Apologies

I would just like to make it clear that I had little/no input in the previous blog. It is true my thighs are itchy but I would never use the style of writing employed by ROSSER. I am sorry for anyone who may have felt nausous while reading that blog. It was incredibly cheesy.
— Josh Lloyd

Roma

Rome has been a beast city for us to visit. The hostel accomodation has been a little lacking of what we had experienced in Greece, but the rest of the city is massively different. So far the highlights have been The Statue Of Laocoon (mercer), the 'wedding cake' (lloyd), and the colosseum (scoular and rosser). a mild bug has been spread around to many of the members of the group and lloyd is very keen for us to mention to you all that he has itchy thighs (i'm clueless as to why) but anyway thats lloyd for you. The metro system is efficient but very hectic, and has seemed to swallow most of our loose change. Our food has mainly consisted of pizza and apples, with the occasional bar of chocolate or drink of pepsi twist, but lloyd (again) is insisting that he is only consuming healthy food (worried about his parents opinions i assume). The shopping has been quite an experience for all of us... especially with the morrocans (as we are so very politically correct) trying to rip us off as much as possible. a clear indicator of the quality of their goods is the fact that they scarpered at the sign of any authority. Lloyd is complaining (AGAIN) about me using beast as a POSITIVE description of Rome, i think he prefers words like dainty or quaint (again, thats lloyd for you). Wendell (the fluffy stuffed sheep who is our mascot) is having a beast time here in Europe, and he turns out to be seriously photogenic. and thats about it.

Rosser, Mercer, Scoular, and Lloyd.

Roma Day 3

It is now the third whole day we have spent in Rome, and so far it has
definitely trumped Greece. The churches are a personal highlight, with their
incredible sculptures, paintings and architecture. We have visited so many that
they have become a bit of a blur but the general impression is as follows. When
you walk in, you are first struck by the high, golden roof. Some churches have
the older, flat ceiling covered with square gold designs, while other newer ones
branch out with circular designs and even paintings. Down the side of each
church are numerous side-chapels, each dedicated to a certain saint, and topped
either by a dome or and arched roof. Here are housed the beautiful paintings,
such the Caravaggios in the church of the French in Rome. Others may have a
sculpture or relic as the object of worship. The high altars are the centre of
focus of the church, situated in the middle of the main room. They can have
beautiful canopy above them supported by graceful columns, or perhaps a dusty
crypt underneath housing dead saints.

Although Rome is far different from Greece, it also has it similarities. The
Moroccans, it seems, are everywhere, with their portable boards of sunglasses
set up on cardboard boxes. Eddie who was foolish enough to buy one of their
watches found out soon that it was impossible to adjust the time. There is still
the furious bartering with the shopkeepers and the tired feet at the end of the
day.

Highlights so far include the Sistine Chapel, 3 of the 4 churches (St Peter's
Basilica, St Maria Major, St John Lateran, and we didn't see St Paul's Without
the Walls), the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Hadrian's Villa, the sculpture of
Laocoon and the gelato ice-creams.
— Ben McArthur

iPod fails

Seriously? I did not press send. As I was saying hippo is a hard word to say. Then we went around the Colosseum and took photos and did lots of cool stuff like that. Of course some of us got lost and took a while to find the group.
Afterwards we went up he Palatine Hill, apparently the first Western Heritage group to do so. How exciting. The view was amazing and we got some more photos. We then went on the Sacred Way(Via Sacra) in the Roman Forum which was another highlight for me - I always wanted to see the Forum. It's unbelievable that it was the commercial centre of Rome!
Anyway, we finished the day with a Bateman speech on the Arch of Constantine. Overall, what a great day!

Dennis.

Rome

Been having an unbelievable time in Rome. For me, having been here once with my parents,  this city has such a comforting sense of familiarity after Athens. We visited churches until we were all churched out; personally, out of all the amazing churches we visited, including absolute highlights like St Peter's, one which really stood out was actually the "minor" once which had been converted from a Roman bath, the Santa Maria degli Angeli e Martiri. It just had such a wide, soaring open space; there were no aisles to clutter up the centre, and you could actually see the crucifix structure of the floor plan; and the sheer openness and airiness was a soothing balm after so many crowded buildings.

In other news - at the risk of repeating others' comments, which I have not read, we mad WHT history by being the first group to be kicked out of the Sistine chapel. Some of us were taking photos and got caught by the guards. For some reason, Mr Buckingham and a few others were able to escape the purge, and managed to stay in there for quite a while longer; of course, we had to wait fr them when we got out!!!

--
Howell Fu

Roma day 365

Or at least it feels like a year since we arrived. We're all pretty tired and it feels like we can almost call Rome home now since we've been almost everywhere in only three days! It can be summarized by Bucko's quote after seeing the colosseum "I can't believe we were only here two days ago".
April 21 was a fully packed day. It started by a tour of Santa Maria followed by a series of churches all of which were absolutely amazing and none surpassed another. We stopped at Piazza Navona to have lunch. Apparently Kenrick and Eddie reckoned they ripped off some Moroccans while they were there, which I'm sure is impossible.
After that quick stop and a few other sites, we went to my favourite place so far, the Colosseum!!! It was national monuments day so we all get in for free which meant more pizza for dinner. Bucko worked his magic again and we skipped the line of about a million people. I did my second speech and found out that hippopotamus is very ha

Roaming in Rome

Ciao bella!

Today marks the day of surviving a week on the western heritage tour, and despite the sore legs, blisters on toes and weary eyelids it has been the most sensational 7 days of my life. The sights have consistently bettered each other, with every church revealing more and more wonders of the ancient world that only being in Rome itself can do justice too. I looked through my photos and found myself questioning why I took photos of the church 2 days ago, now eclipsed by St Peters or St Johns in all their marbel-ous glory. The cultural change is now reality as we have become skilled in the ways of bartering with crafty Moroccans, dodging caffeine charged motorists and ordering Pizza with our broken Italian.

