As I left for Greece, there were three things I told myself that I absolutely HAD to do: paint a view of the city from the Acropolis, eat as much lamb as I possibly can, and hike Mount Olympus. Well…the first hasn’t happened yet, the second is a never ending battle, but the third was finally completed! What a better time to do my first hike than in Greece…and better yet on Mount Olympus! On the first weekend of October, about 30 other students and myself embarked on a journey to see the gods, drink sweet ambrosia, and eat plentiful nectar!

Mount Olympus in all its glory

We departed Athens on Friday morning for a 6 hour bus ride to the mountain. I packed all my necessities in my backpack: sunflower seeds, water, and my camera…oh and clothes too. Remember how Mount Olympus looks in the Disney movie Hercules? Well, much to my dismay, that is NOT what Mount Olympus actually looks like. Instead, it is much much bigger, broader, and unfortunately does not have a shining kingdom on the top. But it is just as impressive, if not more. With an elevation of 9,750 feet, Mount Olympus is by far the tallest mountain in Greece.

We hiked for two days. The first day we hiked 6,889 feet to a shelter. The hike was actually not that difficult, and there was always a pretty clear path already made for us. While hiking up, we passed lots of other hikers from all over the world. However, my favorite of the things we passed were actual signs of autumn! In Athens, leaves don’t change color, and it pretty much stays warm until November, so all signs of Fall are lost. Seeing reds and oranges with a crispy Autumn air made me feel very much at home, and allowed me to spend some quality time with the strongest elements of my favorite season. We hiked for a good three hours. For the first half, we hiked mostly through trees and greens. But for the second part, it was mainly just rocks…a true sign that we were really getting high up.

Signs of Autumn in Greece!

First half of the hike looked basically like this.

Half way there!

Funny as it is, my favorite part of the weekend was the night at the shelter! It was cold…very cold, with the darkest sky I have ever seen. Coming from Philly with its lovely light pollution, I was not used to seeing the Milky Way with my bare eye. We all ate dinner together and then went up to our cabins to share stories. It was actually really cozy and reminded me a lot of retreats I do at home. This was when I really fell in love with CYA (College Year in Athens). I realized how happy I was here: not only has this program blessed me with amazing once in a lifetime experiences, but it blessed me with great new friends to share them with. That night was truly a bonding night with the rest of the program, the perfect retreat-like getaway that I realized I needed.  To make this weekend even better, I woke up early the next day to see the Greek sunrise over the horizon. It was breathtaking. It was the most red and biggest sun I have ever seen. Oh by the way, we were above the cloud line, meaning we hiked through clouds!

Breathtaking sunrise over the horizon form the shelter.

We were above the cloud line!

The next day started with a delicious bowl of Greek yogurt with honey (my new favorite breakfast). We then hiked to the second highest summit (the highest we can get to by foot) for another two hours. When we finally got to the summit, I took pictures for a good 20 minutes. I mean how could you not? We were 9,550 feet above the land. The view was spectacular! We could see Greek farm land for miles on end, and even see the coast line and the Aegean Sea! Even though I didn’t see any gods, I certainly felt like one! This also could be because everyone decided to sing Hercules when we got to the top, especially “Go the Distance” during the hike up. We then started the journey down back to the land of the mortals. Ironically, my immortal experience was short-lived.

Full spectrum of the mountain from the summit.

True Olympians!

Me with some of my favorite kids in greece: Will and Davida!

Spectacular view of Greek farm land and coast from the top.

I can go the distance!

I got back to Athens late Saturday night, and spent the next day doing homework. Going to Olympus was easily one of the best decisions I have made on this trip so far. This time, I don’t think pictures do the trip justice!

“CYA” spelled out…this could make it far in the CYA photo contest!

New CYA friends and I! I guess the gods don’t like taking pictures with mortals…

Another view from the top.

PROST! DAS BOOT! These were the words that dominated my last weekend of September. It was a weekend of monumental proportions, the party of all parties, the dream of all beer lovers, and more importantly, one of the best weekends of my life: OKTOBERFEST

Shea and I in front of the horses that carry the beer.

