Reid Towers

After a 30 hour journey to Athens and barely any sleep we were off to see Delphi after a 3 hour bus ride, with a stop to buy some food, we arrived there to the amazing ancient site, and our first look at ancient Greece we walked through the magnificent ruins at Delphi amazed to finally being able too see the place we’ve been learning about at school. The temple of Apollo a great display of ancient Greek engineering. After walking through the ruins to see the theatre and the Athenian treasury we stopped for some lunch and a well needed rest outside the museum steps. Inside the museum there was some amazing Greek art to see such as the charioteer. The next day we were off to the archaeology museum to see more amazing art such as the bronze statue of Zeus/Poseidon and the gold mask of Agamemnon we were off to the acropolis and the Parthenon atop it with the massive temple overlooking the rest of Athens it was surreal to finally see it in person. After a trip to see ancient Corinth a city thousands of years old and more amazing Greek statues we proceeded to Mycenae the place where the golden mask of Agamemnon was found. The citadel surrounded by a wall built with rocks so big the Greeks believed Cyclopes built it. We then boarded a ferry for a relaxing boat ride on our way to Rome. 

Jamie Keay

Looking back on an amazing journey so far, we started off with an everlasting plane trip in a seat where i couldn’t get any sleep and when we finally landed in Athens I was excited for everything this tour had in store for us! First day after settling in we went on a night tour up a steep slope to the top of a hill for an amazing first look at the magnificent city and the star on display the acropolis, after arriving back at the hotel i had no trouble quickly falling asleep with nearly 40 hours awake under my belt. The next morning was an early start but fortunately breakfast was followed by a nice long 2 hour bus ride to Delphi where we could get some more sleep, stopping to buy some food for lunch along the way , when we arrived at Delphi we were all buzzing for our first real look at ancient Greece. Looking at the ruins was an unforgettable experience and moving around the hill was tiring so when we got to sit down for lunch i was ready for the rest, however our lunch was interrupted by one of the local ‘swaglords’ when she asked us where we were from after i mentioned New Zealand she went nuts repeating over and over again ‘NEW ZEEEEEEEALAND NEW ZEEEEALAND’ when she had finally walked away i enjoyed a nice chocolate filled croissant, and then was again interrupted by her screaming as her and her ‘swaglets’ walked past once again. We then went into the peaceful Museum where the ‘swaglord’ could no longer bother us. We saw some unparalleled art from the Greeks, such pieces as the Charioteer and the Sphinx. We then walked down the hill to the temple of Athena and saw the enormous remains. The bus home was our next stop and after arriving home we went down to the Monasteraki square to scavenge for dinner, we were pounded by invitations to dine at the local shops by people waiting outside their restaurants for tourists to pass through. I slept easy that night exhausted from the day i had, and excited for the next day ahead.

P.S The boys are back in town!!

Charlie Lin

       After a tiresome day in transit via Sydney and Dubai airports, we finally reached our destination: Athens, Greece, Europe! Having strolled through ‘customs’ (seriously, one look at our passports only?), we boarded a bus and began our journey.

       Stopping at Syntagma Square, we then visited the Athens Parliament House and observed the change of guards. With their pom-pom-shoes and pleated skirts, the guards marched through a sea of pigeons, and in all honesty, it was much too funny not to laugh.

       Mr. Buckingham then led us to our hotel, and whilst walking through the streets of Athens, I realised how different this place is to home. On every few corners of the graffiti painted streets there are ancient ruins or church services happening. Hectic traffic and speeding motorbikes whizz past at every crossing (even when the light was red). Poverty reeked in all these streets, and my first impression of Athens was one of confusion and disappointment at the modern state of this once, all-mighty city.

       This disappointment however dissipated that night after our trek to the top of Mt. Lykevittos. On the summit, we had a magnificent 360 view of Athens, from the Acropolis to the Olympic Stadium, and I realised the beauty of this city.

       The next day, we had a wonderful day trip to the ancient hilltop location of the Oracle at Delphi. My favourite site at Delphi strangely was the omphalos (bellybutton of the Earth) because of its story about Zeus releasing two eagles from either side of the universe and meeting at this point.

Our trip to the Acropolis the following day was by far my favourite. Acropolis, meaning “lofty city” was the origin of Athens in the ancient world. Although heavily under reconstruction, the unbelievably high columns with their accurate geometric proportions made me wonder how the ancient Greeks could construct such beautiful architecture with their simplistic tools.

            Before our ferry journey to Italy (which I am currently on), we visited the ancient sites of Mycenae and Corinth. Using my imagination, I could picture in my mind how beautiful these civilisations would have been back in the day.