Athens was a very nice warm up as we leant and saw the basics of Ancient Architecture, but so much has been plundered over the years that it's former splendour is now nothing more than legend. Once we set foot in warm, sunny and bellissima Italia, Greece was soon but a memory on our 10 hour days of running from temple to temple, jumping from terminal to terminal and rushing in and out of museums. This experience has already been eye opening, perhaps even life changing. Personally, I have never felt so impressed and influenced; all these places, all the history and all the culture is very close to home after being taught of the Roman ways for almost 5 years now.

Bucko insists on lights out now, so until next time, arrivederchi!

PS. Long live Monumentum e Vittorio Emanuale.

Sam Brothers

Rome Day 2

wow, what a great day! we started at the colossal baths of diocletian, now a
church, and then saw the truly spectacular st teresa in ecstasy, a baroque
masterpiece by bernini. the rest of the little church is overwhelming enough,
but the sculpture was quite divine. then came a long walk down to il gesù, the
head church of the jesuit order, which is simply mind-blowing. the ceiling
painting, with its amazing trompe-l'oeil (deception of the eye), makes it look
like the sinners are falling out of heaven in full 3D, with some of the best
clouds in the world. the sculptures of the angels surrounding the memorial to st
ignatius loyola are also breath-taking — the faces of the sinners being booted
out by the angels, and the vicious snakes devouring the evil-doers are
incredible.
the caravaggios of the life of st matthew were the next big highlight for me; he
is an astoundingly provocative artist. the piazza navona was absolutely
charming, and the boys enjoyed strolling around through the street artists,
break-dancers doing a street performance, singers, magicians, and, of course,
the ubiquitous black moroccan sellers of non-luxury goods.
thence to the bank of the tiber, and then to augustus' ara pacis via the castel
st angelo. we found out there that it was a free monument day in rome, so we
changed the itinerary — yet again! — and headed back to the colosseum and forum
romanum. unfortunately, and typically italian, it turned out not to be a free
day for the colosseum. fortunately, the guy doing the tickets thought we were an
english school group and gave us free entry, so we got to see the colosseum,
palatine hill and roman forum for free! thank you roma! this was very exciting,
as it is the first time a WH group has gone to the palatine hill. not much
there, to be honest, but some great views of the circus maximus on one side, and
fabulous views down onto the forum on the other. josh neifeld gave us a great
speech about the arch of titus, and then we followed the sacred way into the
forum all the way to the arch of septimius severus, the curia (senate house) and
cloaca maxima, the great sewer we have been reading about in livy's ab urbe
condita in seventh form latin this year.
everyone is now pretty exhausted, but i've heard only great feedback on how good
the day has been, so that's wonderful.
tomorrow are the vatican museums and then hopefully hadrians villa, and, have to
say, i can't wait.
great day in rome. weather was great. food was great. legs are dead.
laters, mr buckingham

Greece - Delphi

Great descriptions of your Trip so far. Keep it up I am enjoying it immensely and apart from bringing back old personal memories allows imagination to take over e.g. on mention of the Amphitheater at Delphi and the Pythian Games my mind wandered to the start of the 100m where Hermes (with his winged feet) was lined up against Usain Bolt – the crowd was hushed waiting for the Starter’s pistol – Ooooops – What did they use in the days of yore.

Thanks for the Fun and keep it coming

Regards

Clive Neifeld

Greetings from Auckland

I am slightly exhausted reading of your excursions but thrilled that you all sound like you are having a truly fabulous time!

The sights sound magnificent and your interactions with the locals sound quite entertaining and educational.

I'm glad the weather has improved in Italy and wish you all the best continuing on.

I love reading the blog posts!

Cheers,

Karen Brothers

Italy

I guess most of you blog followers have figured that we have now left Greece and
have arrived in Italy. Greece was an eye-opening experience. You hear about
economical tumult in the papers and on the news and stuff but when confronted by
it in person it is really shocking. With that said, I still absolutely loved
Greece. Coming from Auckland, where the only square is Aotea, it's hard to
fathom Syntagma and the Acropolis and the Agora and and and. Still, we said
goodbye to the slums of Patras and have said hello to the beauty that was
initially Ancona and now is Rome. I, like everyone else, threw a coin into the
Trevi fountain and I hope to God that it actually means I'm coming back to Rome
because I don't want my emotions to be screwed with like that. I know I'm going
to be in debt to you mum and dad for the next 30 years but I will make it back
here eventually. I've made multiple life-decisions already: dad, I want to
convert to Catholicism because I love their lavish churches (they're even nicer
than St Andrew's Epsom), and I've decided I want to get married in the Ara Coeli
because that's a rather nice church. It's hard to pick a favourite church, It's
hard to go past the grandeur of St Peter's, but I think for a point of
controversy I'd say my favourite was St John Lateran. The massive marble statues
of the Apostles that surround the church were incredible (I tried to get all the
photos don't worry). It's more churches tomorrow. Who would have thought that I
could say that with excitement?