Everyone in Europe had the same destination this weekend: Munich, Germany. In a crowd of 6 million people all with the same intention of having the craziest party of their life, I quickly figured out why this is the world’s most popular festival. However, Oktoberfest was not always such a crazy phenomena. It started in 1810 as a wedding celebration for the marriage of King Ludwig I. It wasn’t even until 1887 that Oktoberfest breweries were started! Boy have they made a lot of progress.

I left Athens Thursday night, Sept. 26, with Shea, one of my best friends from Holy Cross studying in Athens with me. After just managing to catch our flight to Munich (Greek public transportation can be risky considering random strikes and shut downs are always a possibility), we made it to Germany, where it was packed! We stayed in a hostel in Augsburg, a city forty minutes west of Munich. It was so crazy that night that we couldn’t even board our scheduled train because it was already filled past max capacity. While waiting we walked around the city: I was so impressed. I had no expectations for Germany, and it blew me away. Besides it being extremely cold, I found the city, the architecture, and the layout extremely organized and beautiful. Something particularly interesting to me was that the most apartment buildings, while having different colors, were extremely uniform and connected, with the traditional high and triangular German roofs. But what am I doing wasting time talking about this? Let’s get to the important part: drinking beer.

Excitement from the first night there!

Here’s how it works: The festival is held for 16 days in a huge square in the center of the city. The whole point is to get into these HUGE beer tents (huge as in holds 6,000 people each) to get beer and German food, and the rest of the square has amusement rides, souvenir shops, and eateries. The tents open at 9 am, and are extremely hard to get into, meaning you have to be in line by 7:30 if you have a shot of getting in. This means that we had to wake up at an appalling 5:30 am in order to catch the earliest train from Augsburg to Munich in time to get there and walk from the train station to Oktoberfest in time to get into the tent. While the cold morning air and groggy eyes were at first a downer at 6 am, boarding the train with Germans pre-gaming and shouting German drinking songs quickly made everything better.

Prost! German “Cheers!”

The perfect combination: Augustiner Brau + huge bavarian pretzel = happiness

Me with my Oktoberfest hat!

Well we got in! We decided to go to Augustiner Brau, the most traditional beer tent and most popular among the locals. I can attest to that: the beer was amazing and the tent atmosphere was so much fun! It was filled to the brim, smelt like fresh Bavarian pretzels out of the oven, and filled with the music of a live German band playing traditional music that everyone sang along to. I have a ton of respect for the waiters and waitresses: They managed to carry around 8 steins of beer all by themselves all day long! Now, let’s talk steins. A stein literally means “rock” in German, and is the blessed vessel that contains their magical liquid. One stein is the equivalent to around 2.5 American beers. Combine this with the fact that German beer is much stronger than American beer, and that beer for Oktoberfest alone is stronger than typical German beer, and you have the ingredients for a great time. Along with singing with the tent, we met friends from around the continent and hung out with them. We had traditional German sausage and Bavarian pretzels, and then rode a roller coaster outside the tent!

The entirety of the tent!

Tons of amusement rides such as this surrounded the tents

Whether it was a good decision or not, we rode this roller coaster after we left the tent.

We got the best of both worlds: festival and sightseeing. On Saturday our other friends Jack and Gina studying in St. Andrews joined us. We went to the same tent Saturday and Sunday: so that is three days in a row of Oktoberfest: true champs! BUT each day around 2 pm we left the festival and walked around Munich sight seeing. First we went to beautiful German cathedrals, then we went to Marien Platz, the city hall. Marien Platz is the ideal European urban environment: monumental gothic architecture, huge squares, traditional restaurants, all sprinkled with parks and monuments. On the way back to Augsburg, we made friends with a local of the town who ended up giving us a private tour of Augsburg! We toured the old city section, called “Little Venice” because of its many canals throughout the city. She then took us to a German restaurant that she worked at, where we had a delicious sampler of German meats.

