Friday – Athens & beyond – two tragic tourists Have-a-Chat
Awake early and enjoy a lovely breakfast – a combination of hot bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms, continental pastries, toast and coffee – everything that is low calorie!
The day is warm and sunny with clear blue skies as we get ready for our first tour today – making sure we have our cameras, plenty of film and our bottles of water we are ready to attack Athens!
Setting off in the bus that picks us up from the hotel about 8.40am, our guide is a lady by the name of Sophia Kokkinou. She is very nice and very informative and has for sale some of her books. Well, that’s a surprise and being the typical tourist I get one on Greek Mythology. It is a wonderful little book and I know that I will enjoy reading it.
We start off by driving past the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier that is just around the corner from us – so we will walk back to that one on our own time, and no doubt, take some photos.
Our first stop is the Panathenian Stadium, site of the first modern Olympics in 1896.
HISTORY LESSON : The site of the Panathenaic Stadium was originally a small natural valley between the two hills of Agra and Ardettos over the Ilissos River. It was transformed into a stadium by Lykourgos in 330-329BC for the athletic competitions of ‘Panathinea’ the greatest festivities in ancient Athens.
Between 140 and 144AD, Herodes Atticus restored the Stadium, giving it the form that was found at the 1870 excavation; the horseshoe construction with a track 204.7 metres long and 33.35 metres wide. It is believed that the stadium had a seating capacity of 50,000 people.
We get to walk on the track and of course all the tragic tourists pretend they are taking part in the Olympics and get on their haunches ready for the starting gun – and I am no different let me tell you! When it is time to get back on the bus it’s like a stampede of a group of out of control wildebeest crossing the Serengeti as most of them make sure to get on the bus first so that no-one else takes their seat! Ha – we were smart and put our jackets and some other crap on our seats.
Going past the Academy of Athens, the prison cell of Socrates (which we glimpse a hole cut in rock covered by bushes – no Kodak moment here) and the Roman Temple of Olympian Zeus (which is also not far from our hotel and another one to visit on our own time – see tomorrow’s post) we head up to the Acropolis. We park the bus at the bottom of the hill and then we have to walk up.
Before we go up however, we can walk over and get the ground view of the Odeum of Herodes Atticus. More Kodak moments – – will most probably have to buy some more film and we haven’t even got near Egypt!
HISTORY LESSON : The Odeum was a Roman addition to the Acropolis built around 167AD.
There will be more on this later.
Not far away from here there is a little drinking fountain that has fresh spring water.
Sophia tells us that the water is quite safe to drink – I am game (especially as I carry around my own Chemist supply) – being brave I discover it is wonderfully cold and very refreshing which is great as the day is heating up. After a minute or two I am still alive and well after the first sip so we fill our water bottles! We also get some really great shots of the Acropolis from below.
Time to begin our journey to the Acropolis and those wonderful temples. I am just so excited. We proceed up the majestic staircase where we find halfway up the Monument of Agrippa.
HISTORY LESSON : This monument was originally dedicated in 178 BC in honor of a Pergamene charioteer’s victory in the Panathenaic Games. At different dates it held two different chariot statues. Later, statues of Antony and Cleopatra were placed upon it, only to blow down in 31 BC. In 27 BC, after Marcus Agrippa’s third term as consul, a dedication to him was placed upon the structure.
Unfortunately there is nothing much to see on the Monument so we proceed on our journey and when we get to the top we enter through the Propylaea with the Temple of Athena Nike to our right. Unfortunately I do not have any photos of these. Maybe I was conserving film?
HISTORY LESSON : The Propylaea was designed by the architect Mnesikles and constructed in 437-432BC. It comprises a central building and two lateral wings. The Temple of Athena Nike was designed by Kallikrates and constructed circa 420BC.
Once we have a good look at these structures – ahead is the fabulous main temple of the Acropolis – The Parthenon – after looking at so many pictures and reading so many books I am actually standing right in front of it.
HISTORY LESSON : The Parthenon was dedicated to Athena Parthenos the patron goddess of Athens.
It was built between 447 and 438 BC and its sculptural decoration was completed in 432 BC. The construction was initiated by Perikles and supervised by Pheidias. The central part of the temple, called the cella, sheltered the famous chryselephantine cult statue of Athena made by Pheidias.
On the east side above the main entrance is a scene showing the birth of Athena and on the west – the fight between Athena and Poseidon for the name of the city. Obviously Athena won – hence the name Athens. A great part of the Parthenon was destroyed by a major explosion when it was used as a powder magazine by the Turks in 1687.
There is a lot of restoration work being done but the cranes do not detract from the building. The sky is so blue and I can imagine how it used to look. What a shame that the original façade on the top of the Parthenon (which is dedicated to the goddess Athena) is not there anymore. It was ‘taken for safe-keeping’ by Lord Elgin and is now cooped up in the British Museum.
