Athens Day 1

The ferry ride from Naxos to Pireaus (Athens port) was an uneventful 5 hours. We could pretty much sit anywhere except business class and I think we ended up in the air seats, like airplane seats but way more comfortable and roomy. The big shock came while driving with our transfer driver. I thought Panama traffic was bad! She pretty much scared everyone in the car and I was in the front seat. Learned a few Greek swear words too, but she got us there safe(?) and sound.

The flat is in the city around the Acropolis, actually on the back side of a large hill, blocking views of the Acropolis. This is like Rome, all living on top each other, but we noticed very little car and scooter traffic on our road. It also had a better kitchen than some of the past flats and a real coffee maker. We savored real coffee the next morning before searching for breakfast.

So first morning out, we walked the base of the hill behind us and that led us to the Acropolis, easy.

The ACROPOLIS. The heart of Athens since the beginning of record time 6800 bc. The limestone plateau with 100 foot shear cliffs, fed by a permanent spring was a natural fortress. The Mycenaeans ruled the area around 1400 bc and Athena, the patron goddess of the city was worshipped here from 800 bc on. Then the Persians invaded, in 480 bc, everyone evacuated and abandoned the city, it was destroyed and burned to the ground. But the Athenians fought back, drove out the Persians and Athens was victorious. By 450 bc Athens was at the peak of power and flush with money, but the Acropolis was still abandoned. Pericles, leader of Athens at the time started a building phase and between 450-460 bc, the Parthenon, Erechtheion, Propylaea and temple of Athena Nike were built. These are all the buildings atop the Acropolis. The Parthenon and the Acropolis have lived through the Roman Empire, with looting and destroying, it became a Christian church, in 5thc AD with pagan sculptures removed or renamed. The Turks arrived in 1456 and converted it to a mosque and also stored gunpowder. The Venetians ruled from the 1600s and lobbed mortars in 1687 and wiped out the Turks. With  Greece independence in the 19th century, the minarets were torn down and other post classical buildings atop the Acropolis, and turned into an archeological zone.

Today there is a lot of scaffolding, lots of tourist, and restoration and excavation going on everywhere. We just walked the perimeter of the hill, through the old agora (market), through the winding streets now with lots of cafes and shops. It was pretty amazing. And to see all the recovery and restoration still going on was pretty cool. The first ruin /ancient building we came to was a theater. The arched wall is the back and we looked through to the seating area. Concerts and shows are still put on there and seats about 50,000.

Odeon of Herodes Atticus

Hadrians library

We also walked up Mars hill, a nob close to the Acropolis, but what a view. Hopefully the movie insert works. It shows the sprawl of Athens and this is only a half way around view. It was stunning to see how far spread out the city is. It also gave us a better view of the Acropolis as we were too cheap to buy an entry ticket, climb more hills and stairs to see the many ruins up there. All in all a great day