Not much to write about this week as we were on break. We took trips on our own to the National Archaeological Museum so we could take more time– it was lovely! Most of the areas do not allow photos to preserve the colouration of the pieces, but I took a few in different areas. The artifacts on display had beautiful remaining paint, and there was a great display of the pigments that were used in the ancient world.
There was also time to decompress on a beach trip to Edem, where we usually go. We went with Leni, a graduated Carleton student, who showed us an amazing fish restaurant called Το Μπακαλιαρακι. In true Greek fashion we ate lunch at 3:30pm, so we were all starving and ate a ton. The total came to about $17/person including drinks– insane for the amount of food we ordered and how delicious it was.
We did organize some cultural tourism for Holy Week as well, mostly just viewing and (briefly) participating in a local procession for Good Friday, and then watching the fireworks over the church on Saturday. The procession was beautiful and very touching (and featured a friendly face, as you will see in other blog posts). It was also great to have some kids and families around! There was an amazing community atmosphere. The fireworks were less impressive from an American standpoint, but it was still a beautiful sight. We had originally planned to view them from a rooftop bar, but the rain made that impossible. Either way it was interesting to see a more “modern” side of religion in the city. I wouldn’t say I’m typically very interested in Christianity, as I lack the background knowledge to understand much of it, but it was interesting to contrast it with how ancient celebrations might have looked in the same place.
Liam and I took a night walk through the city (looking for food) on Saturday night, and I have never seen it more empty. There was no sound of cars/motorcycles and nobody on the streets at all. All the shops were closed (we ended up having to Wolt dinner). It was crazy to see the city so quiet! We decided it must have been the cats’ favourite day, there were tons of them out on the streets.
The rest of the weekend was mostly decompressing and trying to get some work done. More next week!