Peace.
Sam White

Rome Day 1

Once we survived a small hotel scare we all managed to get to sleep right next
to a main road swarming with traffic. The next morning was a relatively late
rise and with a meagre breakfast in our stomachs we set out for our first day in
Rome. This meant a brisk walk first up to Santa Maria Maggiore, an amazing
church built with gold covering the ceiling, a breath taking experience, also
the first church to use gold from Peru. Next up was a trip to Trajan's column
and then to Vittorio Emmanuale Monument which is a commemoration of the end the
Italian reunification. It is a massive white marble building that some residents
apparently claim is an eyesore but I personally believe is magnificent. Our tour
then continued on to the Capitoline Museum which contains among many other
wonders the She-wolf, the bust of Julius Brutus, Commidus but was unfortunately
missing the bust of Phillip the Arabain. We were rushed through the rest of the
museum since we had lost some time in the morning as some buys left their long
pants at the hotel. A quick stop at the theatre of Marcellus, built by Augustus
to commemorate the death of his nephew Marcellus, who was meant to be his
successor. I believe (but I may be wrong) that we then headed by metro to St
John Lateran, where all the Apostles are lined up, and any previous churches
were put to shame. However after another quick jump on the metro we ended up at
St Peter's in the Vatican. This was the most fantastic building you can imagine,
with gold covering every surface and Michaelango's dome dominating the ceiling
it was impossible not to be impressed. On the way back to the hotel I managed to
escape the Moroccan vendors but Sam fell prey and bought a filthy belt and some
sunnies. All I can ask is the next day to go as well as this one.
— Thomas Adams

Greece: an overview

Just some thoughts of a few things from Greece

Crazy Traffic

Indicators are only lights, traffic lights aren't particularly obeyed. However the Greeks still maintain a decent level of politeness, they will let us cross in common courtesy.

Friendly Strangers.

You get the occasional person running up to you shouting "friend!" and asking if you might be interested in buying an umbrella. However what makes it better is when 6 of these people ask  you and its not even raining. 

When I was bartering for T shirts, I reckon we established a personal link with the shopowner which got us a decent deal of 3 Tshirts for 20 euros. I mentioned my interest in a mathematics t shirt and this got the owner talking about his own son who was working for a major in Mathematics.  This connection made the man much more sympathetic to us penniless students.

Overall, the Greeks are very friendly in my opinion - I guess they mostly were intrigued by our group - we maintained such a high standard of courtesy that a museum manager even showed us into the Museum through a secret entrance!

Streets

The streets are rather dirty - but the streets still retain its beauty as the people of the street would always welcome you, however, if it were clean - most of it would just be a shade\variant of white. The buildings were very black and white depending on how well cleaned it was.

Culture

We saw many byg,white,statues and buildings. You might get bored of it, but once you realize that you're staring at a culture spanning since 2000+ years ago, you get the idea of its magnificence. The details the ancient people could reach were astonishing.

Greece has overall made a deep engraving in my mind - friendly people,expansive culture and endless streets.

Eternal Rome

hi all, well, first day in rome was a great one; the weather has changed
completely for the better ever since we stepped onto shore at ancona. we had a
beautiful train journey through some picturesque italian countryside with all
shades of soft greens and browns, dappled light on the woodland glades, and tall
hills crested with brick churches and townships. stunning.
we took a while to settle into the hostel — we've actually moved moved from our
supposed location to another hostel just beside termini station. it's fairly
noisy, but has worked out ok. the guy running the hostel is a bit of a cowboy
(he's trying to run about eight hostels all at once!), and i wasn't sure we were
going to have beds for a while, but everything has worked out fine in the end,
and the people who are actually looking after us now are lovely. pizza in the
evening made a fine gourmet experience before we launched into a night tour of
rome, covering the colosseum, the imperial fora, trajan's column, the vittorio
emmanuale monstrosity, thn down the corso to the trevi fountain (always lovely)
and then the spanish steps (seldom lovely — why do people rave about this place
when it's just a hangout for drunks and hooligans?). we got back about 10.30 and
crashed into bed.
this morning we set out to the supermarcato, where the boys are getting better
at feeding themselves properly for a day. it's good to see salads and fruit
being purchased as well as the chips and coke. we then continued on to santa
maria maggiore, one of the four big churches of rome, whose ceiling is lined
with inca gold set to the pope by ferdinand and isabella of spain. the boys were
suitably impressed, and i am amazed at how much i still love seeing all these
sights, even though i seen them before. next were some byzantin mosaics in st
prassede, followed by michelangelo's moses and the chains of st peter in san
pietro in vinculi. we then headed back past the colosseum and fora of augustus
and trajan to see trajan's column properly, before reveling in the over-the-top
mbellishments of the vitorio emmanuale, and the ara caeli, before descending
upon the capitoline museum.
this proved to be, for me, the highlight of the day, as there happened to be an
exhibition of roman busts and statues on at the same time. this means that we
got to see the 'patrician with busts', the famous busts of cicero, pompey the
great, cato and his wife, and many others which we would normally have to go to
strange and exotic countries to get to. on top of this were the splendid
capitoline brutus, she-wolf, spinario, medusa, poly-mammerian artemisian minerva
(the boys are now experts on what this entails) and many others. the bust of
commodus and the equestrian statue of marcus aurelius — preserved only because
the christian popes thought it was constantine the great, not aurelius, who
actually persecuted the christians — as ell as the capitoline venus, the dying
gaul, etc, etc, were all equally as magnificent.
we happily had a brief stop for lunch, drinking from the aqua marcia, an
aquaduct which still brings water into rome two millennia later, and then dashed
past the theatre of marcellus, the ponte fabricio and isola tiberina with its
church and hospital of st bartholemew, then back across the tiber to some
ancient roman temples, and then the old temple which the greeks used for worship
in rome, santa maria di cosmedin. here one of the guides saw ben mcarthur's hand
in it's cast, and joked that he must already have been to see the bocca della
verità (an old sewer cover which has mistakenly been accorded the power of, when
someone puts his hand in, of crushing the hand of a liar while leaving alone the
hand of someone who tells the truth). we than turned the corner to see the
remains of the circus maximus and nero's golden palace.
we then raced off to st john lateran, one of my very favourite churches in rome,
and then topped of the day with a visit to st peter's in the vatican, a truly
wonderful and overawing experience. on that note, it seemed a little pointless
to do anything else — why end the day on an anticlimax? — so we headed back on
the metro to termini, getting in about 7.15, the earliest night we've had so
far.
can't wait for tomorrow!
love to all at home,
— Mr Buckingham

AGS Dance Troupe

Harry and Tinkerbelle  – You give a whole new meaning to ferry (fairy?) dancing.

