Ancient Athens: Day 1

ATHENS

Capital of Greece

Named after the goddess Athena

Centre of Demoncracy

A city full of history

We've planned for 4 days in Athens, with 2 meant for day trips. Our first day was spent discovering ancient Athens. There are so many sites and so much to know about each. While we didn't see it all, or know it all, we did enjoy all of what we did see, and we even learnt a little too.

THE ROMAN AGORA
An Agora is a marketplace...or shall we say, the downtown area. Most buildings of importance were found in the agora.

the gate
The Tower of the Winds.
It is decorated with 8 'winds', with an object on top that would point in the direction that the wind was blowing in. The building is very important because it also has a sun clock to tell the time and a water clock used for the same purpose (but only if it was night time, or if it was cloudy).

the 'winds'

THE ANCIENT AGORA
The largest agora in Athens.

view from the Acropolis

The temple or Ares (the god of war), intact after all these years.

THE ACROPOLIS

The Acropolis is the highest part of the city. The Acropolis of Athens is the most well known Acropolis in the world...it's known as THE Acropolis.

view from below

The Theatre/Odeon of Herodes Atticus

The Propylaea (its the main gate)

and it's under construction

THE PARTHENON (on the Acropolis)

The most famous area of the Acropolis, the Parthenon is a temple dedicated to Athena (the goddess of war and wisdom---and the namesake of Athens).

Originally there would have been a giant statue of Athena inside, covered in marble and ivory.

It was taken to Constantinople (Istanbul) and no one knows where it is now.

reliefs decorated below the roof

speaking of relief...we learned that marble remains cool in the blistering Athens sun.

they also have pottable water. Yay!!!

The wonderful view of Athens below

The temple of Athena Nike

HADRIAN'S ARCH
Built by Hadrian, this arch combines the Greek column and the Roman arch.

THE TEMPLE OF OLYMPIAN ZEUS

The biggest temple in Greece, this temple would have had 104 marble columns...only 15 remain.

THE PANATHINAIC OLYMPIC STADIUM (MODERN OLYMPIC STADIUM)

Now closed to the public, this stadium is where the first modern Olympic games were held in 1896.

THE REPUBLIC GUARDS

This is the house of the President

These are his guards.

I'm not so scared.

Maybe it's the tutu,

maybe the really slow and funny walk they do.

THE NATIONAL GARDENS

Gorgeous park, beautiful sun

and a handsome man, happy with a slushee. Life is good!

Well Ancient Athens is just part of what modern Athens has to offer. We still have the National Archaeological Museum, the ancient Oracle of Delphi, and some time chilling on the beach.

Till then

XOXOXO

Holy Meteora: Monasteries in the Sky!!

Bye Bye Istanbul, Hello Greece!!

12 hours on an overnight train from Istanbul and we were ready to explore the city of Thessaloniki, before headng to Meteora to view the Monasteries in the sky. Thessaloniki is the 2nd largest city in Greece (next to Athens), but we found that 8 hours was more than enough for us to feel like we'd seen it. Here is what we saw...

Mat on the 'Friendship Express'

A church in Thessaloniki



Mat's fancy new sunglasses...so shiny they now act as my only mirror

Our first Greek meal in Greece. Souvlaki pitas with Greek Salad. Amazing!!!

Galerius Arch.

The Rotunda (which was closed)

The White Tower stands lookout over the sea.

(By the way, our camera needs to be cleaned internally, hence the black spot in the upper right corner of every picture. If you want to see it without the spot, call Air Canada.)

Alexander the Great on his horse. He was not a large man.

the ruins of the 'temporary palace' of Galerius in downtown Thessaloniki. Just so you know....it's MASSIVE!!!

Thessaloniki was nice, but the real reason we wanted to be in Northern Greece was for the awesome sights at Meteora.

Meteora is composed of 6 monasteries built on interesting geological formations (you have to see it to believe it...pictures will suffice...or call Air Canada again). Legend has it the first monastery was built after a monk was carried to the top of a isolated rock formation by an eagle. For years, people and things were brought to the monasteries by a series of ropes and baskets. Today, you can reach all 6 by stairway (sometimes short, sometimes not) or a ride on a cable car. The scenery is spectacular and the dresscode is precise...men must be in long pants, and women in skirts....it's a small price to pay for such a great experience.

I'm getting ready; putting on my skirt and zipping my capris to shorts (they do have wraps inside for women who don't have skirts...or men who wore shorts and are then punished by walking around in a flower printed wrap.)

St. Stephen's was our first visit. You don't get the full effect, but there is only 1 tiny bridge connecting this nunnery to the roadway.

We still can't figure out how they get to the garden.

At this monastery (I think it's the Holy Trinity), you can climb what look like a few hundred stairs, or take the cableway...those are your only options.

Mat, on the edge of the world.

I spy....2 rock climbers hundreds of feet in the air

We're ontop of the world...though you can't really tell.

We do look good though.

If you look over my left shoulder you will see a monastery perched ontop of a rock. That is what we mean by 'interesting geological formationss'.

Anyone able to figure out how to start a monastery on top of those cliffs...in the 1500s???

This one is connected by a tiny bridge and about a zillion stairs.

This is the Monastery known as Varlaam (yep, just Varlaam....like Cher, or Madonna).

In this picture, Varlaam is on the left, and the Grand Meteoron is on the right (it was closed).

windlass...it's the turny thing that helps bring things up...so says Mat...but I know he's right.

An unrelated but interesting find was this brass-knuckle knife. According to Mat, since it's sold outside a monastery it must be holy, which means that anything you do with it will be sanctioned by the lord...we assume.

Brass-knuckle knives aside, Meteora would totally beat Istanbul in a fight. So Mat says, 'no it wouldn't. There's 18 million f***ing people in Istanbul'. I says: 'uuuuhhhhhh...so! These are flying monk monasteries in the sky biatch. God wins'