My Unforgettable Internship Experience

Ever since my first trip to Crete in 2016, I have heard the siren’s call of Greece tempting me to return. Then in 2025, armed with my undergrad Classics knowledge, I was fortunate enough to join the CIG’s 3-week Attica and the Peloponnese Summer School Program and became more drawn into the archaeology, history, and land than ever. So, when I was offered this 3-month internship, I accepted the opportunity without hesitation. Escaping Ontario’s coldest and snowiest winter months was an added bonus to what I knew would be an unforgettable experience. 

I was responsible for a variety of tasks around the Institute to ensure that everything was running smoothly. I was in charge of preparing the CIG social media posts which gave me an excellent way to share my experiences and to further research the sites and museums I had visited. I was also able to help out with events like hosting the Friends of Canada, the CIG’s Fellow’s lecture, and the Paris Arnopoulos Lecture, giving me the opportunity to engage with the information presented in lectures and to meet plenty of new people. This year is the CIG’s 50th anniversary and in preparation, I typed out excerpts from a book detailing accomplishments of Canadian archaeologists and the beginnings of the Institute. It was very interesting learning about our contributions to research in Greece and the struggles the Institute went through just to exist. I greatly enjoyed the main project I worked on throughout the three months: polishing up the organizational details of the Fred Winter Digital Archive. Working with the Fred Winter Archive by ensuring that information on each file was correct, complete, and organized in an easy to search way made my detail-oriented side extremely satisfied.

With Athens as a hub, I used whatever free time I had to explore museums and archaeological sites. The city itself had so many sights (and sites) to see and museums to explore, perfect for visiting on weekdays after mornings at the Institute. I used my weekends for travelling further outside of Athens. Taking ferries from Piraeus and Perama, I visited Aegina (perfect for the pistachio-lover that I am), Salamina, and, finally, Crete, returning there after a 10-year absence. I took advantage of the bus tours from Athens to go to Delphi, Mycenae, Epidauros, and Nafplio, exploring parts of these sites that I had missed and appreciating the landscapes that hold so much history. A highlight of my trip was my visit to the Archaeological Museum of Marathon and my adventures making my way to the Sanctuary of the Egyptian Gods. I navigated the limited Saturday public transportation between Athens and Nea Makri, braved the full range of Greek weather, and spent an appropriate amount of time walking around.

I did not focus exclusively on archaeological experiences, fascinating and valuable as they were. I was also determined to immerse myself into the culture of the Greek people here now. I followed their lead, allowing myself to slow down to enjoy life and the world around me. I spent my down time exploring the parks and green spaces around the city, braving the cold water with a couple of swims in Lake Vouliagmeni and in the sea, and watching beautiful sunsets atop the Pnyx and Philopappos Hill. After these three months, I discovered my regular gyro place and bakery whenever I wanted to satisfy my appetite with Greek food while sitting in the sun. I was also fortunate enough to experience two important holidays during which the CIG was closed: Clean Monday and Greek Independence Day. Using the days off to my advantage, I was able to participate in the dancing, singing, and kite flying celebrations of Clean Monday and stand among the crowd to watch the military parade on Independence Day.

These months have been full of experiences that will stay with me for a lifetime and I’m so grateful that I was given this opportunity. It’s hard to believe that it’s finally over and I am leaving the daily life I had gotten used to. The siren’s song is as strong as ever, though, and I’m sure that I will be back before long; there is still so much I will see and experience.

Tammy Markov, University of Waterloo intern, winter 2026

Welcome, Tammy!

A few days ago we welcomed our new intern from the University of Waterloo, Tammy Markov, who will be with us in Athens until April. 

Tammy is currently studying for her BA in Honours Classical Studies, and she has an interest in the Hellenization of the ancient world especially during the Hellenistic period and in exploring interdisciplinary approaches to archeology.

Tammy participated in our 2025 Peloponnese Summer School and is looking forward to further immersing herself in Greek culture for a deeper understanding of both the contemporary and ancient Greek world. In this way, during her internship, Tammy hopes to continue to support the connection between Greek and Canadian researchers and institutions.

Jonathan Tomlinson
Assistant Director

My time as the CIG Intern

After getting the news that I would be the next intern at the Canadian Institute, I was over the moon (and slightly terrified) to have the chance to live and work in Athens for three months. The internship could not have come at a better time, even if the days before were a blur of packing chaos. I had just wrapped up my final class at Concordia a few weeks earlier. I was still riding the “wait, did I actually graduate?” wave before immediately cramming my entire life into a single suitcase and jumping into an Uber to catch my flight.

It didn’t quite feel real until I walked outside the Eleftherios Venizelos airport and was hit by a wave of heat and the all-too-nostalgic smell of Greece. I was in the right place.  

Most of my time at the Institute was spent doing a little bit of everything, which honestly ended up being one of my favourite parts of the job. Some days I was in the library cataloguing new books or trying to track down elusive LC numbers. Other days I was deep in the Fred Winter archives, comparing decades-old folders to digital spreadsheets and slowly building a searchable system. I also managed all the Institute’s social media, writing posts, editing photos, and discovering my one true passion: Canva. On top of that, I updated the fieldwork pages on the website (24 of them!), rewriting summaries and adding bibliographies so each project had a proper presence. Researching all these Canadian archaeological projects connected to the Institute was a pleasure; I learned so much about the history of Canadian research here and gained a clearer picture of the impact we’ve had in the field.  

Left: Monastiraki Flea Market
Centre: Photography exhibition at The Art Foundation (TAF)
Right: Graduate showcase at the Athens School of Fine Arts 

Before long, I fell into a lovely routine: mornings in the Institute library, afternoons wandering around Athens, and evenings spent chatting with my roommates or popping into whatever event was happening that day. I’m pretty sure I shattered my all-time step count record just aimlessly roaming the city. I will miss my favourite cafés, going running through the National Garden, and the countless trips to museums, flea markets and pop-ups around Athens.

I was also really lucky to be here for several events hosted at the Institute this fall, including an embassy reception, a Canadian film screening, a lecture by Dr. Margaret Aiken, and the opening of the Institute’s exhibition on Kastorian communities in Canada. It was so cool to see the behind-the-scenes work that goes into setting up an exhibition like this and then watch it all come together on opening night. I was happy being able to help out wherever I could, whether it was running last-minute errands, assembling furniture, ironing tablecloths, or greeting guests at the door. It was a very charming mix of responsibilities that made me appreciate just how many tiny moving parts go into making these events work.

Even though I’d been to Greece before, most of my time had been split between Athens and Crete, so I hadn’t seen much of the mainland. One of the best parts of living in Athens for three months is how easy it is to escape the city for little weekend adventures, and I made it to several places that had been sitting on my must-see list forever: Mycenae, Epidaurus, the Meteora monasteries, and the Temple of Aphaia on Aegina. In mid-October, I hopped on a bus to Delphi and ended up solo-hiking the 18km loop to the Corycian Cave. Delphi was absolutely surreal—sunny when I arrived, then suddenly swallowed in this thick, misty fog that made the whole sanctuary feel magical (I could barely see two steps in front of me). Despite nearly getting trapped in a herd of goats with their very angry shepherd dog at the top of Mount Parnassus, this was easily my favourite trip of the entire three months.

Spending the fall in Athens as the Canadian Institute’s intern has been such a privilege, and I genuinely can’t believe how fast it went by. I’m not emotionally prepared to say goodbye to Greece, or its sunsets, and return to -25 snowy Montréal, but here we are. I hope to be back again soon!

Aiko Byrne, Concordia University intern, Fall 2025