Athens, Greece

Our third stop was Piraeus; the port for Athens, Greece. We had booked an excursion for the day, but unfortunately, due to a "demonstration/memorial" march kind of thing, our drive through downtown had to be re-routed because of closed roads in the center of the city. I'm not sure what we missed by not going that way, but at least we got to see the main attraction.

This is a view of the Acropolis on our walk back to the bus. Acropolis means "top of the city". Greece was built on 7 hills (not unlike Rome). The hill that is the Acropolis is the second tallest. So not exactly the tippity top of the city, but the tallest hill was not flat enough to make a temple of Parthenon's proportions.



This is Mar's Hill where Paul preached from in Athens. It's just down the hill from the Acropolis.











This is the Temple of Hephaestus or Theseion. It is the best preserved ancient Greek temple. It's in the Agora (down the hill from the Acropolis)--the area which was the place of assembly of Athenian male citizens.

Mike and I standing down the hill from the Roman gate of entry to the Acropolis.














In front of the Parthenon.

This is the Erechtheum.

Mike in front of the Erechtheum. Sometimes he gets tired of simply smiling for pictures. Can you tell? This is a temple that is assiciated with many of Athens most sacred relics. In myths, Poseidon and Athena were feuding for the city. Supposedly Poseidon stuck his trident in the ground and made a salt water well, and Athena made an olive tree grow when she stuck her spear in the ground. Both are said to have happened on this spot. That, along with mythical kings buried here and so forth make this a special place.










This is the "porch" on the temple. The Porch of the Caryatids or Maidens. They were built to support the weight of the porch roof while still having a slender neck and remaining feminine. I liked them. These are all fabrications though. :( There were originally six. I liked this story: One of the caryatids was removed by Lord Elgin in order to decorate his Scottish mansion, and was later sold to the British Museum (along with the pedimental and frieze sculpture taken from the Parthenon). Athenian legend had it that at night the remaining five Caryatids could be heard wailing for their lost sister.
I am standing in the back (?) of the temple--the side facting away from the Parthenon, toward the city.

The field with the columns I think had something to do with the Olympics.












The Parthenon.







This is a theater--you pass on the walk up the hill to the top. Many recent artists have played here, including Elton John.












A towel seal. :)