Tommy Hayes
At daybreak this morning I stepped out into the chilly spring morning to appease my running addiction and was lucky enough to be able to explore the city without the throngs of tourists bustling around. The crisp quietness fortunately let me admire in peace many of the sights we had seen previously, as I soon found myself knowing my way around the streets and alleys of Rome.
After a quick stop at the supermarket we all headed off for a jam-packed morning, visiting no less than 7 churches notably the magnificent St John in Lateran, a major basilica holding the original doors of the Roman Senate-House. We were also able to delve deep into the historical progression of the Roman Catholic Church through the basilica of St Clemens from the earliest days when Christianity was practiced only in the confines of ones house, through two more basilica built on top of each other like a Russian doll which survived invasions and attacks all through the centuries. We saw the huge dome of the Pantheon, a majestic relic from ancient times with all of the trappings of the ancient architectural brilliance of the Roman people.
We stopped for a brief lunch in the lively, grabbing a delicious gelato, then we were off to the Spanish steps where we took some time to sunbathe under the beautiful Italian sun. It was here that our mission began, as we caught the first of two trains out to Hadrian's Villa in the countryside of Tivoli. After a squashed Italian bus ride we arrived at what must be said is the biggest house I have ever seen, the countryside resort of the Emperor Hadrian. This complex, spanning 100 hectares, facilitated a life of utmost luxury, with numerous bathhouses, dining halls for every season and a private island surrounded by a moat. The thousands of slaves that supported this lavish lifestyle we saw lived in an equally impressive underground complex. The extent to which this site has been preserved along with the sheer magnitude of it was absolutely breathtaking as we spent hours walking around and still didn't cover it all.
Throroughly exhausted by the time we got home after a 5 hour, 100km round trip we settled for some quick but much appreciated dinner by the railway station before we returned to recover before our next big day tomorrow to see the much vaunted Vatican City.
Thursday, April 9
Blogs
Ciao regazzi!
It’s great to finally receive news and hear stories from the trip, please keep the blogs coming!
Anna
Matt Bouzaid
Matt Bouzaid
We arrived at Ancona around 6:20pm on Tuesday (after a rather interesting ferry ride) causing the group to make a mad dash to the train station to catch the 6:41pm train. Upon our arrival at the train station, we gathered the news that we had missed our train and that the next train to Rome was in fact at 7:45pm, giving us another much need rest before our adventures in Rome the next day. The train ride was 4 hours, giving the boys another chance to catch up on some much needed rest. We finally arrived at the nunnery at 11:30pm to the excitement of the nuns.
The next day was to be our first day in Rome. A late start of 9am was set for our adventures to begin, and as I lay my eyes on Rome for the first time in the morning light, I was astonished at how beautiful the city was. It was, in my opinion, a lot more appealing to the eye than Athens. The graffiti and rubbish had toned down compared to Athens and the buildings were a lot more structured than that of the ugly, concrete Athenian apartment buildings. Throughout the day we visited many churches, temples, museums and famous landmarks like the colosseum. I was overwhelmed at the sheer beauty of the churches and the wealth shown by them. Not one church was the same, each having its own character but sharing similar styles of design. The art we saw, I think, was also better than that of Athens. Their use of perspective blew me away and the amount of detail in their pieces was amazing. So far Rome is an amazing city, to which I would gladly return to one day.
We arrived at Ancona around 6:20pm on Tuesday (after a rather interesting ferry ride) causing the group to make a mad dash to the train station to catch the 6:41pm train. Upon our arrival at the train station, we gathered the news that we had missed our train and that the next train to Rome was in fact at 7:45pm, giving us another much need rest before our adventures in Rome the next day. The train ride was 4 hours, giving the boys another chance to catch up on some much needed rest. We finally arrived at the nunnery at 11:30pm to the excitement of the nuns.
