Classics Trip to Athens

Due to a change in topics studied for GCSE Classical Civilisation, the annual Fourth Form Classics trip headed this year to Athens, not Sorrento.  Flying out on the final Wednesday of term, 18 boys and 3 staff gathered early on the Thursday morning on the steps of the Acropolis to meet our guide, the archaeologist Nikolaus, who offered an in-depth study of the Acropolis, not only focusing on the Parthenon, Propylaea and Erechtheum, but also looking closely at the Mycenaean remains and a study of the others sites of Athens from this high vantage point.  We toured the new Acropolis Museum, moving carefully through the numerous free-standing statues, before ending in the Parthenon gallery, carefully designed to look straight out on the Parthenon itself through walls of glass, the dispute over the British Museum collections deftly and lightly washed over by Nikolaus.  A well-earned feast awaited us in Monastiraki.  

On our second day, we toured the vast National Archaeological Museum, before visiting the beautiful Temple of Poseidon at Sounion, standing on a promontory overlooking the Aegean Sea.  Our final day included a relaxing boat trip to the island of Aegina, home to the Temple of Aphaia standing on a rocky outcrop looking down over the whole island, before relaxing on the beach below prior to our return to Athens.  The sun shone throughout, and the food was plentiful and delicious. 

Stephen Heath
Head of Classics