With the exception of broken wi-fi, our first full day in Athens started out well. We had heard of this thing called the Acropolis, and decided to check it out. Luckily, it turned out to be a short walk from our hostel, and the 12 Euro entrance fee also gets you into 7 other attractions within walking distance. That's less than two Euros per attraction. Seemed like a pretty great deal.
The Acropolis is a large ancient citadel situated on the top of a hill in Athens and is home to some of the most iconic pieces of architecture in history. Arguably, the most famous piece of architecture is the Parthenon. It was unreal. While we didn't get to actually go inside the Parthenon, we got to walk around it. Surprisingly, there was a lot of construction going on. It was all apart of the restoration efforts that have been going on since the 1980's. There were large support structures set up, new marble added in to replace missing chunks, and even a crane in the middle of the building. Despite this, we were still overwhelmed by the amount of history on that hill. From there, we also got some pretty nice views of the city, and some good ideas of other attractions we wanted to see.
Our next stop was the Temple of Zeus. BUT FIRST, we had to stop for some milkshakes. These were the best milkshakes either of us had ever tasted. Words wouldn't do these milkshakes the justice they deserve. There wasn't much to report at the Temple of Zeus. Just some huge columns, and an overwhelming desire to duck behind the rope that said "No Entry". But it was fun to walk around and enjoy the ruins. We also saw another roman bath, but the roman bath in Bath was way better. More accurately, the roman bath in Bath was still there. This was merely the ruins of a roman bath. But the idea of standing in a place where naked people stood a couple thousand years ago is always entertaining.
From there, we made it back to our hostel for some naps. Aaron started attempting to hack the neighboring wi-fi. After some time, we made our way to dinner for some authentic Greek gyros. It wasn't what we were expecting. It was just pork, vegitables, and french fries on a plate. Aaron continued his hacking efforts at the restaurant. We then made our way to the milkshake place, because they had better wifi. Aaron spent another hour with his hacking efforts to no avail, but the milkshakes made up for it.
For our second day in Athens, we visited the Theater of Dionysos and the eastern slope of the Acropolis. It was so windy Kaylea had to tie her skirt to keep it from pulling a Marilyn Monroe in the theater (hehe). After that we made our way to the library to work on the blog. As we approached, we realized we were actually at the Acropolis museum. Whoops. We went in anyways. Little mishaps like these always payoff though. Remember all those marbled Greek statues in the British Museum? Well, the missing pieces are held in the Acropolis Museum. We've come full circle.
The sudden realization that we had seen these statues before was a huge shock. Aaron remembered reading that missing pieces were held in the museum in Athens, but it had completely slipped his mind until now. This shock turned into a slight outrage. Why isn't everything here? The British museum should give the missing pieces back! One of the museum employees explained that the Parthenon exhibit is a big attraction for the British Museum. They make too much money, so they just gave the Acropolis museum some replicas. Come on British museum! Who you trying to front?
After that, we felt the need to blog. So we spent a few hours at the milkshake place. Since we don't have wi-fi in the hostel, it will be kind of hard to keep the blog up. We may have to wait until Rome for another post. We have other important things to do with the internet. Things like finding a place to sleep in Rome...
The Acropolis is a large ancient citadel situated on the top of a hill in Athens and is home to some of the most iconic pieces of architecture in history. Arguably, the most famous piece of architecture is the Parthenon. It was unreal. While we didn't get to actually go inside the Parthenon, we got to walk around it. Surprisingly, there was a lot of construction going on. It was all apart of the restoration efforts that have been going on since the 1980's. There were large support structures set up, new marble added in to replace missing chunks, and even a crane in the middle of the building. Despite this, we were still overwhelmed by the amount of history on that hill. From there, we also got some pretty nice views of the city, and some good ideas of other attractions we wanted to see.
From there, we made it back to our hostel for some naps. Aaron started attempting to hack the neighboring wi-fi. After some time, we made our way to dinner for some authentic Greek gyros. It wasn't what we were expecting. It was just pork, vegitables, and french fries on a plate. Aaron continued his hacking efforts at the restaurant. We then made our way to the milkshake place, because they had better wifi. Aaron spent another hour with his hacking efforts to no avail, but the milkshakes made up for it.
For our second day in Athens, we visited the Theater of Dionysos and the eastern slope of the Acropolis. It was so windy Kaylea had to tie her skirt to keep it from pulling a Marilyn Monroe in the theater (hehe). After that we made our way to the library to work on the blog. As we approached, we realized we were actually at the Acropolis museum. Whoops. We went in anyways. Little mishaps like these always payoff though. Remember all those marbled Greek statues in the British Museum? Well, the missing pieces are held in the Acropolis Museum. We've come full circle.
The sudden realization that we had seen these statues before was a huge shock. Aaron remembered reading that missing pieces were held in the museum in Athens, but it had completely slipped his mind until now. This shock turned into a slight outrage. Why isn't everything here? The British museum should give the missing pieces back! One of the museum employees explained that the Parthenon exhibit is a big attraction for the British Museum. They make too much money, so they just gave the Acropolis museum some replicas. Come on British museum! Who you trying to front?
Chunks from the Parthenon exhibit in the British Museum
Replicas with the missing chunks in the Acropolis Museum in Athens:
After that, we felt the need to blog. So we spent a few hours at the milkshake place. Since we don't have wi-fi in the hostel, it will be kind of hard to keep the blog up. We may have to wait until Rome for another post. We have other important things to do with the internet. Things like finding a place to sleep in Rome...
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