The next day was to be our first day in Rome. A late start of 9am was set for our adventures to begin, and as I lay my eyes on Rome for the first time in the morning light, I was astonished at how beautiful the city was. It was, in my opinion, a lot more appealing to the eye than Athens. The graffiti and rubbish had toned down compared to Athens and the buildings were a lot more structured than that of the ugly, concrete Athenian apartment buildings. Throughout the day we visited many churches, temples, museums and famous landmarks like the colosseum. I was overwhelmed at the sheer beauty of the churches and the wealth shown by them. Not one church was the same, each having its own character but sharing similar styles of design. The art we saw, I think, was also better than that of Athens. Their use of perspective blew me away and the amount of detail in their pieces was amazing. So far Rome is an amazing city, to which I would gladly return to one day.
Blogs now up and running...
Hi everyone,
Sorry for the delay in getting posts out - turns out I've been sending everything to completely the wrong address!
Rome has started off brilliantly, with pure blue skies and warm temperatures. We've seen Hadrian's Villa today, which was superb, as well as some of the major churches.
More soon,
Warren B
Sorry for the delay in getting posts out - turns out I've been sending everything to completely the wrong address!
Rome has started off brilliantly, with pure blue skies and warm temperatures. We've seen Hadrian's Villa today, which was superb, as well as some of the major churches.
More soon,
Warren B
Millar mercer
Millar mercer
I am writing this at 2pm on a ferry with waves crashing on the windows while stapes, ryry, marcopolo and maca play 500. My favourite place so far is Delphi, an ancient city clinging to the side of Mt Parnassus overlooking a beautiful valley with a blue haze, that's either smoke from all the Greeks burning olive branches or the mystic blue light of Delphi. We walked up the sacred way passing many monuments from all the different city states from all around Greece. The only monument that has been restored is the Athenian monument just below the temple of Apollo which is now only 7 columns backed by huge cliffs. The next thing up the sacred way was the theatre and even further was the stadium that looked perfect for throwing a frisbee within its banks of seats. All of these complexes surrounded by trees, purple red and yellow flowers and plenty of cats.
Athens is a very tall city very different from Auckland with the landmarks being roads and squares not hills and parks. Even though Auckland is larger then Athens in area, the shear number of people and buildings makes Athens look much larger. Everything in Athens is much cheaper, I only spent 2-5€ at a time. Even though Athens is a bit of a getto it is still amazing, the history of the place is great and I enjoy relating what I see to what I've learnt.
I am writing this at 2pm on a ferry with waves crashing on the windows while stapes, ryry, marcopolo and maca play 500. My favourite place so far is Delphi, an ancient city clinging to the side of Mt Parnassus overlooking a beautiful valley with a blue haze, that's either smoke from all the Greeks burning olive branches or the mystic blue light of Delphi. We walked up the sacred way passing many monuments from all the different city states from all around Greece. The only monument that has been restored is the Athenian monument just below the temple of Apollo which is now only 7 columns backed by huge cliffs. The next thing up the sacred way was the theatre and even further was the stadium that looked perfect for throwing a frisbee within its banks of seats. All of these complexes surrounded by trees, purple red and yellow flowers and plenty of cats.
Athens is a very tall city very different from Auckland with the landmarks being roads and squares not hills and parks. Even though Auckland is larger then Athens in area, the shear number of people and buildings makes Athens look much larger. Everything in Athens is much cheaper, I only spent 2-5€ at a time. Even though Athens is a bit of a getto it is still amazing, the history of the place is great and I enjoy relating what I see to what I've learnt.
George Easton
George Easton
Delphi
The events of today were as follows: we awoke at 6:50 so as to be on the road by 8:00 to Delphi. From there it took about two hours to arrive at Delphi; during which we stopped at a Greek supermarket to acquire some means of sustenance, in the case of my companion and me; ham, bread, and mayonnaise. Upon our arrival the first thing of note was the rather brisk temperature of 4 degrees, with windchill of course added to this. One would in normal situations wear a larger number of layers, however, the intermittent and inconsistent nature of the sun's appearance and disappearance made any one comfortable arrangement of clothing impractical and resulted in a change of clothes as frequent and as superfluous given the circumstances as fly spray at a picnic. In the end most simply said <<stuff it>> and wore t shirts.