The four of us!

Marien Platz: the heart of Munich.

One of the beautiful parks in the city

Jessica Musik! The girl who gave us personal tour of Augsburg.

Meat sampler. My favorite was the pork with delicious crispy skin…very different than anything I have had.

Overall, the weekend was the perfect balance of fun and adventure. Perhaps going in with no expectations was a good thing: because everything impressed me. We did the weekend right, and I could not have asked for a better way to experience the country for the first time. I left Germany with a burning desire to go back, hopefully I can manage to do so!

I swear I am actually a student! I just happen to go to a school that sends me not to one Greek Island, but to two! And all in the span of 10 days! CRAZY, right?.  Our journey starts on the island of Andros, goes to Crete, and ends back at the Port of Pireaus outside of Athens.

Me and a σκιλακι (greek for “puppy”) taking in the Andros sunrise.

ANDROS-The Perfect Get-Away

            Andros is a large island about a two hour ferry ride from Athens, and it is gorgeous. I am eventually going to run out of adjectives to describe my experience because it was all so breathtaking. This was an optional trip, so only about 30 students and I went. The leader of the trip was my modern Greek teacher, Lida, who knew the island well because she went to the island for her summer vacations growing up.

Part of the Andros coastline

Like most islands, Andros has a very mountainous terrain, which provides an impressive background for the small villages on the coast. The village we stayed in was literally right on the water, centered around a huge lighthouse on a rock in the middle of the sea. When you look at the village, all you see is red and white, for houses are all white with red roofs. On the road next to the coast are bars and tavernas, of which I can attest have very good seafood! Walk up the narrow streets, climb some marble stairs, and you’ll reach the main center, sprinkled with sweet shops, artisan stores, and tavernas covered with bright purple flowers. I fell in love with how quaint the center was, and I was surprised to see that it was still active even at 12:30 at night, with families still eating and kids running around: the perfect get away!

The red and white houses of Andros

Full terrain: from mountain, to village, to sea

While there, we went to an archaeological site and learned a lot about the origins of this windy island. Fun fact: Ancient Athens was very hostile to Andros because it hosted Persians in their villages during the Persian War…bad mistake Andros! We went to the beach every day…and when I say beach I don’t mean the cold North Atlantic waters with seaweed everywhere: I mean warm, turquoise water so clear that you can see the bottom five feet in. Taking advantage of this, I used my goggles to see what exactly is in the Aegean. Well, I found lots of small fish, similar to mini bass, along with sea grass with small schools of baby neon colored fish. We swam to coves with stalagmites (of which I broke a piece off for a souvenir), rocks for cliff jumping, and on one beach to a massive natural rock formation in the shallow end of the water. Once dried off, we went to lunch for stuffed tomatoes and peppers, along with fresh fish and local cheese. To finish off the weekend, we went to a monastery on the top of huge mountain with a stunning view of the island. Small buses took us up the narrow roads on the extreme sides of the mountains to provide more beautiful views…driving like that is not for the faint of heart. After a tour of the monastery, we concluded by visiting an olive oil museum, where they used to make olive oil the old fashioned way. The owner of the house gave us a demonstration of how to make homemade olive oil. The process is very detailed…and actually involves donkeys!

Me and the natural rock formation at the beach; this is my expectation of Greek islands come true!

View from the top of the Monastery

CRETE-The Texas of the Aegean

            Ever since my world history class in freshman year of high school, I have grown a desire to visit Crete, so spending four days with private (and free) tours of all the sites was truly a dream come true!

The Greeks call Crete the “Texas” of the Mediterranean because everything is bigger in Crete: the food, the amount of guns/knives, and the ego. It certainly seemed like a different country, and I LOVED it. Cretan culture is fascinating, and is a very passionate one due to its constant history of resistance against foreign invaders. This trip was mandatory and started with an 8 hour ferry ride, which was my first time sleeping in a boat cabin! The trip was built directly into my Art and Archaeology course I am taking. My professor, Prof. Steven Diamant, led truly inspiring on-site lectures at all of the ancient sites. While at these sites, he made me feel like I was actually there, recounting every detail of Minoan culture and analyzing every block of their architecture. Even though we woke up around 8 am every day, everything was worth it knowing that the remains of an ancient civilization from the 14th century BC is your classroom!

