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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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").
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| 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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