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Classics Department

Classics Department Trip To Greece 2007

One of the great benefits of a school offering Classics is the opportunity this provides for trips that will always stay with those who go on them.

During the Easter holidays 30 pupils and 3 members of staff spent a glorious week exploring the Classical sites of Greece.

After a sloppy start involving Miss Nelson losing her passport and being unable to accompany the trip and trip leader Mr O’Brien leaving his bag behind (Many thanks to Mr and Mrs Hamilton for solving that particular problem) the group set off at some ungodly hour for Heathrow.

Several hours later we landed in the hustle and bustle that is Athens.

Day 2 was a full and fascinating day. The group visited the Acropolis, home of the magnificent and awe-inspiring Parthenon and Erectheion, the Theatre of Dionysus (of particular interest to students of GCSE and A level Classical Civilisation), the Temple of Hephaestus, the Temple of Zeus, the 1896 Olympic stadium and the National Archaeological museum of Greece. It was during this day that many people spotted that Miss Billingsley had an  extraordinary level of interest in Classical sculpture. She certainly spent a lot of time examining some of the statues very closely

As if that was not enough we also looked destiny in the eye and laughed in its face by taking on the Athenian underground at rush hour and stumbled upon a massive protest rally complaining about police brutality. The police responded to this rally by displaying in full the very brutality that the good people of Athens were complaining about.

From Athens we headed north to the beautiful town of Delphi.

En route we stopped at the stunning medieval monastery of Ossios Loukos. At Delphi we visited the site of the Oracle of Apollo (an Ancient version of Mystic Meg but without the hideous lipstick), marvelled at the beauty and remoteness of this Ancient religious site and most importantly had a race on the perfectly preserved 2500 year old running track used for the Pythian games. The race was run by Will Mason but an honourable mention should go to the runner-up Mr Lambert. A dishonourable mention to Becca Wright, who trailed in a disappointing 137^th just behind a man with two artificial hips. At Delphi some of the group impressed the locals at a disco. Lyle Barke, Ed Williams and James Tandy in particular did their best for Anglo-Hellenic relations.

Next up was a visit to Olympia, home, since 776 BC, of the Ancient Olympic games. Encountering a vicious thunderstorm we were stunned to hear words that teachers dream of hearing - “Please can we go into the museum?”

Fortunately the museum at Olympia is equipped with some stunning artwork and the pupils found plenty to interest them.

Poseidon and Zeus finally relented and we were able to step outside and potter around another inspiring and wonderful site.

Olympia however was home to another epic sporting event.

Liam Galvin, Christian Onions, Hugo Hilditch and Messrs O’Brien and Lambert took on a group of local teenagers in a game of 5-a-side football. England recorded a rare away win in Europe and the conquering heroes were cheered to the rafters by WAGs Ella Leighton, Mel Mackey and Georgie Tandy.

The group then travelled further into the Peloponnese and visited the remains of Nestor’s palace, the fascinating Ancient city of Sparta and the beautiful medieval town of Mistra,where in the 12^th century AD, the Roman Empire finally fell.

We stayed in the picturesque town of Pylos where the group enjoyed the facilities of the seaside and a relaxing afternoon after a hectic few days and Seb Hamilton did a splendid impersonation of the archetypal Englishman abroad although he refused to tie a handkerchief around his head.

Our last couple of days were based in the lovely costal town of Tolon in a hotel that was so posh several pupils were worried about not having brought a dinner jacket

From here we were able to visit the site of Mycenae, home of King Agamemon and also the stunning and perfectly preserved theatre at Epidauros, where an assortment of bemused tourists were treated to a hearty rendition of Jerusalem.

On the last night the pupils participated in a quiz and packed their suitcases for the 5^th and last time.

Driving back to Athens we stopped to look at the stunning Corinth canal and made our sorry way back to England.

I should like to thanks all the pupils for their positive attitude and excellent behaviour during the trip and also Mr Lambert and Miss B for their unstinting efforts, support and friendship during a hectic but thoroughly enjoyable trip.

Bring on THE BAY OF NAPLES 2008

The Cohort of Greece 2007

POB

Sept 2007

Itinerary

Greece Itinerary

27/03/07 – 03/04/07

Day 1 – Depart for Greece via Gatwick (time tbc)

Day 2 – The Acropolis/Agora/Temple of Zeus/1896 Olympic Stadium

Day 3 – The National Archaological Museum followed by departure for Delphi via the Monastery at Ossios Loukas.

Day 4 – Visit to the site of Dephi followed by departure for Olympia

Day 5 – Visit site of Olympia followed by departure for Tolon.

Day 6 – Visit to site of Mycenae and the mediaeval town of Nauplion.

Day 7 – Visit to Epidauros followed by departure for Athens.

Day 8 – free time in Athens followed by departure for home.