An all too brief visit to Athens

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Geo: 37.9792, 23.7166

I am slowly catching up on my blog posts. It is after the fact but better late than never I suppose. I flew from Rome to Athens on Feb. 12 and met up with Brenda. We spent just a few days in Athens before heading to Egypt but it was a great taste of the city and left me wanting more.
A few days in Athens has been a real pleasure. The current city is not that old, unlike Rome, because it was almost completely abandoned during the Middle Ages and over centuries of invaders and wars most of the ancient buildings were destroyed, ruins were looted etc. The result is a relatively modern city with most of the homes and buildings built from the mid 1800's on. The sites of ruins are scattered around the central area amid neighborhoods ranging from chic to funky. It is all very interesting and the city deserves more time.

The most famous ancient site of all, the Acropolis, can be seen from almost anywhere in the city because it was built on the highest hill so that the Parthenon would tower above everything. It is dedicated to Athena Parthenos the goddess embodying the power and prestige of the city. It was completed in 438 BC. What remains is a skeleton of its greater glory. If you visit the fabulous Acropolis Museum first you will learn what this site has endured and have a much easier time envisioning how spectacular it was. The architects and sculptures worked to create a place of beauty and color to honor Athena. The fluted Doric columns are carved to create an optical illusion: the foundations are slightly concave and the columns are slightly convex making both appear straight. The temples pediments, the triangular elements topping the east and west facades, were elaborately carved three-dimensional sculptures. These have been painstakingly put back together by archeologists and as much as remains can be seen at the museum. The square panels all along the sides (metopes) depicted the Olympian gods fighting the giants on the east side and on the west side they showed Theseus leading Athenian youths into battle against the Amazons. The south panels illustrated the contest of the Lapiths and centaurs at a marriage feast and the north panels depicted the sack of Troy. These panels are also now displayed in the Acropolis museum!!

Another marvelous temple in the Acropolis is the Erechtheion which was built on the spot where Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and where Athena produced the olive tree. The temple housed the cults of Poseidon, Athena and Erechtheus. A delightful element of this structure is the Porch of the Caryatids. Six maiden sculptures modelled on women of Karyai. The ones at the site today are plaster casts of the originals which are housed in the Acropolis Museum and one is in the British Museum. These were of particular interest to me because Hadrian fashioned the maidens that line one area of the pool at Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli were fashioned after these Caryatids.

The Acropolis has many more temples and structures to see but rather than write a tome on this site it is very easy to find more information online. Better yet, go to Athens and experience it yourself!

A walking tour of the city is a great thing to do and there is a free walking tour available most days, year round. The guide we had was an archaeologist and student of ancient languages. He had great passion for the ancient history of this place and even greater passion for ensuring that everyone understands how fragile democracy is if complacency sets in. Good lesson given the times.

One of the most fun things was a Greek Cooking class. We were the only ones who signed up so it was a private lesson. We learned how to make seven Greek dishes, did all the prep and then had the pleasure of eating it all!! Roasted lamb, roasted potatoes, spinach balls, spanakopita, tzatziki, Greek salad and a honey yogurt dessert.

The National Archaeological Museum is also incredible and well worth several hours of anyone's time while in Athens.

We did a day trip to Delphi which was lovely to wonder around and the drive there and back allows a great intro to how wonderful the Greek countryside is making it very easy to want to go back.

There wasn't enough time to dig into all the wonderful neighborhoods of Athens. Each with its own character and flair. We spent time in Plaka and Monastraki which have lots of restaurants and shopping. Our apartment was in Kynosargous which is away from the mainstream tourist areas but easy walking distance to the Acropolis etc. Taxis are everywhere and SO cheap. Actually, after Rome, Athens was a real bargain.

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Photos

Poseidon or Zeus??
Bronze statue found sunken. No one knows for sure if it is Poseidon or Zeus because they did not find a trident or lightning bolt which would have made the differentiation.