Athens was very interesting and there was a lot to see. It was actually probably one of the greenest cities we have seen to date, which was a bit unexpected. There is a lot of park land in the middle of the city (not all public, however, some are pay) that house the city's Roman ruins, including the famous Acropolis that sits on the top of a plateau overlooking the city. There are also the ruins of Agora that surrounds the Acropolis. The Acropolis ruins were incredible, hard to amagine that they are 25 centuries old and many parts are still standing, others completely destroyed by numerous wars and foreign takeovers. A large temple dedicated to the goddess, Athena (how Athens got its name), lies in the middle of the plateau and is probably the most famous ruin on the site. Athena was born by hacking open the head of Zeus. She was a warrior goddess who protected Athens from giants (earthquakes), and according to legend, this is how Sicily was created. In one of the battles, she threw a giant into the ocean and covered it up with Sicily. From time to time, however, the giant still grumbles causing rumbling (earthquakes) across the country. Overall, I am very impressed in Greek mythology's strong female characters :).
Standing up there on the plateau of Acropolis, overlooking the surrounding hillsides and valleys, all the way to the sea, surrounded by dark ominous clouds (it was about to rain), you can understand how the Romans felt close to the gods/goddesses up here; how the origins of the stories of the gods/goddesses living up on a mountain (Mt. Olympus) were created. Pretty amazing.
After seeing the Acropolis we went to the brand new Acropolis Museum directly beside the site, which houses most of the orignal statues from the site. It was one of the best laid out museums I have seen, you finish up on the third level with an incredible view of the Acropolis.
Other than this site, we visited other surrounding ruins, unfortunately missing the Archaeology museum, which was supposed to be amazing. It was hard to see a lot of sites in one day because so many things closed early as its the winter, or, could just be to overall budget cuts the country is experiencing. Another day we spent hiking to the top of a local hill with a church on the top, which provided an even better view of the city than the Acropolis plateau and we spent the afternoon there taking it all in.
Food has been good, I am surprised Geoff hasnt turned into a gyro yet with the quantity he has been eating :). Still a bit hard to eat cheap as a veggie but the greek salads have been amazing and just yesterday I was able to find a veggie moussaka. Spanokapita has been great as well and Greek yogurt has been a daily indulgence.
We left Athens two days ago to begin a six day tour of the Cyclades islands and are currently on a Greek island, Santorini. So beautiful! Will post pictures soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment