Greece - Land of Antiquities and Roast Lamb - Day 2

Bright and early-ish on Day 2, we set out to see the most important tourist site in Athens - the Acropolis. It was right by our hotel, so the walk was short and pretty fun. The Acropolis site is actually a collection of different buildings/temples/gates.

Before we even got to the main entrance, we came across the Odeon of Herodes Atticus - a grand theatre built in 161 AD/CE by a rich Roman, Herodes Atticus. It was excavated in 1857- 58. We couldn't get in since the theatre is only open during performances, but we were able to explore around and behind it.

Bright and cheery in the morning. This finding of ruins isn't so difficult after all. 

Odeon of Herodes Atticus. For scale reference, see people on the top left hand corner. 

The entrance to the Odeon.

Overlooking Athens.
Photo Credit: Dawn LX

It was a short and pleasant walk up the hill towards the main Acropolis area. At the main entrance, they weren't selling or checking any tickets, and everyone was walking through for free. We think it had to do with the Easter holiday. I'm not asking any questions nor confessing to anything.

Spring in Athens, and there were these poppies (?) everywhere. Bees, too. 

Lots of stray dogs in Athens. Best not to touch them and leave them be.
Photo Credit: Dawn LX

Geez, my singing isn't all THAT bad. 

Up the hill, the first thing you come across it the Propylaia - built between 437-432 BC. It's impressive, but we were mostly trying to get out of the squeeze of tourists at this point. The walkway zig-zags all the way to the top.

Heading up the Propylaia. Crowded.

Warning.

The Propylaiaic Squeeze.
Photo Credit: Dawn LX

From the Propylaia, you come into the central area, where the Parthenon dominates the landscape.

The Parthenon took 15 years to complete, finished in time for the Great Panathenaic Festival held in 438 BC/E. [Yes that makes it really, really old]. It was originally built to house a huge statue of Athena, goddess of the city, as well as to be the new treasury. It was built on the site of previous temples to Athena. (Source: Lonely Planet Guide to Greece, 9th Edition).

There are 17 Doric columns along the length of the Parthenon, and 8 along the widths. There are apparently no straight lines - the columns are convex and the foundations slightly concave to give the illusion of perfection.
Photo Credit: Dawn LX 

Some of the metopes (Marble panels) at the top - these are replicas since a lot of the originals are now in the British Museum in London - a source of great irritation (understatement) for the Greeks. See Wikipedia entry for more info. 

The Eastern facade of the Parthenon. Can you see the horse up at the the top?

Closer shot of the top of the Eastern facade.

View of the Eastern Facade, and the tourist landscape that is the modern day Acropolis.

 Just next to the Parthenon is a smaller building called the Erechtheion, which was used as a temple.  It is apparently built on the site where Poseidon and Athena battled for the prize of becoming the city of Athens. Here, Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and a horse sprang forth as symbol of strength and fortitude. Athena produced an olive tree - symbolizing peace and prosperity.  The gods judged Athena's gift a better one for the citizens of Athens, and the rest, as they say, is history.

The Erechtheion is distinctive for these 6 Caryatid statue-columns. These are plaster casts. 5 of these now reside in the New Acropolis Museum, one in the British Museum. 

Plaster replica, but still impressive. 

Eastern facade of the Erechtheion. 

I might be missing the forest for the trees a little here, but I thought the little spring flowers/weeds poking through the ancient marble was a wonderful juxtaposition.

One thing you realise is the strategic position of the Acropolis - it overlooks pretty much the whole city and the harbor for defence purposes (occupational hazard)

Athens stretching all the way to the sea

The Theatre of Dionysus on the slope of the Acropolis; The New Acropolis in the middle ground (with the square glass  penthouse-like structure); and the rolling hills of Greece in the background.

 On the way downhill, we passed by the Temple of Athena Nike, which was next to the Propylaia, but we were too distracted to notice on the way up.

Temple of Athena Nike
Photo Credit: Dawn LX

Tee hee - I was obviously a supporter of the temple.
Photo Credit: Dawn LX

The route downhill took us past a few more ruins. One of the more impressive was the Theatre of Dionysus, constructed between 342 and 346 BC/E. When completed, there were 64 tiers of seating, but there were only 20 left by the time we got here.

