On Adventures in Greece Part III: On Top of the World

In which a group of 16 students wander down a mountain

In life there are those things that you love to do but rarely make time for¹. For me one of those things is hiking. I love getting out into nature and taking it all in, and every spring I talk about wanting to hike and camp with my friends, or by myself, and it never seems to happen. So when I realized that Thessaloniki was so close to Mt. Olympus and that there were a number of hiking trails on and around the mountain I instantly got excited. Thankfully this would be one hiking experience that
would not be just talk.

This last Sunday I had the opportunity to take 16 of our 21 students to Mt. Olympus National Park and hike for the day. It was exhilarating, breath taking, exhausting², nerve racking, uplifting, stressful, and glorious. But I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

Most of the students that were with me were not avid, or even regular, hikers. Some of them had only hiked once before and it was most likely a midwestern style trail hike at a state park. Almost all of them had on tennis shoes and carried with them a couple of bottle of water and a lunch. When we got to the mountain our guide who had be provided for us took us to a 15th century monastery part of the way up the mountain, after briefly touring the monastery (which was under renovation as it had been destroyed during World War II³

Initially the guides plan was for us to return the way we came and take the bus down to the village in the foothills and that would be it for hiking. Some of the students wanted to go higher up the mountain (something neither I nor the guide were comfortable with) but we discussed it and settled on us following the trail down the mountain and meeting him and the bus in the village.

If you noticed that the sign says Litohoro is 4 hours away congratulations! You realized what we did not. Though in my defense our guide never thought to mention that it was a four hour hike either. I only discovered this when I talked to a hiker after we'd been going for about 2 hours or so and he said that's how lone he'd been hiking up. I decided to keep that bit of news to myself for as long as I could.

The first half our our trip was great, the trail was pretty easy, we were feeling rested, and we stopped to take a lot of pictures.

Our bus was scheduled to leave and head back to Thessaloniki at 4:00, and that the rate we were headed we weren't going to make it. So we discontinued the photography sessions and marched onward. As the time past student grew more and more tired. There was definitely complaining happening, but they were also very supportive of each other.

My favorite quote from the afternoon was when Gabi asked: "If I break my leg, with they airlift me out of here?"

"I don't think they could get a helicopter in here," I replied, "They'd probably have to take you out on a stretcher."

"Not worth it." She told me as she continued past.

Since many of the students didn't have much hiking experience there was some definite confusion as to why, if we were going down the mountain, there was so much up and down. My stress level increased when some of the students, who were absolutely exhausted by this point, slipped in a few places. Thankfully it was when they path was easier and they just weren't paying attention, but I was still concerned. At one point we crested yet another hill and saw this:

That little reddish mass way off in the distance is the village of Litohoro, our destination. And while it was still a long, long⁴ way off just being able to see our destination was rejuvenating. We pressed on with new energy, or at least adrenaline, and we completed the last leg of our journey.

When we were about 45 minutes from the base of the mountain we met our guide who had start up the mountain to meet us. He took us the rest of the way out, which was helpful, because that little town was confusing and we'd still be wandering around looking for the bus.

Before we left the park we did stop to take one more picture, thankfully, since our guide was with us I was actually able to be in one, which is rare on these trips.

The students were all extremely glad that we made it off the mountain⁵. Most of them were asleep before we even got out of the village. I know that it was a challenging day for them all but I'm glad I got to offer them this opportunity. What was even better was the next day when they could look back on the hike with fresh eye. All of them were glad they went, and more than one said that ultimately they are glad that they didn't know what they were getting into. Because if they had they wouldn't have signed up to go in the first place.

As I reflect back on the day it was certainly my highlight so far. Even despite my own exhaustion it was such a unique experience that I wouldn't change for anything.

_______________________

1) Or maybe that's just me, because I'm such a 9.
2) Both mentally and physically.
3) Those damn nazi ruin everything.
4) Seriously it felt like it was forever way.
5) Except for the fact that they first WCs we found only contained squatty potties.

On Spanish Adventures Part IV: Short and Sweet Addition

In which we catch up, mainly pictorially.

I have had so many amazing experiences the last three days that I want and need to write about¹. Between a bike tour of the old river, to visiting a farm and having the most amazing meal, to exploring the backstreets of old Valencia², to the football match last night. It's been a total whirlwind. But I just spent the last two and a half hours in my room grading so I'm getting a little stir crazy. But, I wanted to give a little update, let people know I'm alive, and share a few pictures.

Unfortunately most of my pictures are stuck on my camera, but I'll get them off of there soon. Until then, enjoy!

