Day 11 - Acropolis

The Acropolis
of Athens is the most well known in the whole world. It is a flat topped rock that rises 512 feet above sea level in the city of Athens.

The entrance to the Acropolis was a monumental gateway called the Propylaea. To the south of the entrance is the tiny Temple of Athena Nike. A bronze statue of Athena, sculpted by Phidias, originally stood at its center. At the center of the Acropolis is the Parthenon or Temple of Athena Parthenos (Athena the Virgin). East of the entrance and north of the Parthenon is the temple known as the Erechtheum. South of the platform that forms the top of the Acropolis there are the also the remains of an outdoor theatre called Theatre of Dionysus.

This was the final ruin we visited and the most anticipated and well known, it is very impressive to see and the feeling of walking where ancient civilization was once lively is incredible.

Another strike happened the last day of our trip, this time it was for more money and better working conditions for those working at all the archaeological sites. This put our visit to the Acropolis back a few hours.

A shot of the Acropolis, very busy due to all the people who were going to come earlier in the day, but could not, due to the strike. you can see all the scaffolding around the structure, as it is almost always in repair. One of the original Caryatids that used to be used as a column at the Erechtheum, now housed in the museum on the grounds.


The Theatre of Dionysus, South of the Acropolis.

We were told that this area below the Acropolis was Socrates favorite place to sit and talk with his students.

A beautiful mix of modern and ancient, Athens is a great city with a rich culture.

Day 10 - Cape Sounion & Archeological Museum of Athens

Cape Sounion
is a promontory located 43 mi SSE of Athens, at the southernmost tip of the Attica peninsula in Greece. Cape Sounion is renowned for the ruins of the ancient Greek temple of Poseidon, the god of the sea in classical mythology. Legend has it that Cape Sounion is the spot where Aegeus, king of Athens, leapt to his death off the cliff, thus giving his name to the Aegean Sea. The story goes that Aegeus, anxiously looking out from Sounion, despaired when he saw a black sail on his son Theseus 's ship, returning from Crete. This led him to believe that his son had been killed in his contest with the dreaded Minotaur that took place in Crete every year, because Theseus was to hoist a white sail if his father had survived, but he had forgotten.

Cape Sounion and the Temple of Poseidon in the distance, over the Aegean Sea.

The cape is incredibly windy due to its location , jutted out into the sea.
This is a closer view of the Temple of Poseidon.

Archaeological Museum of Athens

The following photos are all from the exhibits in the museum of archeology in Athens, many artifacts and sculpture are housed here.

I thought these figurines were really interesting, they had found scores of them all over Mycenae and the meaning of the figure still eludes art historians to this day.

Venus of Cnidus in a famous sculpture.


Aphrodite, Eros and Pan. She is about to hit him with a shoe.

This is an exhibit that explained the process used in casting metal sculpture.

The eyes of this man were made from precious stones, the detail is amazing.

One of the most impressive sculptures I have seen, large and much more modern than most, it is one of the first to have a child depicted in it.

Day 9 - Meteora

Metéora
is one of the largest and most important complex of monestaries in Greece. The monasteries are built on natural sandstone rock pillars, at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Peneios river and Pindus Mountains, in central Greece. The Metéora is home to six monasteries. Although it is unknown when Metéora was established, as early as the 11th century AD hermit monks were believed to be living among the caves and cutouts in the rocks. By the late 11th or early 12th century a rudimentary monastic state had formed called the Skete of Stagoi and was centered around the church of Theotokos, which still stands today. The hermit monks, seeking a retreat from the expanding Turkish occupation, found the inaccessible rock pillars of Meteora to be an ideal refuge. Although more than 20 monasteries were built, beginning in the 14th century, only six remain today. These six are: Great Meteoron (or Transfiguration), Varlaam, St. Stephen, Holy Trinity, St. Nicholas Anapausas and Rousanou.

Meteora was bar-none the most amazing landscape I had ever seen. Unique and awe-inspiring landscapes with a rich history and monk culture. After many days of ruins and a lot of history, Meteora was a much needed break from the monotony. I don't have any photos inside because it is a sacred place and photos are not allowed, but these are what I do have.

I had to take a portrait with the strange rounded mountains in the background.
View of a monastery from the road

Beautiful Byzantine art covered every part of the buildings, I just stared at the art the whole time, our tour guide explained to us the significance and style painted in every single monastery. I loved this part of the trip. The beautiful flower garden at a nunnery.

Day 7 & 8 - Delphi Museum and Ruins

Delphi

is an archaelogical site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis. Delphi was the site of the Delphi Oracle, most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and it was a major site for the worship of the god Apollo. His sacred precinct in Delphi was a Panhellenic sanctuary, where every four years athletes from all over the Greek world competed in the Pythian Games. Delphi was revered throughout the Greek world as the site of the omphalos stone, the center of the earth and the universe.

Very nice hotel we stayed in up in a mountain town above Delphi, the nicest and largest rooms by far, and also modern bathrooms like in the U.S. hotels, most Greek hotels have open showers or a curtain that is not floor length, with a drain in the floor. This was a very interesting cultural difference, but with a Mediterranea climate, things dry quickly, which is probably a reason for this.

Two very well preserved Kouros (statues of young men) in the museum at Delphi.

One of the oldest bronze statues recovered in Delphi, in incredibly good shape.

Looking up toward the Temple of Apollo at the site of the Delphi Oracle, the landscape in the mountains is absolutely wonderful.

The Temple of ApolloRhiannon and others decided to brave the underground passage way that takes you under the Temple of Apollo.

