Thursday, June 16, 2011 - Thessaloniki, Greece

Today has been a full, full, full day.  Let's see - we started off by going to the largest university in Greece - the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and visited with two professors of education - Dr. Kesidou and Dr. Repoussi.  It was so interesting to hear about the public education system here in Greece as well as how the teachers are prepped and trained here.  While the set-ups of the schools are similiar, the style of teaching and learning are quite different. 

This is me at the top of one of the round buildings at Aristotle University over looking the city of Thessaloniki that has a population of about 1 million.  Gorgeous day today!

Then we headed to Peiramatiko K-12 school and meet with the principal and three teachers.  The students just got out of school for the summer last Friday (bummer that I couldn't meet any of them!) so we met with the teachers to talk about the similiarities, differences, strengths, and struggles of our profession here in Greece and throughout the United States.  I'm not sure how I missed taking pictures of the school or the classroom, but I did.  However, I did see this piece of art work on the wall that made me think of Paloma with much love!

The universial sign for peace!

After our talk at the school, we headed down to tour the White Tower which I had actually walked to my first day in town.  There are five floors in the tower, and each tower has a different museum on each floor.  The view at the top was breathtaking!

Walking up the stairs to the next level in the White Tower.  Not bad at all!

Listening to our tour guide, Stathis, who is traveling with us our entire time in Greece.

Melissa (a middle school world history teacher from Texas) and I on the top of the White Tower enjoying the view and the breeze!

The White Tower.  That's our tour guide, Stathis, in the orange shirt, and then the gentlemen in the khaki pants is Dr. Dimitris Doutis, who is our Fulbright representative that met us in New York and will be with us until we reach Athens.

Here is our bus that gets us all around.  Our driver is amazing on these narrows, one-way streets!  That's Kay, a 6th grade teacher from the San Fran area, looking my way.

We finally got around to eating lunch around 3:00 pm.  (Thank goodness for my Trader Joe almonds I have along with me!)  It was worth the wait to eat at the delicious Bazaar restuarant in downtown Thessaloniki.  Then we walked around the downtown area to view several ruins from the Roman time period.  We first went to see the Rotonta - but were not able to tour it. 

Rotonta

Then we made our way to the Galerius arch.  The intricate craftsmenship and details on this structure just amazed me.  There is just one arch intact today - but it was easy to imagine another one and a large dome over top.

Galerius Arch

The details tell a fascinating story of anicent history.  The way the art tells a story reminds me of Native American art.

We were all quite hot by this point and many were happy to find a gelato store and a Starbucks nearby.  I was happy to find a Boss Ice Cream bar.  Last summer when I was in Bulgaria with Mrs. McNeely, these were our favorite daily treats.  I was happy to find them here as well and no doubt will be enjoying a few during my time in Greece.  I'll have to take a picture some time of that!  :-)

Then we walked to Saint Sophia Church, but it was also closed and we were unable to tour it.  However, learning the history of the church and see the architecture fromt the outside of a big treat.



St. Sophia Church

  Our last stop of the day was at The Byzantine Museum.  This is the only Greek museum ever to be presented the Eurpoean Union best museum award, which it won in 2005, and we were all excited to go.  The Byzantine Empire lasted about 1000 years, from around 300 A.D. to 1453 when the Turks and the Ottoman Empire took over Constantinople/Istanbul.  The amount of history and information that this one museum held was mind boggling.  My students all know how much I LOVE history and LOVE looking at and talking about primary resources from early American history - but the things I was looking at and viewing today were from 1500+ years ago!!!  I especially was personally interested in the history of early Christianity during this time period and region.  So fascinating.

Check out the symmetry and details in this mosaic tile from a floor of an early church from the 4th century.

This is a wall mosaic from an early church in the 4th or 5th century.  Each piece is a hand-cut square shaped stone that was painted and tiled together.  Amazing, amazing, amazing.

Here are Kay, Melissa, and Liza (a kindergarten teacher from Northen California) taking a much needed rest between one of the 11 rooms in the Byzantine Museum.

This marble statue is entitled "Good Shepherd" and is from the 4th century.  Come to find out, these were not originally just creamy marble, but back during the actual time would have been painted brightly and colorfully.  Over the years, the paint fades and when archaeologists find these artifacts the restorers do not paint them because there is no historical evidence left to know for sure how they were painted.

And, this is a tunic of a priest from the 18th century.  Oh, I wish this picture truly could show you the details and intrinsic pattern that was on this masterpiece.  Mind blowing.

So - like I said - it was a busy day today.  I'm wiped out and need to go to bed in order to recharge my brain so I can be ready for the amazing facts I will learn tomorrow, places I will visit tomorrow, and people I will get to meet tomorrow!

Good night!