The Acropolis
The plan was to leave the house by 9am to catch the bus to Athens to see the Acropolis. Well, as usual, I was off to a late start and Akis and I left the house by about 10 or so. This meant that by the time we arrived at our destination we were experiencing the heat of the day. I don't think it is the heat so much as the humidity that is the kicker.
Anyway, we boarded the bus and headed to the train station. Once there we jumped on the train for 6 stops to Thisio. This is what is known as old Athens and has ruins from these early days. In addition to the historical monuments, the area contains homes which are in an older style and it feels like you have stepped into a small village.
The challenge with this is that there doesn't appear to be much in the way of signage for the great monument on the hill. As a result, we had to take 2 attempts to make it up the hill ~ the first resulted in us being on the wrong side of the fence. Akis then asked many locals for directions and we eventually found the entrance only to realize that we had come all the way down the hill and needed to make our way back up again.
As we made our way back up in the heat of Athens, we discovered some marble artifacts that have been dated to as early as 350 BC. Can you imagine, this stuff has been around for almost 2500 years! And unlike North America, the artifacts are out in the open ~ not contained in glass or other 'do not touch' containers.
On the way up we passed the amphitheatre.
Upon entering, I learned that it is actually the rock which is called the Acropolis, not the building. The building itself is the Parthenon which was built and given to Athena. What I wasn't expecting was the incredible amount or restoration that is going on. As a result there was scaffolding and cranes around to support the monument while this work is going on. In addition to repairing the damage from the the military assault (the building has never been damaged as a result of an earthquake) they are also repairing earlier restoration work which was apparently done incorrectly.
In an adjacent building there are also 6 sculptures of women. There is a bit of contention over this one as one of the ladies is not authentic, but in fact a copy and the original is in a museum in England. 'Damn British won't give us our stuff back...' was the phrase uttered under a greek breath as we walked past.
I also learned that the flag flying here was not always Greek. There was a time during the Second World War when the flag was replaced by a German flag. With a feeling of national pride a fellow Greek scaled the wall and removed the German flag and replaced the Greek flag. After being detected, to escape from being caught, he fled the scene by jumping to his death over the wall he had just scaled.
After wandering and taking in the history, we made our way back into the village for lunch. The heat however had taken a lot out of me and after lunch (4pm) we headed back to Piraeus for a nap. Apparently the area we were is quite lively during the evening. We did discover that the day gets noticibly more comfortable after 6pm and this has become our 'going out' time as we hibernate in the house with the fan during the heat of the day.
The next stop will be Aigina ~ an island about an hour from Athens and the home of my boss George. Plan is to catch the 8am ferry tomorrow morning and head over for the day to visit.
Anyway, we boarded the bus and headed to the train station. Once there we jumped on the train for 6 stops to Thisio. This is what is known as old Athens and has ruins from these early days. In addition to the historical monuments, the area contains homes which are in an older style and it feels like you have stepped into a small village.
The challenge with this is that there doesn't appear to be much in the way of signage for the great monument on the hill. As a result, we had to take 2 attempts to make it up the hill ~ the first resulted in us being on the wrong side of the fence. Akis then asked many locals for directions and we eventually found the entrance only to realize that we had come all the way down the hill and needed to make our way back up again.
As we made our way back up in the heat of Athens, we discovered some marble artifacts that have been dated to as early as 350 BC. Can you imagine, this stuff has been around for almost 2500 years! And unlike North America, the artifacts are out in the open ~ not contained in glass or other 'do not touch' containers.
On the way up we passed the amphitheatre.
Upon entering, I learned that it is actually the rock which is called the Acropolis, not the building. The building itself is the Parthenon which was built and given to Athena. What I wasn't expecting was the incredible amount or restoration that is going on. As a result there was scaffolding and cranes around to support the monument while this work is going on. In addition to repairing the damage from the the military assault (the building has never been damaged as a result of an earthquake) they are also repairing earlier restoration work which was apparently done incorrectly.
In an adjacent building there are also 6 sculptures of women. There is a bit of contention over this one as one of the ladies is not authentic, but in fact a copy and the original is in a museum in England. 'Damn British won't give us our stuff back...' was the phrase uttered under a greek breath as we walked past.
I also learned that the flag flying here was not always Greek. There was a time during the Second World War when the flag was replaced by a German flag. With a feeling of national pride a fellow Greek scaled the wall and removed the German flag and replaced the Greek flag. After being detected, to escape from being caught, he fled the scene by jumping to his death over the wall he had just scaled.
After wandering and taking in the history, we made our way back into the village for lunch. The heat however had taken a lot out of me and after lunch (4pm) we headed back to Piraeus for a nap. Apparently the area we were is quite lively during the evening. We did discover that the day gets noticibly more comfortable after 6pm and this has become our 'going out' time as we hibernate in the house with the fan during the heat of the day.
The next stop will be Aigina ~ an island about an hour from Athens and the home of my boss George. Plan is to catch the 8am ferry tomorrow morning and head over for the day to visit.
posted by Carrie @ 6:44 AM
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