Let Me Introduce: Fred the Octopus

I can officially say that I have gone fishing in the Mediterranean Sea!!!

I've been itching to go since I got here almost a month ago and I finally bought fishing gear... WOOHOO!
I went out a week ago and one of the stories that survived the night was about me catching Fred the Octopus.  Mmmhm, that's right: I caught an octopus whose name is Fred.  He has a wife named Olga and they have little minions. We are able to identify Fred because we marked one of his tentacles with a green sharpie.  Yeah, oh dear!

I went fishing last night with my roommate and another of my friends at the pier... I got a few bites, but no fish, It's all good, it was a lot of fun!

My friend was the bait master, since I refused to touch worms, my roommate was the photographer and I was the fisherwoman.

In all, it was another great night in Pylos!

HAPPY CANADA DAY!! From Far Far AWAY!!!

ALLO ALL MY CANADIANS!

I'm a little sad that I'm not in Canada to celebrate this wonderful day --- but I am celebrating it over here, rest assured!

At the site today, we found this rock that we could use as face paint.  I painted a maple leaf on a fellow Canadian's cheek and my friend painted a simplistic version of the flag on my face!!  We later ended up smearing mud and looking like Indians -- my trench has become a tribe and we will be taking over the world... I am the Grand Master of The Arts and the High Enforcer... for anyone who knows me --- this is the best combination that describes me -- CHYEAH!

Enjoy the day and add a cheer for me back in Canada, eh?! HAHA!!

Ships Ahoy!

Ahoy mateys!

I love this town for so many reasons, but one that stands out is its harbour.  Since the first day I got here to Pylos, I have seen so many different cool looking ships and tankers --- I'm always in awe.  The nice part of it is, they pop by whenever and all I have to do is look outside my balcony! 
I've got quite a collection of pictures --- here's a sneak peak!

I've seen a Maltese Cruise ship, a German cruise ship, oil tankers, and the picture below is a Russian navy intelligence ship.

The Russians were docked at the pier for a week, and so I had a good time staring at them in awe... They were dressed in blue and white and one of my friends started referring them to Donald Duck because of their get-up... oh dear!

You would see them walking around the Plataea in the afternoon after coming back from the dig, and my friends and I would look at them while drinking frappes or eating gelatos..  mmhmmm!!!

The Pigeon War

Although I absolutely love the room I'm staying in, I will say this one thing:
I have the crappiest neighbours in the history of neighbour-befriending.

They are the most annoying, ugly-looking, awful-sounding little shits I have ever lived with;  everybody, meet Mr. Awful.
He and the Mrs. are the most vile creatures on this whole entire planet.
Because we live on the top floor, our room's ceiling slants on one side and is next to the chimney.  These damn birds coo, hoot, chirp, flap their wings, move around CONSTANTLY as if they have A.
D.D. and just wont shut up!

On my first night, I slept with my head closest to the slanting ceiling and I almost had a freaking heart attack --- the wall/ceiling stuck to our cupboards have a huge gaping hole and I thought for sure one of these damn birds would fly into our room!

You can hear them so well from where they're always perched by chimney that when you say, 'SHUT UP'  They stop flutting around for a couple of minutes and when you least expect it, they coo and chirp and flap they're damn wings and the whole nine yards. 

When I took this picture, it was the first time I peaked out from the ceiling window in our bathroom --- and this damn bird was staring directly at me with its putrid red eyes.

Freaking pigeons.

A Town Than Came Out Of A Postcard

After the visit to Mycenae, we drove down to Nafplion, a beautiful town in the Eastern part of the Peloponnese. We didn't stay long, but had enough time to muck around and stroll the cobblestone roads.  A small groups of us went to a fantastic gelato place, which was Italian. The lady who worked there asked me if I spoke French... why yes!  She knew about Montreal and Canada a little bit... that was refreshing!  This little eatery was very cute and had such a homey feeling to it: I loved it.

It had every little trinket imaginable, including a fabulous liquor wall!

Then, we went for lunch at a Greek-Italian restaurant.. I know, I had dessert before my actual lunch.  A little light shopping in the jewellery shops and we were summoned back to the bus... It's a shame we didn't stay longer.  It's the very reason why my roommate and I will go back for a day trip in a couple weeks. 
All in all, my first week was excellent.  I had settled into my new humble abode, became good friends with my roommate and had fell in love with the town of Pylos.

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!