Day 13

Packing the bags to depart the cruise was a hard thing to do. Stopping at the airport was even harder. Waiting in line for two hours made it worse. This day was just so said, I don’t even want to talk about it. The 13 hour plane rides didn’t help either. I know that things in life will come and go, but not experiences. Those will live forever and when you have the opportunity to experience them again, take it and don’t think about. Instead of considering this day a departure, I look at it as inspiration. To come back and see the things I didn’t have time for. Like they all say you have it take it one step at a time.

Day 12

This will be the last real day in Greece, sadly enough, so what other what to celebrate our departure, see more art of course, but this art is different. When I say different I mean it is not necessarily Greek. Its technically Cretan art or also known as Minoan and Mycenaean. These two culture precede Ancient Greece by at least 2000 years. To prove how they contributed to Ancient Greek art, we visited the Archaeological Museum of Crete. In there I saw a lot of interesting creations. For one the famous Minoan Snake Goddess, although I almost didn’t see it due to its size, but I managed. Also, the Minoans in particular were a bull-orientated culture, they  had paintings of them, they were represented on their tombs and served as decorations for doors. This was interesting because this trend is also present in other ancient cultures. As I stepped out of the Museum, I realized the time in Greece was coming closer and closer to its end and I just had to accept it. Its hard to say goodbye, but its easier if you believe you’ll visit again.

Day 11

Today is the day we get to visit Turkey, more specifically Kusadasi. I have never heard of this island but I am glad that I did. I almost what to say it was the most amazing part of the trip. Not only was shopping there less expensive but the best part was when I took a hamam or Turkish bath. I’m not going to lie, that was probably the hottest water I have ever touched, but it could not have felt better. It was interesting to do something different rather to see a museum. Don’t get me wrong I live to see art, but I also would like to appreciate a learn more about the cultures that serve as legacies to those great artists. Art describes one part of a culture, but living with and communicating with the people on a personal level is different. 

Day 10

This is the start of our three day cruise and this is my first time being on a cruise as well. The first stop we will make is to Mykonos, a little Greek island. Not much to see in terms of art, but the landscapes were very beautiful. The sand, the water and the boats were just great to look at. Personally, walking on a Greek beach versus an American one just feels better. Your mind is in a calmer state and plus they are a lot quieter making relaxing easier.

Day 9

Athens, the most famous Greek city as well as the capital. Known for its amazing art and architecture, specifically the Parthenon. The Parthenon was more than just a structure built for the Gods, but given the size of it, I almost want to say it was it was a whole new city. I love how it is just separated from the rest of Athens. I feel that the Greeks created it that way because they wanted to isolate themselves when they wanted to worship the Gods versus being in the rest of Athens where wars were fought and brothels were visited. Complimenting the Parthenon, we also visited the Acropolis Museum. The Acropolis Museum is where most of the rooftop friezes and statues lay. All over you can see how the Greeks worshiped their Gods just by creating art.  Once again, I was proven why art can be so powerful and knowing that this will be one of the last days I will see Greek art, I can leave fully appreciating it.

Day 8

We have arrived in Delphi and whats next on the list is the Delphi Archaeological Museum as well as the Ancient city of Delphi. The museum was cool, a little short but cool. I guess it was designed to let us know what the archaeologist found in the actual city. I would have to say that the city was more interesting because this is the first time we get to see architecture dedicated to the Gods. In Rome, it wasn’t as apparent and thats where Italy and Greece differ. First we were shown the Delphi Theatre which was interesting for me because when I take Theatre History next semester, maybe the professor will talk about this particular theatre. Next we saw the Temple of Apollo. The columns were still extant, but I’m not so sure if there was supposed to be a rooftop on the structure. If not, I assume the Greeks wanted to honor the fact that Apollo was the Sun God. If that was a bad joke I won’t write any more. If I fail, I’ll know why. Hopefully when we move on to Athens, I won’t need to fill in the blanks with jokes.

Day 7

Not too much happened today, were just on are way to Delphi. I do have to say that this is may first time on an overnight ferry so I’m enjoying this. From the outside, you can see a lot of peninsulas and from far away they look very beautiful. From knowing this I have a feeling that there will be a lot of water involved with everything we do here in Greece.

Day 6

All I can say is today will be just as rocky as yesterday, but in a more beneficial way. We are on the way to see the ancient site of Pompeii. Now although the Roman Forum is an ancient site, Pompeii is an actual ancient city. From what I heard, it was destroyed when a volcano from Mt. Vesuvius erupted. If thats the case, Pompeii was well preserved. When we were allowed inside, it looked like someone can still live there. The grass was taken care of and the trees looked healthy, it looked as if nothing happened at at all. Most of the columns were still extant and what was more importantly extant was the artwork. Interesting enough, most of the graffiti and artwork the Romans did were pornographic. On the walls were carved men with larger penises that usual as well as women with exposed breasts. This does explain why they had brothels, but this was outside of that. During the tour, the guide did allow us to see one vividly. All I can say was what I saw was the oldest porn to date ( not to be inappropriate, just evaluating art). On a different subject, the guide also showed us the famous body casts of the burn victims. How that was well preserved just amazes as well. That was pretty much Pompeii in a nutshell. I would have to say that Pompeii was a good closer considering it was are last day. Now its time to head for Greece so Bonjourno! Italy and Yiassou Greece.

Day 5

On today’s agenda all I can say is I prepared myself for a great deal of walking because thats all it will consist. This is the day where we will be climbing Mt. Vesuvius. Regardless of the walking it was very well worth it. Instead of looking at art, this day was dedicated for those who love to take pictures and with all the beautiful stuff to see, we needed to make sure we had back up memory cards. What I mainly liked about Mt. Vesuvius was from up top, you can actually see the Mediterranean Sea. I didn’t believe it but there it was. I honestly think I spent two hours just watching the boats sail away and at the same time I was catching my breath. Mt. Vesuvius had a mixture of views for rocky terranes, pastures and of course the Mediterranean all at one. It could not have been better. There was only one downfall of this visit and no pun intended. Everyone on the trip can agree with me that going down was the worst part. I seen people losing their balance and falling all over the place. I’m not going to lie it was funny, but also sad at the same time because I was the one doing it. I will definitely need some extra to recuperate after that battle of a mountain, but overall it was beautiful. Hopefully the next day will be a little less rocky!

Day 4

This day was spent by visiting Florence, the home of all the major Italian Renaissance artists and authors. Particularly Dante Aligheiri, the author of the Divine Comedy. Dante is one of my favorite writers of all time and when we got to see his house I partially felt complete. Although we didn’t go inside, I’ll take my progress one step at a time. The main highlight of Florence was also to see the Gates of Paradise by Ghiberti. I had done a paper on the doors the previous semester and to see them in person only made it a lot cooler. The museum of the day for some of us was the Uffizi which is the home of the Birth of Venus by Botticelli. The Uffizi was interesting, but it cannot live up to the name of the Vatican ( no offense). The sculpture inside were beautiful, but very repetitive thats why seeing the Birth of Venus was significant because it had a different theme from the sculptures. Moving away from the art, the city of Florence itself was just beautiful. More specifically the bridgework. If I lived in Florence, everyday I would sit by the bridges to watch the sun go down and reflect the moonlight on the water. It would have been so peaceful. Unfortunately the time in Florence has come to an end and I’ll need a good nights rest for the day tomorrow.

Day 3

I was right about that long day coming! Today would consist of visiting the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Vatican and the Pantheon. Before I can grasp the amount of walking we were going to do, I needed to have a good breakfast. Surprisingly, the breakfast at the first hotel was the best, much appreciated given how are day was going to be. To continue, we take the bus to the Colosseum and when I first stepped foot on it, I was intrigued to see how crafty the Romans can really be. I thought to myself how could a structure like the Colosseum be so beautiful if it was used for brutal entertainment, but it was a part of Roman culture so I’ll just go with it. The Colosseum also had a good view of Rome from up top. So much that you can see the Arches of Titus and Constantine. After the visit of the Colosseum, the tour guide showed us the Roman Forum or what was left of it. The architecture was nice, but I thought it would have been more preserved. Since those were the first ancient sites I’ve seen I’ll say it was good to look at. Moving on to the museum tour of the day, we visited the Vatican. The Vatican is well known for housing Michelangelo’s famous sistine chapel. That was definitely the highlight of the day, but it was very hard to concentrate on the art work because of the obnoxious security and plus it was crowed, but I could not have been any more pleased with the artwork I seen. Last but not least, the Pantheon. At first I thought the Pantheon would have been the same size as the Parthenon, but I learned that the two had different purposes. The Pantheon is complex in architectural form, but thats about it. It mainly housed some more Renaissance art but nothing major. The Pantheon was worth seeing and plus it didn’t require much walking, if anything you can see everything inside by just sitting down. The Pantheon pretty much served as a closer for that big day so I’ll see what will await me next.

