GREECE or how I fell in love with a new country, a new culture and a new language

When I had to decide whether I wanted to go with a group from my school on a tour around part of the Peloponnese during my fall holidays, the first thing I asked myself was why I should go to Greece, which is a pretty stupid question to ask yourself if you’re studying ancient Greek as I am.. (Yes, I am actually studying ancient Greek and yes, I do know no one is speaking ancient Greek anymore!) However, in the end (and after having even done a pro and contra list) I decided to go.. But I never imagined that half a year later I would be so glad about my decision!
So on an early Saturday morning (the holidays had just started..) we set off for a 12 day trip around parts of Greece.
We landed in Athens, where our busdriver was waiting for us. And that was the start of a great lovestory. (He looked like our grandfathers, so everyone couldn’t resist but loving him..)
So then we didn’t stop in Athens but we started our drive to Delphi. On the way we stopped at a cotton field and at a orthodox monastery.. Once arrived in Delphi we could enjoy a beautiful sunset from our rooms before going out for a delicious dinner.. ( beginning of lovestory number 2! Greek food is simply… Ahh I can’t even describe it. )

The next morning we started the day by discovering the history found in Delphi..

And then stopped in some small places on our way to Olympia where we arrived on the evening.
Olympia is the birthplace of the Olympics, but unfortunately most things are not entire anymore. However, there are still some nice things to see.

Since this trip was still a schooltrip we clearly got to see lots of cultural places! We went to some theaters, to Corinth, to some museums and inbetween we also stopped at different beaches where our driver set up great picknicks for us and taught us how to dance Sirtaki! (Start of lovestory 3! I think Greek dancing is the only type of dance I am suitable for.. ) Then, we stopped in Nafplion for some days. Nafplion is a very nice small town from where we set off for daily trips.

In the end, we arrived again in Athens, where we spent our last days in Greece. From our hotel we could see the Acropolis by night, which we then visited on our first day there.
With this trip I discovered not only a new language (I really need to learn modern Greek), but also a new country with new cultures and traditions and great food.
It was a great trip but there’s still a lot to discover in Greece in future. 🙂