Γεια! I’m Anna Howie, a junior currently studying in Athens, Greece, at College Year in Athens (CYA). I’ve been here for more than two months now, and I have been loving it.

While I’ve traveled around Greece independently–I’ve been to Naxos, Aegina, and Thessaloniki–the great thing about CYA is that they take you around Greece on field studies, letting you get a sense for Greece outside of Athens and learn about general Greek history and culture. For fall 2024, the field studies I’ve been on are Olympia/Delphi, Crete, Metsovo (this was an optional one, and I totally recommend it!), and, finally, the Peloponnese, which I just got back from.

For Crete and the Peloponnese, you’re allowed to choose from 8 different itineraries that suit your interests. Most of these itineraries will see one “major” site–in Crete it was Knossos, and in the Peloponnese, it was Mycenae. I chose the itinerary about the different identities of the Peloponnese and the Venetian and Ottoman influence over the region.

Mycenae was incredibly cool to see–as a Classics major, I’ve been learning about it for years. I first read the Iliad in middle school, and Agamemnon and Menelaus, two of the most important characters, are fundamental characters in the myth of the royal family of Mycenae. It’s a crazy experience to see the places you’ve only read about.

We then went to Nafplio for two nights; we spent some time walking around and exploring the old Venetian fortifications. Nafplio was the capital of the independent Greek state before Athens was made the capital in 1834–we even saw the church where the first head of state was assassinated. It was pretty rainy, but the views were very nice.

On the third day, we visited the theatre of Epidaurus, classified as a UNESCO world heritage site. It’s one of the best preserved Greek theatres, and one of the best constructed; if you stand in the middle of the theatre and speak, people on the top row can hear you. While you’re speaking, you can also hear your voice reverberating back at you.

After this site, we drove to Patra and toured the oldest currently active winery in Greece, and sampled their famous wine, Mavrodaphne. Personally it was a bit too sweet for me.

The final day, our graffiti tour was cancelled, so we had some options as to what to do. I chose to go to the archaeological museum of Patra with my ancient Greek professor, who had been leading my itinerary. It was the most unpopular choice (just me and two other students), but he gave a very passionate tour and told us about his own excavations around Greece. Also, it started pouring rain an hour into our tour, so I was very grateful that I was inside.

We drove back to Athens and I met up with my brother and his girlfriend, who are visiting the city. I introduced them to balkava and melomakarona, a Christmas cookie.

While I’m sad about this being my final CYA field study, I’m glad these are an integral part of the program. For anyone looking at CYA in the fall–they’re different in the spring–, again, I’d recommend the optional Metsovo/Ioannina/Meteora trip; it was some of the best sight-seeing of my entire life. While these optional trips are a bit expensive, I’d say this trip was probably the hardest to do independently, making it worth the money.

Γεια σας!