Corinth and Mycenae (sp?)

Our first full day in Greece, and jet lag was still affecting most of us (despite the delicious coffee with breakfast). We had a bit of a drive from the hotel to the excavation site- which was perfectly fine considering the fact that we went straight by the ocean. I could not get over just how blue the water is... the only other water that I've seen is the disgusting slate-blue that is completely and totally boring to look at. I love the colors here, how the ocean is actually blue and the sky is periwinkle and the hills are green and the stone is white. Things are the colors they're supposed to be.
Our first destination was the ruins of ancient Corinth. It was kind of amazing once the reality of it all set in- to have read about the apostle Paul and realize that he very well might have stood where I was standing. The purpose of the course was to remove the fairy-tale unrealness of the Bible, and I definitely think that the veil has been lifted in a manner of speaking. It's amazing how all of these structures have survived for so long.

In both Corinth and Mycenae (sp?) our tour guide connected a bunch of the ruins and such to Greek myths and religion. The picture above (or to the left... the view shows up different on different computers) shows Apollo's temple and a fountain connected with the story of Jason and Medea. I really loved going to Mycenae (sp?) because of the connection to the Iliad, which I had read earlier this semester in my World Lit class. Once again, actually being there made it all so much more real. On the other hand, the tomb was sort of... tombish (the portrait-oriented photo)

And though all of this was awesome, the best part was the pottery shop. I was totally ready to come to the hotel and go to sleep, but I am really really glad that we went to the shop (and not just because of the gorgeous Greek man!). Basically, the people who work there do replications of famous pottery and statues. I think that would be a really cool job, especially since I can't usually come up with original kick-donkey ideas for artwork.