What a beautiful week we have had. The high temps were in the mid to upper sixties all week, and the sun was shining. We drank it all up.
We walked a few minutes from our apartment to this side of the Acropolis on Monday. We felt like we had the place to ourselves!
We went around and found a place to purchase tickets to get inside the Acropolis and...
We discovered the Theatre of Herodes Atticus, also known as the Odeon. This theatre was built in 161 AD and destroyed during the invasion of the Heruli – early Germanic people – in 267 AD, which left it in ruins.
It became slowly more ruined for a long time – particularly during the Ottoman occupation. Some restoration took place in the years 1898, 1900, and 1922. It was then used as it had originally been built during the German occupation of 1941-1944, where it hosted performances by the Athens State Orchestra and the Greek National Opera. This spurred the city on to begin restoration work in 1950, with the grand opening in 1955 marking it as a prime location for the Athens and Epidaurus Festival.
It is named after an affluent Greek-born Roman senator, Herodes Atticus, who constructed it in commemoration of his wife, Regalia. It seats up to 5,000 people and is still used today for music shows and festivals.
It was incredible to imagine all of the history these buildings have seen, and we were just getting started!
Next, we walked up to the Propylaea. The Propylaea is the majestic entrance to the Acropolis. It is like a hall of massive columns on each side that guide you through to the main area of the Acropolis.
This is the view looking back from where we came. On the left, you can see one of the columns of the Temple of Athena Nike. This temple was built in the 5th century BC for the purpose of honoring the Goddess Athena. She was given credit for bringing Athens victory over their enemies. The word Nike means victory (all of you sports fans probably already knew this 😆). This small but beautiful temple has undergone renovations, which were completed in 2010.
As we walked through, we could see two buildings. The Erechtheion and, of course, the most famous, the Parthenon. To say that the sight of these buildings in real life was overwhelming would be an understatement. I cried.
I remember seeing pictures of these statues as a teen, being inspired and fascinated by them, and assuming that I'd probably never see them in my lifetime. I had to pinch myself! We learned that this temple section is called the Porch of the Maidens and that these are replicas of the original statues called Caryatids. The originals have been moved to the Acropolis Museum to be preserved - which we got to see up close later in the week. The next biggest treat was to see the Parthenon.
Wow, wow, wow! It was just incredible. We learned a lot after visiting the Acropolis Museum, which made our experience even more special. Thousands of years of history here, which includes a period of it being used as a Treasury, a Byzantine Church, a Roman Catholic Cathedral, and even a mosque during the Ottoman-Turkish conquest in the mid-15th century (this was meaningful to us for obvious reasons). If you'd like an in-depth overview of the history, this is a great place to go. If you want to know more about how it was built and the architectural genius behind the optical illusions employed to make it look perfectly straight, this is a great video to watch. Also, did you know there is a replica of the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennesee? Here's some information about it!
The restoration process was just incredible! Basically, they cut new marble in the exact shape of the missing pieces and put it back together like a puzzle.
After a few hours of exploring, we were ready for some lunch.
Marble is EVERYWHERE in this city. The sidewalks, buildings, and most surfaces are just covered. We learned that it is a very cheap material here because of its abundance in the hills and mountains surrounding us.
Let's talk about the food. SO delicious. There were so many wonderful flavors!
Greek Gyros
And the yogurt! And the olives! Our stomachs couldn't get enough. I'm sure I gained 5 lbs. this week.
As I mentioned, we went to the Acropolis Museum the next day and learned much more about what we had seen the day before.
I wish I had a better picture of this. It is titled "The Cult of the Hero on Blaute," and all I can remember now is that it had something to do with hero worship for the guy who is carved into the sandal (blaute) because he helped people with foot pain and developed a kind of orthotic (as someone who has suffered from plantar fasciitis, this meant something to me)!
The owl was the symbol of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and strategy. According to myth, an owl sat on Athena's blind side so that she could see the whole truth. In Ancient Greece, the owl was a symbol of higher wisdom and a guardian of the Acropolis.
I mentioned before that the original maidens from the Erechtheion temple are in the museum. Getting right up to them and studying all the details was so cool.
So many amazing artifacts all found in or around the Acropolis! We were also happy that there were videos to show the history of the area and help us get a better idea of the history.
After, we went to a traditional Greek restaurant and tried Lahanodolmades (Greek stuffed cabbage). and
And Kleftiko, which is lamb and potato on whipped parsnips
And the yummiest Greek "power bowls."
Our Airbnb didn't have a washer and dryer, so the next day, we walked about a mile to a laundromat.
Hooray for dryers!
