Jack, Merry & The Trumanator: Thirty-Seventh Post From Türkiye: Christmas Break Part Two

We were so excited to finally get to see Athens! And it was even better to get to spend time there with Scott and Josette! Seriously, so glad we have been able to become friends with them here in Ankara and we can't wait for another Rowe/Knapp adventure!

First of all we had to find a place to park the van so the rental company could pick it up. This caused much frustration and anger for Jack and Scott. Jack ended up boxed into this little courtyard. We decided to leave it there and let the rental company deal with it. I assume they got it out, as we never heard anything to the contrary.

Scott and Josette had spent a few days in Athens before we arrived and this was their last night so they went to see the Acropolis, then we all went to climb Areopagus or Mars Hill. It is a bare marble hill next to the Acropolis where the Apostle Paul gave his famous speech about the identity of "the Unknown God." (Acts 17).

Plaque of the speech.

Note about this "bare marble" hill. It really is marble and has been polished by millions of feet. It is soooo slippery and crawling with tourists. I was in fear for my life the entire time we were up there. Even in the picture below, I am thinking, "Don't fall. Don't fall!" Fun!!

We headed down the hill to explore the Plaka. An old historical neighborhood of Athens, clustered around the Acropolis.

Greece has the most and best graffiti!

Getting a snack before dinner.

The next morning we headed out to see more of the city.

View from our balcony. Some friends of ours stayed in this same apartment and they said the church bells woke them up so early. We didn't hear anything, so either we are heathens or the priests were on vaction.

We wanted to go to the Acropolis first thing in the morning to beat the crowds. It had the added benefit of getting to view it in the gorgeous morning light!

Temple of Athena Nike

Entrance to the Propylaea.

View of Mars Hill and the city.

The Parthenon

Erechtheion

Over looking some of the other sites.

After we had explored as much of the Acropolis as we could we headed over to the National Archaeological Museum. It holds some of the most important artifacts from archaeological sites around Greece from prehistory to late antiquity.

Excited to do some "larnin"!

Octopus dish!

You can follow the evolution of Greek Art through the changes in sculptural styles. So fabulous!


	Statue of a Kouros (naked youth),	. 600 BC.


	Bronze statue of Zeus or Poseidon, found at the bottom of the sea off cape Artemision,	ca. 460 BC.


	Bronze statue of a horse and a young jockey, found in the sea off Cape Artemision,	ca. 140 BC.

We saw so many terrific collections! It is a wonderful museum! But we were WORN out after our tour. Even Jack was tired. Why do museums make you more tired than walking through the city? It's a mystery.

Tired.

The next day we headed out to see the Ancient Agora.

While trying to find a way over this train track to the entrance we stumbled into this flea market. Which of course we needed to spend some time browsing through.

Panathenaic Way

We finally made it inside and started wandering through the Ancient Agora of Classical Athens. It is the best-known example of an ancient Greek agora. An Agora was a central space or square in ancient Greek city-states.

Jack thinks deep philosophical thoughts inside the The reconstructed Stoa of Attalos. Just like Plato.

Temple of Hephaestus

Later we did a bit more wandering through the Plaka. Where Jack did not buy this bouzouki. Although he could have if he had wanted to.

Trum in a little church.

We headed over to Syntagma Square. It was bustling and full of fun ways to add to the economy of Greece.

Girl's posing with their huge selections of balloons for sale.

Street musicians sharing some holiday music, looking for a donation or two.

Various, non-legitimate Disney characters to get your picture with. Oh and Santa as well!

At the top of the square is the Parliament building and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Where you can see the changing of the guard.

From Parliament we walked through the The National Garden on our way to the Panathenaic Stadium. The Stadium was reconstructed from the remains of an ancient Greek stadium, And is built entirely of marble. The Stadium hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and in the 2004 Olympic Games, it held the archery competition and the finish of the Marathon. Cool! Right?

Outside the stadium we decided to have ourselves a bit of a break.

On our way back to the apartment we saw...

The Temple of Olympian Zeus,

Another awesome street musician,

and the Arch of Hadrian.

We stopped for some dinner and as it was our last night we had to finish with a walk through the streets of Athens while eating some more gelato. A great way to end our Christmas Vacation!!