A shot from Old Valencia.

On our walking tour of Old Valencia there were a lot of neighborhood that had this classic European look. I didn't get to take as many pictures as I was hoping, but fortunately I went back a few days later with some students and was able to take some more.

This is a shot from further up the street.

Like most a lot of European cities you see a blend of classic architecture with modern flair.

We spent a whole day at a small farm just north of the city where a man has turned his home into a resturant for traditional paella. In his barn he has many of the tools they used to use to farm before modern conveniences. He also has peppers native to the region that you can't find anymore. As well as his own GMO-free corn³.

Adding rice to the paella.

This guy was awesome, he was the sous chef and he was great about talking with our students and letting them experience this multi-hour cooking process. He even hand wrote the paella recipe in spanish at the request of one of our students.

Seriously so good

Most of the beer here in spain is pretty cheap and terrible. Not that I ever complain about the price, I've bought a lot of beer for 1 Euro⁴. Before we came out to the farm one the director of the group we are working with mentioned that he and I could try this great beer that they had. It was amazing, it's almost like a saison but with honey and rosemary. My mind was blown. Then he said you could only get it at the brewery and I was a little disheartened.

Yesterday when I was walking around Old Valencia we saw a beer shop. One of my students wanted help picking out something for her dad so we popped in. I scanned through all of the beers from Spain and there on the bottom shelf in the last place I looked I saw this beer! So I bought some and will be bring it home with me!

___________________________________________________________

1) Before it all disappears from my mind grapes.

2) We found so much awesome street art.

3) This was the most amazing day, I will be writing about it more in the future.

4) So you don't tip in Spain. As a result servers don't try and up sell you on much. Last night a bartender talked me out of a nicer more expensive beer and down to a cheap shitty one. It was late so I didn't care, but talk about something that would never happen in the states.

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On Lego

In which we discuss dastardly pirates fighting chivalrous knights, cubic art, and a gift.


Growing up one of my favorite things to do was to build various Lego models.  It was always a tradition that at Christmas I would receive at least one Lego set, I would always shake the present listening for the tell-tale rattle of little plastic blocks that let me know what I was about to open.  Once we were done unwrapping all the presents the next step was to spread out on a coffee table or kitchen table and assemble the newly acquired model. I would work unceasingly until I had finished.  As I got older the models got more and more complex.  There are still a few that I assembled and put on a shelf and it is still there just hanging out.  Most of the Lego sets that I have though eventually were disassembled and put in giant tubs in our basement.  At this point is when creativity would take over.

There were always epic scenes in which pirates battle knights on horseback, racecars zoomed through airports, and space battles between robots, aliens and astronauts.  Most of this nonsense ended in crushing collisions and monstrous explosions.  In short, Micheal Bay would have been proud.  While these my creations were always lots of fun they weren't really creative in the traditional sense, I always had this grand dream to use all my Lego pieces to create something really awesome.  Maybe one day.  But then again, I am not really that artistically creative.  That's not where my creative juices flow you might say.

Some people though, man they do some cool things with Lego sets.  Like this guy (whose Flickr id is balakov) has been recreating classic photographs with Lego pieces.  Here are some examples of his work.

This is a recreation of Charles Ebbets' "Lunch atop a skyscraper" originally taken in 1932, check the original here.

Here is a recreation of Robert Capa's 1944 photograph taken during the D-Day invasion or Normandy beach, the original is here.

This is one most people will recognize, Jeff Widener's 1989 photograph of "The unknown rebel," the original is here.

Pretty impressive, these pictures certainly put my space battles to shame.  But what are you going to do.  In a slightly more functional realm of things a British man named James May designed and constructed a two story house complete with running water and an uncomfortable bed.  Unfortunately for Mr. May his house leaks, the land he built it on wants it gone, and no one seems to want or is able to take it.  An article, that you can read here, said that if it wasn't taken it was going to be destroyed.

Since this article was written back in September I am guessing that any chance for you to visit and/or own this giant eyesore was likely destroyed with chainsaws...lets leave Mr. May alone to ponder his future.

Not to be outdone in the creative realm of artistic Lego sets the Lego company began an Architecture line of Lego sets.  Taking famous architectural landmarks and building them out of little plastic squares.

While most kids would be terribly disappointed by the lack of fantastical objects found within the box I for one think that the Lego version of Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water is pretty amazing.  So if you have a hundred bucks laying around and you are feeling generous you could totally buy it for me.  I will be your best friend forever.  I promise.

Don't forget: the plural of Lego is Lego.