It all comes to an end

 This'll be my last in the long, drawn out, overextended series on our trip to Turkey and Greece. I'd hoped to be done by the end of April before starting my next class. Well, I finished the class! 6 weeks ago. So, here goes.

The last post points out that the further away I get from the dates described, the more I'm losing. This is evermore evident in this post about our last couple of days in Athens. In trying to use e-mail/itinerary/pictures as my clues, I've still lost most of a day. Let's just pretend that Mila and I slept in SUPER late on April 7th.  

(added later)

I think we went to the National History Museum, located in the old Parliament building. It still houses the assembly halls used by parliamentarians. What I found most interesting was that it focused on the story of Greek independence from the Ottomans. We saw much of the same sassiness that we'd seen in the Acropolis Museum, downtalking the Ottomans. I really don't remember why I don't have any pictures from the museum. It did inspire more of an interest in the Greek fight for independence and I'll be adding a book to my library and a podcast to my queue about that fight.

That afternoon, we took a tour bus out to Sounion at the south of Attica, roughly an hour and a half by bus from the center of Athens. After going through Athens and its suburbs, we found ourselves moseying through fishing villages that hugged the coastline. This bus again reminded me of how English truly is the international language. Our guide was German and most of the people from the bus spoke English as their second language. 

We pulled into the parking lot and were presented a choice - grab food at the restaurant (our stomachs were growling) or head up the hill to the temple and miss out on dinner.

We chose to walk up

I tried to imagine the millions of people whose footsteps we were walking in. OK, so not the millions of tourists, but ancient worshippers and dignitaries that would have made this same climb. There is evidence of an earlier temples built between 700 and 500 BCE, which was subsequently destroyed. I am seeing two main theories as to how it was brought down. The more interesting one is that Xerxes

He probably didn't actually look like this.
(Source: 300 Wiki)

tore down the temple during the Persian invasion of 480 BC, the same invasion that saw Athens put to the torch. The other, less sexy, theory is that the temple was poorly built and was brought down by weather. In either event, Pericles led the rebuild in the late 440s BC, as he did with the Parthenon.

Theories also circulate about the reasoning behind the specific location. It is located at the southern tip of the Attican peninsula, high on a hill commanding the attention of mariners on their way to and from Athens. While Greeks liked to honor their gods by placing their temples by the gods' domain. Hence, placing the sea god's domain in a location where it is surrounded by the sea on three sides make sense. However, it was far enough of away from Athens proper to show how far they could project power and also be used as a lookout for potential seaborne attacks.

pausing on the way up to reflect. I'm not sure where those sunglasses are now

We had plenty of time to walk around the complex and take pictures.

Like with the other temples we had seen, we could not walk on the actual temple and there were fallen pieces lying around the temple grounds. We circled around taking pictures of the temple and the start of the sunset.

Look at all that water

Thanks other tourists

Then, we found a bench close to the temple and people, temple, and sunset watched for the next 45 minutes while Helios drove his chariot off towards the west. 

this guy, perhaps an employee, busily ran around and yelled at anyone stepping on the wrong rock. When I say "ran," I mean he sprinted. Along with the people next to us, we spent 20 minutes watching and commentating on his crusade until he went to the other side of the temple to continue the god's (Poseidon to be exact) work. 

The sunset was delightful and we could not quite grasp it in photos.

The dark ride home seemed longer than the ride there. I think it was lengthened by the smelly people in front of us that kept repeating the same things about business dealings that they need to finish after they return from Italy (the next part of their trip).

