A Wonderful Trip Draws to a Close

September 2014

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. We arrived in Athens on Saturday morning after a wonderful week sailing around the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas. Our final stop of the tour was Athens. I'm sure we could have spent much more than 6 hours exploring a city of such cultural and historical significance, but we tried to fit as much as we could in the time that we had. Of course, our first stop was the top of the Acropolis to see the Parthenon. Here's our view looking up as the tour bus traveled there:

The steps leading up to the top of the Acropolis were much more crowded than any of the other sites we toured, almost uncomfortably so. I think I was spoiled on the rest of the trip. Since the 1980's, the Parthenon has been undergoing an extensive renovation effort. When we were there, the whole front side was under scaffolding:

This side has already been restored - the lighter stone was added during the restoration effort:

There was no scaffolding on the back side - perfect for pictures!

This temple, called the Erechtheion, also stood on top of the Acropolis

The views from the top of the Acropolis were amazing. Athens is a HUGE city!

Far below me is the Temple of Athenian Zeus:

This theater is the Odeon of Herodes Atticus - concerts are held there even in present times - how cool would it be to attend one of those?!:

When we left the Parthenon, we stopped briefly at the stadium where the first modern Olympics were held in 1896. Just long enough to take a few pictures:

From there, we headed to the Acropolis museum. It was constructed to house artifacts collected at the Acropolis and was a really cool place! These are the Caryatids that once stood atop the Erechtheion:

My favorite part of the museum was a room with a huge glass wall with this view of the Acropolis and the Parthenon:

Inside that room was a life-sized replica of the frescoes that once adorned the top of the Parthenon - all four sides. A very small piece of the replica was actually from the Parthenon - the rest had either been destroyed or stolen by invading cultures - the Venetians, the Ottoman Turks, and the British. It was evident from our tour that the Greeks are quite bitter about what was taken from them by the British in the name of preservation. The British Museum now houses at least as many treasures from the Parthenon as the Parthenon Museum - arguably to protect them from destruction at a time when Greece couldn't properly protect them. With this beautiful new museum, Greece would love the return of their treasures, but Britain has been reluctant to set such a precedent.

This is a replica of the statues that once stood atop the front of the Parthenon. I loved this whole display!

This museum marked the last stop on our trip of a lifetime. From there, the tour bus drove us back to our hotel - the Sofitel at the Athens Airport. Our flight left at 6 am the next morning, so we had an early dinner at the hotel, set our alarm for 3:30 am and called it a night. We are so fortunate to have been able to take such an amazing trip and I will remember it fondly for the rest of my life. Happy 10th Anniversary, Tommy!