Athens

"A great city, whose image dwells in the memory of man, is the type of some great idea. Rome represents conquest; Faith hovers over the towers of Jerusalem; and Athens embodies the pre-eminent quality of the antique world, Art."  Benjamin Disraeli 

Are you wondering where a trip to Athens springs from, apparently out of the blue? It's one of the wonders of living in Europe. It was Jeff's birthday, he wanted to go somewhere for the weekend, so we booked a trip to Athens. It's a bit like flying from New York to Chicago for the weekend, only, shorter. 

Greece has been on my bucket list forever, but given the unstable political situation, and the mighty tourist in-rush during the prime summer months, there hasn't been a lot of love for heading south east. I have resisted a trip to "Athens" specifically because Athens hasn't been what I have wanted to live in my memory as my "Greece" experience. 

That said, as the months wind down and we plot to leave Europe, it has occurred to me that to see some part of Greece would be better than to see no part of Greece, particularly as that "some part" would include some of the most fabulous architectural bones on the planet. 

So I booked a hotel with a view of the Acropolis from the roof. 

We had a super fabulous weekend, although it did rain most of the day Saturday, which made us all very, very sad. As you can see. Exudes sadness, that one. 

We ended up spending the first rainy morning in the Acropolis Museum, a museum this Museum Philistine recommends.  We were meant to join a walking tour that morning that met next to the museum, but we arrived a single minute late (one!! minute!!) and the tour had already left. Given that it was raining at least puppies and kittens, we resigned ourselves to the museum. 

As well documented in this space, I tend to avoid museums. This one, however, is well worth the price of admission. The museum was built, after many years of discussion and debate (and some fistfights, by the sound of it) in a way that makes the visitor feel part of the antiquities that are immediately around you: the Acropolis itself is highly visible from most of the museum's glass walls, plus, the museum is built directly over an archaeological excavation, which you can see through the glass floors. Surround-vision antiquities, as it were. 

The children are playing a "Matching Athenas Memory Game," note the Acropolis in the window backdrop. Stunning, no? I am so used to museums that are built from re-purposed palaces that the incredible space built just to highlight the collection and the surrounding area really captured my attention.

The museum has a great set up for children, and includes free games that they can play around the space, to help them find various artifacts, and keep themselves entertained. There are also archaeologists placed strategically to answer tourist questions in any of a half dozen languages. The video history of the Acropolis alone was worth the price of admission. 

Hope remembered far better than I the legend of how Athens got her name, and she was happy to relate it to me (and a few tourists who didn't mind overhearing a free story), as we wandered around, checking off the statues on her list (1) 

So, super way to spend a rainy afternoon, in what one might consider the shadow of the Acropolis, had there been any sun. 

Next: Panathenaic Stadium

_____________________________________________________________________________ 

(1) If you don't remember: 

Long before it became a great city and the birthplace of democracy, the area of Athens must have been a very beautiful place. Otherwise one cannot explain how some of the most important ancient gods dueled to give it their name.

In the end it was Poseidon, the god of the sea and Athena, the goddess of wisdom, who reached the final round. Zeus, out of whose head Athena was born, in order to avoid a violent encounter between the two gods, declared that each should make an offer to the new city and its name would go to the god whose offer would be accepted by the citizens.

It must have been quite a sight, with all the Olympian gods sitting on one side and the citizens on the other while Athena and Poseidon stood in the middle, ready for the naming competition. Poseidon, who was Zeus' brother and uncle of Athena, came first and struck the rock of the Acropolis, opening a spring of water. This was interpreted as an indication that Poseidon was offering the new city success in war and at sea.

Then Athena came forward and dropped a seed to the ground. It immediately turned into an olive tree. This was meant to indicate that the goddess was offering the new city the fruits of peace and wisdom, which the citizens accepted and named their city Athens, while the owl, the bird connected with Athena and signified wisdom, became the pet animal of the Athenians.  Greece-Athens

 

Comments

[Rodneyssaga]

While the floodlit Acropolis photo is beyond gorgeous, as a reader, I often enjoy the random street scenes more. 'Oh, so that's what it would look like if I were walking along on a rainy afternoon in Greece.'