Another update

Saturday, a flatmate (Victoria) and I went to the 1st cemetery of Athens. We looked for the tomb of Schliemann, but didn't find it. I think we'll go as a class to see it. After a trip through Plaka (the touristy area), we headed to Edem for a bit of beach and seafood. We tanned and swam a bit, then had calamari and salad at the Edem Cafe on the beach. Victoria had never had squid before, so it was an interesting experience.
Sunday was spent in the apartment studying. Pretty much everyone in the apartment was getting back from weekend travels or studying. We all had reading to catch up on. It was really nice to sleep in for a day.
Monday, we climbed to the Acropolis. It was an interesting trip. We only did the early Archaic period and earlier, but we'll make a few more trips up (including tomorrow). The coolest part was our guest lecturer. He's a CYA professor, who works on the Acropolis most of the time. He took us up onto the Propylaia (the Grand Gateway to the Acropolis), which the common visitors never get to do! Archaeologists are still working to restore the Propylaia and so tourists aren't allowed onto the wings or dining areas. We got to hear about the entire history of the gateway from its creation in the 6th century BC to restoration in the 20th century AD. We also climbed the hill where the high court of Athens was. This was the same hill that St. Paul spoke from. It was a slippery climb, but a beautiful view.
Tuesday, the class met up at the National Archaeological Museum (NAM), and looked at the Kouroi of the Archaic period, the Artemision Bronze of the classical period, and lots of grave markers from the classical period. We then took the metro to Piraeus, where we saw classical bronzes at the Museum of Piraeus. It hadn't been open in about 15 years, so it was special for us to be able to see the bronze Athena and Artemises. There was also a trireme, one of the ramming elements of the ancient ships. The class continued down to see where to ancient ship sheds used to be and ate lunch on the water, but unfortunately I had an asthma attack and caught a taxi back to the apartment in Pangrati. I slept it off and was feeling well enough to go to the opera with a group that night. It was in Italian with Greek subtitles, but we had a basic plot (some of which we made up along the way in our heads :D ).
This morning was a early one to head off to the Agora, were we looked at the Hephestion, the courts, the house of Simon (where Socrates like to hang out), the prison (where Socrates was held and killed himself by drinking hemlock), and the Agora Museum, which has many of the tools used by the citizens and democratic government, as well as some of the most famous burials in Athens from the Archaic period when there were still burials in the Agora. After that, a group of the girls and I went to lunch with our professor (Nicola Wardle). Tonight is a paper writing night though, so not too much more fun for the day.
I hope everyone at home is well.