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Greece

Mediterranean Europe, Part 10: Historic Athens

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I mentioned in the prior post that we were staying in the best spot in the entire city. And literally, we were about 50 feet from the entrance line to the Acropolis. And that was where we were going that morning as soon as the gate opened.

We bought skip-the-line tickets to the Acropolis, Agora, and Temple of Olympian Zeus about 2 months before the trip and were ready to visit each of these places on our final day of the trip. But first, while everyone else was on their way to the Acropolis in taxis and on the metro, we were having a quick breakfast on the roof of the Kyria Boutique House, admiring the Parthenon above us.

I mean, it wasn’t the greatest breakfast ever and the stairway to the roof was a little bit like ascending a medieval castle, but it was certainly good and we didn’t exactly have far to walk that morning.

View from Breakfast at the Hotel

After satiating ourselves, we left the hotel and joined the line.

Then unjoined the line.

Wait, we have skip-the-line tickets from Tiquets. Why are we in line? We’re special. We have skip-the-line tickets.

So does everyone else.

It’s just a gimmick. We all have to wait in line until they open the gates.

Once the gates were opened we started the highly anticipated walk up to the top of the Acropolis. This was the day we had most anticipated the entire trip. We’re going to see the Parthenon. I made a wooden model of it in school in 9th grade. I also wrote a report about the Ancient Olympics in 8th grade and still remember the details of it.

Acropolis Hill

Exploring the Acropolis, Ancient Agora, and Monuments of Athens

I have triumphant background music playing in the video once we arrive at the top of the Acropolis. It meant a LOT to us. It was a long trip, with endless challenges that began even before we left.

The Temple of Athena Nike. Athena Victorious. Our Victory. At last, here we were on the last day of our trip. We overcame canceled flights, lost phones, injured arms, and through it all we stuck to the plan and made it to the Acropolis.

There was no stopping the crowds but at least we were there as early as we could be and we could enjoy the moment to take in the Parthenon, and the Erechtheion, and the Odeon of Herodes Atticus (the amphitheater), and the Temple of Athena Nike, and the Propylaea in the cooler morning air.

We strolled around to each of the monuments. We went to see the olive tree planted next to the Erechtheion which symbolized the founding of Athens and the gift of an olive tree by Athena. We saw the replacement caryatids still holding aloft the Erechtheion porch. We saw the hugeness of the Parthenon and the sheer scope of Athens that surrounded us in every direction.

Since we sped past the Odeon on the way up, we walked back down a ways to enjoy the ancient theater that is still in use today. A concert pianist was already tuning his piano below us.

After an hour the crowds had really overtaken the hilltop, but we were ready to continue on. The Greek Agora awaited.

We followed a trail down from the hilltop and enjoyed the nature on the north slope of the Acropolis. Was that a magpie? They look just the same at home in Colorado. We saw a hoopoe, a bird I’d never seen before and never knew existed. And then a tortoise. Lots of creatures make their homes in historic Athens.

Wildlife of the Acropolis

We were ready for a cool drink and restaurant between the Acropolis and Agora looked like just the place. A couple granitas and a couple milk shakes. Well earned. Kind of a celebration in a way.

Everything felt pretty good for a change. We weren’t in a rush. We weren’t worried about the ship schedule. We had all day. The Greek Agora was only just down the hill. Diogenes was waiting for us.

The Greek Agora

There are actually two ancient agoras in Athens. The Greek Agora and the Roman Agora. Only in Athens is the Roman Agora somehow that boring modern one. Actually, it’s not boring at all, but we wanted to visit the ancient Greek Agora.

The Greek Agora has two fantastic buildings that warrant the most attention. First there is the Stoa of Attalos which was reconstructed in the 1950s but which dates back to to ~150 BC. There is a very good museum in the building with some fascinating artifacts.

The second is the Temple of Hephaestus. This is probably the best preserved temple that dates back to Classical Greece. The structure is almost completely intact. The interior edifice walls still stand unlike the Parthenon. It’s an amazing structure to walk around and view up close.

There is also a really pretty Greek Orthodox church in the agora that dates back to 1000 AD (The Church of the Holy Apostles of Solakis).

The rest of the agora is largely in ruins and you have to use your imagination to rebuild the markets and temples in your mind. The Agora also offers plenty of natural foliage for visitors (including olive trees) and a respite from the hustle and bustle of Athens outside. From the Temple of Hephaestus there is a great view of the Acropolis above.

Once we were finished with our visit to the Agora, we stopped at a nearby restaurant for lunch. I had Moussaka for the first time to augment my Greek dining accomplishments.

The rest of the family was tired and hot. And actually so was I. We were ready to head back to the hotel. We stopped a few times for souvenirs, of course. We passed the Roman Agora and the cylindrical Horologion of Andronikos. And enjoyed more of colorful the colorful Plaka neighborhood on the way.