Athens

For me the defining moment of Greece was the salesman who tried to sell us a
t-shirt for three times the price of the neighbouring store and then acted like
we had insulted his mother when we tried to barter him down. No city I have been
to has matched the insane relaxed hastiness of everyone in Athens and this alone
has proved an experience. The ancient sites we have visited have proved to be
exactly what I expected and, though the weather thus far has been
disappointingly similar to home, I have enjoyed our excursions thoroughly. So
far the funniest moment was an attempt by four Moroccans to board the ferry
without the police noticing, but they were chased away in the end by a man on a
motorbike. Last night Ryan and I had a Dance-off to settle a dispute, much to
the enjoyment of everyone on the ship – the crowd determined me to be the
victor.
— Harry Kleyer

Greece

Greece was awesome, although the weather could have been better (it was cloudy
and a bit rainy). There were many dogs. Although the weather left much to be
desired, the ancient ruins were awe-inspiring, the Parthenon was spectacular up
on the Acropolis along with others such as the temple of Nike. Mycenae was
great even though I may have left my speech in my luggage. Delphi on the first
day was also great, along with all the awesome museums we visited with all their
amazing art. It is very unfortunate that a lot of the ruins have been destroyed
over the course of history, leaving few remains, although I am grateful that
some managed to survive through the centuries for people like me to come here
and enjoy. Here I am hoping that Italy builds on what Greece has started for me.
— James Ringwood

Athens

Greece, well Greece was, interesting to say the least, with stray dogs and
ancient ruins mingling on streets crowded with street vendors. The weather was
not too good, but the wonders of the Parthenon, Mycenae and Delphi were
awe-inspiring, even in their ruined states. The markets at Athens were very
vibrant and colourful, although some of our bartering skills left something to
be desired.
— Ryan Jeffares

Greece

Well what more can I say about Greece? A lot of deviation in terms of quality,
from gorgeous and stunning artefacts of Delphi and Acropolis (not to mention
Mycenae) to an extensive tagging on the streets, bar owners trying to offer us a
drink for 5 euros and dodgy but somehow friendly Moroccans (probably because it
was raining the whole time we were at Greece) trying to sell us umbrellas. The
fact that there are monuments and ruins (T.T) everywhere around the city is just
plain awesome. Have to admire the Greeks for building communities integrating
with the ancient remains so well. However, it's a pity that Greek history did
not allow those monuments (e.g. Parthenon) to be well preserved. Hoping for the
monuments to be in a better condition in Italy!!
— George Ham

New Zealand Calling

Hi All,

 

You trip is sounding fantastic – by reading your entries we can picture what it must be like.

(Especially as I have never been) – so keep up the good work.

 

Shame we missed the dance-off –  hope someone has some photos.

 

Hope your weather has improved (no mention of it so I am thinking yes).

 

Enjoy your days in Rome – they look busy.

 

Keep those sneakers busy.

 

Regards to all – Thanks to the Masters.

 

The Jeffares

Greece

This has been a cascade of new experiences. The atmosphere of Syntagma Square
was very pleasant, the displays of the National archaeological museum simply
stunning, and the awe inspired by the Parthenon…monumental. The contrast, then,
with the tagging-covered and often dirty streets and drab apartment buildings,
was rather disconcerting – as were the posters with communist symbols plastered
on so many walls. A variety of novelty T-shirts (with some very dodgy things on
them) entertained us all, and learning to bargain for them was met with varying
amounts of success. This ferry ride across the Mediterranean has provided me
with a beautiful sunset and an exhilarating wind. I love Europe!!
— Howell Fu

Greece

Greece was great, even with the tagging, Moroccans and apparent lack of any
road-code. Highlights definitely included the Acropolis and Delphi. Apart from
Moroccan attempts to board the boat, further entertainment from this ride was
provided by the Harry vs Ryan dance-off, which Harry won, but neither should
consider dancing as a career! Greece does grow on you, so it was a bit of a
shame to leave after only 4 days, but here come Italy!
— Nick Kay

Greece

Greece itself is far from the "Mama Mia" image on tv. It is covered in graffiti,
packed full of sneaky Moroccans trying to sell you umbrella's and stow
themselves away on the ferry without the guards noticing. Nevertheless, despite
its reality, Greece was awesome! it quickly grew on all of the boys and we never
wanted to leave. Bartering for bargains and sleeping became the highlights of
the stay and in the end there was never a dull moment. The boat is a much
welcomed chill out time. Never has sitting down for 20 hours felt so great!!
With poker and expensive food, silver and gold banisters, we all feel like true
high rollers – until we go back into our rooms and see the presence of beautiful
women and champagne replaced with our belongings plastered across the floor.

