Kali mera (Good morning) from the Egnatia Road in Greece!

By: Chiraag Kapadia

[fblike]The Gatton Academy Greek experience has reached the midway point. While we are looking forward to the trips planned for the upcoming days, we wanted to take a few minutes to reflect on our travel so far.

The group departed from the Nashville airport for Greece on January 4th stopping in Detroit and Amsterdam for some VERY long layovers. Bedraggled and jet-lagged, we finally arrived in Athens, Greece. After some much needed beauty sleep, we kicked off the trip with a scenic drive across Greece where we had the chance to see breathtaking snowcapped mountains and bubbling hot springs.

During our scenic drives, we have seen some unique aspects of Greek culture. For example, during a brief visit to hot springs at Thermopylae, the group had the privilege of witnessing a Greek man in a robe chopping at a tree for wood. Who knew that there were Greek Lumberjacks?

Another marvel was seeing a “dinosaur”. Yes, a dinosaur. Atop the mountains of Meteora, a lone figure was spotted carrying a life-size realistic velociraptor. Whether the Greek fellow was having a pleasant picnic with his extinct companion or filming Jurassic Park IV, we may never know.

Of course, these amusing anecdotes were not the true highlights of the trip. Thus far, we have visited mountain-top monasteries, Byzantine ruins, and archeological sites. All of these visits have been nothing short of amazing. We can’t wait to reach Delphi later today and see what new adventures may come our way. But for now, I shall enjoy this pleasant bus ride and take pictures of the beautiful Greek country. We are approaching Mt. Olympus now. Until next time, Yasas!!