Up, breakfast, bus to the base of the Acropolis hill.
The first stop was the Areopagus – the knoll where Greek men in the first century would gather to discuss philosophy and such.
Mark and Michaela talked a bit about the place.Then we climbed up for a view of the city and the surrounding hills (note the snow)The top of the hill is basically a marble outcropping.Phil read the section in Acts where Paul spoke from this very spot.View of the Acropolis from the Areopagus
After a bit of scrambling about the rocks we hiked up to the Acropolis.
The entrance is guarded by the temple of Nike.OK, back to the movie ‘The 300.’ I’ve heard the story that the battle of Thermopile turned the tide in that conflict. It was a big deal, however what actually won the war for Athens was the naval battle of Salamis. Seen here from the entrance to the Acropolis is the island of Salamis (the hill in the background) and (if you look closely to the left) a bit of the straight where that battle took place.We talked a lot about the Parthenon.While the scaffolding is along the back you can see into the front where they are working on restoration.Most of the sculptural work is gone. But you can still see bits of it around.We also checked out the Erechtheion – where the Caryatids support the side porch.And we looked down on the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. We also looked down on the theatre of Dionysus where many Greek plays were first performed.
After that tour we were sufficiently frozen so we retired to the Acropolis Museum for a refreshment break. Thus fortified we were ready to take on the museum. It’s rather small, and entirely devoted to the Acropolis but it’s well curated and worth a visit.
The museum is built on top of an active archaeological site. Inside they have used glass floors to highlight what is being unearthed below.We were greeted by a sculpture of young Dionysius carrying a theatrical mask and riding on the shoulders of Papposilenos. Dionysius, being the god of theatre and wine, would be a great patron for the Idaho Shakespeare theatre. Jus sayin’They displayed a large collection of votive offering jars. These, being quite small, probably held very expensive perfumes and oils.They provided a good model overview of the Acropolis complex.Here Michaela is lecturing on the gods represented in the east pediment of the Parthenon.In a detail from above Zeus watches while Hermes crowns Athena with the laurel wreath.This is a model (perhaps life-size) of the Akroterion that crowned the ridge of the Parthenon roof.The museum displayed a fairly complete frieze including models of the sections in the British Library (lighter colored such as the above) And originals (with the darker patina).
Having hit the fun barrier with the Acropolis we boarded the bus for the return to our hotel. We stopped by our room to drop bags and such and then set off with Ron and Cheri to do a bit of exploring the Plaka (area of the old city where our hotel is located). We wandered, did a bit of shopping, had late lunch/early dinner, enjoyed a bit of gelato (Cheri and me), large sugar donut (Ron), and roasted chestnuts (Cheryl) as we wandered a bit more before returning to our hotel for reading, posting, and such.
Inside of the church we visited last night. No service in progress this afternoon so I took a few pictures.Parliament building across Constitution Square
Tomorrow we see the last few “must see” sites in Athens before heading down the coast to visit the Temple of Poseidon.
