Athens - coming of age

We had arrived at night (early morning 5:30 am) exiting the ship with 5 or 600 of our closest friends. We had slept next to all these folks contributing to this "special "kinship. On the dock were hundreds of cabs lined up to take us to our hotel. It was well organized but as we approached the que a cabbie says "where you going?' we named the hotel and he says "you're crazy to take a cab - it's  4 blocks) and proceeded to give us detailed instructions. Impressive! As we walked along we noted a few homeless folk along the way but most impressive were these cockroaches that were the size of 2 golf balls side by side. These little buggers were scurrying about giving a sort of science fiction feel to the whole experience. The day the roaches carried off my car.


We made our way to "the big site" The Acropolis, by public transit as has become our practise. You get to see way more of the city and you are forced to deal with the language barrier (though slight in Greece these days) and their transit system. I'm pleased to report that the Greek transit system is excellent. The transit station are clean and attractive, the buses whisk you quickly and efficiently to your destination and the cost is very reasonable. This is the best transit system I have seen so far......Of course it was built and refreshed for the Olympics not so long ago - so that stands to reason. Pictured above is a market we came across selling bread, meat (head on skinned goats that didn't go over well given our intense relationship with Rango and Nancy) , fish, veggies etc.

This struck me as a contradiction of sorts. Athens is, or at least is trying to be a modern city. I like the whole open market concept though there are associated sanitary challenges that can be met in a supermarket with controlled conditions. Pike street market in Seattle has managed to do it well - I think the Greeks will as well but they are not quite there. The other contradiction is clean and fresh areas next to areas that are in extreme decay. Lots of abandoned retail space and crumbling sidewalks etc. Generally clean though - unlike Paris where there was garbage everywhere, between the roaches and the garbage guys - it's being tidied up. All this in the face of severe financial austerity programs from the state. That makes it a big challenge for the Greeks in Athens. All in all., the city has a great feel, we feel safe here and are loving traipsing about the place. On to the Acropolis!

When I was a young student I had a philosophy teacher named Dr. Alister Brown. He got me excited about early Greek philosophers and particularly about democracy and how we go about governing ourselves. I did my best to work my way through Plato's Republic and found myself thinking about the Acropolis and these fellows hanging around just talking. Anyway - I don't mean to make this more cheesy than it already is (though that is my style) I felt almost drunk as I wondered around on the top of the rock. It was amazing.

In the center of Athens you have this rock (pictured above) that is flat on the top and about the size of 3 football fields. There are a number of structures on the top most notably the Parthenon. And here we have authenticated artifacts detailing the history of civilization going back to 6800 bc. The really good stuff is roughly 400 bc and fresher but it is inspiring to traipse on the same ground where many of our philosophical beliefs were hatched. It's one thing to read it in a book, but for me - thinking it through while standing where is happened is a very powerful experience.

The Parthenon magnificently perched atop the amazing Acropolis

 

In addition to the "cerebral or philosophical" fascination of the Parthenon, it is architecturally rich and intriguing. Each column gently slopes upward rather than being uniformly sized all the way tp the top of the colmn. The corner columns are slightly larger and the floor and top sections are both slightly concave. The combination gives the structure "movement" appearing more pleasant to the observer. Cool hey? And how did they figure this all out? The other point to be made here is that the workmanship is beyond comparison. It is perfect.

And lastly on the Parthenon - the stories of Gods and men are told at either end of the structure. Destroyed into pieces by various invaders, it has all been reconstructed so you can get a pretty good sense of what is looked like at one time. But for that you have to go to the Acropolis museum - more on this later.We learned a lot about Athena, daughter of Zeus (though she apparently came out of his head - yah - right) and found this to be fascinating. She was very a pretty cool chick!

On the site of the Acropolis are other monuments well worth exploring. Pictured above is the theatre of Dionysus.. Sitting here in the stands its easy to imagine the performances that must have taken place in this theatre cut out of the side of the hill.

Or even more impressive is the Odeon of Herodes Atticus (below) which is entered from on top of the Acropolis. We have noticed a trend in Europe where these old theatres/amphitheatres are being used for modern theater or musical productions. What a cool way to see some musical or theatrical events. Man oh man! At the same time - I have been to a number of events where the crowd is not necessarily respectful of the environment around them. Good thing its made of rock.

Odeon of Herodes Atticus

The view from the top of the Acropolis is fantastic and you can see why its been  pretty attractive real estate since the beginning of recorded time. At one end is a military post (at times)  where Jake noted the cup holder built into the rock. Perfect for those long nights watching for invaders or perhaps your ice tea while you sun tan on a day like yesterday.

Jake and Stevie LOVE museums, So much so that they are thinking of having t-shirts made for other poor kids who have to endure the European Museum tour. On the front -"I just LOVE museums" and on the back a listing (like a concert shirt) of all the museums. The Louvre, the Uffizi etc.

We visited the Acropolis museum which houses many of the artifacts found on the site. Where I have complained elsewhere about Italy's seeming lack of care and attention to old stuff - not so with the Greeks. The museum is first rate as are the sites mentioned above. The attendants are polite but firm on enforcing the rules and the facilities are in excellent repair. Even the bathroom (this is a first) was a treat to visit.

The museum is built over a site where the excavation is in progress. A glass floor is in place so you can see exactly what is happening below - well done! This plate on the left is nearly 3500 years old - another reason to not put your good china in the dishwasher - you just never know who will be looking at it later.

We spent the evening in a part of Piraeus where all the yachts anchor up and party. It's a big circle (probably 2 kms across) where you can walk a boardwalk and take in the restaurants and shops along the way. We felt safe and enjoyed a fabulous Greek salad and Soulvaki. Love Athens! It's a great city.