Once we got back to the hotel, we all took an hour to rest. Once that hour passed, I asked the others if they wanted to join me on a walk to Panathenaic Stadium. They declined. It was ok. But I felt a need to go.

Temple of Olympian Zeus

Temple of Olympian Zeus

The Temple of Olympian Zeus was included on our ticket package that I bought and since it was along the way to Panathenaic Stadium, I stopped in to see it.

The Temple was absolutely huge when in was constructed, but now most all of it is gone. Still, the columns that remain are enough to give an indication of just how enormous it once was.

Unfortunately, unlike the Acropolis and Agora, there just wasn’t a lot to see at the Temple. So I continued on to Panathenaic Stadium.

I had to cross a couple busy streets, but otherwise the walk from Plaka to the stadium was easy. I really felt it was an important last stop on the trip and I’m glad I went, no matter how hot it was (about 100F).

Panathenaic Stadium

Panathenaic Stadium

The history of Panathenaic Stadium is really the history of the modern Olympics. The stadium dates back to 200 AD when it was built during Roman occupation. The stadium was reconstructed for the 1896 games and it was used again for certain events like the Marathon finale in the 2004 games.

Again though it was hot I could not resist running a lap. And I climbed up the steep stairs to the upper level. It felt good to be there.

Then I made the walk back to the hotel to rejoin the family. I had done everything on the trip that I had planned to do. Now we could all have a relaxing dinner and say goodbye to Athens, to Greece, and to Europe. Tomorrow we’d be flying home.

Once I got to the hotel I showered and got dressed in fresh clothes. We debated where to have dinner. Shelley looked on her phone and suggested a place that was a short distance away outside. Since we all weren’t quite ready to go to dinner just yet I said I’d go take a look and see if it looked good.

And I did that. And the other restaurants next to it looked good too. But really I just had to take one last stroll. To Philopappus Hill.

Philopappos Hill

The View from Philopappos Hill

Long before the trip began I saw that there was an interesting park and hill just past the lane that separated the Acropolis from the Acropolis Museum. I sauntered up there and then up a wilderness trail to a wonderful overlook.

I took some photos and felt sublime. Now I was ready to go back to the hotel and have dinner.

We had another good Greek dinner. I wanted to sit outside but we were seated inside. Grumble. Oh well. We had some much deserved alcoholic beverages.

Then we bought some gelato and a few more souvenirs. Now we were good. Ready to go to bed and start home tomorrow.

Greece, Travel

Mediterranean Cruise, Part 9: Athens Museums

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I think of all the places we were going to be visiting on the trip, the one that most excited me was Athens. The reason was simple: it had the most bucket list sites and I had never been there.

Our NCL ship docked early at the port of Piraeus and with our luggage in hand we set about the process of self-debarkation. It was rather easy since we were literally one story above the exit gangway and didn’t need to use the elevators (which are always packed on embarkation and debarkation day).

Almost every time we’ve ben on a cruise the last day has been rather depressing. But knowing we had two days to enjoy Athens, and having gotten to the point we had in dealing with lackluster food, pushy people, and generally unfriendly staff, we were ready to get off the ship and be done with the cruise.

We had paid more to go on a Norwegian cruise and at the end of the cruise I can genuinely say that the only great thing about it was the itinerary. The food quality was subpar except at Cagney’s Steakhouse, the shipboard entertainment was pathetic, and we never even bothered trying to use the pool because we were kind of jaded by the pushy, rude people on the decks and around the ship.

Once off the ship we set about finding our driver who would take us to our hotel in the Plaka district. We found him and he helped us load our luggage and ourselves into the van for the drive to the city.

Driving into Athens was interesting. The city was certainly sprawling and full of graffiti. I mean, covered in it in places. It was somewhat unsettling.

Plaka, he told us, was one of the most beautiful places in Athens. We had chosen well. That was something I was counting on. I wanted to be as close to the major sites as possible, in a district that offered plenty of good restaurants.

As we neared the hotel he told us he could not drive all the way to the hotel itself. There was a pedestrian walkway that led to it. All we needed to do was going about 100 feet up the walkway and the hotel would be on the corner.

We exited with our luggage and found that the pedestrian walkway was indeed the case, and yet other drivers would in fact drive the narrow path causing some startled looks from pedestrians. Was it a walkway or a street?

The Kyria Boutique House was right on the corner. Well actually the doorway was right next to the souvenir shop on the corner. We arrived at the door and after a quick Whats App message the maid appeared to allow us to stow our luggage. It wasn’t yet even 9:00 AM and way too early to check in.

I chose the Kyria Boutique House because of the location and chose the largest suite room for our family. Two rooms and a big bathroom with a tub. Ideal for a family of four

But the location. I kid you not, the location is the best probably in the entire city. From the doorway to our room we literally needed to walk about fifty feet to the entrance of the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum was just a tiny bit farther on the opposite side. We could walk to dozens of restaurants and souvenir shops. The location was utterly fantastic. Just what I intended.

