Day 11 - Athens, Greece

Kim: Today was supposed to be even hotter than yesterday, so to beat the heat, we hit the Acropolis and surrounding sights first thing in the morning. We started at the Theater of Dionysis, where the first works by the famous Greek playwrights Sophocles and Aesceylous were performed during the festival of Dionysis, the God of wine, inebriation, and partying in general (that’s Brian sitting in the seats).

Then we entered the Acropolis (the large fortification on top of the hill) through the Propyleia, or gate to the city. Near the Propyleia is the Temple of Athena Nike, however, they had removed the temple piece by piece to do restoration work and were currently in the process of putting it back together again.

In the center of the Acropolis is the Parthenon, the main temple dedicated to Athena, protector of Athens. Different types of structures preceding the Parthenon had existed on the Acropolis since Mycenaean times, but the current structure dates from the 5th century B.C. The Parthenon is the largest example of a Doric temple in the world, although it also began to incorporate some Ionian elements. Its proportions were modified slightly from a perfect rectangle so as to appear in perfect proportion from every angle (below is the view from the back of the Parthenon).

The structure was built very soundly, but is in its present condition for several reasons. First, earthquakes. Second, explosions during a Venetian raid on the Ottomans in the 1600s (the Ottomans kept their gunpowder in the Parthenon). And finally, various archeological “lootings” throughout the years. Even though only a fraction of the temple remains, it is still extremely impressive.

The final site on the Acropolis was the Erectheion, a temple to some other gods. Most notable about this temple is the porch of the Caryatids, a porch with six statues of women as columns.


After the Acropolis, we wound our way down through the Ancient Agora, a site for trading, politics, and meeting for the ancient Greeks. Hungry from our climb, we sampled some souvlaki for lunch. It was delicious!

Needing relief from the 104 degree heat, we decided to spend the afternoon in the New Acropolis museum. The museum just opened in June, and houses many of the artifacts found during excavations of the Acropolis and many statures and sculptures reconstructed from the ruins. One of the coolest things about the museum is that much of the floor is glass, allowing you to see below to the ancient ruins discovered during construction of the museum.

On our way home, we had our first gelato of the trip and walked by the Temple of Zeus. We also caught the changing of the guard at the Greek Parliament at 5pm. The soldiers do a weird kind of march and their uniforms are . . . interesting to say the least. Check out those pom-poms on their shoes.

Later in the evening, we met a friend of mine from business school and some of his friends for dinner in Kiffisia. We handed total control of ordering over to them, and everything was delicious. The ordering process itself was comical to us as observers. Imagine seven Greeks, shouting haphazardly to each other and the waitress, in Greek, for approximately 10 minutes. Somehow the waitress got everything correct. For dessert, we tried a new favorite, Loukemades, fried dough soaked in honey. Yum!