We had a 32 hour train ride from Budapest to Athens and thankfully this time we had no problems or unpleasant train-mates. Dare I say that this journey was actually rather pleasant? We had a private car all to ourselves and kept entertained by writing in our journals, reading, playing cards, and doing a whole lot of sleeping. We were so excited to arrive in Greece after having heard so much about how amazing the islands are and of course to be seeıng the ruins. Since sixth grade I have been secretly obsessed with Greek history and could not wait to finally see the Acropolis (another one of the Wonders of the World we'd be checking off the list) up-close and personal.
After a quick stop at the Indian Embassy to sort out our visas we headed for the ruins. Thankfully we got that situation all figured out and are happy to say we will be heading to India in early October. On the way to the ruins we saw our second Olympic Stadium of the trip, Panathinaikon on Arditou Hill, and wondered how the Olympians managed to perform there in 2004 and of course at all of the other past Olympic games that occurred there - typical Athens summer weather is 34+ degrees Celcius and did we feel it. The sun was blazing hot and we were thankful for the plethora of fountains throughout the city flowing with drinkable water.
The first ruin we saw was the Temple of Olympian Zeus and were blown away at its size and at the mere thought of how important it was (and still is) to the culture thousands of years ago. Just a short walk away was the Theatre of Dionysos, the open air theater at the foot of the Acropolis, named for the God of plays and wine. Legendary philosphers such as Sophocles performed there for upwards of 17,000 people at a time in the 4th century BC. It was amazing to be sitting in those very seats. Each step uphill towards the Acropolis was incredible - obviously there have been several restorations but still, the site is in excellent shape for having been constructed thousands of years ago. The columns are simply massive and so intricately sculpted. The manpower required to move and lift all of the stones into place (uphill in the heat mind you) is almost unthinkable. Observing the site simply for its construction and architecture is amazing enough and then it suddenly hits you that this is where democracy, what we are still fighting for to this day, was born. We spent hours upon hours just walking around the ruins, checking out Ancient Agora, Stoa of Attalus, Thesseion, Filopappos Hill, and Parthenon, the temple dedicated to the goddess Athena. We were both rather speechless in deep thought and awe. It is a sight that must be seen in person to be fully appreciated, pictures do not do it justice. I still cannot stop thinking about it.
On the way back to the hostel we breezed through the streets of Athens and stopped at a cafe for our first of many Greek salads and tsaziki with pita. We became slightly obsessed. I could happily eat an authentic Greek salad everyday and would do so for our next 11 days in Greece.
Only one full day in Athens for now, but we'll be back for another after 1o days of island hopping. Bring on the beaches...
10 days later...okay doing a bit of back and forth here - got back from our 10 day island hopping experience and as you can see from the other blog entries we LOVED it. We had one more day in Athens and checked out the Archealogical Museum which had statues, jewelry, and pottery from thousands of years ago. It was so cool to see and we easily spent several hours in there checking everything out. After that we did one last walk past Acropolis and then back to the hostel to pack up our things for Istanbul. Great times had in Greece, our favorite stop in Europe. Highly recommended to anyone who hasn't been here before, a must see!
No comments:
Post a Comment