Why does everything good seem to be up a hill?
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| Monasteraki Square |
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| Athens has very clean subways |
On Monday morning I went for a bit of a walk in the city, then caught the Metro to the Acropolis station. The walk up to the Acropolis started with a long, gentle slope up a paved road but then, like so many other sights I've been to, ended with about a million stairs.
There are several different areas up on top and I just made my way around them slowly, soaking up the view as well. I started with Herodes’ Theatre… impressive but apparently restored rather than preserved, so not a lot of what we see today was part of the ancient structure.
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| Herodes' Theatre overlooking Athens |
Then I headed up to the top and took a look at the Temple of Athena Nike, the Parthenon, the Erechtheum, and other bits and pieces. Pretty amazing, but there is a lot of work underway to make the remains structurally sound. Apparently some of the ‘restoration’ work that was undertaken in the 1950’s actually caused more damage rather than improving what was there, and if this work isn't undertaken urgently there is a risk of losing what remains of the Parthenon. So it was impossible to get a shot without a crane in it!
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| The Parthenon |
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| The Erechtheum |
On my way back down I stopped at the Theatre of Dionysus, god of theatre, winemaking and fertility This held special significance for me because of theatrical endeavours in the past, so it was really good to see.
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| Theatre of Dionysus |
Then I headed into the Acropolis Museum. I have a particular dislike of the policy of some museums that forbids photography. I am seeing so many things this month, and there is no way I am going to remember it all or be able to distinguish one thing from another in my mind as time goes by. What's the point of me paying to see something that I'm not going to remember seeing? When I was in Hanoi 6 years ago I took a lot of photos at the Museum of Ethnicity (because it was allowed) and to this day I remember what a great place it was and tell people to visit if they get the chance. (I’ll try not to fall as I get down off my soap-box!) Anyway, some of the guards were less strict than others, and I managed to get a few pics.
After that I headed over to the fairly unimpressive Hadrian’s Arch and the very impressive remains of the Temple of Olympian Zeus.
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| Hadrian's Arch |
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| Temple of Olympian Zeus |
While over that side of town I went past the Panathenaic Stadium, and then walked back into the city through the National Botanic Gardens. On the way back to the Metro I went past the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which was pretty unimpressive except for a couple of guards in silly costumes who did their marching thing every now and then.
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| Panathenaic Stadium |
It had been a pretty massive day of walking by then so I was happy to rest up in the hotel for an hour before I headed out for Souvlaki and a wander through the evening markets.
How awesome. Another extraordinary place in the world. An amazing civilisation that extends back thousands of years. These pictures are fantastic, so being there must be just mind blowing!!!!
ReplyDeleteIs te weather cool? How are the locals???
Thanks Nadine! The weather hasn't been too cool until I got to Vienna today, high of 8*C and it was 2*C when my overnight bus arrived at 5am. I'm heading further north so I expect it will be below 0* in some places.
DeleteThe majority of people I have dealt with have been really helpful and friendly (there will always be exceptions). Most people speak at least some English. I imagine it would be a whole different experience to travel with no common language at all.
Im loving your pics - looks like you've had amazing weather most of the time :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've been lucky with the weather. The couple of times it has rained is when I'm travelling, which doesn't really affect me much other than the odd dash between terminals. It was very chilly in Vienna when I arrived this morning!
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