March 19

This morning we left the hotel at 8:30 and took off for Lerna. This is the site of an ancient house, The House of Tiles, and it dates back to the mid 5th millennium BCE. This place actually has signs of activity that date back to 6000 BCE. We got to the site and there was no one at the gate to take our money, but the site is covered by a protective structure that Krentz said always stays locked, so we were still getting the same view of the house. But, when the guard did show up about 40 mins later, he unlocked the door for us and let us in to see it up close. That was pretty cool, and unusual. This house is pretty much like the other ancient houses we have seen. I think I am getting a little jaded. A 6000 year old house just doesn’t seem so unusual to me anymore. But, if I really think about it. It’s pretty amazing that people so long ago could construct such a large house, and have it be two stories!
After Lerna, we visited the religious site of the ancient city of Epidaurus. Here was the sanctuary to Asklepios, the god of healing. There are ancient inscriptions all over this one building where the sick would come to sleep in hopes of being healed while they slept. Krentz had us read the English translations of the best preserved inscriptions and they involve all sorts of ailing people (worms, blind, deaf, barren, and wounded) who come to this specific building in the sanctuary to sleep, they would receive some sort of vision or dream in which they were healed (often in bizarre ways using animals like snakes or dogs) and woke up completely recovered. The healed would then leave their story on the wall. The cult to Asklepion was extremely popular in the 5th century and in the 4th century, an expensive building campaign began and added to the sanctuary: dining areas for the sick and those who brought them, an actual temple to Asklepios, a theater (the best preserved theater in all of Greece, actually), and enhanced the building already present.
Wheat’s presentation was on the theater at Epidaurus and once we finished with the various buildings (none of which have been restored to any great extent), we gathered in the theater to hear him present. While waiting for everyone to join (Krentz gave us 30 mins in case anyone wanted to go back and look at anything in particular), we watched as tourist groups and their leaders tested the remarkable acoustics in the theater by dropping coins in the very center of the orchestra (which we did hear at the very top of the theater) and then listening to the more daring (but not always talented) members of the groups volunteer to sing. Once we all gathered, Wheat began his talk, but he had to stop every few minutes because the whole theater would grow quiet as different tourists began to sing. It got pretty funny actually, especially when one young guy sang a very long song. When Wheat was finished, Kyle, who had brought his guitar along, went down to the middle of the orchestra and played for us. Of course, we ended our trip to the theater with the guys’ singing BackStreet Boys “I Want It That Way.” I am beginning to develop a bad taste in my mouth when I hear that song.
After Epidarus, we stopped for a few minutes at the Nafplio Museum, which just opened on Tuesday. Krentz had a few items he wanted to point out to us before he let us free for the day. We finished much earlier than I expected, and I had already eaten my lunch on the bus, so I was pumped that it was only 2:00 and the sun was warm and shining brightly. I quickly got back to the hotel room to change and scurried on up to the acropolis to catch some rays, listen to music, read, and take pictures. It was a fabulous way to spend the afternoon. After my sun exposure, I went to the grocery store to grab some more fruit and soy milk and headed back to the room for schoolwork.
Krentz called off the discussion group planned for that night because it is supposed to rain in Sparta and he expects us to be stuck in the hotel for a bit over the next couple of days. I went out to dinner with all the girls and Bryce and we went to Sarabeth’s favorite restaurant. This place only charges you for the first liter of wine you order and then keeps on giving free refills. That was something we all wanted to take advantage of. : )
After a nice meal, and a little bit of wine, I headed back to the room to pack up my bags. For the next week we will be hopping from hotel to hotel after just a couple of days, so I will be doing a lot of packing. My suitcase it so heavy! I can’t wait to lighten my load when Mom comes in just two weeks. I keep waiting for Spiros to just laugh at me when he tries to lift my suitcase onto the bus. I wish he would just let us load our stuff, I would feel so much better knowing that I was the one suffering for carrying along so much stuff.