Final Entry

This will be the final entry of out trip to Greece.  As I reviewed the people and places we visited I wanted to include some things that weren't included in the day by day blog. The first picture below is of an oregano plant.  These plants grew wild along the side of the road.

This second picture is of a small chapel.  Private citizens are allowed to build them without having them belong to an organized religion. You see them in city neighborhoods and in the country throughout Greece.

The next picture is of the Canal of Corinth.  This man-made canal is 4 miles long and connects the Aegean sea with the Ionian Sea.

The next picture was taken at Delos (see "A Walk Through Time" in this blog).  The picture is taken in a residential neighborhood of this ancient city.  The columns indicate that this house was owned by a wethy resident.  The full size sculptures (with heads missing) were  the likely owners who have been standing guard over their home for hundreds of centuries.

I want to express my appreciation to those of you who have followed this blog of  HVCC's trip to Greece. The experience for the singers was exceptional.

Our Last Day in Greece

We are leaving Greece on a high note.  Today most of us traveled to the town of Corinth, ancient town that Paul visited.  As with all 2,000 year old towns in Greece, the old Corinth is in ruins.  However one could not help but think that, in the time of Christ, Paul had been to this place to plant the seed of Christianity in Greece. The picture below is of the market area Paul walked while in Corinth.

Of course the Romans occupied Greece during the time of Christ and so Roman and Greek statues have been discovered on this site.  One of the interesting things we learned was how to tell a Greek statue from a Roman one. Roman statues usually depicted the current caesar.  So a full size statue was carved out of stone with a hole in the body where the head sits.  The head would be carved separately and place into the hole.  That way when a new caesar was crown all that needed to be replaced was the head!  The statue below is Roman.

 We also visited the Acropolis today.  It's hard to walk this area without realizing how LONG Greek civilization has existed.  The Parthenon has kept watch over the city of Athens for over 2,500 years.  Throughout the 3,000 years that Greek culture has existed, it has adapted and changed in many amazing ways.  Greece is the birthplace of things that we Americans take for granted such as democracy, theater, sporting events, and a judicial system.  In learning about Greece, we have realized that we are really learning about ourselves and our own roots.

Tomorrow we will travel back to the U.S.  We have found the Greek people to be a hard working, fun loving people. While the country has had some economic trouble in recent years, we have found the spirit of the Greek people is alive and well.  It is a quality that has suited them well for over 3,000 years.

Back to Athens

Today was spent taking a ride back to Athens by ferry.  Once in Athens we had our grand tour dinner at a restaurant in the Plaka.

A band played traditional Greek music and there were dancers dancing traditional Greek dances.  Oh, and there was belly dancing, which of course the singers had to join in!

As is the tradition, the adults sing a song for the choir that recaps the events of the trip.  The words are sung to the Greek Folk Song "Pera Stous"
 
                 Greece Tour Folk Song
We’re on the way to Athens.  It takes us just a day.
But then we spend another one just looking round the place.
And then we take a ferry ride, the ferry deck is heaving,
We get to Faros very tired, late into the evening.

We practice every morning with the kids from Tennessee,
John Rutter, he is dancing.    Now THAT is fun to see.
Our favorite is Zoey with heels so we can see her,
She loved the folk songs sung in Greek right there on the plateia.

LA  LA LALALA

We’re off to have our breakfast of cheese and bread and meat
We loved it when the menu changed to cheese and bread and meat.
My phone is getting WiFi, I’ll check on Insta-Gram
No, WAIT, the net has dropped me, this net’s not worth a BEEP!

The French kids were so cool, they all went radioactive,
The soprano wrongly thinks that her voice is attractive.
We love the way that meat is served, it’s always on a stick
Azolimnos beach and restaurants really are a kick.

LA  LA LALALA

There’s lots more to remember, like jumping of the rock
Or dropping your new VISA card right at the Delos dock.
The yoga classes that were done just as the sun was rising,
And the careless way in which the crazy Greeks are driving.

The schedule is so grueling, don’t change plans we beseech,
Yet for the bus we wait an hour there at Vari beach.
Gelato is delicious, we love the Grecian gyro
But hate the noon day heat that feels like
Fahrenheit 9 zero.

LALALA
LA  LA LALALA

Tomorrow our group splits, part stays in Athens for sightseeing a part goes to Corinth, ancient city where the apostle Paul stayed.  It will be our last day exploring Greece.

Paradise Lost

Today was our last day on the island of Syros and the little piece of paradise we have called home for the last 11 days,  Carol went to "the rock" (see picture below) and actually donned her bathing guit and jumped!

As with other days we spent our last day at the edge of the Aegean either swimming or having our favorite Greek dish at a beach-side restaurant.  There was a little weather and the wind blew hard enough that it brought something we hadn't seen before to Azolimnos beach - wind surfers

Tomorrow we leave Faros Village hotel and head back to Athens.  We will all miss this place.

The Island of Syros

The Cyclades, (Greek for circle) are a group of islands off the south coast of Greece that (roughly) form a circle.  Delos, the ancient city we visited last week is (roughly) the center of this circle of islands and our island Syros, is near Delos.  This is a long way of saying that Hermopolis is the capital city of the Cyclades.  Today we took a tour of the island which is surprisingly small.  Our first stop was Anos Syros, the "Old Syros" which literally hangs on a steep hill just outside the present city.  It is a walled city that was built back in medieval times, with narrow walkways (no streets) and a church perched at the very top of the hill.

Here is a typical street in Anos Syros...

And here's the view of the "new" city from the old city...

The island of Syros is about 50% Catholic and 50% Orthodox and of course many couples are a mixture off both.  A marriage is held at one church, and then, an hour later is held at the other!  But the children will usually follow the religion of the father. The kids had an impromptu sing at a 16th century church within the old city.

We also visited many beach towns around the island including Vari where the singers got to swim.

And here are the intrepid travelers at the end of the day, waiting for the but so carry us back to Faros Village Hotel.

Our Final Concert

Last night was our final "Concert Under the Stars" in the Plateia (main  plaza) in Hermopolis.  The Festival of the Aegean, of which we are part, is actually several weeks of cultural events.  HVCC has performed in three of these events over the last 10 days. At any rate, with the municipal building as the back drop  a collection of professional performers and choirs performed excerpts from famous operas.

Here is a small portion of the show for your listening pleasure....

But the "Concert Under the Stars" was not the only event last night.  The main street along the harbor was partially closed and televisions were placed every 30 feet in the outdoor cafes for people to watch the World Cup final.  For  us, it was early Monday morning when Germany scored the winning goal in the second extended time period.

Monday we spend the day taking a day tour of the island of Syros.

This Is Not Sturgis!

Every year Sturgis Montana hosts a BIG motorcycle convention.  We are NOT in Sturgis but it feels and sounds like it. There are motorcycles EVERYWHERE!  And because today was an "all day" rehearsal day I have decided to devote this days blog to the Greek motorcycle and the crazy people who ride them...

Look to see if you can find the family of 4, the pizza delivery man, motorcycle grandma and other motorcycle anomalies.

 

This is, by no means, a complete chronicle of the complex motorcycle society of Greece.  My apologies to you animal lovers as there were many four legged riders (with their owners driving) as well.  However these pairings were usually by before I could get a picture.  My guess is that in 2,000 years when archeologists come to this place to unearth the ruins they will wisely surmise that this people were slaves to Vespa, the god of movement.