The site at Delphi can only be described as marvellous, housing some of the most spectacular views this side of the Aegean and of course the most renowned oracle in the land. We went through the winding ascent slowly enough as to be able to capture the full scale and awesome grandeur the site must have had in days long passed. Pictures were taken at the temple of Apollo, the amphitheater, and knowledge of the lore of the land was imparted upon us, such as the story of Apollo slaying the great Python, grandchild of the Earth mother Gaia, which resulted in his having to spend nine years as a human shepherd to Admetus' flock, and the existence of the Panathenian and Pythian games, ancient events rivalling today's Olympics in which peoples came together from all parts to pit their might, speed, and in contrast to our modern games, their musical, dramatic, and lyrical prowess against one another.
Alongside the obvious stunning views and beauty of the ancient architecture, we saw some stray cats who were very persistent in their hunting of our aforementioned food, which eventually resulted in the spraying of large amounts of our precious aqua, and made the peaceful act of eating our ham and mayonnaise near impossible. Some rather angry Greeks then required we move our seating place a total of two times. Having seen Delphi in full we then began the bus ride back home.
Delphi
The events of today were as follows: we awoke at 6:50 so as to be on the road by 8:00 to Delphi. From there it took about two hours to arrive at Delphi; during which we stopped at a Greek supermarket to acquire some means of sustenance, in the case of my companion and me; ham, bread, and mayonnaise. Upon our arrival the first thing of note was the rather brisk temperature of 4 degrees, with windchill of course added to this. One would in normal situations wear a larger number of layers, however, the intermittent and inconsistent nature of the sun's appearance and disappearance made any one comfortable arrangement of clothing impractical and resulted in a change of clothes as frequent and as superfluous given the circumstances as fly spray at a picnic. In the end most simply said <<stuff it>> and wore t shirts.
The site at Delphi can only be described as marvellous, housing some of the most spectacular views this side of the Aegean and of course the most renowned oracle in the land. We went through the winding ascent slowly enough as to be able to capture the full scale and awesome grandeur the site must have had in days long passed. Pictures were taken at the temple of Apollo, the amphitheater, and knowledge of the lore of the land was imparted upon us, such as the story of Apollo slaying the great Python, grandchild of the Earth mother Gaia, which resulted in his having to spend nine years as a human shepherd to Admetus' flock, and the existence of the Panathenian and Pythian games, ancient events rivalling today's Olympics in which peoples came together from all parts to pit their might, speed, and in contrast to our modern games, their musical, dramatic, and lyrical prowess against one another.
Alongside the obvious stunning views and beauty of the ancient architecture, we saw some stray cats who were very persistent in their hunting of our aforementioned food, which eventually resulted in the spraying of large amounts of our precious aqua, and made the peaceful act of eating our ham and mayonnaise near impossible. Some rather angry Greeks then required we move our seating place a total of two times. Having seen Delphi in full we then began the bus ride back home.
Sam Adams
Sam Adams
Greece has been a "brisk" 27 degrees with an wide selection of stray animals. But if you look past the street scammers and graffiti lies a hidden gem a blast from the past, an ancient relic that is rich in both history and culture.
Greek drivers are amazing from squeezing through dark alleyways in a 40 bus to having an inch between us and another truck. While it is certainly dodgy it's much better than walking for hours exploring Athens. And we are only just getting started we have an 3 more counties to explore and an experience with nuns I'm sure I'm not going to forget, I'm looking forward to it all.
Greece has been a "brisk" 27 degrees with an wide selection of stray animals. But if you look past the street scammers and graffiti lies a hidden gem a blast from the past, an ancient relic that is rich in both history and culture.
Greek drivers are amazing from squeezing through dark alleyways in a 40 bus to having an inch between us and another truck. While it is certainly dodgy it's much better than walking for hours exploring Athens. And we are only just getting started we have an 3 more counties to explore and an experience with nuns I'm sure I'm not going to forget, I'm looking forward to it all.
Sam Bassett
Sam Bassett
Currently around 18 hours in to a 23 hour commute from Patras to Ancona which is definitely an experience. Looking back at Greece you see the start of a really awesome month. All boys are really getting along well.
