Day Eleven

Thursday, July 7th

Today was the day of the 999 stairs!

…which I didn’t climb. I blame having the hip of an old lady. It’s really unfortunate, actually, but the bus ride up was okay.

The Fortress of Palamidi, which you could reach by those stairs or bus, was really cool. It was built in 1700 by Venetians. It was built in case the Turks came back to try to take back the city. They were successful because one side of the fortress wasn’t properly protected. The fortress took five years to build and seven to complete. The Venetians built it here and found it to be important because of the sea routes. The Turks found a path on the back of the hill and got in and had it captured in a few days, but it was still cool!

We then went to Epidavros.

Epidavros had placed for baths, athletic competitions, and much more. The Romans changed the middle part to a Roman auditorium. The auditorium became a thing for lectures and such. Had areas for alters and sanctuaries for smaller gods.

Most people that visited stayed in a nearby town, but there was a hotel and there were also dorms for people to stay longer. The hotel was in the later period and was for wealthier people.

Most of what is seen here is restored buildings from the Hellenistic Greek and Roman times. This place had fame for being able to restore all injuries. I think it was all mental. People had been there for so long and wanted to believe they were being healed, they probably forced themselves to dream or feel a certain way. That’s just me though, I don’t believe in much.

Saw the biggest theater from ancient times in Greece (Turkey has some bigger ones). It was pretty awesome. Elton John and people of his fame have done shows there even today, so that was pretty awesome!

Also had an area where Olympic games were held. The first and only race in the first Olympics in 776 BC was running the length of the stadium in the nude. Pretty interesting stuff.

Dinner was gorgeous. We had drinks at sunset by the ocean. I was with awesome friends drinking great sangria and had a great dinner and then went back to the hotel and continued drinking with some people in the guys’ room. It was a great night.

…but part of it just didn’t feel right. The news of Alton Sterling and his death hit me hard. Here I am, enjoying Greece and living a fairly carefree life, but police brutality back home is such a huge issue. I read a quote that said in the summertime, white people share stories of walking their dogs and going on vacations, while black mothers share stories of losing their sons. It sorta hit me hard, and I felt as if I didn’t have anyone to talk to about this because I didn’t want to bring anyone down. So, I felt down. I felt guilty for being on this trip. I felt incredibly privileged. I felt incredibly sad. I felt aware of all the hardships going on, whether it was police brutality and racism at home or even seeing the refugees living in an old Athenian airport in Greece. There’s a lot of terrible all over the world, and sometimes it’s hard (for me, at least) to enjoy day after day of paradise and wine and amazing times without having to sit back and reflect. And today, with the terrible events going on back home, I reflected on how black lives matter.