Crete sunset over the harbor

The Crete mountain side

Ancient Minoan archaeology can pretty much be summed up with large palaces, of which we went to two: Knossos and Phaistos. Fun Fact: the Minoan village of the Knossos was the VERY FIRST EVER European city. So, I think that’s a pretty big deal. However, most exciting of all was when we got to the site of Knossos, guess what the Cretan workers there were doing? ON STRIKE. In response to massive job cuts, all the tourist sites closed that day. Well, I guess it’s all part of the experience!

Me on top of an ancient Mycenaean burial site in the Archanos Cemetery of Crete

The site of Knossos…with some reconstruction

In between these sites, we went to the beach at Matala, which grew famous for their coves in the bedrock where 1970 American hippies would camp out in! The coves were also home to some Roman burials, but I think the hippy thing is cooler.  I tasted some traditional Cretan cuisine: Snails…which actually were delicious (very different from the French version), the Cretan gyro (bigger than ones in Athens), and LOTS and lots of Raki (Cretan “moonshine” like liquor that is now my favorite of all kind…it grew on me fast. Unfortunately it is illegal in the U.S.).

The hippy caves at Matala

Cretan snails…so tasty

Lastly, we hiked the Samaria Gorge in the south side of the island. It was an 11 mile hike downhill with amazing views. On the way there, we passed field after field of olive trees (I mean, everywhere you look there are olive trees), and tons of goats! After the hike, we went for a quick swim in the Libyan sea, only 250 miles from Africa…certainly the closest I have ever been to Africa!

The famous olive tree. The twisted stem means it has been around for hundreds of years. Some believe the twists resemble tortured human faces.

THE GORGE

We hiked along a natural water source. Stunning.

Once home, I uploaded the pictures from my camera. I ended up taking 800 pictures…a true sign of a good time! Hope these did my trip some justice!

Gotta save the best for last!

So this post is well overdue, but I have to tell you about my first full week living in Athens. I have to say, I have become quite fan of the Athenian living culture. And here’s why:

The people. Everyone here are SO friendly! The Greeks love to talk, mostly about themselves, but the point is that they always make you feel welcome and appreciated. Their enthusiasm for life is purely contagious, and makes you feel like you have a purpose being there.

The culture. Greek culture is unlike anything I have experienced. Family permeates everything, and even in hard times Greeks still find reasons to smile. People in Athens are very happy and proud to be Greek, and love when you make an attempt to speak their language, no matter how bad it might be!

The food! This is obvious to say, but the Mediterranean diet will be very hard to shake when I come home! The cuisine is soaked in the best olive oil, and only the freshest vegetables, meats, and fruits are used. In fact, the food is so fresh that you have to buy the ingrediants and cook it in the same or next day, or else it will spoil. Also, every Friday, there is an open air food market two blocks from my apartment. There you find the freshest Mediterranean foods, olive oil, wine, spices, and lots of Greek food vendors pushing you over and screaming in Greek…it’s all part of the experience.  I love it! Of course the only thing better than buying the food is eating it…and eating it at tavernas! Tavernas are Greek restaurants, but extremely different than U.S. restaurants in many ways. First, they don’t really open til 8 ish (dinner is super late!), and you normally always eat outside across the street from the actual restaurant on beautiful concrete squares. Food is always ordered in family styles and then everyone just picks until they are full! Normally they start with appetizers such as tzatziki (yogurt dip with cucumber and garlic), fried zuccini, salad, and feta (…lots of feta). So far my favorite dinners have been lamb, fried sardines, and octopus. Of course, wine is a necessity with every taverna dinner, so every meal has a happy ending!