— Ben Gregson

More on Greece

Greece was a very interesting experience. I found the Acropolis especially
impressive it was amazing to think what it must have been like. Another
highlight came in mingling with a society that was so different to ours.
Bartering in particular was exciting. After greeting the alarmed shopkeeper with
a loud chorus of "Yassu"(hello) we got down to the serious business of
negotiating. Fortunately for us most shopkeepers could speak English, Yassu
being our limit. Bartering was a task in which most boys joined in
enthusiastically even if they weren't actually buying. We came away largely
proud of purchases although given the amount of things that have already broken
perhaps we shouldn't be. Jack Anderson stood out as a natural born negotiator.
When a shopkeeper attempted to tell him that her products were good quality he
replied almost instantly and very firmly, "no they are not quality"
— Josh Lloyd

Athens Day 5

We had an early wake-up and were packed and out the door of our hotel by 7:30 on
an hour-long trip to Corinth. First arriving in modern-day Corinth, we looked
over the enormous Corinthian Canal that connects the Aegean and Ionic Seas,
quite a breathtaking spectacle simply because of its great length and depth.
Half an hour later we had arrived in the ancient city of Corinth, an incredible
place to be when you consider the events that occurred and the people who lived
in the very same place as you are standing.
The next stop on our way to Patras was Mycenae, an ancient city existing around
1900-1200BC. This is where hugely significant individuals such as Agamemnon and
Menelaus once resided. We were running a bit short on time and so were told we
had 10 minutes to explore the ruins of the city: most notably we observed the
huge walls which had an average width of a massive five metres, called Cyclopean
because the Myceneans couldn't believe that any other than the Cyclopes built
them. Before we knew it we were then sprinting downhill, leaping over puddles
and dodging other tourists to reach the tholoi, enormous dome-like structures
built underground into the hill. It is truly unbelievable to think that these
incredible structures, with very impressive acoustics, were built so long ago,
yet here they are.
About two and a half hours of travel later, we boarded the ferry and were
entertained watching Moroccans trying to sneak on board. Pulling away from the
docks, we were off on our way to Rome, excited for the sights to come.
— Joel Bateman

Greece

Yesterday we got up early to get on the bus with all of our luggage then we went
to the ancient city of Corinth where there were things like the temple of Apollo
and Augustus. Then we went to Mycenae to see an ancient well and big burial
tombs. We hopped on the bus for another couple of hour to get on the ferry. On
the way near the port we encountered a scary mob of Moroccans. When we looked
off the back of he ferry we saw that they were trying and failing to illegally
board the boat.
We were shown to our rooms by an incompetent maid who didn't seem to know where
the rooms were. After playing poker to pass the time we were informed that two
people, who will remain anonymous, from the group were having a 'dance off.' We
were embarrassed to watch it, even though it was hilarious, it got rather sad.
Dinner was too expensive but we were hungry so we had it anyway.
— Ed Scoular and Jack Anderson.

The Trip So Far

The trip so far has been an absolute thrashing of the senses. The spirit is
willing but the body is weak, and thus far this trip has been a battle of the
will against the weak flesh. In other words, while everyone is aching, we will
still run from one monumental site to the next, and we are still wowed and awed
by the magnificence and significance of it all.

And we do not waste a second. From the very first day in Athens, after a
culmination of around 26 hours in flight time and very little sleep, we trekked
our way up Mt Lykevittos for our first night to be awed by the magnitude of the
city and the panoramic view. In our following days of Greece, we went about
exploring the museums (amazing wealth of material!) and richly historic ruins
dotted throughout the city. Some of these places can seem amazingly out of place
in the gritty streets of Greece, and it can be sometimes hard to visualise that
this was the place where an ancient society once thrived, just as we do now.
These historic remains are to be preserved and this is why you will occasionally
see them in seemingly out-of-place instances, such as Hadrian's Arch, right off
the main road, and a hotel forced to build around some ruins. The absolute
highlight of Greece, personally, has been the Acropolis, and with it the
Parthenon – awe-inspiringly amazing stuff. Photography does not justify its
magnificent and dominating presence. It is just astonishingly massive; the
pillars would require two people's arm-lengths to fit around, also being
octastyle (eight columns along the front). Consider the fact, too, that
historically it had been garishly painted, and housed an equally impressive
statue of Athena, some 18 metres high, whose golden radiance was supposed to
have been seen from the sea. Truly the pinnacle of Athenian prominence, and it
is definitely a life-goal to see it again in its full splendour, once fully
restored.
From our second day off at Delphi, a truly pure place, perhaps the best example
of the prenotion of Greek purity that we have today, the weather has not been
all hunky-dory. But everyone has been having the time of their lives, and
personally this has been a fantastic excuse to exercise my amateur photography
skills. From our exhilarating underground adventures in a bauxite mine, to
frolicking in the pure and mountainous ancient settlements, to which we were
running to and fro, everyone has been finding this an enriching and
contemplative experience. Take for instance, the difference in Roman and Greek
approaches to theatre, in which the Greek stage adheres to the laws of geometry
and nature, that is a perfect circle, as opposed to the Roman emphasis on
practicality and the focus on acoustics, which leaves a semi-circular stage and
a lessened focus on the orchestra area.

And through this all, in a few days, which with the sheer volume of events is
becoming something of a blur for a number of people (probably involving a lot of
running; one might even think this is a distance squad tour), there have also
been cultural enrichment and insight. Group bartering has been absolutely
hilarious, and the souvenirs will hopefully be treasured for years to come, so
too our pictures of random hobos. Indeed, one is also reality-checked with
sights such as these, alongside the never-ending graffiti everywhere. It makes
sense really, despite being a rather socialist government, the bankruptcy of
Greece comes to mind, and with it the frustrated unemployed youths obviously
responsible for such acts. Indeed, police presence is quite significant, and
riot pre-emption imminent; we could even hear the echo of police sirens when
ascending Mt Lykevittos due to the tall narrow nature of the streets in Greece
(the buildings that is). The events leading up to our ferry leaving Greece
involved: going down a street full of unemployed Moroccan youths (in a bus
thankfully), and upon waiting for the ship to set sail, we watched with great
amusement more (assumedly) Moroccan youths "casually" hanging around by a car
shelter with the intent of boarding our ship. As hilarious as it was seeing them
act like dogs to the waves on a beach, and upon their obvious failure, leading
them to literally climb some trees to jump the fence out, you can safely assume
that they will be there for the next ship, willing to try again.

