Nafplio and Crete
Today's adventures are brought to you by Jasleen, Annli and Pelin.
We woke
up early, and after a quick breakfast started our last day in Nafplio. Our
first stop of the day was the Ancient Stadium of Namea. The stadium was where
the ancient Greeks held their footraces. The first thing we saw was a warm up
area where the athletes would stretch. You had to walk through a tunnel to the
track, which was roughly 185 meters long. The standard length was 600 feet, but
there was no set size to how long a foot was, so most ancient Greek
stadiums vary on length. After exploring the track and participating in a
friendly race with each other, we went to the museum. There, we watched a video
about how the Greeks created the stadium. The starting line had a special
mechanism that could be pulled so that the athletes could start their race. Two
ropes, one at waist height and the other at ankle height, we're tied to posts,
and when someone from behind the athletes let go of another rope, the
first two would drop and the runners would start the race.
Near
the end of the day at around 5:00 pm we ate dinner at the hotel, where we will
be staying at for the next 3 nights. There were many fruits and vegetables,
deserts, and drinks that we could choose from. Close to 7:30 we drove to a
nearby public high school where they taught us traditional Greek dancing. We
were assisted by three young students from the high school. We all had lots of
fun exploring the classrooms and dance room and being able to experience a part
of what it is like to be a student at this school.
Jasleen
We woke
up early, and after a quick breakfast started our last day in Nafplio. Our
first stop of the day was the Ancient Stadium of Namea. The stadium was where
the ancient Greeks held their footraces. The first thing we saw was a warm up
area where the athletes would stretch. You had to walk through a tunnel to the
track, which was roughly 185 meters long. The standard length was 600 feet, but
there was no set size to how long a foot was, so most ancient Greek
stadiums vary on length. After exploring the track and participating in a
friendly race with each other, we went to the museum. There, we watched a video
about how the Greeks created the stadium. The starting line had a special
mechanism that could be pulled so that the athletes could start their race. Two
ropes, one at waist height and the other at ankle height, we're tied to posts,
and when someone from behind the athletes let go of another rope, the
first two would drop and the runners would start the race.
Annli
After visiting the stadium at Nemea,
we headed to a museum to learn about the building and restoration of a temple
of Zeus. Our guide told us that the columns were built by quarrying marble in
circles and drilling a hole in the center.
Then they would insert rods of lead and stack the blocks on top of each
other. Floor tiles were also secured with lead. It was a good material to use
because unlike iron, lead would not expand and crack the marble. As we walked closer to the ruins, we were all
surprised at how tall and wide the columns were. The great white pillars looked small in the
pictures.
After snapping a few photos, we headed
towards an area where archeologists were working on restoring a section. We learned that the process of restoring any
part of the temple is difficult and specific.
First, archeologists had to determine exactly where the original piece of
marble would be, as well as the location and size of the part missing. Then, they
would scan the original with a computer and create a plaster model. Finally, the model would be copied onto
marble and attached with titanium rods and cement. We saw images of the progress of restoration
and then headed back towards the entrance.
While waiting to get on the bus, we were all distracted by the cats
walking around.
As we neared Athens, we stopped by a
local restaurant for a scrumptious meal of salad, tzatziki, lamb and chocolate
cake to celebrate Emma’s birthday.
Pelin
Near
the end of the day at around 5:00 pm we ate dinner at the hotel, where we will
be staying at for the next 3 nights. There were many fruits and vegetables,
deserts, and drinks that we could choose from. Close to 7:30 we drove to a
nearby public high school where they taught us traditional Greek dancing. We
were assisted by three young students from the high school. We all had lots of
fun exploring the classrooms and dance room and being able to experience a part
of what it is like to be a student at this school.
Thank you Jasleen and Pelin for sharing with us the information. Thank you Annli for for explaining how the ancient columns were originally built, and how they are being restored at present time. I have a question: If lead was a better material than iron, how come these days people use iron/steel more often than lead in constructing buildings? :-) Anyway, glad you all witnessed something remarkable. Also, this seems to be a birthday season - happy birthday to Emma!
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