Like everyone else in the U.S., I grew up learning that ancient Greek civilization was essentially the basis for everything we know. Throughout all of my schooling, I was shown pictures of amazing ruins in Athens, and therefore had a very romantic view of what it would be like to visit. Well, to be honest, it was a few pickles short of a Whopper. To begin with, it is quite dirty and has been doused in graffiti. That in and of itself is not new to us. The frustrating part is that it is very difficult to distinguish anything of real significance because everything is in such shambles and very poorly explained or maintained.
In the Greeks' defense, the area has a long history of battles and occupations from outside cultures, which have greatly contributed to its state of disarray. It is only relatively recently (the late 19th and 20th centuries) that the areas we visited were seen to have things that should be preserved, and even at that point the memo was not widely distributed. A number of remaining structures were either repurposed or shipped to other countries for personal or public use. The Greeks definitely have an uphill battle to win before creating a true interpretive experience. As a tourist, the frustrating part is that there are very few placards that describe the sites, and centuries of neglect have led to the current reality that the only way to preserve much of what remains is to remove it from the outdoors and place it in a museum, and put a replica in its place on the original site.
All of that aside, however, I feel very fortunate to have been able to visit areas with such amazing historical significance, and it is always fun and interesting to explore another culture. I haven't mentioned yet that Greek food is at the top of my list of favorites, and therefore I was in culinary heaven for our entire trip. So even when the Parthenon was essentially a construction site and largely consisted of replicated friezes, I simply reminded myself that a big plate of stuffed grape leaves was waiting for me in a quaint little cafe somewhere.
Case in point, here you see where the light rail tracks were laid right through the ruins of the Temple of Apollo Patroos in the Agora.
The hill you see in the background is where the Apostle Paul preached to Athenian philosophers (Acts 17: 16-18).
The Agora museum housed many wonderful (reproduction) statues and other artifacts. At some point you have to just give up the dream of seeing much that is "real"...until the very last place we visited at the bottom.
If you're going to have a stake through your head, it is ideal to at least have a nice view - the Agora and part of the Acropolis are in the reflection on the glass.
I feel the need to preface this photo's explanation by saying that Andy and I are very respectful people. We don't touch things in museums, we are quiet, we quickly take our turn standing in front of exhibits and reading. When I saw this partial statue, I knew there was the potential to breathe new life into it. Andy reluctantly obliged, and as I was taking the photo, we heard a loud toot. No, not that kind of toot. Get your mind out of the gutter. It was almost like a bird tweeting. I continued to take one or two more shots, and then a petite lady with a whistle scurried up to us and said that you were not able to take photos behind the artifacts, only next to them. Scolding by whistle - that's a new one. I would love to see some studies on the effectiveness of that method, considering I thought there was an annoying bird in the museum who did not distract me from taking several shots.
We visited the market where the restaurants buy their food, not where the tourists go. Vegetarians, skip ahead. The rest of you: full animal carcasses of every type were for sale, and I have a feeling that if I lived in Athens (likely as the result of having committed a crime and it being the prison in which I was assigned to carry out my sentence), I would take cooking classes to learn how to prepare every cut of meat and shop there every day.
At last, the famed Parthenon. Dedicated to Athena, it was built in 438 BC. I had not known that it was originally a treasury, and during different conquests also served as a church and later a mosque. Renovations to the site began in 1975 and will now continue for many years because some of the early methods actually led to further structural damage. It's like the Greeks just can't catch a break.
A beautiful day for pictures!
The Porch of the Caryatids on the north side of the Erechtheion, another temple on the Acropolis. It was dedicated to Athena and Poseidon.
The Temple of Olympian Zeus. The column in the foreground collapsed in 1852, and oh how I would have loved to have been there to see that!
The last place we visited was the New Acropolis Museum, and it is awesome. The top floor houses a life-size layout of many of the friezes from the Parthenon, with excellent information about the stories they tell. Furthermore, it is built over an archaeological site (photo above) which can be seen from all areas due to glass floors. In stark contrast to the museum in the Agora, the entrance had many signs expressing that photography of any kind was strictly prohibited in the museum. I welcomed the forced break from documentation and looked forward to being among others who were just there to learn...and not block my shot. As was the theme for our time in Athens, don't believe anything you see. People were taking pictures left and right, even in tour groups led by the museum staff. VIDEOS, TOO! I remained an obedient little lass, watching people go so far as to touch the artifacts, that for the first time were actually real. Humans sure are curious creatures. But, they did build some amazing structures (like how I brought that full circle? Yeah.)!
