Guess who finally finished sorting and editing her photos of Greece? I've posted them to Facebook, so some of you may have seen them, but I thought they deserved a blog post as well. Actually, they deserve more than one post because I took maybe just a few too many photos and choosing between them is painful. So, I decided to split the posts up and do one whenever I feel like re-living the best trip of my life (seriously, it was). And I'll also try to choose a few new, never-before-released photos to keep it fresh.
Without further ado, this is the part of the trip where I was with fifty other people (but not my very favorite person until the last day), and although I spent most of my time in workshops or lectures, there are no pictures of that.
Welcome to Athens!
This stadium has something to do with the Olympics and I think the Olympic flame is carried here from Olympia though I don't remember the details. The flag and all the poles make for a nice photo though, don't they?
The city is very monochromatic, which is pretty, but when you look close you can see it's also worn out. Most of the buildings appear to have been built around the same time but not improved or maintained. Evidence of Greece's economic struggle, which was on everybody's minds since we happened to be there over the time when Greece's loans were due and banks were shut down. I really hurt for the Greek people and the countless struggles they have had throughout their long history.
First visit to the Acropolis with the group. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would but felt rushed and was glad I'd be back with Bry later.
Temple of Athena Nike
My favorite structure, the Erechtheion…those caryatids were pretty great (as were the originals which are now in the Acropolis Museum)
The Parthenon
The Acropolis Museum was another surprise. So clean and simple and tastefully done. They have excavated the ruins of ancient Athens in the area underneath the museum and incorporated sections of clear flooring so visitors can see as they walk over the ruins far below. I was fascinated by this. Such a cool idea!
We weren't allowed to take photos inside the museum but I snuck this one from a corner because it was all just so pretty. The horse was one of my favorite sculptures.
This excavation work is just outside the entrance to the museum. Loved this.
And I had to include a photo of The House Project in Glyfada (the seaside suburb of Athens where we stayed), because it was truly inspiring. Oh my goodness. I have never been in a space so amazing. It is a huge restaurant, study room, family room, kids play place, lounge, beach, bar, media room, cafe/bakery, library, and overall hangout combined. Every beautiful room serves a different purpose and it's supposed to simulate a house (a very, very awesome house with a beach outside the back door) where people can wander and use it as they like for as long as they like. I want to open one of these in my town! And then live there.
That's the Acropolis peeking out from under Hadrian's Arch.
For one evening the group was offered a side trip to Cape Sounion and the Temple of Poseidon. It was windy and cool with epic views out to sea. This is the furthest point of mainland Greece jutting out into the Aegean and there is a lot of history and myth associated with this cape.
My dear friend and roommate Farah from Singapore.
Lord Byron loved Greece and carved his name on a pillar of the Temple of Poseidon, so of course, being a bunch of geeky writers we all had to find his name and then stand around in a circle to read one of his poems.
Delphi (another side trip) was fascinating. Especially the landscape. The name Delphi means womb and looking at the way it's cradled in the mountains you can see why it was thought to be the center of the world.
Chiseled into this crazy puzzle-piece wall are the names of thousands of freed slaves.
The second half of the residency was based on the island of Crete. The first day we visited the Palace of Knossos from Minoan times.
This is bull-leaping…where Minoan athletes would flip over the backs of running bulls. Maybe more humane than modern-day bull-fighting but definitely more insane.
This is a model of the full palace complex in all its glory…very impressive.
And then it was off to our remote resort to rest and recuperate from all of the touring. That's the resort up against the hill. Not a bad location.
Some of my favorite residency buddies in the dining room. The buffets at this place were crazy…I felt like I was on a cruise ship, though I've never actually been on a cruise and am only saying that based on what people have told me about the disturbing amounts of food that are consumed.
The only time I left the resort was to hike around the water and climb on rocks like a little kid with Farah and another friend on our half day off.
An important part of residency is the student and alumni readings, which were done on the beach while we were at the resort (an added bonus).
And this was my favorite corner to sit, enjoy all the whiteness, plus that view, and get just a little bit of writing done.
The rest is graduation and the farewell dinner that night…a memorable way to end my last residency.
Bry joined me the night before my graduation, and I was very happy to see him. It was really special to have him there and be a part of this whole other world that means so much to me. He ended up talking to more people in one day than I did the whole residency and decided that writers are very interesting. Or maybe that's just compared to accountants (totally joking…sort of).
The bigwig table. On the right, making the funny face, is the founder and director of the incredible Spalding program. Across from her with the napkin is the associate director, one of my favorite Spalding ladies. The one looking at the camera was my workshop leader during the residency, from whom I learned a lot about fiction in a short amount of time (I graduated in Creative Nonfiction but chose to do a cross-genre workshop while I had the chance).
Maybe in another three months I'll post part II...