C'est la vie, as it may be, it can really make you contemplate the world we live
in and again the imagery of ancient Grecian society pervades my mind and with it
my wonderment of their societal issues.
But for now, we advance on Rome.
— James Stannard

Italy

Buongiorno! Just wanted to say I hope the sun comes out for you all in
Italy and I trust you realise I wrote in jest yesterday....don't want to
get in trouble with Mr. Leeuw :) Look forward to hearing 'all' :)

Best Wishes
Carol B

One More Thing

Sorry...I forgot to say a huge thank you to you Warren, for taking such
good care of our lads...you and the other teachers are doing a grand
job....much appreciated.

Hi dee hi!

Warm greetings from home everyone. Yes, it is wonderful to wake up and get
the gen. on what you busy travellers are up to. However, I have to admit
that already I can feel the beginnings of envious vibes creeping in as I
read about the historical majesty of Greece.

Consequently, please refrain from giving a detailed account of the
gustatory delights of Italy ...but DO enjoy. I can smell the calamari from
here already :) Oh, and a special Kia Ora to you Joel.

Carol B

Hi from New Zealand

Good work on the blog boys – it is great to wake up in the morning and catch up on what you have been up to.

 

Sounds like you are having similar weather to us at the moment – cool and rainy.

 

Hope the cameras are working overtime and good to hear that you are all getting fit or fitter! from all the walking.

 

Atmosphere and sights sound amazing.

 

Keep up the bartering.

 

Take care best wishes

The Jeffares (Big Hi to Ryan)

 

 

 

 

Blog April 17th

We rose again this morning to the sound of the phone, although this time not quite so early. We left to see the architecture near to our hotel, the national library and the university of fine arts. On high columns were statues of gods who, although being repeatedly told otherwise, Josh thought were Dionysus. We then caught our first metro train, which went smoothly. We then arrived at the Acropolis, and headed for the museum there. Because of the lines, we continued up the Acropolis where we basked in the magnificence of the Parthenon, the Erectheion and other monuments. We then continued down to the Agora where we were quickly told off by a guard and abused by his whistle because we stayed too long and they were closing. We then visited the Acropolis museum, the highlight of which were the Carytids from the Erectheion. This was because we were able to see the metho which they cleaned the statues with. We then had free time, wandering the markets and side streets of Athens and battering with the store owners.  The highlight of the day for me was the bronze statue of Zeus/Poseidon.

Alex Mercer

...

Today we went the National Archeology Museum, which unfortunately was mostly closed due to strike action, but we were still able to see a couple of gems. It is the museum which houses all the treasures found by Heinrich Schliemman at Hissarlick and other Mycenaean sites, some dating back as far as the 16th century BC. Most notable among these is the 'Mask of Agamemnon', a golden funeral mask, although in fact it dates from about 4 centuries before the supposed Trojan war. Also at the museum was a magnificent statue of Zeus or Poseidon (it is unknown which), which is strikingly anatomically accurate and dynamic.

After the museum, we experienced the Greek metro, which was good practice for Paris and Rome.

The Acropolis was next up, and despite the inclement weather, it was spectacular. We saw the Theatre of Dionysus, the same one which hosted the plays of Euripides, Aeschylus and Aristophanes in the 5th century BC. From there, we went up to the Acropolis itself and saw the Parthenon; once an imposing image of Athenian dominance, now still impressive but also roped off and surrounded by scaffolding.

Once again we spent much time walking around the city by foot, and have gained a good sense of its layout. We are able to find our way to most places of interest with the central Syntagma square as our starting point. Because of this, we were given some free time to roam about and shop, and barter with the locals. It is a most interesting city; along with the ancient temples and monuments you see much poverty and bleakness. It is a bizarre contrast. It will be sad to leave tomorrow, as it feels like we only just got here.

Yet in the morning we carry on with the trip: on the agenda are visits to Mycenae and Corinth, and we get on the overnight ferry to Ancona.

Best wishes,

Conall

Greece

Sent from my iPod

Begin forwarded message:

From: Josh Lloyd <joshnicholson.lloyd@hotmail.com>
Date: April 18, 2011 7:34:05 AM GMT+12:00
To: "kepheus1@kepheus@blogger.com" <kepheus1@kepheus@blogger.com>

Been told that my comment sounds negative-didn't intend for that. Really enjoying Greece merely making the point that the best parts-apart for the bartering-are the oldest. Ok mr leeuw!          Josh L

Bartaring.

Or bartering? A or e? Whatever.
 
Dennis

Bartering

So we went out tonight at 7 pm to buy some stuff. Did lots of bartering and bargaining... Didn't really buy anything that useful but got a Bob Marley T-Shirt for 10 Euros. Bartered down from 15. Took the best part of an hour to bargain but the satisfaction was worth it. Can't wait till we go to Italy and visit the markets and do some intense bartering. 50 Euros down to 10? I think that's posisble.
 
Dennis.