The city of Athens is slightly scruffy around the edges but with our guide we manage to see the really beautiful parts of the city. The highlight of Greece for me would be Delphi (followed closely by the Acropolis), unlike Athens you don't need to find the amazing parts they are all around. Truly an awesome place seeing the Temple of Apollo and hearing the history behind the "centre of the world" especially the accuracy of the oracle's prophecies to many men and nations from near and far. The history of the Gods also never fails to disappoint with the disharmony of Poseidon and Athena as an example.
Looking forward to Rome and the rest of the trip.
Currently around 18 hours in to a 23 hour commute from Patras to Ancona which is definitely an experience. Looking back at Greece you see the start of a really awesome month. All boys are really getting along well.
The city of Athens is slightly scruffy around the edges but with our guide we manage to see the really beautiful parts of the city. The highlight of Greece for me would be Delphi (followed closely by the Acropolis), unlike Athens you don't need to find the amazing parts they are all around. Truly an awesome place seeing the Temple of Apollo and hearing the history behind the "centre of the world" especially the accuracy of the oracle's prophecies to many men and nations from near and far. The history of the Gods also never fails to disappoint with the disharmony of Poseidon and Athena as an example.
Looking forward to Rome and the rest of the trip.
Sean Thomson
Sean Thomson
Greece
-Olive trees everywhere
- More smokers and a smoggier country in general than Auckland
- Continental food + Continental food prices (cheaper!)
-False "Jamaicans" hocking pieces of string in a simple effort to spread "peace an love"
I feel that Greece is an appropriate place to start, because while the actual Greek alphabet and language is more or less completely foreign to all of us (reminding us we're overseas in a foreign culture), there is a surprisingly considerable number of English speakers, and many outlets used to catering for tourists. (Or scamming, in the case of many eateries, which have different prices on the English menu)
Modern day Athens does not appear very affluent- perhaps it's the rubbish scattered absolutely everywhere, perhaps it's the meat markets with dubious sanitation judging by the smells, perhaps it's the gentlemen imitating Jamaicans trying to be our friends (while a couple got spare change by spinning in circles, arms outstretched, singing Hakuna Matata), perhaps it was the anarchists DJ'ing outside the university of Athens barring entry, perhaps it was that we were propositioned numerous times by a drug dealer, or perhaps it was the erudite establishments down the side street in which our hotel was nestled. For the record, the hotel was actually quite decent.
The saving grace of Greece is definitely the semi-lost relics of past ages. Unfortunately there is very little left. However, that which is left is more or less awe inspiring and impressive, be it from statues,bronzes and friezes to the ruined treasuries at Delphi. The epitome of this may well be represented by the ruins of the once-mighty Parthenon, once overlooking the ancient city of Athens, a 13 metre golden-Ivory statue of Athena glistening in the light of the rising sun, bathed in the rays off a reflection pool, painted friezes on all sides, today, bare, reliant on rusty scaffolding for support, overlooking a smoggy city, running with refuse.
Greece to me represents the lost glory of an ancient era.
Greece
-Olive trees everywhere
- More smokers and a smoggier country in general than Auckland
- Continental food + Continental food prices (cheaper!)
-False "Jamaicans" hocking pieces of string in a simple effort to spread "peace an love"
I feel that Greece is an appropriate place to start, because while the actual Greek alphabet and language is more or less completely foreign to all of us (reminding us we're overseas in a foreign culture), there is a surprisingly considerable number of English speakers, and many outlets used to catering for tourists. (Or scamming, in the case of many eateries, which have different prices on the English menu)
Modern day Athens does not appear very affluent- perhaps it's the rubbish scattered absolutely everywhere, perhaps it's the meat markets with dubious sanitation judging by the smells, perhaps it's the gentlemen imitating Jamaicans trying to be our friends (while a couple got spare change by spinning in circles, arms outstretched, singing Hakuna Matata), perhaps it was the anarchists DJ'ing outside the university of Athens barring entry, perhaps it was that we were propositioned numerous times by a drug dealer, or perhaps it was the erudite establishments down the side street in which our hotel was nestled. For the record, the hotel was actually quite decent.
