Columbus visits Greece

By Mark Tanner

This spring break, a few fellow Columbus students and I had an incredible opportunity to travel abroad to Greece. This trip was led by Ms. Alegret, Cowboy and ACIS Educational Tours. Here is my recap and review of my experience.

Day One

After a 9-hour flight to Amsterdam and a 4 hour flight to Athens, we finally made it to Athens, Greece. At the airport, we met our tour guide, Adam, who would be with us for the remainder of the trip. After dropping our bags off at the hotel, we headed straight into the streets of Athens to start exploring. While having free time to explore, some of us decided to try some amazing gyros. We soon met up to go to dinner and try some authentic Greek food. We had all sorts of food like dolmades (grape leaves stuffed with rice), baked feta cheese with honey, and gemista (stuffed tomatoes with rice and veggies). After this, we got to take a sneak peek at the entrance of the Acropolis, which we would explore fully later on in the week.

Day Two

On Day two, we boarded the cruise ship we would be on for the majority of the trip. We then arrived at the first island on the itinerary, Mykonos. We didn't have an official tour guide for Mykonos, so there was a lot of time to go out and explore the island. Mykonos was very beautiful, and it was full of life. It had crystal clear waters and a bunch of white houses, as well as a bunch of cats. We got to visit the windmills, which were built in the 16th century to grind wheat. The food here was amazing, I got to try some pizza and baklava, which is a Greek pastry made with chopped nuts and honey. When it was time to go back into the boat, we had dinner and enjoyed a performance by a group on the cruise.

Day Three

On Day Three, we traveled to Ephesus, Turkey. In Ephesus, we had a guided tour through the ruins of Ephesus. In this guided tour, we visited an ancient city's ruins and we learned about the daily lives of these people and what some buildings looked like back then. We saw a ruin of the goddess of victory named Niké. She is what inspired the company name Nike. She is represented holding a wreath, which symbolizes victory. We also got to see the Library of Celsus, which was the third largest library in the Greco-Roman World. Its insides were destroyed by an earthquake, either from a fire or an invasion. After this, we made our way to an ancient theater which seats 25,000 people, and it was designed in a particular way so its acoustics would reach the back of the theater.

Library of Celsus

We then left the ruins and went into a carpet workshop where they showed us how they make silk carpets by hand. They gave us a delicious apple tea drink as a gift while taking us around the workshop. We also got to experience the show you get when you buy some Turkish ice cream.

In the afternoon, we arrived at Patmos, Greece. We had guided visits through St. John's Monastery and the Cave of the Apocalypse. Inside the monastery, we saw St. John's and St. Thomas' skulls. We then walked towards the Cave of the Apocalypse, where it is believed that St. John had visions and wrote Revelations. There were many relics shown inside.

Day Four

On Day Four, we spent the whole day in Rhodes. In the morning, we visited Lindos and Rhodes Town. We got to go up to the Acropolis of Lindos and see the temple of Athena and the temple of Apollo. We then had some more free time to explore the island and eat. Adam, our guide, got us fresh strawberries. These were the best strawberries I have ever had, and I can guarantee you can only find ones like that in Greece.

All of us then went to the Medieval City of Rhodes, which is a huge city within Rhodes. Here is where we saw the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes, which is a huge castle that the knights used to live in. The guided tour ended, and we were free to go wherever we wanted, so we all went to the beach. The water was very cold, but we all managed to get in. This was one of the most fun moments of the whole trip because there was a platform you could jump off of into the water. Here is where we got to see where the Colossus of Rhodes used to stand

When we went back to the cruise ship, there was a karaoke contest that we all participated in. When it finished, it turned into a party where we got to meet many different people, like an all-girls school from Staten Island and cousins from Spain. It was a very fun way of meeting new people, and after that night, we kept on going back to karaoke.

Day Five (Last day on Cruise)

On day five, we spent the day in Crete. In the morning, we took a guided tour through the palace of Knossos, which was a central hub for a religious and political government. Inside this palace is the oldest road in Europe, called the Minoan Road, which stretches for 31 miles and is 3,500 years old. Once the tour was done, we had free time in Heraklion City. Here we tried out some olive oil because Crete is said to have the best olive oil in Greece. In the Afternoon, we went to Santorini, where we got to have free time the entire time we were there. Me and a few of my friends decided to walk all the way to the famous blue-roofed church and take some pictures. The whole place looked way better than the pictures you see online. We then went back to the boat to eat dinner, and we finished the day at karaoke again. Santorini was a great way to end the cruise.

Day Six (Back In Athens)

On Day Six, we disembarked the cruise ship and went back to Athens. We took a tour to the Acropolis Museum and the Acropolis of Athens. Inside the Acropolis museum, there were many ruins from the Acropolis, and our tour guide explained why those ruins were still here and their importance to them. We then walked to the Acropolis and saw the Parthenon, which is a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena. It was built after Athens' victory against the Persians.

The Parthenon

For dinner, we went to a restaurant that taught us how to do some Greek dances. It was very fun and a unique experience. At the end of the dance, we got to smash plates on the floor just like they do in the movies. After this, Adam, our tour guide, got all of us ice cream.. It was a great way to end the night.

Day 7 (Last Day)

On our last day, we spent the whole day in Delphi, where we got to visit the Temple of Apollo and the Delphi Museum. At the Delphi Museum, we got to learn about the history of the Delphi Sanctuary. It had a statue of the Greek version of the Sphinx and many murals telling the story of when Athena and Apollo were in a war with each other. It also housed one of the most preserved statues of ancient Greece. After this, we went to see the ruins of Delphi. This is where we saw the Ancient Stadium of Delphi, which was used for sports events, and it held the Pythian games (the second biggest games in Ancient Greece behind the Olympics). We then returned to Athens, and for the last dinner we sat at the top of a restaurant overlooking the Acropolis at night.

Ancient Stadium of Delphi

We stayed up to see how Greece celebrates Easter, and they did not disappoint. As soon as the clock struck 12, you could hear church bells everywhere and many fireworks going off. This was a perfect way to end our stay in Greece, celebrating with fireworks.

The next day, we got a gift for Adam. We got him land in Scotland so he could officially have the title of Lord. We got him this gift for all his hard work in giving us the best vacation we could ask for.

My Overall Review

This trip exceeded my expectations. I made many new friends from Columbus and some from outside the state. It was a great way to learn about different cultures and experience them firsthand. It made me connect with new people I would never have thought I could connect with. It is truly a very fun and eye-opening trip. I think everyone should do it at least once while in Columbus.