July 24, 2013

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

                We got up this morning bright and early at 6am in order to squeeze in breakkie before heading down to the dock to find a taxi to go to Athens.  Our table-mates and we all did not want to do an excursion, so we decided to share a cab to go to the Athens ruins.  However, when we got down to the shore, Mathew and Becky mentioned there was a bus we could take instead.  I actually knew this before, but I was scared to recommend it to the three of them. 

                It was not hard to find the bus at all – it was right outside of the port gates and only cost 1.2 Euros each to take the 40min bus ride to Athens from Piraeus.  It was a great ride because it let us see a lot of the sights along the way.  We arrived in downtown Athens and did not have any trouble finding the Acropolis – we just followed all of the people…

                It was really interesting to see the columns peaking over the modern-day buildings.  Such a contrast between the old and new.  It is hard to conceptualize that the old buildings that were mostly all built before Christ – by quite a lot – are still standing today and that the modern city has been built around all of the old remains.

                The Acropolis is located up on a hill.  We walked through the other ruins in the grounds including the Theatre of Dionissos and the Odeum of Herodes Atticus – both quite amazing amphitheatres. The former used to host plays of Euripides, Aristophanes, and Sophocles and could hold up to 17000 spectators.  There were not many people at the Acropolis when we arrived, which was awesome.  We walked up to the top of the structure and read all of the signs along the way about the Parthenon, the Temple of Athena and the Propylaea.  The area at the top was impressive, although it was slightly disappointing that the Parthenon was under a massive architectural preservation, so there were cranes and workers everywhere.  Along with these sites, the Acropolis provided an excellent view of both Athens and Piraeus.

                After taking a million photos at the Acropolis, we walked over to the Ancient Agora which was the administrative centre and marketplace of Athens from the 6^th century BC to the 6^th century AD.  There were a lot of ruins in this area, but my favourite was the Temple of Hephaestus because it is really well preserved with all of the columns and roof intact.  It is only a temple, so it makes me think just how huge the Parthenon would have been in its day.

 

                We ventured off of the tourist path after visiting the grounds around the Agora to climb a small hill to see the Monument of Filopapos. It is a memorial monument that was rebuilt in the mi- 50s located in a public garden.  Although not that old or significant compared to other sites, it did provide an excellent view of the Acropolis.

                We decided to have a bit of lunch in order to try some of the Greek food.  We had an amazing Greek salad and some Taziki.  We then wandered around the Plaka to poke into the stores and look at all of the touristy stuff!  I did end up buying a leather purse…that I didn’t need…but it was nice and pretty J.

                Lastly we visited the Temple of Olympian Zeus and Hadrian’s Arch.  I felt like the temple was even bigger than the Parthenon – but perhaps that was because so much of the Parthenon still stands, whereas the temple only has a few remaining pillars.  It was crazy-hot when we made it here, so there were not many people around!  It was great for pictures.  It looks like we almost had the place to ourselves!

                Catching the bus back to the ship was easy!  It was 38 degrees when we made it back to the ship, however, so the bus ride was a little warm.  I’m pretty impressed that we did the whole thing by bus!  Everyone told us we’d have to take a taxi or an excursion – so I was really impressed with the awesome bus ride!

                Oh my gosh!  And the show for this evening was amazing!!  We had an ice- dancing show.  It was to die for.  There was a complete team from mostly US and Canada with a few European skaters thrown in as well.  It was really impressive.  They did some crazy stuff, especially considering that we are moving on a ship.  It was awesome.

                The after-dinner show this evening was great!  It was the love and marriage show.  They had some great couples up there on stage telling us all about their private lives.  Great stuff.

                Well, sleep now because tomorrow is another 6am morning for our day in Kusadasi and Ephesus.

XOXO

-AJ