Athens - a City of Ruins

Athens Friday, January 14, 2011 - Our visit to Athens was in part planned out of the interests of Aaron and Niall, who have become very interested in Greek mythology and history. With this in mind, the focus of our visit to Athens would be visiting the Acropolis and other Greek ruins along with the archaeological museums.

Some of the many ruins

From Rhodos it was a short flight to Athens and a cheap bus ride into the city centre where our hotel was located. After arriving at the main square we found our hotel and discovered it had a view of the Acropolis!  We spent the afternoon getting acquainted with our new surroundings. We soon discovered that the centre of Athens was filled with Greek and Roman ruins. Over the next several days we would visit many of these sites.

The Parthenon

Saturday was our first day of serious touring and of course our first destination was the Acropolis. The high hill that has dominated the skyline of Athens for 1000's of years. This is the home of the Parthenon the Temple of Athena as well as 2 ancient theatres and the remains of ancient fortifications. This is also where we learned just how much Niall knew about the ancient Greeks. Throughout our visit to Athens, Niall was our expert on Greek mythology and filled us in about all the details of Greek gods and heroes.   

Enjoying a Sidewalk Cafe

During our visit to the Acropolis we were rewarded with a beautiful clear and warm day of 20 plus degrees. This gave us some fantastic views of the city and the surrounding hills. As one Greek later told us, the weather was the only thing that made it worth living in Greece. And on a warm sunny Saturday afternoon in January, it seems as if every Greek were enjoying it at the many sidewalk cafes. It only seemed fitting to join them for a platter of grilled meat, cheese, and vegetables.

Changing of the Guard

Sunday was spent visiting the Archaeological Museum and the New Museum of the Acropolis. Along the way we witnessed perhaps our most memorable Greek experience, the changing of the guard in front of the Greek Parliament and the Monument of the Unknown Soldier. Not surprisingly the monument was a sculpture of an ancient Greek soldier with sword and shield. However, the modern guards were dressed in less familiar attire of white tights, a white kilt like dress, and shoes with large pompoms. This attire was further highlighted by a slow and high stepping marching. It made for an interesting spectacle and made me think how some people must view our changing of the guard in Ottawa with soldiers wearing tall fur hats.

Statue of Zeus

As for the museums, both have some fantastic collections of Greek sculpture and artifacts. The Archaeological Museum focused on the rise of the Greek civilization and its origins on the Greek islands. The Museum of the Acropolis presented the history of the Acropolis and its importance to Athens. Of particular interest was its presentations of the Parthenon and its importance as a temple of ancient Greek religion. And like the many the cathedrals and mosques we saw elsewhere, the Parthenon was also decorated with carvings, sculptures, and paintings depicting the beliefs of ancient Greeks and the gods that they worshiped. Of course when the Parthenon was later converted into a church and then into a Mosque many of these artworks were discarded or destroyed. Today the museum has recovered a number of these sculptures and presents them in the museum. The archaeological work continues and the museum itself is built above an archaeological site that is still being excavated today.

Shopping District in Athens

On Monday we took a break from visiting the ancient sites. Our time in Europe was coming to an end and we needed to prepare for our African safari and trip to Egypt. After 2 and a half months of cool wet weather in Europe we were lacking clothing for these warmer climates. So much to the disappointment of the boys, we set aside a day for shopping. Unfortunately, January is not the time to shop for summer clothing in Athens, instead it is the time for winter clearance sales. For Susan and I this created a great deal of frustration. For me it took longer than expected to find what we needed and Susan found it hard not to take advantage of the opportunity to get a new winter wardrobe. In the end we got what we needed for Africa and Susan did manage to get a fashionable pair of high leather boots (aka "bitch boots").

Aaron Souvenir Hunting

Equipped for Africa, our last full day in Athens was spent stress free visiting some ruins and sites we had missed on our previous days. These included the white marble Olympic Stadium of the first modern Olympics that had been built on the site of an ancient Greek stadium and in the same ancient style. We saw the impressive columns that still remain of the Temple of Zeus and later we saw the almost completely intact but much smaller Temple of Hyphaestus. With only a few hours left of our visit, it was time to let the boys pick up a few souvenirs of their time in Athens.

It was a good visit Athens but unfortunately we did not have the time to visit other places in Greece. Our visit to Greece would have to be limited to the island of Rhodos and the city of Athens. Perhaps we will return again and take in more of the country and Susan will be able to pick up her winter wardrobe. For us, tomorrow would be the start of a 2 day journey to Africa. Through the wonders of discount airline tickets we would fly Athens - London - Dubai - Nairobi and then take a bus to Tanzania.

