Athens

Athens was a new level of exhaustion for this trip. Garrett’s watch counted over 30,000 steps, or over 13 miles for the day. We packed in so many things I was amazed at what we were able to do. Originally I had those stops planned over 2 days, but we had the time and ended up just plowing through the whole day so we could spend the last day just relaxing.

Hadrian's arch

Agios Eleftherios, a small but significant byzantine church right next to the city's main cathedral-- a good example of how the early Christian church would scavenge stone from pagan sites and repurpose the meaning of the carvings. This one had a lot of strange zodiac looking reliefs on the outside.

The front doors of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens.

We happened to fly in on a Sunday, and when we stepped in to see the interior of the Cathedral, we were pleasantly surprised to step into a Greek orthodox church meeting. We stayed for a while to take note of the layout and process of the meeting, even though we didn't understand the Greek chanting. I noted that there are a lot of interesting unexpected similarities with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. The seating arrangements you notice in the picture, the iconostasis separating the worshippers from the sanctuary where only holy men may enter, the altar at the center of the apse up front, and a few other parallels caught my attention and had an interesting feeling of familiarity I didn't expect to find in orthodoxy.

Panagia Kapnikarea byzantine church. They were also doing a very small service here as well and it was interesting to see the consistencies between orthodox churches. The size varied a lot but the main set up of St John on the left and the Virgin Mary on the right with Christ on the center ceiling is pretty consistent.

The changing of the guards outside the Parliament building in Syntagma Square.

We debarked from the ship at 7 am and didn’t stop walking except for an hour lunch break all day. We started with a the Rick Steves walking tour (never disappoints) and got a feel for the city before getting some really good souvlaki at Monastiraki square.

Monastiraki flea market was in full swing on our first day there with some genuinely cool old stuff, but our suitcases were full so we didn't stop to shop too hard.

Stoa of Attalos that was faithfully reconstructed in the 1950s. It now houses the museum for the Agora stie.

To my right is the Parthenon atop the acropolis. To the left is the Stoa of Attalos.

It was difficult to get good pictures capturing the Agora since most of the remains are pretty close to the floor. There is little left of standing structures.

After we did the agora tour, we avoided the scorching heat of the day by following it with a tour of the National Archeological museum. Highlights were the mask of Agamemnon and the antikythera shipwreck finds, as well as the antikythera itself. I am so confused how the archaeologists were able to divine what the thing actually did by how little of it actually remains.

Kouroi and Korai statues. Lots of them.

A rare Roman copy of the Athena statue that stood in the Parthenon, the original is forever gone.

The Antikythera

Another one of Hadrian's Antinous statues. I like to collect pictures of the many different versions around antiquity.

An Artemision shipwreck find, the "Jockey of Artemision". The bronze cast statues made you realize just how incredibly defined and skilled the sculptors were. It's easy to lose the full effect when the marble statues have worn so much over the years.

It was neat to find a lot of the world famous pieces that I read about before the trip. After that museum we went and did the Acropolis in the slightly cooler evening as well as the Acropolis museum. Highlights there were the original reliefs from the Parthenon building, and Garrett’s favorite, the Lego Acropolis.

Views over Athens

The Erechtheon

The Caryatides, or "women of Caryae" a city in Sparta

And the actual original Caryatides up close in the Acropolis museum. Unfortunately they were very well preserved until the early 20th century when pollution saw them lose their arms and the definition of their facial features.

Parthenon up close

The top friezes have been removed and we saw them up close in the Acropolis Museum. It depicted the Panathenaic procession or "parade" of Athenians in the Panathenaic religious festival.

That rocky crag in the background next to the pillar is Mars hill, where Paul preached to the Athenians.

Temple of Athena Nike

Odeon of Herodotus, a Roman era addition to the hill.

The evening was much more relaxing with some time on the hotel balcony overlooking the Acropolis and some dinner across the street from the hotel. We were so tired I seriously considered canceling our plans for Delphi the next day, but last minute Garrett booked a day tour so we wouldn’t have to worry about buses and logistics. It turned out to be the right decision.