Athens

We just completed three sightseeing filled days in Athens.  Day One was spent touring the Acropolis, day Two the National Museum of Archaeology, and day Three the nearby island of Hydra, a place Leonard Cohen called home for many years.  There is so much to see in Athens that you have to set your priorities because as much as all of it is worthwhile seeing, there are only so many great pieces of art and antiquities that one can absorb before becoming numb to it all. 

Night Time View From Our Hotel Balcony

Alpha Beer

Dolmades For Lunch

Mixed Sausage Meat Kabob

Of course in between it all we rode in trains, walked kilometres, and sailed on ferries, as well as discovered different beers, ate great food and spent time in the evenings sharing our impressions of what we had seen. 

I’ll let the pictures tell the story.

Walked the Narrow Marble Flagstone Streets

 Day One - We hiked up to the Acropolis from our hotel.  The Acropolis is located on one of the highest points of land in this city of nearly 4 million.  It was quite crowded but I suspect May is not quite the tourist months June, July and August are.  We didn’t take a guided tour but we did have Phil.  Phil is a professional architect so Greek architecture was part of his professional studies.  It was great to listen to explanations of how the buildings were planned and constructed.  The Greeks built the Acropolis and many of its surrounding buildings but the Romans completed others, later.  Many different groups held the hilltop grounds over the history of the 2500-year-old building.  It lost its roof a few hundred years ago when some aggressor attacked the Turks with cannonballs.  Unfortunately the Turks used the Acropolis to store their munitions.  The explosion destroyed the roof and much of the structure.  The grounds look like a wreckers yard with spare rocks & columns lying about.  In reality each piece is carefully catalogued and reconstruction is an ongoing enterprise.  Reconstruction is a balance between doing enough to preserve what is there without compromising the integrity of the site.

There Was Lots of Talk About Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian Columns

All These Sculpted Rocks Were Only Dry-Fit in Place

Catalogued Spare Parts

Phil Sharing His Knowledge

Ionic Column

Looking Down, Way Down, to our Hotel Metropolis

View From Acropolis

Greek Street Musician's

Tired Tourists

 Day Two – After figuring out the train system we took a short hop to the National Archaeological Museum.  For ten Euros you could wander the two floors of halls filled with sculptures, jewelry, and everyday artifacts of ancient Greece dating back to the 14^th century BC.  Cemetery headstones were the greatest exhibits in number.  Each stone conveyed the life and death of the aristocrat.  Clearly those who had the most money could build the greatest epitaphs but in turn supported the growth of the arts community.  Sculptures made up the bulk of the exhibits but there were also bronze castings of human figures.  As was the practice of the day, women are depicted in the dress of the day while men are posed nude. 

We took our time and arranged to meet after an hour and a half.  When we met we were all on sensory overload but were determined to see everything so we extended our stay for another half hour and toured the pottery collection on the top floor.  Each piece told a story of life in the days during ancient times.

The Museum Itself is an Antiquity - One Year Older Than Canada

Nudes Larger Than Life Men Filled the Halls

Sculpted Women in Clothes

Headstone

Field Hockey - 2500 Years Ago

Day Three – We purchased ferry tickets up the street from our hotel for a day excursion to Hydra.  Hydra holds an allure for many but for our group, Phil was specifically anxious to see the home and area that served as a muse for many of Canadian singer/song writer Leonard Cohen.  It is a two-hour fast ferry catamaran ride from Athens.  The Island does not have any land-based motorised vehicles.  Mules serve as the prime source of moving goods and people.  It is picturesque plus.  The white houses against a background of the arid lands and the deep blue of the sea made for many great shots.

Our Ferry - Flying Cat Five

Transport

Getting Around On the Island

It was a very warm day when we landed and after a short walk around the village we settled into a cliff side restaurant for lunch.  It was a perfect spot with views of the surrounding islands and we watched the boat traffic entering and leaving the harbour over our beer and lunch.  I had the local cod and Deborah sampled the beetroot risotto. 

Cod on Garlic Pureed Potato

Beetroot Risotto

Saganaki (Fried Cheese)

Sweet Olive Yogurt For Dessert

The plan was to stay from noon until 7:30 pm but Diane, Warren, and we decided that we had seen enough and changed our tickets to the 3:20 departure.  We could have stayed with Linda, Phil, Nola, and Glen but decided it was too long of a day.  As well, Deborah still had a few shopping ideas back in Athens in mind and I ended up with a new pair of shoes.

Thursday morning we were up early for our 9:20 departure to Santorini on Hahn Air.