Through The Lion's Gate

Every weekend, a field trip somewhere in the Peloponnese is planned.  On our first weekend in Greece, we visited the ancient site of Mycenae ---  very appropriate, considering we are excavating at a Bronze Age site ourselves!
I had only a slight idea of what this site would look like because of the pictures I've seen in my textbooks.

It is OUT OF THIS WORLD!
The Cyclopean walls that surround this site are amazing --- and to enter the actual complex, you must walk through the Lion's Gate --- UNBELIEVABLE!

Once you reach to top of the complex, you feel like you are on top of the world and surrounded by mountains!

There is a cistern as well which people can go down and reach the bottom where it is nice and cool... Yes, I went!

It was pitch black and thank goodness my friend had an extra flashlight!  We reached the bottom and took a bunch of pictures goofing off with little there was to goof off with --- Good times!

We toured the museum at the site afterwards and saw impressive and beautiful artifacts.

Then, we toured the shaft graves which are colossal -- holy crap!

We were also scheduled to visit the nearby town of Nafplion later in the afternoon, and so after our visit to Mycenae, we headed over to this very picturesque town that looks like it came straight out of a postcard.  More about Nafplion when my roommate and I will spend a full day in a couple of weeks!

Welcome Home

Yia su my peoples!

I know it's been a while since I posted a good update, but I've been wicked busy!  Next few posts will hopefully give you a low down of what's going on.

My first week in Pylos was incredibly amazing!  The way the excavation program works is everybody gets up at 5 am to eat breakfast and catch the bus at 6.  (We have a coach bus that drives us everywhere we visit).
The first day was a simple orientation day, but the second day is when things got interesting... very quickly!
My roommate and I went up to our room after breakfast to grab a few last things before the bus arrived.  I looked out on the balcony and heard a rumbling noise ... I looked down and the bus is driving away...

Shit.  We missed the bus.

We ended up spending half our day in the lab, which is pretty cool and is where all the cool finds end up for analysis and cataloguing. The dig director came around noon and gave us a ride --- Greek style.
I thought I drove fast... You cannot compare my driving to the Greeks.  They are maniacs!  Let's just say it was a quick drive!

Anyway, after the dig, we went to one of many beaches around the Bay of Navarino (which Pylos is part of).

We went to another beach the next day called the Golden Beach, which is this picture.

We  usually get to choose whether or not want to go to the beach, but on some days, we go directly ater the excavations because we would be wasting more time on the bus than actually on the beach or back in town.

We get back by 2 pm to Pylos (or to the beach) and have three hours of free time --- which usually consists of showering the 50 lbs. of dirt blotching your body (!), then either catching up on notes or a walk down to the Plataea for a frappe, gelato or a visit to my Greek lady friend --- or all of the above!

The flowers usually bloom in the spring here (duh), but there have still been full of life until this very day.  Here's my favorite that I pass by everytime I head down to the Plataea.

Around 5pm, there's a class or lab session until 7:30 pm and then we feast until 8:30-9pm.  From the beginning of my third week here, myself and two friends usually go out for a walk after dinner to the pier and watch the sunset... And the sailors (I'll write more about that later)!

That is essentially a day in my life in Pylos!  More specific stories to come --- PROMISE!