Athens, Trip Journal Part 1

After we landed in Athens, some of my first observations were to see how this place was different than America, besides the language of course. I was impressed by the recycling receptacles, water efficient toilets, and small cars (I'm enamored especially with Smart Cars).There was great public transportation from the airport and around town. It was smoggy and the smokers everywhere might be a big contributor (And this is coming from people living in Tobacco country).

We stayed in a hostel about a kilometer from the Acropolis. When we arrived in downtown Athens, we dropped off our luggage and headed out. The Parthonon is an amazing Greek, Doric style, temple on a hill above the city. They are reconstructing missing parts and so there was a lot of scaffolding on it. It was especially amazing at night as it was lit up and you could see the big fortress up on the hill.

From Athens

On the side of the Acropolis is Mars Hill. For all you Bible fans out there, this where Paul went as a missionary and found a shrine to the Unknown God and preached.

From Athens

We came back down from the mountain and looked around and had lunch. I absolutely love Greek Food in Greece. The Greek Salads have no lettuce in them and are just tomatoes, olives, cucumbers, feta, and a titch of parsley. We ate a lot of gyros and had some tasty grilled octopus. By about five o'clock our night of no sleep caught up with us and we went back and slept till midnight. We woke up, went out for a midnight snack and then came back and slept again.

The next morning we were out and about. Up first was the public square next to Parliament, where they have the tomb of the unknown soldier and the Changing of the Guard, and these interestingly uniformed soldiers:

From Athens

I guess there are other places besides Scotland and Fiji where the soldiers wear skirts. This is the first time that I have seen shoe pom-pom's on soldiers. After that we headed up to the National Archaeological museum

From Athens

It was cool to see the gold jewelry, statues, and funerary stuff. Cheyn liked it a bit more than I did, probably because she is a bit more cultured in this area. After that we took the subway and walked back down and over to the remains of the Temple of Zeus and the 1896 Olympic Stadium built on the remains of the ancient Olympic Stadium.

From Athens

From Athens

After all the walking we headed over to a park and relaxed.
With our remaining time we headed back up near the Acropolis and read and watched the sun go down.

From Athens

From Athens

I think what I appreciated most about Athens was the remains of grand buildings and temples of the birth of Western Civilization. Democracy, Philosophy, Public Sanitation all seemed to have started here. I liked to explore all the remaining vestiges of Greece in their glory. I also liked to think about the brushes early Christianity had with Greece. All in all Athens was a great city to explore for a couple days and a grand introduction to Greece.