Athens!

Sunrise from Mars Hill

We made it! After 3 flights and a very long layover in the very dull Baltimore airport we arrived in Athens in time to catch a cab to the hotel, find a quick dinner, and fall fast asleep. None of us really felt like leaving the hotel room after our long trip, but we knew we had to keep ourselves awake and get some fresh air. Not much to report from day one except that we are happy with the food (yum pita and freshly squeezed orange juice!), we were just a couple minutes from the acropolis and the walking street that proceeds around the base, and that it's ...very... warm in Athens in June. We decided to call this day and try to get up and on the acropolis by the time the gates opened at 8 am so we could see the Parthenon before the sun got too intense.... so...
Day 2- The Parthenon, The Acropolis Museum, the flea market, AND the National Archaeological Museum.  We don't mess around.  It was amazing to make it through the gates before the throngs of tourists arrived.  We were instantly charmed by two orange kitties guarding the gates, one on each side (we called in the Lion Gate) and the girls kept themselves busy finding cats under and around monuments for the next hour.  We were blown away by the beauty and complexity of the acropolis monuments.

This pediment scene (original now in the British Museum, taken by Lord Elgin) depicts part of the banquet of the Gods with a drunk Dionysus lounging.  In the rest of the scene it would have shown Zeus (after complaining of a headache) having his head split open to reveal Athena, the patron saint of Athens.  The Parthenon, a monument to Athena, would have been a place to bring offerings and show appreciation to Athena.

Check out the size of the columns!  

Theater of Dionysus

Isabella spotted this turtle while we were sitting outside the Theater of Dionysus.  Mom didn't believe her but... she was right, and he was so happy to get a pear core and some crackers!

This flag that flies over Athens is a source of pride for the Athenians.  During the Nazi occupation two young men snuck into the acropolis to remove the Nazi flag and raise the Greek one.  

Some of the other buildings on the Acropolis....

My favorite building on the Acropolis: Temple of Athena Nike (Nike means Victory) which pioneered the Ionic Style in Athens somewhere around 420 BC).  This is the temple where people both thanked her for past victories and prayed for more.  She was the city's protectress.

Porch of the Caryatids balcony of the Erechtheion (421-406 BC)  which would have housed the original olive tree that Athena planted here in the face-off with Poseidon- their battle for naming rights to the city.  Athena's gift of the olive tree bested Poseidon's gift of a spring (the story goes that his trident also cracked the pavement).  The Erechtheion does give a nod to Poseidon, however, by giving both him and Athena a room in this structure in which they could have been worshiped.

The Acropolis Museum was a bit underwhelming but gave us a respite from the heat.  Somehow afterwards we were able to get up the energy to go to Monastiraki square to visit a lovely cafe (Avissinia) that was recommended by a friend, do a double decker bus tour to the National Archaeological Museum so as to see the best of the best of the Greek art told in an excellent chronological story.  Of course, Eilidh went the wrong way so we ended up jumping from Archaic to Hellenistic, but we got the general idea.  We knew we only had one day so we decided to make it count.

Nuff said.  Amazing.

Isabella was so tired she couldn't figure out how this tea thing worked.

Day 3 entailed getting up to the wonderful hotel breakfast (Greek yogurt!), trying to find cash, taking a bit of a walk and then getting our rental car to start the drive toward the Peloponnese Peninsula.  Our first stop: Nafplion.