Our last full day in Greece was packed. I did my morning "kalimera!" run for a coffee, but decided to try something new this time a Greek coffee drink called a Freddo -

Basically, a Freddo is a couple shots of espresso mixed with some sugar and milk (like a cappuccino) and topped with cold foam. (Here's more info if you're interested) 

I got Mila going early and we headed to one of my favorite museums of the entire trip - the National Archaeological Museum. The museum is set in mostly chronological order, starting some 9,000 years ago, Minoans, and then a large collection of Mycenean artifacts including the "mask of Agamemnon" that was discovered by the infamous Heinrich Schliemann. (I went into a bit more detail about him in my Delphi post)

If you were unsure, the mask is believed to date a few centuries before the Trojan War and Agamemnon. But "Agamemnon" sounds so much cooler than "Ole King What's his Face"

 

I wasn't sure which edit looked better. Mila is checking out a 2600 year old Kouros statue. As is to be expected, the museum was busy. There were a lot of cool artifacts, including beaten bronze and gold utensils, small figurines from 10,000 years ago, and interesting vases. However, I was more worried with trying to see things and get moving since a) we had a packed schedule and b) there were so many people there that I didn't feel like fighting through a crowd for the perfect picture.

I'm shocked that, with that amount of facial hair, he took the time to shave everywhere else

This fella is a god. It's unsure as to which one but many experts lean toward it being Zeus about the throw a lightning bolt. It could also be Poseidon with a trident. In any event, he used to have eyes made of bone and was discovered roughly 100 years ago when salvaging a shipwreck.

Nazis? The swastika was a popular symbol throughout history, to include Hinduism before the Nazis co-opted it and turned it into a completely different symbol

There were hundreds of vases depicting events both big and small from epic wars (above) to funeral processions, to everyday life.

We got lost for a little while, looking at small figurines whose meaning has been lost to history. There was also hall upon hall of golden jewelry and intricately carved grave markers. My favorite sculpture, on first glance, was this one.

This is Aphrodite smacking Pan with her chancla. 

The museum ended with Roman-era statues, many of them depicting emperors and statesmen. However, we had to hurry as we would next be going to the library.

Hadrian's library, to be exact

We took the metro to Monastiraki Square, a hotbed of activity. There were street entertainers, food vendors, and thousands of tourists milling around. We could see that the side streets were full of tiny little interesting looking shops but we didn't have time or luggage space to peruse much. Mila did pick up a little bracelet with her name in Greek letters, formed by bending a piece of metal. After glancing around a little bit, then getting turned around a little bit, we found our way to the ruins of Hadrian's library. Hadrian, the same Roman emperor that built the arch we visited earlier in the week, was enamored with Greek culture. He had a library built to house scrolls on scrolls. It was damaged during an invasion, rebuilt, and of course religious buildings were added later on. This time, they were churches added by the Byzantines, parts of which are still visible.

this mosaic flooring is nearly 2000 years old

There was an older couple taking roughly the same pictures as us. There were a few times where Mila had to wait for the lady to finish her poses for Mila to do hers.

Afterwards, we had to make the obligatory travel stop for lunch.

at least we made sure to drink a Greek beer, Alfa

After lunch, we took a walk to the forum and agora. This area seemed to remind me that Athens dropped out of the world's eye for roughly 1700 years. I haven't looked into this yet, but the way things were built around the sites made it seem like they were discovered after the modern city was already underway.

the entire forum

now with less people

We went to the Roman forum first. After they took over Athens, they built up the agora (don't worry, we'll get there), Julius Caesar financed the building of a Roman forum. Hence, the Roman-style columns. There would have been hundreds of people walking around little shops and stands selling a variety of goods. Instead of a Wal-Mart or mall, this is where people gathered to do their shopping, were there to see and be seen, and get their news.

tortoise!

behind Mila you can see what I've mentioned in these posts - the collection of rocks and marble from the site that is just kind of piled up over on the side

This tower was an observatory and likely a water clock. There is some speculation but it appears that water that came down from the Acropolis, it would turn gears that would power the clock. neat.

From the forum, we took the short walk to the ancient agora, the original public meeting space with vendors, stands, and a large stoa. Of course, I don't know if it was always like this, but nowadays it is definitely more built up and impressive than the Roman era forum. And, for the only time on this trip, I was actually a bit hot.

walking the Panathenaic Way, the main street of ancient Athens

The area was much larger than expected and could take most of a day to fully explore. However, we had some dinner reservations on a hill to make, so we had to be judicious with our time. 