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Escape to a Greek Island

Turkish Coast

January 7, 2011 - We awoke to a clear crisp morning in Marmaris and took a short taxi ride to the ferry terminal. From here we would make our return to Europe and hopefully enjoy the peacefulness and pleasant weather of the Greek Island of Rhodos in the off-season. After 2 months of traveling through Europe and Turkey we needed to recharge our batteries before heading to Africa for our safari and visit to Egypt. Our research suggested that January was a good time to visit Rhodos, the weather was comfortable, few tourists were around, good off-season rates were available, but the city of Rhodos was big enough so not everything would be shut down.

Site of Colossus of Rhodes

The ferry ride to Rhodos was not unlike one I remember taking from Burgeo to Ramea in our home province of Newfoundland. Like the ferry to Ramea, this one was small and rocked easily even in a small swell. Upon leaving the harbour we were leaving behind the rugged Turkish coastline that was forested and sparsely settled. And as at home in Newfoundland, the trees on the exposed cliffs had the familiar windswept look we call tuckamore. Ahead of us lay our destination, the large and mountainous island of Rhodos which would takes us 2 hours to reach.

Castle of Rhodos

As we entered the harbour of Rhodes we passed by what is believed to be the site of the Colossus of Rhodes (one of the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World) before docking in front of the walls of the large Crusader castle of the Knights of St. John. No matter where we went in this part of the world we encountered the remains of ancient and famous civilizations. These and other sites would become the boys playground and the focus of their explorations for the next week.

City of Rhodos

Our hotel was located in the old section of the city of Rhodos. It was a short walk to restaurants, shops, beaches, the waterfront, and of course the castle. We spent our first few days catching up on school work, eating at sidewalk cafes, walking along the beach, geocaching, exploring the castle, and just enjoying the weather—sunny and 20 degrees. In our explorations, we found more Greek ruins for the boys to explore, an ancient stadium and the Temple of Apollo. Susan found herself a nice path and enjoyed a few morning jogs. Our hotel room had a small kitchen and I cooked a few meals, including the Kraft Dinner that Santa Claus had brought the boys. Rhodos was living up to our expectations.

Aaron testing the waters

After a few days of taking it easy in the city, it was time to explore more of the island. Twenty-five Euros in cash rented us a car for the day and we headed towards the historic town of Lindos on the east side of the island. Along the way we stopped off at a sheltered beach. We all tested the water and Aaron even went for a swim! As we continued down the coast towards Lindos, we put behind us the numerous resorts and typical touristy shops and restaurants, that were all closed for the season. We now were passing through a rugged and sparsely vegetated landscape with the occasional herd of goats.

Town of Lindos

Our first view of Lindos came from a top a high hill. The town is a tight maze of white buildings nestled at the foot of a steep hill between 2 small harbours. The streets are narrow and steep, too small for cars so it was pedestrians and motorcycles only. Today the town is made up of mostly small inns catering to summer tourists but its history goes back to the ancient Greeks. As Niall informed me, even Heracles (Hercules) is reputed to have visited Lindos after completing one of his 12 labours. On our return we headed west across the island, crossing the islands mountainous terrain and passing from the dry sparsely vegetated landscape to to pine forests of the island's western side. It was a pleasant day of exploring the country side. With a bit more time it would have been nice to do some hiking.

Enjoying Rhodos

On our last day, Susan enjoyed some shopping while the boys and I visited a small aquarium displaying some of the local marine life. We truly enjoyed our week on the island of Rhodos. Here we had the opportunity to combine relaxation with some explorations of the area's history and architecture. I can easily understand why people would like to retreat here in the winter but given the number of resorts on island, the summer is probably a lot different. That would be something we would not be experiencing, for us it was off to Athens for the next leg of our journey.

For more of our photos of Rhodos, check out our Web Album.

Exploring Ruins and Enjoying Turkish Hospitality - Selcuk to Marmaris

Selcuk

After 4 days in Istanbul it was off south to the smaller city of Selcuk. This would be our base for a few days as we visited the Greek and Roman ruins at Ephesus and Pamukkale. Again we opted for a convenient location close to the centre of town, a hotel called Jimmy's Place. Shortly after arriving we acquainted ourselves with our new surroundings or in other words we were hungry and began looking for a restaurant.

The low down on Turkish Carpets

As in Istanbul the restaurant owners of Selcuk were there to greet you and try and get you into there establishments but to our relief they were not as pushy as in Istanbul. With so few tourists at this time of the year it didn't seem long for the businesses to acquaint themselves with the Canadian family wandering their streets. Over the next few days we took some time to visit a few shops and restaurants where we were warmly welcomed with tea, enthusiasm to show and educate us about Turkish textiles and carpets, and discover how they made made Turkish pizza called pide. It became apparent, even in Turkey, people in smaller cities are more laid back and were glad to spend some time getting to know their visitors. It was here in Selcuk that we really began to appreciate and enjoy the Turkish hospitality.