I worked on Lily & Thistle stuff while we waited for the laundry. I'm creating new paper doll lines for our Art Makes Me Smart Around the World students. It was fun to sit in Greece and work on Greek paper dolls!
After we were done with the laundry, the twins came with us to get some groceries. We picked out some fun Greek candy, which was delicious!
Beautiful balconies everywhere
But with balconies comes.....poop, as Laurel discovered. She was sitting outside doing her schoolwork, minding her own business, and BOOM. She was just relieved it didn't land on her head!😁
The next day, we headed to the Panathenaic Stadium, or, as most know it, the stadium hosting the first modern Olympic Games. Here's a brief history via Google: A stadium was built on the site of a simple racecourse by the Athenian statesman Lykourgos (Lycurgus) c. 330 BC, primarily for the Panathenaic Games. It was rebuilt in marble by Herodes Atticus, an Athenian Roman senator, and by 144 AD, it had a capacity of 50,000 seats. After the rise of Christianity in the 4th century, it was largely abandoned. The stadium was excavated in 1869 and hosted the Zappas Olympics in 1870 and 1875. After being refurbished, it hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the first modern Olympics in 1896 and was the venue for 4 of the 9 contested sports and was once again used as an Olympic venue in 2004. It is the finishing point for the annual Athens Classic Marathon. It is also the last venue in Greece from where the Olympic flame handover ceremony to the host nation takes place.
It felt like we had the place to ourselves.
Jeff and I trying out the royal seats. Nice view!
The stadium is 100% marble!
Two double-sided hermae on the track in front of the sphendome. They were commissioned by Herodes Atticus for the 2nd-century renovations and were found during excavations by Ernst Ziller in 1869. Both hermae portray a young man on one side and a bearded older man on the other side. They’re believed to depict Hermes and Hercules, or possibly an athlete and his trainer. The hermae wore wreaths during the 1896 Olympics.
Hidden beneath the stadium is a secret passage used by ancient gladiators and modern athletes. The passageway, known as the Diodos, is a long, vaulted gallery that dates back to antiquity. Now, it leads to a small museum with all the modern Olympic torches and posters on display!
After the museum, the kids and Jeff had their own Olympics and raced around the track!
Jeff won by a hair, then Laurel and Norah. Good times 😁
View from the stands. It's easy to imagine how incredible it must have felt to be in the crowd.
After, we went across the street to catch a cab but found the Zappeion Gardens and the Wood-Breaker Sculpture. After a little bit of research (thanks to Google Lens), we learned that it is considered one of the finest statues in Athens and was completed in 1908 by Dimitris Philippotis.
We waited and waited and finally got one taxi for half of us. Jeff and the twins assured Ollie, Norah, and me that they would be right behind us. It turned out that they ended up walking, and we almost got scammed by our taxi driver! Once we reached our spot, I asked how much I needed to pay. He said 4.55 euros; I gave him my card and thanked him. As soon as I turned around, my phone alerted me that my card had been charged $44.55. Luckily, he wasn't able to pull away too quickly because of a bunch of pedestrians. I quickly put half of my body inside the window of the car and stayed there for about 10 minutes until he finally refunded my money!
All the trouble was worth it, though, as we got to spend the rest of the afternoon on Areopagus Hill or Mars Hill, a place where the Apostle Paul preached about the “unknown god,” as recorded in Acts 17.
At the base of the hill is a bronze plaque with the text of Paul's sermon engraved in Greek.
I felt sad that it wasn't more protected. Trash was everywhere, and graffiti was all over the rocks. But it still felt like a holy place as we sat and imagined the courage of Paul as he preached and explained the good news of Christ to some of the most powerful thinkers and philosophers of the time.
The hill is all marble and smooth. The kids loved exploring all around.
It's also an amazing lookout point to see all sides of the city.
After, we went down to get lunch...
I loved this sink so much!
Ollie living his best life!
And explore around the ancient Agora ruins.
And saw some colorful buildings...
Loved seeing torches in some of the city details
Details on an old Greek Orthodox church
And home to do school and work. We loved how light-filled our Airbnb was. It felt like spring all week long!
Our last day in Athens was a fun day of shopping and eating.
Norah needed sunglasses to see her menu inside the restaurant.
So many Greek Orthodox shops with ornate clothing like this
We loved seeing olive trees and bushes everywhere. We found a souvenir that captured both the marble and the olive trees. I'm so happy we found it!
Greek donuts did not disappoint!
We loved Athens but wished we could have stayed in Greece longer, seen more of this beautiful country, and got to know the people better. It was a fast week - we barely scratched the surface of the history and culture. But we got a taste, lots of context for future learning, and lots of recipes to try at home!
On our way to Rome for two weeks! Can't wait to share what we learn and discover there.
Until next time!
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