This is Sparta!

I really know nothing but very brief history about Sparta and I'm a little ashamed to say that I've never seen 300, so Sparta for me was a pleasant little town with kids walking home from school, gelato, delicious beef and potato stew, and a giant statue of what I can only assume is a super tough and famous Spartan warrior. It was a nice town but it is a bit less important to me than to others in my class.

I was really interested in a little town we passed today on the way to Mystras. We stopped for a quick snack and bathroom break and passed the Corinth Canal and the ancient city of Corinth. This was super cool for me because I have read through the book of Corinthians in the Bible and I have been learning a lot more about the ancient city and Paul's letters to them and the Romans. I would have really loved to explore that more but I guess I'll just have to come back to Greece (which isn't such a bad option)!

When we finally got to Mystras, the little abandoned town right next to Sparta, I was a bit surprised because I was expecting something a little different. I have learned a lot about the history of the town, about the people that live(ed) there, and about the churches that fill it but I had never really seen a picture of the town itself.

The town was more in ruins than I expected and the churches were a little different too. But the entire town was beautiful, even in its broken, abandoned state. There was so much life in these ruins and it was so cool!

From the wall of the town, we could see some of the most amazing views of the surrounding mountains and towns and the churches were filled with incredible frescoes and decorations. I was so excited when I got to light a candle in one of the churches because I have learned so much about them and the God that is worshiped there.

We walked all through the town: all the way up the mountain and all the way back down. We walked through the monastery, found a lot of cats (because cats, for some reason, really like ancient ruins), saw our first donkey (named Dusty), and visited a museum with the most marvelous books inside (I collect antique books so...)!

Overall, I really loved our day trip to Mystras, and even our short stop in Sparta.

I got to walk in history and be in-between times and I absolutely loved it!

-Jess