Daily Updates
Week Eight: May 7
07 May: Michael and Evan Reporting: We checked out of the Hotel Alexios in the god-forsaken city of Ionnina at 7:30 in the morning, not a minute too soon. After those swarthy Greek hoteliers unsuccessfully tried to charge Katie and Evan for phone calls they didn’t make, we drove to Dodoni, a mostly unexcavated sanctuary for the oracle of Zeus. Originally the sanctuary centered on a sacred oak tree surrounded by bronze tripods that would ring, indicating some answer to the question the troubled Greek had asked. In other words, ancient oracles were not unlike the Magic Eightball. After a few unsuccessful attempts at replicating these tripods, we, the group leaders, finally channeled the strength of the sacred oak that was re-planted a few years ago and stood tall and strong. The picture may not convey this, but by channeling the oak and becoming the tripods, we, too, rang in answer to the pressing questions of the sanctuary visitors. Katie, no, you should not buy an Emu farm. Yes, Sarah Jones, you should keep the baby, but not tell the father—Chris does not like children and, frankly, he’d get a little panicky. Anais, try again later. Professor Christesen, yes, Liberace really is dead, and yes, he really was gay. Sorry. Sarah Murray saw a snake, but when she tried to show Mike Martinez, the snake had slithered away. Next we drove to the Necromankeion, the Oracle of the Dead for Ephira. Greeks would travel there, stay a few weeks, get a little messed up from the diet and be scared by mannequins jumping out of the ceiling. Sounds a lot like that Haunted House they held in the old G. Fox building in Hartford, CT that one time. We walked down into the subterranean chamber where the dead were supposed to appear to the visitor, but to the disappointment of Liz, both Jeff Gordon and Evil Kanevil did not show, likely because they are not dead, begging the question: if Liz was such a fan of these two dangerous cats as to hope to communicate with their dead spirits, how did she not know they weren’t dead? Some answers even the wise tripods cannot answer. On the way to the final site, Kassope, we stopped on the side of the road for a massive souvlaki sandwich that filled our tummies right. We ate at the edge of a cliff with an amazing view of the water. Finally we made it to Kassope where Evan saw a snake, but when he tried to show Mike, the snake had slithered away. His head exploded in jealousy. We split up into groups to explore the largely unexcavated site, a planned Hellenistic settlement, and plan out excavations of our own so that we can win our Junior Archeology Merit Badge. Afterward, we drove to Preveza and the hotel Dodoni. Attempts to find a beach were thwarted by the presence of a harbor filled with boats. Mike never saw the snake. The tripods retired, with a 100% mark on answers. Jeff Gordon is still alive. That’s all folks.
07 May: Michael and Evan's first attempt at being "tripod cauldrons" at the site of Dodona.
07 May: Take two...in ancient times, tripod cauldrons encircled the Sacred Oak tree of Zeus.
07 May: Take three...this could take awhile. And whose idea was this anyway?
07 May: Tada. Michael and Evan, the leaders of the day as tripod cauldrons.
07 May: Taking a look at the Sanctuary of Zeus at Dodona.
07 May: Today is infra-red day: looking over the ancient site.
07 May: Flora of the area using the infra-red lense.
07 May: More flora at Dodona.
07 May: The wonderfully preserved theater.
07 May: The retaining walls of the theater.
07 May: Fauna from Dodona.
07 May: Michael and Elizabeth in infra-red.
07 May: A bizarre display of optics.
07 May: A view of one of the interior rooms at Nekromanteion.
07 May: Inside the subterraenean chamber where the ancients went to communicate with the dead.
07 May: Some of the students in the chamber.
07 May: Flora from Nekromanteion.
07 May: Lunch break at a fantastic road-side souvlaki stand.
07 May: The view from the lunch stop.
07 May: Enjoying the view.
07 May: The view of the coast.
07 May: the view in infra-red.
07 May: The inviting waters of the Ionian Sea.
07 May: The view in infra-red.
07 May: Exploring the largely unexcavated site of Kassope.
07 May: Kassope exercise: What would you excavate if you could and why?
07 May: Thinking about the Kassope exercise...
07 May: The guest house of Kassope with its octogonal columns.
07 May: A monument to the women and children who jumped to their deaths during the war for Greek independence.
07 May: Experiencing the ancient site of Kassope from another perspective.