Delicious Grilled Octopus at a taverna dinner

Living arrangements. Everyone in Athens lives in apartments. However, something unique to Greek culture is that every apartment has a balcony! My balcony overlooks a huge Greek Orthodox church across the street, and is used for drying my clothes on close lines. In this sense, living in Athens is very traditional. I feel very old fashioned hanging my clothes to dry on my balcony after cleaning up the kitchen from a home cooked meal. Coming from a dorm style life at Holy Cross, this new independent way of living is both challenging and exciting.

Location. My location could not be better! My school is across the street from the National Gardens and right next to the first modern Olympics stadium (made entirely of marble). The section of the city I live in is called Pangrati, and it is a quaint residential neighborhood that I am growing to love. There are tons of small businesses, as well as a bakery at every corner (as opposed to having a Dunkin’ Doughnuts on every corner at home).  I have yet to find a Chinese take out place or a McDonalds, but when I do I will certainly let you know!

SO, that is why living in Athens is so great, not to mention FUN. For my first weekend here, I went to an Athens beach, took my first Greek ferry to the island of Aegina, and then ventured into Gazi, the heart of the bar/club scene in Athens. There is a TON of cool things to do here.  However, out of all that I have done so far, I will never forget the first time I stepped foot in the Mediterranean sea…that was when it really hit home for me where I was.

Here are some pics from my weekend excursions!

Some friends and I at my first trip to an Athens Beach!

Beautiful Aegean sunrise before our trip to Aegina

The ruins of the acropolis of Aegina, a once thriving sea power and pottery island in the 6th century B.C.

Me showing my love to ancient Greek architecture!

So I am actually in Athens!! How in the world did this happen? Well, I am finally recovered from jetlag and have so much to tell you!

First off, I flew from Philly to London, and from London to Athens. The London to Athens flight was so cool because we flew right over the Swiss Alps! Then we arrived in Greece…GREECE! I have only been thinking about this moment for my whole life! And my first impression? HOT…and lots of mountains. Greece is covered with hills and gorgeous greenery. The airport was about a half hour away from the city, so I took a taxi to my apartment in the city. Now, contrary to the United States, the Greeks do not believe in doorknobs! I was standing outside my apartment building alone for a good ten minutes before I could actually figure out how the lock worked and enter my building. Once that panic attack was over, the real adventure began.

We spent the first day doing orientation events and meeting roommates and so forth…so I basically felt like a freshman all over again, which is pretty ironic after just being an Orientation Leader at my own school…funny how the roles have switched! At this point, I was still very overwhelmed and exhausted, and I just happened to look out of the school’s third floor balcony…and there it was. The Acropolis! At that moment, everything felt right and all my worries went away, I mean who has time to worry when you are looking at the acropolis?!

I began to sum up Athens pretty quickly: Athens is a beautiful city, but not in the manicured, high rise, glass building, clean and organized, American city kind of way…because it’s not. Athens is NATURALLY beautiful. It is covered with Mediterranean plant life, paved in marble, and spotted with mountains. Its ancient ruins are not behind thick glass screens to protect them, nor are they hidden in the safety of some expensive museum. Instead, they are simply part of the city, out in the open for anyone to stumble upon. The classics are truly a fact of life here, and there is much pride for that in this city. It is obvious that Athens has been through a lot, and it might be a little rough around the edges…but that is the beauty of it! Living in Athens is so special because of how friendly the people are.  Living in Athens is so special because of the cross-section of cultures that meet here. But most excitingly, Athens is so special because a mere walk to class or trip to get ice cream means a chance to catch a glimpse of the Parthenon, or maybe pass by ancient Greek baths. These are moments that remind us that the classics are still alive and well, and aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Here are some pictures of my first few days!

The Holy Cross group and some new friends in front of the First ever modern Olympic stadium. It is completely in marble and just so happens to be next to our school.

Can’t wait to update you with more later! My goal is a post once a week, so we will see how that turns out!

