440 B.C & 2004 A.D

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Today I made 2 trips to 2 different destinations which are in contrast to each other. One is the Cape Sounion where located the remains of Poseidon Temple. The other is Athens Olympic Sports Complex. I as if went from the ancient Greece of 440 BC to a new, modern, spectacular Athens of the year 2004. And that was a amazing experience.

Cape Suonion is located 69 kilometres south of Athens, at the southernmost tip of the Attica peninsula in Greece. It was a very crucial spot to protect the area of Athens. The temple of Poseidon was constructed in approx. 440 BC, over the ruins of a temple dating from the Archaic Period. It is perched above the sea at a height of almost 60 m. The total number of original columns was 42: 16 columns still stand today. They were made of locally-quarried white marble. They were 6,10m high, with a diameter of 1m at the base and 79cm at the top. The temple is amazing and the view from the top of the cape is breath-taking. When I was standing there, I feel totally free and relaxed. The colour of the sea, the breezing of the air, the heat of the sun... everything is mixed and created an unbelievable atmosphere for tourists...

Athens Olympic Sports Complex was built for Olympic Athens 2004. It's a combination of many different stadiums, halls, sport facilities and others. The architectures of the complex is really impressive. The main stadium is the Olympic Stadium "Spiros Louis" which looks like a bird is going to fly up to the sky. Other venues are the Olympic Indoor Hall, the Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre, the Athens Olympic Velodrome, the Athens Olympic Tennis Centre... It took me more than 45 minutes just to walk around the main part of the complex, Greek athletes were still practicing at that time. Being in the complex, one may feel the spirit of sport all around... That was really nice.

In one day, I went from the ancient Greece to the modern Athens. I admire the Greeks. They are hard working people with unique minds that helped them creating a prosperous civilisation in the past. And nowadays, although facing a lot of difficulties and problems, they are still trying to prove to the world that they are the best nation. Maybe I cannot agree so much with that idea, but I agree with one point: Greece is wonderful.

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