Making pide

After our lunch, we wandered around and visited our first of several ruins. In this case it was the St. John's Basilica, as in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John the Gospel writers. It was here on top of a hill overlooking the present day city of Selcuk that John is believed to have written his gospel. Today, from this hill you can see evidence of several of the worlds major civilizations. Apart from the Basilica from the early Christian era, there were the remains of the Greek Temple of Artemis, an early Muslim mosque, an Ottoman castle, and the present day Turkish town of Selcuk. It is a real crossroads of history.

Theatre at Ephesus

For the next day we had arranged a tour of the ruins of Ephesus a former Greek and later Roman city and also made famous by St. Paul with his letters to the Ephesians.  Ephesus is one of the best preserved Roman cities complete with examples of an agora (marketplace), bathing and toilets facilities, paved streets, temples, a 25,000 seat theatre, and a library complete with a secret passage to the brothel. (These Romans thought of everything.) The city was destroyed by an earthquake and abandoned. Due to other geological factors the site of the city was no longer near the sea and so it was never built over and thus the ruins were preserved.

Warming the seat!!

Unfortunately for our visit the weather did not cooperate and it poured rain for most day but it was still an amazing visit. For the most part, the site is open and you are free to explore the ruins and not just view from behind fences. This made it a rare opportunity to get a sense of what a Roman city was like and of course Aaron and Niall took full advantage to climb and wander through as much of the site as possible. For the boys, the highlights were the theatre which they enjoyed climbing to the top and the marble toilets where they learned in winter time slaves were brought along to sit on the seat first to warm them up for their masters. (Again these Romans think of everything.) Later we visited the archaeology museum in Selcuk which had some great examples of Roman sculptures, even better than we saw in the British Museum. It was a great day for us and we met a mix of fellow travelers, Australians, Malaysians, Pakistani, and Japanese.

Ephesus

After our wet day in Ephesus, we returned to our hotel and the warmth of the fireplace in the lobby. Here the boys dug into some extensive reference binders of Roman and Greek history put together by hotel staff. Later we enjoyed a few games of backgammon and met some more Australian travelers. The warmth of the fire and hotel staff turned the lobby into a great gathering place where travelers and staff mingled and exchanged traveling advice and stories of home.

In Cleopatra's Pool

The next ruins on our list was that of a Greek city near present day Pamukkale but perhaps more famous for its hot springs and travertine deposits. This site was a 3 hour bus ride inland from Selcuk and for us would be the next leg of our Turkish explorations. Again this was another ancient city destroyed by an earthquake and as in Ephesus there was a well preserved 25,000 seat theatre with some amazing acoustics. With Aaron exploring on the far side of the theatre, Niall discovered he could call to him just by using his normal voice! This time the highlight for the boys was their swim in Cleopatra's Pools, fed by natural hotsprings. With an air temperature of about 9 degrees, they enjoyed swimming in the 37 degree water. Later we all enjoyed the warm waters on our toes as we descended bare foot over the travertine deposits to the our hotel for the night. As a geologist, this was a highlight for me. The hot spring water is rich in dissolved calcium and as the water seeps over the ground the calcium is deposited as a type of limestone. Back home in Newfoundland we have some very small (a few square metres) examples of this phenomenon, here at Pamukkale it stretches for many 100's of metres and is spectacular.

Travertine Deposits

From Pamukkale, we headed further south to the port city of Marmaris where we would catch a ferry to the Greek Island of Rhodes and hopefully some warmer weather. We were all tiring of the cold wet weather we had been experiencing for most of the last 2 months as we traveled  through Europe and parts of Turkey. So first thing the next morning it was off on a 5 hour bus ride along twisty narrow roads through some pretty mountainous country. At one point we were over a 1000m high and there were snow capped mountains not far off. By the time we arrived in Marmaris we were hungry and thirsty but rewarded with T-shirt weather and dropped off conveniently near a McDonalds. Familiar food is important at times when you are traveling with children.

Enjoying Turkey

With a few hours left of our Turkish explorations and with a little extra Turkish lira in our pockets Susan bought herself another scarf and I indulged myself with a Turkish hair removal process also known as a shave and a haircut. This as I would discover involves more than just scissors, clippers, and a razor but some ingenious use of dental floss and flaming Q-tips to remove hair from ears and cheeks normally ignored by barbers back home. Like my hair cut, we found Turkey to be a mix of the familiar and not so familiar but combined together made for a great experience. We all really enjoyed our visit to Turkey but realize there is a lot more we would have liked to have seen.




For more pictures of Selcuk check out our web album.


For more pictures of Pamakkule check out our web album.