Time to explore the remainder of the Acropolis. At the back and to the right of the Parthenon where the above picture is taken is the Erechtheion with the famous Porch of Maidens known as Caryatids.
HISTORY LESSON : The Erechtheion was built circa 420 BC. The main temple was divided into two sections dedicated to the worship of the two principal gods of Attica – Athena and Poseidon. A relief frieze bearing a representation possibly of the birth of Erectheus decorated the exterior of the building.
I don’t have to keep telling you that I take lots of photos – that goes without saying.
Kylie and I wander around up there for ages and we visit the Acropolis Museum where we, yes, take more photos including some of the original Caryatids (Maidens) from the Erechtheion.
ATHENS TRIVIA: You will most probably note that I mention Attica a few more times. Attica isn’t Greek for Athens. Attica is an area located in what is today southern Greece and covers about 3,800 square kilometres. In addition to Athens, it contains within its area the cities of Peiraeus, Eleusis, Megara, Laurium and Marathon, as well as a small part of the Peloponnese peninsula and the islands of Salamis, Aegina, Poros, Hydra, Spetses, Kythira and Antikythira.
HISTORY LESSON : The Theatre of Dionysus was a major amphitheatre in ancient Greece, built at the foot of the Acropolis. It is dedicated to Dionysus, the God of plays and wine and all good times – he is my favourite God.
The theatre could seat as many as 17,000 people, making it an ideal location for ancient Athens’ biggest theatrical celebration – the Dionysia.
This was a large religious festival in honour of Dionysus, the central event of which was the performance of tragedies and comedies. It was the second most important festival after the Panathenaia.
From on top of the Acropolis we get some good views of the Odeum of Herodes Atticus – remember we saw it before we did the climb.
There are now lots of tourists here and the day is getting hotter. Every now and again we get a little breeze which is more than welcome let me tell you. The views of Athens are great and we see many ruins of temples – although one is practically as it was all those years ago – the Temple of Hephaestus. It is the temple in the centre of the photo below.
The Temple of Hephaestus, also known as the Hephaisteion or earlier as the Theseion, is a well-preserved temple; it remains standing largely as built. It is a Doric peripteral temple, and is located at the north-west side of the Agora on top of the Agoraios Kolonos hill.
It is then time to get back on the bus for the rest of the tour. We go up to the Filopapou Monument that was erected as a monument to Gaius Julius Antiochus Philopappus, a benefactor of Athens. It is on a hill opposite the Acropolis with a splendid view over the entire basin of Attica – – – – –
what a great photo of the Acropolis – – and then it’s time to go back to the hotel.
After unloading our gear and freshening up a bit we decide to go back to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier that is right out the front of Parliament House on Constitution Square.
We get to see the Changing of the Guard and I have my photo taken with them.
They do this very intriguing march and have metal studs on their shoes and because of this you can hear them coming down the street.
Feeling a bit hungry and as we still have our afternoon tour to Cape Sounion we go to the Plaka where we buy some fresh rolls, meat and salad and wonderful, large Greek olives done in olive oil and then high tail it back to the hotel to eat lunch in our room.
I have also bought some wonderful ‘proper’ Baclava which is a Greek sweet made out of filopastry with lots of nuts and honey. Yum !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Time for a little rest after that.
In the afternoon – about 3:00pm we take our second tour – this time to Cape Sounion where we will see the Temple of Poseidon. We drive along the coastal road past some lovely beaches and we get a great view of the Saronic Gulf. When we get off the bus it is a bit windy and there is no sun but it is not cold. It is hard to realise that these temples are thousands of years old.
HISTORY LESSON : The Temple of Poseidon is one of the most important sanctuaries in Attica. There are two temples – that of Poseidon (pictured) on the southern edge and about 500m to the NE, the sanctuary of Athena.
At the beginning of the 5th century BC the Athenians initiated the construction of an imposing temple dedicated to Poseidon. The building was never completed as it was destroyed by the Persians in 480 BC.
In the following decades an important building project was undertaken at both sanctuaries.
We are allowed to wander around for ages and take lots of photos of the Temple and the sea – before it is time to head back to Athens.
We get back about 7:00pm so a quick freshen up and we decide to go out and have a look around at the night life. We discover a really quaint little jewellers where I buy a really nice gold ring for US50.00 and a dolphin pendant for US25.00. A real bargain.
Wander down into the Plaka making sure that we avoid ‘Miltons’ and we grab some McDonalds. Bit more looking around – lots of people – and then we head back to the hotel for a sound night’s sleep.
Highlight of the Day : Standing in front of The Parthenon.