Aug 14, 2013
Day Four Photo Gallery
Hi, my name is Carter Josephs and I’m a sophomore guard on the Vanderbilt basketball team taking over the blog today to tell you about our last game in Athens and the day after in which we traveled to Delphi and eventually to Nafpaktos.
Last night was the second game in two days against the French Division I All-Stars. Thankfully, instead of playing an hour and a half away in a gym with no air conditioning, the game was moved to a gym actually located in Athens because both teams were staying in the same hotel in the city anyways. This freed up enough extra time after the beach and before the game for some players to wander downtown and into the shops to do a little exploring of the city before the game.
It’s always tough to get excited to play the same team twice and it showed as we played sluggish at the start and didn’t match the enthusiasm and energy that we opened with the night before. However, transfer guard Eric McClellan sparked the team and we eventually ended up winning 73-57, behind his 19 points. For most of you Vandy fans who haven’t had the chance to see Eric play, you are going to be delighted as he is destined to do great things for this program.
This morning, we woke up bright and early to get breakfast before getting on a bus to make the over 3 hour trip to Delphi. On the way we stopped twice; once to take pictures on the beautiful mountainside, right outside a little town named Araxova, and the other time to eat lunch at a classic Greek restaurant. Although most of the team is still getting used to not being able to order a burger and fries everywhere they go, we are growing more accustomed to the food and it is actually quite delicious.
When we finally got to Delphi we went on a brief walk through the museum there before going out into the blistering heat for a couple hours for a tour of the archeological site. Although it was extremely hot outside and there was no shade, it was worth it as we got to experience the many famous sacred areas, such as the remains of the Temple of Apollo and the stadium where the Pythian Games used to be held every four years. Most of the sites were broken down and the tour guide had to tell us to imagine what the area would look like if everything had been standing as it was many years ago because, interestingly, the Greeks decided not to rebuild most of the broken down structures that are no longer standing. Instead, they prefer to keep the site the way it is and only reconstruct the edifices if about 90% is still intact so that the integrity and authenticity of the area is not fabricated by creating whole new buildings. After we were done with the tour in Delphi, we picked up some quick, refreshing drinks before heading back on the bus for another hour drive to our hotel in Nafpaktos.
At this time, tired from the long day of travel and being out in the sun, everyone is resting for a bit before we go eat dinner and get to experience the nightlife nearby our beach-front hotel for the one night we are here before we head down the road to Olympia.
For more updates and information about our trip follow @VandyMBB on Twitter and be sure to check www.vucommodores.com.