The saving grace of Greece is definitely the semi-lost relics of past ages. Unfortunately there is very little left. However, that which is left is more or less awe inspiring and impressive, be it from statues,bronzes and friezes to the ruined treasuries at Delphi. The epitome of this may well be represented by the ruins of the once-mighty Parthenon, once overlooking the ancient city of Athens, a 13 metre golden-Ivory statue of Athena glistening in the light of the rising sun, bathed in the rays off a reflection pool, painted friezes on all sides, today, bare, reliant on rusty scaffolding for support, overlooking a smoggy city, running with refuse.
Greece to me represents the lost glory of an ancient era.
Andy Black
Andy Black
Food
I quickly discovered that Greek food is very similar to NZ food, except that it is considerably cheaper. It may be my unadventurous nature, but the only thing that posed a threat on the food front was the Greek naming of the food. Supermarket purchases of mine have included loaves of bread, salami ( which needed to be eaten about 5 hours earlier), chocolate, biscuits, croissants, strawberry jam, cucumber and coleslaw. Dinners have consisted of very cheap, tasty and extremely quickly prepared kebabs for 2 euros. Sunday night's dinner was the first quite Greek meal I've had, an authentic pork gyros setting me back 9.50 euros, the most expensive thing I've bought, eaten up on a beautiful roof-top terrace over the Acropolis. Dinners that night varied greatly that night between the group from beef burger with fries to yet another kebab. Breakfasts have been a real highlight for me in terms of food, the economy hotel provided us with common kiwi cereals and very Greek chocolate and vanilla bread.
I'm sure we will see very different and probably more European food in Rome, where we are heading now.
Food
I quickly discovered that Greek food is very similar to NZ food, except that it is considerably cheaper. It may be my unadventurous nature, but the only thing that posed a threat on the food front was the Greek naming of the food. Supermarket purchases of mine have included loaves of bread, salami ( which needed to be eaten about 5 hours earlier), chocolate, biscuits, croissants, strawberry jam, cucumber and coleslaw. Dinners have consisted of very cheap, tasty and extremely quickly prepared kebabs for 2 euros. Sunday night's dinner was the first quite Greek meal I've had, an authentic pork gyros setting me back 9.50 euros, the most expensive thing I've bought, eaten up on a beautiful roof-top terrace over the Acropolis. Dinners that night varied greatly that night between the group from beef burger with fries to yet another kebab. Breakfasts have been a real highlight for me in terms of food, the economy hotel provided us with common kiwi cereals and very Greek chocolate and vanilla bread.
I'm sure we will see very different and probably more European food in Rome, where we are heading now.
Harry Hornabrook
Harry Hornabrook
Exploring Athens
After a long day visiting many icons and museums around Athens we all earned ourselves a few hours of time for ourselves to explore the city on our own accord. This was pretty exciting for us all as we finally got the opportunity to have a splurge in the shops and grab a bite to eat. Trying to avoid another night of kebabs, many of us decided to fork out a few more euros to indulge ourselves into a more classy Greek restaurant experience.
Once all the shops had closed up for the night, and with it being a Sunday this was quite early, it left us searching for ways to occupy ourselves for the last hour or so of our free time. So a couple of us made it our goal to socialise with a few of the locals in the square. The hard part was trying to find people that could understand what you were actually saying, but once you pushed past the language barrier it was all okay.
Jamie and I took the approach of a few clueless tourists who were lost and needed to find the way back to our hotel and our appearance, that was well thought out, consisting of a camera around the neck and a very large map that needed at least two people to hold outstretched, it proved quite successful as we managed to grab a few photos with some Greek university students who were happy to point us in the right direction.
Exploring Athens
After a long day visiting many icons and museums around Athens we all earned ourselves a few hours of time for ourselves to explore the city on our own accord. This was pretty exciting for us all as we finally got the opportunity to have a splurge in the shops and grab a bite to eat. Trying to avoid another night of kebabs, many of us decided to fork out a few more euros to indulge ourselves into a more classy Greek restaurant experience.