Hello lucky blog readers! Welcome to my Holy Cross blog, where I will write about all my exciting adventures as I embark on the trip of my dreams. My name is Harry Crimi, a proud member of the Class of 2015, and a double major in Classics and Psychology. This year, I will be studying in Athens, Greece during my fall semester, and Rome, Italy for my spring semester.  I officially leave in one week!  By going to Athens and Rome, I am truly making the most of Holy Cross’s Classics department. For those who don’t know, a Classics major means studying Latin and Ancient Greek language, literature, and history. I have a huge passion for the ancient world and their intricate languages. Going to these places has been my dream for as long as I could remember, and spending a year there studying is an opportunity of a lifetime. My goal for now is to spend this year focusing on my classics major, and spend next year completing my Psychology major at Holy Cross.

In order for you to get the most out of reading this, I want to share some information about myself. Since it’s impossible to sum up my life in one post, the majority of things will come up during my future entries. But here are some good things for starters:

I am 100% Italian, which means, naturally, my life revolves around family, family dinners, food, and even more food. In fact, I love food so much that if you are someone who doesn’t truly value it, you might not get a lot out of reading this blog! All kidding aside though, I come from a very loving family. I have the best parents I could ever ask for. My sister, Diana, is absolutely my best friend, and my brother-in-law, Will, makes me proud every day by serving in the army.  He actually just got back from Afghanistan this past week…he better be reading this!  I also recently became an uncle and god-father to my baby nephew, Anthony, whom I talk about so much people must think he is mine.

Me with Diana, Will, and baby Anthony at the beach!

I hail from Havertown, Pennsylvania, a small suburb minutes away from Philadelphia.  To me, Philly is the greatest city in the world.  I love it so much and have so much pride to live here. This often leads to many arguments with my Boston friends at school over which city is historically more important…I’ll let you decide that on our own.  My strong ties from the city are also due to my family’s own business in South Philadelphia, called Cappuccio’s Meats.  Yes – my family owns a butcher shop, and has owned it since 1920! We specialize in homemade and gourmet Italian sausage. So this means whenever I am not studying in Europe, babysitting my nephew, taking notes in class, or hanging out at a toga party, I am in the butcher shop making sausage! Naturally the first thing I am going to be looking for in Greece will be Greek butcher shops.  Maybe they can give me some pointers about how to sell lamb! But for now, go like Cappuccios’ page on facebook!

Shot of the beautiful Philadelphia skyline!

As for schooling, I went to an all guy high school and made some of the best friends I could ask for, shout out to my Devon bros! I’m now at Holy Cross and LOVE it. I really like getting involved and I have made great friends these past two years. I’ve always been a fan of the arts, so I decided to continue with them in college. Every week I relax by singing with the Chapel Choir, a small choir that sings for the Sunday 7pm mass. I work on my dancing skills by ballroom dancing every Monday and Thursday night with Holy Cross’s Ballroom Dance Team, a team that I adore for how goofy and fun the teammates are. I mingle with theatre by being apart of ACT, the school’s student theatre program, where I actually co-produced our spring musical last year, Spring Awakening! I also have been a part of the Holy Cross Orientation program.  Being an orientation leader made me fall in love with this school even more, and helped me realize my true passion of working with and for others. However, the greatest decision I have ever made at college was joining the all male, amazingly talented, well sought after, and of course best looking A-Capella group, Sons of Pitches! Ever since joining this group in my second year, I have laughed and sang my heart out every Wednesday and Sunday with these guys.  They made some of the best memories I’ve had here at HC, and I’m really gonna miss singing with them this year.  So after two years of great activities, I am very curious to see what I might venture into this year!

Group shot of all the members of Sons of Pitches!

So that’s enough about me for now. I promise not all my posts will be this long. I really hope you follow my blog and keep posted on my travels. If you ever want to contact me for any reason, feel free to comment on the blog or to email me at hgcrim15@g.holycross.edu! Now I have to figure out how I’m going to spend my last week at home…I guess packing (which I haven’t even started yet)!

Thanks for reading and stay tuned…It’s gonna be one hell of a ride!