Day 2

We finally arrive in France and even though it was only the airport, I can officially say I’ve been to France. I have always wanted to go to France ever since high school and I finally had the opportunity although it was for two hours or what I thought was two hours. It took me a minute to realize that we are not in American time anymore and had to set my watch a few hours earlier, making the wait feel longer. As 2:05 approached, we were ready to finally set foot in Italy. The plane from France to Rome wasn’t to bad so I have nothing to complain about. I was sleeping calmly when I heard the tires on the plane skidding on the road to secure landing. With that waking me up I realized we are now in Italy. We got off the plane and were accompanied by our tour guide, Tyson. With doing so, it was dinnertime and I cannot tell you how exited I was to have my first Italian meal. We get to the restaurant and waited to be seated. I couldn’t help but think how different the food would be in Italy versus America. Before we got are food, we were offered the choice of red or white wine. Now this isn’t the first time I had wine, but it was the first time I was actually offered and that was an offer I did not refuse. When in doubt, I’ll try both, we are in a different country and its time to try new things. I tasted my first sip and I was not disappointed. I had a feeling that from now till the rest of the time in Italy I was going to enjoy each meal. The meal comes and it mainly consisted of Prosciutto and lasagna made man was it good. Finally it was time to head back to the hotel and relax for the remainder of the night because I can just see we had a long day coming.

Day 1

Arriving in JFK waiting to board the plane to France. With this being my first experience traveling overseas, this would also be my first layover. As the time came to board the plane, I was very excited to do so. Not only was this my first time on a plane, but I also had a window seat so I can view the light-up city as I look down. As we prepared to take off I did fell a little nervous but that time came and passed. Finally we are up in the air I have never been so high before, it was just simply amazing. Unfortunately this was a 12 hour flight so in the mean time I’ll try to catch up with some sleep, trust me...I’ll need it with the events coming up.

How Greece Became the Trend Setters for Art

During the years of Ancient Greece and Rome was the time where the greatest creations of Western Civilization were established. The highlight of those moments was definitely shown through their art. Through their art we not only learn who much beautiful work they can produce, but we have a greater understanding of their religion, philosophy, politics, warfare and overall culture. Art has the ability to visually release information about a culture that is far in distance from us, meaning the events the Ancients lived though may have come to an end but their art will forever live on. Speaking of art continually living on, there is a lot of speculation on whether or not the Romans copied their style of art from the Greeks. I personally think the Greeks had an influence, but their is something about Roman art that is different from Greek and through talking about individual pieces, those differences will be shown. There were many differences because the times periods in Greek art also had impact on how art was designed (Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic). As time goes by, the traditions of the Ancients are left behind, but through the Renaissance period they are somewhat revived giving the meaning to “neoclassicism” or the revival of classical style of art.

Before the Ancient Greeks, there were two other civilizations known as the Minoans and Mycenaeans. Even to the Greeks these two cultures were considered ancient. If anything, we see that the Greeks had borrowed ideas from their art, but their are no written records to prove that. What we do have as proof is the art they created. The Minoan civilization was around roughly from 3000 BC to 1100 BC. In that time they produced vast amounts of art including the Minoan Snake Goddess. The real Snake Goddess can be seen at the Archaeological Museum in Crete. Seeing it for myself I did not realize it was going to be that small, but what can I expect. The significance of the Goddess was she holds the power of fertility. It is believed that the snakes in her hands are supposed to be phallic symbols, but that is a debate between art historians. She is fully clothed except for her bare breast, also another representation of her fertility. Although the Snake Goddess may not be the inspiration the Archaic Greeks needed to make sculptures, she sets the trend of female sculpting. As we move on to Archaic Greece, there was a change in how woman were represented. The best example would have to be shown through the Kore sculptures in the Acropolis Museum. Unlike the Minoan Snake Goddess, female statues in this time were fully clothed, more important their clothing represent how luxurious they were. Archaic art is also one of the first times we see the women having a variation of hairstyles, in the Kore statues they are designed with braids. Along with clothing and hairstyles, they can also be sculpted with jewelry and most of the time it will be earrings. So given the Minoan Snake Goddess was one of the first western sculpture of a female, the Greeks continued to add more detail the Minoans didn’t. 

