to Rome is $180 - the most expensive; and my flight from Dublin to London is $15 (no joke) - cheapest flight. All of the other ones are close to $35! It is amazing how cheap they are. All in all the total of my flights is less than $500. It is rediculous - but believe me I am not complaining one bit!!!

April and May are going to be my busiest traveling months! Along with the Spring Break Plans, we have a trip organized through school that goes to Athens, Greece (April 2 - 4)!

Then in May;

1. The first weekend (May 1 - 3) is another trip organized through school - we are going to Mykonos. It is one of the most famous of the Greek Islands.

2. May 9 - Contemporary Art Museum Tour

3. May 10 - Halkidiki Beach Day - Sarah, Dewey, Annie, and Stephanie (Sarah's Roommate) are heading here for the day! Hopefully going to catch some rays!!!

4. May 16 - 17 - Mt. Olympus Field Trip - This is another field trip organized through school!We are going to hike 2-3 miles up Mt. Olympus!

5. May 23 - 25 - Santorini - This area is what I always thought of when I thought of Greece.... It is the area that you always see in movies - White buildings with Blue roofs!

6. May 31 - We are heading back to Halkidiki for my 21st BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION!!!

That is it for now!
Τα λέμε!

My Address in Greece!!!

Γεια σας (hello),

Hope everyone is surviving the cold weather in Wisconsin. It has started to cool off here a bit as well. ;(. And I have adjusted to the Greek way of thinking in terms of what is cold outside and what is warm. When we first got here it was about 40 degrees and it seriously felt like summer time - but compared to below 0 it was like a heatwave! Now I am freezing at 40 degrees again... To bad that didn't last very long!

Τα λέμε (See you - until next time!)

Vergina... Royal Tombs (Field Trip 06 February 2009)

The Royal Tombs of Vergina – Burial grounds of Macedonian King Philip II, Alexander IV of Macedon, Persephone, and Antigonus II Gonatas.

Discovery of the Tombs –
Excavations started in 1937, by the University of Thessaloniki. They were abandoned on the outbreak of war with Italy in 1940. Excavation resumed after the war and during the 1950s and 1960s the rest of the royal capital was uncovered. The Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos became convinced that a hill called the "Great Tumulus" (in Greek, Μεγάλη Τούμπα) concealed the tombs of the Macedonian kings. In 1977, Andronikos started a six-week dig at the Great Tumulus and found four buried chambers, which he identified as the burial sites of the kings of Macedon, which included the tomb of Philip II, father of Alexander the Great, Alexander IV of Macedon, son of Alexander the Great and Roxana.

Vergina Museum before extraction began.

Vergina Musuem - what it looks like today

The Entrance to the Royal Tombs Museum

Vergina Museum – The museum we visited
The Vergina Museum opened in 1993 and was built in a way that would protect the tombs, but still exhibit the artifacts and show the tumulus as it was before the excavations. There are four tombs and one small temple, the heroon built as the temple of the tomb of Philip II of Macedon.

A Macedonian Tomb –
The tombs were usually constructed of limestone and the walls were coated with stucco, which was used as paint for decoration in some cases. Consists of a large burial chamber, antechamber that connects the main burial chamber through a door. The main characteristic of a Macedonian tomb was the barrel-vaulted roof. The entrance is framed by doorposts and lintel. Some of the tombs have architectural decoration, but the smaller tombs are simple. A circular mound nearly always covers the tombs and a built ‘dromos,” a passageway, leads to some of them.

Burial Customs and Grave Goods –
A burial was a matter of personal preference and financial means. Special funeraryurns contained the ashes of the dead. Objects used by the deceased in life were placed in the tomb: weapons and banqueting vessels for the men and jewelry for the women. Figurines and implements of worship were the offerings of the dead person’s family for the afterlife.

During a cremation, the remains of the offerings were placed on the tomb after burial. There are only few instances, including Vergina, where traces of the ceremonies were repeated at regular intervals in honor of the dead have survived and been found.