Once all the shops had closed up for the night, and with it being a Sunday this was quite early, it left us searching for ways to occupy ourselves for the last hour or so of our free time. So a couple of us made it our goal to socialise with a few of the locals in the square. The hard part was trying to find people that could understand what you were actually saying, but once you pushed past the language barrier it was all okay.
Jamie and I took the approach of a few clueless tourists who were lost and needed to find the way back to our hotel and our appearance, that was well thought out, consisting of a camera around the neck and a very large map that needed at least two people to hold outstretched, it proved quite successful as we managed to grab a few photos with some Greek university students who were happy to point us in the right direction.
Fraser MacKinlay
Fraser MacKinlay
The Acropolis
It was early in the morning when our master and tour guide Mr. Buckingham commanded "avanti, les garci" and the Western Heritage Boys eagerly paced through the streets of central Athens. We first arrived at The University of Athens, which, much to our surprise and dismay, was riddled with protestors who, standing at the university's entrance with banners in angry Greek, attempted to prevent us from seeing the university in all its splendour.
Later that day we progressed through the narrow roads of the city led by our Latin teacher, who gave us a twenty minute deadline to hunt and consume what food we could find. A nearby bakery sold us, although somewhat reluctantly due to our ignorance of the native language, a "traditional sausage roll pie" and "spinach pie", which were, although very salty, quite delightful.
After being briefed on the potential security risks of public transport in Athens, and Europe in general, we arrived at The Acropolis by train. We passed through a multitude of buskers and hippies and reached the Parthenon, a temple which stands boldly on The Acropolis, despite the numerous plunderings, wars and even bombings it has endured over many centuries. Tommy Hayes delivered a speech on the entrance to the main temple, while George Kirkwood informed us about the Parthenon itself, the purposes of which, over its lifetime this far, have included being a temple, a church and even a mosque. I presented my speech on the Erectheion, the architectural complex situated adjacent to the Parthenon. While many boys were perhaps not impressed with the rather great length of my speech, I hope they were impressed with he marvels of the Erectheion itself.
The view of the city from The Acropolis is breathtaking; the urban sprawl surrounds the hill and extends to great distances. What one can also notice, however, is the dull repetition of the grey Greek apartments, and the messy graffiti scribbled on each building. I can conclude that, despite how rich Athens is in history, the city itself is truly a ghetto.
The Acropolis
It was early in the morning when our master and tour guide Mr. Buckingham commanded "avanti, les garci" and the Western Heritage Boys eagerly paced through the streets of central Athens. We first arrived at The University of Athens, which, much to our surprise and dismay, was riddled with protestors who, standing at the university's entrance with banners in angry Greek, attempted to prevent us from seeing the university in all its splendour.
Later that day we progressed through the narrow roads of the city led by our Latin teacher, who gave us a twenty minute deadline to hunt and consume what food we could find. A nearby bakery sold us, although somewhat reluctantly due to our ignorance of the native language, a "traditional sausage roll pie" and "spinach pie", which were, although very salty, quite delightful.
After being briefed on the potential security risks of public transport in Athens, and Europe in general, we arrived at The Acropolis by train. We passed through a multitude of buskers and hippies and reached the Parthenon, a temple which stands boldly on The Acropolis, despite the numerous plunderings, wars and even bombings it has endured over many centuries. Tommy Hayes delivered a speech on the entrance to the main temple, while George Kirkwood informed us about the Parthenon itself, the purposes of which, over its lifetime this far, have included being a temple, a church and even a mosque. I presented my speech on the Erectheion, the architectural complex situated adjacent to the Parthenon. While many boys were perhaps not impressed with the rather great length of my speech, I hope they were impressed with he marvels of the Erectheion itself.
The view of the city from The Acropolis is breathtaking; the urban sprawl surrounds the hill and extends to great distances. What one can also notice, however, is the dull repetition of the grey Greek apartments, and the messy graffiti scribbled on each building. I can conclude that, despite how rich Athens is in history, the city itself is truly a ghetto.
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