Today was one of my more anticipated stops on this trip. As a lover of Greek mythology as a kid I was psyched to go to Athens. Among today’s stops was the home of the first “modern” Olympics (they were revived in 1896 after being banned for centuries for being pagan) and the Acropolis and Parthenon.
From our ship which was docked in Piraeus, the city’s modern port, to the Olympic stadium in the downtown area about 10 km away took about 45 minutes. Apparently the rumors of Athenian traffic were true. But the Olympic Stadium stop was brief as there wasn’t really much there to do (nothing going on at the Olympic Stadium on a Monday morning) so we were boarded back up and on to the Acropolis. After passing by the Greek National Gardens you could see the Parthenon in the distance. Of course, with the traffic, it was another 20 minutes to get there.
Supposedly May is a slow month in Athens… Tourists flock to the city in the summer months to check out the sites. So, if May is a “less” busy month I can only imagine what it’s like in July & August. The Acropolis was slammed! With at least a dozen tour groups and at least two school field trip groups, the path up the Acropolis (only one route up and one route down) was cluttered with people. And our tour guide was plowing through people leaving us way, way behind. But, once you do make it to the top, the site is incredible. The entire site is being refurbished so there’s construction going on everywhere (the guide said that it had been rehabbed several years ago, but the worksmanship was so bad that they’re having to do it again). So, the scaffolding around all of the landmarks kind of takes away from the magnificence of everything. But it’s still just awe-inspiring to think of what that site has been through in these thousands of years and the history made there. Some of the reliefs at the top of the Parthenon still exist and are in exceptional condition considering how old they are. And the view down to the city of Athens was outstanding (took a great, great picture… of an IKEA). So far, getting to see the Parthenon (as well as the Temple of Zeus, which we passed by on the bus) is the highlight of my trip.
Following the Acropolis, we dropped off some in our tour group in the downtown shopping district, so that was kind of cool to see a modern metropolitan area like Athens on a weekday. Because of our desire to avoid the traffic (and smog which descended on the city later in the afternoon), our tour was completely done by 12:30. So after that we just relaxed on the boat… Something I’ll probably regret as tomorrow is completely at sea as we head from Greece to Croatia. More then!
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