July 3, 2012: Athens (Day 2)

July 3, 2012:  After a nice and well-deserved sleep, we awoke and went for the hotel's buffet breakfast. The Electra Palace Hotel's breakfast is one of the best I've ever eaten. There was an abundance of choices of eggs, cereals, muffins, rolls, fruits, dried nuts, dried apricots (my favorite), bacon, sausages, tomatoes, olives, vegetables, juices, coffees, and teas. In fact, the food was so plentiful and delicious, that we ended up eating only breakfast and dinner for the entire day without feeling any hunger pangs during the afternoon. (This turned out to be what we did for our entire trip -- eating only two meals a day. I was surprised with myself because I usually get hungry in the afternoon, but not so in Greece or on the Adriatic Coast!)

After breakfast, we walked the short distance to the Acropolis, hoping to tour it before the heat of the day was worst. (Temperatures for our stay were in the high 90's to 120's F, or high 30's and 40's C, with high humidity, so you can see why it's best to beat the heat.) The word "acropolis" literally means "high point of the city" since "acro" = "high point" and "polis" = "city". Many Greek cities have an acropolis, but of course the Acropolis of Athens is the most famous of these.
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entrance to Acropolis

First inside the Acropolis, we encountered the Theater of Dionysos (Greek), one of the oldest theaters to have ever been built

Theater of Dionysos

Theater of Dionysos

Theater of Dionysos seen from top of Acropolis

A short distance from this theater was the "newer" Herodium Odeum of Herodes Atticus Theater (Roman) built B.C. where productions are still held today. (More on this later since we attended an opera in this theater the night before we returned to the US.) This theater holds an audience of 5000 (and at the opera we attended, every seat was filled!)

Herodium Odeum of Herodes Atticus

Herodium Odeum of Herodes Atticus

Herodium Odeum of Herodes Atticus

Herodium Odeum of Herodes Atticus

Herodium Odeum of Herodes Atticus

Herodium Odeum of Herodes Atticus

We climbed to the top of the Acropolis, slipping on the smooth, baked marble pathway as we got higher. We first encountered the main entrance on top.

Next was the Parthenon which is under major reconstruction, and has been for the last several years. The condition of the Parthenon seemed worse than when I had last visited it in 1971. At that time, I recall having been able to walk inside the hall and my friend and I were the only two people touring the Acropolis that day. Perhaps that's because I went to Greece in December when there were few tourists.

The Parthenon was built by Heracles and it took 15 years to build. The temple is built east to west (The east and west sides are shorter than the north and south sides), and the building was used as a church or mosque since 500 A.D. when the Italians/Ottomans ruled the country. Although the structure looks like the columns are orthogonal to the ground, they really are at an angle so that the view of the temple from afar looks proportional. The columns of the Parthenon and the other temples on the Acropolis use one of three types of columns to represent the three elements of life: Doric (male), Ionic (female), and Corinthian (nature).

Parthenon

Parthenon

Parthenon

Parthenon

Parthenon

Parthenon

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After the Parthenon, it was on to the Erectheon, to me one of the most exciting buildings on the Acropolis. It was built 431 B.C. and completed in 406 B.C. You can read below a bit about the Erectheon (sorry about the left margin being chopped off!). Note that the Caryatid (maiden) columns supporting the side porch are replicas of the original Caryatids which are housed in the Acropolis Museum (One is in the British Museum).

Erechtheon

Erechtheon

Erechtheon

The view of the city of Athens from the Acropolis was amazing:

After leaving the Acropolis, we went to the Acropolis Museum at the foot of the Acropolis. There we saw the original Caryatids as well as the friezes of the Parthenon.

Acropolis Museum - note ruins under the museum

view of Acropolis from Acropolis Museum

We wandered through the Plaka, a district of touristy streets which sell souvenirs and where there are plenty of good restaurants. It was amazing that suddenly in the middle of all the shops one could see archaeological ruins:

Hadrian's Arch - note omnipresent motorcycles on streets

Monastiraki Square - note Acropolis in distance

In our wandering we entered the Flea Market where we found the leather shop where the Beatles (and Barbra Streisand and others) bought their sandals and belts. I am now the proud owner of sandals and a belt made in this shop. However, Ruth was the winner in helping the Greek economy turn around! She really fell in love with the jewelry she saw.

Athens Flea Market

I also noted the presence of motorcycles that flooded the streets of Athens.

After we returned to the hotel, we met the rest of Ruth's choir who arrived in town in the afternoon. One couple decided to go out to dinner with us in the Plaka. The owner of one of the shops where Ruth bought some jewelry had recommended we go to one of his favorite restaurants for dinner so that's where we headed. The choice could not have been better -- we found a table on the roof that had views of the Acropolis in sight. The food also turned out to be outstanding and the ambiance was infectious. We had a very delicious appetizer, tzatziki which is a dip that we used to cover our bread. Tzatziki is made of mashed cucumbers, garlic, yogurt, dill, salt, and olive oil. We also drank delicious Santorini wine with our meal.

Dinner at this restaurant was the perfect way to end a perfect day.