Brian M. Bowman
"Blessed is the man who...is like a tree
planted by streams of water that yields
its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not
wither. In all that he does, he prospers."
- Psalm 1:1,3 ESV
General Travels
I have not done much traveling in my lifetime, but I have been to a few states and countries. In high school, I traveled to Myrtle Beach with my family for baseball every spring break. I went to Disney World with my family in 5th grade as well. People and events have taken me to New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Massachusetts, Ohio, Florida, California, and Ontario, Canada. I also had an opportunity to travel to Egypt and Greece my sophomore year of college.
Term III Trip to Egypt and Greece
After viewing signs on the walls of the campus post office at Elmira College my freshman year of college, I became intrigued about the possibility of traveling to the far lands of Egypt and Greece the following Term III. My friend Dana was signed up for the trip, and one night with our friend Allison, we emailed the professor in charge to sign up. The trip was full at the time, but the two of us were placed on the waitlist.
We received notice in the fall that the trip had opened up, allowing us to join. I was so excited. I was about to go to two of the coolest places on earth! There were a few meetings to educate all the students about the itinerary and the customs of each country. The anticipation built up each day until it was time to depart from campus.
Our time in Egypt consisted of ten days of non-stop travel. We began in Cairo, where we visited Memphis, Saqqara, along with the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. The best part was going inside the central pyramid, also known as Khafre. The tunnel we crouched down to travel along was about four feet in height and the heat and humidity continued to increase as we descended. It didn't help that there were dozens of tourists moving along the same tunnel in close proximity. When we arrived at the burial chamber, there was just an empty tomb, but the journey to the inside of the pyramid was well worth it.
In our next site, Alexandria, we visited the modern library, the catacombs, and the Roman amphitheater. We then flew to Luxor, where we saw the Temple of Luxor and the Temple of Karnak. That night, we began our Nile cruise. The ship we stayed on was very modern and luxurious. After our first night on the cruise, we went to Thebes, where we experienced the Colossi of Memnon and the Valley of the Kings. We went into several tombs, but the only regret I have for the trip was not paying the money to go into the tomb of King Tut. We also went on to see several other temples, the Aswan Dam, and my favorite site of the trip, Abu Simbel.
After enjoying some entertainment in Cairo, we left for Athens, Greece. We stayed at the Pan Hotel near the parliament building in downtown Athens, as well as all of the other times we were in Athens. After gaining an understanding of the Plaka district area, we departed on our tour of the Peloponnese.
The first place we visited was ancient Corinth. This was where I gave my presentation on Paul and what he meant to the city and the Corinthians. It was very interesting to see many of the places that were mentioned in the Bible were still there. From there, we went to ancient Mycenae, where Dr. Dierckx spends her summers doing archaeological work. We also went to Epidaurus, where my friend Sarah sang for a crowd of people, after finishing up in Nauplion.
Our trip took us through Tegea and ancient Sparta, where we were stranded in the rain on a 5-mile downhill hike at Mystras. The next day, we traveled through the Mani region, where the Greek Independence Movement began. We got lunch in Kalamata (home of the famous olives) before ending up in Pylos for the night. Pylos was a beautiful small harbor town with a small castle nearby.
Olympia was our next destination, followed by Delphi, Kalambaka, and a return to Athens as our last stop. Before returning to Athens, we were invited to our bus driver's summer house to go swimming and enjoy some traditional Greek snacks. While in Athens, we took a day trip to the island of Aegina. In Aegina, we hiked up to another temple and spent time at a beach.
The flight home was long, but I had an amazing time on the trip. All the money I spent on the trip was well worth it and it was an experience of a lifetime. When I arrived back on campus, I drove home at 1 am to see my family so I could give them their souvenirs.