Hi all! So I haven't updated in a while, but I just want to let you know, I will updat by tomorrow night. As for now, I posted a link to some new pictures, but my "Best of Rome" photo album is yet to come. Sorry for the delays, my life is too busy.

Turkey in a Nutshell

Well, I guess I'll start from the beginning. We took an overnight boat from Greece to Lesvos. First we went to Assor, which had the most amazing view ever. Pictures cannot do this justice. During my 10 min to sketch the buildings I ended up just taking in the view... oops.

Fun fact about turkey.. all the ruins that we get to see, we can interact with. Unlike Greece, you can LITERALLY touch and climb on the columns and such. The interaction makes it so much more enjoyable!

The first hotel we stayed at was so sketchy. Turkey must have lots of energy laws and such, because all the hotel hallways are motion censored lights that barely light anything up. Also, for the lights in the rooms to work, your room key has to be inserted into a box thingy. Also, if you open a door, the AC shuts off. Lastly, toilet paper cannot go in the toilets, and has to be placed in a waste basket... which is rather annoying. The elevators in the hotels (though out europe) are all about the size for 2-3 people and have no door on the elevator. The doors are on the wall of each floor, and you push it open when it reaches your floor. So yeah... not your american hotel.

But back to the first hotel, it had a disco in the basement and we all went and just created a dance floor of all tech students. Fun times...

As for food in Turkey, almost everything we ate was buffet style, or you at least could see everything and then pick what you wanted to eat. I generally had a rice with a meat and potatoes dish.

(For the next few sights I will talk about, you may want to google them or look at my pics first.)

The next day we went to Pergamon and such.. It was very neat and the temple we saw was actually supported with tunnels underneath it. The hotel this night was much nicer and we all went for a swim, had a buffet dinner, and worked.

On Wednesday we went to Ephesos, which was annoying because it is a cruise line tourist site and it was packed. But we say some old ancient houses that were being reconstructed and they were amazing. the frescos were still in vivid colors and I enjoyed a glimpse of the everyday life back then. It was the most preserved setup of houses I have seen so far. Normally only a few pieces of stone remain.

We went to a few other sites, and most notably, the temple of Didymaion. This was in my opinion, the best ruins we have seen so far. The temple is so big!!! To give you an idea, the base piece of a column was taller than me! The structure was just so fascinating and different than anything else we've seen. The ruins in Turkey really are amazing and worth seeing. As for vacationing in Turkey... I would prefer Greece or Italy instead, but I had a great experience.

We also stayed at Club Hotel Arienna, which was the most amazing resort ever. The weekend included staying at the island of Kos, relaxing, and going out to the beach and around the town. I'm having tons of fun with everyone on the trip. The people make it so enjoyable.

Today I will be taking an overnight boat back to Greece. Keep in touch everyone!

And on that note, I get on Skype around 1-4 YOUR TIME almost everyday. So feel free to skype me (lauren.young81). Or feel free to comment on my blog. ANYONE CAN COMMENT, you DO NOT need an account! Bye everyonee :)

Sorry I wrote alot, but I found today really interesting! BUT PLEASE READ it! :)

I've only been in Athens for 4 days now, and I think I've seen about 4 weeks of art history class. My day consists of waking up around 6:15 to run, and we meet for class at 8:00 am. We go to sites and have lecture till around noon, break for lunch, and then we have at least another 3-4 hours of class. On days like today, I was at class from 8:00-7:30 pm with only a lunch break.

I am generally exhausted when I return from all the running and walking, so I come back to the hotel and work on the final journal (or this blog). I know it seems weird that I am so tired, but I cannot even describe how much the walking and heat wears you out. This trip is an unbelievable amount of work, and covers so much information, but is well worth it.

Today was particularly interesting though since we got to go behind the scenes at the Acropolis. Our professor knows the architect in charge of the restoration, so we got to see what happens behind the scenes. (This almost never happens... once in a lifetime deal).

