Chapter 4: Athens, Greece

I had been looking forward to Athens for a long time. I was extra excited that day because my shorts and visor had arrived in my suitcase by then. This was the first of a succession of brilliantly hot and humid days that lasted the rest of the trip. (I must say, though, that I preferred heat to rain.)

We docked at Piraeus, which is a port city now connected to Athens by miles of suburbs. Once on land, we hopped on yet another tour bus. Most guides hand out "Whispers" that are similar to walkie-talkies on bright lanyards, but they have one-way communication. The guide wears a microphone and the rest of our units had a bulky earpiece. Additionally, the extensive tours that we took at most stops were very popular so there were many buses covering the same itinerary. Therefore, we were required to wear colored number stickers to identify our particular tour group. So, there was no way to come off looking like anything other than a world-class tourist. I decided I may as well wear my white tennis shoes and embrace it.

Athens was huge. We were shown around by our fifty-something tour guide who was under five feet tall and had obviously smoked a pack a day for thirty-five of those years. She had the endearing habit of speaking loudly in Greek to locals and/or huffing her way up the never-ending stairs without turning off her microphone. Somewhat distracting.

One of our first stops was the original Olympic stadium, also called the Panathenaic Stadium. (Please note the aforementioned Whispers, purple stickers, and white tennis shoes.)

From there, and from most any part of the city, you could see the Acropolis. I felt like I was walking through a history book.

Or at least, a guidebook.

When we arrived at the Acropolis, it was horribly hot and crawling with people. I'm pretty sure that if they would have taken a census there at the top of the hill, the entire nation of Japan would have been present. I lost count of the number of languages I heard. Despite the crazy setting, the Acropolis was breathtaking. Several of the original buildings were still standing in one form or another, including, of course the famous Parthenon. After a quick lesson in its Doric architecture, we continued across the hilltop.

Still in great shape was the walkway underfoot, which had been carefully laid centuries ago.
The Parthenon is being rehabilitated with marble from the same quarries from which it was originally built. You can see above the white marble chunks that are awaiting use, and the pillars which show the old, darker colored marble, and the newer patches. Up close, it was amazing how accurately they were restoring the missing bits and pieces. In various roped-off areas were parts of columns and other decorative touches that were lying around waiting to be put back into use.

The back side of the Parthenon, in all its grandeur. It is amazing that I have any pictures without people in them.
The Erechtheus (part tomb, part temple) was on the same hill, but completed in a contrasting Ionic style. I loved this picture.
On the same building was this porch with six matching statues acting as pillars. Of the six, five are original. They are looking out over all of Athens.

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus, otherwise known as a theatre, was carved into the rock on the southern slope of the Acropolis. It could seat 500. Just beyond the theatre was Mars Hill where Paul gave his famous sermon about the Unknown God.

Back down below, we ditched our tour bus back to the ship so we could see some more sights like Hadrian's Arch, which lead to the Temple of Zeus, and do a little shopping.

We came across this "original replica" (as they say) of an ancient vase in their National Archeology Museum. We stuffed it with paper and wrapped it in yards of bubble wrap and carried it home like a baby, inside a zippered tote bag. Here it is sitting on our dining room table, so you can see it made it. The girls, of course, got postcards as well as little dolphin beaded bracelets.

When we were finished, we hopped a taxi back to the ship.