Korinthos

Before we proceed I have two gleeful announcements.

Number one: Look guys, it snows in Athens!

Nobody told me this would happen. Apparently I didn't even leave Flagstaff. Due to the weather I couldn't go running until...today.

Announcement number two: After much searching I finally found raisins in Greece! Yay!!!

Okay, and now we get serious. I will spare you the details about the particulars that went into my weekend and simply tell you how cool Corinth is. For one thing, it's not far from Athens, and yet it's quite different. It's much calmer, especially in the village in the shadow of the ancient ruins, where I, of course, was undebatably located. What we have there are the Temple of Apollo, and the ruins of a city next to it, some cute but decorative chapels, and most noticeably the acropolis of Corinth: the Acrocorinth (yes, it really is called that), sitting at the top of a mountain. I couldn't go inside the Temple, the chapels, or the cities because of the time they closed, but it was perfectly satisfying simply to look from the gates.

I wouldn't mind at all if my school were in Corinth. The more I walked down the quiet suburbs, the more I felt like the village and I were becoming friends. Every front yard had orange trees, and it smelled of plants. The view was peaceful, as Corinth is on the water and is surrounded on all sides by mountains. I truly felt as though I were far away in another country. I suppose being in a quiet place as opposed to the crazy city life that Athens is was what did that for me. My favorite part, though, about walking aimlessly around, was when I reached the chapel of Apostle Paul. I couldn't go in (in fact, I don't know if anyone can), but I could still see the colorful mosaic of some religious scene. I will not go into my religious views here, but I'll say this: standing in front of that quiet, lonely yet bright chapel, with a huge mountain with ancient ruins on top, and a view of the water below me...what I really wanted to do was sit down right there and start reading the Bible. After all, Apostle Paul was here. A figure so sacred to the lives of millions of devotees seemed impossible for an American like me to imagine up until I got to Corinth. It was just ecstatic and tranquil at the same time to know that I was actually in the part of the world where events from the Bible took place. I think standing in front of that chapel changed my life a little bit.

And the ruins were awesome! That's a typical way to describe a place, but it's the word that encompasses best how I felt. The remains of the castle at the top of the mountain was the picture of Greece that first comes to mind for most people. I had to hike up the mountain first, and once I had walked all over the Acrocorinth (took me around three hours and I think I still missed some spots), I was exhausted more by my amazement than by my physical strain. This place was just so perfect. You'll see in the background of the picture of the Temple of Apollo down below, this mountain is literally a gargantuan rock that juts out of the land. It's like it was put there FOR the purpose of the castle to be built there. I honestly think this place was more impressive than the Parthenon in Athens, just because it's more spread out and much higher up. How did these people do that? How did they lug those rocks up there and build this place when tourists in today's age need to drive (or in my case, trudge) up a paved road? I do think this rock that jutted so high out of the ground was meant to be there, so that this man-made wonder could reside there.