            My experience in Athens has been mind opening and I’m very much looking forward to the transition from Greek to Roman culture when we disembark at Italy!

GREECE -- Thought out then written by the one and only Will Anson

Greece is a godforsaken mess of a country, which has got me thinking about where America will be in a couple thousand years. Greece was the centre of western civilisation two thousand

years ago and is now inhabited by beggars, buskers, pushy business people and others living day by day. I am left wandering, that if I were to have been born in Greece and knew about the opportunities elsewhere in the west, how hopeless I would be. I keep thinking where the way out would be. That’s the thing though, there is no way out. People living in Greece are stuck there, stuck in the chaos which only money can cure. But what really hits me is that Greece is not the worst country out there, there are worse so I’m told, so how bad must they be. If Greeks don’t seem to be proud of being Greeks then how can a skinny little black boy in a ditch in Africa be proud of his country. I bring this point up because I am proud to call myself a Kiwi, even more so after being to this white sea of apartment blocks.

I find it very sad indeed that people can’t have a sense of pride or respect of where they come from.

             I’m sure everyone else on this trip will tell you how amazing all the ancient ruins were, and I’ll agree with them on that. It’s incredible to marvel at structures which are thousands of years old and are still standing and which great people have set foot in, but I already knew this before I set foot onto that plane. What I didn’t know was that the people who live around these marvels are in a circle of life, which I didn’t even know existed a week ago. This circle is cruel. I saw a man with half his foot missing, an open wound embedded with disease, very obvious and no body stopped to help. They were all to busy surviving themselves, trying to make every one cent coin count. That man is more than likely dead now and I say prayer to god as I write this that he may be granted a better life after death.

            The animals here are even worse, beautiful dogs, which would be cared for lovingly back home, are left to fend for themselves on the streets. Born with disease, the only respite for these animals is that they won’t have to suffer for as long as a human.

What happened in that two thousand years that led to this final result, a country without hope or pride or any sense of unity. What hope is there for people like me who dream of a big future, what hope is there for the good people who want to make a difference. Maybe it’s just my youth and inexperience that makes me say this but, I don’t see how things could improve or get better for Greece. There stuck in a landside to destruction. But that’s just my opinion and you can take it or leave it as you please. Laters.

Tim Ho -- Daily Life in Greece

After endless counts of gypsies and Moroccans, 2 chicken Souvlakis, 3 stray dogs (probably with rabies) following us half way through Athens, over 50 Euros spent, millions of buskers, 470 photos taken, bone-dry lips (toilets are a luxury when you’re travelling-so very little amounts of water is consumed), I’m positively relieved that I’ve made it onto the overnight Ferry to Italy in one piece.

Athens was, well, different. Although the city itself was fully functional, the heavily graffitied and often abandoned or in a state of disrepair buildings reminded me of the poorer and undeveloped parts of rural China. As we got off the plane through ‘customs’ (she just gave me “the eye”), I was so immensely overjoyed by an hour-long bus ride that I automatically popped 2 Sea-legs. (overdosing now are we) Walking along its streets, I found out that the amount of stray dogs and cats were overwhelming and that “dodgy-looking” people were everywhere. (well I thought that everyone was dodgy) So I swinged my bag forward and held my security pack tight. (thinking back that probably wasn’t a very good idea as that made obvious the fact that I was an elementary traveller) The busier parts of Athens were also overpopulated by rich (surprisingly, as they were using iPhones and alike) Moroccans selling fake Ray-bans and Nikes. It was difficult trying to navigate my way through busy streets, looking at potential souvenirs and avoiding being pick-pocketed in the Athens flea-market. The city, although dangerous and slightly run-down, had very cheap prices. With a chicken Souvlaki costing an average of 7 Euros and a statuette of Nike for 8, I thought I have made a bargain in this country.

Since this tour is indeed the Western Heritage Tour, perhaps I should talk more about the arts. Although all of the ancient buildings were magnificent, most of these buildings were in a serious state of ruin. However the Greek government really tries to conserve this that some of the modern buildings were built in this ancient style, (with colour, yay!) which really helped with my imagination of how grand the ancient ruins would have been if they were still in one piece. My favourite site in Athens was probably the Acropolis. Although most of Parthenon (the temple of Athena) has been bombed, the sheer size of the few remaining columns of the temple only fuelled my imagination of the grandeur of the ancient city. My favourite piece of art in the city was the Kritios Boy which was BEAUTIFUL, I honestly could not believe my eyes and I pondered how such soft skin could be brought out via this incredibly hard marble.

Currently I’m on the overnight ferry with gigantic eye bags as I’m slowly typing away on Mr B’s laptop. I’m feeling quite queasy (even though I overdosed again) so I am going to end this here. I’m out. :D