With our luggage safely stowed we could visit the Acropolis Museum. The museum opened at 9:00 but our debarkation and trip to the hotel had gone so effortlessly well we were in line before the museum even opened.

People were gathering on the steps in front of the museum and we took our place there as well. It was good to be there when the museum opened because the museum was sure to get crowded shortly thereafter.

The Acropolis Museum

A Visit to the Archaeological Museums of Athens

Once inside we found that we needed to check our backpacks in at the entrance. No big deal. I had a smaller, sling pack I bought on Amazon that was allowed in the museum, and into which I could put everything I needed for perusing the museum. Including my GoPro.

Acropolis Museum

The Acropolis Museum contains the treasures taken from the Acropolis on the hill next door. Well, almost all the treasures. The Elgin Marbles aren’t here yet.

The museum collections are fascinating of course. We often think of the statues as having been colorless marble, but in many originally were painted and traces of the original colors can still be seen. In certain cases the museum displayed a reproduction to show how it would have looked with color.

The museum collection also spans centuries, as does the history of Athens. Classical Athens which covered the period from about 500 BC until around 300 BC is the most represented, as would be expected since the great monuments on the hill above were largely constructed in this time frame.

Before coming to the museum I had heard about the Caryatids and in particular their complex hairstyles. It’s interesting to think that women in ancient Greece might actually have had hair long enough to be styled in such a manner.

Regardless of whether the hairstyle was really possible, the statues are something to behold, as well as the fact that for over 2400 years they supported the weight of the Erechtheion Porch on the Acropolis. Now they are safely inside and replicas stand in their place.

After we had a rather slow breakfast in the museum cafeteria, we spent some time viewing the area below the museum. There is not a single area of the modern city that doesn’t have history buried beneath it. And that includes the ground below which the museum stands.

Beneath the Acropolis Museum

Beneath the museum are the ruins of an ancient neighborhood dating back to Roman and Byzantine times. The entire museum is supported by pillars just over these ancient dwellings.

As it was now approaching lunch time, and it was still not yet time to check in to the hotel, we wandered down one of the Plaka streets to find something to eat and drink. It was hot and a cool drink would help. Athens is always very hot in the summer, though we were fortunate to have arrived after a heat wave the prior week.

As we sat there eating, a tour group appeared behind us. The guide was talking about the craziest Athenian of all: Diogenes. We knew right away who he was talking about. He’s our favorite philosopher. If that term applies to a guy that lived in a barrel in the Agora. Because he wanted to avoid earthly comforts. Or so he claimed.

So after eating and discussing Diogenes and whether or not we’d find his barrel the next day in the Agora, we were ready to check in. We walked over to the hotel and were finally able to crash in our terrific suite. Right in the heart of everything and yet somehow quietly away from it all once inside. The perfect place to be in Athens.

We took some time to rest and relax. We were far from done that day, of course. But it does help to have some air conditioning to counter the midday sun in Athens.

Once we were fully rested, or rested enough, we walked down to the outside to a taxi stand. We overpaid for a ride to the National Museum of Archaeology. But getting there was worth it.

The National Museum of Archaeology

National Archaeological Museum

If you go to only one museum in your time in Athens (which would be a shame), it needs to be this one. As good as the Acropolis Museum was, it paled in comparison to the National Archaeological Museum.

The collections in the museum cover all of Greece, through every era of its history. You’ll find Minoan artifacts, artifacts from Troy (yes, the city burned in the Illiad and Odyssey), artifacts from Mycenaean graves including the death mask that Heinrich Schliemann called the Mask of Agamemnom.

You’ll see the evolution of Greek art as it became more sophisticated and they began making statues. You can see the artistry grow ever more intricate over time and by the late Classical and Roman era the statues are utterly beautiful (look at the statue of the girl resting).

Finally, there is the artifact that was the inspiration for the Dial of Destiny in the latest Indiana Jones: the Antikythera Mechanism. Of course modern research has determined that it was actually useful for tracking moon phases, which is an incredibly sophisticated achievement in itself. As well as a replica of Ptolemy’s astrolabe.

So by the time we were finished exploring we felt pretty convinced that this museum was the best we’d seen in Greece.

Return to Plaka

You can use Uber in Athens and it turned out to be the easier and cheaper way to hail a taxi. For half the price of our ride to the museum we got a ride back to our hotel. We walked a short distance and found a place tucked away beneath the hustle and bustle in the neighborhood above.

Having Dinner in Plaka

The restaurant was a bit pricy and kind of pretentious (we don’t really care what famous person ate there – especially if it’s a politician), but we were all feeling good and looking forward to exploring Athens more the next day.