The Temple of Hephaistos, situated on a hill overlooking the area, catches your eye immediately

We walked along the Way, checking out the ruins and excavation sites that still remain. Additionally, there are remains of the drainage system that served the city.

I find it fitting that the most well-preserved temple from the height of Athens (the mid 5th century BC) is the temple to the builder god, Hephaistos. Though smaller than the Parthenon, they were built around the same time and in the same style. Like the other temples, there is a fence around the grounds, prohibiting access. According to the book, there are some original friezes but we couldn't see them from where we were. (with the peons)

We checked out the remains of the post-Herulian wall built around 1,750 years ago after the Heruli sacked the city. We made a stop at the reconstructed stoa and watched another hard at work security guard. This one yelled at people who posed with headless statues by replacing the missing head with their own. 

We took a stroll through the national garden, trying to count all of the turtles in the ponds. Honestly, we need to go back when more plants are in season and when we have more time. 

The Panathenaic Stadium was built after the Age of Pericles and the Peloponnesian War on the spot where a wealthy landowner had a private race course. 

It is the only stadium in the world built entirely of marble

You have to pay a small fee to get in but they give you little audio guides in multiple languages. We had to hurry (as with the whole day) to do the tour before closing time but really had ample time. It's a cool spot to visit, but doesn't require more than an hour.

You can get right out on the track and run a lap if you're so inclined. Or stand and take selfies if not.

or stand and listen to the audio information

Herodotus Atticus, the statesman that built the large theater on the Acropolis, also rebuilt and embellished this stadium in the 2nd century AD. After being in use for some 800 years, the 206m track was abandoned because of (let's say it all together now) religion. Christians were anti-anything that could be considered pagan and the stadium was abandoned in the 5th century. It had been used for the Panathenaic Games (consider the Olympics but just locally to the city-state) and horse races.

Pretty sure I had been moving around with the camera as Mila was taking that video. Until she caught me at the end.

The stadium was recovered and rebuilt throughout the mid-19th century (much of the marble had been reused in local building in the preceding centuries) and was used for a proto-Olympics in the 1870s. Finally, the stadium was fully refurbished before the birth of the modern Olympics in 1896. It was used for the Games in 1896 and even for a few events during the 2004 Games.

Left over from the 1896 Games is the special seating area for the Greek and visiting royalty.

Dug into the side of the hill is the staging area and entrance for athletes and an Olympic museum. The audio guide did a good job of putting you in the mindset of an athlete waiting in a dank tunnel, listening to the tens of thousands of screaming spectators that are awaiting you. .... it's been about 8 months since I last touched this entry. In the meantime it's giving me some coding look that I frankly don't have the time to understand. So, unfortunately for Jordan, this one will be cut pretty short. Mila and I leave for Argentina (with a planned day trip to Brazil) tomorrow and I'll "have" to post about that too, won't I? At least, I just turned in my research paper (on the Falklands War as an excuse to learn a bit about Argentine history before the trip) and I have a little time to finish this post before we catch the plane. Going up through the tunnel you find a neat Olympic museum.

After some technical (read: user error) difficulties, there they are, the last pictures of the museum and then the stadium itself. With, of course, a shot on the medal stand. After grabbing a cup of coffee, we headed to a dinner that I'd been looking forward to. Lycabettus hill is the highest point in the city and to get there you have to go up A LOT of steps. And then take a cable car. And then go up more steps. It was packed on top so these pictures look cool, but we had to wait a bit and throw some bows to take them.

We ate at the restaurant on top of the hill, Orizontes, and were lucky enough to get a table overlooking the city.

We got pretty cold up there and this nasty cat jumped right up on that little wall and stared at us from the edge of the table for a solid 10 minutes. Poor thing was diseased and/or infected. And had one eye. We made our way back to the hotel and to bed for our last night of the trip. The next morning our taxi driver put on a "Welcome to Athens" video for us on the way to the airport. It was literally clips from Assassin's Creed Odyssey. I guess we hadn't needed to fly across the globe after all.