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Published: September 1st 2009
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Hi Everyone!
I have spent a week here in Athens. Before I got here, and even after I got here I heard from many fellow travelers that Athens was a miserable place to be for any length of time. I have to say that once an opinion has taken root in my head it is hard to shake it off, even if wasn't my own opinion. It is so easy to see negativity everywhere. The cars are loud, the people are intrusive, the streets are dirty, and lets not even talk about the heat. But I think my reaction to a place is a lot more complicated than 'this place is bad' or 'this place is good.' I came here expecting a negative experience so I saw negative things everywhere. But I also had very nice experiences. In one day I was yelled at in Greek by a stranger about who knows what because I didn't understand a word. But a shop keeper gave me a journal with some nice pictures of Greece. I did buy an India guide book there, but I doubt that shopkeepers just give things away to everyone.
My hostel was very nice as well. They had
air conditioning and free wifi. I couldn't ask for anything more. I met lots of interesting people there and almost all of them spoke English.
As far as sightseeing goes anything noteworthy can be seen in a day, two if you take your time. The Acropolis being the most interesting and important thing to see. There are also lesser known archeological sites, a few interesting churches, and some nice flea markets. Personally my favorite thing was the gyros which I had everyday for a week. Although to be fair I ate pizza and pasta everyday in Italy.
The brand new Acropolis museum located near the entrance has preserved what was left of the Parthenon sculptures. There are also plaster molds of the sculptures that are in the British Museum. They are very negative about Lord Elgin taking the Parthenon sculptures back to Britain. I learned that Greece has been seeking repatriation of the sculptures since 1982. I guess that isn't going to well. When I was in the British Museum I got the impression that the Lord Elgin only took about half of the sculptures and left half, but apparently what he didn't take had already been destroyed by early
Christians around 600 A.D when the Parthenon was converted to a church. The video that about the Parthenon that plays in the Acropolis Museum claims that Lord Elgin 'took advantage of the circumstances' to 'violently loot' the Parthenon sculptures.
Apparently Greece was under the rule of the Ottoman Turks at the time that Lord Elgin applied for the rights to excavate the site.
Personally I don't know what to think about repatriation. On one hand, the sculptures are from the Parthenon and are part of Greek heritage. They are from Greece, so maybe they belong to Greece. If I was a Greek citizen it would make me mad to have to make a trip all the way to London to see the sculptures that were created in my homeland. On the other hand, they are part of a larger world heritage as well. How do any of us, having been born in the last few decades, lay claim to anything merely because it is (or was) geographically located near us. We didn't create it ourselves so how can it belong to any of us. The Parthenon is a cultural legacy that should be preserved so that many coming generations can
Statue of Lord Byron
I am not exactly sure why there is Lord Byron statue in Athens. Mystery. learn about it. I don't see what difference it makes where the learning takes place. Either way someone is inconvenienced. (although to be fair Lord Elgin did less 'preserving' and more 'taking.') And I don't see the British Museum saying 'sure, these priceless artifacts that have been in our collection for hundreds of years would be just as well off in Greece.'
I heard that Egypt wants the Rosetta Stone back as well.
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jennys mom
non-member comment
but if...
but if Lord what's his name hadn't taken the artifacts, wouldn't they have also been destroyed by the Christians during the revolt before it became a church? so in a way he helped preserve them.