For the last 30+ years, they have been in the process of restoring pieces of the Pathenon and Propylaea. The process they go through to restore it is unbelievable. To replicate just one square foot piece of the acropolis, they match 3,500 dots/points from the actual piece to the replica. (Look at picture above). The even crazier thing is that they have troubles matching the precision that the ancient greeks achieved. They had made countless pieces that had to be scrapped. They have so much trouble matching the accuracy of the greeks. It just amazes me that the Athenians were able to construct buildings how they did, without the technology we have today, yet we cannot replicate their work. Even as we use synthetic diamond to cut the new marble, they still outdid us and they only had iron. The architect of the restoration claims that we cannot match it since we could never have the heart and soul they did while making it. But seeing the restoration process just makes you appreciate the amount of work that went into this structure. It makes me realize what makes this building so significant.

When I first approached the Parthenon, I knew what it was, but I did not understand why my professor said it could be classified as the most impressive structure ever built. As I learned more about it, I learned how the greeks really were truly full of brilliant design. The parthenon itself has the columns slightly bent in at the top, the outermost columns are slightly wider, and the horizontal is slightly concave down. In simple terms, they understood optical illusions, so they altered the horizontals and verticals of the building to match the human eye. The accuracy and precision they had, as I said above, is unreal. Also, the actual construction; how they built this structure and lifted these pieces without real machinery, is miraculous. Not even just that, but the detail of the metopes (sculptures on the building that depict things such as mythical scenes), the akroterions, columns, etc. is amazing. Lastly, the floor plan and use of the building was genius. It not only served to worship Athena, but it really was a political enterprise as well.

This entire week has been information overload. Everyone has heard of the Parthenon, and at least has heard the term "acropolis," but they don't realize how much their actually is to the city of Athens. I am finally starting to see the ancient greeks as a society rather than just a few neat buildings. By seeing the Agora, library, stadion (olympic stadium), cemetery, gates of entry and exit, and how all these sites inter-relate, I am starting to grasp their life as a whole. It's neat to see how the buildings and sites relate to one another and how they are positioned through this modern city.

Sorry this was so long, I just had an epiphany about Ancient Greek life. (And I probably ended this by using that word completely incorrectly.... so don't criticize).

Hi all! After 20 hours of travel, and losing a nights sleep, I made it to Athens :) And it's true, Greece is breathtaking. The city is just full of neat architecture, cobblestone pedestrian pathways, stores, and the Acropolis. The view of the Acropolis truly dominates the city. Class began at 5:30 and we hiked to a nearby site to get a great view of the entire city. Tonight we enjoyed going up on the roof of our hotel, enjoying the view, and watching the sun set behind the acropolis. Life couldn't be better.... right? I am so happy to be here right now and I will write more once classes start. I have serious jet lag right now though, so I'm off to bed. (p.s. I took this picture... it is not from an online source)

Take 2: CVG -> DFW -> FRA -> ATH. My flight did get canceled yesterday :( but i'm in Dallas now about to leave for Frankfurt! Goodbye USA and friends!

CVG -> CHI -> LON -> ATH

Now beings my 17.5 hour journey to get to Athens. (only a period. no exclamation point. I am not excited about the actually amount of travel time)

Anyways, I'm currently sitting at the Cincinnati airport (well technically covington, Ky) because it is currently thunder-storming in Cincinnati, and therefore my flight has been delayed. I hope I make my connection flight in chicago since I'm arriving 7:35 their time and my flight for London leaves at 8:10. ahh I hope this works out okay.

I'm so beyond excited right now for the trip, but it still hasn't hit me that I'll really be living in Greece and Italy for 8 weeks! I'm really excited though!!!! I just want to arrive.

Now, off to find ways to kill more time...

March 18, 2010: Pre-trip thoughts

Hello everyone! If you know me at all, I'm sure I've already told you how I'm going abroad for the summer, because I'm so excited!!!! (only 63 days till I leave.... not that I'm counting or anything :) I am so excited about making this blog though because in general I love to write down my thoughts and reflections on a daily basis, and the trip will be such a great learning experience that I want to share my thoughts with all of you!

I don't know what to expect of the trip yet. I feel like it will be so amazing, but so overwhelming. I think after about 2 weeks I'll start to get all mixed up about where I went and what I've seen, but hopefully if I write enough stuff down, I can keep it all straight. I also think I'll have a lot of work, but that it will be so interesting that I won't mind it.

I've already met a few kids going on the trip and everyone seems really nice! I think it will be a great group of people and that we will have a great time together.

Okay... that's all for now. Sorry my writing is not entertaining, it's mainly just me throwing out all my thoughts. I think I will also go make a Flickr account so I can post pictures throughout the trip.