The priestess of the oracle at Delphi was known as the Pythia. Apollo spoke through his oracle, who had to be an older woman of blameless life chosen from among the peasants of the area. The sybyl or prophetess took the name Pythia and sat on a tripod seat over an opening in the earth. When Apollo slew Python, its body fell into this fissure, according to legend, and fumes arose from its decomposing body. Intoxicated by the vapors, the sibyl would fall into trance, allowing Apollo to possess her spirit. In this state she prophesied. She spoke in riddles, which were interpreted by the priests of the temple, and people consulted her on everything from important matters of public policy to personal affairs.

The stadium at the top of the city in Delphi, the site of the Pythian Games.

Day 6 - Epidaurus

Epidaurus
This is a small city in ancient Greece, at the Saronic Gulf. The asclepieon at Epidaurus was the most celebrated healing center of the Classical world, the place where ill people went in the hope of being cured. To find out the right cure for their ailments, they spent a night in the enkoimitiria, a big sleeping hall. In their dreams, the god himself would advise them what they had to do to regain their health. Found in the sanctuary, there was a guest house for 160 guestrooms. There are also mineral springs in the vicinity which may have been used in healing.
The prosperity brought by the Asklepieion enabled Epidauros to construct civic monuments too, such as the huge theater, that is very well preserved.

Statue of Asklepios, the healer. Notice the snake wrapped staff, which is the modern symbol for doctors.This is a photo of medical tools that were found at the site of the healing center. I thought this was very interesting, also my sister is a nurse so this photo is for her!

The ruins of the enkoimitiria, a big sleeping hall where the ill would go to rest and be cured.
The huge theatre at Epidaurus is the largest and most well preserved in Greece. The group standing at the middle is a choir who are singing, the theater was built with amazing acoustics so everyone could hear the actors.Myself at the Theatre, this was another very interesting part of the trip for me, as I love theatre and architecture, I was amazed at how well built these places were to be around since ancient times.

Day 5 - Mycenae and Corinth, Nauplion

Corinth
After taking a ferry back to Athens, we met our bus driver and headed to Nauplion, in the Peloponnese, where we would be spending a couple nights. From Nauplion, we drove to the archological sites in Corinth, which is an ancient city about 48 miles west of Athens in the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnese to the mainland of Greece.

-Beginning in 582 BC, in the spring of every second year the Isthmian Games were celebrated in honor of the sea god Poseidon.
-The Doric Temple of Apollo, one of Corinth's major landmarks, was constructed in 550 BC at the height of the city's wealth.
-The Apostle Paul visited Corinth in the 50s AD and later wrote two letters to the Christian community at Corinth (the books of 1 and 2 Corinthians in the New Testament)

There was very good signage put up by the Hellenic Ministry of Tourism, usually in English and Greek and sometimes also in French.

Me in front of the ruins at the Temple of Apollo, one of the oldest temples in Greece, which was devastated by an earthquake.

The Roman Baths at Corinth, in pretty good condition.

These were the starting lines for the ancient races, after many incidents of cheating, they carved starting lines in marble and this is how the runners would place their feet to start a race.

Since we were there, we decided to have a foot race.

It didn't go so well for our friend Phillip. Haha, one of the funniest moments of the trip!

Mycenae
The city of Mycenae was the center of a large and powerful Mycenaean Greek civilization, which existed from circa 1900 B.C.E. to circa 1125 B.C.E. It is located in the south central part of what is present day Greece. The Mycenaean civilization was at its height between 1400 and 1200 B.C.E.

The Lion's Gate of the ancient citadel of Mycenae, marked the entrance to this ancient city.

This is the opening leading to a secret water reserve they had in Mycenae, this was created for protection, it allowed the people to go out of the confines of the city and get water without ever being detected.

When we got to the bottom, it was dry, but in ancient times, there would have been water part way up the stairs.

This tomb is known as the Treasury of Artreus or more commonly the Beehive Tomb. Tombs such as these were built into hillsides to hide their location from would-be thieves.
The dome of the tomb, 45 feet high and masterfully built.

Nauplion
This was our host city for many of our ventures out in the Peloponnese, it was picturesque and wonderful.

Nafplion or Nauplion, on the Peloponnese in Greece is a seaport town that has expanded up the hillsides near the north end of the Argolic Gulf (Argolikos Bay). The town was the capital of Greece from 1829 to 1834. Nauplion is now one of the most elegant cities in the Peloponnese and its main source of income in tourism.
A restaurant nestled under beautiful foliage on a side street, I love the colors of the homes and buildings.

A great taverna that we went to with our tour guide, she had arranged a session with some Greek dancers after dinner, right in the taverna. This one one of my favorite times in Greece because I felt immersed in the culture and very must inspired.

All our meals were served family style and with white and red wines served in carafes like the orange ones on the table. We got to sample a great spread of Greek cuisine.

This is a traditional Greek dance just for men, thats our professor (Dr. McCutheon) in the plaid shirt.

Day Four - Naxos Tour

On this day, our tour guide took us on a bus tour of Naxos, the island we were staying on, we got to see a lot of beautiful scenery.

This is the Hotel Grotta in Naxos, a wonderful hotel with a great staff. This was my favorite place that we stayed.A photo-op looking out over the Aegean sea, absolutely beautiful.

Our group on top of Naxos at the archeological site of Giardini.

It seems like every walking surface in Greece is made of marble, this is a quarry we saw on our drive.

This is one of two famous 6th century BCE kouroi (ancient Greek statues of young men) that lie half finished, the first, a 6m long, in a garden, the second in a quarry.
This is a Citron tree on Naxos, there is a distillery on the island that is the main producer of the Greek spirit Citron, which is made with these fruits, they are a relative to the Lemon.