Sunrise: Athens 7:12am
Sunset: 7:22pm
Steps: 11,628
I went down to breakfast early this morning, as I wanted to update yesterday's activities, before heading out on todays activities. For some reason last night, webpages were just not opening but all is back to normal today.
We met our local guide just before 9 this morning. Tania is her name. She will be with us again tomorrow afternoon.
We were at the rock of the Acropolis by 9am. It really is amazing to see it in real life, with the ancient monuments still standing.
The greatest and finest sanctuary of ancient Athens, dedicated primarily to its patron, the goddess Athena, dominates the centre of the modern city from the rocky crag known as the Acropolis. The most celebrated myths of ancient Athens, its greatest religious festivals, earliest cults and several decisive events in the city's history are all connected to this sacred precinct. The monuments of the Acropolis stand in harmony with their natural setting. These unique masterpieces of ancient architecture combine different orders and styles of Classical art in a most innovative manner and have influenced art and culture for many centuries. The Acropolis of the fifth century BC is the most accurate reflection of the splendour, power and wealth of Athens at its greatest peak, the golden age of Perikles. (source Ministry of Culture & Sport)
On the walk up to see the Parthenon, we saw the Theatre of Dionysus.
The theatre was built at the time when 'drama' or 'theatre' was first being created. It's thought that the first drama was presented by Thespis in about 530 BC (which is where we get the word 'Thespian'). These dramas were probably performed in the Agora.
The cult of Dionysus was brought to Athens in the 6th C BC, and the threatre was built as part of the temple precinct.
In the 5th C BC major works of theatre were performed. These plays were written by some of the great "Attic tragedians", men such as Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. The plays were performed as part of the cult celebrations of Dionysus. Fortunately, many of their plays have survived, which give us a unique insight into their thinking. (source visit-ancient-Greece.com)
We all stood under a shady tree while Tania, spoke about much of the history of the Acropolis.
We continued on our way up the hill. A lot of the steps are marble and can be slippery, so it was a matter of taking it slow and steady. I thought it was fairly crowded but apparently it can be a lot worse. As we climbed, I could see the Ancient Greek Agora down below.
The entrance to the Acropolis is called the Propylaea, meaning entrance to a temple or monument.
Different types of marble.
The Parthenon
Temple of Athena Nike
After finishing up the top, I then walked slowly back down to the bus. I don't think I would care to visit on a wet day. We were all back on board by about 11:30am.
From the Acropolis we then went to see the Olympic Stadium, or Panathenaic Stadium.
The Panathenaic Stadium is a classical cultural and touristic monument of Greece and one of the most significant monuments not only for Athens, but for the whole Greece.
It is one of our city’s most popular touristic attractions and one of Athens’ landmarks.
Its rich history is directly connected to the Modern Olympic Games as from their revival in 1896 until the Athens Olympic Games in 2004. It is also the place from where the Olympic flame sets up its journey to the cities of the Olympic Games, both Winter, Summer and Youth. You can read of the history here.
http://www.panathenaicstadium.gr/thepanathenaicstadium/history/tabid/96/language/en-us/default.aspx
From there we then had a city bus sight seeing tour and departed the bus near Hadrian's Arch, to do a bit of shopping or a walk around the Plaka area.
After that it was back on the. bus, to be taken to another area, where we had a delicious lunch. This is a pic of the main course.
Slow cooked lamb. Yum...
After lunch, Christina walked us to another area and to where Dimitri was to pick us up.
When she contacted him, she found out that he couldn't get there for about half an hour, because of a fire and roads being blocked, so the pickups point was changed and we went walking for about another 10-15 minutes through a totally different neighbourhood. Past some lovely back street restaurants, some pot smoking establishments and also the 'Chinese' neighbourhood.
A few of the people wanted to visit the Archaeological Museum, so Dimitri did a small detour on the way back to the hotel, to drop them off. The rest of us were back at the hotel shortly after 4pm.
Lois & Elizabeth came knocking on my door around 6:30 asking me to join them for either a drink or a drink & dinner at a restaurant we had heard about and also to drop of my little camera, so I could download a couple of photos that I hadn't already downloaded.
Lois's camera has given up the ghost, so I have lent her my small Canon, so she can continue to take photos while on the tour. She was going to use her iPad mini, but I know that she would prefer a camera. She will just download from the memory card to the mini and I'll recharger the spare battery every night for her, so all should work out well.
It's now 10:30pm and that is it for the day. Tomorrow we have the morning to do our own thing and then in the afternoon, are going to visit Cape Sounion and the Temple of Poseidon, before coming back to Athens and the port of Piraeus, to catch the overnight ferry to Crete.
I'm not expecting wifi on the ferry, so probably won't be posting anything tomorrow evening.
A group of musicians having a jam session.
A few of the people wanted to visit the Archaeological Museum, so Dimitri did a small detour on the way back to the hotel, to drop them off. The rest of us were back at the hotel shortly after 4pm.
Lois & Elizabeth came knocking on my door around 6:30 asking me to join them for either a drink or a drink & dinner at a restaurant we had heard about and also to drop of my little camera, so I could download a couple of photos that I hadn't already downloaded.
Lois's camera has given up the ghost, so I have lent her my small Canon, so she can continue to take photos while on the tour. She was going to use her iPad mini, but I know that she would prefer a camera. She will just download from the memory card to the mini and I'll recharger the spare battery every night for her, so all should work out well.
It's now 10:30pm and that is it for the day. Tomorrow we have the morning to do our own thing and then in the afternoon, are going to visit Cape Sounion and the Temple of Poseidon, before coming back to Athens and the port of Piraeus, to catch the overnight ferry to Crete.
I'm not expecting wifi on the ferry, so probably won't be posting anything tomorrow evening.
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