Athens Day 4

well, bit of a wet start and petty cold as well, but nothing will daunt this
group! e headed fist into town to see the classical architecture of the National
Library and University buildings, before heading to the National Archaeological
Museum. in true Greek style, and most disappointingly, many of the rooms were
closed, due to "staff not being paid enough, and therefore not turning up to
work". we got let in through a 'secret entrance', and saw the famous bronze of
zeus/poseidon, and the golden mask of agamemnon, and a few minor pieces, but
many of the highlights were closed off.
we then took the athens metro to the acropolis, and started the long climb to
the top, seeing the theatre of dionysus and the theatre of herodes atticus on
the way, and the parthenon more than made up for any disappointment in the
morning. cold, bitterly cold at times, but the sights of the acropolis are still
unbelievably good.
we finished up at the new acropolis museum, a three-storey structure full of all
that they have left from the acropolis and agoras, including a full
reconstruction of the parthenon frieze and metopes. by this time the boys (and I
as well, to be honest) were yawning and wilting; the days have been long and
full, but a wonderful start to the tour.
tonight is our last in athens, so we'll do a final run into town tonight for
shopping and sights, and then we're away to corinth and mycenae tomorrow.
hope you are all well, and waiting for your replies,
warren b

Greece

The vast amount of sights we have seen are directly proportional to how sore our legs and backs are from walking. nevertheless it has been an epic trip so far, and i am slowly learning how to effectively barter, which is always useful.
 
K Rosser

Athens

Its so different to Auckland. So crowded so many people shouting, trying to sell you stuff, smoking, driviing erratically-its an incredible experience-luckily most people speak English. Greece seems to be a country which was at its peak 2000 years ago its all down\hill from there.   
Josh L

Hi all, after our very much needed night of sleep we were raging for a day of sightseeing at Delphi. Delphi was considered one of the most significant places in the greater Greek world. such leaders as Alexander the Great and Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (the last king of Rome) saught help and advice from the oracle from Delphi. to me the most entriguing site was its amphitheatre which held over 5000 spectators andthe acoustics are still unbelievable. But the location of Delphi at the foot of the majestic Mt Paranassus also contributes to the religious significance of Delphi. On top of that seeing the athletics track there was also intriguing as Delphi was the home of the Pythian games, a competition every four years amongst the Greek world. So njow we are off for dinner and a night stroll through Athens. 
 
Ya!
Josh N

DELPHI

The day starts with an unwelcomed ringing of the phone, many thinking that it was someone calling and going as far as saying "hello," too tired to register that is is only the alarm. The nights sleep went down a treat. out the door at 7 the first sight is a Greek smoker on his firstr pack of the day - the culture is to smoke, and the bus we caught was no exception as it was the first smell to hit you as you climbed up. 2 1\2 hour drive to Delphi, no wait, the local bauxite mine. a thoroughly unwanted detour where we saw the first sign of prohibiting smoking 200m below the surface and yet there was still the faint smell. delphi itself was an impressive scene but still hard to imagine in its antiquity, a skill which will develope soon enough. the identification of a bit of "talent" kept Eddie, Jerome and myself all on our toes. Sadly no laurel trees were in sight and there was no afternoon "pick me up." We were so high (altitude wise), and the sight had the cameras snapping away. The main show - temple of apollo where the oracle Pythia used to chew on theses laurel leaves and get herself into a "trance"- consisted of 4 huge free standing pillars, and as you went higher up, an altar could be seen. A ramp was at the entrance to the temple, not for wheel chair acces, but for animals. Following this we saw the thaetre the arena, sanctury of athena and the museum where personally the highlight was located - the charioteer. This had amazing detail of drapery and hair that stretched right down to the toes. Cold and wet from the drizzle, the bus ride was warmly welcomed at the end of the day.
 
Ben

From Dubai Airport

Hi All,
Well, we've made it to Dubai Airport all in one piece – at 5am it's a
comfortable 28 degrees outside. Boys are all fine, although Joseph Chen has had
a rough time with air-sickness. We're currently watching small men dressed in
caftans strolling past, looking like they've just parked their camel outside. Yahoo! Maktoob, the connection I'm on, offers menu options of "Weather" and beside it "Prayer Times". Wow.
The airport is massive – as Mr Leeuw has pointed out, the cargo terminal is
bigger than Auckland Airport in its entirety!
We're here for about four more hours, then we head on the final leg to Athens. I
reckon I got about 5-6 hours of sleep, but my body-clock is now all mucked up,
and i can barely keep my eyes open.
The boys all send their love and best wishes. Wherever they are. In fact, I have honestly no idea where is this colossal complex they may be...
Oh well.
Talk to you soon,
Warren B

Sending a post...

well, gotta pack sometime soon... nah, few hours maybe!

for anyone who wants to post on this blog, just send an email to:

kepheus1.kepheus@blogger.com 

whatever you put as the subject of the email will appear as the topic line for the blog, and the text of the email will appear underneath.

to send in a photo, just attach the photo to the email, and send it with something in the subject line, and it will pop up. easy!!

