Summer in London - Day 22

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Day 22 - Below and Above Ground




We were able to get our airport transfer to swing by the caves on the way to the airport so we planned to leave Athens after lunch. We filled our morning with one more set of ruins and a bit of shopping.




The Temple of Hephaestus was part of an area called the Ancient Agora. This area shows evidence of habitation as early as 2000 BC. The temple was one of the most complete temples found in Athens. It makes sense that the Greek god of the forge and engineering had a pretty sturdy temple. It also helps that it was turned into a church at one point.




The area below the temple was a big meeting place for locals and was where citizens could go to view decrees and announcements. The attached museum had some very interesting artifacts from everyday life including the methods for selecting citizens for juries and for voting.




After visiting the Agora we stopped at a few shops to pick up the last of the souvenirs we had been eyeing during our stay. Michelle ended up with a Greek dress, sandals and a gold laurel wreath to complete the outfit.




A quick stop for sandwiches and then we headed back to the house to pack and take showers before heading to the airport. On the way we made a quick detour to visit the Koutouki Caves in the cliffs above Paiania. They were not too extensive and were first discovered in the 1920s by a shepherd who lost a goat through a crack in the cave roof. It was a nice cave and tour and looked similar to many other caves we have been in.




From there our next stop was the airport. Because the caves closed at 3PM we ended up at the airport VERY early. A leisurely lunch and seats in front of the Armani store made the time pass, if not quickly, then at least with some amusement.



It was very nice to make it back to our flat in London. It was familiar enough to call home after being away for several days. Our next few days will be filled with domestic chores and some small amusements before our next trip.

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Photos

Temple of Hephaestus
The best preserved ancient temple in Athens. Not surprised, given he was the god of engineering.

Impressive Columns
We spent some time here looking at the temple in detail. Plus it was in the shade.

The Symmetry
Everything about this temple was fascinating. Plus.. it was in the shade.

Naga
Several statues were recovered from the Ancient (greek) Agora. It is a large site with multiple temples, and a very neat Museum.

Pot
In the museum, they discussed the evolution of the Ancient Agora over the last 3000 years. It was one of the more informative displays we have encountered.

A Cave... Of course
There are not a lot of open caves in Greece, and fewer of them are show caves, but we found one!

Dark Selfie
It was not well lit, and the tour was a bit of a whirlwind. The guide spoke broken English, and the two families were American and French. There was a lot of hand waving.

Lots of formations
It was a small, but pretty neat cave.

The original entrance
A small crack in which a goat fell through. The crack was probably formed from a (historically) recent earthquake. Imagine what the Ancient Greeks would have done if they had discovered this cave.

Customs
No line. We breezed right through back to the UK.