Saturday, August 07, 2004 - Acropolis with Joel

I wanted to go with Joel because we often think alike and he is a photographer and can read my mind sometimes and know when I want to get a picture. Basically, we tolerate each other when one is photographing something. We caught the bus to Ethniki Amyna and then the metro to Acropoli. We accidentally went the wrong way on the red line toward Sepolia. We caught there and were walking towards Mars Hill when I saw there was a gate next to the metro station. We walked in and they looked at our credentials. We got to the first amphitheatre, the theatre of Dionysus, and started snapping away. There were railings around the import things like the stage, but one could walk on the benches. After that, we walked through and looked at some ruins of the Asclepion, which was built around a sacred healing spring, and a stoa that was basically a preparation area for the performers in the theatre. We then looked at the Theatre of Herodes Atticus which you can’t get into unless there is a concert happening. Tomorrow night the London Orchestra is playing there. We then made our way to the top. There were guides speaking Spanish, French, English, and an Oriental language on the steps. We looked for angles of the Parthenon that had the least scaffolding. There were two or three angles that only a few bars. Then, we entered the museum, mainly because it was noon and we wanted shade. Most of the up close monument pictures I have are inside this. These are the originals while the ones outside on the structure are actually replicas. After the museum, we took a few more pictures of the Parthenon and of the Erechtheion (the one with the four female statues). We exited towards Mars Hill and we were both hungry. We were lured in by strawberry ices (icee-like drink) for 4.50 and a luncheon meat sandwich (1 piece) for 3. We then went over Mars hill and I got some pictures of Athens. I did not have my camera with me the other night on the last visit. We walked past some cafes and modern art that we made fun of. We entered the Ancient Agora ruins. The first was the Temple Hephaestus. I wonder how much of it was original. I looked pretty much all there. We walked past a statue of Hadrian (headless of course) and the statues at the front of the almost totally missing ancient agora. We headed over to the Stoa of Attalos that was totally rebuilt. I snapped some good column pictures. We saw more dogs lying around—although two of the three had tags. I filled up my water bottle and we got out a map to see what to do next. We heading for an Orthodox church suggested by Lonely Planet. We walked through Plaka past the Roman Forum and Temple of the Winds remains. Plaka is the main shopping district and also a good place to find an ATM. I withdrew money from an ATM for the first time anywhere. I got 40. Unfortunately, the one suggested was under renovation and was closed, but we did enter and look around the Athens Cathedral. Ahead of time I knew that we were not suppose to enter with shorts, I put on the bottom legs of my zip-off pants on the steps the cathedral. It was a weird feeling almost like dressing outside. We did we see people enter with shorts even though there was a sign clearly stating not to enter with shorts on. Inside, many members kissed glass windows over icons. We saw a twenty year old pray and also a whole family with three children light candles. There were hundreds of lip marks on the glass. It was smaller than I thought it would be for a cathedral. People lit candles and set them on a rotating candle holder. Every so often, a nun after sitting in the corner praying out loud would come by and blow the candles out and throw in a box. They were not even halfway gone. Apparently, they are lit for certain saints that are associated with the problem the person needs help with. Like Catholicism many members did the sign of the cross multiple times. I wanted so much to take a candle with me. It was very dark also. Only candlelight and maybe one light upfront illuminated the place. The next item on the list was for Joel. We wanted to catch the tram to Planathenaic Stadium or at least near it but we couldn’t find a bus that had any names we could recognize. We decided to walk across Syntagma square again. He bought a water and I bought a maroon velvet hat with a long gold tassle that I think is supposed to be like the evzones’ hats I assume. It was 4.50 and that was more than it was worth, but it’s goofy enough that I will love wearing it around campus this fall. We walked through the National Gardens that was a bunch of trees. Then, we walked in front of the heavily guarded Zappeio (and I am still not sure what it currently is). We saw Planathenaic Stadium through the trees. We couldn’t get closer than a few hundred feet from the stadium entrance. There were many people waiting in line for tickets and we saw a CBC film crew. We then walked over ten blocks to the nearest subway station. Lonely Planet said to walk south of the intersection were at past the War Museum and Byzantine Museum, but the map was incorrect. I’ll have to write them. We finally got to the Evangelismos metro station after asking an Athens Information stand. From there we made it home from Ethniki Amyna via Subway and on bus to Pikermi. I stayed up journaling about the first full day that night till 2:40am.

~ Stephen

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