Athens
Thursday—Saturday September 3—September 5, 2015
We flew 334 miles/530 km from Istanbul to Athens.
Wow! It is quite hot in the city, nearly 100F (37C).
Our hotel is centrally located. Here is the view of the Arch of Hadrian from the front door.
On Friday morning, we got up early and hiked up to the Acropolis. Here is the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, a music venue seating 5,000. It is from the Roman era.
Off in the distance is the Temple of Hephaistos. We see that on the way back down the hill.
Here is a side view of the Erechtheion, a temple built about 406 BC.
This photo shows some of the detail on the Erechtheion.
Here is a part of the Parthenon, a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena. Construction was finished in 432 BC.
Here is a close up of the art in the upper left corner of the structure.
The Acropolis is a well–visited tourist site. The Parthenon is on the left, and the “small” building on the right is the Erechtheion.
We headed down the hill to the site of the Ancient Agora. Our first stop was the Church of the Holy Apostles, built about 1000 AD.
Next, we walked over to the Temple of Hephaistos/Hephaestus/Hephaestion, which is in better condition than the monuments up on the Acropolis.
There is a museum in the Ancient Agora, inside a building, the Stoa of Attalos, built in 138 BC but completely reconstructed in 1956. The small collection is good.
We then headed to the ultra modern Acropolis Museum, air conditioning and lunch. After lunch, as we left the museum, we took a photo showing the Parthenon and the height of the Acropolis hill.
At night, the Acropolis is illuminated, and there are a number of restaurants on rooftops for diners to appreciate the view.
Then we walked over to the Byzantine & Christian Museum. The collection is from the 3rd century AD and on to medieval times. Here are two photos from the collection.
Our next museum was the Museum of Cycladic Art. Here is a sample of the collection (cow and horse pottery).
Then it was out in the heat. On the way back to the hotel, we started to understand why the Temple of Hephaistos has two other names. Our map, published in Greece, shows street names spelled differently from what are on the street signs. It is easy to get lost in Athens, even with a map!
We also passed the Presidential Palace, the Olympic Stadium (built of marble) and Syntagma Square, which is the home to the national Parliament.
The next morning we headed out for the city’s food market. We were surprised to see it is really a meat and fish market, with just a little produce. This picture shows just one of the aisles in the market.
There was a sound throughout of the market of people furiously chopping meat. You can see the cleaver here is blurry!
We have decided Greeks eat a lot of meat. Plus olives are on every table.
We headed next over to the National Archeological Museum. The collection is amazing. Here are a few photos of ancient art. The hand pulling on the dress is tremendous. Don’t miss the feet on the right.
Here is a wall from a home on Santorini. Around 1600 BC the volcano blew up, and the house filled with ash, which protected the interior of the house.
After lunch, we went over to the Benaki Museum, our last stop before heading to the airport for a flight to volcanic Santorini.
Look at the detail in this gold necklace, made in the first century BC.
We enjoyed our time in Athens and were sorry to wave goodbye as our plane took off for Santorini.
We arrived in Athens late in the afternoon. The next morning we climbed up to the Acropolis, and then went over to the nearby Ancient Agora. During our stay we visited four museums and the city’s large food market.
Next—Santorini, a volcanic island.