Tour Itinerary

Day.	Date.	Location.	Activities.
1	Thu 14 April	Auckland	Meet at airport by 2.30 pm Depart Auckland to Athens via Dubai 5-6 pm
2	Fri 15 April	Athens	Arrive Athens at 2 pm; take airport bus to hotel Harmonia Square & central Athens National Archaeology Museum Orthodox Basilica Evening walk up Mount Lykevittos
3	Sat 16 April	Athens	Day trip to Delphi 8 am to 6.30 pm
4	Sun 17 April	Athens	Acropolis & Acropolis Museum Greek Agora, Temple of Hephaestos National Archaeology Museum Tour of Roman Agora, Temple of Zeus, etc. Syntagma Square & environs
5	Mon 18 April	Athens	Day trip to Corinth Canal, Corinth and Mycenae Depart from Patras for Ancona by overnight ferry
6	Tues 19 April	[transit] Rome	Arrive at Ancona at 15.30; take train to Rome Night tour of Trevi Fountain & Spanish Steps, Imperial Fora & Colosseum
7	Wed 20 April	Rome	Orientation walk (Via Cavour, Via dei Fori Imperiali, Trajan’s Column, Vittorio Emmanuele Monument, Capitol Museum, Theatre of Marcellus, Ponte Fabricio, Isola Tiberina, Ponte Cestio, Temple of Vesta, Temple of Fortuna Virilis, Lungo Tevere, Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Circus Maximus Afternoon excursion to Tivoli: Hadrian’s Villa
8	Thu 21 April	Rome	Tour of Santa Maria Maggiore, Santa Prassede, San Pietro in Vincoli, Forum Romanum, Imperial Fora, Trajan’s Column, Palatine Hill, Arch of Titus, Colosseum, Arch of Constantine. Walk down Via Nazionale to Il Gesù, S. Maria Sopra Minerva, San Luigi dei Francesi, Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Ara Pacis, Mausoleum of Augustus, Castel Sant’Angelo, Piazza del Popolo, S. Maria del Popolo Mid-afternoon tour: metro to St John Lateran and Holy Steps, via San Clemente Metro back to Piazza del Popolo and evening walk up the Corso Free time: Borghese Gallery
9	Fri 22 April (Good Friday)	Rome	Vatican Museums & St Peter’s Basilica Free time: Castel Sant’Angelo
10	Sat 23 April	Rome	Day trip to Ostia St Paul’s Without the Walls Visit to baths and churches around hostel, Santa Maria degli Angeli, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Aula Ottagona Free time: Palazzo Barberini
11	Sun 24 April (Easter Day)	Rome	Day trip to Naples Museum & Pompeii
12	Mon 25 April	Rome Florence	Travel by train from Rome to Florence Excursion to Pisa: Leaning Tower of Pisa, Cathedral and Baptistery Return to Florence Night tour of Florence, including Santa Maria Novella, San Lorenzo, Baptistery, Il Duomo, Palazzio Vecchio, Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio
13	Tue 26 April	Florence	Uffizi Gallery Ponte Vecchio, Palazzo Pitti, Cappella Branccaci (Santa Maria della Carmine) Mercato Centrale Visit to Fiesole
14	Wed 27 April	Florence	Il Duomo, Baptistery, Or San Michele, Santa Croce Free time: markets Evening trip: night view of Florence
15	Thu 28 April	Florence Venice [transit]	Travel by train from Florence to Venice Deposit Luggage at Santa Lucia Station Tour of Rialto Bridge, San Marco & piazza, Grand Canal by vaporetto Travel by overnight train from Venice to Nice
16	Fri 29 April	[transit] Nice/ Avignon Beaucaire	Continue by TGV from Nice to Avignon Collect vans and drive to Beaucaire Tour of town & supermarket stop Excursion to Arles, theatre, amphitheatre, necropolis Tour of l’Église St. Paul, l’Hôtel de Ville, l’Église Notre Dame des Pommiers, l’Arènes, le Château
17	Sat 30 April	Beaucaire	Pont du Gard Nîmes (Maison Carrée & Amphithéatre) Roman Vineyard (Mas Gallo-Romain des Tourelles) Free time
18	Sun 1 May	Beaucaire	Châteaux des Baux-de-Provence, St. Remy de Provence, Tarascon Castle Free Time
19	Mon 2 May	Beaucaire	Avignon: Palais des Papes, Pont d’Avignon & town
20	Tue 3 May	Beaucaire	Excursion to Orange: Théâtre d’Auguste et l’Arche, l’Hémicycle Free time
21	Wed 4 May	Beaucaire Paris	Drive to Avignon and return vans TGV from Avignon to Paris (Gare de Lyon) Take metro to hotel; tour of environs Notre Dame, Hôtel de Ville, Les Halles (dinner) Night Tour: Place de la Concorde, walk up Champs Elysées to Arc de Triomphe
22	Thu 5 May	Paris	Les Invalides, Napoleon’s Tomb and the Military Museum Walk to Eiffel Tower via the Champs de Mars Panthéon, Rue Mouftard, Gay-Lussac district Afternoon visit to Catacombs Evening trip to La Défense (La Grande Arche)
23	Fri 6 May	Paris	Morning: Louvre Afternoon: St. Denis Evening: Sacré Coeur & Montmartre
24	Sat 7 May	Paris	Musée d’Orsay Excursion to Versailles
25	Sun 8 May	Paris	La Concorde, La Madeleine, Place Vendome, Opera House, Boulevard Haussmann Department stores: Printemps & Galeries LaFayette Afternoon excursion to Chartres Cathedral
26	Mon 9 May	Paris London	Travel by Eurostar from Paris (Gare du Nord) to London Metro to hostel Visit Big Ben, Houses of Parliament & Westminster Abbey; evensong at Westminster Abbey (5 pm) Return to Buckingham Palace, and walk to hostel via Kensington Gardens & Hyde Park Dinner & free time (evening show)
27	Tue 10 May	London	British Museum Trafalgar Square, St. Martin-in-the-Fields (Lunch) National Gallery Evensong at St. Paul’s Cathedral Dinner & free time (evening show)
28	Wed 11 May	London	Excursion to Bath/Oxford University Dinner & free time (evening show)
29	Thu 12 May	London	Excursion to Cambridge (Corpus Christi, Parker Library, lunch at Corpus, tour of colleges, Cast Museum) Evensong at King’s College Chapel
30	Fri 13 May	London [transit]	Tower of London, London Bridge, Globe Theatre Free time: Victoria & Albert Museum, Brampton Oratory, Natural History Museum, Sloane Collection, British Library, Wallace Collection, Madame Tussaud’s, Campton Markets, Harrods, etc. Evening: pack for Heathrow Train to Heathrow Airport Depart London to Auckland via Dubai
31	Sat 14 May	[transit]	In transit
32	Sun 15 May	[transit] Auckland	Arrive in Auckland about 1 pm