Submitted by Emily Luck on the 2016 winter session program in Athens, Greece sponsored by the Department of English…
Monstrous Monastery
We took our first weekend excursion to the town of Delphi. On the way there, we stopped at a centuries-old monastery that still houses monks. As a product of 13 years of Catholic education, it was so cool to visit it and see all of the icons that the beautiful church held. I’m not positive what style the architecture is, but I can tell you that it was unreal. There were little staircases hidden away in the courtyards that we all scrambled on to see the most breathtaking view I could think of. The monastery, like many of the buildings we’ve seen here, was built into the side of a mountain overlooking a valley. Looking over the wall, there was just a sea of green beneath us, full of olive and orange trees and many other types of vegetation. The mountains on the opposite side of the valley were covered in trees, creating such an interesting texture. It was also a gorgeous day – around 55 degrees, sunny with a little breeze. No one on the program was in a bad mood on that day, so everything was made infinitely more wonderful. As I looked at the view, I realized, not for the first time and certainly not for the last, how blessed I was to be in Greece on this program.
The Island of Aegina
Earlier this week, we woke up early and took a boat to the nearby island of Aegina to look at the ruins there. I wish there were words to describe how wonderful my experience was. I felt very content spending an hour on the top of the boat, feeling the salty mist over my face as I watched the sun rise above the city of Athens. It felt like I could just stay there happily forever. I love the sea. I love its eternal depth, its endless species and its ability to make you feel lost, but totally calm at the same time. Once we got off the boat, we walked to a site and museum (where I saw the biggest pot I’ve ever seen), but we all got distracted along the way by the beautiful views. There was a meadow of flowers that I was determined to play in (I did) and tall overgrown grass where I pretended to be a lion. My inner child was on full blast, but I didn’t care if anyone judged me for that. When I get in such a good mood like I did that day, I let my reservations go and let myself feel everything and anything. So many people on our program took pictures of me in those flowers because I looked so carefree. I was an actual flower child. The history of that place was so interesting and nice to learn, but (as always) the island’s natural beauty overtook me. That’s one place I would definitely go back to if I had the chance.