Seventeen-year-old Amanda headed out on a trip of a lifetime when the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Rhode Island granted her wish to travel to an archaeological dig site in ancient Greece.  After much deliberation on various wish possibilities, the Warwick teen chose to take an unforgettable trip to historical Athens.  Accompanied by her mother, stepfather, and best friend Laura, Amanda visited historical and archaeological sites in and around Athens.  With some help from the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Greece, our international affiliate, Amanda was able to have her very own tour of an active dig site, with a professor from a local university as her guide.  Her wish trip included sights like the famed Acropolis and Parthenon, a special trip to Sounion, the Temple of Poseidon, and even a day at the beach which provide the chance to take a once-in-a-lifetime dip in the Aegean Sea! 

During the trip, Amanda and her guests had a three-day tour of Epidauros, Olympia, and Delphi, where they traveled along the coastal road to the Corinth canal, visited the Theater of Epidauros,  famous for it's remarkable acoustics, and continued on to Mycenae to visit the Tomb of Agamemnon. On the second day of the tour, they visited the archeological site with the sanctuary of Olympian Zeus, the Ancient Stadium and the Archeological Museum, followed by a drive through the plains of Eliad and Achaia and over the magnificent bridge of the Corinthian bay from Rion to Antirion.  After passing through the picturesque towns of Nafpactos and Itea, they finally arrived in Delphi.

After the Acropolis, Delphi is the most popular archaeological site in Greece. Delphi has a special meaning because in ancient times, the location was considered the center of the known world, the place where heaven and earth met— the place on earth where man was closest to the gods. In Mythology, Delphi was the meeting place of two eagles, released by Zeus and sent in opposite directions. Where they met indicated the center of the earth and this decorated "omphalas" marked the exact spot. The town of Delphi sits on the edge of a cliff, with the Sanctuary of Apollo lying at its center, on the southern tip of a mountain slope.  The Doric temple was the home of the Pythia, who, seated on a tripod above a deep crevasse, would pronounce her prophecies while the priests wrote them down and translated them to the people. This temple was destroyed by fire in the fourth century BC and then rebuilt.

Miss Amanda, the teenage history buff, will be entering college in the Fall to pursue a degree in either archaeology or history, and figured choosing this memorable Wish trip would be a perfect opportunity to get a first-hand look at the legendary places she will be studying.   Amanda and her family returned from their whirlwind tour of Greece on June 20, with a great deal of photos and unforgettable memories.