Since Greece had the overall influence over western art, it also had an influence over architectural structures. A building was not just a building in Ancient Greece, but it was a place of sacred space. A place were the Greeks can celebrate and pay homage to their Gods. The reason I know the Ancient Greeks did not just build buildings is when I visited Greece for myself and saw their work in person, I can imagine and feel the time they put into composing the design for their architecture. In particular, the Parthenon was simply an amazing piece of architecture and more importantly place of worship. Its design was genuine and very well thought out. That is one advantage the architects had when building it during the classical period. More symbolically though, I want to point out the pediments and friezes. Before I go into detail, it is important to know that friezes placed into the Parthenon are partially extant. Through years of conquest the Parthenon has experienced years of destruction. To prevent any further eradication, the rooftops from the Parthenon which are the friezes were removed and placed into a safe place, the Acropolis Museum. The significance of that explanation is to tell you that because it was taken apart, it was easier to see the work that the Greeks put into when designing the structure. As I said earlier, the Parthenon was created in order to have a sacred place for the Gods to be appreciated and through the designs of the friezes, that appreciation was very much shown. Most of the reliefs depict the celebration of the Gods in a manner were they all come together. The inspiration of the design came from a festival that the Greeks held every four years. To honor that tradition, the Greeks spend countless hours of carving marble to depict the Gods in the most elaborate way. The Greeks skill to intricately show detail was passed on to the Romans when they created the arches for their emperors. Specifically, the Arch of Constantine located around the Coliseum. The Arch was created to honor the defeat of Maxentius as well as acknowledge the emergence of Christianity in Rome. Now a major difference between Greek and Roman art is the Romans tend to build more architectural structures for their emperors instead of Gods, giving it a more symbolic theme. Instead of showing what the Gods can do for their people, Roman art represents what the emperors can do. Seeing the Arch up close, a  majority of the reliefs show the Roman people praising Constantine as their leader. Although the Arch is not a form a sacred space, it makes the Roman people feel that with the right leaders, the whole country can be considered sacred space due to its protection. Since the Romans learned how to create friezes in such detail from the classical Greeks, though looking at art we learned Constantine represented his citizens.

I would have to say that Hellenistic period in Greece would have to be the most sophisticated when it comes to sculpture. This is the time when artists showed the most detail in muscular physique and emotion. One of the best examples I can give is the Laocoon and his sons in the Vatican. This sculpture depicts Laocoon and his sons trying to escape the deathly venom from the serpents. The inspiration of the sculpture comes the stories told in the Aeneid written by Virgil. The history of this story is speculated to be much older, but Virgil is the most recent source we have proof from. Although it was very crowded at the Vatican, I still managed to capture the sadness felt by those three men when trying to break free. Regardless of what time period is depicted, it will always be a duty to protect your children from any harm and no other piece during the Hellenistic period displays that. Since the style of this sculpture was so influential, the design of it reminds me of Michelangelo Pieta. Even through the Renaissance period, Greek and Roman techniques are still being used. The major reason I am juxtaposing the Pieta with Laocoon and his sons is they are similar in theme. The concept of being their for your children is a beautiful thing. Even though we are talking about the death of Jesus, Michelangelo wanted us to see the level of despair Mary felt when holding her son’s lifeless body. Unlike Laocoon and his sons which shows the men nude, the Pieta depicts Jesus and Mary clothed. This is significant because we see the adjustment made to Mary’s clothing so she carry properly hold her son. Although more Hellenistic art shows people clothed than any other periods in Greece, the Renaissance picked up that moral tradition form their new Christian beliefs.

Through visiting Greece, I physically seen what the Ancient Greeks can do with art but also have a greater understanding of why other cultures would be influenced by them. Even though every other culture surrounding them had their own unique sense of artistic style, it is clear that it derived from Ancient Greece.