Day 14: Athens

  Athens, Attica, Greece
Friday, July 18, 2008

  The legend goes that Poseidon, god of the sea, slammed his trident against the rough stones of the Acropolis with such force that a fiery war horse emerged. This powerful horse was a gift to all who bore witness. In response, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, stepped forward and made a small olive tree take root and grow, to symbolize future peace and prosperity. For this humble gesture, the council of the gods appointed Athena the patron of the city that carries her name.
 
Athens was once one of the ancient world's greatest cities. It was the birthplace of democracy, art and philosophy. Armies fought for her. In the 5th century BC, she rose to fame as the leading city-state in Greece after her troops defeated the Persians. Sparta desired her and during the Peloponesian War from 431 to 404 BC, won her. Scholarship still flourished with Plato and Aristotle. Philip of Macedonia defeated Athens in the 4th century; then came the Romans and Emperor Hadrian, who allowed the culture to flourish. Alas, the Byzantine emperor Justinian closed the schools of philosophy and ultimately caused the city's demise.
 
We docked in Piraeus, a nearby port town for Athens. Crystal again provided a shuttle to Hadrian's Gate, the main city center.

Hadrian's Gate from Acropolis

 In some ways, Greek (more specifically Athenian) taxi drivers are worse than Turkish carpet sellers. Maybe this one man was a transplanted Turk, but he just wouldn't take no for an answer. This one driver asked if we wanted a taxi, we said no. He asked again. We said no again and added that we were taking a shuttle. He said there was no shuttle. We ignored him and he repeated himself and insisted there was no shuttle. We finally found where the shuttle was supposed to be (it hadn't arrived yet) and walked over there. He followed us and kept saying there was no shuttle. I finally got tired of his in your face attitude and told him that yes, there was one, our cruise ship was providing one and we didn't need a taxi. Then he got all huffy and said he was only trying to help (Yeah, right, like I bet we would have found out that the meter in his taxi was suddenly not working). If I could make one suggestion to the port authority in Piraeus, learn what a taxi stand is and how to use one. It doesn't give one a good first impression of their city.
 
After having to listen to some 16 year old American girl talk incessantly and use foul language for the entire time it took to get to the drop off location, it was a relief to exit the bus and head toward the Acropolis.  At 200 feet high, you can't miss it, rising out of the limestone cliff. As the highest part of the city, it became the center for religion and refuge when the city was under attack.

Acropolis from Agora

 
We paid the entry fee and started the climb, stopping to look down on the Dionysus Theater.  This was the site of Classical Greece's drama competitions. It sat 15,000 people where Aristophanes, Sophocles and Euripides introduced their plays to the Athenians

Dionysus Theater

.We continued our climb on the well worn rock and came to the Propylaia, which was the grand entrance through which all visitors passed to reach the temples.

Propylaia

Next, the Temple of Athena Nike (Victory) stands to protect and stand over the most vulnerable part of the rock to enemy attack.

Temple of Nike

 
The Panathenic Way was the route the procession would take to offer a sacrifice to Athena - and then there it was before us: The Parthenon. Although covered in scaffolding, it was awesome to see it, the greatest, most dramatic Doric temple ever built.

Parthenon

On the way back down, we passed the Erechtheion, and its famous "Porch of the Maidens", with six draped female figures as supporting columns. It was dedicated to both Athena and Poseidon, who had the battle for patronage of the city.

Erachtheion

Descending the Acropolis, we next headed for Areopagus Rock.

Rock From Acroplis

In the Book of Acts (Chapter 17), Paul made his famous "Men of Athens" speech on Areopagus Rock (called Mars Hill in the KJV). Paul is believed to have spoke on Areopagus Rock during his second missionary journey (which was with Silas) around 49-52 A.D. Socrates frequently spoke from here. We climbed to the top and had a wonderful view from here of the Acropolis and the Agora.

Acropolis from Rock

 
We descended and walked to the Agora, Athens' ancient marketplace. It was the center for all civic activities. It was here that Socrates addressed the public, where democracy was born and where Paul preached. We wandered through the ruins and while looking at the stoa, or central marketplace, we met a couple from the United States. She was telling her husband about the stoa and she and Keith had a discussion about the Stoics, who got their name by their meeting to discuss their philosophical views at the Stoa. The husband and I stood in the shade and talked small talk. Turns out they were from California and she is a Renaissance professor at Occidental College.
  When we were able to drag them from their discussion, we continued on to the Temple of Hephaestus, which is the best preserved Classical temple in Greece. The frieze depicts the deeds of Theseus and Hercules.

Temple of Hephaestus from Acropolis

The other couple caught up with us and invited us to have lunch with them. We were ready for a break, so we went to a Greek restaurant nearby and had a Greek salad. She and Keith continued their discussion and the husband and I chimed in occasionally.
 
After lunch, we had intended to go to the National Archeological Museum, but found out that the new one built wasn't yet opened and to get to the old one would require finding a taxi.  It was about 93 degrees and we were hot and tired, so we just decided to slowly walk back to the shuttle drop off site. We walked past the Tower of the Winds, a tall, octagonal building, designed by a famous astronomer (Andronikos of Kyrrhos) to be an elaborate water clock (on the inside), sundial (on the outside), and weather vane (on the top). The nickname "Tower of the Winds" is derived from the personifications of the 8 winds carved on the 8 sides of the building.

Tower of the Winds

We walked through the Plaka, an open air marketplace with shops and restaurants.
 
We went back to the ship and I decided I really needed to do the packing. We had one last dinner in the dining room. I went to the closing show with the couple from New Zealand while Keith went to the movie. That same 16 year old girl talked through the whole show. I was done before he was, so I went back to the cabin and finished packing and put the bags out for pick-up. When the movie was over, we went dancing and stayed until it was over. We had become friendly with a couple from England who also danced a little, so we sat with them and had a nice time.