3 Weeks in Greece

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3 Weeks in Greece

 Europe » Greece » Athens » Athens By K J
May 16th 2006
K.J.H.This is a just a back-log journal, I suppose, getting my travelblog up-to-date! Last summer, I went to Greece for three weeks on an Art History study tour. The people I went with are AMAZING and I am so fortunate to have met them!

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Photos

Parthanon
Sarah and I in front of the Parathanon. Since our professor has such status with the Greek government, we were able to go inside the Parthanon (it has been closed to the public) and watch first-hand the restoration process. Pollution in Athens has begun eating away at the marble columns, and unfortunately, it is probably too late. Go to Greece and enjoy this monument to civilization while you can - your grandchildren will never get to see it!

Temple of Hephestaes, Aigina
The only temple in Greece that still has the double columns.

The Temple of Zeus with Parthenon behind
The temple of Zeus in Athens was mind-boggling large. The columns are probably 4 or 5 stories tall.

Greek soldiers
One of our last days in Athens, we watched a parade of Greek soldiers during the changing of the guard. I love the pom-pons on their shoes!

Xania's harbor
Xania, on Crete, was one of our favorite stopping places.

Corbled arch
Art historians believe this is the first type of arch invented, located at the crumbling fortress of Tiryns. Thank you, ancient Greeks.

Naufplio
A quaint, "postcard perfect" town.

Mistras
My favorite place of the trip! Mistras is a fortess-church complex built on the top of a large hill outside Sparta, which is now a pretty po-dunk town. The citadel has been occupied by the Turks, the Greeks and the Arabs. There are dozens of churches dotting the hill on the long, but gorgeous, walk down (several hours), many with frescoes from the 12th century - a major feat, considering that frescos have a nasty tendency to pull away from the wall and shatter on the ground!

Akrocorinth
The citadel on the mountain above Corinth, where two books of the Bible, the first and second letters to the Cortinthians, were written by the apostle Paul.

The temple of Apollo at Corinth
The reason Paul wrote those letters to the Corinthians!

Ampitheatre at Epidaurus
The largest man-made ampitheatre in the ancient world. From the top row where this picture was taken, one could hear a penny dropped on the stage floor.

Temple at Delphi
The temple at Delphi is where the oracle made so famous by the play "Antigone" was contacted. They say the person who contacted the oracle was able to do so because of natural gases coming up through a fissure directly below the temple - evidently, it helps to get high at work.