King Philip II – Alexander the Great’s father – Tomb II
The tomb of Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great was discovered in 1977 and was separated in two rooms. This double-chambered ‘Macedonian tomb’ of extensive dimensions, with barrel-vaulted roof, is from the third quarter of 4th century BC. It is constructed of limestone and plastered with fine white stucco.

The antechamber is crowned by a painted frieze depicting a hunting scene, with a broad, deep-red band runs round the interior walls.

The grave goods found in the antechamber and burial chamber included gold, silver, bronze and iron diadems, wreaths, ossuary chests, quiver-and-bow-case, and vessels. There was also a shield decorated in ivory. The main room included a marble sarcophagus, and in it was the larnax made of 24-carat gold. Inside the golden larnax the bones of the dead were found and a golden wreath of 313 oak leaves and 68 acorns.

The crown found in King Philip II Tomb

The crown found in the Antechamber of King Philip II Tomb

In the antechamber, there was another sarcophagus with another smaller golden larnax containing the bones of a woman wrapped in a golden-purple cloth with a golden diadem decorated with flowers and enamel.

An examination of the skull, showed an injury to the right eye, confirming the identification of Philip II. One of Philip’s young wives, believed to be Cleopatra, was buried in the antechamber.

On the lid of the larnax of Philip II, there is a symbol of a sun or star and this Vergina Sun has been adopted as a symbol of Greek Macedonia.

Gold 'gorytos' (quiver-and-bow-case) with representation of the capture of a city, from the Tomb of Philip II.

King Philip II's Greaves (Shin Guards)

Royal Tomb of King Philip II

The Tomb of the Prince – Alexander IV, son of Alexander the Great and Roxana – Tomb III
This tomb is of a later date than the Tomb of Philip II and it doesn’t have as much decorations on it as King Philip’s did. The antechamber is decorated with a frieze of chariots, while the burial chamber contains a wealth of gold and silver items, mainly banqueting vessels, as well as several ivory objects.

The identification of the cremated bones showed them to belong to a boy aged 13 to 14 years old whose premature death was caused by Cassander.

In 1978, another burial site was also discovered near the tomb of Philip, which belongs to Alexander IV of Macedon son of Alexander the Great. It was slightly smaller than the previous and was not sacked too. It was also arranged in two parts, but only the main room contained a cremated body this time. On a stone pedestal was found a silver hydria which contained the bones and on it a golden oak wreath. There were also utensils and weaponry. A narrow frieze with a chariot race decorated the walls of the tomb.

Royal Tomb of Alexander IV

The Tomb of Persephone – Tomb I
This tomb was built of limestone and was near the edge of the Great Tumulus next to the ‘heroon’. It was named Tomb of Persephone because of its painted ornamentation. The painting is a depiction of the abduction of Persephone by Hades. It is seated on the “mirthless rock.”

The artist believed to have drawn the abduction is Nikomachos, of the mid – 4th century BC. The dating of the tomb is supported by the shards of pottery found in the interior of the tomb.

Depiction of the abduction of the Persephone by Hades


Persephone

Hades

The Tomb with Tetrastyle Prostyle Façade – Tomb IV
This tomb is the only Macedonian Tomb to have a freestanding frontal colonnade, and may be an earlier architectural version of the ‘Macedonian tomb’. The greater part of its stonework has been stolen; the only remains are some parts of the stylobate (base of a row of columns) and columns, and a few slabs of its walls.

The ‘heroon’ at Aigai –
The ‘heroon’ at Aigai is the foundation and part of the marble superstructure of a small, possibly temple-plan building dedicated to the worship of members of the royal family.

The ‘heroon’ was built shortly after Philip’s tomb and may have contained the cult statue of Philip. The ‘heroon’ was destroyed in 274/3 BC, with it and the Tomb of Persephone were plundered by the Gaulish mercenaries of Pyrrhos.

Model of the 'heroon' and Royal Tombs of Vergina