THE MIGHTY SPARTA... What a place to be. Today we ventured north of Athens to place widely popular through Hollywood influence, but is a magnificent place entirely on it's own accord. Sparta is wonderful city, but not bogged down like that of Athens. It has it's touristy shops, but is also surrounded by magnificent agricultural setting. We started our adventure today visiting a monastery overlooking the city. It had a gorgeous view of the city and it's surrounding settings. Not only this, but it was still an active monastery, and all who were there were very kind. We met a nun of the monastery who gave us some traditional candy (much Turkish Delight, but made from local flowers). After visiting the monastery and the surrounding ruins, we headed into the city for some lunch. Lunch was delicious and dessert was even better. But the best part of the day came when we hiking around looking for the bus. We came a upon a giant statue of Leonidas, and as we all posed for pictures, locals passed by us smiling.
This smiling got me to thinking. As we joked around and pretended to give the Spartan death kick to each other, this is this cities culture. Should we have been more respectful? Do they joke and play as we do, or do they treat ancient Sparta as piece of who they are? These are just questions that came to mind while we all played in front of the giant Leonidas statue. That i think i will be more mindful of these questions next time i pose or make some joke. I am in someone else's homeland, and although i kid, this ancient past that i am studying is part of their culture.
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