Greece: A Day of Visiting a Honey Farm, an Ancient Theater, and More!

Morning:

Last day in Athens! We spent breakfast on the rooftop with a view of the Parthenon and had to meet in the lobby at 7:45 AM. We spent around an hour on the bus before stopping at Corinth Canal to stretch for a few minutes and take pictures. After that, another hour on the bus before we got to Bairaktaris Beekeeping Honey Farm!

Bairaktaris Beekeeping Honey Farm:

Bairaktaris is a small honey farm in the Peloponnese region within the mainland of Greece. The visit itself consisted of a short walk up to the top of the hill, where we met a few of the people who work at the honey farm. The visit started with bread, fresh honey, and tea. They also let us try pieces of the honeycomb that they harvested, which we realized tasted somewhat similar to gum. After the snacks, we were given a tour of the old machinery they used for beekeeping, as well as information on the process. They showed the centrifuge used to extract the honey from the honeycomb, and the intelligence of the bees due to their ability to not only create a perfect form but to also repair any damage created during the process of removing the excess honey. Bairaktaris not only extracts honey, they also have access to the royal jelly, a special liquid produced specifically for each queen bee. The royal jelly is not harvested as often, especially since the queen bee lives for around 5 years, whereas worker bees live up to 6 months. Bairaktaris not only sells honey, but they also sell honey vinegar, different creams, and even candles. Most of the products are only sold locally, the exception being the honey vinegar, which they sell in the US and Canada. During the visit, we were able to also take a tour of the products themselves, and also purchase a few of them!

Epidaurus:

After Bairaktaris, we visited the ancient theater of Epidaurus. The theater, created in 300 BC, was built into the side of a hill, and was designed in order to have the voices of the actors travel naturally up to the last row. The Greeks valued the theater because they considered it to be important for self expression without the destruction of order. Dionysus, the God of theater, was considered a liberator because he allowed people to become every aspect of their personality by getting them drunk. 

Tomb of Agamemnon:

We also visited the Tomb of Agamemnon, or what is assumed to be such. The story of Agamemnon denotes his travels in order to rescue his brother’s love, Helen, who was captured by the Prince of Troy. The Prince had to pick between the beauty of Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena; and was promised different things from each of them depending on who he chose. Aphrodite promised him the love of the most beautiful woman, who happened to be Helen. Since he picked Aphrodite, she helped him kidnap Helen, which started the Trojan War. Agamemnon, after losing, traveled home, where he was killed by his wife and her lover for sacrificing their daughter before leaving in hopes of wind for the sails. The tomb itself is 2300 years old, and was said to have approximately 14 kilos of gold before it was raided. 

Mycenae:

After the Tomb of Agamemnon, we visited the Acropolis of Mycenae, an ancient city of Greece. The tower served as a defense for the castle, and the acropolis was beneficial overall for the protection due to the ability to look out from a high point.

Rest of the Day:

We then traveled to Olympia to spend a night, and we were able to watch the scenery on the drive there. The word “Olympia” comes from the sanctity associated with the gods, directly meaning “divine landscape” due to its rich soil from the river. Olympia is also famous for being the birthplace of the Olympic games, which was heavily respected by all Greeks. The Olympics were connected to Zeus, and disrespecting the games in any way meant the same to him. Greeks would not engage in warfare during the time of the games, in order to keep them as fair as possible. The Olympics were designed as preparation of war, since each game within it can be directly translated onto the battlefield. Greeks would also travel all over the country to Olympia in order to participate in the games. 

Final Thoughts:

Although we were able to pack in a lot of sightseeing throughout the day, we unfortunately had to spend a good amount of time specifically for traveling. In total for the day, we spent about almost 7 hours just on the bus, and by the time we got to the hotel in Olympia it had been almost 9 PM. Even though spending half the day traveling was slightly boring, I really enjoyed most of the places we visited. The honey farm was very interesting, and I was happy that I got to talk to one of the owners about honeybee facts I learned in a biology class I previously took. I also loved Mycenae, and if given the chance to travel to Greece in the future, I would want to dedicate time specifically to visiting their acropolis again. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy my time in Olympia, which was mostly from not having the time to be able to. Overall, the day did have some ups and downs, but I’m glad I was able to experience it all.