Theatre of Dionysus. Notice the "thrones" on the first few rows, reserved for VIPs. 

The grandest throne, which I think refers to this one, was kept for the Priest of Dionysus. Note the lion-claw feet on the throne. 

The reliefs at the end of the stage

Details. 

More details. 

Spurred on by our growing knowledge of all things Greek (ahem), we proceeded straight to the New Acropolis Museum. I couldn't get any pictures inside, but I highly recommend a visit. The food court has a outdoor deck which looks out onto the Acropolis, and the top floor has replicas of the marble metopes that are above the Acropolis (Most of these are plaster replicas because the originals are in London, but still worth a look.)

The New Acropolis Museum

When they started building this museum, they found these early ruins of ancient Athens.  You really can't dig anywhere without hitting some ancient site in Greece, can you. 

Minds full of new knowledge about Pentelic Marble, freizes, and Greek legends, it was time to fill our bellies. We wandered into some other section of Plaka for lunch, and settled at this lovely, wisteria-framed restaurant. 

Battered, Fried Eggplant. YUM. 

Fried Calamari, lightly spritzed with lemon. 

Lamb skewers with rice and chips. 

And, very importantly, GREEK COFFEE! It was awesome. 

The charming Taverna Vizantino

Watching the world go by. 

Walking back through Plaka, we noticed the preparations for Easter Sunday - in the form of roasting lamb on a spit. Given that it was Plaka, it was probably a tourist draw more than anything else, but it is traditional for Greeks to have a huge lamb feast on Easter Sunday. The lamb had to be roasted for hours, constantly turning for even roasting. 

We returned here hours later for dinner because the old man was so sweet!

Leaving dinner a-roasting, we moved on to explore more of Athens. This time, we went into the Anafiotika quarter, a labyrinth of tiny, white-washed streets that were incredibly charming.

Tiny Streets.
Photo Credit: Dawn LX

Part of the fun was coming across tiny little almost-troglodyte entrances.

Because this quarter is built on the hill, you look down at different streets at every turn

In the shadow of the Acropolis too.

Ensuring things stay white.
Photo Credit: Dawn LX

Some wandering later, we found ourselves at other famous ruins, but they were already closed because of the Easter Holiday. We still got a good look at them anyway:

The Roman Agora

Gate of Athena Archegetis, which marks the entrance to the Agora

Is it just me, or is this held together with a piece of tape?

The Tower of the Winds - one of the best preserved structures in the Roman Agora. Built in 1st C BC/E, the Tower served as a weather vane, water clock and compass all in one. 

The remains of Hadrian's Library - from the 2nd C AD/CE. It was built with a cloistered courtyard and a pool in the middle, flanked by 100 columns. 

Hadrian's Library was next to the Monastiraki neighbourhood and we couldn't resist walking through the lively area, cramped with shops and people. It was the place to people-watch.

Lots to buy.
Photo Credit: Dawn LX

Monastiraki
Photo Credit: Dawn LX

It was time for a munch, so we went back to try the baklava store that was recommended to us by a local.  

Drool.

So many choices!
Photo Credit: Dawn LX

We were so greedy we bought A LOT of baklava. 10 euros worth, to be exact. 

We took the stuff back to our hotel to enjoy on the rooftop, watching the sunset. Ah, I love travelling.

Enjoying the sunset with pre-dinner baklava.

The New Acropolis Museum at Sunset.

That still wasn't the end of our day, because we were eager to try the lamb that we had seen spit-roasting on the streets earlier. We returned to see the same old man turning his now-golden brown lamb over the spit. He was super friendly and seemed thrilled with the attention. 

Still here...

Photo Credit: Dawn LX

Oh, yummy lamb. 

These are lamb intestines wound around some innards and slow roasted. I love this kind of stuff. 

The cute little restaurant. I think we were there early for Greece. 

Dinner.
Photo Credit: Dawn LX

Tummies full, we stumbled into bed. I couldn't believe how much we had seen (and eaten) in one day, but we had to -- tomorrow we were off to an island! Stay tuned.