Greece trip, part 8

Day 7: Saturday, March 28
Athens

Finally, an 8:30 breakfast that I was able to make relatively on time. We boarded up and Yorgos took us to the National Museum in Athens. We saw Agamemnon’s mask (which in fact was probably not his), as well as a lot of cool daggers and swords, some of them very intricate, with engravings and pictures that explain more specialized areas of mythology and social life. We didn’t get far before my camera battery died. I realized with a sinking feeling that my extra batteries were in my backpack that I had been coerced into checking at the door. Eugenia was moving too fast for me to run back and grab the extras, so I paid as much attention as I could and borrowed Becky’s camera for a few shots. Eugenia explained how Mycenae was essentially abandoned when temperatures rose and the crops failed; this started the decline of Mycenaean civilization and other regions as well, I think. As we worked our way through the museum, suddenly we came upon Poseidon! It is magnificently built—he doesn’t stand planted on two feet, but poised to strike. This shows the true prowess of Greek sculpture—they had such mastery over the human body that they could faithfully recreate its balance and stature in bronze! I marveled at the hands and arms especially, perfectly rendered exactly as you or I would hold out my arm. It was beautiful. I moved around to see the head; when I gazed into Poseidon’s eyes I was frozen. His glare pierced me through and flayed me right in the middle of the museum. Truly, he is master of the sea, the waves, and the storm! After Poseidon we moved on and saw a recreation of the statue of Athena in the Parthenon. We also saw a statue of Paris. It was cool, but nothing that day matched Poseidon’s gelid, lightning-filled stare. It was the last time we would see Eugenia; I caught her during a WC break and asked her about the musical modes. She wasn’t sure exactly where the names came from but she mentioned characteristics of several tribes that match the flavor of the modes. I didn’t write enough down, and now I have an incomplete idea of what she said. She mentioned another scale that the bards used, and thought that Sappho would be related somehow. I need to take this information to Dr. Wibe and see what I can piece together. See Appendix B.

As we prepared to leave the museum, Dr. Pappas slipped me two envelopes of money for Eugenia and Yorgos. I gave Yorgos’ to Ashley and presented Eugenia’s to her when we were all gathered around outside the museum. When we got back on the bus Eugenia presented us all with diplomas and then called me up: “Lord! Lord!” She wanted me to read the poem on the diploma: Ithaka, by C.P. Cavafy. I will reprint it here:

As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon-don't be afraid of them:
you'll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon-you won't encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.


Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbors you're seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind-
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.


Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you're destined for.
But don't hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you're old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you've gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn't have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.


And if you find her poor, Ithaka won't have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you'll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

It was touching, and we where all overwhelmed with appreciation for Eugenia and joy at having known her. I got a picture with her before she left us, and I also got her card. Who knows? Perhaps someday I will give her a call when I have learned Greek and wish to return.

After we dropped Eugenia off and Dr. Pappas off, Yorgos took us to a beach. It wasn’t beach season, so we visited several that were closed. He stopped at one and asked someone something, then slowly drove next to the fence, stopping suddenly. He stood up, opened the door, pointed to the hole in the fence, and said, “FREE BEACH!” We thanked him heartily, for we would not see him again, and headed out to the beach. Nate and Ryan left to get food for everyone, since all the places in the beach compound were closed. We did not see them for quite some time but I had a fabulous time at the beach with George and the girls. After several hours, we left and touristed around Syntagma for a while before heading back. Everyone was excited because tonight was the night for our Festive Dinner at a noted Taverna in Plaka! We also learned that British Air had overbooked our flight, so we would get another day in Greece at a SUPER NICE hotel at their expense. Okay…sounds good to me!

Around 9:00 that night, we headed out for our Festive Dinner at a noted Taverna in Plaka. We all got dressed up (it was the premiere of the K. Crockford clothing line, after all) and got on the bus. I wore pants. The place was nice but small, and it had live guitar and bazouki music. We ate, drank (too much), and made merry; almost all of the women got hit on by the waiters. After the meal was over people started dancing in the cramped area in front of the musicians. We spent the next several hours dancing and drinking (some of us drank WAY too much) and generally having a good time. It was the perfect end to a fantastic trip—or, it would have been, had we not had the extra day in Athens. We stayed until about 1:00am, when half of us returned with Yorgos and half stayed to return an hour later. Some of us were rather drunk (and here I poke fun at a certain Miss McDaniel, though I certainly wouldn’t exclude a certain Miss Holmes), but we all made it back all right. Shenanigans continued on the rooftop, I think, until about 4am, but I was asleep, preparing for a day of utter relaxation and sloth.